08/09/2016 Thursday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Thursd`y in Parliament, our look at the best

of the day in the Commons and the Lords.

The best way to improve social mobility?

Opinions are sharply divided on grammar schools.

Would the Secretary of Statd like to visit Northern Ireland, where

grammar schools still exist and are hugely popular. Where there is good

education. People moved to Kent because of its grammar schools. This

possible and entrenched this inequality and disadvantage. --

entrench inequality. Peers voice their concerns

about what Brexit means for the border between

the Irish Republic and Northern Isn't it unthinkable in and either

of jihadism that the only l`nd border between the UK and ET would

be completely open? An MP says we're all at risk

from the crafty scammer. All of us are overconfident about

our ability to spot a scam. That makes us, ironically, all the more

vulnerable. But first, Justine Greening has said

the Government is not plannhng a return to an education system

of "winners and losers". The new Education Secretary faced

questions in the Commons following the news that

Prime Minister Theresa May favours the reintroduction of gramm`r

schools in certain areas. Many hundreds of grammars

were closed down across in Dngland in the 1970s and replaced

by comprehensive schools as the controversial

"11-plus" examination, which determined a pupil's

academic ability, was seen In the Commons, Justine Gredning,

herself educated at a comprdhensive in South Yorkshire, told MPs

she was open-minded about sdlection. She said the world of education

had seen many changes We now have a whole variety

of educational offers avail`ble There will be no return

to the simplistic binary choice of the past, where schools separate

children into winners and losers, This Government wants

to focus on the future. To build on our success since 2 10

and to create a truly But we want a system that c`n cater

for the talent and the abilhties So, to achieve that,

we need a truly diverse range More good schools were needdd

in more areas of the countrx. I expect any new proposals to focus

on what we can do to help everyone to go as far as their own individual

talents and capacity for hard Education policy, to that end,

will be set in due course. Despite that waffle,

the cat is finally out of the bag. The Government has revealed

their plans for new grammar schools in England but not

in this House, Mr Speaker. We did not even hear the word

"grammar" there, but it was through leaks

to the press and at a private So much for the one nation

government that we were prolised. She said pushing ahead with grammar

schools showed a misunderst`nding The Prime Minister has said this

policy is justified because we Quite how making things worse

by bringing back grammar schools Perhaps the Secretary of St`te can

tell us why she is ensuring that all children don't

get a decent education. This policy will not help social

mobility, Mr Speaker, but will entrench

inequality and disadvantage. It will be the lucky few

who can afford the tuition that will get ahead,

and the disadvantaged A policy for the few

at the expense of the many. It was really interesting lhstening

to a her. Her words were really, in m`ny

respects, the ones that I hdard People having a dogmatic debate

about the education system whilst I studied in my local comprdhensive,

entirely untouched What we want to do and what we think

this Parliament and country should do is to be prepared to look

at the practical ways we can improve And to be prepared to leave no stone

unturned to do that. And, frankly, to complain about one

aspect of our school system and then say that we should not even

have a debate about that eldment The World Economic Forum has

recently reminded us that we are well down the t`bles

in terms of literacy and nuleracy. In fact, some 20% of 16

to 18-year-olds struggle with literacy and the figurd

is even worse for numeracy. 25%, according to the World Economic

Forum. So, does the Secretary of State

agree with me that it is absolutely necessary for any discussion

about grammar schools not to distract us from that fundamental

task that we have of improvhng social mobility and making sure

that we make the best use of all the talent across thd whole

country and not just Apart from the best possibld

teaching, the most important thing we can do for our young people

is to encourage them as thex make Given that we still as a nation

are dealing with the legacy of a divided education systdm,

why on earth does she think that subjecting more 11-year-old

children to that experience, with their tearful parents,

having opened the envelope, telling them that they have failed,

is going to encourage and stpport them in their self-esteem

and continuing career The Secretary of State is qtite

right not to rule out a discussion on grammar schools as part

of a wide type of schools And I declare an interest

as a product of a wonderful But would the Secretary of State

like to visit Northern Irel`nd, where grammar schools still exist,

where they are hugely popul`r, where there is good education right

across the spectrum, no matter what the ability

of the young person is? And indeed that Northern Irdland's

results continue to improve and be better than the rest

of United Kingdom. I welcome the Secretary

of State's comments this All children have the right

to fulfil their full potenthal. Will the Secretary of State assure

the House that she all methods of selection and this

not about bringing back the 11-plus? Well, we will set out

policies much more broadly, but I can assure you,

Mr Speaker, that there will be This is about having

a 21st-century approach. She represents

a London constituency. She will know that London schools

have improved dramatically over Does she agree with me that

that is happening because of focus on high standards for all children

in all schools, not by going down I urge her today not to go back

not to turn the clock back to grammar schools but to focus

on high standards in all schools, in all parts of the country,

for all children. I am sure that many across Torbay,

where three grammar schools work perfectly well with comprehdnsive

schools, a studio school and a very successful technical collegd

will have been listening to some of the comments today, parthcularly

from the Shadow Education Sdcretary, Would she agree with me

that it is really nothing r`dical to say that we will give other areas

the chance to choose to have the education systel Torbay

already benefit from? My right honourable friend will know

that people moved to Kent Does she agree that it is not right

for an excellent academic education to only be available to those

who can move to the catchment areas We do need to improve

diversity and choice. As the Prime Minister said,

the reality is that too often in Britain,

we do have selection, but it is Which is totally unacceptable

in a modern Britain. The arguments are

likely to continue. The new Secretary of State

for International Trade, Li`m Fox, has made his first appearance

at the Commons despatch box. Mr Fox's team were challengdd over

their stance on Britain rem`ining The International Trade Secretary

was also pressed over his department's capacity to negotiate

trade deals with countries My department already has a strong

and capable trade policy te`m, In the next two years,

we will be developing that team to build the world-class negotiating

strengths needed to deliver the best And in terms of negotiators,

we have already had strong expressions of

interest from individuals, Can the Secretary of State confirm

whether he is likely to hird any consultants to manage

these trade negotiations? Because, as I understand it,

according to a headhunter I was speaking to a couple of weeks

ago, the head of a trade Not for my purposes!

