06/01/2016 Daily Politics


06/01/2016

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Jeremy Corbyn's first Shadow Cabinet reshuffle finished

:00:36.:00:44.

His allies say it was 'small but significant' as he moved

:00:45.:00:48.

to eject dissenters and tighten his control over his frontbench.

:00:49.:00:53.

But with junior ministers now resigning in protest,

:00:54.:00:55.

has it underlined his authority - or reduced it?

:00:56.:01:01.

It's the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2016 -

:01:02.:01:03.

as the Labour leader and David Cameron square off,

:01:04.:01:05.

will the PM be asked about his admission that he can't

:01:06.:01:08.

get the cabinet to hold the line over the EU referendum?

:01:09.:01:14.

Hospital patients have been told to prepare for disruption next week

:01:15.:01:17.

when junior doctors strike after talks with the government

:01:18.:01:19.

And we'll speak to the former MP who thinks it's time

:01:20.:01:26.

the public what they really think. biting their tongues and tell

:01:27.:01:36.

back, it's time for them to get rude.

:01:37.:01:43.

All that in the next hour and with us for the whole

:01:44.:01:46.

of the programme today it's the Conservative MP and former

:01:47.:01:48.

And from Labour, a shadow minister who's survived unscathed

:01:49.:01:51.

through a reshuffle so slow we've had time to watch most

:01:52.:01:54.

And the new BBC adaptation of War and Peace.

:01:55.:02:03.

It's Lisa Nandy and she is still the shadow energy

:02:04.:02:07.

So after 36 hours the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle finally came to an end

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at a quarter to one this morning, and the impact in the real world

:02:23.:02:26.

I saw that it reduced Barack Obama to tears in the White House!

:02:27.:02:39.

But Jeremy Corbyn has strengthened his grip on his front

:02:40.:02:41.

bench and in key policy areas, even if not as much

:02:42.:02:44.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn will remain in his job but has

:02:45.:02:48.

agreed to agree with his leader, at least in public.

:02:49.:02:50.

Maria Eagle was shunted from defence secretary to culture secretary,

:02:51.:02:56.

replacing Michael Dugher who was sacked for "incompetence

:02:57.:02:59.

The new shadow defence secretary is Emily Thornberry,

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who unlike Maria Eagle opposes the renewal of Trident.

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At midnight Pat McFadden was relieved of his duties as shadow

:03:12.:03:15.

Europe minister, to be replaced by another Pat,

:03:16.:03:17.

Well, Mr McFadden was given the push for showing "disloyalty"

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to Mr Corbyn - let's have a listen to the shadow chancellor

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John McDonnell and then Mr McFadden, both speaking

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With Pat McFadden, unfortunately there was a series of times

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when I think, to be frank, the views he had expressed

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were undermining, challenging Jeremy's mandate, the overwhelming

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mandate he has got from Labour Party members.

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So Jeremy put a condition to Hillary that Pat McFadden had

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Pat I think is immensely talented and he will make a major

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I have been an MP for 11.5 years and I have never broken

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So I don't think there is a question of loyalty at all.

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But sometimes there is disagreement over issues, and Mr Corbyn has not

:04:15.:04:17.

been happy with things I have said, especially about terrorism

:04:18.:04:20.

Well, some Labour backbenchers have taken to Twitter

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Backbencher Ian Austen said... The new MP Wes streeting said...

:04:39.:05:01.

The former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris

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Jonathan Reynolds resigned following the reshuffle. In his resignation

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letter, he says... speak to one of those backbenchers,

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the MP Ian Austin who was a minister Isn't it a well established part of

:05:49.:06:01.

the British political scene that if you are a member of the shadow team

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Opposition, you should go? I don't Opposition, you should go? I don't

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think any of the people who have gone have criticised the leader at

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all. This has been a terrible process,

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all. This has been a terrible reshuffle is for many years and it

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is a complete shambles. A journalist told me that Hilary Benn, Pat

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McFadden was going to be sacked, not for criticising the leader but

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because they voted a different way on a free vote. I don't think it is

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about loyalty at all. Last night, actually, the explanation from the

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leaders' office was of incompetence and disloyalty. Nobody thinks that

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Pat McFadden is incompetent and neither that either of

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Pat McFadden is incompetent and been disloyal. Are you seriously

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saying that nothing they have said could be construed as critical of

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the Jeremy could be construed as critical of

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that your position this morning? Michael Duggan is calling for

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loyalty. When Jeremy Corbyn rang pats last night and told him he was

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loyalty. When Jeremy Corbyn rang sacked, it was because he criticised

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ISIS and said they were responsible alone for the terrorist attacks.

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That has alone for the terrorist attacks.

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international issues and terrorism ever since we were elected on the

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same day ten years ago. -- Pat. ever since we were elected on the

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is not about loyalty at all. Pat has worked

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is not about loyalty at all. Pat has Michael and Pat leaving the front

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benches is a big loss. Mr McFadden Michael and Pat leaving the front

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was like and respected MP, and has been sacked for stating that

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was like and respected MP, and has terrorists are to blame for

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terrorism. I don't know why Pat was sacked, I have not heard from Jeremy

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about it, and I have to agree with Pat and what he said in The Chamber

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about ISIS and the fact Pat and what he said in The Chamber

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is responsible for terrorist attacks but I know that Jamie

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is responsible for terrorist attacks him about that as well. I can only

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imagine they had a conversation last him about that as well. I can only

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Jeremy had confidence in him and for some reason he appears to have

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decided he does not. This happened in the last Parliament. Ed Miliband

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sacked by an habit for the same reason. The Shadow Chancellor said

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this morning that he had been sacked for disloyalty. I don't really know

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why that has happened. Why has he been disloyal? I don't know. Was

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about Michael? He was sacked for been disloyal? I don't know. Was

:08:53.:08:57.

incompetence, we are told. Are you aware of anything he has done that

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is incompetent? -- note. I work for aware of anything he has done that

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Michael in the last Parliament and he is effective and a great

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campaigner and a nice bloke. Are you sorry to see the back of both of

:09:10.:09:15.

them? I don't think we have seen the last of them because I think they

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will contribute from the backbenches. Michael in particular,

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it became increasingly apparent over the last few months that Michael was

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unhappy with the direction the party was taking and I think it is right

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that he should have a very strong boys about the future of the party

:09:31.:09:34.

but you obviously cannot do that from the Shadow Cabinet. Jonathan

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Reynolds, another junior shadow minister, he has gone this morning

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and resigned in protest, do you think there will be more

:09:49.:09:54.

resignations? Who knows? This has been a terrible process and has gone

:09:55.:09:57.

on for three days but before that we had weeks of speculation driven by

:09:58.:10:02.

the leaders' office, and the whole long list of ministers who were due

:10:03.:10:08.

to be chopped, and I think it has been a really terrible unedifying

:10:09.:10:14.

spectacle. Once we get the shambles out of the way, we need to focus on

:10:15.:10:19.

May and the local elections, we have big challenges. Jeremy was elected

:10:20.:10:24.

to win back support for disaffected unhappy former Labour supporters. We

:10:25.:10:28.

will be looking to win London and win it well, begin to win some

:10:29.:10:33.

ground back in Scotland and do well in the local elections. Why did it

:10:34.:10:41.

take 30 hours of meetings and almost three days to make the minor

:10:42.:10:47.

changes? I don't know. My experience of reshuffle is... You clearly have

:10:48.:10:51.

not been involved in the reshuffle! If you want to stay in your job,

:10:52.:10:56.

keep your head down and stop I have been in my office board but 24

:10:57.:11:00.

hours. One aggro did anybody call you? It was always meant to be a

:11:01.:11:08.

limited reshuffle and it turned out to be that. What about the rumour in

:11:09.:11:14.

Westminster that they dangled Defence in front of you? I have no

:11:15.:11:19.

idea where it came from. I was never offered it and I never had a

:11:20.:11:23.

conversation about it. Did the leaders' office ever have a

:11:24.:11:27.

discussion with you about your position? They must have spoken to

:11:28.:11:35.

somebody! Jeremy was talking to Hilary Benn. We know that but not to

:11:36.:11:42.

you? He talked to Maria and Emily. I had made it very clear from the day

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I got the job that I was thrilled to be doing it, I want to keep it. No

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alternative for you? No. What is Hilary Benn's modus operandi? He had

:11:54.:12:02.

long discussions with Hillary about future directions and policy. Maybe

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you did not hear Mr McDonald this morning may he said if he wants to

:12:09.:12:12.

do another speech like the one on Syria, he would have to do it from

:12:13.:12:15.

the backbenches. Is that your understanding? No, I heard Hilary

:12:16.:12:20.

Benn talking about it and he said there were no conditions put on his

:12:21.:12:25.

job, and I know him and to be honest, I cannot imagine he would

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have accepted a deal to stay in his job if he could not speak. From the

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front bench? Yes. What I think they would have agreed is that they will

:12:36.:12:38.

come to a collect view on major questions of the day which is right

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and important stop do you think it is wise to put Miss Thornbury in

:12:45.:12:53.

charge of Labour's defence policy on the very day that North Korea has

:12:54.:13:02.

exploded a hydrogen bomb? Is it wise? The party makes policy and the

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party position is that we will renew Trident. Is it your position? Is it

:13:08.:13:13.

right to review it. -- it is right to review it. It has rights to

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review how we spend the money and I am open to having a discussion. Does

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the position of North Korea to explode a hydrogen bomb impact on

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your future decision? You have to look at where the threat is

:13:27.:13:30.

currently and the major threat is from ISIS, we have just spoken about

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it. There was a big question about whether we spent that proportion of

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our defence budget on Trident which has no answer to that challenge. The

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military members have raised that question and I'm glad we have a

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party leader who can explore it. He has made up his mind. He has not

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imposed his view on the party. Collective decisions in the party.

