The Week in Westminster

George discusses Chancellor John Healey's first Budget with Sir Mel Stride, who served as Shadow Chancellor until just a few months ago and is a former Work and Pensions Secretary and the former Labour government minister Seema Malhotra, who is now a member of the Treasury Select Committee. Andy Burnham said that he is willing to reopen the debate about free movement as part of a wider "national conversation" about Brexit. Labour's Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and Danny Kruger, who was previously a Conservative MP but defected to Reform UK a year ago debate whether this is a good idea. Professor Lucy Easthope, an expert on emergency planning and Helen MacNamara, who was deputy Cabinet Secretary during the covid pandemic speak to George about the government's Be Ready campaign which has already seen shoppers stocking up on beans, bottled water and wind-up radios. And George discusses pubs, pints and the Budget with Lord Macpherson, the former permanent secretary at the Treasury between 2005 and 2016 and an amateur historian on the Treasury.

This week the government gave the go-ahead for developing Jackdaw, the North Sea gas field. To discuss this approval, Sonia is joined by Torcuil Crichton, Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, and Green MP Ellie Chowns, who is the party leader in Westminster. Sonia looks ahead to next week's budget with Labour peer Kitty Ussher who was a Treasury Minister in Gordon Brown’s government and Rupert Harrison, who worked alongside George Osborne at the Treasury, and is now a senior adviser at the investment management company Pimco. In the summer the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology was abolished and its responsibilities were placed in different departments across Whitehall. To discuss why, Sonia is joined by Conservative MP George Freeman, who is a former Science Minister, and is deputy chair of the Science and Technology Committee and Rowena Mason who is the Whitehall editor of the Guardian. And, this month marks the 90th anniversary of the Jarrow march, when two hundred men walked from Tyneside to London to petition the British government to bring back industry to their town. Kate Osborne is the Labour MP Jarrow and Gateshead East and Helen Antrobus is a curator and historian who works with the People’s History Museum in Manchester. They joined Sonia to discuss the legacy of the Jarrow march.

Isabel debates the upcoming Budget with the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Labour's Dame Meg Hillier and the former Conservative Treasury minister Dame Harriett Baldwin. Two veterans of previous attempts to reform the benefits system debate how it should be done now: the former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith and Alex Zatman, who was a special adviser to Labour's Liz Kendall when she was Work and Pensions Secretary. How prepared is the UK for a crisis that could cause food shortages? The Labour peer and chairman of Iceland Foods, Richard Walker discusses this with the chief executive of the Soil Association, Helen Browning, who has a farm in Wiltshire. And Andy Burnham is getting a reputation for thinking out loud in public. Former Downing Street Director of Communications for Boris Johnson, Guto Harri and Claire Ainsley, the former policy director for Keir Starmer and now at the Progressive Policy Institute discuss whether this is a good thing.

Caroline Wheeler discusses the defeat of the Assisted Dying Bill, in the House of Commons, with the former Cabinet Minister and supporter of the Bill Liz Kendall. This week the Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband set out the government's new approach to Israel and the occupied West Bank. To discuss the implications of this move Caroline was joined by Labour MP Sarah Champion, who is the chair of the International Development Committee and Conservative peer Mark Harper who is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. To discuss the protests against small boat arrivals, Caroline is joined by Labour MP Tom Hayes and Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin. As a new family arrives at 10 Downing Street, Caroline discusses what it's like for the family of a Prime Minister to be in the public eye. She's joined by journalist Sarah Vine who is the author of a book, 'How Not to Be a Political Wife' and Rachel Cunliffe, the Associate Editor of The New Statesman.

George discusses Andy Burnham's first week at Westminster as prime minister with former Home Secretary and Labour peer, David Blunkett and the political editor of The New Statesman, Ailbhe Rea. Reform UK's conference takes place this week as the party faces a controversy over donations. George speaks to Tim Montgomerie, a former influential Conservative activist who defected to Reform UK. Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch reshuffled her team this week. To discuss, George is joined by Tory MP Sarah Bool, who was made a Shadow Justice minister in the reshuffle, and the former Conservative cabinet minister, Sir David Gauke. Speculation about whether Andy Burnham should call an early general election is hanging over the conference season. George debates whether it is a good idea with elections analyst and professor of Political Science at Manchester University, Rob Ford, and Liz Bates, who served as an advisor in Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

Vicki Young assesses what an Andy Burnham government will mean for the country and reflects on Sir Keir Starmer's premiership. She is joined by Guardian Columnist Gaby Hinsliff, Lucy Fisher, the Whitehall Editor of the Financial Times, Sebastian Payne, columnist and leader writer for The Times and Labour peer Charlie Falconer.

George reports on the political reaction to Friday's shocking news that police had launched a murder investigation in to Ann Widdecombe's death. Following Sir Keir Starmer's appearance at the Nato summit in Ankara, George is joined by Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, to reflect on the Prime Minister's record on the global stage. Andy Burnham is set to become Prime Minister without a contest as over 300 hundred Labour MPs this week nominated him for the leadership. To debate whether that is good for the country George is joined by Burnham supporter, Labour MP Emily Darlington, and the former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Oliver Dowden. To discuss Nigel Farage's decision to call a by-election in Clacton, George is joined by Reform UK MP, Danny Kruger, and Times columnist, Fraser Nelson. And, ahead of the England Norway World Cup quarter final, George speaks to the Norwegian Ambassador to the UK, Tore Hattrem, and the Conservative Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committe, Dame Caroline Dinenage.

Sonia Sodha discusses the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan, which was published this week, with the former Conservative Security minister Tom Tugendhat and the Labour MP and former Royal Marine Fred Thomas. To review Andy Burnham's devolution plans, Sonia speaks to the Labour Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward and Greg Clark, a former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who was one of the architects of devolution policy when the Conservatives were in government. Following a series of maternity scandals, Baroness Amos published her independent review this week. The Liberal Democrat MP, Layla Moran, who chairs the Health Select Committee and the Labour MP Michelle Welsh, who is the government's national maternity adviser discuss what has gone wrong. And to discuss Brand Burnham, Sonia brought together Rachel Cunliffe, the Associate Political Editor of the New Statesman and Farzana Baduel, the co-founder of Curzon PR and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘When It Hits the Fan’.