03/07/2017 Monday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Monday in Parliament, our look

The Northern Ireland Secretary says he's still focused

on a return to power sharing - his Labour shadow calls

for the Prime Minister to be at the forefront of negotiations.

He could tell her to get more involved, get on a plane to Belfast,

I am sure Arlene Foster would not mind.

Pressure from all sides of the House of Commons

There are 17 million families being ripped off. Ofgem proposals will

deal with at most 3 million, a 40 million are still being preyed on by

the big six. Fish shawls cannot be maintained

unilaterally. The Northern Ireland Secretary,

James Brokenshire, has said he believes a deal

between the parties is Northern Ireland remains

achievable but has warned that He said that long term funding

decisions could not be Because of the snap general

election, an extended deadline of 29 June had been set for forming

a power-sharing executive. That was, of course, last Thursday,

and did not result in a deal. In the past few days since

the passing of the deadline some progress has continued to be made

including on the most challenging issues such as language,

culture and identity. But gaps remain between the parties

on a defined number of The Government remains

committed to working with the parties and the Irish Government

to find a way to close these gaps quickly in order to reach

an agreement which will pave the way for the restoration

of devolved government. I am clear that the return

of inclusive devolved government by a power-sharing

executive is what would be profoundly in the best interests

of Northern Ireland. And that will remain our

overriding focus in the The UK Government will

continue to govern in the interests of everyone

in Northern Ireland by providing political stability

and keeping an open parties and the Irish Government in

accordance with the well established Questions must now be

asked about what more his Government can do to assist

the parties in moving forward. It was encouraging

that the Prime Minister picked up the phone to the leaders

of the DUP and Sinn Fein on Friday But I would invite the Secretary

of State, in this new spirit of free speech

that seems to be abroad in the Conservative Party to agree

with me that the Prime Minister could do a bit more,

that he could tell her to get more involved herself,

indeed get on a plane to I'm sure that Arlene Foster

wouldn't mind lending Owen Smith said the Prime Minister

ought to take a more prominent role It is her reliance

on the DUP that is being cited by other interlocutors

at the talks as part of the reason So I agree with the Secretary

of State that the hiatus cannot continue for much longer

but I would like to hear more from him about what he is going

to do to resolve it. Because of it isn't with greater

hands-on involvement by the Prime Minister

and the Taoiseach, as I and others have suggested,

is there a role for a new independent, impartial,

international perhaps, chairman of the talks, with

In the past that too has played an important

His party's deal with the DUP makes reaching a deal more difficult.

But does he consider the link between

his ministerial colleague, the parliamentary

Department for Exiting the European Union, and

the Constitutional Research Council, which made the

questionable Brexit donation to the DUP to be an additional and

Why did it take three years from the consultation on increasing

transparency in Northern Ireland's political donations to get the

position where the Government is now announcing that it will be bringing

The murk that surrounds this whole affair at times

makes it increasingly difficult to trust that that is true

Can he confirm that unless we have a fully up and running

executive we cannot implement the corporation tax which will

Regrettably, in answer to the question, the answer is

without an executive being in place the devolution corporation tax

cannot happen, and I think it underlines one of many reasons why

an executive is needed to get on to see that vision of prosperity,

further investment taking place, and how an executive

I do not often hanker after the days of Tony Blair but I have to

say that if we had reached this state under his premiership we would

have seen not just involvement by the Prime Minister but active

It is a matter of regret, with all due respect to the

Secretary of State, that the Prime Minister is not here today.

The Speaker and the Secretary of State

will know my commitment to devolution.

But at some point there has got to be a realisation that the

If that is the case about devolution can

he put a time frame, can the

Secretary of State put a time frame, on the life expectancy that is

Will appropriations be moved before the summer recess?

I think there is still very firmly life there.

I think the engagement that we continue to

profoundly that is what is in Northern Ireland's

locally elected politicians serving the community in Northern Ireland.

Something I know that he believes in very strongly.

The Energy Secretary has said he is prepared to use legislation

if Ofgem's plans for an energy price cap don't go far enough.

There is currently a price cap on people using pre-payment meters -

the proposals would extend it to other low income households.

Greg Clark welcomed Ofgem's plans as "a step in the right direction"

but said he wanted to wait to see it "turned into action to cut bills".

Labour say this is a government u-turn - as plans for a price cap

Greg Clark referred to a report on the subject from the competition

It's a step in the right direction but I will wait to see the actual

proposals and to see them turned into action.

The test of whether the regulators' changes go far enough is

whether they move sufficiently to eradicate the detriment to consumers

I remain prepared to legislate if they

I hope that such legislation would command wide support across

Does he recall that during the election his party placed

the promise of an overall price cap on energy

prices at the centre of

their manifesto, and does he recall the Prime Minister stating, I am

making this promise, if I am re-elected on June 8th, I will

take action to end this injustice by introducing a cap

on unfair energy prices, it will protect them and 17 million

variable prices from being exploited with some

unjustified increases in

Does the Secretary of State now intend to pass legislation that

requires Ofgem to introduce a price cap?

Or is he content to allow his firm election promise of a

If he does what does he have to say to the

17 million people on standard variable tariffs who thought that

relief from rip-off price rises was on its way,

and who will now feel completely betrayed by this policy

I am required to ask for advice from Ofgem.

They have responded to that and what they have

said is that they are going to work with consumer groups to identify how

Of the 1.4 billion has been identified as going

to the big companies instead of consumers' pockets how much

of that money is going to be returned to

consumers when the measure that has come forward?

What's his timescales for reviewing what is happening just

Will he also ask Ofgem to determine what

17 million families currently being ripped off on expensive standard

Ofgem's proposals will deal with at most 3 million of

That leaves 14 million still being preyed on by the big six

Will my right honourable friend agree that Ofgem

proposals will be viewed as a great betrayal of those 14 million

And if we are going to create an economy which works for

everyone will he distance himself from this big six stitch up and

pledge himself to help the millions of households

who Ofgem seems set to

My honourable friend has done great work with many members

across the House in establishing that there is an appetite and eight

need to tackle this problem that has been

going on for too long that the

In Wales we produce more energy than we used that we paid their highest

prices. One third of households are in fuel but you. Does not that

suggest that Westminster control over energy policy is not working?

One of the reasons why this investigation was commissioned and

five what I have asked Ogem to enact will be particularly important for

his constituency. Wind and solar was going to be the future. There is a

song, how long is this going on? This has been going on too long.

This explication of people who cannot afford to pay the price.

The Communities Secretary has told MPs that no-one who was illegally

sub-letting their flat in Grenfell Tower

In a statement in the Commons, Sajid Javid said it was vital to

find out who was in Grenfell Tower at the time of the fire.

There may have been people living in flats that

were illegally sublet who

had no idea of the true status of their tenancy.

Their families want to know if they perished in the

These are their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters.

They need closure and it's the least that

But that can't happen unless we have the information we

So we are urging anyone with that information to come forward and

The Communities Secretary also pledged to meet the deadline

for providing residents with temporary accommodation

and said it had been right for the leader of Kensington

The Building Research Establishment is continuing to test

the combustibility of cladding from councils

and housing associations as

So far all the samples of cladding testing

It's obviously disturbing that there are such large number of buildings

with combustible cladding and the priority now is to make those

Where appropriate mitigating measures cannot be

implemented quickly landlords must provide alternative accommodation

while the remedial work is carried out and that is exactly what

happened in the four tower blocks in Camden.

The Secretary of State gave the latest version of the

A good quality temporary home within three

And by what date will all residents affected by the fire be in

Will he act now, not wait for a public

inquiry, to reassure residents in all other tower blocks,

by starting the overhaul of building regulations, retrofitting sprinkler

systems, starting with the highest risk blocks, and making very clear

the Government will fund upfront the full costs of any

Our commitment has been very clear and unchanged from day one.

All residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk will be offered

temporary accommodation in Kensington and Chelsea or a

neighbouring borough within three weeks.

We have made it very clear that whatever measures that

need to be taken, any remedial measures to make buildings safe,

local authorities, housing associations should get on with

those, and for those local authorities or housing associations

that need help with funding we are ready

to discuss that with them and

I would again restate the position of the

SNP, that the public inquiry should be as wide-ranging as possible.

And that at every stage of that that the

Grenfell Tower survivors' views should be taken into account.

The statement from the new independent chair that

the scope of the inquiry might be limited to the start of the fire and

how it spread has caused some alarm amongst survivors.

Can he say a little bit more about that and can

he also confirm that all survivors will get proper legal aid to get

proper independent solicitors and barristers representing their

The inquiry, whilst the judge will rightly determine that

ultimately for himself, we all expect it to be broad and as

wide-ranging as possible and absolutely we want to make sure that

all the victims and survivors, their families and friends, feel that they

are properly represented and get the proper financial support.

This horrendous fire started with a fault

Will the Government revisit legislation of March last

year to dismiss or delay many of the recommendations of the

review into product recall which I commissioned in 2014?

And in particular will the Secretary of

State recognise that the funding for enforcement of safety regulations

through trading standards is inadequate and urgently must be

I can tell the honourable member first of all I know that my

right honourable friend the Secretary

of State for Business is

looking at this issue very seriously.

He's a member of the task force that has been discussing this

And I know he is speaking to many manufacturers

about what can be done to make sure that when products are recalled that

it is done much more quickly and more safely.

You're watching Monday In Parliament.

a deal on power-sharing is still achievable,

Police numbers need to be looked at afresh

after the terrorist incidents over the summer,

a Home Office minister has told the Commons.

At Question Time, MPs representing London and Manchester

Can he remember a time when a Conservative Government

has been so unpopular with police officers

apart from when the current Prime Minister was Home Secretary?

Public safety is the number one priority for any Government.

As he's heard from my colleague, we have protected police spending

and increased spending in areas of specialisation.

Now, Mr Speaker, in the light of the terrible events

that have shocked us all, it is quite right that we go

through a process of reviewing with the police,

police and crime commissioners and colleagues

from all sides of the House water resources are needed to be

absolutely sure that the police have got the resources to keep us safe.

In Greater Manchester Police, following the bomb, the whole of the

police service has been working 12 hour days where there is no capacity

for them to draw people in for overtime.

Does the Minister not now understands that policing is

stretched beyond any capacity to deliver?

will know that we are extremely sensitive to that point.

As I said in my remarks, we are very aware that the pressure

put on the police as a result of recent terrible events,

has required a surge of police effort

and fantastic collaboration between forces.

But now we have to sit down rationally

with police and crime commissioners and police chiefs to really

understand and test assertions about pressure on these forces

to make sure that they've got the resources they need

West Midlands Police have done a fantastic job in cutting crime

Will the Minister ensure that the police funding formula

is reformed to deliver a fairer deal for the West Midlands?

Well, I thank my honourable friend for that comment and I hope I can

reassure him that a lot of work is being done to make sure

that's not only the police have the resources,

but that those resources are allocated fairly across them.

No final decision has been taken on the

fair funding formula but I'm very happy to sit down with him

and colleagues from all sides of the House who have got concerns

about the resource allocation for their forces.

During the Queen's speech debate on security last week,

the Home Secretary said she was more worried

So will the Minister tell the House how the Home Office measures

and values the outcomes of community police officers?

Ultimately, what matters most is the trend in crime

that he knows from his experiences what unsettles our constituents most

and public safety is the number one priority, so the ultimate outcome

are the crime statistics and I'm sure he'll welcome me in noting

and welcoming the long-term decline we've seen in that since 2009.

The subject was returned to during topical questions,

West Yorkshire Police are still reeling from cuts

dating back to 2010 when they lost 20% of their force.

Can we look now at budget again so that we can restore

the numbers of police officers on our streets to give them

a fighting chance of dealing with demand?

Mr Speaker, let me take the opportunity to clarify once more

From 2010 to 2015, there were indeed cuts but what was so remarkable

and the good work of local communities meant that crime

Since 2015 to 2020, we will continue to protect police money to ensure

that crime continues to come down and that policing

and communities get the necessary support.

The UK fishing industry is going to 'take back control'

of waters within six to 12 nautical miles of the coastline.

It means ending the London Fisheries Convention,

agreed in the 1960s, with several European countries

It's a step towards the UK's withdrawal

from the Commons Fisheries Policy of the EU.

In the House of Lords, several people predicted several

The question is as follows - to ask Her Majesty's Government

how they intend to police and enforce the new regulations

My Lords, the UK has a robust enforcement system

delivered by the Marine Management Organisation - MMO -

and inshore fisheries and conservation authorities -

The MMO cover the UK's exclusive economic zone from six nautical

miles to 200 nautical miles or the median line

whilst IFCAs cover the area from 0-6 nautical miles.

As we leave the EU, we will need to review and reflect on the level

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord the Minister for his answer.

I have to say this simple sailor is absolutely stunned

by the answer which shows amazing complacency.

The bottom line is we have very, very few vessels involved in this.

They are not properly centrally coordinated.

We have already seen the number of countries

involved saying, well, to hell with what you're saying,

We will be made a laughing stock if we apply some rules

I think the best thing I'd like to do,

because I'd like to go as well, is if the noble Lord would be

prepared to go with me to Newcastle to see the vessels monitoring

system which I've learned a great deal about

since his question was on the order paper which is a digital service

which enables us to target those areas so that we know every vessel

that's at sea within our waters and therefore, and I've got some

very interesting statistics as to the enforcement statistics

Last year, a Lords committee pointed out the challenges posed by Brexit,

stating that fish know nothing of political borders.

If we're to have sustainable fishing in the longer term,

which will obviously need to be based on clear scientific evidence,

there has to be some alignment and cooperation

Fish stocks can't be managed unilaterally

and fish shoals can sometimes move for hundreds of miles and indeed,

our own fishermen sometimes fish up towards the north of Russia

So this can't be resolved by unilateral declaration.

There has to be discussion, detailed discussion

which, as we know from the very good report, the Brexit Fisheries Report

is so incredibly complicated a set of agreements.

So I hope you will take the message back to the Secretary of State

that there is no point in making just a unilateral

There has to be really thoughtful, detailed discussions on the future.

My Lords, there's a lot I agree with the noble Baroness,

which is that we do need to base our decisions on science.

We have a responsibility under international law

to have sustainable fish stocks and I'm very pleased in this

country, I think we have some considerable successes in getting up

And of course, the basis of this is that we have

given a two-year notice that we are intending to leave

the London Fisheries Convention which is necessary

under legal advice, but clearly we need to negotiate now

with our partners and friends in Europe so that we have, as I say,

a sustainable fishing industry and also for the first time,

we will have the ability to decide who fishes in our waters.

Can the noble lord the Minister confirm

to your Lordships that the figures he has given us

are as it is now in its state decimated by our membership

of the European Union and the Common Fisheries Policy?

Can he give us any idea of the wonderful future

and the figures which pertain to it when we have taken back control

of all our waters having left the Common Fisheries Policy?

My Lords, the whole purpose of what we want to do

is to ensure that we have a sustainable future

It's the first time in 50 years we will have been able

I think that's a force for good because in particular,

it's very important that we have sustainable stocks the future.

The first piece of legislation put before the new parliament

updates the protection given to holiday-makers.

ATOL is the scheme giving peace of mind

and every UK travel company selling deals including a flight

consumers can be refunded and flown home.

The bill updates ATOL to include holidays bought over the internet.

The need for strong consumer protection is vital

to underpin confidence in this important sector.

By its very nature, there are a number of risks

in the holiday market which have existed

It is common for consumers to be up front

on the promise of a holiday, which may be many weeks

There can be a lack of awareness of the financial stability

of holiday providers, particularly as the services

I think the Minister has it right that this is a bill to be welcomed.

The events of failure are rare, but it's absolutely imperative

that this market develops and the response to it develops so

that those people who have those rare failures have recourse and

he'll find a great deal of support from the side of the House

Passengers' rights have been enshrined in EU law and consumers

and businesses deserve to know, they need to know, in fact,

they're very keen to know how Brexit will affect them.

What is sought are cast iron assurances that the rights and

protections of travellers will not be diminished after the UK leaves

the EU and I know that the minister understands that.

Keith Macdougall's here for the rest of the week but from me,