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Episode details

Radio 4,04 Jan 2026,59 mins

Looking at the year ahead in politics

Westminster Hour

Available for 23 days

Ben Wright's guests are the Labour MP Rachel Blake; Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart; and Hannah White - Director of the Institute for Government. They discuss the dramatic events in Venezuela, with Dame Emily Thornberry - Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee - telling the programme that the US capture of Nicolas Maduro is "not a legal action". The panel also talk about the UK's relationship with the EU, following the Prime Minister's comments that he would like to "get closer" to the single market. And Ben takes a tour of the basement of the Palace of Westminster to see its ageing infrastructure - will 2026 be the year MPs and peers finally make a decision about how best to repair and rebuild their historic place of work?

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