Browse content similar to 07/07/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello there, and welcome to Thursday in Parliament. | :00:11. | :00:12. | |
Should the foreign office have had a plan | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU? | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
A committee of MPs certainly thinks so. | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
Don't you think at an offichal level you should have been carrying out | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
some kind of preparation? In the Lords, there's a call | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
for a second referendum It does sometimes taken in ly better | :00:32. | :00:46. | |
way, Mr Speaker, shocked my family and reduce me to tears, the | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
vitriolic and criminal levels of personal abuse and I and colleagues | :00:51. | :00:52. | |
across this house have faced. Philip Hammond, for a lack | :00:53. | :00:54. | |
of contingency planning to deal with a Leave vote | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
in the EU referendum. The UK voted by 52% | :00:59. | :01:01. | |
to 48% to leave the EU, a result that had not been predicted | :01:02. | :01:03. | |
by many politicians, In the fortnight since, | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
financial markets have tumbled and the pound has reached a new low | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
against other currencies. Appearing before the committee | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
which scrutinises his department, the foreign secretary was asked | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
if his office had been This committee, in its report on the | :01:19. | :01:32. | |
implications of the referendum, in April, were pointing out th`t there | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
would be immediate challengds for the office. And yet, the office | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
appears to have sat there whth the political instruction to do nothing. | :01:45. | :01:52. | |
Mr German throughout the referendum campaign, I drew attention, as did | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
others in the campaign to lhkely consequences of a leave votd, and | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
the reaction that I heard w`s that this was scaremongering. Don't you | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
think at an official level xou should have been carrying ott some | :02:07. | :02:08. | |
kind of preparation within the department? The civil service, | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
including the dramatic servhce, works to the government of the DUP. | :02:15. | :02:20. | |
Gentleman I can assure you ht was not an oversight -- 's Mr Gdrman I | :02:21. | :02:26. | |
can assure you was not an oversight. We discussed whether there should be | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
contingency planning, and concluded it was not appropriate to continue | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
planning continues these other than planning focused on the verx | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
immediate pressures that might come on the gradual markets. | :02:38. | :02:39. | |
The committee moved on to whether the department | :02:40. | :02:41. | |
It is the view of this commhttee there is going to need to bd a step | :02:42. | :02:50. | |
change in the office of the budget, doubling or tripling it to deal with | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
the challenge of dealing with the EU and the advancement of all the | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
opportunities that will fit the United Kingdom outside the Duropean | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
Union. What are you doing about bidding for extra resources for the | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
office, and what is your sense of the scale at which the office would | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
need to be stepped up to actually really take advantage of thd | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
situation that the office is now presented with? | :03:19. | :03:19. | |
But the minister didn't think there was a prospect of mord money. | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
I think our economy will face a difficult period, at least hn the | :03:24. | :03:31. | |
during which government revdnues are likely to fall, and we will face | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
significant constraints. I do not think it is remotely realistic to | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
talk about... To talk about budget doubling. The budget of the Foreign | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
Office is a minute proportion of overall government expendittre. It | :03:47. | :03:48. | |
is your view that the Foreign Office should continue to suffer that level | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
of austerity, despite the f`ct that our diplomatic position and role in | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
the world has completely ch`nged, and the scale of the challenge | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
facing the United Kingdom democratically has just gond off the | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
cell? We may indeed need to bid for additional resources, to de`l with | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
the specific pressures around us. What I'm saying to the commhttee | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
that I don't think, if the dconomic and fiscal circumstances th`t the | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
country is like to face, ovdr the coming few years, that talk of | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
doubling or trebling departlental budgets is remotely realisthc. | :04:21. | :04:22. | |
So when did Philip Hammond think the UK would begin | :04:23. | :04:24. | |
the official withdrawal process known as article 50? | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
My judgment is that it would not be in the best interest of the UK to | :04:30. | :04:37. | |
trigger article 50 immediatdly, article 50 set the clock ticking. | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
And I don't think that at the moment, for various reasons, not | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
least of which, we don't have a new Prime Minister in post, for the | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
moment, we are not in a poshtion to begin that negotiation immediately, | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
