07/03/2018 Daily Politics


07/03/2018

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LineFromTo

Morning folks, welcome

to the Daily Politics.

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Ministers hold an emergency meeting

to discuss the suspected poisoning

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of a Russian double agent.

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The government says it will respond

"robustly" if it's proved

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the Russian state was involved.

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We'll have the latest.

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The Chancellor says financial

services must be included

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in our post-Brexit trading deal.

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EU top brass says,

"Not on your nelly."

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Battle lines are drawn so will

a comprehensive deal be reached?

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He's leading a huge reform

programme in Saudi Arabia.

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But, amid continued controversy

about human rights, should Britain

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be rolling out the red carpet

for the young Saudi crown prince?

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A busy day here in Westminster,

so plenty for Theresa May

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and Jeremy Corbyn to

discuss at PMQs.

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All the action coming up at midday.

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All that in the next 90 minutes

and with me for the duration,

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Treasury Minister Mel Stride

and the Shadow Work and Pensions

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Secretary Debbie Abrahams.

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Welcome to the show.

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The Government's emergency committee

Cobra is meeting this morning to get

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the latest on the suspected

poisoning of a former

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Russian double agent.

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Sergei Skripal and his daughter,

Yulia, have spent a third night

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in a critical condition in hospital

after being found unconscious

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in Salisbury on Sunday.

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Our reporter Andy Moore is outside

the Cabinet Office where that

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emergency meeting is taking place.

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Any new developments yet? Do we know

what has been decided?

No, this

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meeting started about 45 minutes

ago. These emergency meetings at

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Cobra are held after a terrorist

attack, so it gives you an

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indication of the seriousness with

which the government is taking this

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incident. This will be a meeting

chaired by Amber arrived, the Home

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Secretary, and it is attended by

senior Cabinet ministers, senior

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police officers, maybe military

officials as well. We have seen a

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number of people going into the

meeting, none of them commented on

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the way in. We saw Gavin Williamson,

the Defence Secretary, the Attorney

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General Jeremy Wright, the Health

Secretary Jeremy Hunt, so we are not

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absolutely sure if he is attending

this meeting, it might be another

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meeting. Boris Johnson, the Foreign

Secretary, we believe went into the

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office behind me via Downing Street.

We are expecting the meeting to last

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an hour or so. We might get a read

out from Amber Rudd, the Home

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Secretary, in the next half an hour

or so. Whether it is the meeting to

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decide what to do or a meeting just

to hear about information in the

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case, it is probably the latter. It

is probably an update from the

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police on what is happening with the

investigation. We heard Boris

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Johnson talking about action will be

taken if a link is proven with the

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Russians, but I suspect we are not

quite that far down the line yet.

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Thank you for that update. The Cobra

committee meeting is still going on.

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They like to call it a Cobra meeting

because it gives a sense of action,

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whether they decide to do anything

or not is something else. The

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Foreign Secretary has described

Russia as a malign and disruptive

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force. Should the Russian state be

implicated in this poisoning, what

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should the response be?

The Foreign

Secretary made clear in his

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statement yesterday there will be an

appropriate and robust response. You

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will be aware with the Alexander

Litvinenko case that we took

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measures there when it was

established Russia was complicit in

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that.

What did you do?

In that case

there was an expulsion of diplomats

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and we tightened up the Visa regime

and we froze various assets.

You

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froze the assets of the two suspects

and you summoned the Russian

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ambassador to the Foreign Office.

That is about it. That must have had

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the Kremlin checking in its boots!

On the broader point of sanctions,

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you will be aware there are other

sanctions in place with Russia and

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we have been at the forefront of

supporting them. The economy in

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Russia was in recession in 2015 in

2016 and most people will say it was

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down to the sanctions.

There is not

a recession any more. A lot of these

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sanctions were introduced because of

the Ukraine and the Crimea. Not

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because of the Alexander Litvinenko

case. I am still trying to work out

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giving your past record, why would

the Russians fear anything?

The

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sanctions are renewed periodically

and the United Nations and the UK is

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in the room arguing whether they

should be continued or not. In the

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event we find the state has been

involved in this, that will inform

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the action we take. The sanctions

regime...

It is British policy to

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renew sanctions regardless of what

happened in Salisbury.

We are

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working on the assumption that

Russia was involved and we do not

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know that, which is why we have had

Cobra, the National Security

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Council...

My point is the sanctions

are British policy for other regions

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rather than what has been happening

in the streets of Salisbury. What

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would Labour do if it turns out the

Russian regime was complicit?

You

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raise an important point. There have

been 14 other suspicious deaths of

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supporters or people complaining

against Vladimir Putin since 2012.

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It is not just Alexander Litvinenko.

What with the Labour government do?

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In the urgent question that was held

in the Commons on Monday three

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points were raised. There was an

ongoing investigation...

My question

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was predicated on if it turns out

the Russian regime was complicit,

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what would Labour do?

We need to use

all the leverage we have with our

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partners.

What would you do?

The

second question was about

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money-laundering which the

government was providing a lot of

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obstacles against the amendments and

that would have put pressure...

A

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lot of the money-laundering is being

done by the enemies of Vladimir

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Putin. They are getting their money

out. How would that hurt the

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Kremlin?

It shows an intent in terms

of how we intend to put pressure on

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the foreign powers and also

individuals who may be doing this.

I

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am struggling with the government to

find out what they are doing, we do

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not know yet if Russia is implicit,

I emphasise that, but if we did, and

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given the past track record, it is

reasonable to speculate. Let me try

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one more time, what would Labour do

if you were in power?

My third point

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as was raised at the urgent question

on Monday was in terms of again

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putting pressure on other areas. So,

for example, Vladimir Putin's

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announcement that he is going to

increase the restoration of nuclear

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weapons is completely against the

international agreement.

How will a

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Labour government stop that? We will

put pressure on him. How do you put

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pressure on Vladimir Putin not to

increase his nuclear arsenal?

We

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work with our allies.

That is

fantasyland. Why should he listen to

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you?

Why should he not?

You

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you?

Why should he not?

You have no

influence.

We have a non-nuclear

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proliferation agreement.

That goes

back to the 60s. If Vladimir Putin

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is watching this morning, I am sure

he has not turned white in fear from

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any thing either of you have had to

say. The Crown Prince of Saudi

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Arabia is arriving in London today,

it is an official visit. He is

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getting the full red-carpet

treatment, he is having lunch with

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the Queen, dinner with Prince

Charles, a trip to Chequers to see

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the Prime Minister. He is an

interesting figure, he is only 32,

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he has painted himself as a

modernising reformer and has been

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designated as heir to the throne,

which does not often happen in Saudi

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Arabia, but his critics are not

convince. Our security correspondent

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can tell us more. Good to see you.

He seems to be a quixotic character.

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He is known as something of a

domestic reformer, but the number of

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beheadings since he was named Eric

Parrott have doubled in Saudi

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Arabia. He is known to be a

moderniser, but he is also involved

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in an aggressive and horrendous war

in the Yemen. Tell us more about

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him.

I met Tim four years ago when

he was nobody. Nobody had even heard

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of him, so he has risen to power

very quickly. He is a moderniser and

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a reformer, but let's not be starry

eyed about him. He is no democrat.

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Saudi Arabia still has a very poor

human rights record and as you say

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it is involved in the damaging war

in Yemen. He has a vision for Saudi

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Arabia. Diplomats have said this is

the guy that is needed to shake up

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the sclerotic Saudi system. It could

not go on the way it was. Oil prices

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are declining in real terms. The

youth population is bolding, 70% of

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the Saudis are under the age of 30

and a lot of them have not got jobs.

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Without democracy, sooner or later

something had to give. He is saying,

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it is absurd that in 2018 half the

adult population are not allowed to

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drive, so that will happen from

June. He is reintroducing cinemas

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and is allowing women to run their

own businesses and travel abroad,

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things the hard line extremist

clerics previously had not allowed

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them to do. He is pushing back the

power of the clerics, in that sense

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he is a moderniser. But he is no

democrat, he has locked up 200

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people and taken away their assets,

and accused them of corruption. He

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himself has a £450 million yacht

that he bought a few years ago and

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the most expensive property in the

world, a large chateaux in France.

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But he is very popular with young

Saudis. When it comes to Yemen he as

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defence Minister brought Saudi

Arabia into a war that was already

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under way. The Saudis did not start

this war, the received rebels did,

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but six months later he led an air

campaign thinking he could bomb them

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back to the negotiating table and

they would sue for peace. That has

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not happened, they have held on and

Yemen has suffered as a result.

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Should the British be right in

wanting to get close to him? We do

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not know where his domestic reform

programme will lead. He is bogged

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down in the Yemen, a war very much

with his name stamped on it. The

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Saudis have lost massive influence

in the Lebanon. They have lost out

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to the Iranian backed forces in

Syria and they have not been able to

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cow little Tatar. Is he going to

succeed? Is he someone you want to

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be alongside?

You have to ask what

is the alternative? I will not say

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yes or no, we should be friends.

There is no disputing, and even his

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opponents would not dispute that

Saudi Arabia as a country is

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important. It is the birthplace of

Islam, it is home to the two holiest

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shrines of Islam, it is the site of

one of the biggest pilgrimages in

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the year and it is the world's

biggest oil producer. But its

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policies definitely need to go under

the microscope. If Britain were to

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cut ties, we would lose what little

influence we do have over them.

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There is some influence. When it

comes to Yemen for example, RAF

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officers and others have been

restraining the Saudis, have been

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lecturing them, to not hit civilian

targets. I can hear people scoffing

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at that as I would if somebody said

it to me because they have caused

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enormous damage in that country. But

it would be even worse. The Saudis

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feel they are surrounded by an

advancing, aggressive, Iranian

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expansionism. After 2003 Iran

expanded its militias into Iraq,

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Syria and Lebanon and now they are

feeling they are surrounded by Yemen

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as well and they are trying to push

back.

Frank, as always a pleasure to

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talk to you. 10,000 killed in the

Yemen so far. Half a million

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suffering from cholera, 20 million

in need of humanitarian assistance.

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Are you happy that all this is

happening with the force of British

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arms?

