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Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-03-01 11:30:00
George Parker of the Financial Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster
To assess the impact of two completely contrasting Oval Office meetings between President Trump and Sir Keir Starmer and then the US president and President Zelensky this week, George is joined by Peter Ricketts, crossbench peer and Britain's first National Security Adviser. And Labour’s Baroness Cathy Ashton, who was the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, leading its response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea back in 2014.
To discuss Sir Keir Starmer's plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by cutting the foreign aid budget, George spoke to the Labour MP for Hartlepool, Jonathan Brash and the Greens’ Ellie Chowns, who represents North Herefordshire, and spent her career before Parliament working in overseas development.
David Gauke, who was Justice Secretary in Theresa May’s government and is now leading a review into prisons for Keir Starmer, has been in Texas this week to look at what the UK can learn from prisons there.
Rishi Sunak's former chief whip, Simon Hart has just published his diaries spanning his fifteen years in the Commons - in which he saw five prime ministers, four general elections, and plenty of scandals. He discusses this era with The Spectator's Isabel Hardman.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-02-15 11:30:00
Pippa Crerar, the Political Editor of The Guardian, assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following President Trump's announcement of his plans for peace in Ukraine, Pippa brings together Lord West, the former Head of the Navy and Labour peer and Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army and a now crossbench peer to discuss what this means for Ukraine and Europe.
This week, the government made numerous announcements on its housing policy, including its plans for the next generation of new towns. To discuss the Prime Minister's promises to build more homes, Pippa was joined by the chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Labour MP Florence Eshalomi and Conservative peer Lord Gavin Barwell, who is a former Housing Minister and was Downing Street Chief of Staff to Theresa May.
To discuss the challenges that Reform UK poses for the government and the Conservative Party, Pippa is joined by Gawain Towler, Reform UK's former director of communications and Scarlett Maguire, director of the polling firm JL Partners.
And, are political slogans such as 'Take Back Control', 'Fix the NHS' and 'Smash the Gangs' effective in delivering their messages? Pippa asks to political commentator and former Conservative government adviser Salma Shah and Jonathan Ashworth, the former shadow cabinet minister, now chief executive of Labour Together for their take.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-02-08 11:02:00
Sonia Sodha of The Observer assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
How should the British government respond to Donald Trump? That question was again asked this week after the American President suggested the US could take over Gaza, removing Palestinian residents in order to redevelop the strip. Earlier in the week the President also threatened tariffs against allies such as Mexico, Canada and the EU. To discuss how the UK should navigate this tricky diplomatic terrain, Sonia speaks to Lord Darroch, former UK ambassador to the US, and Sir David Lidington, a former Conservative Cabinet minister and now chairman of the defence think tank RUSI.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, gave a major speech on Monday setting out her vision for England's schools. It follows criticism of her Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is currently going through Parliament. To debate the reforms Sonia is joined by Mary Bousted, a former general secretary of the National Education Union and now a Labour peer, and Neil O'Brien, a Conservative MP and former minister.
Is the UK becoming less cohesive? Sara Khan, the government's former independent adviser on social cohesion and resilience, explains why she thinks there is a risk to democracy from declining social cohesion.
And, as a new book charting Keir Starmer's rise to power sends the Westminster gossip machine into overdrive, Sonia speaks to one of the co-authors, Gabriel Pogrund of The Sunday Times, and Labour peer, Ayesha Hazarika.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-02-01 11:02:00
Caroline Wheeler from The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following Rachel Reeves' speech setting out a series of major announcements on infrastructure projects, including backing plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, Caroline speaks to Labour MP, Josh Simons and crossbench peer, Richard Harrington, who chairs the manufacturers organisation Made UK about how to achieve growth in the UK economy.
On the fifth anniversary of the UK’s official departure from the EU, the chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee Emily Thornberry and the former Conservative MP and leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt discuss the state of play in EU-UK relations.
The Conservative peer, Charlotte Owen is campaigning to stop the rise of deep fake online pornography and she discusses this with Caroline and "Jodie", a victim of deep fake porn.
