0:00:19 > 0:00:22Hello and welcome to the Week In Parliament.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24On this programme...
0:00:24 > 0:00:26The government accepts demands to publish a plan before it begins
0:00:26 > 0:00:29formal talks on leaving the EU.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31But ministers insist they need to keep some
0:00:31 > 0:00:33of the details to themselves.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36It is normal even for basic trade negotiations to be carried out
0:00:36 > 0:00:45with a degree of secrecy, a degree of secrecy.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Also on this programme...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52MPs listen in silence as one member recounts the day she was raped.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53I didn't tell my mother.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54I didn't tell my father.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I didn't tell my friends.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58And I didn't tell the police.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01We talk to two new MPs about what it's like to join
0:01:01 > 0:01:03the Commons 18 months after a general election.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06And as the size of the House of Lords tops 800 -
0:01:06 > 0:01:09we speak to a leading Conservative peer who thinks it s time for them
0:01:09 > 0:01:10to cut their numbers.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13The current size of the House of Commons is at 650.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17I think we should aim for 600, the size of the House of Commons
0:01:17 > 0:01:19in the next Parliament.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21But first...
0:01:21 > 0:01:24With Theresa May out of the country it fell to the Leader
0:01:24 > 0:01:26of the Commons David Lidington to stand in at the despatch box
0:01:26 > 0:01:27at Prime Minister's Questions.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30The session took place just ahead of a six-hour debate
0:01:30 > 0:01:35on the UK's exit from the EU, in which Labour had tabled a motion
0:01:35 > 0:01:38calling on the Government to publish a plan for Brexit before the start
0:01:38 > 0:01:41of formal negotiations.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Newspapers suggested that as many as 40 Conservative MPs might rebel
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and back Labour's call - and so Theresa May decided
0:01:48 > 0:01:51to agree to that demand - but put forward an amendment asking
0:01:51 > 0:01:59MPs to support her timetable for starting the talks.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02A move welcomed by the Shadow Foreign Secretary who was filling
0:02:02 > 0:02:03in for Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06We welcome the Government's decision to accept our motion today,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08that they will show Parliament their plan for Brexit before
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Article 50 is triggered.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13So can I ask the Leader of the House one central
0:02:13 > 0:02:15question about this plan?
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Does the Government want the UK to remain part of the customs union?
0:02:19 > 0:02:23The Government has always made it clear that we would seek
0:02:23 > 0:02:26to give additional clarity about our position at
0:02:26 > 0:02:28the earliest opportunity, but it has been the case,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31as my right honourable friend the Prime Minister
0:02:31 > 0:02:33has said many times, that one of our core objectives
0:02:33 > 0:02:37is going to be to secure the maximum freedom for British companies both
0:02:37 > 0:02:43to have access to and operate within the single European market.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45We have a government that cannot tell us the plan
0:02:45 > 0:02:47because they do not have a plan.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49They do not have a plan.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53In February the Leader of the House said, what he was hearing
0:02:53 > 0:02:56about from the Leave campaign was confusing,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59contradictory nonsense.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01My final question is this...
0:03:01 > 0:03:08Are we hearing anything different from this government today?
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Mr Speaker, we will publish before Article 50 is triggered a statement
0:03:12 > 0:03:20about our negotiating strategy and objectives, as the Prime
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Minister has said yesterday.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27But the honourable lady seems again to be in a state of utter denial
0:03:27 > 0:03:37about the consequences that flow from the referendum decision.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41He accused Labour of being in disarray.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44It is quarrelling like Mutiny on the Bounty as reshot
0:03:44 > 0:03:48by the Carry On team.
