:00:13. > :00:15.Hello and Welcome to Monday in Parliament, our look at the best
:00:16. > :00:19.of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:20. > :00:23.On this programme: David Cameron works to keep the show on the road
:00:24. > :00:25.after the Government's wobbly weekend, following the shock
:00:26. > :00:32.I am sad that he has left the government but I can guarantee
:00:33. > :00:34.the work of being a compassionate Conservative government
:00:35. > :00:39.But Labour tries to extract full political advantage.
:00:40. > :00:43.The prudent thing for the Chancellor to do is to withdraw this budget
:00:44. > :00:49.And peers vote to allow 3000 unaccompanied child
:00:50. > :00:57.They are victims being in Europe if they are unaccompanied.
:00:58. > :00:59.But they are in danger of becoming slaves.
:01:00. > :01:06.The cry from the Opposition benches, questioning why the Chancellor,
:01:07. > :01:09.George Osborne, was not in his place to reply to the Shadow Chancellor,
:01:10. > :01:15.Mr McDonnell was attempting to take full advantage of the weekend's
:01:16. > :01:18.dramatic political events, all started by Iain Duncan Smith's
:01:19. > :01:22.decision to quit as Work and Pensions Secretary,
:01:23. > :01:24.citing differences over policy with the Chancellor,
:01:25. > :01:28.in particular, the inclusion in the Budget of benefits cuts
:01:29. > :01:33.for disabled people at a time of tax reductions for the better off.
:01:34. > :01:34.With the benefit changes now being reconsidered,
:01:35. > :01:39.the Shadow Chancellor seized the moment.
:01:40. > :01:41.To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make
:01:42. > :02:07.a statement on changes to the Budget.
:02:08. > :02:17.Immediately after this urgent question the Prime Minister
:02:18. > :02:21.will make a statement, and following that the Secretary
:02:22. > :02:24.of State for Work and Pensions will set out the Government s
:02:25. > :02:29.position on personal independence payments and the welfare cap.
:02:30. > :02:32.I am grateful to have the opportunity to set out how this
:02:33. > :02:43.government, how this government, through our long-term economic plan,
:02:44. > :02:47.is creating growth, generating employment,
:02:48. > :02:51.cutting the deficit and securing long-term prosperity for the people
:02:52. > :02:58.Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question.
:02:59. > :03:03.I asked it because the Budget process is in absolute chaos.
:03:04. > :03:09.It is unprecedented for a Government to have withdrawn a large part
:03:10. > :03:12.of the Budget and accepted two Opposition amendments before we have
:03:13. > :03:25.He said the proposed cuts would have left is able to people up to ?150
:03:26. > :03:45.every week worse off. People need Bragg reassurance that
:03:46. > :03:50.the benefits are safe. Can I ask the chief Secretary, can he tell us,
:03:51. > :03:56.which other vulnerable groups is the Chancellor considering targeting?
:03:57. > :04:00.Within five days, and enormous hole has appeared in the budget. Isn't it
:04:01. > :04:02.the prudent thing for the Chancellor to do, to withdraw this budget and
:04:03. > :04:11.start again? I say that this is no way
:04:12. > :04:14.to deliver a Budget and no way There is no question of this
:04:15. > :04:19.Government cutting disability benefits to the level
:04:20. > :04:31.we inherited in 2010. Spending has gone up by ?3 billion
:04:32. > :04:33.in real terms on disability benefits.
:04:34. > :04:36.Five days ago, the Chancellor stood at that Dispatch Box and published
:04:37. > :04:39.the Budget scorecard with a ?4.4 billion cut to PIP.
:04:40. > :04:43.Where is the revised scorecard without it?
:04:44. > :04:47.Is it true that this cut will instead come from elsewhere
:04:48. > :04:54.If the Chancellor is too scared to answer questions in this House
:04:55. > :04:59.on the issue, he is not fit to do the job.
:05:00. > :05:02.Does the Financial Secretary agree that the first duty of a Chancellor
:05:03. > :05:06.and his Treasury team when preparing a Budget is to have regard
:05:07. > :05:10.to the medium-term national interest and to provide sound finances
:05:11. > :05:16.for the benefit of our businesses, our investments and our employment?
