Committee Corridor – Details, episodes & analysis

Are the women who protect us adequately protected? And who should be held accountable if they aren’t? In 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a landmark report finding the Ministry of Defence and Services to have failed in helping female personnel achieve their full potential. The report called on military chiefs and Government to act on the harassment, bullying and discrimination suffered by women in the armed forces. Since then, how far have we come?  

In the first episode of Committee Corridor’s brand-new season, Chair of the Liaison and Treasury Committees, Dame Meg Hillier MP, reflects on the impact of the Defence Committee’s report. We talk to inquiry Chairs from the committee past- Conservative Sarah Atherton MP- and present- Labour’s Tan Dhesi MP, as well as witness and Director of the Centre for Military Justice, Emma Norton.  

We’re also joined by Liberal Democrat MP Steff Aquarone and Labour MP Natasha Irons, who- as well as being new to select committees - became members of Parliament for the first time in July. Natasha and Steff discuss their impressions of joining select committees and hopes for the new Parliament.  

We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:  

Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email jo@samaritans.org 

Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk) 

Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales 

Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) 

Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk) 

For more information about Salute Her UK: https://www.saluteher.co.uk/ 

If you’d like to find out more about the Defence Committee’s Women in the Armed Forces inquiry, you can read the full report here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmdfence/904/report.html?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=podcast_season_five&utm_id=podcast_shownotes&utm_content=podcast_episode_one  

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Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/  

We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/  

We’re back!

Welcome to series 5 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 every day.

The first two episodes will be hosted by Dame Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Treasury Committee and the Liaison Committee. We'll be looking at committee impact - past, present and future - as we hear the first impressions of new MPs who have joined select committees.

In the following episode, we'll explore the work of the Liaison Committee, including sessions with the Prime Minister. What would you ask him?

After Easter, we’ll be returning with episodes that put the spotlight on understanding the biggest issues of the day for the UK’s green agenda.

Join us this spring on Committee Corridor - coming to you from the heart of Westminster, and exploring the issues that affect you most.

To whet your appetite, here's a snapshot of past series.

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Welcome to a special episode of Committee Corridor. Today, we're sharing the highlights from a special event to mark 25 years of the Environmental Audit Committee, recorded live at Imperial College London. 

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from the keynote speaker at the event, the former Prime Minister Theresa May MP, who put the 2050 net zero target into law. 

There are contributions from an esteemed panel who discussed the impact of the EAC since it was created in 1997.

The panel consists of Dr Hannah White from the Institute for Government, Professor Mary Ryan from Imperial College, David Shukman - former science editor at the BBC and former EAC Chair and Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, Mary Creagh.

The MPs then invited leading academics to pitch ideas for the Committee to explore as a future inquiry. 

Your host is the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne MP.

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. 

A significant backlog of Crown Court cases hitting more than 60,000 by September 2022; the highest rate of prisoners on remand for 50 years and court buildings in poor repair. Committee Corridor continues its series on human rights and justice, asking whether the criminal justice system in England and Wales in crisis.

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg joins podcast host Joanna Cherry to consider the most pressing problems facing the sector. Top of the list is recruitment and a lack of young people able to practise criminal law. Unless there are enough lawyers, there will be repercussions for the whole system, he says.  They also consider the need for investment, research on rape convictions and the broadcasting of sentencing.

Joanna then turns to Chair of the Home Affairs Committee and Labour MP, Diana Johnson; and Chair of the Justice Committee, Conservative MP, Sir Bob Neill, to hear what evidence their Committees have uncovered and what should be top of the Government’s to-do list.

The Justice Committee has conducted a number of inquiries looking in detail at the current state of the justice system, including Court Capacity and the role of adult custodial remand. The Home Affairs Committee has reported on the investigation and prosecution of rape. It is currently examining how the police service can reform to meet future challenges.

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. 

25 years ago, the landmark Human Rights Act changed the way in which human rights were enforced throughout the United Kingdom.

The Act gave domestic effect to the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the convention in 1951.

Last year, the Government brought forward legislation for a British Bill of Rights, which would repeal and replace the Human Rights Act, but would place limitations on the interpretation and enforcement of those rights.

Host Joanna Cherry is joined by Professor Francesca Klug who considers the impact of the Act and offers practical examples of its application, looking at the rights of people in care homes during the pandemic and changes to the scope of inquests which contributed to the establishment of the Hillsborough, Grenfell Tower and COVID-19 inquiries.

Professor Klug was part of the legal team which assisted the 1998 Government to devise the model that gave effect to the European Convention on Human Rights in our domestic law, and part of the Government's task force which oversaw the implementation of the act in its early days. She has been awarded an OBE for her services to human rights.

Joanna is then joined by the Liberal Democrat Peer, Baroness Sarah Ludford and David Simmonds MP, Conservative member of Parliament for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner who were members of the cross-party Joint Committee on Human Rights when it published its report into Human Rights Act reform, which inspired the focus of this episode of the podcast.

In this week's episode of Committee Corridor, we hear the stories of two women who suffered great pain and great loss as a result of decisions which were taken out of their hands. From the 1940s to the 1970s, tens of thousands of children were adopted simply because their mothers weren't married, and even though their mothers did not want to let them go.

Last year, the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report about the adoption of children of unmarried women from 1940s-1970s. Podcast host Joanna Cherry speaks to two women directly affected about their experiences before catching up with Harriet Harman KC MP about the outcomes from the Joint Committee’s work.

Ann Keen was born in 1948 in North Wales. She became pregnant and was sent to a mother and baby home at the age of just 17, back in 1966. She went on to work in the NHS as a nurse, and later, she served as the Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997 to 2010.

Liz Harvie was born in a maternity hospital in Northampton in 1974, her birth mother was unmarried. Liz was adopted at eight-weeks-old, and she lived with her adopted parents, and her brother, also adopted, who joined the family, two years later.

We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:

Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email jo@samaritans.org

PAC-UK  - Independent Adoption Support Agency offering: Advice, Support, Counselling & Training. The advice line is available on 020 7284 5879 and 0113 230 2100.

Adoption UK Charity – For information on a range of adoption-related issues and campaigns for improvements to adoption policy and legislation. The helpline is available on 0300 666 0006.

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 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.