0:00:20 > 0:00:22Hello and welcome to the Week In Parliament.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25We know we're leaving the EU.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28But how's the exit plan coming along?
0:00:28 > 0:00:31I have to say to the right honourable gentleman, yes we do have
0:00:31 > 0:00:33a plan.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Isn't the truth that the government is making a total
0:00:35 > 0:00:37shambles of Brexit and nobody understands what the strategy
0:00:37 > 0:00:40actually is?
0:00:40 > 0:00:43We've got Brexit Ministers and a Brexit Department.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Do we really need a Brexit committee as well?
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Certainly we do, says this MP.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55The negotiations that we are as a nation about to
0:00:55 > 0:00:57embark on, are really the most complex we have faced
0:00:57 > 0:01:00for decades, a lot rests on it.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03We talk to the chair of the new Brexit committee.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05And the leaves are falling.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07It's almost time for the Autumn statement.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12Anyone remember what happened last year?
0:01:12 > 0:01:14So the Shadow Chancellor literally stood at the dispatch box and
0:01:14 > 0:01:20read out from Mao's Little Red Book.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24But first.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Brexit in the chamber. Brexit in the committee rooms.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Britain's EU departure was being debated everywhere
0:01:29 > 0:01:31you went in Parliament.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34As the new 'Committee for Exiting the EU' was holding its first
0:01:34 > 0:01:37inquiry session, the party leaders at Prime Minister's Questions were,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39once again, doing battle over how the whole process was going.
0:01:39 > 0:01:47A leaked memo, written by the consultancy firm Deloitte,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49suggested there were 500 separate Whitehall projects underway related
0:01:49 > 0:01:51to Brexit, and civil servants were struggling to cope
0:01:52 > 0:01:54with the workload.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Jeremy Corbyn read from the leaked memo.
0:01:58 > 0:02:05"No common strategy has emerged, in part because of the divisions
0:02:05 > 0:02:10within the Cabinet."
0:02:10 > 0:02:13If this memo is, as the Prime Minister's press department says,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15written by ill informed consultants, could she put the government's
0:02:15 > 0:02:23plan and common strategy for Brexit before Parliament?
0:02:23 > 0:02:28I have to say to the right honourable gentleman,
0:02:28 > 0:02:35yes we do have a plan.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Our plan is to deliver the best possible deal in trading
0:02:39 > 0:02:43with the European Union.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48Our plan is to deliver control of movement for people
0:02:48 > 0:02:52from the European Union into the United Kingdom.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Well, the word doesn't seem to have travelled very far, Mr Speaker,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and I have to say I sympathise with the Italian government
0:02:59 > 0:03:02minister who this week said about our government,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05"Somebody needs to tell us something,
0:03:05 > 0:03:10it needs to be something that makes sense."
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Isn't the truth that the government is making a total shambles of Brexit
0:03:13 > 0:03:19and nobody understands what their strategy actually is?
0:03:19 > 0:03:26Of course those in the European Union who we will be
0:03:26 > 0:03:30negotiating with will want us to start out at this stage every
0:03:31 > 0:03:34detail of our negotiating strategy.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37If we were to do that, it would be the best possible way
0:03:37 > 0:03:42of ensuring that we got the worst result for this country.
0:03:42 > 0:03:51That's why we won't do it.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54I'm sure there is a question that's vexing the whole of Scotland,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59on the 22nd of June this year, Ruth Davidson stated
0:03:59 > 0:04:01to those supporting Leave, they won't tell us what they want
0:04:01 > 0:04:03to replace the single market with.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Now that the Prime Minister is part of a government dragging Scotland
0:04:06 > 0:04:08out of the European Union against its sovereign will,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12could she answer Ruth Davidson?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15And on the 23rd of June, the people of the United Kingdom
0:04:15 > 0:04:17voted to leave the European Union, and that's what this
0:04:17 > 0:04:20government will deliver.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23It is right that the Prime Minister has latitude to enter
0:04:23 > 0:04:31into negotiations with the EU.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34However, the vote Leave campaign were very clear that the rights
0:04:34 > 0:04:36of EU citizens would not be affected if this country voted
0:04:36 > 0:04:37to leave the EU.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39My parents are Italian, they have never naturalised
0:04:39 > 0:04:42and they have been in this country for 50 years.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Can the Prime Minister assure me that she would never instruct me
0:04:46 > 0:04:49to vote in a lobby to take away the rights of my parents
0:04:49 > 0:04:54and millions of EU citizens?
