:00:00. > :00:11.time. I will be back with more in about 30
:00:12. > :00:18.minutes. Now, time for a look back at the week in Parliament.
:00:19. > :00:24.Welcome to the programme. Gales, floods, rainstorms. Never has the
:00:25. > :00:28.phrase the political weather had such a literal meaning. When it
:00:29. > :00:33.comes to this relief effort, money is no object. We will spend what is
:00:34. > :00:37.necessary to help. Response has to be faster than in the past and
:00:38. > :00:41.everyone has to feel they are getting the help they need. It may
:00:42. > :00:46.have been cold and wet outside but inside Westminster, things were
:00:47. > :00:52.getting hot, especially in the battle over Scottish independence.
:00:53. > :00:59.We know what we are doing. We are keeping the sterling. (LAUGHS). But
:01:00. > :01:05.what will happen to people in England without the sterling? There
:01:06. > :01:11.were a few sandbags of legislation. MPs were allowed a free vote on the
:01:12. > :01:14.matter of children's health. Hasn't the House of Commons got a
:01:15. > :01:19.responsibility to do everything possible to protect children from
:01:20. > :01:25.smoking? Will we have smoking police weaving in and out of traffic and
:01:26. > :01:31.looking in car windows. If there is not a serious answer to this, how
:01:32. > :01:35.can it be enforced? This week, the serious questions of the economy had
:01:36. > :01:41.to take a second place to the weather forecast. There were
:01:42. > :01:46.alarming scenes of a seriously flooded nation. The Somerset levels
:01:47. > :01:49.had its fifth week under water. The most powerful image of the
:01:50. > :01:56.south-west was of the rail line left dangling in Dawlish in Devon. When
:01:57. > :01:59.the flood levels poured across large swathes of the Home Counties, as the
:02:00. > :02:04.Thames spilled into the residential avenues, the political stakes were
:02:05. > :02:10.rising with the water levels. Homes were evacuated as streets and roads
:02:11. > :02:13.became lakes. The map of red flood alerts looked ominous and sure
:02:14. > :02:19.enough, it got worse. The communities secretary was briefing
:02:20. > :02:23.MPs as the events unfolded. Pumping continues but the challenge to keep
:02:24. > :02:26.up with the correct place of the inflow from the latest rainfall
:02:27. > :02:32.levels are increasing in some areas. It's likely to take weeks to remove
:02:33. > :02:37.the sheer volume of flood water once there is a significant break in the
:02:38. > :02:40.weather. Can he explain why the Prime Minister has been unable to
:02:41. > :02:43.deny that the Environment Secretary has been forced to write a letter
:02:44. > :02:49.objecting to the communities secretary 's on one of DEFRA's
:02:50. > :02:53.agencies? Does he accept in hindsight it was wrong to launch
:02:54. > :02:59.such a direct attack and will he take this opportunity to apologise?
:03:00. > :03:04.I don't know if she is obsessed by process. We are much more concerned
:03:05. > :03:07.with making the effort to deal with problems involved with flooding.
:03:08. > :03:14.With regard to the Environment Agency, it is entirely wrong for the
:03:15. > :03:20.honourable lady to suggest for one moment that I have issued even the
:03:21. > :03:24.slightest criticism of the marvellous workforce of the
:03:25. > :03:30.Environment Agency. My admiration for the work of the Environment
:03:31. > :03:38.Agency exceeds that of no one and I believe it's time for us all to work
:03:39. > :03:45.together. And not to make silly party political points. I do believe
:03:46. > :03:49.that we need a period of calm in the House because those who have been
:03:50. > :03:55.flooded and those who are on the verge of being flooded look to us to
:03:56. > :03:57.show some leadership. I cannot remember a more complacent or
:03:58. > :04:03.inadequate response from a Cabinet minister to a serious matter in this
:04:04. > :04:07.House. Last year after last winter's floods and the travel
:04:08. > :04:10.disruption in the south-west, the government announced ?31 million of
:04:11. > :04:16.new money for improved rail resilience in the south-west. That
:04:17. > :04:19.money has still not materialised. Why should anybody believe any of
:04:20. > :04:23.the new promises he is making now when he has failed to deliver any of
:04:24. > :04:27.them in the past? I'm sorry that the honourable gentleman seems so
:04:28. > :04:32.resolved to petty insults across the chamber. Of course, there are people
:04:33. > :04:38.right now risking their lives, working on the railways to get those
:04:39. > :04:41.railways running. Tuesday night and David Cameron promised money would
:04:42. > :04:46.be no object in the ever-growing flood relief effort. On Wednesday, a
:04:47. > :04:51.flood hit Prime Minister 's questions. Only confirm for everyone
:04:52. > :04:54.in my constituency that doing everything he can will include not
:04:55. > :04:58.only reversing cuts to the Environment Agency budget and giving
:04:59. > :05:06.proper funding for flood prevention but also crucially, crucially...