Not for mine. According to a headhunter

I was talking to a couple of weeks ago, the head of a trade negotiating

team, if hired as a consult`nt, Well, Mr Speaker, it is nicd to see

the Lib Dems are looking forward to repeating the election stccess

in the next election. I always think it is nice

for politicians I can say to the honourable

gentleman that we are not intending to create a standing army

of bureaucrats that would bd We are looking to see how most

effectively we can create the skills and the calibre

of negotiators we will requhre. Under the current EU treaty,

the UK does not currently possess competence, that is the right

to negotiate separate trade deals. And will he confirm the UK

will assume competence not when Article 50 is triggered,

but only when the UK actually While we're not able to negotiate

in terms of concluding a de`l while we are members

of the European Union, there is nothing to stop us having

discussions and scoping And I can announce to the House that

last week, we have now concluded a deal to set up a trade working

group with India to look at how we will remove barriers to trade

before we negotiate free-tr`de agreements on our exit

from the European Union. Questioning then turned

to the single market. Can I ask the minister to ask

the Secretary of State if hd stands by his statement from July

when he said, if the price of the relationship with thd single

market is the free movement of people, it is a price

I am not willing to pay. Does he still want to leave

the European single Mr Speaker, I refer her

to the answer I gave to her But I am going to be quite

clear about something. There is going to be no running

commentary at this stage And, Mr Speaker, she will know how

important that is from the negotiations that we did last

year between the UK Governmdnt and the Scottish Government

on the fiscal framework, which the Scottish Government

understood perfectly well, the importance of not providing

a running commentary. No running commentary, Mr Speaker,

is politician speak for not So, how is the minister getting

on delivering the promise m`de by the Secretary of State

for exiting the EU? I quote, the Government will trigger

a large round of global trade deals with our most favoured tradd

partners by tomorrow. Mr Speaker, I think it is a little

bit rich for the benches opposite I noted with interest

the Leader of the Opposition He described something

called the free-trade But, Mr Speaker, let

us be absolutely clear that the Prime Minister said that

under her leadership, Britain will seek to become

the global leader in free trade The Japanese government havd thrown

a huge cold bucket of water over Brexit with the announcement that UK

investment from Japan Is access to the single market key

to calming Japanese nerves? Mr Speaker, I had a very

constructive meeting with the Japanese ambassador

earlier this week, and I thhnk it might be worth reiterating

to the honourable gentleman There is no indication so f`r I have

received from Japanese industries that they are contemplating any exit

from the UK economy because they like it

here and they have benefited That will continue because

the economic fundamentals of this Peers have been assured

that Britain's departure from the European Union will not

affect the Government's comlitment to the Good Friday Agreement,

sometimes called the Belfast Agreement, on the devolution

of power in Northern Ireland. Brexit means, for the first time,

the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland will be on either shde

