:00:12. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to Thursday in Parliament.
:00:14. > :00:19.A new constitutional skirmish as proposals to restrict the powers
:00:20. > :00:31.In the battle of blue versus another, there was only going to be
:00:32. > :00:33.one at Victor. councils a revolutionary deal
:00:34. > :00:45.as part of the latest local For the first time ever, I offer a
:00:46. > :00:49.guaranteed a Budget to every council which desires one and which can
:00:50. > :00:51.demonstrate efficiency savings for next year and for every year of this
:00:52. > :00:53.Parliament. And time to appreciate the virtues
:00:54. > :01:01.of English sparkling wine. Will my right honourable friend and
:01:02. > :01:10.ensure that English sparkling wine is served at Government events? So
:01:11. > :01:11.that Carver, champagne and the inferior brands are confined to the
:01:12. > :01:12.seller! But first, the review of the House
:01:13. > :01:16.of Lords and a brief reminder There's primary legislation,
:01:17. > :01:19.new measures considered by the Lords and the Commons that
:01:20. > :01:21.become Acts of Parliament. And there's secondary legislation,
:01:22. > :01:23.also known as statutory instruments. These are powers provided
:01:24. > :01:28.for in primary legislation that can be activated by the Government
:01:29. > :01:30.at a later date. The Government opted to use
:01:31. > :01:32.a Statutory Instrument, or SI, in the Lords to introduce tax
:01:33. > :01:35.credit cuts in October. The Lords has the right
:01:36. > :01:39.to block an SI outright. But on tax credits, they actually
:01:40. > :01:42.voted for a delay to allow impact Infuriated by the move,
:01:43. > :01:48.the Government asked a Conservative Lord Strathclyde
:01:49. > :01:51.to investigate the powers He recommended removing
:01:52. > :01:55.the Lords ability to The news was delivered
:01:56. > :01:59.to peers by Lady Stowell, She said that when the Lords refuses
:02:00. > :02:16.to consent to secondary legislation, That means, unlike in primary
:02:17. > :02:23.legislation, we are able to exercise a veto. A very significant one. So
:02:24. > :02:28.by convention, we have exercised that power only in exceptional
:02:29. > :02:35.circumstances, doing so on only five occasions since World War II. So
:02:36. > :02:41.withholding agreement to a SI is rare enough. To take that step on a
:02:42. > :02:44.Budget measure, as we did in October, was unprecedented. To do
:02:45. > :02:50.that on a Motion that where different sides of the House still
:02:51. > :02:54.disagree as to its effect took us to Dutch rubber into uncharted
:02:55. > :02:57.territory. These events put a long established, Incheon in doubt and
:02:58. > :03:03.raised constitutional questions about the primacy of the elected
:03:04. > :03:06.House which needed to be examined. My honourable friend was asked to
:03:07. > :03:10.examine whether there was a better way to hand secondary legislation
:03:11. > :03:14.and in order that the elected House of Commons could have the decisive
:03:15. > :03:17.say, just as it does on primary legislation.
:03:18. > :03:19.Lady Smith called statutory instruments the Government's secret
:03:20. > :03:28.The changes originally proposed were a major policy shift and it would
:03:29. > :03:32.have been entirely appropriate to become sent by primary legislation.
:03:33. > :03:39.But the Government chose to use and SI. I want to consider Lord
:03:40. > :03:43.Strathclyde's report in more detail. But the process the noble lord
:03:44. > :03:47.recommends is a very significant change. Contrary to some reports, we
:03:48. > :03:52.overwhelmingly declined to block the measure through a fatal Motion, but
:03:53. > :03:55.supported, asking the Government to reconsider and bring forward
:03:56. > :04:01.changes. That is the right and legitimate role of the second
:04:02. > :04:05.chamber. And indeed my lord, it allow the Chancellor to reconsider
:04:06. > :04:07.moving forward even more substantial changes and suggested.
:04:08. > :04:10.She said it wasn't really about tax credits.