:05:07. > :05:10.Crucially removing... He said thousands of military were now in
:05:11. > :05:15.permission to help out. It's clear that we are seeing more extreme
:05:16. > :05:17.weather events and we will suspect -- we will go on seeing more extreme
:05:18. > :05:21.weather events and we must do everything we can to improve the
:05:22. > :05:26.resilience of our country. When it comes to this relief effort, money
:05:27. > :05:31.is no object. We will spend what is necessary to help family, people,
:05:32. > :05:35.communities get through this difficult time. David Cameron had
:05:36. > :05:44.some more things to announce. I am a gay huge number have already been
:05:45. > :05:51.deployed and, yes, as we seek -- a huge number have already been
:05:52. > :05:58.deployed and, yes, those numbers are being deployed to make sure those
:05:59. > :06:01.people are helped. One of the reassurances he provided yesterday
:06:02. > :06:06.was to say that money was no object. This morning, the transport
:06:07. > :06:11.secretary said it was not a blank cheque. Can he say exactly what
:06:12. > :06:19.areas of spending yesterday's promise covers? Money is no object
:06:20. > :06:22.in this relief effort. I want communities who are suffering and
:06:23. > :06:27.people who see water at their doors to know that when it comes to the
:06:28. > :06:34.military, when it comes to sandbags, when it comes to emergency
:06:35. > :06:38.services, when it comes to restoring broken flood defences, money is no
:06:39. > :06:44.object. The government has to speak with one voice on this issue. The
:06:45. > :06:47.response has to be faster than it has been in the past and everyone
:06:48. > :06:51.has to feel that they are getting the help they need. If the
:06:52. > :06:57.government does this, they will get our complete support. What I have
:06:58. > :07:02.said last night is what I have said today. Money will be no object. I
:07:03. > :07:06.don't want people to worry about pennypinching as they see the vital
:07:07. > :07:09.work that is required to help them with their houses and to help them
:07:10. > :07:13.deal with the floods. That is what this government is doing. We are
:07:14. > :07:18.deploying the military where we have been asked to. We have been
:07:19. > :07:23.deploying extra pumps where we have been asked to. We are raising
:07:24. > :07:26.compensation for local communities. I'm only sorry that he seeks to
:07:27. > :07:34.define the House when we should be coming together. Will the Prime
:07:35. > :07:39.Minister after this episode has been dealt with, ensure that we do not
:07:40. > :07:45.build on floodplains so that people are not inconvenienced in this way?
:07:46. > :07:49.I will look carefully at that. The figures suggest that in terms of
:07:50. > :07:53.applications for properties being built on floodplains, the official
:07:54. > :07:58.advice, and that includes the advice from the Environment Agency, is
:07:59. > :08:02.followed in 99% of occasions. It's worth remembering that areas like
:08:03. > :08:06.London are part of a floodplain, so I don't think it's possible to say
:08:07. > :08:10.that no house can ever be built on a floodplain. What we need to do is
:08:11. > :08:15.look at the rules and listen to the experts and make sure we can only
:08:16. > :08:21.build where we can protect. Thursday saw exchanges about climate change.
