18/12/2017 Monday in Parliament

The Prime Minister spent all morning

chairing a meeting of the European

Union strategy back at... It was a

first time the group had to

formulate discuss future trade

arrangements. Theresa May took place

at the dispatch box to update MPs on

her trip to Brussels and formal

agreement to... The Prime Minister

gave...

We trigger of Article 50 and

began the first phase. We

demonstrated what can be achieved

with commitment to perseverance on

all sides. We have already seen

ministers in our cabinet like the

Brexit circuitry and the Secretary

of State for the environment, food

and roll affairs give the impression

that the agreement can be changed or

ignored. That it effectively does

not amount to a hell of beans. It is

not very reassuring that this is the

end product of eight months of

negotiation.

One Conservative picked

up on comments that Britain would

not be allowed to cherry pick a

trade deal. She sets out the

position of where the EU is.

The

chicken from the Government has

neither discussed nor agreed this

and therefore it is not government

policy?

I noticed the comments

Michel Barnier made in relation to

the negotiations on the trade deal.

This is a matter we will start the

negotiations on as a result of the

decisions taken last Friday by the

EU Council. I can tell my right

honourable friend that today one of

the senior members of the

negotiating team has made very clear

that the UK can have its own bespoke

agreement in terms of the trade

agreement.

At the weekend there were

reports some Tories wanted to tear

up the working Time directive after

Brexit. No fewer than eight MPs

raised the matter.

Given our cabinet

colleagues are agitating for some of

these rights to be done away with

well she guarantee that post Brexit

none of the working Time

regulations, will be done away with

after we leave the EU?

We are

bringing these rights into UK law. I

have said we will maintain workers'

rights...

Changes may remade to

working time. The Prime Minister

refused to give a cast-iron

guarantee that there will be no

changes.

A Labour Party that voted

against bringing workers' rights can

be trusted with working rights.

Theresa May was anxious to condemn

the use some MPs received following

a vote on Brexit last week.

It is

natural there are many strongly held

views on all sides. We should debate

them with all the passion and

conviction that makes our democracy

what it is. There are can never be a

place for threats of violence and

intimidation. Our politics must be

better than that.

The Daily Mail

which previously branded the

judiciary enemies of the people is

now whipping up hatred against

backbench rebel MPs. Threats and

intimidation have no place in...

The

Leader of the Opposition said that

threats and intimidation should not

form parts of our political life.

The Prime Minister pointedly

referred to the abuse that her

election candidates received. Unless

she and everyone accepts that abuse

comes from all sides we will not

make any progress. If she so wishes

I can accommodate her this week

ensure the litany of abuse I have

received in the election and since.

Will she accept that unless we

accept it comes from all areas we

will not move forward.

Later MPs

described some of the abusive

messages and death threats they

received. The Home Secretary made a

statement about a new report on

intimidation in public life. Amber

Rudd said the law shouldn't

differentiate between online and

real life and she said the kind of

its MPs received were deterring

people from entering politics.

Everybody should be treated... Which

party an MP stands for and how they

vote should not be met with

vitriolic and disgusting messages

suggesting they should be hanged in

public or get what's coming to them

or perhaps most unacceptable of all

that their unborn child should die.

Across the chamber we have much to

disagree on but we are agreed on

this matter. Everyone in this House

condemns, particularly if I may say,

the abuse and harassment that the

right honourable life Hackney

received. You have our support in

condemning all of that. We cannot

reach a situation where people are

put off from expressing their views,

engaging in debate or politics in

the first place because of fears of

being targeted. People being able...

The report makes recommendations for

political parties, social media

companies, the media,

law-enforcement and everyone in

public life. This reflects the fact

that tackling abuse is a joint

responsibility. We will consider the

recommendations in detail and we

will respond to them in due course.

