07/12/2016 Prime Minister's Questions

Questions to the Prime Minister. The Leader of the House.

My right honourable friend the Prime Minister is in Bahrain.

Mr Speaker, this morning I had meeting with ministerial colleagues

and others and in addition to my duties in this House,

I shall have further such meetings in this House later today.

Yesterday's signing of a memorandum of understanding

with Houston Space Court and the Rise Space Ince

staut brings the reality of a Prestwick Space Court closer.

With the huge boost that could give to the airspace injury,

will the UK Government support the Scottish Government to get

I can certainly assure the honourable lady

that the Government is looking very keenly at the opportunities

to Scotland, indeed the whole of the UK, arising from the future

development of commercial space operations.

The Ayrshire operation that she has described I'm sure will be

examined by closely by most both my ministerial colleagues

who are particularly concerned with this area of policy

but we want to see the UK as a pioneer in seizing these

Perhaps thinking of rail passengers trying to get their their jobs,

the secretary has spoke about abandoned workers

and the Unite's Len McCluskey is doing a Ukip move,

Will my honourable friend tell the RMT that 250 people

will guaranteed employment should not put the lives and safety

I'm sure my honourable friend will be speaking on behalf of many

thousands of rail passengers in his constituency,

and many others - I'm sure, in the south of England.

It is deeply disappointing that some unions are threatening to strike

The Government is now investing record amounts

in improving our railways, up to ?40 billion over the next

five years and we need everyone in industry,

both management and unions to work together to secure the best

I have to say that the RMT's action shows co-ordinated contempt

And it seems designed to do nothing except bring about the maximum

Mr Speaker, there is heckling from the benches opposite.

This party, Mr Speaker, is on the side of rail passengers.

I hope that the party opposite will join me in saying

to the rail union leaders - sort it out, put the

Stop the squabbling and tell your members to get back to work.

I'm sure the whole House will want to join with me

in commemorating the 715th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour

attack where thousands of American service personnel

Winston Churchill summoned Parliament to debate

When he said this "It is indispensable to our system

"of Government that Parliament should play its full

These words are a vital reminder that even at a time of crisis,

in fact especially at a time of national crisis, the role

of Parliament is central in that same spirit,

we welcome the Government's decision to accept our motion today,

that they will show Parliament their plan for Brexit,

So, can I ask the Leader of the House one central

Does the Government want the UK to remain part of the customs union?

Mr Speaker, can I first of all join the honourable lady opposite

in marking the anniversary of Pearl Harbour, in remembering

all of those who lost their lives at that time,

but, also, marking with a sense of some celebration, even,

the fact that Prime Minister Abe is joining President Obama

in going to Pearl Harbour, the first Japanese Prime Minister

so to do, and that sign of reconciliation, putting ancient

The Government has made it clear we would seek to give additional

clarity about our position at the earliest opportunity but it

has been the case as my right honourable friend the Prime Minister

said many times, that one of our core objectives

is going to be to secure the maximum freedom for British companies,

both to have access to and operate within the single European market.

I thank the Leader of the House for that answer but I would

respectfully say to him that surely on this issue, the answer

We all know that it would be a disaster to British business

if we do not remain part of the customs union.

As the Leader of the House himself said in February,

"Everything we take for granted, trade without customs checks

or paper work at national frontiers, would all be up in the air,

On this side of the House we couldn't agree with him more.

Can he put it beyond doubt, right now, today, tell us -

does the Government want the UK to stay in the customs union?

The honourable lady and I - she's right Mr Speaker,

the honourable lady and I both argued passionately for the Remain

What separates us now is that I am part of a Conservative Government,

which is working together to respect the democratic verdict...

CHEERS And to secure the best-possible outcome

for the prosperity and security of the entire United Kingdom,

Whereas the honourable lady, even just two months ago was telling

us that she wanted to go back to the British people in some way.

She needs to decide whether she accepts

Of course we accept the democratic decision of the British public.

Of course we do, but the difference between our side of the House

and that side, is that we want to leave the European Union

on behalf of 100%, on behalf of the whole of this nation.

Now, we really need to have a straightforward answer

Because leaving the customs union would mean having to check every

It would mean UK firms having to prove their origin tests,

whenever they export to Europe would mean chaos and it

would mean gridlock for cross-border supply chains.

