0:00:15 > 0:00:17Hello and Welcome to the Week In Parliament.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Common sense?
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Or deeply unfair?
0:00:21 > 0:00:23The replacing of grants with loans for poorer students provides
0:00:23 > 0:00:26a battleground for the party leaders.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Where is the sense in doing this?
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Why are they abolishing those maintenance grants?
0:00:33 > 0:00:36He is now in a country with a university system with more
0:00:36 > 0:00:40people going to university than ever before.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Also on the programme.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45The sister of a man suspected of being the jihadist
0:00:45 > 0:00:50in a propaganda video describes her feelings to MPs.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54I just miss my brother very much and I am trying to make him realise
0:00:54 > 0:00:57that none of this is him.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59And after a report into why the opinion pollsters
0:00:59 > 0:01:01got their predictions wrong at the general election,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03one peer thinks it's time for radical action.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06What I am saying is these kind of polls are so important
0:01:06 > 0:01:09that they need some kind of regulation.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11But first.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15It'll save ?1.5 billion a year, but is it fair?
0:01:15 > 0:01:18The scrapping of grants for low-income students in England
0:01:18 > 0:01:23and their replacement with loans has caused plenty of indignation among
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Opposition MPs, who say it'll make universities the preserve
0:01:25 > 0:01:30of the affluent and the wealthy.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32The Chancellor announced the move last summer,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34saying it represented a better deal for the taxpayer.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39The student debt won't have to be repaid until a graduate is earning
0:01:39 > 0:01:42at least ?21,000 a year, and the Government says there's no
0:01:42 > 0:01:47evidence it'll lead to a drop in student numbers.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50But the change provided fertile territory for the Labour leader
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Jeremy Corbyn to launch his weekly challenge to David Cameron
0:01:52 > 0:01:55at Prime Minister's Questions.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59This proposal will affect 500,000 students -
0:01:59 > 0:02:02not anywhere in the manifesto.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05I have a question from a student by the name of Liam,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09who says, I am training to be a mathematics teacher,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and will now come out at the end of my course to debts in excess
0:02:14 > 0:02:17of ?50,000, which is roughly twice as much as what his annual
0:02:17 > 0:02:18income would be.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Why is Liam put into such debt?
0:02:23 > 0:02:27What I would say to Liam is that he is now in a country
0:02:27 > 0:02:30with a university system with more people going to university than ever
0:02:30 > 0:02:31before, and more people from low-income backgrounds
0:02:31 > 0:02:36going to university than ever before.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40In addition, what I'd say to Liam, and I wish him well,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43is that he will not pay back a penny of his loan
0:02:43 > 0:02:49until he is earning ?21,000.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52I'm pleased to say, Mr Speaker, that Liam is actually trying to be
0:02:52 > 0:02:55a maths teacher, which might be able to help the Prime Minister,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58because he did say he was earning ?25,000, which is more than ?21,000,
0:02:58 > 0:03:04if that is a help.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09In 2010, his Government...
0:03:09 > 0:03:15In 2010, Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister's Government
0:03:15 > 0:03:18trebled tuition fees to ?9,000, defending it by saying they would be
0:03:18 > 0:03:20increasing maintenance grants for students
0:03:20 > 0:03:22from less well-off backgrounds.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26They're now scrapping those very same grants -
0:03:26 > 0:03:30they used to boast about them being increased.
0:03:30 > 0:03:31Where is the sense in doing this?
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Why are they abolishing those maintenance grants?
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The sense in doing this is we want to uncap university
0:03:39 > 0:03:43places, so as many young people in our country,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46who want to go to university, can go to university,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and that's what we're doing.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51And before too much shouting from the party opposite,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53when they were in Government, it was Labour that introduced
0:03:53 > 0:03:57the fees and loans system.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Then on to plans to axe bursaries for student nurses.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The Prime Minister and I would probably agree that we need to be
0:04:04 > 0:04:06spending more and directing more resources in dealing with the mental
0:04:06 > 0:04:11health crisis in this country.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13And I've got a question, from somebody who wants to help us
0:04:13 > 0:04:18get through this crisis, by becoming a mental health nurse,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20and it's a woman called Vicky from York, and she's got
0:04:20 > 0:04:23a very real problem.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I would not have been able to, or chosen to study to be
0:04:26 > 0:04:28a mental-health nurse, without a bursary,
0:04:28 > 0:04:29for the following reasons.
