02/12/2016 The Week in Parliament


02/12/2016

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Hello and welcome to the Week In Parliament.

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Coming up: After Brexit notes are caught on camera MPs demand

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a bigger taste of the Government's plans for leaving the EU.

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Can I suggest to the Prime Minister that

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having your cake and eating it is

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We are ambitious about getting the best

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possible deal for trading with and

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operating within the single European

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Can I be the first member of Parliament to congratulate

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Olney on her fantastic election yesterday,

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overturning a majority of

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we discover who won what in the Political

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The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has accused the government

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of cutting business taxes, while failing to adequately fund

:01:07.:01:10.

At question time, he seized on the absence of any new money

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in the Autumn Statement to help ease the pressures - and accused

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the Chancellor of presiding over falling growth,

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But Theresa May rejected the claim that the Government's economic

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The IMF says that this will be the fastest-growing advanced

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We have record numbers of people in employment and

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we have companies like Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, Google,

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Facebook, Apple, investing in the UK, securing jobs here in United

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That's what a good economic plan does.

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Since she quotes the Institute for Fiscal Studies I think

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she is being a little bit selective because they also went on to say

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that the prospect for workers over the next six years was, and I quote,

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They went on to say creating, and I quote, the worst

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decade for living standards since the last

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war and probably since the

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I have to say to the right honourable

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gentleman, I think given that he can't differentiate between the IMF

:02:21.:02:22.

It's probably a good job he is sitting there and I'm

:02:23.:02:31.

In the Autumn Statement last week the Chancellor

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During that time he didn't once mention the

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National Health Service or social care.

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1.2 million people are lacking the care they need.

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Why was there not one single penny more for social care in

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There is no doubt that the social care system is

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Just look at the fact that there are 1 million more

:03:02.:03:10.

people aged over 65 today than there

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were in 2010, we see the sort of pressures on the social care

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There is some very good practice up and down the country and

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sadly there is some not so good practice.

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What we need to do is make sure everybody is giving the best

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possible service to people who need it.

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Can I suggest to the Prime Minister that having your

:03:35.:03:45.

cake and eating it is not a serious strategy for Brexit?

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And that Britain deserves better than having

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to rely on leaked documents to know the Government's plans?

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How can she expect MPs to vote to trigger

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Article 50 when she refuses to give any clarity as to what kind of

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Brexit she is pursuing, and whether it will involve

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Is it arrogance or is it incompetence?

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I have answered this question many times in this House

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and I can assure the honourable lady, she asked specifically about

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the issue of the single market and trading with the European Union.

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I have been clear we are ambitious about

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getting the best possible deal for trading with and operating

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And that question of how far the Government would go to hang

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on to access to the single market came up the next day

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when the Brexit Secretary, David Davis was taking

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Being questioned by a Labour MP he suggested Britain could continue

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making payments to Brussels after it has left the European Union to

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Will the government consider making any contribution in any

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shape or form for access to the single market?

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It is very important because there is a distinction

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between picking off an individual policy and setting out a major

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criterion, and a major criterion here is,

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I'm going to answer him if he lets me, the major criterion

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here is that we get the best possible access for goods

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and services to the European market and if that is included in what he's

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talking about then of course we would consider it.

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An SNP MP turned to alleged remarks by the foreign

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secretary, Boris Johnson - since denied - that he supported

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I would like to congratulate the government on the sophistication

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of its approach to Brexit, I mean, deploying the Foreign

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Secretary to declare his undying support for free movement of labour

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is a masterly addition to the policy of chaos and confusion at the heart

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But if 121 days is a long time in politics, how many days before

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the 31st March will the Government narrow down its range of policies

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We will use all 121 days to get the best possible policy for us

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and we will put that single policy to the European Union.

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And the Lords too wanted to have their say on Brexit.

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In my view, the so-called opportunities of Brexit

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Similarly, we must stop talking nonsense about becoming an offshore

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Singapore or a haven of social dumping as many on the continent

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Full participation in the single market on fair

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The mood I find in Europe is not one of wanting to punish the UK

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but of great sadness that a country that has done so much for peace

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and prosperity on the continent should be turning its back on this

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project at a time of such turbulence and danger in the world.

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And we should remember this is not just a trade issue.

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There are a huge number of issues in relation to EU law,

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justice, agriculture, fisheries, defence, home affairs,

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And two years of negotiation will not be enough.

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A former Home Office minister dismissed those who argued Britain

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was not in a strong place to negotiate a good Brexit deal.

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They've largely given up on the ploy of a second referendum

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except for some noble Lords, and will now try to make

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the case that the single market is absolutely

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essential to future and

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they claim that people did not vote to leave

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the single market just the

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People voted to take back control of our money, our

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borders and our laws, and staying in the single market

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Now to Friday in the Commons where a Liberal Democrat took

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the chance to celebrate his party's success in the Richmond

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Lib Dem Sarah Olney won the poll overturning a Conservative majority

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The election was caused when the sitting Conservative MP,

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Zac Goldsmith resigned - to campaign against

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the Government's decision to back a third Heathrow runway.

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But the Lib Dems campaigned - and won - on their

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Tom Brake raised the victory during a question on the UK's

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Can I be the first member of Parliament to congratulate Sarah

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Olney on a fantastic victory yesterday overturning a majority of

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23,000, and I'm sure the residents of Richmond

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Park are interested in

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Can I ask the Minister to confirm the

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Government's desire to boost trade post-EU

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referendum won't be at the

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expense of the poorest countries around the world

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Can he also use this opportunity to confirm that the

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most effective way of distributing aid in the future is

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Union, that the Government won't hesitate to do that?

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I will if I may pass over the first part of the

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honourable member's comment and focus on the latter

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Trade is absolutely vital to lift people out

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If we can improve economies and improve the

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functioning of economies in some of the world's

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poorest nations that is

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often the best way to ensure long-term sustainable development

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and we will always look, and I have said already a number

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of times today and previously, at our

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international partners to ensure that we spend

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taxpayers' money efficiently, and that will mean

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deliver the outcomes we want to secure,

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happen to be founded, based and run through the European Union or

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They've been dubbed the Oscars of Westminster.

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Big names from the worlds of politics and academia

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were in London on Tuesday night for the Political Studies

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It is the annual Political Studies Association awards.

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Hillsborough campaigners Margaret Aspinall and Professor

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Phil Scraton collected the

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Campaigners of the Year award to a standing ovation.

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Grayson Perry won the Contribution to the Arts and

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The Enlightening the Public award went to the Iraq War

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Inquiry team whose 12 volume report was published five years after its

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It's a great pleasure to present the Enlightening

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the Public award to the

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Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot.

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I should say that Sir John was meant to get this award back in

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John, he said, there is to be a inquiry

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into the Iraq business, can

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Sir John told us of the pressure he faced to complete the

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Principally from bereaved families who really

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wanted some kind of closure but also increasingly from media and

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Yet if you want to do something on that scale

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You can either compromise on the depth

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and scale and quality of what you do or you can take the time you need.

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Baroness Smith of Basildon received Parliamentarian of the Year award

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for her work leading the Labour peers.

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Everyone is saying tonight what a topsy-turvy strange political

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House of Lords can be Parliamentarian of the Year

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As well as talking, as a parliamentarian you

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One of the great things about my Labour colleagues in

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the House of Lords is that we pull together as a team.

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It is that work as a team that helps us make a

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Now let us look at some of the other news around Westminster

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Ministers are writing to all national sporting bodies asking them

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to redouble their efforts to protect children

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following accusations of child abuse in football.

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Labour called the Minister to the Commons to ask what more

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We need representatives from the FA, Government, schools and relevant

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organisations to be working with the

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police to ensure any historic claims are fully

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investigated but also to

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ensure that it is stamped out and our young

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players have a safe and

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The FA's internal review must be a proper investigation that looks

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at the culture within football that meant that abuse took place

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for so long and went unreported and uninvestigated for so long.

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Would she further agree with me that if this report

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is to have credibility, it must be published

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No good will come from anybody trying to cover anything up.

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We need to know exactly what happened, how it happened,

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what went wrong, and make sure that those mistakes

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The government was defeated in the House of Lords on Wednesday

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when peers insisted the go-ahead should be given to the second stage

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of the Leveson Inquiry into ties between the press and the police.

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Ministers have begun a consultation on whether or not to continue

:13:31.:13:33.

But an independent peer tried to force the issue

:13:34.:13:38.

into the Policing and Crime Bill, describing it as a matter of honour.

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The government could have begun proceedings for Leveson part two

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weeks ago, when the relevant trials had finished.

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Doing so would help draw a line under the countless scandals

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involving both the police and the press.

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My Lords, I do not think this is a trivial matter.

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A commitment was made to Leveson that the victims wanted,

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the public wanted, and for democracy to function well, we all needed.

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The government has been faced with emotional appeals to airdrop

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supplies to civilians suffering in Aleppo in the latest onslaught

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Aleppo has become a key battleground in the war between forces loyal

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to President Bashar al-Assad and Western backed rebels

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The calls for action were led by a Labour MP.

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Mr Speaker, what Britain stands for on the world stage

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There is no risk-free course of action left but I believe

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Let us not stand and watch as one of the great cities

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Let us not allow 100,000 children to starve in East Aleppo.

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Britain has the ability and indeed aspiration to play a significant

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We, in 2013 in August, had that opportunity,

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We had an opportunity there to hold Assad to account

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and because of that, we have ended up in a situation

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whereby both Russia and Daesh have now come in.

