22/03/2017 Daily Politics

The Government announces a ban on laptops

and tablets in aircraft cabins on certain flights

US media says it's in response to a specific threat

In one week, the Prime Minister will formally

launch the process which will take us out of the EU.

It's the number one item in her in-tray.

But what does it mean for the Government's other priorities?

It's been a tough few days for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour's

Can he regain the initiative at PMQs?

And it's the great political cake-off as MPs get

Or will it be soggy bottoms all round?

You could expect next door's hamster to decorate a cake better than most

of these MPs but it's great fun and it's for a very good cause.

I thought you did very well reading that! It was full of pitfalls. It

was a bit of a tongue twister! All that in the next 90 minutes

and with us for the duration, Home Office Minister Brandon Lewis,

and Shadow Justice Now, Brandon is specifically

the Minister for Policing and Fire, although it's not clear who has

the brief for earth and wind. We could keep this going right up to

PMQs! Richard is also the Shadow Lord

Chancellor, which means, if he ever gets into government,

he'll get to wear the full legal state dress - black silk

velvet cutaway tail coat, a waistcoat and breeches,

lace cuffs, black silk stockings, It's the uniform all good

socialists aspire to! Downing Street has confirmed

that it will place a ban large electrical devices in some

aircraft cabins in the coming days. The ban will affect passengers

travelling on direct flights to the UK from six countries

in the Middle East. The US government has also announced

similar restrictions They are from the Middle East, not

exactly the same countries as the UK.

Reports in the American media suggest the ban was prompted

by intelligence of a terror threat to US-bound flights.

Let's talk to Tom Wilson from the Henry Jackson Society,

which is a foreign affairs think tank.

Let's get this... We believe there is some specific intelligence of

this sort of threat to US and now possibly British flights. Is that

correct? What more do we know? I think there must be something quite

specific for both the UK and there has been word that Canada might also

implement a similar ban. Also the fact that you got people not just in

the Trump administration but also Democrats in Congress who have seen

some of this intelligence who seem to support this ban. As well as

they're probably being something quite specific, we have now seen

mounting concerns about attacks relating to aviation. In 2016 there

was an attempted attack in Somalia by Al-Shabab. In 2015, a group

linked to ISA managed to take out a Russian passenger jet, so there have

been mounting and ongoing fears in recent years. But these events

happened a little while ago, still in the recent history but a little

while ago. Something must have happened. Do you think there might

have been a technology breakthrough in that the bomb makers know how to

turn not just laptop batteries but the batteries on tablets into bombs,

in effect, so that when they are switched on they explode on air in

the cabin? There have been some reports, confirmed so far I think,

that there may be an Al-Qaeda affiliated group that has been

specifically looking into technology related to planting explosives

inside batteries of laptops, tablets or perhaps something even smaller. I

think one question we do have is whether or not the concern is about

the kind of device that would be triggered by an individual outside,

actually in the cabin, or whether or not the device could go off

automatically without someone being able to trigger its. One final

question lots of people have been asking. As I understand it, you will

still be allowed to check these things into the hold and people have

said, maybe the bomb could go off there but you would then have to add

a timer to it, which complicates matters. Aircraft are not always

unscheduled. It really works, as I understand it, by you switch it on

which is why the biggest danger is in the cabin. Exactly, and in the

past that was always the case with aviation bombing, such as the shoe

bomb plot, plots to do with liquid explosives which we saw in the

mid-2000s. But I think there is a higher level of technology needed if

you've got some kind of time, although it was suggested in the

case of the Sharm el-Sheikh bombing that the exposer was in the hold. I

think it may be the case that airport authorities are able to

check what goes into the hold more closely than what passengers are

taking on with them. We will leave at there. Thank you for joining us

in the rain. I was going to pick up on that point

with Brandon Lewis about what evidence there is that it will make

us safer, even if there is this point about triggering any device,

as we just heard from our guest, the major attack back in 2015 when the

Russian airliner was brought down, killing over 200 people, it is

thought the bomb was hold luggage so what evidence is there that this

will make us safer? For these reasons, I can't comment on

particular threats, but we have been on a severe flooding for some time

now and the Prime Minister has been chairing meetings for a number of

weeks looking at those threats and a decision was made to put this ban on

these particular flights to make sure that we keep people safe while

they are flying and keep British citizens safe. At what is the

evidence that it will keep us safer? If you can still put laptops,

tablets and other large electronic devices in the hold, and bombs can

be triggered there, how much safer will it really make us by preventing

people taking these electronic gadgets in their hand luggage? The

assessment has been made looking at what the threats are. Putting this

ban on these flights in this way makes people say the. I can't go

into the details of specific threats because we don't comment on specific

threats like a lot but a decision has been made in light of the

evidence that we've got, the meeting the Prime Minister has been chairing

herself over the last few weeks, to make sure we are doing the right

thing. There has to be some sort of logic to its. One security expert

has suggested it could actually make us less safe because, as you know,

in the case of cabin baggage, the case can be opened in front of the

owner of that particular bag and individual items can be checked in

front of them. That isn't the case, obviously, when it goes into the

hold. I can say there is logic and there is an assessment of what the

threat is and advice has been given by the experts, the security teams,

and the decision has been made that the best thing to do to make sure

people are safest but a ban on these particular types of equipment. How

much disruption do you think it will cause? Adamant it will cause too

much disruption. People should check with their travel agents when they

are travelling from those countries, they need to have it in their hold

luggage. That means putting it in hold luggage rather than in hand

luggage or when they get to the airline check-in, the airline will

be advising them to put it in the hold luggage as they check in. There

may be some delays for them in doing that but that's the only disruption

message be -- there should be. People travelling, let's say, from

Turkey to London, it affects direct flights but what if you want to

travel from Turkey to Paris and you actually are able then to keep your

laptop with you, you then change flights, change airlines in Paris

and travel to London but you have originally come from Turkey. People

would be able to take their laptops into the cabin. You're quite right,

the banners on those very specific direct flights. So you will be able

to get round it. We continue to work with our colleagues and partners in

other countries around the world to do everything we can to make sure

airline safety is safe. A particular decision has been taken about these

flights. If you come in from Turkey into Paris and you are going on a

different line, say to America, they will make you go through security

again, as they do in London now. And as was said in the Henry Jackson

Society comment, luggage that goes through the hold goes through a

certain security check as well but the decision has been made. We have

been severe flooding for sometime now and this the right decision to

make sure safety is paramount. Once was male scissors, then liquids, now

it is your iPad. -- nail scissors. Now, in exactly one week,

Theresa May will send a letter to the European Council,

triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty

and so beginning the formal process It will be an historic moment

and will clearly dominate politics But there are plenty of other issues

that the Government is wrestling with, and you can be sure that

here at the Daily Politics we will be holding ministers' feet

to the fire on all Government It's a busy time for

politicians on all sides. As well as Brexit, the other huge

constitutional issue for Theresa May is a possible second

Scottish independence referendum. This afternoon the Scottish

Parliament will vote on whether to request a new poll,

something which the UK Government has said they won't allow

until after Britain has left the EU. Schools funding in England

is another hot potato at the moment. The Government is trying to push

through a new funding formula for schools, which has

angered many headteachers. The Prime Minister has also

promised to push ahead with new grammar schools,

although the issue is angering Social care is another issue that

will be taxing minds in Whitehall. The Chancellor announced an extra

?2 billion over the next three years but many are warning

it's not enough. Linked to that is health spending,

with funding pressures And if that's not enough,

the Conservative Party is facing police probes

into their election expenses. Last week they were fined ?70,000

and 12 police forces have asked the Crown Prosecution Service

to consider whether there If you think that's tough,

imagine being Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday MPs rounded

