Browse content similar to 06/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
as homes drifted out to sea. The community is once again bracing | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
itself against the tide. Now on BBC News it's time for The | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
Week in Parliament. Hello there and welcome to The Week | :00:07. | :00:18. | |
in Parliament. As George Osborne tells the Commons, growth is on the | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
up. By doing the right thing we are heading in the right direction, | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
Britain is moving again, let's keep going. But Labour accuses the | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
Chancellor of being in denial about the realities for working people. | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
Families with children are worse off because of his budget, that is the | :00:37. | :00:46. | |
truth, Mr Speaker. Also we talk to two MPs about whether ultimately | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
their constituents should have the power to sack them. And we celebrate | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
the 30th anniversary of the vote to allow TV cameras into the House of | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
Lords. But what difference did it really make? It certainly did change | :00:56. | :01:07. | |
things. On the whole, I think the men wore brighter ties, the women | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
wore brighter clothes. More on that little later. Let's begin with the | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
Chancellor's big day. George Osborne set out his mini budget, known as | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
the Autumn Statement, and regaled MPs with increased growth and | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
falling borrowing. But he also warned hard times were to come and | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
difficult decisions were to be made. There would be a freeze on fuel | :01:29. | :01:31. | |
duty, the introduction of a married couple's tax allowance and help to | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
get youngsters into work. Mr Osborne came to the despatch box clearly in | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
bullish mood. Mr Speaker, Britain's economic plan is working. But the | :01:38. | :01:49. | |
job is not done. We need to secure the economy for the long`term. And | :01:50. | :01:57. | |
the biggest risk to that comes from those who would abandon the plan. | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
But I can also report the hard truth that the job is not yet done. Yes, | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
the deficit is down, but it is still far too high, and today we take more | :02:11. | :02:38. | |
difficult decisions. We think a fair principle is that as of now people | :02:39. | :02:41. | |
should expect to spend a third of their adult life in retirement based | :02:42. | :02:44. | |
on the latest life expectancy figures, applying that principle | :02:45. | :02:47. | |
would mean an increase in the state pension age to 68 and to 69 in the | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
late 2040s. From April 2015, we will introduce a tax allowance for | :02:52. | :02:53. | |
married couples available to all basic rate taxpayers, enabling | :02:54. | :02:56. | |
people to transfer ?1000 of their personal allowance to their wife, | :02:57. | :03:04. | |
husband or civil partner. It is just a start, and I confirm today that we | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
will introduce a new up`rating mechanism, ensuring the tax | :03:08. | :03:09. | |
allowance is already increased in proportion to the personal | :03:10. | :03:12. | |
allowance. This statement shows the plan is working, it is a long`term | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
plan for a grown`up country. But the job is not done. By doing the right | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
thing we are heading in the right election, Britain is moving again. | :03:20. | :03:37. | |
`` direction. Let's keep going. For all his boasts and utterly | :03:38. | :03:39. | |
breathtaking complacency, the Chancellor is in complete denial. | :03:40. | :03:55. | |
Under this Chancellor, under this Prime Minister, for most people in | :03:56. | :03:57. | |
our country, living standards are not rising, they are falling | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
year`on`year on year. He used to say he would balance the books in 2 15. | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
year`on`year on year. He used to say he would balance the books in 2015. | :04:05. | :04:04. | |
he would balance the books in 2 15. Now he wants us to congratulate him | :04:05. | :04:06. | |
for saying he will do it in 2019, Now he wants us to congratulate him | :04:07. | :04:08. | |
for saying he will do it in 2019, Mr Speaker. With this government, it is | :04:09. | :04:25. | |
clearly not just the badgers that move the goalposts. Why is he not | :04:26. | :04:40. | |
been more ambitious? Why would he repeat the tax on bank bonuses? Why | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
won't he remove the winter allowance from the richest 5% of pensioners? | :04:45. | :04:55. | |
And why, Mr Speaker, won't he reverse his tax cut for hedge funds, | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
protect disabled people in our country by scrapping the unfair and | :04:59. | :05:11. | |
perverse bedroom tax? Can the Chancellor confirm, even after what | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
he has announced today, on fuel duty and his increases in the personal | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
allowance, his VAT rise, his cut to tax credits, his cut to child | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
