:00:13. > :00:15.Hello there and welcome to Thursday in Parliament.
:00:16. > :00:18.Coming up on this programme: MPs are told they'll have to wait
:00:19. > :00:22.a little longer for publication of the Chilcot report.
:00:23. > :00:24.Peers hold their first debate on the Ways and Means that
:00:25. > :00:31.And there's a call for a ban on the tiny plastic beads
:00:32. > :00:39.They're flush to the sewage system and into the sea.
:00:40. > :00:42.But first, the Iraq Inquiry report is still not expected to be
:00:43. > :00:43.published before summer, even though national
:00:44. > :00:45.security vetting will be completed by next month,
:00:46. > :00:51.John Penrose said the Chilcot report into the Iraq War should be handed
:00:52. > :00:54.to the Government for security checks next week.
:00:55. > :01:00.There has been much criticism of the time it's taking to write
:01:01. > :01:07.Sir John Chilcot has himself has indicated that he expects
:01:08. > :01:10.publication in June or July this year.
:01:11. > :01:13.But in a Commons debate MPs lined up to demand an end to the delays.
:01:14. > :01:16.Because we were misled on the matter, Parliament voted
:01:17. > :01:25.So there were very good reasons for setting up the inquiry
:01:26. > :01:33.The war led to the deaths of 4,800 allied soldiers,
:01:34. > :01:48.The lowest estimate of Iraqi civilian casualties was 134,000,
:01:49. > :01:51.but plausible estimates put the number up to four times higher.
:01:52. > :01:54.The war immediately created 3.4 million refugees,
:01:55. > :02:07.It cost the British taxpayer ?9.6 billion,
:02:08. > :02:12.and it cost the American taxpayer $1,100 billion.
:02:13. > :02:14.It was he said the greatest foreign policy failure of this generation.
:02:15. > :02:17.The public ought to expect the report to be published
:02:18. > :02:22.That should be the reasonable conclusion, but that
:02:23. > :02:25.There are now reports that the publication of the report
:02:26. > :02:34.will be postponed until after the EU referendum at the end of June.
:02:35. > :02:58.The report is already in electronic format. It has already been
:02:59. > :03:06.repeatedly checked for accuracy. It will be checked against security
:03:07. > :03:12.services. It will be read more than some newspapers will be read. We are
:03:13. > :03:24.on the 21st-century, not de-wrap of hot lead typesetting -- the era.
:03:25. > :03:28.Someone said this morning I might have said that more quickly by
:03:29. > :03:31.saying you can simply press send. Never in our wildest nightmares did
:03:32. > :03:34.anyone believe that the loved ones of those who had fallen would have
:03:35. > :03:37.to suffer a period of seven years of not knowing whether their loved
:03:38. > :03:43.ones were sent to a battle that was based on the vanity
:03:44. > :03:46.of politicians and not on the real The right hon gentleman
:03:47. > :03:58.is absolutely right. There is no excuse for
:03:59. > :04:01.delaying this any further - The conclusion of the Chilcot
:04:02. > :04:04.inquiry should be a chance for the Government to draw a line
:04:05. > :04:07.under the Iraq adventure-perhaps It is an opportunity to understand
:04:08. > :04:14.where it went wrong, why we fell down this particular
:04:15. > :04:18.rabbit hole and why the UK's strategy in the Middle East
:04:19. > :04:21.was so feckless that the Blair-Brown Government felt that they had no
:04:22. > :04:23.choice but to follow the United States down
:04:24. > :04:27.that rabbit hole. Chilcot has become
:04:28. > :04:40.something of a "corpse in a cupboard" as the hon member
:04:41. > :04:43.for Penrith and The Border We must face up to Chilcot and learn
:04:44. > :04:49.the lessons that it may offer. We need to get on with understanding
:04:50. > :04:52.what the UK wants and what our Otherwise, we will be condemned
:04:53. > :04:56.to continue living with that corpse in the cupboard and, worse still,
:04:57. > :04:59.an ineffective foreign policy. We expect the inquiry's report to be
:05:00. > :05:06.ready for national security checking in the week beginning 18 April -
:05:07. > :05:09.that is, some time next week. Once Sir John indicates
:05:10. > :05:11.that that is the case, As the Prime Minister
:05:12. > :05:14.promised, it will take no Once that is done, the inquiry team
:05:15. > :05:23.will prepare the report I should make it clear that at that
:05:24. > :05:33.stage, even when the national security checking process
:05:34. > :05:37.is complete, the report will still be in Sir John Chilcot's