on the Labour Leader at a Parliamentary Labour Party

meeting for apparently briefing Many MPs are angry at Mr Corbyn's

leadership, particularly because Labour's poll

ratings aren't good. Earlier this week,

a Guardian-ICM poll put Labour on 26%, with the Conservatives

on 45%. Joining me now is Joe Twyman from

the polling company YouGov. 19 points behind Fort Labour. Is that

now becoming an established trend? It certainly seems to be. Our most

recent poll for the Times has Labour on 25%, where they've been

consistently for the past few weeks, and the Conservatives on 41 and they

have been low to middle 40s for some time. That is clearly a difficult

situation for the Labour Party to be in but if you look beyond the

figures, the situation gets worse when you ask people who would make

the best Prime Minister. Theresa May is ahead by some distance. Fewer

than half of Labour supporters actually think that Jeremy Corbyn

could be the best Prime Minister. Most of them say they don't know but

it is still a difficult situation to be in and when you look at things

like jobs, housing, the economy, Ronnie Corbett is behind Theresa

May, often by some distance, so that is a difficult situation to be in

and there is no getting away from that. But there is a big but coming

and that is surrounding Brexit. We don't know how things are going to

go. We asked people if there were a general election tomorrow, how would

you vote, but we know there isn't a general election tomorrow and there

was not going to be one on me the fourth, we hear now. It is more

likely to be in 2020 and where the country will be at that stage could

determine massive differences. So while Labour are behind at the

moment, it could be the case that seeing a Brexit disaster with the

Conservatives could mean Labour pull ahead but the point is, we don't

know. And the Shadow Chancellor John McDonell has said Labour will be

more united once they get into the Brexit negotiations and there will

be disunity on the Conservative side, as you say. But if you look at

the issues that have faced the Tory party, the Omni shambles that many

have called it of the budget and the U-turn on the national insurance

contributions, business rates, social care, why are the Tories are

the Tories still so far ahead? Well, it seems that Labour's policies and

their way of getting their argument across, be it through the leader or

other members of the party, just aren't resonating with the country.

Critics of Conservatives and supporters particularly of Jeremy

Corbyn will blame this on the press, on infighting within the party, and

I'm not here to discuss the merits of that, other than to say it is

having an effect. It is clear they are not resonating, not getting

those groups that they need to appeal to to win. Briefly,

predictions for the local elections? I think that Labour will do well to

hold on to what they had before. I think they are going to suffer. We

could see a resurgence of the Lib Dems if they can resonate their

anti-Brexit position but there is a lot that can happen before then,

with regard to Article 50. Joe Twyman, thank you. Brandon Lewis,

last week your colleague, Mr Stewart defended the increase of national

insurance contributions for the self-employed at the time the

Government was going a screeching U-Turn on this be subject. So within

ten minutes he then had to defend the fact they weren't going to

increase national insurance contributions. Would you like now to

take the same risk on the proposed change on school funding? Well

actually I have personally said as a backbencher, and as a Government

minister I support that. We need to do the review of school funding, it

is a formula that's out of date. The sector itself was clear and the work

and consultation is going on and it is still open it doesn't finish

until midnight. It is important that we look at increasing funding,

record levels of funding going into schools. We will come on to the

amount in a minute so let's just get this clear, you are in no doubt that

there will be no U-Turn on the new school funding formula? I think the

school funding formula is a piece of work that needed to be done. I think

the Department for Education and minister Nick Gibbes is doing a

phenomenally good piece of work to make sure we look at where the

funding is needed to get to the pupils who need it. So, if they do a

U-Turn on this, where would that leave you? The Government is always

looking at the department, the consultation finishes at midnight.

This'll look at the outcome before making... What and then U-Turn? I

think the funding formula review will continue and we'll see a new

funding formula for schools. It is much more controversial, much more

difficult to implement, let me put it that way because, of course, you

are actually cutting money to schools, aren't you? Funding for

schools is going up. What this is doing is how that cake is shared out

and looking at making sure we get a funding formula that is shared

correctly. Explain to me how funding is going up? Record levels of ?#40

billion it goes up to ?42 billion in 2019. You are dealing in money

terms, aren't you, not real terms. And when you take account of

inflation and the fact that the number of pupils is rising, it's

actually falling, isn't it? Well, if you look - in cash terms it is going

up to ?42 billion. ?2 billion is a lot of money. Not if inflation has

reached 2.3% and rising. So you are putting per pupil funding by around

8% in real terms, 8% between 2015 and 2020. There are two points I

will make to answer that. Firstly, I'm not shying away from the fact we

have had to make difficult decisions to the economy over the last years.

You can't then complain you are increasing in real terms? We are,

school term is at ?40 billion, a record level and going up to ?42

billion. And as a second pointed to help schools with the cost, we are

setting up with a buying scheme to make sure it is as efficient as

possible. A lot of schools aren't as owe fisht with were curement and

other things. That's another issue. Of course you want schools to be

efficient. Of course you have a Budget deficit to manage down,

particularly since you are way behind the original thought on that.

But that doesn't allow to you claim that you are in real terms,

increasing spending on education because let me give you the figures

here, funding per pupil will rise from ?5,447 in 2016 to ?5,519, so it

is a rise of about ?60, maybe a little more, by 2020. So, ?60-odd,

?70 over four years, that when you take inflation into account, is a

substantial reduction in real terms. Can we agree with that? Well, I

appreciate you have got inflakes you have changing costs but you also

have to recognise that is actually ?2 billion which is a huge sum of

money that is going up but it is also about getting right outcomes

and what is important with this in education as someone who has got

children and I have been in education in myself, those outcomes

for 1.8 million in et Bev, schoot and outstanding schools, more first

class teachers coming into teach and more children from deprived

backgrounds going to university and studying core subjects, the outcomes

of those children, the people we have to look to for our future is

really key. So why are you cutting the budget in real terms because in

money terms you will increase the budget, well, the budget will go up

by several billion, in money terms but once you take in inflation, and

the increase in the number of pupils. There is going to be a 4%

rise in primary school pupils, a 10% rise in secondary school pupils, the

IFS explains, that spending per pupil falls by 8% in real terms over

a five-year period. Why are you doing that? Well, first of all, yes

you are quite right, that funding, in cash terms increases by ?2

billion but your point about inflation is allowing for there to

be no benefits and no changes in the efficiency of how schools work and

we do want to see schools... A lot of schools have already done this.

