Browse content similar to 11/01/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Wednesday in Parliament. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
Coming up on this programme: | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn trade blows over the state | 0:00:24 | 0:00:26 | |
of the NHS in England. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:28 | |
The Governor of the Bank of England says Brexit is no | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
longer the biggest risk to the UK's financial stability. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
And ministers are urged to do more to help the victims | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
of modern slavery. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:38 | |
It is thought by the police there are probably 10,000 people | 0:00:38 | 0:00:42 | |
in a year who are victims, and 30 convictions. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
But first, at Prime Minister's Questions, Theresa May defended | 0:00:46 | 0:00:49 | |
the Government's handling of England's NHS as Jeremy Corbyn | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
accused her of being in denial over the pressures facing | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
the health service. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
Nearly a quarter of patients waited longer than four | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
hours in A last week, with just one hospital | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
hitting its target. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
And huge numbers also faced long waits for a bed when A staff | 0:01:06 | 0:01:10 | |
admitted them into hospital as emergency cases, with more | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
than 18,000 trolley waits of more than four hours or more. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:18 | |
The figures come from the document compiled by NHS Improvement, | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
one of the regulators in England, and show that this winter is proving | 0:01:21 | 0:01:25 | |
to be the most difficult in more than a decade. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:28 | |
Jeremy Corbyn picked up on those figures and recent | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
comments by the Red Cross. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
Last week, Mr Speaker, 485 people in England spent more | 0:01:33 | 0:01:38 | |
than 12 hours on trolleys in hospital corridors. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:42 | |
The Red Cross described this as a humanitarian crisis. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:47 | |
I called on the Prime Minister to come to Parliament on Monday - | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
she didn't, she sent the Health Secretary. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
But does she agree with him that the best way to solve | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
the crisis of the four-hour wait is to fiddle the figures so that | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
people are not seen to be waiting so long | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
on trolleys in NHS hospitals? | 0:02:03 | 0:02:05 | |
He talks about the pressures on the NHS and we acknowledge | 0:02:05 | 0:02:08 | |
that there are pressures on the National Health Service. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:12 | |
There are always extra pressures on the NHS during the winter, | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
but of course we have at the moment those added pressures of the ageing | 0:02:15 | 0:02:19 | |
population and the growing, complex needs of the population. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
He also refers to the British Red Cross' term | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
of a humanitarian crisis. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:28 | |
I have to say to him that I think we've all seen humanitarian crises | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
around the world and to use that description of a National Health | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
Service which last year saw 2.5 million more people treated | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
in A than six years ago was irresponsible and overblown. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:47 | |
Mr Speaker, she seems to be in some degree of denial about this | 0:02:50 | 0:02:54 | |
and won't listen to professional organisations who have | 0:02:54 | 0:02:59 | |
spent their whole lifetime doing their best for the NHS. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:04 | |
Can I ask her if she'll listen to Sian, who works for the NHS? | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
She has a 22-month-old nephew. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
He went into hospital, there was no bed, he was treated | 0:03:11 | 0:03:14 | |
on two plastic chairs pushed together with a blanket. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:18 | |
She says one of the nurses told her sister, it's | 0:03:18 | 0:03:21 | |
always like this nowadays. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:22 | |
She asked a question to all of us. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:24 | |
Surely we should strive to do better than this. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:29 | |
Does the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary think this | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
is an acceptable way of treating a 22-month-old child needing help? | 0:03:31 | 0:03:38 | |
I accept there have been a small number of incidents... | 0:03:38 | 0:03:47 | |
..where unacceptable practices have taken place. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:51 | |
But what matters, we don't want those things to happen, | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
but what matters is how you then deal with them. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
That's why it's so important that the NHS does look into issues | 0:03:58 | 0:04:02 | |
where there are unacceptable incidents that have taken place | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
and then learns lessons from them. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:11 | |
She highlighted the pressures the service was facing. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