:05:38. > :05:40.hands and will not be released to the Government until
:05:41. > :05:41.everything is ready. A new high-speed rail line
:05:42. > :05:58.was proposed by Labour back in 2010. The billto construct
:05:59. > :06:00.the first phase, from London to the West Midlands,
:06:01. > :06:02.has been slowly making its way It's finally made its way
:06:03. > :06:06.to the Lords where peers have held their first debate -
:06:07. > :06:08.and where a Government minister set out the now
:06:09. > :06:13.familiar case for HS2. Patchwork and sticking plasters will
:06:14. > :06:14.work for a period but are not the answer. This will not help us create
:06:15. > :06:21.the capacity country's connections. It will not
:06:22. > :06:26.maximise opportunities for our northern cities and Scottish cities
:06:27. > :06:31.to grow and prosper. To allow our economy to grow and to compete on an
:06:32. > :06:34.international level, we need a step change in capacity. That is why this
:06:35. > :06:46.Government is committed to delivering HS2. There was concern
:06:47. > :06:51.from the bishops' bench. It cannot be down to those living near on the
:06:52. > :06:56.line, they face testing years ahead. The Government has an important
:06:57. > :07:00.responsibility to continue to listen to their concerns, to seek to work
:07:01. > :07:07.with them and those worthy of their trust. It is also a great
:07:08. > :07:11.responsibility to see the benefits of this project extent as widely as
:07:12. > :07:20.possible, alleviating the pain compassionately unfairly and sharing
:07:21. > :07:29.the game imaginatively -- gain, to drive Government policy and the
:07:30. > :07:35.final shape of this legislature. High-speed rail is established
:07:36. > :07:40.internationally in Japan, Korea, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the
:07:41. > :07:44.Netherlands, Belgium and many other countries. The first major project
:07:45. > :07:47.has now started in the United States between Los Angeles and San
:07:48. > :07:53.Francisco, roughly the distance between London and Glasgow. I am not
:07:54. > :07:58.aware of a single country that has introduced high-speed rail between
:07:59. > :08:04.his major cities and now thinks this was a mistake. Of course there are
:08:05. > :08:09.major challenges ahead, not least keeping HS2 to time and budget, but
:08:10. > :08:12.we are right to be taking HS2 forward. It will change the country
:08:13. > :08:12.for the better and it can't come soon enough.
:08:13. > :08:15.But the former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said the North
:08:16. > :08:21.of England wasn't going to get anything until 2020.
:08:22. > :08:28.We are told to hang on, but you're there, so it's coming to you in the
:08:29. > :08:33.North. High-speed one was exactly the same. They even Ways and Means
:08:34. > :08:38.betrays to go to the North. They convinced the North to shout for it
:08:39. > :08:44.and it collapsed. We never had the Northern trains that were absolute
:08:45. > :08:48.built, we had to sell into Canada. Financial problems at the heart of
:08:49. > :08:54.it. If you look at the skilled increase from ?30 billion to ?50
:08:55. > :08:57.billion, this is in a few years and will continue for 20 years in this
:08:58. > :09:02.period of this territory, I do wonder whether the second part of
:09:03. > :09:09.this investment might be poured into saying we can't completely beyond
:09:10. > :09:13.Birmingham. Stand by for the mess. As we consider the case for HS2, we
:09:14. > :09:17.should look at it in terms of the economy of the country and the
:09:18. > :09:21.challenges we face will stop we must about modern engineering and
:09:22. > :09:28.infrastructure are crucial, as is money spent on research in
:09:29. > :09:33.technology. Even in these stringent times, investment in new
:09:34. > :09:38.infrastructure such as HS2 and money spent on research into new
:09:39. > :09:42.technology is money very well spent. The noble Lord and Minister said he
:09:43. > :09:47.was proud that HS2 has not demolished a single grade one listed
:09:48. > :09:50.building. Well, ancient woodlands are on the grade one listed
:09:51. > :10:02.buildings of the environment, ancient woodlands are the richest
:10:03. > :10:09.terrestrial and -- habitat for wildlife. Those undisturbed
:10:10. > :10:14.communities of microorganisms that have been maturing away for between
:10:15. > :10:20.410,000 years, the lost fragments of the wildlife that once covered the
:10:21. > :10:20.entire country after the last ice age.
