Parliament Matters

In this episode, we explore the rules governing MPs’ financial interests, gifts and donations, as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage faces questions over a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Ruth and Mark are joined by Duncan Hames, a former MP and now Director of UK Policy at Transparency International, to ask whether the current transparency regime is working, whether a requirement to declare large gifts is enough on its own to protect public confidence, and whether a fixed cap on donations should also be put in place. At a time when political donations, gifts and hospitality are under intense scrutiny, we look at what the House of Commons Code of Conduct says MPs must declare, and why the rules require members to register financial interests and benefits that might reasonably be thought to influence their actions, speeches or votes. We also examine the wisdom of moving from a rules-based system to a principles-based system. Duncan Hames says that transparency matters because it offers a crucial safeguard against corruption and dependency. But while transparency is essential, he argues that it is no longer sufficient. With political parties and individual politicians increasingly reliant on wealthy donors, he says the real question is not just whether money is declared, but whether gifts and donations of this scale should be permitted at all. He points to international examples of donation caps and argues that the case for limits applies to domestic as well as overseas donors. We also explore the practical dilemmas MPs face when deciding what to register, the role of advice from parliamentary authorities, and whether the sanctions for breaches of the rules in both Houses are strong enough. 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox Producer: Richard Townsend

The row over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington flared up again this week after the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) accused the Government of improperly redacting documents linked to his appointment. Back in February, ministers were forced to release papers under a Humble Address to the King, with the ISC tasked with deciding what could be withheld on national security or diplomatic grounds. But the Committee now says material has been removed for other reasons not covered by the agreement. Senior ISC member Sir Jeremy Wright MP challenged ministers in the Commons through an Urgent Question, before speaking to us about his concerns and the Government’s response. The annual Private Members’ Bill ballot – Westminster’s version of legislative bingo – has also taken place, with MPs jostling for one of the precious top spots that can offer a realistic chance of changing the law. The big question now is whether one of those successful MPs will choose to bring back the assisted dying bill. And we untangle the Government’s latest Russia sanctions announcement, after ministers caused confusion over whether the UK was finally banning oil products refined in third countries using Russian crude. We explain how the Russia sanctions regime works, and why – at the very moment the new sanctions came into force – ministers also issued a general trade licence exempting diesel and jet fuel from the restrictions. The Government insists the exemption is only temporary but cannot say when it will end. We explore why Parliament gets a vote on the sanctions regulations themselves, but not on the general licences that can effectively water them down, and what that says about the gap between headline sanctions announcements and the quieter reality of how they are implemented in practice. The discussion also raises wider questions about how often these behind-the-scenes exemptions are being used, including in areas such as legal services, diamonds, steel, software and technology._____🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Richard Townsend 

A battle for Downing Street touched off by a ministerial resignation, a chunky new King’s Speech, and an increasingly unpredictable political environment provide plenty for us to discuss with our special guest, Professor Meg Russell, the former Director of the Constitution Unit.We begin with the Labour leadership contest, which was unfolding in real time as the podcast was recorded. With Labour Party rules, parliamentary rules and election law tangling together in the intricate battle to be Prime Minister, we explore how Labour’s rulebook could shape the outcome and the prospects for the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham to win a by-election, return to Westminster and enter the leadership race.Meg Russell asks a broader question: in an era of devolved politics, should parties make it easier for big figures such as metro mayors to stand for the leadership without the upheaval of first fighting a by-election?We also cast a preliminary eye over the legislation unveiled in the King’s Speech. Could the NHS Reform Bill give Wes Streeting a parliamentary platform to strengthen his credentials as a future Prime Minister? How will the new bill to remove peerages navigate the difference between a seat in the House of lords and a peerage? Should the Representation of the People Bill be amended to impose penalties on councillors who resign within hours of being elected? And Meg – a former advisor to Blair-era Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook MP – describes how governments assemble a legislative programme behind the scenes.Finally, with Britain entering an era of fragmented five, or even six-party politics, the discussion turns to the future of the constitution itself. Do Westminster parties now share an interest in recasting parliamentary rules and strengthening constitutional safeguards?Meg Russell, stepping down after a decade leading the Constitution Unit, argues that the unpredictability of the electoral situation means any party could emerge dominant, diminished or anywhere in between, after the next election. If that is the case, she suggests, it is now in the interests of all the parties to update the rules of our parliamentary system so that it treats all parties fairly. Some of these issues, including how parties select their leaders and the way legislation is developed, will be discussed next month (24-25 June) at the Constitution Unit's annual online conference, The Constitution under Labour. You need to sign up to get the online link to watch each of the sessions. Parliament Matters will be represented as Ruth will be speaking on a panel with Lord Falconer about developing policy and legislating for difficult issues. ____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Gareth Jones

