ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Available for over a year

George Parker of the Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster. This week the Conservatives lost the vote on a bill which would have brought in a reduction in the number of seats in parliament, and overhauled constituency boundaries. Labour and Liberal Democrats combined to kill the bill, and a handful of Conservative MPs voted against their party.One of those, David Davis,explains his reasons, while Graham Stringer Labour, and John Leech Liberal Democrat, consider what this means for relations between their parties. The French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Bernard Emie, discusses relations between France and Britain following David Cameron's intervention to support the French in Mali. And in the light of Britain's defence commitments, Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert and Conservative Penny Mordaunt, discuss where the next round of cuts should come from, defence or welfare. Finally Kitty Ussher a former Labour Treasury minister, and Brooks Newmark a Conservative member of the Treasury Select Committee, on the Treasury's current practice of providing both a comprehensive autumn statement and a budget. Is it helpful or not? The Editor is Marie Jessel.