There is a huge amount more we can do in terms of efficiencies, sharing

administration departments and doing much better on procurement and we

see this across a range of sectors, there is much more to do to make

sure we are getting the best for our money but ultimately I would argue

any parent and child out there, their main focus is the outcome. We

are improving. Any child out there is going to see an 8% cut in the

funding in real terms to them, so, whatever you - I'm not arguing about

efficiency, or even about the funding formula, I simply would like

to clarify and get it clear that in real terms, spending per pupil is

not rising, it is falling. Well that depends on what schools do around

their efficiencies. If they can be more efficient, it reduces cost, it

means the bds 2 billion increase on current record levels goes into the

pupils but it is also about making sure they get the best education. It

is better than it has ever been and we need to see it go further. So, we

have a Government, cutting funding per pupil. We have a Government that

is presiding over real problems in the NHS, as well, and a Government

that has a bit of an omni-shambles in the Budget. Why are you 19 points

behind in the polls? Well, Labour clearly isn't in a good position in

the opinion polls. We have a mountain to clie. I believe we can

climb that mountain. I think it was inevitable when Theresa May was

installed in Conservative Party leader that fl would be a period in

which the Conservatives would be boosted. But the Tory lead is

widening. It is not that at the start it went big baint by bit you

are clawing it back. It has got wider. In one poll after the

omni-shambles budget, the lead increased by three points, why is it

getting worse? The reality is that everyone in Labour needs to up their

game, the Conservatives need to up their game but your polling expert

was also correct when he said that the public don't like or don't

appreciate it when parties are disunited and when much of what is

on the television and in the papers are stories about one Labour MP

speaking out against another or talks about internal disputes into

the Labour Party, that cannot help Labour. Is that Tom Watson, the

deputy Chairman's, Tom Watson's fault? I'm not going to get into the

game of criticising my colleagues. You blamed that stuff for the reason

why you are so far behind in the polls and getting worse. Well, this

- well exhibitions of disunity and disagreement public in the Labour

Party didn't start this week. And I do... But there has been a quite

period but it has broken up again. I think Emily Thornbury was correct on

Newsnight the other night when she said that Labour needs to be outward

looking, not inward looking. My plea to everybody on the Labour Party,

whether on the left or the right of the Labour Party, is - let's unite

and let's look outward, not inward. On the doorstep and at my sessions,

people aren't raising with me the Labour Party National Executive

committee this, amendment or that at all. They probably lost interest.

They were never interested in the first place. That's a lot of what

you talk about. Except that it is clearly, according tou, having an

impact. Somebody is paying attention, otherwise you would not

be 19 points behind in the polls and when you call for party unionite, as

Mr Corbyn does regularly, is it not hypocritical qual for party unity,

whilst come of the people around Mr Corbyn are briefing against his

deputy leader. Well I don't agree of taking private disagreements into

the public arena, whoever does that. I don't know about briefing about

that, I don't know about anything like that. You know where the story

has come from. I don't actually. You were at the Shadow Cabinet meeting,

weren't you? I wasn't because I was in the chamber of the House of

Commons, doing my job, speaking for Labour on the prisons bill, so I

wasn't at the Shadow Cabinet. I usually am. Why is your membership

now falling? Well the membership of the Labour Party before the general

election is 170,000. It is still over... You had a huge bump, no

questions about that but it is now falling again, why? Well, at the end

of the day once a year you come to the point where people have to fill

in their... Actually pay. The reality is you will always get

people leaving a political party. Labour is still the biggest

left-of-centre party. Not for long... Have you seen how much the

German Social Democrats are rising? If people said a few years ago that

Labour would have 500,000 members I would have thought that was fan

toastical. If I said to you a year later 40,000 people were Ayerza

rears and memberships fallen below 500,000 you would have said what?

Well, Well it is not welcome that people leave but there is a huge

increase in the membership. Let me move on. Mr Livingston, who as you

know is always helpful to the Labour Party in his public pronouncements

has said that Mr Corbyn should suspend about a dozen disloyal

Labour MPs, include what say you? I don't think we should be in the game

of suspending MPs or attempting to deselect MPs. I thinks a distraction

and weed should be looking outward not inward my plea for everyone,

whether on the left or right, is to unite and look outward. Including Mr

Livingston, should do that? Of course.

Now, let's turn our attention to cake.

Our Foreign Secretary once famously declared that his policy

on cake was "pro having it and pro eating it".

Approximate He is a living embodiment of that. Who are we to

disagree? And it seems Boris Johnson's

colleagues have been getting in on the act,

taking part in a cake decorating contest for Comic Relief -

we'll have more on that later. Meanwhile, we're going to see

if we can engender a bit of cross-party artistic

collaboration here in the studio by asking our guests

if they can make less Oh, that doesn't look like it needs

decorating. It looks lovely. Like Brexit, we're looking

for something clean, uncomplicated, that the public can swallow

and preferably red, white and blue. And to go with with your

slice of patriotism, you obviously need tea and one

of these to put it in. And the only way to get one

is to tell us when this happened. And just to warn you, there

are flashing images from the start. MUSIC: Would I Lie To

You by Charles Eddie Who decides who's to be a number

of the British Cabinet - the Prime Minister or the editor

of the Daily Mail? # Girl, there's no one else

but you MUSIC: I Wonder Why

by Curtis Stigers # And I wonder why we hold

on with tears in our eyes #. It has turned out to be

an annus horribilis. # And I wonder why I can't seem to

tell you goodbye To be in with a chance of winning

a Daily Politics mug, send your answer to our special quiz

email address - that's We can right that so well on the

cake. -- write that. arrive by 12.30 today,

and you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year

on our website - that's It's coming up to midday here -

just take a look at Big Ben - and that can mean only one thing -

yes, Prime Minister's That will lighten things um. Already

lightening up the studio, Laura Kuenssberg is here. You were telling

me that you think Mr Corbyn is going to go on schools funding? I think it

is very likely, not least because there is concern on the Labour

benches and lots of concern in the country. Many parents turning up to

public meetings on what is going on with their schools but there is also

concern on the Tory benches. Behind Theresa May there are plenty of

backbenchers, some former minute sisters, and one G Osborne who made

his concerns plain. I thought it was originallies his formula Well it

was. Never say that Mr G Osborne has what some people describe as you had

as aity. Is this Mr George Osborne former Chancellor, still MP or

George Osborne, editor-elect of the standed a. I think actually in a

letter to his local paper that he has published this morning, this is

one of the things he has said - I'm still a local MP fighting for you.

He has raised the schools' funding formula as something he has

expressed concerns about in Cheshire. He didn't quite mention

that actually it was something he announced as Chancellor, almost a

clear to the day. And beyond his territory somewhat at the time? It

was one of the interesting things, it was the sort of thing - here is

this Chancellor who had ambitions beyond his job. It was a Gordon

Brown move. It was a domestic land grab that David Cameron was in lock

step with. We can't forget how much the two of them were in lock step

together. It is a change in I would like to express my

condolences to the family and colleagues of the former First

Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin We do not condone the path he took

in the first period of his life. However, he played an indispensable

role in bringing the republican movement away from violence to

peaceful and democratic means and to building a better Northern Ireland.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others

and in addition to my duties in this has, I shall have further such

meetings later today. The Prime Minister says that there is more

money for the National Health Service, more nurses and more

doctors, yet Bassetlaw breast care unit has been cut back and Bassetlaw

children's ward has been closed overnight. Something clearly does

not add up. I and the mothers of the most seriously ill children who use

the children's ward the most frequently offer to the Prime

Minister to work with her to solve this problem. Is her door at Number

Ten open to us? I say to the honourable gentleman, if we look at

what has happened in his area, his NHS Bassetlaw clinical commissioning

groups is receiving a cash increase, the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS

hospitals foundation trust have over 80 more doctors and nearly 30 more

nurses but of course what we see... He talks of listening to the voice

of local people in relation to health services in the local area.

