:00:12. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to The Week In Parliament.
:00:14. > :00:17.The big personalities are coming to face MPs' questions.
:00:18. > :00:30.Describing me as a Nazi apologist is a lie and I could have sted him,
:00:31. > :00:37.MPs slug out the arguments one final time.
:00:38. > :00:43.We will be caught in a whirlwind, an economic whirlwind,
:00:44. > :00:46.which these people irresponsibly want to inflict on millions
:00:47. > :00:52.And when you phone a Whiteh`ll department, what music do
:00:53. > :00:56.you want to hear when your call is placed on hold?
:00:57. > :01:05.But first, it was standing room only when Sir Philip Green finally
:01:06. > :01:08.consented to facing the questions of MPs at Westminster.
:01:09. > :01:09.For weeks, the billionaire retailer had been under
:01:10. > :01:12.the cosh of accusations, following the collapse
:01:13. > :01:16.of the company he used to own, British Home Stores,
:01:17. > :01:22.whose 160 shops are closing down, with the loss of 11,000 jobs.
:01:23. > :01:25.Sir Philip Green had bought BHS in 2000.
:01:26. > :01:29.By the time he sold it in 2015, for a pound, to the racing
:01:30. > :01:32.driver Dominic Chappell, the company had debts
:01:33. > :01:36.of ?1.25 billion and its pension fund had a black
:01:37. > :01:45.Nothing is more sad than how this has ended and I hope
:01:46. > :01:54.during the morning you will hear there is certainly no
:01:55. > :01:56.intent at all on my part for anything to be like this,
:01:57. > :02:00.and it didn't need to be like this, and I just want to apologisd
:02:01. > :02:03.to all the BHS people who h`ve been involved in this and are involved,
:02:04. > :02:06.and I hope that by the end of the morning they will he`r
:02:07. > :02:08.everything and we can find some sensible solutions
:02:09. > :02:12.There were some tetchy exch`nges as Sir Philip defended the way
:02:13. > :02:19.I think we've got a pretty good track record as a company.
:02:20. > :02:22.Our existing business, the average stay in our head
:02:23. > :02:27.Do you mind not looking at le like that all the time?
:02:28. > :02:33.No, but do you just want to stare at me?
:02:34. > :02:36.I wasn't quite just staring at you but I don't want
:02:37. > :02:40.I don't wish to make you uncomfortable.
:02:41. > :02:44.It isn't somebody else but ht's just uncomfortable staring at me.
:02:45. > :02:49.We want to find a solution for the 20,000 pensioners.
:02:50. > :02:51.We still believe that money into the PPF
:02:52. > :02:56.Without getting into it and I don't want to get into the specifhcs,
:02:57. > :03:01.the schemes are quite compldx but from what I've seen
:03:02. > :03:05.I would say it is resolvabld, sortable, we will sort it,
:03:06. > :03:08.we will find the solution, and I want to give an assur`nce
:03:09. > :03:14.that the 20,000 pensioners, I'm there to sort this.
:03:15. > :03:18.Look, whether we got misled, whether we got duped,
:03:19. > :03:21.unfortunately there seems to be a lot of people that acceptdd this
:03:22. > :03:30.Lawyers, accountants, all sorts of other people,
:03:31. > :03:33.happy to take shares in his company, banks prepared to write letters
:03:34. > :03:35.whether they're good or not, right?
:03:36. > :03:41.Now, unfortunately, sadly, it was the wrong one.
:03:42. > :03:46.You said you don't want to be here all day.
:03:47. > :03:49.You could be here for the rest of your life.
:03:50. > :03:56.One of the things I'm reallx interested in governance
:03:57. > :03:58.is it is very clear, I've never met you before,
:03:59. > :04:00.at 3.5 hours in you seem a very dominant personality
:04:01. > :04:07.Believe me, Sir Philip, you are holding your own.
:04:08. > :04:09.But you seem extraordinarilx thin-skinned to quite courtdous
:04:10. > :04:11.questions, as if you don't want to be challenged
:04:12. > :04:18.In terms of that wider corporate governance point,
:04:19. > :04:22.in respect of the selling of BHS, did anybody, particularly
:04:23. > :04:24.a nonexecutive director say, "Phil, I'm not entirely certain
:04:25. > :04:30.That doesn't seem to be the culture of the organisation.
:04:31. > :04:34.Could Sports Direct have bought the ailing BHS?
:04:35. > :04:37.You did nothing to stop the process to ensure that Sports Direct
:04:38. > :04:39.could be given more time to consider this.
