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Today in Parliament

20/05/2026

Today in Parliament

BBC

Government

4.4162 Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Alicia McCarthy reports on Prime Minister's Questions - and more.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:06.0

Order, order.

0:08.5

Hello there, I'm Alicia McCarthy,

0:10.6

and this is today in Parliament from BBC Radio 4 for Wednesday the 20th of May,

0:15.3

where Kemi Badenok accuses Kirstama of watering down oil sanctions on Russia.

0:21.2

That money will be used to fund the killing of Ukrainian soldiers.

0:26.9

Isn't he ashamed?

0:29.2

But the Prime Minister insists what's being brought in is a tougher package.

0:34.0

These are new sanctions being phased in.

0:36.8

This is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way whatsoever.

0:43.4

And the former Health Secretary West Streeting explains why he quit the cabinet and called for a change of leader in Downing Street.

0:51.0

Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of number 10 to reform. And I do not

0:57.0

want that on our consciences. But we start tonight with Prime Minister's questions. The first since the May

1:03.6

elections, which saw Labour lose seats across England and in the Parliaments in Wales and Scotland,

1:09.9

stoking speculation about the Prime Minister's future.

1:12.9

One of the issues on the doorstep, the cost of living. And so the Prime Minister began with breaking news.

1:19.2

I can announce today that we're giving our hauliers a 12-month road tax holiday, helping to keep prices down.

1:30.5

And we're backing drivers by extending the freeze in fuel duty for the rest of the year. This is possible because of the decisions taken by the Chancellor,

1:38.2

making us the fastest growing economy in the G7. And she will set out further action tomorrow.

1:44.0

Fuel duty was cut by five pence in 2022, but that was due to come to an end starting from the autumn. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenock, welcomed the announcement up to a point. It's still a freeze, but we asked him about this on the 11th of March and the 25th of March and he said he wasn't going to do it.

2:01.2

So thank you for the U-turn.

2:03.0

Thank you for the U-turn.

...

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