16/11/2015 Monday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Monday in Parliament, our look at

Tributes are paid to those who suffered in the terror attacks

France grieves but she does not grieve alone.

People of all faiths, all nationalities and all backgrounds

As Theresa May announces 1,800 extra jobs in counterterrorism,

I would ask her not to see counterterrorism in isolation

And local councillors warn over the government's right-to-bty plans

Very disappointed, very angry and dismayed by the deal that w`s done.

The government is recruiting nearly 2,000 extra security

and intelligence officers to help combat security threats following

Theresa May made the announcement in the House of Commons.

On Friday night, 129 people were killed in multiple attacks on bars,

restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in Paris.

Responsibility is being clahmed by the group calling itself

Islamic State, also referred to as Isis, Isil and Daish.

The attack at the Bataclan concert venue left 89 people dead

There were deadly attacks in restaurants and bars as well

as at the Stade de France jtst north of Paris where France were

playing Germany in an international football friendly.

In the House of Commons to Theresa May expressed many peoples horror.

The events in Paris have shocked and appalled people around the world.

In France, people queued up to donate blood,

In Britain, Australia, Amerhca, Mexico, Canada,

Brazil and many other countries iconic landmarks and buildings have

People of all faiths have condemned the violence and British Muslims

and indeed Muslims worldwidd have said very clearly these events are

The attacks have nothing to do with Islam, which is followed pe`cefully

by millions of people around the world.

The terrorists seek to divide us and to destroy our way of lhfe.

Theirs is an empty, perverted and murderous ideology.

They represent no-one and they will fail.

France grieves but she does not grieve alone.

People of all faiths, all nationalities and all backgrounds

around the world are with you and together we will defeat them.

The Home Secretary began her statement to MPs by outlining

She said the police would intensify their approach at events

in big cities and the Border Force has stepped up checks on people

She said Britain would work closely with France.

We offered our deepest condolences to France and to make clear that the

UK stands ready to provide `ny additional support and assistance.

Last week we publish the dr`ft investigatory Powers Bill.

This bill will improve the oversight and safeguards of the

police and agencies use of investigatory Powers knowledge and

they have the tools they nedd to keep us safe. Following any

terrorist attack, we always considered the legal powers we have

to keep our country secure but it is important that this landmark

legislation undergoes proper parliamentary scrutiny.

Since 2010, we have protectdd the counterterrorism policing btdget and

in the Budget this year my right honourable friend the Chancdllor

confirmed that counterterrorism spending across government would be

protected across the course of the spending review. Tod`y we

Through the Strategic Defence and Security review, we'll lake new

funding available to the security and intelligence agencies to provide

for an additional 1,900 offhcers, an increase of 15% at MI5, LI6 and

GCHQ, to better respond to the threat we face

from international terrorisl, cyber attacks and other global risks.

That is why the Prime Minister has ordered a

rapid review of security at a number of airports around the world.

Aviation specialists will conduct assessments over the next two months

at airports in the Middle E`st and North Africa in particular.

This follows additional measures that the UK and US put in place

at a number of potentially vulnerable airports over thd past

year, steps that shall be in review to make sure they go far enough

On behalf of the House of Commons, I will be conveying our heartfelt

sympathies to my colleague the president of the Assemble N`tional.

Our thoughts today are with our colleagues in Paris.

I humbly welcome the statemdnt and many of the steps announced

As you come to expect, she has acted quickly and whth

clarity and will have our stpport in taking the action needed to protect

She has announced today protection for counterterrorism

but I would ask her not to see counterterrorism in isolation

She will know that the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard

Hogan Howe last week said that cuts above 10% of the police budget will

hamper his ability to fight terrorism on the streets of London

and today Ian Blair has said that the loss of police and commtnity

support officers from our streets would be an absolute disastdr.

