Hello,
Select Committees are an under-appreciated asset of the British parliamentary system. In the House of Commons, there’s one for every Government Department, designed to examine, audit and (hopefully) improve the running of each by launching inquiries into its spending, policies and administration. Formed of at least 11 MPs from all parties, they have the power to hire specialist advisers, bring in key witnesses to give evidence, and make the Government respond to their recommendations. This means MPs sitting on these Committees have access to briefing notes and expert advice on critical issues that many of their peers do not. In the Lords, a Select Committee is rarely tied to one department - rather, they examine things in a more thematic sense which allows them to look beyond the UK’s immediate concerns and choose more abstract and longer running inquiries.
By our count, there’s currently 27 inquiries worth keeping an eye on from a UK-China perspective, including one launched recently that examines an industry critical to UK national security. We’ve included a printable PDF at the end.
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