0:04:29 > 0:04:30I'm a single mum.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31I need support for childcare costs.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I've got debts from a previous degree.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37I'm a mature student of 33.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I would not take on further debts, which would be impossible for me
0:04:40 > 0:04:42to pay back, and be fair on my daughter.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45She is somebody who we need in our NHS.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47We need as a mental-health nurse.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50We are losing her skill, her dedication, her aspiration
0:04:50 > 0:04:56to help the entire community.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Two out of three Vickys that turn up wanting to be nurses are sent away
0:04:59 > 0:05:03by our current system.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06So we're bringing people in from Bulgaria or Romania,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09or the other side of the world, to do nursing jobs -
0:05:09 > 0:05:13we should be training British people who want to do it.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The Prime Minister will be aware that nine out of ten hospitals
0:05:16 > 0:05:19currently have a nurse shortage.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Isn't what he is proposing for the nurse bursary scheme
0:05:22 > 0:05:25going to exacerbate the crisis, make it worse for everybody
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and make our NHS less effective, not more effective?
0:05:28 > 0:05:33What is his answer to that point?
0:05:33 > 0:05:37I'll give him a very direct answer, which is we are going to see 10,000
0:05:37 > 0:05:42extra nurse degree places, because of this policy.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44David Cameron doing battle with Jeremy Corbyn.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48There was a defeat for the Government during the week,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51when peers voted against plans to alter the way trade union members
0:05:51 > 0:05:52pay their political levy.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Under the Trade Union Bill, union members would have to agree
0:05:55 > 0:05:59to opt in to paying the levy instead of opting out.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04The Labour party claims the change could cost it ?6 million a year.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07The leader of the Labour peers said the clauses of the Bill which make
0:06:07 > 0:06:10the change should be handed over to a parliamentary committee.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Let's be precise.
0:06:12 > 0:06:19Our genuinely-held concern is that this aspect of the bill
0:06:19 > 0:06:21will have a significant impact on the resources of one major
0:06:21 > 0:06:26political party - my party, the Labour Party -
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and in doing so, it will both disrupt the political balance
0:06:30 > 0:06:33in the UK and have a damaging effect on the electoral process
0:06:33 > 0:06:43and on our democracy.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52The Government can say that the Bill isn't about political funding
0:06:52 > 0:06:54but it is.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Because it has the practical effect of further unbalancing the playing
0:06:58 > 0:07:00field in favour of the Conservative Party by practically reducing
0:07:00 > 0:07:02the access to funds for the Labour Party.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I believe that it is wrong to single out one political party,
0:07:05 > 0:07:10if we are looking at the funding of parties in this country,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and, frankly, to suggest that this Bill is not singling out a political
0:07:13 > 0:07:14party is disingenuous.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17And those who support this bill will actually say,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21that certain provisions are actually designed to enhance certain rights
0:07:21 > 0:07:23of trade union members and freedom of choice of trade
0:07:23 > 0:07:24union members, etc.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I understand that that is a possible argument,
0:07:28 > 0:07:37but, Lords, matters will not start here.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40We are in a different place in the way that these matters
0:07:40 > 0:07:41are now being discussed.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It is impossible that wider questions about the big donor
0:07:43 > 0:07:45culture, and the role of business, will go away.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I do hope that my friends on the front bench will recognise
0:07:48 > 0:07:54that to take away, and it will take away funding from the Labour Party,
0:07:54 > 0:08:00at a time when the Labour Party is perhaps not at its strongest,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and when Parliament, our parliamentary system depends -
0:08:04 > 0:08:07I am not trying to build up the Labour Party -
0:08:07 > 0:08:09but our parliamentary system does depend on having a strong
0:08:09 > 0:08:17and effective opposition.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19We have a proposition that these clauses have no impact.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22They are related to the trade unions and nothing to do with political
0:08:22 > 0:08:25parties and yet we know the practical effect on one
0:08:25 > 0:08:27political party would be devastating.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32We have to reconcile and resolve those issues and have them debated
0:08:32 > 0:08:36in a committee where they can be balanced against wider issues.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39My Lords, this bill is a package of measures, and it is disappointing
0:08:39 > 0:08:44that the party opposite have chosen to misinterpret our intentions.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46We would merely be adding confusion if we established
0:08:46 > 0:08:50a select committee.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Our reforms in this Bill look at how trade union members choose
0:08:53 > 0:08:56to contribute to trade union and political funds.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00We are not looking at how trade unions fund political parties.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Opt-ins and opt-outs for trade union political funds have always been
0:09:03 > 0:09:08a matter for trade union legislation.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Party funding and its regulation have always been a matter
0:09:10 > 0:09:12for party funding legislation.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Party funding is rightly outside the scope of this bill and I call
0:09:15 > 0:09:20on the House to reject this motion.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23But, at the end of the debate, Labour's proposal for a committee
0:09:23 > 0:09:26to examine the issue easily won the day.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29My Lords, they have voted: Contents - 327.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Not contents - 234.