Mrs May said the question of policing would be looked at in the

round. They seek to divide communities

divide us politically and ddvide us from our European partners with whom

we share common values. The message goes out today,

Mr Speaker, Let us say clearly today th`t they

won't succeed, that we'll stand as one

in our communities, as a cotntry and Events in Paris have exposed

the truth about Isis and their fellow jihadis, that they

hate us, not because of what we do, They hate our history,

our identity and our values. Does my right honourable frhend

agree that those who say th`t, if we leave them alone, thex will

leave us alone are peddling I think my right honourable friend

makes a very important point. It is quite clear that thosd who

attacked in Paris, those who attacked elsewherd,

that this poisonous ideologx is an ideology which is against the way in

which the West conducts its life. I applaud the fact the

Home Secretary seems prepardd determined not to make a knde jerk

or ill considered response to these atrocities and is approaching it

in her usual measured fashion. This morning, we had the Prhme

Minister hint at the possibhlity of speeding up the passage

of the draft Investigatory Powers I heard what the Home Secretary said

about this already but will she confirm that there will

be no concealment of the necessary time already allocated for

pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill and repeat her previous asstrances

that adequate Parliamentary time will be allocated for passage

of the bill? May I pay tribute to Nick Alexander

from Colchester, he was tragically Will she also assure this House that

she will do all she can to work with the French authorities to bring

the perpetrators I join with my friend

in sending our condolences to the family and friends

of his constituent Nick Alexander. I lived in Paris and spent lany

evenings in the area desecr`ted on Friday night, where a French friend

might state, Royame Uni, nots allons I'm sure that the Secretary of State

will join me in stressing that Europe's response to the actions

of a small group of fanatic`l, murderous terrorists must not be to

pull up the drawbridge on the hundreds of thousands

of genuine Syrian refugees who are fleeing terror similar to that which

was inflicted on Paris on Friday. Can I join the Home Secretary

in thanking our security services, armed police and armed forcds

for the important work they do The Home Secretary spoke

about taking all necessary steps to prevent attacks on the UK and I d be

grateful if she could say something about what work is taking place to

audit all of our existing sdcurity capabilities to ensure that we've

got what we need in the right place at the right level of preparedness

and that it is properly resourced. Could she confirm that she hs

examining our resilience not just in London but in towns

and cities across the UK? I can certainly assure

the honourable gentleman th`t we don't just look at resilience

in London, but resilience And the Home Secretary said reviews

were going on to see whether there were lessons the emergency services

could learn from the Paris `ttacks. Events

in Paris have fuelled suspicions that some terrorists may trx to

enter the European Union under The Prime Minister has promhsed to

give Santry to 1,000 Syrians Some MPs are calling

for tighter checks to be carried out Others pointed out that most Syrians

are fleeing the kind of violence witnessed during

the terror attacks at the wdekend. To see the Prime Minister's

objectives are met. The events of the weekend h`ve given

verification to the fact th`t he's right to seek refugees with UN

approval but, in the light of the weekend events, will my right

honourable friend go further and make sure that the credenti`ls

of every refugee coming into this We want to ensure that we c`n put

into action the undertaking that we've given to

resettle over the period of this We are taking them as he implies

in his question. We do take them directly from camps

so that we are able to take those who are the most vulnerable

but we also ensure that there are In fact, at the moment,

we ensure that there are two levels UNHCR undertake security chdcks

which also involves biometrhcs, checking of documents, interviews,

and then further checks oncd they've been referred to thd Home

Office for resettlement by the UK. There are further checks undertaken

by the Home Office The Home Secretary will know that

many of the Syrian refugees that Britain expects to help over

the coming months are fleeing exactly the same Isis brutality that

we saw so terribly on the streets Would she agree with me that, as we

stand in solidarity with Paris, it's important both that we strengthen

our security against such b`rbarism but also that we continue to give

sanctuary to those fleeing that barbarism so that we ensure that

those terrorists cannot win? The right honourable lady

is absolutely right. Of course,

many of those will be fleeing Isis. Of course some will have bedn

fleeing the actions of the Syrian Had someone suggested

a week ago that the refugee crisis was being abused by terrorists,

they could have been set ashde I fear the public will not be

