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unpacking the numbers behind some of the most pertinent questions of our time.

Hello and welcome to The Spectator podcast. I'm Katie Balls.

This week, Boris Johnson agrees a Brexit deal, but can he get it through Parliament?

Plus, who are the biggest beneficiaries from the Turkish incursion into Syria?

We look at how Russia is consolidating its influence in the Middle East. First up, is Brexit

within reach. As Boris Johnson agrees a Brexit deal with the EU, it seems that we really may be

leaving the EU on the 31st of October after all. So what does this mean for a general election,

and is it imminent? Is the Brexit party still a threat to the Tories?

And would the Tories still be able to win over Labour voters if Boris Johnson has delivered

Brexit? To discuss, I'm joined by Paul Mason, journalist and author of Clear Bright Future

and James Johnson, former polling strategist for Theresa May when she was prime minister.

James, as someone he's recently left number 10, do you think Boris Johnson's deal is significantly

different to Theresa May's?

I think it probably is. I think that he has managed to get the kind of changes that, let's face it,

a lot of people were saying leadership contenders,

backbench MPs, people who've since lost the Conservative whip that he wouldn't be able to get

both on Northern Ireland. The legal text of the withdrawal agreement has changed, also on the

political declaration, and the will seems to have changed a little bit in the Conservative Party

as well. However, it clearly wasn't enough or was too different in

some respects for the DUP to swallow, so it's still going to be a very, very tight vote on Saturday.

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