and therefore it would be unwise to start the process ticking bx | :05:00. | :05:02. | |
triggering article 50 full stop although the Brussels institutions | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
may not like that coming in conversations, bilateral | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
conversations, I detect a considerable understanding of our | :05:12. | :05:12. | |
position amongst our EU partners. What about the rights of EU | :05:13. | :05:14. | |
citizens living in the UK? I would like to see us being able to | :05:15. | :05:24. | |
reach an early solution that gives reassurance to those people, but I | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
would not recommend a unilateral commitment by the British Government | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
before we received any assurance about a reciprocal approach to the | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
position of UK nationals in other European Union countries. It sounds | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
awful lot like people were right to live and work, people who h`ve made | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
their families and lives thdre, they are part of your negotiating | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
process. I voted remain. I voted remain too. I wanted to continue | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
that. Are you saying that your saying your rights are part of the | :06:01. | :06:07. | |
negotiating process? So long as the part of the EU those rights are | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
guaranteed as of right by the terms of an ownership of the U. As we | :06:11. | :06:19. | |
cease to be a member, the rhghts of our citizens, and the citizdns of | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
other countries to live, to work, to establish, to invest in bushnesses, | :06:24. | :06:25. | |
to own property, we'll all have to be agreed. I believe they should be | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
agreed on a fully reciprocal basis, and I hope they will be, and I | :06:32. | :06:33. | |
expect they will be. MPs have been sharing some `ppalling | :06:34. | :06:35. | |
examples of abuse they and their constituents have | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
encountered from people on social media sites such | :06:39. | :06:39. | |
as Facebook and Twitter. The Commons was debating how to deal | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
with the bullies who use the anonymity available onlhne | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
to hurl abuse and make thre`ts. One MP described how she'd been | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
reduced to tears I came here with the full knowledge | :06:50. | :07:01. | |
and expectation that my words and actions would be held up to public | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
scrutiny, and that is right. But it has sometimes taken my breath away, | :07:08. | :07:09. | |
though, Madam Deputy Speaker. What has sometimes taken my breath | :07:10. | :07:12. | |
away, shocked my family, and reduced me to tears, | :07:13. | :07:14. | |
is the vitriolic, hateful, and sometimes criminal levels | :07:15. | :07:16. | |
of personal abuse that I and colleagues across the House | :07:17. | :07:18. | |
have faced. But the greatest tragedy of this new | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
technology fall has been thd advancement in online bullyhng | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
abuse, and threats, and I know this horrific experience is not just | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
confined to those buzz across this chamber, so I want to save directly | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
to those watching from outshde Parliament who have been victims of | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
online abuse, from all of us here today, that we stand right beside | :07:41. | :07:43. | |
you, because we know how it feels. We understand the pain you've been | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
through, and you can guarantee that we will do our best to addrdss this | :07:49. | :07:52. | |
list you. For the past 14 months I've been called and receivd | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
messages calling for immedi`te shot as a traitor, strangers havd | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
attacked my father. This debate today is about enabling Parliament | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
to send a clear message to the industry, to social media and do | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
online worlds to say enough is enough. I think we need to be clear | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
to online providers, in our country, that if they fail to take sdnsible | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
measures to reduce online abuse that we ever Parliament shotld be | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
considering putting in placd a levy to cover the costs of polichng that | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
are being incurred purely as a result of online abuse and crimes. | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
This is something done in other areas and I think here about the | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
payments made by football tdams to have policing football stadhum full | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
stop this is nothing new idda, but certainly an idea that my | :08:46. | :08:47. | |
concentrates the mind when ht comes to online abuse in future. Lany | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
members have a spirit of thhs online, nothing that is affdcted me | :08:54. | :08:56. | |
terribly, but on one occasion which I simply posted online some comments | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
about some boy racers causing anti-social behaviour, withhn about | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
one hour I was being abused from all round the globe by boy racers who | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
had obviously noticed I defhcit in my sex life and were offering a wide | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
range... Of suggestions to hmprove this, some of this would actually | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
end in certain death. I had to take the post down not because I was | :09:24. | :09:26. | |
personally offended all concerned, but because I could simply not | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
monitor it that the level of foul language of abuse left on mx | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
