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Hello and welcome to this edition of The Westminster Hour, our first in 2026 with me, Ben Wright, and my guests.

Coming up, MPs return to the Commons, politics resumes, and events in Venezuela are reverberating here.

The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,

Emily Thornbury, tells us the US operation to seize Nicholas Maduro was an illegal act. So how

should Sekeir Stama respond? We'll discuss that. The Prime Minister has been talking openly

about wanting a closer relationship with the EU single market. What would that look like and what might the UK have to give in return?

We'll consider that as well.

And with bits of masonry falling down the risk of fire and sewage explosions,

what is the best way to repair and rebuild the houses of Parliament?

We'll look at the options.

None of them easy. All of them

very expensive. But first, let's meet my guests. Rachel Blake is the Labour MP for the

cities of London and Westminster, specialising in housing and planning. She was once an advisor to Gordon

Brown and also served as a local counsellor in Tower Hamlets.

Now, Rachel, since your constituency is slap-bang in central London, were you there for the fireworks?

Or did you skiddle for somewhere quieter?

I always aim to be asleep by the time of the fireworks, yeah.

Alex Burkhart represents Brentwood and Onger for the Conservatives.

A former history academic and education policy advisor.

He's part of Kemi Badernax's inner circle and also Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary.

Are you a New Year party fan, Alex, or an early nighter?

...