0:09:33 > 0:09:39Therefore the contents have it.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It is a big election year, with votes coming up for the Mayor
0:09:42 > 0:09:44of London, Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47and then of course the likelihood of a referendum on our EU membership.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51All of which would normally create a lot of interest in opinion polls.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54But the pollsters' predictions ahead of the general election were wide
0:09:54 > 0:09:56of the mark.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58As you'll remember, they consistently suggested
0:09:58 > 0:10:01the outcome was going to be tight and most likely result
0:10:01 > 0:10:02in a hung parliament.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05In the event David Cameron won clearly, with an overall
0:10:05 > 0:10:07majority of 12.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09A report this week explained what had happened.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Here's Alicia McCarthy.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17It was the moment it all went wrong for the pollsters.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21And we are saying that the Conservatives are the largest party.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25As it turned out the exit poll was pretty close to the real result
0:10:25 > 0:10:27and significantly different to the hung Parliament the opinion
0:10:27 > 0:10:30polls had been suggesting.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34A report in the week set out where the pollsters had gone wrong.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36In essence it said the samples had too many Labour voters
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and too few Conservatives.
0:10:39 > 0:10:47What they do is get anyone they can and try and match those people
0:10:47 > 0:10:50to the population in terms of some of the things that we know about how
0:10:50 > 0:10:54the population looks from the census and so on.
0:10:54 > 0:11:04And that approach is perfectly fine in many cases but sometimes it goes
0:11:10 > 0:11:14wrong, if there's an important characteristic that they haven't
0:11:14 > 0:11:16matched properly between the samples and the population, and that seems
0:11:16 > 0:11:18to be the case this time.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21With local elections and the EU referendum around the corner
0:11:21 > 0:11:22where does polling go from here?
0:11:22 > 0:11:24We're going to become more savvy consumers of polling
0:11:24 > 0:11:27where we are actually looking at some of the wider issues
0:11:27 > 0:11:27that we test.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Things like leadership, like trust in different issues,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32which actually were incredibly accurate in the general election.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34For the EU referendum that is going to be fundamental
0:11:34 > 0:11:38to find out who it is that is going to turn out on the day.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40And that is really important to the accuracy of the polls.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Meanwhile in the Lords a Labour peer has pushed through a Bill to change
0:11:44 > 0:11:45the way pollsters are regulated.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47My Bill would set up a body, like Ofcom for regulating
0:11:47 > 0:11:50the newspapers, but they would regulate the polls.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52It consists of members of the organisations,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54the polling organisations, the parties, and the media,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59and they would make regulations and recommendations
0:11:59 > 0:12:03about the methods of polling, the arrangements of publication,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06so that there would be some control over the polls.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Would you also like to see a ban on any polls being published
0:12:09 > 0:12:11immediately before elections?
