Commons People

By HuffPost UK

What's Commons People about?

Each week, the HuffPost UK Politics team unpack the biggest stories from Westminster and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Commons People episodes:

09.10.2021
Baroness Angela Smith...On Tory Tax Bombshells And Labour's Future
Boris Johnson has taken the biggest gamble of his premiership with a National Insurance hike to fund the NHS and social care. Labour's leader in the Lords Angela Smith joins Ned Simons, Sophia Sleigh and Paul Waugh to chat through Tory...
07.23.2021
Yvette Cooper On The Art Of Govt And Opposition
As MPs head off to their constituencies, rising Covid cases and Channel crossings of asylum seekers are ensuring Boris Johnson cannot put his feet up. Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper joins Ned Simons and Paul Waugh to chat through her...
07.16.2021
Sunak's Overseas Aid Ambush: With Andrew Mitchell
The chancellor's late, late move to outflank Tory rebels on international aid cuts won the day, despite MPs voting against the three line whip. But is the rebellion over and will Rishi Sunak and his party rue the damage caused...
07.09.2021
Trading places: Will Liz Truss’s ‘Donut’ Strategy Leave Us With Brexit Indigestion?
Football may or may not be coming home, but Boris Johnson and Liz Truss want British firms to export more abroad. Can the UK’s tricky relations with China help or hinder that post-Brexit ambition? Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry joins...
07.01.2021
Return Of The Saj
Sajid Javid made a phoenix-like return to the Cabinet this week, replacing Matt Hancock after the former health secretary was sensationally caught on camera breaking Covid rules by kissing an aide in his office. Senior Tory and Commons education committee chair...
06.24.2021
Brexit Birthday Special
It’s the fifth anniversary of the vote to leave the EU and Brexit is still having a profound impact on British politics. Tory former spad Salma Shah and the UK In A Changing Europe’s Anand Menon join Arj Singh and Paul...
06.17.2021
Is The Tory Culture War Backfiring In Its Traditional Heartlands?
Boris Johnson this week delayed so-called “freedom day” from Covid restrictions in a bid to get more vaccines into more arms and protect the NHS. But the prime minister has angered many Tory MPs, who simply do not believe he will...
06.10.2021
Joe Biden Jets In Amid An Almighty Brexit ‘Mess’
It’s a huge week for Boris Johnson as Joe Biden and leaders of some of the world’s wealthiest countries arrive in Cornwall for the G7 summit. But the prime minister has embroiled himself in a row with the EU over the...
05.28.2021
Why Cummings Showed The UK Must Ditch ‘Glorious Amateurism’
Dominic Cummings took no prisoners this week when laying out claims of a series of “disastrous” government failures that meant tens of thousands of people died of Covid unnecessarily. Conservative MP Bob Seely joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to...
05.20.2021
Why Labour Should Be Braver To Win Back The Red Wall
Weeks of optimism and cheer as Covid restrictions were eased gave way to another bout of nationwide nervousness amid localised spikes in infections attributed to the variant of the virus first detected in India, prompting debates about how to contain...
05.13.2021
What Is ‘Levelling Up’ And Can Boris Johnson Deliver?
The government’s legislative agenda for the next year or so was unveiled in this week’s Queen’s Speech. But it was perhaps more notable for what wasn’t in it. Boris Johnson’s plan to reform social care was still absent despite his...
05.07.2021
Local Elections Special: What Went Wrong For Labour
Labour suffered a disastrous series of results in the “super Thursday” local elections, capped by a huge and humiliating defeat to the Tories in a parliamentary by-election in the red wall seat of Hartlepool. There were more losses in red...
04.29.2021
Will Voters Care About The Boris Johnson Flat Saga?
It’s been a nightmare week for Boris Johnson, who kicked the hornet’s nest when he blamed Dominic Cummings for a series of damaging leaks. The former adviser replied with a stinging public attack, which has left the prime minister fending...
04.22.2021
Labour Think They’ve Found Tories’ Weak Spot, But Is It Enough To Win? With Lord Mandelson
Allegations of cronyism and government by WhatsApp have been intensifying around the Conservatives as Boris Johnson’s texts to manufacturer and Tory donor James Dyson add to the lobbying scandal engulfing former PM David Cameron and members of the Cabinet. Labour...
03.25.2021
Could The EU Vaccine War Give Boris Johnson An Election Boost?
With local elections around the corner, Boris Johnson’s Tories find themselves in a stronger position than they would have imagined just a few short months ago. Will the successful deployment of coronavirus vaccines wipe the memory of the issues Britain...
03.18.2021
Is Boris Johnson The Right Man To Help Women?
The scale of protests, anger and shared feeling amongst women that they aren’t safe in British society after the killing of Sarah Everard has sparked a change in attitudes towards women’s safety in Westminster. But is a government led by...
03.11.2021
Britain’s Equality Flaws
The disappearance of Sarah Everard, Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, and the resignations of two government equality advisers have revealed just how much work there still is to do to make Britain a more equal society for all. Joining...
03.04.2021
Does Rishi Sunak’s Budget Change The Fight For Labour?
This week Rishi Sunak delivered his heavily-trailed Budget, revealing a spend now, tax later approach to the economic recovery from coronavirus. It included big spending on Covid support measures but a sting in the tail as taxes were hiked to...
02.25.2021
The Route Out Of Lockdown Is Revealed But The Road To Recovery Looks Less Certain
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...
02.11.2021
Is Britain’s Gambling Problem Finally Going To Be Met With Action?
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...
02.04.2021
Are ‘Incompetent’ Ministers Trapping People In Unsafe, Unsellable Homes?
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...
01.28.2021
The Candidates Set Out Scottish Labour's Future
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...
01.21.2021
Boris Johnson Walks Into Another ‘Elephant Trap’
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...
01.14.2021
Will The Red Wall Be Left Behind In The Fight Against Climate Change?
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...
01.07.2021
American Carnage, With Rosie Duffield MP And Anand Menon
