:00:13. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to Monday In Parliament,
:00:14. > :00:19.A Treasury report suggesting an economic shock if Britain leaves
:00:20. > :00:22.the EU is condemned - and supported -
:00:23. > :00:26.We all know that these forecasts are just rubbish being produced
:00:27. > :00:33.by a Government that is now obsessed with producing propaganda.
:00:34. > :00:36.This analysis is an attempt to assess the British people
:00:37. > :00:41.And a report, suggesting eating fat isn't that bad, has MPs calling
:00:42. > :00:50.for the Government's long-awaited childhood obesity strategy.
:00:51. > :00:56.Ordinary people are now caught in a whirlwind of conflicting advice at a
:00:57. > :00:57.time when they desperately need clarity, consistency and straight
:00:58. > :00:58.talk. A Treasury forecast claiming that
:00:59. > :01:01.a vote to leave the EU would result in an economic shock has been
:01:02. > :01:04.dismissed as rubbish Bernard Jenkin dismissed the claim
:01:05. > :01:07.that the UK would head back into recession,
:01:08. > :01:10.while the Treasury Minister David Gauke said it was carried out
:01:11. > :01:12.in order to inform voters ahead We all know that these forecasts
:01:13. > :01:18.are just rubbish being produced by a Government that is now obsessed
:01:19. > :01:23.with producing propaganda to try and get its way in this vote,
:01:24. > :01:27.rather than to enlighten the public. Has this report been
:01:28. > :01:29.signed off by the same Professor Charles Bean who has
:01:30. > :01:32.been said previously that the moderate economic shocks
:01:33. > :01:34.are based on, quote, Will he confirm that the so-called
:01:35. > :01:40.shock scenario is to suggest nothing more serious
:01:41. > :01:42.than the economy will remain the same size
:01:43. > :01:45.as it was just last year? What does the Minister say
:01:46. > :01:48.in response to his Conservative predecessor, my noble
:01:49. > :01:50.friend Lord Lamont, who said this morning,
:01:51. > :01:52.quote, "A lot of the Government's so-called
:01:53. > :01:55.forecasts depends upon business "confidence, which the Government
:01:56. > :01:58.is doing its best to undermine. "Economists are no better
:01:59. > :02:00.than anyone else in predicting "We have nothing to fear but fear
:02:01. > :02:04.itself, which the Government "is doing its best to stir up."
:02:05. > :02:07.Unquote. The economy is a key issue in terms
:02:08. > :02:11.of the debate and the choice the British people will make
:02:12. > :02:14.on the 23rd of June. This analysis is an attempt
:02:15. > :02:18.to assist the British people in making an informed decision,
:02:19. > :02:23.based on the likely consequences of the United Kingdom leaving
:02:24. > :02:27.the European Union. Indeed, there have been many
:02:28. > :02:30.supporters of the Leave campaign who have been prepared
:02:31. > :02:33.to acknowledge that leaving the European Union would,
:02:34. > :02:35.at the very least, have a short-term impact
:02:36. > :02:39.upon our economy. Well, unusually perhaps,
:02:40. > :02:42.I find myself agreeing with a great deal of what the minister has
:02:43. > :02:45.said to the house today. The honourable member for Harwich
:02:46. > :02:48.tries to rubbish this report Well, if we were to leave
:02:49. > :02:52.the European Union, we would have to negotiate,
:02:53. > :02:55.in very short order, trade relationships with the rest
:02:56. > :02:57.of the world, As the honourable member would know,
:02:58. > :03:06.and I know from having been in business myself,
:03:07. > :03:10.one of the key concerns of business I'm very sorry that my right
:03:11. > :03:16.honourable friend has had to come to the house to defend this
:03:17. > :03:18.disreputable, shabby In the last Treasury report,
:03:19. > :03:24.there were three scenarios set out, And was the Permanent Secretary
:03:25. > :03:33.in agreement with this major Well, in terms of membership
:03:34. > :03:40.of the EEA, as I understood from what the Leave campaign
:03:41. > :03:44.was saying, they have made it very clear that they would not want to go
:03:45. > :03:49.down the Norway route to being members of the EEA,
:03:50. > :03:52.because that would require continued continued compliance with
:03:53. > :03:59.EU regulations, and continuing to be signed up to
:04:00. > :04:03.free movement of labour. Why does the forecast leave out
:04:04. > :04:05.the very beneficial impact of spending another 10 billion,
:04:06. > :04:08.which we would get back in contributions,
:04:09. > :04:11.on our own priorities, jobs and services here, which would
