Hello, I'm Hugo Rifkind, as is so off on the way, and now we're going to be unpacking the politics of the day, from whether Kier Starmer has gone away with blocking Andy Burnham for standing for Parliament, to whether the USA is still a safe holiday destination.

We're also going to attempt to solve how to secure the future of democracy. And to talk about how people who can do it all, I'm joined by Libby Purvis. Hello, Libby. Hello. Thanks for being with us. How are you, Libby? All right. Fraught, January, all that stuff, but fine. Sounds like the best we can hope for. And James Merritt, James, how are you? Ray of Sunshine today?

I'm all right.

No, I would rarely be described as rare of sunshine, I think. No, in tune with the gloomy weather outside the window. You skipped into this studio humming, walking on sunshine, don't deny it. Something like that. Yeah, let's let people believe that. Well, let's start with the first of, several fairly bleak stories. but let's start with it anyway let's start with what's going on in Minneapolis

because following outrage let's start with the first of several fairly bleak stories but let's let's start with it anyway let's

start with what's going on in minneapolis because uh following outrage and large-scale protests over the

shooting of alex prety by uh immigration officials president trump is now preparing to pull ice agents

out of minneapolis you can watch uh scenes of armed officers forcefully uh apprehending protesters in

various cities across the u s on the times dot com because there's been a lot of that going on. A link to this, Giles Corrin writes in this column today that he's cancelled flights to Miami for a holiday during February half term and is opting instead to go to Northumberland because he feels he might not be safe. Libby, would you go to the USA right now? Yes, I might. If I, I mean, I've got friends

living in D.C. I don't think that it is that dangerous for everybody everywhere. I wouldn't

go out on a demonstration against ice in Minneapolis. But I think a lot of, I mean, in a sense,

I was getting off Giles also a bit of something

I'm seeing a lot of now, which is a wish to express disgust at what America has allowed itself

to become and it's half mad autocratic leader. I think that has more to do with it. I mean, I feel

I don't particularly want to contribute to the US economy,

so I probably wouldn't go just for fun. But to see something important or interesting,

or to see family, I would go. I always like the daily encounters with Americans. I like the

upfront friendliness, you know, the wish to get to know you and know all about you straight

away. But British people, that's very refreshing. So I don't write off America, but I can see, I feel this thing that a lot of people saying, you know, there was actually a very funny piece the other day, which obviously it's not, it couldn't happen, just saying, why doesn't Europe, all of Europe, just ban American tourism? Just say you can come on business trips, but none of your Venice, you know, none of your

costas, you know, none of your beautiful old cities, you know, you don't deserve it anymore. You are mean to us. And I think there's a lot of that feeling about. I mean, I guess the answer to that is because it would cost us billions. but I mean I take your point about how it's like a

registering a protest James I sort of look on one level

I mean, I take your point about how it's like a, it's sort of registering a protest. James, I sort of, look, on one level, I mean, much as I love Giles, on one level I read this column, I thought, this sort of reminds me of Americans thinking they're going to get, you know, sort of stab the moment they set foot in London, like irrespective of the fact that there are millions of people here and most of us go around our daily life really quite happily. But on another level, I don't know, man. I mean, I haven't been to the United States for a while.

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