benefits, on average, families with children are worse off because of | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
his budgets. That is the truth, Mr Speaker. Giving with one hand, | :05:24. | :05:26. | |
taking away much more with the other. Ed Balls and George Osborne | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
battling it out over our economic future. But if you're still feeling | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
bamboozled by it all, here is our Parliamentary correspondent with | :05:33. | :05:34. | |
five things you need to know about the Autumn Statement. That was today | :05:35. | :05:46. | |
in Parliament. At number five, what does the Autumn Statement do? The | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
Chancellor updates MPs and the rest of us on the state of the public | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
finances. The prospects for the economy, and it gives us the latest | :05:58. | :06:00. | |
on the government's spending plans. Number four, how is it different | :06:01. | :06:08. | |
from the budget? One big difference is that it is the Shadow Chancellor | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
Ed Balls who replies on behalf of Labour. On budget day, it is the | :06:12. | :06:18. | |
Leader of the Opposition who does the honours. Traditionally, we had | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
to wait until the budget in the spring to find out if we were going | :06:22. | :06:30. | |
to be paying more or less tax. The Autumn Statement was about economic | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
forecasts and public spending. At number three, why doesn't the House | :06:34. | :06:44. | |
of Lords have a say? The House of Lords is packed with economists | :06:45. | :06:46. | |
financial experts and even the odd Chancellor. But just like the | :06:47. | :06:49. | |
budget, the Autumn Statement is really a House of Commons affair. | :06:50. | :07:03. | |
There is a brief question and answer session, but it is a tradition that | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
the Lords cannot reject or change the government's tax or spending | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
plans. At number two, what happens next? After the budget speech, MPs | :07:10. | :07:12. | |
spend several days discussing the announcements. The Autumn Statement | :07:13. | :07:14. | |
is much more like a normal ministerial statement. Once it is | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
over, Parliamentary life returns to normal. MPs get on with debating | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
other issues. And at number one when will people notice? You could | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
be forgiven for thinking that you have heard a lot of the Autumn | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
Statement already. That is because most of the big policy announcements | :07:30. | :07:31. | |
were made during the party conference season. Some changes will | :07:32. | :07:41. | |
take effect next year. Changes to the tax system are enacted in the | :07:42. | :07:44. | |
Finance bill, which MPs will debate and vote on after next year's | :07:45. | :07:56. | |
budget. And some of the proposals revealed this week will not take | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
effect until 2015. A Conservative MP has won backing | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
for his plan to give voters the power to sack their MP. Introducing | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
his bill, he said real power needed to be handed to voters to reconnect | :08:12. | :08:27. | |
them with the political process We have a system still where once | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
elected, an MP is almost insulated from his or her constituents until | :08:31. | :08:33. | |
the next general election. There is no mechanism allowing voters to sack | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
their MP. An MP could systematically break each and every promise they | :08:41. | :08:43. | |
make before an election, they could refuse to turn up in Parliament, | :08:44. | :08:45. | |
refuse to turn up in Parliament refuse to engage in any meaningful | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
talk with the electorate. Unless jailed for 12 months, an MP is | :08:52. | :09:03. | |
effectively unmovable. It is no surprise that from the moment the | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
election is over the pressure is all top`down from party, not bottom`up | :09:08. | :09:10. | |
from constituency. What is it that Mr Goldsmith wants? His bill sets | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
out a process for what is termed recall. Under the plan, the first | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
stages for 1% of registered voters to sign a petition. They will then | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
have eight weeks to allow registered voters to sign. If 20% sign it, the | :09:20. | :09:31. | |
petition is successful, triggering a recall election. Mr Goldsmith put | :09:32. | :09:40. | |
his bill to the Commons, and other MPs shouted no, forcing a division | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
on the idea. Mr Goldsmith won the vote. I got him together with one of | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
the MPs who had objected. His Conservative colleague. I started by | :09:47. | :10:01. | |
asking Mr Goldsmith why he did not support an alternative proposal put | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
together by the government which would see the fate of MPs decided by | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
a committee of the Commons. It is not recall. Recall is a pure and | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
simple thing all over the world about empowering voters to hold | :10:12. | :10:18. | |
