05/02/2018 Monday in Parliament

Hello and Welcome to Monday

in Parliament, our look at the best

of the day in the Commons

and the Lords.

On this programme:

Can we trust the civil

servants

to be neutral over

the effects of Brexit?

I have maintained this document as

propaganda from top to bottom.

A hundred years since women

got the right to vote.

But female peers say

there's a long way to go

in the fight for women's rights.

You have to ask yourself what is

meritorious, who decides what is the

value.

value.

d after Donald Trump tweets

about the state of our NHS,

an invitation is issued

to the US President.

First, please stop

bullying the civil servants.

That, essentially,

was the message to the politicians

from a former head

of the civil service

when the House of Lords

looked at last week's events

concerning leaked Treasury reports

on the effect of Brexit

and the response to those forecasts

by Brexit-supporting MPs.

On BBC Radio, the Tory backbencher

Jacob Rees-Mogg

accused civil servants

of 'fiddling the figures'.

So can this building,

Her Majesty's Treasury,

be relied upon to produce accurate

and reliable analyses

of the country's finances?

A Labour peer took up the issue.

In the last few days we have had

assertions made by members of

Parliament that officials are

deliberately fiddling the figures

and frustrating Brexit. These civil

servants cannot defend themselves in

public. My lords, given that Downing

Street and number ten have failed to

slap down those Ministers who made

those disgraceful slurs, is it too

much to ask the Prime Minister to

finally show some leadership? .

Lord Young referred to his long

service as a Minister.

I think overall I did more than 20

years, with Sun discontinuing. Which

is probably more than everyone else

in this House. I never had the

occasion to question the

impartiality or objective of the of

civil service. Quite often you have

said things that I did not want to

hear but I would never accuse them

with the equipment -- like the

recent accusations leveled against

them. I think we should be proud of

our civil service and I reject this

smear against them.

This report

forecasting the complete collapse of

the British economy were we to

leave. This document -- document is

propaganda from top to bottom.

Cannot ask my noble friend this, if

I continue to criticise, the Mentos

and the Ministers who prove the

statistics in this document, does

that make me as snake oil salesman?

I think my noble friend should

distinguish between criticism of

politicians or good is a muscle

service. The document that he has in

his hands was presented publicly by

the Chancellor. Any criticism should

be directed at the politician who

presented it.

A former Cabinet Secretary

saw a risk to democracy.

Does the Minister believe that those

who make allegations without

supporting evidence against their --

serving civil servants who will not

response, or undertaking a form of

bullying that to be honest, is

something which diminishes those

making the attacks but more

importantly, damages our democracy.

The... Will the noble lord agree...

That will be the road to a

politicized civil service which will

be ruinous for this country.

I

agree, it is the job of civil

servants to bring to the minister's

attention on a when to believe they

are misguided. Did is it not the

case that in any sane business, when

they embarked, any sensible person

before starting a business will

always do a business plan.

A

responsible government must engage

in responsible, political analysis

and if we give up those habits will

be deeply damaging to future of the

country. It is the logic that some

of these people are trying to drive

us to.

Some Ministers who impugn the

impartiality and good faith of our

civil service are behaving very much

like President Trump in the United

States in regard to the FBI.

President Trump I hope will read

what nine S M my noble friend has

just said. -- what my noble friend

has to set.

has to set.

Stevens,

has invited

President Donald Trump to come

and see the healthcare

provided by the service.

It follows a tweet from the US

President which stated

that the health service in the UK

was "going broke and not working".

But, as Simon Stevens was facing

a committee in the Commons,

Labour was challenging

the Government's decision

to suspend Accident and Emergency

waiting time targets.

The crisis our NHS is now is so deep

and severe. That Friday any chest

England was forced to announce that

target to see 95% of patients within

four hours is effectively abandoned

until March 19 -- 2019. People going

onto the street to demand nationally

funded. There by the way we will not

take lessons from Donald Trump. The

NHS model is not broke but it does

need funding. If this government

will not give her the funding it

needs, then the next labour

government well.

The number of

one-on-one calls has doubled since

last year. 1 million more people

have been vaccinated with the flu --

against flu virus. The reality is

this year we have had pressure in

the NHS as a result of pressure from

flu. The differences in 2009 and the

party did not play politics with

flu, this year, the honourable

gentleman, should compare to Wales

and see the excellent performance we

have had in comparison.

What is the

Government's response... To the last

executive of the NHS, and indeed the

retiring head of the Treasury, that

there has to be a form of taxation

to provide sustainable, stable

funding?

It has been true for that

68 years of the NHS. The reality is

if we are to fund the NHS do what we

all wanted to be funded, we have to

be sure that we have a strong

economy.

Is my right honourable

friend and not in agreement, that we

have an NHS that is free on the

point at a live delivery to all our

citizens, can he confirm that this

will be the policy of this

government going forward, and will

he agree with me that we should not

be listening to the voice from

across the attach -- Atlantic who

think that we should adopt a

different system?

I absolutely agree

that the NHS will remain free of the

point of delivery. It has been run

by the party on this side of the

House, we know the value of the NHS

remaining free the point of

delivery.

