Politicians of the calibre of Dominic Grieve being forced out of politics in favour of people like Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch and Liz Truss should worry every sane person in the nation. Great interview.

Dominic Grieve represents me .I used to vote Tory when it was a one-nation party. Sadly, the party was invaded by UKIP 3rd-rate-intellects whose glee at trashing established rules and codes of conduct became all too evident. At the top of the dung heap was Johnson. His chaotic and morally bankrupt lifestyle translated into a chaotic and morally bankrupt government. It was stuffed with the cynical and loutish elements that have become almost household names. The likes of Gullis, François, Hancock , Dorries, Anderson etc. I just do not recognise these people as Conservatives. They're the antithesis of polite society, brash, and certainly not middle-class. They remind me of vultures feeding off the carcass of what was once Great Britain. How one man, Johnson, a narcissistic psychopath, could tarnish such a respected brand is something which will be under discussion for decades to come.

What a fabulous and powerful interview. He speaks a language most of us can understand. Not trying to be clever or win people over. Shame we lost him and other decent MP's like Justine Greening and Rory Stewart.

A decent man. What ever happened to politicians who were just trying to do their best for the country, rather than for themselves?

I was born in 1949 and thus grew up in the 50s. I only know one of my many contemporary friends who voted for Brexit. We are all appalled at the damage Brexit has achieved and the havoc it continues to create. I admire Mr Grieve for the truth he has and still speaks. I have never and never will vote Tory but I do applaud the Tories who have stood up for the truth and fought the Brexit lies despite the cost to their careers on the centre right. The only Brexit Bonus I can see coming is that it may or has destroyed the Tories as an electable party.

How have we allowed our government to go from people like Dominic Grieve to people like Gullis, Jenrick, Braverman et al. Insane fall of standards and competence

Isn't it astonishing that the Daily Mail made a story out of Dominic Grieve's holiday home in France when his mother was French and he grew up in a bilingual home. Incredible.

Well done O’Brien, you didn’t overwhelm the interview with your interjects. Much appreciated. Loved hearing Grieve speak uninterrupted.

I hope we are all on our guard about protecting the human rights act, it’s terrifying what these now conservatives are prepared to do.

He's a decent guy, it's a shame his party has gone completely bananas. It's a shame for the party, but more of a shame for the country because of the damage they've caused.

As a result of this conversation, I have learned more about a politician of a different position to myself, and come to realise that despite this difference there are still some or maybe at least there once was an honourable Conservative MP.

One of the few Conservative MP's of that time who can legitimately hold his head up high having had the guts to stand up and try to voice his concerns on the post-Brexit debacle whilst being pilloried by the ideological idiots around him and the right wing press.

Dominic Grieve is from an earlier iteration of the Tory Party. Whilst we do not share a consensus over the priorities of government, he is an intelligent, principled and thoroughly decent man. What a disastrous turn both the Tories and our country took following the Brexit vote with a person of his calibre being out of politics.

Domonic grieve is owed respect for speaking truth to power .

An intelligent and considered man, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dominic on the campaign trail back in 2010 and followed his career thereafter. I knew the Tories were doomed the moment they removed him, if someone of his calibre is deemed problematic then you knew the asylum had fallen to the lunatics!

Dominic Grieve is the quality of person that we expect our leaders to be and should still be at the forefront of Government. He stands head and shoulders above all others and is someone that all of us, irrespective of party, who like to see as PM.

I remember DG at the time of the referendum and the battles after, courageous, principled, honest and most of all, correct

A reasonable, likeable Tory. Who knew it was possible.

Johnson kicked out all the principled and competent Tory politicians, to the strong detriment of our country.

Dominic Grieve, the antithesis of the majority of current Conservative MPs, and many MPs in general. Dignified, principled and simply honest and decent…Excellent interview, thank you James O’Brien…

Changing the human rights act to pass legislation is disastrous and will be the end of UK politics and democracy as we know it. Frankly, it's terrifying.

