Commons People Politics Podcast: Jeremy Corbyn Under Pressure, International Women's Day And Sunday Trading Defeat

Commons People Politics Podcast: Kinnock Puts Corbyn Under Pressure

This week in politics saw more questions about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership credentials, a poignant International Women’s Day debate in the Commons and a defeat for the Government in Sunday trading plans.

But some MPs in the room weren’t willing to stay quiet, and urged Corbyn to show some passion for the EU In campaign, while others talked about the local elections, the leader’s poor poll ratings and his failure to connect with working class voters.

Labour rising star Stephen Kinnock spoke to Commons People this week, and called on Corbyn to “roll up his sleeves” and get involved in the EU debate.

He also set out what Corbyn needs to achieve in May’s local election to avoid a leadership challenge.

Today, the man many seen as the Labour leader in waiting – Dan Jarvis - sought to hang some political views on his oft-discussed backstory with a major speech on the economy.

He said Labour is a “party of work and jobs” and New Labour didn’t do enough to tackle the falling wages of workers.

Echoing Tony Blair’s famous “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” line, Jarvis called for Labour to be “tough on inequality, tough on the causes of inequality”.

International Women’s Day took place on Tuesday this week, and Parliament marked the annual event with a debate in the Commons.

The most poignant moment came when Labour MP Jess Phillips read out the names of every woman who has been murdered by a man in the UK in the last year.

The Commons remained silent as she read out the names of the 120 women and girls, aged 13 and over, killed in the last 12 months, in cases where a man has been tried and found guilty or charged or believed by police to be the primary suspect.

Former Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper told Commons People that she felt her party did “need more women in top positions” as she set out her “Reclaim the Internet” campaign.

The Government suffered a defeat this week over its plans to extend Sunday trading hours – and it wasn’t even a close call.

Some 26 Tories voted against the plans which would have allowed larger stores to open for longer on Sundays .

The rebel Tories joined with Labour and the Scottish National Party to “keep Sunday special”.

The defeat was even more embarrassing after the Government offered a last-minute concession to the Enterprise Bill that would have seen the changes initially limited to 12 pilot areas in England and Wales.

But Speaker John Bercow decided not to select the amendment, meaning the Government suffered a defeat.

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