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We need to leave it there. A busy morning and head. Thank you. --

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ahead. Hospital patients have been told

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to prepare for disruption next week as junior doctors in England prepare

:14:08.:14:11.

for a series of strikes after talks Three strikes over the next few

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months. The British Medical Association -

:14:15.:14:26.

or BMA - agreed to cancel three strikes last month to re-enter talks

:14:27.:14:30.

with the government over At this point the concilation

:14:31.:14:33.

service ACAS was brought in - but talks have broken down

:14:34.:14:43.

leading to strikes back on. Unless a deal is reached,

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there will be a 24 hour walk out next Tuesday, followed by a 48 hour

:14:47.:14:49.

strikes later in the month The strike action is likely to lead

:14:50.:14:52.

to thousands of non-emergency operations and hospital

:14:53.:14:56.

appointments being cancelled. The main sticking point

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is around weekend pay Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has

:15:00.:15:04.

offered to increase basic salaries by 11% at the expense of overtime -

:15:05.:15:13.

he says this is needed to create But the BMA says the offer

:15:14.:15:17.

would mean doctors working more weekends for no extra money

:15:18.:15:24.

and junior doctors had been "left We can speak now to a junior doctor.

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But first of all, Alan Duncan, Junior doctors say this will mean

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more weekends for no extra money, leaving staff tired and demoralised.

:15:54.:15:55.

Is it time now for he is hunt to make further compromises? No, I

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don't think this is true, by the way. The BMA may be saying that but

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I'm not sure they are fairly representing doctors. I don't think

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they are fairly representing the interests of doctors. What happened

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at the meeting, 17 points they had been discussing, and 16 have been

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agreed. And so will there was the issue of weekends. What we said

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clearly in the election was that we wanted a seven-day NHS, so you are

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not at a disadvantage if you are ill... Doctors say it is not true

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that they do not work at the weekends, they do. But the structure

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is not the same at weekends. So often as a patient you are at a

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disadvantage at the weekend, which is what we are trying to overcome.

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So there is this final issue, about how we reject the payments. The

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Government is offering 11% increase in basic pay and trying to even

:16:43.:16:46.

things out so there is much more certainty and smoothness over

:16:47.:16:50.

weekends. That is a good objective. The BMA walked out within an hour,

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announcing almost in advance that they were going to strike. I am not

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convinced even though we have gone to a Cas that they are negotiating

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honestly and fairly in the interests of Junior doctors. Do you accept

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that the junior doctors will lose out on a certain amount of pay?

:17:07.:17:17.

There is that 11% increase but also a 31% average payment taken away for

:17:18.:17:22.

unsocial hours. When you take it in the round, many junior doctors will

:17:23.:17:25.

be worse off under the new arrangements, why would they elect

:17:26.:17:29.

for that? My understanding is that it is not as clear-cut as you say. I

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cannot sit here and say absolutely nobody will be worse off. I am not

:17:35.:17:38.

involved in the details of these discussions. But I firmly believe

:17:39.:17:41.

that the basic offer is designed to make sure that people are not worth

:17:42.:17:46.

off, but that the structure of pay is much more rational across the

:17:47.:17:51.

seven-day week. We can ask a junior surgeon now. Hopefully you just

:17:52.:17:55.

heard Alan Duncan saying that you will not be worse off under the new

:17:56.:17:59.

deal being offered by the government - is that the case? Firstly, in

:18:00.:18:04.

answer to what Mr Duncan just said, I feel very happy and confident that

:18:05.:18:08.

the BMA are fully representing and understanding the needs of junior

:18:09.:18:13.

doctors. Secondly, Mr Duncan was talking about 16 out of 17 points.

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Yesterday he was talking about 15 out of 16. They do not seem very

:18:18.:18:22.

clear on this. Let's talk specifically about this issue - are

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junior doctors going to be worse off in terms of pay as a result of

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changes which the Government says it wants to bring in? I will put this

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to you. If you take what they have been saying at pay -- at face value,

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the 11% pay rise, and the other changes, I would say this to you,

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you could double my pay, and I would say, take that money and buy me

:18:48.:18:52.

another doctor. Buy me another nurse, another physiotherapist,

:18:53.:18:55.

because I cannot increase seven-day services above what we already

:18:56.:19:01.

provide without the support of my colleagues, my paramedic colleagues

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and without more doctors. You cannot provide more with a finite number of

:19:05.:19:09.

doctors. We are already profoundly deplete and already working at

:19:10.:19:13.

maximum capacity. We cannot do more. Nevertheless we were happy to

:19:14.:19:16.

negotiate and try and work with the Government to do this. But still

:19:17.:19:20.

they are not listening to our absolute concerns over safety. I

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will come back to Alan Duncan on those points. But in terms of

:19:25.:19:28.

negotiation, the Government has moved, it would say, because it has

:19:29.:19:33.

offered this 11% rise on basic salary - where has the compromise

:19:34.:19:38.

being from your side? In terms of compromise, it comes down to

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absolute safety just in simple terms, you have a financial amount

:19:46.:19:48.

of jam, very thinly spread, over one piece of toast, and the Government

:19:49.:19:51.

are asking us to spread that same amount over two pieces of toast. We

:19:52.:19:55.

are trying to say, it does not matter which way you spread it, it

:19:56.:19:59.

will not work. I have looked at all the detail from the negotiation and

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all it comes down to is trying to mini plate us to do something which

:20:04.:20:06.

ultimately we are trying to say is unsafe. We want to help, we want to

:20:07.:20:11.

increase seven-day services. We would love to provide those services

:20:12.:20:16.

for our patients. But without the appropriate resort is an support, it

:20:17.:20:19.

will not be safe. It needs to be safe.

:20:20.:20:24.

will not be safe. It needs to be Duncan, it is not just about the

:20:25.:20:26.

deal for the junior doctors, it is that there is not the funding to

:20:27.:20:28.

resource these services, there are that there is not the funding to

:20:29.:20:32.

not even the numbers of doctors, never mount how much you are paying

:20:33.:20:37.

them? That is somebody on the front line, she knows. With respect, that

:20:38.:20:40.

is slightly different line of argument than the one you were

:20:41.:20:43.

putting earlier about the negotiations. I totally accept that

:20:44.:20:48.

the demand for health care is massive compared with any budget one

:20:49.:20:52.

could give in order to provide the service one wants to. That is why

:20:53.:20:56.

big choices have to be made about resources and

:20:57.:20:58.

big choices have to be made about you allocate them. You do

:20:59.:21:03.

big choices have to be made about they are not enough resources being

:21:04.:21:05.

spent in order to make their jobs easier and safer for patients? Every

:21:06.:21:10.

politician over the last 50 years will say, there is never enough

:21:11.:21:16.

money for the NHS. There are always demands on health which outstripped

:21:17.:21:20.

the ability of any government to pay for it. But we think that having

:21:21.:21:25.

this increase, in what we want to put into the NHS, we are trying to

:21:26.:21:28.

rationalise it over weekends. All put into the NHS, we are trying to

:21:29.:21:31.

would say is, please get round the table, not walk out after an hour.

:21:32.:21:37.

Can I just say Liz and because we have run out of time, are you

:21:38.:21:41.

prepared to negotiate further on this? Only if our concerns about

:21:42.:21:46.

absolute safety are less to. There is a huge disconnect with the

:21:47.:21:49.

reality of what is going on on the front line.

:21:50.:21:58.

More developments on Labour. Hilary Benn's team up in arms over claims

:21:59.:22:05.

that he has agreed to a six point feel not to criticise Mr Corbyn. It

:22:06.:22:09.

is a lie, says one of Mr Ben's supporters. Whereas the Jeremy

:22:10.:22:15.

Corbyn team are telling us that Mr McFadden was not sacked for opposing

:22:16.:22:18.

terrorism. That is one, he was sacked for disloyalty on several

:22:19.:22:22.

accounts to the new leadership. Now it's the New Year

:22:23.:22:24.

and if, like the team here at the Daily Politics,

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and you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess

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The Year on our website. It's coming up to midday here -

:24:44.:24:47.

just take a look at Big Ben - Yes, the first

:24:48.:24:52.

Prime Minister's Questions And that's not all -

:24:53.:24:58.

Laura Kuenssberg is here, and she's been joined by the Labour

:24:59.:25:06.

MP and shadow foreign affairs Laura bring us up to speed

:25:07.:25:09.

with what's happening This is a moving story? Absolutely,

:25:10.:25:20.

claims of lies on all sides this morning. 48 hours of blunt spoons,

:25:21.:25:24.

rather than sharp knives, really. There is huge upset at the way this

:25:25.:25:28.

has been handled, do not underestimate that. Massive upset

:25:29.:25:32.

among the shadow cabinet and Shadow ministers who have decided to stay

:25:33.:25:36.

on this and especially over the way Pat McFadden's departure was

:25:37.:25:39.

handled. A lot of people think he has been unfairly treated. That is

:25:40.:25:45.

denied of course by Jeremy Corbyn's team. The way this has unfolded

:25:46.:25:50.

between last night and today, it has led already to the resignation of

:25:51.:25:57.

the Shadow Rail Minister Jonathan Reynolds, and it has also led others

:25:58.:26:01.

to be considering walking out of the door, and one of them is Stephen

:26:02.:26:05.

Doughty. I have just written to Jeremy Corbyn to resign from the

:26:06.:26:09.

front bench. I agreed to serve on Jeremy's front bench for a number of

:26:10.:26:14.

reasons. I had well-publicised differences with him on foreign

:26:15.:26:17.

policy and defence and security. But I recognised the mandate he had been

:26:18.:26:21.

given by the party, and I also have areas where I wholeheartedly agreed

:26:22.:26:27.

with him. Why have you resigned, question make on many issues,

:26:28.:26:31.

including climate change another's. But fundamentally I agree with

:26:32.:26:34.

everything Pat McFadden said, about not being seen to develop a

:26:35.:26:39.

narrative that somehow the West is was possible. I had to look at my

:26:40.:26:43.

own conscience in this situation, and when an individual like that has

:26:44.:26:47.

been singled out for a sacking for words which I completely agree with,

:26:48.:26:50.