And, the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle explains the importance of marking Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in parliament.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-01-25 11:02:00
George Parker of the Financial Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster
Following the inauguration of Donald Trump George is joined by Sir Simon Fraser, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office and Chair of the Foreign Affairs think tank Chatham House, and Michael Gove, the former Conservative cabinet minister and now editor of the Spectator. They discuss the impact of the Trump on international politics.
As Rachel Reeves visits Davos for the World Economic Forum, George discusses the Chancellor's efforts to win business confidence with the director general of the CBI, Rain Newton-Smith, and the Head of Bloomberg Economics, Stephanie Flanders.
The teenager who murdered 3 young girls in Southport was sentenced this week. The question for many is what - if anything - can be done to stop this kind of tragedy happening in future? George discusses this with former Labour MP John Woodcock, who is now the crossbench peer Lord Walney. He is also the government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption
Following the temporary closure of Strangers' Bar in Parliament over an alleged spiking incident, George is joined by Francis Elliott, the Editor of the House Magazine, and Cat Eccles, the newly elected Labour MP for Stourbridge, to discuss the drinking culture at Westminster.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-01-18 11:30:00
The Telegraph's Ben Riley-Smith assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following a ceasefire deal in Gaza and the Prime Minister's trip to Ukraine, Ben speaks to former Conservative Defence Secretary, Sir Ben Wallace, and the Labour peer, Baroness Ashton, formerly the EU's foreign policy chief, about how the imminent second Trump presidency is already shaping global geopolitics.
After another uncomfortable week for the Chancellor, Ben is joined by the Labour MP and chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, and former Conservative Treasury Minister, Sir Simon Clarke, to discuss the economic and fiscal outlook for the UK.
Tech entrepreneur, Matt Clifford, who also advises the Prime Minister on artificial intelligence, explains how AI will change the country in the week the government unveiled his AI Action Plan.
And, after the Government's decision to bring an early end to the Latin Excellence Programme, which funds the teaching of Latin in some state schools, Ben catches up with former Education Secretary, Sir Gavin Williamson, who introduced the policy, and Labour MP, Sarah Smith, who used to work in youth services and takes a special interest in education policy.
From The Week in Westminster at 2025-01-11 11:00:00
Caroline Wheeler, political editor of The Sunday Times, assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
To discuss whether there should be a national inquiry into grooming gangs, Caroline is joined by Labour MP Paul Waugh who represents Rochdale, and former Conservative MP Laura Farris, who served as Safeguarding Minister in Rishi Sunak's government.
Following the announcement of the government's plans to reducing waiting lists in England, Caroline speaks to surgeon and former Labour Health Minister Ara Darzi who now sits in the House of Lords as an independent peer. He is the author of the recent government review into the NHS in England.
As the Chancellor Rachel Reeves visits China, Caroline brings together the chair of the business and trade select committee, Liam Byrne, and Conservative MP, Tom Tugendhat, who is a former Security Minister.
And, finally, the beginning of the Westminster week was dominated by political interventions made by the owner of the social media platform X. To discuss how the Prime Minister should handle such interventions, Caroline brought together Katie Perrior, former Downing Street Director of Communications for Theresa May and David Yelland, a former newspaper editor who is co-presenter of Radio 4's ‘When It Hits the Fan’.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-12-21 11:30:00
The BBC's deputy political editor, Vicki Young assesses a year when the political landscape shifted with the Whitehall Editor of the Financial Times Lucy Fisher, commentator and director of the London Defence Conference Iain Martin and Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-12-14 11:02:00
Pippa Crerar, political editor of The Guardian, assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
To discuss the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Pippa is joined by Sir Simon Fraser who was Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office during the Arab Spring and now chairs the foreign affairs think tank Chatham House, and Sarah Champion, Labour MP and chair of Parliament's International Development Select Committee.
Labour MP Dan Tomlinson and Conservative MP Greg Smith debate the government's reforms to the planning system which it hopes will help deliver 1.5 million more homes over the course of this Parliament.
As the House of Lords debates the government's Hereditary Peers Bill for the first time, Pippa speaks to Charles Hay, Earl of Kinnoull, convener of the independent crossbenchers and a hereditary peer himself, about his ideas for reforming the upper chamber.
