Commons People

The government’s legislative agenda for the next year or so was unveiled in this week’s Queen’s Speech. But it was perhaps more notable for what wasn’t in it. Boris Johnson’s plan to reform social care was still absent despite his 2019 claim to voters that he had one prepared. And the prime minister is still struggling to define how he will “level up” left behind communities.

Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, an aide to Michael Gove, joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to explain why it could take 30 years to finish the job of “levelling up” areas like his in North Yorkshire, and to reflect on whether Labour made a strategic mistake focusing on alleged sleaze ahead of last week’s local elections.

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Labour suffered a disastrous series of results in the “super Thursday” local elections, capped by a huge and humiliating defeat to the Tories in a parliamentary by-election in the red wall seat of Hartlepool. There were more losses in red wall and other marginal council areas with the Tories even taking control of Northumberland.

It has led to serious questions about Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour’s strategy, and just where the party goes from here.

Senior former Labour adviser Matthew McGregor joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss how the party can start winning again, and what lessons it can learn from Joe Biden’s campaign in the United States.

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It’s been a nightmare week for Boris Johnson, who kicked the hornet’s nest when he blamed Dominic Cummings for a series of damaging leaks. The former adviser replied with a stinging public attack, which has left the prime minister fending off multiple bad headlines around his handling of the Covid crisis. On top of that, the Tories are now facing an Electoral Commission investigation into who funded the refurbishment of Johnson’s Downing Street flat.

Meanwhile, with the Covid situation improving dramatically in the UK, attention has turned to the appalling crisis in India. Is the UK doing enough to help, and should Johnson be wary of getting too close to the country’s PM Narendra Modi?

Senior Tory MP and Commons foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss what the flat saga means for the local elections, and how the UK should respond to events in Asia.

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Allegations of cronyism and government by WhatsApp have been intensifying around the Conservatives as Boris Johnson’s texts to manufacturer and Tory donor James Dyson add to the lobbying scandal engulfing former PM David Cameron and members of the Cabinet. Labour think they’ve found a message to take to the doorstep for local elections, but are claims of Tory sleaze enough to take power nationally?

A scandal of another sort has however overshadowed the Greensill story, as failed plans by the so-called “big six” Premier League teams to create a breakaway European “super league” united rival fans and political parties in a backlash which may usher in a watershed moment for English football. 

Labour ex-cabinet minister Lord Peter Mandelson joins Arj Sngh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss what the super league scandal means for politics, and how Labour need to “turn the Tories inside out” to win again.

Clips from Joe, Sky Sports News, Sky News, LBC, Tom Sheldrick ITV interview with Jill Mortimer and Parliament TV.

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With local elections around the corner, Boris Johnson’s Tories find themselves in a stronger position than they would have imagined just a few short months ago. Will the successful deployment of coronavirus vaccines wipe the memory of the issues Britain endured during repeated lockdowns, giving the prime minister a vaccine bounce?

Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth are joined by Tory peer and polling expert Lord Robert Hayward to discuss whether the success of the rollout compared to the EU’s haphazard jabbing programme could help the Tories at the ballot box, what the by-election in Hartlepool means for Labour, and how the infighting in the SNP might affect their Holyrood seats and calls for a second independence referendum.

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The scale of protests, anger and shared feeling amongst women that they aren’t safe in British society after the killing of Sarah Everard has sparked a change in attitudes towards women’s safety in Westminster. But is a government led by a prime minister who’s been accused of sexism multiple times really capable of the change needed?

Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss how to improve things is shadow domestic violence minister Jess Phillips, who calls for cross-party talks, why Liz Truss needs to do more, and also whether the Hartlepool by-election will reveal the direction of travel for post-Brexit, post-pandemic Britain.

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The disappearance of Sarah Everard, Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, and the resignations of two government equality advisers have revealed just how much work there still is to do to make Britain a more equal society for all.

Joining Arj Singh, Rachel Wearmouth and Paul Waugh, Tory chair of the Commons women and equalities committee, Caroline Nokes discusses the need for Royal transparency, why women feel unsafe on our streets, and why she wears “woke” as a “badge of honour”.

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This week Rishi Sunak delivered his heavily-trailed Budget, revealing a spend now, tax later approach to the economic recovery from coronavirus. It included big spending on Covid support measures but a sting in the tail as taxes were hiked to their highest level since the 1960s. There were also accusations of “pork barrel politics” as Tory areas benefited from funding for levelling up.

Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, shadow Treasury minister Pat McFadden talks through the repercussions of the 2021 Budget, including how Labour deals with a high taxing, high spending Conservative Party.

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After Boris Johnson revealed his “road map” for the country to exit lockdown but with the vaccination programme continuing to go well, attention is turning towards the path to economic recovery. What will chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget next week do to help those in need now? What might it tell us about the government’s vision for the future? And are vaccine passports inevitable to allow the economy to open up?

Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, ex-Treasury Sonia Khan discusses the balancing act Sunak will have to perform.

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As the lockdown continues in Britain, attitudes are changing across Westminster to problem gambling as restrictions leave people couple up at home, inundated with betting ads and turning to online gambling sites for entertainment. Can an unlikely cross-party coalition of campaigners bring about change?

Labour MP and PPS to Keir Starmer, Carolyn Harris, joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss what needs to happen and why those calling for a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership need to get off the Zoom calls.

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