That is exactly what the sustainability and transformation

plans are about. It is about hearing from local people and local

clinicians and putting together the health provisions that ensure that

they meet local needs. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Telford is a story of trans

formation and progress, from the ironmasters of the first industrial

revolution through to a new revolution in hi-tech manufacturing

in Telford today. It has helped build Britain. As this government

delivers on the democratic will of the British people and triggers

Article 50, will my right honourable friend tell us how Telford will

prosper from Brexit and from her plan for Britain? As I've said

before, the referendum result was not just about membership of the EU,

it was about to change the this country works and to make Britain a

country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. And that's

why the plan for Britain is a plan to get the right deal for Britain

and abroad but also to build a stronger, fairer Britain for

ordinary working families here at home like those in Telford and I'm

pleased that we've already provided ?70 million of funding to the local

LEP to proof improve in the search in Telford. This government is

putting the resources and our plans are Britain will deliver that

stronger, fairer economy and a more united, more outward looking country

than ever before. Jeremy Corbyn. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Could I start by echoing the words of the Prime Minister concerning the

death of Martin McGuinness, the former deputy minister of Northern

Ireland. He died this week and our thoughts go to his family, his wife

Bernie and the wider community. Martin played an immeasurable role

in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland and it is that peace that we

all want to see energy for all time, for all people in Northern Ireland.

-- endure. The government is cutting the schools budget by 6.5% by 2020

and today, we learn the proposed national funding formula will leave

1000 schools across England facing additional cuts of a further 7%

beyond 2020. Can the Prime Minister explain to parents why cutting

capital gains tax, cutting inheritance tax, cutting corporation

tax, cutting bank levy are all more important than our children's

future? This government is committed to ensuring that all our children

get the education that is right for them and that all our children have

a good school plays. That is what the Government's plans for education

will provide and that is building on a fine record of the past nearly

seven years for Conservatives in government, when we've seen 1.8

million more children in good or outstanding schools. We've protected

the schools budget and the national funding formula is a consultation

and obviously there will be a number of views. The consultation closes

today and then the Department for Education will respond to that in

due course. The manifesto on which she fought the last election

promised that under a future Conservative government, the amount

of money following your child into school will be protected. No wonder

even be editor of the London Evening Standard is up in arms about this!

Where is he? There he is! Mr Speaker, the cuts to school funding

equates to the loss of two teachers across all primary schools, six

teachers across all secondary schools. So is the Prime Minister

advocating larger class sizes, shorter school days or unqualified

teachers? Which is it? As we said we would, we have protected the schools

budget. We now see more teachers in our schools, we see more teachers

with first-class degrees in our schools. As I say, we see 1.8

million more children in good or outstanding schools. That's a result

of the policies of this government, of diversity in education, Free

Schools, academies, comprehensives, faith schools, universities, grammar

schools. We believe in diversity in education and choice for parents. He

believes in a one size fits all, take it or leave it model. She was

clearly elected on a pledge not to cut school funding and that is

exactly what's happening. Maybe she could listen to headteachers in West

Sussex, who say they believe savings will come from, and I quote,

staffing reductions, further increased class sizes, withdrawal of

counselling and pastoral services, modified school hours, reduction in

books, IT and equipment. I've got a heartfelt letter from a primary

school teacher by Remain Eileen. Eileen is one of our many hard

working teachers who cares our kids and she wrote to me to say, teachers

are purchasing items such as pens, pencils, glue sticks and paper out

of their own pockets. Fundraising events have quadrupled as funds are

so low that parents are having to make donations to purchase books.

This is disgraceful, says Eileen. Does the Prime Minister agree with

Eileen? We are seeing record levels of funding going into our schools.

We have protected the schools budget, we protected the pupil

premium, but what matters for parents is the quality of... You

shouldn't keep yelling out, what about Eileen? The Prime Minister

is... The Prime Minister is giving her response to the leader of the is

a, including the references to Eileen. The Prime Minister. What

matters for all of us who are concerned about education in this

country is to ensure that the quality of education that has

provided our children is a quality that enabled them to get on in life

and have a better future. That is what this government is about. It is

about ensuring that in this country, you get an on the basis of merit,

not privileged. It is about ensuring every child, every child... Every

child across this country has the opportunity of a good school plays.

That's what we have been delivering for the past seven years and is what

we will deliver into the future and every single policy that has

delivered better education for children has been opposed by the

right honourable gentleman. Mr Speaker, maybe she could have a word

with her friend the Member for the Cotswolds who said this week, under

this new formula all my large primaries and all my secondaries

will actually see a cash cut in their budgets. And in the budget,

the Government found no more money for the schools budget but it did

find ?320 million for her own special schools, grammar schools

vanity project. So there was no money for Eileen's schools but 320

million for divisive grammar schools. What kind of priority is

that? First of all, what we have done in relation to the funding

formula is addressed an issue that Labour ignored for all its time in

government. Across... Across this House, there has generally, for many

years, been an accepted view that the current formula for school

funding is not fair. I was calling for a better funding formula over 15

years ago when I was the Shadow Education Secretary. We've put

forward a proposal, we are consulting on it, the consultation

closes today and we will respond to that consultation. But he talks

about the issue of the sort of system in schools we want. Yes, we

want to diversity, different sorts of schools. We have put money into

new school places but I say to the right honourable gentleman, his

Shadow Home Secretary sent her child to a private school, his shadow

Attorney General sent her child to a private school. He sent... He sent

his child to a grammar school. He went to a grammar school himself.

Typical Labour - take the advantage and pull up the ladder behind you.

Mr Speaker... I want a decent, their opportunity for every child in every

school. I want a staircase for all, not a ladder for the few. She hasn't

been very good at convincing the former Secretary of State for

Education, the honourable member for Loughborough, who wrote last week,"

all the evidence is clear that grammar schools damaged social

mobility". What evidence has the Prime Minister got that the former

Secretary of State is wrong in that? The evidence is that the attainment

for the poorest children, the attainment gap in a selective school

is virtually zero. That tells us the quality of the education that they

are getting. But what I want is a diverse education system, where

there are genuine opportunities for all to have the education that is

right for them. That's why in the budget, as well as dealing with the

issue of new school places, we've also put extra money into technical

education, for those young they will for whom the technical education is

right. He says he wants opportunities for all children, he

says he wants good school places for all children. When he should jolly

well support the policies we're putting forward. It is not just the

former Education Secretary, it is also the chair of the education

select committee, who says grammar schools do little for social

mobility and are an unnecessary distraction. Mr Speaker, the Prime

Minister and her government arbitrating a generation of young

people by cutting the funding of every child to adopt -- are

betraying. Children will have fewer teachers, larger classes, fewer

subjects to choose from and all the Prime Minister can do is focus on

her grammar school vanity project that can only ever benefit a few

children. Is the Prime Minister content that this generation, this

generation in our schools today, will see their schools decline,

their subject choices diminished, and their life chances held back by

decisions of her government today? Protected school funding, more

teachers in our schools, more teachers with first-class degrees in

our schools, more children in good or outstanding schools. It's not a

vanity project to want every child in this country to have a good

school plays, because that's how they will get on in life and that's

what this party will deliver. But it shows that there is a difference...