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The question I posed to this House...

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The question I posed now, and to the honourable lady

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who screams from the seats is that unless this Parliament gives

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the executive to support that we need, their hands are now

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The Prisons Minister has told MPs the government has reached a deal

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with the Prison Officers' Association over health

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Last month, up to 10,000 prison officers in England and Wales

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stopped work over claims of a surge of violence in jails

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until a High Court injunction ordered them to end a protest.

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As the House is aware, we have been in discussions

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with the Prison Officers' Association over health

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We have come to an agreement with the Prison Officers'

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Association and the NEC on a deal that they would recommend

:16:10.:16:13.

to their members that front-line staff will now get a new pay

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We have also agreed a significant number of health and safety reforms,

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as well as new powers for governors, in terms of how they deploy

:16:26.:16:28.

A Plaid Cymru MP is calling for CCTV to be mandatory in abattoirs

:16:29.:16:35.

Animal welfare charities say that while consumer pressure

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on supermarkets helps ensure humane conditions for some animals,

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as horse meat is not sold in the UK, there is far less demand on equine

:16:47.:16:49.

And the moment, Defra have said they wish to encourage voluntary

:16:50.:16:56.

The Welsh government have also indicated

:16:57.:17:01.

that they support the use of CCTV in slaughterhouses and Wales.

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But they have failed to legislate to make that mandatory.

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It is clear this approach is not working.

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The FSA and their board report of the 21st of September conference

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that take up of CCTV had plateaued at 49% in red meat slaughterhouses.

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Where slaughterhouses have CCTV, they may not be

:17:18.:17:22.

in the areas which allow them to monitor horse welfare.

:17:23.:17:25.

Now, income tax powers worth ?12 billion were formally

:17:26.:17:32.

transferred from Westminster to Holyrood in the week.

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As BBC Westminster correspondent David Porter.

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It has been long anticipated but now it has been delivered.

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Since the Scottish Parliament was re-established in 1999,

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people in Edinburgh have been talking about taxation

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When the parliament was re-established, MSPs

:17:56.:18:00.

have the powers to vary the standard rate of income tax by up

:18:01.:18:04.

They decided not to use that but this is a completely

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When the new powers come into operation,

:18:10.:18:13.

in April of next year, Westminster will still set

:18:14.:18:15.

the threshold but the rates and the bands of income tax will be

:18:16.:18:19.

That means that the Scottish Parliament will be responsible

:18:20.:18:25.

It means it will be responsible for collecting far more

:18:26.:18:30.

Now, the UK Government says that with power goes responsibility

:18:31.:18:35.

so the Scottish Government will have to make perhaps very

:18:36.:18:38.

The Scottish Government, for its part, says it means that it

:18:39.:18:43.

will be able to concentrate as far as income tax is concerned

:18:44.:18:46.

on the priorities that it wants to bring in for Scotland.

:18:47.:18:49.

People say, to some extent, it is the parliament growing up.

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Now, let's go back to Brexit and the future of the UK economy.

:18:56.:19:01.

MPs on the Treasury committee spoke to two experts on the subject.

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First up, Paul Johnson, the head of the Institute

:19:06.:19:08.

He told them it was too early to be sure how the referendum vote

:19:09.:19:14.

would impact on the UK long-term, but unlike in most periods,

:19:15.:19:17.

economic forecasters were at least able to be certain

:19:18.:19:21.

that there was some uncertainty ahead.

:19:22.:19:23.

Presumably, when you use the word some, you really mean a great deal.

:19:24.:19:27.

Well, there is no non-loans, as it were.

:19:28.:19:33.

As it turned out, we were subject to vast uncertainty in 2007,

:19:34.:19:38.

And, actually, even in 2010, when most forecasters think

:19:39.:19:42.

of the economy is growing much more strongly than it turned out to do.

:19:43.:19:45.

So, actually, if you look back, you will see that there were periods

:19:46.:19:49.

when outturns were vastly different to expectation.

:19:50.:19:52.

What is different now is that we know there are certain

:19:53.:19:55.

decisions about whether we stay in the single market or not,

:19:56.:20:01.

and indeed, uncertainties about how the economy will respond over

:20:02.:20:06.

the next couple of years which we know are uncertain.

:20:07.:20:09.

I don't think it is within most people's band of uncertainty

:20:10.:20:14.

that we will have anything close to what happened in 2008,

:20:15.:20:16.

it is just that we know there are some changes coming along

:20:17.:20:20.

and we don't really know exactly how the economy will respond to them.

:20:21.:20:23.

The next day, the head of the independent Office

:20:24.:20:27.

for the Budget of Responsibility was asked what he thought

:20:28.:20:30.

