Off Air... with Jane and Fi - The Most Excellent Order of Jane and Fi

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

Jane has been telling porky pies (ahem) and she’s been caught out again… Jane and Fi also cover their love of Ikea, investment, driverless cars, and there’s even a special sound-effect competition. Plus, Dame Susan Langley, Lady Mayor of London, joins to discuss stepping into the role and what she wants for the future of businesses. You can listen to our 'I've got the house to myself' playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MkG0A4kkX74TJuVKUPAuJIf you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation then please email us: [e-mail] us on Instagram! @janeandfiPodcast Producer: Eve SalusburyExecutive Producer: Rosie Cutler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're not regulated by the Financial Services Authority yet. We can set up our own bank. Then we'd be absolutely fine. And so would you. Because you're the bank with us. Perhaps not me, actually. As you know, I'm a proven liar. Welcome.

to Tuesday's podcast. Now, we do have, should we do some parish notices about what happens later in the week? Because tomorrow, we've got an email-only podcast. I mean, I say that as though it's a bad thing. It's not. But if you want to have a good shout of getting your email included, you could ping one in over the next 24 hours. It might be quite good, might. And the reason why we have an email special is because it is the budget. And we are going to... We'll just say it. We've been stood down. So we've been stood down and, at... Times Radio, if you're interested in the live coverage, we'll be having a special program hosted by Andrew Neal and Joe Coburn.

So they will take you through from 1 o'clock until 4 o'clock because you and I will just be at home with our abacus. It's not to work it out. Well, we'll probably just be looking at makeup and playing with cats. Well, in all seriousness, I was going to listen to the budget whilst going to IKEA. I used to think I was obsessed with IKEA. I think you've suddenly called it off me. No, I think other people have been going to the store

No, irrespective of whether or not you were there But the last time I went to IKEA It was so, so busy, it was on a Saturday And I just thought, oh my God, I really want to go just weekday And now I've got the opportunity So I'm very grateful to Andrew Neal I'm very grateful to Joe Coburn And I shall listen, I will digest all of the facts

But no, we're not on air And Joe Coburn's a woman She's even a woman Yeah, in case people were thinking and maybe she's one of those blokes called Joe. And Andrew Neal has always been a very decent male colleague, hasn't he? And I think sometimes these days you have to say when people are good. Oh, that's true.

Because, you know, there's quite a lot of stuff that ain't good, but he's always been a very respectful colleague, so he'll do a fantastic show. But, yeah, you and I are out. Yeah. I thought, you're going to IKEA. I thought I'd go to London's fashionable borough market. Well, I've been going there for years, and you've only just caught on.

I can't win. I'm going to buy some. I did actually get some sauce last week. You know, they've got these stores with these very inviting bottles of potion to add to almost any food to josh it up. And I got some chili garlic concoction last week. Quite literally blew my head off when I, I mean, I've applied it everything I've eaten. Eggs, marmalade, roast beef. And it's just been incredible. It really, really works. Is it basically a pot? Sirecha. It just looks, it's bright green, so it doesn't look. Oh, it's green. Yeah, it's green. And it's probably got, I don't know whether it's got some sort of, I don't know, I don't know how they've acquired the colour, if I'm honest. But tell you what, good stuff.

Now look, I just want to bring you a sound effect competition. Okay. Do you like sound effect competition? I love sound effect competition. They used to be very much a staple of... They're a mainstay of local radio. And indeed, national radio. Mid-morning.

Mid-morning shows would excel at this. My favourite will always be the one they used to have on Radio WM in Birmingham, which was just called Watts in my hand. And that was on the breakfast show, I think. Or was it mid-mornings? And you just couldn't do that these days. No. And my favourite was the Radio Bristol, who's in the cupboard.

Whoever it is, let them out. They shouldn't be there. The sort of practices have now been stopped. Right. What's this? everybody. Okay, what is this? That's enough.

If you have any ideas, let me know. It does relate to something we talked about last week on the podcast. That's all I'm saying. We'll keep the... Oh, I know what it is. We'll keep the tension going until tomorrow's email special. When I'll tell you what that was. Plug in your domesticity.

yeah that's a very good clue well done so um now look there's no getting away from this it doesn't matter how much you filibuster with your parish notices yeah okay incoming right at the top of the pile noticed by everybody on the team an email came in saying what else has jane lied about look when i made that not guilty please shush shush shush stephan in wales at her moment dear jane and fee i didn't want to point this out earlier as i know jane is having a rather worrying time currently with her mom however Now that Fee has specifically asked for evidence of Jane's lies, I'm wading in. There is no photographic evidence in this case, but the evidence is to be found in your own back catalogue.