:04:40. > :04:47.Let me just ask a sensible puestion to the whole committee.
:04:48. > :04:52.Based on everything we've spent five or six hours, on what possible basis
:04:53. > :04:56.would I want to stop somebody buying it if they were rescuing it?
:04:57. > :05:09.Well, I do apologise because I don't mean to be rude
:05:10. > :05:16...and you didn't want anothdr retail billionaire to do the same.
:05:17. > :05:21.I think that's disgusting and it's a sad way to end.
:05:22. > :05:23.We haven't finished yet, Sir Philip, if that's OK.
:05:24. > :05:34.Here is a business where if there is a bona fide buyer,
:05:35. > :05:38.I have offered to add to his purchase price for free,
:05:39. > :05:41.to put X million pounds in on top of what he wanted to pay.
:05:42. > :05:49.And I think you should owe le an apology for that.
:05:50. > :05:53.I have sat here six hours and I haven't been rude to xou and I
:05:54. > :06:00.I thought about, and you can ask my executives, they're not here,
:06:01. > :06:04.on the deal the administrator offered on the Thursday, I thought,
:06:05. > :06:10.But I thought there would bd so much uproar I thought I'd better not
:06:11. > :06:15.But it was so cheap in terms of the deal that was offered,
:06:16. > :06:18.or opportunist at that moment, if it hadn't have been
:06:19. > :06:21.for all the drama, I don't know how the response would have been,
:06:22. > :06:24.I don't know that any of it would have been any worse.
:06:25. > :06:26.Well, I can assure you, and I give a guarantee,
:06:27. > :06:33.a personal guarantee, I wanted that deal to happen.
:06:34. > :06:35.Sir Philip, if you get the pensions issue
:06:36. > :06:48.Sir Philip Green facing the questions.
:06:49. > :06:52.It was back in April that L`bour suspended Ken Livingstone "for
:06:53. > :06:56.It followed the former London Mayor's statement th`t
:06:57. > :07:01.Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism in the 1930s.
:07:02. > :07:04.Mr Livingstone was trying to defend the Bradford MP Naz Shah who had
:07:05. > :07:07.herself been suspended by the Labour Party.
:07:08. > :07:10.On Tuesday, Ken Livingstone faced the questions of the Home Affairs
:07:11. > :07:16.Your persistence and absolute refusal to apologise for offence
:07:17. > :07:20.you caused to Jewish people compounds the initial offence that
:07:21. > :07:24.Let's be absolutely clear about this.
:07:25. > :07:30.I mean, this last few months, I can't get down the street
:07:31. > :07:32.without people stopping me and saying, "We know
:07:33. > :07:37.Of course a lot of Jewish pdople in the community are offenddd
:07:38. > :07:44.They've been told that I was a Nazi apologist.
:07:45. > :07:47.What appalls me is that a h`ndful of Labour MPs used this isste,
:07:48. > :07:51.deliberately lied about what I'd said, and smeared me
:07:52. > :07:55.because they wished to undermine the leader of the Labour Party.
:07:56. > :08:00.You did help reduce poverty, you did help reduce inequalhty,
:08:01. > :08:03.you did improve the housing situation in our capital city,
:08:04. > :08:06.but you're not a historian, you are a politician,
:08:07. > :08:11.and by needlessly and repeatedly offending Jewish people in this way,
:08:12. > :08:16.you not only betrayed our L`bour values but you betrayed your legacy
:08:17. > :08:18.as Mayor because all you ard now going to be remembered
:08:19. > :08:21.for is becoming a pin-up for the kind of prejudice
:08:22. > :08:25.that our party was built to fight against.
:08:26. > :08:29.That is a huge shame and it is an embarrassment.
:08:30. > :08:34.I will get trolled incessantly after this exchange - I don't care.
:08:35. > :08:36.Please put your question if you are putting one.
:08:37. > :08:38.This is not an opportunity to make statements.
:08:39. > :08:42.I'm just making a comment since he won't answer
:08:43. > :08:47.All I say is, if you look b`ck, many of the things I have
:08:48. > :08:51.When I defended lesbian and gay rights in 1982, 1981,
:08:52. > :08:57.When we said we needed to ndgotiate with the IRA, we were denounced
:08:58. > :09:01.The simple fact is, show me what I got wrong in those thmes
:09:02. > :09:05.I was just prepared to challenge the bigotry of the day and H'm
:09:06. > :09:12.Anyone who has been upset by what I say, I am sorry,
:09:13. > :09:16.but what I said is true, and I...
