Politics Weekly: Nick Clegg, the unions and the pope

With delegates heading to Liverpool for the annual conference of the Liberal Democrats , the challenge for Nick Clegg is to keep his party behind him as the government begins to flesh out what will be cut from its budget. His party is tanking in the polls and the mood among rank and file may not have been lifted by an interview he gave defending cuts to welfare . At the TUC conference in Manchester this week, the Bank of England governor Mervyn King admitted that unions were "entitled to be angry". Union leaders warned of mass industrial action which could pose problems for the coalition - and also the new leader of the Labour party . Meanwhile, the taxpayer has picked up half of the tab for the state visit of Pope Benedict XVI - what does the reaction to his nationwide tour tell us about modern Britain? Leave your thoughts below and download Michael White 's daily conference podcast from Monday.