A couple of weeks ago, Jane swore that she didn't eat meat wrapped in pastry, as you couldn't see the meat. This came as rather a surprise. Given only a few weeks prior, Jane was recorded in the Green Room at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, not only tucking into a sausage roll, but complaining about the size of it. What will she lie about next? Very best wishes, Stephanie's and Wales. Well, Stephanie, the team was delighted at this because they had also noted that Jane had told a whopper. I mean, what a thing to pick on.

Meat wrapped and pastry has proven to be your undoing here. Shall I come clean? Yes. Yes. This isn't, I haven't got a lawyer with me. My real issue is with the potential for gristle in that kind of environment. and this is based on my 1970s experience of school dinners

which if you were there people will understand what I mean here if I feel I'm on safe ground and in a high quality environment such as the Cheltenham Literature Festival I would believe that any meat served encased in pastry would probably be all right well I don't believe that because what do you think the jury would because I'm sure that the standards of cuisine are very fine at the outside

side caterers for the Cheltenham at Trichard Festival. But I know for a fact that you go to some very high class establishments these days and so you should have no fear of the type of sausage meat that is being wrapped in pastry because the weird thing is that the sausage roll is having a kind of, it's having a second coming, isn't it, in the posh coffee shop places? Artisan. Yes. Where, you know, you're not just being offered a sausage roll.

it'll be a gloucester spot pig with, you know, hand-slice prosciutto round it in special rough puff paper. You know, it's really doing the rounds. It's an experience. Yes. Yeah. So I think you're surrounded by meat

that wouldn't be gristle laden. So I think you've put in a fantastic distraction tactic there but basically, you've fibbed. And it's fine. Yeah. Okay. Well, it's not fine. No, it is fine.

It's terrible. Somebody said to me the other day, you said on the podcast, don't drink tea and it was literally about half an hour after their very kindly made me a cup of tea, brought it up to bed so I had to confess, yeah, I've told a fib there as well. Oh, no, no, neither of us are liars. And if you believe that, you'll believe anything.

Yeah. So I think at ease on the catching day now. It's a philosophical thing, isn't it? So what is the right answer to the question, do you ever lie? Yeah, exactly. You can't trust anybody's answer on that. You can't trust anybody. We want to thank Lynn, who finds herself in another part of the world, She sent us some wonderful New Zealand chocolates

Oh my word And we're really grateful, Lynne Honestly, thank you A small selection of Kiwi chocolate It's Whitaker's And honestly, I've heard about Whitaker's Don't think we've ever experienced it before, have we? I hope there's something to appeal to everyone

She says, the peanut slabs powered a group of us Through our librarianship training Their excellent brain food Well, Lynne, your kind donation To the chocolate coffers Here at Times Towers Really, really appreciated

I have had this morning just a little sliver of the coffee one and it's very high quality very high quality indeed I've taken the Mandarin one home which one did you take I took the salted caramel brittle and that's true it's not a lie

and funny it is true and funny enough it then disappeared off to a library because a teenager was going off to do some study in a library and all it's returned home hasn't it essentially to a librarian's place what a wonderful sentiment you've just expressed

The whole thing was just wolfed down, I think, in record time. But it is, it's lovely. It's quite a thin bar. Yes. I'm going to say it's surprisingly sophisticated for... New Zealand? What, so... No, I'm just saying for a part of the world, I think of as rugged.

Oh, my God. You know, rugged. I play no part in that complete cold shower. Do you think I've confused New Zealand with its relatively close. neighbour Australia. It's not that close, is it? I mean, nothing is going to spark an Antipodean controversy

like calling a Kiwi and Ozzie. No, I just wonder, because they're not that, how far away is New Zealand from Australia? You'll have to find that one out. I'm afraid I don't know. I think it's another, is it, three or four hours on the plane?

So it's not actually that close at all, is it? No. So plenty of space for differences to have developed. But we should be very careful of being a tall damning of Australia in terms of stereotypes. This comes in from Yvette and Melbourne. I thought you might be interested in light of your discussion about Rachel from accounts to hear of our current circumstances.