:09:17. > :09:25.I, on one of my interviews, said, if anyone can prove
:09:26. > :09:28.what I said isn't true, I will take them out to the best
:09:29. > :09:31.Oddly enough, no one's come up with it.
:09:32. > :09:35.Any of you, demonstrate what I said isn't true.
:09:36. > :09:39.I came into politics to tell the truth.
:09:40. > :09:42.It may be that nobody actually wants to have
:09:43. > :09:49.Keith Vaz easing the tensions at the Home Affairs Committde.
:09:50. > :09:54.Now a round-up of some of the other stories
:09:55. > :09:58.The Government has agreed to do more to prevent police
:09:59. > :10:03.officers retiring in order to avoid disciplinary action.
:10:04. > :10:06.Under the Policing and Crimd Bill, police officers could face
:10:07. > :10:09.proceedings for up to one year after retirement.
:10:10. > :10:12.But the Shadow Home Secretary called for the new rules
:10:13. > :10:19.That, for me, seems to be a considerable piece of progress
:10:20. > :10:21.that I know matters greatly to the Hillsborough families,
:10:22. > :10:25.who felt very aggrieved as they were continuing
:10:26. > :10:28.their 27-year struggle when they saw individuals who had retired
:10:29. > :10:32.on a full pension and who they felt were beyond reach and could not
:10:33. > :10:35.I believe this should apply retrospectively.
:10:36. > :10:36.Misconduct is misconduct, whenever it occurred,
:10:37. > :10:42.Are we getting left behind in the digital revolution?
:10:43. > :10:46.Some ten million adults are lacking the skills to be able to send
:10:47. > :10:50.an e-mail or fill in a form online, according to a member of thd House
:10:51. > :10:55.of Lords, who's worried abott a "growing gulf" in digital skills.
:10:56. > :10:58.I believe that universal digital literacy is going to be every bit
:10:59. > :11:02.as important as basic liter`cy was during the Industrial
:11:03. > :11:07.And as we deal with that digital revolution, and the revoluthon
:11:08. > :11:10.which is coming rapidly behhnd it, the artificial intelligence
:11:11. > :11:13.revolution, it is clear we need people with the digital skills
:11:14. > :11:20.to help the UK plc keep pacd and thrive.
:11:21. > :11:25.Those Commons divisions conducted according to the rules
:11:26. > :11:30.of English Votes for English Laws, or Evel.
:11:31. > :11:34.A Scottish Nationalist tells a Lords committee it's pure evil.
:11:35. > :11:37.No other parliament in the Western world has done this.
:11:38. > :11:40.No other parliament has dechded that there must be two classes
:11:41. > :11:44.of Members of Parliament in its national legislature.
:11:45. > :11:48.I think we have had two days on the floor of the House
:11:49. > :11:51.to consider this and maybe this is why we are seeing this -
:11:52. > :11:55.and I'll use a good word for this - boorich guddle when it comes to how
:11:56. > :11:56.these things are actually being enacted because...
:11:57. > :11:57.Could you translate that, please?
:11:58. > :12:02.A dreadful mess, if that helps the committee.
:12:03. > :12:05.The hazard of plastic microbeads, used in shower gels,
:12:06. > :12:10.When the microbeads get into the sea, they're ingested
:12:11. > :12:20.So, surely if you are taking this seriously, you're not reallx dealing
:12:21. > :12:23.with it if you introduce a ban just on our manufacturing but yot can't
:12:24. > :12:26.do anything about all the products flooding in here which are still
:12:27. > :12:32.The right way to approach this within the EU is to try to get
:12:33. > :12:35.change at an EU level, and that's why it's our starting
:12:36. > :12:37.point, but we've been clear that if that doesn't progress
:12:38. > :12:40.or if something goes wrong on that, then we definitely don't
:12:41. > :12:45.Ever phoned up Her Majesty's Revenue Customs with a tax inquiry?
:12:46. > :12:49.In one year, callers spent ` total of four million hours on hold,
:12:50. > :12:53.listening to streamed music while waiting for an answer.
:12:54. > :12:57.An MP weighs up what the music selection might be.
:12:58. > :13:01.We had a little bit of disctssion on the committee on what should be
:13:02. > :13:14.Or one of my favourites is Debbie Harry's Hanging
:13:15. > :13:19.I don't know if you've got `ny suggestions for what would be useful
:13:20. > :13:22.during those four million hours that people, customers are on hold,
:13:23. > :13:25.what they should be listening to maybe?
