Travels in Euroland With Ed Balls

Episode
Episode 3
Broadcast Info
2020 (59 mins)
Description
Following on from the success of Travels In Trumpland, this warm and entertaining series sees Ed Balls head out to Europe to discover how the divisions exposed by Brexit are reflected in the rest of the EU. Immersing himself in the lives of ordinary voters, Ed spends time in both Italy and France, exploring the role that austerity and the financial crash had to play in fuelling the rise of both right and left-wing populism across the continent. Ed’s journey begins in Milan, the wealthiest city in Italy, and the base of the Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini. Salvini and his party, Lega, have risen to power by promising the Italians a huge €10m tax break - but the EU have blocked their plans, and said that the country must continue on a programme of imposed austerity. Ed wants to know if the proposed tax cut has been a significant reason for why he picked up votes amongst the rich, and visits fashion entrepreneur and multi-millionaire Valeria Marini, to find out. Valeria lives a life of luxury - and Ed joins her as she greets excited fans in the city centre. Ed then travels to one of the poorest regions of the country, Calabria. Here, the residents voted in their droves for another populist party, Five-Star, but one that, unlike Lega, is left-wing. Five Star are vociferously anti-EU and have said that they will try and look after the interests of local workers. Ed wants to know why the farming community here voted for anti-EU party - after all, you’d imagine they’d want to be able to sell produce, tariff-free, throughout Europe. Ed stays with local farmer Tomasso and his family - and is woken at the crack of dawn to help him milk the cows and do a shift running the farm. The second leg of Ed’s trip takes him to France. Here, Marine le Pen has increased the vote for her rebranded National Rally party (formerly known as the National Front). In part, she’s done so by promising to protect French industry from the threat of foreign traders - but, unlike in Italy, the focus has been on countries outside of the EU. During the campaign trail, she came to the town of Caudry, in the North of France, famous for its traditional lace industry. The designers here have made clothes for Michelle Obama and Madonna - but now the industry is facing competition from China, where labour is cheaper and machines can produce the lace at a faster rate. Ed meets Daniel, a lace worker in the town, who’s flirting with voting for Le Pen - in spite of her deeply controversial past. Is he willing to overlook the accusations of racism that have dogged her for the entirety of her political career, in the name of saving his job? On the final leg of his journey, in Marseille, Ed joins a Le Pen activist, Emmy Font. Emmy works for the local National Rally Senator and says that the number of immigrants coming to the city has created overwhelming poverty here. She believes the system can no longer cope. On the eve of the European elections, Ed joins Emmy at the polling station, to find out what the future holds for European politics.
Genre
Economics; History; Culture; Social Science

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Travels in Euroland With Ed Balls". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/234735 (Accessed 10 Jan 2025)