Here in the state of Victoria, we've just had a change of leader of the opposition. The new leader is a woman who is 35 years old. She stands opposite our state premier, also a woman who is 52. On a national level, the opposition leader is also a woman, 63. You could still run. She stands opposite our male prime minister, 62, who leads a cabinet where 12 out of 22 ministers are female. Well, absolutely, go Victoria. That is a phenomenally representative state of affairs. So congratulations to that. And we haven't got a leg to stand on. I mean, has there ever been a cabinet where 22 ministers 12 would be female in this country? You must be joking. Not even close. No. Thank you, Eve, for alerting me to the fact that you can fly between

Auckland and Sydney in about three and a half to four hours, but some flights between Australia and New Zealand are over seven hours long. So it's funny, but people lazily, myself, lump the two nations together, but they're about as close as we

are to Turkey. Yeah, that would be about right, wouldn't it? Yeah, I mean, if you're on the west coast of Australia, or even more. Yeah. It's like us to India. There we are. Yeah. Okay. Life International.

Anne says, following complications with cancer treatment, my niece is likely to need a stoma bag fitted. I recall that some while ago you invited a young woman onto the show to discuss a book she'd written about the same subject. Please, could you send me the name of the book and author so I can pass it on to her?

Adele Roberts. This is Adele Roberts. Thank you so much for this, Anne. Our very, very best wishes to your niece. It's Adele Roberts. Redoubtable Scousa Well actually she grew up in Southport Personal Best is the name of her book

And she was on the podcast In the April of last year April of 2024 So if you spin back You can hear Adele talking to Fia actually About all this And she was really It was a very helpful interview wasn't it

Oh she was superb Yeah And if I remember correctly She had called her stoma Audrey Because she felt that by giving it a name She connected it to herself and her world lot more but yes she was really inspirational and that word can get a bit bandied around can't it but she she probably was and we had a huge response after her appearance so yep go

and search yeah definitely um i think she's done an enormous amount adele actually for just bringing the stoma out into well out it just out into the open the open yeah just actually saying this is what it is this is what it does uh and i wouldn't be here without it so um She's done fantastic work, and Anne, I really think, I think your niece will, if she hasn't read Adele's book or heard of Adele, she could probably do so much worse than absorbing herself in what Adele has brought out. She's been great.

I think she has been an honour, hasn't she, Adel Roberts? She should have been if she hasn't. I'm pretty sure. I'll just find it. I think she's got something. If she hasn't, she really should have. Sometimes you slightly despair at the British Honour's system. Do you?

Yes. Not because I want one, but just about other people who've got them. Not Adele. Just, yeah, sometimes I completely agree with you. I think once you discover that you can basically put yourself forward for these things, or you can just lean on somebody to put you forward, it's skewed, isn't it? It is a bit skewed.

I think it is. Just a touch. What are you shaking? She hasn't got anything. Well, let's award her an order of the off-air empire. Yeah. Order off, I know, we need... Is that unfortunate?

It's an oo-I. We need a consonant in there. Okay. An order. We'll work on it. I'd tell you, we could have a Jane, we could have a Jane and Fee order. We could have a Jaffo.

Okay, that'll work. Let's give her a Jaffo. Yeah, her honours include a Guinness World Record for the fastest female with a stoma to complete the world marathon majors. I mean, she's a phenomenon. I mean, a phenomenon. Let's face it, most people, with or without a stoma,

do not have her levels of athleticism. But back to Anne and her niece, I really, really hope. She follows Adele and learns something from her. Yep. Driverless cars, this is a terrifying email. It comes in from Onya. I'm from Northern Ireland, living in Austin, Texas. I take Waymo.

So this is obviously the kind of brand name of the driverless car taxi service. I take Waymo quite often in Austin. I was apprehensive at first, but now I quite like them. It's unnerving to look at the driver's seat. with no driver. But now I feel they're safer than taking a ride chair car with a driver. I've had a few nemesis and ubers with drivers. My only one concern is that my husband witnessed a few thugs putting a traffic cone on top of a Waymo, which I would assume would then

make it very unsafe because it has a 360 degree camera spinning on the roof of the car, which is how it's assessing the roads and other things on the roads. So yes, that would be a worry. I would love to own one when I'm older. I'm 55. I think they could give so much independence to elderly and people with disabilities that prevent them from driving, especially in more rural areas.

