The Briefing Room

November's midterm elections in the US are the first chance for voters across the country to pass judgement on President Trump's administration since the 2016 election. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs and a third of the Senate. If the Democrats win control of the House, they would not only be in a position to halt President's Trump's legislative agenda; they would also be able, should they wish, to start impeachment proceedings. On The Briefing Room this week David Aaronovitch asks what's at stake in these elections and how the outcome will reshape the American political landscape two years before the next Presidential election in 2020.CONTRIBUTORSKen Goldstein, professor of politics at the University of San FranciscoElena Schneider, campaign reporter for PoliticoElaine Kamarck, senior fellow in the governance studies programme at the Brookings InstitutionJeff Lazarus, associate professor of political science at Georgia State UniversityLarry Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics

The prime minister, Theresa May bemoaned the state of the housing sector in a speech earlier this year. She said the national housing crisis was one of the biggest barriers to social mobility in Britain today. She acknowledged that property prices have put home ownership out of reach for millions of people. And she pointed the finger at the failure to build enough of the right homes, as she put it, in the right places. But is the failure to build at the core of the problem? Or are other factors at play? Would excluding foreign ownership make a difference, or making more land available on which to build? And are we too obsessed with the idea of owning our own house? This week in The Briefing Room we ask why we can't fix the housing crisis?CONTRIBUTORSDan Tomlinson, research analyst at The Resolution Foundation think tankColin Peacock, Radio New Zealand Christine Whitehead, Professor of Housing at the London School of EconomicsPolly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity ShelterAndrew Whitaker of the Home Builders Federation.

Greece exited its bailout programme last week. It's the culmination of nine years of reliance on huge loans from international finance bodies and stringent budget cuts. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, heralded it as a day of liberation.In the course of the country's economic crisis, youth unemployment rose to nearly 50 per cent and 40 per cent of the working age population was left at risk of poverty. Pensions were frozen and public sector salaries slashed.David Aaronovitch speaks to guests about what successive governments have had to do to turn things round and what impact years of austerity have had on the day-to-day life of the Greek people. And although the economic indicators have improved somewhat, how confident can the Greek government be in its future and in its ability to stimulate longer term growth?CONTRIBUTORSMichele Kambas, Athens bureau chief at Thomson ReutersRoman Gerodimos, founder of the Greek Politics Specialist GroupChloe Hadjimatheou, BBC journalistProfessor Kevin Featherstone, Director of the Hellenic Observatory at the London School of EconomicsProducer: Tim Mansel.

This week Turkey's currency plummeted to its lowest level ever against the US dollar. The lira's steady descent this year was accelerated by the imposition of increased tariffs on steel and aluminium by the United States. President Trump, it seems, is personally angered by the continued detention in Turkey of an American pastor, who's been held for nearly two years on suspicion of spying. The currency crisis has focussed attention on Turkey more broadly: on economic difficulties with deep roots, on the leadership of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accumulated unprecedented power, and on Turkey's troubled relationships with many of its traditional allies. Mr Erdogan says he may now need to look for new friends - a potentially troubling prospect for other NATO members. David Aaronovitch asks how deep is the Turkish crisis?CONTRIBUTORSSoner Çağaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of The New Sultan - a biography of President Erdogan.Dr Mina Toksoz, an emerging markets and country risk consultant at the foreign affairs think tank Chatham HouseDr. Amanda Sloat, Brookings Institution, Washington DC and former deputy assistant secretary for Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs at the US State Department Dr Ziya Meral, a specialist on Turkey and a fellow at the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research

This month exam results are published, and millions of young people will be hoping that they will do well enough to get into their chosen university. But students don't only need good grades to succeed - they also need money. Ever since the expansion of higher education in the late 20th century, the way we pay for universities and their students has been through many changes. But now, the system is broken, critics say: tuition fees and student loans are too expensive, and the whole system is too opaque. This week, the head of one elite university group called for the return of maintenance grants. So what's wrong with student finance, and how can it be made to work better? David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss.

