:00:11. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to Monday in Parliament.
:00:14. > :00:20.Peers drop their opposition to Government cuts to disability
:00:21. > :00:26.benefits - but with very heavy hearts...
:00:27. > :00:35.I hope and I pray that we do not look back on this day as the moment
:00:36. > :00:36.that we pushed some of the most severely disabled people in Britain
:00:37. > :00:37.over the edge. The migration crisis -
:00:38. > :00:39.the Defence Secretary explains why British ships are being sent
:00:40. > :00:49.to the Aegean Sea... I think we need to increase the
:00:50. > :00:53.capacity, particularly of the Turkish authorities and coastguard,
:00:54. > :00:55.to be able to intercept these boats, before they set off on what is a
:00:56. > :00:56.very dangerous crossing. And powerful maiden speeches
:00:57. > :01:08.in the House of Lords from a bishop My call to ordination was not
:01:09. > :01:13.something I welcomed. But I knew that, as a follower of Jesus Christ,
:01:14. > :01:19.this was about saying yes to an ongoing journey of becoming the
:01:20. > :01:25.woman I was called to be. At the age of 15, I decided to leave school and
:01:26. > :01:27.go to work. I had nothing, except passion, determination and a can-do
:01:28. > :01:28.attitude. But first, the latest battle
:01:29. > :01:30.between the House of Lords and the Government over benefit
:01:31. > :01:33.cuts has come to end, after peers backed
:01:34. > :01:34.down reluctantly The Government wants to reduce
:01:35. > :01:38.Employment and Support Allowance, paid to sick and disabled people,
:01:39. > :01:43.by ?30 a week for new claimants. In the last few weeks,
:01:44. > :01:46.the Lords has rejected the change, contained in the Welfare
:01:47. > :01:52.Reform Bill, on two occasions. But the Government reinstated
:01:53. > :01:54.the cuts in the Commons. When the bill came back
:01:55. > :01:56.to the Lords, the Work and Pensions
:01:57. > :01:58.Minister, Lord Freud, urged peers to accept
:01:59. > :02:11.the will of the Commons... The Commons voted solidly to reject
:02:12. > :02:19.these amendments and emotion now asks this house to accept this
:02:20. > :02:22.decision. -- the motion. In addition, be Commons Speaker has
:02:23. > :02:29.also ruled that these changes affect financial privilege. As noble Lords
:02:30. > :02:35.have not tabled amendments to the contrary, I will make the
:02:36. > :02:38.presumption that the house is now prepared to accept the changes,
:02:39. > :02:46.albeit with great reluctance and will not defy convention. I put it
:02:47. > :02:48.to the noble Lords that, as a house, we have performed our duty.
:02:49. > :02:53.There was a strong reaction from peers...
:02:54. > :03:01.I know others spent a great deal last week of working through to try
:03:02. > :03:14.to table another amendment to send this dreadful part of the bill but
:03:15. > :03:20.to its place. It was not available. They are entitled to do that. And so
:03:21. > :03:24.are we to ask them to think again. As the chamber pointed, because of
:03:25. > :03:29.our expertise, we know and understand the impact this bill will
:03:30. > :03:33.have. Even if no formal impact assessment was carried out. I
:03:34. > :03:40.apologise to the people affected that we couldn't do any more. And I
:03:41. > :03:47.listen to the government's arguments, in the debates and
:03:48. > :03:57.amendments, I have to say words fail me. Particularly when members were
:03:58. > :04:01.asked to separate the issue from the more important principle of Commons
:04:02. > :04:07.primacy. I find it really difficult when the niceties and Parliamentary
:04:08. > :04:13.protocol trump the lives of disabled people. I hope and I pray that we do
:04:14. > :04:18.not look back on this day as the moment we pushed some of the most
:04:19. > :04:27.severely disabled people in Britain over the edge. This is a black day
