:00:12. > :00:14.Hello and welcome to The Week In Parliament,
:00:15. > :00:17.where, with the EU referendum campaign in full swing,
:00:18. > :00:19.the head of the Bank of England comes under fire
:00:20. > :00:26.As soon as you become political and you support one
:00:27. > :00:28.side in the campaign, why should anyone now trust
:00:29. > :00:31.you to set interest rates other than for the benefit of the government?
:00:32. > :00:33.The only side we have supported is the pursuit of low,
:00:34. > :00:36.stable and predictable inflation, which is our remit.
:00:37. > :00:39.MPs begin an inquiry into British Home Stores,
:00:40. > :00:43.and ask why it was sold it to a twice-bankrupt
:00:44. > :00:50.If this deal had not been done with this particular buyer,
:00:51. > :00:52.the BHS business would have gone into administration 12 or 13 months,
:00:53. > :00:56.or whatever the period was, earlier than in fact it did.
:00:57. > :00:59.And I'll be reporting on the race to become the next Lords Speaker.
:01:00. > :01:06.The EU referendum campaign passed another milestone in the week.
:01:07. > :01:09.There's now less than a month to go until the UK decides whether to stay
:01:10. > :01:14.in or whether to leave the European Union.
:01:15. > :01:17.At the start of the week, a Treasury forecast claiming that a vote
:01:18. > :01:20.to leave would result in an economic shock was dismissed as rubbish
:01:21. > :01:28.We all know that these forecasts are just rubbish being produced
:01:29. > :01:32.by a government that is now obsessed with producing propaganda to try
:01:33. > :01:35.and get its way in this vote, rather than to enlighten the public.
:01:36. > :01:37.This analysis is an attempt to assist the British people
:01:38. > :01:40.in making an informed decision, based on the likely consequences
:01:41. > :01:43.of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.
:01:44. > :01:47.Indeed, there have been many supporters of the Leave campaign
:01:48. > :01:50.who have been prepared to acknowledge that leaving
:01:51. > :01:53.the European Union would at the very least have a short-term impact
:01:54. > :02:01.The honourable member for Harwich tries to rubbish this report
:02:02. > :02:07.Well, if we were to leave the European Union, we would have
:02:08. > :02:09.to negotiate in very short order trade relationships
:02:10. > :02:12.with the rest of the world, including over 50 other countries.
:02:13. > :02:15.Leaving aside the Treasury's notorious incompetence
:02:16. > :02:19.at forecasting, would my right honourable friend,
:02:20. > :02:24.for whom I have a lot of time, normally, not agree that this
:02:25. > :02:27.document really does plumb new depths in Project Fear?
:02:28. > :02:31.What the Government is trying to do is scare the public witless.
:02:32. > :02:34.And if the consequences are so dire, why on earth did the Prime Minister
:02:35. > :02:37.say on record that Britain could prosper perfectly
:02:38. > :02:47.Well, while we're on the subject of predictions, earlier this month,
:02:48. > :02:50.the Bank of England gave a stark warning about the economic
:02:51. > :02:53.dangers of the UK leaving the European Union.
:02:54. > :02:58.That angered Vote Leave campaigners, with one, Jacob Rees-Mogg, calling
:02:59. > :03:01.on the Bank's governor, Mark Carney, to resign.
