Mike Graham's guest clarifies his "last days of Rome" warning
Steven Barrett means the Roman Republic, framing a discussion of parliamentary standards, political privilege and taxes on online retailers.
UKLIVE - The Revolution Will Be Televised
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 51,818 views a day, 9 times a normal first day on this channel (5,758).
"Last Days Of Rome" - Britain's Elite Are ROTTING In Front Of Us
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 3:13Graham and Barrett question political honesty through the debate about Brexit and Russian interference.
- 8:40A sponsored TallyMoney segment interrupts the political discussion.
- 11:04Barrett argues that institutional changes dating to the Blair era weakened public standards.
- 12:30The title's Rome comparison concerns the Roman Republic and what Barrett sees as political cronyism.
- 20:00Both argue that taxing online retailers would raise prices and reduce shoppers' spending power.
- 30:56Barrett argues that recruiting inexperienced parliamentary staffers into safe seats produces overly compliant MPs.
Steven Barrett has a particular Rome in mind. Joining Mike Graham by video link, he compares British political life not with the fall of the Roman Empire, but with the collapse of the Republic that preceded it.
That distinction supplies the central image in UKLIVE's "\"Last Days Of Rome\" - Britain's Elite Are ROTTING In Front Of Us", which reached about 41,000 views in its first 15 hours, already well beyond the channel's usual full-day audience for a regular upload.
Barrett's argument is that public institutions need more than rules: they depend on people honoring them. He criticizes the enforcement of parliamentary standards and argues that political connections and privilege have displaced a commitment to public service. Graham's account of supercar showrooms and champagne events around London's Berkeley Square gives their discussion a street-level illustration of the divide they see.
The conversation also takes a concrete economic turn. Reviewing reports of proposed taxes on online retailers intended to support high-street businesses, both men argue that the costs would reach shoppers and leave them with less to spend. Barrett's position is blunt: "We're not going to tax our way to prosperity. No one ever has, no one ever can."
The video includes a sponsored segment for TallyMoney featuring its founder, Cameron Parry. A separate upload of Graham reacting to Prime Minister's Questions also drew a much faster audience than usual, giving UKLIVE two unusually widely watched political discussions on the same day.
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- Subscribers
- 185,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,573,401
- Channel views, pace per day
- 130,989 (on a normal day: 202,217)
- Video published
- October 14, 2026
- Video views so far
- 40,874 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 51,818
The numbers
Both the Barrett discussion and Graham's PMQs reaction have already passed the usual first-day audience for a regular UKLIVE video.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which Beatle's reported memory of his own birth comes up at the start of the conversation?
Graham brings up reports about Paul McCartney before the conversation turns to politics.