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The Week in Westminster

Factual: Politics

Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster

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Week in Westminster

The Week in Westminster: 10/12/2011

10/12/2011

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George Parker of the Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster.

George Parker of the Financial Times looks at the week's events as they played out in Brussels .
David Cameron came back from the EU summit having vetoed the proposed treaty to enforce fiscal discipline on eurozone countries The safeguards he sought for the financial sector in this country could not be secured. So has he isolated Britain or stood up for its interests, or both?
Sir Graham Watson Leader of the Liberal Democrat group of MEPs and Nadhim Zahawi one of the 2010 intake of Conservative with sceptical views on Europe,consider how well he played his hand.

We rarely hear from the Eurocrats who manage the details of EU agreements. Jonathan Faull has been in Brussels since 1978 and is now Director General of the Internal Market and Services. He tells us how he sees his role in the European Commission.

Can we afford to invest in new green technologies in an age of austerity? Conservative MP David Ruffley thinks the government should be pragmatic on the issue, while Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert says we must invest to avoid soaring energy costs in the years to come.

The prospect of low growth for the foreseeable future will make it difficult for political parties to promise improved living standards when it comes to fighting the next election. The historian Lord Hennessy and Paul Richards of the Blairite pressure group Progress, ask if the language of politics will have to change.

The editor is Marie Jessel.

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10/12/2011

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