The Westminster Hour: May 11 2003

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Live (Sundays at 2200), and on demand at other times.

Charles Kennedy

The heat is on. On Gordon Brown. The heat is coming from Tony Blair and his allies who do not want the Chancellor to rule out joining the European single currency for the rest of this parliament. We know already that the Chancellor will soon announce that Britain is not yet ready to go for the euro. What the Prime Minister and his fellow enthusiasts are trying to prevent Mr Brown from doing is closing off the euro option until after the next election. This week, the pro-euro former Tory Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, will be adding his voice to the pressure, as will the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, who is making a keynote speech to the Britain in Europe campaign group on Monday. The Westminster Hour questions Mr Kennedy. Has the pro-euro side of the argument left it too late to influence the Chancellor's verdict?

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Internet link: Liberal Democrats website
Internet link: HM Treasury website

The Grim Reshuffler is stalking the corridors of Westminster. Clare Short is already widely predicted for the scythe. Some say she is already resigned to being sacked when Tony Blair reshuffles his Government, an event expected in the next few weeks. The reshuffle is a Prime Minister's ultimate expression of personal power over his colleagues, the opportunity to reward loyalty and punish dissent, to promote talent and clear out the dead wood. But how often does the ministerial merry-go-round really strengthen Governments? Paul Wilenius reports.

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Internet link: Prime Minister's office website

This Thursday, and for the first time ever, the British National Party becomes the largest opposition group in a town hall when the BNP councillors elected in Burnley take the seats they won in the local elections. They now have eight councillors in the Lancashire town, having taken seats while all the mainstream parties shed theirs. This poses quite a dilemma for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories - all of whom abhor the BNP. Can they avoid working with - or at least talking to - the councillors from the far right party? Stuart Caddy is the Labour leader of Burnley council. Would Labour be allowing the BNP to work within the council - or will they be trying to freeze them out?

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Internet link: Burnley Borough Council website

This week, the Government will propose new tougher sentences of up to 14 years jail for dangerous drivers as part of the Criminal Justice Bill. This move follows public outcries over cases like that of the serial offender Ian Carr, who killed six-year-old Rebecca Sawyer. He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving -- just six months short of the maximum possible at present. That is inadequate, according to campaigners for longer sentences, for those who kill behind the wheel. They - and MPs who support them - want more from the Government - particularly the use of offences as serious as manslaughter to tackle what they call 'road violence', so giving judges the option of life sentences. Campaigners complain that where a fatality leads to a conviction the result is often a fine rather than imprisonment. And they will be demonstrating outside parliament on Friday as part of a European-wide day of protest. John Beesley reports.

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Internet link: Roadpeace website
Internet link: Association of British Drivers website
Internet link: All-party parliamentary group on justice for road traffic victims web page
Internet link: Home Office website

Lord McNally

Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, has called for a viewers' revolt against television programmes like "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" Ms Jowell is at the centre of another revolt - against her - in the House of Lords. A revolt potentially so big that she could soon be crying:"I'm A Secretary of State...Get Me Out of Here!" Her Communications Bill is attracting opposition from peers who fear that it will undermine the quality of British television and radio, and allow foreign media conglomerates to swallow up large chunks of the British media. So complex is the legislation that peers have yet to debate 395 of 404 clauses with less than a month of the allotted parliamentary time to go. The Government is beginning to worry that its Bill could be endangered. Lord McNally is the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat peers and their main spokesman on the legislation. Are they trying to talk the Communications Bill to death?

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Internet link: Communications Bill website

The Sunday Supplement - and the second and last part of our series charting the way parliamentary debates have been reported over the past 200 years. This week Nick Utechin discovers that new technology has its limits when it comes to Writing Down The House.

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Internet link: Hansard website
Internet link: Hansard House of Commons debates
Internet link: Houses of Parliament website factsheet on the official report

Internet link: Click here to read the best of Andrew Rawnsley's columns from The Observer's website