Before we begin this podcast, I'd like to tell you about a special deal.

Subscribe today to The Spectator for just £12 and receive a 12 week subscription in print and online, along with, here's the magic bit, a free £120, John Lewis or Waitrose Voucher.

Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.

Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Each week we choose some of our favourite pieces from the magazine and ask their writers to read them aloud. I'm Patrick Gibbons and on this week's podcast.

Having returned from Washington, where he was part of the Prime Minister's press entourage,

the Sun's political editor Harry Cole reads his diary for the week. So he strumpled reports on the

growing Gen Z trend of maximising their air mileage. Continuing the spectator's campaign against frivolous funding,

Michael Simmons argues that Scotland is the worst when it comes to government waste.

Reviewing Liberty as Independence by Quentin Skinner,

the philosopher Nigel Warburton examines what it truly means to be free.

And finally, Justin Marozy provides his notes on possum.

Up first, Harry Cole. To the Queen Anne Splendor of the British Ambassador's residence in

Washington for Peter Manison's welcome party as our man in D.C. Downing Street did their utmost to stop us

lobby hacks from attending since they didn't want us to report on anything that might distract

from Kirstarman's ring-kissing at the White House the next day. The PM's make-or-break

meeting with the Don clearly weighed on his mind. On the plane over, he looked almost ill at the prospect.

Yet, by the time he landed, he was cracking jokes, air-kissing Tina Brown, and bantering with the FBI director Cash Patel, a Liverpool fan, about football. Oh, and

Peters do? The Luton's palace sparkled after its 120 million-pound refit, but it was still perhaps

a little understated for someone of his stature. When we reached the White House, Sakeer's nerves

had returned. He looked as though he might vomit, especially young and beautiful

AIDS shepherdess into the Oval Office. I inadvertently caught the PM's eye before the proceedings

begin, and without thinking, I give him a wink. Number 10, Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney,

...