:03:02. > :03:05.So there were some prickly exchanges when Dr Carney appeared in front
:03:06. > :03:07.of the Treasury committee, of which Jacob Rees-Mogg
:03:08. > :03:23.Don't you have a responsibility to be apolitical? We are apolitical. As
:03:24. > :03:27.soon as you support one side, why should anyone trust you on interest
:03:28. > :03:31.rates, that you will do anything other than act in favour of the
:03:32. > :03:36.government? We have not supported any side, the only side we have
:03:37. > :03:40.supported is the pursuit of low, and stable inflation, which is our
:03:41. > :03:48.remit. By our actions, which may be inconvenient for you, but by our
:03:49. > :03:52.actions, we have made it more likely that we will bring inflation back to
:03:53. > :03:56.target, whatever the outcome of the referendum, sooner and more
:03:57. > :04:00.sustainably. And that will be a better economic outcome. That is our
:04:01. > :04:04.contribution for the British people. To suggest otherwise is to try and
:04:05. > :04:10.undermine that. I do suggest otherwise. And so you try to
:04:11. > :04:13.undermine that. I think you have become politically involved, when
:04:14. > :04:21.quite clearly you said you would not. Jeremy Corbyn, an important
:04:22. > :04:28.speech, and about whether his new economics is a good idea. Alas, you
:04:29. > :04:31.weren't... I mean... Answer that at all? I don't think it's worth a
:04:32. > :04:32.reply. Well, the row over the EU referendum
:04:33. > :04:38.campaign spilled over into PMQs, where, with David Cameron
:04:39. > :04:40.on his way to a G7 summit, it was down to George
:04:41. > :04:43.Osborne to hold the fort. As is tradition if the Prime
:04:44. > :04:45.Minister is away, Labour also fields a deputy,
:04:46. > :04:47.so Angela Eagle took to the despatch box for the opposition,
:04:48. > :04:50.and turned her fire on the divisions in the Conservative
:04:51. > :05:03.Party over Europe. With 29 days to go until the most
:05:04. > :05:07.important decision this country has faced in a generation, we have
:05:08. > :05:11.before us a government in Bartekova as, split down the middle, at war
:05:12. > :05:16.with itself. The stakes could not be higher, and yet this is a government
:05:17. > :05:22.adrift at the mercy of its own rebel backbenchers, unable to get their
:05:23. > :05:24.agenda through Parliament, instead of focusing on the national into,
:05:25. > :05:29.they are focusing on their own narrow self-interest. What we need,
:05:30. > :05:33.Mr Speaker, is a government which will do the best for Britain. What
:05:34. > :05:41.we've got is a Conservative Party focused only on themselves. They are
:05:42. > :05:44.like a Parliamentary party on day release, aren't they, when the
:05:45. > :05:48.honourable lady is here. They know the member for Islington will be
:05:49. > :05:55.back and it is four more years of hard labour! Mr Speaker, today we
:05:56. > :05:59.are voting on a Queen's Speech which delivers economic security, protects
:06:00. > :06:05.our national security, enhances life chances for the most is advantaged,
:06:06. > :06:09.and it doesn't matter who stands at that dispatch box for the Labour
:06:10. > :06:13.Party these days, they are dismantling our defences, they are
:06:14. > :06:17.wrecking our economy, they want to burden people with debt, and in
:06:18. > :06:25.their own report, published this week, called Labour's Future,
:06:26. > :06:28.surprisingly long, they say this, in their own report - they are becoming
:06:29. > :06:30.increasingly irrelevant to the working people of Britain.
:06:31. > :06:35.Now to the altogether more civilised realm
:06:36. > :06:39.where it's time for peers to choose a new Lord Speaker.
:06:40. > :06:40.The current incumbent, Baroness d'Souza, is standing down.
:06:41. > :06:48.Gary Connor has been finding out who wants the job.
:06:49. > :06:59.The question is that this bill be now read a first time. The contents
:07:00. > :07:04.have it. Presiding in the Lords and representing the upper house at
:07:05. > :07:10.Westminster and beyond. The job of Lord Speaker is becoming vacant.
