17/07/2017

:00:00. > :00:00.dealing with the queries he raised. Canny Secretary of State tell me

:00:00. > :00:08.what he will do to ensure that Bradford Council build on the

:00:09. > :00:12.Brownfield sites it has identified before it starts concreting over and

:00:13. > :00:18.building on greenfield sites in the green belt in my constituency? My

:00:19. > :00:24.honourable friend makes a very important point, and as we have made

:00:25. > :00:27.clear any Housing white paper, we expect Brownfield sites to always

:00:28. > :00:33.been a priority to meet our housing need, and that is what I would

:00:34. > :00:36.expect to see from Bradford. Is it entirely wisely minister of the

:00:37. > :00:39.Northern Powerhouse to come across the Pennines from his Lancashire

:00:40. > :00:45.constituency and tell the people of Yorkshire that they could not have

:00:46. > :00:50.full Yorkshire demolition? Are these decisions are best made in God 's

:00:51. > :01:01.own county, not in Whitehall, and not unlike a job and it's very

:01:02. > :01:05.different geography. As a proud Lancastrian, it is not for me nor is

:01:06. > :01:11.it for Government to tell Yorkshire what demolition deal it should have.

:01:12. > :01:15.However, I would gently point out that in 2015, Bardsley, Doncaster,

:01:16. > :01:18.rather and Sheffield asked for powers from Government, we gave them

:01:19. > :01:22.to them. They asked the new money from Government, we gave it to them.

:01:23. > :01:26.They also have an election next May, we gave it to them. When will the

:01:27. > :01:35.people of South Yorkshire learn to take yes for an answer? Kettering

:01:36. > :01:38.Borough Council, of which I am a member, provide specialist Housing

:01:39. > :01:41.advice to those in financial difficulties, to prevent

:01:42. > :01:44.homelessness in the first place and is working closely with local

:01:45. > :01:48.housing associations to bring forward a recognisable of homes for

:01:49. > :01:54.social rate. Isn't that exactly the right approach? I commend the work

:01:55. > :02:00.that Kettering Borough Council are doing, in my experience where we are

:02:01. > :02:02.seeing local authorities prevent homelessness, they are doing very

:02:03. > :02:07.much those type of things, particularly in terms of helping

:02:08. > :02:10.people deal with the financial challenges, things like budgeting,

:02:11. > :02:12.and it is certainly good here that Kettering are also bringing forward

:02:13. > :02:19.a significant number of affordable homes that residents can benefit

:02:20. > :02:26.from. Goodes we heard from the minister earlier about causing

:02:27. > :02:31.communities, Blackall and Horden in my constituency are also former

:02:32. > :02:33.coalfield communities that have suffered terminal levels of

:02:34. > :02:38.underinvestment says those bits where close. Under the previous Tory

:02:39. > :02:44.Government. Will be missed the meet with me to see what can be done? It

:02:45. > :02:47.isn't just for Government has bought our coastal communities, it would

:02:48. > :02:51.encourage all members across this House to visit the fantastic great

:02:52. > :02:54.British coastline. I will of course happily meet with the honourable

:02:55. > :03:01.member and representatives from his constituency to work out what more

:03:02. > :03:06.the fund can do for him. In magical constituency, they are drying up

:03:07. > :03:08.their local plan, however there are concerns that the Greater Manchester

:03:09. > :03:14.Police will override it. What assurances can he get neighbourhood

:03:15. > :03:22.forums that their plans will be appropriately considered? As the

:03:23. > :03:24.Secretary of State reiterated, we made a commitment to protecting the

:03:25. > :03:28.green belt in the Housing white paper, and I cannot comment

:03:29. > :03:32.specifically on the planet which he talks about, but I would emphasise

:03:33. > :03:35.the PlanMaker is the consult with the community, especially

:03:36. > :03:38.neighbourhood forums, and once that has been brought in force, it is

:03:39. > :03:45.part of the statutory development plan of an area. I will come to

:03:46. > :03:49.points of order, because I think there are a number today relating to

:03:50. > :03:55.one matter, and it seems to me to contain a degree of urgency. I will

:03:56. > :04:01.treat it very soon. Just before I do, I have a short statement myself

:04:02. > :04:05.to make. On Thursday the 13th of July, the text colleagues of the

:04:06. > :04:13.European Union withdrawal Bill was available through eight week, before

:04:14. > :04:17.the Bill was presented in the House. Points of order will raised about

:04:18. > :04:20.the Bill being available online for it was available to members. An

:04:21. > :04:27.immediate investigation was carried out. A flaw in the publishing

:04:28. > :04:34.process within the House of Commons service meant that the Bill text was

:04:35. > :04:38.inadvertently available on a live Parliamentary web server before the

:04:39. > :04:43.Bill was presented. A link to the text was circulated on social media,

:04:44. > :04:49.just before 11am. Immediate action has been taken to amend the

:04:50. > :04:53.publishing process, to ensure that this cannot happen again. No one

:04:54. > :04:59.outside the House of Commons service and there's any responsibility for

:05:00. > :05:02.this mistake. This was a serious incident, and I have been assured

:05:03. > :05:09.that the required changes have been made to strengthen the Bill

:05:10. > :05:12.publishing arrangements. I hope that that has -- as wages the concern of

:05:13. > :05:24.honourable and Right Honourable members. -- as wages. The analysis

:05:25. > :05:28.due to be made by the Transport Secretary today, which will affect

:05:29. > :05:31.millions of people. He began back his consultation with an oral

:05:32. > :05:35.statement last November and there had been an expectation that they

:05:36. > :05:39.would announce his final decisions today with an oral statement, and

:05:40. > :05:43.parts of the media were briefed to that effect. All the indicators are

:05:44. > :05:49.now that the news will be sneaked out in a written statement any time

:05:50. > :05:52.now. This is a gross discourtesy and add insult to injury for my

:05:53. > :05:56.constituents, so I would seek your advice about how we can get the

:05:57. > :06:04.Transport Secretary to come to the House and show some accountability

:06:05. > :06:12.on this issue. As others relate the same subject, I think I will take

:06:13. > :06:17.them or a number of them and then respond. I would seek your advice,

:06:18. > :06:24.today the Government has announced and been all over the airwaves, a

:06:25. > :06:30.?6.6 billion worth of contracts on HS two, and it would seem to me that

:06:31. > :06:33.when such a large amount of taxpayers money is being spent, that

:06:34. > :06:36.the minister should come to the House and make the statement. I

:06:37. > :06:40.appreciate the urgent question and statement on business, that is

:06:41. > :06:45.equally important, but I wonder whether you could extend the setting

:06:46. > :06:49.of this House and allow others to have a statement from the minister,

:06:50. > :06:56.because in the light of what has happened with contractors before, CH

:06:57. > :06:59.do them, having withdrawn from a ?70 million contract, because of a lack

:07:00. > :07:04.of due diligence, and conflict of interest, we need to look at these

:07:05. > :07:08.contractors, because one contractor has major project overruns and has

:07:09. > :07:13.written of millions of pounds, two contractors have pulled out of other

:07:14. > :07:15.public service contracts, and one is having financial problems and

:07:16. > :07:26.restructuring. I would seek a statement will stop a point of order

:07:27. > :07:32.from Angela Smith. I would add that it is not just his constituents but

:07:33. > :07:38.those across Yorkshire and beyond. We are impacted upon by the

:07:39. > :07:42.decision. Not only that, this is the latest in a long line of actions by

:07:43. > :07:48.the Government which are demonstrating an unwillingness to

:07:49. > :07:52.make itself available to the scrutiny of the people. I wonder

:07:53. > :07:56.what you can do to improve their situation and encourage the

:07:57. > :08:02.Government to stand up to do its job properly. Further to that point, or

:08:03. > :08:09.the order paper today, we have the high-speed rail West Midlands Bell,

:08:10. > :08:12.and indeed faddy would in Staffordshire is in my constituency

:08:13. > :08:16.which is written on the order paper. I have two farms on which there is

:08:17. > :08:21.going to be quarrying, it was just announced, and this was even before

:08:22. > :08:24.we have had first reading. I got elderly residents who are being told

:08:25. > :08:30.that their homes I go to be taken away from them. We have already

:08:31. > :08:35.heard from my right honourable friend about cost overruns. I too

:08:36. > :08:39.sadly think it is outrageous that this major item of public

:08:40. > :08:43.expenditure, which is affecting my constituents and those of many

:08:44. > :08:54.others, is not being reflected by a statement here today. I am saving

:08:55. > :08:58.the honourable gentleman, he is too precious to waste. I entirely

:08:59. > :09:01.support the point of order raised by my right honourable friend from

:09:02. > :09:06.Doncaster North. This is a major announcement affecting my

:09:07. > :09:09.constituency and many others. It is not then HS two recommendation, it

:09:10. > :09:15.is a Government decision on a previous recommendation. We can ask

:09:16. > :09:19.for an urgent question tomorrow, by that time they will be a public

:09:20. > :09:27.debate on it. This House should have the first opportunity to debate this

:09:28. > :09:32.matter. Many of my constituents have taken part in the consultation in

:09:33. > :09:35.relation to the re-routing of HS two over many months now. We do not know

:09:36. > :09:42.if their voices have been heard. There has been no public publication

:09:43. > :09:47.of the causal station. This may wreck over 100 homes are my

:09:48. > :09:50.constituency as many jobs in different employers, and I think it

:09:51. > :09:54.is outrageous that my constituents are being treated at with contempt

:09:55. > :09:58.by ministers were not prepared to come into the House and tell us what

:09:59. > :10:03.they have spent all this money on and took ontological decisions about

:10:04. > :10:12.this as opposed to hiding behind a written statement we think at some

:10:13. > :10:16.time today. As you know, because you have allocated a debate for my two

:10:17. > :10:21.honourable and Right honourable friend is already, and you know

:10:22. > :10:28.because you have heard say it and I have said and in particular, it is

:10:29. > :10:34.possible ?80 billion scheme which it probably will be around that figure,

:10:35. > :10:40.means that a lot of houses in my constituency I going to be

:10:41. > :10:45.demolished and rose I going to go straight through a development that

:10:46. > :10:52.is only just taken place, that in Derbyshire they will be a slow

:10:53. > :10:58.track, dawdling its weight in Sheffield, and beyond, and then a

:10:59. > :11:04.fast-track that goes to Meadowhall. This is a very important matter. It

:11:05. > :11:12.should be debated at length. Because it is going to cost the taxpayer a

:11:13. > :11:16.small fortune, and as you know, the Sheffield line could have

:11:17. > :11:21.electrification all the way to London and get to London a lot

:11:22. > :11:26.quicker for a lot less money. This is an outrage. That is why I raised

:11:27. > :11:30.the matter along with my honourable friends today.

:11:31. > :11:40.I am grateful for the points of order. What I say is my

:11:41. > :11:45.understanding is that the written ministerial statement has now been

:11:46. > :11:55.issued. There was speculation as to when it would be. I am advised that

:11:56. > :12:01.it has been. Secondly, I am not in a position to require a minister to

:12:02. > :12:05.come to the house today to make a statement, however, it is

:12:06. > :12:15.comparatively unusual for members on both sides of the house in unison to

:12:16. > :12:22.raise such a concern and to make to all intents and purposes and exactly

:12:23. > :12:27.similar request that there should be. I will come to the honourable

:12:28. > :12:32.gentleman. In the circumstances, the Secretary of State is bound to hear

:12:33. > :12:36.of these concerns within a matter of minutes and, if the right honourable

:12:37. > :12:42.gentleman wanted to come to the house today to make a statement, I

:12:43. > :12:47.would certainly be very happy to facilitate him. My last observation

:12:48. > :12:57.would be that I think the honourable gentleman for Sheffield South East,

:12:58. > :13:01.former member for Sheffield, said that an urgent question could be

:13:02. > :13:05.applied for tomorrow, but by then all sorts of briefing would have

:13:06. > :13:14.taken place. I am afraid it is not within the power of the Speaker to

:13:15. > :13:21.reverse time. I cannot do anything about that. I can only deal with

:13:22. > :13:29.this situation as it evolves. But what I would say is that if no

:13:30. > :13:34.statement is forthcoming from the minister it would be perfectly open

:13:35. > :13:40.to members to do their best to secure Parliamentary time and

:13:41. > :13:49.attention tomorrow and it may be that such an exploration would take

:13:50. > :13:55.place at some length, at some length, that it may be that faced

:13:56. > :13:58.with that scenario, a minister might think it prudent and judicious to

:13:59. > :14:04.anticipate the difficulty and to offer the statement today instead. I

:14:05. > :14:11.do not know, we shall have to C, but I am on the side of the house in

:14:12. > :14:21.wanting ministers to be accountable to it. That seems pretty clear to

:14:22. > :14:25.me. I beg your pardon. Further to that point of order, I am asking

:14:26. > :14:28.whether there has been discussion between you and the Secretary of

:14:29. > :14:33.State as to whether these further reports and documents, which are

:14:34. > :14:36.scheduled to be published today, should have been delayed until the

:14:37. > :14:43.Secretary of State was before the house tomorrow, if at all possible?

:14:44. > :14:47.No, is the short answer. There has been no such discussions and it

:14:48. > :14:52.would not automatically be expected that there should be, but I can

:14:53. > :14:57.simply say to the honourable gentleman, I have not been advised

:14:58. > :15:05.of any revised plans. So we will leave it there for now. Point of

:15:06. > :15:09.order. On the 27th of June I put a Parliamentary question to the

:15:10. > :15:13.government asking when they would release the report on product

:15:14. > :15:16.safety. I'm sure you agree that given the situation we find

:15:17. > :15:19.ourselves in particular after the Grenfell Tower disaster, it is

:15:20. > :15:23.crucial that house is kept up-to-date with progress of the

:15:24. > :15:28.report. I received a response and answer would be prepared and sent in

:15:29. > :15:34.due course. By the 12th of July to put another Parliamentary question

:15:35. > :15:37.for today. Can I ask you kindly to ensure the government make their

:15:38. > :15:42.response known as a matter of urgency? What I would say is it is

:15:43. > :15:48.highly undesirable for questions that have been tabled in good faith

:15:49. > :15:54.and orderly manner, some time before the recess, not to receive an answer

:15:55. > :16:02.by the time of the recess. This is not some new development articulated

:16:03. > :16:06.at this moment by me from the chair, it is a long established and

:16:07. > :16:12.respected practice that ministers to put it bluntly try to clear the

:16:13. > :16:17.backlog, and it is customarily expected that the Leader of the

:16:18. > :16:22.House would be a chaser after progress on such matters and I would

:16:23. > :16:26.very much hope the honourable lady will have a reply, a substantive

:16:27. > :16:31.reply, to her written question or questions, before this House rises

:16:32. > :16:34.for the summer recess. It seems a matter of proper procedure and

:16:35. > :16:41.courtesy from one colleague to another. Point of order. The report

:16:42. > :16:47.referred to, a working group was set up following a serious fire in my

:16:48. > :16:50.constituency. We were promised that report before Christmas last year

:16:51. > :16:55.and that is what we are still waiting for. If we do not get that

:16:56. > :16:59.this week and a clear statement from the government, we will be waiting

:17:00. > :17:03.in the case of my constituents and grand full until the autumn and the

:17:04. > :17:09.urgency cannot go on marked by the minister and anything you continue

:17:10. > :17:11.to assist, I would be most grateful. The honourable gentleman has

:17:12. > :17:16.transmitted his concerns through me to the government, which will

:17:17. > :17:20.quickly get to hear the honourable gentleman is on the war path on the

:17:21. > :17:26.matter and that might yield a positive outcome over the next 48,

:17:27. > :17:30.72 hours and it is up to the honourable gentleman to judge

:17:31. > :17:34.whether having heard or not heard anything from ministers, he wishes

:17:35. > :17:37.to find ways of trying to secure attention to the issue on the floor

:17:38. > :17:43.of the house before we rise for the summer recess. Point of order. I

:17:44. > :17:48.would have given notice but I thought we were doing points of

:17:49. > :17:51.order later. Last week after meeting with trade union representatives

:17:52. > :17:55.from Rolls-Royce outside Bristol, I tried to table a written question

:17:56. > :18:03.asking if the government was seeking to stay in the European Aviation

:18:04. > :18:07.Safety Agency post Brexit. My question was rejected on the grounds

:18:08. > :18:11.a similar question was asked in January and nothing has changed and

:18:12. > :18:17.that questioned said that we cannot pre-empt negotiations. I would like

:18:18. > :18:21.clarity today on whether and how will we know nothing has changed if

:18:22. > :18:24.we are not allowed to table questions, but also I have been told

:18:25. > :18:27.I cannot ask the question again until the end of the Brexit

:18:28. > :18:35.negotiations, and that seems ludicrous. It strikes me as a rum

:18:36. > :18:41.business and I would hope it would be possible for the honourable lady

:18:42. > :18:47.to receive some satisfaction. My strong advice is she should take the

:18:48. > :18:51.short journey from here to the table office and seek advice, because I am

:18:52. > :18:55.sure it will be possible to achieve a satisfactory outcome and forgive

:18:56. > :19:01.me making this point, again, but I do make it again, that the

:19:02. > :19:05.honourable lady effectively refers to being denied on grounds of

:19:06. > :19:10.repetition. Repetition is not a novel phenomenon in the House of

:19:11. > :19:18.Commons. I think we will leave it there for now. We come to the urgent

:19:19. > :19:27.question for which the honourable gentleman has been patiently

:19:28. > :19:29.waiting. Mr Tom Brake. To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and

:19:30. > :19:33.Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on what steps are being

:19:34. > :19:41.taken to intervene in the anticipated execution of 14 people

:19:42. > :19:47.in Saudi Arabia. Minister of State. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the

:19:48. > :19:52.right honourable gentleman for his question. Media reporting has

:19:53. > :19:57.suggested 14 men could face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia for

:19:58. > :20:02.attending protests in an Eastern province in 2012. We are looking

:20:03. > :20:08.into details and reports, including seeking urgent parity with the Saudi

:20:09. > :20:13.authorities there and in London. I have been in contact with the

:20:14. > :20:17.ambassador to for Saudi Arabia who will come back with information when

:20:18. > :20:20.he has it. We regularly make this cover's opposition to the death

:20:21. > :20:25.penalty clear, we are firmly opposed, and raise concerns at all

:20:26. > :20:29.levels and all opportunities and they are aware of our stance over

:20:30. > :20:33.their human rights in this position is a matter of public record. The

:20:34. > :20:40.Prime Minister raise this during her visit in April this year. I thank

:20:41. > :20:45.the minister. Evidence points to Saudi Arabia taking final steps

:20:46. > :20:49.before executing up to 14 people, including at least two who were

:20:50. > :20:54.juveniles at the time of the alleged offences and convicted on the

:20:55. > :20:58.strength of confessions through the use of torture. Our Prime Minister

:20:59. > :21:01.has highlighted the long-term relationship with Saudi Arabia and

:21:02. > :21:06.has said rather than standing on the sidelines and sniping it is

:21:07. > :21:12.important to talk about our interests and raise difficult issues

:21:13. > :21:17.when we feel necessary. I am sure the Prime Minister and minister

:21:18. > :21:21.would agree 14 executions are such a difficult issue and I am pleased it

:21:22. > :21:24.has been raised urgently with the Saudi government. I would like to

:21:25. > :21:31.ask, will the minister asked the Prime Minister to call on Saudi King

:21:32. > :21:39.Salman and the crown prince to stop the executions, especially

:21:40. > :21:42.juveniles? From going ahead. If the executions of juveniles and others

:21:43. > :21:48.arrested in relation to allege protest activity go ahead, will be

:21:49. > :21:51.UK commit to freezing and reviewing any criminal justice systems that

:21:52. > :21:55.could contribute to the arrest of protesters and dissidents in Saudi

:21:56. > :21:59.Arabia and what further steps will the government take to condemn Saudi

:22:00. > :22:09.Arabia's use of the death penalty, especially in the case of people

:22:10. > :22:13.with disabilities, and juveniles. Mr Speaker, our Prime Minister is

:22:14. > :22:18.promoting the UK as a global nation, how she responds to the threat of

:22:19. > :22:21.summary executions by a partner and close ally will determine what kind

:22:22. > :22:28.of global nation she intends the United Kingdom to be, a global

:22:29. > :22:33.champion of human rights or apologist for human rights abusers.

:22:34. > :22:40.Thank you. Let me deal with some of the issues raised. In relation to

:22:41. > :22:46.the death penalty and death penalty in relation to juveniles, the UK

:22:47. > :22:49.Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every

:22:50. > :22:54.country including Saudi Arabia, especially for crimes other than the

:22:55. > :22:59.most serious, and the juveniles, in line with standards set out in the

:23:00. > :23:03.EU guidelines on the death penalty. And the provisions of the

:23:04. > :23:08.international covenant on civil and political rights and the Arab

:23:09. > :23:12.Charter. A law has been proposed to King Salman that codify is the age

:23:13. > :23:19.of majority at 18 and the death penalty should not be given to

:23:20. > :23:23.minors. The cases he raised towards the end of his remarks, are cases

:23:24. > :23:27.that have been raised specifically by the United Kingdom and in each

:23:28. > :23:33.case we have received assurances that minors would not be executed.

:23:34. > :23:38.In relation to the general relationship with Saudi Arabia, our

:23:39. > :23:42.starting point for engagement on human rights with all countries is

:23:43. > :23:47.based on what is practical realistic and achievable and we will always be

:23:48. > :23:51.ready to speak out as a matter of principle. Ministers discuss human

:23:52. > :23:54.rights and raise concerns with the Saudi Arabia government and we have

:23:55. > :23:59.a balanced relationship with Saudi Arabia and using gauge meant to

:24:00. > :24:05.encourage reform. This is a society going through a process of reform,

:24:06. > :24:11.heading towards fish in 2030, which the new crown prince has laid out as

:24:12. > :24:16.a pattern for Saudi Arabia. Women's rights of changing with the addition

:24:17. > :24:22.of women to the council and it is a process that does not go at our pace

:24:23. > :24:26.but at other places. We make sure human rights of a key part of every

:24:27. > :24:31.conversation senior colleagues have and will certainly be the case

:24:32. > :24:37.should it be necessary to intervene, should any minors be in the position

:24:38. > :24:41.described. As indicated, we have sketchy reports of this and that is

:24:42. > :24:44.why we are doing more and I will write to the right honourable

:24:45. > :24:50.gentleman when I received more detailed information so he has it

:24:51. > :24:59.available. The chair of the foreign affairs Select Committee. We have

:25:00. > :25:04.heard over the years the government talk about the influence it has had

:25:05. > :25:07.over the actions of the Saudi government in terms of capital

:25:08. > :25:13.offences. I would be grateful if the minister could give examples of how

:25:14. > :25:20.that has paid off because on days like this, it leaves questions to be

:25:21. > :25:27.answered. Can I congratulate my honourable friend on his election to

:25:28. > :25:31.the office of chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, it is

:25:32. > :25:36.important office, well held by his predecessor, to whom we would pay

:25:37. > :25:40.tribute. These are difficult job is done by colleagues at my right

:25:41. > :25:45.honourable friend did it critically well. We are pleased to see the

:25:46. > :25:52.honourable gentleman in his place. It is difficult to prove a negative.

:25:53. > :25:56.The authorities with which we deal in Saudi Arabia are not necessarily

:25:57. > :26:02.in a position to make their judicial decisions dependent on external

:26:03. > :26:08.pressure. Nor would we be in their case. We know that a number of

:26:09. > :26:12.allegations are made about possible executions of minors and then they

:26:13. > :26:17.do not happen, but whether or not it would be specifically laid at the

:26:18. > :26:22.door of any representation, we would not necessarily know. I can assure

:26:23. > :26:29.him and the house that these representations are regularly made

:26:30. > :26:30.into a changing society and judicial processes Saudi Arabia, which must

:26:31. > :26:43.be theirs are not ours. Her thanks for granting this urgent

:26:44. > :26:46.question today. I would also like to thank the honourable member for

:26:47. > :26:50.Carshalton and Warrington for bringing such an important matter to

:26:51. > :26:55.the House, and for speaking so eloquently on the subject. I am sure

:26:56. > :26:59.that all members present here today share my concern about these

:27:00. > :27:04.impending executions. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's prolific

:27:05. > :27:09.executioners and the death penalty is increasingly being used as a

:27:10. > :27:15.punishment for nonviolent acts. Indeed, in January 20 16th the Saudi

:27:16. > :27:19.authorities executed 47 men in a single day for allegedly is

:27:20. > :27:25.offences. And just last Monday, six men aware killed. It is becoming

:27:26. > :27:30.clear that these executions are being used not only has a form of

:27:31. > :27:37.draconian punishment, but as a tool to suppress political opposition. To

:27:38. > :27:40.fight sectarian religious battles against the Shia minority, and

:27:41. > :27:47.antagonise their religious rivals any process. It is just over six

:27:48. > :27:50.years since the formal Foreign Secretary William Hague declared

:27:51. > :27:55.that there would be no downgrading of human rights under this

:27:56. > :28:00.Government. Pursuing the foreign policy with a conscience, was, he

:28:01. > :28:05.argued, in our long-term and light in the national interest. It is

:28:06. > :28:09.striking how far the party opposite have strayed from this commitment.

