23/10/2017 Monday in Parliament

Hello and Welcome to Monday in Parliament, our look at the best

of the day in the Commons and the Lords.

Another day, another Prime Ministerial update on Brexit.

I am ambitious and positive about Britain's future and these

But the Labour leader isn't impressed.

I'm now beginning to feel a very worrying sense of Groundhog Day

Warnings for Britons who're returning home

after fighting with IS terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

We have to make sure that if they ever do return

from Iraq and Syria, they do not pose a future threat to

And a former Labour leader is fearful of what will happen

Will the Minister join others in strongly urging the Bank

of England not to increase interest rates,

which would devastate families, businesses and the economy?

But first - Theresa May has told MPs "important progress" on Brexit

was made at the recent EU summit meeting.

But the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it sounded

The Prime Minister must have been hopeful of at least a speeding-up

in the Brexit talks process, when she sat down with negotiators

and the European Council president Donald Tusk in Brussels last week.

In the end, Mr Tusk said although not enough progress had

been made to begin trade talks, reports of 'deadlock' may

The leaders of the 27 remaining EU nations did agree to discuss

arrangements on future talks amongst themselves.

Reporting to MPs in the Commons, Theresa May said she had a "degree

of confidence" of making enough progress by December

So, Mr Speaker, I am ambitious and positive about Britain's future

If we are going to take a step forward together,

it must be on the basis of joint effort and endeavour

But I believe that by approaching these negotiations in a constructive

way, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, we can

and will deliver the best possible outcome that works

And that belief was shared by other European leaders.

Mr Speaker, I'm now beginning to have a very worrying sense

Well, here we are again, after another round of talks

and we're still no clearer as to when negotiations on Britain's

future with our largest trading partner will actually begin!

The Brexit Secretary still maintains no deal must be an option.

While the Secretary of State for International Development says

that leaving without a deal would not be the Armageddon that

Does the Prime Minister believe the outcome that is not Armageddon

might be setting the bar a bit too low?

He talked about us making no real progress.

Well, we haven't reached a final agreement but it's going to happen.

I have a degree of confidence that we'll be able to get to the point

After the Florence Speech, there is a new momentum,

the Florence Speech was a step forward and it should be a positive

response to the willingness to work in the interim period and there has

Now, as it happens, those aren't my words, they are the words

of Chancellor Merkel, the Taoiseach, the Swedish minister,

the Italian Prime Minister, the Polish Prime Minister

So, I can assure the right honourable gentleman that

With the tenor of the Prime Minister's negotiations last week

and her statement to the House today, is very much to seek

a creative and pragmatic approach to a new deep

Partnership is the keyword, is it not?

Because no partnership is possible without dialogue within this house,

with the European neighbours and fellow member states

So, can the Prime Minister assure us that those talks will continue

and that she will not listen to those, unfortunately

on these benches sometimes, who want talks to stop and us to go

I can assure my honourable friend that negotiations are continuing.

As I said, we'll want to ensure we have worked to,

it's what we're doing, we're working to get a good deal.

Can I reassure my right honourable friend that anyone

who is suggesting she is weak is seriously underestimating her.

Seriously underestimating this party, which supports her.

And underestimating the importance of the referendum mandate

and the fact that she personally obtained more conservative votes

than any other Conservative leader for 30 years.

And will she stick to her guns, follow-through and have confidence

that unfortunately the only people undermining her from this side,

are people threatening to go into the lobbies with the Labour

Would she clarify, is she saying today that if we haven't got

a long-term trade deal agreed by this time next year,

then there won't be any transition deal at all and Britain will end up

An implementation period is about a period which is adjusting

That's the basis on which I have put it forward to the European Union

and that's the basis on which we will be negotiating

Ernst and Young have warned that 83,000 city jobs

could be lost if the UK loses its denominated

Mr Speaker, businesses need certainty and we need to know

the details of our future trading relationship and any transition deal

It is absolutely critical that we stay in the single market

Will the Prime Minister end Government's catastrophic

ideological flirtation with a no deal scenario,

take this off the table and do it today?

