After Boris Johnson revealed his “road map” for the country to exit lockdown but with the vaccination programme continuing to go well, attention is turning towards the path to economic recovery. What will chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget next week do to help those in need now? What might it tell us about the government’s vision for the future? And are vaccine passports inevitable to allow the economy to open up?Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, ex-Treasury Sonia Khan discusses the balancing act Sunak will have to perform.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Commons People

The Route Out Of Lockdown Is Revealed But The Road To Recovery Looks Less Certain

As the lockdown continues in Britain, attitudes are changing across Westminster to problem gambling as restrictions leave people couple up at home, inundated with betting ads and turning to online gambling sites for entertainment. Can an unlikely cross-party coalition of campaigners bring about change?Labour MP and PPS to Keir Starmer, Carolyn Harris, joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss what needs to happen and why those calling for a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership need to get off the Zoom calls.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is Britain’s Gambling Problem Finally Going To Be Met With Action?

The government is facing another big Tory rebellion, this time over the cladding scandal which has seen people trapped in unsafe, unsellable flats after the Grenfell disaster, because their buildings are covered in unsafe material. Boris Johnson’s lockdown caution is also causing consternation on the backbenches, as the vaccine rollout continues to move along at pace.Meanwhile, a week to forget for Keir Starmer adds to a sense of dissatisfaction at the party’s direction of travel in Labour.Tory MP Stephen McPartland joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss his fight to help those caught up in the cladding scandal and what’s happening in Westminster this week.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are ‘Incompetent’ Ministers Trapping People In Unsafe, Unsellable Homes?

Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar join Rachel Wearmouth and Paul Waugh to discuss what Scottish Labour’s future is in Scotland and what they would do as the next Scottish Labour leader. Will they support an independence referendum? And how do they view the stewardship of the devolved government by the SNP in Holyrood? And what view do they take on Brexit affecting Scotland and its place in a post-Brexit Britain?Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Candidates Set Out Scottish Labour's Future

Yet more sobering coronavirus death statistics this week raised the prospect of restrictions continuing for some while yet. And with lockdown comes renewed attention to the plight of many juggling work and childcare, with many left without the means to provide classes or food for their children. The government looks set to make another U-turn on Universal Credit - but was the political damage avoidable?Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, Conservative chair of the Commons education committee, Rob Halfon explains why he thinks the Tories need to become the party of social justice.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Boris Johnson Walks Into Another ‘Elephant Trap’

This week Britain faced a grisly milestone, with the highest number of daily deaths with coronavirus reported. The government has vowed to get tough on members of the public who are flouting lockdown measures, but is that where blame should lie?As the government tries to explain that we’re all in this together, senior ex-MPs Caroline Flint and Caroline Spelman talk about their cross-party work to ensure the least well off areas of the country are not left behind in the drive to achieve net zero carbon emissions and tackle the climate emergency, with Arj Singh and Paul Waugh.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Will The Red Wall Be Left Behind In The Fight Against Climate Change?

If you thought 2020 was bad, get a load of 2021. It started with Boris Johnson putting England into a seven-week coronavirus lockdown with cases spiralling out of control. In the race of injections versus infections, has the prime minister overpromised again?Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s desperate bid to cling to power despite losing the US election reached a day of reckoning as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in extraordinary scenes. What are the lessons for the UK?Joining Arj Singh and Rachel Wearmouth, Labour MP Rosie Duffield and the UK In A Changing Europe’s Anand Menon run the rule over a tumultuous start to the new year, consider whether Brexit is really ‘done’ and ask whether Britain could one day rejoin the EU.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

American Carnage, With Rosie Duffield MP And Anand Menon

Enjoy Christmas with your family, but don’t enjoy it too much, or for too long, or with too much of your family. That was the message from Boris Johnson this week as a coronavirus spike sparked a rethink of the government’s festive Covid message. Is the government right to emphasise personal responsibility over the long arm of the state?Not content with one national emergency, the prime minister also agreed to extend Brexit negotiations again. There’s renewed hope that a deal might be coming to fruition but both sides are still apprehensive about appearing too positive.In the final episode of 2020 (usual Brexit caveats apply), Arj Singh, Paul Waugh, Rachel Weatmouth and Conservative MP Lee Rowley look back at the past week, as well as the past year, in Westminster, and wonder what might be on the horizon.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As 2020 Comes To A Close, Do We Dare Ask What 2021 Brings?