And as the Leader of the House said in lamb and beef exports,

they go tariff-free, they go without any extra checks,

you cannot guarantee any of that if we are outside.

Now, again, on this side, we agree with what he said six months ago.

The question is - does he still agree with himself?

I thought it hadn't escaped the honourable lady's attention

that there has been a significant referendum since February

and that changes the context in which we are now

We face challenging, yes, very wide-ranging negotiation and it

would be harmful to the national interest for me or another ministers

to engage in the sort of detailed expedition of our negotiating

position that she is now pressing upon me.

None of the other 27 governments is doing that, nor should we.

Dear oh dear, we are not asking for details.

We are asking about a central plank of the negotiation.

If he can not give us an answer on the customs union as a whole...

Both the questions and the answers will be heard.

So, if the juvenile behaviour can stop, that would be really helpful

We don't get an answer on the whole of the customs union.

Can I ask him about one specific point?

Since 1993 there have been no customs checks between the land

border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

In May when visiting Northern Ireland, the right

honourable gentleman said - if the UK was in the part

of the customs union, then there would have to be custom

checks at the border and he said, for anyone to pretend otherwise

would be "flying in the face of reality" can he confirm

that is the position and if he is right, he must make it

clear this is something that the Government

The Prime Minister and the Northern Ireland Secretary have repeatedly

made it clear that we, as indeed has the Irish Government,

want to see the very long-standing common travel arguments and the free

trade arrangements across the Irish border continue.

We are actively engaged in talking both to the Northern Ireland

Executive and to the Government of the Republic of Ireland

There is goodwill on all those sides to try and reach a solution that

works for the people, north and south of the border.

The Leader of the House has made the familiar argument

that he can't give answers, that it is all to be resolved

Brexit means Brexit, Brexit means breakfast,

but that is not what the Secretary of State for Brexit himself

said when he was asked about the customs union

in September, because he said "We have looked at this matter

"carefully and that is exactly the sort of decision

"that we will resolve before we trigger Article 50."

So, if the Government is going to decide the position

on this issue before March 31st can the Leader of the House confirm

that the British people and the British Parliament will be

told some answers to my questions before they tell the rest of Europe?

Mr Speaker if the answers sound familiar maybe that we need constant

repetition before the honourable lady will understand

The Government is, at the moment, engaged in a consultation with more

than 50 sectors of United Kingdom business, to ascertain precisely

which aspects of European Union membership work well for them,

which they see as harmful, where the opportunities

We will come to a decision and we will go into negotiations

on behalf of the full 100% of the United Kingdom population

and all four nations of the United Kingdom.

The fact is and he knows it, we all know it.

He can consult as much as he likes the answer will come back, we should

It is hugely disappointed that on a day when the Government

is committing to its greater transparency on plans for Brexit

We have a Government promising to tell us the plan,

while refusing to give us the answers to the most

We have a Government promising to give Parliament a spend

when they are spending we don't know how much of tax payers' money

across the road in the Supreme Court trying to stop Parliament having

In short, we have a Government that cannot tell us the plan,

In February, the Leader of the House said when he was hearing

about the Leave campaign, was "confusing, contradictory

nonsense" my final question is this - are we hearing anything different

Mr Speaker, we will publish, before Article 50 is triggered,

a statement about our negotiating strategy and objectives,

as the Prime Minister has said yesterday.

But the honourable lady seems, again, to be in a state of utter

denial about the consequences that flow from the referendum decision.

No other EU Government is seeking to reverse or question

the legitimacy of that vote in the way that she and a number

of her colleagues are still trying to do but I'm afraid that just

indicates how distant the Labour Party now is from any

aspiration to be back in Government again.

We watched them in action - it's like, quarterlying like Mutiny

on the Bounty reshotly the Carry On team.

THE SPEAKER: Order, I want to hear the words flowing.

There is no reason why the chair should be denied these words.

They are rudderless, drifting on Europe as on so many

No wonder that decent working people who for generations have looked

to Labour as their champions have given up in despair and looked

to this party as the authentic voice of working families.

Mr Speaker, in 1943, a 16-year-old girl was forcibly

taken to Auschwitz, where she witnessed the horrors

On liberation she came to this country with her mother,

where she raised a family and became a nurse.

She dedicated her life to making sure that the people of this country

and beyond know the horrors of the Holocaust.

