07/03/2026

The Week in Westminster

BBC

Government

4.0 • 258 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

George Parker discusses Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US-Israel offensive against Iran, and the pressure he has been under for it, with the crossbench peer Kim Darroch, who was the UK’s Ambassador to the United States during President Trump’s first term, and the Labour peer Cathy Ashton, a former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs who led negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.

To analyse the Spring Statement that the Chancellor delivered on Tuesday, George is joined by the former Conservative Chancellor, Sir Jeremy Hunt, and the Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee.

MPs debated the Representation of the People Bill in the Commons this week. The Bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote at the next general election. To discuss the Bill, George spoke to Labour MP for Kettering, Rosie Wrighting, who is the youngest female MP in the House of Commons, and 19-year-old George Finch from Reform UK, who leads Warwickshire County Council; he is the youngest council leader in Britain.

And Robert Fox, the veteran war correspondent, and Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, debated the special relationship between the US and the UK in light of Prime Minister Starmer’s decision not to support the US–Israel offensive against Iran, which sparked criticism from the White House.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:05.5	This is George Parker of the Financial Times with The Week in Westminster.
0:11.4	War-dominated events at Westminster this week, with the Prime Minister admitting that many people
0:16.5	were worried sick by the unfolding drama in the Middle East.
0:20.8	It's a conflict that is shaping geopolitics, the economy and human lives,
0:25.9	raising big questions for politicians on how to respond.
0:29.6	The United Kingdom was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel.
0:36.8	That decision was deliberate. We believe that the best way forward for
0:42.2	the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement in which Iran agrees to give up any
0:49.8	aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon and ceases its destabilising activity across the region.
0:57.4	Sarkir Stama there, briefing MPs on Monday and trying to reassure them that he wasn't about to let Britain get dragged into another war in the Middle East.
1:05.7	We all remember the mistakes of Iraq. And we have learned those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful
1:18.3	basis and a viable thought through plan. The subject also dominated Prime Minister's
1:26.6	questions on Wednesday.
1:28.5	Kemi Bade not criticised Kirstama for his response to the US-Israeli strikes
1:32.7	and for not committing British forces to hitting Iranian missile sites.
1:37.7	Nobody wants to see an escalation.
1:39.9	The fact is...
1:40.9	The fact is, Mr Speaker, our bases, in case they don't realize, our bases have already been attacked.
1:53.4	Iran is trying to kill our servicemen and women.
1:57.9	He is catching arrows rather than stopping the archer.
2:01.2	We'll be looking at what Kirstama's position means for what he still calls the special
	...

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