30/06/2016 Thursday in Parliament

Hello there, and welcome to Thursday in Parliament.

Still in a holding pattern - the Transport Secretary says there'll

be no decision on airport expansion before the summer.

Fresh calls for a second referendum on our EU membership.

And fury in the Commons at the performance

I'm getting people writing to me who are being late for work every day,

and their bosses are giving them written warnings now.

But first - outside the Commons chamber, it was another day full

of surprises as the Conservative leadership challengers

announced their intention to stand for the top job.

The Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb had

There was confirmation from former Defence Secretary

Liam Fox and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom.

The Home Secretary Theresa May had long been touted as a contender,

But the big surprise was that this man, Michael Gove,

currently the Justice Secretary, was launching a bid -

and that this man, Boris Johnson, was not.

Inside the Commons, as MPs chatted and absorbed

the somewhat unexpected line-up, the Transport Secretary had

an announcement of his own to make about the airport expansion

I had hoped that we would be able to announce a decision on airport

Clearly any announcement on airport capacity

would have to be made when the House is

in session, and being realistic, given recent events,

I cannot now foresee an announcement until at least October.

Heathrow and Gatwick have been vying to get approval

Last July, the Airport Commission recommended Heathrow be expanded

with a third runway at an estimated cost of ?18.6 billion.

But in December, the Government delayed its decision,

saying further work on noise, pollution and compensation

MPs on all sides lined up to condemn the further delay.

It's another boring day at Westminster.

I was rather hoping that the Secretary of

State might inject some excitement into it for me.

No one can accuse the Secretary of State of rushing this decision.

But post-Brexit, with a number of countries now banging on the door

of the UK to do trade deals, doesn't he agree with me that

increasing airport capacity both at London City,

London Heathrow and Gatwick is going to be vitally important

to British businesses throughout the whole of United Kingdom?

Well, Mr Speaker, I can say I would have liked to have been

in a position of asking the House to make a decision and

We are not going to be in that position.

He may regard this a boring day in the House of Commons,

but it's certainly not a boring day in Westminster.

Yet more dithering on a decision on whether to expand Hub capacity

at Heathrow will harm the regions of this country and

What recommendation will be Secretary of State be making

Well, I think one step at a time, Mr Speaker, if I don't mind saying

to the honourable lady she's assuming a number of events

But what I would say to the honourable lady

in all seriousness as chairman of the Transport Select Committee

is that I think this is a very important and the decision

for the United Kingdom, and it is not an easy one.

The simple fact is, whichever options we choose will impact

a number of people's lives, and therefore it is right to make

sure that we do all the work and the preparation for this,

all around air quality and the other issues.

But I very much hope a decision can be made later this year.

His answer is exacerbating the profound uncertainty

about the future of essential transport projects, including HS2

Hundreds of thousands of jobs and apprenticeships

Does he not understand that delaying these plans adds to the wider

economic shock that was triggered last week, and that public

and private investment in our transport networks

When she talks about airport capacity, there was an airport

capacity issue for 30 years of which her party

was in Government, of which they did nothing.

Can the Secretary of State not accept that kicking this decision

into the long grass yet again is simply and utterly unacceptable?

Well, Mr Speaker, we are accused of kicking something

I've said that I hope to see a decision by the end of the year.

What we've not seen yet is a position which has been

expanded from the opposition benches as to which of the options

On airport expansion, he has achieved one thing.

He's made the Leader of the Opposition look

Does he not believe that he owes the select committee,

this House and businesses across the UK an apology

for the fudge that has become a farce?

Well, Mr Speaker, I have often thought the members of the SNP

If he thinks I've made the Leader of the Opposition look decisive,

he has proved that this morning in spades.

I stand by the statement I made earlier on.

I would have liked to have been in the position to do it,

but realistically that is not possible at a time when the House

is not sitting, and therefore I have informed the House this morning,

While another MP thought there'd be repercussions well

The third runway for Heathrow would allow some 16 billion

of private investment at a time that the economy needs it most.

