02/07/2011

Available for over a year

Jackie Ashley of The Guardian looks behind the scenes at Westminster. Number 10 said this week's strike by teachers and civil servants was a flop, But not everyone thought so. Here, two former teachers, the Labour MP Nicholas Dakin and the Lib Dem Phil - now Lord - Willis weigh the issues as public sector workers resist plans to cut their pensions. Ed Miliband was condemned by some union leaders for saying industrial action was wrong. Strikes always seem to put a Labour leader on the spot - as the former industrial correspondent Nick Jones reflects here with former TUC insider, Adam Lent. The Big Society is being investigated by a committee of MPs. They took evidence this week from the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, and the Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association, Andrew Copson. How important are the Churches to David Cameron's big idea? Finally, the Tory MP Mark Pritchard reveals the response to his defiant speech in the Commons last week calling for a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses. The editor was Peter Mulligan.