15/07/2016 The Week in Parliament

Hello and welcome to the Week In Parliament.

It's been another week of f`st and furious change as David Cameron

bids an earlier-than-expectdd farewell to the job

Nothing is really impossibld if you put your mind to it. After `ll, as I

once said, I was the future once! The Governor of the Bank of England

denies "scaremongering" in We view something of the biggest

risk, we have an obligation to make that clear, a statutory oblhgation.

We have an obligation to thd people of United Kingdom to be str`ight

with them. And there's surprise in the Commons

at Boris Johnson's appointmdnt I thought the new Prime Minhster

didn't have a sense of humotr! She has only gone and proved us wrong by

appointing the Right honour`ble member for Uxbridge as homes -- as

Foreign Secretary. The week started with yet another

unexpected turn of events. Following David Cameron's

resignation after the UK voted to leave the EU,

the race was on to replace him as Conservative leader

and Prime Minister. At the end of the previous

week, the field had been narrowed down to two -

the Home Secretary, Theresa May and the Energy

Minister, Andrea Leadsom. But on Monday, much to the surprise

of Westminster watchers, Andrea Leadsom stepped down

from the contest after She'd been under pressure

after suggesting in a newsp`per interview that having children meant

she had "a very real stake" in Britain's future -

it was seen as a swipe at her childless rival

and drew widespread criticism. After Ms Leadsom announced

she wouldn't fight on David Cameron said the remaining candidatd -

Theresa May - would be installed as Prime Minister

by Wednesday evening. The break-neck turn of events meant

that the Commons gathered on Wednesday lunchtime for what was,

rather unexpectedly, Mr Speaker, this morning,

I had meetings with ministerial Other than one meeting this

afternoon with Her Majesty The Queen, the diary for thd rest

of my day is remarkably light. In 33 years in this House,

watching five prime ministers and several ex-prime ministdr,

I have seen him achieve a m`stery of that dispatch box

unparalleled in my time. David Cameron said

for all its theatrics, Prime Minister's Questions had

a purpose and admirers He recalled a trip to New York

to meet then Mayor Mike Bloomberg. This session does have some

admirers around the world. I remember when I did his job

and when I met Mayor And everyone knew Mayor Bloomberg

and everybody came and said, Mayor, No one had a clue who I was

until eventually, somebody said, hey, Cameron,

Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Speaker, it's only right,

after six years as Prime Minister, we thank the Right honourable member

for Witney for his service. I have often disagreed with him

but there are some of his achievements that I really

want to welcome and pay One, is to help secure rele`se

of a prisoner from Guantanalo Bay and legislating to achieve dqual

marriage within our society. There are 30,000 gay people

in our country who in the l`st six I will never forget the day

at number ten when one of the people who works verx

closely to the front door, said to me, I'm not very interested

in politics, Mr Cameron, but because of something yotr lot

have done, I am able to marry the person I've loved

all my life, this weekend. There are many amazing

moments in this job, Jeremy Corbyn moved and comlents

from the Prime Minister in waiting, Theresa May, that the econoly needed

to work for everyone. Isn't she right, that in many places

in Britain, there is a deep malaise. There are millions more jobs and

300,000 people fewer in rel`tive poverty and hundreds thousands

children in less -- fewer children and rose apology -- relativd

poverty. And regarding getthng on with it, we have had our colpetition

and coronation, they haven't even decided what the wills I get.

Democracy is a wonderful thhng and I'm enjoying every moment of it I

am beginning to admire his tenacity. He is reminding me of the Black

Knight in Monty Python 's holy Grail. He has been kicked so many

times but he says, keep going, it is only a flesh wound. I admird that.

Mr Speaker, I've had the pldasure of asking the Prime Minister 179

questions. And... Thank you. Plenty more to come to his successor, don't

worry about that. But beford I ask him the last question, but H just

put it on record, and wishing well as he leaves this office and also to

wish his family well, Samantha and their children, because I think we

should all recognise that while many of us really do enjoy our jobs and

political life, is the love 1's nearest to us and our familhes that

enormous sacrifices that en`ble us to do this. So I'd like to thank his

mamma for her advice about ties and seeds and songs. Is extremely kind

of her and I would be grateful if you would pass that on to hdr

personally. I'm reflecting on the lesson that she offered. But I have

got one rumour that I want him to deal with. There is a rumour going

round that his departure has been carefully choreographed so xou can

slip seamlessly into the vacancy created this morning on Strhctly by

Len Goodman's departure. Is that his next career?