:04:28. > :04:30.for disabled people. That the commons have spoken and decisively
:04:31. > :04:35.and we must bow to their wishes. But we do so under protest. Do not let
:04:36. > :04:39.anyone convince you this is democracy in action. There is more
:04:40. > :04:48.to democracy than just being elected. Questions of representative
:04:49. > :04:52.loss, accessibility and responsibility or comment about as
:04:53. > :04:58.well. From this point with this house, though unelected, is much
:04:59. > :05:02.more democratic. Organisations representing the needs of poor and
:05:03. > :05:07.dispossessed people find it much easier here then to have it taken on
:05:08. > :05:11.board in the House of Commons. It is much more politicised and
:05:12. > :05:15.subservience to the whips. Under the whips were certainly working
:05:16. > :05:22.overtime last Wednesday night. Going round and handing out bribes like
:05:23. > :05:28.there was no tomorrow. I just want to pose one question. Well he
:05:29. > :05:33.monitored the numbers of suicides in the year following the introduction
:05:34. > :05:37.of this cut? I am certain there will be people who cannot face the debts
:05:38. > :05:43.and loss of their homes and will take their lives. And if his
:05:44. > :05:48.monitoring shows what I believe this cut will do, we'll hear sure this
:05:49. > :06:03.house that he will seriously consider to review this action? The
:06:04. > :06:10.noble Lords. I do want to assure them that what they have been
:06:11. > :06:16.saying, we are hearing. And those concerns will be right at the
:06:17. > :06:22.forefront of our minds, certainly of my mind, as we work with ministerial
:06:23. > :06:25.colleagues to try to finalise the White Paper.
:06:26. > :06:27.He was referring to a white paper on incapacity benefits.
:06:28. > :06:30.He said his department will not be monitoring the number of suicides
:06:31. > :06:33.because, he said, in such a difficult and fraught area
:06:34. > :06:42.To the Commons now for more debate on how to stem the flow of migrants
:06:43. > :06:44.and refugees across the Mediterranean into
:06:45. > :06:47.The Prime Minister has announced that the Royal Navy ship
:06:48. > :06:50.RFA Mounts Bay will be joining a Nato mission in the Aegean Sea,
:06:51. > :06:54.which lies between Turkey and Greece.
:06:55. > :06:56.RFA Mounts Bay will be helping to stop people smugglers
:06:57. > :06:57.transporting migrants from Turkey to Greece.
:06:58. > :07:00.Making an urgent statement, the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon
:07:01. > :07:10.said the ship would be supporting the Turkish and Greek coastguards...
:07:11. > :07:19.The scale of the migration challenge requires Nato, the European Union
:07:20. > :07:24.and other countries to work together to address both its symptoms, the
:07:25. > :07:29.constant flow of migrants and the conditions we see, and the causes in
:07:30. > :07:33.Syria and beyond. We must also work with local civilian authorities to
:07:34. > :07:40.try to tackle the gangs would profit from smuggling migrants. The United
:07:41. > :07:46.Kingdom has already been engaged with the Home Office ship deployed
:07:47. > :07:50.in the region since November. Contributing to the EU and Nato
:07:51. > :07:55.mission is to counter smuggling is only part of the government's wide
:07:56. > :07:59.approach to tackling the root causes of irregular migration. The United
:08:00. > :08:04.Kingdom is leading the way in tackling these issues at their
:08:05. > :08:08.source, providing significant amounts of aid to assist and to
:08:09. > :08:13.stabilise troubled regions and lessen the need for people to leave.
:08:14. > :08:17.In the meantime, this Royal Navy deployment is an important part of
:08:18. > :08:22.the international effort to assist the Turkish and Greek authorities in
:08:23. > :08:25.reducing this criminal and dangerous people trafficking.