I welcome my right honourable friend's update and indeed

the tone and manner with which she is representing

Whilst no deal is obviously better than a bad deal,

does my right honourable friend agree that according to reports now,

the German Foreign Ministry is preparing a draft trade accord

and the Swedish national border trade is drawing up trade plans,

there are real grounds for optimism that a mutually beneficial trade

agreement can be struck which honours the instruction

When is the Prime Minister going to face down the ideologues

in her party, on her back benches and indeed in her own Cabinet,

who from the safety of their stately homes and chateaux, their trust

funds and their inherited wealth, clamour for a no deal

that they know would do huge damage to the just about managing?

It would leave the UK weaker and make her position in the world much

smaller. When will she stand up for Remain raters and indeed the cam

Ashleigh Crowter Sentinel-1A economic catastrophe that the

Eurosceptic obsessives on her benches want to inflict upon us?

Will be Prime Minister P the EU what is legally due to them, not a penny

less, but not a penny more either? If the Government has got their tens

of billions of pounds in its coffers, I'm not sure it has, then

that money should be used to pay for things like social care and pay

rises for public sector workers, not to give in the bottomless pit of the

EU and into Jean-Claude Juncker's wine cellar, which I'm sure is

rapidly diminishing as we speak, we can't let public sector workers in

the eye if we give tens of billions of pounds to the EU that is not

needed to be given to them legally. To she hear the Foreign Secretary's

attempt to be helpful following European Council was monitored by

quoting Shakespeare, including, there is a tide in the affairs of

men which take up the flood, leapt on to fortune, from Julius Caesar,

uttered by Brutus, who went on to start his litre and subsequently

came to a sticky end himself? Isn't that a perfect metaphor for her

predicament? I always welcome the literary and classical references

that my right honourable friend brings to bear in his speeches and

statements and he and I are both working to ensure we get the right

deal for the UK when we leave. Theresa May.

There's been a reaction in the Commons to the dramatic

comment of a former Minister that the only way of dealing

with British fighters for the so-called Islamic State

terror group would be 'to kill them in almost every case'.

Rory Stewart told BBC Radio the fighters for IS had moved away

from any kind of British allegiance and were now a serious

Around half of the 850 Britons thought to have joined IS, or Daesh,

in Iraq and Syria are now believed to be back in the UK.

Mr Stewart's remarks were raised at Defence question-time.

One of the consequences of the success of the operations

against Daesh has been the dispersal of many of their volunteers,

including the United Kingdom citizens.

Yesterday, the honourable member for Penrith and Border,

the Minister of State for the Foreign Office

and for Dyfed, said that as far as UK citizens were concerned

to have served in crisis, the only thing to do,

with one or two exceptions, was kill them.

My honourable friend has made clear and I have made clear that those

who have travelled to fight with Daesh in either Iraq or Syria,

will have been committing a criminal offence.

Daesh is a proscribed organisation and we have to make sure that

if they ever do return from Iraq and Syria, they do not pose a future

But they have made their choice, they have chosen to fight

for an organisation that uses terror and the murder of civilians

My constituent has just returned to Newark after fighting with the

Turkish Peshmerga and helped him to defeat IS in Syria in northern Iraq.

He's one of hundreds of British citizens who have done the same.

Will the Defence Secretary note the contribution and bravery of these

British citizens? But also strongly dissuade other young people from

taking this extremely dangerous course in the future? I certainly

know that and I would advise any British citizen intending for

wanting to go to fight against Daesh, ISAs, the way to do that is

to join our Armed Forces and get the professional training necessary and

the respect for international humanitarian law that goes with it.

