15/03/2017

:00:00. > :00:39.pushing into Scotland and Northern Ireland.

:00:40. > :00:50.A Conservative MP has been interviewed under caution by police

:00:51. > :00:52.as part of the ongoing investigation into allegations of overspending

:00:53. > :00:58.Nicola Sturgeon says Brexit has put Scotland at a crossroads.

:00:59. > :01:04.But does the UK's departure from the EU make Scottish

:01:05. > :01:09.Plenty of issues as we approach the weekly bout of Prime

:01:10. > :01:16.And do you fancy taking a tour of the Palace of Westminster

:01:17. > :01:19.Parliament launches its 360 degree virtual view

:01:20. > :01:32.All that in the next 90 minutes and with us for the duration,

:01:33. > :01:33.the International Development Minister, Rory Stewart,

:01:34. > :01:40.and the Shadow Business Minister, Bill Esterson.

:01:41. > :01:42.Now it was once rumoured that Hollywood was interested in making

:01:43. > :01:45.a film based on the life of Rory Stewart and that

:01:46. > :01:47.Orlando Bloom was being lined up for the lead role.

:01:48. > :01:51.The film is yet to be made and we'll let the viewers decide

:01:52. > :01:55.It's as yet unclear who Hollywood executives have in mind for the film

:01:56. > :01:58.version of the life of Bill Esterson.

:01:59. > :02:06.If Mr Spielberg is watching, Bill is waiting for your call.

:02:07. > :02:14.We are just hearing reports, in fact from David Davis, the minister for

:02:15. > :02:18.the UK leaving the EU, in a royal assent, which means that the Brexit

:02:19. > :02:21.Bill will be passed into law, it'll get its royal assent tomorrow. That

:02:22. > :02:25.was being commented on by David Davis yesterday. We were expecting

:02:26. > :02:29.it yesterday when in fact Theresa May stood up in the House of Commons

:02:30. > :02:33.to give her report back fre. U summit last week, that she might

:02:34. > :02:36.then say - royal assent has been given and I'll trigger Article 50

:02:37. > :02:40.but it didn't happen. And the talk now is that the

:02:41. > :02:44.triggering of Article 50 may not happen until the final week of this

:02:45. > :02:49.month, which is up to the wire. It may not happen until the very end

:02:50. > :02:52.of March. That was her deadline, of course, but it was felt because it

:02:53. > :02:55.had passed through both Houses of Parliament in plenty of time she

:02:56. > :02:59.might have gone ahead and triggered it anyway and started the two years

:03:00. > :03:04.of negotiations and the firing gun on our departure from the EU, but

:03:05. > :03:08.no, not yet. Royal assent. It'll pass into law tomorrow, if David

:03:09. > :03:13.Davis is correct and then we'll have to wait and see when number ten

:03:14. > :03:17.decide to trigger Article 50. Snr very well. Why the delay? The Prime

:03:18. > :03:21.Minister always said the end of March. I think the Prime Minister is

:03:22. > :03:25.going to take her time and I don't think that's very long to wait. But

:03:26. > :03:28.there was a lot of speculation at the weekend, which wasn't

:03:29. > :03:32.discouraged by Downing Street, that it could be happening yesterday, or

:03:33. > :03:36.this week. And yet it was only in the last 24 hours that we were

:03:37. > :03:40.talked down from the top of the hill. Something has gone on? Andrew,

:03:41. > :03:44.essentially she said the end of March. I think it will be done by

:03:45. > :03:50.the end of March. I don't think it is a big issue. Why do you think

:03:51. > :03:52.there is a delay? I think she was spiking Sturgeon's guns for the

:03:53. > :03:55.announcement yesterday. You may be right. We don't know. So that's the

:03:56. > :04:00.end of it. So the Brexit Bill is set to receive

:04:01. > :04:09.Royal Assent tomorrow - It's by far and away the biggest

:04:10. > :04:12.item in the Government in-tray. But, if you thought

:04:13. > :04:14.Brexit was the only game Ministers have plenty of other

:04:15. > :04:17.issues to deal with. Indeed, for both the Conservatives

:04:18. > :04:21.and Labour, there has been something of a hangover from last week's

:04:22. > :04:30.Budget. Let's go into it. Are you

:04:31. > :04:34.comfortable about fighting the next election on a clear breach of the

:04:35. > :04:39.last election manifesto? As you have pointed out there is clearly an

:04:40. > :04:42.issue here which is we had in our manifesto commitment not to raise

:04:43. > :04:48.National Insurance and some people feel, as you do, that the change to

:04:49. > :04:51.the class 4 National Insurance is a breach of that manifesto. Well, I

:04:52. > :04:55.don't feel anything. I'm just asking questions. But there were no caveats

:04:56. > :05:00.in the manifesto. You mentioned it four times that there would be no

:05:01. > :05:03.increase in national insurance contributions, the class of

:05:04. > :05:08.contributions wasn't mentioned, and in the Queen's Speech, you repeated

:05:09. > :05:11.the manifesto commitment. O so five times we had it, no increase in

:05:12. > :05:15.national insurance. And you've increased national insurance. If

:05:16. > :05:19.that's not a clear breach of a manifesto promise, I don't know what

:05:20. > :05:24.is. Absolutely. I think it is also important putting the other side of

:05:25. > :05:28.the argument which is that it is important eventually to simplify

:05:29. > :05:31.this. It is important to deal with the fact that self-employed people

:05:32. > :05:34.have got a very different treatment from employed people and that's also

:05:35. > :05:38.their pension benefits have gone up over time. So the reason for the

:05:39. > :05:42.discrepancy is gone. But you are right. You didn't promise that. That

:05:43. > :05:45.may be the case. You have a Commission reporting into national

:05:46. > :05:49.insurance at the moment as well, with all these anomalies. Indeed the

:05:50. > :05:53.whole status of self-employment and so on, you could have waited for

:05:54. > :05:58.that and started a debate on that and headed into the 2020 election

:05:59. > :06:03.saying - we have now thought about all this, we are keeping to the

:06:04. > :06:06.promise we made you but starting in the next decade there will have to

:06:07. > :06:10.be changes, you did not do that. You simply went against a promise you

:06:11. > :06:13.had made. If you were self-employed and you voted Conservative in the

:06:14. > :06:22.last election on the basis of that promise, you voted on a false

:06:23. > :06:25.prospect us. Let me go back to self-employed. The majority of

:06:26. > :06:30.self-employed people will not be worse off as a result of this

:06:31. > :06:34.measure. If you are on, for example, ?17,000 a year like the majority of

:06:35. > :06:38.my constituents, you would be ?309 better off in terms of your tax tend

:06:39. > :06:42.of this. You were going to be better off anyway because the class 2

:06:43. > :06:48.contributions were going for these people, so they already had that

:06:49. > :06:53.banked Absolutely. But if you compare 2015-16 to 2019-20, ?309

:06:54. > :06:59.better off at ?17,000 and if you are on ?25,000, you would be about ?158

:07:00. > :07:05.better off. Right and the people on ?17,000 to ?it 25,000, I would

:07:06. > :07:07.suggest are what the Prime Minister calls the "just about managing"

:07:08. > :07:12.classes. The people who are not the poorest of the poor but they are not

:07:13. > :07:17.even middling of a fluent, they are just about managing and you have

:07:18. > :07:22.just increased their tax. If you look at their overall tax burden,

:07:23. > :07:27.compare how much they pay in ?2015-16, with how much they pay in

:07:28. > :07:33.2019-20, they would be better off. You have to be earning over ?32,900

:07:34. > :07:36.to be worse off. But you nevertheless increased their tax, if

:07:37. > :07:41.you hadn't done this they would be a bit better off. These people don't

:07:42. > :07:46.have much money in the first place. Why are you taking it from them, yet

:07:47. > :07:54.if you inherit a lot of money you are now given a massive tannings

:07:55. > :07:58.benefit. Why would you do this at this time? One of the reasons is you

:07:59. > :08:02.used to as a self-employed person get a lower rate of basic pension.

:08:03. > :08:05.Your basic pension will now go up, you will get about ?1,800 more than

:08:06. > :08:08.you would have got in real terms and we feel it is fair that people who

:08:09. > :08:11.are self-employed should contribute as much as people who are employed

:08:12. > :08:16.by employers. Except you never told us that to get elected. What you may

:08:17. > :08:20.be saying may be sensible. It may have been stupid that your manifesto

:08:21. > :08:23.promise not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance, in other

:08:24. > :08:28.words, you basically counted out most of the tax base, that may all

:08:29. > :08:32.be true but a promise is a promise, at a time when trust in politicians

:08:33. > :08:36.is pretty low to begin with, have you not just undermined that even

:08:37. > :08:41.more? So, Andrew, I agree with you, we need to explain very, very

:08:42. > :08:45.clearly what we are doing. This isicallicated, class 1, 2, 3, class

:08:46. > :08:51.4 national insurance. And we need to make sure we absolutely sure we go

:08:52. > :08:55.into the next with people comfortable with the manifesto and

:08:56. > :08:59.election proimss. You don't seem comfortable. You have said you agree

:09:00. > :09:02.and I see your point. You don't seem comfortable? The honest answer is

:09:03. > :09:05.the Government is thinking about this very hard. The Government is

:09:06. > :09:09.considering this and we are looking at exactly these issues you raised,

:09:10. > :09:13.we take our manifesto commitments very seriously. We understand the

:09:14. > :09:19.Chancellor is going to be making a statement about national insurance

:09:20. > :09:21.this afternoon. I probably hear the grinding sound of some kind of

:09:22. > :09:28.u-turn. And he has written a letter... Not

:09:29. > :09:31.to me. So how am I meant to know. To Conservative MPs, to also explain

:09:32. > :09:36.the national insurance changes. Let's come on to Labour and its

:09:37. > :09:41.spending plans. A lot of the way you say you will finance the increased

:09:42. > :09:47.spending is from corporation tax. What will - at the moment the

:09:48. > :09:52.corporation tax is 20%. And it's due to fall to 17 under this Government.

:09:53. > :09:57.What would it be under a Labour Government? Well, to start with,

:09:58. > :10:00.people who are self-employed, who are trying to start or grow a

:10:01. > :10:03.business, which is what the Prime Minister said she wanted Britain to

:10:04. > :10:06.be the best place in the world to do, are not feeling the love from

:10:07. > :10:10.the Conservative Government. I understand that. I have done that

:10:11. > :10:12.with the minister. I think you can agree the minister was pretty

:10:13. > :10:16.robustly interviewed. I'm now coming on to Labour's plans. What would the

:10:17. > :10:21.corporation tax be under Labour. That's a the question I'm answering.

