05/11/2022

11/05/22 • 28 min

Top commentators review the political week, presented by political editor of The Guardian, Pippa Crerar. With guests Dame Diana Johnson MP, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee; Sir John Hayes MP; Alok Sharma MP, outgoing COP president; Daniel Greenberg, incoming parliamentary commissioner for standards; Matthew Parris, columnist for The Times; and Susie Boniface, columnist for the Daily Mirror.

Previous Episode

29/10/2022

Isabel Hardman from The Spectator reviews a dramatic week in Westminster following Rishi Sunak's arrival in Downing Street. The former Conservative Cabinet minister Greg Clark discusses the Prime Minister's first few days in office with the Shadow Leader of the House Thangam Debbonaire. As Northern Ireland prepares for new elections to Stormont, the former DUP leader in Westminster Lord Dodds explains why his party refused to share power with Sinn Fein. Also in this week's programme, the SNP's Brendan O’Hara and Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers debate legislation to remove the legal status of all retained EU law by 2023. Not since the early 1980s have three former prime ministers sat in the House of Commons. The veteran documentary-maker Michael Cockerell, who interviewed Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Edward Heath, joins Catherine Haddon from the Institute of Government to reflect on whether Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss's presence on the backbenches will be a help or hindrance to Rishi Sunak. Editor: Peter Snowdon

Next Episode

12/11/2022

Ben Riley-Smith from The Telegraph reviews the week in Westminster including an interview about the state of the economy with former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. Former Work and Pensions secretary, Chloe Smith MP debates whether the pensions triple lock should be retained with Rachel Cunliffe from the New Statesman and whether the system is fair across the generations. Also in this week's programme, statistician Georgina Sturge who works in the House of Commons library discusses the use of data in politics with the SNP's Carol Monaghan MP, a former physics and maths teacher. And Conservative backbencher, Tim Loughton MP joins the deputy editor of ConservativeHome, Henry Hill to reflect on the state of the Conservative party two weeks into Rishi Sunak's premiership, including their thoughts on the resignation of Sir Gavin Williamson this week.