:05:17. > :05:18.If we now have a situation in which Chancellors are expected
:05:19. > :05:23.to produce, on every occasion, popular spending commitments
:05:24. > :05:26.and popular tax cuts, while there is a failure to control
:05:27. > :05:31.out-of-control Budgets, we will have the sort of economic
:05:32. > :05:34.performance achieved by the recent Governments of Greece,
:05:35. > :05:38.Italy or the United Kingdom under Gordon Brown.
:05:39. > :05:43.Harold Wilson once said that a week was a long time in politics.
:05:44. > :05:45.How long is a long-term economic plan?
:05:46. > :05:55.You frequently remind us, Mr Speaker, about the people
:05:56. > :05:59.listening and watching at home`our constituents.
:06:00. > :06:02.On the second day of the Budget debate, the shadow Chancellor
:06:03. > :06:05.pledged that if the Government would look again at the personal
:06:06. > :06:12.independence plans, the Opposition would not play politics with that.
:06:13. > :06:16.friend agree that this is too serious an issue
:06:17. > :06:20.We on the Scottish National Party benches agree that the deficit must
:06:21. > :06:25.be cut and that we must control the debt, but that that should not
:06:26. > :06:35.With the disability cuts and the ?3.5 billion of cuts to come
:06:36. > :06:41.in 2019-20, and with corporation tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts
:06:42. > :06:43.and an increase in the income tax threshold, does the Minister really
:06:44. > :06:50.Does the Minister agree that it would have taken real courage
:06:51. > :06:56.for the Chancellor to come here today, and that in failing
:06:57. > :07:00.to show that courage he has shown he is not fit to lead his party?
:07:01. > :07:02.His failure of courage is not only that, however.
:07:03. > :07:07.It is a discourtesy to this House that renders us incapable
:07:08. > :07:10.of properly examining the Budget, because we do not know how
:07:11. > :07:20.the Chancellor proposes to meet his fiscal targets.
:07:21. > :07:25.With the greatest respect, I think that is pompous nonsense.
:07:26. > :07:27.And straight after that came the Prime Minister.
:07:28. > :07:30.David Cameron was in the Commons to give a statement about the latest
:07:31. > :07:32.attempt to solve the migrant crisis in Europe.
:07:33. > :07:35.But he diverted from that to talk about the weekend troubles that had
:07:36. > :07:38.descended on the upper reaches of the Government.
:07:39. > :07:41.Despite the unusually bitter tone of the ex-Work
:07:42. > :07:44.and Pensions Secretary's resignation letter, David Cameron paid tribute
:07:45. > :07:48.to Mr Duncan Smith's time in the Cabinet.
:07:49. > :07:51.Mr Speaker, my right honourable friend, the Member for Chingford
:07:52. > :07:55.and Woodford Green, spent almost a decade campaigning for welfare
:07:56. > :07:58.reform and improving people s life chances,
:07:59. > :08:01.and he has spent the last six years implementing those
:08:02. > :08:07.In that time, we have seen nearly half a million fewer children living
:08:08. > :08:10.in workless households, over a million fewer people
:08:11. > :08:14.on out-of-work benefits and nearly 2.4 million more people in work.
:08:15. > :08:18.In spite of having to take difficult decisions on the deficit,
:08:19. > :08:22.child poverty, inequality and pensioner poverty are all down.
:08:23. > :08:25.My right honourable friend contributed an enormous amount
:08:26. > :08:28.to the work of this Government and he can be proud
:08:29. > :08:31.Then on to shoring up the Government's record
:08:32. > :08:36.We will go on with our plans to rebuild sink estates,
:08:37. > :08:39.to help those with mental health conditions, to extend our troubled
:08:40. > :08:43.families programme, to reform our prisons and to tackle
:08:44. > :08:46.discrimination for those whose life chances suffer because of the colour
:08:47. > :08:54.And, in two weeks time we will introduce the first ever
:08:55. > :08:58.national living wage, giving a pay rise to the poorest
:08:59. > :09:05.All of this is driven by a deeply held conviction that everyone
:09:06. > :09:08.in Britain should have the chance to make the most of their lives.
