Category: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

Watch PMQs with British Sign Language (BSL) – https://youtube.com/live/GfBhjanpA_8?feature=share

Prime Minister’s Question Time, also referred to as PMQs, takes place every Wednesday the House of Commons sits. It gives MPs the chance to put questions to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer MP, or a nominated minister.

In most cases, the session starts with a routine ‘open question’ from an MP about the Prime Minister’s engagements. MPs can then ask supplementary questions on any subject, often one of current political significance.

The Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch MP, asks six questions and the leader of the second largest opposition party asks two. If another minister takes the place of the Prime Minister, opposition parties will usually nominate a shadow minister to ask the questions.

Want to find out more about what’s happening in the House of Commons this week? Follow the House of Commons on:

X: https://www.x.com/HouseofCommons
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukhouseofcommons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukhouseofcommons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSqkkFMZqsI

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

Prime Minister’s Question Time, also referred to as PMQs, takes place every Wednesday the House of Commons sits. It gives MPs the chance to put questions to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer MP, or a nominated minister.

In most cases, the session starts with a routine ‘open question’ from an MP about the Prime Minister’s engagements. MPs can then ask supplementary questions on any subject, often one of current political significance.

The Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch MP, asks six questions and the leader of the second largest opposition party asks two. If another minister takes the place of the Prime Minister, opposition parties will usually nominate a shadow minister to ask the questions.

Want to find out more about what’s happening in the House of Commons this week? Follow the House of Commons on:

X: https://www.x.com/HouseofCommons
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukhouseofcommons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukhouseofcommons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfBhjanpA_8

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

Amid 40% cuts to the UK international aid budget, there are still significant gaps in what we know about the Government’s new approach to foreign aid spending.

The International Development Committee is urging the Government to explain what success looks like and how international partners will be involved.

Additionally, the Committee is calling for more to be done to regain public trust and rebuild the case for aid.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eut7gk2PYmM

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

Sir Philip Barton, former Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and Morgan McSweeney, former Downing Street Chief of Staff, give evidence on Lord Mandelson’s security vetting for the role of British Ambassador to Washington.

Sir Philip was the Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCDO from September 2020 to January 2025 and a direct predecessor to Sir Oliver Robbins.

Morgan McSweeney served as Downing Street Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Keir Starmer from October 2024 until February 2026.

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/27186/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyfyhaN-55M

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

The Petitions Committee has scheduled a debate relating to animal testing.

Irene Campbell MP has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. The Government will send a Minister to respond.

Read the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/736578

Find petitions you agree with, and sign them: https://petition.parliament.uk/

What are petition debates?

Petition debates are ‘general’ debates which allow MPs from all parties to discuss the important issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to Government Ministers.

Petition debates don’t end with a vote to implement the request of a petition. This means that MPs will not vote on the issues raised in the petition at the end of the debate.

The Petitions Committee can only schedule debates on petitions to parliament started on petition.parliament.uk

Find out more about how petition debates work: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/content/194347/how-petitions-debates-work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VemDcod-F3E

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

The Education Committee hears evidence on screen time and social media from those representing lived experience of online harms, as well as teaching unions and the social media company Snapchat.

Witnesses:

Esther Ghey – Founder and Director at Brianna Ghey Legacy Project
Mr Andy Burrows – CEO at Molly Rose Foundation
Rani Govender – Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

Daniel Kebede – General Secretary at National Education Union (NEU)
TBC – tbc at Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)

Jacqueline Beauchere – Senior Director, Global Head of Platform Safety at Snapchat

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/27175/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBTc7aKhNHA

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

The Home Affairs Committee question the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips MP, in a session focusing on the Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy.

Witnesses:

Jess Phillips MP – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls) at Home Office
Gisela Carr – Deputy Director for the Interpersonal Abuse Unit at Home Office
Luke Hughes – Head of the Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation Response Unit at Home Office

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26995/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs9Y50QNJ4w

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy hears evidence from Lord Robertson, a former UK Defence Secretary and NATO Secretary General, and Dr Fiona Hill, an expert in foreign policy and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The session comes after Lord Robertson warned in a speech on 14 April of a “corrosive complacency” in Britain’s political leadership, where “lip service is paid to the risks, the threats, the bright red signals of danger but even a promised national conversation about defence can’t be started”.

Witnesses:

Dr Fiona Hill – Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution
The Rt Hon. the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/27157/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb0x3eHinjA

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee have published a report following an independent an-led review of live and electronic music. Fans, musicians, activists, and industry professionals explain what this means for the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nG26k9fFv0o

Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

135,000 households including almost 176,000 children are living in temporary accommodation, too often in conditions unfit for human habitation.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is calling for urgent UK government action to strengthen protections, phase out unsuitable accommodation, and plan for long-term supply of good quality housing.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PlHS7okCO6w