:08:26. > :08:27.Alistair Carmichael was the MP who requested
:08:28. > :08:35.What he describes is a series of tactics,
:08:36. > :08:42.And many of them will find broad support. But taken together, they do
:08:43. > :08:45.not add up to a strategy. It was referred to today in the press as
:08:46. > :08:51.being a war against people traffickers. If we are to win, and I
:08:52. > :08:57.fear that what we need to do is to cut off the supply to the people
:08:58. > :09:04.traffickers of those who desperately using them. That means getting peace
:09:05. > :09:12.in their countries of origin, but in the short to medium term, that means
:09:13. > :09:14.a series of safe and legal route into Britain and expansion of
:09:15. > :09:15.refugee families schemes. The Defence Secretary did not agree
:09:16. > :09:24.with his analysis... I am not convinced that establishing
:09:25. > :09:30.some routes are safer than others will do anything to reduce the flow.
:09:31. > :09:34.I think we need to increase the capacity, particularly of the
:09:35. > :09:39.Turkish authorities and Turkish postcard, to be able to intercept
:09:40. > :09:44.these bows before they set off on what is a very dangerous crossing.
:09:45. > :09:53.-- Turkish coastguard. -- these boats. There is a real urgency in
:09:54. > :09:58.bringing to justice the people responsible for people smuggling,
:09:59. > :10:05.but also for the people who are undertaking it. It is a reminder,
:10:06. > :10:11.this boat being deployed, of how the Royal Navy has been reduced since
:10:12. > :10:20.2010. Are they too stretched to play a role in this operation? Is he
:10:21. > :10:24.satisfied Turkey is doing enough to help itself? There are thousands of
:10:25. > :10:29.plastic dinghy is being imported by them to allow this trade to
:10:30. > :10:32.continue. There are phoney life jackets being sold. Why is in the
:10:33. > :10:40.Turkish government doing something about this? Helping people stop
:10:41. > :10:45.risking their lives is the right thing to do, undoubtedly. But for
:10:46. > :10:51.those who have already arrived, there are 13,000 of them now at the
:10:52. > :10:53.Macedonian border in terrible conditions, children with
:10:54. > :10:57.bronchitis. He has said that the British government will not do
:10:58. > :11:05.anything to take any of them. Where does he think those 13,000 people
:11:06. > :11:10.should go? The British government is taking refugees from Syria. We have
:11:11. > :11:16.already made that clear. Some of them have arrived here. My friend,
:11:17. > :11:19.the Prime Minister, is urging his European counterparts to get to
:11:20. > :11:26.grips with the problem. -- my honourable friend. For those
:11:27. > :11:28.arriving within that area and to make sure they are not being
:11:29. > :11:30.shuttled from one place to the next. MPs raised concern about migrants
:11:31. > :11:36.working in UK, who may be deported The issue was debated in Parliament,
:11:37. > :11:40.after a petition reached The Government stipulates that
:11:41. > :11:43.non-EU migrants who've been in the UK for five years
:11:44. > :11:46.in graduate-level jobs need to earn over ?35,000 a year
:11:47. > :12:09.in order to stay... One doctor is a particular
:12:10. > :12:17.professional and he is being forced out of the country. He was not
:12:18. > :12:21.costing the taxpayer a penny. He had access to private income from
:12:22. > :12:25.considerable work and experience. He was a musician for David Berry
:12:26. > :12:32.amongst many other contributions. -- Steve, Doctor Foreman.. And yet the
:12:33. > :12:39.Home Office is trying to deport him. That is what is costing the tax
:12:40. > :12:44.payer money. -- David Bowie. It is being spent on further legal
:12:45. > :12:53.processes. If this goes through, then I am fairly confident we will
:12:54. > :12:59.have do see that if the people pioneering clean water in Edinburgh,
:13:00. > :13:02.she will not be welcome to stay in this country and to develop it
:13:03. > :13:09.unless she is earning more than ?35,000 per year. Something, which
:13:10. > :13:16.for a first-time job, is pretty impossible. There are exemptions for
:13:17. > :13:18.Ph.D. Level occupations. Yes. After Ph.D. Level occupations. They would
:13:19. > :13:19.be exempt. But there were further
:13:20. > :13:28.concerns over the policy... I think this policy seems to be
:13:29. > :13:37.about portraying an image. Even its opponents have said it will have
:13:38. > :13:43.little effect on immigration to the UK. It will cost the government
:13:44. > :13:48.millions of pounds a year. The five key workers and make people making a
:13:49. > :13:57.contribution leave the country. And if that is not a good example of
:13:58. > :14:00.unintended consequences, that it is made to create headlines, rather
:14:01. > :14:06.than addressing immigration, I cannot think of anything better.