0:03:48 > 0:03:56Well, shortly after those exchanges the Brexit debate got underway.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58The purpose of this motion, calling for a plan is not
0:03:58 > 0:04:00to frustrate or delay the process.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01That is not the purpose.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03That is not why we are calling for a plan.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07It does present a challenge for the Government, because it now
0:04:07 > 0:04:09means the Government has got to produce a plan in good time
0:04:09 > 0:04:12to allow the proper formalities and processes to be gone through.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16It is widely accepted that the negotiation of our
0:04:16 > 0:04:19departure from the European Union is the most important and most
0:04:19 > 0:04:22complex negotiation in modern times.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And it is overwhelmingly important that we get it right.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26I think that is common ground.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30It is normal even for basic trade negotiations to be carried out
0:04:30 > 0:04:33with a degree of secrecy, a degree of secrecy.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The language used is the rather vague one of a plan.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Well, we are probably to be told the plan is to have a red,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43white and blue Brexit and that we are believers in free
0:04:43 > 0:04:46trade whilst giving up all the conditions that govern free
0:04:46 > 0:04:49trade in the single market.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Can I say the honourable member is no longer in his place,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55but to say that it might consist of hints, I would merely remind
0:04:55 > 0:04:58the House that when Moses came down from the mountain bearing
0:04:58 > 0:05:02the tablets, it did not contain the Ten Hints.
0:05:02 > 0:05:11He was pretty clear about what he was telling people to do.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18All of a sudden we see the issue of Parliamentary oversight
0:05:18 > 0:05:20being used in effect as a break, a break against taking
0:05:20 > 0:05:23back control, a break against bringing our democracy home.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Once again the Labour front bench side with the supranational elites.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28They are out to try to frustrate and overturn the way
0:05:28 > 0:05:29people voted in June.
0:05:29 > 0:05:36It is 167 days or six months since the referendum and we have 113
0:05:36 > 0:05:39days to go until the 31st of March deadline that the Government
0:05:39 > 0:05:42has set itself.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45We are almost two thirds of the way there.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48To talk about a glacial pace of progress might be something
0:05:48 > 0:05:50of an overstatement in this case.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52This parliament has the opportunity to shape...
0:05:52 > 0:05:53No, thank you.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56To shape an economic policy and an immigration policy
0:05:56 > 0:06:01and a knowledge policy which can make us once again a world beater,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05but if we do not take that opportunity, if instead
0:06:05 > 0:06:09we concentrate on seeking to dilute the result of the referendum,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12then I am afraid we will fail the people of this country
0:06:12 > 0:06:15at this historic moment.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Michael Gove.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22An MP has moved colleagues to tears after revealing she was raped at 14.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Michelle Thomson shared her personal story during a Commons
0:06:24 > 0:06:27debate focused on the UN International Day
0:06:27 > 0:06:32For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34I want to give a very personal perspective to help people,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38both in this place and outside, understand one element of sexual
0:06:38 > 0:06:41violence against women.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44When I was 14, I was raped.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48As is common, it was by somebody who was known to me.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51He had offered to walk me home from a youth event.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53In those days, everybody walked everywhere -
0:06:53 > 0:06:55it was quite common.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56It was early evening.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57It was not dark.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I was wearing, I am imagining and guessing,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02jeans and a sweatshirt.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I knew my way around where I lived - I was very comfortable -
0:07:06 > 0:07:09and we went a slightly different way, but I did not
0:07:09 > 0:07:11think anything of it.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16He told me that he wanted to show me something in a wooded area.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19At that point, I must admit that I was alarmed.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23I did have a warning bell, but I overrode that warning bell
0:07:23 > 0:07:26because I knew him and, therefore, there was
0:07:26 > 0:07:29a level of trust in place.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32To be honest, looking back at that point, I do not think
0:07:32 > 0:07:35I knew what rape was.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37It was not something that was talked about.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41My mother never talked to me about it, and I did not hear other
0:07:41 > 0:07:42girls or women talking about it.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46It was mercifully quick and I remember first
0:07:46 > 0:07:48of all feeling surprise, then fear, then horror
0:07:48 > 0:07:57as I realised that I quite simply could not escape.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Afterwards I walked home alone.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I was crying, I was cold and I was shivering.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I now realise, of course, that that was the shock response.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04I did not tell my mother.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06I did not tell my father.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08I did not tell my friends.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10And I did not tell the police.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I bottled it all up inside me.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16I hoped briefly, and appallingly, that I might be pregnant so that
0:08:16 > 0:08:20that would force a situation to help me control it.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Of course, without support, the capacity and resources that
0:08:22 > 0:08:26I had within me to process it were very limited.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I was very ashamed.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31I was ashamed that I had "allowed this to happen to me."