:08:22. > :08:25.Does my honourable friend agree that although concern is sometimes
:08:26. > :08:33.expressed about the cost of climate change at a geisha, recent events
:08:34. > :08:42.are a stark warning that the cost of adaptation is also very
:08:43. > :08:50.substantial? -- climate change mitigation. Isn't it actually the
:08:51. > :08:54.case that movement in the jet stream are more closely and demonstrably
:08:55. > :09:00.linked to our present adverse weather event than any link to
:09:01. > :09:05.potentially climate change? As the minister has just accepted, climate
:09:06. > :09:08.change will lead to these extreme weather events becoming more
:09:09. > :09:12.frequent, can he explain why his department has been forced to admit
:09:13. > :09:17.thanks to a Freedom of Information request that total spending on
:09:18. > :09:22.climate change mitigation and adaptation was cut by more than 40%
:09:23. > :09:26.since last year? Under the first four years of this government, we
:09:27. > :09:32.have spent ?2.4 million on flood defences, which is more than was
:09:33. > :09:35.spent in the last government. This government continues to make this a
:09:36. > :09:41.priority. The focus is on response today and we will then move into
:09:42. > :09:47.recovery. But in the long-term, we have secured ?2.3 billion alone into
:09:48. > :09:52.the next period. On Monday, MPs voted heavily in favour of a ban in
:09:53. > :09:59.smoking in cars when children are passengers. The vote by a margin of
:10:00. > :10:02.269 came during debate on the children and families Bill and
:10:03. > :10:08.followed a similar vote in the House of Lords. The vote does not compel
:10:09. > :10:14.the government to bring in a smoking ban, which would apply in England
:10:15. > :10:17.only. The benefit to health was repeatedly spelt out but opponents
:10:18. > :10:23.argued that a ban could not practically be resourced --
:10:24. > :10:27.enforced. Everyone is clear that children should not be exposed to
:10:28. > :10:30.the harm of second-hand smoke. We know that young people have little
:10:31. > :10:37.choice about being in place where they are exposed to smoke in many
:10:38. > :10:40.cases. She gave her view of any ban. How does she envisage it might be
:10:41. > :10:44.enforced? Will we have smoking police weaving in and out of the
:10:45. > :10:53.traffic and looking in car windows? There must be a serious answer to
:10:54. > :10:56.this. How will it be enforced? Enforcement has been a subject of
:10:57. > :10:59.much of the debate in both houses over a number of years and the
:11:00. > :11:02.detail of that is some of that would be looked at in regulation if the
:11:03. > :11:05.House is minded to give the government a steer on the principle
:11:06. > :11:10.of it, but it is not for today's debate. At least, it is not for
:11:11. > :11:14.me... At least it is not for me to comment on the detail of it but I'm
:11:15. > :11:18.sure it will be explored in the debate that follows. If we know
:11:19. > :11:25.beyond any doubt that passive smoking in an enclosed space can do
:11:26. > :11:28.serious harm to a person's health and that hundreds of thousands of
:11:29. > :11:33.children are being subjected to this in a car every single week, and if
:11:34. > :11:37.we know from experience of similar laws passed in this country and
:11:38. > :11:41.other countries that legislation can have a major impact in changing
:11:42. > :11:46.behaviour and improving public health, should we act and do some
:11:47. > :11:58.wing or do we stand by and do nothing? -- act and do some. We we
:11:59. > :12:01.cannot afford not to act. By that same token, should we criminalise
:12:02. > :12:11.pregnant women who smoke on the basis that their child is in an even
:12:12. > :12:14.more confined space than in a car? We are talking about very specific
:12:15. > :12:20.measure today and he wishes to bring further measures. The point we are
:12:21. > :12:26.discussing today is about children who don't have a choice when they
:12:27. > :12:34.travel in a car. I have no quibble with the honourable lady. She
:12:35. > :12:38.represents new Labour who think they should ban everyone else from doing
:12:39. > :12:43.the things they don't like themselves. What perturbed me, the
:12:44. > :12:48.Conservative ministers appear to have not crossed the concept that
:12:49. > :12:54.you can disapprove of something without actually banning it. This is
:12:55. > :12:59.yet another in a long line of triumphs for the nanny state. If the
:13:00. > :13:04.honourable member had been present at the time, he would argue very
:13:05. > :13:07.strongly against compulsory seatbelts in cars. Of course he
:13:08. > :13:23.would have done because when I was listening to him today, I hurt the
:13:24. > :13:29.authentic voice of primitive Tories. I don't work on the assumption,
:13:30. > :13:36.necessarily on the assumption, but whatever the honourable member
:13:37. > :13:45.opposes I should support. A short time later, MPs voted in favour of
:13:46. > :13:49.the ban. 376 votes to 107. Bluff and bullying, the words of the Scotland
:13:50. > :13:54.first Minister to describe the Chancellor 's declaration that if
:13:55. > :13:59.the Scots say goodbye to the UK, they also say goodbye to the pound.