:10:22. > :10:26.I don't think targeting those people who are trying to start or grow a

:10:27. > :10:32.business is the right way to support our economy, to help intren airs. I

:10:33. > :10:37.understand that. -- entrepreneurs. That's why we wouldn't be making the

:10:38. > :10:43.cuts to corporation tax. The reason is we already have some of the most

:10:44. > :10:53.competitive corporation tax rates in the developed world. So we wouldn't

:10:54. > :10:59.go to 20%. Would you raise it from 20%? ? Well 2017, there are

:11:00. > :11:03.three-years plus to a general election, according to the six-term

:11:04. > :11:07.Parliament Act. I think you will have to wait a little bit longer to

:11:08. > :11:10.find out what Labour's plans are for that election. We don't. We need to

:11:11. > :11:13.know how. You have promised ?12 billion a year extra for the health

:11:14. > :11:16.service and social care. ?5 billion a year extra by 2020 on changes to

:11:17. > :11:24.Universal Credit and employment support. ?7 billion a year by taking

:11:25. > :11:29.away the public sector pay freeze. ?1 billion on maintenance grast

:11:30. > :11:32.grants, ?1 billion on waspy women, their pensions giving them justice.

:11:33. > :11:39.?7 billion getting rid of tuition fees. On a yearly basis by 2020 that

:11:40. > :11:43.comes to ?33. A 5 billion of spending. I ask you again - how

:11:44. > :11:47.would you raise corporation too, and how much would it contribute towards

:11:48. > :11:53.that? Well, as I was saying, you wouldn't be starting from here, we

:11:54. > :11:56.wouldn't have made the cuts since 2010, that have seen living

:11:57. > :11:59.standards fall. But that's where we are. We have seen living standards

:12:00. > :12:05.fall whilst the economy has become... This is all just nonsense.

:12:06. > :12:12.It is the truth. Is there anything untrue in what I said? It may well

:12:13. > :12:16.be true, nothing to do with the question I'm asking, which is given

:12:17. > :12:20.you have commitments of over ?33 billion spending per year, how much

:12:21. > :12:25.would you raise corporation tax by to pay for that? And at the moment

:12:26. > :12:33.we are developing the ideas towards our manifesto in 2020. We wouldn't

:12:34. > :12:38.make the 73.6 billion worth of tax cuts that were in the manifesto from

:12:39. > :12:44.corporation tax and from other tax... But you have committed to ?33

:12:45. > :12:48.billion and you have, in your private calculations, most of the

:12:49. > :12:52.extra money comes from corporation tax, but you cannot tell me today

:12:53. > :12:57.what that rate would be and how much it would raise? Well if you tell me

:12:58. > :13:01.what the economy is going to be like in three years' time I'll tell you

:13:02. > :13:05.what our manifesto might look like. I can tell you now corporation tax

:13:06. > :13:11.brings in just shy of ?50 billion a year on the basis of 20%. How much

:13:12. > :13:18.would you raise it by to bring in ?33? And ?7 o 0 billion by 2022,

:13:19. > :13:21.would be the money for social care. Right, are you telling me the

:13:22. > :13:28.corporation tax would bring in ?70 billion. No I said it is ?73.6

:13:29. > :13:33.billion by 2022 when you add in inheritance tax. But it is nearly

:13:34. > :13:39.all corporation tax. Yes, it is. And you add in the ?70 billion a dubious

:13:40. > :13:42.figure, ?63 billion of that comes from corporation tax. The figure

:13:43. > :13:44.from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent body

:13:45. > :13:49.set up by the Conservative Government is a daubous figure. It

:13:50. > :13:54.is dubious in the sense that it goes back in time to work out what losses

:13:55. > :13:58.might have been. What I'm trying to find out from you is that

:13:59. > :14:04.corporation tax at the moment it 20% it brings in by about ?50 billion by

:14:05. > :14:09.how much would you increase it to get your ?33 billion you need? I can

:14:10. > :14:12.tell you we will be voting against the cut in corporation tax in the

:14:13. > :14:18.Finance Bill when the Government brings it forward and we would start

:14:19. > :14:22.with the ?73 billion by 2022 in not cutting those taxes. Let me

:14:23. > :14:26.interrupt you, we have heard as we have been on air and as I was

:14:27. > :14:30.interviewing the two politicians, the Chancellor has announced that

:14:31. > :14:32.there will be no increases in national insurance in this

:14:33. > :14:43.Parliament. So, the Budget was - what JoCo

:14:44. > :14:48.today. A weak ago? Well you said you could hear the grinding of a U-Turn.

:14:49. > :14:51.He has said in a letter to Tory MPs "I've delighted not to proceed with

:14:52. > :14:54.the class 4 national insurance contributions." They were the ones

:14:55. > :15:00.talked about by the Chancellor a week ago. He is not going to

:15:01. > :15:05.increase them as he had set out. There will be no increases NIC rates

:15:06. > :15:09.in the Parliament. "We will continue with the abolition of class 2."

:15:10. > :15:13.Which had already been announced. "The cost of the changes will be

:15:14. > :15:18.funded by measures to be announced in the autumn Budget." What is it

:15:19. > :15:21.about this Government and their chancellors, why are they so uses?

:15:22. > :15:26.Under George Osborne they announced a massive cut in tax credits for the

:15:27. > :15:30.work poor in the end I think Mr Osborne, in his final Budget had to

:15:31. > :15:33.get rid of it all, Mr Hammond announces increases in national

:15:34. > :15:38.insurance contributions, a week later, oh, it is not going to

:15:39. > :15:47.happen. Why are your chancellors so useless? Firstly, we have some very

:15:48. > :15:50.serious chancellors. But to go back to the bigger issue, you put your

:15:51. > :15:54.finger on it. This was a difficult decision. On the one hand, these

:15:55. > :15:58.were sensible changes that a lot of economists have been asking for many

:15:59. > :16:03.years. On the other hand, there was a manifesto issue. It sounds to me

:16:04. > :16:05.as though the government has made a difficult decision, which is the

:16:06. > :16:09.right decision, which is that we have to keep to the spirit of the

:16:10. > :16:14.manifesto. So you're happy with this? I think this is the right

:16:15. > :16:18.decision. It sounds from the way you answering like this is the way you

:16:19. > :16:23.want it to go. This is a dilemma here. This is a good policy that the

:16:24. > :16:26.Treasury came up with. It would have been a sensible reform. Within the

:16:27. > :16:32.letter of the manifesto, you could argue with what we did in 2015, plus

:16:33. > :16:36.one applied. But the spirit of the manifesto means this is the right

:16:37. > :16:38.way to go back. This is exactly what the Chancellor says, complied with

:16:39. > :16:42.the spirit. Does that mean he finally got round

:16:43. > :16:53.to reading the manifesto? Duke and that when you speak to him.

:16:54. > :16:59.Support for Scottish independence is at its highest level. Scottish

:17:00. > :17:08.social attitudes survey has recorded the highest level of support for

:17:09. > :17:11.independence since it began in 1999. The research also suggest that the

:17:12. > :17:14.popularity of the European Union has fallen among voters.

:17:15. > :17:17.We're joined now by one of the authors of the report,

:17:18. > :17:24.Does that mean that Nicola Sturgeon can win a second referendum? I think

:17:25. > :17:30.if you are going to use the verb can only answer for that must be yes.

:17:31. > :17:39.Our survey has shown 46% support for independence, given at an average of

:17:40. > :17:43.the moment the opinion poll -- it certainly means that any second

:17:44. > :17:47.independence referendum held either before spring 2019 or sometime

:17:48. > :17:51.thereafter is going to be launched against a very different backdrop

:17:52. > :17:57.for the first referendum in 2014. It will be against a backdrop where

:17:58. > :18:02.nearly half of Scotland is already apparently convinced of the case for

:18:03. > :18:04.independence. To that extent, at least, we have therefore to bear in

:18:05. > :18:08.mind that the Scotland we are talking about now is very different

:18:09. > :18:13.politically than the Scotland we were talking about four years ago.

:18:14. > :18:16.How does that compare to the YouGov poll in the Times today suggesting

:18:17. > :18:21.57% of Scots would reject independence? As always, you need to

:18:22. > :18:25.be very careful about quoting individual polls that happen to be

:18:26. > :18:29.the exception. If you take the average of one of the opinion polls

:18:30. > :18:35.done so far this year, including another that came out this morning

:18:36. > :18:41.that had it at 53%, on average it is 53% for no and 47% for yes. But

:18:42. > :18:44.remember that Scotland is a different animal from most of the

:18:45. > :18:49.opinion polls. This was done over six months in the second half of

:18:50. > :18:50.last year. We're not trying to measure the short-term weather.

:18:51. > :18:55.We're trying to measure the long-term climate. The crucial thing

:18:56. > :19:00.about our reporters that we show how the climate of public opinion in

:19:01. > :19:04.Scotland has changed dramatically in the wake of the first referendum. It

:19:05. > :19:09.particularly happened most strongly amongst younger voters. I think this

:19:10. > :19:12.raises questions about whether the UK Government will necessarily be

:19:13. > :19:18.wise and wanting to play a long game, rather than a short game.

:19:19. > :19:21.Simple demography could mean that a majority for independence may well

:19:22. > :19:27.emerge in Scotland in the future, even if frankly nothing else

:19:28. > :19:32.happened. What about Brexit? Against Abe backdrop Brexit negotiations,

:19:33. > :19:35.and the timing is being argued over, Nicola Sturgeon has picked a time

:19:36. > :19:39.when there is a lot of uncertainty around. Howard Brexit play out when

:19:40. > :19:43.you look at those who voted yes to independence last time? The

:19:44. > :19:47.difficulty that emerges for the SNP is that it's not obvious that they

:19:48. > :19:50.should want to fight the second independence referendum, focused on

:19:51. > :19:54.the issue of whether or not Scotland should remain inside the European

:19:55. > :19:58.Union. The first reason is one third of those people who voted yes on

:19:59. > :20:04.September 2014 voted to leave in June 20 16. The second is that over

:20:05. > :20:08.half of those people who voted to remain are and nearly two thirds of

:20:09. > :20:13.those who voted to remain having voted to stay in the union in 2014

:20:14. > :20:17.go on to say that perhaps we should remain inside the European Union,

:20:18. > :20:22.but the powers of the EU should be reduced. In other words, they are

:20:23. > :20:27.relatively unenthusiastic, lukewarm supporters of the EU. There may be a

:20:28. > :20:31.lot of them. 62% of Scotland may have voted in favour. But it's not

:20:32. > :20:34.clear that they are so committed to the EU that they will change their

:20:35. > :20:39.minds as a result of the Brexit secretary. Indeed, that's been the

:20:40. > :20:44.message of the opinion polls. Having an average of 53% for no and 43% for

:20:45. > :20:45.yes are exactly where they were before the Brexit referendum. John

:20:46. > :20:47.Curtice, thank you. We're joined now by the SNP

:20:48. > :20:54.MP, Kirsty Blackman. Nicola Sturgeon called the second

:20:55. > :21:01.referendum on the basis that Scotland is being taken out of the

:21:02. > :21:06.EU... K. I were! Thank you. What is the SNP's position on EU membership?