:09:09. > :09:13.None of this would be possible if it was not for the actions
:09:14. > :09:16.of this Government and the work of my right honourable friend
:09:17. > :09:27.the Chancellor in turning our economy around.
:09:28. > :09:33.He has come here today and the Secretary of State for Work and
:09:34. > :09:37.Pensions is here, practically every other Cabinet Minister. What has
:09:38. > :09:40.happened to the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Where is he today?
:09:41. > :09:44.Can he tell us why he is still defending a Budget that not only has
:09:45. > :09:48.inequality and a tax on the disabled and the poorest in our country
:09:49. > :09:51.at its core, but provides tax relief to the richest
:09:52. > :09:58.The Budget has a big hole in it and it is up to the Prime Minister
:09:59. > :10:02.to persuade his great friend the Chancellor to come
:10:03. > :10:05.here to explain how he will fill that hole.
:10:06. > :10:10.Or perhaps the Chancellor should consider his position and look
:10:11. > :10:13.for something else to do, because he clearly has not been
:10:14. > :10:16.successful at producing a balanced Budget that is in the interests
:10:17. > :10:18.of everyone in the country, particularly those with
:10:19. > :10:23.I have repeatedly asked the Prime Minister about
:10:24. > :10:26.the devastating impact of benefit cuts to the most vulnerable,
:10:27. > :10:29.including the disabled and ill, many of whom will go on,
:10:30. > :10:33.sadly and tragically, to take their own lives.
:10:34. > :10:36.Does the Prime Minister understand that people watching the ongoing
:10:37. > :10:42.fall-out in the Conservative party are totally horrified that more time
:10:43. > :10:45.is spent talking about the jobs of Tory Ministers than about the impact
:10:46. > :10:50.of his damaging policies on the weakest in society?
:10:51. > :10:54.The Prime Minister says he is a compassionate Conservative
:10:55. > :10:59.leading a one nation Government, so how does he feel when a former
:11:00. > :11:03.leader of his party and a member of his Cabinet for six years says
:11:04. > :11:11.Obviously, we have worked very closely together for the last six
:11:12. > :11:13.years, and I am very proud of the things
:11:14. > :11:31.Behind those statistics are human beings who are able to put food
:11:32. > :11:34.on the table and have a better life for their families
:11:35. > :11:36.because of the work that we have done together.
:11:37. > :11:38.I am sad that he has left the Government,
:11:39. > :11:41.but I guarantee that the work of being a compassionate
:11:42. > :11:42.Conservative Government will continue.
:11:43. > :11:44.You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons
:11:45. > :11:49.The Government is defeated in the Lords when peers vote
:11:50. > :11:50.to allow child refugees into the country.
:11:51. > :11:52.The arguments about cuts to disability benefits continued
:11:53. > :11:57.After David Cameron, it was the turn of the new Work
:11:58. > :12:00.and Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb, to field
:12:01. > :12:04.Stephen Crabb confirmed that cuts to the Personal Independent Payment
:12:05. > :12:09.And he said the Government had no further plans to make reductions
:12:10. > :12:14.But Labour MPs questioned him on where the Government
:12:15. > :12:17.was going to find the ?4.4 billion they had been hoping
:12:18. > :12:25.Before Christmas, the Government held a consultation on how part
:12:26. > :12:29.of the PIP assessment worked in relation to aids and appliances.
:12:30. > :12:31.As the Prime Minister indicated on Friday,
:12:32. > :12:34.I can tell the House that we will not be going ahead
:12:35. > :12:40.with the changes to PIP that had been put forward.
:12:41. > :12:45.I am absolutely clear that a compassionate and fair welfare
:12:46. > :12:48.system should not just be about numbers; behind every
:12:49. > :12:52.statistic there is a human being, and perhaps sometimes in government
:12:53. > :12:59.So I can also confirm that after discussing this over
:13:00. > :13:01.the weekend with my right honourable friends the Prime Minister
:13:02. > :13:06.and the Chancellor, we have no further plans to make welfare
:13:07. > :13:08.savings beyond the very substantial savings legislated for by Parliament
:13:09. > :13:11.two weeks ago, which we will now focus on implementing.
