Committee Corridor

Clean Power by 2030 - that’s the ambition set out by the Prime Minister as one of his five central missions. The Government says that means a secure and affordable energy supply, the creation of essential new energy industries and the need to limit our contribution to climate change. Chair of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee and host of Committee Corridor, Toby Perkins MP, speaks...

“Intensely frustrating” – that’s how one guest describes the slow progress of the UK towards ratifying the UN High Seas Treaty.    On this episode of  Committee Corridor , host Toby Perkins MP explores how the UK could help tackle the threats facing the world’s oceans, following the UN Ocean Conference in June.    Much of the world’s ocean is unregulated, leaving vulnerable habitats unprotected fr...

Is our water system broken? The interim report from the Independent Water Commission says so.  “Irresponsible owners, poor leadership, low investment and ineffective prioritisation,” reports the House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The scale of the challenge facing regulators is huge, says the National Audit Office. And consumer trust in the water industry is at an all...

1.5 million new homes and net zero by 2050: can the Government do both?   A safe, secure and affordable place to live is the foundation of a healthy and prosperous life. But the UK is facing an acute shortage of homes. What is to be done, and how do we ensure environmental targets are still delivered? The latest episode of Committee Corridor, the podcast from Select Committees at the House of Comm...

What happens when the UK’s biggest issues meet environmental targets and commitments head-on?   The Chair of the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee, Toby Perkins MP, hosts the first of five new episodes from the select committee podcast, Committee Corridor .  Up first – airport expansion. Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, joins Toby to consider the UK travelling p...

At least three times per year, chairs of select committees question the Prime Minister in a sit-down session lasting 90 minutes. It’s one of the more unusual aspects of the work of the Liaison Committee which helps select committees deliver their roles effectively and keep tabs on government policy.    As Sir Keir Starmer MP prepares to face the Committee on 8 April 2025, the Chair of the Liaison...

Are the women who protect us adequately protected? And who should be held accountable if they aren’t? In 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a landmark report finding the Ministry of Defence and Services to have failed in helping female personnel achieve their full potential. The report called on military chiefs and Government to act on the harassment, bullying and discriminatio...

We’re back! Welcome to series 5 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of the UK Parliament’s select committees come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK every day. The first two episodes will be hosted by Dame Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Treasury Committee and the Liaison Committee. We'll be looking at commit...

Prevention, education and safeguarding: culture change at every level will be crucial to how we tackle violence against women and girls. In the final podcast of this season’s  Committee Corridor , host Caroline Nokes MP hears from three women who have taken part in select committee inquiries which consider different aspects of violence against women and girls.  The term “violence against women and...

Around a quarter of the UK's adult population have signed a petition to Parliament. It's one of the ways that UK residents can alert members of Parliament to concerns that matter to them and make their voices heard. Petitions to the UK Parliament e-petition site ask for a change to the law or to policy. Since launching eight years ago, more than 30,000 petitions have been created, attracti...

In May this year, voter ID was enforced for the first time in polling booths across England. Photo identification such as a driving licence or passport will be needed to vote in the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections, future recall petitions and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. From October, everyone will need photo ID to vote in UK General Elections. In this podca...

The Women's Ashes, the Ladies Tennis at Wimbledon, athletics in Manchester and London, World Cups for football in Australia and New Zealand — women's sport is going from strength to strength, and it's really exciting. But behind the scenes, other battles are being fought. The Independent Commission for Equity and Cricket (ICEC) stark report, ‘Holding a Mirror up to Cricket’ delivered c...

There are falling levels of trust in news, growing numbers of people who avoid news stories, and a sharp decline in the number of those who take a strong interest in news coverage. Local newspapers and broadcast services are also disappearing due to cuts, centralisation, and mergers. How would we hold local government and public services to account for the decisions that affect our everyday lives?...

Welcome to a brand new season of Committee Corridor. In the first episode, co-host Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, speaks with Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, about the effects the Covid-19 pandemic had on education. Children have been through an “unprecedented experience” of seeing schools closed and being restricted...

Welcome to Committee Corridor. This pilot podcast from the House of Commons select committees opens a door into the world of scrutiny through the lens of some of the UK’s most pressing concerns.  Hosted by select committee chairs, each episode features an insight interview with a leading figure combined with updates from MPs on the work of their different select committees across Parliament.  Issu...

Welcome to the final episode of this series of Committee Corridor.  In this series of Committee Corridor we’ve been looking at human rights and justice. Today, we’re updating you on the different issues we covered: modern slavery in the UK, the forced adoption of the children from unmarried mothers from the 1940s-1970s, plans to reform the Human Rights Act and the critical issues facing the crimin...

Welcome to a special episode of Committee Corridor. Today, we're sharing the highlights from a special event to mark 25 years of the Environmental Audit Committee, recorded live at Imperial College London.  In today’s episode, you’ll hear from the keynote speaker at the event, the former Prime Minister Theresa May MP, who put the 2050 net zero target into law.  There are contributions from an...

A significant backlog of Crown Court cases hitting more than 60,000 by September 2022; the highest rate of prisoners on remand for 50 years and court buildings in poor repair. Committee Corridor continues its series on human rights and justice, asking whether the criminal justice system in England and Wales in crisis. Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg joins podcast host Joanna Cherry to consider...

25 years ago, the landmark Human Rights Act changed the way in which human rights were enforced throughout the United Kingdom. The Act gave domestic effect to the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the convention in 1951. Last year, the Government brought forward legislation for a British Bill of Rights, which would repeal and replace the...

In this week's episode of Committee Corridor, we hear the stories of two women who suffered great pain and great loss as a result of decisions which were taken out of their hands. From the 1940s to the 1970s, tens of thousands of children were adopted simply because their mothers weren't married, and even though their mothers did not want to let them go. Last year, the UK Parliament’s Join...

Welcome to a brand new season of Committee Corridor. This time, we turn our attention to what select committees are doing to ensure that human rights of everyone in the UK are protected. Victims of modern slavery have been found working in homes in the United Kingdom, in our agricultural fields, and in our supply chains. But the UK, once seen as a champion for victims of modern slavery, is now tho...

Welcome to series 3 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of the UK Parliament’s select committees come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK and abroad. The latest series will be hosted by Joanna Cherry, the MP for Edinburgh South West and Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. In this new series, we’re looking at what committees are doing to ensu...

As the cost of living remains close to its highest level for 40 years, the final episode in our series on the cost of living crisis asks who is paying - and how. Rebecca McDonald, chief economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation tells host Darren Jones MP that many families are struggling to meet basic costs such as food. A recent survey by the social change organisation revealed that 2.4 million...

In a Committee Corridor special on COP27, Darren Jones reflects on the climate summit with Chris Stark, chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, which advises Government on the UK’s progress towards its legal target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The public wants to see action, Chris Stark says. In a cost of living crisis, Government must move things...

In this episode of Committee Corridor we continue our look into the cost of living crisis. This week we’re focusing on energy security. The conflict in Ukraine created a profound shock to our energy supplies. It has driven up prices, putting people into fuel poverty. And it’s brought the UK’s energy production into sharp focus. On the podcast we’re joined by Dr Simon Evans who works for Carbon Bri...