Joe, 20, Southampton

Occupation Geography student

Voting record Green in the last general and local elections. Describes himself as a “democratic socialist”

Amuse bouche The restaurant where Joe and Eddie met is a retrofitted old church where Joe’s great-grandparents got married

Eddie, 63, Romsey

Occupation Sales in the cleaning industry

Voting record Labour, and sees himself as left of centre, but his Conservative MP, Caroline Nokes, is great, he says

Amuse bouche Eddie referees youth football after qualifying as a ref two years ago. “I’m on the lowest rung of the referee ladder, but I love what I do”

For starters

Eddie I’d left my car at the station so I just had a non-alcoholic gin and tonic. I looked at Joe and thought, nice lad. Football came up, inevitably. We’re both big Saints fans.

Joe Eddie’s very cool – he had a suit on and a matching cap. I think he could tell I was a bit nervous and was, like, don’t worry, it’ll be fine.

Eddie Joe thinks the Labour government should do more to look after vulnerable members of society. We’ve got to do that, up to a point, but Rachel Reeves also has to look after the public purse.

Joe All the starters looked mahoosive, so we shared some olives. Then we both had a steak. I had mine medium rare; his was well done.

The big beef

Eddie Decriminalising drugs would be the thin end of the wedge. If you legalised cannabis, people would get fed up with that and want to go to the next step, like that line from Prince’s Sign o’ the Times: “In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time / Now, he’s doing horse – it’s June.”

Joe People who traffic drugs should go to jail. But possession of a substance you’re only intending to use yourself should not be a criminal offence. Criminalising those people – affecting their employability – just exacerbates the problem. It’s a healthcare issue and there should be a healthcare response. When Portugal decriminalised drugs, they saw a drop in overdose deaths. In Switzerland, addicts can get their heroin at a clinic.

Eddie Is that dealing with the drug problem or are you just feeding the addiction? Drugs change people physically, but most of all mentally, and that’s not a good thing. I like to be in control of my body, although I do drink alcohol. If we go down the decriminalisation route, I’m scared which way the population will go.

Joe Fifteen-year-olds are going to smoke weed, which is getting stronger, with more links to psychosis. It would be better if it came from a regulated shop, like the ones in California. The “war on drugs” has failed.

Sharing plate

Eddie If there’s one individual I blame for the destruction of society, it’s Boris Johnson. I detest the man.

Joe We agreed on Brexit; both hate Reform. Eddie lived in Bristol and I’m at uni there. We spoke about the Edward Colston statue, which got pulled down and is now on display in a museum, covered in graffiti, which we agreed was a cool solution.

For afters

Eddie We disagreed on the HS2 train route. It was going to be London to Manchester; now it’s only going to Birmingham. Cutting a few minutes off that stretch is a complete waste of public money. We could have spent half that and made rail links within the north better, instead.

Joe Historically, the north has been forgotten. Obviously, Manchester is doing amazingly now, and Liverpool and Birmingham are coming back, but it would be good to link them up to London. If we were a serious country, we’d invest in infrastructure to connect our two biggest economic hubs in a fast and green way.

Takeaways

Eddie Joe is a very intelligent young man who knows what’s going on in the world today. I’m in sales, so I speak to everyone. As long as you’re respectful – which Joe is – I’ve got time for you.

Joe As a young person trying to engage in politics, you often face: “You’ve only been on this planet 20 years, so you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Eddie didn’t dismiss me. He didn’t always agree, but was empathetic, listened in a respectful way, and I really appreciated that. I said I’d see him at the football: he’s only 10 or 15 seats behind.

Additional reporting: Kitty Drake

Eddie and Joe ate at Papillon in Southampton

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