:00:16. > :00:17.Hello and welcome to the Week In Parliament,
:00:18. > :00:19.when Theresa May went public with the best kept
:00:20. > :00:26.I have just chaired a meeting with the Cabinet where we agreed
:00:27. > :00:29.that the government should call a general election, to be
:00:30. > :00:36.Opposition parties say they welcome the fight, but...
:00:37. > :00:40.This is a Prime Minister who promised there wouldn't be one.
:00:41. > :00:48.A Prime Minister who cannot be trusted.
:00:49. > :00:51.Meanwhile in Holyrood, the SNP and the Conservatives square
:00:52. > :00:56.But it wasn't all about the general election.
:00:57. > :00:59.In the Commons, there was concern over the nuclear
:01:00. > :01:03.And condemnation of the alleged death, detention and torture
:01:04. > :01:10.Others would join in beating him with sticks or metal rods and
:01:11. > :01:15.demanding to know the names of other gay men that he knew in Chechnya.
:01:16. > :01:19.But first: On paper, it had looked like MPs were set
:01:20. > :01:22.for a gentle return after Easter with just a little light
:01:23. > :01:25.legislating to keep them busy in the the chamber.
:01:26. > :01:29.Peers, meanwhile, had not yet even returned from their break,
:01:30. > :01:31.with another week of their recess to run.
:01:32. > :01:35.So it was to a hastily assembled and unsuspecting press pack that
:01:36. > :01:39.Theresa May unleashed the best kept secret in Westminster
:01:40. > :01:43.Mrs May explained why she'd changed her mind
:01:44. > :01:52.The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.
:01:53. > :01:56.In recent weeks, Labour have threatened to vote
:01:57. > :02:00.against the final agreement we reach with the European Union.
:02:01. > :02:06.The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business
:02:07. > :02:11.The Scottish National Party say they will vote against
:02:12. > :02:13.the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership
:02:14. > :02:18.And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us
:02:19. > :02:25.Our opponents believe, because the government's
:02:26. > :02:27.majority is so small, that our resolve will weaken
:02:28. > :02:30.and that they can force us to change course.
:02:31. > :02:39.If we do not hold a general election now, their political gameplaying
:02:40. > :02:42.will continue and the negotiations with the European Union
:02:43. > :02:46.will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up
:02:47. > :02:53.Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make
:02:54. > :02:56.a success of Brexit, and it will cause
:02:57. > :02:59.damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.
:03:00. > :03:03.So we need a general election and we need one now.
:03:04. > :03:08.Because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done
:03:09. > :03:12.while the European Union agrees its negotiating position,
:03:13. > :03:21.Theresa May no longer has the power to call an election
:03:22. > :03:23.exactly when she wants - under the Fixed Term Parliaments
:03:24. > :03:26.Act, two thirds of MPs must support of the idea.
:03:27. > :03:29.So it was announced that the next afternoon there'd be a 90-minute
:03:30. > :03:36.But first, there was the small matter of Prime Minister's
:03:37. > :03:55.We welcome the general election, but...
:03:56. > :04:01.But this... But this is a Prime Minister who run this there wouldn't
:04:02. > :04:08.be one. -- who promised there wouldn't be one. A Prime Minister
:04:09. > :04:11.who cannot be trusted. She says it's about leadership, yet is refusing to
:04:12. > :04:17.defend her record in television debates.
:04:18. > :04:31.And it is not hard to see why. The Prime Minister says we have a
:04:32. > :04:38.stronger economy. Yet she can't explain why people's wages are lower
:04:39. > :04:46.today than they were ten years ago, all why more households are in debt,
:04:47. > :04:53.6 million people earning less than the minimum wage, -- the living
:04:54. > :05:01.wage, child poverty is up, pensioner poverty is up, so why are so many
:05:02. > :05:04.people getting poorer? Well, I can assure The Right
:05:05. > :05:10.Honourable gentleman, first of all, I would point... I would point out
:05:11. > :05:13.to him that I have been answering his questions and debating these
:05:14. > :05:19.matters every Wednesday that Parliament has been sitting since I
:05:20. > :05:25.became Prime Minister, and I will be taking out to the country in this
:05:26. > :05:32.campaign a proud record of a Conservative government. A stronger
:05:33. > :05:38.economy, an economy with a deficit nearly two thirds down, with 30
:05:39. > :05:44.million people with a tax cut, 4 million people taking out of income
:05:45. > :05:48.tax altogether, record levels of employment, and ?1250 more a year
:05:49. > :05:52.for pensioners. That's a record we can be proud of.