0:12:11 > 0:12:13That is something that the new body would have powers to
0:12:13 > 0:12:16consider and recommend.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21And it would be for them to decide if it was appropriate,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24look at the experience in other countries and if it was that it was
0:12:24 > 0:12:29better to ban them and that they would have some kind of reduced
0:12:29 > 0:12:31influence in the outcome of an election then that body
0:12:31 > 0:12:32could recommend it.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37But I am not personally suggesting that.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Lod Foulks there and he's now looking for an MP to take his Bill
0:12:41 > 0:12:42through the House of Commons.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44A look now at some of the other stories inside Parliament
0:12:44 > 0:12:46in the last seven days.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Proposals to ban the sale and supply of so called legal highs have been
0:12:49 > 0:12:52approved by MPs after a Commons debate when a former
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Home Office Minister said he regularly used the recreational
0:12:54 > 0:13:00drugs known as poppers.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01There are sometimes, Madame Deputy Speaker,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03when something is proposed which becomes personal
0:13:03 > 0:13:06to you and you realise
0:13:06 > 0:13:09the Government is about do something fantastically stupid and I think
0:13:09 > 0:13:12in those circumstances, one has a duty to speak up.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I use poppers.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17I out of myself as a popper user.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21I would be directly affected by this legislation.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26I'm astonished to find that it is proposing to be banned
0:13:26 > 0:13:32and frankly so were very many other gay men.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36I fear that including the poppers in the ban may undermine the bill
0:13:36 > 0:13:40and make it far more difficult to get across the vital message that
0:13:40 > 0:13:46psychoactive substances can be and very often are very dangerous.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50It is known as a house of experts and the expertise in the Lords
0:13:50 > 0:13:55is wide and varied and covering even the experience of prison.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00A peer recently out of jail gives the House a picture of life inside.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I thought I'd better try and do something with myself so I spent
0:14:03 > 0:14:09a lot of time researching and talking to fellow inmates
0:14:09 > 0:14:15about how they got there and also their own sort of situation.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Hardly anyone had heard of the House of Lords and I was really quite
0:14:20 > 0:14:22surprised at that.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25So many people, for example, asked me where it was.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28And what did it do.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30And someone imagined that every Lord has a castle.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Someone asked me if they could borrow my castle for a rave.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38And so it is quite an extraordinary thing that in prison,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42some of these people are fairly intelligent
0:14:42 > 0:14:46and they could have a much better future if we could only do
0:14:46 > 0:14:48more for them.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Outraged at the painting red of front doors and houses
0:14:51 > 0:14:54in Middlesbrough which are occupied by asylum seekers.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58MPs demand a repainted by the house painters Jomast,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01a subcontractor for the security firm G4S.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05I am deeply concerned about the issues raised
0:15:05 > 0:15:09about the painting of doors of asylum seeker accommodation
0:15:09 > 0:15:11in a single colour.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15If you could outline what penalties he has available to him to make sure
0:15:15 > 0:15:18that this contractor G4S, who quite frankly have suffered it
0:15:18 > 0:15:21great deal of reputational damage over recent times and Jomast,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24are held to account.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27If there is an acceptance that these doors were painted
0:15:27 > 0:15:31in a certain colour, that is appalling and it should have
0:15:31 > 0:15:34been discussed and discovered earlier.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39If what is required in the short-term is to repaint
0:15:39 > 0:15:42the 150 front doors, then frankly this shouldn't be
0:15:42 > 0:15:45taking three months or three weeks, the painters should be out now
0:15:45 > 0:15:47and it should be done by the weekend.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50An enquiry report concludes it is probable that President Putin
0:15:50 > 0:15:54ordered the murder of this man, the former KGB agent
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Alexander Litvinenko, in London, nine years ago.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00The Home Secretary is blunt.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04The conclusion that the Russian state was probably involved
0:16:04 > 0:16:07in the murder of Mr Litvinenko is deeply disturbing.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11It goes without saying that this was a blatant and unacceptable
0:16:11 > 0:16:15breach of the most fundamental tenants of international law
0:16:15 > 0:16:17and of civilised behaviour.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Putin is an unconstructed KGB thug and gangster
0:16:21 > 0:16:24whor murders his opponents in Russia and as we know
0:16:24 > 0:16:27on the streets of London.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29And nothing announced today is going to make the blindest