:10:21. > :10:22.You're watching Thursday in Parliament, with me,
:10:23. > :10:28.The European Arrest Warrant was introduced across the EU in 2004
:10:29. > :10:32.to replace separate extradition arrangements
:10:33. > :10:38.It was designed to speed up the time it takes to transport suspects
:10:39. > :10:41.to states where they're wanted for crimes.
:10:42. > :10:43.But some MPs have warned that, if the UK leaves the EU,
:10:44. > :10:46.criminals may come to regard the UK as a safe haven.
:10:47. > :10:49.But others questioned whether the warrant was as effective
:10:50. > :10:56.The European Arrest Warrant makes it easier to extradite foreign suspects
:10:57. > :10:59.to where they are wanted for crimes and to bring suspects back
:11:00. > :11:01.to the UK to face justice for crimes committed here.
:11:02. > :11:04.It is the quickest and most economical way to do these things,
:11:05. > :11:07.and other member states would not be bound to co-operate with us
:11:08. > :11:17.The first piece of European legislation that I sat on
:11:18. > :11:24.in a delegated legislation committee was a regulation that
:11:25. > :11:26.enabled us to track paedophiles more easily across
:11:27. > :11:32.Why anybody would wish to end that kind of co-operation
:11:33. > :11:35.between European countries is beyond me.
:11:36. > :11:37.Does the Attorney General agree that the Brexit campaign
:11:38. > :11:42.is soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime?
:11:43. > :11:47.I have great respect for those who argue for a British exit
:11:48. > :11:50.from the European Union, but I am afraid that I believe
:11:51. > :11:59.For the reasons the honourable gentleman has given,
:12:00. > :12:01.there is considerable advantage to Britain and to British citizens
:12:02. > :12:03.in being part of the European Arrest Warrant.
:12:04. > :12:06.Just to be clear, does the Attorney General think that
:12:07. > :12:08.if we were no longer part of the European Arrest Warrant,
:12:09. > :12:11.criminals from the continent would see Britain as a safe haven
:12:12. > :12:13.because of the extradition arrangements and the concern
:12:14. > :12:15.that they would not be taken back quickly?
:12:16. > :12:18.There is no doubt that the quickest and easiest way of deporting
:12:19. > :12:25.criminals who face prosecutions in other European nations
:12:26. > :12:28.is, as I said, to use the European Arrest Warrant.
:12:29. > :12:31.Of course, those who argue for exit from the European Union would have
:12:32. > :12:34.to explain what alternative measures they would put in place
:12:35. > :12:40.I am in no doubt that, as I say, the quickest and easiest
:12:41. > :12:43.way to do that is through the European Arrest Warrant,
:12:44. > :12:46.and any delay in that process will have very serious consequences.
:12:47. > :12:48.Does my right honourable and learned friend's position take account
:12:49. > :12:51.of the European Court of Justice ruling on 5th April,
:12:52. > :12:53.which effectively drives a coach and horses through the whole
:12:54. > :12:56.of the arrest warrant procedure because it makes it clear
:12:57. > :12:59.that the European Court of Justice is in charge of whether or not
:13:00. > :13:06.a European Arrest Warrant can be applied for?
:13:07. > :13:08.I do not think that it is quite as bad
:13:09. > :13:15.In fact, what the European Court of Justice said in that case
:13:16. > :13:16.is broadly consistent with what
:13:17. > :13:23.He will know, of course, that in respect of the countries
:13:24. > :13:25.mentioned in that judgment, we already succeed in
:13:26. > :13:32.One of them is Romania, and my honourable friend might
:13:33. > :13:36.like to know that 268 people have been extradited
:13:37. > :13:39.One Conservative had come across some remarks about the arrest
:13:40. > :13:41.warrant made by David Cameron to his local paper.