0:04:54 > 0:04:58I recognise the personal passion with which my honourable
0:04:58 > 0:05:00friend raises this issue.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04I want, intend and expect to be able to guarantee the rights of those EU
0:05:04 > 0:05:08citizens who are living here in the United Kingdom
0:05:08 > 0:05:11but I also want to see the rights of UK citizens living
0:05:11 > 0:05:15in European Union member states being guaranteed too.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18As I have said previously, I would hope this is an issue
0:05:18 > 0:05:22on which we can come to a position on which we can discuss
0:05:22 > 0:05:27with my European colleagues at an early stage.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Theresa May.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Also on Wednesday, a new committee of MPs was starting its detailed
0:05:32 > 0:05:36examination into the whole process of leaving the EU.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39The chair of the committee focused on a report from the Institute
0:05:39 > 0:05:41for Government think tank.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45It had warned that Whitehall didn't have the capacity 'to deliver Brexit
0:05:45 > 0:05:55on top of everything else'.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56It's talked about existential threat
0:05:56 > 0:05:58for government departments, and the process externally appearing
0:05:58 > 0:06:02to some people as somewhat chaotic and dysfunctional
0:06:02 > 0:06:05so I want to begin by asking you, Doctor White, how do you think it's
0:06:05 > 0:06:08going and in particular, do you think the civil servants
0:06:08 > 0:06:09involved have got direction, political direction,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12and the resources they need?
0:06:12 > 0:06:21We have not said there is any existential threat to any
0:06:21 > 0:06:28government department, that has been said to us.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32What we said in our blog yesterday which has been picked up this
0:06:32 > 0:06:34morning by the Times is that we didn't recognise
0:06:34 > 0:06:37the numbers, we don't know anything about the contents of this memo,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40there is a lot of speculation about that online, but having been
0:06:40 > 0:06:42out and about in Whitehall in the past, talking
0:06:42 > 0:06:44to lots of people in lots of different departments,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47also talking to people outside government who have been trying
0:06:47 > 0:06:50to get their voices heard within government, we do recognise
0:06:50 > 0:06:56some of the pressures which are reflected within that
0:06:56 > 0:07:03memo, which are being experienced by Whitehall.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06What, if I were determined simply to leave the European Union, to trigger
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Article 50 and to conclude the bare minimum required to leave,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12what would Article 50 actually require me to do?
0:07:12 > 0:07:15I simply want a divorce on the quickest possible
0:07:15 > 0:07:17terms, what do I need?
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Mr Gove was told there was no "quick fix" solution to the issue of EU
0:07:21 > 0:07:26nationals living in Britain.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29We have no record of how many EU nationals are living in the UK.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35And there are various options which have been mooted,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and I think there's been quite a lot of agreement that those who have
0:07:39 > 0:07:43been living here a long time should be given the right to stay.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46There are a lot of problems about how to prove an individual has
0:07:46 > 0:07:51been living here for a long time.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54If you are an academic, you will have contracts
0:07:54 > 0:07:57and you have a paper trail but if you are a seasonal worker,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00working in a farm in Lincolnshire, some of those farmers aren't
0:08:00 > 0:08:04so good on the paperwork, particularly if you are here
0:08:04 > 0:08:08for a few months, go away, come back, or you've got other jobs,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12you might go back to Poland, it's very difficult to prove.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15The trouble is, this is highly resource intensive.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19You do a case-by-case analysis of up to 3 million people a year,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22the resource indications are vast.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25So going to your question about a quickie divorce,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28the quickie divorce would say, everyone who's here on 23rd of June
0:08:28 > 0:08:32or 31st of March 2019, should have the right to stay,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36irrespective of the paperwork.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Some moments there from Wednesday's session of the new Brexit committee.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44And I'm joined in the studio now by the man you saw there chairing
0:08:44 > 0:08:49the committee, Hilary Benn. Welcome to the week in Parliament.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52What was your impression of that first meeting, were you pleased
0:08:52 > 0:08:54with the way things went?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57I thought it was an interesting session because the negotiation
0:08:57 > 0:09:01we are about to embark on as a nation, are the most
0:09:01 > 0:09:03conflicts we have faced for decades, a lot rests on it.