:07:11. > :07:18.Stepping down from the ?100,000 a year post at the end of the summer
:07:19. > :07:21.term will be Baroness d'Souza. So let's had over there now to hear
:07:22. > :07:27.from the candidates. Standing at the hustings hailed amid the splendours
:07:28. > :07:32.of the robing room. If the Lib Dem Baroness garden wins, she would be
:07:33. > :07:37.the third female Lord Speaker in a row. I would like to try to explain
:07:38. > :07:41.to people outside what it is that we do, particularly with younger
:07:42. > :07:46.people, which is my background, in education. That is something I would
:07:47. > :07:50.like to do. I think to be the third woman in a row would be a fantastic
:07:51. > :07:55.sign that women can hold down these posts. We've had two excellent women
:07:56. > :07:59.Lord Speakers. The job has never gone to a man, and it has never gone
:08:00. > :08:05.to the Conservatives. So could it be the Tories' turn? I am a passionate
:08:06. > :08:09.believer in Parliament and in the House of Lords. I believe it has a
:08:10. > :08:13.real important role in our constitution. The House of Commons,
:08:14. > :08:20.where I have the privilege to sit for 40 years, is without doubt, has
:08:21. > :08:23.supremacy, it is the supreme House politically more than we do an
:08:24. > :08:28.enormous amount of important work here. And I want to be able to help
:08:29. > :08:33.explain around the country just how important that work is. I was
:08:34. > :08:40.chairman of two newspaper companies, and I was a journalist. So perhaps I
:08:41. > :08:46.am equipped to actually carry out a campaign of explaining to the public
:08:47. > :08:50.more what the House of Lords is about, because I think at times we
:08:51. > :08:56.simply do not get the press that we deserve. I think sometimes we are
:08:57. > :09:01.simply cast to one side and no-one takes any notice. And I think that
:09:02. > :09:05.is unfair and unjust. Candidates were quizzed about the work of the
:09:06. > :09:09.House and its public image. And about the tricky question of
:09:10. > :09:17.membership, which currently stands at 800-plus. They agreed, it's
:09:18. > :09:21.tricky. So, would the trio rank themselves as traditionalist or
:09:22. > :09:28.champions of change, on a scale of one to ten? The first two declined
:09:29. > :09:31.that offer. All I want on my tombstone is the word
:09:32. > :09:35.parliamentarian. I don't think I want to ruin my chances totally by
:09:36. > :09:42.putting myself anywhere on your particular grade. And you really
:09:43. > :09:47.don't want to be in the middle lover but Lord Fowler was prepared to come
:09:48. > :09:53.up with a figure. I will be thoroughly boring but not duck it,
:09:54. > :09:59.and I will put in for five! Because I am a Conservative, with a small
:10:00. > :10:03.sea, but Parliament does need to develop. Thank you very much, in
:10:04. > :10:09.particular to our three distinguished speakers. So that is
:10:10. > :10:14.how the contest is shaping up so far. He is will vote on the 8th of
:10:15. > :10:16.June and the winning candidate will be announced in the Lords Chamber on
:10:17. > :10:18.the 13th of June. Now let's take a look at some
:10:19. > :10:22.other stories in brief. Scotland's First Minister,
:10:23. > :10:24.Nicola Sturgeon, set out her priorities following this month's
:10:25. > :10:26.Holyrood elections. She said the defining mission of her
:10:27. > :10:28.government would be education. So, free university tuition
:10:29. > :10:30.would continue in Scotland, but children needed to get
:10:31. > :10:42.to that stage first. The target we are setting is clear.
:10:43. > :10:47.A child born today in one of our most deprived communities must by
:10:48. > :10:51.the time they leave school have the same chance of getting to university
:10:52. > :10:54.as a child of the same ability from one of the most well-off parts of
:10:55. > :10:58.our country. That is a fundamental part of what I mean by a fair and
:10:59. > :11:00.equal society. this parliament would have
:11:01. > :11:09.huge new responsibilities. We are not here simply to argue over
:11:10. > :11:13.how best the government spends a sum of money. We now must decide how
:11:14. > :11:17.best a government can raise money and how we best encourage the
:11:18. > :11:23.economy to ensure those funds increase. The rewards and the risks
:11:24. > :11:26.are great. It is clear to me that if the last Parliamentary session was
:11:27. > :11:29.about deciding the shape and identity of our country, this next
:11:30. > :11:32.Parliamentary session should be about setting the policy direction
:11:33. > :11:35.and goals of our country for the coming years.
:11:36. > :11:36.Labour's leader thought the SNP government
:11:37. > :11:41.was taking a different line to SNP MPs at Westminster.
:11:42. > :11:49.In a Parliament 400 miles from here, the SNP MPs have tabled an amendment
:11:50. > :11:54.to the Queen's Speech. From opposition there, they call for an
:11:55. > :11:58.end to austerity and for investment in public services. Meanwhile, SNP
:11:59. > :12:01.members sit on the government mention is in this Parliament with
:12:02. > :12:05.the power to act, the power to stop the cuts, to invest in education,
:12:06. > :12:08.and they refuse to do so. -- on the government benches.