:28:10. > :28:13.When it comes to our relationship with Saudi Arabia, it would appear

:28:14. > :28:20.that human rights concerns are now of secondary importance to trade.

:28:21. > :28:22.This Government has treated human rights as an inconvenient

:28:23. > :28:28.embarrassment, rather than a cause for serious concern. Their

:28:29. > :28:33.reluctance to champion the values of human rights, not only runs counter

:28:34. > :28:37.to who we are as a country but risks everything our international

:28:38. > :28:42.standing just when we need it most. My party's position on this matter

:28:43. > :28:47.is clear. These 14 executions including two juveniles and one

:28:48. > :28:51.disabled man, must not take place. I call upon the Government to use

:28:52. > :29:00.their influence, to stand up and human rights, and unreservedly

:29:01. > :29:04.condemn these planned executions. . The body minister response, I say

:29:05. > :29:09.this and all kindness to the honourable lady, the fluency of her

:29:10. > :29:12.delivery was unfortunately not matched by any conformity with the

:29:13. > :29:17.expected procedure for the opposing of an urgent question. I allowed her

:29:18. > :29:22.to continue, but for future reference, this is not directed only

:29:23. > :29:26.at the honourable lady but wisely, with an urgent question, what is

:29:27. > :29:29.required is a brief sentence or two, a response to what the minister has

:29:30. > :29:34.said followed by a series of questions. It is not an occasion for

:29:35. > :29:41.the setting howls of an alternative party position. It is not a debate.

:29:42. > :29:48.It maybe well have been good if the honourable lady... Ever other

:29:49. > :29:52.inappropriate way. It was very good. It may well have been, but

:29:53. > :29:57.unfortunately it was not very good at complying with the procedure. So

:29:58. > :30:03.I see it good-naturedly to the good that I honourable lady, we really

:30:04. > :30:08.must encourage compliance with the required procedure in the future. I

:30:09. > :30:14.would like the minister very briefly to respond, 30 seconds will suffice,

:30:15. > :30:17.and then we'll move on questioning. I thank the honourable lady. I got

:30:18. > :30:22.the gist of the points that you wanted to make. Saudi Arabia remains

:30:23. > :30:26.a Commonwealth office human rights priority country particular because

:30:27. > :30:31.the use of the death penalty, eight woman's right, restriction of

:30:32. > :30:35.freedom of expression, no aspect of our commercial relationship prevents

:30:36. > :30:39.ours from speaking frankly and openly to them about human rights,

:30:40. > :30:43.we will not pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights, they can

:30:44. > :30:54.be and they are complimentary. The UK will continue to adhere to that.

:30:55. > :30:57.I know the minister will is depressing have regularly the death

:30:58. > :31:00.penalty is carried out, not just in Saudi Arabia but in its nearby

:31:01. > :31:06.neighbour Iran which has also carried out dozens this year, given

:31:07. > :31:10.the small likelihood that you might persuade them to abolish it, would

:31:11. > :31:15.agree it is best to focus on getting them to adopt the most basic of

:31:16. > :31:19.standards, and not just estimating people for crimes committed whilst

:31:20. > :31:22.juveniles. I think I concur with all the points he has made, we will just

:31:23. > :31:37.leave it at that. The death penalty for the little

:31:38. > :31:42.protest is something that horrifies any Democrat, with that in mind we

:31:43. > :31:47.have serious concerns that would not the is using its powers. Can he

:31:48. > :31:51.tells that the Prime Minister has raised this issue, and he confirmed

:31:52. > :31:58.that with us, was she satisfied by the response, and if she was not,

:31:59. > :32:01.what further action is being taken? The Prime Minister will continue to

:32:02. > :32:07.raise concerns as long as the UK have them. If we want to move to a

:32:08. > :32:11.position which would satisfy all about, I suspect that Saudi Arabia

:32:12. > :32:15.has not yet in there, accordingly the primers were continue to raise

:32:16. > :32:23.concerns if you believe that is justified. Can he confirm again that

:32:24. > :32:26.the Government opposes and pop up or is the death penalty in all

:32:27. > :32:31.circumstances, and in every country including Saudi Arabia? But does he

:32:32. > :32:35.share my concern that the death penalty is enshrined in Islamic

:32:36. > :32:41.sharia law, the law of Saudi Arabia? Can he share with and with what

:32:42. > :32:47.force he is making his position known to his counterparts in Saudi

:32:48. > :32:52.Arabia? I can only repeat what I have said before. The UK's

:32:53. > :32:56.opposition to the death penalty, carrying it to buy votes in this

:32:57. > :33:01.House, and here is to international conventions, makes that very clear.

:33:02. > :33:06.But not everyone is the same. The UK cannot unilaterally change the law,

:33:07. > :33:10.but we can and will stand up for the right we believe are correct and

:33:11. > :33:17.make that clear no matter what country is involved from around the

:33:18. > :33:22.United States to Saudi Arabia. We are constantly being told by the

:33:23. > :33:29.party opposite that we share values in common with Saudi Arabia. What

:33:30. > :33:32.are they? They are not value... Concerning human rights, they are

:33:33. > :33:37.not values of international law, what are these values that we could

:33:38. > :33:43.possibly share with Saudi Arabia, when they are prepared to crucify

:33:44. > :33:48.someone and use the death penalty against minors? In response to the

:33:49. > :33:54.honourable lady asking for things which we may share in common, we

:33:55. > :33:59.should not ignore Saudi Arabia's important contribution to regional

:34:00. > :34:02.stability. It has had its own people experience is as the victim of

:34:03. > :34:08.numerous attacks, and the collaboration Saudi Arabia has

:34:09. > :34:11.potentially saved British lives, so there are areas where our interests

:34:12. > :34:19.work together in the interests of the UK. But it is not universal.

:34:20. > :34:23.Giving the fact that maybe at last we are no longer in Imperial Parma

:34:24. > :34:27.and able to send a gunboat to enforce other view of the world,

:34:28. > :34:33.would he confirm that in his experience, and it is considerable

:34:34. > :34:37.within the Foreign Office, the quiet conversation, making our case and

:34:38. > :34:44.setting it out, is far more likely to be effective than shouting at

:34:45. > :34:49.people across...? I thank him for his question. Different approaches

:34:50. > :34:54.have different impact. It certainly would not be right for people to be

:34:55. > :34:57.silent on things that they think are important and Reagan publicly, but

:34:58. > :35:03.it is also true that some of the quiet conversations with state over

:35:04. > :35:06.a period of time effect change. This is also due to consular cases as

:35:07. > :35:10.well as the high profile death penalty cases. He is right, both

:35:11. > :35:20.approaches can have an impact, but sometimes they don't. In his

:35:21. > :35:25.communications with the Saudi authorities, will he establish if

:35:26. > :35:29.the reports are correct that beyond this group there are others who are

:35:30. > :35:38.currently facing similar charges, including juveniles again? I will

:35:39. > :35:40.make what enquiries I can relation to this, certainly from the media

:35:41. > :35:44.reports we have it would be important to find out whether any

:35:45. > :35:48.juveniles are involved, normally NGOs in the west are quite good at

:35:49. > :35:52.finding this out and reporting this information and the UK has acted

:35:53. > :36:00.upon those in the past. Certainly we will look further information and

:36:01. > :36:04.gather as much as I can. What impact does the minister believed the 38%

:36:05. > :36:09.cut to the Foreign Office will present in a challenge in dealing

:36:10. > :36:16.effectively with human rights, beat and Saudi Arabia or where ever it

:36:17. > :36:22.is? All aspects of Government must pay attention to the need for

:36:23. > :36:24.financial probity, but the Foreign Commonwealth Office has made sure

:36:25. > :36:28.that you meant rights has been a key part of our work, certainly for as

:36:29. > :36:32.many years as I had been there, which is now spanning a view, and

:36:33. > :36:41.human rights will remain a key part of desk work here and the work

:36:42. > :36:45.abroad. Among numerous others, my understanding of the two juveniles

:36:46. > :36:51.at risk of execution where charter the Saudi Arabia's anti-cyber crime

:36:52. > :36:54.laws, can he confirm or deny that and we assure the House that any

:36:55. > :36:57.cyber security assistance provided by the UK to Saudi Arabia has not

:36:58. > :37:03.been used to facilitate charges which lead to the death penalty? I

:37:04. > :37:10.don't have the detailed information he is asking for, and I will see to

:37:11. > :37:13.that. I'm also seek reassurances in relation to the collaborative work

:37:14. > :37:16.done on cyber security, which is there to protect the UK and common

:37:17. > :37:20.interest rather than anything else, but I will need further information

:37:21. > :37:27.before I can apply, but I will write to him. Can the confirm to me that

:37:28. > :37:31.I'm a relationship with Saudi Arabia enable us to raise our concerns

:37:32. > :37:34.about human rights, but also that those others in this House should

:37:35. > :37:40.appreciate that the Government of Saudi Arabia is taking steps to

:37:41. > :37:43.improve its actions on human rights and particularly to improve the

:37:44. > :37:53.opportunities and rights for women in the societies in Saudi Arabia? My

:37:54. > :37:59.honourable friend is absolute right. There is a vision of Saudi Arabia as

:38:00. > :38:04.with a number of states in the area, which is fixed in peoples minds

:38:05. > :38:09.which does always confirm that I can form to reality. Progress on some of

:38:10. > :38:14.these state is extremely slow, they are conservative, and sometimes

:38:15. > :38:19.their leaders are ahead of where opinion and religious opinion is. It

:38:20. > :38:22.is a difficult process, but she is right, and objectively it can be

:38:23. > :38:26.seen that women's position has improved in relation to access to

:38:27. > :38:32.the council and beyond, and is more to come. The 100,000 people educated

:38:33. > :38:36.abroad by the previous King Solomon occluded women who were educated in

:38:37. > :38:47.the west in the US, they were not intended to return to a Saudi Arabia

:38:48. > :38:49.which is going to be unchanging. I'm sure the whips mean well when

:38:50. > :38:56.advising on these matters, but they often get the timing a bit wrong.

:38:57. > :38:59.You should remain in your seat instead of beating around the

:39:00. > :39:03.chamber, because a weapon suddenly was to relate a piece of

:39:04. > :39:10.information. No doubt it is very well-intentioned but misguided. In

:39:11. > :39:12.response to the recent spate of executions, Amnesty International

:39:13. > :39:16.has renewed used as calls on the Saudi Arabian authorities to

:39:17. > :39:22.immediately establish a moratorium on all executions. A first step was

:39:23. > :39:30.abolition of the death penalty. Can he led his support to Amnesty's

:39:31. > :39:35.calls? As we have an absolute opposition to the death penalty in

:39:36. > :39:37.any circumstances, a moratorium is essentially immaterial because we

:39:38. > :39:46.want to see the death penalty stopped everywhere. I hear what he

:39:47. > :39:50.is saying about talking and advising and asking questions of the Saudi

:39:51. > :39:53.Government, but shouldn't the Government stop pussyfooting around

:39:54. > :40:01.on this matter and the man that these executions do not go ahead,

:40:02. > :40:07.for crimes which are just protesting, innocently, in a fair

:40:08. > :40:12.society? I understand the force with which the honourable gentleman

:40:13. > :40:16.speaks. It is difficult to convey it to colleagues in the House all the

:40:17. > :40:20.time exactly what the ambassador dance or the Prime Minister would do

:40:21. > :40:24.any conversations that they have two convey in a different form exactly

:40:25. > :40:31.the same degree of force and concern which he does so eloquently. How far

:40:32. > :40:36.does the Government really believe that the UK's influence extends

:40:37. > :40:39.across Saudi Arabia? If the UK Governmented supposedly rich cannot

:40:40. > :40:42.stop them from beheading its citizens, why does it leave it is

:40:43. > :40:48.appropriate for the UK to give the sale of arms to that country? It is

:40:49. > :40:53.impossible to get a simple answer to the question of how much influence

:40:54. > :40:57.once they exert upon another. I would point a long-standing

:40:58. > :40:59.relationship Saudi Arabia, long-standing relationship attempted

:41:00. > :41:24.security and intelligence matters which has acted in our interest in

:41:25. > :41:28.the safety of time. It is not the those outside to take credit for

:41:29. > :41:30.internal changes. All I would say is I believe the continued dialogue

:41:31. > :41:32.with the state that we've known for a long time, but is still relatively

:41:33. > :41:42.new and coming to terms with the Is the execution in violation of not

:41:43. > :41:52.only international law but Saudi domestic law? Whatever the longer

:41:53. > :41:56.term relationship, minors have been executed and there are many on death

:41:57. > :42:00.row. Could he say what representation he is making today or

:42:01. > :42:09.tomorrow and if he is in doubt about who is at risk and he talked to

:42:10. > :42:14.Reprieve about that? I reiterate the point made in relation to the death

:42:15. > :42:18.penalty and particularly in the case of minors, and those cases we

:42:19. > :42:22.reference specifically, as we have done in a number of cases raised by

:42:23. > :42:27.the right honourable gentleman when he spoke. I am gaining more

:42:28. > :42:32.information about the matters referred to today and if they

:42:33. > :42:42.contain minors, specific representations will be made. Points

:42:43. > :42:46.of order normally come after statements. I made an exception for

:42:47. > :42:50.particular matters earlier. Is this because he wants to go off to

:42:51. > :42:56.another commitment, or is it urgent for the house now? I would not

:42:57. > :43:00.presume to judge its urgency, I will leave that to the chair. There

:43:01. > :43:06.appears to be confusion which I would not want to have and I know my

:43:07. > :43:12.honourable friend for mid Kent is of a like mind. Last week when we had

:43:13. > :43:15.the opportunity to question a government earnest about Saudi

:43:16. > :43:20.Arabia, I conferred with one of the clerks at the desk to find out

:43:21. > :43:25.whether, having been on a visit to Saudi Arabia, this was an interest

:43:26. > :43:30.to be declared. The advice given by the clerk was that it was up to the

:43:31. > :43:34.individual member, but as it was raising a question, rather than

:43:35. > :43:37.instigating an early day motion or debate or giving a long speech on

:43:38. > :43:43.our relations with Saudi Arabia, there was no interest to declare. I

:43:44. > :43:49.understand that might have changed today. I would not have wanted to

:43:50. > :43:55.mislead their house in anyway. I would value a clarification on

:43:56. > :44:00.whether we need to declare an interest when merely asking a

:44:01. > :44:04.question of a government minister. As far as I'm aware, nothing has

:44:05. > :44:12.changed today and although the honourable gentleman may find this

:44:13. > :44:16.less than fully satisfactory, or even disquieting, I am afraid I must

:44:17. > :44:22.give him the advice which the clerks tend to give. Namely that it is for

:44:23. > :44:30.each member to judge whether something requires to be declared in

:44:31. > :44:34.the course of any Parliamentary contribution. There is certainly a

:44:35. > :44:40.relevant factor I would put to the honourable gentleman for him to

:44:41. > :44:44.consider, which is whether such a visit was externally financed. I

:44:45. > :44:48.would have thought that was a consideration. Members go on Select

:44:49. > :44:53.Committee trips on a regular basis. As far as I'm aware members do not

:44:54. > :44:57.always in the course of every question refer to the fact they have

:44:58. > :45:01.been on a committee visit but if there is a question of outside

:45:02. > :45:06.financing and an outside body, it might be thought to be prudent to

:45:07. > :45:13.refer to it. I think that was the matter which the honourable lady had

:45:14. > :45:18.in mind and if she wants now to make any declaration, very briefly, I am

:45:19. > :45:24.happy for her to do so. Point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you. It has

:45:25. > :45:27.been brought to my attention that in asking a question a moment ago I

:45:28. > :45:35.perhaps should have pointed the house towards my register of

:45:36. > :45:39.interests. Well, I am grateful. The honourable gentleman always seem to

:45:40. > :45:45.be an amiable fellow and I thought I would indulge him. Further to my

:45:46. > :45:52.honourable friend's point of order, ditto. Well, we are very grateful. I

:45:53. > :45:56.am sure the house feels better informed. We come now to the

:45:57. > :46:09.statement by the Secretary of State for education. Thank you, Mr

:46:10. > :46:13.Speaker. This government believes all children should have an

:46:14. > :46:16.education that unlocks their potential and allows them to go as

:46:17. > :46:22.far as their talent and hard work will take them. That is key to

:46:23. > :46:26.improving social mobility. We made significant progress. Nine out of

:46:27. > :46:31.ten schools are now good or outstanding and the attainment gap

:46:32. > :46:33.is closing. We launched 12 opportunity areas to drive

:46:34. > :46:38.improvements in parts of the country where we know they can do better.

:46:39. > :46:45.All of this against a backdrop of unfair funding. We know the current

:46:46. > :46:49.funding system is unfair and out of date. This means that whilst we hold

:46:50. > :46:54.schools to the same accountability structure wherever they are, we find

:46:55. > :46:59.them at different levels. In addition resources are not reaching

:47:00. > :47:03.the schools that need them most. School funding is at a record high

:47:04. > :47:10.because of the choices we have made to protect and increase school

:47:11. > :47:15.funding. Even... Even as we face difficult decisions elsewhere to

:47:16. > :47:19.restore our country's finances. We recognise that the election that

:47:20. > :47:23.people were concerned about funding in schools as well as its

:47:24. > :47:27.distribution and, as the Prime Minister said, we are determined to

:47:28. > :47:33.listen. That is why I am confirming our plans to get on with introducing

:47:34. > :47:40.a national funding formula in 2018-19, and I can announce this

:47:41. > :47:45.will now be supported by significant extra investment into the core

:47:46. > :47:58.schools budget over the next two years. The additional funding...

:47:59. > :48:03.Detention! The additional funding I am setting out today together with

:48:04. > :48:06.the introduction of a national funding formula will provide schools

:48:07. > :48:13.with the investment they need to offer a world-class education to

:48:14. > :48:20.every child. There will be an additional ?1.3 billion for schools

:48:21. > :48:26.and high needs across 2018-19 and 2019-20, in addition to the schools

:48:27. > :48:31.budget set at spending review 2015. This funding is across the next two

:48:32. > :48:36.years as we transition to the national funding formula and of

:48:37. > :48:41.course spending plans beyond will be set out in a future review. As a

:48:42. > :48:45.result of this investment, core funding for schools and high knees

:48:46. > :48:57.will rise from almost 41,000,000,020 17-18, up to -- high needs. In 1920,

:48:58. > :49:04.this will rise to ?43.5 billion. This represents 1.3 William pounds

:49:05. > :49:12.in additional investment. 416 million more than set aside at the

:49:13. > :49:17.last spending review. And ?884 million more in 2019. It will mean

:49:18. > :49:27.the total schools budget will increase by ?2.6 billion between

:49:28. > :49:33.this year and 2019-20. And per pupil funding will be maintained in real

:49:34. > :49:41.terms for the remaining two years after the spending review period up

:49:42. > :49:46.to 2020. For this government, social mobility and education are a

:49:47. > :49:51.priority. Introducing the national funding formula, something shied

:49:52. > :49:55.away from by previous governments, backed by the additional investment

:49:56. > :50:02.in schools confirmed today, will be the biggest improvement in school

:50:03. > :50:06.funding for well over a decade. I said when I launched the

:50:07. > :50:10.consultation in December that I was keen to hear as many views as

:50:11. > :50:17.possible on this vital long-standing reform. I'm grateful for the

:50:18. > :50:22.engagement of the issue of fairer funding and the national funding

:50:23. > :50:25.formula. We received more than 25,000 responses. Including from

:50:26. > :50:33.members from across the house. We listened carefully to feedback. We

:50:34. > :50:37.will respond to the consultation in fall in September, but I can tell

:50:38. > :50:43.the House the additional investment we are able to make in schools will

:50:44. > :50:48.allow us to do several things. Including increasing the basic

:50:49. > :50:56.amount every pew poll will attract in 2018-19, and 2019-20. For the

:50:57. > :51:05.next two years it will provide for up to 3% gain per year per pupil for

:51:06. > :51:13.underfunded schools, and also a zero -- a 0.5% per pupil cash increase.

:51:14. > :51:17.We will protect funding for pupils with additional needs as proposed.

:51:18. > :51:22.Given this additional investment we are able to increase the percentage

:51:23. > :51:31.allocated to people lead factors and this formula settlement from 2019,

:51:32. > :51:35.will provide ?4800 per pupil at least for every secondary school,

:51:36. > :51:42.something I know members in a number of areas will welcome in particular.

:51:43. > :51:46.The formula will deliver higher per-pupil funding in respect of

:51:47. > :51:51.every school and in every local area. I believe these changes,

:51:52. > :51:55.building on proposals set out in December, will provide a firm

:51:56. > :52:01.foundation as we make historic reforms to the funding system.

:52:02. > :52:06.Balancing fairness and stability. It remains our intention that a schools

:52:07. > :52:13.budget should be set on the basis of a single mash and all formula. A

:52:14. > :52:22.longer transition makes sense to provide stability for schools. In

:52:23. > :52:26.2018 and 19 and 2019-20, the formula will set indicative budgets for each

:52:27. > :52:31.school and the total funding received by each local authority

:52:32. > :52:36.will be allocated according to the national fair funding formula and

:52:37. > :52:43.transparently for the first time. Local authorities will set a local

:52:44. > :52:50.formula to distribute the funding as now and for determining individual

:52:51. > :52:54.schools budgets in 2018 onwards in consultation with schools in that

:52:55. > :52:59.area and I will shortly publish the guidelines to allow them to begin

:53:00. > :53:05.that process. To support their planning I confirm now that in

:53:06. > :53:08.2018-19, all Mogul authorities will receive some increase over the

:53:09. > :53:15.amount they plan to spend on schools and high needs and we will confirm

:53:16. > :53:20.games for local authorities based on the final formula. The guide will

:53:21. > :53:24.set out important areas that are fundamental to supporting a fairer

:53:25. > :53:30.distribution through the national funding formula. We will ring-fence

:53:31. > :53:34.the majority of funding provided for primary and secondary schools,

:53:35. > :53:37.although local authorities in agreement with the schools forums

:53:38. > :53:42.will be able to move limited amounts of funding to areas such as special

:53:43. > :53:47.schools when it matches local needs. As well as this investment through

:53:48. > :53:53.the national funding formula, I am confirming our commitment to double

:53:54. > :53:57.PE and sport 's premium for primary schools. All primary schools will

:53:58. > :54:03.receive an increase in sports premium funding in the next academic

:54:04. > :54:09.year. The 1.3 billion additional investment in core schools funding I

:54:10. > :54:13.am announcing will be funded from efficiencies and savings identified

:54:14. > :54:20.within the existing budgets, rather than higher taxes, or more debt.

:54:21. > :54:26.This requires difficult decisions but I believe it is right to

:54:27. > :54:31.prioritise schools funding, even as we continue the task of repairing

:54:32. > :54:36.the public finances. I am maximising the proportion of my department's

:54:37. > :54:40.budget allocated directly to front-line headteachers, who can use

:54:41. > :54:44.their expertise to ensure it is spent where it will have the

:54:45. > :54:49.greatest possible impact and I have challenged my civil servants to find

:54:50. > :54:56.efficiencies as schools have to do. I want to set out the savings and

:54:57. > :55:00.efficiencies I intend to secure. Efficiencies and savings across the

:55:01. > :55:09.capital budget I believe can release 420 million. The majority from

:55:10. > :55:14.healthy pupils capita funding. This reflects reductions in forecast

:55:15. > :55:21.revenue from the soft drinks industry levy and therefore the

:55:22. > :55:24.planned budget which remains, I will channel to front-line schools,

:55:25. > :55:28.whilst retaining a commitment that every pound of Ingham's share of

:55:29. > :55:35.spending from the levy will be invested in improving children's

:55:36. > :55:40.health, including 100 million in 2018-19 for healthy pupils capital.

:55:41. > :55:45.We are committed to an ambitious free schools programme to deliver

:55:46. > :55:52.choice, innovation and higher standards for parents. In delivering

:55:53. > :56:00.the programme and plans for free schools announced at the last

:56:01. > :56:05.budget, we will work efficiently to release ?280 million and this will

:56:06. > :56:08.include delivering 30 of 140 schools through the local authority route

:56:09. > :56:15.rather than the free schools rigged. Across the rest of the resource

:56:16. > :56:25.budget, over ?60 billion per year, I will prioritise 250 million in 2018

:56:26. > :56:31.and 350 million in 2019-20, to fund the increase in the course schools

:56:32. > :56:36.budget spending. I plan to redirect ?200 million from the department's

:56:37. > :56:41.central programmes to front-line funding. Whilst these projects are

:56:42. > :56:42.useful I believe this funding is most and more valuable in the hands

:56:43. > :56:52.of headteachers. Alongside an extra investment in our

:56:53. > :56:55.core schools budget, it is vital that school leaders strive alongside

:56:56. > :56:57.an extra investment in our core schools budget, it is vital that

:56:58. > :57:03.school leaders strive to maximise the efficient use of their

:57:04. > :57:07.resources, to get the best outcomes for mobility. We will now go further

:57:08. > :57:14.to ensure thatand increase mobility. We will now go further to ensure our

:57:15. > :57:18.commitment to ensuring substantial efficiency gains over the coming

:57:19. > :57:24.years. Good value so-called national deals that pick your better value

:57:25. > :57:28.goods and services on areas that all schools spend money on an purchase

:57:29. > :57:33.goods in can save significant amounts. They are available under

:57:34. > :57:37.the deals based in our existing work, for example in insurance or

:57:38. > :57:43.energy, and in the case of energy, skill that that schools can save if

:57:44. > :57:48.they use a national deal. We will expect schools to be clear that they

:57:49. > :57:52.do not make use of these deals and have consequently higher costs.