:04:11. > :04:17.This all paints a very unattractive picture of a Prime Minister and the
:04:18. > :04:25.Government won't tolerate challenge. The evidence -based for the changes
:04:26. > :04:29.proposed today are weak. I think we differ Dutchmen I differ from the
:04:30. > :04:34.noble Baroness in that we are currently in a disagreement as to
:04:35. > :04:40.what happened in October. That is the problem. Because what has
:04:41. > :04:47.happened, we are now confused as a House. We don't quite know how to
:04:48. > :04:55.deal with secondary legislation. Because the procedures that we have
:04:56. > :04:57.before us have become confusing. For many years now there has been
:04:58. > :05:03.dissatisfaction in all parts of the House with the binary choice that is
:05:04. > :05:08.open to your lordship's House of options for either accepting or
:05:09. > :05:13.rejecting SI. Would you also agree that it is relevant that the
:05:14. > :05:19.procedure recommended by Lord Strathclyde is very similar to that
:05:20. > :05:24.which was recommended by all-party Royal commission under the noble
:05:25. > :05:31.load, Lord Wakeham, and by the leader's group in 2011. And also by
:05:32. > :05:35.the Hansard Society and others. It would therefore be unfortunate if
:05:36. > :05:40.the circumstances in which this arose was to close people's minds to
:05:41. > :05:44.positive consideration of the procedure which Lord Strathclyde has
:05:45. > :05:51.recommended. The Micra she constantly refers to the event in
:05:52. > :05:53.October. They were bizarre. The Government proposes a reduction in
:05:54. > :05:59.the income of people in the lowest paid families, the House of Lords
:06:00. > :06:05.says we think you should think again about this. The governments,
:06:06. > :06:11.amazingly, says we are thinking again and we've decided that we
:06:12. > :06:17.agree with the House of lords. And yet, the Government persists in what
:06:18. > :06:23.can only be seen as a malevolent way, to set up a committee like this
:06:24. > :06:32.in order to cut the wings of the House of Lords. Governments to get
:06:33. > :06:39.irritated by this House. I think I expressed and British myself
:06:40. > :06:42.occasionally. The weather noble lady is misleading herself, is that the
:06:43. > :06:50.convention laid down by the cunning the committee has not broken down.
:06:51. > :06:57.Because in the current convention, and it was a red line for me, it's
:06:58. > :07:01.very clearly states the House of Lords must retain the right to say
:07:02. > :07:12.no. And the reason was the reason pub are my friend, that without that
:07:13. > :07:15.right to say no, you sparingly, use carefully, use rarely, but without
:07:16. > :07:16.retaining that's right, we become a debating society.
:07:17. > :07:19.Words of warning for the Government there from Lord McNally.
:07:20. > :07:21.Shortly afterwards, the statement was debated in the House of Commons
:07:22. > :07:23.where Opposition MPs suggested that the Government
:07:24. > :07:29.was manufacturing a constitutional crisis.
:07:30. > :07:35.It is a compromise option that will provide a House of Lords to think
:07:36. > :07:39.again and would give the final say to the House of Commons. This will
:07:40. > :07:43.be achieved by allowing the Commons to override a vote by the House of
:07:44. > :07:48.Lords to reject a statutory instruments. He also recommended the
:07:49. > :07:51.Government, with the involvement of the Procedure Committee, should
:07:52. > :07:54.review circumstances in which Statutory Instrument powers should
:07:55. > :07:59.be subject to Commons over the procedures, especially on financial
:08:00. > :08:03.matters. And that the Government ensures the appropriate use of
:08:04. > :08:07.primary and secondary legislation. The Government will need to consider
:08:08. > :08:10.Lord Strathclyde's review and his recommendations carefully and we
:08:11. > :08:15.will respond fully when we have done so. This has all the hallmarks of
:08:16. > :08:19.Government by a fit of pique. The leader says at this review was set
:08:20. > :08:23.up, I quote, after constitutional questions were raised about the
:08:24. > :08:27.primacy of this elected House of Commons. What utter trash! The only
:08:28. > :08:29.people who are raising constitutional questions whether
:08:30. > :08:32.Prime Minister and the Chancellor and the lead in the soul. They were
:08:33. > :08:37.stamping their little fee because they hadn't got their way. There
:08:38. > :08:41.were protests, and, yes, there were. But there will protest against the
:08:42. > :08:47.Lords. They were against the Government's miserly attempt to cut
:08:48. > :08:52.tax credits. Rarely has there been a review of such pointlessness with a
:08:53. > :08:55.prearranged out, as this endeavour of absolute uselessness is. The
:08:56. > :08:58.battle of blue versus Ermine, there was only going to be one of Victor,
:08:59. > :09:09.and not the one elected down the corridor there. However this come
:09:10. > :09:12.about? It was all was an unlikely concept that this Government were
:09:13. > :09:13.never allow itself to be embarrassed by them ever again.