Waymo has become very popular in Austin. You see them everywhere now. I have noticed the lovely Mr. Musk, and that is, Anya, being sarcastic there, now has driverless Tesla's on Austin Streets too. So I'm with you. I think it can provide huge independence, obviously, of the safety thing is there,

But obviously I hadn't thought about that vandalism aspect. And there are people who have absolutely no concern for other's safety and do that kind of pranking. So that would just, if you obscured the camera on top of the car, then oh my goodness. That's like a weapon of war going out on the streets, isn't it? That really is an incredibly irresponsible thing to do. Do you despair of the youth of today?

I do sometimes, Jane. Very much so. I mean, we're making an assumption that was done by somebody young. You'd have to hope it was. Well, I mean, mostly people in America are doing the truly awful stuff at the moment of octogenarians. It might have been one of them.

That's true. Oh, God. Right, financial planning. Stocks and shares are worth it. This isn't what we're saying, is it fee? Just to be clear. No, it's not because we're not regulated by the Financial Services Authority yet.

We can set up our own bank. Then we'd be absolutely fine. And so would you. because you could bank with us. Perhaps not me, actually. As you know, I'm a proven liar. I think if we've been taken off there for the budget, there's no way they're going to let us run a bank.

Probably not. Financial planning, stocks and shares are worth it, says anonymous, and this is just a slice of life. Me, 47, husband, 45, both teachers with three children, between the ages of 9 and 13. He earns 100 grand. He's a deputy head.

I earn 50. I was earning more than him 15 years ago. He is an imbecile with money. This is the view of our correspondent. And I make him give me three and a half grand a month. The rest is his to play with. Okay, this is just this correspondence experience. He says he needs no savings

as he has an amazing pension scheme. And that's true. I manage all our outgoings, the mortgage, the bills, the insurance, that's a lot with three children. I save for annual holidays and I invest in stocks and shares. Now, since my 20s I've saved and I've invested in stocks and shares, it's the gift that in my experience keeps on giving. Example. At the start of the last financial year, I'd accumulated 30 grand in my stocks and shares, ISA. I invest £500 a month.

I wish I could afford more. In 12 months my fund was worth 42 grand. It goes up and down. But as Samantha said, and that was Samantha Seacom was our guest last week, it is a long-term investment that always ends up going up. I have dipped into this fund over the years, e.g. paying for our loft extension. My husband clearly didn't have any savings, she says. And compound interest comes into play here too. My fund grows because there's always a healthy sum invested. I never let it drop below third. 30 grand. Women in your 20s take advice, invest and save. It means you would always be independent should you need to leave. My husband is a wonderful man and father, so I joke about him being an idiot and I would never need to leave, but he just has no idea about money, incredible given his earnings. Moral of the story, invest in a fund. I also have premium bonds for the boiler. No need to share my name too many personal details. Well, don't worry, I wouldn't dream of sharing your name. But I do appreciate your honesty. And I think our correspondent would be the

first to admit that with that amount of income coming in, they are far from badly off. They're doing all right, aren't they? But I don't know how many listeners we have realistically in their 20s and 30s. It is just an example. If you can start saving and you want to maintain financial independence, get going as soon as possible. Definitely. I mean, that is, I'm not lying. I do think that is sensible advice. I know it's boring. God knows I used to tune out of all this but I just don't think you can afford to tune out that is She's tuned out

No I'm not going to disagree And even a tiny amount really does make a difference With the compound interest calculator So if you can And I know it's so difficult isn't it The horizon for young people now Because the idea of saving for a house it's just beyond an awful lot of people in their 20s

it might always remain so so I can really understand how pensions are just another thing that seems to belong to the older generations and not include you and I do maybe there's just a better way maybe you just have to start calling them something different so you don't think this savings fund is only about old age it's actually about financial security all the way through my life

that might do it some favours but definitely, definitely. Can I just ask people to be honest with us because I don't know the answer to this question. What do you get as your, it's often called a gold-plated pension, isn't it, within the teaching profession, parts of the civil service,

nursing professions, doctors, etc. If you are a head teacher earning 100 grand, what's your pension likely to be by comparison to your salary? Is it a final salary pension scheme? So you're going to get £100,000 for every year of your retired life? I don't know. I didn't think there were final salary pension schemes anymore.

Right. I'd love to hear from people. Be anonymous. Yeah. But so many people listening will know. And I'm just curious about it. I don't want to have a go at people because I understand they're difficult professions to be in. And I certainly don't want to kind of cocker an eyebrow at anybody.

But I'm just genuinely curious as to what you're going to get. Yeah, and I really thank our anonymous correspondent for her honesty and for just putting it out there because it's not easy. I mean, it is ridiculous how much we can talk about health, we can talk about relationships, but truthfully, money is still something that people are just a little bit shady when they're talking about it. And one of the reasons I suspect is that I definitely include myself

where we're ashamed of our own ignorance. I've just had to ask so many basic questions over the last 10 or 15 years about where I stand and what I need to do. And you feel a twirp, don't you, asking the questions? You really do. But, you know, generally speaking, I have never been patronised. I've always just got answers.

So don't be afraid. Stick your head above the parapet and say, help, what do I do? And then someone probably will give you the right advice. Usually a man. Very, very possibly a gent. No, but that's not true. That's what Samantha Seekin was saying as well.

But I hope it's different for young women in particular because I just think the messaging that we would have received from our parents, you know, my mum within her adult life wouldn't have been able to get a mortgage. She would still have been unable to get credit, you know, without things being signed off. And she was brilliant with both of us about being able to take control of our own finances. So I think if, I would hope that women feel much more confident now about being in charge of their own money. But the statistics, as Samantha was saying,

about risk are still incredibly different. Yeah, well, it is true, isn't it, when you look at a stocks and shares investment, and I'm happy to say I've got a stocks and shares ISO now, it does go down. And you feel, oh, oh, but I could have spent that money on a holiday or whatever, and I've stuck it in here,

and I've effectively lost it. And then you might check a couple of weeks later, and things are looking brighter. Well, 30 years ago, The FT 100, the FTC 100, hadn't yet reached 3,000, had it, and it now rides above 8,000. So that's the measure. This is another email on the same subject.

I really am grateful to people for just sharing all this stuff with us. It's from Helen, who says, you mentioned that women couldn't get mortgages until the 70s. So I thought you might like to know about my remarkable mother. She got a mortgage in 63. She became pregnant in her final year of nurses training in 1955. She'd been going out with a surgeon who, was expecting to marry. When he learnt she was pregnant, he left her and left the country.

My lovely sister, Lucy, was born in the January of 56. Initially, they lived with my mum's mother, but when Lucy was seven, mum decided she wanted her own house. When completing the paperwork for a mortgage, there was a box on the form asking about any dependents, so my mum wrote in Lucy's details. Her estate agent recommended that she removed these and leave it blank, but my mother wouldn't and left her daughter's details there. She's successfully secured. a mortgage, so must have been one of the very first women in the country to do so. We're not sure, but maybe the estate agent acted as a guarantor. I didn't know that were possible, but perhaps it was because, you know, she clearly legitimately could pay the mortgage, so perhaps somebody

stepped in and helped her out. If mum were still alive, she'd now be in her 90s, but we lost her over 10 years ago. She was a wonderful mother to three of us. She married my dad, another surgeon several years later, and they had my older brother and me. I often look back in awe at her strength and resilience, keeping her baby in 1956 and then getting a mortgage in 63. Being a single woman was really quite something then. Thank goodness we've moved on. And on investing, she says, I opened a stock and shirked with a well-known bank 25 years ago

and have steadily increased the amount in it as your excellent guest, Samantha Seekam, recommended, in diversified funds. I've learnt along the way just reading a few articles here and there. It's been a good long-term investment. You do need to be able to stomach volatility and watch the value go up and down. But I've just sat tight and I've always found it returns to former value and indeed keeps growing. I also, like Jane, that's me, have low risk savings in premium bonds. I should now be able to repair a few boilers if required. Helen, thank you very much.

The oil boiler thing is a real, I think it's a real worry in lots of house. salts and I have a relatively I don't like to post I have a relatively new boiler now it's three years old but before that I was on ten to hooks the whole time waiting for something to go belly up and when it did I was able to raid my boiler savings for exactly that but

it's such an important thing the boiler if it goes you're busted let's bring in our guest it is Dame Susan Langley the 697th head of the City of London Corporation and the first to take the title of Lady Mayor It's much more than a ceremonial role.