:21:07. > :21:11.The people of Scotland voted to stay in the EU. In terms of our manifesto

:21:12. > :21:14.commitment, we said that we would hold another referendum in these

:21:15. > :21:18.circumstances and would reserve the right holiday referendum. Do you

:21:19. > :21:23.want to be full members of the EU? In terms of the proposition that

:21:24. > :21:33.would be put to the Scottish people, in the fullness of time you'll see

:21:34. > :21:39.what that is, and. ... So you're not sure? That'll be made absolutely

:21:40. > :21:43.clear, we're committed to the EU. We supportive of Scotland being

:21:44. > :21:46.members. In terms of the proposition, will become trustingly

:21:47. > :21:50.two. We'll look at the cliff edge Brexit and the opportunities. That's

:21:51. > :21:55.just not clear to me. And probably not too many of our viewers. Are you

:21:56. > :22:00.going to be campaigning on the basis of an independent Scotland applying

:22:01. > :22:04.to either remain, if you can do that, ought certainly applying to be

:22:05. > :22:08.a full member of the European Union? Certainly, that's the intention. So

:22:09. > :22:13.you want to serve as part of the single market, hence the full

:22:14. > :22:16.membership. Would you take the euro as your currency? What we've done is

:22:17. > :22:20.happy growth commission look at this and the opportunities for an

:22:21. > :22:26.independent Scotland, and what currency would be best for Scotland.

:22:27. > :22:30.That proposition will come out later. In due course we will publish

:22:31. > :22:34.that of butter to the Scottish people. How confident are you that

:22:35. > :22:37.countries like Spain, worried about their own separatist movement, would

:22:38. > :22:42.be to your membership to be full members of the EU? We've had pretty

:22:43. > :22:49.good comments made by members of the ruling party, saying recently that

:22:50. > :22:56.they would veto Scotland's application for membership. So we're

:22:57. > :23:03.pretty confident that. They said you couldn't seamlessly apply? We have

:23:04. > :23:08.been told we would have two join the queue. That has been made very

:23:09. > :23:11.clear. There have been people who talked about AQ, that everybody

:23:12. > :23:16.knows that the queue in terms of the EU membership is pretty fluid. You

:23:17. > :23:20.have to fulfil the criteria. You would have to apply a gain? That's

:23:21. > :23:26.what some people in Spain have been saying. Including the Government?

:23:27. > :23:28.Some have been saying that. Just be Prime Minister, the Foreign

:23:29. > :23:34.Secretary and the Secretary of State for Europe. Spain doesn't

:23:35. > :23:40.necessarily have... Than 27 member states. It does have the to veto.

:23:41. > :23:44.Has the SNP accepted that they couldn't just have an independence

:23:45. > :23:48.referendum if you were to win it, and then remain in the EU? You would

:23:49. > :23:52.have to come out and reapply as a new member? I don't think that's

:23:53. > :23:56.clear. Given what Jean-Claude Juncker said, he said Scotland has

:23:57. > :24:00.the right to be heard and listened to in terms of the Brexit

:24:01. > :24:04.settlement. I don't think it's clear that is the case. You've made it

:24:05. > :24:09.clear that your independence campaign is going to be about

:24:10. > :24:14.reapplying to become full members of the EU. How will you keep on board

:24:15. > :24:19.the 27% of US voters, those who voted for independence last time

:24:20. > :24:27.round? But also voted to leave the EU? -- 27% of yes voters. They

:24:28. > :24:34.thought I was going to be extra money for the NHS. They voted

:24:35. > :24:38.without full information. When faced with the realities of a hard Brexit

:24:39. > :24:42.cliff edge, quite a number of people will look at this and say small

:24:43. > :24:47.businesses will be hit with customs charges, individuals will see

:24:48. > :24:52.inflation in their shopping. Except the figures, from recent polls, have

:24:53. > :24:57.shown that 43% of people in Scotland to voted yes to independence and

:24:58. > :25:02.voted leave have now abandoned their pro-independence position. 28% now

:25:03. > :25:08.say they will -- 28% now say they will vote to stay in the union.

:25:09. > :25:12.People who have voted the other way, and who was staunchly no, really

:25:13. > :25:15.value the freedoms that they get as members of the European Union and

:25:16. > :25:16.wanting to protect those freedoms thank you.

:25:17. > :25:19.Tomorrow it's expected the Brexit Bill will finally

:25:20. > :25:21.receive Royal Assent, passing into law and formally giving

:25:22. > :25:26.Theresa May the authority to trigger Article 50.

:25:27. > :25:28.We know a little bit about royal approval here

:25:29. > :25:32.In fact, it might be just about now the Queen is settling down

:25:33. > :25:35.with a gin-and-dubonnet to watch the best and the brightest

:25:36. > :25:40.But with a second independence referendum in Scotland

:25:41. > :25:43.in the offing, Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangements in chaos

:25:44. > :25:46.and, perhaps worst of all, the prospect of another

:25:47. > :25:52.40-minute-long PMQs, all we'll say is, Your Majesty,

:25:53. > :26:10.You've got time! She is our favourite viewer, you know. She

:26:11. > :26:17.watches us every day. Spoke to Princess and last night, she's

:26:18. > :26:18.another fan of the show. -- Princess Anne.

:26:19. > :26:21.Indeed, grab yourself one of these beauties and fill it to the brim.

:26:22. > :26:24.And if you're keen for a Daily Politics mug to help keep

:26:25. > :26:29.you steady in the months ahead, just tell us when this happened.

:26:30. > :26:55.# All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

:26:56. > :27:06.REPORTER: 4,000 London dockers went on strike.

:27:07. > :27:28.# D, you're a darling and E, you're exciting

:27:29. > :27:36.# G, you look good to me, H, you're so heavenly

:27:37. > :27:50.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug,

:27:51. > :27:52.send your answer to our special quiz e-mail address -

:27:53. > :27:56.Entries must arrive by 12:30 today, and you can see the full terms

:27:57. > :27:58.and conditions for Guess The Year on our website -

:27:59. > :28:08.It's coming up to midday here - just take a look at Big Ben.

:28:09. > :28:11.Yes, Prime Minister's Questions is on its way.

:28:12. > :28:18.And that's not all - Laura Kuenssberg is here.

:28:19. > :28:26.This Tory expenses investigation. It is getting serious. Craig Mackinlay,

:28:27. > :28:31.the MP for Thanet South, now questioned under the caution. Tory

:28:32. > :28:36.MP, Carol McCartney, he's turning on Conservative Central office. This

:28:37. > :28:40.has been rumbling on for months, partly due to the investigative

:28:41. > :28:44.efforts of Channel 4 News and the Mirror. As you suggested, in the

:28:45. > :28:49.last few days it has taken what appears to be a new turn with one MP

:28:50. > :28:54.being questioned under caution. At the core of this is whether or not

:28:55. > :28:57.in election battles around the country, the activities of national

:28:58. > :29:03.activists who were on a big battle driving around in a properly

:29:04. > :29:09.declared on local campaign expenses. That is what the Routier. It's all a

:29:10. > :29:13.bit technical, but it goes to something really important. Because

:29:14. > :29:19.it goes to who pays to get somebody to be elected, which is an important

:29:20. > :29:22.question. Every political party makes a step up now and again. But

:29:23. > :29:27.it could become extremely important because there are 17 forces

:29:28. > :29:34.investigating this now. It could be a pretty small micro, what CC HQ

:29:35. > :29:37.have described as an administrative error, to something that suddenly

:29:38. > :29:42.could theoretically end up questioning the results of many MPs'

:29:43. > :29:48.elections around the country. We need to keep an eye on this, it's

:29:49. > :29:51.getting serious. Absolutely. It could get very serious. Senior

:29:52. > :29:54.sources were suggesting to colleagues that BBC Newsnight that

:29:55. > :29:58.it would be more likely to end up as some sort of fine. For this to be a

:29:59. > :30:06.criminal situation is something that is just absolutely not... It could

:30:07. > :30:10.happen in one or two places. The background to this is that Theresa

:30:11. > :30:15.May's majority is wafer thin. So a seat here or there really matters.

:30:16. > :30:21.If you remember the Thanet election... I was there. Happy

:30:22. > :30:25.memories for you! It's a state where Ukip felt that they really had a

:30:26. > :30:33.good chance. The majority was very narrow. Craig Mackinlay the Nigel

:30:34. > :30:40.Farage. The national campaign, they spent ?18,000 on accommodation at

:30:41. > :30:43.the Royal Harbour Hotel. For the constituency, ?16,000. Questions the

:30:44. > :30:48.Tories will have to answer here. Another day, another Tory Chancellor

:30:49. > :30:51.U-turn. What a week this has been. Seven days ago we were sitting in

:30:52. > :30:56.this studio waiting for the Chancellor to do his first budget.

:30:57. > :30:59.And a screeching U-turn has been performed just in time for Prime

:31:00. > :31:02.Minister's Questions, so that the Prime Minister does not have to

:31:03. > :31:06.defend the most controversial policy that came out of the budget. It's

:31:07. > :31:11.important to say in the last half-hour, just as this has broken,

:31:12. > :31:14.I've spoken to people on both sides of the argument and one senior

:31:15. > :31:19.Conservative told me it was madness, they had to drop it. Somebody asked

:31:20. > :31:22.me they were absolutely livid. Think of would be difficult thing is that

:31:23. > :31:28.this government has to do over the next five years, and at the first

:31:29. > :31:33.hint of trouble over an issue of the ?145 million, the net gain of the

:31:34. > :31:35.Treasury, they've backed away. It's an interesting thing and does not

:31:36. > :31:39.sentiment on one side of the argument. Some were very upset

:31:40. > :31:43.coming out of the argument, only to find within days it's been dropped.

:31:44. > :31:46.You think it might have dawned on them before the budget. This is a

:31:47. > :31:57.question. Some people turned on Philip Hammond. The idea that Philip

:31:58. > :32:01.Hammond should have specifically flagged it in the cabin... You kind

:32:02. > :32:05.of wonder if shouldn't every cabinet minister have been aware of what was

:32:06. > :32:06.in the Tory manifesto? Lets go and see what happens now as these

:32:07. > :32:20.stories break. I am sure minsters will want to join

:32:21. > :32:27.me in wishing people around the world a happy St Patrick's Day on

:32:28. > :32:29.Friday. This morning I had ministerial meetings with my

:32:30. > :32:34.colleagues and will have further today With my Irish blood can I also

:32:35. > :32:37.wish a happy St Patrick's Day. Mr Speaker, I welcome the announcement

:32:38. > :32:48.from this Government that we will abide by the letter of our manifesto

:32:49. > :32:54.and also the spirit. CHEERS AND JEERS. MR THE Prime Minister AGREE

:32:55. > :33:00.WITH ME, THAT IN BALANCING THE BOOKS WE MUST SURE THAT WE HAVE A

:33:01. > :33:03.sustainable tax system in place. I would like to thank my honourable

:33:04. > :33:07.friend for this question. We made a commitment not to raise tax and we

:33:08. > :33:11.put our commitment into the tax lock. The measures we put forward in

:33:12. > :33:23.the Budget last week were consistent with those locks.