And Kitty Hart-Moxon is with us today at Prime Minister's

APPLAUSE Will my right honourable friend join with me,

and I think the whole house in wishing her a very

happy belated birthday and thanking her for her lifetime

of dedication to raising this important issue and also pay tribute

to the Holocaust educational trust, who do everything possible

so that we all remember and witness the horrors of the worst part

First of all, Mr Speaker, I am grateful to my right honourable

friend for raising this important issue and I would like to join him

in marking the achievements of Kitty Hart-Moxon

and of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

I can never forget the impact of discovering as a schoolboy that

two of the boys in my class had fathers who had survived Auschwitz.

It's only a couple of generations ago that Europe was plunged

into this unspeakable horror and it is important that not just

the educational trust but all of us play our part to ensure

that the memory of the Holocaust lives on and that the wider lessons

of this dark period in our history are learned and I think I would be

grateful to all members right across the House and all political

parties for their support in working together to ensure this

Some of the most deprived communities in the country

are in Glasgow and today we learn apparently that the government plans

to close job centres in those very communities,

in Parkhead, Easterhouse, Castlemilk, Anniesland and Maryhill.

Is it true that the government are planning to close these offices

and add misery to the lives of thousands of people in Glasgow

Clearly the Department for Work and Pensions like every government

department does look from time to time at the number of offices it

has but the right honourable gentleman makes a perfectly

reasonable point on behalf of people in Glasgow.

I will ask my right honourable friend the Work

and Pensions Secretary to contact him with

I'm sorry, Mr Speaker, that is not good enough.

Being heckled when dealing with communities that are deprived

does not behove Tory members well in Scotland.

The leader of the house is correct to say that the Department of work

and pension has plans to cut the state by 20%.

The DWP is planning to cut Glasgow by 50%.

Why is this government planning to disproportionately cut vital job

centres in some of the most deprived communities in our country, why?

The key element in any such decision that a government department has

to make is not the raw number of offices that there should be

but about how accessible the offices and the services that they provide

continued to be to the people who need to use them.

And I am absolutely confident that it is that criterion

that is at the heart of my right honourable friend's thinking.

Planning for the future of offices in Scotland

Passengers of the Chase Line face chaos and misery in the autumn

and this year it's been worse than ever.

Delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains leave passengers

stranded at stations and being late for work and school.

Will my right honourable friend outline what measures the government

is taking too penalise poor performing train operators?

First of all can I express my sympathy to my

honourable friend and her constituents

and all passengers who have come across these problems

It is clearly unacceptable and it is important

that the operator works hard to secure a rapid and sustained

The government has introduced new rules to make sure

that rail passengers will soon be able to claim compensation

if their train is more than 15 minutes late but as the Transport

Secretary said yesterday, more needs to be done

working across the industry so that this problem can be resolved

with the north-east member for Somerset that Brexit offers

an opportunity to remove pesky emissions standards?

In the red, white and blue of Brexit, will his government

commit to tackle this or will tackling global warming just

The government remains utterly committed to both national

and global ambitions and targets when it comes to climate change.

Indeed, my right honourable friend, the current Home Secretary,

in her previous job, played a key role in brokering

the Paris agreement last year, the first ever global agreement

The honourable lady, I hope, would welcome the fact

that we are now going to be ahead of our targets and ambitions

in delivering on the proportion of electricity provided

by renewables in this country and are continuing to work

There has been much talk recently about paying

for access to a tariff-free single market.

Given that the United Kingdom is the fifth biggest

economy in the world, and we have a ?70 billion trade

deficit with the EU, would the excellent acting

tell the House how much the European Union

should pay for tariff-free access to the UK single market?

Well, I suppose I should say thank you to my honourable

Although I hope that doesn't turn out to be

He makes a good point in that a settlement at the end

of our negotiation which maintains maximum access to and freedom

to operate within the European market for UK companies elsewhere

in Europe and European companies here is in our mutual interest

and I hope that will inspire negotiators on both side.

Mr Speaker, how does closing Maryhill Jobcentre

one of the most deprived parts of the country, help my

Does he accept that travelling further to other centres will mean

increased costs for those already on low incomes

Why does this government continue to target the poorest

If the government has been targeting the poorest,

it is in getting them back to work in record numbers.

And it has been in providing a boost to the pay of people on low pay

through the introduction and the increase in the

I wish that the honourable gentleman was prepared

to welcome and celebrate this achievements.

