Parliament Matters

This week we are joined by Tony Grew, a doyen of the parliamentary press gallery, to discuss the growing fashion for re-writing Bills mid-air as they pass through Parliament.We debate a new report from the Lords Economic Affairs Committee about the democratic deficit surrounding the Bank of England and we look at the four new special inquiry committees Peers have chosen to set up for 2024.And we dissect the Labour reshuffle. Two MPs who won by-elections this year have been appointed Shadow

Following the Autumn Statement Mark and Ruth are joined this week by Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in the House of Commons. The Committee is the financial watchdog that has been going since the days of William Gladstone.As Parliament’s ‘Wastefinder General’, Dame Meg has got a list of ‘Big Nasties’: major public sector building projects that have been delayed due to cost pressures, sometimes for decades, but which are now at a point where they can longer be put off.She

What a week! Suella Braverman's sacking from Government was immediately eclipsed by the appointment of former Prime Minister David Cameron as the new Foreign Secretary. Mark and Ruth explore the many questions this raises, not least for scrutiny of foreign affairs by MPs - what options do they have to hold the newly ennobled Lord Cameron to account? And with huge ministerial churn across key departments, how will legislation and parliamentary business be affected with the Autumn Statement less than

Periodically we’ll have special ‘Urgent Question’ episodes to answer your questions about how Parliament works.In this episode we answer questions about whether Ministerial announcements to the media before they are made to MPs amounts to a contempt of Parliament, how parliamentary reform can be secured, and whether we really need a second Chamber.🎓 Access resources about issues mentioned in this episode via our website here: hansardsociety.org.uk/news/parliament-matters-podcast-e3❓ Submit your

Four new Chairs of Select Committees have been elected but how much can they achieve in what is likely to be the final parliamentary Session before the General Election?30 MPs have lost the Whip in this Parliament and a recall petition has just opened in the constituency of Wellingborough after former Conservative MP Peter Bone was excluded from Parliament for six weeks. So, Mark and Ruth discuss how the recall system works, why the Standards Committee is looking at how this and other aspects of the

As the Government sets out its legislative plans for the next Session, Ruth and Mark look at the political and parliamentary prospects for the proposals and discuss the latest on what’s happening with HS2 legislation. They ask why Parliament has legislative Sessions that begin with State Opening and end with prorogation, and disagree over whether it’s time to abandon the pageantry!Mark and Ruth are then off to the House of Lords to meet Professor the Lord Norton of Louth to discuss the subject of

Welcome to Parliament Matters, the new weekly podcast from the Hansard Society about the institution at the heart of our democracy – Parliament. This introductory trailer will give you a preview of what you can expect every Friday after the first full episode lands on 10 November 2023, three days after the King's Speech.Each week, Mark D'Arcy (the BBC’s former parliamentary correspondent) and Ruth Fox (the Director of the parliamentary think-tank the Hansard Society) will guide you through how laws