Another Story

Some things are hard to explain. When I first had the idea for a weekly show based around the explainers that we post on the Bbc News website, I liked the thought of having more time and space than I might normally have to consider some of the bigger stories of the week.

Over several days, I would be able to refine our explanations and analysis Into Something that I hoped would be useful and entertaining at The End of the week. A Short Cut to knowing what's what, if you like.

That remains The Plan . But it may just need to wait a week or two because something quite extraordinary is playing out in Westminster. " We Are deep into couldn't make it up territory, " as my colleague Chris Mason says.

But even in these helter-skelter moments, there are still chances to stand back, to distil what's happened and provide the fact-checking, context, analysis and explanation to really understand an event. Better still, to show how different events connect.

That's The Goal for our new series.

I risk being hostage to fortune given the speed of events in Westminster, But we plan to look at this story from A Number of directions.

When making our explainers and now this series, I try to have a nose for what I don't understand, and what I think you might not understand. The more I admit that I don't get it, the better I feel we do at explaining A Story clearly.

I often make a list of what I'd like help with. It's fair to say my list on This Week in Westminster is long and growing. We'll work through it - But there's one question I keep Coming Back to.

In The Middle of this maelstrom, we have a new Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt Who Talks of " difficult decisions". In other words, cuts. But when I followed the Tory Party leadership contest in the summer, while tax cuts were a Hot Topic , spending cuts weren't.

On the contrary, much was made of investing to bolster public services. Now Mr Hunt says they have to happen.

So What 's changed?

With The Help of Faisal Islam and my colleagues at BBC Reality Check , we've been examining the evolving nature of the government's budget - and how that informs the political tussles we're watching play out.

We'll work through that in our first edition.

We'll also take on how Brexit fits into this story and examine how it has impacted on The Performance of the UK economy.

Another Story we're hoping to take on is Russia's use of so-called " kamikaze drones". It's a good example of how the immediacy of an event can connect to much longer-term issues.

The Russians have been flying The Drones into residential buildings and residential infrastructure in Ukraine. That in itself is A Story of loss and of terror. But there are broader dimensions too.

The Drones come from Iran and, since Russia started using them, Ukraine has, again, requested that Israel help it build a better air defence system.

Israel knows plenty about this because of the success of its Iron Dome system that shoots down Palestinian rockets.

Ukraine's hope is that, because Israel and Iran are bitter foes, Iran's hardware being used by Russia, might prompt it to act.

Israel has declined. Its Defence Minister has said This Week , Israel will help - But will not be sending " defensive military equipment".

Former Russian President Dmitri Mevdedev has said to do so " would be a very reckless step". In other words, don't. And Israel won't be.

There remain limits to The Help Ukraine's allies will provide. There remains a commitment about combatting Putin - But to a point.

The Drone story raises questions about how The Conflict between Russia and Ukraine is pulling in far broader tensions.

Politics allowing, we'll also explore that in our first episode.

And this is where I hope the series can help. Providing you - and me - with the facts, the statistics, the explanations and the analysis to allow us to better understand what has happened.

I should only add one caveat. Everything above is The Plan as I write it. On a normal week, I'd be confident that's what you'll see if you switch on. This Week , I can't make that kind of promise.

Watch: on BBC on Thursdays at 11. 40pm and on the Bbc Iplayer

Source of news: bbc.com