Facebook page was for everyone to see. | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
I vividly recall my daughter's transition to secondary school when | :09:37. | :09:47. | |
her head teacher got parents together to talk about the perils of | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
Facebook will do at that tile social media was growing in popularity but | :09:52. | :09:53. | |
was still is small, not the multitude of platforms that there | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
are today. And the phrase that you use which will always stick with me, | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
is that to be quite frank, children are losing the ability to elpathise, | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
because, in her view, there were making their unpleasant comlents | :10:07. | :10:09. | |
online, and unlike in the playground, when you do it on your | :10:10. | :10:17. | |
smartphone, use and you don't see the reaction on somebody's phase, so | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
you will not learn about thd hurt, you simply bang out a message which | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
can have a terrible impact, but that ability to understand, comprehends | :10:25. | :10:26. | |
the hurt you have caused, is disappearing. My issues with | :10:27. | :10:29. | |
particular reference to Twitter and Facebook are the apparent l`ck of a | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
coherent policy on what acttally constitutes online abuse. I would | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
like to give a few examples. Twitter policy states: and I quote: we do | :10:38. | :10:45. | |
not tolerate behaviour crossing the line into abuse, including behaviour | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence and other user's | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
voice. So, with this in mind, when I received a threat on Twitter during | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
the referendum debate, saying, and I quote: we'll see what you s`y when | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
an immigrant rates you or one of your kids. I reported it to Twitter | :11:07. | :11:15. | |
using their online pro form`. Surely this racist, violent and targeted | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
abuse crossed that line into behaviour that harasses and | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
intimidates, which pretty policy claims to be against. But no, the | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
response I received from twhtter was: it's not currently violently -- | :11:31. | :11:33. | |
violating the twitter rules. The Minister said social media | :11:34. | :11:34. | |
platforms had to work In terms of the online world will | :11:35. | :11:43. | |
suddenly have these companids which in many respects are bigger and more | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
influential than many nation states. I mean, Facebook has a population of | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
1.2 billion. That has a poptlation of 300 million. And yes, thdy are to | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
a certain extent left to thdir own devices, to create their own rules, | :11:59. | :12:00. | |
their own society and regul`tion. You're watching Thursday in | :12:01. | :12:02. | |
Parliament with me, Alicia LcCarthy Let's go back to the impact | :12:03. | :12:13. | |
of the UK's vote to leave the EU. In the Lords, peers were worried | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
about what it might Specifically they wanted to know | :12:17. | :12:18. | |
about the impact on millions of pounds of research funding under | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
a scheme called Horizon 2020 and the possible consequencds | :12:23. | :12:24. | |
for a project known as Eraslus, which enables the exchange of EU | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
students between nations. The referendum result has no | :12:28. | :12:34. | |
immediate effect on the right of researchers to apply and participate | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
in Horizon 2020 nor on thosd currently participating | :12:39. | :12:41. | |
in or about to embark The future of UK access | :12:42. | :12:42. | |
to European research and innovation funding | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
and to the Erasmus programme will be | :12:49. | :12:49. | |
part of wider discussions whth Is she aware that in spite | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
of similar reassurances givdn by ministers of state for univdrsities | :12:54. | :13:09. | |
and science in the other pl`ce that there is already anecdotal dvidence | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
of researchers being asked to stand down from European programmds | :13:13. | :13:15. | |
particularly when they are lead It was particularly | :13:16. | :13:17. | |
difficult for those Is the Minister aware of thdse | :13:18. | :13:31. | |
difficulties that are likely to arise and how the Swiss | :13:32. | :13:51. | |
example means that associatd status, unless we keep freedom of movement, | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
would be of no value? The Vice Chancellor | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
of Ruskin tells me as I understand it that they are doing | :13:58. | :13:59. | |
important research with a University in Portugal | :14:00. | :14:01. | |
on earthquake studies. Perhaps an analogy that | :14:02. | :14:03. | |
is This funding, this | :14:04. | :14:04. | |
research could be in jeopardy and so I would ask the | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
Minister to give us some assurance of the attention of the soft power | :14:08. | :14:10. | |
and soft diplomacy that needs to be sustained into the future | :14:11. | :14:18. | |
and how such research importance to vulnerable | :14:19. | :14:26. | |
communities, is going to be sustained into | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
the Of course the Government and I | :14:30. | :14:31. | |
entirely understand the concerns We have a world class higher | :14:32. | :14:35. | |
education sector and we want to support it and make sure that | :14:36. | :14:45. | |
going forward it is able to still be taking its position as the best | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
in the world and that is whx with the sector throughout the | :14:50. | :14:52. | |
coming months and years in order to make sure we provide the support | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
that their voice is heard and that we can try and do all we can to make | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
sure that we maintain the Lady Evans Staying in the Lords | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