Away from the Commons,

the chief executive of NHS England,

Simon Stevens, was talking

to a committee about cyber security.

It was eight Twitter attack on the

NHS today. Resident Trump.

Unfortunately, that tweet got the

wrong end of the strip -- state.

H

wrong end of the strip -- state.

e invited President Trump

to come and see the healthcare

provided by the NHS.

Health care at half the cost of

health care to United States is

something that people in this

country...

To mark the 1919 represent the shape

of that best representation of the

people bill, the houses been

having a special debate.

Women wanted to be truly represented

in the laws and customs of this

country about together women of all

walks of life. The voice of women

deserved to be heard. They may have

used different tactics, the

suffragettes and the suffragists,

but all saw them as a way to achieve

the same ends.

She was a Scott, her

father was a tailor, she went to

school... She had a half day off

every week, one afternoon off and

she said to me, during my afternoons

off I would go around Glasgow, and

putting in century devices into

postal boxes. She was a

suffragettes, and I love to hear --

I got to hear more than once how she

would carry laundry baskets at

meetings and police in the door

would say what is in that basket?

And it would carry it the weight...

It actually carried Mrs. Pankhurst.

When the police address a platform,

there were women...

We need to

engender gross with a strong and

resilient self belief. We still --

we also need to give their ambition

going to other life.

Gait -- pay gap

for women, including maternity

leave, in 100 years of progress,

only 34% of women are best of MPs

are women, and it's and it sounds

unbelievable that only until 1968

women have been in this House.

Unfortunately we follow... The

longer we get there on merit. But

you have to ask yourself who decides

who is meritorious, who decides the

value to be attributed to the rules

that should be available to men as

well as women, women as well as men.

Treated as equal. Those who are not

equal does not create equality.

It's

great to see so many women now being

propelled into high-level position,

here in Parliament, and that

includes women of colour to but not

enough. My lord, one of the many

challenges, women have to contend

with when you do reach new highs, is

that there are so often judged

differently to men. It have to work

harder to prove themselves.

Opportunity is what we all need to

make progress. To be all and

abrasive, not to be tribal,

defensive and protective.

The

commitment to women in public life

is hard work, and we need to get it

right. It requires strong leadership

and concerted action. I applaud

those who have fought to fight, long

and hard the battle is not over and

it it will not be over until... The

the perhaps a man would like to say

it, becomes unrecognisable and a

part of history.

You're watching our up of the day in

the House and the Lords.

You're watching our round-up of the

day in the Commons and the Lords.

Still to come:

"We apologise for any

inconvenience caused."

The Transport Secretary says

he's ending the franchise

for the East Coast main line

earlier than expected.

The Government's plans

for its immigration policy

after Brexit have been called

"a shambles"

after it was disclosed

that a long-promised paper

on the issue have

been delayed further.

The document was originally expected

in the autumn of 2017

but may now

not be published until this autumn.

The delay was criticised

in an urgent Commons question

by the MP who chairs

the Home Affairs Committee.

What on earth is going on? And I

have to say to the Minister,

frankly, this is a shambles. I

understand the migration advisory

committee is not reporting until the

autumn. I understand that one ...

However, Ministers knew that

timetable because that's felt that

timetable when they asked for advice

from the migration advisory

committee. I also understand

negotiations are continuing. But

again, Ministers knew that before

Christmas. And that does not get

around the obligation of the Home

Office to tell the House, to tell

the public, to tell the citizens and

employers what the negotiating

objectives actually are. And this is

just not good enough, keeping

Parliament in the dark this way.

They said they do not want to be in

the single market but don't tell us

what they want instead. I have said

they don't want to be in the customs

union but had not told us what they

want instead. Another have said they

don't want to be a free movement

that have again not told us what

they want instead and what the

negotiating objectives even are. And

at best, Ministers are cutting

Parliament and the public out of

this crucial debate about the future

of our country. And worse, they seem

to be stuck in negotiations without

having agreed even amongst

themselves what they want to achieve

out of them.

We are not kicking the

can down the road. We are making

sure we do is get a system that is

right for people. That is why I make

no apology for making our priority

the 3 million EU citizens living

here and the million UK citizens in

EU states. Because we want to have a

system in place for them during the

implementation period that we can

register the 3 million people as

smoothly and seamlessly as possible.

It is absolutely imperative that we

come to the House with white paper

and indeed within immigration bill,

they are the right pieces of

legislation.

A white paper is a

consultation document and it seems

to meet the Government is delaying

consulting on what should go into a

consultation document. Are we in

this situation because it an extreme

right wing of the Tory party or

extreme Brexiteers and...

Not quite

sure how I should respond being

called a dog. However, I think it's

only important to note that we are

working incredibly hard to make sure

we have an immigration system after

Brexit that works in the interest of

UK citizens. There is no extreme

right wing cabal controlling the

Tory party. It's actually about

making sure we deliver on what the

British people voted for in 2016.

