It’s been a busy week for the Government. The emotive issues surrounding the Assisted Dying Bill were brought to a head in the Chamber. MPs, armed with a free vote, decided with a relatively narrow margin to approve the progression of the Private Members Bill, lead by Kim Leadbeater MP.
Parliament saw MPs from all sides at odds with each other as they discussed a highly ethical and personal issue. Whilst many argued that the legislation did not have sufficient debate time on the floor of the House, with only five hours allocated, some anonymous sources from the Government leaked that they were frustrated this made it to the floor at all, taking away time from their already packed agenda.
The fallout from the debate did prevent one embarrassment for the Government from taking the media spotlight. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh abruptly resigned from her post on Friday following a historic criminal conviction of fraud by false representation. Questions have been raised as to why she was in the position in the first place and how much the Prime Minister already knew. As the first casualty of the new Government, it has been left to the experienced Heidi Alexander MP to pick up the mantle for Great British Rail and the wider re-nationalisation of the railways.
Sir Keir Starmer will be looking to move on from yet another bump in the road. He is expected to announce his Parliamentary ‘milestones’ on Thursday in a speech that will highlight which measures will be prioritised both politically and financially. Whilst Pat McFadden has denied it’s a "relaunch", this to all outside the Labour spin room marks a major reboot to his communications strategy. Senior Labour officials will hope this is the start of a new concerted effort to prevent the public’s uproar as seen by the recent farmers protests, reaction to Labour’s freebie scandals and the heavily criticised budget.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has already commented on the Prime Minister’s announcements, "Keir Starmer is having to relaunch... because Labour had no plan for government." Whilst Cabinet Ministers have been quick to refute this, Sir Keir's argument for anything else will be treated as dubious at best.
One party feeling buoyant in the midst of this is Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Boasting reaching 100,000 members by unveiling Dame Andrea Jenkyns as their latest Conservative convert, Farage continues his plans to build up towards the local elections in May which he hopes will act as a launchpad for the new party at any future general election.
Not to be left behind, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has taken to TikTok to call out the Prime Minister. While you may think this would be a way to comment on serious policy, Sir Ed instead challenged the Prime Minister to a game of virtual football. A continuation of his jovial General Election antics looks to be his PR strategy; let's see how this goes.
The communications reboot will have to grapple with the same global challenges – the Prime Minister will need to continue challenging Russian interference with protests in Georgia and an increased activity in Syria will be closely monitored. With President Trump already taking limelight on these issues, the Prime Minister will want to use these international issues to build stronger bridges with European leaders.
A busy week where, no doubt, Sir Keir Starmer will be hopeful his fortunes may change. While opinion polls don’t hold the same sway as they did earlier in the year, Labour will be conscious they need to start connecting with the electorate to stop internal murmurings forming.
What’s on in Parliament
Monday 2nd December
House of Commons
- Oral Questions: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- General Debate: General debate on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report
- Adjournment: Medical aid during conflict
House of Lords
- Oral Questions: Consultation for the NHS 10 Year Plan and ensuring it reaches all communities
- Oral Questions: Steps to improve food security
- Legislation: Women, Peace & Security Bill - Committee Stage
- Legislation: Football Governance Bill - Committee Stage
Tuesday 3rd December
House of Commons
- Oral Questions: Treasury
- Legislation: National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill - Second Reading
- Adjournment Debate: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
- Westminster Hall Debate: Statutory framework for home-to-school transport for children with SEND
House of Lords
- Oral Questions: Appointment of members for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- Oral Questions: Ensuring proposed planning reforms contribute to the delivery of net zero carbon emissions
- Oral Questions: Arrangements in place to protect undersea fibre optic cables serving the United Kingdom
- Legislation: Great British Energy Bill - Committee Stage
Wednesday 4th December
House of Commons
- Oral Questions: Scotland
- Prime Minister’s Question Time
- Adjournment Debate: End of Radio Teleswitch Service in rural areas
- Westminster Hall Debate: Future of Farming
House of Lords
- Oral Questions: Encouraging entrepreneurs to start-up businesses in the United Kingdom
- Oral Questions: Work by the Department of Education and the Foreign Development and Commonwealth Office to promote the attractiveness of higher education sector internationally
Thursday 5th December
House of Commons
- Oral Questions: Cabinet Office
- Business Statement: Business Questions to the Leader of the House
- Backbench Business: Debate on a motion on detained British nationals abroad
- Backbench Business: General debate on improving public transport
House of Lords
- Oral Questions: Increasing productivity in the UK economy
- Oral Questions: Discussions with regional mayors in England on government housebuilding targets
- Oral Questions: Cancellation of services across several train operators due to shortage of train crew
- Debate: Increasing housing supply and tackling homelessness
- Debate: Retail crime and its effect on workers, the community and local economies
Friday 6th December
House of Commons
- Private Members Bills debates
House of Lords
- Debate: Importance of social cohesion and strong, supportive community life during periods of change and global uncertainty
Consultations
- Environment Agency charges proposal for greenhouse gas emissions – opened on 29th November
- Leading the NHS: proposals to regulate NHS managers – published on 26thNovember
- Refining the UK subsidy control regime - published on 26th November
Statistics
- UK support to Ukraine: factsheet – updated on 29th November
- Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June – updated on 29th November
- Annual Crime Statistics Trends Report 2023/24 – published on 29th November