Back after the two week break when Pat decided to take his holidays at precisely the wrong, political, time.
In this "while he was away" episode we kick off with our reaction to the return of George Galloway to Westminster after his thumping victory in the Rochdale by election.
As Galloway enters Parliament Lee Anderson departs from the Tory Party to join Reform. This plus speculation on Kate's family photo took up 40 minutes of The World at One on Radio 4. Lesley questions the focus and asks if this represents the values and priorities of Scots.
We take a look at Hunt's Budget. What traps has he laid for an incoming Labour government? What does it say about Starmer's Labour when it is committed to the same "We can't max out the country's credit card" narrative?
Sticking with Westminster, is there merit in Keith Brown's suggestion that the SNP should consider Sinn Fein style abstentionism?
Keith has also been blunt in his calling for Stephen Kerr MSP's candidacy for the Conservative Party be removed after his recent comments on Humza Yousaf and the Scottish Government's funding of UNRWA.
Growth is the cry from both Labour and the Tories but the UK's is anaemic in comparison to that of the USA. What part, if any, will the economy play in the upcoming Presidential election? Biden and Trump have their nominations sewn up but will Trump's culture wars appeal beyond his base?
Labour also seem about to back Michael Gove's controversial redefinition of extremism. We examine the backgrounds of those driving this and its potential implications.
Along the way we also cover Michelle Donelan's libel case, the showing of Lesley's Denmark movie to MSPs, the special women's edition of the National and what inspired it, and baggage shenanigans at Edinburgh airport.
If you want to see Lesley's Denmark movie follow this link
https://lesleyriddoch.com/events