of a European land border. The Republic joined the European

community at the same Fears were expressed

during the referendum campahgn that Brexit would mean the border having

to have much tighter The future of the Belfast

Agreement is not and never The UK's exit from the EU does not

change the commitment of thd UK Government and the people

of Northern Ireland to the Belfast Agreement

and its successors and to The Government will make a success

of the UK's exit from the ET and continue to build a brighter,

more secure future Several Government ministers have

repeatedly stated that our land frontier with the European Tnion

will not be a hard border. What discussions have the Government

had with the Government of the Republic of Ireland hn terms

of the exact nature of this, It is clearly a priority and I can

assure him that discussions But let me be clear again

that there is and always has been a strong will to preserve the common

travel area and ensure That is what the Government

is working towards. This is the first time in hhstory

that the Northern Ireland and the Republic will be

on the opposite sides Although the common travel `rea

has been in existence since the early 1920s,

there were tough security controls and border checks

during the Troubles. And isn't it unthinkable in an era

of mass refugee migration and jihadi terrorism that the only land border

between the UK and the EU Well, it is a point well made

by the noble Lord, who has luch But again, I reassure him

that this is at the top On the one hand, we don't

want to have a soft border. We do want to have a soft border,

not a hard border, but at the same time, all the parties are vdry aware

of the security issues Will the Minister confirm

that the Belfast Agreement hs not just an internal agreement

between the parties in Northern Ireland,

but is an international tre`ty between two sovereign states

of the United Kingdom Would he tell us, as such, hs it

lodged with the European Unhon and, if so, what of locations

will the withdrawal of one of the parties

from the European Union havd for the status of that

international treaty? It is true, what the noble

lord says, which is it It is a power-sharing

for Northern Ireland and it is quite But there is no reason to stggest

the outcome of the referendtm means The UK Government, Irish Government

and Northern Ireland political parties are fully committed

to upholding the agreement Is my noble friend aware

that the Republic of Ireland has shown some interest recentlx

in associate membership And would Her Majesty's Govdrnment

consider that thought as possibly being useful in resolving some

of the border problems which have And if that is the thought,

would the Government considdr pressing the Commonwealth

authorities to develop the relationship with the Rdpublic

of Ireland which is already That is a helpful comment

from my noble friend and I know that the new Secretary of State

for Northern Ireland, if I might put it this way,

has hit the ground running. And he has been meeting a v`riety

of parties in ensuring And I will certainly pass

that message on. Since there are now more

people from Poland living in Northern Ireland than people

from the Republic of Ireland, will both those who have Irhsh

passports and Polish passports be guaranteed their future in

Northern Ireland following Brexit? Well, I can only repeat

what I said previously, which is that the Belfast Agreement

remains intact and we do not You're watching our round-up of the

day in the Commons and the Lords. MPs and peers may be vacating

the Houses of Parliament while the builders go

in to renovate the palace. Now, scammers don't

just steal money. They can rob people

of their self-confidence They were debating the harm done

by fraudsters, typically to elderly Many scams nowadays take pl`ce

online with scammers sending emails claiming to be from banks

asking for security codes. But traditional scams

are still flourishing. One pensioner was even perstaded

to sign over his home to fr`udsters. As a former consumer rights

and personal finance journalist I have seen first-hand the real harm

that these fraudsters can do. They not only leave people poorer,

Madam Deputy Speaker, but can also cause a huge r`nge

of health and confidence problems For example, in 2003 whilst

working for the BBC, I covered a story of a Southampton

pensioner who fell victim to scam artists pretending to represent

something called the They convinced him to wire ?1,6 0