as resistant to that messagd How do we ensure that

the compassion of this country is kept although there are few who

abuse our goodwill? It's important that the British

people, who showed a huge compassion when there was an outpouring of

offers of help for those who would be resettled from Syraia, and my

honourable friend the Minister for Resettlement of Syrian refugees is

currently looking at how we can ensure those offers of help can be

turned into practical assistance. That generosity

of spirit I'm sure will continue. On the issue of

the potential abuse of the refugee route for refugees coming to Europe,

all I would say is this, thdre has been a lot written in the press and

discussion in the press abott this. I think it's important not to make

judgments on this With the first 100 Syrian rdfugees

due to arrive in Scotland for resettlement this week, does

the Secretary of State agred that it's imperative to make cle`r to

the public that these refugdes are fleeing the same evil forces as were

behind the attacks in Paris and would she work with the Scottish

Government and local authorhties up and down the country to makd sure

that communities are supported to understand this

and to make the vulnerable refugees The Home Secretary said the whole

House should send out a message For those who are fleeing, the

terrible evil of what is taking place in Syria and have

fled for their lives, it is right that we welcome them and opdn our

arms to them. You're watching our round-up

of the day in the Commons. An island divided, MPs call for a

resolution to the problem of Cyprus. local councillors have

expressed concern at Governlent plans to give housing assochation

tenants the right to buy Ministers have said that all

sold-off homes will be repl`ced But they want

the discounts to be paid for through the sale by councils of

their most valuable social homes. MPs on the communities

and local government committee were told that council funding would be

hit and it was unlikely affordable And there were worries that

the plans The council,

both politically and through the paid officer team, we are very

uncomfortable with a number We were very disappointed,

very angry and dismayed I'm not clear how these affordable

houses will actually be replaced, there is some talk

about high-value property assets. It is unclear how that

will be executed. We do not have any high-valte

property assets to deploy. I'm not sure how we are

going to be doing that. Maybe in South Cambridge thdy have

quite a lot, I believe they do and they would be

kind enough to shove they c`sh to I live in a little village

of 2500 people, in Greysop council ward, the last few xears I

have been a councillor I have tried Still got 35 families that need

to go, not quite there yet. Under the proposals

as we currently understand them if a house is sold in the rhght to

buy, under the proposals, -- it will be replaced, not sure

how, but not necessarily in Greysop. I can watch all of my painstaking

accumulation of affordable housing stock in my village and I mdan

painstaking, built up and then under this proposal, sold off and

replaced in Fareham Our concern has been expressed that

replacement stock will not relate to the place that

the stock has been lost frol. That replacement stock that will not

be of the same size, classically as we have seen with the

effect of right to buy in the past, a three-bedroom family housd has

been replaced Then creating more debt

which the housing association We're also concerned fundamdntally

about the methodology that has been suggested behind the right to buy

proposals for housing assochations in terms of effectively being

a tax on councils to levy that. The proceeds of the sale

of high-value homes you are able to identify will be enough to cover

both the costs of the extent of right to buy

and the replacement of thosd? The point of view

of rural district Council, that is what I know about, H do not

know about others, metropolhtan or unitary, I do not know about those,

but rural district council, let me try to say again, there is not any

money. This high value asset stock that we

have to sell, if we had it, we would Were we to be taxed, in whatever

way it is thought of, we wotld have I don't think that the right

way for a council to behave and I It would be extremely difficult to

get this like-for-like repl`cement. There seems to be a principle that

we have all signed up to because we know we have got the London housing

crisis but when you start interrogating these proposals, I

can't see how it is going to happen. And there were worries the plan

could also. Homelessness. -, force up homelessness.

12,000 homes, something like 75-80% of our lets

with band A, sometimes band B and they are the highest households

The proposals, depending on the detail, it could be

we are looking at 25 to 50% having to be sold to meet the paymdnts

When you strip out that amotnt of homes from what we have got we

will not have enough to rehouse the people that have got thd

It will have an immediate affect

felt as a result of that at local level.

These are public assets, this is public money.

Isn't this about releasing that to build more homes?

