creation podcasts: westminsterwindow

This week Brian talks to Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps, Brecon and Radnorshire MP Roger Williams, Reading MP Rob Wilson and Cardiff MP Jenny Willott, covering his top issues from the political week.

This week Brian Shallcross takes advantage of the Easter Recess in Parliament to head to the upper cahmber where he talks with Lord Renton. Tim Renton used to be Conservative MP for Mid Sussex and rose to be Government Chief Whip when he was in the Commons. Now he's in the upper house as an active back bench peer.

This week we hear from an MP who suggests that bankers take an oath, rather like the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors. We meet the man who opened a keynote debate on energy supplies for the future, and who fears we may have left it too late to stop the lights going out in just a few years' time. We also take a look at the anti terrorist laws that are gettin ginnocent tourists into trouble.

This week on Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross we talk recession in rural towns and villages as, shoplifting, the importance of local markets and we have an exclusive with Former financial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Higgins.

Is gambling getting out of control?Do the government to enough to prevent silent phonecalls?Is banning product placement in TV a good or bad idea and is British bacon really British bacon?Brian Shallcross asks the MP’s.

Music and film piracy, abusive images of children on the internet, ID cards; some of the major issues discussed by Brian Shallcross this week on Window on Westminster. Plus, Christianity and politics; how much should they be kept separate in public life?

This week on Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross we take a look at Britains curry industry, Scottish banknotes and are we happy with the way the European Union is working?

This week Window on Westminster looks at the decline of British pubs, the expansion of Heathrow Airport, the move from weekly rubbish collection to fortnightly and the surprising number of of our fellow citizens who are unable to cast their vote because they are not on the electoral register? Presented by Brian Shallcross.

Do we have an official language in the UK? Are UK carers getting a raw deal? Is Brittish pork produce really coming from from Britain? This weeks Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross debates these questions and takes a look at nanotechnology.

In this weeks Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross one MP talks about Hamas being an anti-jewish organisation and we talk about the extremely worrying rise in suicides amongst young men. Also we discuss data sharing and could reducing the minimum wage create more work during a recession?

Why is it the Americans have spent money on research into Gulf War Syndrome and proved it exists, and have properly compensated their soldiers, whilst here in the UK, eighteen years later, our soldiers are still suffering serious illness with no proper compensation? And an MP accuses the tobacco companies of being complicit in the huge amounts of tobacco smuggling that goes on in the UK. Wndow on Westminster is presented by Brian Shallcross.

This week on Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross, we discuss the gender pay gap that still exists in the workplace, and we examine the very real possibility of refining used cooking oil as a biofuel for both power stations and diesel vehicles. Also this week, we meet the MP who is calling for new ways of controlling our street lighting. And as the massive digital switchover of our television systems gets ever closer, we talk to the Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman about how its going.

This week Brian Shallcross discusses home information packs, the UK’s poor performance broadband, the small business sector and will our politicians ever give a straight answer?

In this weeks Window on Wesminster Brian discusses the ever increasing numbers if house reposessions in the UK, the shortage of allotments to grow our own foodstuffs,the shocking new websites giving young girls tips on how to hide eating disorders from their parents and how the economic downturn has also hit charities- should the government step in?

In the first Window on Westminster podcast of 2009, Brian Shallcross discusses the Government’s carbon footprint, secular laws and Segways.

As the recession bites ever deeper into our lives, how far will the government go to rescue ailing businesses? Should we follow the United States, and rescue, not just the banks, but the car industry as well? We also meet an MP who has been campaigning to get ministers to do more to make sure that young people who want to undergo body piercing don't suffer from serious infection as a result of unqualified workmanship. And how feasible is it to harness the heat generated in undergound train systems to create a viable alternative energy source?

This week Brian Shallcross discusses whether our children should havehave lessons on how to be good parents in the future as part of the national curriculum. And with thousands of innocent people whose DNA is stored on the national police DNA database, we ask – is the intrusion into privacy justified by the fact that a number of crimes are solved as a result. Also this week- are the government doing enough to prevent flooding after the flooding of 2007 and is government legislation responsible for the demise of seaside resorts?