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I had a whole range of internal conversations...
0:08:34 > 0:08:35"I should have known.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37"Why did I go that way?
0:08:37 > 0:08:39"Why did I walk home with him?
0:08:39 > 0:08:41"Why didn t I understand the danger?"
0:08:41 > 0:08:46"I deserved it because I was too this, too that."
0:08:46 > 0:08:50I felt that I was spoiled and impure, and I really felt
0:08:50 > 0:08:53revulsion towards myself.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59One thing that I realise now is that I am not scared and he was.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I am not scared.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02I am not a victim.
0:09:02 > 0:09:10I am a survivor.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13I thank the honourable lady for what she has said and the way
0:09:13 > 0:09:16in which she said it, which has left an indelible
0:09:16 > 0:09:23impression upon us all.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The debate had been opened by a Labour MP.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Worldwide, an estimated one in three women experiences physical
0:09:29 > 0:09:31or sexual violence - that is a staggering statistic.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Each year in the UK, up to three million women
0:09:34 > 0:09:35experience violence.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39On average, one woman in Britain dies at the hands
0:09:39 > 0:09:43of a man every three days.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The Government was defeated in the Lords when peers demanded
0:09:46 > 0:09:49some families involved in inquests have access to the same public
0:09:49 > 0:09:52funding as the police.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54The subject came up during detailed debate
0:09:54 > 0:09:57on the Policing and Crime Bill.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Public money should pay to establish the truth.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01It is surely not right, and surely not justice,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05when bereaved families trying to find out the truth - and who have
0:10:05 > 0:10:09done nothing wrong - find that taxpayers' money is used
0:10:09 > 0:10:15by the other side, sometimes to paint a very different
0:10:15 > 0:10:18picture of events in a bid to destroy their credibility.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21But the Minister said there'd be cost implications of the change.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23In the last financial year, 200 persons died
0:10:23 > 0:10:26following contact with the police.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30All of those deaths would have been subject to an inquest.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Of course, the financial ?implications of this amendment
0:10:33 > 0:10:38are but one of the matters noble Lords will wish to take
0:10:38 > 0:10:42into consideration, but we cannot be blind to the impact
0:10:42 > 0:10:43on the public purse.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46But when it came to the vote the Government was defeated
0:10:46 > 0:10:49by 243 votes to 208 - Ministers will now seek to overturn
0:10:49 > 0:10:54the amendment at a later stage.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Now, in recent weeks we've had a handful of new MPs
0:10:57 > 0:10:59elected to the Commons.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02The newest is Caroline Johnson - who won Thursday's by-election
0:11:02 > 0:11:06in the safe Conservative seat of Sleaford North Hykeham -
0:11:06 > 0:11:09caused by the resignation of the sitting MP.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Meanwhile on Monday the Lib Dem's Sarah Olney
0:11:12 > 0:11:15took her seat in the Commons after winning the Richmond Park
0:11:15 > 0:11:19by-election - forced by the resignation of Zac Goldsmith.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23And there have been two other new arrivals in recent weeks -
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Tracy Brabin held the seat of Batley and Spen for Labour
0:11:26 > 0:11:29following the murder of Jo Cox.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32And the Conservative Robert Courts kept Witney for the Conservatives
0:11:32 > 0:11:35after David Cameron's departure.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I invited them both into the studio earlier and began
0:11:37 > 0:11:39by asking Tracy Brabin what it was like to arrive
0:11:39 > 0:11:44in a Parliament 18 months after a general election.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Obviously, the circumstances in which I arrived are probably very
0:11:47 > 0:11:51different, in that there was a lot of love and there was a lot
0:11:51 > 0:11:57of desire for me to do well, and very much a welcome even before
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I arrived, so I was invited into the Women's's PLP WhatsApp
0:12:03 > 0:12:06And certainly to get a round of applause after my maiden
0:12:06 > 0:12:09speech, it is unusual in the House of Commons for people to clap,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12so there was a real sense of "we are behind you,"
0:12:12 > 0:12:13given the circumstances.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Now, Robert, you took over the most famous seat
0:12:15 > 0:12:16in the country if you like.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18What were your impressions when you arrived at Westminster?