I think it is the honourable thing for me to do to tender my

:26:51.:26:54.

resignation. But Jeremy Corbyn's people say this to McFadden was not

:26:55.:26:57.

fired for his remarks about terrorism, he was fired for

:26:58.:27:02.

disloyalty to the leadership. Well, it is simply not true. It is really

:27:03.:27:07.

sad actually the number of lies and unfortunate statements which are

:27:08.:27:10.

coming out from the leader's office about this situation. I was with Pat

:27:11.:27:14.

just after he was informed, and it was very clear what were the reasons

:27:15.:27:19.

for his sacking. He is a team member, are not extremely principled

:27:20.:27:24.

individual, who has always been clear about his own views, but he

:27:25.:27:28.

has always loyally served the party. When an individual like that and my

:27:29.:27:31.

own colleague is singled out for views which I also hold myself, I

:27:32.:27:35.

think it is only honourable for myself also to leave the front

:27:36.:27:39.

bench. You saying that we should not believe what we're being told by Mr

:27:40.:27:43.

Corbyn's team? It is up to you what you think. I think that things which

:27:44.:27:48.

are being briefed out this morning are simply not true. Undoubtedly

:27:49.:27:52.

they will do it about other individuals, about me. One reason I

:27:53.:27:56.

agreed to serve under Jeremy was actually his comments about the new

:27:57.:28:01.

politics, about being open and transparent and straight talking.

:28:02.:28:04.

And that seems to be the case for the first few weeks and months. I

:28:05.:28:08.

was perfectly content with that even on areas where I disagreed with him.

:28:09.:28:12.

His decision to give a free vote on Syria was absolutely right. But

:28:13.:28:16.

unfortunately there is a tendency of some of those around him and within

:28:17.:28:20.

his team to be conducting some pretty unpleasant operations against

:28:21.:28:23.

certain people. And there are others as well. In addition to Pat McFadden

:28:24.:28:32.

and Mr Dugher? It is extremely regrettable is, some of the stuff I

:28:33.:28:36.

am aware of. When it comes down to issues of national security and

:28:37.:28:40.

defence and terrorism, I have got very, very firm views on these

:28:41.:28:44.

things, and many colleagues do as well. We cannot be seen to be

:28:45.:28:50.

equivocating overdose. When an individual like Pat is singled out

:28:51.:28:53.

for his views on those very issues, then it is a matter of conscience

:28:54.:28:57.

for me. Given that I would have said exactly the same things, I cannot

:28:58.:29:01.

continue on the front bench in that situation. What do you say to that?

:29:02.:29:08.

I am sorry to see you go but I am excited about the fact that you

:29:09.:29:11.

might come and do some more stuff on climate change. But I guess I would

:29:12.:29:15.

also say as well that if I thought that Pat had been sacked because of

:29:16.:29:20.

his views on Isil and the West and terrorist attacks, then I would be

:29:21.:29:24.

agreeing with Steve. But that is what he thinks. Hang on, Alan. I

:29:25.:29:30.

completely agree with his view on that. But I would say, so does

:29:31.:29:35.

Jeremy Corbyn. How do you know that? Because I have spoken to him about

:29:36.:29:41.

it. Are you saying that McFadden's views and Jeremy Corbyn's views on

:29:42.:29:46.

terrorism are as one? No, but... Of course they are not. That was the

:29:47.:29:53.

whole point of Jeremy Corbyn putting together a broad best shadow cabinet

:29:54.:29:57.

and front bench, which he still has. Hilary Benn and Jeremy Corbyn have

:29:58.:30:01.

got differences of opinion over things like Syria. They have been

:30:02.:30:04.

very clear about that and they are keen to continue to work together to

:30:05.:30:07.

reach the right answer. But at the end of the day there is not a single

:30:08.:30:13.

Labour MP that I know of who thinks that the West

:30:14.:30:16.

Labour MP that I know of who thinks terrorist attacks but we

:30:17.:30:20.

Labour MP that I know of who thinks You have broken the story that there

:30:21.:30:23.

is another shadow minister going, Stephen Doughty - do we expect more

:30:24.:30:27.

today? I do. Maybe not very many, maybe not huge figures, very well

:30:28.:30:32.

known to the public, but I think there will be at least two, maybe

:30:33.:30:36.

more, who follow what Stephen Doughty has decided to do the course

:30:37.:30:41.

of today. There will always be disagreement in Jeremy Corbyn's

:30:42.:30:44.

Labour Party. He has the right to reshuffle his team, that is

:30:45.:30:48.

absolutely important to remind. But after a very messy reshuffle, this

:30:49.:30:53.

is a extraordinary. We have got different people publicly in the

:30:54.:30:56.

same political party accusing each other of lying. Over very

:30:57.:31:00.

fundamental things. I think there is a fundamental issue here. For me,

:31:01.:31:02.

issues of national a fundamental issue here. For me,

:31:03.:31:06.

defence though beyond party politics and internal machinations. And

:31:07.:31:11.

personal point-scoring and settling, which has

:31:12.:31:15.

personal point-scoring and settling, For me that is a very serious issue.

:31:16.:31:18.

personal point-scoring and settling, that these are issues which go

:31:19.:31:22.

beyond internal politics, then we will be in a very difficult

:31:23.:31:23.

situation. You are will be in a very difficult

:31:24.:31:30.

Nandy? Because I agree with Steve completely that this goes beyond

:31:31.:31:33.

party politics. We have to go over to Prime Minister's Questions now.

:31:34.:31:42.

Condemning terrorist attacks will not be a part of holding office? I

:31:43.:31:52.

would say to my honourable friend that condemning terrorist attacks is

:31:53.:31:55.

an essential component of aspiring to high office in this country and

:31:56.:31:59.

that should the the case whether you are a shadow minister or Minister of

:32:00.:32:04.

the Crown, and it is worth recalling what it is. Terrorists are entirely

:32:05.:32:12.

responsible for their own actions, nobody forces anyone to kill

:32:13.:32:13.

innocent people in Paris, blow nobody forces anyone to kill

:32:14.:32:18.

the underground, behead innocent workers in Syria, he was absolutely

:32:19.:32:22.

right to say that! Frankly, it speaks volumes that he cannot sit in

:32:23.:32:25.

the Shadow Cabinet with the Leader of the Opposition. Thank

:32:26.:32:31.

the Shadow Cabinet with the Leader Speaker. I would like to

:32:32.:32:36.

the Shadow Cabinet with the Leader firefighters, mountain rescue

:32:37.:32:39.

services, the police, armed services, engineers and workers, the

:32:40.:32:42.

Environment Agency, and local government workers, and all the

:32:43.:32:47.

volunteers, for all the work they did in

:32:48.:32:47.

volunteers, for all the work they people on the floods that affected

:32:48.:32:53.

this country. In January 20 14th following the devastating floods

:32:54.:32:56.

this country. In January 20 14th that time, the Prime Minister said

:32:57.:33:00.

and I quote, there are always lessons to be learnt and I will make

:33:01.:33:05.

sure they are learned. -- 2014. Were they learned? Let me join the Leader

:33:06.:33:12.

of the Opposition in thanking the emergency services, the police, the

:33:13.:33:15.

Fire Services, the search and rescue teams who went around the country to

:33:16.:33:19.

Fire Services, the search and rescue areas that were flooded, the

:33:20.:33:24.

military, and as he says, what we saw was communities coming together

:33:25.:33:26.

and volunteers carrying out extraordinary work. Having seen my

:33:27.:33:31.

own constituency very badly flooded in 2007, having had floods while

:33:32.:33:38.

Prime Minister, a number of lessons have been learnt. The military came

:33:39.:33:45.

in far faster than before. The scheme was funded at 100%, more

:33:46.:33:49.

money was got to communities more quickly. A lot of lessons have been

:33:50.:33:53.

learnt. Are there more to learn? I am sure there are, there always are

:33:54.:33:57.

and that is why I will review everything. As we do that, we will

:33:58.:34:02.

make money available because we have a strong economy to build flood

:34:03.:34:13.

resilience in our country. In 2011, ?190 million defence of floods was

:34:14.:34:23.

cancelled, 1000 homes in Leeds was flooded in recent weeks, the

:34:24.:34:26.

government is still only committed to a scaled-down version of the

:34:27.:34:30.

project worth a fraction of its total cost when the Prime Minister

:34:31.:34:36.

claimed money was no object in flood relief. When he meets the Leeds MPs

:34:37.:34:43.

in the near future, will he guarantee the full scheme will go

:34:44.:34:46.

in the near future, will he ahead to protect leads from future

:34:47.:34:55.

flooding? -- Leeds. It is worth putting on record before we get on

:34:56.:35:00.

to flood defence that this was the wettest December for over 100 years,

:35:01.:35:03.

and actually, in Leeds and Yorkshire, it was the wettest

:35:04.:35:09.

December ever on record, and that is why rivers in Yorkshire, it

:35:10.:35:16.

including the Aire in Leeds was a metre higher than it has ever been

:35:17.:35:21.

in stock in terms of floods defence is, no floods defence schemes have

:35:22.:35:25.

been cancelled since 2010. The investment in flood defences was 1.5

:35:26.:35:30.

billion in the last Labour government, 1.7 billion in the

:35:31.:35:33.

government I lead is a Coalition Government, and will be over 2

:35:34.:35:37.

billion in this Parliament. It has gone up and up and up and it has

:35:38.:35:41.

gone up as we run an economy where we are able to invest in the things

:35:42.:35:46.

that our country needs. One more point. Let us not forget this... We

:35:47.:35:53.

inherited the Darling plan for our economy. A plan for 50% cut in

:35:54.:35:59.

capital spending and DEFRA was not a protected department. We protected

:36:00.:36:03.

that flood spending and increased it, something Labour would not have

:36:04.:36:11.

done. Of course rainfall was excessive, of course the river

:36:12.:36:16.

levels were high, but the Prime Minister has still not answered the

:36:17.:36:21.

question on the Leeds flood protection scheme. I will give him

:36:22.:36:27.

an opportunity too. In 2014, Cumbria applied for funding for new schemes

:36:28.:36:31.

in Keswick and Kendall and both were turned down, both areas were flooded

:36:32.:36:36.

again in the last few weeks. Does the Prime Minister believed that

:36:37.:36:39.

turning down those schemes was also a mistake? We are spending more on

:36:40.:36:44.

floods defence schemes is stacking up a whole series of schemes. Let me

:36:45.:36:53.

make this point. If he is going to spend ?10 billion on renationalising

:36:54.:36:56.

railways, where is he going to find the money for flood defences? The

:36:57.:37:03.

idea that this individual would be faster in responding to floods, when

:37:04.:37:08.

it takes in three days to carry out a reshuffle, is laughable! -- him.

