George Parker discusses Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US-Israel offensive against Iran, and the pressure he has been under for it, with the crossbench peer Kim Darroch, who was the UK’s Ambassador to the United States during President Trump’s first term, and the Labour peer Cathy Ashton, a former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs who led negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.

To analyse the Spring Statement that the Chancellor delivered on Tuesday, George is joined by the former Conservative Chancellor, Sir Jeremy Hunt, and the Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee.

MPs debated the Representation of the People Bill in the Commons this week. The Bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote at the next general election. To discuss the Bill, George spoke to Labour MP for Kettering, Rosie Wrighting, who is the youngest female MP in the House of Commons, and 19-year-old George Finch from Reform UK, who leads Warwickshire County Council; he is the youngest council leader in Britain.

And Robert Fox, the veteran war correspondent, and Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, debated the special relationship between the US and the UK in light of Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US–Israel offensive against Iran, which sparked criticism from the White House.