:14:00. > :14:04.The first Minister said that the Chancellor 's view, supported by
:14:05. > :14:13.Labour and the Lib Dems, would backfire spectacularly. MPs debated
:14:14. > :14:20.the currency issue on Wednesday. If an agreement was not possible, what
:14:21. > :14:27.would the plan B? I'm happy to take an intervention now. If you want to
:14:28. > :14:40.tell the people of Scotland is now what the Scottish nationals second
:14:41. > :14:47.plan is? What put his policy mean for the people of England? -- what
:14:48. > :14:51.would his policy means that the people of England, and the price of
:14:52. > :15:04.holidays fought English people going abroad? Can I apologise to everyone
:15:05. > :15:09.in this debate because I actually allowed the honourable member to
:15:10. > :15:19.tell us what the plan B was anti- trunk and on about something to do
:15:20. > :15:26.with apologies. -- holidays. You will get the same respect under my
:15:27. > :15:32.chairmanship. Thank you. I will give them one more opportunity to tell us
:15:33. > :15:43.what the plan B would be. Should people vote yes for independent
:15:44. > :15:51.Scotland? The question is that we know full well what we are doing. We
:15:52. > :15:56.are keeping sterling. What would happen to the people of England
:15:57. > :16:00.without sterling? Imports would be more expensive and holidays would be
:16:01. > :16:06.more expensive. It is irresponsible to the people of England, as it is
:16:07. > :16:11.to the people of Wales. In the event of separation, the SNP propose that
:16:12. > :16:15.currency of a foreign state. There will be no political and fiscal
:16:16. > :16:19.union. Scotland then becomes, and this is really important for the men
:16:20. > :16:28.and women in the streets of Scotland, a higher risk as a
:16:29. > :16:32.result. Interest rates will increase which means we will have to spend
:16:33. > :16:38.more money on mortgages and on loans and credit cards. The nationalist
:16:39. > :16:46.will accept that because they will pay any price. Where would
:16:47. > :16:56.independence keeping sterling leave us? A central bank is not control
:16:57. > :17:00.the economy. It works to a single 2% inflation target which we think are
:17:01. > :17:04.sensible. I don't have enough time. It would effectively leave us in
:17:05. > :17:11.Scotland and the same place in the rest of the UK, accepting the
:17:12. > :17:15.monetary policy discipline of an independent MDC while leaving
:17:16. > :17:21.Scotland along with the rest of the UK in complete control of the rest
:17:22. > :17:28.of its social and economic leaders. He rejected comparisons with the
:17:29. > :17:32.eurozone currency union. The old chestnut about being like Greece was
:17:33. > :17:39.also raced again. The problem at that Greece had was nothing to do
:17:40. > :17:42.with being in a currency union. It had everything to do with having
:17:43. > :17:48.appalling productivity. Scottish productivity is now identical to the
:17:49. > :17:54.rest of the UK. Honourable members will be aware that just last week
:17:55. > :17:59.the governor of the Bank of England set out his views on currency unions
:18:00. > :18:03.in what I thought was a very measured, and has he described
:18:04. > :18:08.himself, technocratic terms. Honourable members may also have
:18:09. > :18:14.read that the Chancellor plans to give a speech on this very matter
:18:15. > :18:22.later on this week. I will give way. The Prime Minister and Chancellor
:18:23. > :18:28.have played with Scotland. We have the Prime Minister in London and the
:18:29. > :18:38.chance threatening us with currency. -- the Chancellor. Which one does he
:18:39. > :18:44.support? I think that goes to show that the SNP is not interested in
:18:45. > :18:46.any serious debate on one of the most important issues facing the
:18:47. > :18:53.Scottish people and the British people. I think it speaks for
:18:54. > :19:00.itself. The debate over Scotland's future still has seven months to go.