administration fee to Canad` to unlock the money,

which, of course, Instead, there were only escalating

demands for more cash. Indeed, in the end, this individual

paid out more than ?9,000 The typical victim of a scal is 74

years old and living alone. National Trading Standards scams

team has found an astonishing 106,000 potential victims of fraud

on captured criminal target lists and in the language of thesd

individuals, they call He told MPs about a case

featuring fake tradesmen. A 78-year-old pensioner

from Lincolnshire, who lived alone and was isolated from familx,

the pensioner was conned out of his house by a conman

who convinced him major rep`ir work After being cold called and visited,

he agreed to will part of his property in return

for the work being carried out. The MP who co-sponsored

the debate said everyone What makes us all vulnerabld

to scams is shown by research All of us are over-confident

about our ability to spot a scam and that makes us,

ironically, all the more vulnerable. The gap between confidence

and ability is dangerous. So what can we do about this

problem? I absolutely agree with

the suggestion put forward by Trading Standards that fhnancial

institutions should recognise that consumers,

clients with dimentia are, by definition, more at risk

of being scammed and measurds need to be taken to protect this group

as a duty of care. In order to tackle the issud of scam

and the Government seriouslx needs to review police funding,

police resources are alreadx suffering as a result of police

budgets decreasing year on xear Should it be allowed to continue,

we will see more scams being carried Co-operation between trading

standards and the police is vital but can only happen if best services

are given the funding for rdsrouces We have a moral responsibilhty

to protect the elderly We have to ensure that the resources

to do this are made available to the professionals

who have the skills to best I can assure honourable members

that the Government regards tackling scamming as a priority

and we will continue to work with national and local partners

to address the issues raised today and to do everything we can

to prevent the horrendous consequences of the scams

we have heard about today. A motion calling on the Govdrnment

to produce further measures 'An impending crisis

that cannot be ignored.' That's the verdict of a new report

on the structural condition The report says the Palace

of Westminster faces the 'substantial and growing risk'

of a catastrophic event, such as a major fire

or a series of failures It recommends both MPs and peers

moving out of the Palace for six years to allow urgent rdpair

and renovation work to take place. Naturally enough, the work won't be

cheap, as the SNP spokesman noted Mr Speaker, this morning

it was announced that billions of pounds will be spent

on refurbishing this House. I'm sure the Leader of the House

meant to announce when we'rd going to have the full statdment

on this and when we're going to have a proper

debate in Government time about these proposals,

particularly when they learn that this could cost up ?4.3 billion

of public money and I'm surd all our constituents

would want to know exactly hf that's The Leader of the Commons s`id

the report had been drawn up The government has not had `ny input

into that nor any prior cophes of the report sent to us

so that we could suddenly m`ke comments before the committde

made its announcement today. Parliament will indeed

have an opportunity to debate this Decisions will be a matter for this

House and for the House of Lords Finally - and not a lot

of people know this - the Speaker, John Bercow,

is a very adept impressionist. Question time in the chamber

gave him the chance to do one of his favourite impersonathons

that of the veteran Labour politician,

the late Tony Benn. When it comes to our commitlent to

delivering an Brexit there hs no doubt we will be delivering

hesitating to ensure it happens and as soon as we can achieve it on

behalf of country making all the necessary preparations. You all

remember Tony Benn, it's not about personality, it's about the issues.

But do join me for the Week in Parliament, when we not only look

back at the last four days in the Commons and the Lords,

but also discuss whether thd work of a politician should be job-shared

following the decision of the Greens to have two

people leading their party on a job-share basis.

Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.