As the clock ticks down to next week’s critical Spending Review, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is hitting the road, announcing infrastructure investments and focusing attention on Reform-leaning areas. Is this a last ditch effort to steady the ship?

In this episode of The Fourcast, we're asking: Has Labour already lost control, just months into government? And can Keir Starmer turn things around?

Joining Matt Frei in the studio is Anushka Asthana, wrapping up two decades at Westminster and releasing a new edition of her insider book Taken as Red. She offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Starmer’s Labour rose - and where it may be faltering.

Also joining us is political commentator Andrew Rawnsley, who was there for the early days of the Blair-Brown era.

Can any government succeed in today’s economic climate, or are the comparisons simply unfair?

The aid crisis in Gaza is deepening. This morning, Israeli soldiers opened fire near crowds of Palestinians approaching a new food distribution site in southern Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed. At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. This comes just days after a similar incident left 31 dead and nearly 200 injured, an event for which Israel has denied responsibility.

As famine looms and disease spreads through the devastated territory, civilians are caught in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival. Aid is scarce, humanitarian convoys are often attacked or held indefinitely at the Gaza border, and the infrastructure needed to deliver essential supplies has collapsed.

In this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is in Jerusalem, speaking to Milena Ansari, a Palestinian lawyer and researcher with Human Rights Watch, and Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. They discuss how the crisis is unfolding, why so little aid is getting through, and who is being held accountable.

Elon Musk has announced an end to his time as the head of DOGE with a parting shot at his former boss Donald Trump over a bill that’s projected to add trillions to government debt - and now Donald Trump’s flagship tariff policy has suffered a major setback as a federal court ruled them illegal. The White House is of course appealing.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Evan Osnos, staff writer at the New Yorker, and Kenneth P. Vogel, reporter for the New York Times about crypto currencies, unprecedented pardons, and how this all fits into a wider pattern in President Trump’s administration.

Produced by: Freya Pickford and Calum Fraser