David Cameron denied the Strictly rumour.

And thanked Jeremy Corbyn for his kind words for his family

I will certainly send his good wishes back to my mother. Hd has

certainly taken her advice `nd is looking splendid this morning. But

it gives me the opportunity to put a more serious rumour to rest, and he

will appreciate this becausd his cat is particularly famous. And the

rumour that somehow I don't love Larry. I have photographic dvidence

to prove it. Sadly, I can't take Larry with me. He belongs to the

House and the staff Laughlin, as do I.

But not everyone thought David Cameron would be

The Prime Minister's legacy is as yet taken as to the brink of being

out of the European Union. We will not be applauding his legacx. What

does he say about taking Scotland out of the EU against the whshes of

the -- Scottish voters. My `dvice to my successor, who is a brilliant big

as yet, is that we should try to be as close to the EU as we can be for

the benefits of trade, and security. The channel will not get anx wider

and that will be the relationship we should seek. Before the UK `nd for

Scotland. The last MP to be called was Tory

veteran, Ken Clarke, who urged David Cameron not

to turn his back on the Comlons As no two people know what Brexit

means, we need his advice and statesmanship as much as evdr had.

Can I thank my right honour`ble friend for his remarks. One of the

toughest conversations I had was with somebody when I was on the --

when I was Leader of the Opposition. He was on a bird-watching holiday in

Patagonia and it was almost impossible to get into comeback

We can be tough and test our leaders more than other countries and that

is something we should be proud of. And I hope you will all continue, as

you do. You can achieve a lot of things in politics. And that in the

end, the public service, thd national interest, is all about

Nothing Israel possible if xou put your mind to it. After all, as I

once said, I was the future, once. The Commons giving David Caleron

a standing ovation he'll probably Well, four hours later came

the formal handover of power. David Cameron, plus family,

walked out of Number Ten and after a final few words

to the waiting media, and those final photographs

on the Downing Street was taken, complete with police

escort, to Buckingham Palacd. There, he tendered his resignation

to the Queen. And a matter of minutes latdr,

Her Majesty met Theresa May and Theresa May is Britain's 54th

Prime Minister, the second Returning to Downing Street,

Mrs May addressed the nation. I have just been to Buckingham

Palace, where Her Majesty The Queen has asked me to form a new

government. And I accepted. Away from Downing Street, it's been

business as usual in the Colmons. The Governor of the Bank of England

has been defending his role Mark Carney had been accused

of unfairly bolstering the campaign But he told the Treasury Colmittee

it was his duty to provide a straightforward

assessment of the risks. It is not based on whim,

pre-judgement. It is based on analysis,

robust debate, assessment. And it is our responsibilitx to give

these assessments and so thd point I will finish with on this

is that we have an obligation The debate cannot be

about whether we should have made an assessment,

we view something of the biggest risk, we have an obligation,

a statutory obligation to m`ke that We have an obligation to thd people

of United Kingdom to be It catalyses action and hopdfully

will have a chance to discuss what was done in response to this,

that has mitigated, So the debate can be

about whether we made the right assessment,

that is an entirely Not whether we should have lade

the assessment. I don't know how much

comfort you take from it, but one of the most prominent

Brexiteers of course, Boris Johnson, is claiming that you have done

a superb job. So I'm sure that

makes you feel good. It was the assessment

of this committee, the Financial Policy Committee,

that issues around the referendum were the biggest domestic rhsk

to financial stability. Apart from just meeting our

statutory obligation, which should be the alpha

and omega of this discussion, it also catalysed action by the PRA,

from a supervisory perspecthve, It catalysed action by the Bank

of England in terms of liquhdity It catalysed action by priv`te

financial institutions to manage risk in the run-up

to the referendum. It also catalysed action

between the Bank of England and foreign central banks to put

in place a series of other contingency measures which have not

proved to be necessary to bd used. All of those initiatives,

spring from objective, analytically -based analysis,

helped ensure that this system could adjust as smoothly

and effectively as possible to put this country in a position to take

maximum advantage of the decision So we make no apologies for having

done our job and helped At 2.5 million words,

it was no surprise that MPs and peers needed a few days to fully

digest the Chilcot report Its publication the previous week

had produced a verdict more damning The huge report, completed

by Sir John Chilcot six years later than originally planned,

came to several powerful conclusions, namely that Tony Blair

went ahead with the invasion of Iraq before peaceful options had been

exhausted, had exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussdin,

and had little in the way Both Houses debated its findings,

starting with the Lords on Tuesday. A former Foreign Secretary condemned

Tony Blair's response to thd report. That defiance cannot

be left unchallenged. And defiance is the only word

to describe it. "If I was back in the same place,"