:37:09.:37:16.

Since I walked into The Chamber this morning, the Shadow Foreign Minister

:37:17.:37:20.

has resigned, the Shadow Defence Minister has resigned, he could not

:37:21.:37:26.

run anything! It is very strange that when I have asked a question

:37:27.:37:31.

about Leeds floods defence, and Cumbria floods defence, the Prime

:37:32.:37:34.

Minister still seems unable to answer. Canny now tell us if there

:37:35.:37:39.

is going to be funding for those schemes? In October, Professor Colin

:37:40.:37:46.

Mela, he warned the government about funding cuts to flood defences in

:37:47.:37:54.

Yorkshire being formally discontinued in the future. Would

:37:55.:37:59.

that be a mistake or so? Is he going to reverse the cut in the defence to

:38:00.:38:05.

make sure that those cities and areas are protected in the next

:38:06.:38:08.

round of floods which will no doubt come? We have increased and continue

:38:09.:38:15.

to increase the spending of flood defences. We are spending more in

:38:16.:38:19.

this Parliament, and for the first time, it is a six-year spending is

:38:20.:38:24.

active which is ?2.3 billion extra on flood defences, money which would

:38:25.:38:29.

not be available if we trashed the economy in the way he proposes. Of

:38:30.:38:34.

course, after every incident of flooding, you go back and look at

:38:35.:38:38.

what you have is then, what you have built, what you are planning to

:38:39.:38:41.

spend, planning to build, and you see what more can be done, but the

:38:42.:38:45.

head of the Environment Agency was clear that he had the money

:38:46.:38:49.

necessary to take the action necessary, but we can only do that

:38:50.:38:54.

with a strong economy, an economy that is growing, where more people

:38:55.:38:58.

are in work, more people are paying taxes, we have got the strength to

:38:59.:39:02.

solve this problem of floods and we will do it in a proper way. The

:39:03.:39:08.

Prime Minister still has not answered on Leeds, on Cumbria, on

:39:09.:39:14.

the warning from Professor Mellor, and like him, last week, I met

:39:15.:39:19.

people in Yorkshire were affected by flooding and I met a young couple,

:39:20.:39:24.

Chris and Victoria, whose home had been flooded over Christmas. It was

:39:25.:39:37.

not very funny for them. This young couple lost many of their

:39:38.:39:44.

possessions. Photos, children, toys, schoolwork, and they have the foul

:39:45.:39:47.

stench of flood water in their homes as many families do in this country.

:39:48.:39:52.

They are asking all of us wholly legitimate questions. Why was it

:39:53.:39:59.

that the insignificant pump capacity of the barrier, alerted to in 2013

:40:00.:40:03.

by a government report, was not dealt with and those pumps were not

:40:04.:40:09.

upgraded, thus people were flooded in York and their possessions and

:40:10.:40:13.

homes damaged? Those people want answers from all of us and in

:40:14.:40:18.

particular from the Prime Minister. I have the greatest sympathy with

:40:19.:40:21.

anyone flooded and we have to do what it takes to get people and

:40:22.:40:26.

communities back on their feet and that is why we have put record sums

:40:27.:40:30.

in more quickly to help communities in Cumbria, in Lancashire, and now

:40:31.:40:34.

in Yorkshire, and we will continue to do that. On the question of the

:40:35.:40:40.

pumps, that was about to be tended for extra investment and that

:40:41.:40:43.

investment will now go ahead because the money is there. We are putting

:40:44.:40:49.

in the money, we are putting it in more quickly, the military got

:40:50.:40:51.

involved more quickly and to the couple who got flooded, we are also

:40:52.:40:55.

doing something that previous governments have talked about but

:40:56.:40:59.

never achieved and that is to have an insurance scheme so every

:41:00.:41:02.

household in our country can get insured. That is not being done

:41:03.:41:10.

before. Our lessons being learned? Yes. Are there more lessons? Yet.

:41:11.:41:14.

But we do not need a lecture from the honourable gentleman! -- yes.

:41:15.:41:23.

The reality is that flood defence scheme after flood defence scheme

:41:24.:41:26.

has been cancelled, postponed or at stop many more homes have been

:41:27.:41:32.

flooded, and too many lessons have been ignored. Why can't the Prime

:41:33.:41:37.

Minister support our call for a coordinated cross-party approach to

:41:38.:41:42.

flooding that looks at everything including Upland management in

:41:43.:41:48.

making people's homes more flood resilient, and more protection

:41:49.:41:54.

schemes properly funded? Does the Prime Minister agree with this? The

:41:55.:41:58.

Fire and Rescue Service who have done a great job over the last few

:41:59.:42:03.

weeks in all parts of this country, should now be given a statutory duty

:42:04.:42:09.

to deal with loads to help us through any crisis that might occur

:42:10.:42:15.

in the future? When he has worked out how to coordinate his own party,

:42:16.:42:20.

perhaps he can have a word with me. On the issue of a statutory duty,

:42:21.:42:24.

everybody knows what they have to do when let's take place, that is why

:42:25.:42:28.

there was a magnificent response from the emergency services, the

:42:29.:42:32.

Fire Services, the emergency rescue services, they have are backing to

:42:33.:42:38.

do the vital work, and we will go on investing in flood defences, we will

:42:39.:42:42.

increase the money on flood defences because we have a strong economy and

:42:43.:42:45.

strong country that can back the action needed. 2016 is the 400th

:42:46.:42:55.

anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. Does the Right Honourable

:42:56.:43:01.

friend agree that our country should unite to commemorate his work best

:43:02.:43:08.

at their special events at the RSC. The Shakespeare birthplace trust are

:43:09.:43:12.

renovating the sight of his home, and his school is opening the

:43:13.:43:19.

original classroom. Can I invite the House and the whole world to come

:43:20.:43:22.

and celebrate the greatest living writer? I apologise for almost

:43:23.:43:32.

interrupting his celebrity. The 400th anniversary of the death of

:43:33.:43:36.

Shakespeare. Everything he has given to our language and culture and to

:43:37.:43:39.

the world, it will be a fantastic moment for people to come and

:43:40.:43:44.

Great Britain and come and see Stratford, and all the other places

:43:45.:43:46.

that Stratford, and all the other places

:43:47.:43:49.

with Shakespeare. Shakespeare provides language for every moment.

:43:50.:43:53.

Consider what we are thinking about at the moment. There was a moment

:43:54.:43:59.

where it looked like this reshuffle would go into the 12th night! It was

:44:00.:44:03.

a revenge reshuffle so it was going to be as you like it! We can can

:44:04.:44:08.

conclude that it has turned into a comedy of errors, perhaps much ado

:44:09.:44:13.

about nothing! There will be those who worry that Love 's labours lost.

:44:14.:44:30.

Thank you. Thank you for the warm welcome. Mr Speaker, the health

:44:31.:44:44.

service is the role but junior doctors in Scotland are not banning

:44:45.:44:48.

to strike next week. Why does the Prime Minister and the Scottish

:44:49.:44:53.

Government has good relations with junior doctors and his government

:44:54.:44:59.

does not? And now to the Scottish play! It raises an important

:45:00.:45:03.

question and we have taken a different approach to the government

:45:04.:45:05.

in Scotland. We have increased spending on the NHS by more than the

:45:06.:45:11.

government in Scotland and that is the right approach but we are

:45:12.:45:14.

determined to deal with the issue of having a genuine seven-day NHS.

:45:15.:45:18.

Everybody knows, doctors know, patients know it, the BMA knows it,

:45:19.:45:25.

there is a problem with the NHS at the weekend, and one of the ways to

:45:26.:45:28.

correct that is to make sure we have new contracts, including with junior

:45:29.:45:33.

doctors, to make sure not that they work longer hours, and in fact under

:45:34.:45:38.

our plans, many will work less hours. Not to reduce doctors' pay.

:45:39.:45:44.

No one who works legal hours will see a cut in their pay. 75% of

:45:45.:45:50.

doctors will see a rise. This is a good deal for a good NHS and I'm

:45:51.:45:56.

sure in Scotland they will at it as well.

:45:57.:46:00.

The Scottish Government has been investing record levels in the NHS

:46:01.:46:05.

in Scotland and it also works very hard to have the best possible

:46:06.:46:09.

relations with the doctors and nurses and NHS staff. Would the

:46:10.:46:14.

English Health Secretary speak to his Scottish colleague to learn how

:46:15.:46:17.

to resolve the situation in England and stave off strike action, which

:46:18.:46:21.

no-one wants to see, least of all Julia doctors? There should always

:46:22.:46:27.

be good discussions between the Health Secretary in the United

:46:28.:46:30.

Kingdom government and health ministers in the devolved

:46:31.:46:33.

administrations. Obviously, one thing we think is important when we

:46:34.:46:36.

make a decision to increase funding in the NHS, as we have done, ?19

:46:37.:46:44.

billion more in this Parliament, that has consequences for Wales and

:46:45.:46:47.

Scotland and Northern Ireland under the bonnet formula. And of course I

:46:48.:46:50.

find it very depressing that the Welsh have decided under Labour to

:46:51.:46:55.

spend less than we are planning to spend, and Scotland has done the

:46:56.:47:04.

same thing. The local economy in my constituency, Bolton West, continues

:47:05.:47:13.

to strengthen, great businesses relocating and growing in

:47:14.:47:19.

Westhoughton. We are also seeing heritage trading frames investing ?1

:47:20.:47:23.

million in equipping a new factory in Lostock, another company winning

:47:24.:47:30.

new contracts and recruiting more staff in Norwich. Will the Prime

:47:31.:47:35.

