Julie, 53, Oxfordshire
Occupation Inclusion manager in scientific research
Voting record Labour and Lib Dem in the past. Given a real choice, would vote Green. Would never vote Conservative
Amuse bouche Once went to the airport with a credit card, got on the first plane leaving and went to Australia for the weekend, from Kuala Lumpur
Mark, 48, Oxfordshire
Occupation Civil servant
Voting record Conservative once, in 2005, otherwise always Labour
Amuse bouche Used to run an LGBTQ+ walking group in Oxfordshire
For starters
Julie The maître d’ explained that they were expecting a party of 40 and there might be background noise, which there really was.
Mark I can’t remember what I ate as it was so noisy. We didn’t actually stay that long, and talked more walking back to the car park than in the restaurant.
Julie Once we settled down, and he stopped being nervous, he was very sweet. He cares deeply about fairness in the workplace, and he’s involved in diversity and inclusion groups. He talked for about 40 minutes without asking me what I did – and I’m a diversity and inclusion manager.
The big beef
Julie He supports the royal family, but immediately said, “not Andrew”. He felt the younger royals were more accessible, and that the Queen hadn’t been particularly accessible until Diana came along. But I’m a republican – I’d get rid of all of them. I said something tongue in cheek: that I’d force them to sell all their inherited land and property to the National Trust, then use the profit to make reparations for slavery. It’s never going to happen. I just thought I’d see what he said. His jaw dropped. I think it was a step too far.
Mark I’ve got no strong feelings one way or the other; it’s not a big thing for me. I can’t think of a good alternative to the royal family. I wouldn’t be too keen on President Cameron or President Blair or President Boris. Julie’s line was that the prime minister is quite presidential anyway so it wouldn’t make much difference.
Julie He said: “At least the monarch has the final say on things,” and I said: “When do they ever use the final say?”
Mark We talked about Barbados, which has become a republic. My argument was that they should have had a referendum before the government made a decision. Julie’s was that because the ruling party put it in their manifesto, people would have already known, so they didn’t need one.
Julie Barbados’s prime minister Mia Mottley’s Labour party won every seat – to me that says the voters wanted to distance themselves from British rule.
Sharing plate
Mark I think we should reopen a couple of coalmines for backup. My concern is that we haven’t got enough energy to support the country as it is. We should invest in renewables, of course, but it’s not going to supply us with everything we need.
Julie I said: “We could if we had any miners, but I suspect that would be quite expensive, retraining people who left generations ago.” I don’t agree with fossil fuels, obviously. It might be economical in the short term, but that’s because the current policy hasn’t invested enough in renewables.
Mark The country imports wood pellets from North America, which basically get driven on a lorry to the coast and sailed to Yorkshire. That’s not environmentally friendly. She was quite aghast at the wood pellets. She’s more into building up nuclear power. I don’t think we should be dependent on world energy prices. We’re either going to have to carry on buying wood pellets, relying on Russian energy or cut the power off. The country’s going to have to make a choice.
For afters
Mark Are the police institutionally sexist? My argument was that, over time, the workforce changes and you get a younger and more culturally aware intake as people rise up to management. I think cultures gradually change, because I’ve seen it in our place.
Julie I’m not sure people are changing. Maybe to an extent, but with cultural issues you need more leadership – you can’t assume it’s inevitable.
Takeaways
Mark I walked her back to the shopping centre where the car park is located. We parted there, on good, friendly terms.
Julie I left with the impression that he was a kind person – a trade unionist, which I approve of, and quite earnest.
Additional reporting: Sarah Hooper
• Julie and Mark ate at The Folly in Oxford. Want to meet someone from across the divide? Find out how to take part