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...
12.17.2020
As 2020 Comes To A Close, Do We Dare Ask What 2021 Brings?
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...
12.10.2020
Brexit Special: More Deadlines Than Hot Dinners
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...
12.03.2020
Should Labour Back A Tory Brexit Deal? With Lucy Powell MP
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...
11.26.2020
Rishi Sunak Delays The Pain Ahead Of Covid Christmas (With Andrew Mitchell MP)isode
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...
11.19.2020
Johnson And Starmer Struggle To Break Free From Their Recent Past (With Ian Lavery MP)
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...
11.12.2020
Cummings And Goings At No.10 (With Tom Tugendhat 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...
11.05.2020
226: Will Donald Trump Go Gently Into The Political Night?
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...
10.29.2020
225: Westminster Needs To Face The Music Over Diversity, With Jamie Njoku-Goodwin
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...
10.22.2020
224: Has The King Of The North Stolen Boris Johnson’s Crown?
Boris Johnson moved Greater Manchester area into the highest tier of local lockdown, setting in motion a war of words and press conferences with mayor Andy Burnham. Tensions spilled over as an extraordinary series of negotiations over a lack of...
10.15.2020
223: Is A Circuit Breaker Coronavirus Lockdown Inevitable?
Boris Johnson’s tiered local lockdown rules for England were meant to simplify the government’s response to the coronavirus second wave. But the plans immediately ran into trouble after Sage papers revealed scientific advisers had called for a national ‘circuit breaker’...
10.08.2020
222: Lockdown Brass, With John McDonnell MP
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss the rebellions brewing in Westminster as efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic by the government lurch from crisis to crisis. Is the time of constructive...
10.01.2020
221: Priti Patel’s Wave Machine
Boris Johnson can’t remember his own coronavirus rules, Priti Patel considered deterring asylum seekers with a wave machine, and the EU is taking the UK to court - it’s been another one of those weeks. Joining Arj Singh and Rachel Wearmouth,...
09.25.2020
220: Is Now The Winter Of Our Discontent? With Steve Reed MP
As curfews and other restrictions are brought in to try and stem the rise in coronavirus infections, Rishi Sunak took to the dispatch box with another rescue plan for the economy. But do his emergency schemes go far enough? Joining Arj...
09.17.2020
219: Do Voters Still Want To Push Cummings Off A Cliff? With Tory MP Paul Howell
Boris Johnson’s ‘moonshot’ coronavirus ambition began to look divorced from the reality of worrying testing shortages as more areas were put into local lockdowns. The prime minister also had to contend with a Tory Brexit rebellion and more resignations from...
09.10.2020
218: Is History Repeating With Brexit And Coronavirus?
As Britain saw a worrying resurgence of coronavirus cases, Boris Johnson returned to the country’s living room with a briefing with new restrictions. Also returning is Brexit, with the government admitting that they’re planning on breaking international law. Are we witnessing...
09.03.2020
217: A Summer To Forget For Boris Johnson, But Will He Be Marked Down For It? With Emma Hardy MP
Parliament returned from summer recess but it has been anything but a calm and relaxing summer holiday as the fallout from the exam results fiasco and many, many more U-turns from the government left Boris Johnson and the Tories sinking...
08.13.2020
216: Black Ballad Takeover: The Health Inequalities For Black British People
This week, Black Ballad is guest-editing HuffPost UK with a series by Black women on parenting, family, and our post-Covid future. In this special episode of Commons People, Arj Singh speaks with HuffPost UK's Nadine White, Black Ballad’s head of...
07.23.2020
215: Why Did MI5 And The Government Fail To Act On Russia? With Tom Tugendhat MP
No chance for parliament to wind down to summer recess as the intelligence and security committee published the long-awaited Russia report, which detailed how the government and intelligence agencies took their “eye off the ball” with regards to Russian meddling...
07.16.2020
214: Grayling Fails As Russia Threat Looms Large, With Lisa Nandy MP
Security and foreign affairs was thrust to the forefront this week as Boris Johnson U-turned on Huawei’s involvement in UK 5G infrastructure. The change in tone to China was quickly followed by a very British coup as Julian Lewis stole...
07.09.2020
213: Should Labour Back A Wealth Tax? With Stewart Wood
Rishi Sunak this week delivered a £30bn mini-budget designed to save jobs from the deep recession caused by coronavirus. The chancellor again came forward with radical state intervention proposals while keeping backbench Tory MPs eager for low tax, small state...
07.02.2020
212: Will Boris Johnson’s Big Reset Work? With George Freeman MP
Boris Johnson tried to reset the agenda on his premiership this week ahead of the lockdown all but lifting, setting out a “new deal” in the mould of Franklin D Roosevelt to get Britain to flourish once more following the...
06.25.2020
211: Why Is Boris Johnson Hanging On To Robert Jenrick? With Jo Stevens MP
After three months, Britain’s lockdown is coming to an end after Boris Johnson announced the openings of pubs, restaurants and other venues from July 4. But is it a risk? And what about those, particularly in the arts, that are...
06.18.2020
210: Has The Government Taken Its Eye Off The Ball? With Robert Halfon MP
While Boris Johnson was discussing the boarding up of Churchill’s statue, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford was campaigning for free school meals over the summer. Rashford’s open letter to the government saw a U-turn within 48 hours. With schools reopening...
06.11.2020
209: A Week Of Lessons Learned? With Layla Moran MP
George Floyd’s death continued to reverberate around the world this week, with protests in Bristol leading to the tearing down of Edward Colston’s statue due to his links to the slave trade. Is Britain finally facing up to the systemic...
06.04.2020
208: America’s Racial Injustice Highlights Britain’s Own, with Bim Afolami
Coronavirus news took a backseat as the protests against racial injustice fanned across the world following George Floyd’s death in custody of Minneapolis police. Britain too had tough questions to answer as a report detailing the disproportionate effects of coronavirus...

