17/01/2026
The Week in Westminster
BBC
4.0 • 258 Ratings
🗓️ 17 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sunday Times political editor Caroline Wheeler reports on the latest developments at Westminster.
Following the defection of Robert Jenrick from the Conservatives to Reform UK, Caroline speaks to Henry Hill, the deputy editor of Conservative Home and James Orr, a Cambridge University academic and senior advisor to Nigel Farage.
Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East is a prominent critic of the government's plans to restrict jury trials. He discusses this and other Labour u-turns with Claire Ainsley, former policy director to Keir Starmer, now at the Progressive Policy Institute.
Crossbench peer, Beeban Kidron and Baroness Nicky Morgan, the former Culture Secretary discuss Elon Musk backing down in the row over sexualised deepfakes produced by its AI tool, Grok and whether the UK has the right regulatory framework for the online sphere.
And the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry and the former Conservative Security Minister Tom Tugendhat speak to Caroline about Iran, Greenland and whether a Chinese mega-embassy should be built in London.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Caroline Wheeler from the Sunday Times with The Week in Westminster. |
| 0:10.8 | It's been the week the Tory psychodrama returned to Westminster. |
| 0:14.8 | After all the leadership speculation engulfing the Labour Party, |
| 0:18.4 | it is the Conservatives who've now been plunged into a bitter |
| 0:22.1 | and very public falling out. Robert Jenrick, who was sacked by Kemi Badenock after being |
| 0:28.3 | caught red-handed plotting with Nigel Farage, wasted little time joining his new political home. |
| 0:35.1 | His defection to reform UK has turned what began as a disciplinary dispute |
| 0:40.1 | into a seismic rupture on the right of British politics. At an explosive press conference, |
| 0:46.4 | the former Shadow Justice Secretary did not hold back, launching a blistering attack on the government, |
| 0:52.3 | his former party and his erstwhile colleagues. |
| 0:55.5 | The two main parties are rotten. They are no longer fit for purpose. They both broke Britain |
| 1:03.2 | and neither can fix it. The Conservative Party in Westminster isn't sorry, it doesn't get it, it hasn't changed, it won't change, it can't change. |
| 1:15.6 | Kemi Badenock hit back. |
| 1:17.6 | Rob Jenrick is no longer my problem. He is now Nigel Farage's problem. |
| 1:21.6 | It is not a blow to lose someone who lies to his colleagues. |
| 1:25.6 | It is not a blow to lose someone who is doing the |
| 1:28.1 | job just for personal ambition and doesn't want to be part of the team. It simply isn't. |
| 1:32.8 | So what does it mean for the right of British politics? James Orr is a Cambridge University |
| 1:38.6 | academic and senior advisor to Nigel Farage. And Henry Hill is the deputy editor of Conservative Home, a blog |
| 1:46.2 | which supports but is independent of the Conservatives. I began by asking Henry where the |
| 1:52.0 | tumultuous events of this week leave Kemi Badernock. Kemi Badernock rules a smaller pond than she did |
| 1:58.0 | earlier this week, but the second biggest fish in it has been taken |
... |
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