My suspicion is that in particular, if we are in negotiations

:20:31.:20:34.

in which nothing very much as agreed until everything is agreed,

:20:35.:20:38.

we could be, you know, I could be retired in the Lords

:20:39.:20:40.

and much time will have passed before we know where we are.

:20:41.:20:46.

I think we all deserve your peerage first.

:20:47.:20:49.

You would agree, wouldn't you, that the crucial moment of most

:20:50.:20:55.

uncertainty is likely to be the consequences of any

:20:56.:20:58.

new arrangement put in place after we arrive in the arrival hall?

:20:59.:21:01.

Which is your date for the arrival hall?

:21:02.:21:05.

Well, as I say, I think it comes back in part to the degree

:21:06.:21:12.

to which this ends up being a negotiation

:21:13.:21:17.

in which nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

:21:18.:21:20.

..it will be that much clearer in 2019, I fear possibly not.

:21:21.:21:28.

You are about to take off, and there is a discussion taking

:21:29.:21:35.

place about where to go, would your feeling of

:21:36.:21:37.

uncertainty beat increased, decreased, or and changed,

:21:38.:21:39.

if while you were having a conversation you took off?

:21:40.:21:41.

The fact that I got onto an aircraft and people were still discussing

:21:42.:21:46.

where they wanted to go would be a source of sufficient alarm before

:21:47.:21:49.

You are very good at not answering the question.

:21:50.:21:53.

Time now for our look at what has been happening in the wide world

:21:54.:21:56.

Is it time for Parliament to set sail?

:21:57.:22:06.

Former head of the Royal Navy told peers that putting parliament

:22:07.:22:11.

on a boat and towing it around the country might help combat

:22:12.:22:14.

In the same debate, Lord Greaves suggested moving the capital

:22:15.:22:25.

to the English Midlands or the North.

:22:26.:22:29.

Peers were a flutter in the Commons as MP Gavin Newlands

:22:30.:22:33.

But Ian Paisley MP opted for a bowtie.

:22:34.:22:43.

He is back, but not on the front line.

:22:44.:22:46.

Former PM Tony Blair has announced a new organisation,

:22:47.:22:49.

a platform for engagement in the political centre ground.

:22:50.:22:56.

# It's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home.

:22:57.:23:00.

And we end on a musical note for Theresa May.

:23:01.:23:04.

She has won the backing of the 1970s songstress Kate Bush.

:23:05.:23:14.

Finally, he was, until the early hours of Friday morning at least,

:23:15.:23:20.

And on Wednesday, David Cameron's successor in the Oxfordshire city

:23:21.:23:27.

He found the Conservative Party bleeding after three

:23:28.:23:32.

He picked it up, restored its faith in itself,

:23:33.:23:38.

Mr Speaker, I know first hand the effect that his leadership had

:23:39.:23:45.

upon the party and on the country and on its fortunes.

:23:46.:23:49.

I was there on the streets and I felt the turning of the tide.

:23:50.:23:53.

There is perhaps no greater tribute that I can pay David Cameron fantasy

:23:54.:23:58.

that he made the Conservative Party believing itself again.

:23:59.:24:02.

He made it fresh, dynamic, and able to communicate

:24:03.:24:06.

In 1945, Albert Stubbs won the seat of Cambridgeshire

:24:07.:24:15.

He was a famous trade unionist and he won his seat by a majority

:24:16.:24:30.

of 44 by getting out on his motorcycle and riding around

:24:31.:24:34.

the villages of Cambridgeshire and signing up for workers

:24:35.:24:37.

He was known for his hard work for the people of that area

:24:38.:24:42.

Now, Mr Speaker, that record is one that I aspire to when I look

:24:43.:24:49.

Now, honourable members need not worry, I'm not about to execute

:24:50.:24:54.

the fastest defection in political history.

:24:55.:24:56.

I mention this because Mr Stubbs was my great-grandfather.

:24:57.:25:01.

Now, I must watch my words carefully at this point.

:25:02.:25:05.

Because his daughter, my grandmother, will be

:25:06.:25:08.

Stop if I put a foot out of line, I'm going to get a very

:25:09.:25:14.

I do, therefore, at knowledge at this stage,

:25:15.:25:17.

that Mr Stubbs would be horrified by this.

:25:18.:25:21.

But I hope he would at least approve of my work ethic.

:25:22.:25:27.

Christina Cooper will be with you on Monday night at 11pm

:25:28.:25:33.

for another round-up of the best of the day here at Westminster.

:25:34.:25:36.

And I will be back with you at the same time next week.

:25:37.:25:39.

But, so now, from me, Alicia McCarthy, goodbye.

:25:40.:26:35.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I'm sure the whole House

:26:36.:26:47.

will want to join me in wishing people across the

:26:48.:26:54.

United Kingdom and the whole world a very happy St Andrews' Day.

:26:55.:26:58.

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