I still can't wrap my head around the concept that "philosophically" anyone feels like they belong in the Conservative party. How anyone in the UK can look at what Thatcher has done - whose legacy still leaves swathes of the nation in abject ruin, and think "yes this is the party for me" truly beggars belief. Perhaps in order to be a Tory minister, you need to pass some sort of Amnesia test and not be cognisant of the horror a large percentage of the nation has endured and continues to endure under Tory rule. Who knows.

When you compare Grieve to Lee Anderson, it really lays bare the realities of Brexit.

Thank for this James. I have a great deal of respect for Dominic Grieve (even though I'm the polar opposite of being a Tory!) He has a kind and decent person vibe going on and is always engaging when he talks. I wrote to DG when it was clear his time was coming to a brutal end in parliament. He went out of his way to respond in his recognisable considered style, which really impressed me.

James ... great sesh, fascinating to hear DG. I do wish you had asked about the Tories' austerity policy starting in 2010. It would have been interesting to hear if DG sees a connection between increasing dissatisfaction and stagnation (because of austerity) and swathes of voters being more susceptible to being sold Brexit as a solution to the malaise brought on ... by the Tories themselves.

Enjoyed this interview. Shame the Conservatives are not this way anymore.

Excellent interview! I really enjoyed it. Thanks, James and Dominic.

Dominic Grieve is a man of honour and is in stark contrast to the crooks and charlatans who are in control today. When he talks about his father his story resonates so much with that of my own father who saw the horrors of WW2 from within a Sherman tank . He is spot on .

Cut from a different cloth than the horrific mess that call themselves conservative now.

Dominic Grieve and his ilk was the reason I voted Tory for many years. I shouldn't feel guilty but I do, the current Tory party makes me ashamed to admit having ever voted for them. Thankfully never again.

What a thoroughly decent human being and even though I'm centre left, Dominic would get my vote based on his personal attributes.

What a lovely, open and honest human being Dominic Grieve is. Thank you for who you are.

Fascinating and absolutely insightful. My admiration of Mr Grieve has increased exponentially!

Here is a man from a different social class, upbringing and education, to my own. A man with political views and ideals contrary to my own. However I have huge respect for him as a conservative politician. I have little respect for Tories in general and if the Conservative Party is consigned to the annals of history, in my lifetime, I will shed no tears. Dominic Grieve comes across as an honest and trustworthy citizen, and I am grateful to him for his service to our country. Where are his equals to be found for all our futures?

Being from across the water, i never like to offer half informed opinions on the British political system, but i have always regarded Dominic Grieve as a decent and truthful man. Regretfully, i now believe there are more scoundrels and unprincipled people in mainstream journalism than in politics.

Decent, smart, and honest, thats why Grieve's is not in the Tory party today.

Met him about 10 years ago at an event, a charming and amicable gentleman.

Never been a conservative, never will be in the future either, but still have respect for a very few Tories, Greave being one of them.

Dominic Grieves one of the best MPs ever like the Tories40 yrs ago..

Not a Tory voter never have been and never will be but I can respect the likes of Dominic grieve and Rory Stewart.

Yep, a decent Tory- contrast him with Boris Johnson and you are looking at direct polar opposites.

This just appears to be a story of how politics is really just a club for rich kids...

We were always sovereign whilst in the EU, we had sterling, unlike all the other countries, we didn't have I'd cards, like every other country, we have always had control of our borders passports and I'd cards checked in and out of the country and we enjoyed free passage to work and live in Europe, I hope we get back in very quickly because we are going down the pan.

When you lose clear minded MPs like Dominic Grieve, and i am not a Conservative, it is to the Downgrading further of Westminster.

Hmmm - What of economic policy? That which had worked so well (the Mixed Economy model) was disgarded by Thatcher, who had been heavily influenced by Milton Friedman, and who then imposed the Neoliberal (Free Market Capitalist) model where *everything HAS to be privatised, and where the state contributes NOTHING.* And it is the Neoliberal economic model which all governments since Thatcher have followed slavishly. Had I been interviewing Dominic Grieve, I'd have asked him why he thought Neoliberalism was so wonderful, and why Finland, Norway and Portugal have instead stuck to the tried-and-tested Mixed Economy model, which makes them far better places in which to live than the UK or the USA which are controlled by Neoliberalism.

