Sam Hancock
Live reporter

Another Sunday morning (almost) done, and with it another Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg - presented this week by Victoria Derbyshire.

Today's guests covered a wide range of topics, with everything from HS2, environmental policies, housing, Brexit and - of course - the next general election being spoken about.

• If you want to read more about what was said on this morning's show, head to our main news story here
• It feels as though HS2 is going to be the political talking point of the next few days, so if you want to read more about the fresh criticism you can do that here
• And for all of BBC News' political content, simply head this way

That's it from us, thanks for following along. Today's page was brought to you by writers Thomas Mackintosh and Ali Abbas Ahmadi, and edited by myself, Nadia Ragozhina and Samuel Horti.

One final clip to bring you from today's programme, this time from Grant Shapps.

In his remit as defence secretary, he answers whether next year's US presidential election will have any impact on funding to help Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Shapps reaffirms that the UK will "stand shoulder to shoulder" with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Have a watch below.

Image source, PA Media

More political views to bring you now, this time from the former leader of the Lib Dems who feels a coalition deal with Labour after the next general election is "very unlikely".

Speaking to Paddy O'Connell on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, Sir Vince Cable was asked about the possibility of a Labour-Lib Dem coalition government. Here's what he said:

Plenty of questions were angled at Sir Ed Davey on the Lib Dem stance on the European Union.

As has been reported this morning, according to the party's leader the Lib Dems would seek "root-and-branch" reform of the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the EU rather than "tinkering around the edges" of the existing deal.

He told the programme the Lib Dems remain a pro-European party.

Have a watch of the exchange below.

Image source, EPA

Grant Shapps was asked about a wide range of topics today because he has worn many political hats since he was elected as an MP in 2005.

Here’s a rundown of the positions he’s held in the last year - and the key ones leading up to them.

• Aug 2023 - present: defence secretary
• Feb – Aug 2023: energy security and net zero secretary
• Oct 2022 – Feb 2023: business secretary
• Oct 2022: home secretary (a position he held for six days, under then-PM Liz Truss)
• Jul 2019 - Sep 2022: transport secretary
• May - Nov 2015: international development minister
• Sept 2012 - May 2015: Conservative Party chairman
• May 2010 - Sept 2012: housing minister

Confused by Grant Shapps' mention of hybrid cars when speaking to Derbyshire about the government's delay to the 2030 net zero policy?

BBC Newsnight's economics editor Ben Chu offers some clarification.

In a post on X, external, Chu says that Shapps was "muddying the waters" by bringing up hybrid cars. The timescale for the sale of hybrid cars hasn't changed, Chu says, but "no one was suggesting it had".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced last week that the government would allow the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until 2035, moving it back from 2030.

Let's have a look back at the moment Darren Jones, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said Labour would love to see the HS2 project built in its entirety.

But, he told the programme Labour wouldn't make a decision about HS2 without all of the facts available to them.

Have a watch below.

Sam Hancock
Live reporter

Phew, that was a jampacked hour!

There's lots to digest - especially on the government's changing green policies and the future of HS2.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps defended both, saying the UK would achieve net zero by 2050 and that no final decision had been made about the future of the rail project.

Labour's Darren Jones and Sir Ed Davey, of the Lib Dems, also had a lot to say on housing, HS2 and the UK's relationship with the EU. You can catch up on all of that in our earlier posts.

One thing's for sure - the next general election seems to be well and truly underway.

We'll bring you any key analysis and reaction that comes our way - as well as some clips from the show. Stay with us.

In the last few minutes of the programme, Rachel Johnson is asked about the Lib Dems - she was once a member of the party. She says the party must be clear that it doesn't want the UK to rejoin the EU, but at the same time want better trade relations with the bloc. It's an "open goal", she says.

Yanis Varoufakis and Craig Mackinlay get into an argument over Brexit. Greece's ex-finance minister says there is "no plan" for making Brexit work. The Tory MP argues that the UK is in a better position than the EU.

Johnson concludes by saying that "we want a good Brexit, and there is no such thing."

These comments conclude Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, presented today by Victoria Derbyshire

Turning to relations with the EU, Derbyshire asks what a better deal would look like with countries in Europe. (It comes after Sir Keir Starmer told the Financial Times, if elected, he will seek a "much better" Brexit deal with the EU if Labour wins the next general election.)

