Parliament Matters

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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you turn a campaign into law when some of the world’s richest companies are determined to stop you?
Filmmaker and crossbench peer Baroness Beeban Kidron joins us to discuss the art of legislating for the digital world. From protecting children online to defending creators’ copyright against AI companies, she explains how she built support, won amendments and persuaded reluctant ministers to act.
But winning a vote is only part of the battle. Kidron contrasts her experience of the children’s privacy code with Ofcom’s implementation of the Online Safety Act, arguing that Parliament needs stronger powers to hold regulators to its intentions.
She also describes Big Tech’s tactics for resisting regulation, the pressure to back down during parliamentary “ping-pong”, and why she rejects the claim that technology moves too fast for lawmakers.
Her new book is Users: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight Back.
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Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:00 From filmmaking to campaigning
04:00 Turning children’s rights into legislation
09:00 Winning amendments and building support
13:00 Delegated legislation and regulatory accountability
18:00 Can Parliament keep up with technology?
22:00 Challenging “tech exceptionalism”
27:00 Reforming Parliament’s legislative machinery
32:00 Big Tech’s resistance playbook
40:00 AI, copyright and celebrity allies
43:00 Parliamentary ping-pong: when should peers give way?
47:00 Is the political tide turning against Big Tech?
51:00 Book details and closing remarks
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🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

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£ - 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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Winning the election is one thing. Making Congress work is another. How will the Democrats now turn electoral success into effective congressional power to constrain Donald Trump and advance their own policy agenda?

Daniel Schuman of the American Governance Institute joins us to explain how the new Congress will organise itself between election day and January, when the new House of Representatives and Senate are sworn in.

The outgoing “lame duck” Congress faces the prospect of last-minute confirmation battles and an urgent funding deadline if a government shutdown before Christmas is to be avoided. Next year will bring fresh battles over the budget and spending.

Meanwhile, incoming representatives must recruit staff, establish offices and learn the ropes of an unfamiliar institution.

For Democrats, there are decisions to be made about leadership positions, who gets coveted committee places, and agree the rules that will govern the House.
Their choices will shape whose priorities advance, who can block them and how effectively the party can work together. Daniel explains how these internal party bargains distribute power and why a stronger Speaker may not mean a stronger Congress.

The conversation examines Democratic factions, Congress’s strongest levers, especially appropriations, and the limits of oversight, subpoenas, contempt and impeachment when an administration resists compliance and courts take time.

Then comes the confrontation with the White House. Can lawmakers use the power of the purse to curb Trump’s foreign adventures and reinstate support for Ukraine?
Could the Senate block appointments to the courts and federal agencies? And how should committees balance investigating the administration with advancing legislation that delivers for voters?

We explore what happens if officials refuse to testify, why contempt proceedings can stall, and how immunity, presidential pardons and lengthy court battles complicate accountability.

Daniel offers a stark assessment of checks and balances under strain: Congress has formidable powers on paper, but making them work depends on more than an election victory.

From induction to internal bargaining, this is a guide to the decisions, procedures and pressure points that will determine what the new Congress can achieve and where its limits lie.
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00:00 Introduction: Inside the new Congress
01:49 Why the outgoing Congress stays in power
03:39 Shutdown deadlines and last-minute Supreme Court appointments
07:16 Learning the job: How new representatives are inducted
10:40 New Congress, new House rules: An opening for reform?
15:32 Who runs the House? The Speaker, committees and members
19:50 The Democrats’ internal battles: Factions, leadership and reform
23:10 What powers can Congress use against Trump?
26:09 Ukraine funding and the limits of impeachment
27:35 The power of the purse: How spending deals get made
30:07 Investigations, subpoenas and officials who refuse to cooperate
33:40 Investigate or legislate? Delivering the Democrats’ agenda
36:54 Immunity, pardons and running down the clock
40:03 Can America’s checks and balances be repaired?
43:46 Blocking nominees and debating Supreme Court reform
47:08 A crisis moment: What happens when presidential power defies the rules?
48:00 Our next episode: Baroness Kidron talks about her work at the centre of parliamentary efforts to regulate the online world
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🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

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£ - 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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you keep order when the House of Commons is packed, passions are running high and the country is watching?

Deputy Speaker Nusrat Ghani joins us for an exclusive interview the morning after chairing the Budget debate. She takes us inside the preparation, nerves and split-second decisions involved in managing one of Parliament’s biggest occasions.

From spotting where trouble might erupt to using eye contact and humour to keep MPs in line, she explains how she balances authority with allowing the Chamber to express itself. She reflects on her experience of John Bercow’s approach, why she wants to avoid undermining MPs’ confidence, and what occupying the historic Chair means to her and her family. And could chairing the Budget be an audition for the speakership?

Beyond the Chair, we assess a Budget that offered breathing room but postponed bigger decisions. What should select committees do now to test the Government’s spending promises?

We also untangle the curious case of Nigel Farage’s missing prayer card: does losing your reserved seat really prevent you from attending the Budget? And why were details of an energy announcement shared with Martin Lewis before Parliament heard them?

Finally, we reveal a proposal buried in the Budget paperwork to downgrade parliamentary scrutiny of future changes to tax-clearance rules for major investment projects. With 108 Ways and Means motions awaiting approval, what else might MPs miss in the small print?
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🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us on social media: @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

Support the Hansard Society and Parliament Matters by making a donation.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Richard Townsend
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you respond to a Budget you’ve only just heard, and spot what the Chancellor would rather you missed? Treasury Committee Chair Meg Hillier joins us to explain how she prepares for Budget day and how her Committee tests the promises behind the headlines. She weighs the benefits of Budget secrecy against the risk of policies going untested, argues for tougher scrutiny of sensitive defence spending, and explains why Parliament needs to look beyond the annual set piece event to how public money is actually spent. Her central challenge: can MPs and ministers give long-term financial choices the attention they deserve?

The Chancellor’s speech is only the beginning. Ruth and Mark offer a “cut out and keep” guide to what happens next: the days of Budget debate, the Ways and Means resolutions and the Finance Bill that turns the announcements into law. How can some tax changes take effect that very night? What can MPs amend and how does the Government limit their options? It’s your essential companion to following the Budget through the Commons.

Beyond the Budget, we discuss Darren Jones’s striking evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. His account of trying to make Whitehall work across departmental boundaries raises an uncomfortable question: are constitutional safeguards protecting accountability, or being used to resist change? From funding the Government’s missions to getting departments’ financial systems to talk to one another, he describes a system in which even apparently straightforward reforms become a battle. Jones argues that senior civil servants have become more political without facing sufficient parliamentary scrutiny. But where should responsibility lie when ministers’ ambitions collide with officials’ advice about what the constitution permits? We explore his challenge to Whitehall’s accountability arrangements and his concerns about scrutiny of increasingly powerful mayors.
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🎓 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: Gareth Jones
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.