24/01/2026
The Week in Westminster
BBC
4.0 • 258 Ratings
🗓️ 24 January 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Following President Trump's pressure on European allies over the future of Greenland, Ben analyses whether there has been a fundamental shift in the Transatlantic alliance with Lord Darroch, former UK Ambassador to the USA, and Sarah Elliott, director of the US-UK Special Relationship Unit at the Prosperity Institute.
As the government approves plans for a new Chinese embassy in London ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to China, Ben brings together Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who previously chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
After the House of Lords voted in favour of a ban on social media for children under 16, Ben speaks to Professor Amy Orben of Cambridge University who co-led a government study to understand the impact of social media on young people.
And, is centrism dead? Times columnist Matthew Parris does not think so and argues that Conservative defections to Reform give Kemi Badenoch an opportunity to pivot her party to the centre. He debates that with non-affiliated peer, Claire Fox, a former Brexit Party MEP, a forerunner to Reform UK.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Ben Riley Smith with The Week in Westminster. |
| 0:09.3 | This week, like everyone in 26, has been dominated by Donald Trump. |
| 0:14.9 | The US presidents, as he so often does, grabbed the agenda via a truth social post. |
| 0:20.5 | He declared on Saturday that European nations, |
| 0:23.2 | including the UK, resisting his attempts to take control of Greenland, would be hit with a 25% |
| 0:28.8 | tariff. The missive sent Western allies scrambling for a response. There was unity as countries |
| 0:35.7 | stood by Denmark's rights over the territory, |
| 0:38.1 | but splits too over whether to fire back with retaliatory tariffs. |
| 0:43.4 | Sarkir Stama had a robust message at Prime Minister's questions. |
| 0:46.7 | I will not yield, Britain will not yield, |
| 0:51.6 | on our principles and values about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs. |
| 0:58.8 | And that is my clear position. |
| 1:01.1 | It was quite a moment for this Prime Minister, who up till now, has been trying to influence |
| 1:06.1 | President Trump more in private than public. |
| 1:09.0 | But it seemed a red line had been crossed. A few hours later, |
| 1:13.6 | Donald Trump, addressing the elites in Snowy Davos, slipped a telling concession into his 90-minute speech. |
| 1:19.6 | We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we |
| 1:25.3 | would be, frankly, unstoppable. |
| 1:30.9 | But I won't do that. |
| 1:35.0 | Come Wednesday evening, even more ground was being conceded. |
| 1:40.5 | The terrorists were not going ahead, the US president said, because a deal had been struck. |
| 1:45.8 | Exactly what it was, the central players, Mr Trump and Mark Ritter, the NATO chief, |
... |
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