:09:14. > :09:18.Chris Grayling didn't think that was fair.
:09:19. > :09:24.Lord Strathclyde is the last person to be given a script and told to
:09:25. > :09:33.write a review and then publish it. He has done lots of work, talked to
:09:34. > :09:39.a lot of thought carefully. It is a pleasure to be here for this bill.
:09:40. > :09:41.What we are seeing, Madam Deputy Speaker, is crisis management again,
:09:42. > :09:45.fire fighting again instead of having a clear strategy about the
:09:46. > :09:50.what the Government was to do on democracy and constitutional change
:09:51. > :09:55.in the middle of great change with Evo, with Scottish devolution, with
:09:56. > :10:01.the mess around English devolution. It is important we should at least
:10:02. > :10:05.try to see ourselves as others do. And democracies, especially nascent
:10:06. > :10:10.ones, do look somewhat aghast at some of the more archaic features of
:10:11. > :10:14.our constitutional arrangements. I deeply regret that this has been
:10:15. > :10:20.brought forward. The leader speaks as this that Micro as if this is
:10:21. > :10:24.something for the Government alone. It is not, Madam Deputy Speaker.
:10:25. > :10:29.This concerns parliament as a whole wave changes to be required, it must
:10:30. > :10:34.be owned by Parliament as a whole. As a new member of this House, I
:10:35. > :10:39.have to say I find other plays a completely ridiculous anachronism. I
:10:40. > :10:45.think the people of Somerset are very confused as to why it should
:10:46. > :10:50.have any power at all in this place. And I, for one, would rather see it
:10:51. > :10:52.a much more wide ranging review of what is going on with it.
:10:53. > :10:55.Now, the Government has promised English councils a "revolutionary
:10:56. > :10:58.deal" as part of the annual local government settlement.
:10:59. > :11:06.But extra money will be made available to pay for improved
:11:07. > :11:10.Labour has warned councils will have to make more cuts.
:11:11. > :11:13.But the Minister in charge told MPs that local authorities will be able
:11:14. > :11:21.to sign up to a four-year funding package
:11:22. > :11:27.For the first time ever, I offer a guaranteed Budget to every council
:11:28. > :11:31.which desires one, which can illustrate efficiency savings. For
:11:32. > :11:38.next year and for every of this Parliament. A four-year Budget to
:11:39. > :11:42.give certainty and confidence. This settlement that maintains the
:11:43. > :11:46.financial resources available to councils in 2020 at around the same
:11:47. > :11:49.level as they are today. While giving incentives for local
:11:50. > :11:53.Government make significant savings. It settle the direct up to three and
:11:54. > :11:58.a half billion pounds to care for our elderly citizens. They is Doric
:11:59. > :12:01.and lament that is what campaigners for devolution thought that they
:12:02. > :12:06.would never live to see, local councils answerable to local people
:12:07. > :12:10.rather than Central Government. CAGNE sadly, the central message is
:12:11. > :12:19.the same as ever. Cuts, cuts and more cuts. He admits to cash the
:12:20. > :12:22.crease of ?200 million between now and 2019-2020. As he forgets to say
:12:23. > :12:33.that the additional spending pressures amount of his ?6.3 billion
:12:34. > :12:36.according to the LGA. And this will be inflicted on our communities by
:12:37. > :12:43.the settlement. And does he agree with his conservative colleague,
:12:44. > :12:49.chair of the LGA, who said, and I quote directly. It is wrong that
:12:50. > :12:53.services to our local communities rely on will face deeper cuts than
:12:54. > :12:58.the rest of the public sector yet again. And for local taxpayers to be
:12:59. > :13:04.left to bigger the bill for new Government policies without any
:13:05. > :13:08.additional funding. He goes on, even if councils stopped filling
:13:09. > :13:11.potholes, maintaining parks, closing children's centres, leisure centres