:13:26. > :13:32.The serious point is we don't want anyone to hear much more
:13:33. > :13:35.of the music than a couple of minutes from now on,
:13:36. > :13:39.so you'd never hear a whole track I suppose is the key point.
:13:40. > :13:41.And the House of Lords chooses its next Speaker.
:13:42. > :13:44.It's Norman Fowler, once the Health Secretary
:13:45. > :13:48.in Margaret Thatcher's Government, who once famously resigned to spend
:13:49. > :13:54.The whole House will wish to join me in offering our congratulathons
:13:55. > :14:00.to the Noble Lord, Lord Fowler, on being elected Lord Speakdr,
:14:01. > :14:02.and in offering our support to him as he prepares to take
:14:03. > :14:08.Can I just add, my Lords, that what we have seen todax
:14:09. > :14:17.This is the first time a man has been elected to the role
:14:18. > :14:21.of Lord Speaker and I think nowadays there are few positions in public
:14:22. > :14:28.I'd like to thank the House very sincerely for the exception`l
:14:29. > :14:31.support that they have given me and to say that I will do mx utmost
:14:32. > :14:40.Lord Fowler, who'll become Lord Speaker at the end of the stmmer.
:14:41. > :14:43.Prime Minister's Questions was, very unusually but not surprisingly,
:14:44. > :14:47.devoted to a single topic for virtually the entire
:14:48. > :14:51.As 12 noon approached, the European issue was,
:14:52. > :14:54.literally, the backdrop to the Commons exchanges,
:14:55. > :14:57.as a flotilla of fishing bo`ts, with Ukip's Nigel Farage on board,
:14:58. > :15:01.sailed up the Thames alongshde Parliament, with a message trging
:15:02. > :15:05.Westminster to take back control of British waters.
:15:06. > :15:09.The so-called Brexit Armada was greeted by a rival
:15:10. > :15:14.Remain fleet carrying, among other others, Sir Bob Geldof.
:15:15. > :15:19.Inside the Commons, Jeremy Corbyn said Labour MPs wouldn't be
:15:20. > :15:21.supporting any emergency budget as proposed by the Chancellor,
:15:22. > :15:25.in the event of a Leave win in the referendum.
:15:26. > :15:29.We would oppose any post Brdxit austerity budget just as we have
:15:30. > :15:33.opposed any posterity budgets put forward by this government.
:15:34. > :15:36.So, will the Prime Minister take this
:15:37. > :15:41.opportunity to condemn the opportunism of 57 of his colleagues
:15:42. > :15:47.If we vote out the experts warn us we will have the
:15:48. > :15:50.smaller economy, less emploxment, lower wages and therefore ldss tax
:15:51. > :15:56.And that is why we would have to have measures to address a
:15:57. > :16:01.Today we have learned from a conservative Chancellor of the
:16:02. > :16:05.Exchequer and a former Labotr Chancellor of the Exchequer that
:16:06. > :16:10.there would likely to be ?30 billion in cuts to public services or tax
:16:11. > :16:14.rises, were there to be a Brexit vote.
:16:15. > :16:18.What impact would that have on
:16:19. > :16:23.Please can we learn it now before we vote?
:16:24. > :16:28.These figures are not based on what the Chancellor
:16:29. > :16:30.of the Exchequer is saying, they are based on what the
:16:31. > :16:32.Institute for Fiscal Studies and the National
:16:33. > :16:34.Institute of Economic and
:16:35. > :16:38.They are talking about to 40 billion hole in
:16:39. > :16:40.our public finances if Brexit were to go ahead.
:16:41. > :16:43.These are organisations often quoted across this
:16:44. > :16:45.House, many times against the government.
:16:46. > :16:48.Because they are respected for their independence.
:16:49. > :16:52.If, as I hope, despite the panic driven negativity from the
:16:53. > :16:55.Remain camp and Downing Strdet, the British people vote next week to
:16:56. > :17:02.become a free and independent nation, again,...
:17:03. > :17:06.Will my right honourable friend join me in
:17:07. > :17:09.embracing the very optimism and opportunity for our country and our
:17:10. > :17:11.people that such a momentous decision would bring?
:17:12. > :17:16.I would like to say to my honourable friend, as I
:17:17. > :17:20.said at the CBI, of course Britain can survive outside the EU, nobody
:17:21. > :17:25.The question is how are we going to do best?
:17:26. > :17:27.How are we going to create the most jobs?
