Oral comprehension on the internal workings of the British Labour Party. This exercise is designed for advanced learners interested in British politics and political science. Beyond the linguistic dimension of the task, it is also intended to show that a political party is not a monolithic entity.
Exercise: Listen to this podcast fragment and answer the 10 associated comprehension questions (keys below).
“A Beginner’s Guide to the Labour Party — Episode “Is Labour a Broad Church?’
-> Link to podcast [from 4’05 to 15’55] : https://shows.acast.com/abeginnersguidetothelabourparty/episodes/factions-is-labour-a-broad-church–
Questions
- Which of the following people are talking on the show ?
a. Jeremy
b. Jimmy
c. Alice
d. Ellie
e. Robbie
f. Ruby
g. Luke
h. Lucas
2. Which of the following definitions are given to describe ‘a faction’ ?
a. An organized grouping within a larger organization
b. A loose network of people sharing the same beliefs
c. A network of people who want to overthrow the leaders of an organization
d. A political organization gathering people with different agendas
e. An armed group acting for a political organization
f. A network of people which tends to lose elections
g. A specific current within a political movement
3. Name the first faction which is mentioned in the podcast
4. True or False?
a. the vast majority of Labour Party members are not affiliated to a faction
b. the left of the Labour Party is homogeneous
c. the boundaries of the factions evolve with time
5. Which former leader of the Labour Party did not want to join a faction ?
a. Ed Miliband
b. Tony Blair
c. Jeremy Corbyn
6. Which political current corresponds to which faction?
| Faction | Politics |
| a. Progress | A. Hard left, Corbynism |
| b. Compass, Open Labour, Tribune | B. New Labour, Blairism, social democracy |
| c. Momentum | C. Soft Left |
7. Which of the following people does not have a political current named after him?
a. Tony Blair
b. Jeremy Corbyn
c. Tony Benn
d. Neil Kinnock
e. Ed Miliband
8. Which of the following best describes the political trajectory of the hard left within the party ?
a. They went from the margins of the party in the 1980s to being in the lead in the 2010s.
b. They were always the ones in the driving seat of the party.
c. They have been driving the party for the past 30 years and are now losing momentum.
d. They have always had a marginal role in the party.
9. Identify which of the following sentences sum up the beliefs of the left of the Labour Party :
a. The state should own and run public services
b. Nuclear weapons such as Trident should be dismantled
c. International military interventions are not always legitimate
d. The members of a society should be equal
e. The welfare state should be interrogated
f. Social movements are an important part of politics
g. The alliance with the US is very important
h. The country should be able to defend itself with a nuclear weapon if need be
i. Public services should be provided by both the state and the market
j. Social equality can benefit the UK’s economy
10. What makes the guests laugh ?
a. The idea that the Labour party could win an election
b. The idea that the Labour party could not have a leadership election for a long time
c. The idea that the Labour Party could choose a leader once and for all
d. The idea that the podcast host could stand for election
- d, f, g
- a. b. g.
- Momentum
- a=true, b=false, c=true
- a
- a/B, b/C, c/A
- e
- a
- a, b, c, d, f,
- c
What's the English for 