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Well, there are two things really.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Firstly you look around and there is the wonderful
0:12:22 > 0:12:24surroundings and all the history, but apart from anything else
0:12:24 > 0:12:27the main thing is always that you have got an enormous
0:12:27 > 0:12:29responsibility, because you're conscious that the people
0:12:29 > 0:12:31of your constituency, I'm sure your constituency feels
0:12:31 > 0:12:34the same, put enormous trust in you and you really want to make
0:12:34 > 0:12:37sure that you hit the ground running so that you are out and doing things
0:12:37 > 0:12:39to help them as soon as you can.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Now, you took, it struck me, slightly different approaches
0:12:41 > 0:12:44to this, because Tracey Brabin, you popped up very quickly
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and you were asking questions and you made your speech quite quickly.
0:12:47 > 0:12:48Robert, you hung on a little bit.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50What was the thinking behind that?
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Did you particularly want to hit the ground running?
0:12:52 > 0:12:53I mean, it's my personality.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55I do everything, you know, it is 100%.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58I am going to keep going until somebody says don't, you know, stop.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01So I have asked loads of questions, I have been on Bill Committee,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03I have tabled an amendment.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04I have had a trip to Kurdistan.
0:13:04 > 0:13:10I just feel it is such a privilege that every day counts.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Robert, it strikes me he took a slightly more loyally approach.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16You thought about it and then you got involved.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19It really is, my first words in the House were at
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Prime Minister's Questions after only about ten days,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25so that was my first, but I didn't make my maiden speech
0:13:25 > 0:13:26for about a month.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30And that is simply because I took the view that I wanted to sit
0:13:30 > 0:13:32and observe the House and understand the way that people speak
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and the way that people go about things before
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I made my maiden speech.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And of course November the 30th was Winston Churchill's birthday,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42and because he was born and buried in my constituency there was nice
0:13:42 > 0:13:45timing there which I thought would be appropriate.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Now, I am interested in how you think, or whether you think,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51your previous careers prepared you ordered and prepare
0:13:51 > 0:13:53you for a life in parliament.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Now, Robert, you have got a fairly traditional route in as much
0:13:56 > 0:13:58as there are quite a lot of barristers in the
0:13:58 > 0:13:59Commons, but does help?
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Yes, it does.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I had really a twin career before I arrived here,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05firstly as a district councillor and secondly as a barrister.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The link of course from being a councillor to being an MP
0:14:08 > 0:14:11is clear, because it is casework and it is helping people,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13it is representing people, so that really is quite clear.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And as far as the bar is concerned, yes, primarily in terms of getting
0:14:17 > 0:14:19hold of a brief and assimilating it quickly and picking
0:14:19 > 0:14:20out the main points.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24That is the way it really helps you, more that in fact than the public
0:14:24 > 0:14:26speaking which is quite a different skill.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Now, Tracey, it might surprise people, but there are actually
0:14:29 > 0:14:32rather more actors in the Commons than most people might realise.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34There is yourself, there is Deidre Brock,
0:14:34 > 0:14:35there is Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36There are one or two others.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37There are a few.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40And they say that it is a really good skill,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42because you can talk, you are very good at
0:14:42 > 0:14:43projecting your voice, at getting points across.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Do you find it has helped?