Minister agree with me that the northern powerhouse is not just

:47:36.:47:38.

about our great northern cities, it is also about our Great North Run

:47:39.:47:43.

towns? My honourable friend is absolutely right. It is instructive

:47:44.:47:48.

that members opposite do not want to hear good news about businesses and

:47:49.:47:53.

investment which is happening in the economy. Sometimes it can sound as

:47:54.:47:56.

if the plan for a northern powerhouse is all about the cities.

:47:57.:48:03.

Our view is that by linking up the cities, you also helped the towns

:48:04.:48:08.

and the rural areas because you are rebalancing the economy and

:48:09.:48:09.

increasing opportunity in the north of our country. In 2014, in response

:48:10.:48:17.

to the flooding of the Thames Valley, the Prime Minister said that

:48:18.:48:20.

money would be no object. In the light of his cuts to the flood

:48:21.:48:25.

offences, his cuts to the fire and rescue service, his cuts to the

:48:26.:48:29.

Environment Agency, can he say the same to the people of Leeds, of

:48:30.:48:35.

Rochdale, York, of Whitby and of Teesside, or is it one rule for his

:48:36.:48:38.

constituents, and another for ours in the north? She is completely

:48:39.:48:43.

wrong about the funding, as I have explained in great detail. What we

:48:44.:48:49.

put in place under this government is not funding at 85% of what a

:48:50.:48:57.

council spends, but 100%. So what I said absolutely stands good. Thepm

:48:58.:49:06.

has always been a staunch supporter of the Welsh TV channel S4C, so

:49:07.:49:15.

could he use this opportunity to reinforce the future of the channel

:49:16.:49:18.

and the commitment to safeguard its funding? I am happy to do that. S4C

:49:19.:49:24.

is an important part of our broadcasting structure and it is

:49:25.:49:29.

very well liked in Wales. We will meet the spirit of our manifesto

:49:30.:49:32.

promise to make sure this continues to be a very strong channel. With

:49:33.:49:38.

homeownership down to its lowest level in a generation, down every

:49:39.:49:42.

year since he became Prime Minister, why did Tory MPs vote against

:49:43.:49:46.

Labour's amendments to the housing bill last night, which would have

:49:47.:49:50.

protected the publicly funded discount for new starter homes for

:49:51.:49:53.

future buyers? Isn't that better value for money for first-time

:49:54.:49:58.

buyers and for the taxpayer, you saw no? Well, the proposal. The homes is

:49:59.:50:06.

a Conservative Party proposal put into our manifesto, opposed

:50:07.:50:11.

throughout by the Labour Party. This is only happening because we have

:50:12.:50:14.

listed a majority and put a housing bill through this House of Commons.

:50:15.:50:18.

We are taking every step we can to help get more people on the housing

:50:19.:50:23.

ladder. In London we are seeing Help to Buy now funding 40% of the homes

:50:24.:50:27.

people want to buy, rather than 20%. We will see 200,000 starter homes

:50:28.:50:32.

built during this Parliament. Because we are managing the economy

:50:33.:50:36.

properly, interest rates are low and it is easier for people to get a

:50:37.:50:41.

mortgage. With our help to save skin, people can put aside money to

:50:42.:50:47.

help them with their deposit. We are on the side of the homeowner, and

:50:48.:50:50.

above all those people who want to get on the housing ladder.

:50:51.:51:01.

Mr Speaker, on Boxing Day, the village of crust and in my

:51:02.:51:06.

constituency suffered the worst floods in living memory. We had

:51:07.:51:11.

damage to schools, homes and businesses. Will my right honourable

:51:12.:51:15.

friend join with me in praising the efforts of everybody who pulled

:51:16.:51:19.

together to protect their community and will he ask is honourable friend

:51:20.:51:23.

the member for Penrith and The Border to review the decision by the

:51:24.:51:27.

Environment Agency to switch off the pumps in that particular place?

:51:28.:51:32.

First of all let me pay tribute to her constituents, who worked around

:51:33.:51:35.

the clock to help each other in what were appalling floods, with this

:51:36.:51:40.

incredibly high-level of rainfall. Let me join with her in thanking the

:51:41.:51:44.

emergency services again for all the work they did. After floods like

:51:45.:51:47.

this there are always questions about which pumps were used, which

:51:48.:51:51.

flood gates were opened, what decisions were made by the experts

:51:52.:51:56.

on the ground. And it is very important, having seen many

:51:57.:52:00.

communities flooded in my own constituency, to hold meetings in

:52:01.:52:03.

the community to go through those decisions and work out what lessons

:52:04.:52:06.

can be learned and whether the right decisions were made. I absolutely

:52:07.:52:11.

pledge that that should be done if we have announced ?40 million for

:52:12.:52:15.

the work across Lancashire and Cumbria for helping people out. And

:52:16.:52:19.

we will make sure that the flood alleviation money for households and

:52:20.:52:23.

businesses, the scheme is that we set up after 2013, that the money is

:52:24.:52:29.

paid out as it can be. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. In the light

:52:30.:52:35.

of last month's Paris climate agreement, in which all countries

:52:36.:52:39.

promised to keep global warming well below 2 degrees, does the Prime

:52:40.:52:42.

Minister agree that we must now urgently begin the process of

:52:43.:52:46.

strengthening the EU's 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target to

:52:47.:52:51.

50% below 1990 levels at the very least a position which he argued

:52:52.:52:54.

for, I am glad to say, at the European Council? First of all let

:52:55.:52:59.

me join her in once again recognising that Paris was a very

:53:00.:53:02.

big step forward. Previous agreements, like at Kyoto, did not

:53:03.:53:07.

include action by China or America. And now, you have got all the big

:53:08.:53:12.

emitters as part of the deal. We did argue that the EU should go further.

:53:13.:53:16.

We achieved I think a very aggressive package for the EU, but

:53:17.:53:21.

that was the best that we could do in the circumstances. I think the EU

:53:22.:53:24.

agreement helped to bring about the general agreement. Nobody should be

:53:25.:53:28.

in doubt that Britain is playing a very major role. Let me give you one

:53:29.:53:33.

statistic. I know there is a great interest in this house about solar

:53:34.:53:37.

panels. I asked the question the other day, what percentage of solar

:53:38.:53:40.

panels have been installed in Britain since this government took

:53:41.:53:45.

office in 2010, expect it might be 50 or 60%. The answer is 98%.

:53:46.:53:53.

Yesterday it was announced that the Foxhill housing zone in Bath would

:53:54.:53:58.

receive ?313,000 of government funding to help kick-start work to

:53:59.:54:01.

build thousands of new homes in the city. Would the Prime Minister agree

:54:02.:54:04.

with me that this funding will help to reverse the lack of new building

:54:05.:54:08.

under the party opposite and unable struggling families to get onto the

:54:09.:54:12.

property ladder? I am delighted to hear about that development. The

:54:13.:54:16.

fact is, we have built 700,000 houses since this government came to

:54:17.:54:21.

office but there is a lot more to be done. Sometimes it might involve

:54:22.:54:26.

specific planning permissions orders agreements between councils which

:54:27.:54:30.

need to be sorted out. But we should not forget that the developers and

:54:31.:54:33.

house builders will only go ahead with house-building if they believe

:54:34.:54:37.

it is a benign economic environment with a strong and growing economy

:54:38.:54:42.

and stable interest rates. That is the key to the success in housing.

:54:43.:54:49.

The Prime Minister promised to cut the number of government special

:54:50.:54:54.

advisers and the Chancellor wants to limit pay increases to public sector

:54:55.:54:59.

employees to 1% of. So how does he possibly square that with now having

:55:00.:55:04.

26 more special advisers than in 2010 and a 42% pay increase for the

:55:05.:55:08.

Chancellor's own personal image consultant? There are fewer special

:55:09.:55:13.

advisers under this government than there were under the last

:55:14.:55:23.

government. Will my right honourable friend agree with me that it is more

:55:24.:55:28.

than a matter of regret that the new Shadow Defence Secretary has seen

:55:29.:55:35.

fit to take a donation from the immoral, thieving and ambulance

:55:36.:55:40.

chasing lawyers leader a who, together with public interest

:55:41.:55:47.

lawyers, specialise in hounding out brave service personnel in Iraq with

:55:48.:55:52.

spurious claims? Is it time that we removed the latter from the

:55:53.:55:54.

pernicious clutches of the Human Rights Act and honoured our

:55:55.:55:58.

manifesto commitment for a British Bill of Rights? Taking his questions

:55:59.:56:05.

in turn - yes, we should honour our commitment for a Bill of Rights and

:56:06.:56:08.

I look forward to making progress on that. I think this organisation

:56:09.:56:14.

Leigh Day, does have some that. I think this organisation

:56:15.:56:19.

to answer. They were deeply involved in the inquiry where a

:56:20.:56:20.

to answer. They were deeply involved claims completely fell apart and

:56:21.:56:24.

there was it seems evidence which could have shown that those

:56:25.:56:26.

there was it seems evidence which were false. I do think that it is

:56:27.:56:28.

instructive that we have lost Shadow Secretary of State -2

:56:29.:56:34.

believed in strong defence, who believed in strong defence, who

:56:35.:56:35.

and instead we have got somebody believed in strong defence, who

:56:36.:56:41.

apparently who takes funds from Leigh Day. I think that leaves us

:56:42.:56:42.

with Leigh Day. I think that leaves us

:56:43.:56:46.

Speaker, frankly, it goes to a bigger truth, which is, one day this

:56:47.:56:51.

we shovel I suppose will be over, and we will be left with a

:56:52.:56:53.

collection of and we will be left with a

:56:54.:56:58.

doubt, who signed up to unilateral nuclear disarmament, who signed up

:56:59.:57:01.

to backing up taxes, debt and spending, and one of the left-wing

:57:02.:57:04.

programmes in living memory. This is a collective act they would have

:57:05.:57:10.

taken part in. We should not be asking if the Leader of the

:57:11.:57:12.

taken part in. We should not be Opposition would be happy about lead

:57:13.:57:15.

central. The question is, what on earth is the member for lead central

:57:16.:57:18.

and others doing in this Labour Party government? The Prime Minister

:57:19.:57:28.

may be aware that there is also a Shakespeare connection to Knowsley,

:57:29.:57:33.

where midsummer night dream for example was written, amongst other

:57:34.:57:37.

place. I wonder whether he will lend his support to the proposal for a

:57:38.:57:42.