:04:12. > :04:15.boost the economy by 0.6%? And why does it leave out the impact
:04:16. > :04:18.of the lower interest rates and the big injection of liquidity,
:04:19. > :04:21.which the Bank of England says it will grant the economy around
:04:22. > :04:24.the time of the vote? If the economy shrinks by 1%
:04:25. > :04:29.or more, any fiscal gains you are seeking to make
:04:30. > :04:32.in contributions to the EU, they will be wiped out by lower tax
:04:33. > :04:38.receipts and greater costs. Indeed, under the central scenario
:04:39. > :04:43.set out in this report, the public finances will be
:04:44. > :04:46.?24 billion worse off as a consequence
:04:47. > :04:50.of us leaving the EU. Leaving aside the Treasury's
:04:51. > :04:53.notorious incompetence at forecasting,
:04:54. > :04:55.would my right honourable friend, for whom I have a lot
:04:56. > :05:00.of time normally, not agree that this
:05:01. > :05:02.document really does plumb What the Government is trying to do
:05:03. > :05:10.is scare the public witless, and if the consequences are so dire,
:05:11. > :05:13.why on earth did the Prime Minister say, on record, that Britain
:05:14. > :05:17.could prosper perfectly well If the Minister is as concerned
:05:18. > :05:23.as I am that the Leave campaign dismissed the views of the Treasury,
:05:24. > :05:26.the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the CBI,
:05:27. > :05:29.the Bank of England, the OBR, and LSC, as a conspiracy,
:05:30. > :05:32.does he hope that, in June, people will vote with their hearts
:05:33. > :05:38.and their heads to stay in the EU, which, with Nato, has provided peace
:05:39. > :05:42.and prosperity for the longest period of time since
:05:43. > :05:46.antiquity, according The institutions and individuals
:05:47. > :05:50.forecasting economic doom if we leave the EU have got it wrong
:05:51. > :05:54.time and again in the past, The exchange rate mechanism debacle,
:05:55. > :05:58.driven by the whole Europhile spectrum, the prediction
:05:59. > :06:01.that the skies would fall in if we did not join the euro,
:06:02. > :06:04.and complete failure to foresee the 2008 crisis coming down
:06:05. > :06:07.the road, Would the Minister accept that
:06:08. > :06:12.a plausible opposite case could easily be made
:06:13. > :06:14.that we would be better off If he can't, I will happily
:06:15. > :06:19.provide him with one. I look forward to hearing that
:06:20. > :06:23.plausible case whenever it is made. I look forward to some analysis
:06:24. > :06:28.with the support of leading economists making that case,
:06:29. > :06:35.but we have not heard that case. A report calling for people to eat
:06:36. > :06:39.more full-fat food to combat obesity has led to renewed questions
:06:40. > :06:43.on the Government's late-running First expected at the end
:06:44. > :06:49.of 2015, it's now due to be The report from the National Obesity
:06:50. > :06:54.Forum said that eating fat does not make you fat,
:06:55. > :06:56.and that it was sugar The Labour MP Keith Vaz,
:06:57. > :07:01.himself a diabetic, On the issue of the views expressed
:07:02. > :07:18.today by the National Obesity Forum Ordinary people are now caught in a
:07:19. > :07:23.whirlwind of conflicting advice when they need clarity, consistency and
:07:24. > :07:26.straight talk. The Royal College of physicians, faculty of Public health
:07:27. > :07:30.and the British Heart Foundation have all raised concerns about this
:07:31. > :07:33.report. Some claimed local authorities, schools and the NHS are
:07:34. > :07:38.receiving guidance from organisations whose funding and
:07:39. > :07:44.motivations are not known. I welcome the use by the Minister of the word
:07:45. > :07:49.irresponsible in respect of this we support -- this report. The critical
:07:50. > :07:53.issue is the delay publication of the childhood obesity strategy. We
:07:54. > :07:57.were told that be published on December 2015, then February 20 16.
:07:58. > :08:03.It is now expected at the end of summer.
:08:04. > :08:06.You can look at any national newspaper any day of the week -
:08:07. > :08:11.and get regular conflicting advice on what is good and what is bad.
:08:12. > :08:13.Whereas that might be the source of amusement in a news programme,
:08:14. > :08:16.for parents who are looking at what is right for their children,
:08:17. > :08:18.it's really, really important that they have advice
:08:19. > :08:21.That's why the childhood obesity strategy,
:08:22. > :08:23.much commented upon in this place, is so important.