As we are about to commence the most important negotiation for decades,

does my right honourable friend agree that the government being

forced to disclose its negotiation strategy at this stage is rather

like showing your hand at cards to your opponent before a game

of poker, and can I urge him to take no advice from the party opposite?

They only have one card to play on this and it is always the joker!

Mr Speaker, we have said we will come forward with more

details about our strategic aims going into the negotiation but it

would harm the national interest if we were to go into the kind

of detailed explanation of our negotiating position

That is not how any of the other 27 governments are either acting

or thinking, and we should learn from that example.

Does the Leader of the House agree that tonight's vote

on the Prime Minister's Amendment, which we fully support,

is a vote of the highest significance and greatest importance

because for the first time honourable and right honourable

members of this House will have the opportunity to vote

on whether they respect the will of the people

of the United Kingdom, and whether they will get

on with implementing it, people will be able to read

in Hansard tomorrow who stands by respecting the will of the people

And will he also agree that the more...

..the more red white and blue he makes it the better for us

The right honourable gentleman, as so often, makes a powerful

The vote tonight will be the first opportunity for members of this

House to decide whether or not they support the government's

timetable of triggering Article 50 by the end of March 2017.

And any right honourable member who votes against that motion will,

in my view, be seeking to thwart the outcome of the referendum

in the most profoundly undemocratic fashion.

Mr Speaker, this country's nuclear deterrent is our ultimate defence

and must be maintained at all costs, yet hundreds of my constituents

who work at the Atomic Weapons Establishment are currently

on strike or work to rule over pensions.

These are people who more often than not have devoted their working

lives to tending our nuclear defence and to whom promises were made

Can I ask that the Leader of the House commits to sit down

with the Prime Minister and review the situation to ensure that those

I will certainly ensure that the Prime Minister is informed

about this matter and my honourable friend is right to raise

these concerns on behalf of his constituents.

My understanding is that the proposed changes to the Atomic

Weapons Establishment pensions scheme are a matter for the company

as the employer but I can assure my right honourable friend

that the Defence Secretary has been in close contact with AWE throughout

the process and has also met the trade unions and is carefully

considering recent developments to see what can be done.

in sending their sympathies to the family of David Brown

The inquest into his death has heard that he did so on the day he was due

to sign on at the job centre after saying that he felt

belittled by staff despite actively looking for work

Shortly before taking his own life he told his mum, the way

that the job centre treat people, it's no surprise that

Will the Leader of the House undertake a review into this case

and also undertake to take stock of six years of brutal

welfare reform and look at the way that the DWP treats

Mr Speaker, can I first also express unreserved sympathy

No parent, no family, should have to go through that kind

Clearly, human beings in any organisation sometimes take

decisions that get things wrong and I will ask the Work

and Pensions Department to look at the case she has described.

But I do have to say that I think the principle remains right that

while staff should always behave with courtesy towards people

seeking to claim benefits, it is also right that we should

expect people who are receiving benefits to be subject to the kind

of disciplines that apply to people in work, even if they are on low

pay, there is a principle of fairness here that lies behind

I applaud the Prime Minister's vision for a government for all.

As chair of the all-party committee on community engagement,

the FTSE 150 has less than 4% of individuals from an ethnic

Will the government support a vision to help to increase

It is very clear that boardrooms need to do more to reflect

the reality of modern Britain and the government supports

the principle of increasing the diversity of boards.

That is why we are supporting the business-led diversity

initiative chaired by Sir John Parker and we encourage

businesses to act on his recommendations.

A recent FOI has shown that Pinderfields Hospital placed

ambulances destined for their A department on divert

to Dewsbury Hospital in my constituency 61 times

a hospital scheduled for downgrade next year.

In light of evidence showing Pinderfields can't currently

cope, will the Leader of the House pledge urgent support

from the government to keep Dewsbury A open?

The NHS is certainly busier than it ever has been in its history,

which is why it should be a matter of thanks and tribute

to hard-working NHS staff that 90% of people going to A

are still being seen within the four-hour target.

The point about the configuration of local services in any part

of the country is that these need to be driven by local clinicians

working together with the CCGs who are the people who actually

manage and understand what is needed in each locality.

The local authority, through its health committee,

has the right to call in proposed changes to services

and refer them to the Secretary of State

I know my right honourable friend will share with me the importance

of the creative sector to our economy and that

in conjunction with the Welsh language makes S4C, based currently

to the Welsh and British culture and economy.

