Bring out the bunting, fire up the brass bands, roll out the red carpet. Donald Trump is coming to

town. Buckle up, everyone. I'm Hannah White, and this is Inside Briefing, the podcast from the

Institute for Government. So it is the week of the state

visit. The US president is in town and the timing could probably hardly be worse for a prime

minister still reeling from his sacking of his US ambassador, Peter Mandelson. There could be some

awkward moments ahead, but what can Stma actually hope to achieve from this trip?

And once Trump departs on Air Force One, Ed Davy will arrive in Bournemouth on Well.

Who knows? A jet ski, a parachute? We'll find out this weekend when the Liberal Democrat

Conference gets underway and the IFG will be there. Joining me in the studio are two IFG

program directors who have witnessed many state visits and party conferences, and that's Alex Thomas and Kath Haddon.

Hi both.

Hi, Anna.

Hello, Hannah.

What's your most edge-davyish daredevil stunt, Alex?

Oh, gosh.

I mean, I suppose I, as you were talking, it reminded me of after my A-levels, a group of us did a bungee jump in London,

and I failed to tell my parents about it. I think I was too afraid to let them know and thought

they'd stop me. But the thought of doing that now is inconceivable. You've become too old and set in your ways.

So if well and too afraid of heights. So yeah, maybe that's the next thing. Kath. I've always been too old and scared of heights to bungee jump or anything. I might have jumped off a few rocks into the rivers and so forth. I've done a bit of kayaking in my time, but I think by Ed Davies standards, that's quite tame these days. Well, we'll see if the Lib Dem leader can match either of your

exploits. And I am delighted that Michael Martins, a former political and economic specialist at the US

State Department and founder at Overton Advisory is back. Hi, Michael. Hi, nice to see you. Great to

have you on the pod again. Let's press on now then with the current state of UK government.

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