10/05/2025

The Week in Westminster

BBC

Government

4.2 • 239 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sonia Sodha delves in to the latest developments at Westminster.

Sir Keir Starmer celebrated not one, but two, new trade deals this week: with the United States and India. But has Britain got good deals? The Labour chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, Liam Byrne, and former Conservative trade minister and UK trade envoy to the US, Sir Conor Burns, discuss the merits of the agreements.

Following the local election results, in which Reform UK made strong gains at the expense of the main parties, restive Labour MPs have been making their feelings known to the Prime Minister about the government's performance. One of those MPs, Jo White, chair of the Red Wall Group, joined Joe Dromey, General Secretary of the Fabians, to discuss whether Labour needs a change of direction.

A spate of recent cyber attacks on retailers including M&S and Co-op have caused alarm in business circles and in government. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden this week said the attacks were a "wake-up call" for business. To discuss that Sonia speaks to Ciaran Martin, former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre and now a professor at Oxford University.

And, to reflect on the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Sonia is joined by Lord Michael Heseltine, former Deputy Prime Minister, who witnessed the celebrations in 1945, and Alex Baker, the first Labour MP to represent Aldershot - the home of the British Army.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.2	This is Sonia Soda with The Week in Westminster.
0:08.8	It was a week of ceremony and commemoration as the UK marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
0:15.5	A celebration of defiance, of sacrifice, the courage of that lion-hearted generation, the greatest victory in the
0:25.4	history of this great nation.
0:28.1	And it was a chance to remember the importance of the transatlantic alliance in defeating
0:33.0	Nazi Germany.
0:35.3	Roll forward 80 years, and this is what the alliance sounds like today.
0:40.7	Mr Prime Minister, please take it away.
0:45.1	Thank you, Mr President, Donald.
0:48.0	This is a really fantastic historic day in which we can announce this deal between our two great countries.
0:56.2	Yes, that was Sir Kier Stama being patched into an Oval Office press conference
1:01.4	from a West Midlands car factory, as Britain and America announced a new trade agreement.
1:08.5	Both leaders hailed a deal that removes recently hiked US tariffs on British steel and aluminium altogether,
1:14.6	and cuts tariffs on British cars. But is it a win for the UK? Or have we been shafted, as Conservative leader Kemi Badernott,
1:25.6	rather bluntly put it.
1:33.0	To answer that, I brought together Liam Byrne, Labour Chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee,
1:39.1	and Sir Connor Burns, a former Conservative Trade Minister who's currently in the United States.
1:40.9	Liam Byrne first.
1:47.7	I think it's the first step towards a bigger agreement. I mean, ultimately, we don't really want to be in this position. Nobody really wanted tariffs, but that is a decision of the American
1:51.8	people. But what we have definitely secured with a common sense retreat on agriculture and
1:57.9	some minor duties, we've secured a huge reprieve for the British car industry.
	...

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