On Tuesday afternoon the parliamentary estate will be beholden to a Hollywood star, admittedly in the-less-than salubrious surroundings of the home affairs select committee. The former drug addict, and all-round funny man, Russell Brand will find himself in the unusual setting of the Grimond Room, Portcullis House. Brand, who entered rehab for addiction to heroin and alcohol in the early days of his career, has agreed to share his experiences of drug abuse along with Chip Somers, chief executive of Focus12 – the detox centre which treated Russell. To add to the general air of befuddlement, Peter Hitchens, the darling of the Daily Mail, and politically to the right of the Attila the Hun, is also set to give evidence to Keith Vaz and his team. Thankfully, they are not due to give evidence at the same time, no doubt much to the disappointment of our nation’s cartoonists.
More significantly, Theresa May is due to follow Brand to the evidence chair. Theoretically the questioning is to be on the same subject, drugs, but the chances of the name ‘Abu Qatada’ not coming up will be astonishingly small. Assuming May remembers what day it is, unlike her flunked deadline of last Monday to deport the radical preacher, she will be on our screens from half twelve on Tuesday.
This is the last full week of the current parliamentary session – so business in both houses will be dominated by the last rites for any remaining legislation. A busy parliamentary schedule commences with questions to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and his team on Monday afternoon. Then MPs move onto the report stage of the Financial Services Bill, the proposed overhaul of financial regulations designed to prevent another credit crunch. Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, has tabled an amendment to the Bill that would force major investors to declare whether or not they have voted to agree to excessive pay packets. The debate comes at a sensitive time for both politicians and the financial sector, with Barclays due to announce its bonus package on Friday.
On Tuesday, from 2.30pm, the Commons questions the Chancellor George Osborne. Given that the myth of Osborne has well and truly been rumbled, Osborne can expect a rough ride from the benches opposition. The various controversies over the pasty tax, caravan tax, and manufactured fuel crisis will be coupled alongside the real issues of stagnating growth, cuts to pensioners’ income and ever-biting cuts.
To continue the theme of unusual parliamentary attendees, the Channel 4 News newsreader and cycling advocate Jon Snow will be answering the questions, rather than firing them, as a guest of honour at the Transport Committee for a session on road safety.
Away from the corridors of power, this is the last full week of campaigning before the May 3rd local elections. People from the southern tip of England, through to London, the Welsh valleys right up to the Scottish highlands will have a chance to vote in the 5,000 seats up for grabs. While Labour cannot possibly do worse than 2008, the last time the equivalent set of seats were up, and the 24% share of the vote, there are key battlegrounds – and potential embarrassments – for the party. Glasgow looks set to be lost, while Ken Livingstone will begin the week fighting for his political life by delivering a speech in Westminster, then heading to Fulham for a campaign walkabout. Giving his recent troubles, one prays that not a tear or an actor will be in sight.
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David Talbot is a political consultant, tweets @_davetalbot and writes the weekly The Week Ahead column on Progress
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