:33:24. > :33:30.But, as a number of my parliamentary colleagues have been pointing out in

:33:31. > :33:35.recent days, there is... THE SPEAKER: Order. This is intolerable,

:33:36. > :33:41.the answers from the Prime Minister...

:33:42. > :33:46.SHOUTS AND JEERS I do take a view on the importance

:33:47. > :33:50.of hearing the questions and the answers from the Prime Minister As a

:33:51. > :33:54.number of my Parliamently colleagues have been pointing out the trend

:33:55. > :33:57.towards greater self-employment creates a structural issue on the

:33:58. > :34:01.tax base on which we will have to act and we want to ensure that we

:34:02. > :34:05.maintain, as they have said, fairness in the tax system. So we

:34:06. > :34:10.are going to awhich the the report from Matthew Taylor on the future of

:34:11. > :34:13.employment, we will consider the Government's overall approach to

:34:14. > :34:19.employment status and rights to tax and entitledment. We will bring

:34:20. > :34:30.forward further proposals but we will not bring forward increases to

:34:31. > :34:39.ni. -- NICs later this this Parliament Can I wish everyone a

:34:40. > :34:43.very be happy St Patrick's Day for the 17th in my constituency, in

:34:44. > :34:48.Ireland and around the world. We have just heard the Prime Minister

:34:49. > :34:53.is about to drop the national insurance hike announced only a week

:34:54. > :35:01.ago. It seems to me like a Government in a the bit of chaos

:35:02. > :35:04.here. SHOUTS AND JEERS A Budget that unravels in seven

:35:05. > :35:10.days, a Conservative manifesto with a very pensive Prime Minister on the

:35:11. > :35:15.front page saying there would be no increase, a week ago an increase was

:35:16. > :35:20.announced. If they are to drop this increase, as they are indicating,

:35:21. > :35:24.then this is a time that she should thank the Federation of Small

:35:25. > :35:30.Businesses and all those that have pointed out just how unfair this

:35:31. > :35:34.increase would be. But, also, how big business evades an awful lot of

:35:35. > :35:41.national insurance through bogus self-employment. I have to say to

:35:42. > :35:46.the right honourable gentleman, I don't think he actually listened to

:35:47. > :35:52.the answer I gave to my honourable friend, the member from Bexhill and

:35:53. > :35:57.Battle. I normally stand at this despatch box and say I don't take

:35:58. > :36:00.any lectures from the honourable gentleman, when it comes to lectures

:36:01. > :36:07.on chaos, he'd be the first person I would turn to. Mr Speaker, I think

:36:08. > :36:10.the Prime Minister should offer an apology for the chaos that her

:36:11. > :36:15.Government has caused during the past week and the stresses caused to

:36:16. > :36:23.the 4.8 million self-employed people in this country. Will she offer that

:36:24. > :36:28.apology? Her friend, the member for Conway said so a week ago. It's time

:36:29. > :36:32.she joined in and said that as well. This measure, if carried through,

:36:33. > :36:42.will create a black hole in the Budget, what is she going to do to

:36:43. > :36:48.fill that black hole? If the right honourable gentleman is so concern

:36:49. > :36:56.about balancing the books, why is it Labour Party policy to borrow half a

:36:57. > :37:09.trillion pound and bankrupt Britain? ? Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, coming

:37:10. > :37:15.from a Government that proposes to borrow more between now and 2020,

:37:16. > :37:18.than the entire borrowing of all Labour governments put together, we

:37:19. > :37:26.don't need lectures from them on this. I hope that in his statement

:37:27. > :37:32.later today, the Chancellor will address the question of injustice of

:37:33. > :37:55.many people forced into bogus self-employment by unscrupulous

:37:56. > :37:57.companies. Because many of them force their workers to become

:37:58. > :37:58.self-employed, thus avoiding employers' national insurance

:37:59. > :38:00.contributions. It is a grossly unfair system, where those in

:38:01. > :38:03.self-employment pay some national insurance, employers do not benefit

:38:04. > :38:05.from it. That is a gross injustice that has to be addressed. The right

:38:06. > :38:08.honourable gentleman obviously hadn't noticed that one of the first

:38:09. > :38:11.things I did when I became Prime Minister was to commission Matthew

:38:12. > :38:15.Taylor from the RSA to conduct a review to look at the employment

:38:16. > :38:18.market, to look at employment rights and status, precisely because we

:38:19. > :38:22.recognise that the employment market is changing. He talks about the

:38:23. > :38:26.self-employed. Let's look at what we have done for the self-employed. Our

:38:27. > :38:30.increase in personal allowance means they now keep more of their

:38:31. > :38:34.earnings. They will have access to both tax-free childcare and 30 hours

:38:35. > :38:39.of free childcare, just like employees and now they have access

:38:40. > :38:44.to the new state pension worth over ?1,800 more a year. But what we know

:38:45. > :38:47.from the Labour Party's policies is that their policies would bankrupt

:38:48. > :38:55.Britain, they put firms out of business and people out of jobs. We

:38:56. > :39:01.have a Government U-turn, no apolicy and we have a Budget that -- apology

:39:02. > :39:05.and we have a Budget that falls most heavily on those with the least

:39:06. > :39:09.broad shoulders. Cuts to schools, cuts to social care and cuts to

:39:10. > :39:20.people with disbabilities. That is the agenda of her Government and

:39:21. > :39:23.everybody knows it. I'm not sure - I don't think the right honourable

:39:24. > :39:31.gentleman has quite got the hang of this. He is supposed to ask

:39:32. > :39:36.questions to me when he stands up. Let's talk... THE SPEAKER: Order.

:39:37. > :39:47.Order. Let's hear the answer, Prime Minister. He talks about schools.

:39:48. > :39:52.What have we done? We've protected the core schools budget. We

:39:53. > :39:56.introduced the pupil premium. This budget delivers money for over 100

:39:57. > :39:59.new schools, delivering on good school places for every child this.

:40:00. > :40:05.Budget delivers on skills for young people. We want them to be equipped

:40:06. > :40:09.for the jobs of the future. The Budget delivers ?500 million for

:40:10. > :40:15.technical education and on social care, we recognise the pressure on

:40:16. > :40:18.social care. This Budget delivers ?2 billion more funding for social

:40:19. > :40:24.care. Funding that wouldn't be available with Labour's economic

:40:25. > :40:29.policies. Mr Speaker, it would be a very good idea if the Prime Minister

:40:30. > :40:34.listened to headteachers all over the country, desperately trying to

:40:35. > :40:39.work out how to balance the books in their schools, losing teachers,

:40:40. > :40:43.losing teaching assistants, losing support for their children because

:40:44. > :40:48.the schools' budgets are being cut. She knows that, we all know that,

:40:49. > :40:54.everybody out there knows that. They also know that according to IFS

:40:55. > :40:59.figures, average working families will be 1,400 pounds worse as a

:41:00. > :41:03.result of her Budget that was produced last week. Can she say what

:41:04. > :41:08.she is doing to help the worst-off and poorest in our society, rather

:41:09. > :41:09.than continuing cutting local government expenditure, schools

:41:10. > :41:15.expenditure and underfunding social care? I'll tell the right honourable

:41:16. > :41:22.gentleman what we have delivered for the low paid. We have frozen VAT and

:41:23. > :41:26.fuel duty and every basic rate taxpayer have had a tax cut of at

:41:27. > :41:30.worst ?1,000 and we have taken 3 million people out of paying income

:41:31. > :41:35.tax altogether. That's what we have done for the low paid. On schools we

:41:36. > :41:39.now see 1.8 million children in good or outstanding schools. I want a

:41:40. > :41:43.good school place for every child. We have done it with free schools

:41:44. > :41:46.and academies and the changes we have brought forward in edge

:41:47. > :41:50.education, all opposed to the Labour Party. Now they want to oppose us

:41:51. > :41:53.giving a good school place for every child. What do we know about the

:41:54. > :41:58.Labour's policies? Let's see what the former Shadow Chancellor, the

:41:59. > :42:01.member for Nottingham East said, "Labour's policies would mean

:42:02. > :42:06.doubling national insurance, doubling VAT and doubling council

:42:07. > :42:12.tax as well." That wouldn't help the low paid or ordinary working

:42:13. > :42:18.families. Mr Speaker, the difference is, we

:42:19. > :42:26.want a good school and a good place for every child in every school in

:42:27. > :42:30.every community. Selective education, reintroduction of grammar

:42:31. > :42:36.schools does not achieve that. We want a staircase for all. Not a

:42:37. > :42:40.ladder for the few which is what the Conservatives policies actually are.

:42:41. > :42:48.What she hasn't addressed, also, is the unfairness of a Budget that cuts

:42:49. > :42:50.tax at the top end, continues to introduce corporation tax,

:42:51. > :42:55.encourages bogus self-employment. What she has to do is address the

:42:56. > :43:00.issues of injustice and inequality in our society and a Government that

:43:01. > :43:04.is dedicated towards widening the gap, not helping the hard-up or

:43:05. > :43:08.those that are working self-employed to try to make ends meet and not

:43:09. > :43:16.getting access to any benefits at the same time. Inequality has gone

:43:17. > :43:22.down under this Government. This Budget shows that the top 1% of

:43:23. > :43:25.earners will actually be contributing 27% in terms of the

:43:26. > :43:29.income they are providing. But let me address the issue, also, of

:43:30. > :43:33.schools. You see the problem with what the right honourable gentleman

:43:34. > :43:52.says is that on every single education policy that this

:43:53. > :43:55.Government has brought forward, that has been delivering more good school

:43:56. > :43:57.places for children, the Labour Party has opposed it and they

:43:58. > :44:00.continue to oppose it. Because the Labour Party's approach is that

:44:01. > :44:03.parents will take what they are given, good or bad. We believe in

:44:04. > :44:05.listening to parents. If he looks ahead to what his policies would

:44:06. > :44:07.produce for this country, half a trillion pounds of borrowing, 500

:44:08. > :44:13.billion more borrowing under the Labour Party. More taxes, more

:44:14. > :44:16.spending, more borrowing, a bankrupt Britain that wouldn't give money for

:44:17. > :44:20.public services or help ordinary working families. It's the

:44:21. > :44:24.Conservative Party that is helping ordinary working families. It is the

:44:25. > :44:30.Labour Party that is failing to address the needs of the people of

:44:31. > :44:40.this country. Inhe is just sitting there and going on protest marches.