Yes. There is a difference between the right honourable gentleman and

meet it up earlier this week, he recorded a video calling for unity.

He called for Labour to think of our people first, think of our movement

first, think of the party first. That's the difference between him

and made it up labour but the party first, we put the country first.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. For searching Prime Ministers have taken a close

personal interest in the effectiveness of Dover and the

channelp ports as gateways and guardians of the kingdom. Can I ask

my right honourable friend to take a close interest in making sure Kent's

ports are ready for Brexit on day 1, not just for customs but also that

the lorry port is on schedule and that the Thames crossing are in

force. And Mr Speaker will you join with me and the Prime Minister in

wishing Dame Vera Lynn a happy 100th birthday this week? I'm extremely

grateful to the honourable gentleman, but I did do that a

couple of days ago. Mr Speaker, I didn't have the opportunity in this

House to do it a couple of days ago. I'm happy to wish Dame Vera Lynn a

very happy 100th birth day. I think it is right to recognise the service

she gave to this country as many others Z my honourable friend raises

an important issue of transport links in Kent and one which we have

discussed on a number of occasions as I have with other Kent MPs. In

addition to the M 20 lorry park I can assure him that the department

for department is fully committed to delivering a long-term solution as

quickly as possible. They're currently consider the findings of

the lower Thames crossing consultation and highways England

will be doing more detailed work on the A2 and the Home Office will be

looking very closely at what measures need to be in place for

Brexit for those coming across the border into Dover.

May I begin extending condolences as the Prime Minister and the leader of

the Labour Party have done to the family, friends and colleagues of

the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness.

And we pay tribute to his contribution towards peace, whilst

never forgetting the terrible human price during the Troubles. Last

year, Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister promised that she would secure a

UK-wide agreement between the governments of Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland and her government, before triggering Article 50 own

Brexit. Article -- on Brexit. Since then, she has delayed, blocked, been

intransjet and lectured and surprise, surprise, she has no

agreement. There is no agreement. Will these be her negotiating

tactics with the European Union? Over the past few months, every

effort has been put in at various levels, at ministerial and official

levels to work with all the devolved administrations, to identify their

particular concerns and interests and to ensure we are able to take

those into account throughout the negotiating process and discussions

will continue in the future. What we want to ensure is that we get the

best-possible deal when we leave the European Union, for all the people

of the United Kingdom, including the people of Scotland. Because at heart

we are one people. And Mr Speaker, viewers will note that the Prime

Minister totally glossed over the fact she has reached no agreement

with the devolved governments of the United Kingdom. Mr Speaker, the

Prime Minister says that she wants Article 50 negotiations to lead to a

deal. And she wants people to know the outcome of that deal before it

is approved. So, will the Prime Minister confirm that in the period

for an I greement, the House of Commons will have a choice -- for an

agreement the House of Commons will have a choice, the House of Lords

will have a choice. The European Parliament will have a choi.s 27

Member States of the European Union will have a choice. Mr Speaker, if

it is right for all of them to have a choice about Scotland's future,

why should the people of Scotland not have a choice about their own

future? This isn't a question about whether the people of Scotland

should have a choice. The people of Scotland voted - exercised their

right to self-determination and voted in 2014 to remain a part of

the United Kingdom. The people of the United Kingdom last year voted

to leave the European Union. We are respecting both of those votes. He

is respecting neither of them. Mr Speaker, with her strong commitment

to defence, would my right honourable friend agree that we must

stem the outflow from our flow slinking forces? Could I urge her to

reconsidering the approximatelicy she inherited of encouraging service

families to get on the housinger why and on the other hand focussing the

Army in areas where there is no affordable housing and applying the

new landlord tax arrangements of they buy-to-let. Obviously I

recognise the passion with with my honourable friend has raised these

issues in relation to the Armed Forces. He raises an important point

but I can assure him we are fully committed to our goal of an

82,000-strong Army by 2020. He raises a point about service

accommodation. We want to ensure that people have a greater choice in

where they of live, by using private accommodation, and meeting their

aspirations for home-ownership. That's why we have set up the ?200

million forces help-to-buy scheme and we're considering to support

subsidised housing for service personnel and the pot of money will

not be cut. The Ministry of Defence is working with the Treasury in

relation to the issues he raises and I'm sure they will keep him updated.

Thank you Mr Speaker. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland will be 95 years' old in December N that UK-Scottish

economic growth is one-quarter of that independent Iceland and

one-third of independent Ireland. Now, given the Prime Minister

supports Irish independence and the benefits it has brought its economy

and population, why does she owe pose it for Scotland and will she

show Scotland the respect the EU shows the UK in regards to a

referendum. I have to say to the honourable gentleman that if he is

looking at issues around economic growth and he quoted figures for

economic groat. He should pay attention for the most important

market for Scotland. The most important market for Scotland is the

market of the United Kingdom and this is' why Scotland should remain

part of it. -- and that's why. Thank you, Mr Speaker, last week, with

cross-party support my honourable friend for chipping ham and I set up

an all-party group for lime disease this, debilitating disease is a

growing problem across the country and including my constituency of

North Dorset, yet awareness of it amongst the public and GPs is

incredibly low. Will my right honourable friend ensure that her

Government does all that it can to raise its profile and resolve the

problems surrounding both diagnosis and treatment? Well, my honourable

friend raises an important point. I commend him and my honourable friend

the member for chipping ham for the attention that is now going given in

the House to this issue. He is right, we do need to raise awareness

of this issue but we also need to ensure that diagnosis and treatment

is - early diagnosis and treatment is there because that's the best way

of limiting the complications from this particular disease. The

Department of Health is already taking steps, clinical guidelines

are being updated and enhanced by NICE. NHS England has undertaken

robust reviews on diagnosis, testing and treatment but there is more that

we can do and so Public Health England is holding regular medical

training days and conducting outreach across the medical

community to raise awareness and ensure that that early diagnosis is

there. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yesterday in

a Westminster Hall debate a Health Minister said the issue in hand was

above his pay grade. On the basis that the Prime Minister has the top

pay grade, can she give us a clue as to when we'll see the long-aed

waited and very late tobacco-control plan? I can assure him that we are

working on the tobacco control plan and one will be issued in due

course. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Recently a

substantial number of Government ministers took the opportunity to

visit Cumbria. . Hear, hear. They saw for themselves not only its

beauty, but also its industrial strengths and its potential. If the

Government's industrial strategy is to succeed, places such as Cumbria

need to be part of that success. Plot Prime Minister ensure that

Cumbria gets the infrastructure investment which it requires to make

sure that it really does fulfil its potential? I can assure my

honourable friend that I and other ministerial colleagues were

delighted to be able it take the opportunity to visit the beautiful

county of Cumbria and we are even happier now Cumbria has another

strong force in the form of the Conservative MP for Copeland. But

he's right, Cumbria and the north-west has huge industrial

potential that's why we are getting on delivering our investment plans

across the country, including in the north-west. And just some figures,

?556 million allocated to produce productivity and north is getting

?156 million to tackle congestion and local interest. But it is our

plan for Britain that will deliver the stronger, fairer economy, and

that will deliver the higher-paid, higher-skilled jobs for people

across the whole country. The Prime Minister is in denial.

