09/07/2011

Available for over a year

Elinor Goodman looks behind the scenes at Westminster. The outrage felt by all sections of society at the phone hacking by News of the World journalists, leading the Prime Minister to set up two important inquiries, will radically change the nature of the relationship between the press and politicians. Ben Bradshaw a culture minister in the last Labour government, Conservative MP David Davis and Don Foster a Liberal Democrat spokesman on Culture Media and Sport discuss the political repercussions of the News International scandal. And two former ministers David Mellor and Lord Prescott talk of their own experiences of press power. Meanwhile parliament had other business this week no less important, the social care of the elderly. On Monday the house discussed the Dilnot report proposals on funding care for old people. Jack Dromey Labour and Anne Marie Morris Conservative consider the thorny question of how to meet these increasing costs. In an up-dated introduction to his autobiography Tony Blair talks of the power of pressure groups, which more often than not stymied his efforts at radical reform. Douglas Carswell Conservative, and Tessa Jowell a member of Tony Blair's government, look at the power of pressure groups. . The editor was Marie Jessel.