:13:42. > :13:45.In the Witney Gazette, the Prime Minister was quoted
:13:46. > :13:49.as saying about the European Arrest Warrant:
:13:50. > :13:51."Some other countries in Europe do not have
:13:52. > :13:57.People can languish in jail for weeks without even being charged.
:13:58. > :14:00.I am not sure that the British people realise what is
:14:01. > :14:04.Are we really happy that with one telephone call from the Greek,
:14:05. > :14:06.Spanish or German authorities alleging that we did something wrong
:14:07. > :14:10.on holiday, we can be swept off to a continental prison?
:14:11. > :14:13.Rights and safeguards that we have enjoyed for centuries
:14:14. > :14:18.Does the Attorney General agree with the Prime Minister?
:14:19. > :14:20.I do not know when my right honourable friend
:14:21. > :14:25.As my honourable friend may recall, the Prime Minister and other members
:14:26. > :14:28.of the Government successfully negotiated changes to
:14:29. > :14:33.the European Arrest Warrant precisely to deal with
:14:34. > :14:35.the problems that my honourable friend has just outlined.
:14:36. > :14:38.Now, UK citizens cannot be extradited unless the case is trial
:14:39. > :14:41.ready, and not unless the conduct in question would be a crime here
:14:42. > :14:47.and not unless it is proportionate to do so.
:14:48. > :14:50.The BBC is "hideously white" - the phrase used more than ten years
:14:51. > :14:53.ago by the organisation's boss at the time, Greg Dyke.
:14:54. > :14:59.The Labour MP David Lammy thought not.
:15:00. > :15:04.He was opening a debate on diversity in the BBC.
:15:05. > :15:08.What will it take to see a black, Asian or minority ethnic
:15:09. > :15:18.What have we got to do to see a black commissioner
:15:19. > :15:22.in an important area - current affairs,
:15:23. > :15:32.We've just heard it again, that at the end of this month
:15:33. > :15:36.the BBC will publish an equality and diversity report.
:15:37. > :15:41.Yet another one is coming very shortly, and it is all
:15:42. > :15:53.Another strategy to get our teeth sunk into,
:15:54. > :15:56.If the BBC is genuinely a universal broadcaster,
:15:57. > :15:59.This can no longer be about skills training.
:16:00. > :16:06.This is about the institution and the change that is now required.
:16:07. > :16:12.In September 2015, the controller of Radio 5 Live gave a 16-minute
:16:13. > :16:19.presentation about his ambitions for the station.
:16:20. > :16:22.In it he made no reference to the BME audience
:16:23. > :16:29.The video that went with the presentation showed no BME
:16:30. > :16:35.staff or any other BME people on screen.
:16:36. > :16:38.The embarrassment continues anecdotally, with many public
:16:39. > :16:45.figures commenting on the lack of diversity at the BBC.
:16:46. > :16:47.My constituency is one of the most diverse in Scotland,
:16:48. > :16:53.My children are proud to have both Scottish and Indian heritage.
:16:54. > :16:57.Our society is made up of people with different backgrounds,
:16:58. > :16:59.different lives and different perspectives, and our public
:17:00. > :17:03.broadcasting system should, surely, reflect and portray us all
:17:04. > :17:09.We need producers, writers, technicians and artists
:17:10. > :17:12.from all sorts of different backgrounds, with different genders,
:17:13. > :17:21.races, sexual orientations, disabilities and religions.
:17:22. > :17:25.But we need this as a matter of course and not as an add-on.
:17:26. > :17:29.The use of tiny plastic beads in everyday products should be banned.
:17:30. > :17:32.That was the call in the House of Lords where peers wanted action
:17:33. > :17:36.They wanted a ban on things called microbeads, used in everyday
:17:37. > :17:39.toiletries such as face washes and shower gels.
:17:40. > :17:42.Water treatment systems cannot filter them so they eventually
:17:43. > :17:47.flow into the oceans where they damage marine life.
:17:48. > :17:49.He will know that there are an estimated five trillion
:17:50. > :17:53.pieces of plastic afloat in the world's oceans.
:17:54. > :17:57.They are frequently toxic and are being eaten by aquatic life
:17:58. > :17:59.at all stages in the food chain, from plankton right
:18:00. > :18:03.Inevitably, they are therefore finding their way into
:18:04. > :18:09.Obviously, we need to take action on this on a number of fronts.
:18:10. > :18:12.One thing the Government could do now is to ban the millions
:18:13. > :18:15.of plastic microbeads found in everyday cosmetics that
:18:16. > :18:21.are flushed through the sewerage system and into the sea.
:18:22. > :18:24.Countries such as the USA and Canada are already doing this.
:18:25. > :18:26.Can the minister confirm that the Government are prepared
:18:27. > :18:33.to take this crucial first step to clean up the world's oceans?
:18:34. > :18:36.My Lords, I am aware of the volume of pollution
:18:37. > :18:45.The US ban will be phased in gradually, with the final bans
:18:46. > :18:50.We are currently working with industry on a voluntary
:18:51. > :18:57.phase-out, which we believe will have the same effect.
:18:58. > :19:00.Indeed, this approach is yielding results and it is predicted
:19:01. > :19:02.that the majority of microbead use in UK cosmetics will cease
:19:03. > :19:10.I emphasise that should this approach not work, we support other
:19:11. > :19:12.countries in calling on the European Commission
:19:13. > :19:15.to develop proposals to ban the use of microbeads in cosmetics
:19:16. > :19:19.Steaming across the Southern Ocean some 50 years ago as a young
:19:20. > :19:22.officer, it was pristine, but in the mid-1990s,
:19:23. > :19:25.while I was there with a battle group, the amount of plastic
:19:26. > :19:29.Going around Cape Horn a year ago, I was appalled to find
:19:30. > :19:33.As a nation, we are responsible for more areas of ocean than almost
:19:34. > :19:36.any other country in the world, because of our dependencies.
:19:37. > :19:41.I understand that we have done quite a lot to look after them.
:19:42. > :19:45.What is being done to make sure that that pollution is not there?
:19:46. > :19:49.I add as a proviso that to enforce things, you need ships,
:19:50. > :20:02.I must observe that the noble Lord is most tenacious in his support
:20:03. > :20:08.The United Kingdom works closely with the Governments
:20:09. > :20:10.of the British Overseas Territories to ensure effective marine
:20:11. > :20:21.management, and the record on marine conservation zones
:20:22. > :20:23.Beach-littering monitoring and data-collection programmes
:20:24. > :20:25.are being carried out around South Georgia
:20:26. > :20:29.This was expanded last year to cover the British Antarctic Territory
:20:30. > :20:31.but clearly, there are other overseas territories.
:20:32. > :20:33.The MOD's vehicles have a long history of prohibiting the disposal
:20:34. > :20:43.My Lords, further to the noble Baroness's Question in respect
:20:44. > :20:47.of microbeads in cosmetics, why does my noble friend have
:20:48. > :20:57.I do not think that my noble friend quite understood what I was saying.
:20:58. > :21:00.We are working with industry on a voluntary basis
:21:01. > :21:02.to phase out microbeads, and that is working.
:21:03. > :21:08.All I said was that because pollution is a transboundary matter,
:21:09. > :21:11.it is not just for the UK but for the whole
:21:12. > :21:15.We will deal with it with whichever organisations and
:21:16. > :21:23.As a trustee of WRAP and a borderline obsessive
:21:24. > :21:27.when it comes to litter-picking, especially of plastic off beaches,
:21:28. > :21:30.can my noble friend tell us how British products compare with those
:21:31. > :21:36.My Lords, I think I am permitted to say that Unilever,
:21:37. > :21:41.Boots and Colgate-Palmolive have already phased out microbeads.
:21:42. > :21:44.The L'Oreal group will phase them out by 2017.
:21:45. > :21:49.There is a website which shows which products have microbeads.
:21:50. > :21:54.I very much encourage people to go for the microbead-free products.