Today's report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies confirms that

schools are already facing "The largest cut in spending per pupil

over a four-year period since at least the early 1980s." And that

under her new national formula "You funding is diverted from schools

with very high level of deprivation." Every single school in

my constituency will lose an average of ?584 per pupil. Has she failed at

maths or failed to read her own manifesto? I responded to this point

earlier but just to reiterate - across this House, for many years,

there has been a general acceptance that the current funding formula for

schools is unfair. That is why this Government is looking to find a

formula, a fairer formula. There is a consultation exercise and the

Department for Education will respond to that in due course. We

are grasping this issue. Labour did nothing for 13 years.

Can my right honourable friend confirm that in the forthcoming

debate on the restoration and renewal of Parliament, all members,

including ministers, will have a completely free vote in what is a

House matter? And does she understand that many of us believe

that in these times of austerity, we should not be front-loading billions

of pounds worth of expenditure on ourselves at the expense of schools

and hospitals, but that we should carry on the work and stay in what

is the iconic image of the nation? Well, this Palace of Westminster is

world renowned, tss a very important part of our national heritage. It

belongs to the people of the United Kingdom and of course we have a

responsibility to our constituents, also, to preserve this place as the

home of our democracy. It will be for Parliament to take the final

decision on this matter but I can assure my honourable friend, as it

will be a House matter, it will be a free vote. Thank you Mr Speaker, air

and road pollution, caused mainly by diesel engines brings about 40,000

early deaths in this country, while causing severe lung diseases, like

bronchitis and asthma in our young people and children. A road in my

constituency in Crumlin is the most polluted road outside of lob dovenl

it is an absolute disgrace. Most of it is caused by HGVs lorries

travelling up that road, spewing out noxious gases on the residents. Will

the Prime Minister commit to ensure that hauliers will start using newer

diesel engines and cleaner technology and cleaner inner joy to

ensure that everybody, including our young people, can enjoy a better

quality of life, especially on the road in my constituency? The

honourable gentleman speaks up well for his constituents. I have to say

to him this is an issue that we all recognise, the problems in relation

to air quality. That's why the Government will be bringing forward

further proposals in relation to air quality. We have seen some changes

taking place and we have, of course, put investment into green transport

initiatives and plans to introduce clean air zones around the country

will help to tackle and that in fact we have been at the forefront of

action in Europe in some aspects in relation to this. I accept there is

more to be done. As I say we'll bring forward further proportional

in due course Compensation paid by Network Rail to train operators for

delays, far exceeds the amount that the passengers who have experienced

the delayed are getting because the process can be come boresome. Will

the Prime Minister insist the train operators ringfence that company,

spend it on smart ticketing automation, so customers can tap on

and tap off their train and receive the amount in their bank account for

the delays they have been caused? My honourable friend does raise an

important point. I know it is a source of much frustration to many

rail travellers but I would also like it thank him for the way in

which he and others have spoken up on behalf of passengers especially

on the Thameslink, Southern and other lines. Now the best way to

ensure that the operators do not profit from unclaimed compensation

is for passengers to claim the compensation that they are entitled

to and we are looking and Department for Transport is looking at how we

can ensure that we publicise compensation schemes, make claims

easier and we are rolling out improved delay repay compensation to

allow passengers to claim after a delay of 15 minutes but the

Department for Transport is continuing to look at this issue and

I'm sure will pick up the points he has raised.

Last week the Electoral Commission issued its largest ever find the

Conservative Party for breaking a vital and crucial election ruled.

What did the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and her assistants know

about this activity, who was responsible for designing and

signing off all of this and does she agree with me that this is at best

wilful negligence and at worst pure electoral fraud? The honourable

gentleman is asking me to respond to what is a party matter but I can

assure him that the Conservative Party debt campaign in 2015 across

the country for the return of a Conservative government and we

should be clear that such campaigning would be part of the

party's national return, not candidates' local return, as the

Electoral Commission itself has said. We accepted in April 2016, the

party accepted Ray Poar 2016, it had made an administrative error on its

national spending. -- accepted in April 2016. It brought back to the

attention of the commission to amend its national return. National

spending is a question for the national party, not for individual

members. The Electoral Commission has looked into these issues, as it

has for the Liberal Democrat party and the Labour Party, it has issued

fines to all three parties and those fines will be paid. The

international trade committee has been taking evidence from the

chambers of commerce this morning about exports. Given the Prime

Minister's commitment to a global Britain, would she agree with me

that we can maintain good relations with our European friends as we

leave the EU and build on our long-standing relationships with our

Commonwealth friends across the world to trade our way to greater

prosperity? I say to him, obviously one of the four pillars are planned

for Britain is that global Britain, and more outward looking Britain. He

is right, it's not just a question of ensuring you get the right

relationship with Europe when we leave the EU, we do want to continue

to have a partnership, to be able to trade freely across Europe and for

companies in European member states, EU member states, to trade with us.

But we do want to enhance and improve the arrangements we have

portrayed in other parts of the world, including members of the

Commonwealth. Last week, through no fault of our own, Amy and her young

daughter became homeless. After months of looking for a flat, she

finally went to Merton council, who told her they could only offer her

temporary accommodation in Birmingham, 140 miles away from her

job, from her daughter's school and from the friends and family who make

it possible for her to be a working single mum. Can I ask the Prime

Minister, in one of the richest cities in the world, where Russian

oligarchs and Chinese banks own scores of properties and leave them

empty, how can it be right that a London born working family like Amy

have not a room to live? Well, the issue, obviously, of housing in the

London Borough of Merton is one that the honourable lady and I worked on

many years ago when we were on the housing committee of the London

Borough of Merton together and I recognise that she has raised a

concern for her constituent. Obviously, I won't comment on the

individual case. What I will say is what's important is that overall,

the Government is dealing with the issue of homelessness, we are rich

we are building more homes, we are giving more support to people to get

into their own homes. -- we are ensuring we are building more homes.