Shakespeare of the north, which will complete the triangle of the Globe

:57:43.:57:47.

theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Knowsley, as a celebration of the

:57:48.:57:52.

work of Shakespeare? I think this sounds like an excellent proposal.

:57:53.:57:56.

We should not try and constrain Shakespeare to Stratford. We should

:57:57.:57:59.

make sure this is a national, indeed international, celebration, so I

:58:00.:58:04.

will look carefully at the proposal he makes. In Derbyshire, the county

:58:05.:58:10.

council have announced plans to cut four care homes including Hillcrest

:58:11.:58:17.

in my constituency, as well as some sheltered housing. This is clearly

:58:18.:58:23.

an attack on the elderly and vulnerable in Derbyshire by an

:58:24.:58:26.

authority with a proven track record of wasting taxpayers' money. Will my

:58:27.:58:28.

right honourable friend look at this dismal situation to ensure all

:58:29.:58:33.

Derbyshire presidents have access to good levels of care? I am happy to

:58:34.:58:42.

look at that problem. Obviously, this is a Labour-controlled council

:58:43.:58:44.

taking these decisions. What I would urge them to do is to look at the

:58:45.:58:48.

proposals that we made in the spending review, at the fact that

:58:49.:58:53.

councils are now able to use a surcharge on council tax to fund

:58:54.:58:57.

additional social care, and to recognise that their job instead of

:58:58.:58:59.

playing politics should be serving local people. Last year, the IMF

:59:00.:59:08.

warned income inequalities is the most defining challenge of our time.

:59:09.:59:11.

It is getting worse and it slows economic growth. By last night,

:59:12.:59:17.

FTSE-100 chief executive is well have been paid more for five days

:59:18.:59:22.

work than the average UK worker will be paid in the whole of 2016,

:59:23.:59:26.

getting a pay rise of nearly 50% last year while the average worker

:59:27.:59:32.

had a pay rise of less than 2%. So, will the Prime Minister support the

:59:33.:59:36.

high pay centre's back and Asians for organisations to publish data on

:59:37.:59:41.

the ratio of top pay to average pay? -- recommendations fully I am a

:59:42.:59:47.

great supporter of these things. But since I have become Prime Minister,

:59:48.:59:50.

income inequality has actually fallen, whereas it went up under

:59:51.:59:54.

Labour. One of the biggest rings wasn't doing to help with income

:59:55.:59:58.

inequality is, for the first time ever, to bring in a national living

:59:59.:00:03.

waged. This is the year that we are going to see people paying no tax

:00:04.:00:08.

until they have earned ?11,000. This is the year we will see a national

:00:09.:00:13.

living waged at ?7 20. Those are big advances in helping the low paid in

:00:14.:00:18.

our country. I would like to pay tribute as well to the countless

:00:19.:00:22.

numbers of people and organisations who helped out during the recent

:00:23.:00:30.

floods. Yesterday, I spoke with the chairman of the new insurance scheme

:00:31.:00:34.

and I know that people who have been hammered by the floods will welcome

:00:35.:00:39.

the fact that their premiums will be quashed and that they will not meet

:00:40.:00:45.

eye-watering excesses. But he told me that it will not cover any houses

:00:46.:00:50.

built since 2009 and it will not cover businesses, either. Will the

:00:51.:00:54.

Prime Minister look again at the scheme to make sure that it is

:00:55.:00:57.

properly comprehensive? We are looking very carefully at this,

:00:58.:01:02.

particularly on the issue of businesses. We have had a number of

:01:03.:01:05.

anecdotal stories from small businesses saying it is going to be

:01:06.:01:09.

very difficult to get insurance. Meanwhile the insurance companies

:01:10.:01:12.

are telling us they will not turn down any small businessesso we need

:01:13.:01:16.

to get to the bottom of this before we get the final introduction of the

:01:17.:01:24.

scheme in April this year. It was good to welcome the Prime

:01:25.:01:28.

Minister and his Excellency the President of China, Chester airport

:01:29.:01:31.

in my constituency recently to talk about investment. But what is in the

:01:32.:01:36.

northinterest and the nation's interest is extra runway capacity in

:01:37.:01:40.

the south-east. Why does the Prime Minister continue to procrastinate?

:01:41.:01:46.

Can I thank him and everybody in Manchester who helped to welcome the

:01:47.:01:51.

Chinese president at the excellent lunch in Manchester and the very

:01:52.:01:55.

good visit to Manchester airport? In response to his question, I would

:01:56.:01:58.

say that the environmental audit committee of this house, and indeed

:01:59.:02:04.

the author of the original report, Howard Davies, have both said that

:02:05.:02:09.

the problems of quality to raise new questions which the Government has

:02:10.:02:12.

to answer. I am in favour of answering those questions and then

:02:13.:02:17.

making a decision. Two years ago I think tomorrow, the House lost a

:02:18.:02:22.

superb parliamentarian and much loved colleague in all parts of the

:02:23.:02:34.

house. The honourable gentleman's predecessor, Paul Goggins. We

:02:35.:02:36.

remember him with affection and respect and we think fondly of his

:02:37.:02:42.

widow and their three children, who are all wonderful human beings and

:02:43.:02:46.

we wish them well for the future. Thank you, Mr Speaker. My

:02:47.:02:49.

constituency was decimated by the recent floods. It was reported in

:02:50.:02:56.

the Bradford Telegraph And Argus earlier this week that the Bradford

:02:57.:02:59.

district would not receive any of the extra funding the Prime Minister

:03:00.:03:03.

announced for Yorkshire for flood defences. Will he take this

:03:04.:03:06.

opportunity to confirm that that is not the case, that whatever money is

:03:07.:03:10.

necessary to protect my constituency from future flooding will be spent?

:03:11.:03:14.

And if he is struggling to find the money, the all could use money from

:03:15.:03:18.

the overseas aid budget, because I am sure he believes that victims

:03:19.:03:22.

flooding in Shipley should not be disconnected against in terms of

:03:23.:03:25.

victims of flooding in other parts of the world? We will do what it

:03:26.:03:30.

takes to make sure that families and communities and businesses can get

:03:31.:03:35.

back on their feet. That's why we have invested record sums more

:03:36.:03:39.

quickly into the affected areas. We have learned the lessons of previous

:03:40.:03:43.

floods, where sometimes the schemes have been too bureaucratic and too

:03:44.:03:47.

much time has been taken. Whether it is building bridges, repairing

:03:48.:03:51.

roads, building flood defences, examining where the water went this

:03:52.:03:54.

time and what more can be done, we will make sure that work is carried

:03:55.:04:02.

out in Bradford, as everywhere else. Is the Prime Minister aware of the

:04:03.:04:05.

valuable work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit not just in

:04:06.:04:10.

enforcing the law but in promoting animal welfare and as part of the

:04:11.:04:14.

international effort against the trade in endangered species? Is he

:04:15.:04:17.

aware that the funding for it expires in a couple of months, and

:04:18.:04:22.

DEFRA and the Home Office have yet to make a decision to continue it?

:04:23.:04:26.

Can I ask him to prevail upon his right honourable friends to make

:04:27.:04:29.

sure that this extremely important and valuable work is continued? My

:04:30.:04:34.

understanding is that we HAVE kept the funding for this organisation.

:04:35.:04:38.

It does important work to mystically and overseas. I will look very

:04:39.:04:43.

carefully at what he suggests. I think there is still a decision to

:04:44.:04:50.

be made about the future. My right honourable friend knows that the

:04:51.:04:56.

legacy of thalidomide stills hangs over more than 500 people in our

:04:57.:04:59.

country today. In the last Parliament, Mr Speaker, the Prime

:05:00.:05:04.

Minister signalled very strong support to get a fair and just

:05:05.:05:09.

solution to their problems. Can I invite my right honourable friend in

:05:10.:05:12.

this Parliament to renew that pledge and to work with the all-party group

:05:13.:05:18.

to ensure a just outcome? I am happy to make that clear. In the last

:05:19.:05:21.

Parliament I met with some of my own constituents who have been affected

:05:22.:05:24.

by thalidomide and they had a number of things they wanted

:05:25.:05:27.

parliamentarians to do and a lot of people got behind their campaign. I

:05:28.:05:31.

am happy to continue to work with them in this Parliament. Order.

:05:32.:05:41.

Jeremy Corbyn to all lessons on the floods and whether the government

:05:42.:05:53.

was investing sufficient money. And whether it is doing enough in the

:05:54.:05:56.

future to stop it happening again. The Prime Minister pointed out that

:05:57.:06:01.

Mr Corbyn had been in Malta while some of the floods were going on and

:06:02.:06:06.

stop he did not point out that when his constituency was under water in

:06:07.:06:12.

2007 he was in Africa. There were a number of Shakespearean quotations

:06:13.:06:14.

from the Prime Minister about the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. Love

:06:15.:06:20.

Labour's lost, as you like it, a comedy of errors was another one.

:06:21.:06:25.

The Prime Minister then went on to talk about less hours for doctors

:06:26.:06:32.

which showed he has not quite mastered Shakespeare's language! Why

:06:33.:06:42.

was the 190 million flood scheme cutbacks? This is a classic Andrew

:06:43.:06:47.

Neil question, expecting me to know everything! My understanding is that

:06:48.:06:54.

it was not cut back but the Environment Agency decided not to go

:06:55.:06:57.

ahead with it because it would cause flooding elsewhere. You have to be

:06:58.:07:01.

careful about making accusations. David Cameron, in saying that this

:07:02.:07:06.

is how floods spending has gone up and will go up, as clearly held the

:07:07.:07:10.

floor against original request was for a ?190

:07:11.:07:17.

million flood defence and it original request was for a ?190

:07:18.:07:21.

made to the government in 2010. It original request was for a ?190

:07:22.:07:24.

was not turned down by original request was for a ?190

:07:25.:07:31.

will now receive ?33 million which will not cover, actually, part

:07:32.:07:36.

will now receive ?33 million which the city which was flooded recently.