:13:12. > :13:13.And he said he wanted to start a new conversation
:13:14. > :13:19.I am determined, therefore, that all views will be listened
:13:20. > :13:22.to in the right way in the weeks and months ahead, and I will be
:13:23. > :13:24.personally involved in these discussions.
:13:25. > :13:27.The events of recent days demonstrate that we need to take
:13:28. > :13:29.time to reflect on how best we support and help
:13:30. > :13:35.That is the welfare system I believe in, and I commend this statement
:13:36. > :13:57.welcome and congratulations to the new Secretary of State.
:13:58. > :13:59.He and I have history at the Wales Office,
:14:00. > :14:01.and I look forward to renewing our relationship.
:14:02. > :14:04.On the basis of today s statement at least, it looks like it will be
:14:05. > :14:07.a bit more productive than the one I had with his predecessor.
:14:08. > :14:11.However entertaining it has been watching this Tory civil
:14:12. > :14:15.war over the weekend, what really matters are the 640,000
:14:16. > :14:20.disabled people who have been in the firing line of
:14:21. > :14:31.the Prime Minister s Budget, so on their behalf I sincerely thank
:14:32. > :14:34.the new Secretary of State for doing the right thing and
:14:35. > :14:38.But however welcome that decision, the manner in which it came
:14:39. > :14:39.about leaves many questions unanswered and strips
:14:40. > :14:42.all credibility from the claims of this Government and this
:14:43. > :14:45.Prime Minister to protect all of the people of Britain.
:14:46. > :14:48.Never again can he or this Government claim that we
:14:49. > :14:57.Last week, the Government proposed taking a further ?4.3 billion out
:14:58. > :15:00.of the pockets of disabled people to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.
:15:01. > :15:04.Even by their standards, that was a new low.
:15:05. > :15:10.I am glad that they have been forced to backtrack on the latest
:15:11. > :15:13.round of PIP cuts, but the policy s problems are more fundamental.
:15:14. > :15:16.The PIP roll-out has consistently failed to meet the Government s
:15:17. > :15:25.Given that we now have a ?4.4 billion gap ` a big hole
:15:26. > :15:29.in the Red Book, will he say, as a member of the Cabinet,
:15:30. > :15:32.where the Government will find that money from?
:15:33. > :15:35.If it is from the welfare budget, which part of the welfare budget
:15:36. > :15:40.For almost three hours now, we have been addressed
:15:41. > :15:43.by a Treasury Minister, the Prime Minister and now
:15:44. > :15:46.the new Secretary of State, and yet we still have not had
:15:47. > :15:49.an answer to Labour s very direct question of where the ?4
:15:50. > :15:57.There are two possibilities: Either the Government do not know,
:15:58. > :15:59.or they do know but will not tell us.
:16:00. > :16:07.We have explored that issue in depth for a long time this afternoon.
:16:08. > :16:09.There will be further opportunities later today and tomorrow
:16:10. > :16:20.Let me just repeat the commitment that I have made today: We will not
:16:21. > :16:23.be pressing ahead with the proposed PIP cuts; we will not be seeking
:16:24. > :16:25.alternative offsetting savings; and the Government do not have plans
:16:26. > :16:32.The new Work and Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb.
:16:33. > :16:35.A little bit like those chains you get when moving house,
:16:36. > :16:38.the move of Stephen Crabb to Work and Pensions Secretary means someone
:16:39. > :16:40.else has to move into the job of Welsh Secretary.
:16:41. > :16:42.And the new Welsh Secretary is Alun Cairns.
:16:43. > :16:45.He used to be a junior Minister in the Wales Office.
:16:46. > :16:47.Mr Cairns was also in action in Parliament on his first day.
:16:48. > :16:50.He faced questions from the Public Administration Committee
:16:51. > :16:52.about how well devolution is working in the UK.
:16:53. > :16:55.He was asked if civil servants in Whitehall were sufficiently
:16:56. > :17:01.sensitive to the realities of devolution.
