Committee Corridor

Welcome to a brand new season of Committee Corridor. This time, we turn our attention to what select committees are doing to ensure that human rights of everyone in the UK are protected. Victims of modern slavery have been found working in homes in the United Kingdom, in our agricultural fields, and in our supply chains. But the UK, once seen as a champion for victims of modern slavery, is now thought to be a bit less of a standard bearer. We’ll hear why. To discuss what the UK is doing to protect those who are at risk of becoming victims of modern slavery we spoke to Professor Dame Sara Thornton. She was the Government's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner until April last year, when she completed her three-year term of office. Her role is still vacant. To hear how select committees are considering this topic, we spoke to @SarahChampionMP, Chair of the International Development Committee, and Labour MP for Rotherham. As well as @timloughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, who sits on the Home Affairs Committee. Your host for this season is @joannaccherry, the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West, and Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

Welcome to series 3 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of the UK Parliament’s select committees come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK and abroad. The latest series will be hosted by Joanna Cherry, the MP for Edinburgh South West and Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. In this new series, we’re looking at what committees are doing to ensure the human rights of everyone in the United Kingdom are protected. Join us every two weeks here on Committee Corridor - coming to you from the heart of Parliament, and exploring the issues that affect you most. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

As the cost of living remains close to its highest level for 40 years, the final episode in our series on the cost of living crisis asks who is paying - and how. Rebecca McDonald, chief economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation tells host Darren Jones MP that many families are struggling to meet basic costs such as food. A recent survey by the social change organisation revealed that 2.4 million households had borrowed on credit cards to pay essential bills in the past few months. Bank of England increases in the base borrowing rates have pushed up interest, increasing the costs of debt. Although the Government should get credit for the support given to low income households so far, she asks why the safety net of social security has not been adequate in the current ‘economic shock’ and calls for support for people on low incomes to be reassessed to provide a decent quality of life. Turning to the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill MP, Darren asks what’s pushing up the cost of food and they consider the impact on the farming sector. The Committee recently published a report on food security. Harriett Baldwin, Chair of the Treasury Committee describes the ‘pernicious’ effect of inflation as a ‘tax on the poorest in society.’ She discusses recommendations to spread cost of living payments across winter months to avoid ‘cliff-edges’ for those on low incomes. This episode airs as Government borrowing hit its highest November level since records began in 1993, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, the JRF’s chief economist said it was necessary to  support households and the economy so that things don't get worse and a better recovery is possible. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

In a Committee Corridor special on COP27, Darren Jones reflects on the climate summit with Chris Stark, chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, which advises Government on the UK’s progress towards its legal target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The public wants to see action, Chris Stark says. In a cost of living crisis, Government must move things around to suit the circumstances. “Investments in new technologies and “big savings for people in the economy” are parts of the “profoundly positive journey to net zero”, he said. Following the insight interview with Chris Stark, Darren is joined by Philip Dunne, Conservative Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, and Liberal Democrat Peer and Chair of the Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee, Baroness Kate Parminter. They outline the practical recommendations their committees have been making to ministers through inquiries on energy efficiency and behaviour change for climate and environmental goals. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

In this episode of Committee Corridor we continue our look into the cost of living crisis. This week we’re focusing on energy security. The conflict in Ukraine created a profound shock to our energy supplies. It has driven up prices, putting people into fuel poverty. And it’s brought the UK’s energy production into sharp focus. On the podcast we’re joined by Dr Simon Evans who works for Carbon Brief, a leading website covering climate science, climate, and energy policy. He tells us why the UK is uniquely exposed when it comes to energy security. They look at different options including hydrogen, wind power and nuclear and consider what’s good for the UK’s approach to energy prices, energy security and climate change. We’re then joined by two Members of Parliament. @GregClarkMP chairs the Science and Technology Select Committee and @AnnaMcMorrin is a member of the Environmental Audit Committee. They discuss the work under way by their committees as they explore the possibilities for Britain's energy mix. Your host is Darren Jones MP, Chair of the House of Commons’ Business Committee. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

On today’s episode of Committee Corridor we continue our look at the cost-of-living crisis and turn to jobs and workforce concerns. There are hundreds of thousands of job vacancies in some of the UK’s most critical sectors. Health, education and transport all face challenges in recruiting and retaining key staff. To examine the situation further, we spoke to Christina McAnea, the head of UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade unions with over a million members in the private and public sector. She describes the emerging challenges faced by her members during this cost of living crisis. We then spoke to two select committee members, @IanMearnsMP and @gregsmith_uk. Ian Mearns is the Labour MP for Gateshead, and a longtime member of the education committee. They've been looking at careers’ education and the future of post-16 qualifications. The Committee published a report on special educational needs and disabilities in 2019, which took more than 500 pieces of written evidence into account. Greg Smith is the Conservative MP for Buckingham, and sits on the transport committee.  They recently published a report on another sector coping with the shortage of workers; HGV drivers, who we rely on to deliver essential goods like fuel and food around the UK. They've also been looking at the disruption caused by rail strikes. Your host is @darrenpjones, the chair of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

Energy bills are a major concern for households and businesses across the UK. Committee Corridor explores concerns about vulnerable customers and how we future proof the UK’s energy supply. Host Darren Jones MP speaks to the Chief Executive of Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, Emma Pinchbeck, about home insulation, fuel poverty and the role of new technologies in relieving the pressure on low-income families. He’s joined by the Welsh Affairs Committee Chair Stephen Crabb MP, and Alison Thewliss MP from the Treasury Committee, who highlight recent work by their committees and how the cost of living crisis is hitting particular customers in Wales and Scotland. Find out more about the BEIS Committee on their website. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

In our first episode of series 2, our host and BEIS chair Darren Jones MP is joined Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, to talk about the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The pair set the scene for the podcast series and highlight key topics, including inequality and wage stagnation. In the second half of the episode, fellow committee parliamentarians Sir Stephen Timms MP and Caroline Nokes MP, the Chairs of the Work and Pensions and Women and Equalities Committees respectively, discuss what parliament can be doing to help relieve the pressure on households in the UK. Find out more about the BEIS Committee on their website. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

Welcome back to series 2 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of Parliament come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK and abroad. The latest series will be hosted by Darren Jones,  the Member of Parliament for Bristol North West and the chair of the House of Commons’ Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. This Autumn, we’ll look at the very real fears about the cost of living, our energy and climate – due to hit every one of us around the UK. Join us every 2 weeks here on Committee Corridor - coming to you from the heart of Parliament, and exploring the issues that affect you most. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Find out more about the BEIS Committee on their website. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠. 

Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained by the Iranian authorities for six years, joins host Tom Tugendhat MP to discuss his campaign to free his wife, and whether the family’s case ‘moved the dial fundamentally’ for state hostages. In the second part of the episode, fellow parliamentarians Tulip Siddiq, the family’s local Labour MP Labour for Hampstead and Kilburn, and Royston Smith, Conservative MP for Southampton, who also sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, discuss what more Parliament can do to prevent innocent British citizens being caught up in big power politics through no fault of their own. Find out more about the Foreign Affairs Committee on their website. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠.