26/06/2017 Monday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Monday in Parliament,

Reassurance about the Government's intentions towards EU citizens

No EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at

the point the UK leaves the EU. We want you to stay.

But Labour says this should have been settled long ago.

This is not a generous offer. This is confirmation that Government is

prepared to use people as bargaining chips.

And hostility from many Scottish and Welsh MPs in the Commons

to a ?1 billion Government deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.

My first thought in saying it was that the Government had scraped the

bottom of the pork barrel in reaching it. But I have to tell

them, I is the suspect he will land in the months to come there is no

bottom to that particular barrel. "We want you to stay,"

Theresa May has told EU citizens She's making an offer as part

of the EU negotiations which would allow families to remain

together as long as they have Those with less than that amount

of residency would be allowed Labour argue these moves should have

been made a year ago, and that people are being used

as bargaining chips. I know there has been some anxiety

about what would happen to EU citizens at the point we leave

the European Union. Today, I want to put

that anxiety to rest. I want to completely reassure people

that under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK

lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK

will leave the EU. Second, any EU citizen in the UK,

with five years of continuous residence at a specified

cut-off date, will be They will be treated

as if they were UK citizens, for health care, education,

benefits and pensions. Our obligations in the withdrawal

treaty with the EU will be binding on the UK as a matter

of international law. And we will incorporate commitments

into UK law guaranteeing that we will stand firmly

by our part of the deal. So, our offer will give those

3 million EU citizens in the UK certainty about the future

of their lives, and a reciprocal agreement will provide the same

certainty for the more 1 million UK citizens who are living

in the European Union. She wanted a landslide

and she lost her majority. But the Prime Minister still insists

she is the first person to get And incredibly, incredibly believes

she is the best person to strike a deal with the very people she has

spent the last six months The truth is, it is

too little, too late. That could have been done and should

have been done a year ago, when Labour put that very proposal

to the House of Commons. But by making an offer only

after negotiations had begun, the Prime Minister has dragged

the issue of citizens and families deep into the complex and delicate

negotiations of our future trade Which she herself has

been willing to say, This is confirmation the Government

is prepared to use people When will she honour the pledge

of a united United Kingdom approach to Brexit and give Scotland a place

at the table of negotiations? Has the Prime Minister

costed her plans for EU nationals, which she presented to the EU 27

last week, and when will the costings be laid

before the House? Will she confirm that EU citizens

in Scotland will not have to fill out the 85-page

paper form for residency? I congratulate the Prime Minister

on her policy, which will bring many benefits to the UK

and the rest of the EU. Can she tell the House a little more

about how far we can go in negotiating free trade agreements

with non-EU countries before we leave, and when we will learn

when we can spend all the money As my right honourable friend

will know, one of the issues that we proposed during the election

campaign was that some of the money that is returned is actually spent

in a Shared Prosperity Fund here in the United Kingdom,

which will be looking to deal with and remove the disparities that

occur within regions and within nations and between the parts

of the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister will be aware

that EU citizens living and working here are particularly concerned

about the status of their children. Can she confirm that

a young person who has lived in Britain for four years,

of EU parents, she is currently studying at a university elsewhere

in the EU and will be over the age of 18 when she returns,

will be able automatically to return to her parents,

and will her parents be required Yes, that individual

would be allowed to return Is she going to take the opportunity

to make sure that EU nationals who sadly have come to this country

and abused our hospitality by committing crimes,

she will use the full opportunity of this to make sure they can be

removed from our country? Well, my right honourable friend

with one of his previous roles knows very well about the issue of those

who have come to this country and abused the rights that they have

been given by their criminality, and I certainly will ensure

that those who are serious and persistent criminals,

that we can take action The Prime Minister replying

to the Conservative MP, Mark Harper. More than two weeks

after the election, the Democratic Unionist Party has

agreed a deal to support a minority The agreement will see

Northern Ireland receive an extra ?1 billion over two years

for public services. In the Commons, the two parties said

it was a good deal for the UK But opponents have

described it as shabby. This agreement delivers

the certainty we need in the United Kingdom's national

interest at this crucial time. This agreement means the DUP

will support the Government in votes on the Queen's Speech,

the budget and on legislation relating to our exit

from the European Union It will ensure that we can govern

in the national interest, strengthening and enhancing

the Union, keeping our country safe, delivering prosperity

for all and securing a departure from the European Union

which benefits all parts Then came a harder sell

for the First Secretary - explaining to a Commons filled

with MPs from all parts of the United Kingdom that

Northern Ireland would be getting To address immediate priorities

in Northern Ireland, the UK Government will also allocate

an additional ?50 million a year for two years,

to enable the Executive to address And recognising the priority

given by the Executive to securing a modern,

sustainable Health Service in Northern Ireland,

the UK Government will allocate ?100 million per year for two years

to support the Northern Ireland's Executive priority in

Health Service transformation. This is a shabby and reckless deal

which has taken the Government And whose true cost for the future

of peace in Northern Ireland The Good Friday Agreement is rightly

seen across the world as a model for other countries who are seeking

to end conflict. But it is also fragile,

and relies above all on trust, good faith and the impartiality

of the British Government. This agreement is

all about the money. So let me first ask

the First Secretary First, can he explain how much

extra funding will be going to support infrastructure,

broadband, health, education and tackling deprivation in the rest

of the United Kingdom? No-one would begrudge the ?1 billion

of extra support for these areas in Northern Ireland,

but in Scotland, in Wales and other English regions of the UK,

the needs are just as great. So when will the rest of the country

be getting its share? I thank the First Secretary

for advance sight of his statement. My first thought in seeing

it was that the Government had scraped the bottom of

the pork barrel in reaching it. I have to tell him though,

I suspect, as he will learn in months to come,

there probably is no bottom The Government cannot be blamed

to the fact that this agreement does place in jeopardy their role under

the Good Friday Agreement. And that agreement can only be

secured if the Government Not just today, but every step

of the way for as long It is a good agreement for

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

and it's a good agreement for all of the people

of Northern Ireland. And in particular, their money

for mental health and in terms of hard-to-reach areas,

all of the money that's been outlined is for every section

of the community This is a deal that delivers

for all of the people We are very open to that, and some

day, I'd like to think we might publish all the correspondence

andconversations we had in 2010 publish all the correspondence

and conversations we had in 2010 ..and in 2015

with the Labour front bench, While the Prime Minister is busy

bribing the DUP to stitch up the seams of this threadbare

administration, she continues to neglect the people of Wales

and treats us like third-class citizens in this so-called

family of equals. Mr Speaker, my party has always

been at pains to prove that the Barnett Formula is not

fit for purpose. The Government's disregard for it

today seems to indicate This is quite simply a pathetic,

grubby little deal, demonstrating all the worst excesses

of pork barrel politics. Designed to prop up a Government

without a majority, and increasingly We now know that ?1.5 billion

is the price that this country will have to pay to keep this

shambolic Government in power. I welcome my right honourable

friend's statement, and his personal commitment to ensuring

that the imbalances and inequalities that exist

in all parts of the United Kingdom are effectively tackled by this

Government. So can he say a bit more about how

the UK Prosperity Fund will be used to raise economic output

in the poorest parts of United Kingdom, and could

I encourage him to keep an open mind on some of the ideas that maybe

Welsh colleagues of his might have The First Secretary of State,

Damien Green, replied there would be many recipients

of the new prosperity fund, to be set up after

the UK's exit from the EU. Cladding from 75 high-rise

buildings across England have failed a fire safety test,

the Communities Secretary, He was briefing MPs on how

the Government is supporting the victims of the Grenfell Tower

tragedy and the steps being taken He announced that the Government

was giving ?1 million to charities. Almost a fortnight has passed,

but the shock has not subsided. I have visited Kensington

and witnessed the terrible anguish And in some cases, people that have

lost literally everything. I'm sure that like me,

many honourable members have returned from their constituencies

today with the anger and the fears of residents

still ringing in their ears. An estimated 600 high-rise

buildings could have similar Councils and social landlords have

been asked to get samples tested. I can inform the House

that as of midday today, the cladding from 75 high-rise

buildings in 26 local authority areas has failed

the combustibility test. The combustibility test has three

categories, rated one to three. And it is judged that cladding

material in category two or three does not meet the requirements

for limited combustibility I can also confirm to the House

that so far, on that basis, all samples of cladding

tested have failed. The fact that all samples so far

have failed underlines the value of the testing programme

and the vital importance The testing facility can

analyse 100 samples a day I am concerned about the speed at

which samples are being submitted. I would urge all landlords

to submit their samples immediately. The Prime Minister said

in a statement last week that the Government's response,

both national and local, in the early days,

was not good enough. Nationally, it is

still not good enough. Hundreds of residents of

Grenfell Tower and their relatives are still struggling

to keep their lives going And hundreds of thousands

of residents in 4000 other tower blocks around the country

are still wondering if their homes are safe, worried about sleeping

at night and wanting to know what the Government is doing

to ensure they're safe. The Minister has made a promise

to rehouse all Grenfell Tower residents in the local area

within three weeks. It is now nearly

a fortnight since the fire. How many people are

covered by this pledge? And two weeks on, is it correct

that 370 households are still With some of the families,

they actually, they doubt it when we say at the first

I met one family on Friday in the Westway Centre, where,

perfectly understandably, they said to me, how do I know

How do I know you're not just going to leave me there

and not find me better quality, more suitable,

And when I probed that a bit further, the family told me

that they had been told when they first moved

into Grenfell Tower that that would be temporary accommodation.

17 years later, they were still there.

Mr Speaker, the most worrying thing in the Secretary of State's

statement from my point of view was where he said that

all the examples of cladding so far had not met the requirements

in the building regulations, but had clearly been

Can I urge him to make that the first thing

that he asks his independent expert advisory panel to look at?

Because it seems to me that if we have got widespread

noncompliance with existing building regulations, that seems to me

the most urgent thing that we need to deal with,

to prevent a re-occurrence of this tragedy elsewhere in the country.

I've heard this morning, shockingly, that people who have concerns

about their immigration status or lack of documentation

are still not coming forward, and sleeping rough, and some have

been told that they may not be eligible for housing and medical

services and may be reported to the Home Office.

We have already made it clear that anyone coming forward,

any information that they provide to either the Government

will local government, will not be used for any kind

It has been put in a letter that has been given to every family

Several MPs questioned the Communities Secretary

The Treasury Contingency Fund exists exactly to provide funding

So can I ask the Secretary of State what conversations has he had

with the Chancellor about releasing money to ensure that all remedial

work and accommodation on an emergency basis is funded

directly by central government, the local authorities

Mr Speaker, the conversations I've had with the Chancellor reflect

what I have said at this dispatch box today.

For any necessary works, for any local authority

or housing association, if they need funding help,

The Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid.

You're watching Monday in Parliament.

The Prime Minister has laid out plans which she says will provide

security for EU citizens living in the UK.

Back to the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, which was also

A south London councillor and vice president of

the Local Government Association said there should be

a change in attitude towards safety legislation.

Lessons have to be learned, and things have to change.

I hope we never again hear the nonsense we've heard

about red tape and health and safety regulations.

It is clear that rather than being too much regulation,

there has, in this case, been a catastrophic failure.

Regulations are either not good enough or not applied

Another vice president of the LGA asked who would be footing the bill

If there are 600 tower blocks, numerous schools,

some hospitals and so on who have fulfilled the building

requirements of the building regulations, but latterly have

discovered that the material is combustible, who is going to pay?

Who is going to fund the enormous costs of

There is utter confusion at the moment, not just in terms

of residents and tenants, but those in the construction

industry about what will now be deemed safe because of the seeming

contradiction between the building regulations and the combustible

test that the Government are carrying out.

Could I ask, where does the industry now go for a definitive

The Prime Minister's statement on her trip to Brussels was not

the only opportunity for Brexit-based

The subject for day three of the Queen's Speech debate

One MP asked the Brexit Secretary about suggestions that EU nationals

living here would have to carry ID cards.

Of course, what we're talking about here is documentation to

prove that you've got the right to a job, right of residency,

You don't have to carry that around all the time,

That's rather like your birth certificate, not an ID

Every part of the United Kingdom needs to prepare its statute book

and ensure it functions after we leave the European Union.

The Repeal Bell will give the devolved administrations

the power to do just that and ensure a smooth and orderly exit for all.

As we've also said repeatedly, we expect there will be significant

increase in the decision-making power of each devolved

He probably wants to wait two seconds before he intervenes.

That's why, given that this Bill affects the powers of devolved

institutions and legislates in devolved areas, we will seek

the consent of the devolved legislatures for the Bill.

We would like everyone to come together in support of this

legislation, which is crucial in delivering

Not membership of the EU, that was decided last year.

But a full and meaningful for partnership with the EU, based

I think the Foreign Secretary doesn't understand,

This is particularly pertinent, I feel, for the Foreign Secretary.

Anyone who's been backwards and forwards to Brussels knows very

well how badly some of the Foreign Secretary's comments

This is about building the environment in which we can get

the best deal from our country, which is in the interests

I would request him to change his tone and approach to something

Brexit is an opportunity for our country to grasp,

And to look behind what the British people voted for last year

One of the biggest risks, Mr Deputy Speaker, to these

The failure to realise the risks and complexity of the negotiations

And it's quite right, quite right for the Opposition,

to challenge the Government at every twist and turn to ensure

that these negotiations go as well as they possibly can.

Of course, it is realistic to imagine we will not get

a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU at the time

that we leave, and that interim arrangements will persist under

WTO rules, which may well be zero-tariff rules.

But you have to believe that the EU is seriously insane

if they want to ground all flights between the UK and the EU,

if they refuse to do the products and standards arrangements

that they have with 100 or more other countries, whether or not

But they're going to check every Mini being exported to the EU

to check and see if it's a car and fits the definition of the EU's

Does he really think that the EU is so insane that it

Mr Speaker, this mischaracterisation of the point I'm making

If we don't have a lawful basis for these these

activities in the UK, then we don't have the

It is no good talking up a no deal as if it's a viable, tenable option.

There is an acceptance of the result, and almost a resignation -

it's not an agreement, it's no welcome, especially from

those members in my constituency, people who run their own businesses,

they didn't welcome the result, they don't welcome the fact that

we're leaving the European Union, but they have accepted

the referendum result and their message and their plea

now is for us to come together and get the best deal that we can

And that is why I'm so pleased that already we're seeing

changes in the approach, and many other honourable

and right honourable members have expressed that.

And I do repeat much of what was said, actually,

from the front bench about the need to change the tone.

My own front bench has to wake up and understand that

No tariffs, frictionless trade and the best possible access to but not

membership of the single market - isn't it the truth that there

is vanishingly little difference to win the strategic priorities

And does he agree with me that it would help our constituents,

and indeed our negotiators, if all parties were to make that clear?

Plans to change the boundaries for MPs are dead in the water

a Labour peer has claimed, and no further money

A review of boundaries, which would reduce the number

of MPs from 650 to 600, was first laid out during

Asked in the Lords, a Government front bench spokesman said the final

proposals for new boundaries would be submitted in autumn

2018 and there were no plans to change that.

Following laws already passed by Parliament,

the Independent Boundary Commissions are consulting on their proposals

And they will submit their final proposals to Parliament in

autumn 2018, ensuring a fair and equal representation for the

We have no plans to change this process.

My Lords, millions of peoples have been registered to vote,

but not taken into account for the present

Will the noble lord commit the Government

Would he like to comment on the general opinion

that the present boundary review is, in fact, dead in the water,

And that any review approved by Parliament will be

on the basis of 650 seats in the House of Commons?

And if that is the real intention of the Government,

they should say so quickly and stop wasting any more public

money on a review that will not be approved?

My Lords, the country has already fought two general

elections on out-of-date boundaries, for reasons that

If we follow the suggestion of the noble lord and started again

with a new register, there is a risk of a

..based on boundaries that were set in place in the year 2000.

That would be an affront to democracy.

We're back at the same time tomorrow.

Until then, from me, Joanna Shinn, goodbye.