After an awful set of elections for Labour across England, Scotland and Wales, are the Prime Minister’s days numbered? Could the Cabinet revolt? Might a rival formally launch a leadership challenge? Or might it take another defining crisis – a further final straw – to trigger a revolt by the parliamentary foot soldiers? We also examine how Labour’s leadership rules operate, including the nomination requirements for a leadership challenger to trigger a race. A key decision would be timing: would any contest timetable give Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, the opportunity to attempt a return to the Commons.  The elections have demonstrated that Labour is beset by political rivals on all sides – Reform on the right flank, the Greens, Lib Dems and SNP on the left, and now Plaid Cymru in what historically was its Welsh heartland. So, would an alternative leader offer a more effective response to these multiple threats than Sir Keir Starmer? Meanwhile the Scottish and Welsh results raise fresh political and constitutional tensions for the UK Government and Parliament to address. Will invigorated nationalist governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff start picking more fights with Westminster over policy, money and legislative consent? And in Cardiff, will the process of installing a new and non-Labour Welsh Government go smoothly? With no party winning an overall majority in Wales, it looks like there will be a Plaid-led administration: but it may find itself mired in week-to-week deal-making with smaller parties, and subject to professional fouls at key moments like the Budget. Could that provide a taste of things to come at Westminster, after the next general election?_____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox Producer: Richard Townsend

Keir Starmer has faced “ordeal by Parliament” this week. A tense statement in the House of Commons over his handling of Peter Mandleson’s nomination as Ambassador to the United States was followed by an emergency debate and then an awkward session of PMQs. Meanwhile the Foreign Affairs Committee held a series of hearings to pick over the PM’s account of what he knew about Mandelson’s security vetting, and when he knew it.We are joined this week by veteran parliamentary lobby journalist Tony Grew (the founder of @PARLYapp on Twitter/X) to dissect a rapidly unfolding political drama that’s beginning to resemble a full-blown parliamentary crisis.We examine Starmer’s account, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s performance, and the testimony of its key witness, recently sacked Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Sir Ollie Robins, alongside the growing unease among Labour MPs.With prorogation looming, questions remain over timing. Could the suspension of Parliament be used to sidestep another PMQs on Wednesday 29 March? Will the Opposition try to prolong proceedings on remaining legislation to force Starmer back to the Despatch Box. Or might they prefer to be able to accuse him of being “frit.”And as the first session of the 2024 Parliament draws to a close, we discuss the emerging personalities shaping the Commons. Spoiler: one of them is a dog!____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Richard Townsend

A bill to deliver the Government’s proposed “EU reset” is set to be a centrepiece of May’s King’s Speech. It will reportedly give Ministers powers to update UK law in line with certain EU rules (so-called “dynamic alignment”) in areas such as animal and plant health (known as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)), energy co-operation and emissions trading. Much of this is likely to be done through delegated legislation, including the use of controversial Henry VIII powers, allowing Ministers to amend primary legislation with limited parliamentary scrutiny. We are joined by Professor Catherine Barnard (University of Cambridge) to explore what dynamic alignment really means, why the UK is already tracking some EU rules, and whether this approach is a pragmatic economic necessity or a sidestepping of Parliament. We also discuss how Westminster and the devolved legislatures will need to adapt if they are to spot and shape policy before it is set in legislative stone by the European Commission.In a rare show of resistance, Parliament’s usually low-profile Ecclesiastical Committee has blocked a package of reforms to Church of England governance. What’s behind the clash over accountability and safeguarding and why have delegated powers become a sticking point here too?As the parliamentary session draws to a close, attention turns to prorogation. Once Parliament is prorogued, MPs and Peers cannot be recalled except in the most exceptional circumstances. In an increasingly volatile world, is it wise to shut down accountability for a fortnight? We explore the risks and suggest a possible way around the problem._____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Gareth Jones