Brexit talks were on, then off, then back on again after another crunch week of negotiations passed without Boris Johnson or the EU deciding to compromise and get a deal, or go for no deal. The prime minister’s dinner in Brussels with Ursula von der Leyen failed to break the deadlock and fears of no deal are rising with just weeks left until the end of the transition.Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, Anand Menon of the UK In A Changing Europe think-tank and Maddy Thimont-Jack of the Institute for Government try to read the tea leaves and work out where the country is heading after Christmas, and what it means for the PM.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brexit Special: More Deadlines Than Hot Dinners

This week brought the welcome news that the first coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK. Has the announcement on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine come at a useful time for Boris Johnson as his backbenchers show their dismay at lockdown tiers being imposed across the country?Another potential pitfall for Johnson is the enduring Brexit negotiations that are going down to the wire - but the situation is also a problem for opposition leader Keir Starmer, who will almost certainly split his party however he decides to vote on any deal.Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, Labour MP Lucy Powell discusses a momentous week for the government and the country.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Should Labour Back A Tory Brexit Deal? With Lucy Powell MP

Rishi Sunak warned that the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic was only beginning as he unveiled his spending review. While there were giveaways to former red wall seats to assist in ‘levelling up’, the decision to cut the overseas aid budget drew cross-party criticism. Will the government be forced to back down on the plans?Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, Tory former development secretary Andrew Mitchell speaks about the growing rebellion against the aid cut and the tax rises ahead for Sunak.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rishi Sunak Delays The Pain Ahead Of Covid Christmas (With Andrew Mitchell MP)isode

Factional infighting ruled Westminster this week as two of its most divisive figures returned to the front pages. For Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings leaving the No.10 team offered a chance to reset his government, only for another bout of isolation after coming into contact with an MP infected with coronavirus thwarting him.But in Labour, the reinstatement of former leader Jeremy Corbyn after his comments on the anti-Semitism report presented Keir Starmer with a dilemma in trying to unify the Labour Party, but has his decision to remove the whip from his predecessor just ended up just solidifying division? Corbyn-backing Labour MP Ian Lavery joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to give his opinion on the week in Westminster.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Johnson And Starmer Struggle To Break Free From Their Recent Past (With Ian Lavery MP)

Downing Street splits burst open this week with the resignation of Dominic Cummings ally and longstanding Boris Johnson aide Lee Cain as director of communications. Cummings didn’t follow through on threats to follow Cain out of the door but what may seem like a Westminster bubble story does really matter.Senior Tory MP Tom Tugendhat joins Arj Singh and Paul Waugh to discuss what’s going on in No.10, whether Covid vaccines could be made compulsory and how whether the new relationship between Johnson and Joe Biden will be a special one.Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cummings And Goings At No.10 (With Tom Tugendhat MP)

Lockdown life returns to the UK but for the moment the country is gripped with the fiercely contested US presidential election. Joe Biden looks on course for victory and if he wins, will Donald Trump go quietly? And which outcome works in Britain’s favour? With attention elsewhere, the chancellor has performed another U-turn, this time on the furlough scheme, as England’s second lockdown begins. Has it come too late though for workers? Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, senior Labour MP Angela Eagle and HuffPost UK’s man in New York, Graeme Demianyk, talk through a potentially seismic week. Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone (https://news.huffingtonpost.com/h/t/1925256938B41841) and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening. 

226: Will Donald Trump Go Gently Into The Political Night?

In a parliamentary recess special, Matt Hancock’s former special adviser Jamie Njoku-Goodwin joins Arj Singh for Commons People to discuss his new role as chief executive of UK Music and their new study which looks at representation in the music industry. While the report shows encouraging news about representation of minorities, it has warned that it is concentrated in younger, more junior levels with diversity stalling at senior and mid-management, mirroring in many ways what’s seen in Westminster.  As well as discussing what lessons can be learned in parliament, government and political parties, Jamie speaks about the response of his former boss, the health secretary, and the government to the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in spring. Make sense of politics. Sign up to the Waugh Zone (https://news.huffingtonpost.com/h/t/1925256938B41841) and get the political day in a nutshell every weekday evening. 

225: Westminster Needs To Face The Music Over Diversity, With Jamie Njoku-Goodwin

Each week, the HuffPost UK Politics team unpack the biggest stories from Westminster and beyond.

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Commons People

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