This week Brian Shallcross takes a close look of two of the most controversial bill sin the Queens Speech- on immigration and airport security. The immigration Minister speaks exclusively to Window on Westminster. We also visited the European parliament in Brussels and ask how the European Parliament has a real impact on our everyday lives.

Brian Shallcross debates whether visitors from foreign countries should be able to receive free medical treatment on the NHS and should the government exert more control over internet content. He also speaks to one MP who wants to rethink the physical relationship guidelines between teacher and pupil and another looking into alternative energy sources.

Brian Shallcross discusses whether cigarette vending machines should be banned entirely, should the government be allowed to keep detailed reports of our phone calls, emails and visited websites. Also do the government need to toughen up on drug driving, and should we take another look at speeding limits on country lanes?

On Window on Westminster this week, Brian Shallcross discusses whether there should be a British day, what should be done about teenage binge drinking and pregnancies and how we can tackle the problem of abandoned cares in the countryside.

This week Brian Shallcross discusses whether Barclays Bank was right to accept money from the Middle East rather than the British government to get them out of financial troubles. He asks wether we are too strict on foster parents and those who want to adopt and should supermarkets simplify the labelling of the contents of the food products we buy.

Brian Shallcross takes an in depth look at Britains defence policy, looks at the legacy that will be left behind after the Olympic Games 2012 and we meet the youngest member of the House of Commons, who is campaigning for fixed term parliaments.

This week’s Window on Westminster with Brian Shallcross tackles some controversial topics from prostitution and binge drinking to bringing back Victorian watermills as a modern source of sustainable energy.

This week on Window on Westminster Brian Shallcross discusses whether there is a case for the abolition of the traditional television licence, animal rights and also a case of an exceptional teacher in New Zealand who was banned from teaching because she lacks the equivalent of one O Level, despite being highly qualified in her subject.

A number of, well, ‘diverse’ topics have been raised in the Commons this week by MPs, even though the main issue on everyone's mind is the credit crisis. Its good to know the rest of the world goes on for good or bad, as Brian Shallcross returns to Westminster after the party conference season.

A Window on Westminster this week comes from the first Conservative Conference to be held in England's second city, Birmingham. This week we hear from leading members of the opposition how they believe they would make a difference, not only in the current economic crisis, but in our lives generally. Among those we talk to are William Hague, Michael Howard, Michael Gove, Dominic Grieve, London Mayor, Boris Johnson, and David Cameron himself.

Labour's conference in Manchester was billed as Gordon's make or break week. Here, it was almost as though there were two conferences in progress. One; a party united behind their leader, anxious to get on with the job of governing the country, and the other – the gigantic elephant in the room; a party worried they will be annihilated at the next election if Gordon is still in Number Ten and keen to get rid of him now. Which previaled? Brian Shallcross reports.

Now that the political season proper is with us again, with the beginning of the party conferences, Window on Westminster returns. This week, we've been to Bournemouth, to the first Liberal Democrat conference to be addressed by their new leader Nick Clegg. We meet the leader himself, as well as his deputy, economics guru, Vince Cable, and we discuss the job of leading the party with two former holders of the office, Charles Kennedy and Sir Ming Campbell. And we talk to Lembit Opik about his bid for the Party Presidency, and his campaign to get the Segway made legal.

This week we take a pause from the usual hurly burly of Commons politics to meet a remarkable man. Born in Prague, Lord Dubs was one of 669 Czech, mainly Jewish children saved by English stockbroker Nicholas Winton from the Nazis on the Kindertransport. He only discovered that he was one of the “Winton children” a few years ago after a relative saw his name on a television programme by Ester Rantzen. Brian Shallcross heads to the Upper House to meet Lord Alf Dubs, and talk of those distant, but agonizing memories.

Brian Shallcross returns with a chilling insight into the impending energy crisis we face in the UK. Plus, we get to the bottom of the case against speed cameras and traffic calming measures with Liberal Democrat Transport spokesman, Norman Baker.

Its a year ago this week Gordon Brown moved from Number eleven Downing Street into Number Ten, taking over the top job he’d wanted for ten years. So, how’s he done in his first twelve months? In this special edition of a Window on Westminster, we talk to politicians of all political hues to find out.