The situation in the Yemen is

clearly very tragic indeed and we

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have a situation that we have to

deal with. As one of the largest

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humanitarian donors to those in the

area we are working using our

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influence on the inside to make sure

they open up humanitarian and

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commercial routes and the ports that

have been blockaded.

But we have not

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managed it.

We have made progress,

but more needs to be done. But the

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most important point is we use our

influence to move toward a peace

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process and to reopen dialogue.

White in 18 months if we have not

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even manage to draft a resolution

for a ceasefire with the UN? We keep

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pushing. We have not, we have not

drafted a resolution.

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# The alternative, I would suggest,

is you draft a resolution for the UN

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security council which would

concentrate minds and we haven't

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managed to do that.

Security Council resolution to go

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through on a unanimous basis, and we

are working with the UN and working

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with the Saudis...

But 18 months, we

haven't even had that.

We're using

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our influence. The whole crux of the

discussion is whether we should

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engage with Saudi Arabia say we're

going to cut ties with them and I

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think as Frank was suggesting, you

would then lose influence if you to

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do that. It's far better to engage

and work and push for progress than

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step aside.

Before we move on, can

you give me one example of where

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there has been progress?

There is in

the case of Yemen, yes, getting

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humanitarian supplies through.

There

have been periods of... There are

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still massive blockades going on,

there are still bombing of

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civilians. It's the biggest,

according to some NGOs, the biggest

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humanitarian crisis in the Globe and

by goodness, there are plenty of

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candidates for that.

It is far from

satisfactory but the critical

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question is as I say, do you engage,

don't make the imperfect the enemy

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of the good. Better to engage and

get change that way than stepping

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aside and washing our hands on it.

Deborah Abrahams.

It's Debbie, and

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only Deborah when I'm naughty.

I

will stick with heavy for the moment

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but I might change! Your shadow

front -- Foreign Secretary said that

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Labour would stop the War in the

man, how?

I wouldn't disagree about

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maintaining the Englishman but it's

the different -- engagement but it

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is the difference between engaging

and running up the red carpet.

How

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would you stop the war in Yemen?

Minitab engagement but not the terms

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like having -- we need to have

engagement but not sound like having

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a 's royal state visit.

But how

would you stop the War?

You make

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sure you engage with them...

You

would stop any arms sales.

We have

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said that we need to make sure that

we have proper regulations around

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this.

I think your policy is to say,

no more arms. Why would the Crown

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Prince listen to you at all? They

see your lead -- leader as

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sympathetic to Iran, he has appeared

on Press TV, why would they give you

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the time of day in the Saudi

Arabia?

We would be the government of the

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time.

But synthetic to Iran, why

would they listen to you?

The most

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important thing is that you do not

have trade at any cost. So you need

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to make sure the trade deals we have

fulfilled some principles. My key

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issue today with the state visit is

it's totally inappropriate. What

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Saudi Arabia have been doing in

terms of disproportionate and...

So

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you would not have them here at all?

We wouldn't have a state visit but

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we would...

It's not all about

trade, it also about security. Isn't

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it? We have a security relationship

with them. We had an attack

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it? We have a security relationship

with them. We had an -- we would

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have had an attack on the

Olympics...

We have to move on.

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The Chancellor Philip Hammond

is making a big Brexit

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speech later today.

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He's not exactly known

for his oratorical prowess

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but it is being billed as a strongly

worded challenge to the EU

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and so-called "sceptics" who think

Britain can't get an ambitious

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free trade deal.

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He will argue that Britain's

financial services sector will have

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to be included in any deal.

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The Chancellor points out that

"every trade deal the EU has ever

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done has been unique" and given

it was willing to offer some

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provision on financial services

on previous deals with the US

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and Canada, it's "very much

in our mutual interest" to organise

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a deal going even further

with the UK - the EU's "closest

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financial services partner by far".

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But the mood music from

Brussels hasn't been

0:19:200:19:24

pleasant to British ears -

Chief Brexit negotiator

0:19:240:19:26

Michel Barnier has repeatedly

claimed a free trade agreement

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on financial services

"doesn't exist".

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Could we agreed to a deal that

didn't include financial services?

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Where eating for a unique deal --

we're looking for a unique deal and

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I have no doubt that we will get a

deal.

I know you think there will be

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a deal but my question was, would we

agreed to a deal that did not

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include extensive coverage of

financial services?

We will get a

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deal on financial services.

Would we

agree to one if we didn't?

I saying

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that we would get a deal, we will

exclude the possibly do that we

0:20:010:20:05

didn't.

You don't know for sure. Mr

Barnier's negotiating position, I

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don't think it's the end game. I

understand that. But if in the end,

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he says, no on financial services,

would we still do a deal?

I have

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said that I am absolutely certain

that there will be the also I'm

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excluding the positivity that there

would be a deal. Firstly because in

0:20:280:20:36

previous deals, financial services

have been an element.

Quite a small

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one, though.

The City of London is

not Canada, it's a major financial

0:20:410:20:45

provider to the whole of Europe. It

provides competitive finance that

0:20:450:20:50

supports European businesses and

consumers. And the European Union

0:20:500:20:53

will be as concerned as we are that

that continues. So I don't think

0:20:530:20:58

they will be going down the road of

trying to fragment that business

0:20:580:21:01

because it will only benefit

ultimately, not Paris and Frankfurt,

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but Hong Kong, New York and

Singapore and financial centres like

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that. So we will be the same side of

the table, more so than some of

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these opening salvos.

Do you accept

that even a good deal, even if we

0:21:130:21:17

get a good deal that includes

financial services, will still mean

0:21:170:21:21

less access for financial services

than now?

It depends where the deal

0:21:210:21:25

lands. I'm confident that what we

will not go for passport thing

0:21:250:21:29

because that would see us within the

single market...

That would mean

0:21:290:21:33

less access.

We will come to a

bespoke arrangement with the

0:21:330:21:39

European Union that will see the

health of the city continue, and

0:21:390:21:42

that's important to us. My question

was this. Whatever the deal, even if

0:21:420:21:50

it's a good deal, it will mean less

access for financial services than

0:21:500:21:53

now, correct?

You will have to see that deal with

0:21:530:21:57

the European Union in the context of

our future as a globally facing

0:21:570:22:01

trading union. It will free us up in

all sorts of ways.

It will mean less

0:22:010:22:08

access, that's my point.

We will do

more...

It will mean less access to

0:22:080:22:14

Europe. If it didn't, why did the

Prime Minister says say, our access

0:22:140:22:19

to the European market will be less

than it is now? If that wasn't a

0:22:190:22:24

reference to financial services,

what was?

It's a sensible and

0:22:240:22:27

pragmatic point, it applies to all

areas. The City of London is 11% of

0:22:270:22:34

our economy, it pays 17 billion in

tax, it's hugely important to us and

0:22:340:22:38

it will be very high up our list of

priorities which is why the

0:22:380:22:42

Chancellor is taking today to make a

speech. It's right at the centre of

0:22:420:22:48

the negotiations from our point of

view and I've no doubt that we will

0:22:480:22:50

get a good and injuring sensible

deal.

Mr Corbyn was to take on the

0:22:500:22:55

power of Finance, that was his

phrase last week. He wants to

0:22:550:22:59

rebalance the distorted economy away

from finance. Does it matter to Mr

0:22:590:23:04

or Labour -- Corbyn or Labour that

we have less access?

It important

0:23:040:23:09

that we have a deal and I think that

has been taken out of context. We

0:23:090:23:13

would seek to have a UK, EU customs

agreement which would include

0:23:130:23:20

financial services.

How does the

customs union asset financial

0:23:200:23:26

services?

The arrangement that we

would come to with the EU would

0:23:260:23:30

ensure that we have an arrangement

and ran financial services as well.

0:23:300:23:34

But the financial services are

covered by the single market, not

0:23:340:23:39

the customs union.

You're talking

about the customs union, we're

0:23:390:23:43

talking about a new customs union.

Is there anyone in the world that

0:23:430:23:49

involves financial services?

That

happened in terms of the

0:23:490:23:51

arrangements being looked at.

Where?

I'm not aware of a customs union

0:23:510:23:58

being involved in customs --

financial services at all.

We're

0:23:580:24:06

breaking the mould here, Andrew.

0:24:060:24:09

financial services at all.

We're

breaking the mould here,

There are

0:24:090:24:11

no tariffs on financial services,

what is it have to do with the

0:24:110:24:19

customs union?

That is why we are

negotiating a new arrangement with

0:24:190:24:22

the UN this will be part of it. It's

so important because we have never

0:24:220:24:29

had any impact on pensions.

That's

important but we haven't got time to

0:24:290:24:33

go there. The one way of securing

the access we have the financial

0:24:330:24:42

services would be to stay in the

single market, not the customs

0:24:420:24:49

union. Why doesn't Labour commits to

that?

We are fully committed to

0:24:490:24:54

accessing the single market without

being a member of it. These are

0:24:540:24:59

subtle differences.

They are

systemic if you are Mr Barnier.

They

0:24:590:25:02

are often be presented wrongly in

language.

What it David Davis mean

0:25:020:25:08

when he said that Parliament cannot

block Brexit even with a meaningful

0:25:080:25:12

vote? The vote will have no impact

on our departure, what did he mean

0:25:120:25:18

by that?

I can't speak for him but

there will be a vote at the end...

I

0:25:180:25:22

know but he says it will not effect,

it cannot block Brexit. He says,

0:25:220:25:31

Vote People have no impact on our

departure, what does that mean?

What

0:25:310:25:34

the vote on the final deal means is

that Parliament will decide whether

0:25:340:25:40

it is accepted.

He seems to imply

that even if Parliament voted

0:25:400:25:44

against the deal, it would not

affect departure, he said we are

0:25:440:25:48

leaving at the end of March 2019

even with a meaningful vote. What's

0:25:480:25:50

the point of the vote, then?

The

position is very clear, there will

0:25:500:25:55

be a final vote on the final deal

and Parliament...

What's the point

0:25:550:26:01

if it would affect anything?

I don't

know in what context he said that,

0:26:010:26:05

when he said or what but the

position is very clear, it's very

0:26:050:26:07

clear.