:57:53. > :57:56.Across school spending as a whole, we will improve the transparency and

:57:57. > :58:01.usability of data so that parents and governors can more easily see

:58:02. > :58:06.the way that funding is being spent and understand not just educational

:58:07. > :58:11.standards in schools but financial effectiveness, too. We just launched

:58:12. > :58:13.a new online if it is the benchmarking service which will

:58:14. > :58:18.enable schools to analyse their own performance and do so much more

:58:19. > :58:22.effectively. We recognise that many schools have worked hard to this

:58:23. > :58:28.point to manage cost -based pressures on their budgets, and will

:58:29. > :58:33.take issue -- action this year to provide assistance to those schools

:58:34. > :58:39.where health is at risk, giving direct support to those schools. The

:58:40. > :58:45.significant investment we are making in schools and the reforms we are

:58:46. > :58:49.introducing underpin our ambition for a world-class education system.

:58:50. > :58:54.Together they will give schools a firm foundation that will enable

:58:55. > :58:57.them to continue to raise standards, promote social mobility and to give

:58:58. > :59:07.every child the best possible education and the best opportunities

:59:08. > :59:11.for the future. I thank the Secretary of State for this slight

:59:12. > :59:16.advance sight of her statement. Mr Speaker, I will always be the first

:59:17. > :59:21.to welcome new money for schools, after all I have spent a year asking

:59:22. > :59:25.the Secretary of State together, schools the funding they need, so it

:59:26. > :59:36.is nice to know I am finally getting through to her. Mr Speaker, I would

:59:37. > :59:41.like to thank parents, school leaders, and the teachers across the

:59:42. > :59:46.country for all the work that they have done in pushing this issue up

:59:47. > :59:50.the political agenda. I think both the Secretary of State and I know

:59:51. > :59:57.that this would not have been happening today without them. But

:59:58. > :00:02.sadly, Mr Speaker, today's statement raises more questions than it

:00:03. > :00:07.answers. I welcome the ?1.3 billion announced today, but canny Secretary

:00:08. > :00:12.of State confirm if it will be reputable budgets in real terms are

:00:13. > :00:16.just the overall budget? Astoundingly, this has all been

:00:17. > :00:21.funded without a penny of new money from the Treasury. I of each outlet

:00:22. > :00:27.did not want to fund schools and thought that teachers and teaching

:00:28. > :00:32.assistants are simply more overpaid public servants. I wonder if the

:00:33. > :00:35.Secretary of State agrees with him. Does her decision to seek savings

:00:36. > :00:41.from the free schools programme mean that she has finally agreed with

:00:42. > :00:46.others on this side of the House that the programme has always been

:00:47. > :00:50.inefficient? The free School programme has always been more

:00:51. > :00:54.expensive than ministers hoped, so the idea that hundreds of millions

:00:55. > :00:59.of pounds can now be saved seems to me like a bad joke. Will she simply

:01:00. > :01:04.be honest with the House and tell us all exactly how much money will be

:01:05. > :01:11.cut from its spending items and who will lose out as a result? I know

:01:12. > :01:16.they are in full retreat from their own manifesto, but I do not see how

:01:17. > :01:23.this ?1.3 billion can possibly fit in with it. We were promised ?4

:01:24. > :01:31.billion. A group hysteria takes over. You are usually a very

:01:32. > :01:36.understated fellow. Rather a gentlemanly type, I had always

:01:37. > :01:40.thought. Calm yourself. And you're sitting it's a very senior member.

:01:41. > :01:47.Who normally behaves, Prince Andrew over there, as the very embodiment

:01:48. > :01:52.of the dignity. I'm sure you will recover your composure in a minute.

:01:53. > :01:59.You should watch a view Federer matches coming you alone to me about

:02:00. > :02:03.composure. I know they are in full retreat from their manifesto, we

:02:04. > :02:08.were promised ?4 billion at a view weeks ago, and now we are only

:02:09. > :02:15.getting ?1.3 billion. Can schools expect anything else in future, or

:02:16. > :02:20.is this just another broken promise? Their manifesto promise to give free

:02:21. > :02:24.breakfast every primary school pupil, 30 said it would cost ?60

:02:25. > :02:29.million, leaving parents across the country wondering how you can

:02:30. > :02:36.provide that under 7p per meal. Then she said it would be ?180 million.

:02:37. > :02:40.But it would only go to the most disadvantaged pupils. She had plenty

:02:41. > :02:46.of time to get her figure straight, so can she tell the House if this is

:02:47. > :02:53.Bill her policy? How many pupils will benefit, and how much will it

:02:54. > :02:58.cost? She said that the full funding formula has been delayed again, with

:02:59. > :03:02.local authorities playing a role in setting budgets until 2020. Is this

:03:03. > :03:06.because he is finally acknowledging the role local for it is have to

:03:07. > :03:12.play? Or has she simply realised that to fully implement her plans,

:03:13. > :03:16.she would need to pass primary legislation, and her Government is

:03:17. > :03:22.so weak and wobbly that they cannot even get new money for schools

:03:23. > :03:28.passed through this House? What the Secretary of State has announced

:03:29. > :03:31.that they is nothing more than a sticking plaster, per-pupil funding

:03:32. > :03:37.will still fall over the course of this Parliament unless further

:03:38. > :03:41.action is taken urgently. I will welcome the opportunity to protect

:03:42. > :03:50.budgets for our schools, but this statement alone will do nothing of

:03:51. > :03:56.the kind. I think there is only one party that is in full retreat from

:03:57. > :04:03.its manifesto, and it is... It is certainly not this one. We heard

:04:04. > :04:06.over the weekend... The promise do is Judas was not worth the paper it

:04:07. > :04:11.was written on, and I think it was one of the most dishonest beauties

:04:12. > :04:15.of electioneering I have seen. In many, many years. Our young people

:04:16. > :04:26.deserve better than to be peddled some snake oil propaganda. I should

:04:27. > :04:30.say that I am pleased that she recognises this extra investment, I

:04:31. > :04:34.am shocked to hear that the Labour Party has now turned its head or

:04:35. > :04:40.unfair funding and suggested it might have voted against introducing

:04:41. > :04:45.fair funding in favour of a hard formula. I think many councils will

:04:46. > :04:50.be bleak concerned about that change of stance, another one. She talked

:04:51. > :04:54.about getting through to the party opposite in relation to funding, we

:04:55. > :04:58.have been funding schools. The message not getting through is

:04:59. > :05:03.perhaps to the party opposite, that simply loading up more taxes on

:05:04. > :05:09.people and more debts on our country for young people on the future is

:05:10. > :05:15.simply not a racist amiable way to run the public finances. What our

:05:16. > :05:18.response shows is that Labour have learned nothing in their time in

:05:19. > :05:23.opposition, and in fact have gone backwards. She asked some questions.

:05:24. > :05:28.I can confirm that we are indeed saying that we're going to have a

:05:29. > :05:32.per-pupil real term protected for the next two years, in relation to

:05:33. > :05:37.the free schools programme, what I was actually setting out, I don't

:05:38. > :05:42.think she understood it, but that we are protecting that but we do think

:05:43. > :05:46.we can finance it in a more cost-effective way, and indeed she

:05:47. > :05:52.then talked about the ?4 million, not realising that that was ?4

:05:53. > :05:57.billion over four years and I have set out to billion pounds over two

:05:58. > :06:01.years, so I think she will recognise that is actually bringing forward a

:06:02. > :06:10.faster pace which is something to be welcomed. One of her a few

:06:11. > :06:13.questions, in relation to local authorities, the approach that we

:06:14. > :06:19.are taking, she may have known, I'm not sure from a question, that in

:06:20. > :06:25.2018 we will always going to have local authorities used in a brooch

:06:26. > :06:29.of using local formulae, it was bound to be a transition year

:06:30. > :06:33.anyway, was simply saying that we want that to extend for a longer

:06:34. > :06:36.time period. When we look at the historic nature of this change, it

:06:37. > :06:41.is right that we take time to make sure that we work at a local level

:06:42. > :06:45.to allow local authorities to adjust their funding and start matching the

:06:46. > :06:49.funding formula. Schools locally will be able to see what amount they

:06:50. > :06:54.should be getting and I have no doubt that teachers and parents and

:06:55. > :06:57.governing bodies will raise questions local authorities that

:06:58. > :07:01.deviates significantly away from the formula settlement that schools

:07:02. > :07:05.think they are entitled to have. This is a strong announcement of

:07:06. > :07:11.additional money combined with making sure that our schools budget

:07:12. > :07:14.is for the fast time in a generation spread fairly across other schools

:07:15. > :07:21.and our children are ever they are growing up, and I am hopeful that

:07:22. > :07:30.the House will broadly welcome it. I call the chair of the education

:07:31. > :07:34.select committee. The news will be welcomed by schools, teachers and

:07:35. > :07:39.parents, especially given that it is more cost facing schools. In

:07:40. > :07:44.addition to moving money from health to pupil programmes, she has said

:07:45. > :07:47.that she is redirecting ?200 million from the Department on the front

:07:48. > :07:54.line in schools, which programmes are included? We will now go through

:07:55. > :07:59.a process of looking across those programmes to identify that ?200

:08:00. > :08:04.million, but I think across an entire department on resource budget

:08:05. > :08:08.of ?60 billion, it is a reasonable request to make sure that my

:08:09. > :08:12.department and civil servants in my department are making efficiency

:08:13. > :08:17.savings in the same way I see is set out that we are expecting schools to

:08:18. > :08:21.do. Aptly we should do that and he'll turn at a response, to simply

:08:22. > :08:25.dip into taxpayers' pocket every time you want to look at how we

:08:26. > :08:29.increase front line school spending, is not only unsustainable but it is

:08:30. > :08:38.wrong when we could do a better job using the money we have got. While I

:08:39. > :08:42.welcome this announcement of extra money today, isn't the fact that the

:08:43. > :08:46.Government got themselves into such a mess over schools funding an

:08:47. > :08:50.indication of the fact that they have not been straight with people

:08:51. > :08:53.all along, and I'm not sure they really are being entirely straight

:08:54. > :08:57.now. The Secretary of State talks about an increased in schools budget

:08:58. > :09:02.but fails to mention that the number of pupils has increasing vividly.

:09:03. > :09:08.Isn't it the case that even with this money today the truth is that

:09:09. > :09:17.since 2015 the real terms cut pair pupil that schools have faced this

:09:18. > :09:21.?2.8 billion, and will be further ?8.9 billion even when you take into

:09:22. > :09:24.account this extra money today? There is still a massive shortfall.

:09:25. > :09:27.I figured is about time the Government started been straight

:09:28. > :09:33.with the figures of the reality of what schools on the front facing. I

:09:34. > :09:37.think we are setting out our figures transparently. But I don't expect

:09:38. > :09:44.that happen as a result of today's announcement is for the website that

:09:45. > :09:50.has been worrying parents about school cuts... I don't expect any of

:09:51. > :09:55.those numbers to be updated, because it is far easier to Sibley continue

:09:56. > :09:59.to peddle out of date data. She asked me about the numbers of

:10:00. > :10:03.pupils, she is of course quite right and that is why I'm sure she will

:10:04. > :10:13.welcome that I am saying the real terms per-pupil spending will be

:10:14. > :10:17.maintained. This is very good news for schools as they prepare to break

:10:18. > :10:20.up for the summer holiday. Can affect her for engaging so

:10:21. > :10:24.constructively with colleagues across the House to make this

:10:25. > :10:29.progress? In particular, can I welcome her focus on the worst

:10:30. > :10:36.funded schools and bringing them up, which has been so critically

:10:37. > :10:40.important for so long. I think it is not a fundamental change in how we

:10:41. > :10:44.fund our schools that it is extremely challenging to be able to

:10:45. > :10:48.get this right, and I think the reason we held a very long

:10:49. > :10:52.consultation and I have taken our time to do this is to make sure that

:10:53. > :10:56.we can have this work on the ground as we fully intend. I do appreciate

:10:57. > :11:00.that for colleagues in very different communities up and down

:11:01. > :11:03.our country, a formula needs to work for all of them, not just some of

:11:04. > :11:04.them, and that is why we be listening to what people are saying

:11:05. > :11:18.and reflected that today. I was at Airedale Academy and it has

:11:19. > :11:23.already had this year ?140,000 cut to its budget, ?190 per child. Can

:11:24. > :11:27.you tell me if there is anything in the statement that tells me they

:11:28. > :11:33.will get any of that money back? Our schools are heavily hit by her

:11:34. > :11:40.formula, despite being in a deprived area. She said the schools will

:11:41. > :11:45.still only get a 0.5% cash increase per-pupil. Can she confirm it means

:11:46. > :11:49.a lot of kids will have a real funding cut? How many will still

:11:50. > :11:55.face a real cut to funding next year? There are a number of things

:11:56. > :12:04.in the statement that will be of welcome to her. As she pointed out,

:12:05. > :12:08.we said we will introduce a 0.5% increase per-pupil for schools

:12:09. > :12:12.currently above the formula and therefore not the ones that need to

:12:13. > :12:18.catch up through additional funding. I would point out the position of

:12:19. > :12:24.our party and her party was that there would be no cash users. We are

:12:25. > :12:28.going beyond that today, in other words her school would receive more

:12:29. > :12:38.than it would, had her party won the election. Clearly more money going

:12:39. > :12:43.to the front line of schools is a very good thing. The devil will be

:12:44. > :12:48.in the detail of the formula, which I know from having spent hours

:12:49. > :12:53.poring over it. I want to pick her up onto things, the first about the

:12:54. > :12:58.increased percentage allocated to people lead factors and many are

:12:59. > :13:05.unhappy about the percentage the basic pupil funding. The second

:13:06. > :13:10.about the ?4800. Many schools in Leicestershire and elsewhere have

:13:11. > :13:16.been underfunded historically for many years. ?4800 does not get them

:13:17. > :13:20.towards the ?6,000 per pupil which schools in other parts of the

:13:21. > :13:26.country are getting. I appreciate she haps to operate with constraints

:13:27. > :13:31.on public spending but on behalf of schools in Leicestershire, they need

:13:32. > :13:35.historical underfunding corrected. She will no doubt welcome the fact

:13:36. > :13:40.the announcement means there will be an increase in the extent of funding

:13:41. > :13:46.through the core pupil led factors. I thought it was right to protect

:13:47. > :13:48.the amount going into additional... Children with additional need

:13:49. > :13:54.because we want to see them catch up. In relation to the overall

:13:55. > :13:59.amount, I assure her the formula takes into account different cost

:14:00. > :14:03.bases, different parts of the country have. This announcement will

:14:04. > :14:09.mean that schools will get more funding, but also, schools will

:14:10. > :14:14.catch up faster, because I have announced they will be a 3% increase

:14:15. > :14:26.for the two years, rather than the previous proposal. It is unclear

:14:27. > :14:30.whether the Secretary of State has dealt with the underlying problems

:14:31. > :14:34.with funding formula. Nine schools in some of the most deprived parts

:14:35. > :14:40.of Leicester West would have lost out. That is because the

:14:41. > :14:43.government's initial proposals drastically reduced the amount of

:14:44. > :14:50.money allocated according to deprivation. That is what happened.

:14:51. > :14:55.She shakes her head, but that happened in my constituency. Can she

:14:56. > :15:01.tell me, has the underlying basis of the funding for been changed, or are

:15:02. > :15:06.schools in the most deprived areas still going to get a bigger cut,

:15:07. > :15:11.harming, not helping social mobility? We will set out the detail

:15:12. > :15:16.of the national funding formula but it is not true to say the

:15:17. > :15:23.deprivation amounts were cut. I actively made sure they were

:15:24. > :15:26.protected. In her community she will no doubt welcome the fact that

:15:27. > :15:31.schools already well funded are being protected, indeed more as I

:15:32. > :15:34.said to the right honourable lady across the chamber, more than they

:15:35. > :15:45.would have been had her party won the election. Can I welcome the

:15:46. > :15:50.Secretary of State's statement and applaud her for listening to

:15:51. > :15:56.concerns many expressed about the funding formula for our local

:15:57. > :16:01.schools. At the end of the day what matters to schools as the budget

:16:02. > :16:05.they will get. When will schools be communicated with to be told exactly

:16:06. > :16:09.what this will mean for individual school budgets? That is what

:16:10. > :16:16.headteachers and governors and parents will want to know. Can she

:16:17. > :16:24.confirm that the promise not to cut funding from any school also applies

:16:25. > :16:28.to special schools? The local authorities will go through a

:16:29. > :16:33.process of setting a local formula, but we will confirm what the

:16:34. > :16:39.application is notionally to each school in September. That is a

:16:40. > :16:46.significant process that involves confirming allocations for 24,000

:16:47. > :16:50.schools. What I set out today is not just funding for the course schools

:16:51. > :17:01.budget, but also high need, which I hope is good news for him. Schools

:17:02. > :17:06.in central Bedfordshire get ?4314 per pupil and will be grateful to

:17:07. > :17:12.learn of 4800 per-pupil. What can she is due to spread best practice

:17:13. > :17:18.across academies about covering lessons when teachers are not ill?

:17:19. > :17:23.Some academies timetable extra time so staff can cover other staff. Can

:17:24. > :17:29.she have a word to spread best practice across academies say

:17:30. > :17:32.children do not miss out on lessons? I will. One of the biggest

:17:33. > :17:37.challenges and also an opportunity in the system is to enable best

:17:38. > :17:42.practice to spread more rapidly around the system which is one

:17:43. > :17:45.reason I introduced research schools that can be hubs in their area to

:17:46. > :17:56.make sure they disseminate best practice. By protecting per-pupil

:17:57. > :18:04.funding from next year, it does nothing to cuts? What assessment has

:18:05. > :18:07.she made the impact of raiding her own capital budget on the vital

:18:08. > :18:15.improvements many schools in my constituency will now have to wait

:18:16. > :18:22.longer for? The funding set out is for 2018-19, when the formula gets

:18:23. > :18:29.introduced. In relation to capital, I believe we can make a better use

:18:30. > :18:34.of our budget and there was significant funding set aside in

:18:35. > :18:38.relation to the sugar drinks industry levy. We have been able to

:18:39. > :18:43.retain that additional money in spite of the levy being at a

:18:44. > :18:47.slightly lower level than originally is elected. I am therefore pushing

:18:48. > :18:54.it to the front line which I hope you welcome. Mistakenly, because I

:18:55. > :18:59.try to do two things at once, I called two government backbenchers

:19:00. > :19:01.in succession. I would not want there to be a lingering sense of

:19:02. > :19:11.resentment on the opposition backbenchers. I want to press the

:19:12. > :19:15.Secretary of State on the point about where the money is coming from

:19:16. > :19:20.within her department. It sounds like she will be robbing Peter to

:19:21. > :19:23.pay Paul from within the central programmes. Can she set out more

:19:24. > :19:28.clearly which of these programmes will be cut, or is she promising not

:19:29. > :19:34.to cut any of them from the central programme? The teaching leadership

:19:35. > :19:38.College, mentoring programme, longer school day programme, 16-19 budget,

:19:39. > :19:48.all the apprenticeships programme will get cut? What is important is

:19:49. > :19:52.to make sure we look across the piece to gain additional

:19:53. > :19:57.efficiencies from the Department. I would say to him, he just talks

:19:58. > :20:01.about cups. The reality is we have to ensure we take every pound of

:20:02. > :20:06.taxpayers' money and get the most out of it. It has been something

:20:07. > :20:11.that has struck me about how many different pots of money across the

:20:12. > :20:15.department there are and we have to make them work more strategically

:20:16. > :20:21.and in doing so, we can unlock funding that can go to the front

:20:22. > :20:25.line of schools. Could I welcome the statement? Could I give the

:20:26. > :20:30.Secretary of State ten out of ten for progress and a huge Goldstar

:20:31. > :20:36.Ryan listening to concerns of members on the side and no doubt the

:20:37. > :20:43.other side. -- a huge Goldstar for listening. I was at an outstanding

:20:44. > :20:47.academy in my constituency, that is the Ofsted rating. They will not be

:20:48. > :20:52.replacing eight teachers and a librarian because of difficulties

:20:53. > :20:55.with their budget. I hope this announcement will go some way to

:20:56. > :21:03.rectifying that. Their complaint is not the formula but the rise in

:21:04. > :21:06.costs. Huge rises in pensions and National Insurance contributions,

:21:07. > :21:12.which nobody begrudges. It is a small part of the peace. Can I urge

:21:13. > :21:16.her to look at why it is local authorities in particular are

:21:17. > :21:21.putting on schools the apprenticeship levy. That cannot be

:21:22. > :21:29.right. It is not a lot of money but meaningful for school budgets. I

:21:30. > :21:34.recognise what she is saying. It is important we get on with making more

:21:35. > :21:39.apprenticeships available for young people, including in sectors like

:21:40. > :21:42.education. I recognise what she says and think it's important my

:21:43. > :21:46.department does more to work with schools to help them deal with some

:21:47. > :21:52.of the cost -based pressures they have faced. I feel best practice can

:21:53. > :21:58.be spread more effectively through schools when they are working out

:21:59. > :22:02.ways to do smart timetabling, smart deals in relation to procurement. We

:22:03. > :22:07.need to do that systematically and if we can I believe we can get more

:22:08. > :22:13.out of the budget than we already have. Pursuant to the points of

:22:14. > :22:19.order I took immediately after questions on the subject of HS2, a

:22:20. > :22:23.series of points of order from right honourable and honourable members on

:22:24. > :22:30.both sides of a house, I can now inform the house that the secretary

:22:31. > :22:34.is -- the Secretary of State for Transport would like to make a

:22:35. > :22:39.statement at the moment of interruption, that is to say at 10pm

:22:40. > :22:48.this evening. I have axed seed into that request on the basis -- I have

:22:49. > :22:57.agreed to that request on the basis and have received that assurance.

:22:58. > :23:02.There will be a statement, I believe entitled HS2 update, at the moment

:23:03. > :23:11.of interruption tonight. I hope that is helpful to the house. In December

:23:12. > :23:16.last year, the audit office said it was her department that expected 8%

:23:17. > :23:22.cuts equivalent to ?3 billion in school budgets. No one else but her

:23:23. > :23:27.department. 24 million across Greenwich schools, equivalent of 672

:23:28. > :23:31.teachers. She went into the last election saying my schools were

:23:32. > :23:36.overfunded. Does she still believe that? I do not believe we said that

:23:37. > :23:39.but what I can say to his schools, they will now get a better

:23:40. > :23:44.settlement under the national funding formula than they would of

:23:45. > :23:48.got under his party. I know the house will want to be well-informed.