What happens to all the expensive buildings and facilities being planned for the 2012 Olympics after the games are over? We speak exclusively to the Shadow Sports Minister. And in the week the PM announces extra troops for Afghanistan, we talk to a Conservative MP who has seen for himself what is going on in Hellmand Province and doesn't think the Government has fully grasped the problems.

As binge drinking among the young goes from bad to worse, one MP brings in a Parliamentary bill tackling the problem from the retailers end of the alcohol market. And how safe is it to have treatments such as botox, teeth whitening, body piercing or tattooing, given that these and other procedures often use dangerous chemicals, which may not be handled by properly trained personnel.

Are the government's guidelines about salt in our food accurate? One MP thinks more research needs to be done. And we talk to an MP who is worried about the way we treat Polish immigrants to this country.

How do we deal with countries who torture our citizens? Peers in the upper house are trying to change the UK law, so that offending nations could be brought to justice in our courts of law here in Britain. But could it possibly work?

This week in Window on Westminster we talk to an Opposition front bench spokesman who is complaining about people breaking into prisons! We ask – why on earth would anyone want to do that? And as more and more employers take on highly skilled foreign workers, an MP demands action from the government to prevent the build-up of a pool of unskilled, virtually unemployable, young British workers.

This week, join Brian Shallcross as he talks to Robert Key about visitor faciliies at Stonehenge, Mark Field about airlines flying empty passenger jets half-way across the world, and to Norman Baker about restricting the growth of supermarkets in the UK.

Since the smoking ban came into operation, the number of places smokers can light up has been much restricted. The result is – a preponderance of unsightly cigarette butts adorning our pavements. In Window on Westminster, one MP wants to see the tobacco companies being responsible for clearing up the mess.

How out of touch with reality are our MPs? One member is convinced Parliament is not working as it should, and our elected representatives debate issues that interest them and not the people who put them into the Commons. Also – as violence amongst teenagers seems to escalate, MPs get together to try and come up with some solutions to the problem.

The bean counters of Whitehall, in their enthusiasm to save money, are putting rare species of wild birds at risk, according to one MP. Is inflation really running at just 2.5% as the prime minister likes to claim? Opposition MPs say it's far higher and produce figures to prove it. And we take a look at a scheme to equip every village hall with broadband internet access.

Should we be worried about the quality of the air we breathe when we travel in a plane? And we consider the case of a Manchester United fan languishing in an Italian jail for a crime his MP is convinced he didn't commit.

Brian Shallcross examines some serious problems facing us both at home and abroad. He considers the plight of millions of African women who are either HIV positive or have AIDS. Also we meet an MP who believes there may be a window of opportunity for Tibet. At home we find out how far behind other countries we are in the disposal of our waste.

This week began with the first authoritative report on the impact of mass immigration into the UK. Window On Westminster probes behind the tabloid headlines, and talk to the man who chaired the enquiry to see what it really means.

We find out what garden grabbing is, and talk to the Chairman of the Conservative Party, who tells us why she believes it must be stopped. We look at how the European Union could prevent us from taking the regular vitamin supplements we've been consuming safely for years, and we talk to one MP who is passionate about recycling plastic.

Five years ago this week the United States and Britain invaded Iraq. In this week's Window on Westminster we take a long hard look back to that time, with the man who was then the highly respected Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Ming Campbell.

Last week the House of Lords put the finishing touches to the abolition of the law on blasphemy. Does that mean we are becoming more secular in our institutions? No, according to one MP who says, along with Iran, we are the only parliamentary system to have priests of religion sit as of right in our legislature.

As the Government wins the vote in the Commons against having a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, we talk to the Labour MP who spent two years of her life drafting the original EU constitution. She tells us there should be a referendum. And we meet the MP who says, by retaining VAT on suncare products, the government is putting children at risk of future skin cancer.

In a busy Window on Westminster this week, we look at ways of preventing personal debt from getting out of hand. We talk to an MP who wants to ban small print, and we face up to the problem of illegal raves.

In this week’s Window on Westminster, we reveal the appalling facts behind the crime of credit card cloning, and talk to an MP who believes the money from this kind of fraud is being used to fund international terrorism. We hear the fears and worries of the Culture Select Committee Chairman about alcohol abuse among young people, and also catch up with an MP who challenged a group of drunken youngsters first hand and got missiles and abuse hurled at him as a result.