So the vote could stop us

leaving the EU? Vote against?

It

0:26:070:26:16

could mean that Parliament would say

that the deal is not acceptable and

0:26:160:26:19

that could stop us leaving? I don't

want to speculative on what that

0:26:190:26:25

could lead to but we have been clear

as to what the vote means and we

0:26:250:26:28

have not changed our position on

that.

Perhaps David Davis could

0:26:280:26:32

clarify if he's watching.

0:26:320:26:34

Now, the snow has thawed

but there is still one big question

0:26:340:26:37

that remains unanswered

from when the Beast from the East

0:26:370:26:40

swept through Westminster.

0:26:400:26:41

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz

Truss posted this photo last week

0:26:410:26:44

of flowers in a snowy Treasury

garden saying "had to compete

0:26:440:26:46

with loads of officials

to get this shot".

0:26:460:26:48

Nothing wrong with that,

you might think.

0:26:480:26:50

But hang on a moment.

0:26:500:26:51

Let's look at this tweet

from our guest of the day Mel Stride

0:26:510:26:54

who works with Liz in the Treasury

Department.

0:26:540:26:57

No officials in sight.

0:26:570:27:00

So, is the government

spreading #fakenews?

0:27:000:27:07

I don't know, I have a confession,

Andrew. You're the first to know

0:27:070:27:10

this. I know it's just the two of us

having this conversation. It wasn't

0:27:100:27:15

me that took the photo. So it came

to my office by a security guard.

So

0:27:150:27:19

is fake news!

It could have been

photo shop, she may never have been

0:27:190:27:24

met!

0:27:240:27:27

But, wait a minute,

hold your horses.

0:27:270:27:29

Eagle-eyed Daily Politics viewers

will have spotted that Liz Truss

0:27:290:27:31

wasn't photographing

the snow at all.

0:27:310:27:32

If you look closer, you can see

clearly she is actually taking

0:27:320:27:35

a photo of a rare species,

hardly ever seen in the wild.

0:27:350:27:38

To win one, just tell

us when this happened.

0:27:380:27:45

# I get knocked down but I get up

again

0:27:480:27:51

# You're never going to keep me down

0:27:510:27:53

# I get knocked down,

but I get up again

0:27:530:27:55

# You're never going

to keep me down

0:27:550:27:57

# I get

knocked down but I get up again

0:27:570:28:00

# You're never going

to keep me down...

0:28:000:28:03

# Slam it to the left if you're

having a good time

0:28:030:28:05

# Shake it to the right

if you know that you feel fine

0:28:050:28:09

# Shake it to the front, ha, ha

0:28:090:28:11

# Go round

0:28:110:28:12

# Slam it to the left

if you're having a good time

0:28:120:28:14

# Shake it to the right

if you know that you feel fine

0:28:140:28:18

# Shake it to the front, ha, ha

0:28:180:28:19

# High-see-yah, hold tight...

0:28:190:28:21

# I believe I can fly

0:28:210:28:23

# I believe I can touch the sky

0:28:230:28:27

# I think about it

every night and day

0:28:270:28:31

# Spread my wings and fly away...

0:28:310:28:35

# Don't speak

0:28:350:28:36

# I know just what you're saying

0:28:360:28:39

# So please stop explaining

0:28:390:28:42

# Don't tell me cos it hurts...

0:28:420:28:45

# It's time to make the final break

0:28:450:28:53

# But the memory will linger forever

0:28:530:29:00

# If I never see you again

0:29:000:29:04

# And think of me now and then

0:29:040:29:08

# Though it hurts so sweetly...

0:29:080:29:15

Clearly not a year for great music,

whatever the year was!

0:29:220:29:26

To be in with a chance of winning

a Daily Politics mug,

0:29:260:29:29

send your answer to our special

quiz email address -

0:29:290:29:32

Full terms and conditions are on the

website.

0:29:370:29:40

It's coming up to midday here -

just take a look at Big Ben -

0:29:400:29:43

and that can mean only one thing.

0:29:430:29:48

You can just see his face among the

scaffolding and the gloom.

0:29:480:29:53

Yes, Prime Minister's

Questions is on its way.

0:29:530:29:55

And that's not all -

Laura Kuenssberg is here.

0:29:550:29:58

I would guess, but you will know

better than me, that with the Crown

0:29:580:30:02

Prince, mind you, it doesn't put you

in an elite category!

Setting the

0:30:020:30:07

bar low!

The Crown Prince is in

town, Mr Corbyn likes foreign policy

0:30:070:30:14

issues like this, clear-cut. Sort of

thing he would be protesting about

0:30:140:30:18

if he wasn't leader of the Labour

Party. He would be on the streets.

0:30:180:30:22

He goes with that.

I would be very

surprised if he doesn't for

0:30:220:30:26

precisely those reasons. As a

backbencher, Jeremy Corbyn care very

0:30:260:30:29

deeply about these issues, he has

made foreign policy and his protest

0:30:290:30:34

against many regimes around the

world a central point of his

0:30:340:30:38

political career and for many Labour

activists, that something they care

0:30:380:30:41

deeply about so I expect him to go

on the visit of the Crown Prince to

0:30:410:30:47

London at prime ministers questions

today and I think he will try to

0:30:470:30:50

push Theresa May on some of the

ethical issues that surround the

0:30:500:30:55

kind of welcome that he's being

given. And also, as other MPs have

0:30:550:31:00

raised previously in prime ministers

questions, how the British

0:31:000:31:05

government is approaching the

situation in Yemen with that

0:31:050:31:07

dreadful conflict and the extent or

not Saudi involvement. Perhaps may

0:31:070:31:11

also raise the extent or not of

British involvement in that conflict

0:31:110:31:17

in terms of military hardware,

advisers and how we are involved on

0:31:170:31:24

the ground.

It will be a bit more of

ships passing in the night, the

0:31:240:31:29

Prime Minister will have come on

with all of the stuff about the

0:31:290:31:32

importance of Saudi Arabia to

Britain, for our geopolitical

0:31:320:31:37

position.

Yes, and whenever Saudi

Arabia, I'm afraid to say, it

0:31:370:31:44

always...

0:31:440:31:47

I would like to begin by updating

the House on the government's

0:31:530:31:57

response to the incident that

occurred in Salisbury on Sunday and

0:31:570:32:00

pay tribute to the work of all the

emergency services who responded at

0:32:000:32:04

the scene and those who are now

caring for the critically injured

0:32:040:32:09

individuals in hospital. The police

investigation is ongoing. Yesterday

0:32:090:32:16

afternoon I chaired a meeting with

the National Security Council where

0:32:160:32:19

we were updated on that

investigation which is now being led

0:32:190:32:24

by counterterrorism police. This

morning the Home Secretary chaired a

0:32:240:32:27

meeting of the government's

emergency committee, Cobra, and has

0:32:270:32:33

asked for an update later today. In

addition to my duties in this as I

0:32:330:32:40

shall have further such meetings

later on today.

Representing the

0:32:400:32:45

south-west constituency can I align

my remarks with those of my right

0:32:450:32:48

honourable friend, the incident in

Salisbury has caused concern across

0:32:480:32:51

the south-west and the country.

North Dorset cancels and I share the

0:32:510:32:57

Prime Minister's commitment to

delivering new housing, such as

0:32:570:33:02

creating 1800 new homes in

Gillingham in my constituency. We

0:33:020:33:07

understand how housing transforms

and supports local economic growth.

0:33:070:33:11

Can I welcome this week's

announcement from the Prime

0:33:110:33:14

Minister. Let's get Britain building

and deliver those quality homes of

0:33:140:33:19

all ten years that our constituents

now need.

My honourable friend is

0:33:190:33:25

absolutely right about the

importance of housing and earlier

0:33:250:33:28

this week I confirmed the government

is rewriting the rules on planning

0:33:280:33:32

to help restore that dream of home

ownership. We want to see planning

0:33:320:33:36

permission going to people who will

build houses, not just sit on land

0:33:360:33:40

and watch its value rise. New rules

will also make sure the right

0:33:400:33:46

infrastructure is in place to

support housing development and

0:33:460:33:49

planning changes will allow more

affordable homes to be prioritised

0:33:490:33:53

for key workers. The government has

made it a priority to build the

0:33:530:33:57

homes people need so everyone can

afford a safe and decent place to

0:33:570:34:00

live.

Jeremy Corbyn. I thank the

Prime Minister for the short

0:34:000:34:07

statement she made concerning the

incident in Salisbury and I think we

0:34:070:34:11

all thank the emergency and security

services for their response and we

0:34:110:34:15

await updates on the progress of

investigations into the cause of

0:34:150:34:19

that incident. Mr Speaker, tomorrow

is International Women's Day, a

0:34:190:34:23

chance to celebrate how far we have

come on equality for women, but also

0:34:230:34:27

to reflect on how far we have to go,

not just in this country, but around

0:34:270:34:33

the world. Later today, the Prime

Minister is

0:34:330:34:41

Minister is due to meet Crown Prince

Mohamed bin Salman, the ruler of

0:34:420:34:44

Saudi Arabia. Despite much talk of

reform there has been a sharp

0:34:440:34:47

increase in the arrest and detention

of dissidents, torture of prisoners

0:34:470:34:51

is common, human rights defenders

are sent to prison, unfair trials

0:34:510:34:59

and executions are widespread as

Amnesty International confirms. As

0:34:590:35:02

she makes her arms sales pitch was

she also called on the crown prince

0:35:020:35:07

to hold the shocking abuse of human

rights in Saudi Arabia?

First of

0:35:070:35:13

all, can I thank the right

honourable gentleman for telling me

0:35:130:35:17

that it is International Women's Day

tomorrow! I think that is what is

0:35:170:35:24

called man's planing!

0:35:240:35:34

called man's planing! I look forward

to welcoming Crown Prince Mohamed

0:35:340:35:38

bin Salman from Saudi Arabia...

Labour backbenchers from sedentary

0:35:380:35:45

positions are shouting shame. Can I

say to those backbenchers that the

0:35:450:35:49

link we have with Saudi Arabia is

historic, it is an important one and

0:35:490:35:55

it has saved the lives of

potentially hundreds of people in

0:35:550:35:59

this country.

