Matilda, 19, Oxfordshire<\/p>\n
Occupation Starts a history degree in\u00a0September<\/p>\n
Voting record Conservative at the last election, but is considering the Greens<\/p>\n
Amuse bouche Plays the accordion \u2013 her mum\u2019s family are Scottish, so\u00a0it\u00a0felt like a natural thing to do. Her grandma bought her a gorgeous, glittery\u00a0accordion to learn on<\/p>\n
Tamsin, 36, Oxford <\/p>\n
Occupation University researcher, working on food sustainability<\/p>\n
Voting record Normally Green, but\u00a0has\u00a0voted Labour strategically<\/p>\n
Amuse bouche Has four pet rats, all\u00a0very different: Benvolio is the alpha; Cobweb is into nuts; Orlando is\u00a0the calmest; and Peaseblossom is just a\u00a0funny little man<\/p>\n
For starters<\/p>\n
Matilda Tamsin was so lovely. We were both quite nervous, but within about five minutes I thought, \u201cWe\u2019re going to\u00a0get on really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tamsin She was friendly and smiley. We were both probably a bit awkward. But she had clearly been thinking about what kind of things she wanted to say.<\/p>\n
Matilda Tamsin ordered padron peppers \u2013 I\u2019d never had them before, they were really scrummy. Then I had a steak.<\/p>\n
Tamsin I just looked for the vegan option and had that: butternut squash, kale and nuts. It was very nice.<\/p>\n
The big beef<\/p>\n
Matilda I think the royal family as an institution should stay. I\u2019m very patriotic. I really value the concept of the king and queen. Tamsin was of the\u00a0opinion we could keep the tradition but not have such privileged people in place. I don\u2019t really think that would work.<\/p>\n
Tamsin She was very committed to what I would understand as the aesthetic of tradition \u2013 my words not hers. She talked about how meaningful it is to have connection with the past, embodied by living people who occupy those roles and continue the traditions with dress and ceremony. Matilda\u2019s identity as a historian was really important to her \u2013 I could see how that shaped her feelings about this. If I were queen, I\u2019d abolish the monarchy. But doing it in an undemocratic way wouldn\u2019t make sense, so what I really want is a\u00a0referendum.<\/p>\n
Matilda At the moment, with the Andrew [Mountbatten-Windsor] thing, I think it was right for him to face questioning \u2013 nobody\u2019s above the law. It\u2019s made me\u00a0quite angry, in a\u00a0way \u2013 the\u00a0fact he\u00a0was born into such\u00a0privilege makes\u00a0the onus more on him to do his duty. But I don\u2019t think this should be used as a catalyst to get\u00a0rid of the monarchy. That legacy of tradition makes Britain Britain. The\u00a0idea of abolishing it and just having government is very wrong.<\/p>\n
Tamsin We talked quite a bit about Andrew \u2013 clearly, he has lived a morally questionable life. For me, if you\u2019re born to enormous wealth and privilege, what a surprise, you go off and push the boundaries. I\u00a0think, for Matilda, that\u2019s less clear.<\/p>\n
Sharing plate<\/p>\n
Matilda We talked about benefits and\u00a0how much provision the state should give to people. I was for a\u00a0reduced welfare state. I do think the\u00a0state should provide for its citizens \u2013 I\u2019m not in favour of privatising everything. But in the current situation, where people can earn more money on benefits than being in\u00a0work, some people are going to take\u00a0advantage of that.<\/p>\n
Tamsin Her view was that the state should be smaller, but it was difficult to pin her down on what she\u2019d cut. Her vision of a better NHS was leaner and more efficient and doing what it should be doing. But I\u2019d argue we\u2019ve spent 10\u00a0years seeing whether you can cut your way to efficiency, and the\u00a0answer is no. The result is chaos and inefficiency.<\/p>\n
For afters<\/p>\n
Matilda We are an island of immigrants, and the current conversation about immigration can turn weirdly racist. I\u00a0don\u2019t understand the reason for that \u2013 I\u2019m just in favour of stricter controls.<\/p>\n
Tamsin My sense was that she was offended by the image of the system not being able to cope with waves of disorderly people coming across. But she was also very keen to emphasise this wasn\u2019t about race or identity.<\/p>\n
Takeaways<\/p>\n
Matilda The conversation really inspired me to be more curious.<\/p>\n
Tamsin I was very impressed by her\u00a0thoughtfulness.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake<\/p>\n
Matilda and Tamsin ate at The Woodstock Arms<\/a> in Oxfordshire<\/p>\n