:14:07. > :14:09.Would it not be better to drop this policy and grin fades some of the
:14:10. > :14:17.money that will be saved to help boost skills and training for local
:14:18. > :14:20.workers? The government consulted in 2011. The government doesn't believe
:14:21. > :14:25.there should be an automatic link between coming to the UK to work
:14:26. > :14:29.temporarily and staying permanently. That is something very common in
:14:30. > :14:34.most countries. There is a difference between temporary and
:14:35. > :14:38.permanent settlement. The minimum earning threshold was set following
:14:39. > :14:44.advice from the migration advisory committee. The main purpose was to
:14:45. > :14:50.support the UK economy, not to provide migrants with a route to
:14:51. > :14:55.settlement. ?35,000 per year wasn't a figure invented by politicians
:14:56. > :15:01.from nowhere. It was worked out professionally by the committee to
:15:02. > :15:09.be the equivalent of a medium UK paid skills job. That was at the
:15:10. > :15:12.time of the consultation in 2011. I think our members should be aware
:15:13. > :15:13.that the most recent research is that the figures today will be
:15:14. > :15:16.?39,000. You're watching Monday in Parliament
:15:17. > :15:20.with me Kristiina Cooper. Labour has criticised Government
:15:21. > :15:22.plans to allow Police and Crime Commissioners to take
:15:23. > :15:25.responsibility for fire The attack came as MPs
:15:26. > :15:30.held their first debate on the wide-ranging
:15:31. > :15:32.Police and Crime Bill - which mainly applies
:15:33. > :15:36.to England and Wales. The Home Secretary told the Commons
:15:37. > :15:39.the change to fire services would save money and
:15:40. > :15:42.improve effectiveness. Where a local case
:15:43. > :15:45.is made, the Bill will enable a PCC by integrating the senior management
:15:46. > :15:49.teams of the police force and the fire and rescue service
:15:50. > :15:52.under a single chief officer. This single employer model
:15:53. > :15:54.will allow the rapid consolidation of back-office functions
:15:55. > :15:57.without the complexities of negotiating collaboration
:15:58. > :15:59.agreements between the PCC, the chief constable and one or more
:16:00. > :16:03.fire and rescue authorities. I should stress that under these
:16:04. > :16:05.reforms police officers and firefighters will remain
:16:06. > :16:09.distinct and separate, as set out in law, albeit supported
:16:10. > :16:14.by increasingly integrated HR, ICT, finance, procurement,
:16:15. > :16:17.fleet management What on earth happened
:16:18. > :16:22.to the Government's Just as with metro mayors,
:16:23. > :16:31.it looks like these expanded PCCs The Government have not made
:16:32. > :16:36.the case for changing the fire service in this way,
:16:37. > :16:39.and nor have they shown how the independence and funding
:16:40. > :16:41.of the fire service will be The fire service, as the junior
:16:42. > :16:46.partner in the arrangement, I know that the concerns I have
:16:47. > :16:53.outlined are held by not only Labour councillors,
:16:54. > :16:56.but Conservative councillors, as the nods that I see opposite
:16:57. > :16:59.from Government Members The Bill also sets out to ban
:17:00. > :17:06.the use of police cells as places of safety for children
:17:07. > :17:08.and young people experiencing Those experiencing a mental health
:17:09. > :17:13.crisis and who present a danger to themselves or to others need
:17:14. > :17:16.rapid support and care They do not need locking up
:17:17. > :17:23.in a police cell for up to 72 hours. The Home Secretary is absolutely
:17:24. > :17:26.right when she said a police cell Being ill and black
:17:27. > :17:35.is not a criminal We know that if you are of