0:16:29 > 0:16:32bit of difference.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35What is certain is that the Russian state, under President Putin,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38has killed over 100 opponents.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Lawyers, accountants, journalists, and politicians.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44It is a kleptocratic state that uses assassination
0:16:44 > 0:16:47as a policy weapon.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52And that man again, as Donald Trump gets the support of Sarah Palin
0:16:52 > 0:16:56in his eventful campaign for the US presidency.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59MPs debate a public petition demanding that Mr Trump
0:16:59 > 0:17:01is banned from Britain.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05When people feel that we need to stop a poisonous,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08corrosive man from entering our country, they will act
0:17:08 > 0:17:10in good conscience.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14His comments regarding Muslims are wrong.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17His policy to close borders, if he is elected president,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19is bonkers.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And if he met one or two of my constituents in one
0:17:22 > 0:17:26of the many excellent pubs in my constituency,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29then they may well tell him that he is a wazzock for dealing
0:17:29 > 0:17:31with this issue in this way.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Can I not suggest that actually this is about buffoonery and ultimately
0:17:35 > 0:17:38buffoonery should be not met with the blunt instrument of a ban
0:17:38 > 0:17:42but with the classic British response of ridicule.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45The debate on Donald Trump.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The sister of a British man thought to have appeared in a murder video
0:17:49 > 0:17:53produced by so-called Islamic State has been talking in Parliament
0:17:53 > 0:17:55about her brother.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58In the video, a man with an English accent is seen executing five men
0:17:58 > 0:18:01accused of spying against IS.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04The man is thought to be Siddhartha Dhar to be from London.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Also known as Abu Rumasaysah, he had been arrested in Britain
0:18:07 > 0:18:11on suspicion of encouraging terrorism that he was then able
0:18:11 > 0:18:12to travel to Syria.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15On Tuesday, his sister Konika Dhar came before the Home
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Affairs Committee.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22The committee is interested in the narrative of your brother.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27The last time I did see him was in September 2014.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31He seemed to me to be OK.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36I mean, obviously I was always aware that he was a practising Muslim.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40He kept his political movements private.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46So, he didn't discuss it with you at all?
0:18:46 > 0:18:49No.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53I mean, I wasn't aware that he went by another name until he had left.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57My instant reaction was, Abu who? I don't know that person.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00I just remember my brother being the person I grew up with.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I've never known anyone to go through this.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I think it is important for other families to know
0:19:06 > 0:19:10what are the appropriate steps one needs to take in order
0:19:10 > 0:19:13to get their loved one back, who is the right person to contact.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16I thought I did the right thing.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18But looking...
0:19:18 > 0:19:20I hope it is.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23But I'm just a bit sort of wary if I'm making things worse now.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I'm not trying to, I just miss my brother very much and I'm
0:19:27 > 0:19:30trying to make him realise that none of this is him.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35Can you, in your heart, ever forgive him for what he has done?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38He has betrayed the family and obviously the country
0:19:38 > 0:19:40in which he lived.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45I'm still holding to the firm belief that what I'm seeing is not him
0:19:45 > 0:19:51and I haven't had verification otherwise so...
0:19:51 > 0:19:58I have said before that if it is, I don't...
0:19:58 > 0:20:04It's a difficult one. Yeah, it is.
0:20:04 > 0:20:10Is he really my brother if he has done this?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I can't accept that he would ever do that.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14I can't accept it.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Is it fair to say, the sense I get from the evidence that you have
0:20:18 > 0:20:20given, which in some sense is totally different
0:20:20 > 0:20:24from the Sunday Times article, is it you are still coming to terms
0:20:24 > 0:20:26with what has happened to you and your family?
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Would I be right in saying it is almost as if you are in a bad
0:20:30 > 0:20:33dream from which you are hoping to be woken up from?
0:20:33 > 0:20:35I think you have put it very well.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I think people underestimate how traumatic the experience is,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42not only for the person who has gone out there but the families
0:20:42 > 0:20:44who are left behind.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47And I think people expect everyone to just get on with it
0:20:47 > 0:20:49but it is much harder in tractors.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I just want to try and explore how he is living his life
0:20:52 > 0:20:55as you still believe him to be a good man.