Outside the Commons,

the EU's Chief Brexit

negotiator, Michel Barnier,

who was holding talks in London,

warned that trade barriers would be

"unavoidable" if Theresa May

carried out her plan

to leave the Customs Union.

Asked to reaffirm the Government's

commitment to leaving the single

market and customs union,

the minister said

they had been clear.

Post exit, we want to have a deep

and special relationship with our

neighbours going forward. But we

also want a smooth transition and

it's really important that we have

an implementation period that

enables us to make sure that the 3

million EU citizens here are allowed

to register smoothly and seamlessly.

But he will be as aware as I am the

Prime Minister has been very clear

we're leaving the single market and

the customs union.

It's really

important when discussing

immigration to the overwhelming

number of people who come to our

country come here to work. We are

grateful for the work that they do

and we should always welcome the

contribution to make to our country.

And also, could she confirmed the

customs union has got diddly squat

to do with immigration?

It's emerged that the Government

is considering directly

operating train services

on the East Coast main line.

The Transport Secretary

Chris Grayling has told MPs

the Stagecoach-led franchise

will only be able to continue

in its current form for

a "very small number of months".

He said the option of the Department

for Transport running the service

was "very much on the table".

The problem is very straightforward.

Contrary to widespread speculation

and rumours, no deal has been done

on this railway and I have not yet

made a decision on the successor

operator to run the East Coast

Railway and to the longer-term plans

for the integration of training can

begin in 2020. It is not for this

franchise will only be able to

continue in its current form for a

matter of a very small number of

months and no more. Last week,

following detailed analysis, the

notification of the franchise

reaching a key financial covenants.

This is really important, Mr

Speaker, to be clear with the House

and the public this is not going to

impact under your weight's a day to

day operations. The business will

continue to operate as usual. But it

does mean I need to put in place in

the very near future a successor

arrangement to operate this railway

and in the current contract stop

with the announcement today is yet

another monumental misjudgment to

add to a growing list of

miscalculations by this Secretary of

State.

Members across this House can

be and no doubt the bailout culture

of the Department for Transport is

alive and well. It's never been

better. Virgin stagecoach failed to

deliver on their contract on the

East Coast route. No problem. The

Government will step in and bail

them out. Kissing goodbye to the £2

billion Virgin had previously agreed

to pay.

Well, staying on matters

of transport now,

because the expansion

of Heathrow Airport in London

is continuing to be

scrutinised by MPs.

Although the Government now backs

a third runway at Heathrow,

Parliament has still

to give its approval.

Willie Walsh, the chief

executive of the company

that owns British Airways,

called on

the Civil Aviation Authority

to break up Heathrow's

"monopoly" of infrastructure.

He said other companies

should be allowed

to set up terminals

at the airport

to increase competition and lower

costs for consumers.

This is not just about the book,

this is also about exports. A third

of almost all UK experts outside the

EU are unplanned and Heathrow... He

needs to have more hub connections

from Heathrow and that will help to

make sure Britain remains one of the

world's a great trading nations.

Domestic connectivity and experts

are the key economic drivers of the

Heathrow expansion.

Are you

satisfied and can provide sufficient

evidence that the patterns of

behaviour of business are not going

to change significantly over the

next 20-30 years and that you are

satisfied that they will continue to

need the hub airport question that

we are very confident we need the

hub airport.

... How that which

change the economics... If you look

at who is flying those planes, they

are mainly being bought by network

carriers operating out of big hub

airports. They are helping to build

the hub because they make them more

viable to have secondary cities

connected. We need in the UK the

capacity to have more flights from

Heathrow to secondary citizens

around the world. -- secondary

cities around the world. We will see

a growth in other cities in the UK

having direct flights into other

hubs around the world, such as Hong

Kong work to buy. That's a very good

thing but it does not substitute for

having an expanded Heathrow. Only an

expanded Heathrow make sure the UK

will be at the centre...

The ongoing story of

expansion at Heathrow.

Now, could we see local authorities

in England's big cities

gaining some

powers over income tax?

The idea's been suggested

at a Commons Committee hearing

that's been looking at the future

finances of of local councils.

that's been looking at the future

finances of local councils.

The Chief Executive of the public

service accountancy group CIPFA

said there was a clear need

for greater cash-raising powers

as demands on England's

city-regions increase.

A Conservative MP

took up the questioning.

Are you suggesting that they should

be another change that we should

move away from devolution towards a

more central interference model

we've had before?

Change I would

hope to see one day is that a

regional devolution in England is

similar to devolution within the

nations of the UK. If the Scottish

Government can vary income tax or

corporation tax in order to fund

services in Scotland, why can't the

Mayor of London or the mayor of

Manchester? Have access to varied

income tax or corporation tax in

accordance with the plans of that

area. The problem is local

government is being funded from a

very local tax space. And actually,

devolution over time will mean a

wider transfer of responsibilities

and a plurality of the funding

proposed with it. That's what I

think everybody in local government

would one day like to see.

And that's it for this program.

Mandy Baker will be here

for the rest of the week.

But for now, from me,

Keith Macdougall, goodbye.