:17:36. > :17:42.African Caribbean descent, suffering a mental health
:17:43. > :17:45.crisis you are more You're more likely to be detained
:17:46. > :17:51.and subjected to a community We have never believed
:17:52. > :18:00.that the right place should be I want to also acknowledge the work
:18:01. > :18:07.that is done by my honourable member for Durham North who has
:18:08. > :18:09.also campaigned on these He was one of those
:18:10. > :18:16.who has always said only in exceptional cases should
:18:17. > :18:19.people with illnesses of this kind That applies to children
:18:20. > :18:28.but in particular also to adults. The Bill will also change the police
:18:29. > :18:30.complaints procedure and the disciplinary action that can
:18:31. > :18:34.be taken against police officers. My Honourable friend,
:18:35. > :18:37.the Shadow Home Secretary has mentioned the prospect of being able
:18:38. > :18:40.to reduce the pension entitlement for a retired officers
:18:41. > :18:44.in certain circumstances. I hope that is something
:18:45. > :18:47.that the Minster will Madam Deputy Speaker,
:18:48. > :18:54.one of the very sad but important duties I have
:18:55. > :19:00.is to remove the pension from an officer because they
:19:01. > :19:02.have committed certain It is already here and there
:19:03. > :19:10.are other sanctions including criminal sanctions that
:19:11. > :19:12.can be taken as well. The pension removal
:19:13. > :19:17.is in statute now. Now, the actor Richard Gere
:19:18. > :19:19.was in Parliament last week. It was one stop
:19:20. > :19:22.on his tour of the UK to promote his new film
:19:23. > :19:25.about homelessness. Richard Gere hopes that Time Out
:19:26. > :19:27.of Mind will change attitude At Lords question time,
:19:28. > :19:33.one peer wondered if Richard Gere had persuaded the Chancellor George
:19:34. > :19:35.Osborne to support the cause. The question came during exchanges
:19:36. > :19:45.on how to tackle rough sleeping. My lord, in the recent written
:19:46. > :19:49.answer to me the minister said these survey of England found
:19:50. > :19:53.that there were 2744 people sleeping At the same time the number
:19:54. > :20:02.of number of beds was 36,540. Can we conclude from these figures
:20:03. > :20:05.that the problem is not the availability of
:20:06. > :20:08.beds as the apparent unwillingness of those sleeping
:20:09. > :20:12.rough to take them up? In which case, what are
:20:13. > :20:19.the Government going to do about it? There are a number of reasons why
:20:20. > :20:26.people sleep rough and the Lord has alluded to one of them
:20:27. > :20:30.but he is absolutely right in suggesting that we need to tackle
:20:31. > :20:33.both the rough sleepers and make sure they do not spend
:20:34. > :20:41.a second night out. Homeless is now in England
:20:42. > :20:44.is a loss of private tenancy. We desperately need an increase
:20:45. > :20:46.in social housing alongside If Richard Gere has managed
:20:47. > :20:51.to persuade the Chancellor to make this his next big cause,
:20:52. > :20:55.according to the papers at the weekend, does
:20:56. > :20:57.the minister now regret the lack of policies
:20:58. > :21:04.to increase social housing? My Lords, I think it
:21:05. > :21:07.is important that we provide housing of all types
:21:08. > :21:10.of tenure, as the noble lady pointed out houses for social rent,
:21:11. > :21:16.affordable homes, starter homes and shared ownership
:21:17. > :21:19.and Help To Buy schemes, Rent To Build, all the different
:21:20. > :21:27.schemes that are in place The first female bishop to be
:21:28. > :21:34.introduced into the upper house has The Right Reverend Rachel Treweek
:21:35. > :21:37.made her first contribution in a debate on women's