:12:09. > :12:11.The boss of EDF Energy told MPs he didn't know when a final decision
:12:12. > :12:13.on the ?18 billion Hinkley Point nuclear
:12:14. > :12:17.The decision on the project in Somerset had been due this month,
:12:18. > :12:20.but the company's trade union members have suggested it should be
:12:21. > :12:33.The project is not on hold. At the moment we speak, the project
:12:34. > :12:35.continues to prepare for the final decision, at which time we will
:12:36. > :12:38.confirm the date of commission. Efforts to save jobs at Tata Steel
:12:39. > :12:41.may entail cuts to the pension Paying for pensions is seen
:12:42. > :12:45.as a major obstacle to Tata's sale The British Steel pension scheme has
:12:46. > :12:49.around 130,000 members, with a deficit running into hundreds
:12:50. > :12:51.of millions of pounds. One option is to base annual
:12:52. > :12:54.increases on the Consumer Prices Index or CPI measure of inflation,
:12:55. > :12:57.which is usually below the Retail Prices Index
:12:58. > :13:00.measure currently used. But many MPs are worried
:13:01. > :13:23.about the precedent that might set. What assurance can the secretary of
:13:24. > :13:27.state give me that this will not be extended to other groups. Can this
:13:28. > :13:33.be sensibly and safety ring fenced, because if not it is difficult? It
:13:34. > :13:38.is the scheme's trustees who have come forward and asked us to look at
:13:39. > :13:44.legislation. They believe it would lead to better outcomes for their
:13:45. > :13:46.members. This is a product of the scheme trustees approaching us
:13:47. > :13:50.The aim of UK airstrikes in Syria is not to "kill
:13:51. > :13:52.as many Daesh as possible" but to "undermine their will
:13:53. > :13:54.to fight", Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has told MPs.
:13:55. > :13:57.He was answering questions from the Defence Committee.
:13:58. > :14:00.It is estimated that more than 1,500 fighters allied to so-called
:14:01. > :14:05.Islamic State have been killed in Iraq since December,
:14:06. > :14:15.while the death toll among IS fighters in Syria is 22.
:14:16. > :14:21.It is extremely misleading to look at statistics in that particular
:14:22. > :14:25.way. We are only able to estimate enemy killed in action. These are
:14:26. > :14:30.crude estimates because we do not have people on the ground and we
:14:31. > :14:36.cannot investigate every single attack. The aim of these missions is
:14:37. > :14:45.not to kill as many as possible, it is to degrade them by tackling their
:14:46. > :14:50.leadership on occasion, but in the end to try and undermine their will
:14:51. > :14:51.to fight by attacking their command and control, the infrastructure and
:14:52. > :14:53.and control, the infrastructure and so on.
:14:54. > :14:56.A health minister has accepted that the advice on healthy eating
:14:57. > :14:58.has become very "muddied" in recent days.
:14:59. > :15:00.The UK is facing a growing problem with obesity.
:15:01. > :15:03.At the start of the week, a row broke out in the
:15:04. > :15:05.scientific community after the authors of a controversial
:15:06. > :15:12.advice on fatty foods and carbohydrates.
:15:13. > :15:19.We used to be told that we should not eat salt, now we are told we
:15:20. > :15:24.should. We used to be told we should not eat fatty foods, now we should.
:15:25. > :15:29.We used to be told one glass of red wine a day was good for us, then we
:15:30. > :15:34.were told we should have known, now we are being told we should have
:15:35. > :15:40.two. Which of these items should exit our diet and which should
:15:41. > :15:47.remain? My noble friend makes a very good point. He is as confused about
:15:48. > :15:51.this as most of us are in this house. It will be an important part
:15:52. > :15:57.of the obesity strategy when it is announced in the summer that we
:15:58. > :16:01.address this very clearly. All the evidence from over 600 separate
:16:02. > :16:06.studies reinforces the advice that is already out there, but it has
:16:07. > :16:09.indeed been very muddied over the last five days.
:16:10. > :16:12.It's been a week for first speeches in both the Commons and the Lords.
:16:13. > :16:14.On Monday, Labour's Gill Furniss made her maiden speech.
:16:15. > :16:16.The new MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough had
:16:17. > :16:18.particular reason to pay tribute to her predecessor,
:16:19. > :16:28.I am doubly proud to say that not only was he a dedicated and
:16:29. > :16:31.conscientious Labour MP, but as many colleagues will know he was also my
:16:32. > :16:36.husband. He served in this house for less than a year before his death,
:16:37. > :16:41.but in that time he made his mark. He spoke powerfully against tax
:16:42. > :16:42.credits, knowing the suffering it would cause the people he
:16:43. > :16:43.would cause the people he represented.