:05:53. > :05:57.If the Prime Minister is so confident that a hard Brexit,
:05:58. > :05:59.pro-austerity, and the immigration case is right, she should debate it
:06:00. > :06:01.with leaders during the campaign. Theresa May said
:06:02. > :06:03.she'd be out campaigning in every part of the UK -
:06:04. > :06:14.and she had this advice for the SNP. Now is the time for them to put
:06:15. > :06:17.aside their tunnel vision on independence and actually explain to
:06:18. > :06:20.the Scottish people why under the SNP, there are not putting as much
:06:21. > :06:25.money into the health service as they have been given from the UK,
:06:26. > :06:28.there are not exercising the powers they've been given, and Scottish
:06:29. > :06:33.education is getting worse. It's time they got back to the day job.
:06:34. > :06:37.The British public deserve to hear party leaders set out their plans
:06:38. > :06:42.and debate them publicly, but the and debate them publicly, but the
:06:43. > :06:46.Prime Minister has refused to take part in televised leaders' debates.
:06:47. > :06:52.Why will she not debate these issues? What is she scared of?
:06:53. > :06:57.I can assure the honourable gentleman that I will be debating
:06:58. > :06:58.these issues publicly across the country, as well every single member
:06:59. > :06:59.of the Conservative team. A veteran Labour MP raised alleged
:07:00. > :07:02.breaches of election expenses from the 2015 election
:07:03. > :07:20.which are still being investigated Will the Prime Minister give a
:07:21. > :07:26.guarantee that no Tory MPs who is under investigation by the police
:07:27. > :07:34.and the legal authorities over election expenses in the last
:07:35. > :07:40.general election be a candidate in this election? Because if she won't
:07:41. > :07:48.accent that, this is a most squalid election campaign that has happened
:07:49. > :07:54.in my lifetime. -- the most squalid. I stand by all the Conservative MPs
:07:55. > :07:57.who are in this house, and who will be out there standing again,
:07:58. > :07:59.campaigning for a Conservative government that will give a brighter
:08:00. > :08:01.and better future for this country. A short time later, MPs
:08:02. > :08:04.had their chance to debate and vote on Mrs May's call
:08:05. > :08:14.for an early election. If this election is, as the Prime
:08:15. > :08:19.Minister says, about Hay Mills secure future for this country, if
:08:20. > :08:22.it is an election of such national significance, we should have an
:08:23. > :08:28.urgent change in the law to give Britain's 1.5 million 16 and
:08:29. > :08:30.17-year-olds a say in what will very much be their future on the 8th of
:08:31. > :08:34.June. The people of Northern Ireland will
:08:35. > :08:38.have a clear choice. They will have a clear choice as to whether they
:08:39. > :08:42.will want to rally round and say very, very firmly that they want
:08:43. > :08:45.Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, or whether they
:08:46. > :08:52.want to go down the route presented by Sinn Fein, which is this Marxist
:08:53. > :08:58.Leninist concept of a republic which has been rejected even by most
:08:59. > :09:01.people who accept their nationalism, but reject what they stand for in
:09:02. > :09:05.terms of their economic outlook and all the rest of it.