Social media companies have a role

to play. They're very quick to take

down material in breach of

copyright. They must be made to

react as quickly to offensive

material and material that incite

hatred or violence. If necessary a

system of punitive fines should be

put in place. Mainstream media also

has a role to play. When politicians

get death threats as a result of how

they fought in this House that is

not the primary response body of

social media companies. If anyone is

responsible, it is the headline

writers who accuse judges of being

enemies of the people and elected

members of parliament as being

mutineers and saboteurs.

We are not

exactly shrinking violets in this

House and I think most of us are

capable of engaging in a robust

debate but I have to say I have been

shocked by the level of vitriolic

abuse I have received in the course

of the last week. Shocked also to

realise that actually it is really

the new normal for large numbers of

members of this House, a sort of

hidden unpleasantness that dominates

our lives. And also concerned that

whilst undoubtedly some of it is

coming from people who may be a

little unhinged, the stimulus for it

undoubtedly comes from the way in

which national media, some sections,

choose to report the politics of

this country in a way that is

designed to entertain but also to

intimidate.

Dishy agreed that what we have got

is a toxic triangle, the divisive

issue of the Brexit issue, the

Telegraph and the Daily Mail

identifying certain honourable

member as targets and facilitated by

social media, the mob following. In

other countries, MPs are threatened

of violence, we call that tyranny.

We call it fascism. But that is what

is happening here. As well as

commending the bravery, rightly, of

her Hons friends, is she going to be

brave herself? Is she going to call

in the editors of the Daily Mail and

the Telegraph?

In voting as you

think fit on any political issue,

you as members of Parliament are and

never mutineers. You are never

traitors, you are never malcontents,

you are never enemies of the people.

You are dedicated, hard-working,

committed public servants, doing

what you believe to be right.

John

Bercow. You are watching Monday in

Parliament. You can find all our

programmes on the BBC iPlayer. A

senior engineer to review building

regulations because of the Grant

Holt has told MPs the current system

is not fit the purpose.

In an interim report,

Dame Judith Hackett said she had

been shocked by how some residential

properties had been

built and maintained.

And she didn't mince her words.

There is a systematic failure here

which needs to be addressed by a

significant culture change and be

organised by a large part of people

who are part of the system and that

is to design, build and maintain

high rise, complex buildings and it

includes policymakers among others.

The system we have in place has

evolved and it is overly complex and

confusing. There is confusion about

roles and responsibilities

throughout and a general lack of

competence in accreditation in many

areas. We've identified numerous

ways in which the system is gained

worked around because of these

factors. That is how I have

concluded the regulatory system is

not fit for purpose.

Are you

confident the construction industry

is sufficiently competent? You focus

on competency right through the

report, to implement the

recommendations you make in the

report now, certainly in the future?

I am confident they are capable of

doing it and as long as the will is

there, I believe it is eminently

possible. Why is that? Because I

have already seen them doing it

once. I spent ten years as chair of

the Health and Safety Executive.

When I started as chair of the

Health and Safety Executive,

construction had a poor record for

the safety of its own employees and

it underwent a transformation in

that decade and resulted in us

building the safest Olympic project

ever. That was a massive change in

the way it cares for, looks after

and manages the safety of its

employees. What we are asking them

to do in this report is repeat that

with their focus on the people who

will be living in the buildings they

build, in the decades after they

walk away from those projects.

You

have made any recommendations on

this interim report, any thoughts on

what should happen as we go on

retrofitting sprinters?

There is two

things, a clear case are looking at

additional layers of protection you

can provide. It could include

sprinklers, it could include other

measures, including additional

staircases. Additional doors,

different means of protection, alarm

systems, all of those different ways

of providing protection. What is

clear to me is there isn't a simple

one answer to this that will apply

to every building.

Dame Judith was asked

if she could reassure people

living in high-rise blocks.

There has been an extraordinary

amount of work done by the Fire And

Rescue Services in conjunction with

local authorities and central

government, to put in place,

measures to improve their safety

since Grenfell. What I am trying to

do is build a better system for the

future. My report does not say all

buildings are unsafe, there is clear

evidence that many people build to

high standards, in spite of the

weaknesses and the mistakes in the

regulatory system. What we have to

do is make that more widespread,

much more effective and in

particular, we have to keep the

process going throughout the life

cycle of the building, not just

during construction.