:19:01. > :19:03.Five Liberal Democrat MPs rebelled on Wednesday night against the
:19:04. > :19:06.Coalition government over the amounts of money being allocated to
:19:07. > :19:16.local councils by Whitehall. The Lib Dems were not happy. I hope one of
:19:17. > :19:21.the things that the minister can see across the house and across the
:19:22. > :19:24.parties and the rural urban divide is a desire to fundamentally look at
:19:25. > :19:31.how we reform local government finance going forward. But
:19:32. > :19:36.fundamentally, my complaint is why should some of the poorest people in
:19:37. > :19:42.the country on the lowest wages pay far more in council tax and see far
:19:43. > :19:47.less crimes coming in from central government and at the same time see
:19:48. > :19:53.local services in raging around them? The argument over climate
:19:54. > :19:56.change and whether it is man-made continues. It caused this angry
:19:57. > :20:02.moment when a climate change sceptical MP challenges a scientist.
:20:03. > :20:08.You are looking at temperature change. Which time period you choose
:20:09. > :20:14.makes a critical difference to the results you get. All of that is
:20:15. > :20:19.carefully explains. If I can cut short a very long and irrelevant
:20:20. > :20:26.answer, I asked a very specific question. You did and I tried to get
:20:27. > :20:33.a very specific answer. You didn't. I asked why the judgement of the
:20:34. > :20:36.experts differed. You said it was because the experts start from the
:20:37. > :20:45.present climate, implying that the others didn't. I then said, am I
:20:46. > :20:52.correct? I am extremely satisfied by the answers we have had. It is
:20:53. > :20:59.disgraceful. We have a considerable agenda we want to cover. He is back,
:21:00. > :21:02.albeit briefly. The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a rare
:21:03. > :21:06.appearance in the Commons, speaking about the suffering of children and
:21:07. > :21:12.the conflict in Syria. It is officially, as you know, Madam
:21:13. > :21:14.Deputy Speaker, already the guest humanitarian tragedy since the
:21:15. > :21:18.Second World War. Some years from now, the world will look at what
:21:19. > :21:23.happened and wonder why we did so little. Faced with a catastrophe
:21:24. > :21:28.that has made more people permanently homeless than the world
:21:29. > :21:34.'s most recent natural disasters from the agents in army of 2004 to
:21:35. > :21:38.the Haiti earthquake of 2010. Is this the best way to deal with
:21:39. > :21:43.street protests that get out of hand? Water cannons, and overseas to
:21:44. > :21:46.cope with unruly demonstrators but they have never been used on the
:21:47. > :21:51.British mainland. As discussion started using them in London, peers
:21:52. > :21:57.get their views in first. A pensioner was permanently blinded by
:21:58. > :22:01.water cannon in Germany. He was part of a protest to stop developers from
:22:02. > :22:06.cutting down some trees. I'm afraid things are changing. The public
:22:07. > :22:14.disorder will change its character over the years. We are not in that
:22:15. > :22:18.era any more. What impact would it have to see London under seat and
:22:19. > :22:24.cannons being employed? What would be the impact on the economy and
:22:25. > :22:29.tourists? Is Westminster becoming ever more male? A female MP
:22:30. > :22:35.announces she is stepping down at the election, earning herself some
:22:36. > :22:37.glowing tributes in the chamber. Can adversely pay tribute to the
:22:38. > :22:42.honourable lady who know is not standing again at the next election
:22:43. > :22:44.and threw her time in Parliament has been a real supporter of many
:22:45. > :22:51.children in Kayu, particularly the most vulnerable. -- children in
:22:52. > :22:55.care. I know families are very thankful for the work she has done.
:22:56. > :23:00.I echo entirely what the minister has said. This house is losing five
:23:01. > :23:08.to many outstanding members and find too many outstanding female members.
:23:09. > :23:12.Rainstorms and gale force winds set the political weather this week.