their MPs to account. Instead of empowering voters, we empower the | :10:19. | :10:20. | |
Parliamentary committee. This is not recall. But you have put forward an | :10:21. | :10:30. | |
alternative which is a several step process. Would that not just be as | :10:31. | :10:40. | |
complex and expensive? We have agreed a threshold, I have suggested | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
20%. If 20% or so sign the petition they have earned the right to a | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
referendum. If more than half say yes, we have a by`election. The only | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
issue is the levy. That is the debate. Isn't this a reasonable | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
idea, you should all be accountable to your constituents? It is a | :10:59. | :11:05. | |
reasonable idea. The bill is completely wrong and government, it | :11:06. | :11:07. | |
completely wrong and government it is not recall in any way. But I have | :11:08. | :11:14. | |
a real problem with the bill, it is a well drafted bill, lots of | :11:15. | :11:17. | |
threshold, lots of referendum, my issue is that once you are elected | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
as a Member of Parliament, you are elected for the five years. Then you | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
use your independent thought to represent your constituents in the | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
best possible way. There will be the danger of people recalling MPs who | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
acted in an independent manner. That is my fear. What is the safeguard in | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
all of this? We can think of issues like abortion or fox`hunting were | :11:36. | :11:38. | |
people might disagree with their MP and want to get them out? There is a | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
very high threshold. 15,000 of my constituents, I would have to take | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
that seriously. I would have to accept there was a real problem. If | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
accept there was a real problem If you look at where recall happens, I | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
can think of a single example of a successful vexatious campaign. | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
People are not booted out unfairly. It gives a bailout Clause where | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
their MP parts company with them in a profound way. The very fact of its | :12:05. | :12:14. | |
existence reminds voters that ultimately they own our democracy. | :12:15. | :12:27. | |
You can vote them out in the next general election. That is a long | :12:28. | :12:36. | |
time away. Not necessarily. I can get people to sign any old petition. | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
The referendum would be different matters. But that is not what I am | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
worried about, I am worried about the pressure it will put on MPs, | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
always to stick to the party line. Can I give you a quick example? If | :12:47. | :12:49. | |
you are in a really solid conservative area and gay marriage | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
came up, I am opposed to gay marriage. See if you were in an area | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
in favour of gay marriage, you said you were in favour of gay marriage, | :12:57. | :13:05. | |
I conceive recall happening to you. I don't believe that a halfway | :13:06. | :13:08. | |
decent MP is going to part company with their constituents over one | :13:09. | :13:10. | |
issue. I voted for gay marriage. with their constituents over one | :13:11. | :13:12. | |
issue. I voted for gay marriage I had public meetings and coffee | :13:13. | :13:15. | |
mornings, and I felt that after discussing the issue there was a | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
polite agreement to disagree. It was not a deal`breaker. I would have the | :13:21. | :13:29. | |
confidence to believe that I could go to the voters as a whole treating | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
the constituency as a whole and make the case that I have been a decent | :13:33. | :13:41. | |
MP. I don't think halfway decent MP has anything to fear from recall. A | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
lot of people were complaining about Nadine Dorries, there was a national | :13:46. | :13:48. | |
petition set up asking for her recall, 500 people signed it. The | :13:49. | :13:56. | |
front page of every newspaper. People do not sign petitions that | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
has something to do with the pavement on their street. But if it | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
is a big deal, you have to give people the benefit of the doubt. | :14:04. | :14:04. | |
people the benefit of the doubt Isn't there a simpler way to do | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
this? Couldn't you have a job description for MPs? I think that is | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
a point. The government started by trying to define what we are doing. | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
You cannot do that. Some people don't take part in every debate | :14:22. | :14:24. | |
some people don't vote unless they know when they're voting. I can say | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
that under the government plans you could be the world 's worst MP of | :14:29. | :14:32. | |
all time and still not qualify for recall. Ultimately the only people | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
who can decide our constituents. who can decide our constituents. | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
There should be no middleman. You have to trust your constituents But | :14:42. | :14:55. | |
can I give you another example? What would you have said to Winston | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
Churchill when he changed parties, surely when you changed parties, is | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
that right or wrong? It would be for his constituents to say. If I were | :15:03. | :15:14. | |
to join the Labour Party, if my constituents had a real problem, | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
they ought to be able to pull the plug and say this is not what we | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
voted for. Or if I broke the biggest promises we made, people would have | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
the right to recall me if they were not persuaded of my arguments. It is | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
democracy. A final question, what do you think could and should happen | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
now? I think the government's plans will be ditched. The government has | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
a choice, it can either push the stuff under the carpet or it can | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
come forward along the lines of what I have put forward today. Something | :15:39. | :15:46. | |
or nothing? A fudge, it satisfies no`one. There is no middle ground on | :15:47. | :15:54. | |
this. I absolutely agree that this bill is doomed to failure. Peter | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
Bone and Zac Goldsmith. Now let's Bone and Zac Goldsmith. Now let s | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
take a look at the rest of the news from Westminster. Tributes will be | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
paid to Nelson Mandela on Monday following the announcement of his | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
death. The former South African President spoke to MPs and Peers in | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
1993 and, in 1996, he addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
Hall. Mr Mandela was imprisoned by the South African government for 27 | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
years during the apartheid era for speaking out against white`minority | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
rule. He was finally freed in 1 90 and went on to become the country's | :16:27. | :16:29. | |
first black leader, encouraging his fellow South Africans in forgiveness | :16:30. | :16:37. | |
and reconciliation. On Monday, the Government announced plans to cut | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
?50 from the average energy bill in 2014. The reduction comes from | :16:41. | :16:54. | |
changes to green levies. But the Energy Secretary admitted major | :16:55. | :16:56. | |
changes in wholesale costs could drive bills up. We must ensure that | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
the changes we make maintain the support provided to the most | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
wearable. Maintain the invested in clean energy and do not have a | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
negative impact on our carbon emissions. Even if the companies do | :17:09. | :17:18. | |
pass on the reductions from the cut in levies, the average household's | :17:19. | :17:21. | |
bill will actually be ?70 higher than last winter. The Education | :17:22. | :17:24. | |
Secretary has told MPs that educational reform is the only way | :17:25. | :17:26. | |
to improve student attainment in England. He was responding to an | :17:27. | :17:35. | |
international study from the Organisation for Economic | :17:36. | :17:36. | |
Co`operation and Development which showed British teenagers were still | :17:37. | :17:39. | |
lagging behind students in other countries in reading, maths and | :17:40. | :17:41. | |
science. Our new national curriculum is more demanding, especially in | :17:42. | :17:44. | |
maths and it is modelled on the example of high achieving countries | :17:45. | :17:56. | |
like Singapore. There is the introduction of drugrunning and | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
coding on the curriculum for the first time. The south`east Academy | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
can advertise for an unqualified maths teacher with just four GCSEs. | :18:03. | :18:13. | |
The emergency services have been praised for their actions following | :18:14. | :18:15. | |
the fatal helicopter accident in Glasgow. A police helicopter crashed | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
into the Clutha bar, which was packed with people listening to a | :18:19. | :18:24. | |
band. A slow and careful rescue operation went on over the St | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
Andrews Day weekend, with nine people confirmed dead. Police, fire | :18:28. | :18:29. | |
and ambulance or responded magnificently, working in difficult | :18:30. | :18:37. | |
and dangerous circumstances. In particular, we should recognise that | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
police officers had to respond in circumstances where they were | :18:41. | :18:42. | |
dealing with not just the death of memories of the public but also with | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
two of their own colleagues. Now here's a question, what did peers | :18:49. | :18:51. | |
vote on 30 years ago that changed the face of Parliamentary | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
broadcasting? With the answer, here's Alasdair Rendall. No, no, | :18:56. | :19:05. | |
broadcasting? With the answer, here's Alasdair Rendall. No, no no. | :19:06. | :19:07. | |
broadcasting? With the answer, here's Alasdair Rendall. No, no, no. | :19:08. | :19:10. | |
On this side of the house, we believe in examining matters before | :19:11. | :19:20. | |