Even the

waiting for a change of system,

which he will eventually

recommend...

They should take

assurances from the measures that

have already taken place, but there

will be further measures that will

take that even further.

And the

owners should be doing the sort of

things in the immediacy?

Yes.

Well, about an hour

after Dame Judith had finished

speaking to the Committee,

the Communities Secretary

gave his response to her

report in the Commons.

I can confirm the government has

accepted all of Dame Judi's

recommendations. We call for a

change in culture and system that

encourage people to do the right

thing. Everyone who is part of the

system, including government, has an

important role to play in delivering

this change in culture and mindset.

Sajid Javid also updated

MPs on the situation

regarding people made homeless

by the Grenfell Tower fire.

207 households need new homes.

144 have so far accepted

an offer of temporary

or permanent accommodation.

But that still leaves many

people living in hotels.

To have so many families, including

children living in hotels and other

emergency accommodation six months

after the tragedy, is simply not

good enough. The situation is

undoubtedly complicated, but I have

been clear with the council but I

expect them to do whatever is

necessary to help people into

suitable homes as swiftly as

possible. I am confident accountable

is confident in doing this but I

will monitor the situation and work

with the council to ensure it

happens.

Over 200 children still in

bed and breakfast accommodation for

up to six months, which I believe is

illegal.

First of all, from the date

of the tragedy, the commitment that

was given that all families will be

offered temporary accommodation

within three weeks, was met. They

were all offered that. We have seen

over the last six months, as I have

continuously updated the House, no

doubt the honourable lady has had

some updates from her constituents,

we have tried at every stage of both

permanent accommodation and

different types of temporary

accommodation. As I have

acknowledged, there are too many

families in emergency accommodation

and we will continue to work with

the local authority to continue to

do that.

Sajid Javid.

Peers have called for

an independent, judge-led inquiry

into the collapse of a rape

prosecution after police

failed to disclose vital

evidence to the defence.

Liam Allan was charged with 12

counts of rape and sexual assault

but his trial collapsed after police

were ordered to hand over phone

records which proved his innocence.

The 22-year-old student

said his life had been

flipped upside down,

and he wanted lessons to be learned.

Mr Allan's ordeal was raised

in an urgent question by a former

Labour Attorney General.

The then chairman of the bar Council

complained as far back as 1998 about

nondisclosure. I believe I'd put

steps in to put matters right.

Matters seem to have gone backwards

since then. In the light of recent

events, will the Attorney General

set up an independent enquiry,

headed by a judge, to examine

whether disclosure rules are being

complied with, to ensure the timely

delivery of justice?

My Lords, the matter of disclosure

in the context of criminal cases has

not gone backwards since 1998. There

is no present intention to set up an

enquiry of the type referred to by

the noble lord.

The senior

independent prosecutor at the bar

who averted the recent miscarriage

of justice, in addition to being a

senior and experienced prosecutor is

a former Conservative MP, who

described a system creaking for lack

of resources. Will the noble Lord

and the Minister please consider my

noble friend 's request.

There is to

be a joint review, an internal

review by the CPS and the police, in

order to determine what occurred in

that case. What I would say is

this... With regard to the case

alluded to by the noble Baroness,

the CPS have acknowledged their

standards make have fallen below

what is expected and they have

apologised to all parties involved.

It is reported that it took 14

months for this young man to be

charged, which means he was on bail

charged for 14 months. What on earth

is the reason for that? My Lords, I

am not able to determine why the

question of charge took as long as

it did in that particular case. And

I appreciate that in some instances

investigations take longer in some

cases than they do in others.