0:09:03 > 0:09:10It's going to have various moving parts, and we were trying to tease
0:09:10 > 0:09:12out today from our witnesses, how they think this
0:09:12 > 0:09:19is going to work, and what's going to happen, in what order.
0:09:19 > 0:09:28There is both the divorce settlement, from the European Union,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30that's agreeing who's going to pay the standing gas and electricity
0:09:30 > 0:09:34bills over here, but then the second part is, what is our future,
0:09:34 > 0:09:41economic trading, with the European Union,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and we had this as our first session, to help inform
0:09:43 > 0:09:45subsequent witnesses.
0:09:45 > 0:09:55Margaret Hodge told us that 21 members is far too big a committee,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59it's not going to make for forensic questioning because you can't
0:09:59 > 0:10:04focus in on one issue.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Is your committee too big and how to get to be too big?
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The answer to that question rests with others and not me.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I stood for the post of the Select Committee knowing
0:10:12 > 0:10:15there would be 21 members and that is what I now
0:10:15 > 0:10:16have responsibility for.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19We tried to organise the question in a way that allows us
0:10:19 > 0:10:21to cover all of the areas.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26It's obviously known that some areas of your committee are on one side,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30you have Peter Lilley, Michael Gove, big players
0:10:30 > 0:10:33you have Peter Lilley, Michael Gove, big players in the Leave camp,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36so why should we believe that we will get objective
0:10:36 > 0:10:39questioning when we have MPs that are so well associated with one
0:10:39 > 0:10:41side of the argument?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Well, it is particularly contested territory, particularly
0:10:44 > 0:10:49because we have just come out of this enormously important
0:10:49 > 0:10:59referendum, where the nation is very divided.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02But if you look at the committees as a whole we have a balance
0:11:02 > 0:11:05of views, and I think a task for us, regardless of which side
0:11:05 > 0:11:08of the argument we are on, if we all agree the aim now
0:11:08 > 0:11:11is to try and get the best deal for Britain, is to understand,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14what is that going to involve?
0:11:14 > 0:11:19It's important with select committees but I think
0:11:19 > 0:11:22particularly here, to inform a view about what needs to be done
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and what we should be seeking and in what order.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27The other thing is, it's all very well us as numbers of the committee
0:11:27 > 0:11:30having a view about what we should think should happen or the British
0:11:30 > 0:11:32government, there are seven other countries,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35they often have a view to.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36they often have a view too.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38You yourself, big Remain campaign, can we trust
0:11:38 > 0:11:39you as the chief interrogator?
0:11:39 > 0:11:44Well, I hope so but you have to ask other people!
0:11:44 > 0:11:51I campaigned passionately for Remain, I am devastated
0:11:51 > 0:11:54about the result, I think it's wrong for the future of Britain
0:11:54 > 0:11:56but we are democrats and we have to accept
0:11:56 > 0:11:57the outcome of the referendum.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Is the government being too secretive?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02That's the view of a lot of people about how things have gone,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04a lot of months have gone by since June 23.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07It is five months, and I think we are personally, getting
0:12:07 > 0:12:11to the point with the government is going to have to sit out
0:12:11 > 0:12:14what its objectives are.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Let's be clear, nobody is expecting the government to reveal
0:12:17 > 0:12:21its full negotiating hand, red lines and so on,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24of course they have to have space to negotiate, but when it comes
0:12:24 > 0:12:27to what kind of access to the single market are we seeking,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31what plans does the government have for control of free movement,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35we can to remain members of the European medicine agency,
0:12:35 > 0:12:41Europol, European aviation safety authority, the second theme is this.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47There is a debate about whether you can complete the whole
0:12:47 > 0:12:50process, divorce proceedings, and agreeing a new relationship
0:12:50 > 0:12:53with Europe, in two years.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55I suppose the number of organisations you could invite
0:12:55 > 0:12:58your sessions is just about limitless, everyone has a view.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01How are you going to select those people you want to hear
0:13:01 > 0:13:06from and those you don't?
