I'm John Battsu with my listening post, Joseph Sternberg in London.

London has the best paper of the Financial Times in Europe.

Wall Street Journal's the best paper in America.

But it also has a prime minister who is not quite defended by the very good media that he gets.

For example, he has a very winning story today about him sitting with first graders

and having fun coloring books.

This sort of soft story that you give up, Prime Minister, at the year's end,

except Joe I read at great distance that Kirstremer genuinely is in trouble, probably caused

by the debt that the debts that are accumulating and that they're going to try to tax their

way out of with the fall budget. But also because there's a sense in the Labor Party that they're going to try to tax their way out of with the fall budget.

But also because there's a sense in the Labor Party that they're not going in any direction that's discernible,

and they've got a deadline up ahead, something that's going to happen in the spring of 26, a vote somewhere.

Is he really in trouble is the big question?

Yeah, I think that Kirstormer probably is in trouble, although it's an interesting question whether he personally is in trouble or whether the problem is that the whole labor party

that he leads is in trouble. Because you're absolutely right. The big event this week is

going to be that on Wednesday, his chancellor of the exchequer equivalent of

the Treasury Secretary, Rachel Reeves, is going to be announcing the budget for the next year

and indeed for the next few years because they always do these multi-year budget plans.

It's going to be awful.

It's going to feature huge tax increases, including probably on working households, which

is something that Labor specifically promised they would not do when they were running for

election in summer 2024.

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