Welfare cap breached by £8.6 billion: Do MPs care? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 70

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Welfare cap breached by £8.6 billion: Do MPs care? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 70

31 Jan 2025

The Government is now taking difficult decisions on everything from social security to a third runway at Heathrow which could cause splits in their own ranks. But why are MPs not paying more attention to the mechanisms the House of Commons has established to control the social security budget and repeal or reform old EU laws? And the House of Lords provides good news for Sir Paul McCartney but bad news for ticket touting by “posh people” at the Royal Albert Hall.

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This week we discuss the government’s big challenges — from Heathrow’s third runway to social security spending and the implications for parliamentary politics.

Infrastructure battles ahead: Rachel Reeves announces a third runway at Heathrow, but MPs opposed to the plan may use opposition day debates, e-petitions, and backbench motions to force votes. How will the government manage dissent within its own ranks?

Scrutiny shortcomings: Despite the welfare cap being breached by £8.6 billion, only a handful of MPs engaged in the debate. The growing social security budget raises long-term questions about fiscal sustainability and parliamentary oversight.

House of Lords vs. AI companies: Peers vote against the government to protect creative copyrights from AI exploitation, with backing from figures like Paul McCartney. The government now faces pressure to clarify its stance.

“Ticket touting for posh people” at the Royal Albert Hall: In a rare move – not seen since the 1990s - Peers have voted to amend a Private Bill against the wishes of the Bill’s sponsor, the Royal Albert Hall board of trustees.

Retained EU Law: Still a mystery: Ministers continue to unearth new pieces of retained EU law, but Parliament remains disengaged. Could a future reset of UK-EU relations reignite interest in these legal changes?

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s TV cameo: The Speaker of the House has appeared in an episode of Emmerdale, continuing the long tradition of political figures making pop culture appearances.

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Transcript

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Intro: [00:00:00] You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society production, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm..

Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox.

Mark D'Arcy: And I'm Mark D'Arcy. Coming up this week.

Ruth Fox: The heat is on. The government is now taking difficult decisions on everything from social security to a third runway at Heathrow, which could cause splits in their own ranks.

Mark D'Arcy: The scrutiny gap. Why aren't MPs paying more attention to the mechanisms they've set up to control the social security budget and repeal old EU laws?

Ruth Fox: And the House of Lords provides good news for Paul McCartney, but bad news for posh ticket touts at the Royal Albert Hall.

Mark D'Arcy: But first, Ruth, [00:01:00] let's talk about the very difficult period the Government's currently going through, and the difficulties they're going to have getting some of the big decisions they're trying to take through the House of Commons in due course. I mean, this week, Rachel Reeves was out and about announcing big infrastructure projects all over the country, reservoirs in several different counties and most prominently of all, a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

And this has been something that has been on the agenda of successive governments for decades, has never happened because of the furious resistance to it, particularly in areas either side of the flight path. Now she says it's going to happen and it's going to happen within 10 years, she hopes. So all those fears about long delays, endless judicial reviews, a half century of legal process before spades can hit the ground are being shelved by Rachel Reeves.

She's going to make it happen, or so we're told. And it's just one of the things on which there could be very uncomfortable Commons votes for the government. Not so much on an order to authorize the [00:02:00] construction or anything like that, because it's early days, but I'm sure that there are people in Parliament who would, one way or another, try and force a vote, a backbench debate, an opposition day debate, probably by the Liberal Democrats, I would guess, but who knows who might try and bring an opposition day debate on that one.

But I'm pretty sure that there will be an attempt to register Commons dissent, particularly to the third runway there, maybe to the extra runway at Gatwick Airport as well.

Ruth Fox: Yeah, it's not hard to see how sort of backbenchers with the tools at their disposal, whether it's Westminster Hall debates, adjournment debates, e petitions being got up to generate support and force a debate in the Commons.

Not hard to see how all that happens.

Mark D'Arcy: Yeah, the e petition process is one I hadn't particularly thought of, but I'm sure you're right. Someone somewhere will be launching a petition as we speak.

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