:44:41. > :44:45.Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the tax changed, I changed my question. May

:44:46. > :44:59.I congratulate my right honourable friend on proposing the most radical

:45:00. > :45:02.reform of technical education in a generation and also delivering fair

:45:03. > :45:07.funding for all our schools but may I also her, as part of that

:45:08. > :45:10.consultation, to ensure a minimum level of appropriate funding for all

:45:11. > :45:18.schools? I thank my honourable friend,

:45:19. > :45:21.because he's raised an important point. One of the issues with

:45:22. > :45:26.addressed in the budget is to put more money into skills training,

:45:27. > :45:29.further education and technical education for young people. I think

:45:30. > :45:32.one of the most important things we can do is equip young people for the

:45:33. > :45:37.jobs of the future so they can get on in life. We are investing an

:45:38. > :45:42.extra half ?1 billion a year in England's technical education system

:45:43. > :45:46.to do this. My honourable friend has referred to the issue of a minimum

:45:47. > :45:49.funding levels. The Education Secretary confirmed last month that

:45:50. > :45:53.the DFE have heard representations on this issue and are considering

:45:54. > :45:58.the issues. But in relation to the funding formula, it is complex and

:45:59. > :46:03.has needed addressing for some time. We will look at it carefully.

:46:04. > :46:10.We once had a Prime Minister who said that the lady's not for

:46:11. > :46:17.turning. My, goodness. Isn't it welcome that the Prime Minister

:46:18. > :46:25.today has announced that she is returning with her screeching,

:46:26. > :46:30.embarrassing U-turn? Only days remain until the Prime Minister is

:46:31. > :46:35.going to invoke Article 50 on leading the European Union. And last

:46:36. > :46:42.July, she promised to secure a UK wide approach - an agreement between

:46:43. > :46:45.the devolved administrations between Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

:46:46. > :46:49.and the UK Government before triggering Article 50. So when will

:46:50. > :46:57.be Prime Minister announced the details of the agreement?

:46:58. > :47:01.As I said to the Right Honourable gentleman yesterday, and to others

:47:02. > :47:05.asking the questions on the timetable, we will trigger Article

:47:06. > :47:07.50 by the end of March. There will be an opportunity for further

:47:08. > :47:11.discussions with the devolved administrations over that period.

:47:12. > :47:15.When the right honourable gentleman looks at the issue of membership of

:47:16. > :47:19.the European Union, and his view of Scotland not being a member of the

:47:20. > :47:23.United Kingdom, I say this to him. He is comparing membership of an

:47:24. > :47:29.organisation that we've been a member of four 40 years with our

:47:30. > :47:33.country. We have been one country for over 300 years. We have fought

:47:34. > :47:39.together, we've worked together, we've achieved together. And

:47:40. > :47:44.constitutional gameplaying must not be allowed to break the deep bonds

:47:45. > :48:00.of our shared history, and our future together.

:48:01. > :48:06.The Prime Minister can wag her finger as much as she likes. Last

:48:07. > :48:12.year, she made a promise. She promised an agreement. I asked her

:48:13. > :48:18.about it yesterday. She didn't answer. I asked her about it now.

:48:19. > :48:25.She hasn't answered. When will she reach an agreement? Not discussions,

:48:26. > :48:32.an agreement with the Scottish Government before triggering Article

:48:33. > :48:42.50. HECKLING I recognise the passions.

:48:43. > :48:46.Calm yourself, I'm perfectly capable of doing that without your

:48:47. > :48:49.assistance. The right honourable gentleman will be heard, however

:48:50. > :48:54.long it takes. Carry on, Mr Robertson.

:48:55. > :48:58.The Prime Minister promised an agreement. There is not an

:48:59. > :49:01.agreement. When will there be an agreement? Because does she not

:49:02. > :49:08.understand that if she does not secure an agreement before

:49:09. > :49:11.triggering Article 50, if she is not prepared to negotiate on behalf of

:49:12. > :49:15.the Scottish Government and secure membership of the single European

:49:16. > :49:20.market, people in Scotland will have a referendum, and we will have

:49:21. > :49:33.our... We have been in discussions with the

:49:34. > :49:37.Scottish Government and other devolved administrations about the

:49:38. > :49:41.interest that they have. As we prepare as the United Kingdom

:49:42. > :49:46.government to negotiate a deal on behalf on the whole United Kingdom.

:49:47. > :49:49.A deal which will be a good deal, not just for England, Wales and

:49:50. > :49:55.Northern Ireland, but for the people of Scotland as well. And as we go

:49:56. > :50:00.forward in negotiating that deal, I think the right honourable gentleman

:50:01. > :50:04.should remember this - Scotland will be leaving the European Union. It

:50:05. > :50:09.will leave the European Union either as a member of the United Kingdom,

:50:10. > :50:13.or were independent, it's very clear with the document that it would not

:50:14. > :50:18.be member of the European Union. What we need now is to unite, to

:50:19. > :50:29.come together as a country and to ensure that we can get the best deal

:50:30. > :50:34.for the whole of the United Kingdom. This government is working with

:50:35. > :50:41.councils and other partners to grow the economy. But despite being in

:50:42. > :50:50.the prosperous south-east, the Isle of Wight is 339th out of 379 in the

:50:51. > :50:58.UK competitive index. Will my right honourable friend ensure that more

:50:59. > :51:04.growth funding is targeted at rural areas, like the islands, with many

:51:05. > :51:10.small and micro businesses, to deliver a country that works for

:51:11. > :51:14.all? My honourable friend speaks well on

:51:15. > :51:19.behalf of his constituents, and he's right to do that. I know that he has

:51:20. > :51:22.consistently put forward the unique characteristics of the Isle of

:51:23. > :51:30.Wight. We've already been able to support the island's economy through

:51:31. > :51:37.the local growth deal for the Solent, and supporting the Isle of

:51:38. > :51:41.Wight rural SME programme. I want to make sure that we make the best of

:51:42. > :51:45.the diverse strength of Britain's cities, regions and Islands. I'm

:51:46. > :51:48.sure that on the island, the business community will work

:51:49. > :51:54.together to create the best possible conditions.

:51:55. > :51:58.It is our two single market that are the backbone for our economy. And

:51:59. > :52:03.yet the Prime Minister wants to rip us away from one, and they want to

:52:04. > :52:07.break up the other. Can she tell me, is it really a price worth paying,

:52:08. > :52:14.the risky and reckless approach she is taking to Brexit, to foster the

:52:15. > :52:17.break-up of Britain? The honourable gentleman is wrong

:52:18. > :52:20.when he uses the term that I want to rip the United Kingdom away from the

:52:21. > :52:29.single markets. What we wanted you... No, this is... I'm sorry to

:52:30. > :52:32.say to honourable members on the Labour benches, this is the same

:52:33. > :52:35.answer that I have given consistently in this house. We want

:52:36. > :52:41.to ensure that we get a good free trade agreement which gives us the

:52:42. > :52:44.maximum possible access to the single market to enable us to trade

:52:45. > :52:50.with the single market and operate within the single market.

:52:51. > :52:54.Can I welcome the support of business rates, which is being given

:52:55. > :52:58.by the budget to local high streets, which also crucially valued in

:52:59. > :53:02.places like my constituency in Barnet. With the Prime Minister

:53:03. > :53:05.agree that we can give more help to small businesses if we can secure

:53:06. > :53:09.the international agreement that we need to ensure that all big

:53:10. > :53:14.businesses pay their taxes? This is a very important issue. It's

:53:15. > :53:17.one on which I think this government has a record of which we can be

:53:18. > :53:24.proud. Of course, there's more to do. We have, since 2010, in the work

:53:25. > :53:29.we've done on tackling tax evasion, avoidance and noncompliance, we have

:53:30. > :53:32.secured an additional 140 billion in compliance yields since 2010.

:53:33. > :53:36.Internationally we've driven the global agenda and we now have

:53:37. > :53:40.several companies signed up to the global exchange. -- global exchange

:53:41. > :53:49.information. We have pushed for the G7 nanograms eight. -- G7 and G8.

:53:50. > :53:52.There is more to be done and I want to see an economy that works for

:53:53. > :53:58.everyone. That means that the company should be paying their tax

:53:59. > :54:02.as well as everybody. An answer to my honourable friend

:54:03. > :54:10.from Murray, the Prime Minister called for respect. But that is a

:54:11. > :54:14.two-way street. The Scottish Government's compromise proposal has

:54:15. > :54:19.been ignored in these negotiations. Where is your respect?

:54:20. > :54:23.The proposal has not been ignored. It has been discussed by ministers.

:54:24. > :54:29.There are many areas within that proposal on which we agree. As I've

:54:30. > :54:34.said before, such as on ensuring our securities and maintaining and

:54:35. > :54:42.protecting workers' rights. Colchester Hospital's A department

:54:43. > :54:46.has excellent staff but suffers from poor layout and patient flow. Does

:54:47. > :54:50.the Prime Minister agree with me that the ?100 million set aside for

:54:51. > :54:53.triage in the budget last week will allow hospitals like mine to address

:54:54. > :54:57.this issue and improve patient outcomes?

:54:58. > :55:01.My honourable friend is right to recognise, and we should all

:55:02. > :55:05.recognise, the hard work and dedication of our excellent staff

:55:06. > :55:09.throughout the NHS. What we're seeing in the NHS is that A are

:55:10. > :55:14.treating more people than ever before. We are spending half ?1

:55:15. > :55:18.trillion on the NHS in England during this Parliament. The NHS will

:55:19. > :55:25.see that increase in its funding of ?10 billion in real terms. But there

:55:26. > :55:30.is an issue about the consideration of A, and enabling changes to take

:55:31. > :55:33.place to help the flow, and to help in dealing with patients as they

:55:34. > :55:38.come in. That's why my right honourable friend the Chancellor

:55:39. > :55:42.announced last week 425 million in new capital investment in the NHS,

:55:43. > :55:47.which includes 100 million to help manage the demand on A services,

:55:48. > :55:53.enabling hospitals to make changes to ensure that people are treated in

:55:54. > :55:57.the most appropriate way possible. Over 200 staff at the pension fund

:55:58. > :56:00.in my constituency face an uncertain future as they have been told they

:56:01. > :56:05.have to relocate to other areas over the next few years. Does the Prime

:56:06. > :56:09.Minister realise the impact this has on staff and the local economy? Will

:56:10. > :56:15.she meet me and representatives of the workforce to see what can be

:56:16. > :56:19.done to save the pension centre? I recognise the concern raised for

:56:20. > :56:32.staff at that particular pension office. I recognise this is an

:56:33. > :56:34.issue. I'm sure it is an issue which the Secretary of State for Work and

:56:35. > :56:38.Pensions will look at very closely. But of course the Government is

:56:39. > :56:42.looking to ensure that we both use our resources effectively, but also

:56:43. > :56:48.provide the proper and appropriate service for the recipients of those

:56:49. > :56:52.particular benefits. Last weekend, thousands of people

:56:53. > :56:57.across Lincolnshire came to the races in my constituency to enjoy

:56:58. > :57:01.the racing and the delicious local food - including award-winning

:57:02. > :57:07.Lincolnshire sausages. As the Government prepares to strike new

:57:08. > :57:09.trade deals, international trade deals, will my right honourable

:57:10. > :57:16.friend ensure that the high standards we expect of our food

:57:17. > :57:20.producers and farmers will be met and maintained in these deals, and

:57:21. > :57:26.will this government continued to back British farming?