Over the Christmas period, in the Tuesday after Christmas, | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
we saw the busiest day ever in the National Health Service. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
Over the few weeks around Christmas, we saw a day when more people | 0:04:18 | 0:04:24 | |
were treated in A within four hours than had ever happened before. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:30 | |
This is the reality of our National Health Service. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
Jeremy Corbyn pressed on, attacking the Government's record | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
on mental health and social care. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:37 | |
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister said she wanted | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
to create a shared society. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
We've certainly got that. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:44 | |
More people sharing hospital corridors on trolleys. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
More people sharing waiting areas at A departments. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
More people sharing in anxiety created by this Government. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:58 | |
Our NHS, Mr Speaker, is in crisis, but the Prime Minister is in denial. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:04 | |
Can I suggest to her, on the economic question, | 0:05:04 | 0:05:08 | |
cancel the corporate tax cuts, spend the money where it's needed - | 0:05:08 | 0:05:12 | |
on people in desperate need in social care or in our hospitals. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:21 | |
The right honourable gentleman talks about crisis. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:23 | |
I suggest he listens to the honourable member | 0:05:23 | 0:05:25 | |
for Don Valley, a former Labour Health Minister, who | 0:05:25 | 0:05:27 | |
said the following. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:30 | |
"With Labour, it's always about crisis. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
"The NHS is on its knees, we've got to be a bit more | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
"grown-up about this." | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
He talks to me about corporation tax and restoring the cuts | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
in corporation tax. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
The Labour Party has already spent that money eight times. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:50 | |
The last thing the NHS needs is a cheque from Labour that bounces. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
The only way we can ensure we've got funding | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
for the National Health Service is a strong economy. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
Yesterday, the right honourable gentleman proved that he's | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
not only incompetent, but that he would destroy | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
our economy and that would devastate | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
our National Health Service. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:10 | |
A reference there to Jeremy Corbyn's comments the previous day | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
on immigration and earnings limits. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:17 | |
Later in the day, the head of the NHS in England, | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
Sir Simon Stevens, told MPs that funding would be highly constrained | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
over the next three years and that spending per person in real terms | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
would reduce in England. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
He was asked if NHS England had got the money it had asked for. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:34 | |
The Government is repeatedly telling us, I've had letters recently | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
from the Secretary of State, that the NHS is getting more | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
money than it asks for. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:41 | |
What's your view on that? | 0:06:41 | 0:06:46 | |
Well, it's right that by 2020 NHS England will be getting an extra | 0:06:46 | 0:06:53 | |
?10 billion over the course of six years. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:58 | |
I don't think that's the same as saying we're getting more | 0:06:58 | 0:07:02 | |
than we asked for over five years because it was a five-year forward | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
view, not a six-year forward view. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
Over and above that, we've been through a spending review | 0:07:07 | 0:07:12 | |
negotiation in the meantime and that has set the NHS budget | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
for the next three years. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
It's a matter of fact, it's not news, I've said it | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
previously to a select committee back in October, that like probably | 0:07:21 | 0:07:25 | |
every part of the public service we got less than we asked | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
for in that process. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
I think it would be stretching it to say | 0:07:32 | 0:07:34 | |
that the NHS has got more than it asked for. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
OK. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:39 | |
Would you agree there's not enough money and there is a clear gap? | 0:07:39 | 0:07:43 | |
There are clearly very substantial pressures and I don't think it | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
helps anybody to try and pretend there aren't. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:50 | |
But that's not a new phenomenon, to some extent, it's | 0:07:50 | 0:07:53 | |
a phenomenon that's intensifying. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:55 | |
In the here and now, there are very real pressures. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
