Travels in Euroland with Ed Balls

In this episode, Ed travels in Spain and Holland to explore the role that national identity and pride have played in fuelling the rise of populism. The first leg of his journey takes him to Holland and the fishing towns of Den Helder and Scheveningen. Here he meets two fishermen, Dirk and Willem. Dirk takes Ed out for a day of trawler fishing. In the Netherlands, the fishing industry is important to the country’s national identity. Ed hears how the impact of EU law around fishing practices is affecting their livelihoods and why it has driven Dirk and his crew to vote for a politician who has promised to stand up to Brussels. In Scheveningen, Willem shows Ed around the local fish factory and invites him to join his daily ritual - a bracing dip in the chilly North Sea. Willem tells Ed that he believes in a vision for Dutch politics which puts ‘Netherlands First’ and restores pride to the people of Holland. With Willem’s words ringing in his ears, Ed journeys north to Ede, where he meets with Harold, a Black Pete actor and entertainer who has found himself in the midst of a culture war. The tradition of Black Pete involves the Dutch daubing themselves in black paint to portray the helper of a Santa Claus-like figure called Sinterklaas. Despite finding what he sees uncomfortable, Ed attempts to learn more about this custom, which has come under fire for being akin to blackface. In recent years, campaigners have called for it to be banned, while populist politicians have supported it. The second leg of Ed’s journey takes him to Spain where, unlike Holland, populism is relatively new. In Andalucia, the Vox Party- the first far-right party since the days of Franco to win seats in the parliament - has pledged to stand up for the controversial practice of bullfighting. Ed spends time with a famed local matador and his family to try to understand why. Finally, Ed travels over the Mediterranean Sea to the tip of Morocco, to visit the Spanish enclave of Melilla, for a

In this second episode, Ed spends time in both Poland and Germany, exploring the rise of an anti-elite sentiment that has spearheaded a new type of politician to power. Ed begins his trip in Leczna, eastern Poland, home to the country’s deep coal mines. After the EU ordered the mass closures of unprofitable coal mines across Europe, the populist Law and Justice Party has established a stronghold in the region, promising to stand up for the miners’ jobs against Brussels. Ed meets Josef, who has worked in the mines for over 15 years, and is shown the exhausting reality of working an eight-hour shift over 1km underground. He also meets Josef’s family, who tell him about the importance of the mine to the local region, before being roped into performing an unlikely role at the town’s football match. Crossing the border to neighbouring Germany, Ed heads to the village of Dorfchemnitz. In the national elections of 2017, the village returned the highest vote in the country for the controversial, far-right Alternative for Germany party, and have now been dubbed the ‘Nazi village’. As the former MP for a constituency that had the highest BNP membership in the UK, Ed is keen to get behind the headlines to find out what is really going on. He meets with local woodcutter Rico, who tells Ed that the villagers felt ignored by the mainstream politicians in Berlin. Ed’s time in Germany also sees him visit Bremen, a city that has felt the impact of Merkel’s controversial policy to take on more refugees during the migrant crisis than any other country in Europe. Even in this most diverse of cities, the Alternative for Germany party is picking up votes – and Ed wants to know why. He meets with local cab driver Karsten, who feels threatened by the rise of refugee violence in the city – and has a surprising story to share. Ed also meets Frank Magnitz, the local AfD representative who believes his party are the only ones who are standing up for the people on the ground – but Ed i

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 would imagine they would 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 has 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, Marine 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 – b