reaching conclusions. This is not the time to falter. We are used to | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
it now, see the cut and thrust of Parliamentary debate on our TV | :19:26. | :19:27. | |
screens and although these days most of the coverage focuses on the has a | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
Commons, it was in fact their colleagues at the other end of the | :19:32. | :19:34. | |
corridor who were the trailblazers. It was 30 years ago this week that | :19:35. | :19:37. | |
the House of Lords gave the green light to giving the TV cameras a | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
view into their world. As far back as 1968, there had been an | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
experiment to televise peers at work although this was only allowed to be | :19:45. | :19:47. | |
viewed in a few Parliamentary offices. This only lasted a few days | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
and took a decade and a half for peers to decided was not such a bad | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
idea after all. Reading through the debate, you get the sense of the | :19:57. | :19:59. | |
fears of some members on what the impact would be. Lord Peyton of | :20:00. | :20:12. | |
Yeovil describes television as a trusting and intrusive medium. | :20:13. | :20:14. | |
Another said that televising the House of Lords would weaken the | :20:15. | :20:16. | |
public's respect for Parliament. House of Lords would weaken the | :20:17. | :20:17. | |
public's respect for Parliament But public's respect for Parliament But | :20:18. | :20:18. | |
the proposals were approved and television cameras were allowed to | :20:19. | :20:27. | |
film the House of Lords. It took a few months of planning before | :20:28. | :20:29. | |
cameras started rolling. Although they are now remote`controlled, in | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
the early days, they were in the thick of the action, on the floor of | :20:33. | :20:43. | |
the house. The BBC got in on the act, with a programme dedicated to | :20:44. | :20:46. | |
covering the House of Lords. Those broadcasters with the ringside seat | :20:47. | :20:49. | |
so that it could bode well for the future. The laws were more positive, | :20:50. | :20:56. | |
more progressive. Their coverage was less controversial, less | :20:57. | :20:58. | |
confrontational, less noisy and so they knew when it started what it | :20:59. | :21:09. | |
would be like. Since then, despite its reputation as the more genteel | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
chamber in Parliament, the House of Lords has still seen its fair share | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
of lively moments captured by the cameras. The reason I am asking this | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
question is because I am on the joint Select Committee on human | :21:21. | :21:29. | |
rights. I have never knowingly made an uncontroversial speech in my | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
life. As many predicted, it was only a matter of time before TV cameras | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
made their way to the House of Commons, where there had been | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
similar opposition. What difference did TV cameras make to Parliamentary | :21:42. | :21:49. | |
behaviour? Having got them in, I don't think it made such a vast | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
difference as everybody who didn't want them supposed. It certainly did | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
change things. On the whole, I think the men wore bright ties, the women | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
wore bright clothes and there were a few little tricks so that somebody | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
didn't look as though they were speaking all on their own, they had | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
the custom of done `` of getting someone to sit behind them so they | :22:07. | :22:18. | |
did not look lonely on the benches. Seeing pictures on Parliament on our | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
TV, it now ` so commonplace that it is difficult to imagine that they | :22:23. | :22:31. | |
were never there. It is now available for all of us to see. | :22:32. | :22:45. | |
Alasdair Rendall on the anniversary of the decision to let cameras into | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
the House of Lords at the end of a week when the Chancellor has | :22:50. | :22:52. | |
broadcast his plans for balancing the economic books. Temperatures | :22:53. | :23:05. | |
slowly creeping up through the course of the weekend. Cold enough | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
are staying for their to be snowballing through parts of | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
Scotland and northern England. Also a risk of ice. A chilly start across | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
the north`east. Quite a lot of cloud covering the UK this weekend. Snow | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
flurries for northern Scotland. The bit of rain at times across Wales, | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
western England and Northern Ireland. Many eastern areas will | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
stay dry. The snow will ease for the funnel sees. Stained wheat for most | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
of the day for Shetland. Rain will come and go through the rest of the | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
day. Northern Ireland will be salty and outbreaks of brain for Wales. A | :23:48. | :23:53. | |
decent chance of seeing a few breaks in the cloud for eastern parts. | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
Quite mild Fulda South, temperatures may | :23:59. | :23:59. |