:23:49. > :23:55.The moment of interruption would be expected to be 10pm on Amond, but it

:23:56. > :24:01.is not certain to be ten. It could be earlier, it could later. The

:24:02. > :24:06.point colleagues need to have lodged in their little grey cells is that

:24:07. > :24:18.statement will come at the moment of interruption. Keep an eye on the

:24:19. > :24:21.annunciator. I know parents and pupils in my constituency will be

:24:22. > :24:28.delighted with that minimum funding of secondary school education, which

:24:29. > :24:33.will present a substantial increase in secondary school funding. But I

:24:34. > :24:37.would be grateful if she could outline the minimum level of funding

:24:38. > :24:43.for primary school pupils, which was not addressed in her statement. She

:24:44. > :24:47.is right. We will set out more of those details in September but what

:24:48. > :24:51.we are setting out today is we recognise there is an issue of

:24:52. > :25:01.minimum funding levels in secondary and we would expect that to be

:25:02. > :25:05.reflected in primary. Figures from her department showed 21 schools in

:25:06. > :25:08.my constituency were going to lose out under her plans for the national

:25:09. > :25:15.funding formula before the announcement today. I am concerned

:25:16. > :25:20.they still will. Can she guarantee today those schools that were going

:25:21. > :25:28.to lose out on the basis of the formula now no longer will and will

:25:29. > :25:32.actually see games? -- a gain. I have been clear every school will

:25:33. > :25:37.see a gain from the announcement made today, which I hope is good

:25:38. > :25:42.news. It is a reflection of the need to strike a balance between bringing

:25:43. > :25:46.up long-term underfunded schools and recognising schools that have been

:25:47. > :25:58.at higher levels of funding needs to be helped to get on to the national

:25:59. > :26:02.funding formula. May I welcome this announcement from my right

:26:03. > :26:08.honourable friend? It is a real moment of celebration for those who

:26:09. > :26:12.have campaigned for years for a proper fair funding formula. Could

:26:13. > :26:18.she confirm to my governors and headteachers in Gloucestershire that

:26:19. > :26:20.by 2020, all pupils currently receiving ?3800 per pupil will by

:26:21. > :26:34.that time received 4800? We will have a minimum that is ?4800

:26:35. > :26:38.which will be transitioned in this two years, and I think it is good

:26:39. > :26:42.news 11 like to pay tribute to him, because he has been a tireless

:26:43. > :26:46.campaigner on fair funding, and he has done an outstanding job of being

:26:47. > :26:50.clear with me about his local community concerns and also a desire

:26:51. > :26:53.to see if their funding, and it is responding to colleagues like him

:26:54. > :27:01.which has led us to the statement today. The National Audit Office at

:27:02. > :27:07.a few months ago said that school budgets needed an extra ?3 billion

:27:08. > :27:10.by 2020 to avoid cuts. How do she square that ?3 billion figure with

:27:11. > :27:15.the ?1.3 billion he has announced today over two years? Was she also

:27:16. > :27:20.tell the House that she knows the high needs budget, knees bending on

:27:21. > :27:23.special education needs, is rising faster in inflating and faster than

:27:24. > :27:31.pupil numbers, what in the statement will deal with that? In relation to

:27:32. > :27:33.his original point, we are maintaining the real terms funding

:27:34. > :27:39.per pupil, that is what I have set out today. That sits alongside the

:27:40. > :27:43.other work we're doing with schools to enable them to unlock efficiency

:27:44. > :27:46.strongly in investment which is ready there. In relation to high

:27:47. > :27:50.needs, I have set out further additional funding for high needs

:27:51. > :27:56.which I hope he will welcome, and I know and understand his long-term

:27:57. > :28:00.interest in area. I hope she will accept that West Sussex MPs who have

:28:01. > :28:04.been working with heads and parents will welcome the progress in her

:28:05. > :28:08.statement, can I say about half of the backbenchers, perhaps the PPS

:28:09. > :28:17.and the minister that we all work together and hope to go on doing so

:28:18. > :28:21.to get more progress in future. It has indeed been a team effort in

:28:22. > :28:24.order to work out how we can best bring forward what is a very

:28:25. > :28:30.difficult thing, which is a national funding formula which broadly works

:28:31. > :28:35.for many different schools across our country. Wherever they are. It

:28:36. > :28:39.is fair. We have got more detail set out in the autumn, but I hope today

:28:40. > :28:42.I have given a clear signal to the House that we are moving in the

:28:43. > :28:51.right direction and I going to take this step forward and make sure we

:28:52. > :28:55.do have their funding. The Secretary of State's partial U-turn is bound

:28:56. > :28:58.to be welcomed. Can she give a guarantee, given the strawberry cost

:28:59. > :29:04.pressures that many schools across the board already face, that no

:29:05. > :29:09.school across Rochdale will be forced to cut teachers or teaching

:29:10. > :29:15.assistant over this two period? There will be high up their pupils

:29:16. > :29:20.funding in respect of every single school in every local area. What

:29:21. > :29:23.we're saying is we want to be able to get more money to headteachers to

:29:24. > :29:26.be able to take the decisions that they think are in the best interests

:29:27. > :29:30.of their schools. I have spent many years as a school governor and I

:29:31. > :29:35.know the work that goes on to try and make the most out of the budget,

:29:36. > :29:39.but I am also setting out, I to challenge my own department, so that

:29:40. > :29:46.we can put that money into the hands of headteachers to spend on the

:29:47. > :29:50.front line of schools. In welcoming the additional funding for Stockport

:29:51. > :29:55.schools, may I also welcome a very listening Secretary of State. We'll

:29:56. > :29:58.see perhaps prove her metal further by taking on board the

:29:59. > :30:04.recommendations on recruitment and retention contained in the last

:30:05. > :30:09.Parliament's education committee report? This is a vital issue. I

:30:10. > :30:13.think we have more teachers in our school system than ever before, but

:30:14. > :30:17.we need them. We had to make sure that the teaching profession, and I

:30:18. > :30:21.have always seen it as a profession, is one that is a strong career for

:30:22. > :30:25.teachers, one that means that they see continued professional

:30:26. > :30:30.development right the way through their careers and is competitive,

:30:31. > :30:33.and frankly one of my old teachers is retiring today, opting for them,

:30:34. > :30:37.I have written a note to thank him for 45 years of service to children

:30:38. > :30:41.about them. It is an amazing vocation and one which I would

:30:42. > :30:50.recommend to anyone who cares about developing our young people by the

:30:51. > :30:52.future. As other members have highlighted, the National Audit

:30:53. > :30:58.Office and the Secretary of State's own permanent secretary have

:30:59. > :31:02.highlighted the ?3 billion of savings they will have to make their

:31:03. > :31:05.2020. That includes ?1.7 billion what the department describes as

:31:06. > :31:10.more efficient use of staff. Given that she is now trading the fact

:31:11. > :31:15.that she is giving ?1.3 million in additional investment, can she tell

:31:16. > :31:18.us, hand on heart, that she is giving more money are others

:31:19. > :31:23.efficiency savings continuing as a wetland? This is very clearly an

:31:24. > :31:27.announcement of more money, and think it is important as she will

:31:28. > :31:33.recognise that we work with schools, not only on their non-staff budget,

:31:34. > :31:37.but also on their staff budget, and indeed when I talk to headteachers,

:31:38. > :31:40.they are very keen to make sure that they are able to use the stat that

:31:41. > :31:44.they have got as well as they can, and we will work more proactively

:31:45. > :31:52.with schools to make that might help them understand how to do that

:31:53. > :31:54.better. Can I congratulate the Government for choosing to

:31:55. > :31:59.prioritise school funding, which has been such a huge use you and right

:32:00. > :32:03.across the country, had all the MPs in Cheshire have come to you, saying

:32:04. > :32:08.what we need for our local schools, so I welcome today's announcement.

:32:09. > :32:12.Everybody can be clear, canny Secretary of State just confirm that

:32:13. > :32:20.what you are saying is that they will be a higher per pupil funding

:32:21. > :32:23.for every pupil? Indeed, we will be making that funding available to

:32:24. > :32:26.local authorities, I'm saying that any and local authorities will also

:32:27. > :32:30.go through a process of setting their local formula, but the finding

:32:31. > :32:35.that we're giving enables them to do that. It is fantastic to see her

:32:36. > :32:39.back in the chamber, she made a rapid start to representing her

:32:40. > :32:43.community in relation to this, after she came back into the House, and it

:32:44. > :32:46.is great to see her. She was subject to some of the nappy campaigning

:32:47. > :32:55.that I think will be debated later on in this chamber. On Friday, Raven

:32:56. > :32:58.stone primary School in Bal said a letter to parents announcing that

:32:59. > :33:03.they were making five essential support staff go. They have also

:33:04. > :33:06.lost a deputy headteacher, it is still had not made these cuts the

:33:07. > :33:12.school would have faced a budget deficit of over ?150,000. Can she

:33:13. > :33:15.today pledged that schools in tooting body given the necessary

:33:16. > :33:20.funding to maintain current staffing levels and will she meet with me and

:33:21. > :33:25.a fantastic headteacher of Raven stone school to discuss this matter

:33:26. > :33:30.in person? I pay tribute to the hard work of many teachers, many of them

:33:31. > :33:35.I know, in our local borough of Wandsworth, I think we also need to

:33:36. > :33:41.recognise that where that school a different part of the country, it

:33:42. > :33:45.would get a very different funding settlement. We expect to deliver the

:33:46. > :33:49.same results for its local children. What I am doing today is setting out

:33:50. > :33:53.that we want to have furnace in our funding formula and what we have set

:33:54. > :34:03.out will also mean that there is additional money going into schools.

:34:04. > :34:05.I very much welcome my right honourable friend's announcement

:34:06. > :34:10.today and I thank her for all her work, but can she confirm that areas

:34:11. > :34:15.like mine in Medway will benefit from the new funding formula? We are

:34:16. > :34:21.being charged with building historic numbers of homes in the Medway

:34:22. > :34:25.towns, and we are seeing new schools coming online. We'll be get more?

:34:26. > :34:32.Under Labour, we saw schools shut in the Medway towns. It was just great

:34:33. > :34:36.inflation and poor standards we inherited from Labour, it was a

:34:37. > :34:41.schools places crisis. Which is why we had to get on and build hundreds

:34:42. > :34:46.and thousands of school places for children who needed them, and that

:34:47. > :34:49.is precisely why we are doing this. The funding formula will indeed mean

:34:50. > :34:54.that her schools get higher per pupil funding in respect of schools

:34:55. > :34:58.in her local area. I can assure how we will not make this a mistake as

:34:59. > :35:03.the party opposite end up planning ahead on having the school places

:35:04. > :35:10.that children need in their local communities, making sure that they

:35:11. > :35:16.do not end up without them. This statement does nothing to address

:35:17. > :35:22.the serious underfunding and consistent underfunding of 16-18,

:35:23. > :35:27.this was under spent over the last two years by ?267 million. But the

:35:28. > :35:31.Government come it to the allocate those monies as soon as possible,

:35:32. > :35:37.and also address the underfunding for 60-18 -year-olds going forward?

:35:38. > :35:43.He raises an important point. -- 16-18. In respect of technical

:35:44. > :35:48.education, it is something which has been put on one side for too many

:35:49. > :35:54.years. It now needs to be focused on. That is why the centrepiece of

:35:55. > :35:57.the budget from my perspective was the skills budget, which we

:35:58. > :36:02.announced back in March, the CBI called it a breakthrough budget for

:36:03. > :36:07.skills. We are now getting on with that reform, not just in terms of

:36:08. > :36:10.continuing to bring forward more apprenticeships but also now working

:36:11. > :36:14.with organisations like the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses to

:36:15. > :36:18.look at how we can bring forward the reforms so that every single child

:36:19. > :36:21.who chooses to continue their education but was to go down a

:36:22. > :36:25.technical education route rather than a pure academic one can have

:36:26. > :36:32.that route, every bit as gold standard as the academic one that we

:36:33. > :36:35.have built. Can I thank the Secretary of State? This is great

:36:36. > :36:39.news. I have been telling my constituents that she has listened

:36:40. > :36:43.and indeed she has proven so. Can I just ask a couple of things? I

:36:44. > :36:46.appreciate time is tight and September is the indicator, but my

:36:47. > :36:50.skills are letting teachers go today. If there's any ties begin at

:36:51. > :36:56.a heads up on the figures ahead of September, that would be helpful. We

:36:57. > :36:59.can prove more efficient than many schools in the country, and can I

:37:00. > :37:03.get to look at that apprenticeship leading? It doesn't really work

:37:04. > :37:07.force rules. I take her point, and I can assure how we will be working

:37:08. > :37:11.very proactively with schools, particularly trying to focus on the

:37:12. > :37:14.ones that are saying that they face the biggest challenges. That is why

:37:15. > :37:18.I put together a team of this is the advisers that will be able to go out

:37:19. > :37:22.on the ground and work directly with schools. I think we can make a lot

:37:23. > :37:26.of progress in this area, but we also need to, and I recognise the

:37:27. > :37:29.point that she is making on cost basis, and figured as much right to

:37:30. > :37:35.strike a balance between making sure that our apprenticeships, strategy

:37:36. > :37:38.does give opportunity to young people everything sector. We also

:37:39. > :37:42.need to make sure we get funding to the front line of schools, that is

:37:43. > :37:50.what I have announced today. I welcome more funding, schools like

:37:51. > :37:57.Derby high in my constituency cannot recruit teaching talent. They faced

:37:58. > :38:04.rising costs. National insurance, ageing teaching population, the

:38:05. > :38:06.apprenticeship levy, and they are facing increasing class sizes and

:38:07. > :38:14.need a new school building. With this new money be enough to address

:38:15. > :38:20.these complicated problems, and will it go far enough to address

:38:21. > :38:27.enrichment activities that have all but disappeared in schools? With a

:38:28. > :38:30.whole generation of children, from 2010, missing out on these

:38:31. > :38:33.activities because of the imposition of posterity by your Government? --

:38:34. > :38:47.prosperity. I know he shares my concern around

:38:48. > :38:58.improving education standards in Derby. This has been a challenge for

:38:59. > :39:04.many... It is just a school called Derby. I should clarify, that had he

:39:05. > :39:10.also been from the centre of Derby, I was going to talk about how

:39:11. > :39:16.important to me the opportunity that we put an Derby is. I apologise for

:39:17. > :39:24.not recognising him as the obviously new member representing Barry. But I

:39:25. > :39:29.assure him that I take as great a standard, priorities and is in his

:39:30. > :39:33.schools and at school in particular as any others. We have tried to set

:39:34. > :39:36.out a way of making sure that funding is there for all schools

:39:37. > :39:40.including the one that he is talking about. It will be complemented with

:39:41. > :39:46.additional funding which I think is something that he should welcome.

:39:47. > :39:50.This is a part of our strategy on improving standards, in education,

:39:51. > :39:53.but by no means all of it, it is not just about the amount of money we

:39:54. > :39:56.put into schools, it is about what we then do with it and the strategy

:39:57. > :40:01.behind it, and as we have seen, Labour in Wales on education, has

:40:02. > :40:05.been going backwards. That is because it has no strategy, and as a

:40:06. > :40:13.result children are getting worse standards. We do have a strategy

:40:14. > :40:27.that as bystanders going up. -- standards are going up.

:40:28. > :40:34.I welcome the commitment to ensure no school loses out on the funding

:40:35. > :40:40.formula. It is nice to see one party takes its election commitments at

:40:41. > :40:44.election time seriously. For clarity, can she confirm to the

:40:45. > :40:48.parents and teachers concerned about some of the scare stories kicking

:40:49. > :40:53.around around March this year that no school will lose out because of

:40:54. > :40:59.the changes in the funding formula? I believe I can in this sense we are

:41:00. > :41:03.going beyond saying those schools will lose out as a result of the

:41:04. > :41:09.formula, to say every school will gain at least 0.5% additional as

:41:10. > :41:13.part of the introduction of the formula. It is important to be clear

:41:14. > :41:18.that the way we are introducing it is to work with local authorities

:41:19. > :41:22.and they will put their own formula and final allocation to schools but

:41:23. > :41:25.what we are giving them means no school need to lose out and in fact

:41:26. > :41:35.further than that, every school should be able to gain. Warrington

:41:36. > :41:39.is one of the most funded authorities in the country and yet

:41:40. > :41:43.schools in my constituency were still losing out under the funding

:41:44. > :41:48.formula she proposed and preparing to sack teachers and teaching

:41:49. > :41:55.assistants. Can she confirmed that she still does not regard these as

:41:56. > :42:00.being underfunded schools, and that's the 0.5% increase will not

:42:01. > :42:04.meet the costs imposed on them by staff pay rises, the apprenticeship

:42:05. > :42:12.levy and general inflation and pupils in those schools. These out?

:42:13. > :42:17.I think I would say at this stage she may be better off lobbying her

:42:18. > :42:23.own front bench. What I set out today means her school will get a

:42:24. > :42:29.better settlement than had her own party disastrously in my opinion

:42:30. > :42:35.with macro that election. Can I thank my right honourable friend for

:42:36. > :42:39.listening to the consultation. Dorset has been underfunded for many

:42:40. > :42:46.years and we are extremely grateful at the announcement today. Two

:42:47. > :42:50.points. Can she guarantee special needs will be properly funded and I

:42:51. > :42:58.do not agree with the apprenticeship levy, which you look at that again?

:42:59. > :43:03.In relation to high need, I have set out the additional funding will

:43:04. > :43:08.impart flow into high needs, which is important, and the apprenticeship

:43:09. > :43:13.levy, we are working with schools on teaching and apprenticeship that

:43:14. > :43:16.will not only mean we can have more opportunity but will also enable

:43:17. > :43:27.those schools to use that investment wisely. Does the Secretary of State

:43:28. > :43:31.think it is right schools in my constituency are already having to

:43:32. > :43:36.rely on donations from parents for books, stationery and other basic

:43:37. > :43:45.resources? This is not scaremongering, this is actually

:43:46. > :43:50.happening. First we recognise the most important thing for parents 's

:43:51. > :43:57.standards are going up and they are and we saw that in the recent key

:43:58. > :44:01.stage two results last week. I hope she will recognise that if there

:44:02. > :44:06.have been concerns on funding this statement is a step in the right

:44:07. > :44:10.direction because we are going to fund more into front-line schools

:44:11. > :44:18.and I'm saying we will find it more fairly, something long overdue. Can

:44:19. > :44:25.I mark my right honourable friend's home work with a resounding tick,

:44:26. > :44:29.VG. And can we right in the margin a notes to the effect that under her

:44:30. > :44:36.stewardship this government is spending more on schools than the

:44:37. > :44:41.party opposite ever did. Can I ask for her reassurance on a point I

:44:42. > :44:46.have lobbied her on and ministers for some time and that is Devon has

:44:47. > :44:52.been historically underfunded. Can she assure me this welcome package

:44:53. > :44:55.means that historic underfunding, which has existed under governments

:44:56. > :45:03.of all colours, will be corrected and if she can do that I will

:45:04. > :45:08.upgrade her to a gold star. I think I might be getting upgraded because

:45:09. > :45:13.I can tell him this will mean additional funding for schools in

:45:14. > :45:17.Devon. I know the debate that has happened in that part and it is

:45:18. > :45:22.vital, if we have a country that works for everyone that regions like

:45:23. > :45:27.the south-west are able to develop their talent in the same way as any

:45:28. > :45:34.other part of our country and Devon will benefit from my announcement

:45:35. > :45:40.today. I remain concerned about the position of the 28 schools in

:45:41. > :45:44.Liverpool Riverside who were due to lose funding under the government

:45:45. > :45:50.formula. Can she assure me they will not lose any funding from any source

:45:51. > :45:54.and would she agreed the ?200 million cut to central projects,

:45:55. > :46:01.which she announced today, is really cutting by the back door? I do not

:46:02. > :46:05.agree. I can confirm we will be making available additional funding,

:46:06. > :46:10.including to schools in her community. If any of them get less

:46:11. > :46:14.that is a decision by her local authority, which I'm sure she would

:46:15. > :46:22.want to follow up. I think we have to recognise over time there are a

:46:23. > :46:26.number of different pools of money that quite rightly are directed to

:46:27. > :46:30.improve schools across our country. I want to see those working more

:46:31. > :46:34.efficiently but we should recognise there are broader parts of the

:46:35. > :46:40.Department for Education where we need to make sure that parts of my

:46:41. > :46:43.Department are run efficiently. The prize for doing that better is to

:46:44. > :46:53.have more money to channel to the front line of schools which I plan

:46:54. > :46:56.to do. Under the outgoing system introduced under a previous Labour

:46:57. > :47:00.administration, schools in West Sussex were some of the lowest

:47:01. > :47:07.funded in the country and I botched welcome the new formula being

:47:08. > :47:12.introduced, which will see a significant enhancement for schools

:47:13. > :47:17.in Crawley. Can I seek assurances however that capital funding will

:47:18. > :47:23.not be affected as part of this new revenue coming forward? For example,

:47:24. > :47:28.necessary rebuilding works of holy Trinity School in my constituency. I

:47:29. > :47:33.can assure him there is a substantial capital budget that will

:47:34. > :47:37.be there to not only deliver additional school places but also to

:47:38. > :47:43.invest in improving our school estate. I can assure him of that and

:47:44. > :47:47.what I have set out is that some of the additional money we expected

:47:48. > :47:53.from the sugar drinks industry levy can be converted into, we can retain

:47:54. > :47:59.the money and converted into revenue to go to front lines of schools but

:48:00. > :48:05.on capital we will continue to invest in school estate. Can I offer

:48:06. > :48:10.to help our in finding efficiencies in the budget because no school on

:48:11. > :48:17.their own can take on the other fair rising PFI costs, but the Department

:48:18. > :48:22.could lead a challenge, and will she help schools in my constituency do

:48:23. > :48:27.that? One thing we have had to deal as part of the draft formula

:48:28. > :48:33.consultation was to accept there are schools that are saddled with PFI

:48:34. > :48:38.commitments from the party opposite. Rather than penalise them, what we

:48:39. > :48:43.proposed was we would honour those commitments. She raises a genuine

:48:44. > :48:46.point, which is we need to work with schools that have got these

:48:47. > :48:50.liabilities to understand how we can manage them effectively. We need to

:48:51. > :48:55.learn from those mistakes so looking ahead we do not saddle schools with

:48:56. > :49:01.the debts and commitments they cannot afford as part of Labour's

:49:02. > :49:09.failed PFI schemes. Schools in Corby in East Northamptonshire have been

:49:10. > :49:12.underfunded far too long and I am pleased she putting that right but

:49:13. > :49:17.will she continued to keep at the forefront of her mind to the

:49:18. > :49:23.challenges rural schools have and the big challenges housing growth

:49:24. > :49:29.presents? He will know that the original consultation formula looked

:49:30. > :49:34.at how schools is more sparsely populated areas could cope

:49:35. > :49:39.effectively and that we could cope with housing growth. I said I would

:49:40. > :49:43.respond more fully to the consultation in September, which

:49:44. > :49:52.will cover that but he is right to put those issues on the table and

:49:53. > :49:56.they once we will carefully about. In my constituency many of the

:49:57. > :49:59.primary schools are having or planning to cut staff. Under the new

:50:00. > :50:04.formula, all but one of the secondary schools will have big cuts

:50:05. > :50:11.in their budget. If this is such a good formula and settlement, will it

:50:12. > :50:16.not happen? The amount of money his local authority will get over that

:50:17. > :50:23.in the coming two years will not see cuts. It will mean there is a 0.5%

:50:24. > :50:27.increase per pupil allocated to that community. I reiterate it is a

:50:28. > :50:33.better settlement for those schools than they would have had had his

:50:34. > :50:38.party won the election. I accept over the years I have been a pain to

:50:39. > :50:43.both parties and I remember saying to the Prime Minister Tony Blair

:50:44. > :50:47.many years ago that the funding, postcode lottery if you like,

:50:48. > :50:53.between counties is unfair and his agreeing, but doing nothing about it

:50:54. > :50:58.and I was a pain to the schools minister, who I gave a hard time to

:50:59. > :51:04.a couple of months ago. Can I say how much I welcome the announcement

:51:05. > :51:11.today? May I ask this in particular, she will know how much the National

:51:12. > :51:16.Union of Teachers website alarmed students and parents over the last

:51:17. > :51:21.few months. Can I ask when our school funding formula is announced,

:51:22. > :51:29.it to be transparent and available on a website school by school?

:51:30. > :51:37.Indeed it will be. I hope that the unions will choose to update their

:51:38. > :51:41.websites with accurate data. As the questions have demonstrated today,

:51:42. > :51:45.it is not easy taking this step to introduce fairer funding. There are

:51:46. > :51:49.millions of reasons why it isn't difficult step for any government,

:51:50. > :51:54.but we have done it because I do not think we can expect social mobility

:51:55. > :51:59.to happen nor strong education outcomes in every part of our

:52:00. > :52:01.country, when our children are funded in such different ways,

:52:02. > :52:06.dependent on where they are growing up. Nobody can accept that if we

:52:07. > :52:15.want to tackle inequality of opportunity and that is why we are

:52:16. > :52:17.making new steps. It is not easy, it is complex, but we are doing it

:52:18. > :52:23.because it is the right thing. I welcome any additional funding.

:52:24. > :52:28.There is concern about the safety of schools following the Grenfell Tower

:52:29. > :52:34.disaster. Could she update me on how many schools in my constituency will

:52:35. > :52:41.be inspected and how that work will be coordinated and how any remedial

:52:42. > :52:46.action identified will be funding? I hope you will be reassured that we

:52:47. > :52:51.have done a survey across all of our schools to identify any that have or

:52:52. > :52:56.think they might have this sort of cladding. We had a good response

:52:57. > :53:00.from schools and we have been in contact with the handful of members

:53:01. > :53:05.of this House who have had a school that has had cladding that has been

:53:06. > :53:10.for testing. I can be reassuring in saying we were clear with schools

:53:11. > :53:14.that where there was any sign they might have cladding, that this fire

:53:15. > :53:18.inspection should go ahead of any cladding being tested and we have

:53:19. > :53:23.gone through that process and for the two schools where we have

:53:24. > :53:29.positive tests, the fire inspection results had show the schools were

:53:30. > :53:35.safe to operate. He's right to identify how important this is and I

:53:36. > :53:40.can assure the house it has been uppermost in our minds in recent

:53:41. > :53:44.weeks. I welcome the extra funding for schools in my constituency

:53:45. > :53:49.especially extra investment into core schools budget and a higher

:53:50. > :53:53.per-pupil funding. Can she confirmed the formula will address the

:53:54. > :53:58.unfairness that has seen some schools across East Sussex

:53:59. > :54:05.underfunded for many years? Yes, it will do. She has spoken up for her

:54:06. > :54:10.local community in this regard and this announcement will mean more

:54:11. > :54:14.money for her local communities. I have no doubt her local authority

:54:15. > :54:18.will want to make sure they spread that money fairly and indeed will be

:54:19. > :54:29.setting out the notional allocations for schools in the autumn. Could I

:54:30. > :54:34.suggest that with the ?1 billion in March in the budget for capital

:54:35. > :54:36.funding to extend the free schools programme, combined with the

:54:37. > :54:41.millions her department has written off, because of the chaotic funding

:54:42. > :54:46.formula for free schools, would it be better to scrap the free schools

:54:47. > :54:50.policy and put money into schools like mine in a deprived area, that

:54:51. > :54:57.are seeing cuts to teachers and services? We need to get a balance

:54:58. > :55:02.between investing in the existing school estate as she set out but

:55:03. > :55:07.also planning ahead to ensure we have school places and schools for

:55:08. > :55:11.children coming into our system, particularly the secondary school

:55:12. > :55:18.system. All we say in relation to free schools is the long-standing

:55:19. > :55:21.monopoly councils hard on being the only organisations that could

:55:22. > :55:24.introduce a new school should change and we changed it so that

:55:25. > :55:29.communities could set up very in schools. That is what many have done

:55:30. > :55:33.and why we have seen so many free schools established and we will

:55:34. > :55:41.bring forward the pipeline so more can happen in the future. Like many

:55:42. > :55:44.I welcome the commitment to the national funding formula and I am

:55:45. > :55:47.confident the schools in Carlisle will welcome the increase in

:55:48. > :55:56.spending. Could the Secretary of State confirm the successful pupil

:55:57. > :56:00.funding will continue as is and there are no plans for it to form

:56:01. > :56:05.part of the national funding formula? I can confirm the premium

:56:06. > :56:10.will be maintained. It is important and has been a significant driver of

:56:11. > :56:12.how we have managed to steadily begin to reduce the attainment gap

:56:13. > :56:24.between children in our country. In the previous Secretary of State

:56:25. > :56:28.with only commit to two years of the funding formula and would give no

:56:29. > :56:34.commitment posts 2020. In a statement today, we get reference to

:56:35. > :56:37.a longer transition period. Can the Secretary of State now confirm how

:56:38. > :56:43.long it is going to take to implement the full formula changes?