In

this case of Liam Allan it was

fairly obvious that this material

should have been looked at and it

was either the result of lack of

resources in the police service,

lack of resources the Crown

Prosecution Service or a deliberate

attempt to put that the course of

justice. Can the minister estimate

how many people perhaps are

unlawfully imprisoned as a result of

similar mistakes having occurred in

the past?

I believe the noble Lord

probably knows the answer to his own

question. Nevertheless I would make

this point. The alternative is

advanced by the noble Lord do not

exhaust the issue of why, if it

occurred, disclosure was not made at

an appropriate time, and that will

be the subject of a high-level

review, jointly by the CBS and the

police and it is not for me in this

place to anticipate the outcome of

that review.

There was widespread

concern that this clear near miss

carriage of justice, and can he at

least say he can understand why

people's confidence in the police

service has been very significantly

undermined?

My Lords, again, I am

not going to anticipate the outcome

of the review.

The reason why this

particular case has much wider

relevance than just the particulars

of this individual, however dreadful

his circumstances may have been is

that it allows credence to be

attached to the notion that there

are more examples of injustice

against people who have been accused

of rape than there are of injustice

against people who have suffered

rape and this is something that

really the review ought to take into

account.

I note what the noble lady

says on that matter and I would

react to rate that it is

fundamentally important that justice

is due both to the accuser and the

accused. -- I would reiterate.

Back in 2012, the then Coalition

government introduced a policy

of automatic enrolment for pensions.

It meant employers had

to offer a workplace pension

to their employees,

and contribute towards it too.

The Work and Pensions Secretary told

MPs that since the scheme

was introduced five years ago,

some nine million people have been

enrolled in a workplace pension.

Earlier, the SNP's spokesman

referred to stories which had

appeared in the media

over the weekend.

Today I can announce the government

's ambition to extend automatic

enrolment to help more people

achieve greater financial security

in later life. The 2017 review of

automatic enrolment published today

sets out the steps we intend to take

as we continue to develop a culture

of routine pension saving. We will

help young people to save to lower

the age of automatic enrolment from

22 to 18 and we enable people to

start saving from the first pound of

their earnings to provide a better

retirement income for lower earners

and

those in multiple jobs. I have

tabled a written statement setting

out further detail, including

trialling a number of targeted

approaches to identify the most

effective ways of increasing pension

saving amongst the self employed.

Does the Minister agree that auto

enrolment has been a success to date

and he is right to lower hit but the

politicians and the pensions

industry must all work together to

meet the savings an d this country.

I could not agree with my honourable

friend more and I am facing this

country. I could not agree with my

honourable friend more and I am

delighted with that we now have 9

million people signed up to auto

enrolment improving workplace

improving workplace and employees

many employers and employees have

signed

Earlier, the SNP's spokesman

referred to stories which had

referred to stories which had

appeared in the media

over the weekend.

great credit to holidays and extra

protection for night shift workers

so can the secretary of state

confirm what representations he has

made at Cabinet to ensure his

colleagues are not successful in

ripping up our workers' rights?

I

think it is the case that our Right

honourable friend the Secretary of

State for environment food and rural

affairs said to not believe

everything you read in the

newspapers and this government is

committed to protecting employment

rights.

David Gauke.

Now the rules of the Commons

are occasionally arcane,

sometimes nit-picky,

but you'd have thought

a former deputy Speaker

would be familiar with them.

Nigel Evans.

Minister, I know I can

be a little slow at times but I am

finding it incredibly difficult to

discern what the policy of Her

Majesty 's opposition is to Brexit.

It changes depending on whom I am

listening to.

The honourable

gentleman is a very experienced

member and he is not that slow and

he knows that the policy of the

opposition is not a matter for the

government of the day. No, no,

hopeless!

In these circumstances it

is really best not to shake your

head.

Do not shake your head at me,

Mr Evans. I have told you what the

position is. Order. You ask an

orderly question or you do not ask a

question at all.

I'll bear that in mind.

And that's it from me, Mandy Baker.

I'll be back at the

same time tomorrow.

But, for now, goodbye.