Normally Parliament steers clear of discussing the Royal Family but with Prince Andrew embroiled in the scandal around the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, there are increasing calls for MPs to act. Could he be called before a select committee to explain his finances and the arrangements around his Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park? Might Parliament legislate to strip him of his titles and his role as a Counsellor of State? Could he be removed from the line of succession to the Throne? To explore these issues Ruth and Mark are joined by Dr Craig Prescott of Royal Holloway, University of London, an expert on the modern monarchy.

With other party leaders increasingly using Prime Minister’s Question Time to take potshots at Nigel Farage, does the Reform UK party leader deserve some kind of right of reply during PMQs? The problem is that while he may have a commanding lead in the opinion polls, he leads a tiny contingent of MPs so giving him a regular slot, ahead of other parties with as many, or even more MPs could create more problems than it solves. But as Ruth and Mark discuss, he does have other options for hitting back at his critics.

There’s also movement on the select committee corridor as Labour MPs elect new members to fill vacancies left by those promoted in the recent government reshuffle. But questions remain about the process itself. Should there be greater transparency around how parties decide who sits on these influential committees? We weigh the calls for reform against the realities of party politics behind the scenes.

Finally, this month marks 75 years since the Commons Chamber re-opened after being destroyed in the Blitz. We speak to Dr Eloise Donnelly, Curator of Parliament’s Historic Furniture and Decorative Art, about how the reconstruction balanced modernisation with tradition under the direction of architect Giles Gilbert Scott. From a 15-year-old apprentice carving the Speaker’s Chair to German prisoners of war quarrying the stone, the story of the rebuild is one of craftsmanship, controversy and continuity.

At the heart of a new exhibition marking the anniversary is a remarkable architectural scale model of the postwar Chamber — built in 1944 to help MPs visualise the design, exhibited across the country, lost for decades, but then rediscovered in Parliament. As Ruth reveals, this long-missing model solves a small but fascinating mystery in the Hansard Society’s own history.

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