:57:27. > :57:31.I can assure my honourable friend that we will certainly do that. I

:57:32. > :57:35.remember when I visited her prior to the general election in 2015,

:57:36. > :57:39.sampling some of the excellent Lincolnshire sausages that has come

:57:40. > :57:42.from her constituency. But we do have an opportunity to build a new

:57:43. > :57:46.future for our food and farming industry when we leave the European

:57:47. > :57:50.Union. We will maintain high standards of food safety and animal

:57:51. > :57:55.welfare, that will be a priority. Any trade deals we enter into will

:57:56. > :57:59.need to be right for consumers, businesses, farmers. They will need

:58:00. > :58:01.to ensure our food safety, environmental protection and the

:58:02. > :58:07.animal welfare standards I've just referred to. We recognise the need

:58:08. > :58:11.for certainty for businesses and have provided guarantees for support

:58:12. > :58:16.for farmers up to 2020. We will continue to back British farmers.

:58:17. > :58:21.The UK has one of the worst performing currencies in the world.

:58:22. > :58:28.It has a trade deficit of ?133 billion, and a national debt

:58:29. > :58:30.approaching ?1.7 trillion. Does the Prime Minister really believe that

:58:31. > :58:45.the UK can afford to be an independent country?

:58:46. > :58:49.If he wants... Honourable members on those benchers

:58:50. > :58:53.are very overexcited individuals. I want to hear the Prime Minister's

:58:54. > :58:59.reply. If he wants to talk about figures in

:59:00. > :59:03.relation to the UK economy, the UK economy is the world's sixth-largest

:59:04. > :59:08.economy. The Government has reduced the deficit by two thirds. If he

:59:09. > :59:11.cares to look at the employment figures we see today, employment at

:59:12. > :59:23.a record high, and unemployment which hasn't been lower since 1975.

:59:24. > :59:31.Today is the Ides of March. Yet again, Brutus opposite missed badly.

:59:32. > :59:35.So can the Prime Minister take the opportunity to stick the knife into

:59:36. > :59:38.the ridiculous European Court that ruled yesterday that employers can

:59:39. > :59:43.ban their staff from wearing signs of religious or political belief,

:59:44. > :59:51.and reiterate that reasonable freedom and expression should never

:59:52. > :59:55.be snuffed out politically. We have a strong tradition in this country

:59:56. > :59:58.of freedom of expression. It's the right of all women to choose how

:59:59. > :00:03.they dress, and we don't intend to legislate on this issue. He's raised

:00:04. > :00:08.to be broader issue of symbols, but this case came up in relation to the

:00:09. > :00:12.wearing of the Vale. There will be times when it's right for Israel to

:00:13. > :00:15.be asked to be removed, perhaps in border security law courts.

:00:16. > :00:19.Institutions can make their own policies, but it is not for

:00:20. > :00:23.government to tell women what they can and cannot wear. We want to

:00:24. > :00:28.continue the tradition of freedom of expression.

:00:29. > :00:35.Our First Minister was voted with the largest vote in Scottish

:00:36. > :00:39.parliamentary history on a manifesto which stated that the Scottish

:00:40. > :00:45.Parliament... THE SPEAKER: The question will be heard. Thank you,

:00:46. > :00:50.Mr Speaker, I will start again. Our First Minister was elected with the

:00:51. > :00:52.largest vote in Scottish parliamentary history, on a

:00:53. > :00:58.manifesto pledge which stated that the Scottish Parliament should have

:00:59. > :01:01.the right to hold an independence referendum if there was a

:01:02. > :01:05.significant and material change of circumstances like Scotland being

:01:06. > :01:09.taken out of the EU guest our will. My question to the Prime Minister is

:01:10. > :01:14.simple - does she agree that Government's should stick to their

:01:15. > :01:19.manifesto promises and if so, she cannot object to the First Minister

:01:20. > :01:23.sticking to hers? I, of course, recognise that there

:01:24. > :01:29.was a vote that took place in the Scottish Parliament and the First

:01:30. > :01:38.Minister was returned as the First Minister of a minority Government.

:01:39. > :01:44.But I would refer the honourable lady to two other votes that took

:01:45. > :01:54.place. The Scottish people were given the opportunity to vote to

:01:55. > :02:00.whether or not they wished to remain in the United Kingdom. They choose

:02:01. > :02:02.that Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom. That was

:02:03. > :02:05.described by the right honourable member for Gordon, as a once in a

:02:06. > :02:09.generation vote. And the other vote to take note of is that on June 23rd

:02:10. > :02:13.last year, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European

:02:14. > :02:19.Union, and that is what we are going to do. Mr Speaker, with 80% of SMEs

:02:20. > :02:24.reluctant to export, does my right honourable friend agree that the

:02:25. > :02:29.prospect of Brexit gives those firms a golden opportunity to use the

:02:30. > :02:33.great British entrepreneurial spirit to go out into the world,

:02:34. > :02:37.particularly those firms in Scotland, to go out into the world

:02:38. > :02:41.and to sing? My honourable friend is absolutely right about this. Small

:02:42. > :02:43.businesses and the intren airs are essential for an economy that is

:02:44. > :02:48.working for everyone. -- entrepreneurs. But the opportunity

:02:49. > :02:52.that comes from Brexit is to see those firms going out across the

:02:53. > :02:56.world, exporting across the world and doing the trade deals that will

:02:57. > :02:59.be of benefit to them and their communities and of benefit to our

:03:00. > :03:05.economy. We divoont to encourage more businesses to go out there.

:03:06. > :03:09.That's exactly what my right honourable friend the Secretary of

:03:10. > :03:12.State for International trade is doing. This is anp important part of

:03:13. > :03:16.building a stronger, fairer Britain for the future. -- an important

:03:17. > :03:22.part. Thank you, Mr Speaker. HRMC employed over 1,000 staff in my

:03:23. > :03:25.Livingston constituency. Despite widespread criticism from the NEO or

:03:26. > :03:29.Public Accounts Committee and the staff at Livingston being most

:03:30. > :03:32.engaged and productive this Prime Minister's Government is determined

:03:33. > :03:37.to move jobs from Livingston toad inborough whose staff don't want to

:03:38. > :03:41.move and rental costs would be higher. And to compound this,

:03:42. > :03:47.another 400 jobs are to go at another Livingston site. Will the

:03:48. > :03:51.Prime Minister change her mind on the is jobs in Livingston and meet

:03:52. > :03:58.with me to make sure that vital public sector jobs to Livingston

:03:59. > :04:01.will stay there. The HRMC are relocating 170 outdated offices to

:04:02. > :04:05.13 large and modern regional centres. These new centres will be

:04:06. > :04:09.equipped with the digital infrastructure and facilities needed

:04:10. > :04:13.to build a more highly-skilled and flexible workforce to enable

:04:14. > :04:18.modernisation of ways of working, to make tax collection more efficient

:04:19. > :04:23.and effective and it'll bring significant improvements to HMRC's

:04:24. > :04:31.customer services. -- HRMC's.

:04:32. > :04:47.People moo my can constituent voted in favour of Brexit and I was proud

:04:48. > :04:58.to be here in the House on Monday to vote no sport withdrawal of the EU

:04:59. > :05:00.bill. Can my honourable friend, the Prime Minister confirm that she

:05:01. > :05:02.shares my commitment that Brexit should work in the best interests of

:05:03. > :05:05.everyone in our country? THE SPEAKER: Prime Minister?

:05:06. > :05:07.I think, I have to say be... THE SPEAKER: Order. I say to the

:05:08. > :05:12.honourable gentleman for pert and North pertshire. Order, order, the

:05:13. > :05:15.for Perth ander North Perthshire. The honourable gentleman was

:05:16. > :05:20.shouting from beyond the bar, which is very disorderly, on top of the

:05:21. > :05:25.fact that a few moments ago he was gesticulating in a most eccentric

:05:26. > :05:27.manner. I'm becoming concerned about the honourable gentleman, he must

:05:28. > :05:30.now calm himself. The Prime Minister.

:05:31. > :05:34.Thank you, Mr Speaker. My honourable friend is absolutely right. She had,

:05:35. > :05:36.as she said a condition constituencicy that voted

:05:37. > :05:41.overwhelmingly to leave the European Union. The point is that the people

:05:42. > :05:44.of the United Kingdom voted by a majority to leave the European

:05:45. > :05:48.Union. As we do, that we will be ensuring that the deal we achieve in

:05:49. > :05:52.our negotiations, will be the right deal for the United Kingdom, the

:05:53. > :05:54.whole of the United Kingdom and for people across the UK, England,

:05:55. > :06:03.Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

:06:04. > :06:09.Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister's just done a ?2 billion Budget U-Turn

:06:10. > :06:13.in the space of a week. Last year the Government did a ?4 billion

:06:14. > :06:18.U-Turn in the space of five days. Is that why they want to abolish Spring

:06:19. > :06:31.Budgets? Because they just keep ripping them up?

:06:32. > :06:35.I welcome the measure that is were in this Spring Budget, to improve

:06:36. > :06:42.school places for children in this country, to ensure that we put

:06:43. > :06:45.money... THE SPEAKER: Mr Fabricant you are another eccentric fellow

:06:46. > :06:49.shouting loudly but you mustn't shout down your own Prime Minister.

:06:50. > :06:52.Let's hear the Prime Minister. Thank you, Mr Speaker, I welcome the

:06:53. > :06:56.measures in the Spring Budget to ensure that we are putting money...

:06:57. > :07:01.LAUGHTER Money into schools, into skills and

:07:02. > :07:04.into social care and I would've thought The Right Honourable lady

:07:05. > :07:11.would accept that money into schools, skills and social care is

:07:12. > :07:15.good for this country. Thank you Mr Speaker, would the

:07:16. > :07:19.Prime Minister join with me in welcoming the news today that

:07:20. > :07:22.Sergeant Blackman's murder conviction has been downgraded to

:07:23. > :07:25.manslaughter, in part, thanks to the release of previously unheard

:07:26. > :07:33.evidence. This is fantastic news for his wife Claire, who lives in my

:07:34. > :07:35.constituency and who has complained so unstintingly on this and my

:07:36. > :07:39.honourable friend the member for South Dorset who I believe is

:07:40. > :07:42.turning to the chambers provided a very worthy advocate for this case

:07:43. > :07:46.and I commend his hard work. And would the Prime Minister agree with

:07:47. > :07:50.me that within the correct legal framework, those who defend our

:07:51. > :07:55.peace, protect our world from evil, be treated with fairness and

:07:56. > :08:00.understanding and given the adequate resources, including for mental

:08:01. > :08:04.health support they deserve. THE SPEAKER: I'm extremely grateful.

:08:05. > :08:07.Prime Minister. We respect the court's decision, the Ministry of

:08:08. > :08:11.Defence will be looking closely at the judgment but I can assure the

:08:12. > :08:14.House that the Ministry of Defence has cooperated fully at each stage

:08:15. > :08:17.of Sergeant Blackman's case and will continue to provide support to the

:08:18. > :08:20.family as they have done since the charges were first brought. What I

:08:21. > :08:24.would just say on a generalp point is that our Royal Marines have a

:08:25. > :08:28.worldwide reputation as one of the world's elite fighting forces. They

:08:29. > :08:33.make an incredible contribution to our country and we should pay

:08:34. > :08:35.tribute to them all for that. The Disasters Emergency Committee have

:08:36. > :08:40.launched its East Africa crisis appeal. In the context of that

:08:41. > :08:43.crisis, does the Prime Minister share my concern that President

:08:44. > :08:50.Trump is considering major cuts to spending by the United States on

:08:51. > :08:53.aid? Will this Government take every opportunity to press the Americans

:08:54. > :08:58.to remain fully part of the global humanitarian system? I can assure

:08:59. > :09:01.the right honourable gentleman we recognise the severity and urgency

:09:02. > :09:04.of the crisis that is taking place in the East Africa. More than 20

:09:05. > :09:08.million people face the risk of dying from starvation because of war

:09:09. > :09:12.and drought and again it is this country that is leading the way in

:09:13. > :09:16.delivering life-saving support. We've announced we'll match pound

:09:17. > :09:23.for pound the first ?5 million donated by the public to the

:09:24. > :09:27.Disasters Emergency Committee's new appeal and I can assure him we take

:09:28. > :09:31.every opportunity to ensure that countries around the world recognise

:09:32. > :09:38.the importance of international aid, the importance of supporting

:09:39. > :09:41.countries when we see terrible, terrible disasters like this famine

:09:42. > :09:45.coming to place and it is the UK's record on what we do on this, that

:09:46. > :09:51.enables us to say to others that they should do more.

:09:52. > :09:57.Henry Smith? It is my honour to chair the all parliamentary group on

:09:58. > :10:02.blood cancer and today we launched an inquiry into greater awareness of

:10:03. > :10:05.the condition can I take assurance from my honourable friend that the

:10:06. > :10:10.additional ?10 billion going into the NHS in this Parliament will in

:10:11. > :10:12.some way be spent on ensuring we tackle this third biggest cancer

:10:13. > :10:17.killer? High honourable friend is right to raise a subject like that,

:10:18. > :10:20.which is a cancer of which many people have not heard much and

:10:21. > :10:24.probably are not awhich are of that as a particular issue. I can assure

:10:25. > :10:29.him that -- aware of that particular issue. I I can assure him what the

:10:30. > :10:33.NHS is doing. Over recent years we have seen a significant improvement

:10:34. > :10:40.in cancer survival rates. We have seen significant improvement in the

:10:41. > :10:45.increase of the number of people who are being referred on because of

:10:46. > :10:46.potential cases of cancer and the number of people being treated for

:10:47. > :11:00.cancer and Now, here is what happened. Jeremy

:11:01. > :11:02.Corbyn came to the House with questions about the increase in

:11:03. > :11:07.national insurance contributions. The problem was, just before PMQs

:11:08. > :11:10.began, the Chancellor announced he wasn't proceeding with the increase

:11:11. > :11:14.in national insurance contributions and this has happened before. It

:11:15. > :11:18.caught the Leader of the Opposition on the hop and he was unable to

:11:19. > :11:22.adjust his questions very much to take account of the new

:11:23. > :11:30.circumstances. So, in a way, we didn't get very far on that. The

:11:31. > :11:35.cost to the Government, or to the Treasury, looks to be, by not

:11:36. > :11:40.proceeding with the higher national insurance for the self-employed, to

:11:41. > :11:46.be about ?2 billion, but over four years. It starts at under ?400

:11:47. > :11:50.million and gets to ?600 million at one stage and comes down. Now ?2

:11:51. > :11:54.billion, obviously a lot of money, but it is over four years, half a

:11:55. > :11:56.billion a year. I guess the Chancellor will wait for his

:11:57. > :12:00.November Budget, which is meant to be the big one, to see whether he

:12:01. > :12:02.needs to do anything about that or whether the Office for Budget

:12:03. > :12:07.Responsibility has been too pessimistic on the size of the

:12:08. > :12:10.deficit. So it is a problem for the Chancellor but hardly a huge one.

:12:11. > :12:16.Other news was happening while we were on air, a second Conservative

:12:17. > :12:21.MP has been interviewed by police over his general election expenses.

:12:22. > :12:26.Will Quince MP for Colchester but he has been told by Essex Police no

:12:27. > :12:30.further action will be required after voluntary saying that he did

:12:31. > :12:35.that. For me, the billing story is that actually that a leftist dating

:12:36. > :12:37.site has split due to different positions on the 1936 Spanish Civil

:12:38. > :12:46.War. So glad you raised that. How do you

:12:47. > :12:49.know? A popular dating site for socialists Communists and anarchists

:12:50. > :12:52.are splitting into four factions due to adealing onical disagreements

:12:53. > :12:57.over the Spanish Civil War in 1936. So it looks like I'll have to resign

:12:58. > :13:01.from this particular dating site. From the board.

:13:02. > :13:05.What did viewers say? They didn't say much about that leftist dating

:13:06. > :13:09.site. They will now They might. But I took the comments before you made

:13:10. > :13:13.that announcement. They were concentrating on the U-Turn and

:13:14. > :13:15.actually I pulled out some political tweets in response, in terms of

:13:16. > :13:22.politicians giving their views. So this was from John McDonnell, the

:13:23. > :13:26.Shadow Chancellor who says that the Chancellor Philip Hammond's

:13:27. > :13:29.authority is "she redded only a week after his first Budget after being

:13:30. > :13:33.forced to U-Turn under Labour pressure." This from Tim Farron, the

:13:34. > :13:36.Liberal Democrat leader "So the Chancellor has U-Turned after

:13:37. > :13:39.breaking a promise in the Conservative manifesto, perhaps he

:13:40. > :13:44.will now U-Turn on another broken election commitment, to keep us in

:13:45. > :13:49.the single market." This from Ed Vaizey a Tory MP, a backbencher who

:13:50. > :13:55.said "Blimey I have been vigorously defending it." He wasn't alone,

:13:56. > :13:59.there were quite a view, one who also said he hoped they weren't

:14:00. > :14:02.going to change their minds so he didn't look stupid. I think this

:14:03. > :14:07.comes from Matthew Taylor who carried out the view. Is carrying

:14:08. > :14:14.out the review. It is still going on. And it will he be discussed

:14:15. > :14:22.later on in the summer, he said "Let's hope big political learning,

:14:23. > :14:29.is there a danger of trying to make big tax promises to try to embarrass

:14:30. > :14:33.opponents." Here is the headline on the Evening Standard - Hammond

:14:34. > :14:36.U-Turn on Budget fees a quo. More bad headlines for the

:14:37. > :14:42.Chancellor, as if he didn't have enough last week. But I would guess

:14:43. > :14:47.if it caughterises the issue now, he will probably take that on the chin?

:14:48. > :14:50.I was struck watching PMQs with you, although that was a very difficult

:14:51. > :14:54.moment, in the end I think the House accepted it and I think they made

:14:55. > :14:56.the right decision and they were vindicated by the response they got,

:14:57. > :15:01.actually from the Labour benches as well as Conservative.

:15:02. > :15:08.It leaves them with a 2 billion hole, but they don't necessarily

:15:09. > :15:12.have to fill it. It would only take the OBR to have slightly

:15:13. > :15:16.underestimated the growth rate. One Conservative MP described it to me

:15:17. > :15:21.as a rounding error and questioned why they got themselves into such a

:15:22. > :15:25.mess in the bigger context of a government budget of 700 billion or

:15:26. > :15:33.so. But what people may take away from this is that normal people, in

:15:34. > :15:36.normal political times, for a screeching U-turn just before Prime

:15:37. > :15:41.Minister's Questions would have been disaster for the Prime Minister.

:15:42. > :15:45.They would normally have had a terrible, relentless grilling. It

:15:46. > :15:50.would have been a real punishment greeting at the dispatch box.

:15:51. > :15:53.Instead, one shot of the House of Commons was extremely striking.

:15:54. > :15:58.After her questions from Corbyn, Theresa May was seen sitting back on

:15:59. > :16:03.the bench, head back, huge grin. I think there will be big concern on

:16:04. > :16:07.the Labour benches that despite an enormous government U-turn, which is

:16:08. > :16:13.normally seen as humiliating, as John McDonnell suggested, it is

:16:14. > :16:16.Philip Hammond's credibility in tatters, today Jeremy Corbyn

:16:17. > :16:20.couldn't land those blows. He was asking long questions. He couldn't

:16:21. > :16:23.wield the knife. It didn't seem that he was able to think on his feet and

:16:24. > :16:27.respond to what had already happened. I'll come to you win a

:16:28. > :16:32.second. It does leave the Chancellor a diminished figure. Wannabe

:16:33. > :16:42.challenges a financial challenge. As you say, there's probably 0.0% --

:16:43. > :16:45.0.07% of the national budget. The difficult decision was weighing the

:16:46. > :16:52.fact that this is a fair, good reform. It will be concluded that

:16:53. > :16:55.there is a lot of sense and sorting of discrepancies between employed

:16:56. > :17:00.and self-employed people. I agree with Laura that in the death was the

:17:01. > :17:03.right decision. It's also possible, apart from the question about Jeremy

:17:04. > :17:10.Corbyn, that public use of these things was changing. -- I with Laura

:17:11. > :17:14.that this was the right decision. Rather than ploughing on regardless,

:17:15. > :17:19.when you get a clear message that people feel the manifesto has been

:17:20. > :17:22.broken, that politicians respond. Therefore there is some forgiveness.

:17:23. > :17:28.Angus Robertson, who leads the Scottish Nationalists in

:17:29. > :17:33.Westminster, in Parliament, said it was a screeching embarrassing

:17:34. > :17:41.U-turn. It was an effect of intervention by Mr Robertson. Why

:17:42. > :17:44.didn't Jeremy Corbyn say that? To hear a Conservative MP described the

:17:45. > :17:50.self-employed as a rounding error is frankly insulting. Don't you think

:17:51. > :18:00.-- I don't think that's what they did, they said. Last week, Philip

:18:01. > :18:03.Hammond was cracking jokes. He had a whale of a time announcing the

:18:04. > :18:09.increase in National Insurance will stop one of those strokes was that

:18:10. > :18:14.the last Chancellor to make similar comments was sacked a few weeks

:18:15. > :18:17.later. So perhaps he should have been a little more careful in what

:18:18. > :18:23.he said last week, both in cracking jokes and also in bringing forward

:18:24. > :18:28.something he would have two reverse. He's not cracking jokes now, is he?