Yes, I have no problem with it being taxed, I would like it done

in a transparent way but I would like to be done to further `nd find

solutions to the one of the biggest problems we have a face and that is

housing supply, not individtal home and home ownership.

In a sense that is the bit we are funding.

I think it is kind of addressing a small probldm

at the expense of making an even problem more difficult.

-- at the expense of making an bigger problem more difficult.

Now protecting young people who have been victims of sexual exploitation

is a priority for the government, the home secretary has told MPs

In response to a question about victims of sexual exploitation

who are 16 and 17 years old, Theresa May said it was important to

send a clear message, for example, giving the courts the ability to

Does my right honourable frhend agree with me that if 16 and

17-year-olds are given the vote it increases the likelihood th`t they

will be regarded and treated as adults and therefore increases the

likelihood of them becoming victims of sexual exploitation?

that I would not link the issue of the age

of voting with his question of child sexual exploitation.

I think what we have been doing across a number of areas

including in this area and in domestic violence, where we have

included 16 and 17-year-olds in our consideration of domestic vholence

matters, it is to recognise the vulnerability of those who are

16 and 17, who are sometimes treated as and considered and thought of

as adults, but in fact are dqually vulnerable as other younger people

and need the protection and care that we should be giving

A Conservative MP has called the division of Cyprus "one

of the longest-running unresolved issues in UK foreign policy".

A debate focused on the citx of Famagusta, which was captured

Part of the city remains se`led off and under military control,

MPs who had recently visited the island described what they had

seen and called for solutions for former residents.

This issue matters to my constituents, because I represent

the most Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, together in the world

Whilst I am proud of represdnting so many constituents, it is

a sad statistic because it hs the only place in the world that has so

many both Greek and Turkish Cypriots in such numbers living freely

side-by-side, working, socialising and trading togdther.

Would he agree with me that Famagusta is a visible reminder

that Cyprus is the only EU country occupied and occupied by

And we cannot allow Turkey to acceed to the EU

I have been a champion of these causes over a number of years and

there are Famagustians in the public gallery acutely award of

that very fact and they along with 40,000 fled their town

also recognise not only havd they lost their town, they have

Like we all recognise, this is a scar on Europe and it is a scar ..

I was shocked and horrified when we visited the graves to see

the Greek Cypriot graves absolutely vandalised, crosses broken tp,

everything dug up to see if there were any riches thdre,

Yet the Turkish graves, right opposite,

This is all done through European Union funding.

Older Cypriots have said to me how much they wish to see

before the end of their livds some kind of hopeful conclusion to what

really for their lives has been a terrible experience.

They want to see that for their children, for thehr

Some colleagues have seen the Berlin Wall.

Not all have seen the green line in Cyprus.

The idea that right through the centre of one

of Europe's major cities, there is a barricade, there is sever`l yards

of barren land, buildings going back to 1974 when everything stopped

1974, cars in the car showroom meals still on the table,

Attempts to resolve the problems have failed.

Not as has been said becausd Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots

do not get along together, they do, by and large.

And they live happily side-by-side and there was a time,

a generation and half ago, when Greek Cypriots spoke Ttrkish

and Turkish Cypriots spoke Greek and they used the same coffde bars.

Recently I have seen the welcome mat put out for Turkey.

For very obvious reasons, we need Turkey at the moment,

they are taking thousands and thousands and thousands

of refugees from Syria, thex are looking for help, and rightly so.

But the idea that you can f`st track Turkey into the European Unhon

without settling the Cyprus problem, I'm afraid it is a nonstartdr.

Cyprus reunited would unlock significant economic benefits

through increased opportunities for trade, investment and indeed,

The Government is cautiously optimistic that

And certainly many people think there is now a chance, the like

of which has not been seen for decades,

and we urge both sides to seize this opportunity.

Cypriots of both communities want to live

As they strive for a lasting solution we whll

continue our active support in Cyprus and Ankara, Athens,

The Commons and the Lords rdturn tomorrow,

which is when we'll be back with our next daily rotnd-up.

Until then, from me, Georgina Pattinson, goodbye.