Can my right honourable friend reaffirm this government's

commitment to protect the S4C budget while we review its future?

We are fully committed to the future of Welsh language

I'm pleased to say the licence fee settlement we have agreed has

given financial certainty protecting S4C's funding at more

than ?74 million a year for the next five years and we are committed

to ensuring that the channel continues to make first-class

programmes and serve Welsh audiences in the constituency of my honourable

Is the leader of the House aware of reports of Rohingya children

being massacred and thrown into fires, of Rohingya women being raped

and houses razed to the ground and what representations has this

government made to the Burmese authorities

Yes, those reports from Rohingya are extremely concerning

as the honourable lady knows, there is a long history

of discrimination against the Rohingya people in Burma.

Both British ministers and the British Embassy

and officials in London make our concerned very clear

Following the revelations in the BBC Panorama programme,

Clinton House in my constituency is now closed.

Three other care homes run by the Morleigh Group have been rated

inadequate and is CQC and two others are currently under inspection.

Concerns have been raised about these care homes

for many years and it cannot be acceptable that it took the BBC

to provoke the action desperately needed.

Does the Leader of the House agree that it is now time to urgently

review the role of the CQC to ensure that in the future,

concerns raised by residents, family and staff are properly

I think that old and vulnerable people deserve the highest

There is no excuse for services that fall short of expectations

in the way that my honourable friend has described.

The CQC does have extensive powers in law to ensure that no one

in the chain of responsibility is immune against

And I would expect the CQC to exercise those powers in full,

in this case, but he's made some criticisms of the CQC

and the government has been looking into ways to improve its processes

and increase its efficiency and my honourable friend

the Minister for Community Health and Care and discussed this

6% of methane from fracking is leaked through fugitive emissions.

Given that methane is 86 times worse than C02 for global

warming over 20 years, will he support the Council

for Europe's call for banning fracking or at least a maximum

of 0.1% fugitive emissions at the well head?

No, Mr Speaker, the government took its decision to give

the go-ahead to fracking after extensive consideration

of both the economic and the environmental risks

We are confident that fracking can be carried out

in a way that is safe, that does not harm the environment

but which also provides job opportunities for this country

and makes this country less dependent on imported energy.

Mr Speaker, I expect my right honourable friend will be astonished

if not aghast to learn that a succession of journalists

from the BBC have contacted me seeking to manufacture stories

of backbench rebellion on the issue of the EU.

I want to hear about these activities!

Will he agree with me that on these controversial issues,

the BBC should stick to its charter obligation for accuracy

and impartiality instead of seeking to create problems

Mr Speaker, I am sure that my honourable friend is shocked

at the thought that anybody could look to him as a source

of information about rebellion against the government!

I hope that he will be able to find some comfort in the fact

that the new Royal Charter agreement requires the BBC to deliver

impartial news, the first time impartiality has been enshrined

Having now received a response from the Prime Minister

to my request for a children's funeral fund I was disturbed to be

told that the Social Fund can provide a simple respectable

funeral, this response totally lacks any understanding of my request.

Can the Leader of the House facilitate a meeting between myself

and other bereaved mothers so we can explain to the Prime Minister

This request is important to us as parents.

Many in this House and from my postbag very many

people and organisations throughout this country.

Burying a child must be an incredibly painful

experience for any family, and I think all of us

would want to pay our respects to and have enormous sympathy

with the honourable member for Swansea East.

And she speaks on behalf of, she says, thousands of parents

As the Prime Minister said, there are mechanisms in place

for financial support from central government to be available and local

authorities are of course free to, and many of them do, waive funeral

I will speak to my ministerial colleagues about the request

from the honourable lady for a meeting and I am sure

Good train links are vital for constituents to get to work

so it's incredibly frustrating that Cross Country operates 63 services

a day between Birmingham and Bristol yet only three stop at Gloucester.

Would my right honourable friend ensure that ministers,

in extending the franchise of the train operators,

do not allow Cross Country to go on treating Gloucester like a leper

to be avoided at all cost and oblige them to deliver a service that

Any of us who have been to Gloucester know that it's a place

that you want to be able to visit frequently and easily.

The government is investing record amounts in improving our railways

and as regards his particular case, transport ministers are working

with Cross Country and Great Western to see how the service