Over the next three years, funding is going to be highly | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
constrained and in 2018-19, as I previously said in October, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:05 | |
real terms NHS spending per person in England is going to go down, | 0:08:05 | 0:08:10 | |
ten years after Lehmann Brothers and austerity began. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:12 | |
We all understand why that is, but let's not pretend that's not | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
placing huge pressure on the service. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:17 | |
You're watching Wednesday in Parliament with me, | 0:08:17 | 0:08:19 | |
Alicia McCarthy. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
Now let's go back to Prime Minister's Questions | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
and the situation in Northern Ireland. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
The Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein's Martin | 0:08:30 | 0:08:31 | |
McGuinness, has resigned. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
Under Stormont's power-sharing agreement, his resignation | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
means the First Minister, Arlene Foster, also loses her office | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
and that could mean fresh elections have to be held. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:45 | |
The SNP's Westminster group leader thought that breakdown could have | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
wide-reaching implications. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
The Prime Minister has indicated that she wants to take the views | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
of the elected representatives and the devolved institutions | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
on Brexit seriously. | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
So it stands to reason that if there is no Northern Ireland | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
Assembly and there is no Northern Irish Executive for much | 0:09:03 | 0:09:07 | |
of the time before the March timetable she has set before | 0:09:07 | 0:09:10 | |
invoking Article 50, that she'll be unable | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
to properly consult, to fully discuss and to find | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
agreement on the complex issues during this time period. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:23 | |
In these circumstances, will the Prime Minister postpone | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
invoking Article 50... | 0:09:25 | 0:09:31 | |
Will she postpone Article 50 or will she just plough on regardless? | 0:09:31 | 0:09:39 | |
I'm clear that first of all we want to try to ensure that | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
within this period of seven days we can find the result | 0:09:42 | 0:09:46 | |
of into the political situation in Northern Ireland | 0:09:46 | 0:09:56 | |
so that we can continue to see the Assembly government continuing. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
But I'm also clear that in the discussions we have | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
it will be possible... | 0:10:04 | 0:10:05 | |
It's still the case that ministers are in place and that obviously | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
there are executives in place, that we are still able | 0:10:08 | 0:10:11 | |
to take the views of the Northern Ireland people. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:13 | |
Theresa May. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:14 | |
Brexit is no longer the biggest risk to the UK's financial stability, | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
the Governor of the Bank of England has told MPs. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
Mark Carney was making one of his regular appearances | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
at the Treasury Committee. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:22 | |
He was asked about remarks made by a colleague, Andy Haldane - | 0:10:22 | 0:10:25 | |
the Bank of England's chief economist - about | 0:10:25 | 0:10:27 | |
economic forecasting. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
Andy Haldane called the failure to predict the financial crisis | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
of 2008 a "Michael Fish" moment for economists. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
He also accepted that a similar dynamic might have been in play over | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
the bank's forecasts about Brexit. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:45 | |
I feel I should begin by asking you, will you agree with the chief | 0:10:45 | 0:10:51 | |
economist that the Bank of England's be having a Michael | 0:10:51 | 0:10:54 | |
Fish moment, or two? | 0:10:54 | 0:10:59 | |
Well, one of the advantages of managing group think is one | 0:10:59 | 0:11:04 | |
doesn't always agree with everything that is said. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
By colleagues. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:07 | |
Think the core point that Andy Haldane made, | 0:11:07 | 0:11:12 | |
or tried to make, related to, no disrespect to Mr Fish, I should | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
say, but was trying to make... | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
Pertains exactly to what we are talking about today. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
Which is the ability to identify the risk to financial stability. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:28 | |
And the poor performance of most in the economic profession, | 0:11:28 | 0:11:33 | |
including some of the major topic institutions, the Bank of England. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
In identifying the major risks prior to the crisis. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
And he said the Bank had taken action to mitigate the risks | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
around the referendum. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
I do think we helped make the weather. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
Meteorologists predict the weather, we helped make the weather | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
in that we catalysed continuously continuously planned actions, | 0:11:49 | 0:11:53 | |
pre-position of collateral, other steps within our | 0:11:53 | 0:11:57 | |
major central banks. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:58 | |
And better risk management, which helped make sure that this | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
was a smooth process. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:04 | |
He was asked whether Brexit remained the biggest domestic risk | 0:12:04 | 0:12:06 | |
to the UK's financial stability. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
I am going to try and take you to a yes or no on it. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
Because... | 0:12:12 | 0:12:13 | |
Well, strictly speaking, strictly speaking, the view of the | 0:12:13 | 0:12:15 | |
committee is no. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:16 | |
And he explained that the Bank of England had taken | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
action to ease the risks. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
The UK's Green Investment Bank could be killed off if the Government goes | 0:12:23 | 0:12:26 | |
ahead with plans to sell it, according to the Green | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
party MP Caroline Lucas. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
The bank supports offshore wind farms and other green projects. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
The Government has announced plans to part privatise it, | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
with Australian bank McQuarrie thought to be the preferred bidder. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:42 | |
But former Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable said | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
he fears it will be split up. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
The co-leader of the Green party urged ministers | 0:12:47 | 0:12:50 | |
to halt the planned sale. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
This week, we had that the Green Investment Bank stands on the brink | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
of not just being flogged off, but of being broken up | 0:12:57 | 0:13:02 | |
with its green purposes discarded. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:03 | |
Founded in 2012, the GIB has been widely recognised | 0:13:03 | 0:13:07 | |
as a true success story, kick-starting truly innovative, | 0:13:07 | 0:13:09 | |
low-carbon projects across the UK. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
And yet, this preferred bidder, McQuarrie, not only has a dismal | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
and terrible environmental record, it also has an appalling track | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
record of asset stripping. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
Why is the Government setting up a structure to invite | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
in a profiteer asset stripper? | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
If the GIB has been restructured in such a way as to allow it it's | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
to be stripped of its assets, how can the Government guarantee | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
that the special share supposedly introduced to protect the future | 0:13:35 | 0:13:37 | |
of the GIB, will have the intended effect? | 0:13:37 | 0:13:40 | |
Isn't this exactly the wrong time to be selling off | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
the Green Investment Bank, given that the Government | 0:13:43 | 0:13:45 | |
has decided to embark upon a new industrial strategy | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
which must, to be in accord with our own climate change commitments, | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
have low-carbon projects at its core? | 0:13:51 | 0:13:56 | |
And finally, will the Minister admit that this selling off could lead | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
to the bank being fatally undermined as an enduring institution. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:03 | |
Will he stop the killing of the GIB? | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
Will he halt the sale process with immediate effect? | 0:14:07 | 0:14:11 | |
The minister said he couldn't comment on the process, potential | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
bidders are media speculation. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:20 | |
-- or media speculation. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
It is precisely because we want the Green Investment Bank | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
to be able to do more, unfettered from the constraints | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
of the state, that we are seeking to put it into the private sector. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
And the objectives that we have set out in the sale, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
they could not have been clearer. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:35 | |
It has been discussed in this house. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
We are looking at very clear objectives around securing value | 0:14:37 | 0:14:39 | |
for money for taxpayers, which must be our | 0:14:39 | 0:14:41 | |
primary responsibility. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:42 | |
We want to ensure that the GIB can be reclassified | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
to the private sector. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:45 | |
But we have also been very clear that the reason we want to move | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
into the private sector is to enable the business to grow, | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
and continue as an institution supporting investment | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
in the green economy. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:54 | |
We are selling it as a going concern, and potential investors | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
will be buying into the company's green business plan | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
and forward pipeline projects. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:04 | |
These are the criteria we have set, these are the criteria | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
against which we are evaluating the proposals that are before us. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
The Government's being urged to give victims of slavery the right | 0:15:09 | 0:15:12 | |
to stay in the UK - to help ensure human | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
traffickers can be locked up. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee are looking | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
into the treatment of those who've been enslaved. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
The former High Court Judge and independent peer | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
Lady Butler-Sloss explained that victims receive financial and other | 0:15:25 | 0:15:28 | |
support while their cases are being investigated, | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
but when that period comes to an end, the help stops, | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
even if a person has been officially recognised as a victim of slavery. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:37 | |
She said this was "appalling" and explained some of | 0:15:37 | 0:15:41 | |
the consequences of the process, known as the | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
National Referral Mechanism or NRM. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:48 | |
We had 31 convictions last year. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:58 | |
And there were over 1000 people, I think, | 0:15:58 | 0:16:00 | |
identified going through the NRM. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:01 | |
It is thought by police there are 10,000 people per year who are | 0:16:01 | 0:16:06 | |
victims, probably. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:07 | |
And 30 convictions. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:09 | |
One of the reasons is that the police, of | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
course, can't keep track of these people because they have no idea | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
where they are. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
They all disappear because they have no | 0:16:17 | 0:16:19 | |
entitlements. | 0:16:19 | 0:16:20 | |
If you don't have the witnesses, speaking as a former | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
judge, you have a great difficulty in going ahead with the | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
prosecutions. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:27 | |
So it is actually in the public interest to keep these | 0:16:27 | 0:16:32 | |
people with some entitlement in this country, at least until the time | 0:16:32 | 0:16:35 | |
when there has been a trial and we have had a conviction. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:43 | |
-- we hope a conviction. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:44 | |
Otherwise, we don't get the traffickers. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:45 | |
Do you think, to fix this so that they | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
don't fall off at the end, does that need to be legislation? | 0:16:48 | 0:16:50 | |
Can it just be guidance that can be put out to | 0:16:50 | 0:16:53 | |
DWP? | 0:16:53 | 0:16:54 | |
Immediately? | 0:16:54 | 0:16:55 | |
What is your view on how we fix it? | 0:16:55 | 0:16:57 | |
It occurs to me that another group of people I've | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
witnessed recently, women who are domestic violence survivors | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
and have been moved to another town in the | 0:17:02 | 0:17:04 | |
country, and they are nobody with no paperwork. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:06 | |
And they have the same battles with the local Jobcentre, | 0:17:06 | 0:17:11 | |
who are you? | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
We have never heard of you? | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
Do we need legislation to do this, or some kind of guidance that | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
the DWP can have? | 0:17:19 | 0:17:20 | |
Do we maybe need a new category of people who are, ask | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
no questions, you've got this label, this piece of paper, and you | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
automatically have the entitlement to benefits? | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
There is statutory guidance being drafted at this | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
moment. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:31 | |
Which makes me think that this committee is enormously | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
important, because I hope that you will have a real impact on that | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
statutory guidance. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
But it seems to me there is two things, really. | 0:17:40 | 0:17:48 | |
One, the other two know better than I do, | 0:17:48 | 0:17:50 | |
one is the immigration status. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:51 | |
If you can get at least the leave to remain for a year, but preferably | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
indefinitely to remain, but even one year would help. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
And then, there would be that guidance, I would | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
hope, that they would then be expressed their entitlement to | 0:18:01 | 0:18:05 | |
health care, housing and so on. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:10 | |
So that they would have a piece of paper that they could show to all | 0:18:10 | 0:18:14 | |
the authorities so that they would then become priorities. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:19 | |
I know local authorities have appalling problems | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
with housing. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:22 | |
But these are people who really should be treated as | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
priorities. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:27 | |
The Committee also heard from the Independent | 0:18:27 | 0:18:29 | |
Anti-Slavery Commissioner - he said victims were being let down. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
Is somebody who has been kept in slavery for six months then | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