:09:06. > :09:09.In essence, the Prime Ministersargument is that she has no
:09:10. > :09:13.confidence in parliament. So we have this bizarre situation where we had
:09:14. > :09:16.a referendum that was about taking back control and parliamentary
:09:17. > :09:20.sovereignty, but a Prime Minister who pronounces that she has no
:09:21. > :09:25.confidence in parliament. Against the EU, for the EU, then
:09:26. > :09:28.against again. Against holding a general election, and now determined
:09:29. > :09:34.to have a general election. The record is about as straight as the
:09:35. > :09:39.legendary European Union banana. To suggest that she needs a mandate
:09:40. > :09:45.to negotiate Brexit is just ridiculous. She was given that
:09:46. > :09:49.mandate on the 24th of June, by a majority of the British people, and
:09:50. > :09:53.it is up to her now to carry that out.
:09:54. > :09:55.There is only one reason why the Prime Minister wants a general
:09:56. > :09:59.election on the 8th of June, and that is, she figures she has a
:10:00. > :10:02.better chance of winning it now than she does in the future.
:10:03. > :10:06.I know that this government, which has delivered so much already and
:10:07. > :10:09.has so much more to deliver, will have a resonance with the British
:10:10. > :10:14.public when they look at what is on offer from the other parties, who I
:10:15. > :10:16.divided, they are wrangling, their scaremongering, and they aren't
:10:17. > :10:20.Brexit denial. And at the end, Mrs me comfortably
:10:21. > :10:30.got her way. Order, order. -- Mrs May.
:10:31. > :10:39.The ayes to the right, 422. The noes to the left, 13.
:10:40. > :10:44.And that meant to reason they hadn't well over the two thirds majority
:10:45. > :10:49.she needed to dissolve Parliament for an early election and the 8th of
:10:50. > :10:52.June. -- Theresa May had well over the two thirds majority.
:10:53. > :10:55.The SNP won all but three of the 59 Scottish seats at Westminster,
:10:56. > :10:56.but they abstained on that Commons vote.
:10:57. > :10:59.At Holyrood, where they form the government, they were rather
:11:00. > :11:01.At First Minister's questions on Thursday,
:11:02. > :11:09.Nicola Sturgeon said the question was who would stand up for Scotland
:11:10. > :11:12.We have seen the damage that Tories do with a small majority.
:11:13. > :11:16.I know they don't want to hear it, but with a small majority,
:11:17. > :11:20.the Tories have cut Scotland's budget, they've imposed the bedroom
:11:21. > :11:24.tax, the rape clause, cuts in disabled support,
:11:25. > :11:28.robbed women of their pension entitlement.
:11:29. > :11:30.Let's think about the damage a Tory Government could do
:11:31. > :11:38.She focused on what the SNP are calling the rape clause,
:11:39. > :11:40.a benefits change which limits payments to two children,
:11:41. > :11:44.unless a woman can show a third child resulted
:11:45. > :11:51.women to prove that they have been raped before they get access
:11:52. > :12:06.I'll give Ruth Davidson the chance to do today what she has shamefully
:12:07. > :12:18.Stand up here today and tell this chamber, tell Scotland straight,
:12:19. > :12:21.do you support the rape clause in principle or do you, like me
:12:22. > :12:34.I'll answer the question the same way I answered it
:12:35. > :12:39.If the First Minister doesn't like the two child tax
:12:40. > :12:47.The truth is this First Minister is always happier, always happier,
:12:48. > :12:50.complaining about the UK Government than she is about doing
:12:51. > :12:59.And the fact is that the way the SNP is readying itself to pour
:13:00. > :13:01.negativity on this country at this election is shameful.
:13:02. > :13:04.And she might not like it, she might not like it,
:13:05. > :13:09.but Scotland is part of this United Kingdom.
:13:10. > :13:12.And if the First Minister really wants to set out her stall at this
:13:13. > :13:15.election isn't a practical vision of how she is governing
:13:16. > :13:17.Scotland the very least that we should all expect?
:13:18. > :13:20.Given the way that education and the economy are going,
:13:21. > :13:24.is she just banking on the fact that Scots just won't buy it?
:13:25. > :13:26.The First Minister has said that she wants an honest debate.
:13:27. > :13:35.It suits the SNP for the Tories to stay in power.