That will take time and as we ensure we maintain the record that we have

in providing housing support in all types of housing across this

country. As the Prime Minister already said, it must be right that

the same pupils with the same characteristics attract the same

amount of money and that is an unfairness that was not challenged

for 13 years under the Labour government. Yes, there needed to be

changes to the current draft formula but I hope that she will commit to

confirm -- to fulfilling our manifesto promise of making school

funding fairer and I think she will agree with me that if the Labour

Party had carried on in office, their spending plans would have led

to what has happened in Greece and Spain where not just hundreds, but

tens of thousands of teachers, have had to be fired. My right honourable

friend is right. As I said earlier, this is an issue in terms of the

funding formula for schools that was docked for too long and certainly

doctored by the last Labour government. We have started to

address it. -- docked. We have put forward a proposal, we will look at

the consultation responses on that and respond in due course but she is

absolutely right about the Labour Party. The Labour Party's education

policies would mean fewer opportunities in schools and their

economic policy would mean less funding for schools. Last week, her

government confirmed that an assessment of the economic impact of

the failure to strike in EU deal before exited top is it not the case

that in triggering Article 50 last week, she is the military equivalent

of Lord Cardigan, the military commander responsible for the child

of light Brigade, and we all love how that ended? In triggering

Article 50 next week, what I'm doing is responding to the wishes of the

British people. Does the Prime Minister agree that we urgently need

to find a solution to the impacts of the national living wage on sleeping

shifts in the care sector? This, together with HMRC policies that are

insisting on a payment of six-years' backpay plus penalties, may have a

devastating impact on this vitally important sector. He has raised a

very important point and obviously, through the national living wage, we

are giving Britain a pay rise, making sure pay is fair, in social

care and all sectors. But on the specific pointy has raised, this is

an issue we are addressing, we are looking at it very carefully,

including in the context of the funding pressures on social care. We

are working to ensure it affects low paid workers in a fair and

proportionate manner. As the Chancellor announced in the budget,

?2 billion of extra money is going into the social care sector but the

very specific issue my honourable friend has raised is being carefully

looked at by the Treasury. Despite austerity, shocking pay increases

were awarded to the board of Liverpool CCG, where a lady deputy

chair is paid over ?100,000 after a 43% increase. -- a lay deputy

checked it would the Minister agree to investigate this and the lack of

scrutiny within the wider Liverpool health economy, whilst ensuring that

no murders take place while this is investigated? I understand that the

Health Secretary has asked NHS England to investigate the

remuneration of nonexecutive directors at Liverpool CCG and I'm

sure he will keep updated about this. We want to make the NHS even

more efficient so every penny possible can be spent on front line

patient care and we are seeing results, I'm pleased to say, because

we now see a financial position that has improved by 1.3 billion compared

to this time last year with 44 fewer trust endeavours it but, as I say,

NHS England is investigating the issue she has raised. The Prime

Minister will be aware that the Jo Cox commission on loneliness is

calling us all to action to highlight and tackle loneliness. In

Northumberland, a small charity of which I'm a patron is taking up this

challenge with female military veterans who are suffering from

severe isolation issues. With the Prime Minister meet with me and some

of these extraordinary women to learn how our government can help?

Can I commend the work that is being done by that organisation in my

honourable friend's constituency. It sounds like a valuable project doing

valuable work and state for defence will be happy to meet her. Tomorrow

the schools minister has been good enough to meet Erdington

Headteachers from a constituency rich in talent but one of the

poorest in the country in a city, Birmingham, where 96% of schools

will lose a total of ?20 million under the government's fair funding

formula, yet Surrey gained 17 million, Southwark gains ten million

and Windsor and Maidenhead gained 300,000. How can that possibly be

fair? I note that the schools minister will be meeting the

honourable gentleman and head teachers to discuss this issue. What

the fair funding formula is looking at is trying to ensure that the

unfair funding which has existed up till now is actually dealt with, and

there are some very, very stark differences. There are schools in

London, for example, that gets almost twice the funding of schools

in other parts of the country. We need to ensure that we are

addressing the unfairness in the funding formula but, as I said

earlier, there was a consultation exercise and the department will

respond in due course. As Laura predicted, the Leader of

the Opposition went on school funding. It was a matter we

discussed before let's find out first what our viewers made of this.

This from John Wakefield in London, we keep hearing the mantra from the

Tories when the issue of austerity is raised regarding spending, the

children of tomorrow will have to pay the price, well, it appears the

children of today do not count. Helen Manning says, Jeremy Corbyn

and his front bench went to grammar and private schools while they want

to pull up the drawbridge for the rest of us? The Prime Minister is

right to offer diversity of choice and should stick to her guns. Tom

Baker says the schools budget is being protected but Jeremy Corbyn

says it is being cut. The Prime Minister seemed unconvincing and

even started to lose her cool. And John Gilbert from Leicester says,

"For Jeremy Corbyn today and he actually managed to score. One of

Theresa May's worst performances, trying to defend the indefensible.

This is a matter for England. 11,000 schools better off, 9000 worse off.

Those who are worse off will always have the loudest voices. Is the

government worried that it can carry the Tory backbenches on this? I was

talking to a cabinet minister about this earlier this week and at this

stage, they do not see this as the next national insurance or the next

business rates budget or the next U-turn, at this stage. There are

several reasons for that. First, the consultation is a safety valve for

the government. Any government, when they are trying to do anything

difficult, you have a consultation, get all the worries out there, you

can always tweak, change, redraft the plans. Secondly, this was the

Conservative manifesto and look what has just happened in the last two

weeks. They've dumped something in the budget at 100 miles an hour

because of the accusation of breaking a manifesto promise.

Thirdly, there is a genuine belief, as we heard the Prime Minister,

having quite a hard time trying to defend the idea behind this, that

the change is long overdue. I think there will probably be an awful lot

of tweaking and redrafting. But they're not minded at this moment to

budge on the principle of whether or not the change, the principle of the

change, has to happen. Brandon Lewis, the Conservative manifesto

did not use the phrase per-pupil bodies at the following... "Under a

future Conservative government, the amount of money following your child

into school will be protected". I think most people would assume that

that protects spending per pupil. I will repeat the words. "The amount

of money following your child into school will be protected". I read

that that it is about protecting that schools budget. As the Prime

Minister said, we have done that and it is increasing. No, the amount of

money following your child, as if each child had a bag of money to go

in that would help to pay for their school education. That amount into

school will be protected. Philip Hammond said it was important to

live by the spirit of the manifesto, as well as the exact letter, which

is why he had to do the U-turn on national insurance. I would suggest

to you that many people would think the spirit there, if not the exact

letter, of the amount of money following your child into school

will be protected, is that spending per pupil will be protected. I think

it's a something quite different to that. My interpretation is that it

is making a general point about children, it is not saying

per-pupil, it is talking about your child in a general sense and I think

the spirit of the manifesto means education spending is protected. It

has gone up to 42 billion. But as we said in a manifesto, making sure you

have a fair funding formula. We are having to do work in a range of

sectors to get a fair formula. The manifesto goes on to say in the next

sentence, "Having said that the amount of money following your child

into school will be protected, as the number of pupils increases,"

because the government knew that... It is not a difficult thing to

predict for primary and secondary education, that the number of pupils

increases, "So will the amount of money into our schools". But having

said the amount following your child would be protected and that will be

protected even as the number of pupils arises, you didn't do that

because with the rise in the number of pupils, the amount per as we've

established earlier, is falling in real terms by about a % so I put it

to you again, a lot of people will think you have not kept to the

spirit of that manifesto. Auto I disagree with your issue. I

appreciate about inflation but there is work we can do around

efficiencies but it is making sure everybody has fair funding so pupils

wherever they are in the country get funding that is fair that hasn't

been dealt with for a long time. It is important we get it done. Hold

on, there is nowhere in the manifesto... That's also why it is

important that we get... It says it doesn't say - in order to keep the

funding up in real terms, it is not in the manifesto You are talking

about the real terms, and efficiency is part of that. It is important we

get that right. Costs are going up Schools can look at some of the

efficiency in terms of procurement, HR, What about staffing costs and

pension contributions? Staffing costs are part of HR. If you are

looking at schools and there are schools who have their own teams

looking at mod argues, HR and legal issues. Sharing those across schools

in the same area can bring huge efficiencies but it is about making

sure we get the best outcomes. It is one of the reasons why the

Government could be in political trouble. Two things are smashing

upping together: One, the real pressure you have been discussing on

schools budgets and the schools changes to how the formula are

calculated for who gets what. Now, in theory, this policy land, those

are two different things, but here what they mean n practice, are

potentially much bigger losses than otherwise would've happened for

schools in different pockets of the country. Two things going on, cuts

on the one hand and changes to the formula that are making itting

together, such a political problem. Is Labour -- making it together. Is

Labour in favour of the principle behind the school funding formula

Well, Labour is obviously very concerned that there has b as you

have said, a broken promise, that was in the spirit of the

Conservative manifesto, the detail. What concerns us is that these cuts

mean the logs of two secondary school teachers in every secondary

school across the country but at the same time the Government is finding

money, that Jeremy Corbyn said today this, vanity project of expanding

divisive grammar schools. Let me come back to the spending in a

minute but nemplts principle behind school funding, attempting to

equalise spending, to bring spending for each school more in line with

the circumstances of that school, because there are huge variations at

the moment, do you support that principle or not? Well, Labour

doesn't believe that it should be the that in some parts of the

country people get much more funding than others in similar social

circumstances. So you do support the principle? We support the principle

of fair funding for pupils so there aren't pupils being left behind, who

are in the same social circumstances as people in... I understand but

that's what prompted the new form la. The thing that particularly

concerns us, the nub of it that concerns Labour is the fact that

these cuts, another broken proims, will mean less money for pupils in

our schools across the country. So, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as