:18:29. > :18:31.He and the Prime Minister were, as Laura pointed out. His arrogance and

:18:32. > :18:38.complacency is really not what is needed when we have the country in a

:18:39. > :18:40.position where since 2010 we have faced falling living standards,

:18:41. > :18:44.whilst the overall economy has grown. We are the only country in

:18:45. > :18:49.the developed world where that is the case. I think a little more

:18:50. > :18:53.thought the head of the budget wouldn't have gone amiss. I'm

:18:54. > :18:59.pleased he's maybe U-turn. But it does put a huge question over his

:19:00. > :19:02.future. Can I come in on this? I think it's tempting to focus

:19:03. > :19:06.everything on Jeremy Corbyn. But the bigger question of why Parliament

:19:07. > :19:11.responded quite positively to that decision must be about bigger

:19:12. > :19:14.things. And one of those things is, I believe, obviously, I would

:19:15. > :19:18.believe, is that if they vote a basic confidence in Theresa May's

:19:19. > :19:23.government. It is basically felt but Theresa May and the Chancellor are

:19:24. > :19:26.competent and the economy is going in the right direction. That's the

:19:27. > :19:30.context in which people can be forgiving about these kinds of

:19:31. > :19:36.things. Laura, Mr Hammond has his enemies in ten Downing St. No names.

:19:37. > :19:44.And of course they would dispute that! He's not even -- I've not even

:19:45. > :19:48.named them. But I don't get the impression that the Prime Minister,

:19:49. > :19:51.although she has had some ups and downs, with the Chancellor, I don't

:19:52. > :19:55.get the impression that she has any interest in getting rid of him. I

:19:56. > :20:00.don't think that's a potential at this stage at all. I think Theresa

:20:01. > :20:04.May, her political style, frankly, people say she doesn't trust very

:20:05. > :20:08.many people. One of the people that she does broadly trust, it said, is

:20:09. > :20:12.Philip Hammond. They're not necessarily best of friends but they

:20:13. > :20:17.have dinner every week, they talk a lot, they have a businesslike,

:20:18. > :20:21.professional relationship. While they're not bosom buddies, it is a

:20:22. > :20:26.relationship that despite tensions, particularly with the wider teams,

:20:27. > :20:29.always the case between the Treasury and Downing Street, I think at this

:20:30. > :20:34.stage in the game, we're not in a place where there are suggestions

:20:35. > :20:38.that somehow he may be moved out. This, however, of course may have a

:20:39. > :20:42.longer-term impact. Whatever the politics of today, it is a very big

:20:43. > :20:50.deal for a Chancellor seven days later to back down. To drop a! To

:20:51. > :20:54.drop a huge part of his budget. That is a really significant thing.

:20:55. > :20:58.Normally it takes months. More on that thought, Rory Stewart? Lets get

:20:59. > :21:04.more reaction. You may remember last Thursday, the day after the

:21:05. > :21:09.announcement, we spoke to Stephen McPartland who joins us again. He's

:21:10. > :21:14.in central lobby. He is smiling, presumably because of the screaming,

:21:15. > :21:18.screeching U-turn, to use Angus Robertson's words. Is that what you

:21:19. > :21:22.would call it? I'd certainly call it a U-turn. I said last week he needed

:21:23. > :21:27.one and needed to do it quickly. I believe it shows he's a strong

:21:28. > :21:31.Chancellor in the sense that he's admitted he's made a mistake and now

:21:32. > :21:35.can move forward. Does he look like a strong Chancellor, or does he look

:21:36. > :21:38.like someone forced into it by backbenchers like yourself, and

:21:39. > :21:41.Number 10, who didn't want to have to explain all allowed the Prime

:21:42. > :21:46.Minister to take a beating over this policy in the House? I think it

:21:47. > :21:50.demonstrates that he is strong having stood up and said that he

:21:51. > :21:55.holds his hands up. That's good news for me. It also demonstrates the

:21:56. > :21:58.power of the back channels, and how backbenchers can actually go in

:21:59. > :22:01.there and make a difference. He has listened and changed his mind. I'm

:22:02. > :22:06.delighted about that. This was going to be punitive. I thought this was

:22:07. > :22:11.going to be an attack on those families who had taken a risk to

:22:12. > :22:16.setup their own business, and you are the backbone of our economy. So

:22:17. > :22:23.I'm absolutely delighted he's done the. Did you speak to the Chancellor

:22:24. > :22:28.yourself? I spoke to the Chancellor and a number of people. We certainly

:22:29. > :22:31.made our views clear. There was lots of communication, blogs are back

:22:32. > :22:34.channels and we got the message across. It was something I wasn't

:22:35. > :22:39.going to be voting for and we will had been campaigning against. We had

:22:40. > :22:44.decided this was a mistake and would move forward. Seven days after

:22:45. > :22:48.standing up in the same place where Theresa May is today, and then

:22:49. > :22:58.completely dismissing and you turning on a fairly key part of your

:22:59. > :23:04.budget statement, it does smack of not strength, but we can. From my

:23:05. > :23:12.point of view, I'm very pleased about the results. He's admitted

:23:13. > :23:15.he's made a mistake. Instead of trying to create a fudge which would

:23:16. > :23:19.have let everybody disappointed, he's listened and moved forward. I

:23:20. > :23:24.called for a quick U-turn and we got a quick U-turn. To some extent,

:23:25. > :23:28.Theresa May has ruled it out. How saw were people about the fact that

:23:29. > :23:33.it did breach the manifesto commitment or no tax rises? Quite

:23:34. > :23:36.strong. We all stand a manifesto. One of the things that you're going

:23:37. > :23:40.to do a new rebel against the Government is actually not rebel on

:23:41. > :23:45.anything stated in the manifesto, because you stood on that manifesto.

:23:46. > :23:48.Effectively something being in a manifesto was taken very, very

:23:49. > :23:53.seriously inside the Parliamentary party. Thank you for joining us

:23:54. > :23:57.again almost a week later. Laura, before you go? Fascinating hearing

:23:58. > :24:00.that. Polls suggest Theresa May is strong in the country, but we've

:24:01. > :24:06.just seen she is not necessarily very strong in Parliament. Steve

:24:07. > :24:12.McPartlin, rebel MP, saying very clearly there that backbenchers won

:24:13. > :24:13.the day. Thank you very much. It's been a very eventful PMQs. I need to

:24:14. > :24:15.lie down. Today a virtual tour of Parliament

:24:16. > :24:17.was launched so people can experience the famous building

:24:18. > :24:20.in all its glorious 360 degrees. We sent our reporter,

:24:21. > :24:22.Emma Vardy, to take a look. You don't need to come

:24:23. > :24:25.in all the way to London Now you can do it with your

:24:26. > :24:34.mobile phone - and one of these. Now I'm standing exactly where

:24:35. > :24:39.the PM would be stood for PMQs. Parliament has run guided tours

:24:40. > :24:51.in real life for a number of years. The hope is this will encourage

:24:52. > :24:54.people from all over the world to take a walk through the corridors

:24:55. > :25:00.of power in virtual reality. You can go inside some

:25:01. > :25:15.of the most famous rooms, The tour goes live online today,

:25:16. > :25:25.and the 360 images will also be available to explore

:25:26. > :25:28.on Google Street View, alongside Well, it has been said

:25:29. > :25:39.that some MPs are living So now there's one for

:25:40. > :25:46.the rest of us to enjoy. Joining me now is Penny Young, who's

:25:47. > :25:59.Director of Information Services Why have you done this? Is part of

:26:00. > :26:03.the way we're reaching out to the public, and that the public and find

:26:04. > :26:08.out more about Parliament. You do need a virtual reality headset. This

:26:09. > :26:12.is mobile and tablet friendly. With the best will in the world, not

:26:13. > :26:16.everybody is going to be able to get to the Houses of Parliament to see

:26:17. > :26:19.those fabulous sites. This is one way they can do it. Is it about

:26:20. > :26:23.trying to attract more people, if they can make it to parliament, to

:26:24. > :26:28.come and have a look around? It's partly if you can't get there, so

:26:29. > :26:31.you can see it for yourself. It's also if you're coming, you may want

:26:32. > :26:35.to be preview. Or if you've been, you may want to learn more. It is of

:26:36. > :26:41.course only one way of engaging Parliament. You can contact your MP,

:26:42. > :26:45.you can go on a members' tour, you can pay to go on a richer

:26:46. > :26:49.experience, if you like. Schoolkids can come on education visit. You can

:26:50. > :26:54.go in the gallery yourself and see what's going on. So there is a whole

:26:55. > :27:01.range of ways, and this opens it up. Picon with the same as the real-life

:27:02. > :27:06.experience of going round with you? -- it can't be the same as the

:27:07. > :27:09.real-life experience. You can now get into very dangerous countries

:27:10. > :27:16.and the beautiful buildings, and it also preserves things for the

:27:17. > :27:21.future. In years' time, it will be able to see what the houses of

:27:22. > :27:26.Commons looked like. Will you buy one? I've got my glasses at home.

:27:27. > :27:30.It's an amazing place to work and it's a privilege for us to be there.

:27:31. > :27:33.It's important to remember it. But for Rory and I come our constituents

:27:34. > :27:38.are hours away from London and sometimes it's difficult to get it.

:27:39. > :27:43.Why has it taken so long to do it? We've had a version, but it is now

:27:44. > :27:47.mobile friendly and tablet friendly. You can look at it on Google maps,

:27:48. > :27:51.and so on. That point about your constituents living hours away,

:27:52. > :27:54.that's an important one. That's why things like the petitions committee

:27:55. > :27:58.and digital debate on important so people can tweet at you and you can

:27:59. > :28:05.comment on that in the chamber. There are many ways now of engaging

:28:06. > :28:07.and it's important that you know the relationship -- it is important

:28:08. > :28:10.because we know the relationship with the public is not as strong as

:28:11. > :28:13.we would like. They don't necessarily think Parliament is

:28:14. > :28:16.working for them, so it's one of the many ways to reach out and

:28:17. > :28:19.strengthening relationship. Just before they move out! We may not see

:28:20. > :28:21.it in everyone will be kicked out. There's just time to put you out

:28:22. > :28:33.of your misery and give 1949, a very important year.

:28:34. > :28:37.Desperate to press that buzzer. And it's Peter Thomson in Warrington.

:28:38. > :28:40.Well done, you got 1949 as the correct answer.

:28:41. > :28:43.The one o'clock news is starting over on BBC One now.

:28:44. > :28:47.Jo and I will be here at noon tomorrow with all the big political