The chief executive of George Best Belfast City Airport

has said that the Heathrow Hub is vital in making Northern Ireland

accessible to business and leisure passengers from all

It is really important for Belfast city.

Well, the Davis Report made very clear the importance of collectivity

in the south-east to the regions, the North of England,

to Ulster, Scotland and elsewhere, and we are very mindful of those

issues that have been raised by colleagues from

There have been calls in the House of Lords for a change in the way

allegations of historical child sex abuse are investigated.

Some peers were critical of the way the police and the Church of England

have treated a number of accused individuals.

Conservative Lord Lexden said it was time for a code of conduct

for the police and public authorities, with the presumption

This month has brought a powerful reminder of some of the principle

causes of the disquiet that has arisen.

Sir Cliff Richard has been told that he is not to face charges

arising from the investigation of allegations relating to purported

The allegations were made two years ago,

in a blaze of publicity created by the police

and the BBC, acting in grotesque collusion

before he had even been interviewed.

Such a media circus should never have occurred.

Could it have been the fact that the initial

complainant was under 16 at the time

of the allegation which created the temptation that led

these two public organisations to take action at Sir Cliff's expense?

How can we ensure that nothing of this kind happens again?

He said there were other examples of what he called

The manner in which Field Marshal Lord Bramall

So did the distress inflicted on Lord Brittan

during his final illness, and the additional pain suffered by

The sight of a senior police officer standing outside Sir Edward Heath's

former home in Salisbury and exhorting those who had allegations

Lord Dear is a friend of Lord Bramall, who retired

When it comes to carrying out an investigation,

it surely is totally inappropriate to turn up at his house

in a small market town with marked police cars with 20,

no less than, 20 officers in white scenes of crime

suits to carry out a search

of his property and a blaze of publicity.

It seems that we have lurched as a society from the

extremities of the mishandling of the Savile case into the extremes

identified in the current cases, and we need to

put the balance point back where it belongs.

My Lords, I, too, and very troubled by the ease in

which complaints going back years can trash, tarnish and destroy

Without evidence, in recent years, as we've heard, with the accusations

against Lord Bramall, Lord Brittan, Paul Gambaccini, the DJ, and Sir

Last October, the Church of England settled a claim from a woman

who said she was abused by the late Bishop of Chichester, George Bell,

So Bishop George Bell was judged a paedophile

The crushing of his memory and magnificent career

The man described by Ian Kershaw, the leading historian of

the war years, as the most significant English clergyman of

the 20th century, is now being ruined, in the words of supporters

of George Bell, by an anonymous, unpublished claim upheld by

a non-court which won't explain this decision.

The Bishop of Chelmsford defended the church's handling of the case.

The legal advice was that, had the claim been tested by a court,

on the balance of probabilities, Carol would have won her claim.

In those circumstances, the proper thing to do was to settle

the case rather than putting a survivor through

the harrowing process of giving evidence.

A Home Office spokesman, Lord Keen, said it was for the police

to investigate abuse allegations and the College of Policing -

which was independent of Government - issued guidance on best practice.

He said the College did have powers, though, to put that guidance

You're watching Thursday in Parliament with me, Alicia McCarthy.

The mass resignations from Labour's frontbench have thrown up

perhaps none more so than the appearance

of Paul Flynn, serial rebel and veteran backbencher,

speaking as Shadow Leader of the Commons.

He served for a year as shadow health spokesman

You may be a tad surprised to see me in this position, because

for the past 26 years I have been a backbencher by choice.

That wasn't just my choice, it was the choice of

But today, for very positive reasons, as part of a diversity

project in my party of which we have done splendidly,

we have a far more women on the front bench in

but a total absence on the front bench of octogenarians.

post will be a trailblazer which will lead to all

short-listed in the party and lead to the wealth of experience and

wisdom among fellow octogenarians being available to the House.