:08:24. > :08:25.Instead of having all this complex and conflicting nanny state advice,
:08:26. > :08:28.it would be far better if children were simply advised to
:08:29. > :08:32.Well, I'm delighted to welcome a question from my honourable friend
:08:33. > :08:35.from Bury North - may God bless all who live there.
:08:36. > :08:38.And I had a short bet with the Secretary of State how long
:08:39. > :08:40.it would be before the words "nanny state" emerged,
:08:41. > :08:43.Let me start by asking the minister about today's report.
:08:44. > :08:45.It makes a number of recommendations, but perhaps
:08:46. > :08:48.the most controversial has been the call to stop recommending
:08:49. > :08:51.the avoidance of foods with a high saturated fat content.
:08:52. > :08:54.Let me start by asking the minister about today's report.
:08:55. > :08:56.It makes a number of recommendations, but perhaps
:08:57. > :09:00.the most controversial has been the call to stop recommending
:09:01. > :09:06.the avoidance of foods with a high saturated fat content.
:09:07. > :09:09.Now, I am pleased he has reaffirmed that he has no plans
:09:10. > :09:11.to review its official advice in light of this call,
:09:12. > :09:14.and has also reaffirmed that the evidence on the current
:09:15. > :09:21.But does he share the views of experts, including
:09:22. > :09:24.the British Heart Foundation, who have today stressed
:09:25. > :09:29.the importance of official guidance being informed by robust evidence,
:09:30. > :09:37.Can I join my honourable friend from Bury North in urging him
:09:38. > :09:41.to curb the Department of Health's natural nanny state instincts
:09:42. > :09:44.when it comes to a childhood obesity strategy?
:09:45. > :09:48.And, if the sugar tax is part of the childhood obesity strategy,
:09:49. > :09:53.perhaps you can explain why the tax is being directed at a certain
:09:54. > :09:58.number of products, when other products with far more sugar in them
:09:59. > :10:01.isn't going to be covered by the sugar tax?
:10:02. > :10:05.Can I ask him to abandon this policy, and encourage the Chancellor
:10:06. > :10:09.to abandon this policy before it becomes the new pasty tax policy?
:10:10. > :10:12.There is a difficult issue, not only about childhood obesity,
:10:13. > :10:16.but also around dentistry and around the shocking information
:10:17. > :10:20.and the shocking evidence that is showing young children today
:10:21. > :10:22.having to go through procedures that they should...
:10:23. > :10:25.Shouldn't necessitate them doing that.
:10:26. > :10:28.Would the minister re-give that advice today,
:10:29. > :10:30.reissue that guidance, as a warning to all parents.
:10:31. > :10:37.Many people, Mr Speaker, will be shocked to hear that
:10:38. > :10:39.he was 16 and he hadn't had a fizzy pop.
:10:40. > :10:42.By the age of 18, after he had had fizzy pop,
:10:43. > :10:46.from 16 to 18, he had 12 fillings in that period of time.
:10:47. > :10:48.The Minister replied he thoroughly agreed
:10:49. > :10:50.with the dangers of fizzy drinks, saying the state of children's
:10:51. > :10:55.MPs have begun a detailed inquiry into the collapse
:10:56. > :11:01.BHS had debts of ?1.25 billion when it went into administration
:11:02. > :11:06.last month, putting 164 shops and 11,000 jobs at risk.
:11:07. > :11:12.It also had a pensions deficit of ?571 million.
:11:13. > :11:15.In 2000, BHS was bought by the retail billionaire
:11:16. > :11:17.Sir Philip Green, who made it part of the Arcadia Group.
:11:18. > :11:21.Last year he sold it to Retail Acquisitions,
:11:22. > :11:25.a group whose leader, Dominic Chappell, had been declared
:11:26. > :11:31.What more could the trustees have done at the moment when it
:11:32. > :11:35.was decided to sell BHS to a completely unknown entity
:11:36. > :11:39.with an arguably disreputable background?
:11:40. > :11:47.I'm not going to comment on the background of
:11:48. > :11:50.the individuals, if that's OK with you, but in terms
:11:51. > :11:52.of the trustee actions, I think there's a very
:11:53. > :11:57.fundamental point that would be helpful for me to explain.
:11:58. > :12:01.The trustees have no power of veto over corporate activity.
:12:02. > :12:03.They are not able to stop a transaction.
:12:04. > :12:06.They are not able to dictate to a corporate who they can
:12:07. > :12:08.or cannot sell assets or business to.