:56:44. > :56:47.I will set out more fully our response to the consultation in the

:56:48. > :56:52.art and I appreciate as she sets out that there are more details that we

:56:53. > :56:58.need to come forward with. What I am doing today is being clear about the

:56:59. > :57:03.overall funding whilst also giving colleagues some assurance of

:57:04. > :57:12.specific elements before we set out the full plans in September.

:57:13. > :57:15.Can I welcome the Secretary of State's statement. One teacher has

:57:16. > :57:20.already e-mailed me saying it could be worth around ?300 per pupil.

:57:21. > :57:23.Torpey has been underfunded due to the inequities in the funding

:57:24. > :57:26.formula. Can she confirmed that those funding amounts will be

:57:27. > :57:31.quickly available so they would have to rely on any dodgy websites?

:57:32. > :57:36.Once we have done our analysis over the summer we will make those

:57:37. > :57:40.schools spreadsheet available and I very much hope they will be the ones

:57:41. > :57:44.that people look at because they will contain the actual reality of

:57:45. > :57:51.what we are funding of schools rather than some of the falsehoods

:57:52. > :57:57.that have been peddled. Does the Minster accept that with

:57:58. > :58:04.schools having to pay ?525 million in contributions to teachers pension

:58:05. > :58:09.scheme and ?625 million national insurance contributions and with

:58:10. > :58:13.inflation at 2.9%, that the 1.3 billion announced will barely cover

:58:14. > :58:18.these costs? I don't agree with that actually.

:58:19. > :58:22.What is important is that we are able to maintain the rates of

:58:23. > :58:26.per-pupil funding in our schools. That is what I set out today and we

:58:27. > :58:32.can only do that because we have a strong economy that is creating jobs

:58:33. > :58:36.and economy and taxes that fund are vital public services. What we can

:58:37. > :58:40.do is fall into the trap of thinking that every time we want to increase

:58:41. > :58:47.public spending that we have to reach in -- reach into the public's

:58:48. > :58:53.pockets via taxes. It is not sustainable, nor is it sustainable

:58:54. > :58:56.to increase debt when our debt interest is still bigger than the

:58:57. > :59:03.amounts that we're talking about investing every year in our schools.

:59:04. > :59:06.It is vital that we have a long-term strategy to deal with that debt and

:59:07. > :59:10.what I'm setting out today is that I do believe that we can make our

:59:11. > :59:14.department and budget work more effectively and in doing so get more

:59:15. > :59:19.money the front line of schools. That has got to be the first port of

:59:20. > :59:29.call rather than resorting to higher taxes or more debt.

:59:30. > :59:32.As a parent and member of the rural constituency, I welcome the

:59:33. > :59:42.statement this afternoon. On the point of plurality, as the finessing

:59:43. > :59:48.of formula moves on, can you keep in mind the high cost of delivering

:59:49. > :59:53.staffing and the running of a school in a rural area against an urban

:59:54. > :59:59.setting. I would hope that was taken into account.

:00:00. > :00:02.He has quite rightly set out his concerns for his area. This was part

:00:03. > :00:11.of the consultation that we launched earlier in the year. We now have

:00:12. > :00:16.25,000 responses back to it which we have just about gone through. We

:00:17. > :00:19.will set out our full response in September but suffice to say I do

:00:20. > :00:25.recognise these issues and they are precisely the issues that I am

:00:26. > :00:32.trying to get right. I appreciate you don't yet have the

:00:33. > :00:35.details of what you're proposing. Parents and headteachers from my

:00:36. > :00:41.constituency will be listening and wondering, as I am, what this means

:00:42. > :00:46.for our schools. We were expecting to have cuts of up to ?700 per

:00:47. > :00:52.pupil. It is one of the most deprived schools in our constituency

:00:53. > :01:01.under fair funding proposals. Can I know go back and assure them that

:01:02. > :01:05.those cuts will not know go ahead. I think she will welcome the

:01:06. > :01:10.statement may today that means higher funding for every school in

:01:11. > :01:17.her constituency and every local area. I hope she passes on -- the

:01:18. > :01:23.local authority passes on those gains.

:01:24. > :01:27.Can I welcome the statement on the fair funding formula? I am a proud

:01:28. > :01:32.father of three children who will benefit as result of these

:01:33. > :01:39.announcements. Can she confirm that every parent with children at

:01:40. > :01:48.schools will benefit and no constituency will lose out as result

:01:49. > :01:55.Western Mark I can confirm that what he has said is indeed the case.

:01:56. > :01:59.That is why this is important. We need to have more investment in our

:02:00. > :02:05.school system and that is precisely what we're doing but also make sure

:02:06. > :02:08.that it is fairly funded. Know he represents a community that will

:02:09. > :02:20.benefit from the fair funding system.

:02:21. > :02:26.I welcome any attempts at a fair funding formula but I'm concerned

:02:27. > :02:32.that funding doesn't reach schools with high proportions of high needs

:02:33. > :02:37.students. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that in developing this

:02:38. > :02:44.funding formula the exceptional needs of those Heiney children will

:02:45. > :02:49.always be protected and not at the expense of try to even things up?

:02:50. > :02:53.This statement will mean more money going into the high needs budget

:02:54. > :03:00.which I'm sure she will welcome. It is also worth reflecting on the fact

:03:01. > :03:03.more generally that there has been money made available to children

:03:04. > :03:10.going into primary and secondary already behind to help them catch

:03:11. > :03:14.up. We've looked at this a number of different ways to make sure that no

:03:15. > :03:22.child was in getting the appropriate amount of investment. I concern in

:03:23. > :03:24.doing all of this was the fact that a child growing up in her community

:03:25. > :03:27.would get a very different amount invested in them than it had grown

:03:28. > :03:30.up different part of the country and that is iniquitous and something we

:03:31. > :03:36.need change and I'm delighted to be able to say we are introducing fair

:03:37. > :03:40.funding so we will change that that for the better.

:03:41. > :03:44.Can I congratulate her on the statement? Schools in my

:03:45. > :03:50.constituency will be delighted that the per-pupil funding is being

:03:51. > :03:54.protected. Taxpayers will be delighted to hear that it is being

:03:55. > :04:01.done from departmental efficiencies. Which agree that doing it this way

:04:02. > :04:07.rather than putting the cost on to future generations is correct?

:04:08. > :04:13.I totally agree. None of these steps are easy. Easy thing is to put up

:04:14. > :04:17.tax which is what the party opposite wants to do. I don't think that is

:04:18. > :04:22.the right thing to do and never more so than with some of the challenges

:04:23. > :04:29.our country faces. We need to make sure that the money we are already

:04:30. > :04:35.getting is used efficiently. That means we can put more money to the

:04:36. > :04:45.front line of schools. When the schools minister Heather to

:04:46. > :04:50.left a cross-party delegation of Cumbria MPs in March, he was clear

:04:51. > :05:00.that it was necessary and fear for the schools budget, after having

:05:01. > :05:03.been protected to know players part in the government strategy of

:05:04. > :05:09.deficit reduction. Was he right or wrong?

:05:10. > :05:14.I think he has tried to get politics out of what is a sensible

:05:15. > :05:18.announcement that I have made about more funding for schools. I'm

:05:19. > :05:23.interested in what we're doing to practically improve education rather

:05:24. > :05:28.than the politics around it. Can I thank her and her ministers

:05:29. > :05:33.for taking time to listen to my concerns about Cheltenham schools

:05:34. > :05:38.and schools up and down the country affected by historic unfairness?

:05:39. > :05:43.This is a huge step forward. Can she confirm that every secondary school

:05:44. > :05:48.in Cheltenham will receive at least ?4000 per-pupil regardless of which

:05:49. > :05:55.pupils might be eligible? I set out today that we will indeed

:05:56. > :06:03.be putting forward ?4800 amount. I should put on record my tribute to

:06:04. > :06:07.him on the campaign setting it has local community's concerns in

:06:08. > :06:12.Cheltenham. He has done a good job of being clear about what local

:06:13. > :06:17.needs were and it has been helpful for the statement today.

:06:18. > :06:27.Many young people in Bristol choose to go to college rather than stay in

:06:28. > :06:31.their own school for sixth form. We'll be also benefit from fairer

:06:32. > :06:38.funding because the choices at the moment are being restricted due to

:06:39. > :06:44.cuts to sixth form colleges. The statement today is in relation

:06:45. > :06:48.to the core schools budget and there will be higher funding in respect of

:06:49. > :06:56.every school and local area. This will enable schools to do a better

:06:57. > :07:01.job of the provision that they have. She sets out the broader challenges

:07:02. > :07:04.about sex for funding but I want to reassure her and a house that we are

:07:05. > :07:09.committed to making sure the children stay in a school system

:07:10. > :07:14.that is well funded. I know that in Bristol it is one of those regions

:07:15. > :07:18.that has focused on education in recent years with success and I

:07:19. > :07:21.think it is important that we work together to see that success

:07:22. > :07:26.continue. This statement will be welcomed by

:07:27. > :07:34.parents across Nottingham and I and sure that people will be helping to

:07:35. > :07:39.disseminate the good news. Can I press on the issue of free schools?

:07:40. > :07:47.I'm glad she is still committed to them. We have seen the good effects

:07:48. > :07:52.that free schools can have on communities. While she confirm that

:07:53. > :07:57.all free schools due to open either this September or next September

:07:58. > :08:02.will still open? Absolutely. There is a strong

:08:03. > :08:07.pipeline of preschools. That is what we're getting on with. More than

:08:08. > :08:12.that is that we are underwriting the next hundred and 14 beyond that. I

:08:13. > :08:16.think we can deliver it more cost effectively and their award means

:08:17. > :08:21.additional funding to the front line of schools and communities like his

:08:22. > :08:25.own. I welcome the additional investment

:08:26. > :08:28.announced today but the Secretary of State will know that previous

:08:29. > :08:31.statements made in the last parliament by ministers in relation

:08:32. > :08:36.to core funding and the National School funding formula will have

:08:37. > :08:40.already been factored into schools' business plans. As a result, they

:08:41. > :08:44.will have already started restructuring and laying off

:08:45. > :08:48.teachers and support staff. Can she confirm there is nothing in the

:08:49. > :08:52.statement today that hit will undo the damage already done by the

:08:53. > :09:00.government? The direction of travel including in

:09:01. > :09:06.schools in London has been positive and that direction of travel is the

:09:07. > :09:10.real challenge to improve school standards across the country. I hope

:09:11. > :09:15.that direction of travel will continue and having been a governor

:09:16. > :09:19.myself I'm sure that the funding that I'm setting out today will be

:09:20. > :09:27.spent by schools as and when they receive it.

:09:28. > :09:31.Can I push the Secretary of State is to give a little bit more guidance

:09:32. > :09:36.with respect to how the money will be allocated by local authorities?

:09:37. > :09:41.In particular, will she allow honourable members who have got more

:09:42. > :09:52.involved in schools spreadsheets than they would care to identify the

:09:53. > :09:59.process where some schools are treated unfairly?

:10:00. > :10:02.Local authorities will consult only formula over the money they will get

:10:03. > :10:09.and then spread around the school system. What we've done is make sure

:10:10. > :10:18.for the first time as of 2018/19, that amount will be fair I like how

:10:19. > :10:21.we have seen in the past. I want them to be involved in the

:10:22. > :10:27.consultation process to make sure the money is well spread that I will

:10:28. > :10:33.make sure that it is available to every single school from 2018/ 19.

:10:34. > :10:35.Schools who do not want to process that amount will be asked why they

:10:36. > :10:49.are not doing so? . On Friday, my constituency said that

:10:50. > :10:54.high needs was an issue raised to me so can I thank her for this

:10:55. > :10:59.statement, in particular the focus in that area? As she has been so

:11:00. > :11:11.bold, may I ask are also to look at nursery funding and also post 16?

:11:12. > :11:16.Where standards can really make a difference to our children.

:11:17. > :11:19.I can reassure her that we have and indeed she knows that there has

:11:20. > :11:22.never been more investment going into early years and under this

:11:23. > :11:26.government. The good news is that the quality of early years probation

:11:27. > :11:31.is getting better and that is something that is really to be

:11:32. > :11:32.welcomed. Over time, I think it can significantly shift the dial on

:11:33. > :11:47.social mobility. We will come to the honourable lady

:11:48. > :11:53.in a moment. We are saving her up. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Could I

:11:54. > :11:58.warmly welcome the statement for the Secretary of State that will benefit

:11:59. > :12:02.all the schools in my constituency, can I also welcome that it is from

:12:03. > :12:07.efficiencies within the Department rather than borrowing, but can I

:12:08. > :12:12.have the Secretary of State to concern that this measure is not

:12:13. > :12:16.being funded on the excellent announcement of the extra half

:12:17. > :12:18.billion she is investing in technical education, because that is

:12:19. > :12:25.an important reform that she's making.

:12:26. > :12:31.If I can take this opportunity to welcome him to the House and I would

:12:32. > :12:35.say we are committed to pushing on with that budget announcement, I am

:12:36. > :12:38.determined to make sure that this really will be the breakthrough

:12:39. > :12:44.budget for skills, that the CBI described it as, and we have had

:12:45. > :12:48.excellent engagement with envoy is on technical education since we set

:12:49. > :13:03.out our strategy, the assessment will be coming in.

:13:04. > :13:09.Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also join greet this announcement, and I have

:13:10. > :13:13.just been hosting in Parliament will welcome it, but can she confirmed in

:13:14. > :13:17.my constituency that we have a three tier education system, can she

:13:18. > :13:22.confirm that the three tier system will also benefit from this

:13:23. > :13:29.announcement but she has made as the two tier will as well.

:13:30. > :13:32.I can confirm that it will mean higher per-pupil funding in respect

:13:33. > :13:36.of every school in her local community, I think that is good news

:13:37. > :13:40.for Redditch and I think it will see continued improvements and

:13:41. > :13:47.standards. Thank you, Secretary of State.

:13:48. > :13:54.Order. Point of order. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek your guidance. On

:13:55. > :13:57.Friday I was meant to meet with the tribunal staff at Bennett house in

:13:58. > :14:01.my constituency. Bennett houses a Ministry of Justice building

:14:02. > :14:06.scheduled for closure and I was meeting stuff with concerns about

:14:07. > :14:09.this plan in my capacity as a member of Parliament. The meeting had been

:14:10. > :14:15.moved as officials informed stuff that I would be allowed on site and

:14:16. > :14:19.should I try to get on side I would be prevented from doing so. I seek

:14:20. > :14:22.your guidance on how best I could raise this matter with the Ministry

:14:23. > :14:27.of Justice and seek from you to ensure that other members of

:14:28. > :14:33.Parliament and scratch my art when inhibited and go along their duties.

:14:34. > :14:39.What I would say to the honourable gentleman, if the honourable

:14:40. > :14:48.gentleman, who is a new member of the house, or rather new, is

:14:49. > :14:55.alleging that there is a breach of privilege, that is something that is

:14:56. > :15:01.properly raised in writing with me. I would then address the matter in

:15:02. > :15:08.turn in writing. However, as the honourable gentleman has not

:15:09. > :15:13.specifically used that term or made that allegation, but complained of

:15:14. > :15:20.what might be called, in his mind, certainly, and unreasonable

:15:21. > :15:26.prevention or some sort of let or hindrance, what I would say to him

:15:27. > :15:33.is as follows, it is not a point of order as mere chair of the house,

:15:34. > :15:37.but said, I must say I am concerned to hear that a Government department

:15:38. > :15:43.has prevented his access to a Government building in his own

:15:44. > :15:51.constituency. This is ultimately a matter for ministers to determine,

:15:52. > :15:56.but let me say that without fear of contradiction and very explicitly

:15:57. > :16:01.that it strikes me as an unhelpful attitude. The honourable gentleman

:16:02. > :16:04.has made his concern clear and it is on the record, but it does seem to

:16:05. > :16:11.me that it is pretty obviously and on track unhelpful attitude on the

:16:12. > :16:19.part of the Department and I would hope that a minister would direct

:16:20. > :16:26.the Department not to obstruct member going about business in that

:16:27. > :16:32.way. We will leave it there. Presentation of build, Chris

:16:33. > :16:40.Grayling. Second reading, what day?

:16:41. > :16:46.Tomorrow. Thank you. We now come to the emergency debate on scheduling

:16:47. > :16:49.of Parliamentary business by the leader of the House. To move the

:16:50. > :16:56.motion, I called the shadow leader of the House.

:16:57. > :17:02.Thank you, Mr Speaker. I beg to move the motion standing in that this

:17:03. > :17:06.House has considered the shed relation of Parliamentary business

:17:07. > :17:09.and the obligations of the two years engine for standing order

:17:10. > :17:14.requirements. I want to thank you for agreeing that this debate should

:17:15. > :17:22.take place. This is not a debate about a debate, but it is about an

:17:23. > :17:27.important point of principle, our Parliamentary democracy and the role

:17:28. > :17:31.of this House. It is about the opposition and other members holding

:17:32. > :17:38.the Government to account, it is about the sovereignty of Parliament.

:17:39. > :17:41.This house is not super iron, our constituents, the electorate expect

:17:42. > :17:47.us to be here, they voted for us, in the official case, to setup the

:17:48. > :17:53.programme for change, because Mr Speaker, this minority Government is

:17:54. > :17:57.not working. Can I start by turning to standing order, these are set out

:17:58. > :18:00.in the blue book, rules and procedures have to be certain and

:18:01. > :18:06.clear, and what is it say about opposition days? Standing order 14,

:18:07. > :18:10.20 days she'll be allotted in each session in proceedings on opposition

:18:11. > :18:14.business. 17 for Leader of the Opposition, and three at the

:18:15. > :18:18.disposal of the leader of the second largest opposition party. If you

:18:19. > :18:22.hang on a second, giving the announcement by the Government of a

:18:23. > :18:25.two-year session, references to session in standing orders should be

:18:26. > :18:33.interpreted as per year, therefore with the dates allocated pro rata.

:18:34. > :18:39.And so the Government announced by press release read to you

:18:40. > :18:48.Parliamentary session, double the length of a normal Parliamentary

:18:49. > :18:53.session. Therefore, using the plain words, the implication, the days

:18:54. > :18:56.would be doubled. I give way. She does not realise how lucky she

:18:57. > :19:03.is. When we were in opposition, we did not have the benefit of the

:19:04. > :19:06.Speaker in the chair to call urgent questions with the frequency that he

:19:07. > :19:13.does now to the huge advantage of the house. We have traded any

:19:14. > :19:21.composition days for the wisdom of the current Speaker, and long may he

:19:22. > :19:26.remain in the chair, because with an opposition Day debate, by the time

:19:27. > :19:29.you actually get to the debate, the gallery is empty and the generalists

:19:30. > :19:34.have all pushed off having written their copy.

:19:35. > :19:41.I'm going to get very emotional in a moment!

:19:42. > :19:48.I think that is not deserve any response whatsoever. Wait for this,

:19:49. > :19:55.in need 2012 session, extra days where provided for business, won the

:19:56. > :19:57.20 opposition days where provided for allocated, a further 14 on

:19:58. > :20:03.allotted days provided. Mr Speaker, we need certainty, the Government is

:20:04. > :20:08.not provided for in opposition day before the summer recess, making the

:20:09. > :20:12.earliest opposition day in September 20 17. This means a staggering eight

:20:13. > :20:15.months, nearly as long as the time it takes to have a baby, with every

:20:16. > :20:23.single opposition day providing vital scrutiny. The last day was on

:20:24. > :20:28.the 20th of January. At the same point in the Parliamentary session

:20:29. > :20:33.in 2010-12, the opposition was granted three opposition days and

:20:34. > :20:36.five any 2015 session. We need to be clear at business questions last

:20:37. > :20:41.week, the Leader of the House that in response to a business question,

:20:42. > :20:45.not to me, though I did ask, that a date was offered in September. Can I

:20:46. > :20:49.say that I was not aware of this opposition day, whether it is to the

:20:50. > :20:55.usual channels or suspects, so we do need to clarify what a session is.

:20:56. > :21:04.It is now two years, but we would not expect one year's worth to be

:21:05. > :21:07.allocated over those two years. Why is this important? Today is the 18th

:21:08. > :21:13.day the new parliament has been setting, so far legislation has only

:21:14. > :21:19.been discussed on foreign those days and foreign total of just 13 hours.

:21:20. > :21:24.Decisions have to be made on important matters that affect our

:21:25. > :21:30.country. I will give way. She says is sessions such last one

:21:31. > :21:37.year. Why then in 1997 and 98 when it with 18 months whether only 20

:21:38. > :21:41.days? 2001, only 20 days. 2005, 18 months, where there are only 20

:21:42. > :21:44.days? Clearly the honourable member was

:21:45. > :21:50.not listening, because it was not standing orders, and the comment has

:21:51. > :21:53.extended it. Why is this important? Decisions have to be made on

:21:54. > :21:57.important matters that affect our country. So far the Government has

:21:58. > :22:04.been pushed to give us an answer. I will give an example who had to have

:22:05. > :22:08.an amendment to the Queen's speech. It had to be secured an emergency

:22:09. > :22:13.debate on contaminated blood to set up an enquiry that the Government

:22:14. > :22:17.only conceded to just before the start of the debate. I have asked

:22:18. > :22:20.the Leader of the House several times for a debate on the statutory

:22:21. > :22:26.instrument which had been prayed against, Social Security personal

:22:27. > :22:32.independence regulations and the higher education regulations, number

:22:33. > :22:37.1025 and 1026. Time is given on the 19th of April, given the

:22:38. > :22:43.interruption, no time has been given for the debate. Those continuing

:22:44. > :22:47.best it is in the next academic year, the failure of this Government

:22:48. > :22:52.to allow a debate and a vote on the regulations has created bring

:22:53. > :23:00.uncertainty, so can be Leader of the House confirm that the regulations

:23:01. > :23:04.have not been enacted and there will be no increase for students in

:23:05. > :23:08.September, because in part five schedule two of the higher education

:23:09. > :23:12.and research act, it states that for any increases in the high amount of

:23:13. > :23:15.tuition fees, it would be necessary that each house of Parliament has

:23:16. > :23:20.passed a resolution. That has not been enacted yet, so has the

:23:21. > :23:25.Government sneaked this in under another act and betrayed our young

:23:26. > :23:37.people? This Government is just not working, there has been no justice

:23:38. > :23:40.for the 1950s women raised by those, many of MPs have raised this issue

:23:41. > :23:48.and many on the other side because we need a debate and a vote about

:23:49. > :23:52.motion on the health service, 22% fall in messing applications, where

:23:53. > :23:55.is the third tree of health said today, with 12,000 surgical

:23:56. > :24:01.procedures on children and young people have been cancelled last

:24:02. > :24:07.year, an increase of 35%. And now GPs are charging for visits. That is

:24:08. > :24:17.busily an end to the NHS as we know it. Mr Speaker, a decision has to be

:24:18. > :24:21.made on the Swansea tidal lagoon before the end of July. I have a

:24:22. > :24:27.letter that has been signed by 107 members on all sides asking backed

:24:28. > :24:33.the Henry review should be put into effect. I did raise it at business

:24:34. > :24:36.questions as well. Now that the EU bill has been published, a number of

:24:37. > :24:43.statutory instruments will flow from that Bill. Section seven, eight and

:24:44. > :24:48.nine all say that a minister of the Crown made by regulations make such

:24:49. > :24:56.provision as the Minister considers appropriate. Ministers having the

:24:57. > :24:58.power to do what they want. The Secretary of State for Exiting the

:24:59. > :25:00.European Union deflects base. He said if it statutory instrument is

:25:01. > :25:04.before the house, the House of Commons decides whether it is

:25:05. > :25:08.debated and that smack he said it is a quality House of Commons will stop

:25:09. > :25:14.patronisingly, he called it a statutory instrument which can be

:25:15. > :25:18.debated and voted on. The Secretary of State thinks we should be

:25:19. > :25:21.debating. When was the last time the Leader of the House spoke to the

:25:22. > :25:28.user to staple leaving beat you. This is not working. You're going to

:25:29. > :25:32.get the same answer, that the Speaker is going to get you that it

:25:33. > :25:36.is up to me whether I give way or not. And I want to proceed. The

:25:37. > :25:42.questions of days allocated for private members bills, 13 have been

:25:43. > :25:49.allocated for one year up until November 20 18. That is over 18

:25:50. > :25:54.months. Even through the current session lasts for two years. Why

:25:55. > :26:04.have they not been allocated? Unless the parliament is scared of the

:26:05. > :26:08.opposition, baggage debates... Mr Speaker, I repeat the Prime Minister

:26:09. > :26:13.'s words through debate and discussion, these are the hallmarks

:26:14. > :26:18.for democracy, but it seems the Cabinet are too busy trying to push

:26:19. > :26:22.out. The Government needs to know that for a democracy to thrive,

:26:23. > :26:28.citizens of this country needs to have faith in their MPs to represent

:26:29. > :26:32.their views and not to be disenfranchised. It is vital for

:26:33. > :26:35.democracy to have debates when required by convention and for the

:26:36. > :26:40.opposition to set out what the opposition stands for.

