Dining across the divide: ‘I don’t think I broadened his perspective’

5 hours ago 5

Naser, 36, London

Occupation Pharmacist

Voting record Lib Dem

Amuse bouche He once saw Rio Ferdinand in a cafe near his mum’s house. “I looked at him, smiled and then remembered I was a Liverpool fan”

Isabel, 42, London

Occupation Assistant financial analyst

Voting record Usually Labour, “for my sins”. Would like the Greens to get in but doesn’t think they can

Amuse bouche Has survived breast cancer three times

For starters

Isabel Lovely bloke. I’d meet him again in a heartbeat. He felt like an old uni mate I hadn’t seen for ages. I had duck breast and then the cod.

Naser She’s lovely, lovely, lovely. A very educated, genuine young lady. She’s been through a lot, but is still smiling, still battling, still fighting and still happy. I had monkfish, then stuffed cod with reduced lobster bisque. It was delicious.

Naser makes a point to Isabel as they sit opposite each other at a restaurant table

The big beef

Isabel For me, the NHS must be preserved. What I didn’t realise until I spoke to Naser was just how much strain everybody in the NHS is under. It wasn’t that we disagreed about the size of it, it was more about how it is managed. The impression I had initially is that he wanted to cut it back, but what he was actually saying is that because of the pure demands on the service, we need to do what they do in France and Germany, so you pay in and you get mixed access.

Naser The French and Dutch systems have insurance models – co-pay – and they don’t have doctors on strike. My proposal was to make corporations and big companies pay for private insurance for their staff. It happens a bit already. Make it law. It will reduce the financial burden on the NHS. But the problems in the NHS aren’t just about money – you could add another £10bn/20bn/30bn and the fundamental flaws would still be there.

Isabel When you think of an insurance model, you always think of America, where if you don’t have the money, you die. I still don’t know what the right answer is. I don’t think I broadened his perspective; he knows what it’s like. He was coming from a place of taking the pressure off the people who work in the NHS. They need to feel that they’re valued, that they can do their jobs, that the facilities are good.

Naser I’ve seen private prescriptions just explode – people can’t get to see their GP and they’d rather pay £50 than go through the frustration. So they’re being forced into it, rather than it being organised properly. Why can you buy a box of Viagra over the counter, but not a blue asthma inhaler? This is an unnecessary regulatory burden that means people have to faff around, involve 111 and emergency services.

Isabel puts her point of view across while Naser eats across from her at their restaurant table

Sharing plate

Isabel Basically, we really bonded over the fact that when you’re a second-generation immigrant, your parents say: lawyer, doctor, accountant, those are the jobs you’re allowed to do. It’s very hard to break free from those shackles if you want to do something else. We both understood it – we both saw it.

Naser She’s Ghanaian by background; I’m Palestinian. We had a lot of shared immigrant perspective. We both felt that our parents pushed us hard to go to university, to go into a profession, to prove ourselves. They wanted to justify the investment, justify leaving, to people back home. My dad was a consultant surgeon, head of his department in the NHS, but did he have to do that? Could he not just have been a good guy?

Isabel thinks through her argument as Naser listens and eats opposite her at a restaurant table

For afters

Isabel The Labour party have really moved away from where they started, and become a centre-right party. They say they want the right kind of immigrant, but what is the right kind of immigrant?

Naser Starmer is a human rights lawyer, and he’s not doing enough to call out Israel for starving the Gaza Strip. He’s completely vapid.

Naser and Isabel share a laugh across their restaurant table

Takeaways

Isabel We exchanged numbers, so I’m hoping I can hit him up in three months.

Naser It was so friendly – we had a lovely time. I think we were both open-minded, and we both felt that the capitalist class is really screwing people over.