capable of doing a job straight after? | 0:18:35 | 0:18:37 | |
It is very unlikely. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
There would be a period that they would | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
need to be supported. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
And I think that that period, we need to say | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
what is the period? | 0:18:46 | 0:18:52 | |
I wouldn't want this to be a lifetime on benefits - | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
I don't think... | 0:18:55 | 0:18:56 | |
We need to be working about how we integrate people within | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
the UK, or when they go home. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:00 | |
But it needs to be enough time that professionals are able to assess and | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
say, this person needs to be supported for that period of time. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
You know, some people may need long-term psychological support. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
Now, let's go back to the state of England's health service. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:15 | |
MPs spent the afternoon in a Labour-led debate on NHS | 0:19:15 | 0:19:17 | |
and social care funding. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:18 | |
Where backbench MPs set out the problems facing the NHS | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
and some possible solutions. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:22 | |
What we are seeing is this Government is running out of places | 0:19:22 | 0:19:25 | |
to cut corners to save money on the NHS. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
We are seeing the lack of respect and compassion given to | 0:19:28 | 0:19:35 | |
people, the health care they need and deserve. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
We are seeing those that need care at home having to make do | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
with 15 minute flying visits. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:41 | |
We have seen the pressure in A E departments building over the last | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
six years, and yet, every year, we reach a winter crisis. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:48 | |
And somehow, this is a surprise to the | 0:19:48 | 0:19:50 | |
Government. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
We have seen A E waiting times increasing were now | 0:19:53 | 0:19:57 | |
over 1.8 million people are waiting more than four hours. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:04 | |
In 2015-16, an increase of 400% since 2010. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:06 | |
Hospitals are under pressure in winter because of admissions. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:16 | |
Because the people who come to A E are sicker, are older, are more | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
competent. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
-- complicated. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:25 | |
And that is the problem that we have at the moment. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
But what we haven't seen as I just mention, | 0:20:28 | 0:20:30 | |
is any summer respite In NHS England at all. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:32 | |
It's not a catastrophe of people living longer. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
All of us who are medical in the House remember | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
that was definitely the point of why we went into medicine, and that is | 0:20:36 | 0:20:40 | |
the point of the NHS. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:41 | |
But we are not ageing very well. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
And for the age of 40 or 50 onwards, people are | 0:20:43 | 0:20:45 | |
starting to accumulate conditions that maybe they would not have | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
survived in the past. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:49 | |
By the time they are 70, they have four or five | 0:20:49 | 0:20:51 | |
core morbidities is that make treating even | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
something quite simple a challenge. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:54 | |
So my colleagues and friends who are still working on the front | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
line say it is not even just numbers, it is | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
complexity. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:01 | |
Someone comes with what sounds like an easy issue, | 0:21:01 | 0:21:03 | |
but in actual fact, with diabetes and renal failure and previous heart | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
attack, this is now a complex issue. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:07 | |
The Conservative and GP who chairs the Health Committee is one of those | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
calling for a cross-party convention to map out a future | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
for health and social care. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:14 | |
And I think what our constituents want us | 0:21:14 | 0:21:16 | |
to do as politicians is to | 0:21:16 | 0:21:17 | |
recognise the scale of the challenge. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
And get to grips with it. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:20 | |
In future, would you agree with me that there should be a new funding | 0:21:20 | 0:21:28 | |
settlement, certainly in terms of the budget, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:35 | |
that the NHS and social care, and bring both of them | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
together. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:39 | |
At the moment, there have been cuts of ?4.6 billion. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
That is what I am hoping. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:43 | |
We must end the silos of health and social care. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:48 | |
Thinking about this money has been social care money or health money, | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
