Andy Burnham has promised Britain can “hope again”. But with inflation rising, borrowing costs soaring and trillions of pounds of national debt, how much room does Chancellor John Healey actually have to deliver in the budget on Oct. 28?

This week, Pat and Sascha speak to Treasury insiders to find out who really calls the shots when a Chancellor puts together a budget. First, they hear from Matt Pound, one of former Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ closest advisers, about the tough choices facing Healey, the dangers of leaks and U-turns, and why keeping the bond markets onside matters more than politicians might like to admit.

Then, Cameron Brown, who worked under both Kwasi Kwarteng and Jeremy Hunt, and Simon Finkelstein, who advised Hunt at the Treasury, reveal just how obsessed Westminster has become with the bond markets. And POLITICO’s Financial Services Editor Fiona Maxwell gives her predictions for what Healey might have in store on budget day.

CORRECTION: This podcast has been updated to correct the description of Simon Finkelstein’s role.

Customs union, single market, rejoin, second referendum. It’s all feeling a little Ground Hog day in Westminster after Andy Burnham reopened the Europe question at Labour Party conference.

Hosts Sascha O’Sullivan and Pat Baker find out how the row over Europe will play out in the next few years, with Reform MP Danny Kruger and Labour MP Stella Creasy.

Sascha speaks to Cecilia Malmström, former EU Trade Commissioner during the Brexit negotiations, who says any new deal with the EU would need to be “Nigel Farage-proofed” in case Reform wound up in Downing Street.

UK-EU reporter Jon Stone explains what Burnham is hoping to gain from the EU summit next month, and whether Britain’s friends in Brussels care about Westminster looking again at Britain’s relationship with the trading bloc.