麻豆约拍

Steve Richards of The Independent looks behind the scenes at Westminster.

With Ed Miliband under fire for his performance as Labour leader, one of his predecessors, Neil Kinnock, gives a fascinating insight into the pressures endured by a Leader of the Opposition. Among the adversaries? Cowards in the ranks.

After the financial crash, a new debate is opening up on how capitalism can be made more moral. Do the party leaders have a role here? The Conservative, John Redwood and Labour's Tristram Hunt think they have - but they don't agree on how far.

He's taking on the Westminster Parliament in his quest for independence for Scotland. But what's First Minister Alex Salmond really like? Iain Macwhirter who writes for the Sunday Herald has watched him for years. A conviction politician, he says, but no ideologue.

After the portrayal of Mrs Thatcher in the film 'The Iron Lady', why aren't more British political dramas committed to film and fiction? The author and peer Michael Dobbs and the academic Steven Fielding swop notes.

Editor: Peter Mulligan.