a Labour peer called for a second Lady King, formerly the Labour MP, | :15:04. | :15:10. | |
Oona King, said she didn't want that vote now, but once the UK h`d | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
negotiated the terms of It is fair to say that most people | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
did not realise that the EU referendum and a Brexit votd | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
would trigger the chain of dvents We have got our economy in crisis, | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
major companies lining up at this moment right here right | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
now to leave Britain. We have got jobs moving out | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
right here right now. People does not realise those | :15:35. | :15:37. | |
consequences and I think thd main thing is they did not know | :15:38. | :15:48. | |
because the architects of their campaign themselves did not | :15:49. | :15:50. | |
know what the final deal In the interests of democracy | :15:51. | :15:53. | |
the British people must be given the chance to vote on a deal | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
to leave the EU once we finally know what that ddal | :15:58. | :16:00. | |
is and what that deal costs. In terms of our economy, | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
our costs, our pensions, our future, our influence, | :16:04. | :16:05. | |
our geographical borders and last but not least our precious hdentity | :16:06. | :16:07. | |
as a tolerant open facing n`tion. The only way that we can | :16:08. | :16:10. | |
have a second bite at this cherry is to have a political partx | :16:11. | :16:21. | |
with its main manifesto comlitment not to break with the EU and test | :16:22. | :16:24. | |
that at a general election. I am something of an expert | :16:25. | :16:27. | |
on losing elections. And I know the feeling having fought | :16:28. | :16:29. | |
eight general elections, won four, lost four, | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
the feelings you go When you lose your opponent lied, | :16:36. | :16:37. | |
your opponent made promises he could not | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
possibly keep. Probably you opponent had more money | :16:44. | :16:59. | |
than you and the place were on the side of your opponent. | :17:00. | :17:01. | |
I have to say it was a triulph for British democracy. | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
I simply say to the House, particularly I say to this House, | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
this is essentially an advisory House. | :17:10. | :17:11. | |
The public is not an advisory public. | :17:12. | :17:14. | |
And for this House, particularly as I said to my friends at the other | :17:15. | :17:25. | |
end, amongst whom there is no appetite for a referendum | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
whatsoever, but I do say to my friends in this House, | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
it is not our job to thwart the will of the British people. | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
I can't believe that people want another one. | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
The British people were not deceived. | :17:44. | :17:45. | |
We should not just scorn the decision. | :17:46. | :18:06. | |
We should not deride the re`sons they did it for. | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
We should accept what they said and get on with being | :18:10. | :18:11. | |
At the end of the formal negotiations there will | :18:12. | :18:31. | |
But that will surely requird further authorisation | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
whether popular, parliament`ry, or more probably both. | :18:38. | :18:39. | |
But today is not the day for that debate. | :18:40. | :18:41. | |
Let us have negotiations, a full negotiation package, and put | :18:42. | :18:43. | |
My concern then is if the ptblic said they did not agree | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
with that there would be an attempt to rerun and rerun and rerun. | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
There is this issue we have to be worried about. | :18:51. | :18:53. | |
As politicians we must re-engage with the public. | :18:54. | :18:55. | |
They have shown that they h`ve got distrust in the political elite | :18:56. | :19:04. | |
We can increase that distrust if we say to people keep on voting | :19:05. | :19:07. | |
I know what is not what the noble lady wants. | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
Back in the Commons, the new Shadow Environment Secretary | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
Rachael Maskell raised the importance of EU migrant | :19:16. | :19:17. | |
How will the Secretary of State ensure our crops | :19:18. | :19:26. | |
are harvested in this uncertain period through securing | :19:27. | :19:28. | |
I thank the honourable lady for her question and I welcome her | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
She was a fantastic advocatd for her constituents during the very | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
I look forward to working with her very much. | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
In terms of the issue of agricultural workers, | :19:43. | :19:55. | |
my constituency is a great producer of salad vegetables, onions. | :19:56. | :19:57. | |
I understand the importance of those workers to our | :19:58. | :20:00. | |
It will be one of the key things we are working on at Defra, | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
and putting the case across Government to make | :20:05. | :20:06. | |
sure we continue to have that supply of workers. | :20:07. | :20:08. | |
Mr Speaker, it is evident in the responses from the Government | :20:09. | :20:11. | |
that her department has not made contingency plans for a Leave vote. | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
Failing in its duty in government to not only fully protect one | :20:16. | :20:18. | |
of our major industries but also those who work on it. | :20:19. | :20:21. | |
In the light of this can shd now say what actions she has taken | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
to confirm that all EU citizens working in farming can remahn | :20:25. | :20:27. | |
in the EU as yesterday's vote called for and that she has | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
already made representation to the Home Office on this? | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
It is absolutely clear that whilst we remain members of the EU | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
Those workers will continue to work in those areas. | :20:40. | :20:45. | |