:13:12. > :13:14.and turned off every street light, they would still not have saved
:13:15. > :13:22.enough money to plug the financial black hole which they will face by
:13:23. > :13:26.2020. That is the Conservative leader of the LGA, Mr Speaker. So
:13:27. > :13:30.far from this being a tactical settlement, there could be nothing
:13:31. > :13:36.more strategic than a settlement for the first time ever giving the local
:13:37. > :13:40.council leaders have long called for, which is the certainty of a
:13:41. > :13:43.four-year funding settlement previously denied to them and giving
:13:44. > :13:52.them the chance to manage their affairs in exactly the way they want
:13:53. > :13:56.to. I congratulate my right honourable friend on having
:13:57. > :13:58.delivered what is frankly the most imaginative local government
:13:59. > :14:03.settlement that I have heard in my time in the House, including those
:14:04. > :14:07.that I had to deliver myself. The paradox of this statement is
:14:08. > :14:14.exemplified by my own council which has had a reduction of its grant by
:14:15. > :14:17.50%, and yet a massive increase in responsibilities, so pretending that
:14:18. > :14:24.adult social care can be picked up by a 2% increase in council tax is
:14:25. > :14:27.obviously a nonsense. A shortfall in Central Government funding full
:14:28. > :14:30.Ochil services risks hitting the most vulnerable first, and devolving
:14:31. > :14:34.responsibility is to local councils without associated funding simply
:14:35. > :14:39.puts councils in charge of implementing his Government was Matt
:14:40. > :14:46.Cutts. When I was in the department at the beginning of the previous
:14:47. > :14:48.government of which is party was a member, the savings required of
:14:49. > :14:52.local government were higher than required in this government.
:14:53. > :14:54.You're watching Thursday in Parliament with me,
:14:55. > :14:57.MPs have been debating the sexual exploitation of 16 and 17-year-olds.
:14:58. > :15:01.It follows a report by the Children's Society
:15:02. > :15:04.which concluded that people in this age group are particularly
:15:05. > :15:12.vulnerable as they transition from childhood to adulthood.
:15:13. > :15:19.It is time of life that requires nuance, a nuance that does not come
:15:20. > :15:26.easily in-laws that must deal imprecision. We have an age of
:15:27. > :15:29.consent to sexual activity set at 16, and we are not suggesting this
:15:30. > :15:34.is changed, but we do start the debate this evening, this afternoon,
:15:35. > :15:37.in the light of the Children's Society report that shows that we
:15:38. > :15:43.still do not get the balance right in the case of sexual expectation of
:15:44. > :15:47.16 and 17-year-oldss. The report published by the group titled old
:15:48. > :15:53.enough to know better highlights the difficult vulnerability of that
:15:54. > :15:55.group, and the regarding the fact that they are children, and the age
:15:56. > :15:56.of consent. Patricia Gibson said the report made
:15:57. > :16:05.for harrowing reading. The law recognises that those in
:16:06. > :16:09.this age range can legally consent to sexual relationships, but under
:16:10. > :16:15.the children act of 1989, they are so considered children, and as such,
:16:16. > :16:22.professionals, indeed wider society, has a legal duty to safeguard these
:16:23. > :16:27.young people from exploitation. We'll 16 and 17-year-oldss continue
:16:28. > :16:30.to be protected from sexual abuse within the family or from those in a
:16:31. > :16:33.position of trust, and from sexual expectation offences such as child
:16:34. > :16:38.prostitution and pornography offences? They simply and
:16:39. > :16:42.appallingly do not receive the same kind of protections as younger
:16:43. > :16:48.children. The last Parliament saw the high-profile child exploitation
:16:49. > :16:54.cases in Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford, among others. It was
:16:55. > :16:57.reported of children and young people being passed around for sex