0:35:590:36:04

this country. And can I say that

actually the fact that it is an

0:36:040:36:07

important link is not just the view

that I hold, the Shadow Foreign

0:36:070:36:12

Secretary this morning said, our

relationship with Saudi Arabia is an

0:36:120:36:16

important one. She also went on to

say that does not mean we should not

0:36:160:36:23

be pulling power punches and I

agree, which is why I will be

0:36:230:36:27

raising concerns about human rights

with the Crown Prince when I meet

0:36:270:36:30

him. As the right honourable

gentleman started on the issue of

0:36:300:36:34

International Women's Day, I welcome

the fact that Crown Prince will be

0:36:340:36:38

sitting down with and as the guest

of a female Prime Minister!

0:36:380:36:46

of a female Prime Minister!

Mr

Speaker, it is a year on and the

0:36:460:36:50

government is of course still

suppressing a report into the

0:36:500:36:54

funding of extremism which allegedly

found evidence of Saudi funding

0:36:540:36:57

going to terrorist groups here in

the UK, so threatening our security.

0:36:570:37:03

When will that report come out? Mr

Speaker, a humanitarian disaster is

0:37:030:37:09

now taking place in Yemen. Millions

face starvation. 600,000 children

0:37:090:37:15

have cholera because of the Saudi

led bombing campaign and the

0:37:150:37:21

blockade. 600,000 children with

cholera is something I think

0:37:210:37:27

everyone in this house should take

seriously. Germany has suspended

0:37:270:37:32

arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but

British arms sales have sharply

0:37:320:37:38

increased and British military

advisers are directing the war. It

0:37:380:37:42

cannot be right that her government,

Mr Speaker, it cannot be right that

0:37:420:37:49

her government is colluding in what

the United Nations says is evidence

0:37:490:37:53

of war crimes. Will the Prime

Minister use her meeting today with

0:37:530:37:57

the Crown Prince to halt the arms

supplies and demand an immediate

0:37:570:38:04

ceasefire in Yemen?

Mr Speaker, the

right honourable gentleman raised

0:38:040:38:10

two questions. On the first point he

made about the Home Office's

0:38:100:38:15

internal review, this government is

committed to stamping out extremism

0:38:150:38:19

in all its forms. I launched the

counter extremism strategy. The

0:38:190:38:24

current Home Secretary has appointed

a counter extremism commissioner.

0:38:240:38:28

The review we had gave us the best

picture of how extremists operating

0:38:280:38:33

in the UK sustain their activities

and it improved our understanding of

0:38:330:38:37

that and it's most important finding

is that contrary to popular

0:38:370:38:42

perception, Islamist extremists draw

most of their financial support from

0:38:420:38:46

domestic rather than overseas

sources. I understand that for

0:38:460:38:50

reasons of some of the personal

content in the report this has not

0:38:500:38:54

been published, however privy

Councillors have been invited to the

0:38:540:38:59

Home Office to read this report.

That invitation was extended to the

0:38:590:39:04

Shadow Home Secretary and so she and

other Privy Council colleagues on

0:39:040:39:08

the Labour front bench are free to

go and read that report. The second

0:39:080:39:11

issue that the right honourable

gentleman raised was the question of

0:39:110:39:15

the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

We are all concerned about the

0:39:150:39:20

appalling situation in Yemen and the

effect it is having on people,

0:39:200:39:24

particularly the effect on women and

children. We have increased our

0:39:240:39:28

funding for Yemen. Last year we

increased it to over £200 million

0:39:280:39:34

and we are the third largest

humanitarian donor to the Yemen. We

0:39:340:39:39

are delivering life-saving aid that

will provide nutrition support for

0:39:390:39:44

1.7 million people, clean water for

1.2 million people. I was pleased

0:39:440:39:49

when I went to Saudi Arabia in

December, I met with the Crown

0:39:490:39:53

Prince, I raised with him then the

need to open the border to

0:39:530:39:59

humanitarian and commercial supplies

and Saudi Arabia then did just that.

0:39:590:40:03

This vindicates the engagement we

have with Saudi Arabia, to be able

0:40:030:40:08

to sit down with them. Their

involvement in Yemen came at the

0:40:080:40:12

request of the legitimate government

in the Yemen and is backed by the UN

0:40:120:40:16

Security Council and we supported.

On the humanitarian issue I would

0:40:160:40:20

say it is for all parties in the

conflict to ensure they allow

0:40:200:40:25

humanitarian aid to get through to

those who need it.

Of course we all

0:40:250:40:32

want all possible humanitarian aid

to go to Yemen and help the people

0:40:320:40:36

who are suffering, but I refer her

to the remarks made by the former

0:40:360:40:41

International Development Secretary,

I quote, we must not be afraid to

0:40:410:40:44

condemn the nightly attacks on Yemen

by the Saudi air force which have

0:40:440:40:49

killed and maimed innocent men,

women and children. A ceasefire has

0:40:490:40:53

got to be urgent in order to save

lives in the Yemen. Mr Speaker, why

0:40:530:40:59

does the Prime Minister thinks that

rough speaking felt under Labour but

0:40:590:41:03

was doubled under the Conservatives?

First of all to respond to the first

0:41:030:41:09

question that he raised in relation

to the Yemen and the conflict that

0:41:090:41:16

is taking place there in the Yemen,

we have encouraged the Saudi Arabian

0:41:160:41:20

government to ensure that when there

are allegations that activity has

0:41:200:41:24

taken place which is not in line

with international humanitarian law

0:41:240:41:28

that they investigate that and learn

the lessons from it. 55 reports have

0:41:280:41:33

already been published as a result

of that. But on the issue of arms

0:41:330:41:38

exports to Saudi Arabia, can I also

say that he seems to be at odds with

0:41:380:41:44

his Shadow Foreign Secretary once

again who this morning said, the

0:41:440:41:47

arms industry is not something I am

seeking to undermine as long as it

0:41:470:41:51

is within international law. She

went on to say that she thought the

0:41:510:41:55

UK can sell arms to any country as

long as they are used within the

0:41:550:41:59

law. We agree, we have a very tight

arms export regime in this country

0:41:590:42:05

and when there are allegations of

arms not been used within the law,

0:42:050:42:10

we expect that to be investigated

and lessons to be learned on that.

0:42:100:42:13

On the issue of rough sleeping, I

say to the right honourable

0:42:130:42:17

gentleman that nobody in this house

wants to see anybody having to sleep

0:42:170:42:22

rough on the streets of this

country. That is why this is a

0:42:220:42:28

government that is putting millions

of pounds extra into dealing with

0:42:280:42:31

rough sleeping. It is why we are

piloting the housing first approach

0:42:310:42:35

in three of our major cities because

what we want to do is to ensure not

0:42:350:42:42

just that we deal with the situation

where somebody is found sleeping

0:42:420:42:46

rough, but actually that we prevent

people from sleeping rough in the

0:42:460:42:50

first place.

Mr Speaker, in November

the Chancellor of the extra

0:42:500:42:56

announced a rough sleeping task

force and £28 million for three

0:42:560:43:00

pilot schemes to tackle

homelessness. I understand four

0:43:000:43:04

months on the task force has not yet

met, not a penny has been spent on

0:43:040:43:09

that programme. There is a

homelessness crisis in this country.

0:43:090:43:13

Rough sleeping has doubled since

2010. Doesn't the Prime Minister

0:43:130:43:19

think it is a little unambitious to

say we will tackle rough sleeping by

0:43:190:43:24

2027?

Can I say we are going to

eliminate it, that is our aim by

0:43:240:43:31

2027. Let me just perhaps... Perhaps

it would be helpful if I was to

0:43:310:43:39

update the right honourable

gentleman because the task force he

0:43:390:43:42

referred to has in fact met. It met

today!

0:43:420:43:52

today! But more importantly because

the right honourable gentleman has

0:43:520:43:55

asked me this previously, more

importantly this is not the only

0:43:550:43:59

group of people we bring together to

look at rough sleeping. We have an

0:43:590:44:03

expert advisory group that has been

meeting over recent months and whose

0:44:030:44:08

reports and information and

expertise is being input into the

0:44:080:44:12

task force. He talks about

homelessness, statutory homelessness

0:44:120:44:15

is less than half its peak in 2003,

but we recognise there is more to do

0:44:150:44:21

and that is why we want to see more

homes

0:44:210:44:28

being built. On rough sleeping it is

not just a question, of course we

0:44:350:44:38

want people to have a roof over

their head, but we see half of rough

0:44:380:44:42

sleepers with a mental health

problem and that is why we are

0:44:420:44:43

putting more money into mental

health. That is why it is not just a

0:44:430:44:47

question of improving figures, it is

a question of changing people's

0:44:470:44:48

lives around. If he really cares, he

will look at the complexity of this

0:44:480:44:52

issue and realise it is more than

giving people a roof over their

0:44:520:44:54

heads, it is about dealing with the

underlying problems in the first

0:44:540:44:57

place.

I am glad the government

showed such urgency in setting up

0:44:570:45:02

this task force that it took four

months to have the meeting and it

0:45:020:45:07

still has not actually achieved

anything. Many people in this

0:45:070:45:11

country are very upset and very

embarrassed about the levels of

0:45:110:45:14

rough sleeping in this country. I

got a letter this week from Barry, I

0:45:140:45:19

volunteer in my hometown of

Southampton to feed the homelessness

0:45:190:45:23

because of the lack of care and help

for these individuals, it is a

0:45:230:45:27

disgrace. He points out the number

of unoccupied buildings in his town

0:45:270:45:32

and many others. Does the Prime

Minister believes that haircutting,

0:45:320:45:39

government cutting homelessness

services by 45% since 2010 has had

0:45:390:45:45

some effect on the numbers of people

that are rough sleeping?

0:45:450:45:51

I would say to the right Honourable

gentleman that if you think that the

0:45:510:45:54

only way you sold issue is that by

bringing people together in a

0:45:540:45:58

meeting, I have to tell him, that is

not the way to solve issues. The way

0:45:580:46:06

to deal with these issues is

actually to get out there on the

0:46:060:46:09

ground doing something about it.