:12:09. > :12:14.Did any of you google Mr Chappell and see anything about him?
:12:15. > :12:17.When we were told of the buyer, which at that point of time
:12:18. > :12:21.was listed as Swiss Rock, we did use internet searches to try
:12:22. > :12:22.and establish something about Swiss Rock.
:12:23. > :12:25.We were also given the names of four or five
:12:26. > :12:27.individuals who would be involved in the Swiss Rock.
:12:28. > :12:35.I would also suggest to you that, if you carried out an internet
:12:36. > :12:37.search about Mr Chappell in early 2015, you'd get a very
:12:38. > :12:40.different set of results than you would if you carried out
:12:41. > :12:42.an internet search on Mr Chappell today.
:12:43. > :12:45.Regardless, I'm very confident that the trustees and their adviser
:12:46. > :12:48.team did everything they could within the regulatory framework
:12:49. > :12:51.to ask questions of the seller and buyer to try and
:12:52. > :12:57.They also made very clear, both to the seller and the buyer,
:12:58. > :13:00.the scale of the pension obligations.
:13:01. > :13:03.The session then quizzed a representative from the City firm
:13:04. > :13:05.Goldman Sachs, which gave advice on the sale of BHS
:13:06. > :13:10.In a formal situation with Goldman Sachs, one of the premier
:13:11. > :13:14.advisers in the world on M transactions,
:13:15. > :13:16.it is presented to its client with a potential purchaser
:13:17. > :13:19.who is in the early stages of their business plan,
:13:20. > :13:21.who has absolutely no experience in the history
:13:22. > :13:24.that they are going to take over, and has a history of being bankrupt
:13:25. > :13:27.not once but twice or three times, your advice is,
:13:28. > :13:29."Hey, there's a risk - let's just carry on"?
:13:30. > :13:32.We would identify the risks at hand...
:13:33. > :13:34.You wouldn't say, there are substantial problems selling
:13:35. > :13:38.a major business to someone who has no experience in that industry
:13:39. > :13:41.and has a history of personal bankruptcy?
:13:42. > :13:46.I think it's important for you to explain.
:13:47. > :13:49.In a similar situation, would you not be
:13:50. > :13:59.Would you not be waving the red flag to say,
:14:00. > :14:04."This is a walking disaster - don't touch it",
:14:05. > :14:06.Goldman Sachs says, "Don't go there."
:14:07. > :14:10.In a situation, at an early stage in a transaction, with many months
:14:11. > :14:13.to follow before the deal could have pathetically close,
:14:14. > :14:16.we would identify the risks and say, these risks need to be assessed
:14:17. > :14:25.A legal adviser on the sale said he'd had conversations
:14:26. > :14:28.with a legal firm, Olswang, that represented Mr Chapell.
:14:29. > :14:30.In the conversation I had, I learned that Olswang had
:14:31. > :14:34.carried out a very detailed, very thorough due diligence
:14:35. > :14:44.and that nothing in what they had done had given rise to any concerns
:14:45. > :14:49.in relation to impropriety, and that their client had been open
:14:50. > :14:54.throughout, and that if they'd had any sense that there might be
:14:55. > :14:57.any impropriety there, then it is not something
:14:58. > :15:04.The reality was that we had reached the stage when the board as a whole
:15:05. > :15:07.had decided that either BHS was going to have to go into some
:15:08. > :15:13.insolvency process or, alternatively, it should be sold.
:15:14. > :15:18.If we could find a buyer, that was the most desirable outcome,
:15:19. > :15:21.because it would protect the jobs and it would protect the position
:15:22. > :15:29.But, if we could not find a buyer that was an acceptable buyer,
:15:30. > :15:32.and we couldn't do that deal, I had no doubt whatsoever
:15:33. > :15:36.that this business would have gone into administration.
:15:37. > :15:39.And what we are discussing actually is, in my view,
:15:40. > :15:42.for what it's worth, really the most fundamental
:15:43. > :15:47.That is that if this deal had not been done with this particular
:15:48. > :15:51.buyer, the BHS business would have gone into administration
:15:52. > :15:54.12 or 13 months - or whatever the period was -
:15:55. > :16:00.You're watching Monday in Parliament.
:16:01. > :16:10.A new Labour peer warns against her party becoming a sect.