And, to discuss the 5 year anniversary of the 2019 election, Pippa brings together former Conservative MP, Dehenna Davison, who won the seat of Bishop Auckland in that election, and Jane Green, professor of politics at Oxford University and co-director of the British Election Study.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-12-07 11:15:00
Ben Riley-Smith of The Daily Telegraph assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following the Prime Minister's 'Plan for Change' speech, Ben speaks to the architect of Sir Keir Starmer's five missions, Peter Hyman, who was a senior adviser to the Prime Minister until the election and former Downing Street Director of Communications, Sir Craig Oliver
To discuss the Prime Minister's speech on foreign affairs at the Lord' Mayor's Banquet, Ben is joined by Dr Karin von Hippel, the Director-General of the defence think tank, the Royal United Services Institute.
Parliament's newly created Modernisation Committee is considering ideas on 'driving up standards, improving culture and working practices and reforming procedures'. To discuss their thoughts on this. Ben is joined by two new MPs, Tom Morrison, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle and Dr Beccy Cooper, the Labour MP for Worthing West.
And, finally, as Oxford University Press announces its 'word of the year' Ben is joined by Susie Dent, lexicographer and resident expert on Channel Four’s Countdown and Tom Peck, parliamentary sketch-writer of The Times, to discuss their thoughts on the political words and phrases of the year.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-11-30 11:02:00
Sonia Sodha of The Observer assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following the debate and vote on the Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Commons, Sonia speaks to two MPs with opposing views. Labour MP Anna Dixon voted against the Bill. She has a background in health and social care policy, and specifically in ageing. Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Kit Malthouse is a long-standing proponent of legalising assisted dying.
To explain what happens next with the Assisted Dying Bill Sonia is joined by Dr Hannah White, the Director of the independent think tank The Institute for Government.
To discuss the continued fallout from last month's Budget, Sonia is joined by Labour MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the Business and Trade Select Committee and Karan Bilimoria, a businessman and crossbench peer who is also a recent President of the Confederation of British Industry.
And ahead of the broadcast of the television series which follows the home life of former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and his family, Sonia brings together Times and Spectator magazine columnist Matthew Parris, and Observer columnist Gaby Hinsliff, to discuss the pros and cons of politicians appearing on reality TV.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-11-23 11:00:00
To discuss the increasingly fraught state of world affairs, Jack speaks to Sir David Liddington, who was deputy to Prime Minister Theresa May, and now chairs the defence and security think tank RUSI and the Labour MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Emily Thornberry.
As thousands of farmers attend a rally in Westminster to protest against last month's budget, Jack speaks to Labour MP, Jeevan Sandher, who sits on the Treasury Select Committee and the former Conservative MP and environment minister Rebecca Pow, who comes from a long line of farmers in Somerset.
Children's rights campaigner and crossbench peer, Beeban Kidron discusses whether social media should be banned for under-16s.
And to reflect on the life of John Prescott, who died this week, Jack speaks to two people who knew him well from his years in government, the associate editor of the Mirror, Kevin Maguire, and a former minister and chief whip in Tony Blair’s government, Hilary Armstrong, who now sits in the House of Lords.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-11-16 11:00:00
Caroline Wheeler of The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
Following the publication of the assisted dying bill, Caroline speaks to one of its supporters, the Labour MP and former surgeon, Peter Prinsley, and the palliative care expert and long-time campaigner against assisted dying, Baroness Ilora Finlay.
To discuss what the election of Donald Trump means for the war in Ukraine, Caroline brings together the former Conservative Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, and Nato's former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Sir John McColl.
Dale Vince, founder of the green energy company Ecotricity and one of Labour's biggest donors, discusses the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan and the UK's drive for net zero.
And, as Donald Trump appoints Elon Musk to look at ways to cut trillions from US government spending, Caroline asks if the UK could benefit from a similar endeavour with Labour MP, and chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Meg Hillier, and the former Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Mark Littlewood.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-11-09 11:30:00
Ben Riley Smith of The Daily Telegraph looks back on the week in Westminster.
In the week of the election of Donald Trump as the next US President, Ben discusses the implications of the result with Stewart Woods, Labour peer and former adviser to Gordon Brown and Sir Liam Fox, the former Conservative Defence Secretary - and International Trade Secretary during Donald Trump's first presidency.
To discuss the impact of the changes to inheritance tax on farms Ben is joined by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Dyke and the Deputy Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Helen Miller.