:07:37.:07:38.

The bit that was flooded get no extra defence. Look, this is an

:07:39.:07:45.

The bit that was flooded get no don't know the exact details of the

:07:46.:07:47.

decisions taken on don't know the exact details of the

:07:48.:07:53.

the Minister, but Liz truss gave the answer is in great detail in 90

:07:54.:07:57.

minutes and was very convincing in the way she did, as was David

:07:58.:07:59.

Cameron the Prime Minister. the way she did, as was David

:08:00.:08:04.

remember what she said? I was not there for all of it. It is the

:08:05.:08:09.

issue, looking at the there for all of it. It is the

:08:10.:08:16.

the e-mails and questions raised in the House today, people are

:08:17.:08:21.

unbelievably concerned. Mark said David Cameron failed to

:08:22.:08:24.

legitimate questions that Jeremy Corbyn asked on the government

:08:25.:08:30.

handling of flood defences and government priorities. David said, I

:08:31.:08:36.

find it rich for David Corbyn to stand up

:08:37.:08:41.

find it rich for David Corbyn to fortnight to show his face in York.

:08:42.:08:44.

find it rich for David Corbyn to Malcolm said, what a disgrace, all

:08:45.:08:46.

our politicians are out of touch with the country. And yet said,

:08:47.:08:50.

Jeremy Corbyn looks and with the country. And yet said,

:08:51.:08:57.

a bumbling old lefty. This from Andy... I have never seen anything

:08:58.:09:01.

as durable as David Cameron's performance today. Legitimate

:09:02.:09:06.

questions were derided by Jeremy Corbyn. The sycophantic Tories do

:09:07.:09:12.

nothing to raise the status of the House, physically on the issue of

:09:13.:09:17.

floods. Don said, what are the useless politicians going to do? To

:09:18.:09:27.

floods. Don said, what are the time they banned phones and tablets

:09:28.:09:31.

from The Chamber? They are constantly in use and very annoying.

:09:32.:09:35.

The Speaker let the men and now they all use them. Parliament should be

:09:36.:09:42.

about listening. Not playing around. People are reading speeches on iPad.

:09:43.:09:45.

They should People are reading speeches on iPad.

:09:46.:09:47.

the quill pen! The Prime Minister claimed that

:09:48.:10:00.

there were fewer special advisers and political appointments than the

:10:01.:10:10.

last government. Well, there were 74 special advisers in July 2009 under

:10:11.:10:15.

Mr Brown. It seemed a lot at the time but the run now 100 and three

:10:16.:10:20.

under this government, as of November 20 14. The figure may be

:10:21.:10:24.

higher. The Prime Minister was talking about the previous Coalition

:10:25.:10:30.

Government of which he also led, but they had more special advisers

:10:31.:10:34.

because the Lib Dems had their load as well. What happens, special

:10:35.:10:39.

advisers have a terrible reputation in the press is people who do

:10:40.:10:45.

ghastly deeds. People in the opposite of say they will cut

:10:46.:10:49.

numbers but then they get into power and find them very useful. It has

:10:50.:10:53.

happened before and it's happening now. We also understand that Kevin

:10:54.:11:05.

Jones has quit the Shadow Cabinet. I think it is quite likely that others

:11:06.:11:10.

in the shadow defence team who were being asked to serve under Emily

:11:11.:11:15.

Thornberry who opposes renewing new killer deterrence may follow him

:11:16.:11:23.

through the rest of the day -- nuclear. It is the official policy

:11:24.:11:28.

to back Trident but that is the opposite of what Jeremy Corbyn wants

:11:29.:11:33.

to do. The next seemed to unravel is that members of the defence team who

:11:34.:11:42.

will serve -- won't serve a -- under somebody who is taking the opposite

:11:43.:11:50.

view to them. The pro-Trident policy isn't going to last, is it? Let's be

:11:51.:11:54.

realistic. The leader of the Labour Party is against it. The new Shadow

:11:55.:12:00.

Defence Secretary is against it. The person hurt in to do the defence

:12:01.:12:04.

review with that Shadow Defence Secretary, Mr Livingstone, is

:12:05.:12:10.

against it. The NEC is appointed with people who are moving against

:12:11.:12:14.

it, and there will certainly be a vote at the Labour Party conference

:12:15.:12:19.

which could easily vote against it. That is the direction of trade,

:12:20.:12:24.

isn't it? Yes, that is the context of all of this and that is one of

:12:25.:12:27.

the reasons why there is this sort of race amongst Jeremy Corbyn

:12:28.:12:34.

supporters to try and take over as much of the party machinery as they

:12:35.:12:37.

possibly can before you get to that conference vote in September.

:12:38.:12:41.

Remember, though, one important thing in all of this, there are some

:12:42.:12:46.

big influential backers of Trident because of jobs and that includes a

:12:47.:12:49.

lot of unions and that is one of the reasons a health Jeremy Corbyn win

:12:50.:12:55.

this leadership race. There is disquiet about getting rid of it but

:12:56.:13:02.

it is an important achievement of the reshuffle which has been messy

:13:03.:13:07.

and has had some very dramatic and terrible consequences this morning

:13:08.:13:10.

in terms of broken trust and hurt feelings. He has moved to neutralise

:13:11.:13:17.

a very big row which was coming down the tracks very quickly, which was,

:13:18.:13:21.

how will Labour cope with the boat to come in the House of Commons over

:13:22.:13:29.

whether to renew Trident? He has moved to neutralise that with some

:13:30.:13:32.

success but he has not been able to move his very big target, the Shadow

:13:33.:13:37.

Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn. I am glad you brought that up. We are

:13:38.:13:42.

being inundated with briefings from Hilary Benn's people, saying,

:13:43.:13:48.

nothing has changed army has not agreed to conditions commonly

:13:49.:13:52.

carries on as before. -- nothing has changed, he has not agreed... What

:13:53.:14:00.

did they talk about drawing that time, then? -- during. Jeremy Corbyn

:14:01.:14:10.

is very, very fond of discussion. Drawing the one-to-one meetings,

:14:11.:14:15.

there were not conversations about how his role which change, and yet

:14:16.:14:21.

we have this briefing now from those around Jeremy Corbyn that there is

:14:22.:14:25.

some kind of New World order in how things will operate. -- during the

:14:26.:14:29.

Shadow Chancellor also said there will be this situation where anybody

:14:30.:14:35.

on the front bench wants to say something that is not Jeremy

:14:36.:14:40.

Corbyn's position, hang on a minute, I am just going to shuffle up to the

:14:41.:14:43.

backbench and say what I really think. It is not a sustainable

:14:44.:14:49.

position. Hilary Benn says he will not do that. I don't want to add to

:14:50.:14:56.

the speculation on this because it has got out of hand but one thing

:14:57.:14:59.

that is missing from this discussion is the fact that it is quite a big

:15:00.:15:03.

change, not just for the Labour Party but for British politics. The

:15:04.:15:07.

biggest change we have seen in my political lifetime. What is the

:15:08.:15:12.

change? A change in leadership and change in the direction of the

:15:13.:15:16.

party, and at the same time, don't forget that Jeremy and many members

:15:17.:15:21.

of the Shadow Cabinet did not know each other very well before this

:15:22.:15:24.

started and one of the rings that has happened over the last few

:15:25.:15:28.

months is that we have been working through that and getting to know one

:15:29.:15:34.

another. -- things. It has been them reaching an agreement on how they

:15:35.:15:36.

work together going forward and it sounds like they have managed to do

:15:37.:15:40.

that. I am sure there are no conditions. Would he resign if it

:15:41.:15:45.

came to the next big confrontation on something like air strikes or

:15:46.:15:51.

Trident? Would you expect Hilary Benn to resign? In the end, he is a

:15:52.:15:55.

principled man and if they could not reach an agreement, keyword, but

:15:56.:16:00.

what they did yesterday was find a way to mutually work together in a

:16:01.:16:08.

respectful way. -- keyword. We do not know what the roles of this are.

:16:09.:16:17.

And, indeed, Mr Benn himself. You have two figures on the record

:16:18.:16:22.

saying two different things. The Shadow Chancellor John McDonald is

:16:23.:16:24.

saying there is a new modus operandi. Hilary Benn is a new set

:16:25.:16:30.

of conditions and ways of working, a bit like -- collective working.

:16:31.:16:37.

Hilary Benn is saying, I have not been muzzled. You cannot both be

:16:38.:16:43.

right. Most people around the country are seeing the headlines in

:16:44.:16:47.

newspapers and will not pay attention to the tiny details but

:16:48.:16:51.

for a political party to work, you have to have trust, people who can

:16:52.:16:56.

work together, we believe you can be a team, and in the last 48 hours,

:16:57.:16:59.

although Jeremy Corbyn has flexed his muscles and shown his authority,

:17:00.:17:09.

in some ways, there have been -- there has been chaos around it, the

:17:10.:17:12.

thin strands of trust that have been, some of them are snapping all

:17:13.:17:16.

over the place in the does the Shadow Cabinet not better reflect

:17:17.:17:21.

Jeremy Corbyn's views and in a sense, he has tightened his grip on

:17:22.:17:26.

those key issues, not on Syria, but certainly on Trident? That is why I

:17:27.:17:31.

say he has achieved one thing, which is neutralising the row over

:17:32.:17:37.

Trident. A defence team will be along the lines of what he wants to

:17:38.:17:42.

do. He has shown to assert his authority to some degree but for

:17:43.:17:45.

things to work and for the party to be able to hold together, rather

:17:46.:17:51.

than just become a much smaller, tighter band of people gathered

:17:52.:17:55.

around Jeremy Corbyn... It is a strange situation where we we know,

:17:56.:18:01.

as we have been told several times, the official Labour policy is in

:18:02.:18:04.

favour of renewing Trident and yet we know that that is not the

:18:05.:18:06.

direction that Mr Corbyn once. In a sense, this is why this has had

:18:07.:18:21.

such wider appeal, for the many people who have signed up to be a

:18:22.:18:26.

part of this, and we must not forget that, but he believes that the real

:18:27.:18:30.

way of changing things is not in this Square Mile, it is not on the

:18:31.:18:33.

green benches, not in the House of Commons, it is by having a

:18:34.:18:35.

grassroots movement around the country, about expanding the way the

:18:36.:18:40.