He turned to Brexit - there should be a second

referendum, he said - people had voted on "false agendas".

Where is the emergency budget? The public are rightly outraged by the

missed truth they were told by the propagandists on both sides. It is

not a surprise we have a petition of historic dimensions, as big as the

chartists and suffragettes put before this House. 4 million

signatures and counting of people who say they were deceived by the

vote, the propaganda and which was largely determined by the

proprietors of the daily newspapers rather than a sensible realisation

of the horrors to come. The Commons Leader,

a Leave campaigner, If we have a general election

and our side loses, we do We had a four-month debate,

arguements on both sides, huge amounts of information

for the country and they It is our job to follow

that decision to And I have to say

it is nice after four months of hedging my

bets on these benches, Government to be back in a clear

way, speaking for the whole government in saying that we now

need to get on with the job Scotland will not be taken out of

the European Union against their will. We were forced to choose in a

Referendum, we have given that decision and it is very clear what

Scotland wanted. When will he respect the decision of the Scottish

people? Scotland voted to be part of the United Kingdom. The United

Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. I am afraid that is

democracy. fun at the Tories and Labour

over their leadership troubles. Can we have a week long debate

on political backstabbing? want to take part, but they are rank

amateurs compared to the Right Honourable member for Surrey Heath,

the Lord Macbeth of this today is despatching

the Prime Minister's greatest rival. What makes the leader of the House

think Lord Macbeth's dagger will not soon be turned to him and

the Home Secretary? Chris Grayling is supporting

Theresa May for the leadership - The Right Honourable member

for Surrey Heath has been in my view an excellent

education Secretary, excellent chief whip

and is now doing an excellent job in

the role I used to perform

as Lord Chancellor. He has friends and confidence

on this side of the House. And for the Scottish National Party

he is a formidable adversary. A Labour MP returned

to Paul Flynn's appointment... Can I take leave of the House

that the contribution of my somewhat younger parliamentary

colleague is an illustration of how the army here is always willing

to give whatever assistance is necessary when firm leadership

at the moment is on both sides? The Speaker, John Bercow,

wished Mr Winnick a happy birthday. Could there be health effects

of Britain's departure from the EU? Well, a Labour peer has

suggested the fight to combat Type 2 diabetes develops

when your body can't If untreated, it can cause very

serious health problems. It's long been associated

with being overweight. In the Lords, peers wanted to know

what action the govt was taking. Is it possible he could give

a statement, or at least write about, following Brexit,

the breakdown in the work that is being done across the whole

of the European Union with our United

Kingdom colleagues in research to defeat the obesity and indeed

diabetes, as director of the European Commission

on the Today programme? It is still our intention

to announce the Clearly, other events

have happened which may But we will be announcing that

strategy has soon as possible. I am arranging a meeting

for the noble Lord and Lord Morris to meet the research

community and discuss the outlook for research

for diabetes, and the impact

Brexit might have. People can reduce their weight and

take modest exercise and in a significant number of cases the

effect of diabetes can be put into long-term remission with reduction

on the pressure on the NHS resources and capacity, but less than 10% of

people with diabetes get any such help in reducing their weight and

increasing exercise and having the option and opportunity of turning

off their diabetes. She is clearly right. Weight reduction can reverse

diabetes. My own father, for example. He has lost weight and his

diabetes was effectively put in remission. There is no question it

works. It is very difficult to lose weight. Once you are overweight. I

think the figure is only one out of 210 people who have a BMI above 30

can reduce it down to a normal level, hence the emphasis the

Government is putting on explaining to children, young people, before

they get fat, that is the critical phase to aim but I'm timely agree

that making greater access to structured education programmes is

very important. In endorsing that reply from the Minister, can I ask

into also make sure the guidance includes recognition of emerging

research, that in children if they never become a beast, they have a

different type of fat, a brown fat, which keeps a higher metabolic race

and decreases their diabetes, so the importance of avoiding obesity in

the first place, especially in children and women, in preference

eight and afterwards, means that is the only way we will stop this

ever-growing curve of diabetes associated with adult obesity?