That's why, that's why we are

0:46:090:46:14

finding 48 projects to help roughly

put into urgency accommodation and

0:46:140:46:20

to overcome the issues like a mental

ill health and substance. It is why

0:46:200:46:24

there have been councils around the

country that had been taking that

0:46:240:46:28

severe, during the severe weather,

insuring they are providing

0:46:280:46:32

accommodation for people who are

sleeping on the streets but also

0:46:320:46:36

dealing with the underlying issues

that lead to somebody sleeping on

0:46:360:46:39

the streets. It's why, it's why we

are ensuring that we are

0:46:390:46:45

implementing housing first in a

number of regions to put in trench

0:46:450:46:48

to roughly split to accommodation as

a first step to rebuilding their

0:46:480:46:52

lives. This is not about figures, it

about people. It's about ensuring

0:46:520:47:00

that we aren't taking the action

necessary -- we are taking reaction

0:47:000:47:05

necessary to deal with the problems

that people face which leads to

0:47:050:47:11

rough sleeping. It's also about

ensuring we build enough homes to

0:47:110:47:17

ensure that people are holding

houses when they are having planning

0:47:170:47:27

permission -- building houses, which

should please him.

I don't that

0:47:270:47:31

would come as much comfort for the

roughly put that I meet who are

0:47:310:47:35

begging every day to find enough

money to get into the night shelter.

0:47:350:47:40

Lord Porter has warned councils are

now beyond the point where council

0:47:400:47:45

tax can plug the gap, as a result of

the government slashing council

0:47:450:47:49

budgets and passing the buck. After

this deathly cold winter, we have

0:47:490:47:55

more than twice as many people

sleeping rough on our streets. Just

0:47:550:47:59

one step away from that fate are

60,000, 60,000 homeless households

0:47:590:48:06

in temporary accommodation. We are

the fifth richest country in the

0:48:060:48:09

world. The growing number of people

on our streets is a mark of national

0:48:090:48:15

shame. With fewer social homes being

built, less support for the

0:48:150:48:18

homeless, the task force that's

barely met, just how does the Prime

0:48:180:48:25

Minister really propose to tackle

the homelessness crisis?

We propose

0:48:250:48:30

to deal with the issue of

homelessness and to deal with the

0:48:300:48:34

issues of those people who are not

homeless but want to be able to have

0:48:340:48:38

a home of their own, by building

more homes in this country. We

0:48:380:48:41

propose to deal with it, as I said

earlier this week, by ensuring that

0:48:410:48:45

tenants get a fairer deal when they

rent the country. But I have to say

0:48:450:48:50

there are more council houses built

under this conservative government

0:48:500:48:54

that were built under 13 years of

labour. We have seen more social

0:48:540:48:59

housing being built in the last

seven years than in the last seven

0:48:590:49:03

years under the Labour government.

If he wants to look at the issue of

0:49:030:49:06

a record in relation to housing, he

should look at the record of the

0:49:060:49:12

last Labour government. And of

course it was the record of the last

0:49:120:49:17

Labour government that was described

as bringing... That was described,

0:49:170:49:23

the record of the last Labour

government was described...

0:49:230:49:32

government was described...

Order,

Mr Perkins, I know you're asking

0:49:320:49:34

about tennis at earlier but you

appear to be attempting some sort of

0:49:340:49:38

imitation of crochet and you should

not be making these curious to 60

0:49:380:49:41

nations, they make you look even

odder than... -- curious

0:49:410:49:48

gesticulations. They make you look

odder than... I thought your

0:49:480:49:52

behaviour was a tad odd and I'm

concerned about your well-being! I

0:49:520:49:56

think the members from Wirral and

Hull will look after you.

The record

0:49:560:50:01

of the last Labour government on

housing was described as in crisis

0:50:010:50:05

and bringing misery and despair. Who

said the last Labour government's

0:50:050:50:10

government was bringing misery and

despair? The leader of the position.

0:50:100:50:18

-- opposition. He said Labour didn't

have a good record on housing, I

0:50:180:50:22

agree, it is the conservatives who

are delivering the homes the country

0:50:220:50:26

needs.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Over

the last three years, more than 2000

0:50:260:50:33

new homes have been built in North

West Leicestershire including a

0:50:330:50:37

record 731 in the last 12 months.

Additionally my local authority

0:50:370:50:41

building new council houses for the

first time in decades. All in

0:50:410:50:45

contrast with just 227 houses

completed in the year to 2010, the

0:50:450:50:50

last time Labour way in government.

Will my right honourable friend use

0:50:500:50:57

this as an example to other local

garment, we have an unemployed

0:50:570:51:04

Madrid 1% and no rust eaters --

rough sleepers.

We are very happy to

0:51:040:51:12

join him in a good knowledge in the

example being set by North West

0:51:120:51:15

Leicestershire. It is not just those

figures that he had quoted which

0:51:150:51:21

have led to and contributed to last

year's 217,000 new homes being

0:51:210:51:32

built, which is the best year bar

one. But we are taking measures in

0:51:320:51:41

the budget to ensure money is

available, so we are helping people

0:51:410:51:44

onto the housing ladder through help

to buy. As he has referred to it, it

0:51:440:51:52

is the Conservative government which

are delivering the homes that people

0:51:520:51:54

need.

On the 6th of February, the

Royal Bank of Scotland announced

0:51:540:52:00

that ten branches that were

earmarked for closure were going to

0:52:000:52:03

be given a reprieve. Subject to

review at the end of the year. Will

0:52:030:52:07

the Prime Minister join with me on

calling on the Royal Bank of

0:52:070:52:11

Scotland to do what they can to

encourage people to open accounts to

0:52:110:52:13

make sure these branches are

sustainable?

Can I say to the right

0:52:130:52:21

honourable gentleman, as he knows

full well, it is the opening and

0:52:210:52:24

closing branches, which is a

commercial matter for the Royal Bank

0:52:240:52:30

of Scotland. We says to call on

people to open accounts and use

0:52:300:52:32

those branches, of course, one of

the reasons why bank branches are

0:52:320:52:36

closing is because more people are

choosing not to physically go into

0:52:360:52:40

the bank branches but bank on the

Internet. It is the customer to

0:52:400:52:44

decide the customer banking

arrangements that suits them.

I

0:52:440:52:48

should remind the Prime Minister

that we own the Royal Bank of

0:52:480:52:52

Scotland and the Prime Minister

ought to be holding the country to

0:52:520:52:54

account. I had a phone call from

constituent of mine who found the

0:52:540:53:01

Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday and

wanted to open a number of accounts

0:53:010:53:05

for him and his family. Rather than

opening them in the local branch

0:53:050:53:09

which is one which is earmarked for

a reprieve, he was told he should be

0:53:090:53:14

approaching a branch of swear. Mr

Speaker, that is outrageous. That

0:53:140:53:19

the Royal -- elsewhere. That is

outrageous, that the Royal Bank of

0:53:190:53:23

Scotland are undermining the ability

of these branches to stay open. Will

0:53:230:53:27

she caught in the chief executive

and tell him that this behaviour

0:53:270:53:29

must end?

To the right honourable

gentleman, he has raised these

0:53:290:53:35

questions before, and I say to him

that I would have thought that with

0:53:350:53:38

his background he would understand

that decisions are taken by

0:53:380:53:42

commercial organisations, by this

commercial organisations, that it is

0:53:420:53:47

not for the government to tell

people what sort of accounts they

0:53:470:53:50

have going to have or which branch

that should be opening those

0:53:500:53:54

accounts in. We take steps to make

sure that where there are branch

0:53:540:54:00

closures, that access to facilities

are available, which is why we have

0:54:000:54:03

the agreement with the post offers

to provide additional ability for

0:54:030:54:07

people to use the services through

the post-office. I have to say that

0:54:070:54:13

it is not right for him to suggest

that the government should be

0:54:130:54:15

telling people where they have their

bank accounts and how they should

0:54:150:54:19

hold but bank account. That is a

commercial decision for the bank and

0:54:190:54:24

a decision for individual customers

as to their own banking

0:54:240:54:28

arrangements.

We are now on to

backbenchers, I'm pleased to say.

0:54:280:54:31

But I want to hear lots of bank

bench members.

-- backbench numbers.

0:54:310:54:39

Thanks to income tax hikes by the

SNP government, thousands of UK

0:54:390:54:46

Armed Forces personnel who are

situated in Scotland will pay more

0:54:460:54:49

tax than their counterparts south of

the border. Can my right honourable

0:54:490:54:52

friend confirm that this

Conservative government is reviewing

0:54:520:54:58

steps that it can take to clean up

the SNP's mess and mitigate the tax

0:54:580:55:04

rise for our brave servicemen and

women?

This is a very important

0:55:040:55:08

point that she has raised. We do see

as a result of decisions taken by

0:55:080:55:13

the Scottish Nationalists in

government in Scotland that there

0:55:130:55:15

will be many people in Scotland

paying higher taxes. Somebody

0:55:150:55:22

earning over £26,000 pay higher

taxes in Scotland than the rest of

0:55:220:55:26

the UK. I was in the chamber for the

end of defence questions the other

0:55:260:55:30

day when my right honourable friend

the Defence Secretary said that the

0:55:300:55:34

point that she has raised is being

looked into.

Labour listed 1 million

0:55:340:55:44

children out of poverty. -- Labour

lifted 1 million children out of

0:55:440:55:48

poverty, this government is on

course to plunge a record 37% of

0:55:480:55:52

children into poverty. And

vulnerable people are denied social

0:55:520:55:58

care because of government cuts to

local authority. Is this really a

0:55:580:56:02

society working for everyone?

What

we see under this government is the

0:56:020:56:07

number of people in absolute poverty

has fallen under this conservative

0:56:070:56:10

government. We do want to insure

that families are supported in

0:56:100:56:16

supporting themselves, that is why

we have done things like increasing

0:56:160:56:20

the national living wage, increasing

the personal wage allowance so

0:56:200:56:27

people pay less tax and revising the

unfit to systems are more people can

0:56:270:56:32

get into the workplace.