I have been probably labouring, with a small l, here, is likely to fall

by about 8% over the next five years, in the lifetime of this

Parliament, it is going to call by 8%. Would Labour restore that? Well,

what Labour wouldn't have done is give tax cuts to the very richest,

corporation tax cuts as well. But you have already spent that. Which

has seen a forecast from the House of Commons' library of losses to the

public purse of billions and billions of pounds. That's not from

the House of Commons library. What the Labour Party did was to consult

House of Commons' library. That is not research by the Commons' library

which we regard as the gold standard. I think you have to be

careful when you use that. It is your research, you consulted the

Commons. Let me,back to this - would you make up the short fall of the 8%

cut, and if so, how would you pay for it Well, Labour announced its

specific problem in due course. -- will announce. So you don't know.

When it comes to specific spending commitments on education and a host

of other thing, Labour will announce. No opposition will be

announcing detailed spending plans years and years away from the next

election. I don't think, yes, except as I have been told by other members

on other problems of your party, you are on an election footing. I was

told at the weekend on the Sunday politics by your head of election,

Mr Gwyn, if they were to go for an early election, Labour MPs would

vote and Mr Corbyn would vote for an early election. Is that right? If it

is the case you are applying, that would mean we would have to print a

general election manifesto every day. No because you aspire to run

the country and you think an election could be called at any

moment, Mr Corbyn has told us and that has been since the election

last September, given how much you care about health and education, you

must have developed these policies, so it is fair to ask, how would you

reverse the 8% cut in real terms. If so, do you know how much it would

cost and how much would you pay? How would you pay for it? Our priorities

are fundamentally different to the priorities of the Conservative

Government. I'm in the asking that. People need to know that out there.

They need to know if you know how to pay for all these spending pledges.

So far you've spent the reverse of the corporation tax about eight

times. 10. Well I missed the last two. We wouldn't be making those

decisions to release money from the public purse, miss money out from

the public coffers, at the same time as cutting pupil finding and

breaking Labour manifestos. I wasn't asking what you weren't going to do,

I was trying to find out what are you going to do. I'm sure if there

is an early election you have something in the bottom drawer to

answer the questions. Lawyeria, final word? I think it is risskey

territory from the Government. I think it was an unusually angry

Prime Minister's Questions on both sides and pure ideological

difference. The Prime Minister's plans to bring back grammars, all

this simmering away. Very uncomfortable for the Government

Very uncomfortable. A better week for Jeremy Corbyn. Not killer blows

but this is an issue that's very give and right now they don't want

to budge on this principle, as I was suggesting, but you never know. We

shall see. We are learning it is a Government that is willing to change

its mind as things get hard. Keep your eye on school funding. It is

time to talk about cake. Crumbs, eh? So what happens when -

for Comic Relief, of course - you put a load of parliamentarians

in a big tent with a load Mm, nice cup of tea,

wasn't that a long PMQs. What I could really

do with now is a... Cake ruined - I mean decorated

by the hands of democrasy and The reigning champion was hungry

for victory once more. When it comes to baking cakes

and decorating cakes, more is more, that's a lesson my children

have taught me. I think we have a high

art concept cake there and I'm looking forward

to win the prize. The rampant bunny cupcake,

specially designed for Comic Relief and it's

only 99 calories. Interesting our MPs chose cake

decorating over sitting in a bath of baked beans to raise

money for Comic Relief. When I was a teacher,

I once taught for a whole day dressed up as a duck

and I've always felt that maybe we should do something

like that in Parliament. I've never been able to find a taker

for this approach, so, You can expect next door's hamster

to decorate a cake better than most of these MPs,

but it's great fun and it's Do you know what,

this lot are rubbish. Yeah, all right, it

all tastes the same. That was hopeless. My mother used to

say - it's all going down the same way. That's true but you want to

look nice as well. Talking of which, here is how we got on with our

earlier efforts. We asked our esteemed guests and give them a cake

each. Look there they are, it looks like the Generation Game, do you

remember they used to do that. Cuddly toy. Good game, good game. We

gave them a set of different coloured icing. Look, the two

concentrating so hard. Look, you can see Brandon Lewis thinks he's got

something beautiful being created. I never said that. I said you

thought it. And Richard Burgon going for what I would say is a - Labour

motive. A Labour rose. You are very politically correct. There is mine.

Andrew didn't think I would finish my piping during PMQs.

I didn't think you would but then I stopped caring.

So, to give us an idea of what a well decorated

cake should look like, we have brought in an expert.

Yes, I said "expert" - a cake school tutor from Konditor

Show us how it should be done. What are you got on the top of your cake?

So, I got the Daily Politics theme on there and a bit of the style of

the logo. I got the... The colours a little bit. The BBC logo of course

and some elements into the politics I designed. So when you do it,

hopefully a little bit better than you... Them, I think, not me All of

you, exactly. You have to have a steady hand. You do. It is quite

difficult. Actually the quicker you go, the better it is. Can you judge

in Richard and Brandon's case? It is quite minimalistic. I said - less is

more. But we can definitely stick to the swirly pattern that we normally

have on our cakes. I can see some Easter trends with an Easter nest.

And obviously the roses there. Have they risen to the challenge? Well, I

would say, definitely kept to the theme of, you know - the rose. It is

safe for public consumption as well? Is it? Now, what about mine? Is that

half-baked or... ? I like it because it has a nice border which we always

try to do at our company. And also, I like the sort of - there is

definitely a flower theme to it, I like the flower with a swirl in the

centre. I'm not sure it would be. If there was a euphemism for Brexit,

Andrew, in terms of clean, uncomplicated, falling off a cliff

edge. What? Never mind. You have to

remember it is for Comic Relief. Did you actually take part in the film?

No, I wasn't there for that. Sadly not. And I don't think you will be

asked. Don't worry. Can you be taught how to do this. Richard says

he hasn't been trained which implies if he was trained... You can be very

much taught. I do this on a daily bases, I'm a teacher. You Kyoto

Protocol prove, come and see me. Right we need to go.

There's just time to put you out of your misery and give

It was 1992. Richard, press the red button. There we go.

Bill Thomas. 1992, well done. We don't know where you are fro but

we'll leave that. The One O'Clock News is starting

over on BBC One now. Jo and I will be here at noon

tomorrow with all the big political