"The Tories have had negotiate add-ons like the Windsor framework," Jones says, adding Labour "will have to reset these relations".

But he insists Labour is not seeking to rejoin the EU.

Jones says the UK needs to have "a better working relationship" with the EU - and Labour wants businesses to have an easier ride "day-to-day".

Why won't Labour "step up and make a decision" on its stance over HS2, Derbyshire asks.

Jones responds that this is about money, the economic impact and the effect on other infrastructure projects.

He adds that he cannot make a commitment until there is more information available about HS2.

Labour is a serious party, he says, and will prepare for government in a "serious way".

Derbyshire asks about the financial impact on towns and cities if the northern legs of HS2 don't go ahead.

"What are the costs of not building it?" she asks.

"We don't know as the government haven't published it," Darren Jones replies, adding:

Darren Jones has been a Labour MP since 2017 - but is fairly new to frontline politics.

Appointed as shadow secretary to the Treasury a few weeks ago, he was part of Sir Keir Starmer’s September reshuffle - largely seen as a bid to bolster his shadow cabinet ahead of the next election.

Jones served as chair of the House of Commons business and trade select committee for three years.

During that time he became a prominent campaigner for Amazon workers to be able to join a trade union.

He represents the Bristol North West constituency and, upon entering Westminster, memorably claimed to be the “first ever Darren” elected to the Commons.

Labour's Darren Jones is next in the hot seat.

Derbyshire asks the new shadow chief secretary for the treasury about HS2, and whether the Labour party supports it.

He says the party would love to see HS2 built, Jones says, but adds there is no proper information about costs and timings being made available from the government.

We're only responding to leaks from the Tory party, he says, and so cannot make infrastructure commitments worth tens of billions of pounds without seeing all the information.

Coming to the end of his interview, Davey is asked about the coalition the Lib Dems made in 2010 with the Tories - and whether they'd make another deal with Labour at the next general election.

"At the moment I am focused on electing as many Lib Dem MPs as possible," he says.

Derbyshire presses Davey on whether a deal is on the cards with Labour for a coalition.

He dithers on answering, leading to Derbyshire accusing him of "not answering the question".

The Lib Dem leader laughs and says, again, that he's focused on getting more Lib Dem MPs into Parliament.

Onto UK-EU relations, Davey is asked whether the Lib Dems still have as strong an anti-Brexit stance as they did in 2019.

Davey says the party remains "very pro-European", but is realistic about what needs to be done for the UK to be able to work with Europe after the Conservative government has "soured" relations between the two nations.

When pushed on whether he'd fight for the UK to rejoin the EU, Davey deflects by saying that is "no longer on the table".

It's going to take time to rebuild the relationship with the EU, he says.

Derbyshire press Davey on why the Lib Dems got rid of the 300,000 social homes a year target, to which he says the party prefers a community-led approach rather than one which is led by developers.

Asked if this is a move to appeal to Tory voters, Davey says it's "absolutely" not about that - it's about the party's housing targets.

He reiterates the stance the Lib Dems have against a developer-led model.

Davey is asked about his policies now, specifically his target to achieve 150,000 social homes each year. "Is that enough?"

"We're debating this in the party conference", replies the party leader, before clarifying that the party wants more housing in general.

When pushed on whether that number is enough - with housing officials saying at least 300,000 homes are needed, Derbyshire notes - Davey says they want to work with the private sector to build more homes to free up space for those who don't qualify for social housing.

Right, let's get to the next interview. Victoria Derbyshire turns to talk about the Liberal Democrats and says that the last general election, they won just 11 seats

But since then they've had four by-election victories - all of them in what were Conservative seats.

Derbyshire asks what exactly Sir Ed Davey stands for against the backdrop of a "word cloud" - put to voters - which includes phrases from the public including "no idea" and "not sure".

"We are getting over our ideas, we have been winning by-elections, we have been having success," he adds.

Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister, who's also on the panel, says he supports HS2.

He also says that from the outside, the UK is looking like a country that is becoming "very introverted" and unable to pursue a large scale financial scheme.

He adds that great modernising projects very often are very expensive - like the US railways - but they leave behind an infrastructure upon which modern society has been built.