Hello and welcome to rock and roll politics, the podcast with me, Steve Richards.

Thank you for tuning in.

And what a week, what a week.

We could turn in all kinds of different directions and perhaps will.

So this is what we're going to do in our time together if it's okay with all of you.

My reflections, I will focus most on the arrival of a new

leader of the Conservative Party. This is an irregular event in British politics, but this time

as leader of the opposition rather than appearing as prime minister on the basis of an election of

100,000 roughly members. That has happened and so it gives us something to reflect on which

isn't speculative. As I record, we don't know what the outcome of the US presidential election will be. Some of you listen to

this later on in the week and maybe you will know by then, although you may not even by then,

but obviously this is the huge event hovering over us all. But firstly, and briefly, because

so much has been done on it, I want to reflect

a bit on that budget. It did turn out to be an historic budget, and in some ways a surprising

one. And politics is rarely surprising. Political characters are formed, and you roughly know

how they are going to behave at any given moment.

But this was surprising and that makes it very interesting.

And then you've written many, many emails about the budget.

Thank you, all of you for writing in.

As ever, we won't have time for all the emails,

but they certainly influence my reflections and we'll read quite a few out. Before all of that, the usual notices,

the last show of 2024 is at King's Place on November the 27th. We will have some fun. It's the festive special really,

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