Back in the Commons proposals that could lead

to the privatisation of the Land Registry have faced

The registry records and keeps details of property ownership

The Labour MP, David Lammy, who had secured a backbench debate

on the future of the Land Registry, said ministers were selling off

the family silver in a bid to make their sums add up.

There is no economic rationale for the privatisation.

If the Land Registry were making a loss

and being subsidised by the taxpayer, I could

understand the Government's enthusiasm for privatisation.

But it has made a surplus in 19 of the last 20

years and returned over 100 million to the Treasury last year alone.

Any doubts over it or the possibility of

conflict of interest or misuse of information could affect

what is a central part of our capitalist system.

We must also recognise the Land Registry is a natural monopoly.

Like the police and other such institutions, which do not lend

Such monopolies which are of such importance

to the very fabric of the

system must be treated with great care.

Public ownership has been ruled out from the start.

If the Government is foolish enough to press ahead with

this privatisation, it must be defeated.

This delicate and vital work must be entrusted to

civil servants, working for our public service, where trust and

It is right that as a responsible government we

do keep under review the questions about

whether and how we have, we

can take those functions currently the monopoly and responsibility of

the state and see if they can be financed better, if they could be

liberated and thrive better under new freedoms and to see whether

indeed, I will give way in a moment, whether indeed we could in so doing

put the public finances on a stronger footing.

Back to transport questions, where MPs claimed

commuters are being given written warnings by their bosses

because they are consistently late for work as a result

of the "shameful" service provided by Southern Rail.

Southern Railway services, including those

into London Victoria, have been disrupted for weeks

because of industrial action and high levels of staff sickness.

The Transport Minister was asked what economic impact

There is no formal economic assessment, surprisingly.

But I am in no doubt, I would agree that a

disrupted railway is not good for the economy and passengers.

That is why we are committed to returning it

This shambles we have seen is turning into a crisis.

People are writing to me and they are late for work

every day and their bosses are giving them written warnings.

The government seems to expect people to

turn to their bosses and say, do not worry,

Can the Minister tell us when this crisis will

end and people can go to

their bosses and say things will get better?

The honourable gentleman and I talk about this a lot.

He knows there was disruption because of this

investment, that things were getting better.

In April we were getting up to an 84, 83.8% PPM.

bosses, may I suggest they write to the union bosses involved, who I

think are doing their members a grave disservice by bringing them

This is about who presses the buttons

operating the doors and the change in the role of the second member.

There are no job losses and changes in terms and conditions.

This shameful performance is affecting commuters.

Across the south coast, going to the airport

and heading up to Gatwick, flights are being missed and jobs are

Can the Minister say the big impact this failing franchise is

Again, everybody understands this railway

That is why the money is being spent and so much

much work is going on but I say again that there are ?2 billion of

new trains coming from the production line now which the

company would like to be running on these routes

and the introduction of

those trains is being held up and it is not just on GTR,

it is the same in Scotland, it is a nationwide

dispute about who presses the buttons opening the doors.

It is no good having more rolling stock if they

It isn't good enough blaming the unions on

Her department has got to get a grip.

They are paying through the nose for an appalling service

threatening jobs, robbing them of time with their family and the CEO

of Go Ahead is on a pay deal rising to over ?2 million last year.

Will she get a grip, stop defending the

failing private sector, remove the franchise

and put the service into

transparent and accountable public hands now?

She accepted a very large donation from the RMT before

the last election and the union have awarded themselves a 16% pay

They need to stop objecting to the introduction of new

technology which benefits constituents and constituents right

Which brings us to our final stop for this edition of the programme,

but do join me on Friday night at 11 for The Week in Parliament

when we look back at a tumultuous few days,

as MPs, peers and the UK's other legislators get

And we hear from a former Clerk of the Commons

will start to unpick British laws from the EU.