:16:58. > :17:00.by groups of men, their plight made worse by the attitude of those
:17:01. > :17:04.working in the agencies charged with protecting them who regarded them as
:17:05. > :17:11.making a lifestyle choice to exchange sex the gifts. No scope
:17:12. > :17:14.should be left in a 16-year-old to be considered not vulnerable despite
:17:15. > :17:16.being a child, when we know there are significant problems with
:17:17. > :17:21.professionals on the justice system treating this age group as adults or
:17:22. > :17:25.as resilient, or asking for it, particularly if the victim is seen
:17:26. > :17:28.to be involved in Krummenacher to. The message will go out to
:17:29. > :17:33.perpetrators loud and clear that if you sexually exploit, abuse or rape
:17:34. > :17:36.a 16 or 17-year-old, you will automatically receive a harsher
:17:37. > :17:42.sentence. The law does not recognise that in many cases where children
:17:43. > :17:44.aged 16 and 17 become victims of sexual offences, they are coerced
:17:45. > :17:48.into submission by perpetrators who supply them with drugs or alcohol,
:17:49. > :17:52.or who the young people are scared of. The capacity to consent is
:17:53. > :17:58.impaired through an imbalance of power between a child and a
:17:59. > :18:01.perpetrator, and by the young person's use and /or dependency on
:18:02. > :18:05.drugs or alcohol prior to the defence. There is clear evidence as
:18:06. > :18:09.you know that children in care are more vulnerable to grooming and
:18:10. > :18:12.sexual expectation. Will you look again to see if this highly
:18:13. > :18:14.vulnerable group of 16 and 17-year-olds could have the
:18:15. > :18:18.protection of a child abduction warning notice? We must also
:18:19. > :18:25.remember that there are other vulnerable 16 and 17-year-oldss who
:18:26. > :18:31.are not look -- looked after by local authorities. They could be
:18:32. > :18:34.disabled or young carers. We do need to work across Government, and that
:18:35. > :18:40.is why we have established across government response, and I want to
:18:41. > :18:44.ensure all members that this is a top priority for this Government.
:18:45. > :18:47.The Home Secretary launched the report tackling child sexual
:18:48. > :18:50.expectation in March this year, and this sets out a national response to
:18:51. > :18:54.the failures we have seen in rather as represented are damnable lady,
:18:55. > :19:01.Manchester, Oxford and elsewhere, where children let down by the very
:19:02. > :19:07.people who were responsible for protecting them. We will continue to
:19:08. > :19:11.overall the police -- overhaul the police and social services.
:19:12. > :19:14.Significant work has and is taking place in cross government, but given
:19:15. > :19:19.the time available, I will not go through the points raised today. But
:19:20. > :19:25.I will say my door is always open, and all honourable members are very
:19:26. > :19:28.welcome to come to see me at we can discuss their concerns and the work
:19:29. > :19:34.that is being done, and I will be happy to share in detail the work
:19:35. > :19:36.Governments Governments
:19:37. > :19:38.So it must be time for some panto-related jokes
:19:39. > :19:43.This year they were cheerfully supplied by Labour MP Chris Bryant.
:19:44. > :19:53.the panto season is now upon us. Oh, yes it is! And Cinderella is
:19:54. > :19:57.appearing locally. Apparently auditions were last month, so
:19:58. > :20:03.unfortunately, they will have to do without my Prince Charming. However,
:20:04. > :20:07.I feel that the Epsom Playhouse in the right honourable member's
:20:08. > :20:10.constituency has beauty and the beast at the moment. There is a
:20:11. > :20:14.rumour going around at the leader and the deputy leader are going to
:20:15. > :20:16.be appearing in this production on select nights.
:20:17. > :20:18.He was talking about Chris Grayling and Therese Coffey, who,
:20:19. > :20:20.by the way, was wearing a fabulous Christmas jumper.