:13:36. > :13:39.That's why they refused to vote Theresa May out of office yesterday.
:13:40. > :13:43.And every day that the Tories remain in power 430,000 Scots go
:13:44. > :13:48.Waspi women go without the pension they have
:13:49. > :13:56.And young people have their housing benefit stripped away from them.
:13:57. > :14:11.It suits the SNP for the Tories to stay in power because the only
:14:12. > :14:13.thing the SNP has ever cared about is independence.
:14:14. > :14:16.So tell us, First Minister, on the 8th of June,
:14:17. > :14:19.Kicking the Tories out of office or having another
:14:20. > :14:22.Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable and will leave Labour
:14:23. > :14:30.Because that's what Kezia Dugdale said about Jeremy Corbyn.
:14:31. > :14:33.I agree with Kezia Dugdale about how awful and how damaging
:14:34. > :14:42.That's why I think it is so utterly shameful and disgraceful that Labour
:14:43. > :14:45.have allowed itself to get in the position that this lot are 20
:14:46. > :14:48.points ahead of them in the opinion polls UK wide,
:14:49. > :14:52.and even ahead of them in Scotland as well.
:14:53. > :14:54.That is Labour's failure and it is an utter disgrace.
:14:55. > :15:01.Away from the election MPs turned their eyes to the wider world
:15:02. > :15:04.and united in condemnation of the treatment of gay men
:15:05. > :15:15.Answering an urgent question the Foreign Office minister,
:15:16. > :15:17.Sir Alan Duncan, who was the first openly gay Conservative MP,
:15:18. > :15:19.said the reported torture and killing was beyond contempt.
:15:20. > :15:22.The arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of over 100 men
:15:23. > :15:25.in Chechnya because of their sexual orientation is of deep
:15:26. > :15:33.Credible reports suggesting that at least four people have been
:15:34. > :15:36.killed and many have been tortured are particularly shocking.
:15:37. > :15:41.Statements by the regional government in Chechnya
:15:42. > :15:43.which appeared to condone and incite violence against LGBT people
:15:44. > :15:51.The question had been raised by a Labour MP.
:15:52. > :15:57.We are talking about beatings, abuse, electric shock treatments.
:15:58. > :16:00.I do not say this lightly but some have described gay
:16:01. > :16:09.And the Guardian's Shaun Walker, express the horrors
:16:10. > :16:14.He described a situation where an individual at least once a day,
:16:15. > :16:16.captors attached metal clamps, and sent powerful electric
:16:17. > :16:21.If he managed not to scream others joined in beating him with sticks
:16:22. > :16:24.or metal rods and demanding to know the names of other gay men
:16:25. > :16:28.So if we have any doubts of the brutality of this regime
:16:29. > :16:38.towards the LGBT community we need not have them.
:16:39. > :16:40.So he asked, what had the British Government done to put
:16:41. > :16:42.pressure on the Russian or Chechen governments?
:16:43. > :16:47.We do use all engagement with Russia to make our voice clear.
:16:48. > :16:49.I did so personally with the deputy Foreign Minister
:16:50. > :16:51.of Russia when I met him two or three weeks ago.
:16:52. > :16:55.We spoke on general human rights matters and also Chechnya.
:16:56. > :17:01.And may I say that I hope this House will be fully united in giving
:17:02. > :17:04.as strong as possible a message to Russia, and to Chechnya
:17:05. > :17:07.in particular, that this kind of activity is beyond contempt
:17:08. > :17:21.and is not acceptable in the world in which we live.
:17:22. > :17:24.Whether we like it or not, Kadyrov actually has the fundamental
:17:25. > :17:26.support in some terms, of his nation, as a region
:17:27. > :17:30.So how do we undermine that is also about investment and also
:17:31. > :17:33.about our foreign aid in tackling human rights across the world.
:17:34. > :17:36.So will the deputy Foreign Minister commit now here on the floor
:17:37. > :17:39.of the House in fighting for human rights, LGBT and other rights
:17:40. > :17:41.in places like Chechnya, to ensure that his foreign aid
:17:42. > :17:47.budget doesn't change after the general election?
