Hello and welcome to the edition, the Spectator's weekly podcast discussing some of the most important and intriguing issues within our pages with the writers behind them.

I'm Cindy Yu.

As the EU and the UK both set out what they want to get from the upcoming trade negotiations,

I'll be heading for almighty Brexit showdown.

We also have a look at the constitutional reforms being proposed by Guinea's President Alfa Condé

and how he has succumb to so-called African strongman syndrome.

And at the end of the episode, a pet peeve of mine, dogs that

are treated like babies. But first up, this week, both the UK and the EU have set out what they

want to get in the upcoming trade negotiations. But the gap is just too wide to bridge, writes

James Forsyth in this week's cover piece. So where are the

differences and where would potential compromises lie? James joins me now together with Peter Foster,

Europe editor of The Telegraph. So James, you write in this week's cover piece that we're heading

towards an almighty Brexit showdown. What do you mean by that? So if you look at the

postures, the two sides are taking up before next week's trade negotiations start, that they

are fundamentally quite aggressive to each other. The European Union is saying, we can't

proceed with the talks until we agree on the level playing field and governance. And on that level

playing field, you've got to basically

continue following EU state aid rules even after you've left. The UK government is saying that the

whole point of leaving the European Union is to do things differently. We intend to diverge. We're

not going to be bound by any EU rules after we've left. And the EU needs to accept that you can be

a country in Europe,

but in the words of David Frost, who is Prime Minister's Chief Brexit negotiation, you know,

...