0:14:46 > 0:14:50I think confidence in front of a group of people and public
0:14:50 > 0:14:54speaking is obviously is helpful, having an actor background.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Being a writer as well does help.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00But actually writing a speech that has impact and power and, you know,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02reflects your constituents' feelings is quite a different skill to, say,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04writing Hollyoaks or Shameless or Tracy Beaker or something
0:15:04 > 0:15:15like that, so I am really learning on the job as well.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17But you must find yourself in a way surprised to be here.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Obviously neither of you, two or three years ago,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24could possibly have foreseen that you would be sitting in these seats.
0:15:24 > 0:15:33That is absolutely right.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44And Tracey, for you the most conflicting emotions.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45Oh, yes.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48I mean, there is not much joy in it, but there is a lot of pride,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50but because obviously the circumstances are so horrible.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Having been a campaigner and activist, trade unionist,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55for decades, people may not know that about my past, it does feel
0:15:55 > 0:15:58like all roads have led here and Batley and Spen,
0:15:58 > 0:15:59my hometown, I campaigned with Jo.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I really feel connected to the community and the people
0:16:02 > 0:16:05I love, so I am not surprised I am here, but obviously in a way
0:16:05 > 0:16:07I would rather not be here.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13But I am here now and I am going to be the best MP I can be.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16All right, just finally, brief one to the both of you...
0:16:16 > 0:16:17What is your ambition?
0:16:17 > 0:16:18What do you want to do?
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I want to be an excellent and outstanding MP for the residents
0:16:21 > 0:16:22of West Oxfordshire.
0:16:22 > 0:16:23All MPs say that.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25What do you really want to do?
0:16:25 > 0:16:26It's true.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27It really is true.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Just like Tracey, I live in the area that I represent.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32I live in Blaydon, so I love the areas that I am
0:16:32 > 0:16:35in and that is exactly what I want to do.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38It is what I did as a district councillor and it is
0:16:38 > 0:16:39what I want to do now.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Tracey, what do you want to do?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Do you know what I really want to do?
0:16:43 > 0:16:44I really want to understand Parliament.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47I want to be one of the finest parliamentarians, so I understand
0:16:47 > 0:16:51how to table a Bill or how to get a law passed, because if you don't
0:16:51 > 0:16:54know that you can't actually make the most of it because you are just
0:16:54 > 0:17:00beholden to other people who could guide you,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Now, that is a great skill.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05All right, well, we will have you back to see how you are both doing.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Tracey Brabin, Robert Courts, thank you very much indeed
0:17:07 > 0:17:09for coming into the programme.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10Pleasure.
0:17:10 > 0:17:11Thank you.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Now let's take a look at some other news from around
0:17:13 > 0:17:14Westminster in brief.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17The Transport Secretary has set out plans to overhaul the way England's
0:17:17 > 0:17:18railway network is run.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Chris Grayling wants the public body, Network Rail,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22which looks after infrastructure, to work more closely
0:17:22 > 0:17:24with the private companies which run the trains.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26But Labour demanded a different solution.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29It is time for our railways to be run under public ownership and in
0:17:29 > 0:17:31the public interest, as an integrated national
0:17:31 > 0:17:32asset in public hands with
0:17:32 > 0:17:34affordable fares with long-term investment in the railway network.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37With the party opposite, they always just want to turn the clock back.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40They wanted turn the clock back to the days, Mr Speaker, of British
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Rail and unions and beer and sandwiches in Number Ten.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46There was a rare round of applause in the Commons on Wednesday
0:17:46 > 0:17:47for a special guest in the public gallery.