The former Universities Minister and Conservative peer, Jo Johnson, discusses the government's announcement, earlier this week, that tuition fees for students in England would rise next year.
And, as the new Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, faced Sir Keir Starmer for the first time at Prime Minister's Questions, Quentin Letts, political sketchwriter for the Daily Mail and Jessica Elgot, Deputy Political Editor of the Guardian give us their verdict.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-11-02 11:49:00
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-10-26 11:15:00
Jack Blanchard of Politico analyses the latest developments at Westminster.
He speaks to former Labour Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, for his take on the Commonwealth summit and calls from some leaders for the UK to start meaningful dialogue on slavery reparations.
As the Government launches a major consultation on reforming the NHS, Jack brings together two MPs with experience of working in the health service: Labour's Paulette Hamilton and Conservative Luke Evans.
The former Conservative Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, and London's Independent Commissioner for Victims, Claire Waxman, discuss the government's sentencing policy review.
And, after the Trump campaign accuses the UK Labour Party of "interference" in the US election, Jack is joined by spokeswoman for Republicans Overseas UK, Sarah Elliott, and Keir Starmer's former political director, Luke Sullivan.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-10-19 11:30:00
Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Guardian, is joined by a range of guests.
To look ahead to the Budget on 30 October, she speaks to Labour MP and parliamentary aide to the Cabinet Office Torsten Bell and the shadow housing minister Baroness JoJo Penn.
With the foreign secretary David Lammy heading to China this week, Labour peer, Helena Kennedy, who co-chairs the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China and the former Conservative MP Richard Graham, who, until recently, chaired the all-party parliamentary group on China assess UK-China relations.
Former cabinet minister and Conservative MP, Sir Gavin Williamson MP explains why he wants to remove all 26 bishops from the House of Lords.
And to discuss how the Taylor Swift row has been handled, Pippa spoke to Tom Baldwin, a former Labour party communications director and biographer of Keir Starmer and Katie Perrior, the founder of the public relations firm iNHouse.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-10-12 11:30:00
George Parker of the Financial Times analyses the week's political developments at Westminster.
In the week of Sir Keir Starmer's 100 days in Number Ten, the former deputy chief of staff to David Cameron, Baroness Kate Fall, and Tony Blair's former director of political operations, John McTernan, discuss the political fallout of the resignation of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Sue Gray.
To discuss the forthcoming budget George is joined by former Treasury minister and crossbecnh peer, Lord O'Neill and the Head of Bloomberg Economics, Stephanie Flanders.
Following his retirement from the House of Lords, the Labour politician and founding member of the Social Democratic Party, Lord Owen, discusses his life in politics. Two former Conservative MPs, David Gauke and Miriam Cates discuss the latest in the Conservative leadership contest.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-09-14 11:30:00
George Parker of the Financial Times analyses the week's political developments at Westminster.
Following the Prime Minister's visit to Washington, the former UK Ambassador to the US, Lord Darroch, and Sir Keir Starmer's former director of strategy, Deborah Mattinson, assess the global security situation and what impact the US election will have on Western foreign policy.
To discuss the state of the NHS following a damning report from former minister Lord Darzi, George is joined by former Labour Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, and former Conservative Chair of the Health Select Committee Steve Brine.
Professor Richard Davies of the LSE, presenter of a new radio documentary about the Port Talbot steel works, explains what this week's government announcement about the plant means for the future of steel-making in Britain.
And, as the Spending Review gets underway, George brings together two former Treasury ministers, Danny Alexander and David Gauke, to lift the lid on how departments can wring money out of the exchequer.
From The Week in Westminster at 2024-09-07 11:30:00
Caroline Wheeler of the Sunday Times is joined by a range of guests.
To analyse Labour's first few weeks in government, she speaks to Labour MP Rosie Duffield and the former shadow cabinet minister Jonathan Ashworth, who now heads up the Labour Together think tank.
Two former Conservative leadership contenders, Sir David Davis and Dame Andrea Leadsom discuss the Tory leadership contest.
A leading authority on disaster recovery, Professor Lucy Easthope looks at the long awaited report into Grenfell and what lessons should be learnt.
And, two new MPs, Labour's Jonathan Hinder and Lib Dem Marie Goldman, discuss what it's like to make a maiden speech.