In May, what was billed as the biggest ever overhaul of train timetables led to widespread rail disruption - why has this new timetable caused such rail chaos this summer? Since then, passengers travelling on the services of two rail franchises - Govia Thameslink and Northern - have suffered weeks of cancellations and delays. The overhaul was aimed at improving punctuality and boosting capacity, but what passengers got was hundreds of trains removed from service as the franchises struggled to cope with the planned changes. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has defended his handling of the situation and pointed the finger at the rail industry - but who is really responsible? And can long-suffering passengers trust that the disruption will finally be brought to an end - and not repeated?David Aaronovitch assesses what led to such chaos on the railway and what the disruption says about the state of Britain's railways.CONTRIBUTORSTony Miles, Modern Railways magazine Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University.Lord Adonis, former Transport Secretary and former Chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission.

Imran Khan has claimed victory in Pakistan's election - but what will he be able to change? Khan is better known internationally for his exploits on the cricket field than in the political arena.On the surface his ascent to power represents significant change. Politics in Pakistan has been dominated for decades by two families: one, of Nawaz Sharif, the last man to be elected prime minister, the other, of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter, Benazir. Khan has ties to neither dynasty so appears to break the mould. But there is another constant in Pakistani politics: the army. Most observers agree that Khan owes his success to military support, and many believe he will be able to govern only with military approval. David Aaronovitch assesses the significance of his remarkable result.CONTRIBUTORSAyesha Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University, MassachusettsShahzeb Jillani, senior executive editor, Dunya TVHusain Haqqani, former Pakistan ambassador to the United StatesProf Katharine Adeney, director of the Asia Research Institute at the University of NottinghamProducer: Tim Mansel.

Dominic Raab, the recently appointed Brexit Secretary has been in Brussels this week - his first visit since replacing David Davis, who resigned after the cabinet had apparently agreed on a document that represented a UK proposal for its future relationship with Brussels. The Chequers document was the basis for the White Paper presented by the government last week, but the White Paper was undermined almost immediately by two days of dramatic interventions in parliament. So is what was agreed at Chequers really the basis of the UK's negotiating position? David Aaronovitch discusses this week's political and technical developments.CONTRIBUTORSAdrian Wooldridge, political editor of The Economist and author of the Bagehot columnJill Rutter, former Treasury and Number 10 civil servant and now programme director at the Institute of GovernmentPatrick Smith, Europe editor of the Irish Times

Should NATO plan for a future without the United States? President Trump has long complained that some European members of the organisation have been getting a free ride from the USA after failing to meet their commitment to spend two per cent of their national income on defence.At the NATO meeting on Wednesday he raised the ante, saying he wanted the two per cent to be raised to four per cent. The rhetoric from the White House has raised fears that the Trump administration might consider withdrawing from NATO altogether. David Aaronovitch asks to what extent are European NATO members getting a free ride and could they defend themselves without US support? He assesses the current threat to NATO and asks how the military alliance strengthens its European members and how the United States benefits from membership. CONTRIBUTORSElisabeth Braw, expert on European security at the consultancy Control RisksNick Childs, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic StudiesFilippo Costa Buranelli, School of International Relations at the University of St AndrewsTomas Valasek, former Slovakian permanent representative to NATOHeather Conley, served in the US State Department during the George W. Bush administrationProducers: Tim Mansel, Serena Tarling and Olivia Beazley

What will Britain's relationship with the EU look like after Brexit? On Friday the cabinet meets in Chequers and the Prime Minister needs to unite her ministers to coalesce around a single approach to negotiations with the EU. What might that approach look like? Is the so-called Norway option back on the table? What would that mean and how might it work? ContributorsCatherine Barnard - Professor of European Law at the University of CambridgeLiv Monica Stubholt - partner at Norwegian Law firm Selmer, and an expert on Norway-EU relationsJohn Erik Fossum - Professor at the ARENA Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo, Peter Spiegel - News editor, Financial Times and former Brussels Bureau chief.