:17:48. > :17:49.I think we should all commit to fighting prejudice wherever
:17:50. > :17:52.we find it and I hope that when we stand in the election
:17:53. > :17:56.on June 8th that will be part of all of the views that we hold
:17:57. > :17:59.as we present ourselves to the electorate.
:18:00. > :18:02.The Foreign Secretary came to the Commons to update MPs
:18:03. > :18:12.on the situation in North Korea following a failed missile test.
:18:13. > :18:15.North Korea's vice-foreign minister told the BBC Pyongyang
:18:16. > :18:17.would continue to test missiles and would launch a pre-emptive
:18:18. > :18:20.nuclear strike if it thought the US was planning an attack.
:18:21. > :18:22.In the Commons Boris Johnson called on China to use
:18:23. > :18:27.The regime is now developing intercontinental ballistic missiles
:18:28. > :18:29.which would be capable of delivering a nuclear strike on the
:18:30. > :18:38.These weapons have not yet been fully tested but no-one can be
:18:39. > :18:45.complacent about the potential threat they pose.
:18:46. > :18:49.Yesterday I spoke to my Chinese counterpart and I urged him to use
:18:50. > :18:51.Beijing's unique influence to restrain North Korea
:18:52. > :18:56.and to allow a peaceful resolution of this crisis.
:18:57. > :19:00.This crisis can only be resolved through coordinated
:19:01. > :19:01.international action, through the de-escalation
:19:02. > :19:08.of tensions, and ultimately through negotiations.
:19:09. > :19:11.So can he assure us that Britain will argue against any unilateral
:19:12. > :19:14.military action taken by the United States and instead
:19:15. > :19:16.urgently back China's call for the resumption
:19:17. > :19:21.When it comes to North Korea the world needs statesmanship
:19:22. > :19:26.Labour says food prices are on the rise and is warning
:19:27. > :19:30.things will get worse if there's a bad Brexit deal.
:19:31. > :19:32.But the Environment Minister argued the proportion of income spent
:19:33. > :19:36.by the poorest households on food hadn't gone up.
:19:37. > :19:39.Children are returning to school after the Easter holidays hungry.
:19:40. > :19:43.The elderly are being admitted to hospital for malnourishment.
:19:44. > :19:45.And still this Government refuse to properly measure the levels
:19:46. > :19:50.of hunger and food poverty in our country.
:19:51. > :19:52.Isn't it true that they refuse to measure it because then
:19:53. > :19:54.they would have to admit some culpability?
:19:55. > :20:02.We do mention it and we have a long standing living cost of food survey
:20:03. > :20:06.which has run for many many years and which includes a measure
:20:07. > :20:10.for household spending among the 20% poorest households.
:20:11. > :20:13.And I can tell her that household spending in those poorest households
:20:14. > :20:17.has remained steady at around 16% for at least a decade.
:20:18. > :20:21.Fashion industry leaders have told MPs that the UK's departure
:20:22. > :20:23.from the EU could put their haute couture designs at
:20:24. > :20:28.It's currently possible to get protection across the whole EU.
:20:29. > :20:34.I have got my trademarks registered under EU trademarking.
:20:35. > :20:40.I don't know what that means now we are out of it.
:20:41. > :20:56.So you're going to have a lot of companies have registered
:20:57. > :20:58.trademarks on this EU trade intellectual property
:20:59. > :21:04.But with every situation like this there are opportunities and so it
:21:05. > :21:07.requires fresh thinking, innovation from the side
:21:08. > :21:09.of Government, to really think about how you are going to deal
:21:10. > :21:12.with it and that requires investment.
:21:13. > :21:14.Around one million UK pensioners are now resident
:21:15. > :21:16.in overseas locations, many in sunny retirement
:21:17. > :21:18.destinations such as Spain, France and the Caribbean.
:21:19. > :21:20.More than half of them don't receive yearly increases
:21:21. > :21:28.A Conservative argued that wasn't fair.
