25/03/2023
Paul Waugh, Chief Political Commentator of the i paper, looks back at a dramatic week in which former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was questioned by the Privileges Committee over whether he deliberately misled Parliament over parties in Downing Street during the pandemic. Paul is joined by the former editor of The Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore, who was given a life peerage by Boris Johnson in 2020, and Lord Sumption, a former senior judge who sat on the UK Supreme Court. With parliamentary standards in the spotlight Paul is also joined by Dr Hannah White of the Institute for Government and Tammy Banks, an outgoing lay member of Parliament's standards committee, who reflects on her six year stint in the role, including the political fallout from the investigation in to former Conservative MP Owen Paterson for breaching paid advocacy rules. After Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the new Windsor Framework Paul speaks to the former Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, to discuss the chances of a return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland and to look ahead to the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. And, to assess whether this week's Conservative soap opera will have any effect on upcoming elections, Paul speaks to Professor Tim Bale, author of a new book about the Conservative Party after Brexit, and Professor Jane Green, co-Director of the British Election Study.