Politics on the Couch

Rafael Behr talks to Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit and the co-author of a new book entitled: 'The Parliamentary Battle over Brexit', a detailed account of the extraordinary way the Brexit process played out in parliament. This episode looks at what it was about Brexit, that put our system of parliamentary democracy under so much strain; whether the referendum opened up a pandora's box of populism that was difficult to contain; and whether the political body is still living with the consequences. People Meg Russell is Professor of British and Comparative Politics and Director of the Constitution Unit at UCL. She is particularly known for her work on parliament, having published books on the House of Lords, the legislative process and parliament's policy influence. She co-authored the book with Lisa James, a Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit, where she focuses on the UK parliament. From 2019-22 she worked on the ESRC-funded 'Brexit, Parliament and the Constitution' project. Background Since the 2016 referendum, the hotly contested issue of Brexit has raised fundamental questions about the workings of British democracy. Nowhere was this more true than regarding the role of parliament. This book addresses important questions about parliament's role in the UK constitution, and the impact on this of the Brexit process. While initially intended to re-establish 'parliamentary sovereignty', Brexit wrought significant damage on the reputation of parliament, and the wider culture of UK democracy. This book is published as part of the ‘Brexit, Parliament and the Constitution’ project, funded through Constitution Unit Director Meg Russell's Senior Fellowship with the ESRC-funded UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) programme. For more about the book (and a 30% discount code) see this link: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/parliamentary-battle-over-brexit Politics on the Couch has been voted by Feedspot as one of the best 35 political science podcasts in the world https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts/ This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm