Steve, 68, Worcester
Occupation Retired; recently qualified to be a therapeutic counsellor
Voting record Always Labour
Amuse bouche Once met Boris Johnson in Austria in 2005, a shambling blond figure who walked across the cafe and asked if they were leaving because he wanted their table
Rob, 55, Oswestry, Shropshire
Occupation Works in HR for the NHS
Voting record Labour. Will probably vote Lib Dem tactically in the next election
Amuse bouche Volunteers for Repair Cafe, which fixes everything from vacuum cleaners to clothes
For starters
Rob I had home-cured salmon and then, ever the champagne socialist, lobster with stringy fries.
Steve I had focaccia and olives, and beer-battered haddock and chips.
Rob He seemed very switched on, articulate, with well-reasoned and thoughtful opinions on a range of subjects. Maybe I was surprised that he was as Labour as he was.
Steve Straight away I thought we’d probably get on. He walked up, put his hand out, very amiable, very affable.
The big beef
Rob Steve wanted good education for all, which I certainly agree with. And he recognised I was exercising my personal choice to educate my daughter privately. He was in support of Labour’s plans to remove the charitable status of independent schools, but I think it needs a more nuanced view. I think there would be a displacement effect on state education, which would put more pressure on it.
Steve Maybe that’s true in the short term, but if people didn’t go private, you’d have more people in the state system demanding better. There are other things you could do: all private schools should have Ofsted inspections. If 90% of kids go to state schools, 90% of university places should be for state school kids.
Rob I think we both wanted the investment in state education to be where it needs to be.
Steve I’m not dogmatic about these things. I went to an independent school, and the one thing it taught me was not to trust authority.
Sharing plate
Rob We both agreed that water privatisation has been a disaster. It’s a public utility. It created a flow of money into overseas banks that should have been retained in the UK.
Steve I’m older than Rob, and a bit more circumspect. Water has been ridiculous; it should never have been privatised. But I remember what nationalised industries were like in the 70s. I certainly wouldn’t want BT nationalised again – it was a terrible service.
Rob We both queried the benefits of 13 years of Conservative government, in terms of education, utilities, the cost of electricity and gas. Really, what benefits have the population seen from these dogma-induced privatisations?
Steve I’ve thought about the Post Office recently, and reading some of the chief executive’s remarks and committee meetings in parliament, I was struck by just how ideological it was. The management was trying to bust the unions. What the postal workers were asking for all sounded quite reasonable.
For afters
Rob We talked about Brexit, and felt a similar sense of bereavement. As a country, we’re seeking to plough our own furrow, denying the work and cultural opportunities that we experienced to our children and grandchildren. It’s very personal, an innate, deep-rooted sadness that we’ve done such a thing in a world where being part of something bigger is really quite important – for defence, for culture, for progress.
Steve We came to the conclusion that we’re both full-on centrist Labour. I always have been. I’ve met Keir Starmer and I’m a great fan of his. I thought he was very warm – I could already see him being leader. My favourite PM was Harold Wilson. He was effective, he got Labour into power, and he did things.
Takeaways
Rob We talked about some serious issues, but we had a convivial meal and I enjoyed it very much. He’s very intelligent.
Steve What interests me is how much people have in common. Even when we disagreed, it was more a question of how you do it than what you do.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake
Rob and Steve ate at The Pheasant at Neenton, Bridgnorth, Shropshire
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