:16:44. > :16:46.Next day, the new MP for Ogmore made his maiden and spoke
:16:47. > :16:49.about one of his predecessors, Sir Raymond Powell.
:16:50. > :16:59.We are both playing in butchery. So Raymond master butcher and butcher'
:17:00. > :17:03.assistant. I am not sure if my skills with a knife will to use in
:17:04. > :17:06.this has, that I am told by members it is a useful skill to have. I
:17:07. > :17:10.And on Wednesday, the Bishop of Newcastle debuted - she spoke
:17:11. > :17:20.One of those pictures was Mrs Boyd who started debating society in our
:17:21. > :17:28.school. She had a passion for the art of debating and wanted us to
:17:29. > :17:32.catch that passion. Her sister, the noble Baroness the late Lady Burke,
:17:33. > :17:38.had just be introduced into the Lords as one of those pioneering,
:17:39. > :17:43.early women life peers. Through good offices she brought our little
:17:44. > :17:48.debating theme to this place to inspire us by witnessing debating at
:17:49. > :17:53.its best. How could I have imagined as a 16-year-old girl up in that
:17:54. > :17:57.gallery that one day I would find myself making a maiden speech in
:17:58. > :18:02.Now off to the committee corridor, where MPs have begun a detailed
:18:03. > :18:04.inquiry into the collapse of British Home Stores.
:18:05. > :18:06.BHS had debts of ?1.25 billion when it went
:18:07. > :18:16.It also had a pensions deficit of ?571 million.
:18:17. > :18:20.In 2000, BHS was bought by the retail billionaire Sir Philip Green,
:18:21. > :18:24.who made it part of the Arcadia Group.
:18:25. > :18:27.Last year he sold it to "Retail Acquisitions",
:18:28. > :18:30.a group whose leader, Dominic Chappell, had been declared
:18:31. > :18:45.I am confident the trustees did everything they could within the
:18:46. > :18:48.regulatory framework to ask questions of the seller and buyer to
:18:49. > :18:51.try and understand the situation. They also made very clear to the
:18:52. > :18:56.They also made very clear to the seller and buyer the scale.
:18:57. > :18:59.The session then quizzed a representative from the City firm
:19:00. > :19:02.Goldman Sachs, which gave advice on the sale of BHS to
:19:03. > :19:12.In a the situation, Goldman Sachs are the premier advisers in
:19:13. > :19:19.transactions, it has presented to its client, he has got no experience
:19:20. > :19:26.in the industry and has a history of being bankrupt three times, your
:19:27. > :19:31.advice is to carry on? Goldman Sachs name means a lot. In a similar
:19:32. > :19:40.situation would you not be waving a red flag? Not your one. Would you
:19:41. > :19:47.not be waving a red flag to say this is a walking disaster, do not touch
:19:48. > :19:51.it? Goldman Sachs says do not go in. In the early stage of a transaction
:19:52. > :19:55.with many months to follow before the deal could hypothetically close,
:19:56. > :19:56.we would identify the risk and save these risks need to be assessed.
:19:57. > :20:00.A legal adviser on the sale said he had had
:20:01. > :20:02.conversations with a legal firm, Olswang, that represented
:20:03. > :20:18.In the conversation I had I learned that the firm carried out a
:20:19. > :20:23.thorough, detailed due diligence process on their customer and that
:20:24. > :20:29.nothing in what they had done had given rise to any concerns in
:20:30. > :20:34.relation to impropriety and that their client had been open
:20:35. > :20:39.throughout, and that if they had had any sense there might be any
:20:40. > :20:45.impropriety there, it is not something they would go anywhere
:20:46. > :20:51.near. We had reached the stage when the board as a whole had decided
:20:52. > :20:56.that either BHS was going to have to go into insolvency, or alternatively
:20:57. > :21:01.it should be sold. If we could find a buyer, that was the most desirable
:21:02. > :21:04.outcome because it would protect the jobs and it would protect the
:21:05. > :21:12.position of the business as a going concern. What we are discussing in
:21:13. > :21:16.my view, for what it is worth, the most fundamental point in the story
:21:17. > :21:22.which is if this deal had not been done with this particular buyer, the
:21:23. > :21:23.BHS business would have gone into administration 12 or 13 months
:21:24. > :21:28.into administration 12 or 13 months earlier than in fact it did.
