British political culture isn't very nice. It's a deeply entrenched problem - and yet the Politics.co.uk team was able to solve it in just 18 minutes...

Politics.co.uk vs Westminster

Living with dirty politics

In the next ten years or so, our politicians will make a series of crunch decisions that will determine the nature of the UK's energy mix for much of the next century.

Britain's energy crossroads

The next few years are going to pose a tough test for all the mainstream political parties. If they don't respond to the growing demand for change from the English, the issue could help Ukip on their rise and rise.

The English question

Politics.co.uk has been on the crowded streets of London this week, talking to those gathered to see off Britain's first female prime minister on the occasion of her funeral in St Paul's Cathedral.

Laying Margaret Thatcher to rest

George Osborne's fourth Budget as chancellor delivered a series of policies which are going to help ordinary people: fuel duty, beer duty, help for first-time buyers and the 'employment allowance'. It was also underpinned by a catastrophic set of figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility which show just how dire are the straits the economy now finds itself in. To pick over the bones of the Red Book we've gathered a panel of MPs: Conservative MP Richard Graham, Labour MP Andy Love and Liberal Democrat MP John Thurso debate the problems at the heart of Britain's economy in conversation with politics.co.uk's Alex Stevenson.

Budget 2013 as bad as it gets?

The question of accountability is at the heart of this week's rather delayed podcast on the NHS. Delayed, oddly, because this journalist's wife just happened to go into labour. Having reported on the Francis report, which has put the future of Stafford hospital into doubt, I found myself in one of those moments in life when you find yourself utterly reliant on the NHS.

The NHS blame game

This month politics.co.uk has been working on an unusual project: a bid to find the MP most effective at breaking free of the party political straitjacket suffocating those at Westminster. We've been talking to the winners about what it means to be an independent-minded MP in the 21st century – and getting to some pretty radical conclusions along the way.

Escaping the partisan straitjacket

After David Cameron's humiliating Commons defeat over boundary changes, Tory backbenchers are seething with anger at their coalition partners. The Liberal Democrats remain defiant, but their actions are straining the government's stability. Will this government really last until 2015?

Boundary changes 'FURY!'

Few can doubt this was a speech which has changed the game. But the prime minister's confrontation of what has been a growing headache for several years may not be quite the panacea his party faithful hope for. Yes, he has united the Conservatives for the 2015 general election. What about what might come after, though? Will his eurosceptic backbenchers be able to accept whatever he can achieve from European leaders and Brussels bureaucrats?

What next after Cameron's game-changing Europe speech?

Quentin Letts, the Mail's theatre critic and political sketchwriter, and Glenda Jackson MP, parliament's only Oscar-winning former actress, explore the parallels between the worlds of politics and the theatre. Which politicians would make good actors? Why do the public not trust politicians – or, for that matter, actors? And does the same noble cause underpin both of them – the search for truth?

Politics vs acting

2013 is a tough year for all three main parties. The stakes are being raised as spending cuts start to bite and more difficult spending decisions have to be taken. Politics is getting exciting as the next election starts appearing over the horizon…

Why politics in 2013 is like an episode of 24

Alex Stevenson spoke to historian Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of the History of Parliament House of Commons 1832-1945 project, to get under the skin of how this miserable politician ended up behind bars on Christmas Day 155 years ago – and how his fate fundamentally changed the nature of British politics.

A Dickensian tale of politics and disgrace

Its staunch euro-scepticism and traditional values strike many voters as living in the past, but to a growing number of Tories they are the forbidden fruit of British politics. We hear from Ukip chairman Steve Crowther on what the future may hold for the party a Britain outside of the European Union - the Jerusalem for its members.

Ukip – here to stay?

The shadow chancellor spoke to politics.co.uk from an office somewhere in a factory in Stevenage ahead of the autumn statement. It offers fascinating fodder for analysis, provided by Nigel Fletcher, executive director of the Centre for Opposition Studies, in the second half of this episode.

Ed Balls and the politics of opposition

Though not directly affected, Leveson's proposals have some serious recommendations for journalism online. We'll be looking at those, and also at the bigger picture of the judge's proposals. We may now have the full report, but this isn't an issue that's going to be going away in a hurry.

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Politics.co.uk vs Westminster

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