:20:21. > :20:35.I'm pretty certain that the Debaty leader will be playing Mrs Potts,
:20:36. > :20:41.because she will be Mrs coffee pots. That is the worst labour joke today
:20:42. > :20:48.at! Well, it may not be, actually. And as for the Leader of the House,
:20:49. > :20:52.Mr Speaker, he is no beast, obviously, but I hear there was a
:20:53. > :20:58.mystery bidder earlier on this week at the sale of Mrs Thatcher's
:20:59. > :21:01.frocks, and there is a rumour that he is going to be seen waltzing
:21:02. > :21:15.across the stage in that black printed chiffon number as Belle. And
:21:16. > :21:19.a review of the year from Chris Grayling. The Conservatives won the
:21:20. > :21:24.election, and Labour lost. And I think Liberal Democrats have done an
:21:25. > :21:28.invisibility cloak since then. There has been a slight change in numbers
:21:29. > :21:31.on the benches over there. And then of course we all came back to
:21:32. > :21:36.Westminster, and you will remember those happy early-morning sprints as
:21:37. > :21:40.the Labour left of the Scottish National Party rushed for the best
:21:41. > :21:43.seats. But they don't need to do that any more, because the Labour
:21:44. > :21:48.left has moved from those seats to the front bench and the leadership
:21:49. > :21:53.of the Labour Party. What we will see in the New Year is whether the
:21:54. > :21:57.shadow leader, and there is a proud tradition of these things, decides
:21:58. > :22:02.to do anything about that. And it was back to panto with the
:22:03. > :22:05.SNP's Pete Wishart. I'm surprised to see so many of my colleagues here
:22:06. > :22:10.tonight, because it was our Christmas party last night, and
:22:11. > :22:20.there were fine renditions of 500 Miles and Loch Lomond. We also have
:22:21. > :22:26.Beauty and the Beast at Perth concert Hall. Looking at the Labour
:22:27. > :22:29.benches, I thought Sleeping Beauty might be more appropriate. And I
:22:30. > :22:36.always like a good pantomime horse! Now, forget about Champagne
:22:37. > :22:39.and Cava and Prosecco. If you're looking for a bit
:22:40. > :22:42.of festive cheer, try some English English wine is a
:22:43. > :22:46.flourishing industry. The French Champagne producer
:22:47. > :22:48.Tattinger has recently announced that it's going to produce
:22:49. > :22:58.English fizz in Kent. English but DeWine is a growing
:22:59. > :23:08.industry worth almost ?100 million, and I know that two sparkling wines
:23:09. > :23:16.recently beat champagne in a wine critics' tasting competition. We are
:23:17. > :23:20.promoting the industry. I thank my right honourable friend for her
:23:21. > :23:22.answer. In my West Sussex constituency, there has been a
:23:23. > :23:31.remarkable increase in wine production. Is it not time that a
:23:32. > :23:35.co-ordinated strategy to promote these excellent wines which beat
:23:36. > :23:38.others from around the world in wine tastings, and will my right
:23:39. > :23:45.honourable friend ensure that English sparkling wine is served at
:23:46. > :23:58.Government events, and Seco, Carver, champagne and other inferior brands
:23:59. > :24:01.are consigned to the cellars? I will be holding a roundtable in the New
:24:02. > :24:06.Year with the sparkling wine industry to talk about how we can
:24:07. > :24:10.encourage the industry to grow. I recently held an event in Shanghai,
:24:11. > :24:13.and I'm in courage in all of my colleagues across Government to use
:24:14. > :24:20.English sparkling wine as they drink of choice. Can I thank the Secretary
:24:21. > :24:28.of State for her support of the English wine industry, and her
:24:29. > :24:42.recent visit, and I hope that she has a tipple of Breaky Bottom with
:24:43. > :24:45.her Christmas lunch! How are her discussions with the Chancellor
:24:46. > :24:48.going to get a better deal on tax English wine producers?
:24:49. > :24:50.The Environment Secretary pointed out that excise duty is one
:24:51. > :24:54.And she reassured MPs that during a trip to a Sussex vineyard,
:24:55. > :24:55.she did her bit for the wine industry!
:24:56. > :25:04.I did have a very enjoyable morning in Sussex. We started the tour at
:25:05. > :25:13.9am, and it was one of the best days in the job! Will my right honourable
:25:14. > :25:22.friend join me in welcoming that injure's new venture to produce
:25:23. > :25:31.sparkling wine in my constituency? -- Tattinger's. It is not a surprise
:25:32. > :25:37.that even the French want to get in on the action of English sparkling
:25:38. > :25:41.wine, and using Defra's data, we have identified an additional 75,000
:25:42. > :25:47.acres across the country which are suitable for growing sparkling wine.
:25:48. > :25:48.That is the equivalent of the Champagne region, so I'm sure it
:25:49. > :25:51.Cheers to that! will go from strength to strength.
:25:52. > :25:54.And on that note, I'd like to wish you a very happy and peaceful
:25:55. > :25:58.We'll be back in the New Year, on the 5th of January 2016.
:25:59. > :26:03.Until then, from me, Kristiina Cooper, goodbye!