:16:11. > :16:12.But first, there were some testy exchanges about
:16:13. > :16:14.the National Health Service on the third day of debate
:16:15. > :16:16.on the Queen's Speech, when public services
:16:17. > :16:19.The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, began with what he felt
:16:20. > :16:45.Paul cares about the most expensive thing a hospital can do. A fall in a
:16:46. > :16:51.hospital will cost the NHS ?1200 as a patient stays for three days
:16:52. > :16:56.longer. A bedsore adds about ?2500 to NHS costs with their patients
:16:57. > :17:01.staying on average 12 days longer. Avoidable mistakes and poor care
:17:02. > :17:08.cost the NHS more than ?2 billion a year. Let me just read this letter I
:17:09. > :17:12.received the other week. Dear Miss Alexander, I recently had the
:17:13. > :17:16.misfortune of using the a and E at my local hospital in Margate. My
:17:17. > :17:21.wife feels that I was lucky to escape with my life. My experience
:17:22. > :17:26.has convinced me that our health service has never been more under
:17:27. > :17:34.threat than since Mrs Thatcher. The fact that I was sent home after four
:17:35. > :17:38.hours without seeing a doctor and returned by emergency ambulance with
:17:39. > :17:42.a now perforated appendix, I blame mostly on the conflict between the
:17:43. > :17:48.Health Secretary and the junior doctors. Had this been resolved, he
:17:49. > :17:58.would have been able to concentrate on the woeful lack of resources our
:17:59. > :18:02.NHS faces. Mr Speaker, take the experience... The PPS to the Health
:18:03. > :18:06.Secretary is saying show us the latter. I got it here and I have the
:18:07. > :18:11.permission of the individual who wrote to me before referring to it.
:18:12. > :18:16.There are always pressures in the NHS as demand grows and expectation
:18:17. > :18:19.rises and there always will be. She could have made the speech as an
:18:20. > :18:25.opposition spokesman on ten years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40
:18:26. > :18:33.years ago. After 20 minutes, she hasn't yet suggested a solitary
:18:34. > :18:37.policy proposal as an alternative to the Secretary of State's. She hasn't
:18:38. > :18:43.says weighs whether she agrees on the seven-day working and all the
:18:44. > :18:47.rest of it. Apart from describing sad incidents when things have not
:18:48. > :18:50.been ideal and as they should be, does she have anything to suggest by
:18:51. > :18:58.way of policy that might contribute to helping the NHS in future? I'm
:18:59. > :19:01.grateful, Mr Speaker. The thing that strikes me having had these
:19:02. > :19:06.exchanges over the dispatch box for the last nine months is that
:19:07. > :19:09.actually, the reality of what people are experiencing in hospitals is
:19:10. > :19:13.sometimes missing from these debates and so that is why I thought it was
:19:14. > :19:15.important to quote from those letters today.
:19:16. > :19:17.A Conservative, Peter Lilley, raised the issue of the Transatlantic Trade
:19:18. > :19:20.and Investment Partnership - or TTIP - which he thinks poses
:19:21. > :19:35.A centre privately owned, set up by Tony Blair, working alongside the
:19:36. > :19:38.NHS list a hospital in Stevenage conserving my constituents ran into
:19:39. > :19:47.terrible problems. The whole system under which these centres was set up
:19:48. > :19:53.was daft and it didn't work. My right honourable friend 's... All of
:19:54. > :20:02.us Conservatives lobbied that it should be brought back into the NHS
:20:03. > :20:07.and we were successful. But had TTIP been in force and fallen into the
:20:08. > :20:13.hands of an American company, they could have sued the local NHS for
:20:14. > :20:18.taking that back in. At very least, they would have won massive damages,
:20:19. > :20:22.they might even have been able to prevent it happening entirely and
:20:23. > :20:25.even if they had lost, it would cost the local health service a massive
:20:26. > :20:27.sum of money since the average cost of taking one of these cases is $8
:20:28. > :20:28.million. And the campaign to exclude the NHS
:20:29. > :20:31.from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -
:20:32. > :20:33.a trade agreement - is being led in the House
:20:34. > :20:36.of Lords by Lord Owen, a former Labour Foreign Secretary
:20:37. > :20:39.who wants the UK to leave the EU. His concern is that the TTIP
:20:40. > :20:41.agreement would make it impossible for a future government to reduce
:20:42. > :20:53.private sector involvement I am not going to argue the
:20:54. > :20:57.arguments that are different between the political parties about what we
:20:58. > :21:05.should do with the NHS. But I will argue to my dying day the right of a
:21:06. > :21:08.new parliament to change the legislation of a previous parliament
:21:09. > :21:15.and a previous government. Forfeit that right on an issue so important
:21:16. > :21:18.to us as the NHS, then the tolerance of society starts to break down.