Her job for the year is to showcase the city of London around the world and back home she wants to change our perception of it that the city is not for everyone. Her own story allows her to do that with bells and chains on. She was born in Whitechapel after university she headed to the city by a Pricewaterhouse, Coopers. From PWC she rose to become chief operations officer at Hiscock. She's also worked at the Home Office, being chairman of lawyers,

Japan, Chair of Gallagher, UK. It is quite the CV. All the way through, she's made sure to take women with her, recognising misogyny, and especially misogyny for women who do things with numbers. We recorded this chat last week, otherwise we would have started with a question about Rachel Reeves, but as it was, we started with a question about her title. To be honest, it never occurred to me to be anything else other than Lady Mayor. We've had a Lady Chief Justice now. We had a Lady Usher of the Black Rod. The legal title is actually mayor and, you know, I'm a lady, not a lord, both can do the role. So were the previous women who've held the role referred to as Lord Mayors?

They were, and that was their choice. But for me, I'm definitely a lady mayor. I think titles make a difference. In what way? I think it's showing that anybody can actually do this role. I think it's very important to be yourself, to be authentic, to be genuine. and I'm just obviously a lady mayor. What happens on, let's say, an average Wednesday in the life of a lady mayor?

What does the job actually entail? Well, the first thing I can say is there's definitely not an average Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, so it's completely different. So for the role, you spend 100 days overseas. You travel as an ambassador to promote financial and professional services, whether that's taking a delegation, taking a list of investable opportunities, speaking at a conference. In the UK, it could be anything from hosting a business roundtable, it could be attending a livery dinner, it could be speaking as a conference, it could be bringing a group of school kids in to talk about their career.

The brilliant thing about this role is there is absolutely 100% not an average day. for people who thought oh my words i imagined it was just ceremonial that you do the pomp and the circumstance and the lord now the lady mayor's show and maybe get to you know have access to a grand house in the city but you don't have to do very much else that is absolutely not the case is it it's definitely not the case i mean i have to admit a lot of people think that i think when i when i was little i used to watch the lord mayor's show on my granddad's shoulder and i really remember that I remember I remember I was always wrapped in a warm scarf because my grand was a prolific knitter and I used to listen to the horses clock by and the band and wait for the you know the golden

coach and I have to say as a child I mean I never ever ever thought I would be in that coach one day but now I've learned it is not ceremonial probably 10% of it is ceremonial and that's what the public see but I now find myself you have quite often some tour guides outside mansion house you know telling groups of people about what the melt he does and I now now find myself wanting to come up behind and go, no, that's not true. It's not a ceremonial role. It's a business role. What happens inside Mansion House? Because you're entitled to use that as your residence for the year, aren't you? But I mean, do you actually have to move in there? Is it modern, Sue? The, it's not modern. I'm imagining it's not modern. No. So it's a fantastic

place to be and yes with a number of evening engagements we live in Hertfordshire it makes sense to live there we actually go home at the weekend but there are a number of meetings there are a number of dinners there are a number of round tables so it's very much um i like to think of it as the embassy for financial and professional services in the city because the lady mayor is the ambassador for financial and professional services and that in the heart of the city is there the embassy. So there are a few state visit ceremonial occasions, but it's a working house. Let's get down to talking about business. You have had an astonishing career. You are fully qualified to have this role. So I wonder with your wealth of experience where you think London and the UK

is right now in terms of its financial services and how the rest of the world is viewing us. we feel quite down about ourselves at the moment. You know, the polls show that. That's not just me saying that today. I'm incredibly positive about the UK. I think in Britain we're very, very good at saying what we're not good at, but we are very, very bad at saying what we are good at. So I think the city in London is unrivaled in terms of the ecosystem

that surrounds all of our businesses, all the support services, legal, finance. And I think if you look at, there was a recent survey, I think it was CBRE, about the number of deals over 100 million that had come into the city. I think it was zero last year and it was up to six this year when the report was run. There's a lot of confidence and there's a lot of support for the city. But I think one of our problems is we don't talk it up, we talk it down and that's just wrong. So over the next year, I intend to be far more Tigger than Neil. Do you find it frustrating then to have a government that has talked it down?

When Kirstama first came to power, he said there'll be very bad times before we get to the good times. A lot of people feel that there's been more doom than there has dopamine in the message that has come out to all of us. And that is completely different to what you're saying we should be able to do. I think people have different styles. That's such a lovely political way of putting it, isn't it? But people do have different styles. I mean, my role over the next 12 months is to be ambassador for financial and professional services and other businesses in the city.

