As the Government prepares to strike new deals with the EU, will Parliament help shape the future relationship or simply rubber-stamp decisions already taken?
We explore a new House of Lords report calling for stronger parliamentary oversight of the EU reset. Drawing extensively on Hansard Society evidence, the European Affairs Committee argues that MPs and peers need the information, resources and opportunities to hold ministers to account as the UK moves towards closer alignment with EU rules.
What should Parliament know before approving a deal? Could the promised legislation give ministers sweeping powers over future agreements? And does Parliament need its own eyes and ears in Brussels? We explain why the arrangements established now could determine Parliament’s influence for years to come and why ministers must be candid about costs as well as benefits.
Then, MPs prepare to examine new planning rules for data centres. How should national ambitions for AI be balanced against local pressures on electricity, water and the landscape? And could AI become a defining issue at the next general election?
Finally, could Parliament Square become a more welcoming place to explore Britain’s constitutional heart? With pedestrianisation proposals under consideration, we discuss how a wider vision could bring together a redesigned square, Parliament’s restoration and a World Heritage visitor centre, making the most of one of the world’s great civic spaces.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:45 EU reset: Will Parliament get a say?
07:00 Ministers, missing evidence and honest trade-offs
10:00 The EU reset bill: How much power for ministers?
14:00 Parliament’s eyes and ears in Brussels
17:00 Rebuilding Parliament’s EU oversight
21:45 Data centres: National ambitions, local costs
29:30 Will the next election be an AI election?
32:15 Parliament Square: A place for people?
40:00 A visitor centre for Britain’s constitutional heart
43:00 Improving visitor access to Parliament through the Restoration and Renewal Programme
47:00 Closing remarks
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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: Richard Townsend
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