0:20:55 > 0:21:01If he is over there supporting Daesh, he is probably engaging
0:21:01 > 0:21:06in enslaving, in beheading and in rape.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09This is what Daesh does.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12One of the women that has given evidence, an article
0:21:12 > 0:21:16in the Daily Mail about a number of things and someone states,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19"the saddest thing that I remember was this little girl,
0:21:19 > 0:21:25"12 years old, and they raped her without mercy."
0:21:25 > 0:21:29These are the activities that your brother is engaged in.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Do you still believe he is a good man?
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I think this is...
0:21:35 > 0:21:38quite sort of...
0:21:38 > 0:21:40A sensitive topic to talk about.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43My opinion will always be biased because he is my brother.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47I still don't want to associate the two, the activities that
0:21:47 > 0:21:51you have just described with my brother.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55And I know that may be hard for many people to believe
0:21:55 > 0:21:58but that is because he is my brother and as far as I am concerned,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00I grew up with a different person.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Konika Dhar at the Home Affairs Committee.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07The new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Eileen Foster has
0:22:07 > 0:22:09held her first question session as First Minister
0:22:09 > 0:22:12in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Ms Foster joins an increasing number of women party leaders
0:22:15 > 0:22:20in the UK's legislative bodies, as Claire Gould now explains.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Northern Ireland's Eileen Foster is certainly not alone.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28In Scotland, all three major parties are led by women.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Labour leader Kezia Dugdale,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36and Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40In Wales, two out of the four main parties are led by women.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Kirsty Williams leads the Lib Dems.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45And Leanne Wood leads Plaid Cymru.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49In Westminster, both the government and the opposition parties
0:22:49 > 0:22:51in the Lords are led by women.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Baroness Smith for Labour
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and Baroness Stowell for the government.
0:22:55 > 0:23:02That means that only the Commons lacks a woman leader of any party.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04The women's equality party formed last year and now busy fundraising
0:23:04 > 0:23:08ahead of the local elections wants to see an equal Parliament.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12We have come up with a very simple solution which is the next two
0:23:12 > 0:23:14cycles of elections, we want to see two thirds
0:23:14 > 0:23:17of candidates put forward to be women.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20We have calculated that if we do that for 2020 and 2025,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24we will achieve equal representation in just ten years.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26What we are calling for is equality.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It would be great to have more women leaders because it is aspirational,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33it is important for women to be able to see people who look like them
0:23:33 > 0:23:34in positions of power.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36But what we are talking about is the equal representation
0:23:36 > 0:23:38across every level of political life.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Catherine Riley from the Women's Equality Party.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44The Lords has welcomed the first new peer of 2016,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Robert Mair,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers will sit
0:23:51 > 0:23:53on the crossbenches.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Where does that leave our ermine-o-meter?
0:23:56 > 0:24:01At the start of November, there were 820 members of the Lords.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Since then, three have died, three have retired and including
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Lord Mayor, six have joined, giving us a grand total once again
0:24:08 > 0:24:14of 820 peers and still counting.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Now, let's take a look at some of the quirkiest stories from around
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Westminster and the last week.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Here is Alicia McCarthy.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31Alex Salmond became the latest MP to take up the phone-in challenge.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36He made his debut on LBC taking up where Lib Dem Nick Clegg left off.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39What would you ask?
0:24:39 > 0:24:45One US TV network has ambitions for Paul Flynn.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51He was entitled party leader in the band in the Donald Trump debate.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Fancy that.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58There was a fresh incarnation for the mop top Mayor of London.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03He became a character in building game Minecraft.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Election battles are often plucky but could Labour's 2015 campaign be
0:25:08 > 0:25:11better described as plucky?
0:25:11 > 0:25:15New figures show the party spent more than ?570
0:25:15 > 0:25:18on chicken suit expenses.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22He's got a beard, a bike and an allotment, now Jeremy Corbyn
0:25:22 > 0:25:24is to have his own musical.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Satirical song show The Motorcycle Diaries is to hit
0:25:27 > 0:25:30the London stage in April.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Alicia McCarthy reporting.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42An interesting few days in the Commons and the Lords coming
0:25:42 > 0:25:44up with the peers returning to the row over the replacement
0:25:45 > 0:25:47of student grants with loans.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50So, do join me for the next Week in Parliament.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.