Nice to see an interview where we are allowed to hear what the interviewee has to say. Need more of this James.❤

An adult in the room , they do exist !

One of the very few tories I have any time for.

"I love Scotland and frequently went up to meet with Scottish Conservatives" - there is something very wrong with this sentence.

Very interesting James. Despite him being a Tory, I've always liked Grieve. Fascinating life

A reasonable and intelligent man.

When you compare him to other modern tories, he seems quite reasonable.

Dominic is an interesting man and a likeable one !!

I will never vote Tory, but Dominic is the type of Tory the shattered Conservative party should gravitate back to. Because what the Conservatives need most is stability moreover, they need a leader who knows who they are and the direction they want the party to take.

Most incisive account of these appalling times I've watched

His father Percy Grieve was awesome and a real European!

Top man

I don´t understand the idea of being proud of one´s nationality.

If you understand some French and want to listen to the voice of Percy Grieve, go to “I want my money back" : 40 ans de défiance britannique en Europe”. An interesting interview dating from 1979! Greetings from Belgium, EU.

We're not using all these amazing minds. Stop podcasting, start leading. We're behind you!!

What a fascinating conversation.

Grieve and those like him should have left the Tory Party years ago.

Leader of the Conservatives .

I was brought up in the 50’s making model Spitfires and reading the “Lion book of war adventures”, and I disagree with Mr Grieve on his point about Brexit. I believe the distinction between leave/remain was more based on socio-economic background. Meanwhile, it’s a tragedy that we no longer have politicians of Mr Grieve’s calibre in Parliament any more.

Im a socialist but if Dominic told me to do something i would listen coz he knows what hes talking about. I knew a man who was my mathematics teacher in boardinf school who wasna Colonel in world war 2. He was a thoroughly decent man. Wasnt like the other teachers we had. Very patient. Thought about what he said although a bit slow because he was old. But he cared. That was the most important thing i garnered from him. He was also a military chaplain. And a warrior. Butnhe was old school. They dont make them like that anymore.

Fascinating conversation, informative and pleasant.

Would never vote Tory but would love to have a pint and chin wag with Dominic and Rory Stewart.

The only Tory politician that I have felt and thought I could ever respect .

Grieve is intelligent etc certainly, but his patrician attitude & his dreadful party facilitated the events which led to Johnson, brexit & Truss

A proper Tory . That's coming from a Labour voter.

The adrenaline rush of 'populism' doesn't put bread on the table, fascinating interview.

What a loss to the Uk. Compare that to what we do have - cleverly, sunak, shapps. Yuk!

I was born in 1952 and am a remainder. My Mam was born 1928 (now 95) and voted leave as did my brother, born 1950. I don't really think you can quantify things based on age. As an aside, as a family, we don't talk about Brexit.

Loved this . ❤

I'm a 67yrs old socialist, but Rory Stewart and Dominic Greive are decent men of a quality that is sadly lacking in British politics ... and no Starmer the kid Starver is not a decent man he's the Labour Boris Johnson

decline in the seventies?. The real decline started in the eighties.

Defending the constitution is NOT rebellion.

Such a shame that all the 'normal' tories like Grieve have been ejected. I still wouldn't vote for them but at least I'd be able to listen to them without feeling ill.

Leave campaigners didn't say it would be easy for Britain outside the EU. The honest and wise ones believed that it would be tough in the short run but essential strategically. Speaking now as an outsider, who emigrated to continental Europe 30 years ago and works very closely with Europeans, I can say loud and clear that 'Continentals', from Portugal to Finland, have more in common with one another than any one of those countries have with the UK. The UK is, increasingly in fact, hub no.1 for the whole world, and not a corner of Europe. No.1 for language, location, commercial law, forex, air travel, other. British culture is increasingly becoming global culture. The downside is overcrowding. When I lived there the population was 58 mln, now it's 67 mln and I'll bet that by 2050 it'll be around 80 mln. But those immigrants should be from all over the world, with no privileged status for Europeans.