What's Commons People about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Commons People episodes:

Baroness Angela Smith...On Tory Tax Bombshells And Labour's Future

Yvette Cooper On The Art Of Govt And Opposition

Sunak's Overseas Aid Ambush: With Andrew Mitchell

Trading places: Will Liz Truss’s ‘Donut’ Strategy Leave Us With Brexit Indigestion?

Return Of The Saj

Brexit Birthday Special

Is The Tory Culture War Backfiring In Its Traditional Heartlands?

Joe Biden Jets In Amid An Almighty Brexit ‘Mess’

Why Cummings Showed The UK Must Ditch ‘Glorious Amateurism’

Why Labour Should Be Braver To Win Back The Red Wall

What Is ‘Levelling Up’ And Can Boris Johnson Deliver?

Local Elections Special: What Went Wrong For Labour

Will Voters Care About The Boris Johnson Flat Saga?

Labour Think They’ve Found Tories’ Weak Spot, But Is It Enough To Win? With Lord Mandelson

Could The EU Vaccine War Give Boris Johnson An Election Boost?

Is Boris Johnson The Right Man To Help Women?

Britain’s Equality Flaws

Does Rishi Sunak’s Budget Change The Fight For Labour?

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

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

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

The Candidates Set Out Scottish Labour's Future

Boris Johnson Walks Into Another ‘Elephant Trap’

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

American Carnage, With Rosie Duffield MP And Anand Menon

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

Brexit Special: More Deadlines Than Hot Dinners

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

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

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

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

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

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

224: Has The King Of The North Stolen Boris Johnson’s Crown?

223: Is A Circuit Breaker Coronavirus Lockdown Inevitable?

222: Lockdown Brass, With John McDonnell MP

221: Priti Patel’s Wave Machine

220: Is Now The Winter Of Our Discontent? With Steve Reed MP

219: Do Voters Still Want To Push Cummings Off A Cliff? With Tory MP Paul Howell

218: Is History Repeating With Brexit And Coronavirus?

217: A Summer To Forget For Boris Johnson, But Will He Be Marked Down For It? With Emma Hardy MP

216: Black Ballad Takeover: The Health Inequalities For Black British People

215: Why Did MI5 And The Government Fail To Act On Russia? With Tom Tugendhat MP

214: Grayling Fails As Russia Threat Looms Large, With Lisa Nandy MP

213: Should Labour Back A Wealth Tax? With Stewart Wood

212: Will Boris Johnson’s Big Reset Work? With George Freeman MP

211: Why Is Boris Johnson Hanging On To Robert Jenrick? With Jo Stevens MP

210: Has The Government Taken Its Eye Off The Ball? With Robert Halfon MP

209: A Week Of Lessons Learned? With Layla Moran MP

208: America’s Racial Injustice Highlights Britain’s Own, with Bim Afolami