:26:41. > :26:47.The electrode leads to see us at work, see the rhetoric turned into

:26:48. > :26:52.action. I'm going to proceed. If the government truly believe in the rule

:26:53. > :26:56.of law, where the parliament, the executive and the judiciary all play

:26:57. > :27:01.their part in upholding democracy, then the Leader of the House has to

:27:02. > :27:04.honour the interpretation of standing orders, clarify them, grant

:27:05. > :27:11.debates, uphold conventions in this session. Mr Speaker, the key

:27:12. > :27:18.question, is this in the public interest? And the answer is a

:27:19. > :27:23.resounding yes. The question is as on the order

:27:24. > :27:28.paper. But the Leader of the House speak?

:27:29. > :27:31.Thank you. I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to speak in

:27:32. > :27:36.this debate and I know you have granted it with your usual focus on

:27:37. > :27:40.ensuring that backbench voices can always be heard. And also in

:27:41. > :27:45.handling the creative tension between backbenchers and the

:27:46. > :27:49.government's right to schedule its own business and I'm sure the

:27:50. > :27:53.temptation to be a bit teary after the example of Centre Court

:27:54. > :27:58.yesterday will never overtake you. But we are all grateful to you for

:27:59. > :28:03.granting this debate which really gives me the chance to see that the

:28:04. > :28:10.business bought for word to this house since the general election is

:28:11. > :28:16.quite simply business as usual. I will expand on that, as you would

:28:17. > :28:19.expect. As always happens after a general election, the house is

:28:20. > :28:24.getting itself in order so that business can run smoothly. Many

:28:25. > :28:28.important debates have already taken place. Last week we had a vital

:28:29. > :28:38.debate on the Grenfell Tower inquiry. Any powerful points from

:28:39. > :28:47.eight -- many powerful points were made from members on all sides. This

:28:48. > :28:52.week we have been debating about eradicating the evil of drug abuse.

:28:53. > :28:57.And we are scheduled to have a debate on the intimidation of

:28:58. > :29:05.candidates in the general election, abuse that attacks the democratic

:29:06. > :29:08.process. These seem to me to be examples of the Parliamentary

:29:09. > :29:12.process working well with lots of opportunities for debate. The

:29:13. > :29:16.opposition would do well to explain to the house which of these debates

:29:17. > :29:19.they consider to be unimportant to the millions in the country who are

:29:20. > :29:37.relying on us to improve their lives. And delighted to.

:29:38. > :29:50.Grateful. When I raise the issue that I did, the response at business

:29:51. > :29:56.questions was we have to be innovative. If we have no backbench

:29:57. > :30:02.time or opposition days. If there is a refusal to have a vote on a

:30:03. > :30:06.motion, how can this important issue of concern not just to me and

:30:07. > :30:15.honourable members on this site and that side, how on earth can we are

:30:16. > :30:18.this issue and seek to have a result?

:30:19. > :30:24.I'm delighted that they have already had five debates on this important

:30:25. > :30:27.issue. During the Queen's Speech, there were six days of debate when

:30:28. > :30:34.the opposition chose the subjects they to debate. They have been

:30:35. > :30:38.plenty of opportunities to debate whatever the opposition wanted. In

:30:39. > :30:46.addition, urging government legislation has been introduced,

:30:47. > :30:52.including the atoll bill. There are further Queen's Speech debates to be

:30:53. > :30:56.brought forward. The bottom line is that the

:30:57. > :31:01.government has essentially half the number of days that the opposition

:31:02. > :31:05.can choose Soho is that good for democracy?

:31:06. > :31:11.That is simply not true and I will come onto that if he will just give

:31:12. > :31:16.me the chance. Will she take no lectures from the

:31:17. > :31:23.party opposite, the party that when in government reduced prime

:31:24. > :31:27.ministers Question Time for twice a week and introduced the regular

:31:28. > :31:34.guillotining of bills, thereby reducing debating time.

:31:35. > :31:39.He is exactly right to raise these points. I want to be positive and

:31:40. > :31:45.talk about what we are doing. We have been mindful of backbenchers

:31:46. > :31:47.and as requested by the chair that the Backbench Business Committee we

:31:48. > :31:52.have rescheduled some of the debates that were agreed before dissolution.

:31:53. > :31:58.I'm pleased that we have already found the time for those debates,

:31:59. > :32:08.some of them, including an Israel Palestine debate.

:32:09. > :32:14.With regard to his intervention, isn't it the case that when Prime

:32:15. > :32:20.Minister's Questions was changed, there was no change in time because

:32:21. > :32:24.the 215 minute sessions were consolidated into 130 minute session

:32:25. > :32:33.which no regularly lasts 45 minutes, so there is more time than ever.

:32:34. > :32:36.I would agree that Prime Minister's Questions has become a lengthy

:32:37. > :32:42.experience which is all the better for. Collections of the committees

:32:43. > :32:45.themselves will take place as soon as possible. The house will also

:32:46. > :32:52.know that setting phrases have been announced. Mr Speaker, given the

:32:53. > :32:57.outbreak affected by the opposition, you'd be forgiven for thinking that

:32:58. > :33:02.the Red Hat -- there had been no opportunities at all for them to

:33:03. > :33:09.have their voices heard. In addition to the 60s given to the Queen's

:33:10. > :33:15.Speech out of the 18 days in this term, so 40%, we're topics were of

:33:16. > :33:19.course chosen by the opposition, there have been to debates

:33:20. > :33:25.understanding order 24, six urging questions, 14 adjournment debates in

:33:26. > :33:31.this chamber, 15 departmental oral question times, 16 oral statements,

:33:32. > :33:37.dreadful debates in Westminster Hall and of course I'm sure the shadow

:33:38. > :33:42.leader would not want to forget the feisty business session questions we

:33:43. > :33:45.have had in this chamber. So it is certainly not the government's fault

:33:46. > :33:49.of the opposition has failed to make good use of these many

:33:50. > :33:54.opportunities. They will already be aware that an opposition Day debate

:33:55. > :33:57.has been offered by the usual channels for after the summer recess

:33:58. > :34:03.in September. I'm grateful for her giving way. She

:34:04. > :34:12.says that the committees will be elected in due course. The main

:34:13. > :34:19.opposition party have carried out their duties today, home of ten --

:34:20. > :34:24.housing can we expect the government to do so?

:34:25. > :34:31.As soon as is a land within the normal time frame. Making comparison

:34:32. > :34:43.with 20 and 15 -- 2015 general election, similar amount of

:34:44. > :34:48.opposition days have been held. But the general election in 2015 was in

:34:49. > :34:52.May, not in June. Between the Queen's Speech on the 8th of June

:34:53. > :35:00.this year and the summer recess, there will only have been 18 sitting

:35:01. > :35:05.days -- 18 sitting days. Let's look at our record versus when they were

:35:06. > :35:09.in government. Let's use their assumptions that each session should

:35:10. > :35:15.be one year and each year there should be 20 opposition days. On the

:35:16. > :35:21.reckoning, opposition parties between 1987 and 2010, when Labour

:35:22. > :35:26.were in office, where short by 45 opposition days. By the same

:35:27. > :35:29.calculation using their assessment, between 2010 and today, the

:35:30. > :35:36.opposition had one more day than their allocation.

:35:37. > :35:42.It is a bit rich of the Leader of the House to see, to give us the

:35:43. > :35:49.number of days between the Queen's Speech and the recess since they

:35:50. > :36:02.give us the date of the recess and a delayed the Queen's Speech. In 2015,

:36:03. > :36:16.there were five days. She is talking through a hole in her head.

:36:17. > :36:27.What struck me... It may be a mistake case of mistaken identity

:36:28. > :36:32.but I heard a Somerset voice saying order. Whether that was in good

:36:33. > :36:38.taste is a matter for people's judgment. The Leader of the House is

:36:39. > :36:46.a robust character and I think she is unfazed.

:36:47. > :36:50.Just as a point of fact, the tears on my highs in Centre Court

:36:51. > :36:59.yesterday were tears of joy for the greatest of all time.

:37:00. > :37:03.And I felt sure that if you were to feel emotional today it would also

:37:04. > :37:16.be tears of joy so I am not inconsistent. He may be technically

:37:17. > :37:23.correct but he is extremely rude. In the extended Parliamentary session

:37:24. > :37:30.of 2010 and 2012 we provided extra days for Private Members' Bills. The

:37:31. > :37:38.standing orders set out that they were matters for parties to agree

:37:39. > :37:39.on. They have been elected just as quickly as in previous

:37:40. > :37:45.administrations. It seems that this debate is

:37:46. > :37:49.depending descending into a pointless debate about what may or

:37:50. > :37:54.may not have happened in the past. Surely it is possible to get to an

:37:55. > :37:59.agreement. It is right that we get the opportunity to the opposition to

:38:00. > :38:03.hold the government to account. We have got it to session rather than a

:38:04. > :38:07.one-year session saw in broad equivalents they could get the same

:38:08. > :38:12.amount of reply days. He is right. That is what we are

:38:13. > :38:17.talking about which is why I opened my remarks by saying that this is

:38:18. > :38:26.exactly what Mac absolutely business as usual.

:38:27. > :38:31.Does she agree that this debate about debates is potentially eating

:38:32. > :38:37.into the time to talk about the very serious issue of intimidation of

:38:38. > :38:41.Parliamentary candidates in their selection? I see that members

:38:42. > :38:48.opposite are sniggering but do they not take democracy as seriously as

:38:49. > :38:53.me? I'm deterrent concerned that we are eating into the time for this

:38:54. > :39:00.debate to talk about our diaries. She is exactly right. This is a

:39:01. > :39:07.debate about processes, not material things or things our constituents

:39:08. > :39:11.care about. In terms of respecting Parliamentary supremacy, something

:39:12. > :39:15.that I know is dear to you, Mr Speaker, let's look at the

:39:16. > :39:20.performance of my party versus the opposition. Who was at that created

:39:21. > :39:28.the Backbench Business Committee in 2010? My party. Who was it that

:39:29. > :39:45.brought in elections to select committees? My party. Who introduced

:39:46. > :39:51.the eve edition system? My party. -- the e-petition system. My party has

:39:52. > :39:57.done more. The government has formally responded to 264 petitions

:39:58. > :40:04.and 20 of them have been scheduled for debate. The government has

:40:05. > :40:10.responded to 162 urging questions in this house since 2015. The Sergeant

:40:11. > :40:18.debate as a result of party politics at its worst. -- this urgent debate.

:40:19. > :40:25.I don't believe people were voting for petty time wasting by a Labour

:40:26. > :40:29.Party. All the opposition is doing is talking about process when what

:40:30. > :40:34.is important is policy. The opposition say they want to talk

:40:35. > :40:38.about tuition fees so let us talk about them. We are committed to

:40:39. > :40:43.supporting all young people to reach their full potential, whether that

:40:44. > :40:48.is going to university, starting an apprenticeship or taking a

:40:49. > :40:52.qualification. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are now

:40:53. > :40:57.going to university at a record rate, up 42% since 2009. But Labour

:40:58. > :41:07.are in a mess over the pledge they made to students just seven days

:41:08. > :41:12.before the general election, a pledge they have no admitted would

:41:13. > :41:14.cost many billions and was just an invention according to the Shadow

:41:15. > :41:18.Chancellor. These should be upfront about their plans. Is it still the

:41:19. > :41:23.plan to cancel student debt or a pre-election scan? Perhaps he would

:41:24. > :41:25.like to talk about the economy. On this site, we have shown

:41:26. > :41:31.determination to live within our means so that the next generation

:41:32. > :41:35.are not saddled with the debts of 30 years of Labour recklessness. We

:41:36. > :41:36.inherited the largest peacetime deficit over from the party

:41:37. > :41:47.opposite. It. This is deferred it is about

:41:48. > :41:52.opposition days and the Government to account. If you want a debate,

:41:53. > :41:57.why did she not allow them then actually diverging from what this

:41:58. > :42:01.debate is today? The honourable gentleman is aware that the

:42:02. > :42:04.frontbenchers are usually accorded a modest and latitude in developing

:42:05. > :42:08.their arguments, hence I have allowed a modest latitude, but I

:42:09. > :42:14.think the Leader of the House will shortly return to the thrust of the

:42:15. > :42:19.matter of the debate, not what might have been under debate, but what is

:42:20. > :42:26.under debate, and I know she will return to that. I do not think there

:42:27. > :42:29.is a further. It is said that she believes that this debate we're

:42:30. > :42:32.having now is completely irrelevant and a far more important one will be

:42:33. > :42:36.later in the day I just wonder because the number of Conservative

:42:37. > :42:39.members who stood to catch your eye earlier, whether you think they're a

:42:40. > :42:42.conservative members who would like to take part in this debate the

:42:43. > :42:47.debate they had scheduled on tonight?

:42:48. > :42:53.There are lots of members who want to speak today and in this debate,

:42:54. > :42:56.which can last for a maximum of three hours, there are lots of

:42:57. > :43:01.Government backbenchers who wish to speak. Keen to accommodate both

:43:02. > :43:04.backbenchers and opposition backbenchers and I am keen to

:43:05. > :43:11.accommodate would-be maiden speakers, and if we could now

:43:12. > :43:14.minimise points of frustration and focus on the debate, I think that

:43:15. > :43:18.would be beneficial to all concerned.

:43:19. > :43:23.Mr Speaker, I was going to continue to talk about the way we sought to

:43:24. > :43:26.improve our ability to live within our means and the amazing employment

:43:27. > :43:30.record of this Government as an effort to get the opposition to

:43:31. > :43:35.focus on what really matters, but I will never the less not bother to

:43:36. > :43:42.talk about employment, but I will continue to the opposition's desire

:43:43. > :43:45.to consider process. Did she know it a glorious irony

:43:46. > :43:53.that the opposition have called for an emergency debate is interesting,

:43:54. > :43:58.if they wish it to be curtailed's I think my honourable friend speaks

:43:59. > :44:03.for all of us in his observation. I have outlined the many

:44:04. > :44:07.opportunities allowed to debate in this house. In four days, the house

:44:08. > :44:11.rises for recess, but not before many opportunities to put their

:44:12. > :44:16.views on the record. Today we are supposed to be debating the abuse

:44:17. > :44:19.and intimidation of candidates during the general election. Members

:44:20. > :44:25.on both sides of this house have been victims of violent abuse from

:44:26. > :44:28.anarchists and have left activists, but Labour are obviously not

:44:29. > :44:32.interested. It is unlikely there will be any time for that critical

:44:33. > :44:36.debate to take place today. I sincerely hope that the Leader of

:44:37. > :44:40.the Opposition, having prevented this, all want to condemn in the

:44:41. > :44:45.strongest language be frightening and intimidating abuse endured by

:44:46. > :44:49.many on this side of the house as many as many on his own benches.

:44:50. > :44:53.This Government is working towards a brighter future for our great

:44:54. > :45:01.country, we are bringing forward the EU bill and negotiating our leading

:45:02. > :45:04.of the union through the will of the British people, looking to make a

:45:05. > :45:08.success of Brexit and putting a strong programme and putting strong

:45:09. > :45:14.legislation embrace introducing measures that will improvement or

:45:15. > :45:21.health provision, blobby industries of tomorrow and stamp out extremism

:45:22. > :45:30.and terrorism. These are issues... Point of order. I had to take it on

:45:31. > :45:34.trust. I note we were in deep in

:45:35. > :45:41.conversation, but we are now turning back to issues... There is a long

:45:42. > :45:46.list of what this Government has achieved, if she wants to have these

:45:47. > :45:49.debates properly, why did she not give the opposition debates to do

:45:50. > :45:53.them and be voted on. I get the point that the honourable

:45:54. > :46:00.gentleman has made and as far as I can tell, I hope I sense correctly,

:46:01. > :46:04.the Leader of the House is likely reaching this as there are many

:46:05. > :46:09.members that wish to speak and there is none the labour of woodland

:46:10. > :46:11.between the time taken by the opposition spokesperson and the

:46:12. > :46:15.Government spokesperson. The honourable lady is in order, but as

:46:16. > :46:27.they say, I imagine she is nearing the conclusion of her remarks.

:46:28. > :46:37.Rather than gracious of the honourable gentleman to yell from a

:46:38. > :46:42.sedentary position. He could always adopt a gentle Burl which seems more

:46:43. > :46:45.seemly. Members of the opposition are

:46:46. > :46:51.certainly not being very charming this evening. All I was saying is I

:46:52. > :46:55.was trying to outline some of the issues that really matter to the

:46:56. > :47:01.people of our great country and it is in the interest of our country

:47:02. > :47:05.that this Government provides certainty, continuity and control as

:47:06. > :47:10.we forge a new and successful future for the whole of the United Kingdom.

:47:11. > :47:14.I hope colleagues agree that safety welfare and prosperity of this

:47:15. > :47:17.country should be our priority and I will work with all willing

:47:18. > :47:24.colleagues across the house to achieve this.

:47:25. > :47:28.Thank you. We very much welcome this debate and

:47:29. > :47:32.we share the concerns of this parliamentary session of the next

:47:33. > :47:36.two years. We agree that we need priority about the scheduling,

:47:37. > :47:39.particularly backbench business and opposition business. Since we have

:47:40. > :47:45.come back, the pace of the normal arrangements have been put back into

:47:46. > :47:48.place have been unsatisfactory. We now only have three full days of

:47:49. > :47:52.this parliamentary session before the long summer recess and we still

:47:53. > :47:55.do not have the select committees of this house up and running, nor do we

:47:56. > :47:59.know the arrangements for the standing committees of the house and

:48:00. > :48:04.the statutory instrument of it and given they will be particularly

:48:05. > :48:10.burdened with the repeal Bill, we will need some clarity and certainty

:48:11. > :48:14.about the committees. I think I heard earlier that neither

:48:15. > :48:15.the SNP Labour Party had yet constituted their own members for

:48:16. > :48:26.these select committee. They have only

:48:27. > :48:33.just constituted. I would therefore not be possible to constitute...

:48:34. > :48:39.Until very recently we about to go into recess.

:48:40. > :48:45.I'm to the honourable lady because I can say that we are ready to supply

:48:46. > :48:50.the best membership of the select committee and I believe the Labour

:48:51. > :48:53.Party are in a position to do so. You may be generous offer images

:48:54. > :48:57.that you would help facilitate any political party in this house but

:48:58. > :49:00.seem to have any difficulty with arranging its membership for select

:49:01. > :49:03.committees. I do not know if the Conservative Party have approached

:49:04. > :49:09.you in order to make sure that promises have filled because what we

:49:10. > :49:13.have seen is not the Labour Party or the SNP holding up the creation of

:49:14. > :49:16.the select committee, it is the Conservative Party. Please,

:49:17. > :49:20.Conservative Party, make use of this very kind offer from the Speaker of

:49:21. > :49:23.the house. Could it be that so many honourable

:49:24. > :49:27.members on this side of the house want to take part in the select

:49:28. > :49:31.committees and therefore an election is quiet and perhaps not the same

:49:32. > :49:38.interest on the other side. I say to the honourable gentleman

:49:39. > :49:41.candidly, get on with it. You should have these committees up and running

:49:42. > :49:44.before the summer recess in and give you cannot do it yourself, take the

:49:45. > :49:53.offer from the Speaker and make sure this gets arranged. I will give way.

:49:54. > :50:01.Can I say to my honourable friend that we have hard elections on the

:50:02. > :50:03.election they besides, but if the honourable gentleman thinks that

:50:04. > :50:07.they will have difficulty in arranging them, we could provide

:50:08. > :50:11.election observers and tell us for the Conservative Party if necessary.

:50:12. > :50:15.I'm grateful to the honourable gentleman because I think that is a

:50:16. > :50:19.good suggestion. How about we take use of the advantage of the office

:50:20. > :50:23.of the Speaker, we could send observers along, we could help

:50:24. > :50:26.visibility the Conservatives to help facilitate this. Let's get on with

:50:27. > :50:41.it. We have three days away from summer recess.

:50:42. > :50:48.The SNP were granted the chairs of two select committees, but I cannot

:50:49. > :50:54.understand when it comes to give the parties, all the members were

:50:55. > :50:58.entitled to vote, but it seems the SMP which is given one candidate,

:50:59. > :51:03.can explain why? Can I say to the honourable

:51:04. > :51:09.gentleman that is because there were superb candidates. Particularly the

:51:10. > :51:18.one that was nominated for the chair of the Scottish select committee,

:51:19. > :51:23.that is why that has been the case. The honourable gentleman has left

:51:24. > :51:27.out the amazing ability... It amazes made because how could I

:51:28. > :51:35.forget my honourable friend and forever grateful of him for

:51:36. > :51:39.reminding me of this. Just to say that the boats are still

:51:40. > :51:42.being cast in the Labour Party for members of the Foreign Affairs

:51:43. > :51:48.Committee, and if any members have not yet voted, they have until

:51:49. > :51:56.8:30pm. I'm grateful for that intervention.

:51:57. > :52:02.It must've been a particularly good intervention that they made. It is

:52:03. > :52:06.not as if this Government has been over exercised and energised thus

:52:07. > :52:10.far, and it is perhaps unfavourably, this Parliament has already been

:52:11. > :52:19.daubed zombie parliament, but I think that comparison would give the

:52:20. > :52:24.flesh eating undead a bad name. This is turbo-charged political zombie

:52:25. > :52:28.is, that is to be curious type of zombie, because if you look at them,

:52:29. > :52:33.it not only the caring of flesh, they are starting to consume

:52:34. > :52:39.themselves. What passes for discourse, normal discourse on the

:52:40. > :52:44.Secretary of State and Whitehall department is cowed briefing. When

:52:45. > :52:52.you do nothing, bad stuff happens. This is a Government at war with

:52:53. > :52:59.itself. They all jostle to be the next captain of the SS Tory Titanic.