:17:28. > :17:29.How are we going to create the most investment?
:17:30. > :17:32.How are we gain to have the most opportunities for our
:17:33. > :17:36.How are we going to wield the greatest power in the world
:17:37. > :17:39.And on all those issues, stronger safer,
:17:40. > :17:41.better off, the arguments are on the Remain side.
:17:42. > :17:44.I would like to thank my honourable friend for honouring
:17:45. > :17:46.our manifesto pledge and delivering this historic referendum.
:17:47. > :17:49.Unfortunately, we have heard some hysterical scaremongering dtring
:17:50. > :17:55.There are those in this House and in the other place who
:17:56. > :17:58.believe that if the British people decide to leave the EU, there should
:17:59. > :18:03.Can he assure the House in the country that
:18:04. > :18:07.whatever the results on Jund the 24th, his government will carry
:18:08. > :18:15.the vote is to remain, we remain and if the vote
:18:16. > :18:19.is to leave, which I hope it is, then we leave.
:18:20. > :18:21.I am very happy to agree with my honourable
:18:22. > :18:26.In means we remain in a reformed European Union.
:18:27. > :18:31.And as the Leave campaigners have said, and others
:18:32. > :18:34.have said, out means out of the European Union,
:18:35. > :18:37.out of the European single larket, out of the Council of
:18:38. > :18:39.Ministers, out of all of those things.
:18:40. > :18:43.And it means, it then means a process of delivering that which
:18:44. > :18:47.will take at least two years and then delivering a trade deal which
:18:48. > :18:54.The arguments over Europe continued in the Commons a few minutes later,
:18:55. > :18:57.as MPS debated and eventually backed a Labour
:18:58. > :19:00.motion saying Britain was better off inside the ET.
:19:01. > :19:03.We've witnessed in the last 72 hours the reaction
:19:04. > :19:09.just shift in the polls pointing to a possible Brexit.
:19:10. > :19:13.100 billion has been knocked off the value of shares
:19:14. > :19:15.and the value of the pound has dropped.
:19:16. > :19:17.Though Brexit campaign in
:19:18. > :19:20.four days have done more dalage to capitalism than the Soci`list
:19:21. > :19:26.The pound will plummet, inflation prices will
:19:27. > :19:31.We will be caught in an economic whirlwind which these
:19:32. > :19:35.people irresponsibly want to inflict on millions of our citizens.
:19:36. > :19:42.All of the gloomy and bogus forecasting we have been getting
:19:43. > :19:46.from the people who wish to remain in are based on the assumpthon that
:19:47. > :19:51.the single market is some precious and virtuous body we can belong to
:19:52. > :19:54.which has fuelled our prospdrity and manufacturing growth so far
:19:55. > :19:57.and which would no longer be available
:19:58. > :20:02.And of course, they are wrong on both accounts.
:20:03. > :20:04.Our membership of the single market has
:20:05. > :20:07.not helped our manufacturing and when we leave, we will have access
:20:08. > :20:09.to the single market, just as 165 other countries around
:20:10. > :20:12.the world have access to th`t market daily
:20:13. > :20:14.without being members and without having
:20:15. > :20:17.to accept the freedom of
:20:18. > :20:20.movement provisions and without having
:20:21. > :20:22.to accept the taxes and the
:20:23. > :20:25.laws that are imposed on us on a wide range of issues that have
:20:26. > :20:31.Inside the single market, we run the monumental trade deficit
:20:32. > :20:34.and we have and enormous tr`de surplus for the
:20:35. > :20:41.That is the means whereby we will get jobs.
:20:42. > :20:44.That is the means whereby we will ensure the future of
:20:45. > :20:54.And if we get this wrong, we will not be
:20:55. > :20:59.able to organise and to est`blish a democracy in this country which is
:21:00. > :21:03.what the people fought and died for not just in ond
:21:04. > :21:07.There are no economic benefits to the UK
:21:08. > :21:09.fishermen from membership of
:21:10. > :21:14.Around 92% of fishermen are calling for the UK to
:21:15. > :21:20.I say, let's throw them a lifeline and vote leave.
:21:21. > :21:23.And at the end of that debate Labour's motion calling for Britain
:21:24. > :21:27.to remain in the EU was passed by 257 votes to zero.
:21:28. > :21:30.Just in case you don't know, Parliament doesn't
:21:31. > :21:35.There's a national referendum on Thursday.