But the reality is that I cannot make decisions | :20:46. | :20:47. | |
Scotland's food and drink industry exports ?725 million worth | :20:48. | :20:57. | |
Given the disastrous Brexit vote what impact does the Ministdr | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
believe any restrictions on seasonal workforce will have on the hndustry | :21:03. | :21:04. | |
I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. | :21:05. | :21:14. | |
That is why we are turbo-ch`rging the work of the Great British Food | :21:15. | :21:17. | |
Unit to make sure that we open up new markets and get more | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
of our products out into thd world as well as the European Union. | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
And I am very clear that agriculture and food has got major export | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
potential and that is why I am having a meeting today | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
with the Business Secretary to talk about our trade negotiations | :21:35. | :21:37. | |
and making sure that food is a very key part of those. | :21:38. | :21:47. | |
I congratulate my honourabld friend for the energy and enthusiasm | :21:48. | :21:49. | |
and intelligence he brought to the Leave campaign. | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
Having met farmers in my constituency in Kettering bdfore | :21:56. | :21:57. | |
the vote it was clear that the senior leadership | :21:58. | :21:59. | |
of the National Farmers' Unhon had signed up to Project Fear | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
and was trying to scare farmers and rural dwellers | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
Now that the result has been decided, and overwhelmingly | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
in Kettering they have voted to leave, can we make sure that | :22:11. | :22:20. | |
everyone involved in rural communities and farming talks up | :22:21. | :22:24. | |
the rural communities and f`rming because we have got a very | :22:25. | :22:26. | |
I thank the honourable gentleman for his kind comments | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
although I think it is important now that the debate has concluded | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
and the decision of the country is made that we move on and focus | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
on next steps and focus on the future. | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
This week I have been at the livestock event alre`dy | :22:45. | :22:47. | |
I have had meetings with many farmers and what I have found | :22:48. | :22:54. | |
you get past initial shock of this decision for some and they hndeed | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
in the detail of what might be possible in the future actu`lly | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
people become more excited about the potential for us | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
The final two in the Conservative leadership contest have been | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
revealed The Home Secretary Theresa May will face the Energy Minister, | :23:09. | :23:11. | |
Andrea Leadsom in the run-off - after the justice secretary | :23:12. | :23:13. | |
Michael Gove was eliminated from the contest. | :23:14. | :23:15. | |
On Wednesday Westminster had heard the unguarded opinions of two senior | :23:16. | :23:18. | |
Conservatives who were chatting in a Sky News TV studio. | :23:19. | :23:20. | |
Talking to Sir Malcolm Rifkhnd, veteran Tory MP, Ken Clarke | :23:21. | :23:23. | |
described the Home Secretarx, Theresa May, as a bloody difficult | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
woman, suggested Andrea Leadsom didn't really want to leave the EU, | :23:29. | :23:31. | |
His comments were picked up by the Shadow leader of the Commons, | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
who paid tribute to Ken Clarke the MP for Rushcliffe | :23:39. | :23:40. | |
The House is grateful as evdr to the member for Rushcliffd | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
who is a rarity on the Government backbenches as a man | :23:49. | :23:51. | |
who is occasionally caught in possession of an intelligent | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
thought and who speaks real English, at least the kind of language | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
But this week we were very grateful to him for giving us the vital | :24:00. | :24:09. | |
intelligence that the three remaining candidates | :24:10. | :24:11. | |
for the leadership of the Tory party, that one of them was bloody | :24:12. | :24:14. | |
difficult, and one does not expect to deliver on the extremely stupid | :24:15. | :24:17. | |
things she has been saying, and one would declare war | :24:18. | :24:19. | |
Mr Flynn suggested that as the new leader was going | :24:20. | :24:33. | |
to become Prime Minister there should be a vote open | :24:34. | :24:35. | |
to those who weren't members of the Conservative party. | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
It would be wonderful if we could have the chance | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
of having a write in candid`te who would certainly be someone | :24:43. | :24:44. | |
like the member for Rushcliffe, who happily at his time of life has | :24:45. | :24:47. | |
passed beyond the stages of ambition and vanity that afflict | :24:48. | :24:50. | |
Could I perhaps suggest to him if the member for Rushcliffd is | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
reluctant because he is of ` certain age of returning to the dispatch | :24:55. | :24:57. | |
box, may I remind him what I have discovered, | :24:58. | :24:59. | |
that the dispatch box is a vital support and a wonderful | :25:00. | :25:02. | |
But the leader of the Commons thought he detected | :25:03. | :25:10. | |
I suspect that the Home Secretary will not be impressed at behng | :25:11. | :25:21. | |
Can I also say I understand his enthusiasm for taking part hn this | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
election campaign for being able to express a view on who our next | :25:26. | :25:28. | |
If I was on their benches I would want to take part | :25:29. | :25:32. | |
in our leadership contest as well because try as they may, | :25:33. | :25:34. | |
however hard they struggle, they just don't seem to be `ble | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
And that's it for now, but do join me again on Friday night | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
at 11 for a full round up of another busy week here at Westminstdr. | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
Including the continuing fall-out from the EU referendum and reaction | :25:47. | :25:49. |