0:17:47 > 0:17:5190-year-old Holocaust survivor Kitty Hart Moxon was watching MPs
0:17:51 > 0:17:54at Prime Minister's Questions - she was applauded for her
0:17:54 > 0:17:59life's work raising awareness of the Holocaust.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The Communities Secretary has told MPs that too many UK politicians
0:18:02 > 0:18:04have refused to tackle integration problems as they feared
0:18:04 > 0:18:06being called a racist.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Sajid Javid was responding to a report by Dame Louise
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Casey on integration.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14She concluded that segregation and social exclusion
0:18:14 > 0:18:18are at worrying levels
0:18:18 > 0:18:21and are fuelling inequality in some areas.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24For too long, too many people in this
0:18:24 > 0:18:26country have been living parallel lives.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Refusing to integrate and failing to embrace the shared values
0:18:28 > 0:18:30that make Britain great.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32And for too long, too many politicians in
0:18:32 > 0:18:34this country have refused to deal with the problem.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38I am concerned that there is no real understanding
0:18:38 > 0:18:43in this report of the simple truth that integration is a two-way
0:18:43 > 0:18:45street.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51And it should definitely not be used, as it so often is, as a
0:18:51 > 0:18:54stick with which to beat the minority communities of Britain.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57A Conservative is calling for the UK to plant more trees.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Chris Davies says just 10% of England is given over to woodland -
0:19:00 > 0:19:03compared to 18% in Scotland and a European average of 37%.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05The Worldwide Fund for Nature has calculated that global demand for
0:19:05 > 0:19:10timber, paper, and energy from forests is set to triple by 2050.
0:19:10 > 0:19:17So, if we don't plant more trees now,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and if we continue to rely on imports, then the UK
0:19:21 > 0:19:26is going to be competing against other growing
0:19:26 > 0:19:30economies for natural resources that we can, and indeed should,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33grow more of at home.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Now, let's take a look at some of the other political
0:19:35 > 0:19:36headlines this week.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37Time for our countdown.
0:19:37 > 0:19:38Here's Gary Connor.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44Nigel Farage was the only UK politician to be nominated for Time
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Magazine's Person of the Year.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48But he was pipped to the post by his old
0:19:48 > 0:19:53friend Donald Trump.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58In a Commons debate on Brexit, vocal Eurosceptic
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Sir Bill Cash revealed that in 1975, he voted yes to Europe, to the
0:20:01 > 0:20:05surprise of fellow MP Ken Clarke.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11Scotland's Transport Minister has been caught driving a car without
0:20:11 > 0:20:13the proper insurance.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Humza Yousaf said that a misunderstanding caused the honest
0:20:17 > 0:20:22mistake and he would take any penalty imposed upon him.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26When answering a question on preventing
0:20:26 > 0:20:28banned items being dropped into prisons, Justice Secretary Liz Truss
0:20:28 > 0:20:30revealed that some new deterrents were being used.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34I was at HMP Pentonville last week.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37They have now got patrol dogs who are barking
0:20:37 > 0:20:39which helps deter drones.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43And what is on the menu at the Prime Minister's
0:20:43 > 0:20:45house on Christmas Day?
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Theresa May told the Radio Times that she will be going to church,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53cooking goose, and tuning into Dr Who.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Gary Connor.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Now, let's go off to the House of Lords, where on Friday
0:21:05 > 0:21:07peers debated a plan that would effectively phase out
0:21:07 > 0:21:10the remaining 97 hereditary peers.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13It was the second time in a week they'd discussed just how big
0:21:13 > 0:21:16the House of Lords should be.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20According to our ermine-o-meter, membership of the House of Lords
0:21:20 > 0:21:24currently stands at 809.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Making it the second largest legislative body in the world.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30On Monday, the Conservative Lord Cormack led a debate
0:21:30 > 0:21:33on how to reduce its size, and afterwards I asked him
0:21:33 > 0:21:37if we were really going to see change this time.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42What we want is a select committee that has the power to summon
0:21:42 > 0:21:45witnesses, to take evidence, to take recommendations to the House of
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Lords, and I very much hope that by this end of next year, we will
0:21:49 > 0:21:53have had such a committee, it will
0:21:53 > 0:21:57have made a report, and the House
0:21:57 > 0:22:03of Lords will have accepted or rejected, and I very much hope
0:22:03 > 0:22:05accepted, the recommendations.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07There are 800 plus members of the House of
0:22:07 > 0:22:08Lords.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Couldn't you just say, we will keep the same proportion but
0:22:11 > 0:22:14halve the numbers, and the groups can decide amongst themselves who
0:22:14 > 0:22:16stays and who goes, and you could do that within a year?