Sir Michael Fallon. The top Civil Servant

at the Ministry of Justice has said that security and stability

in prisons is being affected Richard Heaton, Permanent Secretary

at the MOJ, was giving evidence to a Public Accounts Committee

inquiry into mental The Chief Executive of the Prison

and Probation Service was challenged about cases of self

harming and suicide. The level of staffing has been

detrimental to the security and stability and good order

in the prison, including the self confidence and ability to be

resilient amongst offenders. So it was the case that offenders

had a regular human contact with prison officers more often

than has been the case So, bringing some prison officers

back into the wing and establishing a proper one-to-one engagement

with prison officers is incredibly important,

partly because you can pick up on problems, partly

because conversations can happen and the human space can operate

whereby people don't feel alone. So, I mention staffing as my other

one and as Michael says, as Mr Spurr says, erm,

no, he hasn't said, so I'll say it, responding better

to recommendations made by the ombudsman, by the inspector

and by this committee and others, we haven't been as good as we should

be on responding, keeping up-to-date with the recommendations against us,

the ones we've accepted, so we're working very hard to make

sure that when observations are made about failures,

that they are acted on. Self harm incidents have increased

by 73%, we've had the highest numbers on record taking her own

life in prison, that's a pretty damning indictment of mental health

within our prison system, especially when you consider 70% of those

who took their own life were known Would you agree that is

a damning indictment of the state of mental health

services within our prison estate? I think the level

of self harm and the deaths in prison

are a dreadful thing. And yes, it is a damning indictment

that anybody takes the Levels of self harm

going up by this is something that worries all of us

who work in prisons and actually every time I hear of a death,

which I do It's more than dreadful, it's a sign

that the system has utterly failed, Where 70% of these people are known

to have a mental health condition, it is a sign that mental

health services in prison have I think, as was said earlier,

it is a sign of a whole range of things that aren't working

how we would want them to work and I think there's a whole range

of factors that have led to increases in self harm

and suicide in prisons. And some of them were referred

to earlier in your evidence. A lot of those things are in your

control. Some things are in our control, absolutely. I am not

denying the issue about the changes in the prison regime and the number

is of staff, but there is an issue, as we just described, about changing

drug use, changing the nature of people that come into prison as

well. In particular, I would say from my experience that psychoactive

drugs have had a wider impact, as is mentioned in earlier evidence, then

you are reflecting on. There was no question that the level of self harm

going up as been an issue. Effectively, 12% of men in the

system are self harming. 28% of women are self harming. That is a

significant proportion of people. The incidents have increased

significantly. In terms of deaths, 2016 was a horrible year in terms of

the number of deaths. Thankfully, the figures released in June for the

year from June 2016 to 2017 are better. We are working hard to

address and reverse the increase in the numbers of deaths. Those figures

in June were better but not where we would want them to be. The rate of

1.1 per 1000 is much too high. We're working hard to do that.

You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons and Lords.

Still to come - a familiar figure in the House of Lords bows

Last week, MPs voted 299 to zero to support a demand

for the controversial new benefits system,

The new system's come under fire for the long payment waits

The vote was not a binding one on the Government,

as it came at the end of what's termed an Opposition Day debate

at Westminster, not during legislation.

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary applied for the matter

to be given an urgent Commons debate.

Thank you Mr Speaker for allowing this important application which

rises, as you know, after a decisive vote on a motion to pause Universal

Credit roll out, supported by this House last week by 299 boats to

zero. All previous governments have recognised that the failure to carry

the House against a motion is a, and has been treated accordingly. --

against the motion is a rebuke. It could magically affect the lives

of up to 7 million people. They are the people who will be subject to

the flawed Universal Credit programme. I thank you once again,

Mr Speaker, for considering this application. I have listened

carefully to the application from the honourable member. I am

satisfied that the matter raised is proper to be discussed understanding

order number 24. Does the honourable member, the Leader of the House

question the honourable member has obtained the leave of the House. The

debate will be held tomorrow, Tuesday 24th of October, as the

first item of public business. And that debate

will last three hours. Meanwhile, in the Lords,

an independent or crossbench peer has claimed some people have

resorted to burglary to pay off debts caused by the long waits

for Universal Credit payments. Lady Meacher said delays

in the system were leading to rises The issue of debt was discussed at

question-time in the House of Lords. Personal debt will increase to

unprecedented levels. The they are not the fault of the individuals.