:21:38. > :21:39.representation and empowerment - telling peers that she started her
:21:40. > :21:43.professional life as a speech My work with children
:21:44. > :21:51.and families as a speech and language therapist fuelled my
:21:52. > :21:52.interest in communication, Together, these are powerful keys
:21:53. > :22:02.to understanding and interpreting what it means to be
:22:03. > :22:04.human and made in the My call to ordination was not
:22:05. > :22:13.something I welcomed but I knew that as a follower of Jesus Christ this
:22:14. > :22:16.was about saying yes to an ongoing journey of becoming the women
:22:17. > :22:21.I was called to be. In the early 90s women
:22:22. > :22:24.could not be priests in the Church of England
:22:25. > :22:27.and when I went to theological College in Oxford I never
:22:28. > :22:31.imagined that one day She revealed that she was interested
:22:32. > :22:37.in conflict resolution. In a world of diversity,
:22:38. > :22:43.conflict will always be part of everyday life
:22:44. > :22:46.and we need to learn to learn What we see across our world is that
:22:47. > :23:02.people are threatened by the other. Over the years I added my voice
:23:03. > :23:06.to the debate to enable the consecration of women
:23:07. > :23:09.and my starting point was always the firm conviction
:23:10. > :23:10.that all people are created equal in the image of God
:23:11. > :23:13.and called to use the gifts for the glory of God
:23:14. > :23:16.and the flourishing of all people. Also making her maiden speech
:23:17. > :23:19.was the entrepreneur Lady Mone. She's conducting a review
:23:20. > :23:23.for the Prime Minister on how to increase the number
:23:24. > :23:26.of business start-ups. In a personal contribution
:23:27. > :23:30.she told peers how, having grown up in a Glasgow
:23:31. > :23:32.tenement, it was an honour My Lords, I am dyslexic,
:23:33. > :23:41.and this speech is harder than any business I have ever started
:23:42. > :23:44.and I started my first I had a paper round and,
:23:45. > :23:52.by the time I was 11, Then at the age of 12,
:23:53. > :24:00.I got a job in the local fruit and veg shop, but I was soon
:24:01. > :24:03.headhunted by the sweetie shop across the road,
:24:04. > :24:09.which paid me 15p an hour more. So I can tell your Lordships that
:24:10. > :24:12.I was off like a shot. My parents did not
:24:13. > :24:15.have an easy life. My brother died when he was a baby
:24:16. > :24:19.and my dad was confined So at the age of 15
:24:20. > :24:25.I decided to leave I had nothing except passion,
:24:26. > :24:35.determination and a can-do attitude. She started her own
:24:36. > :24:39.business when she was 24. I was lucky that my mum and dad
:24:40. > :24:45.taught me that dreams can come true if you work hard, are honest
:24:46. > :24:48.and never, ever give up. And she finished by quoting from one
:24:49. > :24:52.of her favourite songs. I love music and I would
:24:53. > :24:56.like to share with you the words of a song by the late,
:24:57. > :24:59.great Whitney Houston, which inspired me
:25:00. > :25:03.when I was growing up. I normally sing this at karaoke,
:25:04. > :25:10.but on the advice of our wonderful doorkeepers, I thought
:25:11. > :25:16.I would spare your Lordships ears. "I believe the children
:25:17. > :25:21.are our future. "Teach them well and let
:25:22. > :25:26.them lead the way." Fellow peers congratulated Lady Mone
:25:27. > :25:30.on a powerful maiden speech. Although, a Conservative Lord Fowler
:25:31. > :25:32.said it was a great pity Well, that's it from
:25:33. > :25:37.Monday in Parliament. Keith Macdougall will be
:25:38. > :25:40.here for the rest of the week but from me, Kristiina
:25:41. > :25:45.Cooper, goodbye.