0:13:06 > 0:13:08We are working in partnership with all the other select
0:13:08 > 0:13:10committees, both in the Commons and the Lords.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13What we are looking for is, for the purposes of our first
0:13:13 > 0:13:16report, what are the main themes, the main issues that have
0:13:16 > 0:13:19got to be addressed, what about timing and sequencing,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21has the government got the capacity to do this work?
0:13:21 > 0:13:25That's one of the things we've discussed today.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Can I just ask you about the report, will it be a united report?
0:13:28 > 0:13:35All select committees hope...
0:13:35 > 0:13:37But it's not likely to be with such polarised view?
0:13:37 > 0:13:40I am not going to prejudge what the reporter is
0:13:40 > 0:13:42going to say or how the Select Committee
0:13:42 > 0:13:43is going to decide it but
0:13:43 > 0:13:47I think it is important for the country that
0:13:47 > 0:13:49although we were very divided in the referendum as a
0:13:49 > 0:13:59nation, it is in our common interest, whatever view we took,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05and that includes the select committee,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07to come together and say, what are the
0:14:07 > 0:14:09things that we now agree need to be done?
0:14:09 > 0:14:10There will be differences of
0:14:10 > 0:14:13view, but Select Committee reports have more influence if they are
0:14:13 > 0:14:14unanimous.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19If it is a united report, will it just be a bland document?
0:14:19 > 0:14:22It'll be a bit like Goldilocks's porridge in the end, we're
0:14:22 > 0:14:23going to have to find it just right.
0:14:23 > 0:14:29Thanks very much indeed.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Long before we'd voted to leave the EU, Parliament had decided
0:14:32 > 0:14:35to reduce the number of MPs at Westminster, as a way of cutting
0:14:35 > 0:14:36the cost of politics.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38The figure is due to go down from 650 to 600.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41But a Labour MP says the reduction will undermine democracy and give
0:14:41 > 0:14:44the people less of a say.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47She put forward a Bill to keep the number at 650.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50She said the newly drawn constituencies
0:14:50 > 0:14:52are far too big.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56If someone from my constituency wants to come and see me
0:14:56 > 0:15:00at a surgery in the South, given that the lines
0:15:00 > 0:15:03of communication are east-west in that part of the country,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06it would take them all day on public transport and they will
0:15:06 > 0:15:08need an overnight stay.
0:15:08 > 0:15:09That cannot be acceptable.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13My constituents are deeply deeply worried.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15They think they will lose representation.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Cumbria is not large square mileage wise,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21but it has mountain it has lakes, it has difficult weather.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25A lot of the time, you can't get from one part of it to the other.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28People on the Solway would lose their representation.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32My constituents wouldn't find it possible to travel from one end
0:15:32 > 0:15:36of the constituency to the other by public transport,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40so what I'd do is I go to them, which I considered to be my job,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43as a member of Parliament.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47My constituency of Caithness on Easter Ross will be incorporated
0:15:47 > 0:15:50into a large constituency called Highland North,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55which is 13,000 square kilometres, the same size as Northern Ireland,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58nobody would seriously suggest that Northern Ireland
0:15:58 > 0:16:01is covered by one MP.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03But that is what these proposals suggest for Scotland.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07And we face a boundary review being conducted on a completely
0:16:07 > 0:16:11lopsided electoral register, and if we proceed as planned,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15we will see a huge transfer of parliamentary representation
0:16:15 > 0:16:22from areas that are growing to areas that actually have not seen the same
0:16:22 > 0:16:24level of growth.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29The primary reasons for the boundary changes and using the more
0:16:29 > 0:16:32up-to-date register is having more equal votes, more equal
0:16:32 > 0:16:36sized constituencies, so our constituents are more fairly
0:16:36 > 0:16:38represented in the House.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43We have now already had 500 hours of public hearings, 20
0:16:43 > 0:16:46members of staff involved, 21 assistant commissioners,
0:16:46 > 0:16:4814 videographers, 36 public hearings across England, the last ones