They have to wait for seven or eight weeks to get a payment, and then

they get a painful four weeks. It is not possible for them to survive. We

heard this morning that these people are resorting to burglary in order

to pay their debts. Can the Minister help them by consulting with his

colleagues? No need for people to engage in any of those kinds of

activities from stop help is there. It is there in the shape of the

advance, which is deep percent of people take advantage of. Universal

Credit was brought in with cross-party support because with the

very purpose that what it would do is it would stop the perverse

incentives that meant under the previous benefits system, people

would work more hours and be worse off than being in a system where it

was better to work. A former Labour leader was also

concerned about rising debt levels. Personal debt is back over 200

billion. Council tax and utility bills are at record levels of

default, and 40% of mortgage borrowers in our country have no

experience of dealing with an interest-rate rise. In those

perilous circumstances, will the Minister join others in strongly

urging the Bank of England not to increase interest rates, which would

devastate families, businesses and the economy and do nothing to

diminish inflation, which is largely in any case the result of the

post-referendum devaluation of the pound? He will know that it is

difficult and possible for me to comment -- impossible for me to

comment on that, which is set by the monetary policy. They are areas of

concern because they are happening at a time when we have historic low

interest rates. The crisis is upon us and it is evident that it is.

Will the Minister recognise that the Government has got an opportunity

tomorrow to accept an amendment tabled by the opposition for a

breathing space for debtors in circumstances where the Government,

during the general election of course, the Conservative party was

in favour of this proposal. Can he not see that the urgency of the

situation demands that they act tomorrow, positively? I think on

this particular Bill, which is meant to be improving the level of debt

advice, it has been brought in welcomed. This is about debt and the

horrible situation that people get into because of debt. It is

wonderful that the Government are trying to do something to reduce

this and to make people more aware. But what incentive will they give to

people to save? Debt is being addressed but there is no incentive

at all to save stop certainly in the report that was referred to earlier,

one of the staggering statements that was made their was that in over

40%, Britons have over less than ?40 buffer in savings before they

trigger into debt. That is one of the reasons why my honourable friend

will be happy that we have established a help to save scheme,

which will help people save ?50 a month. If they do that for two

years, the Government will receive a 50% grant, to encourage saving.

The Government plans to promote electric and driverless cars

by requiring petrol stations and motorway service stations

across the country to install more charging points.

in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill,

which has passed its first parliamentary hurdle.

The bill also aims to specify who is liable for damages

following accidents involving automated vehicles.

Over the next decade, cars will change more than they have for life

times. There will be changes to the way with power and fuel our cars and

even changes to the way we pay for motoring. It is not just happening

in the United Kingdom, it is happening around the world. Just as

Henry Ford proved a century ago, there are huge chances for

innovators to realise the revolutionary potential of new

automotive technologies. Exports from vehicles are already worth 2.5

billion to our economy. It is estimated the market for autonomous

vehicles could be worth 28 billion by 2035. I bought a Nissan Leaf last

month and I was struck by the fact that you have your own charging

point, you need off-street parking. Obviously, that is not possible for

anyone with a flat or a terraced house. Will ministers please

consider, in all new housing developments, changing the planning

rules to require charging points to be put into new roads, as well as at

railway stations and in all publicly owned car parks, as in France? That

is a very good point. I will happily have discussions with my colleagues.

Finally, at the age of 95, the Conservative Lady Trumpington

has announced her retirement from Westminster -

she's made a final appearance in the Lords

In a long and varied career, Lady Trumpington worked

at the Bletchley Park code-breaking centre during the Second World War,

served as mayor of Cambridge, and was a Government whip

and a minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments of the 1980s.

Lady Trumpington, a great character in the Lords.

Mandy Baker will be here for the rest of the week.