14/03/2026

The Week in Westminster

BBC

Government

4.0 • 258 Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Pippa Crerar of The Guardian assesses the latest developments at Westminster.

To discuss the unfolding conflict in the Middle East, and Britain's response, Pippa is joined by Labour peer, Lord West, a former First Sea Lord and Security Minister, and former Conservative MP, Tobias Ellwood, who also served as a minister in the Foreign Office and MoD.

Following the vote on the government's controversial Courts and Tribunals Bill which would restrict jury trials, Pippa speaks to Dame Vera Baird KC, a former Labour minister and Victims' Commissioner who now chairs the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and Cassia Rowland, senior researcher at The Institute for Government who specialises in criminal justice.

Sunder Katwala, Director of the think tank British Future, which focuses on immigration and integration, and crossbench peer Kishwer Falkner, the former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, debate the government's new strategy on social cohesion.

And, following the release of government documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, Pippa speaks to Keir Starmer's former Director of Strategy, Paul Ovenden, and the political editor of the New Statesman, Ailbhe Rea.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.5	This is Pippa Carrera from The Guardian with the week in Westminster.
0:09.6	As Operation Epic Fury entered its second week, the impact of Donald Trump's Iran incursion
0:15.0	was felt well beyond the Middle East as world leaders grappled with the military and economic
0:20.0	consequences.
0:21.8	Here in the UK, Kirstama sought to reassure the British public about the cost of living
0:26.5	as oil prices spiked and also about Britain's defensive capability should the conflict continue.
0:33.9	At Prime Minister's questions on Wednesday, he claimed the Conservative leader, Kemmy Beidinoch,
0:38.6	was too quick to back the initial US strikes on Iran.
0:41.9	If she were Prime Minister, Mr Speaker, we would be in the war.
0:46.3	And she would be coming back to Parliament a week later to say,
0:50.1	oh, sorry, I got that one wrong.
0:53.1	Kemi Beidonok responded with a jibe about the time it's taken to get a Royal Navy warship to the region.
0:58.9	Mr Speaker, he said if I were Prime Minister, if I were Prime Minister, HMS Dragon would have left a week ago.
1:05.3	Her criticism came after the destroyer took six days to get ready to leave for Cyprus to bolster British defences,
1:12.4	a process experts say would normally take several weeks.
1:16.5	To discuss the unfolding conflict, I brought together Labour Peer Admiral Lord West,
1:21.3	a former First Sea Lord and security minister under Gordon Brown,
1:24.9	and the former Conservative Defence Minister Tobias Elwood.
1:28.6	I asked Lord West if the rival of HMS Dragon would make a difference.
1:32.7	Well, I think it's important to have maritime assets in a maritime region.
1:36.8	What is surprising is that our country, a great maritime nation,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.