-- the

benefit systems. I'm sure my right

0:56:320:56:37

honourable friend will agree with me

that air quality will improve the

0:56:370:56:43

lives of everyone in this country

and their children and

0:56:430:56:46

grandchildren. We are forming a

joint committee and working across

0:56:460:56:49

government is important cross

department, will be Prime Minister

0:56:490:56:57

put in a Cabinet minister to make

sure that our children and

0:56:570:56:59

grandchildren have good air quality?

This is an important issue and we

0:56:590:57:03

are committed to being the first

generation leading the environment

0:57:030:57:08

in a better state than the which we

inherited it, and we're taking

0:57:080:57:11

action to address abolition.

Emissions of toxic much junk -- to

0:57:110:57:18

address air pollution. Emissions

have fallen to them is more to do

0:57:180:57:22

which is why we have put in place a

plan to tackle air quality and

0:57:220:57:28

clean-up air transport which we will

be setting up this year. Both the

0:57:280:57:36

Secretary of State for business,

whose department covers the issues

0:57:360:57:39

around energy and air quality, and

indeed the Minister for energy who

0:57:390:57:44

attends Cabinet, are very well

versed in putting together the

0:57:440:57:48

arguments were better air quality.

As the Sandeep -- Saudi Crown Prince

0:57:480:57:57

Street across Westminster, will she

adjust the case of the writer who

0:57:570:58:05

has been in jail for six years

because he wrote something that the

0:58:050:58:14

government didn't

0:58:140:58:18

because he wrote something that the

government like? Will she stand at

0:58:180:58:20

that dispatch box and say that he is

no criminal and be set free?

I will

0:58:200:58:26

be raising a number of cases with

the Crown prince when I see him as

0:58:260:58:30

the next couple of days. The case he

has specifically referred to is not

0:58:300:58:37

a thing that has waited for this

visit to raise, we monitor the

0:58:370:58:43

situation and raise the question of

the Saudi government and we will

0:58:430:58:46

continue to do so.

Will the Prime

Minister support the work the oil

0:58:460:58:54

and gas authority are doing to help

facilitate the production of £1

0:58:540:58:58

trillion of oil and gas revenue from

the continental shelf, supporting

0:58:580:59:04

300,000 jobs? Will she join me in

paying tribute to the men and women

0:59:040:59:07

working offshore insuring our homes

stay warm?

I'm happy to join my

0:59:070:59:15

honourable friend in pain could be

to those who work in our offshore

0:59:150:59:18

oil and gas -- in paying tribute to

those who work in the offshore oil

0:59:180:59:27

and gas industry. We remain

committed to support the district,

0:59:270:59:29

building on the package announced in

recent budgets, and the Secretary of

0:59:290:59:35

State for business and the sector

recently committed to working

0:59:350:59:39

together to insure the UK continues

to enjoy the benefits of what is a

0:59:390:59:43

world leading offshore oil and gas

industry.

Nothing needs to find an

0:59:430:59:49

extra £12 million this year to care

for elderly and disabled people. --

0:59:490:59:54

Nottingham needs to find the money.

Her government's answer, adding 3%

0:59:540:59:58

to council tax bills, raises just

over three, leaving a huge gap to be

0:59:581:00:04

filled. No wonder Lord Porter,

Conservative chair of the LGA,

1:00:041:00:08

warned that some councils will be

pushed parallel perilously close to

1:00:081:00:17

the edge. Was she -- will she wake

up to the social care crisis and

1:00:171:00:24

give the local government the

funding it needs in the spring

1:00:241:00:27

statement?

We have recognised the

pressure that social care is under

1:00:271:00:31

which is why in successful fiscal

events, the Chancellor has given

1:00:311:00:37

extra money to local authority and

the social care statement. Next

1:00:371:00:40

week's statement is not a budget but

we have ensured that more money is

1:00:401:00:44

going into local councils, not just

through the presets that they are

1:00:441:00:48

able to raise but 2 million extra

has been put into social care.

By

1:00:481:00:56

far the most important market for UK

goods post Brexit and today is the

1:00:561:01:03

internal market. Does she agree that

the people and businesses of my

1:01:031:01:09

constituency and across Wales are

best served by the four nations of

1:01:091:01:13

the United Kingdom working together

positively and constructively to

1:01:131:01:18

make Brexit success?

I absolutely

agree. The four nations working

1:01:181:01:22

together to make a success of Brexit

but also this government is

1:01:221:01:26

committed to strengthening our

precious union in England, Scotland,

1:01:261:01:30

Wales and Northern Ireland. This is

about providing continuity and

1:01:301:01:34

certainty for people and businesses.

It's about making sure we don't

1:01:341:01:37

create a new barriers to doing

business, as my honourable friend

1:01:371:01:41

has said, in the internal market.

Mr

Speaker, York's housing crisis is

1:01:411:01:50

out of control. Whole families

crammed into tiny box bedrooms,

1:01:501:01:57

hundreds of damp and mouldy council

homes and Street homelessness at 15

1:01:571:02:02

fold since 2010. My constituents do

not want platitudes, they just want

1:02:021:02:08

warm homes. When can they have the

social housing they so desperately

1:02:081:02:13

need, and York's Tory Lib Dem

council have failed to deliver, as

1:02:131:02:17

has her strategy?

As she will have

heard earlier, this commitment is

1:02:171:02:23

making changes to ensure that we are

building more homes in this country.

1:02:231:02:28

I also say to the honourable lady,

one of the issues we have had to

1:02:281:02:32

look at is making sure that local

councils are producing local plans.

1:02:321:02:36

I believe that York has not had a

local plan for 15 years. I suggest

1:02:361:02:40

she speaks to her council about it

stop.

1:02:401:02:43

On Sunday evening, it was not Meryl

Streep winning an Oscar, but my

1:02:481:02:52

constituent Maisie, aged just six

years old. And born profoundly deaf

1:02:521:02:59

for her amazing performance in the

film The Silent Child. All she paid

1:02:591:03:07

tribute to the inspirational Maisie

and her school red Oaks primary

1:03:071:03:10

which has helped fill her potential?

I think everybody was captivated by

1:03:101:03:16

Maisie's example and by the film

that won the Oscar and I'm very

1:03:161:03:21

happy to join my honourable friend

in paying tribute to Maisie for her

1:03:211:03:25

in capital achievement. This is

important in highlighting the issue

1:03:251:03:29

of disabled people particularly deaf

children and this has captured the

1:03:291:03:36

imagination of many across the

world.

On Friday of next week, the

1:03:361:03:39

House will debate the private

members bill on refugee family

1:03:391:03:45

reunification being brought forward.

It's a very simple bill which will

1:03:451:03:49

allow families that have been torn

apart by conflicts to rebuild their

1:03:491:03:54

lives here together. It's supported

by a coalition of organisations

1:03:541:03:58

including the Red Cross, Amnesty

international and the refugee

1:03:581:04:05

Council.

For the government added

their support of this very important

1:04:051:04:07

Bill? -- will the government added

their support? We do have a good

1:04:071:04:14

record in this country of providing

places to refugees and helping those

1:04:141:04:19

who are particularly vulnerable. But

I understand as he will know that we

1:04:191:04:22

are listening to the point that we

hear in a mission to this bill. We

1:04:221:04:27

recognise the concern about family

reunification, there are rules

1:04:271:04:33

impose already but we will look

carefully at this.

1:04:331:04:40

carefully at this.

This week, its

national friendship week and as an

1:04:401:04:43

apprentice myself, I can highly --

National apprenticeship week. I can

1:04:431:04:47

highly commended this route. Levels

of apprenticeship are up from last

1:04:471:04:53

year but can I ask the Prime

Minister to insure that all schools

1:04:531:04:58

are promoting apprenticeships,

particularly degree level, as a

1:04:581:05:05

first-class choice, debt free, and

not a second-class option?

I think

1:05:051:05:08

it is very important that we do

promote apprenticeships not as a

1:05:081:05:13

second-class option but as an

equally valid route through training

1:05:131:05:18

for young people. It about getting

the right education for every young

1:05:181:05:22

person. We should in courage of

schools to talk about

1:05:221:05:28

apprenticeships at the first stage.

When I visited the school, one of

1:05:281:05:33

the points the sixth formers made is

that they had heard about universe

1:05:331:05:39

-- University throughout schooling

but only heard about apprenticeships

1:05:391:05:42

at the sixth form. Can the Prime

Minister explain why last year,

1:05:421:05:49

there was a 60% drop in

apprenticeships?

We have seen, we

1:05:491:05:55

have introduced the apprenticeship

levy and we are looking at the

1:05:551:05:58

application of that levy. And we are

ensuring, we have a commitment

1:05:581:06:04

through a period of years for a

project, we will increase them to 3

1:06:041:06:11

million over this Parliament. We

will look very carefully at the

1:06:111:06:16

apprenticeship levy and the impact

it has.

1:06:161:06:18

On International Women's Day

tomorrow, we will be celebrating

1:06:231:06:26

record numbers of women in work

including our second female Prime

1:06:261:06:29

Minister.

1:06:291:06:34

Minister. Yet attitudes toward

pregnancy mean that more than 50,000

1:06:351:06:39

women a year are forced out of their

jobs just for having a baby. When

1:06:391:06:42

will the government be taking

forward its review for existing

1:06:421:06:48

protections for pregnant women which

were suggested following an inquiry

1:06:481:06:55

into this issue?

She is right to

raise the issue. We have very clear

1:06:551:06:59

laws in this country that

dissemination in the workplace is on

1:06:591:07:02

lawful. There are clear regulations

in place which employ as --

1:07:021:07:10

employers must follow. --

discrimination in the workplace is

1:07:101:07:13

unlawful. We will review the

legislation relating to redundancy

1:07:131:07:18

in the next 12 months.

The Prime

Minister continues to sing the

1:07:181:07:23

praises of Universal Credit,

wilfully ignoring the devastation it

1:07:231:07:26

still causing. How do she square her

position with the fact that her Tory

1:07:261:07:31

colleagues in Stirling Council have

called for over half £1 million of

1:07:311:07:36

funding to mitigate the enormous

human suffering caused by Universal

1:07:361:07:41

Credit?

