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Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator. I'm Cindy Yu.

This week, we take a look at how the race to find a COVID vaccine has become a global power struggle.

Also on a podcast, how much of its electoral support is the government gambling with its hardline Brexit position?

And last, a modern dayday colligula in Thailand, I hear about King Rama the 10th.

First up, vaccines have almost always been in the realm of scientists, but because of the threat

of COVID-19

to the entire world, this time round it's also become political, as Matthew Lynn writes in the cover piece this week.

Here's Donald Trump.

So we're going to have a vaccine very soon, maybe even before a very special date.

You know what date I'm talking about.

We're also joined on a podcast by Professor Beatata Kampman, who is head of the

Vaccine Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. So, Matthew, you heard from

Trump there. I mean, it really seems like this vaccine's race is becoming playground fight between

world leaders. Can you paint the picture of what it's currently looking like? Yeah, I think, I mean,

you know, Trump's not the most guarded politician in the world

and the quote makes it pretty clear what he was thinking of him. And I guess the date could be

Christmas he's talking about it. But I think it's the presidential election in November when he says,

you know which date I'm talking about. The race of the vaccine and it started off as a scientific

endeavour, which is what it should be. and that's obvious enough, but it's become

in the last, I guess, month or two months, very, very political, and that was always inevitable.

...