Martha Kearney's week

By Martha Kearney
Presenter, BBC Radio 4's World at One

Politicos can take time out with Latitude's psychedelic sheep

I am writing this in the middle of the Latitude Festival in the Suffolk countryside surrounded by men with pink hair and top hats, jugglers and a melange of sound from different tents and stages.

No, The World At One hasn't gone all counter cultural. I am here to present a special segment of Newsnight Review tonight.

Though if I wanted to, I could concoct a pretty respectable political discussion. There are at least three cabinet ministers here and numerous politicos.

I am not surprised that they're tempted to escape from Westminster. In fact, MPs won't be back after next Tuesday for three months.

Labour ones are heading for the summer break in a pretty despondent.

"How are things going?" I asked one this week. He just grimaced and drew a line like a blade across his throat.

Surprisingly bad

Some female politicians I interviewed for a programme called Gordon's Women on Sunday - still available on Listen Again - warned the prime minister that he needs to show change in the next three months or he will face questions about his leadership again.

A cabinet minister close to Brown believes he is safe so long as there is no move from within the cabinet, but they're still worried about Alan Johnson.

More optimistic Labour MPs are counting on some kind of recovery by the time of the election next year.

But unemployment will still be very high, three million according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. This month's figures were surprisingly bad.

The government will also have to contend with increasingly gloomy news from Afghanistan.

We heard a lot this week about whether there are enough helicopters in theatre or not.

I won't continue that discussion now, as one listener emailed to say that we'd used the word helicopter 32 times in one programme.

But it's clearly a debate which won't be going away.