Join two of the UK's leading parliamentary experts, Mark D'Arcy and Ruth Fox, as they guide you through the often mysterious ways our politicians do business and explore the running controversies about the way Parliament works. Each week they will analyse how laws are made and ministers held accountable by the people we send to Westminster. They will be debating the topical issues of the day, looking back at key historical events and discussing the latest research on democracy and Parliament. Why? Because whether it's the taxes you pay, or the laws you've got to obey... Parliament matters!
Mark D'Arcy was the BBC's parliamentary correspondent for two decades. Ruth Fox is the Director of the parliamentary think-tank the Hansard Society.
Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust • Founding producer Luke Boga Mitchell; episode producer Richard Townsend.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join two of the UK's leading parliamentary experts, Mark D'Arcy and Ruth Fox, as they guide you through the often mysterious ways our politicians do business and explore the running controversies about the way Parliament works. Each week they will analyse how laws are made and ministers held accountable by the people we send to Westminster. They will be debating the topical issues of the day, looking back at key historical events and discussing the latest research on democracy and Parliament. Why? Because whether it's the taxes you pay, or the laws you've got to obey... Parliament matters!
Mark D'Arcy was the BBC's parliamentary correspondent for two decades. Ruth Fox is the Director of the parliamentary think-tank the Hansard Society.
Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust • Founding producer Luke Boga Mitchell; episode producer Richard Townsend.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s been an extraordinary week in Westminster, with three separate ministerial statements to the Commons on the China spying case. To make sense of the confusion, Ruth and Mark are joined by Professor Mark Elliott, public law expert from Cambridge University, to unpack the sudden collapse of the prosecution against two alleged spies.
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Newly released government witness statements revealed details about the claims of espionage inside MPs’ offices, yet the case was abruptly dropped amid tangled legal arguments over whether the Government had ever formally designated China as an “enemy state.”
So, what really happened? Was this a legal failure or a political fix to avoid a diplomatic crisis? And with the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy now launching an inquiry, where does the story go next?
Plus, as the parliamentary season re-opens after the party conference break, Ruth and Mark look at the elephant traps ahead for the Government, including the Budget (Mark wonders why anyone in the Government thinks it is a good idea to “live-brainstorm” tax raising ideas), the lingering row over the Afghan data leak and superinjunction, the long-promised vote about the future of multi-billion pound restoration and renewal of Parliament and the steady drip of terrible local election results chipping away at Labour morale.
And finally, the latest developments on the assisted dying legislation which is now facing scrutiny by a special Lords select committee. We go through the membership and the balance of opinion on what could be a very important body. If the subsequent debates on the bill over-run, Ministers could face a legislative logjam in the Upper House.
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Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Gareth Jones
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.