0:16:48 > 0:16:50of which are taking place today.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54The cost of scrapping all that and redrawing the boundaries on this
0:16:54 > 0:16:57completely new proposal, even if it could get
0:16:57 > 0:17:00through in time, that would surely run into many millions of pounds.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03And although Pat Glass' bill won the initial approval of the Commons,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06it's most unlikely to become law.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Now, a look at some of the other stories around Parliament
0:17:10 > 0:17:11in the last seven days.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Labour peers have put pressure on a minister for the return
0:17:14 > 0:17:17of national identity cards, following the scrapping
0:17:17 > 0:17:20of the scheme six years ago when the Labour Government
0:17:20 > 0:17:22was replaced by the Coalition.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26My Lords, for the life of me, I do not understand why
0:17:26 > 0:17:30the government has set its mind so firmly against the idea
0:17:30 > 0:17:31of having an identity card.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36It is common practice in many, many parts of the world.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40The greatest civil liberty is to have your identity stolen,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and we have found in the banking world and other worlds,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46by having biometric cards that identify clearly who you are,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48this can be avoided.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50They cannot be duplicated easily because they are biometric.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55The passport now has facial, certainly the e-passport,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57has facial recognition which is a very good
0:17:57 > 0:17:59system of identity.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02But my Lords, we will not be moving to the identity card scheme.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Problems in our jails.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08As prison officers stage a day of action over increasing violence,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Labour accuses the Justice Secretary of not getting a grip
0:18:12 > 0:18:13on the situation.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17What the Secretary of State has consistently failed to acknowledge
0:18:17 > 0:18:20is that this is a service in crisis.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23The protest action by prison officers today gives
0:18:23 > 0:18:26the clearest sign yet that this is a crisis.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29A crisis which she and her ministerial colleagues
0:18:29 > 0:18:32have lost control of.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36This, Mr Speaker, is a Secretary of State in denial.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42Mr Speaker, I think it is disgraceful that
0:18:42 > 0:18:46the honourable and refuses to condemn illegal industrial action
0:18:46 > 0:18:51that is putting our hard-working front line prison staff at risk.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It is completely irresponsible.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59I have made it absolutely clear, ever since I was appointed
0:18:59 > 0:19:02in this role, that safety is my number one priority.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06A beaming Nigel Farage, fresh from Brexit success,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09meets victorious Donald Trump in New York.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13An SNP MP wonders about official recognition for the UKIP man.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Can the Prime Minister, firm or deny if there have been any
0:19:18 > 0:19:21official conversations at any level regarding giving
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Nigel Farage a peerage?
0:19:23 > 0:19:33LAUGHTER.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Well, all I can say to the honourable gentleman is that
0:19:35 > 0:19:39such matters are normally never discussed in public.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Carry on as you are.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44After a change of heart, the House of Lords won't, after all,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46suffer a removal of its powers to vote down certain
0:19:46 > 0:19:48types of legislation.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52The government is therefore reliant on the discipline and
0:19:52 > 0:19:55self-regulation that this House imposes upon itself.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00What that government has done, 12 months on, is to have listened
0:20:00 > 0:20:04very carefully to the voices around the House and decided the best
0:20:04 > 0:20:10way forward is the way the House always precedes,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13which is by agreement, at a pace, and with perspective.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16How to put the best gloss on events.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18You've finished painting the bedroom and there's plenty left over.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24MPs discuss what to do with those leftover tins of matt emulsion.