But genuinely, I see a lot of positives about the city. People talk IPOs. I think in the last couple of weeks, we've now had three. So there's green shoots there as well. And I think it's really important to support all of our businesses, all of the sports services, it's a great place to live, it's a great place to work and I still think it's a great place to invest. What do you want to see from the budget? I mean, if you were still in any of your roles for Lloyd's of London for the Financial Services Organisation for Gallagher UK,

what would you be wanting the Chancellor to give you? Well, I'm not going to speculate about what's in the budget because there's a lot of speculation out there. But the key message, is don't tax growth. So there are some things we could do removing stamp duty from shares. I wouldn't like to see a bank levy, but it's just really important to support the city. We talk about growth, but what growth actually means is we need to be a place where people want to grow their business or set up their business, which then creates jobs, it creates livelihoods, it puts money back into the economy, and it pays tax. That's why growth is so important. I love your mottoes two in particular. I don't know how many

you've got, but one of them is forgiveness not permission. What does that really mean on a kind of day-to-day basis? To me, it means you go with your gut. I mean, you will always try and do the right thing. And actually,

I'm a huge fan of consensus. What's the other saying? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So I'm a real fan of that. But sometimes, leadership is about taking a decision and taking a decision in some cases depends on how many people you need to bring with you but if you feel it's the right thing to do then I've always advocated do it. The other one is be yourself everyone else has taken which I just laughed I've not heard it

put that way before but that's the same kind of thing isn't it? It is and it was probably taught to me by my dad I mean my dad was a sparky and electrician and I'm and And I never realized until I got much older. I said to somebody, oh, anything is possible. I mean, how hard can it be? And they said to me, do you know your dad always used to say that? And I said, really, did he? But obviously it was somewhere in there in my brain.

And he gave me that, hopefully never arrogance, but that inner resilience that if you feel something's right, to have that inner confidence to just go ahead and do it. I also say, you know, I have any one time I've had up to 17 mentors because I think we've got a responsibility to help others. Generally, I do think we have a responsibility to help others in life, especially if we've been lucky enough to have great opportunities. We need to make sure that we give those that come after us the same opportunities.

But I always say to them, you can get as much help as you can around you, but ultimately the only person responsible for your career is you. So you've got to be authentic, you've got to be who you are, and just stay true to that. People can tell authenticity. What do you say to perhaps a young woman or young man your mentoring who says, I feel a bit intimidated by the city? I know that one of your ambitions this year is to unsquare the square mile

to take away that idea it's a place for certain people. You don't come from a background of public school and privilege. So what is the real life experience that you can pass down about not feeling excluded? I would say feel brave and step forward. I mean, I found the city incredibly welcoming. I think you go back to, in a way you go back to your childhood as well and the support you've had

because you said I don't come from a particularly privileged background. Actually, I came from a hugely privileged background because I had two loving parents, a lot of support, brilliant teachers who encouraged me. so I come back to we need to encourage those others around me so if I had one of those mentors I would absolutely and I do it day in day out step forward don't be intimidated by the city

because when you're trying to hit objectives you can hit objectives any way you can you don't have to copy anybody else it comes back to the be yourself everyone else is taken and I found the city to be incredibly welcoming especially if you reach out most people like to help I've had some incredible mentors and supporters along the years who've helped me.

And I think if they come in, they'd find exactly the same. We really, really, I have not found barriers in the city, but I do understand some people see it as scary and it's not. So step forward and try. What would your grandfather on whose shoulders you sat when you were watching the Lord Merce show, what was he make of your trajectory? I mean, it's so impressive.

I often think that, all my mum and dad, who never saw it too. I don't know. I mean, I very much hope they would be proud. Perhaps they wouldn't be faced for it if I come from a family that say anything is possible. I mean, you know, they're all extended through and through. I hope he'd be pleased for me, and I hope you'd think I'm proving that you can do it for others.

One of the best things about the show was the number of small kids and girls, especially waving and shouting at me. There were a couple of times around the route where a couple of dads or grandfathers, I mean, there were lots of kids on shoulders, but there were a couple of times where a little girl was on a dad's shoulders, and the dad pointed at them twice, happened to, pointed up to them,

because they'd obviously read the thing about the grandfather's shoulders, which was very touching, I know. And the next day, I got a huge number of emails from parents saying, you singled out my son, you look, see, made the world, my daughter now wants to be Lady Mayor, I actually thought, quit, well, I'm ahead, you know, after that weekend. But that's what's important. So I hope they would be proud, not of me, but maybe of the impact I've had on a few others.

