at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed, sending snow, ice and rock cascading down the slopes of marmolada. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. how do we live with a resurgent russia? do we need to confront or cooperate with china? can the uk repair its relations with the eu post brexit? foreign policy matters again. my guest on political thinking this week hopes to be our next foreign secretary, the first labour foreign secretary for many, many years. it s a dramatic change for david lammy, who for years used his powerful voice in the back benches to argue for justice for the people in his constituency in his home of tottenham in north london. david lammy, welcome to political thinking. thank you, nice to be back. when you were last on this programme, you talked to me about how pleased you were to be on the backbenches. i m very satisfied, you said. i feel
when you were last on this programme, you talked to me about how pleased you were to be on the backbenches. i m very satisfied, you said. i feel free, i feel liberated. i mean, at the time, you were making those passionate speeches that you did on grenfell, on windrush and all the rest of it, does that now mean you feel sort of caged? not quite. i loved being on the backbenches, you know, i really did. i loved being in government, to the extent that you actually did something. i suppose i am now in the third act. i don t know how many acts there are going to be. but what would i say this time? i have been in parliament 22 years, i m 50 in a couple of weeks time. so i suppose i ve got to come to terms with the sort of seniority in parliament, and, you know, parliament is generous if you have been there a long time, this is notjust your own party, it is the opposition as well. parliament quite likes specialisms and i ve, you know, there are some issues that i feel i have retur
do you mind me asking, why the therapist? i think i decided in lockdown. and i didn t have. the first bit of lockdown was great, you know, we were cooking, we were all at home, i remember, it was a nice spring. but the second bit was really torturous, i couldn t stand all the zooms, i couldn t stand. you know, i love the theatre, i love the cinema, i love socially meeting people, and all of that had been restricted. and i guess i decided i have got to the stage where i want to understand myself more. and, actually, writing, which was the bit that was my therapy, is not sufficient. so, that is why. it is my safe space every week, my safe hour. i have to do it on zoom because i am far too busy to go to someone s couch, but it is great. it works? it works, yes, it has made me a bit happier, yes.
i remember, it was a nice spring. but the second bit was really torturous, i couldn t stand all the zooms, i couldn t stand. you know, i love the theatre, i love the cinema, i love socially meeting people, and all of that had been restricted. and i guess i decided i have got to the stage where i want to understand myself more. and, actually, writing, which was the bit that was my therapy, is not sufficient. so, that is why. it is my safe space every week, my safe hour. i have to do it on zoom because i am far too busy to go to someone s couch, but it is great. it works? it works, yes, it has made me a bit happier, yes. and a bit more content with where i am, which is the key thing. do you get excited by the idea, notjust that you could be labour s first foreign secretary in more than a dozen years,