:21:36. > :21:38.So, what would happen to Brhtain's territories overseas,
:21:39. > :21:41.such as Gibraltar and the F`lklands, if Britain left the EU?
:21:42. > :21:44.Since Spain joined the European Community in 1886,
:21:45. > :21:49.Gibraltarians have had the right to move freely to Spain.
:21:50. > :21:52.Before that, there was a closed border.
:21:53. > :21:56.So would the border be closdd again if Britain was no longer in the EU?
:21:57. > :21:59.A matter raised at Lords' Question Time on Tuesday.
:22:00. > :22:03.My Lords, I declare an interest as a former
:22:04. > :22:09.Does she not agree that Gibraltar has gained enormously
:22:10. > :22:13.from an economic point of vhew, as a Spanish neighbourhood, from
:22:14. > :22:16.unfettered access to the single market over the last few decades?
:22:17. > :22:22.And secondly, would she bearing mind the current Spanish Foreign Minister
:22:23. > :22:27.has said that although he would like the United Kingdom to stay hn the
:22:28. > :22:30.EU, in the event of Brexit, he would plan to close frontier with
:22:31. > :22:34.Gibraltar and revive the original proposals
:22:35. > :22:37.to joint sovereignty to
:22:38. > :22:42.Gibraltar which was overwhelmingly opposed by the people of Gibraltar.
:22:43. > :22:47.Can she say in what way the British government
:22:48. > :22:52.The UK has made a commitment to defend and support
:22:53. > :22:55.Gibraltar's interests, incltding upholding British sovereignty.
:22:56. > :23:00.My Lords, the men and women of the British Armed Forces have worked
:23:01. > :23:03.tirelessly to do so prior to the referendum and we will
:23:04. > :23:06.But the noble Lord rings a warning bell.
:23:07. > :23:10.And next day there was a general House of Lords debate on thd EU
:23:11. > :23:12.and whether the UK needs to leave it.
:23:13. > :23:16.The one-time leader of Ukip Lord Pearson of Rannoch has
:23:17. > :23:18.for years been deeply critical of the workings of the EU
:23:19. > :23:21.and has long argued Britain would be better off out.
:23:22. > :23:24.He took a swipe at the political class which, he said,
:23:25. > :23:31.Your lordship's House is a very proud place.
:23:32. > :23:34.Well-stocked with former government ministers, members of
:23:35. > :23:37.Parliament and servants of the EU, who between them have been
:23:38. > :23:40.responsible overlong and what they no doubt regard
:23:41. > :23:44.as successful lives for bringing this country to its
:23:45. > :23:51.present state of subservience to the corrupt octopus in Brussels.
:23:52. > :23:54.My Lords, it must be disappointing for them to see so much ingratitude
:23:55. > :24:02.amongst the British people against the project in which
:24:03. > :24:06.they have invested so much `nd in which they so fervently belheve
:24:07. > :24:12.My Lords, that is why during this referendum campaign, we havd seen
:24:13. > :24:16.project octopus turning into project fear and we are told to be fearful
:24:17. > :24:22.of leaving the clutch of its tentacles.
:24:23. > :24:24.Migration, both into Europe and across Europe,
:24:25. > :24:28.intensifies resentment and generates extremism.
:24:29. > :24:37.The democratic deficit in the governing structures
:24:38. > :24:39.of the EU threatens to be as disastrous as the euro.
:24:40. > :24:42.The system is an aggregation of democracies but it is not itself
:24:43. > :24:46.It was never intended to be so by its authors, rational
:24:47. > :24:48.public servants who were horrified at what they had seen weak
:24:49. > :24:55.Policy initiative continues to rest with the unelected commission.
:24:56. > :24:59.The Council of Ministers, as such, has no accountability.
:25:00. > :25:01.But one of the things that we know about divorce hn
:25:02. > :25:05.the real world is that it is usually expensive and it is very often
:25:06. > :25:09.So, even if a couple think that they will be happier
:25:10. > :25:17.apart than together, it is very rare to have a divorce that doesn't
:25:18. > :25:21.include lawyers who benefit are probably
:25:22. > :25:29.MPs and peers are away from Parliament this week
:25:30. > :25:32.as they switch to campaign lode and join either side of the argument
:25:33. > :25:36.Parliament's back on Monday the 27th.
:25:37. > :25:40.So, do join us in two weeks' time, for the next Week In Parlialent
:25:41. > :26:16.Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.
:26:17. > :26:21.Here in the Saint Stephen 's whole, statues of great parliament`rians
:26:22. > :26:25.face each other across the chamber.