0:20:24 > 0:20:31Now, presently, only 2% of paint and other coating is reused
0:20:31 > 0:20:33after manufacture, and most of the remaining 98% is lost
0:20:33 > 0:20:36to us, as a resource.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Principally, because it is incinerated and because it
0:20:38 > 0:20:40ends up in landfill.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Too few waste and recycling centres are accepting paint.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48There should be a universal approach to this, not a postcode lottery.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Perhaps having extended responsibility on the paint industry
0:20:51 > 0:20:53might be the way to go.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56That is not currently part of being considered in the package
0:20:56 > 0:21:00by the EU but it might be something we want to consider
0:21:00 > 0:21:02when we leave the EU.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05And whether they're producing red, white or rose, the vineyards
0:21:05 > 0:21:08of England are a growing success say MPs, who want the Chancellor to
0:21:08 > 0:21:12support the domestic wine industry.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15This is a potential success story.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18English wine is no longer a joke.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19People are talking about it.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21It is the potential source of alternative rural employment.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26English wine now is the fastest-growing agri-sector
0:21:26 > 0:21:29in the UK and last year alone, it had added 100 million
0:21:29 > 0:21:31to the UK economy.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34I can say that while I was in Japan at the G7 agricultural ministers'
0:21:34 > 0:21:37meeting earlier this year, I took the opportunity
0:21:37 > 0:21:41of promoting our sparkling wines at the British Embassy.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43George Eustice with a glass of good news.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46And his ministerial colleague Philip Hammond may well,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49on Wednesday, be delivering some taxation changes
0:21:49 > 0:21:51to alcohol products.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54That's because it's the annual Autumn Statement in the Commons,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Mr Hammond's first as Chancellor.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Will it be as eventful an occasion as a year ago,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01when the Shadow Chancellor took his reply to the
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Autumn Statement down a rather unexpected route.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09To assist Comrade Osborne in his dealings with his newfound comrades,
0:22:09 > 0:22:16I brought him along Mao's Little Red Book.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Let me quote!
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Let's quote from Mao.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Rarely done in this chamber.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25The quote is this.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Behave.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33"We must learn to do economic work from all who know how,
0:22:33 > 0:22:38"no matter who they are, we must esteem them as teachers,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41"learning from them, respectfully and conscientiously."
0:22:41 > 0:22:47So, the Shadow Chancellor literally stood at the dispatch box and read
0:22:47 > 0:22:54out from Mao's Little Red Book.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59It's his personal signed copy.
0:22:59 > 0:23:07The problem is half the Shadow Cabinet have been sent
0:23:07 > 0:23:08off to re-education.
0:23:08 > 0:23:15George Osborne having the House in stitches last year.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16Whatever happened to him?
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Well, back to the present, and with a look at some of this
0:23:19 > 0:23:23week's other political news, here's Gary Connor.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29This week was the poshest night of the Prime Minister's year.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Theresa May made her first speech at the Lord Mayor's banquet.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Hailing post Brexit Britain's historical opportunity to take
0:23:37 > 0:23:41on the new role as a global champion of free trade.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has joined the Privy Council,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48the historic group which advises the monarch.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53The swearing-in ceremony usually involves kneeling,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and kissing the hand of the Queen.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Fresh from winning the US election, Donald Trump might have another
0:23:58 > 0:24:00title to add to his collection.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay accidentally
0:24:04 > 0:24:07introduced him as a member of the upper House.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12My Lords, when my the right honourable friend the Prime Minister
0:24:12 > 0:24:15had a conversation on the telephone with with Lord Trump...
0:24:15 > 0:24:18With Lord Trump! LAUGHTER.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Over in the select committee rooms, TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
0:24:21 > 0:24:25slammed supermarkets for their approach
0:24:25 > 0:24:28to wonky vegetables.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31He said retailers are deluded in terms of what people
0:24:31 > 0:24:34will and won't buy.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38And in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP SMP has called on the UK
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Government to take speedy action over the reduction
0:24:42 > 0:24:44in weight of Toblerones.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Colin Beattie says that the change is emblematic of the devastating
0:24:48 > 0:24:52consequences of Brexit and calls on the government to offer
0:24:52 > 0:24:55its condolences.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Mm, chocolate.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Gary Connor and the Toblerone row.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Where will it all end?
0:25:06 > 0:25:09The Chancellor could have some treats in store this Wednesday
0:25:09 > 0:25:12when he reveals the contents of his Autumn Statement.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Plenty of other issues also coming up in the Commons and the Lords.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19So, do join me for the next Week in Parliament.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.