:21:29. > :21:31.And that committee will be hearing from all sides of the argument
:21:32. > :21:34.Time for a look now at what's been happening
:21:35. > :21:40.Here's Alex Partridge with our countdown.
:21:41. > :21:43.More than 50 words and phrases have been ruled unacceptable when used
:21:44. > :21:50.Unparliamentary language includes "bumbling idiot", "rentagob",
:21:51. > :21:58.No pussyfooting around at Foreign Office Questions.
:21:59. > :22:01.Philip Hammond was asked whether the departmental moggy
:22:02. > :22:05.The Foreign Secretary said that Palmerston the cat
:22:06. > :22:12.A relic believed to come from Saint Thomas Becket was
:22:13. > :22:16.in Westminster this week, centuries after he was martyred in Canterbury.
:22:17. > :22:18.The elbow fragment was on display at St Margaret's,
:22:19. > :22:24.the parish church of the House of Commons.
:22:25. > :22:27.There could be a new Lord Lucan in the House of Lords.
:22:28. > :22:30.A death certificate was finally issued for the absent peer
:22:31. > :22:33.in February, 42 years after he went missing.
:22:34. > :22:36.Now, his son, George Bingham, has added his name to the
:22:37. > :22:39.register of hereditary peers, allowing him to stand for the
:22:40. > :22:43.Chamber next time there is a vacancy.
:22:44. > :22:45.And backbench MPs got to put their name
:22:46. > :22:47.into the hat to win the chance to introduce a
:22:48. > :22:52.Top of the list was the SNP's John Nicholson, followed
:22:53. > :23:01.by Conservatives Bob Blackman and Alec Shelbrooke.
:23:02. > :23:13.We're talking about 1975, the FIRST time that Britain went
:23:14. > :23:18.Angela Rippon was reporting on the story then, and she has been
:23:19. > :23:20.looking back at that campaign for a special night
:23:21. > :23:25.She told us there are striking similarities
:23:26. > :23:39.In 1975, I was reading the news and being a reporter and I remember
:23:40. > :23:43.going out and talking to people on the streets. What was extraordinary
:23:44. > :23:48.was they did not have any better idea than than many people have now
:23:49. > :23:53.about the main issues and how they will vote. I remember Margaret
:23:54. > :23:58.Thatcher's jumper, the one with the flags of the nine nations at that
:23:59. > :24:06.time in the European economic community. I thought, where did she
:24:07. > :24:14.get that awful sweater? We want a jumper parade. What I find quite
:24:15. > :24:19.spooky is that 1975 and 2016 are almost interchangeable. It is quite
:24:20. > :24:23.extraordinary that we had virtually exactly the same main topics and
:24:24. > :24:28.virtually the same reaction coming from the general public. First of
:24:29. > :24:31.all you had the party is split down the middle, that is what you have
:24:32. > :24:37.got now with politicians arguing against each other from the same
:24:38. > :24:43.party, those who wanted in and those who wanted out. No change there. And
:24:44. > :24:46.similarly with the general public. Unless they were polarised into
:24:47. > :24:51.coming out or staying in, there was that area in the middle where people
:24:52. > :24:56.were still confused and that is the word. They are now. There are so
:24:57. > :25:03.many arguments that you can say is a perfectly valid argument as to why
:25:04. > :25:07.we can come out, and then you hear perfectly died arguments as to why
:25:08. > :25:16.we should stay in. People then as now were left thinking I am not sure
:25:17. > :25:21.what to do. Frankly, apart from in 1975 food was a very big issue in
:25:22. > :25:25.the campaign, and the price of food because people were worried about
:25:26. > :25:31.the Common agricultural policy, no food does not feature at all. What
:25:32. > :25:33.features is immigration, which did not turn after tour in 1975.
:25:34. > :25:38.And 75: Not Out will be shown on BBC Parliament at 7pm
:25:39. > :25:44.MPs and peers have left Westminster for their Whitsun recess.
:25:45. > :25:48.So we'll be back when they return on Monday June 6th.