:21:55. > :21:59.The Government is locked in a continuing dispute with junior
:22:00. > :22:04.The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said he'll impose the new terms
:22:05. > :22:11.At women and equality questions, MPs wanted to know if the Government
:22:12. > :22:13.had taken into account the impact the changes
:22:14. > :22:21.By next year the majority of doctors working in our NHS will be women,
:22:22. > :22:23.yet the Government have freely admitted in their own equality
:22:24. > :22:28.impact assessment of the new junior doctor contract that aspects of it
:22:29. > :22:33.will disproportionately hit female doctors, so how can the women
:22:34. > :22:35.and equalities department possibly condone this shocking
:22:36. > :22:42.I thank the honourable lady for bringing this important matter
:22:43. > :22:46.I know that she will want to read the full equality impact
:22:47. > :22:49.assessment over the weekend, and she will find if she does
:22:50. > :22:54.so that it makes it clear that this contract is good for women,
:22:55. > :22:56.that it is a fairer contract and that it does not
:22:57. > :23:00.directly or indirectly discriminate against women.
:23:01. > :23:12.That is why I am very keen to see it implemented as fast as possible.
:23:13. > :23:15.Thank you, Mr Speaker, for ruling my question in order.
:23:16. > :23:18.What estimate has been made of the expected drop in the number
:23:19. > :23:20.of women doctors five years after the contract has
:23:21. > :23:22.been imposed, and how will the skills gap be filled?
:23:23. > :23:25.We anticipate that this contract is better for women in a series
:23:26. > :23:28.of different ways and we expect women to be able to engage more
:23:29. > :23:30.easily with the workforce than they have under
:23:31. > :23:34.We believe that it is better for working mothers and better
:23:35. > :23:36.for women who are taking time out for maternity leave.
:23:37. > :23:39.For those reasons, we hope that it will reinforce the continued
:23:40. > :23:41.progression of women in the medical workforce,
:23:42. > :23:47.of which we are very proud in the Department of Health.
:23:48. > :23:49.Can the minister confirm that the new contract will mean
:23:50. > :23:52.that those who work the most intense and unsocial hours will
:23:53. > :23:58.It will also ensure that women will not be subjected
:23:59. > :24:04.to the enormously onerous hours enforced under the current contract,
:24:05. > :24:07.which make the balance between work and family life
:24:08. > :24:11.It surprised me to hear both the minister today
:24:12. > :24:14.and the Prime Minister, during Prime Minister's Questions
:24:15. > :24:17.yesterday, claiming that the contract is good for women,
:24:18. > :24:20.when the equality impact assessment provided by the Minister's
:24:21. > :24:24.own officials specifically says that it will have a disproportionate
:24:25. > :24:27.impact on women - an equality impact assessment that the minister
:24:28. > :24:31.will not be at all surprised to hear that I have read in detail.
:24:32. > :24:36.How can it be right to introduce a contract, announce its imposition
:24:37. > :24:41.in Parliament in February and then only sneak out the equality impact
:24:42. > :24:44.assessment six weeks later during recess?
:24:45. > :24:47.Will he and his colleagues get back to the negotiating table
:24:48. > :24:51.and negotiate a contract that is good for patients and good
:24:52. > :24:57.Through the entirety of the process, the Secretary
:24:58. > :24:59.of State has been mindful of his duties under the act,
:25:00. > :25:04.He is very keen to ensure that this contract is good for women,
:25:05. > :25:08.which is why at every single stage, both in negotiations with the BMA
:25:09. > :25:11.and in internal discussions, he has been mindful of his duties
:25:12. > :25:13.while trying to ensure that the contract is an improvement
:25:14. > :25:17.To be frank, we cannot return to negotiations with a party that
:25:18. > :25:21.does not wish to talk, and I urge the honourable lady
:25:22. > :25:24.to get her colleagues to condemn the completely unnecessary
:25:25. > :25:33.action taken by the BMA, which put patients in danger.
:25:34. > :25:41.That is it for now but join me on Friday night at 11pm for the week in
:25:42. > :25:46.Parliament when I will look back at the last few days in Westminster,
:25:47. > :25:48.and chatting to the only MP still in the Commons who was first elected in
:25:49. > :25:49.1966. Until then, from me,
:25:50. > :25:55.Alicia McCarthy, goodbye.