# Mr Hope and Mr Sensible step into the danger zone

An episode of [The State of It](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1603820936), 15 Sep 2026, 36 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/times-daily-world-briefing/e/6aa909cd08efb24ed96dc89c/media.mp3

Will Labour raise taxes? The cost of government borrowing is going up and up. That means the chancellor, John Healey, may well need to cut spending or raise taxes next month - and tax rises are much more likely. Labour MPs are overwhelmingly happy for the first time in living memory, but is that because they haven't woken up to the grim economic reality? The Labour Party conference slogan this year is 'Hope Again', but while the prime minister is projecting optimism, the chancellor is cutting a much more sombre figure as his fiscal headroom shrinks. Will Andy Burnham's desire to lead on economic policy survive next month's budget? How likely is an early election? The assumption has been that Burnham will either stick to the Labour manifesto or he'll call an early election. Would he consider breaking, or at least bending, the manifesto to pay for all the things he wants to do? The donations row explained Labour's plan to block donations to Reform UK from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo is nakedly partisan. The row shines a light on the strange world of political donations and the surprisingly vague laws that govern them. How much of a difference would the £72m make to Reform's electoral prospects? Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times Ben Riley-Smith, political editor, The Sunday Times Lara Spirit, deputy political editor, The Sunday Times Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times Producer: Harry Kitson Executive producer: Molly Guinness Picture: Getty Images This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.