:53:00. > :53:04.They're trying to do this with Brexit, but before we get on with

:53:05. > :53:09.it, you leave that the Brexiteers Perry bunch of pirates, what a great

:53:10. > :53:15.smarmy pirate is. I have this image of a mixture of Captain Pugwash and

:53:16. > :53:20.Jack Sparrow re-enacting the battle of the Thames with Nigel Farage and

:53:21. > :53:25.Bob Geldof, but shiver my timbers and pieces about, I would not mind

:53:26. > :53:28.being one myself. And then we have the member forward with Green who

:53:29. > :53:34.believes the plot should just shut up for goodness' sake. That would

:53:35. > :53:37.deprive the house of so much value. It was also said that members of the

:53:38. > :53:43.Cabinet should drink less prosecco. He was me thinking cheap prosecco,

:53:44. > :53:46.surely the only finest champagne would be good enough for my

:53:47. > :53:52.Conservative friends opposite. But according to the Transport

:53:53. > :53:56.Secretary, there is nothing to see here and we are not a bunch of

:53:57. > :54:00.clones. Well, thank goodness for that. Mr Speaker, there is no wonder

:54:01. > :54:07.that they do not want scrutiny when there is such a matter of chaos and

:54:08. > :54:15.turmoil. I agree that the enthusiasm of so much of this on the public. I

:54:16. > :54:19.was at my surgeries this weekend and I don't banners saying that what

:54:20. > :54:27.they wanted was more opposition days for the Labour Party. But this is

:54:28. > :54:30.the important, I think the constituents expect us to come down

:54:31. > :54:34.here to ensure that we arrange the optimal conditions for debate and

:54:35. > :54:39.scrutiny and we get on with the job and ensure the Government is held to

:54:40. > :54:43.account. We are in a very different type of Parliament, maybe that will

:54:44. > :54:48.in skis the behaviours are not getting this back in place. I do not

:54:49. > :54:56.think since the 1970s there has been such an certainty. Not since the

:54:57. > :54:59.days of Callaghan and Wilson have we had that belief. The Fixed-term

:55:00. > :55:04.Parliaments Act has proven to be the biggest waste of Parliamentary time

:55:05. > :55:07.possibly in Parliamentary history, supposed to give certainty, the

:55:08. > :55:10.scheduling of debates, it was always going to fail when there was a

:55:11. > :55:16.Government to want to have an early election who would... Who would not

:55:17. > :55:21.be able to resist holding that particular condition. We therefore

:55:22. > :55:23.have a parliament in Government on political life support, always

:55:24. > :55:28.requiring emergency treatment and always honourable to the infection

:55:29. > :55:34.of events as it tries to define some purpose and meaning. The condition

:55:35. > :55:38.of this Government is all it's own fault. Hubris to quit and

:55:39. > :55:42.unnecessarily calling an early election to try and take advantage

:55:43. > :55:45.of what has happened is a crisis of chaos in the labour opposition which

:55:46. > :55:53.has now returned home, embarrassed and diminished and chaotic and is

:55:54. > :55:58.all their own fault. This is now almost definitely a house of

:55:59. > :56:01.minorities and legislation in the way we construct our business in

:56:02. > :56:04.this house must reflect this and we have too make sure we get

:56:05. > :56:09.arrangements properly in place in order to ensure the new political

:56:10. > :56:13.climate across this house is observed. That is why it is

:56:14. > :56:17.disappointing the Government instead of rising properly to the challenges

:56:18. > :56:22.has done everything to frustrate, delay and towards the creation of

:56:23. > :56:25.all the arrangements are essential for proper scrutiny in these new

:56:26. > :56:31.conditions. The main means of this and achieving it is to have a

:56:32. > :56:35.programme that is as opaque and contentious as possible so we

:56:36. > :56:39.possibly get bored and don't take any great concern and interest in

:56:40. > :56:44.this and no votes go through Parliament. The only one that is

:56:45. > :56:51.contentious and the big deal of this Parliamentary term will be Brexit.

:56:52. > :56:55.What they have less labour opposition that practically agree

:56:56. > :57:01.with everything the government want to secure and achieve with this hard

:57:02. > :57:05.Brexit. When it comes to the main theme of this hard Brexit, with

:57:06. > :57:09.leaving the single market, the customs union, ending the freedom of

:57:10. > :57:12.movement, the Labour opposition practically agree with the

:57:13. > :57:21.government on everything. What we have therefore is the difficulty for

:57:22. > :57:25.this government to get to its Brexit business on top of a legislative

:57:26. > :57:38.programme that is slow soul like it is practically all peak. What we

:57:39. > :57:48.what we have is this appalling deal that the government struck with the

:57:49. > :57:52.Democratic Unionist Party. This was agreed behind closed doors and the

:57:53. > :57:55.house has not had the opportunity to debate this deal, scrutinise it,

:57:56. > :58:00.have its consequences considered, not least in terms of how it turns

:58:01. > :58:06.normal funding allocations on their head. This is a deal designed to by

:58:07. > :58:11.the government its majority and has unfortunately set the tone for this

:58:12. > :58:21.parliament and refined their contentious approach. Also the

:58:22. > :58:26.appalling and divisive English votes for English laws procedure. It is

:58:27. > :58:32.opposed and loathed by every other political party outside the Tories.

:58:33. > :58:37.It no longer secures a Parliamentary majority. It is also ridiculous that

:58:38. > :58:53.this government relies on a party that is subject to the constraints

:58:54. > :58:58.of EVEL to get its policies through. Let's see if we can secure a

:58:59. > :59:02.solution which can agree with consensus and debate. Let's get

:59:03. > :59:09.something that brings property is -- proper scrutiny for all the United

:59:10. > :59:13.Kingdom. We need to get down to business. It is simply unacceptable

:59:14. > :59:18.that we won't have the select committee set up soon. We've had an

:59:19. > :59:22.exchange on the logjam of securing these select committees and I hope

:59:23. > :59:26.that the Leader of the House takes this seriously and we can get on and

:59:27. > :59:33.do this. We have to have standing committees in place. Because we

:59:34. > :59:39.don't, it means the committee stages of bills cannot be considered and

:59:40. > :59:43.the government has to bring those stages to the whole house. The girls

:59:44. > :59:50.have now been subject to that procedure. It is purely unacceptable

:59:51. > :59:56.that this is going to go on. After this debate, we're looking at

:59:57. > :00:04.another statutory committee. It is clearly unsatisfactory.

:00:05. > :00:10.As we all know, we've been through the process of election where if a

:00:11. > :00:16.prospective candidate doesn't get in on time then tough, the election

:00:17. > :00:19.goes on without them. They don't postpone the election of the

:00:20. > :00:24.candidates can sort themselves out. Is that something they could look at

:00:25. > :00:26.in terms of select committees? That of the government don't put their

:00:27. > :00:32.names on committees, the committees meet without them?

:00:33. > :00:35.I think that is an elegant solution to a solvable problem and I'm

:00:36. > :00:40.grateful to him for suggesting it. Maybe we will get some action over

:00:41. > :00:46.the next few days to resolve this. Correct me if I'm wrong, the reason

:00:47. > :00:50.why we haven't got the standing committees and running is that there

:00:51. > :00:54.is a problem with arithmetic. My understanding is that the government

:00:55. > :00:59.have nine places, the Labour opposition have seven places and we

:01:00. > :01:03.have two places, which properly reflects the political arithmetic in

:01:04. > :01:07.this house, reflecting that this house is a house of minority. That

:01:08. > :01:12.means that the government would have to work a bit harder in order to get

:01:13. > :01:16.business through. What would be clearly unacceptable and what seems

:01:17. > :01:24.to be happening and I hope it stops soon, is that the government seem to

:01:25. > :01:27.be subverting the committee stage of legislation and bringing it either

:01:28. > :01:32.to the whole house here in the chamber and doing all its amendments

:01:33. > :01:35.in the report stage. That would be unacceptable and stand against

:01:36. > :01:42.everything that we understand that the normal business of Parliament.

:01:43. > :01:46.He is making an interesting point because everybody knows that the

:01:47. > :01:50.most inadequate part of the legislative process is report stage

:01:51. > :01:55.with the government can put down amendments which are never even

:01:56. > :01:59.debated. Absolutely right. She probably

:02:00. > :02:11.shares my concerns about if that was to pass and how inadequate the

:02:12. > :02:14.report stage can be. These types of intricate and important pieces of

:02:15. > :02:17.legislation required to be scrutinised properly in proper

:02:18. > :02:22.committees of this house and it is incumbent on this house to make sure

:02:23. > :02:26.that is in place. Any attempt to subvert the normal arrangement of

:02:27. > :02:39.bills going to committees is unacceptable and I hope house can

:02:40. > :02:50.deal with this. I'm almost disappointed that the member for...

:02:51. > :02:55.Chris Bryant isn't here. I think you were elected before me, Mr Speaker,

:02:56. > :03:06.but I remember the election in 2001 and the response given that in 2001

:03:07. > :03:11.it was a June election. We had all the committees in place even though

:03:12. > :03:20.it was a June election. It took place on 7th of June. The Queen's

:03:21. > :03:25.Speech was held on 20th June and all the select committees were in place

:03:26. > :03:30.and functioning by the 19th of July. The reason for that is in those days

:03:31. > :03:37.it was a stitch up by the whips. Now we elect the members. That is the

:03:38. > :03:40.key difference. I'm grateful because he reminds me

:03:41. > :03:46.and I'm sure he will remember this as well of something that happened

:03:47. > :03:53.during the establishment of committees in 2001. It was a stitch

:03:54. > :03:57.up by the whips at that point and he will remember when they tried to

:03:58. > :04:00.remove two people from the chair of select committees which actually

:04:01. > :04:04.held at the creation of the select committees that year but we still

:04:05. > :04:10.managed to get them in place. There is no reason whatsoever why this

:04:11. > :04:14.can't happen. The example 2001 is a very good one. They were all in

:04:15. > :04:19.place even though that year was a June election. Can we also see we

:04:20. > :04:25.agree with the honourable lady in terms of opposition days and time

:04:26. > :04:28.set aside for backbench business. It looks like backbench business and

:04:29. > :04:31.private members business will probably be about the most

:04:32. > :04:37.interesting features of this Parliamentary session, given that we

:04:38. > :04:39.are unlikely... And I can hear my friend who has a particularly good

:04:40. > :04:45.Private Members' Bill that you should come along and listen to. But

:04:46. > :04:49.this is probably going to be the most interesting business given the

:04:50. > :04:57.laxity that we are going to see from members so we have to have proper

:04:58. > :05:06.time and members were back -- time given to this.

:05:07. > :05:12.Is it not a pointless exercise unless the government reforms how

:05:13. > :05:18.bills go through this house? And get their own members to stop stymieing

:05:19. > :05:25.the private members' bills. He is spot on and I share his

:05:26. > :05:30.frustration about the way private members' bills go through this

:05:31. > :05:34.house. I remember the bill from John Nicholson was stopped by government.

:05:35. > :05:37.We had the necessary numbers but it was still stymied by this

:05:38. > :05:45.government. The way that certain members of this house do all they

:05:46. > :05:51.can to filibuster Private Members' Bills does a disgrace on this house

:05:52. > :05:56.because our constituents expect better. If you are lucky enough to

:05:57. > :06:00.security Private Members' Bill, it is right and proper that they are

:06:01. > :06:06.properly debated and I hope we can reform that. We support what the

:06:07. > :06:09.honourable lady said about private members sitting and that should be

:06:10. > :06:13.doubled and I hope the government does this. There have to be proper

:06:14. > :06:21.arrangements and understandings about time allocated for opposition

:06:22. > :06:26.days. We are entitled to three opposition days per Parliamentary

:06:27. > :06:30.session. We expect 6/2 years and I hope the house will be able to

:06:31. > :06:33.confirm this. We have to get all these things out because the

:06:34. > :06:52.arrangements are unsatisfactory. I saw her usual channels is working

:06:53. > :06:55.and seems to be misunderstanding about the expectations of

:06:56. > :06:59.Parliament. I would encourage an open house as much as possible to

:07:00. > :07:07.try and get a better grasp of the new reality of this house, this

:07:08. > :07:14.house of minorities, the fact that nobody has a majority. This zombie

:07:15. > :07:23.Parliament must get up and working. It must be allowed to do its work.

:07:24. > :07:27.It must allow us to do the work that constituents sent us here today. For

:07:28. > :07:37.goodness' sake, let's get on with it and do it.

:07:38. > :07:45.Maiden speech. Thank you for calling me to speak in

:07:46. > :07:52.this important debate but I am disappointed at the time not being

:07:53. > :08:03.allowed in the intimidation debate but I will try to give my own

:08:04. > :08:08.experiences. It is a great privilege to be delivering my maiden speech

:08:09. > :08:14.representing my own constituency of Angus. I would like to take this

:08:15. > :08:20.opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor who serve the people of

:08:21. > :08:25.Angus over his years in this house. He had a prominent campaign to save

:08:26. > :08:29.the post office and took on the role of Chief Whip for his party. I wish

:08:30. > :08:34.him all the best in his future endeavours. It would be remiss if I

:08:35. > :08:43.also did not mention the previous Conservative and Unionist MP for

:08:44. > :08:51.Angus. The late Lord was not just a great voice for his area but also

:08:52. > :08:54.had a remarkable legal career. The diverse constituency of Angus

:08:55. > :09:00.nestled North of Dundee and south of Aberdeen sure has the most dramatic

:09:01. > :09:11.coastline and picturesque lens to the north-west. The five main

:09:12. > :09:20.towns... There are a number of villages and communities throughout.

:09:21. > :09:23.It is the residents who have suffered most significantly to the

:09:24. > :09:29.lack of mobile and broadband coverage. With current roll-out

:09:30. > :09:37.below the national average, it is unsurprising that this has come up

:09:38. > :09:46.in every constituency surgery I have had to date. I will work to ensure

:09:47. > :09:53.residents and businesses are not left behind because of where they

:09:54. > :10:02.choose to reside and operate. From my agricultural roots, I understand

:10:03. > :10:10.its importance to the area. We provide 30% of the country's

:10:11. > :10:15.potatoes and 25% of soft fruit, so agriculture is a significant

:10:16. > :10:18.contributor to the local economy. Angus is home to many successful

:10:19. > :10:34.projects in the versification including renewables, to the first

:10:35. > :10:38.potato -based vodka. It incorporates a famous residents, the childhood

:10:39. > :10:47.home of the late Queen Mother. I recently attended one of the many

:10:48. > :10:52.excellent Proms with thousands of people from across Scotland.

:10:53. > :11:01.Attractions in Angus entice tourists from far and wide. People golf on

:11:02. > :11:06.some of the best-known courses or take part in outdoor pursuits.

:11:07. > :11:13.Montrose port will welcome its first cruise ship, due to dock next year,

:11:14. > :11:16.a further boost for our industries. Nevertheless, I'm incredibly aware

:11:17. > :11:22.that there is a power of work to be done to support the current offering

:11:23. > :11:30.and to ensure that nobody slips into North Aberdeenshire without testing

:11:31. > :11:33.it Forfar Brady en route. Businesses throughout Angus range from local to

:11:34. > :11:37.global, from engineering to manufacturing, oil and gas as well

:11:38. > :11:43.as textiles and are highly regarded food and drink offering. A host of

:11:44. > :11:49.businesses work in key sectors including pharmaceuticals giant

:11:50. > :11:59.GlaxoSmithKline, textiles manufacturable keys, Mackay 's in

:12:00. > :12:02.Arbroath and a textile innovator and also design innovators. They are

:12:03. > :12:07.also supported by strong networks of local businesses which are

:12:08. > :12:11.collectively the lifeblood of our local economy, providing the jobs

:12:12. > :12:15.that anger so desperately needs. As government, we must support wherever

:12:16. > :12:22.possible, enabling with prosperity and longevity. Angus has much to be

:12:23. > :12:26.proud of. However, like many places there are concerns with constituents

:12:27. > :12:29.asked that I stand up to represent. The rate of unemployment especially

:12:30. > :12:38.amongst youth lies above national average due to several factors.

:12:39. > :12:44.There are so positivity with new oilfields emerging, but steady

:12:45. > :12:47.decline in recent years has had a large impact on livelihoods of

:12:48. > :12:52.residents and businesses throughout Angus. I along with my north-east

:12:53. > :12:57.colleagues will work together for the industry wherever possible to

:12:58. > :13:01.support them going forward. As we face the challenge of Brexit, I'm

:13:02. > :13:04.confident the Scottish farming and fishing communities have the

:13:05. > :13:08.resilience to remain one of the key pillars in our economy. One of the

:13:09. > :13:13.greatest opportunities for Brexit is the chance to build a support system

:13:14. > :13:19.that works for Angus and four works for all areas of our United Kingdom.

:13:20. > :13:27.The political landscape in Angus has demonstrated a clear shift in recent

:13:28. > :13:30.years. In 2014, the referendum on independence, we recorded an

:13:31. > :13:36.above-average no vote and in the last three election, a votes went to

:13:37. > :13:39.the Scottish Conservative and Unionist parties. Strong messages to

:13:40. > :13:47.Nicola Sturgeon and the SMP that the time for constitution troublemaking

:13:48. > :13:50.is over. Make no mistake, my Scottish my Scottish Conservatives,

:13:51. > :13:56.Scottish Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrat colleagues RS patriot as my

:13:57. > :14:00.Scottish National Party colleagues. But now we need to ask them to

:14:01. > :14:06.remove that threat of uncertainty over Scotland's economy and people,

:14:07. > :14:14.no ifs, no bugs, a second devices independence referendum should be

:14:15. > :14:24.taken off the table. I remain optimistic... For the future of

:14:25. > :14:30.Angers and the extensive deals which will support those who live and work

:14:31. > :14:33.in Angus. As part of the 1.8 billion planned investment, there will be

:14:34. > :14:41.key programmes for Angus such as the hospital fuelled future plan,

:14:42. > :14:46.creating major decommissioning centre in Scotland and ambition

:14:47. > :14:52.investment quarter form Montrose to the A90 to enable the delivery of an

:14:53. > :14:56.infrastructure allowing major economic growth. I look forward to

:14:57. > :15:01.working with the UK Government and all stakeholders to drive forward

:15:02. > :15:05.the city deal and make sure delivers for Angus. As the member of

:15:06. > :15:09.Parliament for Angus, my mission is to ensure I am the strands of local

:15:10. > :15:13.champions, representing my home turf with the greatest of integrity and

:15:14. > :15:18.never with complacency. As a staunch unionist, I will continue to fight

:15:19. > :15:23.to keep Scotland as part of our wonderful United Kingdom. Quite

:15:24. > :15:27.similar, we are stronger together and weaker apart. I would also like

:15:28. > :15:33.to make clear that I am here to help all my constituents, no matter how

:15:34. > :15:36.or if they voted. I look forward to standing up for Angus and for

:15:37. > :15:43.Scotland in this chamber on many more occasions to come.

:15:44. > :15:45.Thank you, and very warm congratulations to the honourable

:15:46. > :15:51.lady. We look forward to hearing her and getting to know her in this

:15:52. > :15:59.house. I think the honourable lady made

:16:00. > :16:05.what could be termed a model maiden speech. She was robust when

:16:06. > :16:09.necessary, she was fluent, humorous, generous to her predecessors and she

:16:10. > :16:13.stood up for what she sees as the vital interests of her constituency.

:16:14. > :16:16.I am sure we all look forward to hearing further contributions from

:16:17. > :16:22.the honourable lady in the future. Can also thank my honourable friend

:16:23. > :16:31.for Walsall for securing this debate because I think it is timely and

:16:32. > :16:34.necessary. During my time in this House, the role of members of

:16:35. > :16:39.Parliament has been seen as supporting or opposing the

:16:40. > :16:48.Government of the day. People do not always slavishly follow the whip in

:16:49. > :16:51.this house, and rightly so on occasions. Occasionally issues of

:16:52. > :17:00.conscience have to be decided, for example an end of life decisions

:17:01. > :17:08.cell research. We vote on issues like that. On other occasions, for

:17:09. > :17:12.example in our relationship with the European Union, people's views are

:17:13. > :17:19.perhaps too distinctive to be easily put within the confines of party

:17:20. > :17:27.loyalty. As we know, the outcome of the last general election has

:17:28. > :17:34.changed the political arithmetic of this house. Until such time there is

:17:35. > :17:38.a further general election, the potential power that each of us

:17:39. > :17:45.holds, including the honourable lady for Angus, is greatly than ever been

:17:46. > :17:50.than I have sat in this House. The two questions I want to pose today

:17:51. > :17:59.are, first, are we willing to use that power to bring about greater

:18:00. > :18:04.fairness and address some social industries says which I shall refer

:18:05. > :18:09.to shortly? Can we look not that what we might have been in the past

:18:10. > :18:16.as a House but what we could become's? Before I go into some of

:18:17. > :18:22.the issues, and I will be brief because I know you think we need to

:18:23. > :18:28.stick to the issue at hand more closely, I want to say about party

:18:29. > :18:34.allegiance and how that works in the context of this house. I have spent

:18:35. > :18:40.all of my adult life in the Labour Party and I remain so because I

:18:41. > :18:47.share the values of my party on equality and social justice. But

:18:48. > :18:53.that is not to say that as a party we have a monopoly on virtue. I know

:18:54. > :19:00.there are members in all parts of the House who to some degree share

:19:01. > :19:08.those values. There is one further point I want to make of a political

:19:09. > :19:13.nature, because the Government has no majority, the usual argument

:19:14. > :19:20.about having a mandate concerned in their manifesto is weak to the point

:19:21. > :19:26.of becoming irrelevant. I want to say a word about the honourable and

:19:27. > :19:31.right Honourable members on the DUP bench. Since entering into a

:19:32. > :19:35.supplying confidence arrangement with the Conservative Party, and

:19:36. > :19:41.perhaps in some ways understandably they have been heavily criticised in

:19:42. > :19:49.some quarters. But agreement does not cover every man measure that may

:19:50. > :19:57.be brought forward, and knowing some of the DUP members as I do, I am

:19:58. > :20:02.confident that on some issues we can gain cooperation with them and

:20:03. > :20:06.certainly on some of the issues I feel Stanley about, I think they

:20:07. > :20:10.will share a similar outlook. So it is not a given that on every

:20:11. > :20:17.occasion the Government can rely on their support. I want to refer

:20:18. > :20:24.briefly to two issues. One of which has been referred to already by my

:20:25. > :20:29.honourable friend the shadow Leader of the House and that is the

:20:30. > :20:36.injustice of women born in the 1950s and the aid at which they are

:20:37. > :20:40.entitled to their state pension. Many others macro on all sides of

:20:41. > :20:47.this House and amongst the DUP at as well support the women against state

:20:48. > :20:53.pension and inequality campaign and I believe that if we are a House are

:20:54. > :21:01.resolved on that subject, we could bring about a fair solution.

:21:02. > :21:06.Secondly, I hope we can all agree that the growing level of inequality

:21:07. > :21:11.in our country is both unfair and corrosive. Wherever we look, whether

:21:12. > :21:17.it in access to housing, the life chances of young people or

:21:18. > :21:23.insecurity of employment, we see the stark reality of those consequences,

:21:24. > :21:26.reliance on food banks, growing homelessness, and unacceptable

:21:27. > :21:32.regional disparities and income support for public services. It also

:21:33. > :21:37.means we need to take a more generous approach to public sector

:21:38. > :21:42.pay. This House of Commons, if we can adapt to the new realities of

:21:43. > :21:48.our power and influence can try to resolve those problems, but in order

:21:49. > :21:53.to realise that power and influence, we need to take more control over

:21:54. > :21:58.our procedures and get more agency in the legislative process. That

:21:59. > :22:03.means that in my view in power in select committees to provide white

:22:04. > :22:09.papers and draft bills, it will mean giving the Brits reach a committee

:22:10. > :22:22.control that by giving deepest reject committee -- to give the

:22:23. > :22:25.siege committed more power. It will mean the Government are held

:22:26. > :22:29.accountable by some motions carried by this House with cross-party

:22:30. > :22:35.support. In other words, they should be bound by some decisions of this

:22:36. > :22:49.house in some circumstances. Finally, I believe the will support

:22:50. > :22:53.on taking the response of dummy financial -- it will be for them to

:22:54. > :22:58.put the argument on each occasion and it will be for numbers of this

:22:59. > :23:06.house to assume their own responsibility for the decisions

:23:07. > :23:10.that they take. In the recent past, the reputation and standing of

:23:11. > :23:14.politicians in western democracy, not least our own, have fallen

:23:15. > :23:21.alarmingly. The consequences with which we see and the rejection of

:23:22. > :23:25.long-standing political certainties. But the arithmetic of this

:23:26. > :23:28.Parliament presents us with an opportunity to take our reputations

:23:29. > :23:35.both collectively and individually into our own hands. Do we have the

:23:36. > :23:37.confidence to realise what we could become? Surely we have a duty to at

:23:38. > :23:47.least try. It is with great pleasure I pay

:23:48. > :23:52.tribute to my honourable friend, the member for Angus in delivering what

:23:53. > :23:57.was a superb maiden speech. It is a great pleasure to see sitting in her

:23:58. > :24:01.place today and I look forward to further such contributions from her

:24:02. > :24:09.in the months and years to come. It is a fantastic start to your

:24:10. > :24:15.Parliamentary career. I fear today's debate has been somewhat of a missed

:24:16. > :24:20.opportunity. No institution, let alone Parliament, should be set

:24:21. > :24:24.in... We need to have a strong Parliamentary institution, and if it

:24:25. > :24:30.is to be a strong Parliamentary institution, it should evolve,

:24:31. > :24:35.should have adult conversations about the way it conducts itself.

:24:36. > :24:40.There are very strong arguments for change in the way that the

:24:41. > :24:44.Parliamentary business is scheduled, but I'm afraid that the honourable

:24:45. > :24:51.lady force Scots pack for Walsall South, nor did the member for North

:24:52. > :24:58.first shirt either. I think that is a great shame because the date of

:24:59. > :25:02.the improvements in this place and around scheduling is what our

:25:03. > :25:07.constituents would expect us to cover, unlike some of the honourable

:25:08. > :25:13.members were implying earlier. It is what we should discuss and it should

:25:14. > :25:18.focus on what would make us more productive and what would reduce the

:25:19. > :25:21.costs of Parliament which are still considerable and not to be ignored.

