Politics Unpacked

How To Rebuild Parliament

80 years ago, Winston Churchill announced a plan to rebuild the Palace of Westminster after the Commons chamber was hit during the last major raid of the blitz. Patrick Maguire in for Matt Chorley looks at the building's history from the Great Fire of London to the present day, and speaks to the chairman of Parliament's Restoration and Renewal programme Nigel Evans. Plus: Columnists James Marriott and Isabel Hardman discuss the <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dissent-over-gaza-wake-up-call-keir-starmer-7hp2tdkzw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">power of the individual backbencher</a>, play a round of Hansard Hoedown, and ask how to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/at-86-ive-forgotten-how-to-write-sex-scenes-says-jilly-cooper-shqvx67wx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">write a good sex scene</a>. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Hugo Rifkind unpacks the the politics of the day - and the stuff that's even more important - with the brightest brains from the Times and Sunday Times. You can listen to Hugo on DAB, smart speaker or app 10am-1pm Monday to Friday. If you like what you hear, then read more at <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.thetimes.com/</a> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.