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Hello.

Now, what was it that, was it Kate Winslet said when she won an award and she was really

stressed out and she got up on stage and she said, gather.

So I think what we're going to do in this episode of Newscast is we're going to gather.

Kate Winslet style.

We're going to process what was happening in politics before the summer holiday.

We're going to think about some of the things that have happened in the summer holidays,

and then we're going to throw forward to what we can expect in British politics for the second half of the year.

Get it? So that is what you will hear on this episode of Newscast.

Newscast from the BBC. Fat boy sliver me in the classroom doing our violin lessons. I was the tattletail in the class. Can I have an apology, please? I trust almost nobody. That daddy has to sometimes do strong language. Next time in Moscow. I feel delulu with no salulu. Take me down to Downey Street. Let's go have a tour. Blimey. Hello, it's Adam in the newscast studio. And here to help me are two people who are steeped in politics, past, present and future. Sitting on the sofa here in the newscast studio is political correspondent. Joe Pike. Hi, Joe. Hi, Adam. And also Hannah White, who's director of the Institute for Government, is here. Hello, Hannah.

Hello. Right. Before we talk about the future, let's talk about the recent past, because I always find with politics, because we go forward at like kind of light speed, we sometimes forget where we've been. So like a soap opera recap, let's talk about some things that were happening before the summer holidays.

I suppose, Joe, one of the big things was Labor's massive climb down on its welfare reforms.

The ice to the right, 335. The nose to the left, 260.

Absolutely, a moment of embarrassment for Kirstama, a tricky moment around discipline.

And one of the last things his team did, at least his team of whips did, before the summer recess was suspended for Labour MPs, including Rachel Maskell, who of course is quite prominent left-wing Labour MP and leader of some of the rebels.

Maybe that effort over discipline will continue in the future, and it's not over yet.

And people in the junior ministerial ranks who were maybe involved behind the scenes in that rebellion

could be sort of held to account for that. We also had that really

striking moment in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's questions with a chance that

Rachel Reeves was crying. We still don't know why exactly. And I suppose they said it was a personal

reason at the time, didn't they?

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