:17:02. > :17:05.Decisions made in Richmond House can have an impact on Wales even though
:17:06. > :17:12.Do you find for example that in that particular area devolution
:17:13. > :17:24.It is fair to say health is one of the policy areas where policy had
:17:25. > :17:27.by and large been devolved in terms of how the health policy
:17:28. > :17:29.would develop in Wales compared to that in England.
:17:30. > :17:32.But there are still patients in Wales that will get treated
:17:33. > :17:40.As there could well be hospital reform that takes place
:17:41. > :17:43.on the English side of the border for example the Department of Health
:17:44. > :17:47.would always bring that to the attention of the devolved
:17:48. > :17:52.administrations as part of its consultation,
:17:53. > :17:56.and the Welsh Government would be important stakeholders to that.
:17:57. > :17:59.Could it be improved and taken to another level?
:18:00. > :18:02.That is a matter for some debate and I would be happy
:18:03. > :18:07.The Government has suffered another defeat in the House of Lords.
:18:08. > :18:12.Peers voted by a margin of 102 in support of a plan for 3,000
:18:13. > :18:14.unaccompanied child refugees currently in Europe to be allowed
:18:15. > :18:22.The proposal, put forward during debate on the Immigration Bill,
:18:23. > :18:26.came from the Labour peer, Lord Dubs, who was himself a child
:18:27. > :18:29.refugee, escaping to Britain from Nazi Germany in 1939 by means
:18:30. > :18:37.Of the 13,000 plus unaccompanied children who arrived in 2014 some
:18:38. > :18:45.In 2015 nearly 6,000 were unaccounted for.
:18:46. > :18:48.Isn't that a dreadful thing that children have just disappeared
:18:49. > :18:57.In many parts of Europe children may be sleeping rough without adequate
:18:58. > :19:04.Please keep fighting for the rights of refugee children
:19:05. > :19:10.It is very distressing to see how these children are having such
:19:11. > :19:16.England has plenty of room for these children and just
:19:17. > :19:21.to show our humanity our doors should be opened.
:19:22. > :19:25.I would be happy to offer a place of safety to one or two as I have
:19:26. > :19:31.I believe that is a typical response, I have certainly picked
:19:32. > :19:34.them up, and I am sure many others have as well.
:19:35. > :19:56.What we're getting is a response from British people.
:19:57. > :20:00.The noble Lord is not right to disregard the pull factor.
:20:01. > :20:02.We seen the consequences of Chancellor Merkel's statement
:20:03. > :20:04.which have resulted in a very great pull factor.
:20:05. > :20:07.My own fear would be that if the House made this an obligation
:20:08. > :20:09.that would encourage people to send their children
:20:10. > :20:11.from where they now are unaccompanied into Europe
:20:12. > :20:14.in the hope that they would take advantage either of this provision
:20:15. > :20:17.if carried, or some future provision which might be carried forward.
:20:18. > :20:31.Horrendous journeys, separation from families,
:20:32. > :20:33.some placed into the hands of smugglers and people traffickers.
:20:34. > :20:35.Some facing exploitation of every kind.
:20:36. > :20:38.They are entitled to international protection and due respect
:20:39. > :20:41.for their rights as refugees even more so than adults.
:20:42. > :20:43.Surely this must be the lifeboat rule.
:20:44. > :20:46.Nelson Mandela once said there can be no clearer revelation
:20:47. > :20:48.of a society's soul than the way it treats its children.
:20:49. > :20:50.We must do something, absolutely something, to help.
:20:51. > :20:53.To stop those children from being victims.
:20:54. > :20:59.They are victims being in Europe if they are unaccompanied.
:21:00. > :21:03.But they are in danger of becoming slaves.
:21:04. > :21:06.We have an obligation, as many have said so much more
:21:07. > :21:13.eloquently than I, to look after some at least of the children.
:21:14. > :21:19.The problem is that this amendment as it stands,
:21:20. > :21:24.as I understand it, applies to anyone up to the age of 18.
:21:25. > :21:29.And that goes far too wide particularly at a time when the de
:21:30. > :21:32.facto, whatever the legal position is, the de facto age of maturity has
:21:33. > :21:41.We should not be doing anything which encourages one child
:21:42. > :21:45.to actually make that perilous journey where they fall
:21:46. > :21:48.into the hands of the criminal gangs and where they put their lives
:21:49. > :21:52.at risk to cross those seas to actually get to Europe.
