What happens when the UK’s biggest issues meet environmental targets and commitments head-on? The Chair of the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee, Toby Perkins MP, hosts the first of five new episodes from the select committee podcast, Committee Corridor.

Up first – airport expansion. Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, joins Toby to consider the UK travelling public’s ‘insatiable desire’ to get away by air and what can be done to manage the impact on local communities and greenhouse gas emissions.

They discuss the Government’s view that unlocking airport capacity will boost economic growth. According to the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander MP - there is no conflict between expanding aviation and delivering on the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations. But climate campaigners have launched judicial reviews to challenge the Government’s policy for achieving net zero aviation by 2050 and to halt the Government’s plans for expansion at Luton.

Transport Committee Chair, Ruth Cadbury MP (Labour Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth) and Environmental Audit Committee member, Sarah Gibson MP (Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham) join Toby to explore how their committees are considering these issues. The Environmental Audit Committee is investigating how airport expansion will impact the UK’s climate and nature goals. Following the Chancellor’s endorsement of expansion at London Heathrow, the Transport Select Committee met to consider if expanding airports in the south east of England can benefit the rest of the UK economy.

At least three times per year, chairs of select committees question the Prime Minister in a sit-down session lasting 90 minutes. It’s one of the more unusual aspects of the work of the Liaison Committee which helps select committees deliver their roles effectively and keep tabs on government policy.

As Sir Keir Starmer MP prepares to face the Committee on 8 April 2025, the Chair of the Liaison Committee, Dame Meg Hillier MP, speaks to Dr Hannah White, the Director of the Institute for Government, an independent thinktank which works to make government more effective. They consider the role of the Liaison Committee – who’s involved, what it does and why its backbench MPs have more access to the PM than any other part of Parliament.

What question would you put to the Prime Minister? When the UK’s Youth Parliament took their seats in the House of Commons chamber recently, Committee Corridor caught up with four members from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We wanted their take on the issues which matter most to them – and will put one of their questions directly to Sir Keir Starmer on 8 April.

In the last Parliament, the Liaison Committee was chaired by Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex. Its final task was to publish a report on strategic thinking in Government which included powerful evidence about the need to include young people’s voices and interests in decision-making.

Among the topics debated by the Youth Parliament was free public transport for young people. Dame Meg Hillier speaks to the Chair of the Transport Committee, Ruth Cadbury (Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth) about the evidence it’s been hearing on the impact of poor bus services on young people as part of their buses connecting communities' inquiry.

Want to know more about the buses connecting communities' inquiry, take a look at our website https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8619/buses-connecting-communities/

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Are the women who protect us adequately protected? And who should be held accountable if they aren’t? In 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a landmark report finding the Ministry of Defence and Services to have failed in helping female personnel achieve their full potential. The report called on military chiefs and Government to act on the harassment, bullying and discrimination suffered by women in the armed forces. Since then, how far have we come?

In the first episode of Committee Corridor’s brand-new season, Chair of the Liaison and Treasury Committees, Dame Meg Hillier MP, reflects on the impact of the Defence Committee’s report. We talk to inquiry Chairs from the committee past- Conservative Sarah Atherton MP- and present- Labour’s Tan Dhesi MP, as well as witness and Director of the Centre for Military Justice, Emma Norton.

We’re also joined by Liberal Democrat MP Steff Aquarone and Labour MP Natasha Irons, who- as well as being new to select committees - became members of Parliament for the first time in July. Natasha and Steff discuss their impressions of joining select committees and hopes for the new Parliament.

We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information: 

Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email jo@samaritans.org

Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk)

Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales

Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk)

Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk)

For more information about Salute Her UK: https://www.saluteher.co.uk/

If you’d like to find out more about the Defence Committee’s Women in the Armed Forces inquiry, you can read the full report here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmdfence/904/report.html?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=podcast_season_five&utm_id=podcast_shownotes&utm_content=podcast_episode_one

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review and click ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify to be the first to get new episodes as they drop.

Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/

We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/