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This is Hugo Rifkin, and now we're going to be unpacking the politics of the day and finding out whether Kirstama is really in control or just sitting at the front of a driverless train.

And joining me are two journalists who always know exactly where they're going, and they are Patrick McGuire.

Hello, Patrick.

Good morning, Hugo.

Do you always know exactly where you're going?

Most of the time, yeah. Actually, people praise me for my sense of direction. I've seen you forcefully driving up my hill

on a line bike several times. Well, exactly. I know exactly where I'm going. Often to the famous

Royal Oak in Muswell Hill, which is a great poem. I mean, it's a straight line, so it's hard to tell if you know where you're going. And Laura Spirit, hello, Laura. Hi, Hugo, how are you?

You presumably know exactly where you're going as well at all times.

I feel like I don't have the kind of intuitive sixth sense

that Patrick often does when he seems to describe where places are vis-a-vis one another,

but I'm moderately competent at getting myself from A to B.

I think I'd I would say. Let's kick off. We've got lots and lots to cover.

And I want to start, get in, with Patrick's book, co-written with the Sunday Times Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrand.

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