The Government has announced that the State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech will take place on Wednesday 13 May - just as we predicted last Autumn!However, Ministers have not confirmed when prorogation – marking the end of the current Session – will take place. It is likely to be the last week in April but could slip into the week of the local elections. That means when Parliament returns after the Easter recess there will potentially be just 12 sitting days left for the Government to get all its remaining Bills through to Royal Assent, a period of legislative scramble known as the “wash-up”.This week Mark and Ruth are joined by the Hansard Society’s researcher, Matthew England, to explore the legislative loose ends still hanging in the balance. Any Bills not agreed by both the Commons and the Lords before the Session ends will fall — raising the stakes for last-minute negotiations.The pressure is on. Peers have made significant amendments on a range of high-profile issues, including revenge porn, restricting social media access for under-16s, victims’ access to court transcripts, and AI and online safety. This is the House of Lords’ moment of maximum leverage – so expect intense deal-making and potential Government concessions.But there’s also high political drama in play. Will opposition in the Lords kill the Bill to implement the UK’s treaty to transfer the Chagos Islands – home to the strategically vital Diego Garcia airbase – to Mauritius? Might the Government try and revive it later using the Parliament Act – or quietly let it drift?And what about the Hillsborough Law , now stranded in the Commons? While the Government could carry it over into the next Session, unresolved questions remain – particularly whether a “duty of candour” should apply to the security services. Could failure to pass the Bill this Session come at a political cost for the Prime Minister?We then turn to listener questions where we:explain what a “dilatory motion” is;explore what’s happening with the stalled Northern Ireland Troubles Bill;discuss retirements from the House of Lords;break down how select committee chairs and members are chosen; anddebate whether Parliament should move out of Westminster.Finally, why are MPs asking so many more Written Parliamentary Questions than before? Is it ambitious new MPs – or even AI tools like ChatGPT? Drawing on new data and analysis, Matthew digs into what’s driving the surge, what it means for parliamentary scrutiny, and whether the system needs reform.____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Richard Townsend  

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP, is planning sweeping changes to the immigration system. So, this week we put immigration law under the microscope. Jonathan Featonby of the Refugee Council joins us to explain how major shifts to refugees’ rights, settlement routes and visa rules can be pushed through using Immigration Rules, with Parliament left largely powerless to influence or block them.Meanwhile, in the House of Lords, Peers are wrestling with the ever-growing Crime and Policing Bill - a legislative “Christmas tree” laden with policy baubles covering everything from abortion to terrorism proscription to artificial intelligence. We explore why Ministers want broad new powers to rewrite the Online Safety Act by regulation to tackle AI harms, and why efforts to overturn a Commons amendment to decriminalise women who have a late-term abortion failed despite concerns about a lack of scrutiny.And with the assisted dying bill set to run out of time in the Lords, Labour MP Peter Prinsley discusses his initiative to persuade the Prime Minister to back efforts to secure time for a renewed attempt to bring back the bill in the next Session and the possibility of using the Parliament Act to force it through if necessary._____🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament. ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Richard Townsend

The Government’s plan to restrict the right to a jury trial for certain defendants cleared its Second Reading in the Commons this week – but the fight is far from over. The proposals in the Courts and Tribunals Bill are already provoking fierce criticism, including from a determined group of Labour backbenchers.To explore what’s at stake, we speak to barrister and former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven. We explore why legal experts are alarmed by the changes, what the reforms could mean for defendants’ rights and the criminal courts system, and whether Ministers might yet be forced into compromise.Meanwhile, the Bill to remove hereditary Peers from Parliament has now passed through the Lords. We examine the late-stage deal that helped ease opposition in the Upper House, while Mark takes aim at what he calls the “total bosh” used to defend hereditary seats, dismissing it as little more than romantic nostalgia.This week the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has also been in combative form. He has once again rebuked ministers for briefing the media before informing MPs, ordered a member out of Prime Minister’s Questions, and publicly criticised the Government’s Chief Whip. His anger follows an extraordinary Commons episode in which Government whips reportedly stretched out a vote to prevent the Conservatives securing a vote on a Statutory Instrument. One member apparently feigned illness in the voting lobby while MPs in the Chamber audibly counted down to the cut off time for another vote – the “moment of interruption” – at 7pm. The Speaker is now demanding apologies and even hinting that Government whips might need a refresher on how to manage parliamentary business.And finally, the Government has begun releasing official papers relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s Ambassador to Washington. Do the documents support the Prime Minister’s version of events – or raise new questions that could deepen his ongoing leadership troubles?____ 🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode. ❓ Send us your questions about Parliament: ✅ Subscribe to our newsletter. 📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social £ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today. Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth FoxProducer: Richard Townsend