NEC makes policies, and there is that kind of extra-Parliamentary bit

:18:41.:18:47.

about it. That is part of what he has been doing with Trident. He has

:18:48.:18:50.

been very honest about his own personal views but he has not

:18:51.:18:52.

imposed personal views but he has not

:18:53.:18:57.

And that is quite significant. Were you aware of a number of your shadow

:18:58.:19:00.

cabinet colleagues being prepared to resign if Mr Benn was fired? No. Was

:19:01.:19:07.

that the case, Laura? That is what I was told by several of them, no

:19:08.:19:08.

question. Now, people can say they was told by several of them, no

:19:09.:19:15.

they really have done it if it came to pass? I spoke to many

:19:16.:19:18.

they really have done it if it came colleagues across the shadow cabinet

:19:19.:19:19.

and none of us had colleagues across the shadow cabinet

:19:20.:19:29.

that there was a lot of briefing and speculation

:19:30.:19:29.

that there was a lot of briefing and Hilary Benn getting sacked and about

:19:30.:19:33.

a revenge reshuffle and Hilary Benn getting sacked and about

:19:34.:19:36.

whip being moved, and in the end, none of that happened. I'm not sure

:19:37.:19:38.

there was ever any none of that happened. I'm not sure

:19:39.:19:42.

to happen. So why did it take almost two days for almost nothing to

:19:43.:19:47.

happen? I think Jeremy wanted to have a chance to meet with people

:19:48.:19:51.

and discuss things with them. He did not meet with you. It turned out the

:19:52.:19:55.

media predictions just were not correct. Of course there is always

:19:56.:19:59.

frenzied speculation, but the message from people close to Jeremy

:20:00.:20:03.

Corbyn unquestionably was, he wanted new faces at defence - he has got

:20:04.:20:08.

that, which is a success for him. And he has wanted a new face also in

:20:09.:20:14.

charge of foreign policy. And he hasn't got that bit. And that

:20:15.:20:20.

message was being conveyed. That was being conveyed by

:20:21.:20:26.

message was being conveyed. That was now going to be allowed to go its

:20:27.:20:28.

message was being conveyed. That was way after the deal is done and the

:20:29.:20:29.

referendum campaign is are going to go? I am a mild,

:20:30.:20:54.

non-frothing outer. My first act in the nineteen seventies... I am

:20:55.:21:00.

asking you about this one, not 1975. Which way will you vote? I have just

:21:01.:21:06.

told you. I am probably an outer. For me,

:21:07.:21:08.

told you. I am probably an outer. pull a pretty big rabbit out of the

:21:09.:21:10.

hat. I'm not sure the agenda he pull a pretty big rabbit out of the

:21:11.:21:14.

put forward to try and get reform would suffice for me because I think

:21:15.:21:16.

they would suffice for me because I think

:21:17.:21:20.

benefits and movement of people. The key thing is, who makes our law. And

:21:21.:21:24.

I think at the moment too much of our law is made by this artificial

:21:25.:21:31.

construct, of Europe. This is the day when the Labour Party suddenly

:21:32.:21:35.

labelled itself dysfunctional. Not at all. We are united Europe, unlike

:21:36.:21:40.

you, and focused on the interests of the country, unlike you. We

:21:41.:21:45.

certainly are. And we have got a new Shadow Europe Minister, in Pat

:21:46.:21:48.

Glass, who has campaigned for a long time... Having got rid of a very

:21:49.:21:53.

good, competent person in Pat McFadden, who is a great guy. He is,

:21:54.:21:59.

but Pat Glass... The Prime Minister said on special advisers that there

:22:00.:22:04.

were fewer than under the previous government, whether he was referring

:22:05.:22:08.

to the coalition government... There are currently 92. There were more

:22:09.:22:12.

than 100 and the coalition. Under Mr Brown there were 74. So there are

:22:13.:22:19.

Fuhrer advises under Mr Brown Van there are now under Mr Cameron. Just

:22:20.:22:24.

to clarify that. Can you name every single one of them? I will have to

:22:25.:22:30.

write them all down! You will win a mug if you can!

:22:31.:22:32.

Now, you might not realise it to look at the mild-mannered

:22:33.:22:34.

exteriors of Lisa and Alan here, but underneath they and many other

:22:35.:22:37.

MPs are seething with pent up rudeness they are desperate

:22:38.:22:39.

They're probably just waiting until they no longer

:22:40.:22:43.

Well, here's the former Labour MP Tom Harris with his soapbox...

:22:44.:22:56.

It is hard to believe, I know, but sometimes it seems that people

:22:57.:22:59.

go out of their way to be rude to politicians.

:23:00.:23:04.

And sometimes, not often enough as far as I am concerned,

:23:05.:23:08.

Graham Jones MP recently received an e-mail from a man who told him

:23:09.:23:15.

that by voting for military action in Syria, he would have the blood

:23:16.:23:19.

of tens of thousands of innocents on his hands.

:23:20.:23:22.

And with refreshing northern directness, Graham replied,

:23:23.:23:27.

I once had to physically remove a constituent from my advice surgery

:23:28.:23:37.

because he had been particularly abusive.

:23:38.:23:40.

And I told him that he would not expect to receive any help

:23:41.:23:44.

Unfortunately, to my lasting regret, I never actually told him

:23:45.:23:50.

In a country where honesty and transparency and the right

:23:51.:23:58.

to protest, like this one behind me, are valued above all others,

:23:59.:24:03.

it is significant, nay depressing, that our elected representatives

:24:04.:24:06.

must avoid telling the truth to their constituents,

:24:07.:24:11.

especially when that truth is what they actually think of them.

:24:12.:24:20.

MPs have to take it, not dish it out.

:24:21.:24:24.

It is their job to sit and listen and do as they are told

:24:25.:24:32.

by the people who after all pay their very generous

:24:33.:24:34.

If you want to tell your MP that he is murdering

:24:35.:24:41.

But don't be offended if in return he tells you that

:24:42.:24:48.

you are an appeaser of murdering, fascist, rapist, torturing scum.

:24:49.:24:51.

Oh, and thanks so much for taking the time to write.

:24:52.:24:56.

It is time for politicians to fight back.

:24:57.:24:58.

Don't hold back in this interview, Tom. Tell us what you really think!

:24:59.:25:18.

Is this the result of pent-up anger that you have wanted to unleash on

:25:19.:25:21.

those constituents while you were an MP? It probably is! Did it do you

:25:22.:25:28.

any good, raising your voice occasionally? It did not do me any

:25:29.:25:33.

harm. I remember the occasion that I referred to when I had to physically

:25:34.:25:36.

throw somebody out of my surgery. I was re-elected by an even bigger

:25:37.:25:41.

majority after that. But you were not in a marginal seat? No. I think

:25:42.:25:47.

part of the vast experience that I have is that people are generally

:25:48.:25:51.

respect for and nice. So, you are talking about a few people here.

:25:52.:25:56.

Sometimes you get abuse. But there is a low level of passive aggression

:25:57.:25:59.

which sometimes you have to deal with. When you are out with your

:26:00.:26:02.

family and people feel they have the right to come up to you and just be

:26:03.:26:06.

a little bit undermining in front of your family and your kids. I guess

:26:07.:26:13.

it is completely unacceptable. Are you being thin skinned on this

:26:14.:26:20.

issue? I mean, was ever thus, people get very upset about issues of war

:26:21.:26:23.

and peace, the economy, benefits, whatever it is. Isn't that your job

:26:24.:26:29.

to kind of soak it up a little bit? No, it is not. I think MPs have got

:26:30.:26:36.

as much right to be treated with respect, not deference, in the same

:26:37.:26:40.

way as a GP or a head teacher should be treated with respect. If people

:26:41.:26:45.

are rude to you I think it is perfectly acceptable to offer the

:26:46.:26:49.

same level of rudeness back. Do you do that, Alan, if a constituent is

:26:50.:26:53.

rude to you in that sort of way? Yes, you either humour it and brush

:26:54.:26:57.

them off, but if somebody is consistently rude, yes. What I find

:26:58.:27:02.

has completely changed, setting aside the deep vulgarity of social

:27:03.:27:07.

media, is actually the e-mail, which has made people fire things off in

:27:08.:27:11.

the dead of night, and they are very aggressive in their language. Quite

:27:12.:27:14.

often I go back and say, I refuse to correspond with you until you are

:27:15.:27:18.

prepared to be polite and considerate in your tone deaf I have

:27:19.:27:22.

had to do that more and more over the last five years. Lucy, you are

:27:23.:27:29.

relatively new MP, but do you think people have become more rude since

:27:30.:27:35.

then? I think social media means people correspond in ways that they

:27:36.:27:39.

would not. Also I think people shout at you because they are frustrated.

:27:40.:27:42.

Tom compared it to the GP or the headteacher. You learn to work out

:27:43.:27:47.

when people are actually just really, really frustrated and how to

:27:48.:27:50.

handle that and help them climb down. Have you ever been frightened

:27:51.:27:56.

in surgeries? You are a big chap, Tom... I am not! Would you ever be

:27:57.:28:05.

scared and intimidated? I did have one constituent who came to see me

:28:06.:28:09.

in a rage, demanding that I intervened because he had been

:28:10.:28:12.

turned down for a gun licence because of an anger management

:28:13.:28:15.

problem. I was not so much frightened as very clear! What did

:28:16.:28:21.

you say? And very concise! Tom Harris, thank you very much. Let's

:28:22.:28:27.

put you out of your misery and give you the answer to need guess the

:28:28.:28:36.

year. The year was 2007. Steven Webster from Hemel Hampstead, well

:28:37.:28:37.

done!

:28:38.:28:48.

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