Universal Credit was

introduced as a more simple benefit

1:07:411:07:47

which is a benefit which enables and

encourages people to get into the

1:07:471:07:51

workplace. We have made a number of

changes in the way that Universal

1:07:511:07:57

Credit is operated, changes have

come into place and that includes

1:07:571:08:00

insuring that it's now possible for

someone to get a 100% advance of

1:08:001:08:05

their Universal Credit in very quick

time at the start of the application

1:08:051:08:10

where that is appropriate. Universal

Credit is a benefit that helps

1:08:101:08:15

people get into the workplace and

work is the best route out of

1:08:151:08:18

poverty.

Storm has left a trail of

destruction along the south coast of

1:08:181:08:26

Devon including washing away large

stretches of the A370 nine. Please

1:08:261:08:33

can the Prime Minister insure my

constituents that they will not be

1:08:331:08:36

left isolated and their community

separated, and can she pledge the

1:08:361:08:40

funds to help rebuild this vital

link and join me in thanking the

1:08:401:08:45

emergency services both in my

constituency and around the United

1:08:451:08:49

Kingdom for the extraordinary work

in desperately difficult

1:08:491:08:51

circumstances?

I'm happy and I'm

sure everyone is happy to join my

1:08:511:08:56

honourable friend in praising the

emergency services for the tireless

1:08:561:08:59

work they did to help people over

the severe winter weather. She is

1:08:591:09:05

right to raise concerns about the

A379 on the half of her constituents

1:09:051:09:14

and the Transport Secretary will

confirm that we will provide

1:09:141:09:17

financial assistance to insure that

this road is repaired as soon as

1:09:171:09:23

possible.

Battersea Power Station is

a £9 billion development pushed

1:09:231:09:27

through by Tory Wandsworth Council

with only 9% of so-called affordable

1:09:271:09:33

homes. 85% of these homes have been

snapped up by foreign investors.

1:09:331:09:37

This is an insult to the thousands

of people on the Wandsworth housing

1:09:371:09:41

waiting list. If the Prime Minister

in Paris that a Tory council is

1:09:411:09:46

siding with developers' --

embarrassed that a Tory council is

1:09:461:09:52

siding with developers' profit over

the Wandsworth people?

This is a

1:09:521:09:59

site that was derelict for over 40

years.

Order, order. It's very

1:09:591:10:04

discourteous, far too much noise in

the chamber. The question was heard

1:10:041:10:10

and very forcefully delivered by the

Prime Minister's answer must also be

1:10:101:10:13

heard.

This is a site that was

derelict for 40 years. It is now a

1:10:131:10:19

site that will be providing homes

and jobs. I would have thought that

1:10:191:10:22

is something to welcome.

Thank you,

Mr Speaker.

1:10:221:10:32

Mr Speaker. March is brain tumour

research awareness month, dedicating

1:10:321:10:34

to supporting people affected by

brain tumours and raising funds and

1:10:341:10:38

awareness. They remain the biggest

cancer killer of children and adults

1:10:381:10:42

under 40, a fact that has to change.

There has been great progress over

1:10:421:10:46

the last month that the government

turning its attention to this

1:10:461:10:49

underfunded disease but so much more

candid and. Will the Prime Minister

1:10:491:10:52

join me in commending -- so much

more can be done. Will the Prime

1:10:521:10:57

Minister join me in commend all of

those raising funds this month and

1:10:571:11:00

recognise the many thousands of

people fighting this disease and

1:11:001:11:05

make a statement about how the

government will see the job through

1:11:051:11:07

it until we have the research, care

and cure that many people need?

I

1:11:071:11:13

would join my honourable friend in

commending all those who are raising

1:11:131:11:18

awareness of brain cancer and

working hard and tirelessly in

1:11:181:11:22

research and also raise funding in

this. It's a devastating disease. I

1:11:221:11:26

was right pleased to meet Barry

Strauss to hear her experience of

1:11:261:11:33

the NHS and is -- meet Baroness

Tessa Jowell and she has had a round

1:11:331:11:42

table on brain cancer. 20 million

will be invested over the next five

1:11:421:11:45

years helping to fund essential

brain Cancer Research and in

1:11:451:11:50

addition, Cancer Research UK will be

investing 25 million over the same

1:11:501:11:56

period.

The increase in provision of

health care within NHS England by

1:11:561:12:07

private providers continues to cause

fragmentation and undermining of

1:12:071:12:09

patient services. The Prime Minister

has thus far refused to exclude such

1:12:091:12:18

services from a US trade deal. Can

she tell us how the Scottish

1:12:181:12:21

Government will be included in such

negotiations so they can protect our

1:12:211:12:26

Scottish NHS from being bartered

away to get a deal?

She is a little

1:12:261:12:32

late because I was asked a question

about a US trade deal and the

1:12:321:12:36

National Health Service either

member for token on Monday in this

1:12:361:12:39

house and I -- by the member for

Twickenham on Monday and I maintain

1:12:391:12:45

that week maintain the principles of

the National Health Service and we

1:12:451:12:48

will not allow it to be undermined.

Later today, representatives from

1:12:481:12:55

the greater Grimsby transport board

will be meeting the Business

1:12:551:13:00

Minister to discuss the next stage

of their town deal. The proposals

1:13:001:13:03

would be a great boost for the

economy of Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

1:13:031:13:09

Could she reaffirm her support for

the proposals and similar

1:13:091:13:11

initiative?

He has raised this issue

with me before and I do welcome the

1:13:111:13:19

strong public private sector

approach which is being pursued by

1:13:191:13:22

the Great Grimsby Project board. I

know he is playing an active role in

1:13:221:13:28

that. There have been a number of

positive meetings of the Ministry of

1:13:281:13:33

Housing, communities and local

government and I would in courage

1:13:331:13:35

the board to in gauge -- in gauge

with officials continually so we can

1:13:351:13:42

see the developments taking place to

in the local area.

IMO is concerned

1:13:421:13:48

with protecting the -- I am always

concerned with protecting the rights

1:13:481:13:54

of smaller parties, so Nigel..

I am

grateful for your protection. Would

1:13:541:14:00

she acknowledge and praise the

success of the EU negotiator Michel

1:14:001:14:07

Barnier in bringing a measure of

progress in the negotiations in that

1:14:071:14:15

he has managed to unite the

opposition and the government in

1:14:151:14:22

utter defiance of the legal sexy has

brought forward and would she agree

1:14:221:14:26

that the EU need to get on and get

on and -- the legal text he has

1:14:261:14:34

brought forward. It is time that the

EU went on to the negotiations.

He

1:14:341:14:41

is absolutely right. It is now time

for the negotiators to get on with

1:14:411:14:48

the job of discussing the trade and

economic partnership for the future

1:14:481:14:51

and also within that, I'm pleased

that we will be able to discuss with

1:14:511:14:55

the Irish government and the

commission the practical details of

1:14:551:14:58

delivering on the solution for the

border between Northern Ireland and

1:14:581:15:03

Ireland so we continue to have the

free flow of trade between Northern

1:15:031:15:07

Ireland and Ireland and the rest of

the UK.

1:15:071:15:14

the UK.

Last month it was announced

that a proposed merger between the

1:15:141:15:18

British Transport Police and police

got them was put on hold in the wake

1:15:181:15:21

of widespread criticism from a

number of different parties. What

1:15:211:15:25

discussions has she been able to

have with devolved ministers and

1:15:251:15:28

what steps has been taken? Will to

scrap this all fated proposal?

1:15:281:15:39

I recognise the concerns that have

been expressed. We were committed to

1:15:401:15:46

delivering on the Smith commission

proposals and as part of that we

1:15:461:15:49

will be delivering housing proposals

to the Scottish Government. Priority

1:15:491:15:53

must remain the safety of the

British public and we are committed

1:15:531:15:57

to working with the Scottish

Government to ensure a smooth

1:15:571:16:01

transfer of the function should that

be their decision. It is for the

1:16:011:16:05

Scottish Government to decide. I

would urge them to ensure that as

1:16:051:16:08

they are taking those decisions they

are putting the safety of the

1:16:081:16:11

security of the public first.

Is it

the policy of the government that

1:16:111:16:18

England should pull out of the World

Cup and if not what on earth was the

1:16:181:16:22

Foreign Secretary on about

yesterday?

The point the Foreign

1:16:221:16:26

Secretary was making yesterday was

that depending on what comes out in

1:16:261:16:31

relation to the investigation into

the attack on the two individuals

1:16:311:16:34

that took place in Salisbury that it

might be appropriate for the

1:16:341:16:38

government to look at whether

ministers and other dignitaries

1:16:381:16:41

should attend the World Cup in

Russia.

In advance of the Prime

1:16:411:16:47

Minister's meeting with the Crown

Prince of Saudi Arabia today, would

1:16:471:16:50

she agree with me that in fact the

kingdom is a force for a tremendous

1:16:501:16:55

stability and a troubled region?

Would she offer reassurance to the

1:16:551:16:59

Crown prince that this country will

stand with him in his efforts to

1:16:591:17:03

bring modernity, development and

reform to our Middle Eastern ally?

I

1:17:031:17:07

agree with my honourable friend, we

have had a long-standing and

1:17:071:17:11

historic relationship with the

kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that

1:17:111:17:15

will continue. It has been important

in our security and defence and it

1:17:151:17:19

is important for the stability of

the region. We also see a Saudi

1:17:191:17:24

Arabia that is reforming and

changing and is giving greater

1:17:241:17:28

rights to women. We should encourage

that and stand alongside Saudi

1:17:281:17:32

Arabia and work with them to help

the Crown Prince delivered on his

1:17:321:17:35

vision.

Today the Department for

International Development launches

1:17:351:17:41

the Joe Cox Memorial grants that

will empower women in some of the

1:17:411:17:46

most difficult parts of our world.

Will the Prime Minister join with me

1:17:461:17:51

in thanking wholeheartedly everyone

who made this happen? And also to

1:17:511:17:57

agree that when it comes to

preventing conflict her legacy must

1:17:571:18:02

teach us that women's voices must be

heard?