This comment was meant for Michael Lamberts channel. I must have pressed send a split second to late. What are we to do Michael... I've said it before on your channel it's tough for you to stand up and create content that is frankly depressing but needs to be said nonetheless. It must weigh heavy on you at times. The ominous signs were clear to see when Johnson purged the Tory ranks of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the Brexit flag. You can't make balanced judgements if you silence all who dare to suggest any kind of half way house. I never supported Brexit but it need not have been as bad if we had elected to stay in the customs union. However not only did we have to contend with a fundamentally dishonest government we had a equally dishonest press that continued for years before and even now to blame all Britains failing on the E.U. Prince Harry although he has become in many people's eye an unpopular royal. His money and determination has shown the Mirror Group newspapers guilty of phone hacking. He has outstanding court cases pending against the Daily Mail Group too. We must have a fair press otherwise if Labour get in again it will be short lived because the rich owners of these newspapers will begin a vendetta just to protect their offshore wealth in Tax havens and avoid paying their fair share of taxes. The T.V. media will largely take their que from the newspaper tycoons and we'll have another Conservative government back in no time. It's not democracy its a media dictatorship we live in with the worst press anywhere in Europe. Poisoning the ordinary peoples minds day in day out.

Politicians of old, (post-war right up to the Brexit referendum), used to champion ideologies which, whether or not one might agree with them, were in the greater part aimed at improving the lot of the greatest number of citizens whilst looking after our social and economic mechanisms. The only ideology that is evident in our current despicable government is that of personal enrichment extending to friends, family and party donors. The rest of us aren't of the least bit interest to any of them, and our infrastructure is in the worst state I have seen it in my own 64 years. Labour will not be able to repair the huge damage the Tories have done to the UK, and that will be the very tool the Tories use to squirm back into power, doubtless in even more populist form. We all need to buckle up, as things are set to get a LOT worse.

Excellent interview.

Looks like he arrived on a horse

The cons party threw someone competent, Grieve, out of their party while promoting incompetent Brexiteer MPs. This ought to have outraged Tory voters but didn't because they don't believe in democracy. Our first-past-the-post system where 43% of an election turnout of about 70% go on to have a totalitarian grip on politics for 5 long disastrous years is obviously undemocratic! Scotland as a country haven't voted majority Tory since the 1950s but have been ruled by them from Westminster most of the years since! 😢. That's not democracy.

Being a conservative.. keeping the owner class in control. The way he speaks is incredibly telling. Know your place 'PEASANT.'

I'm a long time labour voter, but I must admit he's a proper Tory politician and has my respect even though I don't agree with his politics.

Theresa May shocked me when she said leaving means leaving the single market and the customs union. Now i realise she was actually killing Brexit because those two things were bound to cause problems.

Listening to Grieve he is clearly a sensible person who also knows what hardships are, not monetary ones but clearly that life can be cruel and when people like him are Tories it always confuses me. Anyway ...

Jobby looks like he should be driving a steam train! 😂

I'm dual nationality of a French mother and British of an Australian father therefore fortunately bilingual and valuing both cultures.

Awesome interview James.

Fascinating interview.

I hate hate hate the Tories ideologically and this bunch are just beyond appalling but he seems like a nice and competent chap. I guess he must have been to be part of the group that Boris kicked out.

It has just dawned on me that Dominic's father was Percy Grieve Q.C., M.P.. My own father also served on the Council of Europe and had a very high opinion of his colleague (from the opposite side of the political spectrum I might add).

This is a proper decent, well spoken and principled English man that this country so desperately need to hopefully bring it back from the path of the abyss wh are distant to 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️

DG is a Tory I would vote for whatever my political views at the time .

Would love him to have a similar interview with Douglas Murray.

I am 5 years younger than Grieve. He is the kind of man who represented the Best of Britain, the kind of man who made Britain respected and often admired throughout Europe. There are no more like him and Britain (and Europe) are poorer for it.

Johnson is not dishonest according to the MP that is now in Grieve’s old seat. Yep, one of only the seven who voted that Johnson did not mislead Parliament.

Voters should be like Mrs Oppenheimer squaring upto Teller , the expression on her face is pure Gold . Not even worthy of a Handshake .