Commons People

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 Wearmo...

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 f...

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 pos...

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 avoi...

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...

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 storm...

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...

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 Wa...

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...

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 forme...

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 hi...

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...

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. H...

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...

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 financial support for businesses and workers spilled over in public, with Burnham was branded the “king of the north” as he attempted to defend Manchester...

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’ around a month ago. Keir Starmer dramatically took up the call as leaders from the Greater Manchester area hit back at plans to p...

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 opposition from Keir Starmer’s Labour over? And is it time to impose a national lockdown? While fighting the government’s response, Starmer a...

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, Tory former special adviser Salma Shah and Labour ex-adviser Matthew McGregor try to pick their way through the headlines and consider why the PM is faring...

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 Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed reacts to Sunak’s statement, tries to unpack the problems with test and tra...

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 his government. Is Johnson losing control of the two biggest issues of our times? Tory MP Paul Howell joined Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel...

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 the prime minister repeat his mistakes with both Brexit and the pandemic? Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, Anand Menon fr...

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 in the polls to the dismay of the party’s MPs. HuffPost UK’s Arj Singh and Paul Waugh are joined by shadow education minister Emma Hardy to make sense of what’s go...

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 editorial, Jendella Benson and co-founder of the Five Times More campaign, Tinuke Awe to talk about the takeover and what Black Ballad's landmark motherh...

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 in British politics. Will Boris Johnson take heed of the warnings? Alongside Russia, the government also has to contend with Chinese rela...

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 the chair of the intelligence and security committee from No.10’s favoured Chris Grayling and prepared to publish the long-awaited report on Russian interference. D...