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Well, of course we could do that within a year.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21We have to see whether that may be the
0:22:21 > 0:22:23recommendation from the select committee.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25But there are various ways of doing this.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28We say, first of all, that the House of Lords should
0:22:28 > 0:22:30not be bigger than the House of Commons.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35In other words, they should be a maximum of 600 because that
0:22:35 > 0:22:38will be the size of the House of Commons in 2020.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Secondly, there must be a minimum of 20% cross
0:22:40 > 0:22:41benches.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42Fully independent.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45That is the distinguishing feature of the
0:22:45 > 0:22:48House of Lords, in comparison with the House of Commons.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Thirdly, we must not have any party with a
0:22:51 > 0:22:55majority over the other political parties.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57And, fourthly, and most importantly, we are knowledge the
0:22:57 > 0:23:00supremacy of the elected House, which has the final word, the final
0:23:00 > 0:23:03say in everything.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Just finally, then, how much money would you put
0:23:07 > 0:23:10on the House of Lords being significantly say 200 or 300
0:23:10 > 0:23:13members smaller by the end of this Parliament?
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Well, if we are going to get down to what we think is right,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20the current size of the House of Lords is 650, I think we should aim
0:23:20 > 0:23:23for 600 for the House of Commons in the next Parliament.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26But would you put a tenner on it?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I certainly would put a tenner on it.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I'm not a betting man, but, yes, I would put a
0:23:31 > 0:23:32tenner on it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I might even put a little more on it.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37Lord Cormack - on his hopes for the House of Lords.
0:23:37 > 0:23:4080 years ago this weekend, news of a royal romance gripped Britain.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43The king - Edward VIII - wished to marry an American
0:23:43 > 0:23:45divorcee, Wallis Simpson,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49and was prepared to renounce the throne.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53The affair had had made headlines around the world -
0:23:53 > 0:23:56but the British press kept silent about it until early December 1936.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59As Carolyn Quinn reports, it was in the October
0:23:59 > 0:24:03that the government heard that Mrs Simpson was set to divorce
0:24:03 > 0:24:07her second husband - leaving her free to marry again.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16The Simpson divorce case was heard at Ipswich Assizes,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20some distance from London, but not too far for the
0:24:20 > 0:24:23foreign press to travel.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25This is the addition for Wednesday the 28th of
0:24:25 > 0:24:27October 1936,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31five weeks before the story of the relationship between
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Edward and Mrs Simpson appeared in British newspapers.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36It is reporting, the headline, surprise in London,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40press and radio in the United States are announcing the marriage of
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Edward VIII to an American woman.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48There was worry, erm...about Mrs Simpson,
0:24:48 > 0:24:49the connections that she might have.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55She was also thought to be duly sympathetic to the Nazi
0:24:55 > 0:24:57regime in Germany -
0:24:57 > 0:25:02of course, a point made about Edward VIII himself.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07But her life, with two husbands living, the
0:25:07 > 0:25:12gossip that surrounded her, was this woman a security threat?
0:25:12 > 0:25:16One possible explanation is that the hard men
0:25:16 > 0:25:21in Whitehall were thinking, people are going to use this crisis,
0:25:21 > 0:25:30or this potential crisis, as a lever for almost a coup d'etat.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34And you can watch more of that in A Very British Crisis on BBC
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Parliament on Saturday night at 8pm.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38But that's it from me for now.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Joanna Shinn will be with you on Monday night at 11pm
0:25:41 > 0:25:43for another roundup of the day here at Westminster.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47But, for now, from me - Alicia McCarthy - goodbye.