01/03/2025
The Week in Westminster
BBC
4.0 • 258 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
George Parker of the Financial Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster
To assess the impact of two completely contrasting Oval Office meetings between President Trump and Sir Keir Starmer and then the US president and President Zelensky this week, George is joined by Peter Ricketts, crossbench peer and Britain's first National Security Adviser. And Labour’s Baroness Cathy Ashton, who was the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, leading its response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea back in 2014.
To discuss Sir Keir Starmer's plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by cutting the foreign aid budget, George spoke to the Labour MP for Hartlepool, Jonathan Brash and the Greens’ Ellie Chowns, who represents North Herefordshire, and spent her career before Parliament working in overseas development.
David Gauke, who was Justice Secretary in Theresa May’s government and is now leading a review into prisons for Keir Starmer, has been in Texas this week to look at what the UK can learn from prisons there.
Rishi Sunak's former chief whip, Simon Hart has just published his diaries spanning his fifteen years in the Commons - in which he saw five prime ministers, four general elections, and plenty of scandals. He discusses this era with The Spectator's Isabel Hardman.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | This is George Parker from the Financial Times with The Week in Westminster. |
| 0:10.3 | Rarely has the special relationship been so special. |
| 0:14.0 | Or at least that's how it felt in the White House this week, |
| 0:16.7 | as Sarkir Stama and Donald Trump ladled honey over each other |
| 0:20.1 | in front of an astonished press pack. |
| 0:22.4 | He's a special man and the United Kingdom is a, this is a wonderful country. |
| 0:28.0 | This is a letter from his bachelor's king. It's an invitation for a second state visit. |
| 0:35.5 | This is really special. We've met a couple of times and I'm very impressed with him. |
| 0:40.5 | I've been very impressed with his wife. Thank you once again. Thank you very much. |
| 0:44.6 | What a beautiful accent. I would have been president 20 years ago if I had that accent. |
| 0:51.5 | Standing in the Oval Office and watching Donald Trump open his invitation from King Charles |
| 0:55.8 | to an historic second state visit was to be witnessed a diplomatic flattery in its crudest form. |
| 1:02.3 | And it seemed to do the trick up to a point. |
| 1:04.7 | But then 24 hours later, in the same room, Kirstarmer's attempts to build a bridge between the |
| 1:10.1 | Trump White House and Europe |
| 1:11.5 | came crashing down as the US president and his deputy, J.D. Vance, harangued their guest, Ukraine's |
| 1:17.9 | President Vladimir Zelensky, in one of the most extraordinary political exchanges seen in years. |
| 1:23.7 | During the war, everybody has problems. Even you, but you have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the fusion. |
| 1:32.3 | God bless, you don't know that. |
| 1:34.3 | God bless, you don't know that. |
| 1:35.3 | You don't know that. |
... |
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