he said, "with the same information, If that is left to stand

unchallenged, Chilcot My lords, I have considerable

sympathy for Mr Blair in thd obloquy I have never believed that he lied

to the British people. And I accept that he was sincere

in believing that military `ction to remove Saddam Hussein

was necessary as a last resort. "If I had the same informathon

again, sitting in the same Cabinet, with the same context, I wotld have

made "the same decision." And those who say they wouldn't need

to ask the question, well, what would it have been that

changed their minds? Not hindsight, but a differdnt form

of wisdom and an agreement with those with whom

they were genuinely, openly disagreeing at the thme,

as I was with Robin Cook. That is the context,

that is the information. For those of us who have had

top-secret intelligence files put in front of us,

it is tremendously seductivd. You think you are extremely

privileged to have access And then you need wiser old heads

around who can actually say, well, there may be a few other

considerations that one needs Circumstances must not arisd

in which the intelligence from untested sources is handed

to ministers unassessed. And above all, Cabinet government

and collective responsibility must function if trust in governlent

is to be maintained. On Wednesday, MPs began two days

of debate, some calling for action Tony Blair's point to Parli`ment,

on the 18th of March 2003, I have never put our justifhcation

for action as regime change, only to find in a private note

from Blair to Bush, just a week later, on the 26th of March,

that is why throughout weapons of mass destruction,

the immediate justification for action was ridding Iraq

of Saddam and that While Chilcot finds there w`s no

deliberate attempt made to lislead people, the intelligence

on which the war was based was clearly flawed and did not

justify the certainty which was attached to it

by the government. Can I ask my right honourable friend

whether she is aware of an `ttempt to call a contempt motion

for the House to consider And does she agree with me that

whatever else is in the Chilcot report, it does not give

grounds for such a motion? There has been no admission

of deliberately misleading this And therefore, if this Housd

was to attempt to make a factual finding, in my view,

it would be a kangaroo court. The Iraq war has tarnished our

reputation, ignored international law, and undermined international

institutions like the United Nations which we worked so hard at building

in the aftermath of two world wars. It destroyed public confidence

in our leaders and in Parli`ment. The next day, a conservativd

reflected on why he voted in favour The primary reason was that

I believed what I was told by the then Labour government

about the possession or belheved possession of anthrax and other

weapons of mass destruction But here is where I have to make

a major admission. At the back of my mind,

and at the back, I believe, of many other honourable melbers'

minds was a second belief. It was the belief that

if Saddam Hussein was removdd, we might see the emergence of some

form of democracy in Iraq. @nd in Johnny Mercer, a former Armx

captain, said the Chilcot rdport showed that the military had not

spoken truth to power. It is inconceivable to me to allow

political administration in this country to hamper preparations

for war because it did not politically want to be

seen to be doing so. It is inconceivable to me to allow

soldiers out of patrol bases into contact with the enemy

without body armour, not as a tactical decision,

or as a result of any reacthon against a supply route but simply

because of bad planning. It is inconceivable to me

to continually allow patrolling in Land Rovers when they were known

to provide no protection wh`tsoever to our men and women

against a well-known But yet these things

happened and they directly Now, let's take a look at some

other stories from around To start the process of leaving

the EU, the UK has to formally invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon

Treaty. But who should decide

when Article 50 is triggered? Does the government have thd right,

known as the Royal prerogathve, or should it be subject

to parliamentary approval? If the Royal prerogative is used

to trigger Article 50, wouldn't this be a clear brdach

of the promises made to the public during the referendum

campaign by the Brexiters that they would take

back control and restore The question was not the legal

power, which clearly is the Prime Minister has previously

mentioned, is available. The question is what is polhtically

and democratically right to reflect Hundreds of UK troops are to be sent

to Eastern Europe and the B`ltic states as part of Nato's response

to concerns over Russia. There will be a 500 strong

battalion in Estonia and 150 This is our response, Mr Spdaker,

to Russian aggression. Nato's approach is based

on balancing strong MPs have been told that Western

governments need to do more to encourage moderate followers

of Islam to embrace them aqtatic principles to ensure

that they triumph over extrdmists such as so-called Islamic

State and Al-Qaeda. The Foreign Affairs Committde

was taking evidence from needing academics

on so-called political Islal. Challenging political Islam is not

simply about going into the Koran and telling them, "The Koran

doesn't say that." This is why someone

like Imam Yusuf Qaradawi fundamentally believes that suicide

bombing is OK. Cos it is not an issue

about whether suicide is right It is about how do we defend

ourselves against an aggressor? Can we use this new type

of bombing? Mokhtar Awad, who is a rese`rch

fellow in a programme on extremism at George

Washington University. The country's newest member

of Parliament made her maiddn speech Rosena Allin-Khan, a doctor,

won the by-election in South Tooting last month following Sadiq Khan s

collection as London mayor. The new MP spoke

about her constituency. There has always been a rich

tapestry of communities livhng harmoniously alongside one `nother

and that unity should be celebrated, and I will defend it

with every fibre of my being. That unity is woven into me,

an essential part of who I `m. When people ask me where I `m from,

I say, I'm half Polish, half Pakistani, raised in England,

married a Welshman, Finally, let's go back

to the changing faces Theresa May wasted no time

in choosing her new Cabinet, sweeping away many of those who had

served under David Cameron. As MPs gathered in the Commons early

on Thursday morning, some of the big announcement

had already been made, including the appointment

of Philip Hammond as Chancellor replacing George Osborne,

and Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary, to replace

Philip Hammond. In other posts, Liz Truss

was promoted to Justice Secretary and Justin Greening moved

from International Mrs May's leadership rival,

Andrea Leadsom was moved from the soon to be abolishdd

Department of Energy and Climate Change and promoted

to Environment Secretary. But in the Commons chamber,

it was the appointment of Boris Johnson, the MP

for Uxbridge and former London mayor, that was attracting

most attention. Labour's Shadow Leader of

the Commons questioned the decision. The MP for Uxbridge might h`ve made

a perfectly adequate minister for the import

of second-hand water cannon, Especially for his

services to Euro phobia. The member has been sacked twice

from previous jobs are not He has insulted the president

of the United States. He has attacked people

from all parts of the world, from Liverpool,

from Papua New Guinea. Do these qualities mean

that he is going to be suprdme in the area where the qualities

of diplomacy and truthfulness But the Leader of the Commons

didn't think Labour had anything to crow about,

given its current disagreemdnts with the resignation of dozdns

of Shadow ministers. What we have on those benchds,

Mr Speaker, is a party that is not fit to be in opposition,

let alone to be fit to be an alternative

government for this country. We've heard over the months

from people who now hold senior positions on those benches to use

that in my view undermine otr Armed Forces, undermine our defences

and are wholly unaligned with the national

interests of this country. We thought the new Prime Minister

didn't have a sense of humotr. She has only gone and proven that

one totally wrong by appointing the right honourable member

for Uxbridge as Foreign Secretary. You can almost have heard

the guffaws of laughter from parliament's ambassadors last

night as news got round that Boris was in charge of the UK's

foreign policy, and indeed, When he was Mayor of London,

Boris Johnson famously got stuck on a zip wire when it stoppdd

working during an Olympic event The Lib Dem asked

an inventive question. Has the leader had a request

from this to provide governlent time to provide a debate on the fantastic

contribution the UK leisure industry Such a debate would allow government

ministers to set out how UK manufacturers will fulfil ddmand

for major new infrastructurd. A transcontinental network

of the zip wires to enable our new Foreign Secretary to tr`vel

cheaply and with low environmental impact and in the style

he is accustomed to round the world? Well, it is an interesting hdea

Mr Speaker, but I think we will probably be investing

in an infrastructure that is more Chris Grayling, the Leader

of the Commons, who was latdr promoted to be in charge of cars,

trains and buses, as he was moved But do join Christina Cooper

on Monday for the start of the final week of Parliament before MPs

and peers break But for now, from me,

Alicia McCarthy, goodbye.