:25:22. > :25:30.Perhaps the opposition should have focused this position on real

:25:31. > :25:33.change, change that is being recommended by publications such as

:25:34. > :25:39.the good Parliament report and the work of the all-party Parliamentary

:25:40. > :25:42.group women in Parliament. I will focus briefly on some of the changes

:25:43. > :25:49.which I hope the opposition front brake should and the Leader of the

:25:50. > :25:53.House can consider. The first is a division hour which would give all

:25:54. > :26:00.of us as parliamentarians a lot more certainty about the way we can plan

:26:01. > :26:04.our days. At the moment, we still suffer from a very archaic system of

:26:05. > :26:07.voting at the end of debates which gives people a great deal of

:26:08. > :26:12.uncertainty as to when the votes may come, particularly at the report

:26:13. > :26:17.stage of a bill. If we have a division hour which is common in the

:26:18. > :26:20.European Parliament, common in the Scottish parliament, that may give

:26:21. > :26:26.us the productivity that we expect now on a regular basis from our own

:26:27. > :26:27.constituents when they are going about their everyday work. I will

:26:28. > :26:38.give way. She is making an excellent

:26:39. > :26:41.suggestion. But she also agree about getting rid of an antiquated system

:26:42. > :26:48.of working through the lobbies to vote and following other modern

:26:49. > :26:53.system such as having a press button for members that are present?

:26:54. > :26:57.I'm going to have to disagree on that. I think going through division

:26:58. > :27:07.lobbies is one way that Parliament can talk to each other and become

:27:08. > :27:11.cohesive. I would not support remote electronic voting, I think it

:27:12. > :27:18.creates more of a team in Parliament. The idea that having a

:27:19. > :27:24.vault at the end of the day sometimes in the wee small hours of

:27:25. > :27:31.the morning that is going to get people and hedge. That does not give

:27:32. > :27:35.anyone an edge. It feels like we are re-enacting the D-Day landings and

:27:36. > :27:41.are having gorilla tactics that in my time in Parliament has never

:27:42. > :27:47.changed the outcome of the debate. I think we should look to modernise

:27:48. > :27:54.that way of working. That goes on to my next point which is late sittings

:27:55. > :27:57.in this place. Again, I'm reliably told by people who have been here

:27:58. > :28:04.longer than I have that late sittings are a part of parliamentary

:28:05. > :28:11.life. Not as much as they used to be but still regularly we are here to

:28:12. > :28:15.ten o'clock at night. We might not mind that but there are

:28:16. > :28:20.consequences. Delete votes that we decide to have in this place cost

:28:21. > :28:26.the taxpayer ?5 million over the last five years and that is in staff

:28:27. > :28:30.costs alone. The additional costs of policing and security must double

:28:31. > :28:38.that at least. At what point will be as a Parliament realise that sitting

:28:39. > :28:43.until 10pm or voting at 10p on a Monday night is not an integral part

:28:44. > :28:54.of the work that we do and that we could save money.

:28:55. > :29:02.I will give way. This is a matter that has been

:29:03. > :29:08.considered many times over the years but does she accept that one need

:29:09. > :29:13.for a Monday is the need for members to travel from far corners of the

:29:14. > :29:18.kingdom, many of which are further away from London than the honourable

:29:19. > :29:22.Lady's constituency? He is right. I don't have the long

:29:23. > :29:27.commute that he might have but ultimately what I'm saying is that

:29:28. > :29:31.we could decide to continue to have debates in the evening but have the

:29:32. > :29:39.votes earlier in the day and that would mean that Parliamentary staff

:29:40. > :29:46.wouldn't need to be on stand-by and receive compensation for being here

:29:47. > :29:51.in the late evening. I'm not sure I heard her properly

:29:52. > :29:55.but was she suggesting we should have the vote before the debate is

:29:56. > :30:02.finished? You may do that in your party but

:30:03. > :30:05.not in our party. He will be familiar with the concept of a

:30:06. > :30:20.deferred division and look at what has happened in Europe and Scotland.

:30:21. > :30:27.The final point is that I'm disappointed the lady on the front

:30:28. > :30:30.bench did not talk about the select committees. As each ear of a select

:30:31. > :30:36.committee, as I have been for the last five years and pleased to be

:30:37. > :30:39.re-elected to it, a great deal of the work that we do can come to

:30:40. > :30:48.nothing as result of scheduling business in this house. My

:30:49. > :30:56.committee's trip to the UN Convention on the rights of women

:30:57. > :31:08.was completely scrapped as result of a 40 year -- as result of a vote

:31:09. > :31:14.because we don't have a proxy vote. Can we talk about Parliamentary

:31:15. > :31:18.procedure is. It is not done in the way this parliament operates in the

:31:19. > :31:25.debate today risks obscuring that. I think it is a shame that some

:31:26. > :31:30.members have failed to focus on these issues and I hope that the

:31:31. > :31:38.Labour front bench whirl support some of the important changes I have

:31:39. > :31:45.listed so that we can put forward a more modernised face for this house

:31:46. > :31:49.and perhaps in doing that bring a wider cross-section here in the

:31:50. > :31:58.future. We now come to a maiden speech.

:31:59. > :32:04.Thank you for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during today's

:32:05. > :32:07.debate. It is an important one that gets straight to the heart of the

:32:08. > :32:13.kind of Parliament we are going to be. Is it going to be one that

:32:14. > :32:17.stifles debate and scrutiny or one that will be accountable to its

:32:18. > :32:24.opposition and openly democratic? I know which one constituents will

:32:25. > :32:29.like. When I was elected 11 weeks ago, many believed I would not or

:32:30. > :32:32.could not win. This is why it falls me with great pleasure that the

:32:33. > :32:38.people of Battersea chose me to be the member of Parliament. It is a

:32:39. > :32:43.huge honour and I will serve my constituents to the best of my

:32:44. > :32:47.ability. My family played a vital role in supporting me during the

:32:48. > :32:52.campaign and I will forever be grateful for the sacrifices they

:32:53. > :32:57.made to help me get elected. Before I go on, I would like to pay tribute

:32:58. > :33:06.to my predecessor, Jane Ellison, for the work that she did in halting the

:33:07. > :33:13.practice of female genital mutilation. I don't share her

:33:14. > :33:17.policies but admire her work in this area. We have both had the privilege

:33:18. > :33:23.of representing Battersea, the vibrant and important part of south

:33:24. > :33:29.London with a strong history. Battersea is growing and has so much

:33:30. > :33:37.to offer. The iconic Battersea Power Station, that symbol of municipal

:33:38. > :33:40.pride, is reopening along the River. Our train station has more trains

:33:41. > :33:48.running through it than any in Western Europe. From the kids of

:33:49. > :33:52.Battersea Park to the sunbathers of Clapham Common. But it is the people

:33:53. > :33:58.themselves that make this such a wonderful place and to whom I almost

:33:59. > :34:07.thanks. No one should be more surprised that we in Battersea are

:34:08. > :34:13.one of the most well-educated constituencies and take our policies

:34:14. > :34:19.seriously. I want to make sure that these changes benefit everyone.

:34:20. > :34:24.There was not only an increase in the number of young voters but in

:34:25. > :34:33.people turning out for the first time. With good reason. In housing,

:34:34. > :34:40.private rents have soared. The cost of housing is it beyond reach of

:34:41. > :34:46.most people. It is a scandal that people under the age of 35 have been

:34:47. > :34:49.frozen out of homeownership. Too many people are confronted with

:34:50. > :34:54.housing pressures that are getting worse. It does not have to be this

:34:55. > :35:05.way. In Battersea, we have some of the oldest council housing. They

:35:06. > :35:10.sought to provide homes for decent working people. This spirit needs to

:35:11. > :35:15.be brought back. I'm standing on the shoulder of Giants. Politicians who

:35:16. > :35:23.are radical and we're ahead of their times. In 1906, the first

:35:24. > :35:31.working-class MP in Battersea became a government minister. It was the

:35:32. > :35:41.ferocious John Burns. We give rise to London's first black mayor. In

:35:42. > :35:48.1922, Battersea became the first constituency to elect an Asian

:35:49. > :35:59.labour member of Parliament, an Indian radical. And of course we

:36:00. > :36:02.have the heroic Anglo Irish suffragette who championed the

:36:03. > :36:09.rights of the poor and his statue you can find in the central square

:36:10. > :36:13.of Dodington estate. At the age of 89, her last public activity was to

:36:14. > :36:21.address the crowd at an antifascist rally in Trafalgar Square in 1933. I

:36:22. > :36:28.hope I have as much fire in me when I am that age. I would also like to

:36:29. > :36:34.pay tribute to more recent Labour MPs who came before me. The

:36:35. > :36:40.wonderful Lord Alf Dobbs, whose fight on behalf of Syrian refugees

:36:41. > :36:47.has been an example to us all. Martin, who has championed the

:36:48. > :36:52.rights of the Palestinian people since leaving office. We are outward

:36:53. > :37:01.looking and internationalist. It is this spirit that I will attempt to

:37:02. > :37:09.bring to Parliament. We face serious challenges. This was a decision my

:37:10. > :37:14.constituents care deeply about and voted overwhelmingly against. I will

:37:15. > :37:20.stand up for them. I will draw on that outward looking Battersea

:37:21. > :37:27.tradition, one that values tolerance, social justice and

:37:28. > :37:30.corporation. I was born with an involuntary movement of the eye

:37:31. > :37:37.which has left me with a sight impairment. I have had to overcome

:37:38. > :37:44.many barriers but I want to give a special thanks to my mum who is here

:37:45. > :37:50.today. She made sure I had a brilliant education, a brilliant

:37:51. > :37:55.state education. At primary school, and a headteacher thought I should

:37:56. > :38:00.be sent to a speciality school but my mother fought to keep me in

:38:01. > :38:03.mainstream education and I would not be the women I am today nor an

:38:04. > :38:10.elected member of Parliament had it not been for her and, mum, I am

:38:11. > :38:13.truly grateful. I had been a disability rights campaigner and it

:38:14. > :38:17.believed that people with disabilities like myself should have

:38:18. > :38:23.the right to participate in society equally. The right to a good

:38:24. > :38:34.education, the right to travel, the right access to public transport. An

:38:35. > :38:42.important issue close to my heart is the employment access to those with

:38:43. > :38:48.disability. The disparity is not good enough and we need to change

:38:49. > :38:52.that. Over the last seven years, policies on Social Security and

:38:53. > :38:57.social care have disproportionately affected disabled people. When we

:38:58. > :39:00.discuss all these matters in this house, it is important that we

:39:01. > :39:05.understand and empathise with the real people who will be affected by

:39:06. > :39:18.our decisions. I am proud to be here in this chamber and I am proud to be

:39:19. > :39:22.representing the people Battersea. Congratulations to the new member

:39:23. > :39:30.for Battersea on her maiden speech and may I also welcome her to her

:39:31. > :39:36.place. I also congratulate the member for Angus on her excellent

:39:37. > :39:44.speech and for its wit and wisdom and including its focus on

:39:45. > :39:47.connectivity to her constituency. Democracy is the system of

:39:48. > :39:53.processing conflict and in this house that lies at the heart of our

:39:54. > :39:58.debates. This is truly what we have come to this place to do. The mother

:39:59. > :40:07.of all parliaments. It is absolutely right that MPs of all colours are

:40:08. > :40:12.able to hold the government to account. I have found since I

:40:13. > :40:18.arrived in 2015 that there has been plentiful opportunity to do this.

:40:19. > :40:22.The calling of this debate by the official opposition has had very

:40:23. > :40:28.little to do with representing constituencies and I think it is to

:40:29. > :40:34.do with political point scoring. This is truly a case of navel-gazing

:40:35. > :40:39.by the opposition and using pressures Parliamentary time to do

:40:40. > :40:46.this. A debate on debates, exactly what my constituents and bears will

:40:47. > :40:50.feel angry and aggrieved about. The reality is that standing orders do

:40:51. > :40:58.state that there are 20 opposition days in any one session and 17 of

:40:59. > :41:05.them for the main opposition party. In this case the Labour Party, as I

:41:06. > :41:10.see emptying opposition benches. They have been offered the usual

:41:11. > :41:20.opposition database through the usual channels. I did agree with the

:41:21. > :41:25.member opposite from the SNP front bench about the voters simply not

:41:26. > :41:32.wanting this type of debate. They do want to hear us discuss what matters

:41:33. > :41:34.and that is jobs and opportunities, schools and the impact of Brexit

:41:35. > :41:44.nationwide and so much more. However, it was interesting that the

:41:45. > :41:48.honourable gentleman mentioned the frustration of this, so it is the

:41:49. > :41:56.greatest shame that we are not able to possibly fulfil the need to

:41:57. > :41:59.discuss the shocking incidences of nationwide abuse of candidates

:42:00. > :42:04.during the general election. Something I raised to the Leader of

:42:05. > :42:10.the House to a positive reception in backbench business debates. So, to

:42:11. > :42:15.this point, it is to the wit and the wheel of members of this house to

:42:16. > :42:18.use all the 12 at their disposal to make sure back their points and

:42:19. > :42:27.their issues from their constituents get heard by a quarter range in and

:42:28. > :42:31.their own persistence. Honourable and right Honourable members and

:42:32. > :42:34.colleagues I am sure will be aware that have already been plentiful

:42:35. > :42:38.opportunities for opposition members to make their representations in the

:42:39. > :42:44.chamber on the of their constituents during the Queen's Speech debates

:42:45. > :42:50.which the Labour Party had six days to choose those topics. Therefore I

:42:51. > :42:54.join with colleagues on this side of the house and their disappointment

:42:55. > :42:59.at the complaints about this being made to the Government. I agree with

:43:00. > :43:03.the right honourable member from Basingstoke that this is a queue of

:43:04. > :43:10.the great opportunity for the opposition to look at process

:43:11. > :43:14.Radovan complains. I'm enjoying the remarks of the

:43:15. > :43:18.honourable lady who does debate very openly, but would she not agree with

:43:19. > :43:22.her other honourable friend, the member for Gainsborough, who pointed

:43:23. > :43:27.out that given a two-year session was announced, anybody can see that

:43:28. > :43:32.it is only fair play to consider getting some extra opposition days

:43:33. > :43:36.to the opposition so it can do its constitutional job as Her Majesty 's

:43:37. > :43:42.loyal opposition of holding the Government to account?

:43:43. > :43:46.I think there is absolutely two points to be made. The wit and the

:43:47. > :43:49.wisdom of members to use all the tools, and I agree, the position are

:43:50. > :43:55.going to play every game and trick of the book and why would they not?

:43:56. > :43:59.I have found myself in a multiplicity of debates with myself,

:44:00. > :44:06.so I wonder how opposition members can feel so disagreed. I have been

:44:07. > :44:09.in debates from new towns to was beat it Grenfell Tower to travel

:44:10. > :44:14.infrastructure, school, funding and so much more since my return to this

:44:15. > :44:21.House and I'm sorry the opposition have not found the opportunity and

:44:22. > :44:25.brevity that my colleagues have. She makes an important point about

:44:26. > :44:28.the attendance of some honourable members opposite. Perhaps she saw

:44:29. > :44:32.the coverage of the Westminster debate on managing public finance

:44:33. > :44:38.weather was almost no attendance from Riverside and great many from

:44:39. > :44:43.this side the bench. I agree with my honourable friend.

:44:44. > :44:46.Far from weakening our democracy, Conservatives have can strengthened

:44:47. > :44:49.it because we have given out constituents more voices and turned

:44:50. > :44:54.up at the debates that are there to be had. I will give way.

:44:55. > :44:59.You refer to the Waspy issue. What we want is a veritable motion so

:45:00. > :45:03.that she can prove she is with us and with the Waspy women. How will

:45:04. > :45:09.she bowed when there is it double motion?

:45:10. > :45:13.As all-party women in Parliament for nature, I feel very much sympathy

:45:14. > :45:17.when it comes to the Waspy women, but also as we heard, Government

:45:18. > :45:23.finances are difficult and I would like to see us finding a way to help

:45:24. > :45:29.those most affected. I have been to make those points at every debate

:45:30. > :45:35.when possible. We have given our constituents a chance to have a

:45:36. > :45:39.voice. One particular area is on EE petitions, and I know that has

:45:40. > :45:44.happened because I have found the voice of my constituents in my

:45:45. > :45:48.inbox. I think that the ten years of operations of this has given the

:45:49. > :45:52.chance for parliaments to reach into peoples homes and lives. Where 10

:45:53. > :45:57.million people signing a petition and no less than 20 petitions being

:45:58. > :46:01.scheduled for debate. This has engaged subject in this debating

:46:02. > :46:07.chamber and I have been delighted to have that, particularly when I think

:46:08. > :46:10.back to my time in the and equality select committee on trans-dent the

:46:11. > :46:15.issues, and I think this Parliament is more diverse and out reaching

:46:16. > :46:20.them people will know. The problem debates like this is we look more

:46:21. > :46:24.enclosed. The Government has looked to ensure that the most talented MPs

:46:25. > :46:29.from across the house get a chance to feed into in-depth quality

:46:30. > :46:32.discussions and I congratulate all of those members who have been

:46:33. > :46:37.elected to the select committee chairs as of this month, and indeed

:46:38. > :46:42.by contrast, during Labour's time, we know that Government PM queues

:46:43. > :46:50.was reduced and although the complaints were so... In fact, the

:46:51. > :46:56.complaint was always the media was told first and the chamber second

:46:57. > :47:01.are you do not see that from this Government. I will start to conclude

:47:02. > :47:05.my remarks because I know we are pushed for time. Her Majesty 's

:47:06. > :47:12.opposition today has tried to make out there is one rule for us and one

:47:13. > :47:17.for everyone else, but we are all in this chamber defenders of democracy

:47:18. > :47:22.and we can see that if we use all the tools and instruments that we

:47:23. > :47:27.will have a voice for our community. So I think members opposite would do

:47:28. > :47:32.well to listen to us on strengthening in democracy and look

:47:33. > :47:37.to the side of the House who I think should take a very serious look at

:47:38. > :47:43.taking a leaf out of our book and hearing from our constituents and

:47:44. > :47:47.seeing what matters to them. I would like to start my

:47:48. > :47:51.contribution by paying tribute to the two maiden speeches made this

:47:52. > :47:58.evening. First of all, to the new member for Angus and just to put on

:47:59. > :48:03.the record my agreement with her very strong comments about the need

:48:04. > :48:10.to keep the UK together. Secondly, to my honourable friend the member

:48:11. > :48:13.for Battersea. A very moving speech and her determination that her

:48:14. > :48:17.mother shared and she shared in making sure that she made access to

:48:18. > :48:26.mainstream education. I think that is a tribute to the strength of a

:48:27. > :48:29.lovable mother, but also the disability rights movement and the

:48:30. > :48:37.need to make sure that people with disabilities in joyful access to all

:48:38. > :48:43.areas, so I paid review to my honourable friend. For me, this

:48:44. > :48:47.debate is not just about the technicalities, it is about the

:48:48. > :48:53.national interest and I think it would be so for all members of this

:48:54. > :48:57.house to remember that on June the 8th this country decided it did not

:48:58. > :49:02.want to give any one party the majority position and the strength

:49:03. > :49:10.to form a majority Government. It gave Parliament the power to shape

:49:11. > :49:16.Government policy, potentially, and hold the Government to account. It

:49:17. > :49:21.is clear that the electorate expects this Parliament to act in the

:49:22. > :49:27.national interest and not to behave in a way that is in any way deeply

:49:28. > :49:32.tribal puts the interests of the other party before the interests of

:49:33. > :49:38.the country. In that respect, I found the leader of the howls's

:49:39. > :49:43.speech deeply disappointing. I thought the Leader of the House was

:49:44. > :49:48.deeply tribal in her comments and was losing the House about point and

:49:49. > :49:52.that the two points of order had to be made to get the Leader of the

:49:53. > :49:56.House back on track. But surely it is detrimental to the interest of

:49:57. > :50:01.this house and we have a debate about Parliamentary democracy itself

:50:02. > :50:06.and descend into a tribal slamming match between the frontbenchers on

:50:07. > :50:09.different aspects of Government policy or opposition policy full

:50:10. > :50:14.stop that is not what this debate is about. It is not about a

:50:15. > :50:21.Parliamentary game that we are playing. This is about democracy and

:50:22. > :50:23.the ability of Parliament to hold Government to account. I to make

:50:24. > :50:30.make a quick comment about the debate that was to have been held

:50:31. > :50:34.tonight, the general debate on abuse of candidates in the general

:50:35. > :50:37.election. Let me make this clear, I did make a short contribution to the

:50:38. > :50:42.debate in Westminster Hall last week, I do believe that all it takes

:50:43. > :50:50.for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing. I am quite

:50:51. > :50:54.ready to have a debate in the chamber on abuse generally in

:50:55. > :50:57.society and abuse of politicians within political parties and outside

:50:58. > :51:02.of them, but between them, but wouldn't not be a good idea that

:51:03. > :51:07.members on the opposite benches would join with us on these benches

:51:08. > :51:10.and develop a proper application to the Backbench Business Committee so

:51:11. > :51:15.we can have that debate here which is truly based on the support on

:51:16. > :51:23.both sides of the house such a topic to be discussed. The technicalities

:51:24. > :51:29.that this debate is based upon are quite clear. It is about the number

:51:30. > :51:31.of opposition day debates and backbench business debates and

:51:32. > :51:39.Private Members Bills days which has been barely mentioned tonight

:51:40. > :51:43.and it is also about the timeliness of the first opposition day debates.

:51:44. > :51:49.I have looked at the House of Commons library research on this and

:51:50. > :51:53.it is quite clear that this has a strong case. The records are

:51:54. > :52:01.absolutely clear. The first session of the 1997 - 1998 Government which

:52:02. > :52:08.lasted 18 months, there were 38 opposition day debates, 38. And the

:52:09. > :52:12.average in terms of the first opposition day debates after a

:52:13. > :52:18.general election in the last 7-8 years has been 22 days, 22 days, 14

:52:19. > :52:25.days. On that basis, we should have had that debate.

:52:26. > :52:29.Following what she was saying closely, however strong the case the

:52:30. > :52:33.opposition has made, does the honourable lady think it is wise to

:52:34. > :52:39.ask for an emergency debate on a debate rather than on a specific and

:52:40. > :52:42.urgent topic? I thank the honourable member for

:52:43. > :52:46.the intervention at point has already been made this evening, but

:52:47. > :52:51.the point is we are not getting the space necessary for us to raise

:52:52. > :52:58.those important topics. Point of order. For the honourable

:52:59. > :53:05.gentleman to question the ruling back nights debate is taking place a

:53:06. > :53:07.urgent specific that is is that I do not think we need to worry about

:53:08. > :53:14.that. Thank you Deputy Speaker. The

:53:15. > :53:20.intervention fed into my next comment is that opposition days,

:53:21. > :53:29.backbench committee days and Private Members Bills days are all very

:53:30. > :53:34.important and the key means in this house of raising issues of concern

:53:35. > :53:41.to our voters. And up is icily answers the members points. These

:53:42. > :53:46.days give us a chance to affect real change to Government policy and yet

:53:47. > :53:50.we only have 13 days allocated. The Backbench Business Committee is

:53:51. > :53:56.crucial and will be crucial in this minority period, a period of

:53:57. > :53:59.minority Government to develop relationships across party,

:54:00. > :54:03.cross-party relationships, and the arguments necessary if we are going

:54:04. > :54:10.to be effective as a parliament in affecting real change to Government

:54:11. > :54:13.policy. Isn't the real reason for the

:54:14. > :54:20.Government doing this is because these debates are though to bowl on.

:54:21. > :54:25.What they are scared of is the number of individuals on the

:54:26. > :54:31.backbenches doing what the member of Knowsley did quite a visit.

:54:32. > :54:37.I quite agree with my honourable friend and I wanted to make that

:54:38. > :54:45.point. The premise to said only two weeks ago that she wanted

:54:46. > :54:48.cross-party working, a national consensus, consensus between the

:54:49. > :54:55.parties in order to serve the national interest. The Government

:54:56. > :55:00.has made a very poor start and the Government needs to show that it is

:55:01. > :55:05.ready to use the mechanisms of the House to make that consensus if the

:55:06. > :55:09.Government wants consensus, I am more than happy to play my part, but

:55:10. > :55:16.you have to show that you mean business and the Government has to

:55:17. > :55:23.show that it is ready to make it possible for a consensus to develop

:55:24. > :55:26.and actually materialise in real meaningful terms in this chamber,

:55:27. > :55:31.and we have seen very little evidence of that so far. I will

:55:32. > :55:35.finish perhaps on a more controversial point, which is that I

:55:36. > :55:41.believe that the Beale reason why we are seeing so little action from the

:55:42. > :55:47.Government in terms of meaningful debate, opposition day debate and

:55:48. > :55:50.legislation, no committee of selection, remember, so far. The

:55:51. > :55:53.bill is coming to the floor of the house, it should not be on the floor

:55:54. > :56:00.of the house. The reason we have got this is because the benches opposite

:56:01. > :56:06.are absolutely desperate to avoid any kind of backbench instability in

:56:07. > :56:10.the Commons and they do that because they are so worried about a future

:56:11. > :56:16.of their own Prime Minister. The truth is you want the Government

:56:17. > :56:20.frontbenchers to get beyond the conferences and gets beyond October

:56:21. > :56:26.to be sure that they still have the Prime Minister in number ten and

:56:27. > :56:31.they are absolutely desperate to avoid meaningful debates in this

:56:32. > :56:35.house in order to shore up the position of the Government as it