Do you think that you would want to change the outfit of the Lady Mayor of London? There's some flounce going on there, isn't there? I will have you know I have already changed the outfit of the Lady Mayor of London. So the outer flounce is generally and stays. But underneath, as orderwoman, the official dress was a suit similar to an order man. But I'm pleased to say that I had it translated into a satin dress with all of the same ruffles, but it's much more feminine. The very funny thing was somebody then once handed me a book called Ceremonials, which was written in the 1930s. I happened to be flicking through, which mentioned in the event of a female order woman, the official equivalent to white tie was long, wild Thai silk dress.

and I suddenly realised it had not progressed but I'd gone back to 1930. Not all progress. No, so I've changed, yes. But I have changed the dress to be something a little more modern under the bills. Dame Susan Langley, what a fantastic addition to the leaderboard of London Mayors.

She is, I think she's absolutely terrific and she is going to come back at the end of her year's tenure and tell us exactly what she's achieved because it is much more than just a ceremonial post. Jane. Yes, well, clearly. Yeah. It goes right back to Dick Whittington Times, doesn't it? Oh, now, on the subject of Dick Whittington,

Oh, Lord. So, limited seats are still available for December the 7th at the Prince Edward Playhouse on Sharsbury Avenue, where Jane and I are going to do some nonsense and welcome you into our festive embrace at 7pm on Sunday the 7th. Just if anyone's worried that it's going to be too Christmas positive, don't worry.

There'll be loads of cynicism. Oh, and we'll talk about some other stuff as well. Because Jane's going to bring along her tombollah of truth where we can just pop in lots of topics from the last 12 months and we'll talk about some other stuff. Yeah, please dear God don't make it a whole... No, it's not. Two hours of Christmas stuff.

Two hours? It just gets stuck in everybody's throat. The Dick Whittington connection is because I've asked to dress up as Dick Whittington's cat and Jane has asked to dress up. Do you want to give away what you've asked for? No, I'm not giving it away. It's going to be a surprise. Have a drink in the interval.

So if you'd like to come along, we would love to see you there. We're going to dole out some presents. We're going to chuck some sweets into the audience. And actually somebody did say, and this is just, I don't understand this at all. People just get so upset about the difference between paddle and pickleball, don't they? Because we've said in a trail somewhere that we're going to play a bit of paddell on stage because we think that this might be something that we're going to end up doing in our third age. and somebody immediately wrote her and said,

no, not Paddell, you should play pickleball instead. We don't want to fight. Please don't fall out. No, don't fall out about it. It's like that unseemly seen last night in the football when two Everton players actually had a fight on the pitch and one of them was sent off. But the manager of Everton says he was glad to see it.

It showed commitment. Whereabouts in the country would Everton be based, Jane? It's in Liverpool. It's just that if you and I started fighting, physically fighting, would our boss say that was a... a good thing. I think there are quite a lot of people in the newsroom would cheer on. Actually, you're right.

I'm absolutely love it. Who am I kidding? Jeanette says Tri-Pickleball, not Paddell on the 7th of December. She's coming along. She's dragging some friends along. I'm taking women in our mid to late 60s, she says, one of whom has not listened to your radio show or your podcast. Oh my God. And also says she doesn't like wittering women.

I assured her she'll love it. Well, get her drunk, just in case to let. Can I just say, I'm not optimistic about the chances of that lady having a good night. In all honesty. Oh, come on, let's do it. Why don't we open the show in Latin? Oh, God. Set the toe for the rest of the evening.

Right, we're back with you tomorrow. It's an email special. If you've ever wanted to contact it. Bye. Yeah, see you then. Congratulations. You've staggered somehow to the end of another off-air with Jane and Fee. Thank you. If you'd like to hear us do this live, and we do it live, every day, Monday to Thursday, 2 till 4 on Times radio. The jeopardy is off the scale. And if you listen to this, you'll understand exactly why that's the case.

So you can get the radio online on DAB or on the free Times Radio app. Offair is produced by Eve Salisbury and the executive producer is Rosie Cutler.