:21:19. > :21:22.This is the great advantage of our system of government. Lord Dobbs,
:21:23. > :21:26.also in favour of leaving, expressed his concern
:21:27. > :21:36.for the message a Remain vote we need to ask ourselves, what will
:21:37. > :21:43.happen on June the 24th if we vote to stay in? Will President Junker
:21:44. > :21:46.say, brilliant, glad you are staying, we hear your message, we
:21:47. > :21:55.will be more tolerant now, more flexible? All those who regard ever
:21:56. > :22:00.closer union as their religion, the sign that their hour has come, by
:22:01. > :22:02.even the British Prime Minister has said there is no alternative. So
:22:03. > :22:04.full steam ahead. Making her maiden speech
:22:05. > :22:06.was Labour's Lady Jowell - as Tessa Jowell, a Government
:22:07. > :22:08.minister throughout In favour of remaining
:22:09. > :22:11.in the European Union, she compared its diversity
:22:12. > :22:24.to the Labour party at home. What I wish for my country I wish
:22:25. > :22:28.for my own beloveds Labour Party. I hope it can embrace the energy of
:22:29. > :22:32.its new and growing membership, who all share a belief that we should
:22:33. > :22:38.help people achieve more together than they can alone. But my party
:22:39. > :22:45.can only do that when it governs. And it fails when it becomes a sect
:22:46. > :22:47.of the elect. Turning its back on those who are not true believers,
:22:48. > :22:50.obsessed with rooting out heresy. Back to the EU debate,
:22:51. > :22:53.the former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown said that staying
:22:54. > :23:02.in the EU was the only way If you want to reform something, you
:23:03. > :23:07.have to be in it come apart of it, acting for it. Using your influence
:23:08. > :23:13.and building alliances to bring that about. If we want to reform the
:23:14. > :23:19.European Union and God knows Shui Sheard, it is insufficiently
:23:20. > :23:22.democratic, although I have to say not as insufficiently democratic as
:23:23. > :23:24.the other place at the other end... The other place at the other end
:23:25. > :23:27.being the Commons, of course. And back to the other
:23:28. > :23:30.place at the other end, where Labour's Gill Furniss
:23:31. > :23:32.made her maiden speech. And, as the new MP for
:23:33. > :23:34.Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough explained,
:23:35. > :23:44.she had particular reason to pay In keeping with the tradition of the
:23:45. > :23:47.house, I would like to take a few moments to pay tribute to my
:23:48. > :23:52.predecessor as member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and
:23:53. > :23:56.Hillsborough. I'm doubly proud to say that not only was he a dedicated
:23:57. > :24:00.and conscientious Labour MP but as many colleagues will know, he was
:24:01. > :24:04.also my husband. He served in this house for less than a year before
:24:05. > :24:09.his death but in that time, he made his mark. He spoke powerfully
:24:10. > :24:13.against the Chancellor's cuts to tax credits knowing the suffering it
:24:14. > :24:18.would cause people he represented. And as a lifelong trade unionist, he
:24:19. > :24:22.made an eloquent speech in defence of workplace rights when they were
:24:23. > :24:25.threatened by the trade union Bill. Men and women working across the
:24:26. > :24:32.public sector are being asked to do more with less and less. Morale is
:24:33. > :24:37.at rock bottom across the board. Teachers, doctors, police officers,
:24:38. > :24:42.nurses, firefighters, social workers, prison and probation
:24:43. > :24:46.officers, the list goes on. They have all dedicated their working
:24:47. > :24:50.lives to public service and all see on a daily basis their ability to
:24:51. > :24:56.serve being undermined by this government. It always takes courage
:24:57. > :25:00.for an honourable member to make a maiden speech in this daunting
:25:01. > :25:06.chamber but it must especially have been so when she gave tribute to her
:25:07. > :25:11.predecessor, her late husband, whose untimely death robs this chamber of
:25:12. > :25:19.a promising new member who spoke with equal passion for his
:25:20. > :25:22.constituents in her city of Perth, Hillsborough. She is clearly going
:25:23. > :25:29.to be a great champion for them and speak with bluntness that she
:25:30. > :25:32.declared and I am sure that she will be a much respected on the opposite
:25:33. > :25:34.benches. Alicia McCarthy's here for the rest
:25:35. > :25:40.of the week, but from me,