John, 42, Birmingham
Occupation Legal regulator
Voting record Lib Dem, or Green when that has been a viable option
Amuse bouche John once drove his Ford Mondeo to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. He doesn’t have a car any more, for environmental reasons
George, 22, Manchester
Occupation History of art student
Voting record George was a member of the Green party, then Labour, then Lib Dem and now Conservative, which is how he’ll vote next year
Amuse bouche On a first date, George disturbed a wasps’ nest and they both got stung about a dozen times. “We had a four-year relationship after that”
For starters
George The restaurant was absolutely lovely inside. I’d never even eaten Vietnamese food before. John has been to Vietnam; he seems to have travelled everywhere.
John We shared a salt and pepper chicken starter, then he had a barbecue chicken curry and I had a coconut chilli pork main. The food was excellent.
George John was lovely – smiley, well spoken. He clearly showed an interest in listening and having a good conversation.
John It was clear early on that neither of us was going to be a ranter.
The big beef
John Euthanasia was a big one. I find it preposterous that we’re humane enough to euthanise animals but not humans. For me, it’s a no-brainer when you talk about things like terminal illness, constant pain, locked-in syndrome. People should have the choice of when to end their life.
George It’s a natural biological response, if you’re in great pain, to want the pain to end. You see animals go to any extent, biting their own limbs off or whatever. Animals have an instinct and act on it, whereas we should be able to balance or sublimate desires in favour of rational thinking and principles. I don’t think we should ever intentionally end life, because I think human life is sacred. We don’t have the right to.
John I’m an atheist, George is Catholic. There’s not a lot of wiggle room arguing against faith. I would risk jail to allow a loved one to die if that’s what they needed and wanted. I think it’s a mercy, not a cruelty.
George Before I converted to Catholicism I would probably have agreed with John. But I would still have been concerned about the practicalities – how free people really are to make that decision, how do you do it without risking vulnerable people sometimes being killed off?
Sharing plate
John Neither of us is on social media. There can be some good things, but we both felt the negative influence it has – the time it takes out of people’s lives, fake news, lack of science – outweighed the good.
George Social media is a tool, like a hammer. You can put up a shelf with a hammer or you can kill someone with it, but for me it seems there are more negatives. People act differently online; it seems it’s a struggle to have a reasonable conversation.
For afters
George For me, abortion is a debate about when life begins. Conception seems like a good, straightforward answer: life begins when there is DNA, there is a separate being.
John I don’t know enough about the development of an embryo, but I think when these cells start it’s the opportunity for life. Many pregnancies don’t come to term because of events in the early months, days, even hours, that people aren’t even aware of, so I see it as the opportunity for life, not life developing. George said he always gets asked about rape, and he’s even against abortion in those cases.
George I recognise how much pain there must be for a woman in that situation. But I don’t think an abortion solves that problem, it doesn’t make that trauma go away. We need to support them. And if that means adoption, we shouldn’t ostracise people for giving up their child.
Takeaway
John I sometimes wonder if we’re all guilty of not listening to people we’re close to because we think we know them and their opinions. With this, there’s none of that. You’re more open to everything they’ve got to say.
George It was a moment of optimism for me – that people with very opposing views can sit down, have a conversation, and just recognise that the other is not crazy, but often we just have different fundamental starting points for why we think what we do.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake
• George and John ate at Eat Vietnam, Birmingham
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