and think of it as a patient pound and a taxpayer pound, and how to get | 0:21:52 | 0:21:56 | |
the very best from that. | 0:21:56 | 0:22:00 | |
What impact will our exit from the EU have | 0:22:00 | 0:22:02 | |
on the Labour market - more specifically on industries that | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
currently rely on large numbers of migrant workers to get the job | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
done - such as agriculture? | 0:22:09 | 0:22:12 | |
In the Lords, Peers urged Ministers to make a firm commitment that | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
foreign workers already in the UK would be able to stay after Brexit. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:20 | |
Isn't it time that the Government really | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
dropped this ridiculous pretence that there is a trade-off here? | 0:22:22 | 0:22:27 | |
The reality is that we have significant sectors of our | 0:22:27 | 0:22:31 | |
economy, like caring and hospitality and areas of agriculture, which | 0:22:31 | 0:22:36 | |
would virtually collapse if non-British nationals didn't remain | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
and work here. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:48 | |
There is massive and anxiety out there in the country, | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
amongst employer and employee. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:52 | |
Is it time now that the Government did the | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
right thing morally and commercially, and gave these | 0:22:54 | 0:22:56 | |
individuals the right to remain? | 0:22:56 | 0:22:57 | |
The Government has been absolutely clear | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
that it will seek to reach agreement on this issue at an early | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
stage of negotiations with the EU. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:03 | |
I dispute the notion of a trade-off | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
because the EU's refusal to guarantee the status of UK | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
nationals elsewhere in the EU prior to | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
negotiations shows that the Government has been absolutely | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
right not to give away the guarantee for | 0:23:17 | 0:23:19 | |
status of EU citizens in the UK. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:23 | |
Because the Prime Minister has said that would have left UK citizens | 0:23:23 | 0:23:26 | |
high and dry. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:28 | |
For agriculturalists and horticulturalists in Lincolnshire | 0:23:28 | 0:23:32 | |
and adjoining counties, the access to migrant labour | 0:23:32 | 0:23:34 | |
is very important indeed. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
Without our migrant labour, it is probable that many of those | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
businesses would not survive. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
Does the Minister appreciate that there | 0:23:42 | 0:23:46 | |
are tens of thousands of European citizens working in our health | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
service? | 0:23:49 | 0:23:54 | |
And indeed our health service would fall apart - I am not | 0:23:54 | 0:23:59 | |
exaggerating - fall apart if it wasn't for these workers? | 0:23:59 | 0:24:02 | |
Does the Minister agree with the statement | 0:24:02 | 0:24:09 | |
statement in the recent CBI report that we need a system informed by | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
business, rather than imposed on business? | 0:24:12 | 0:24:15 | |
And that this is essential to the future economic growth of | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
the UK? | 0:24:18 | 0:24:27 | |
Is the Government talking to employers, listening to them, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
and what have they had to | 0:24:29 | 0:24:30 | |
say about the ?1000 levy about which we have heard today? | 0:24:30 | 0:24:33 | |
That was a reference to comments from Government minister | 0:24:33 | 0:24:35 | |
Robert Goodwill who told a lords committee that there | 0:24:35 | 0:24:37 | |
were suggestions that firms which hire European Union workers | 0:24:37 | 0:24:39 | |
could face an annual levy after the UK leaves the EU. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
Mr Goodwill explained that businesses will from this April be | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
charged a ?1,000 a year for every skilled worker they employ | 0:24:45 | 0:24:47 | |
from outside Europe. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
So for example, if one wishes to recruit an Indian | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
computer programmer on a four-year contract, on top of the existing | 0:24:53 | 0:24:57 | |
Visa charges and the administration involved around that, there will be | 0:24:57 | 0:25:06 | |
labour market tests and all these other things in place. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
There will be a fee of ?1000 per year, so for a | 0:25:09 | 0:25:15 | |
four-year contract, that employer will have to pay ?4000 of an | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
immigration skills charge. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:20 | |
Now, that is something that is currently | 0:25:20 | 0:25:21 | |
applying to non-EU. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:22 | |
That maybe something that has been suggested to | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
us, and could apply to the EU. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
As I say, I am not in a position at the | 0:25:27 | 0:25:29 | |
moment to really speculate as to what the settlement will be | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
post-Brexit negotiations. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:34 | |
But Downing Street later insisted that extending the levy wasn't | 0:25:34 | 0:25:38 | |
on the Government's agenda. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
And that's it for now, but do join me at the same time | 0:25:41 | 0:25:46 | |
tomorrow for the best of the day here in Westminster. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:48 | |
But until then, from me, Alicia McCarthy, goodbye. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:52 |