The Briefing Room

Work and Pensions Secretary, Amber Rudd, this week announced that the next stage of the Universal Credit roll-out is to be scaled back amid concerns about the controversial new benefits system. So what were the origins of the Universal Credit policy and can its flaws be fixed?CONTRIBUTORSRoy Sainsbury - Professor of Social Policy at the University of YorkBaroness Philippa Stroud - former government advisor and CEO of the Legatum InstituteKayley Hignell - Head of Policy for Family, Welfare and Work at Citizens AdviceFran Bennett - Senior Research Fellow at the Department for Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford UniversityTorsten Bell - Director of the Resolution FoundationDeven Ghelani - Founder of Policy in Practice

In October, the IPCC, the UN body that reports on climate change, issued a stark warning. It said that if the world wanted to avoid catastrophic environmental damage, we needed to reduce carbon emissions by almost half in the next 12 years. So what needs to be done now if that target is to be reached? What's the position in China, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide? And how important is the stated intention of President Trump to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions? We hear from, among others, Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, the author of the seminal Stern Review in 2006.

Theresa May has been back in Brussels to attend a meeting of EU leaders, a day after surviving a leadership challenge at home. Her mission: to try to extract some form of concession from the other 27 EU member states that might persuade MPs in Westminster to support the withdrawal agreement the UK has concluded with the EU. Few commentators give her much chance of success. It still seems likely that when the deal is finally voted on by Parliament, it will be rejected. So what would happen then? Would the UK be heading for the EU exit door with no-deal? Might there be a vote of confidence that could lead to a general election? Could MPs from both main parties form a temporary government of national unity? Or might the Prime Minister accede to demands for a new referendum? With the historian Peter Hennessy, Jill Rutter of the Institute For Government, Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska of the Centre for European Reform and Meg Russell from University College London.

In France a wave of protests has brought the country to a standstill in recent weeks. The original cause of the anger - the government's plan to raise the rate of tax on diesel - has now disappeared. President Macron responded this week to the mood in the country by withdrawing the tax, due to be introduced next year. The question now is whether that will temper the anger of the Gilets Jaunes, the protesters who take their name from the hi-viz vest that every French driver must carry with them in their vehicle. The protesters form an amorphous movement without leaders and their demands are many and various. President Macron is being criticised as much for his style and tactics as his policy. Where does France go from here? With Sophie Pedder of The Economist, the geographer Christophe Guilluy, the pollster Bruno Jeanbart, the writer Jane Weston-Vauclair and Professor Philippe Marliere of University College London.

Theresa May is urging her MPs to accept the deal she has struck with Brussels on the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The trouble is that few in Westminster believe this is a vote she can win and Brussels has said no further negotiations are possible. With the vote due on December the 11th the Prime Minister has less than two weeks to get MPs to change their minds. If Parliament does reject the deal, does that mean a no-deal in March next year? If not, how can no-deal be avoided. Contributors: Tim Durrant, Senior Researcher at The Institute for Government Alex Barker, Brussels Bureau Chief of The Financial Times Patrick Smyth, Europe Editor of The Irish Times Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London

Is Brazil embracing a more conservative political future?In the wake of economic crisis, corruption scandals and rising levels of violent crime, Brazilians are shunning the left wing politicians who have run the country for the last two decades in favour of a right wing outsider: Jair Bolsonaro. In the first round of Brazil's presidential election, Bolsonaro won 46 per cent of the vote and appears on the cusp of victory in the second round on 28th October. Having campaigned on an anti-gay, anti-migrant platform, Bolsonaro has built his base on his evangelical roots and clean public image. David Aaronovitch talks to guests about what a Bolsonaro presidency could bring and asks whether the left-leaning Worker's Party (PT) candidate, Fernando Haddad, could still win the second round.CONTRIBUTORSDr Marukh Doctor - Reader in Political Economy at the Department of Politics at the University of Hull Katy Watson - BBC South America Correspondent Marieke Riethof - Lecturer in Latin American politics at the University of Liverpool Richard Lapper - Associate Fellow at Chatham House and former Latin American editor at the Financial Times

Air pollution is creating big problems. Scientists say it is a leading cause of climate change, which will be the subject of a major report to be released next week by the IPCC, a UN body that is studying the issue. Another problem is damage to health. Scientists believe that air pollution harms the quality of our lives, and shortens them too. So how bad is the air in the UK? And what can be done to improve matters? CONTRIBUTORS Andrew Grieve, Air Quality Analyst at the Environmental Research Group at King's College London Fiona Godlee, Editor, The BMJ Audrey de Nazelle, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental policy, Imperial College Gavin Shaddick, Professor of Data Science and Statistics, University of Exeter

At its annual conference in Liverpool this week, the Labour party set out plans to nationalise a large range of industries that previous governments had sold off. The industries it wants to bring back into public ownership include water, rail, energy and the Royal Mail. But how would Labour’s ideas work? And what would the process be for implementing them? David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss.Contributors: Chris Curtis, senior political researcher, YouGov Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy Policy and a Fellow in Economics at the University of Oxford Dan Neidle, Partner, Clifford Chance Dr Sarah Hendry, Senior Lecturer in law at University of Dundee Karma Loveday, Editor, The Water ReportProducer: Neil Koenig

How could a new referendum on Britain's relationship with Europe work? As pressure mounts on Theresa May to seal an agreement on Brexit, there are growing calls for a further referendum on the issue. From across the political spectrum, MPs, trade unions and campaigners are demanding another vote on the terms of the deal, or lack of one. In the Briefing Room, David Aaronovitch examines the mechanics of this hypothetical proposition. What would the procedure be to trigger another referendum and how would it be organised? And is there enough time? Guests: Chris Morris, BBC Reality Check Alan Renwick, deputy director of the Constitution Unit, University College London Professor Catherine Barnard, Senior Fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe Initiative at King’s College London Professor Matt Qvortrup of Coventry University Katya Adler, BBC Europe Editor

The Tories are split, Labour is split and some people think it just can’t go on.Once more there is serious talk about the formation of a new political party.This has been tried before and recent history seems to say that the odds of success are not good. But what about now? Have the prospects changed?What might a new party look like this time? And what chance of success would it have?CONTRIBUTORSSir Ivor Crewe, political scientist and Master of University College, OxfordDavid Cowling, political opinion polling specialist and former editor of political research for the BBCSteven Fielding, professor of political history and director of the Centre for British Politics at the University of NottinghamJane Green, professor of political science at Nuffield College, Oxford, and co-director of the British Election Study