Can I say to the honourable

1:18:021:18:07

lady and thank her for raising this

issue and I am happy to welcome the

1:18:071:18:12

UK aid contribution that my right

honourable friend the International

1:18:121:18:16

Development Secretary has announced

today to the Joe Cox Memorial

1:18:161:18:19

grants. That is £10 million being

allocated to help grass-roots

1:18:191:18:24

organisations deliver on two causes

close to Joe Cox's Park, protecting

1:18:241:18:29

against identity -based Byland and

also boosting the social and

1:18:291:18:35

political development of girls and

helping to protect against identity

1:18:351:18:38

-based violence. The honourable lady

is absolutely right. She fought for

1:18:381:18:45

gender equality at home and in

developing countries and it is right

1:18:451:18:48

that we as a government and as a

country encourage women's' voices to

1:18:481:18:53

be heard wherever they are.

1:18:531:18:54

It began by Jeremy Corbyn pointing

out that tomorrow was International

1:19:021:19:08

Women's Day. Theresa May thank him

for pointing that out exhibition

1:19:081:19:16

Mike as we anticipated, Jeremy

Corbyn Rose issues of human rights

1:19:161:19:24

in Saudi Arabia because of the Crown

Prince's visit to London today and

1:19:241:19:28

tomorrow. The Prime Minister said

she did raise human rights issues

1:19:281:19:33

with Saudi Arabia, and it is better

to engage with them rather than to

1:19:331:19:37

walk away. The Leader of the

Opposition moved the war in Yemen

1:19:371:19:42

and some of the terrible things

happening there. The Prime Minister

1:19:421:19:48

replied Britain was the third

largest humanitarian donor in Yemen.

1:19:481:19:53

But also Britain is such a big arms

exporter to Saudi Arabia. Then

1:19:531:20:00

Jeremy Corbyn pivoted and moved from

Saudi Arabia to homelessness and

1:20:001:20:05

finished up with three or four

questions on the rise in rough

1:20:051:20:08

sleeping.

1:20:081:20:10

questions on the rise

in rough sleeping.

1:20:101:20:12

Well, still with me are Mel Stride,

Financial Secretary to the Treasury,

1:20:121:20:14

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary

Debbie Abrahams and our political

1:20:141:20:17

editor Laura Kuenssberg.

1:20:171:20:21

What did you make of that?

It was as

we expected, a predictable exchange

1:20:211:20:26

were neither of them really engaged

with each other on the substance of

1:20:261:20:29

what either of them was saying.

Jeremy Corbyn's had very strong

1:20:291:20:35

accusations about the British

involvement in Yemen. He's actually

1:20:351:20:38

said we were colluding with war

crimes.

He said more than that. He

1:20:381:20:44

said British military advisers are

directing the war.

I would not be

1:20:441:20:49

surprised if there was some push

back through the day to those

1:20:491:20:52

remarks, very strong claims being

put to Theresa May. She did not

1:20:521:20:56

directly engage and take it on at

all. Instead she highlighted bit's

1:20:561:21:01

humanitarian effort and try to

mitigate the effects of that

1:21:011:21:05

terrible conflict and in another

question as well she made a defence

1:21:051:21:10

of our links and had a real slap

down for Jeremy Corbyn which are

1:21:101:21:16

backbenchers loved. She claimed our

alliance with Saudi Arabia was one

1:21:161:21:19

of the things that has helped

protect British citizens from

1:21:191:21:23

potential acts of terrorism. The

twain shall never meet on that

1:21:231:21:27

issue, but it was a strongly worded

exchange but nothing really new. In

1:21:271:21:31

broader terms you could tell from

watching Theresa May today that she

1:21:311:21:37

had a relatively successful outing

as far as her party is concerned in

1:21:371:21:41

terms of the Mansion house speech at

the end of last week. The Prime

1:21:411:21:45

Minister has had a very difficult

start to this year. There was huge

1:21:451:21:49

anticipation and division in the

Tory party as we have talked about

1:21:491:21:53

week after week and I thought you

could tell from her today that she

1:21:531:21:57

looked much more confident and

comfortable than she has for some

1:21:571:22:00

time. At the end the Tory

backbenchers were shouting more,

1:22:001:22:05

more, can it last? That is a

different question, but in terms of

1:22:051:22:09

which side feels like they are on a

roll right now, it feels to me like

1:22:091:22:14

it is the government, whereas Labour

today is still dealing with some of

1:22:141:22:19

its internal issues.

We have not

said that she has had a strong

1:22:191:22:25

performance for quite some time. Can

you shed any light on Jeremy

1:22:251:22:33

Corbyn's claimed that British

military advisers are directing the

1:22:331:22:35

war?

No.

We don't know what he

means. There is some British

1:22:351:22:44

involvement in terms of some of the

equipment and sums of the targeting.

1:22:441:22:53

But directing the war is quite a

strong accusation. Jeremy Corbyn

1:22:531:22:57

also accused the government and said

since 2010 rough sleeping had

1:22:571:23:03

doubled to stop but he was wrong. It

has almost tripled. Why?

Successive

1:23:031:23:11

governments have struggled with

rough sleeping.

No, it came down

1:23:111:23:17

under the last government. It was a

clear trend, it came down.

We

1:23:171:23:23

recognise the issue and we have a

firm commitment to eliminating it in

1:23:231:23:29

2027.

Say that date again? 2027?

By

halving it by 2022.

Why can't you do

1:23:291:23:39

that now?

There are a number of

reasons why people end up on the

1:23:391:23:43

street and we have invested £1

billion in this area. We recognise

1:23:431:23:51

helping people off the street into

an immediate accommodation means we

1:23:511:23:54

can then start to address those

issues.

It is a complicated issue

1:23:541:24:00

and it involves substance abuse,

mental issues can be involved, I

1:24:001:24:06

understand it is not just an issue

of a roof over somebody's head, but

1:24:061:24:11

for it almost two treble oh for you

to tell our viewers that the target

1:24:111:24:15

is to eliminate it by 2027 when

Theresa May will certainly not be in

1:24:151:24:21

power and you might not be in power

either, why 2027? Why nine years?

It

1:24:211:24:30

is very easy for politicians to say

they have one bound solutions to

1:24:301:24:36

things like this. This is one of

those complex problems.

But why a

1:24:361:24:43

decade?

There are all sorts of

reasons why we are saying we will

1:24:431:24:48

eliminate it by 2027 and half it by

2022. The other part of this

1:24:481:24:52

equation is housing. We have all

sorts of firm commitments and plans

1:24:521:24:58

and investments to get the level of

house building up where our record

1:24:581:25:02

is very good compared to the last

Labour government.

You have not yet

1:25:021:25:10

met Labour's best years, but we have

not got time to go there. Anyway,

1:25:101:25:15

Donald task, remember him?

1:25:151:25:17

Anyway, Donald task, remember him?

1:25:171:25:18

Donald Tusk, who is president

of the European Council

1:25:181:25:20

which represents the EU

Member States, has in the last

1:25:201:25:23

hour unveiled the EU's

draft negotiating guidelines.

1:25:231:25:29

It is for the kind of relationship

that Britain and the EU will have

1:25:291:25:33

posed Brexit.

1:25:331:25:34

posed Brexit.

1:25:341:25:35

He's been speaking at a press

1:25:351:25:36

conference in Luxembourg.

1:25:361:25:39

During my talks in London last

Thursday and in her speech last

1:25:391:25:45

Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May

confirmed that the UK will leave the

1:25:451:25:49

single market, leave the customs

union and leave the jurisdiction of

1:25:491:25:53

the ECJ. Therefore, it should come

as no surprise that the only

1:25:531:26:02

remaining possible model is a free

trade agreement. I hope that it will

1:26:021:26:08

be ambitious and advanced and we

will do our best, as we did with

1:26:081:26:12

other partners such as Canada

recently, but anyway it will only be

1:26:121:26:20

a trade agreement.

He is right. If

you look out the single market and a

1:26:201:26:29

customs union and the role of the

ECJ, you are left with a free trade

1:26:291:26:33

agreement. He calls it an ambitious

free trade agreement. David Davis,

1:26:331:26:40

the Brexit minister, has called it

Canada, plus, plus, plus. That is

1:26:401:26:45

what is left, isn't it?

What we are

very clear that...

My heart sinks

1:26:451:26:51

when you say that. I can see rivers

of mud coming towards me estimation

1:26:511:26:55

mark we will seek a bespoke deal, as

a unique country with an alliance

1:26:551:27:07

with a very important economic

partner. It is an ambitious trade

1:27:071:27:12

deal?

The Prime Minister set out

last Friday the parameters around

1:27:121:27:16

that and that is what we will work

to and it will be within the

1:27:161:27:20

European Union's interests to meet

us and there will be compromises on

1:27:201:27:24

both sides. They have every single

deal out there that the EU has done

1:27:241:27:30

and it has been a unique

arrangement.

It is a free trade deal

1:27:301:27:35

whether it is unique or not. If you

rule out the single market and the

1:27:351:27:40

customs union, it is a free trade

deal. It might be bespoke and

1:27:401:27:45

ambitious and plus, plus, plus, but

it is a free trade deal.

What is

1:27:451:27:49

your question?

If you look all that

out, my question is that Donald task

1:27:491:27:56

is right, you are left with a free

trade deal?

I understand exactly

1:27:561:28:02

what is being put to ask, but what I

would like to put on the behalf of

1:28:021:28:10

the Labour Party is an alternative

and I would again be urging the

1:28:101:28:14

government to take up our position

that we should be negotiating the UK

1:28:141:28:23

having EU deal.

I am going to call

you Deborah because that is not what

1:28:231:28:27

I asked.

1:28:271:28:27

I asked.

1:28:271:28:30

There's just time to put you out

of your misery and give

1:28:301:28:33

you the answer to Guess The Year.

1:28:331:28:37

The year was 1997. Now, Deborah,

press that red button, please.

1:28:371:28:46

Now, Deborah, press that

red button, please.

1:28:491:28:51

That's all for today.

1:28:511:28:52

Thanks to our guests.

1:28:521:28:54

The one o'clock news is starting

over on BBC One now.

1:28:541:29:02

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