Week in Westminster - 12/12/2009

Steve Richards of the Independent looks behind the scenes at Westminster. The pre-Budget report is largely seen as the opening gambit of the 2010 general election campaign. In 1992, Lord Heseltine fought a Conservative general election campaign against a background of economic uncertainty, and his party won. In the 1997 general election Geoffrey Robinson campaigned then for Labour when the economy had taken a turn for the better, and his party reaped the benefit. They discuss the part the economy plays in these battles. The bankers are currently so unpopular with voters, that the Chancellor this week was forced to reflect the public mood by slapping a hefty tax on their bonuses. In the past trade unions have been the focus for public anger, so how far is the anger justified and is it fair? MPs Kim Howells, former Labour minister and member of the miners' union during the 1980s, and Andrew Tyrie, once adviser to Nigel Lawson, give their judgments. Why is climate change becoming a left/right issue? Will Straw of the website site Left Foot Forward and Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome website explain why this is. And do political novels reflect the real world of politics? Steven Fielding of Nottingham Uinversity explores this rich seam in literature.