:21:53. > :21:54.We want the action to be taking place there.
:21:55. > :22:05.It is a principled objection to this particular amendment.
:22:06. > :22:07.At the end of the debate, peers voted 306 to 204,
:22:08. > :22:10.a majority of 102, for an order requiring the Government to let
:22:11. > :22:14.Earlier, at question time, peers debated adding folic acid
:22:15. > :22:20.Pregnant women are encouraged to include more of it
:22:21. > :22:26.It could reduce the number of stillbirths and babies
:22:27. > :22:31.It's been a regular issue in the Lords.
:22:32. > :22:34.The Government says it has no plans to introduce folic acid into food
:22:35. > :22:38.Labour's Lord Rooker, a former chair of the Food Standards
:22:39. > :22:45.Is it not like English ministers having a polio vaccine and refusing
:22:46. > :22:50.Does the Minister accept my final point?
:22:51. > :22:54.Because they have never really made this clear that there is a direct
:22:55. > :23:00.link between neural tube defects, lifelong serious disability of those
:23:01. > :23:02.babies born alive, and folate, a vitamin deficiency
:23:03. > :23:10.And it was the UK that told the world this in 1991.
:23:11. > :23:13.83 other countries have thanked us by actually using the policy
:23:14. > :23:15.to reduce the numbers of abortions and babies born
:23:16. > :23:22.The Minister should be ashamed of this situation he has been forced
:23:23. > :23:31.I am not going to argue on the science because I think
:23:32. > :23:34.the scientific link between folate levels and neural tube defects
:23:35. > :23:40.Although our decisions should be informed by scientists and doctors
:23:41. > :23:42.I don't think they should be determined by scientists
:23:43. > :23:47.This balance between individual responsibility and state
:23:48. > :23:50.responsibility is one best left to political judgment.
:23:51. > :23:53.Is the Minister not aware that we have debated this many times
:23:54. > :23:57.in this House and it has been almost unanimous,
:23:58. > :24:00.the view that something should be done to deal with this problem?
:24:01. > :24:07.On a previous occasion I remember clearly someone saying that
:24:08. > :24:11.if you did not want to have it you could have bread specifically
:24:12. > :24:14.made without the additives and in that way you would be able to
:24:15. > :24:21.If you are going to change the way we produce white bread in this
:24:22. > :24:24.country a much stronger and broader case has to be made.
:24:25. > :24:35.It is in the Scottish Government that I understand are now laying out
:24:36. > :24:40.They are supported by the administrations
:24:41. > :24:45.Why is England taking this isolationist view when across
:24:46. > :24:52.She is right that Scotland are considering this.
:24:53. > :24:55.They are looking at the practical issues around implementation
:24:56. > :24:57.and she is right that other countries in the world,
:24:58. > :25:01.But many other countries have not including all European
:25:02. > :25:05.The fact is that the voluntary approach that this Government has
:25:06. > :25:09.been wedded to is simply not working.
:25:10. > :25:14.If it is known that the voluntary approach is not working,
:25:15. > :25:16.what then is the Government going to do?
:25:17. > :25:18.The Government is looking at all aspects of preconception
:25:19. > :25:23.We currently have no plans to introduce the mandatory
:25:24. > :25:26.fortification of flour with folic acid.
:25:27. > :25:30.We plan shortly to engage with relevant stakeholders to look
:25:31. > :25:32.at other measures which could provide good preconception health
:25:33. > :25:35.including how to address the low blood folate levels of women
:25:36. > :25:38.which can lead to neural tube defects.
:25:39. > :25:40.The former managing director of Waitrose supermarkets has been
:25:41. > :25:46.Mark Price was also the deputy chairman of the John Lewis
:25:47. > :25:50.Partnership, and he will now sit in the Upper House as Lord Price.
:25:51. > :25:52.It was announced last month Lord Price will be taking over
:25:53. > :26:01.from Lord Maude as a Trade and Investment Minister.