:21:29. > :21:33.This leads to the ludicrous situation where a British pensioner
:21:34. > :21:36.living on one side of Niagara Falls in Canada receives a frozen pension,
:21:37. > :21:38.while another living just a mile across the Falls,
:21:39. > :21:43.in the United States, has their pension uprated every year.
:21:44. > :21:46.These people are not immune from the effects of inflation,
:21:47. > :21:48.yet are forced to cope with the rising costs
:21:49. > :21:58.As you can imagine this has a major impact upon their lives.
:21:59. > :22:01.But the Minister said the cost of giving all UK pensioners overseas
:22:02. > :22:07.Those who are eligible for UK state pension can have their pension paid
:22:08. > :22:13.The rules governing the uprating of pensions are straightforward,
:22:14. > :22:16.widely publicised, and have been the same from many years.
:22:17. > :22:18.The Government's position remains consistent with that of every
:22:19. > :22:21.Government for the last 70 years and the annual costs of changing
:22:22. > :22:29.it is a long-standing policy and will be an extra half a billion
:22:30. > :22:31.half a billion pounds, which the Government believes
:22:32. > :22:34.Finally, a Conservative MP got into some some hot water
:22:35. > :22:37.after a tactless comment about his wife and her
:22:38. > :22:39.During Environment questions, Sir Henry Bellingham attempted
:22:40. > :22:43.bits of plastic found in many bathroom products,
:22:44. > :22:45.which cause environmental damage when they work their way
:22:46. > :22:52.Sir Henry explained he'd been doing some investigating of his own.
:22:53. > :23:01.I was recently rummaging through my wife's collection of shampoos and to
:23:02. > :23:04.my horror I found a plastic container of Olay anti-wrinkle,
:23:05. > :23:17.Complete with exfoliating micro beads.
:23:18. > :23:19.Obviously neither the Secretary of State nor the Minister
:23:20. > :23:22.will have need to use this sort of product
:23:23. > :23:23.but will she get on the
:23:24. > :23:25.telephone to the chief Executive of Procter
:23:26. > :23:28.Gamble and tell him that
:23:29. > :23:30.selling this sort of product is completely outrageous and
:23:31. > :23:34.it should be withdrawn from the market at once?
:23:35. > :23:40.Mr Speaker, what I find extraordinary is that
:23:41. > :23:43.Lady Bellingham is a flawless picture and wouldn't even
:23:44. > :23:49.I'm sure that my honourable friend will be buying flowers later today
:23:50. > :23:59.I think it might take just a little more than that.
:24:00. > :24:01.Finally, let's go back to Theresa May's surprise election.
:24:02. > :24:11.Here's Gary Connor with five things we learned this week.
:24:12. > :24:15.The general election is on but Manchester Gorton is off.
:24:16. > :24:18.MPs cancelled the by-election to replace Sir Gerald Kaufman.
:24:19. > :24:23.His successor will now be chosen on the 8th of June.
:24:24. > :24:27.The much promised reduction in the number of constituencies
:24:28. > :24:29.hasn't been finished so this election will be fought under
:24:30. > :24:38.George Osborne, Gisela Stuart, and Alan Johnson were some
:24:39. > :24:41.of the first to say they won't be standing again.
:24:42. > :24:50.73-year-old Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable has declared he wants to come back.
:24:51. > :24:53.The Conservative grandee Ken Clarke has cancelled his retirement.
:24:54. > :25:03.We won't know who will be sitting on these green benches for a little
:25:04. > :25:05.while yet but the occupant of the big green chair
:25:06. > :25:09.Speaker John Bercow has already said he'll be coming back -
:25:10. > :25:23.Gary Connor, and that's it from us for now, but do join me on Monday
:25:24. > :25:34.night at 11 for another round up of the day here at Westminster.
:25:35. > :25:37.The House of Lords is back from its Easter break and both MPs
:25:38. > :25:40.and peers will be busy as the government decides
:25:41. > :25:43.which bills it wants to push through before Parliament dissolves