07/12/2017 Thursday in Parliament

Hello there and welcome

to the programme.

Coming up:

the government distances itself

from Donald Trump's decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as Israel's capital.

But...

The process has to move on. If the

process was derailed by this that

would compound the helpfulness of

the decision.

The opposition rejects further

consultation on paying

for social care in England.

They consulted on this during the

general election, and they were

rejected by the electorate.

And the government's urged to speed

up efforts to tackle homelessness.

The Government only committed itself

to a limiting rough sleeping by

2027. My lord, why does it take ten

years?

But first: a Foreign office

minister has repeated

the government's disagreement

with United States President,

Donald Trump over his decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

There's been a growing

chorus of condemnation

over the announcement.

Saudi Arabia called it

"unjustified and irresponsible",

while France said it did not

support the move.

President Trump's decision reversed

decades of US policy on one

of the thorniest issues

between Israel and the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it

as "historic" and said he was sure

more countries would follow suit.

In the Commons, Labour asked

an urgent question on the decision

and the minister made it clear

where the UK stood.

We disagree with the US decision to

move its embassy to Jerusalem and

recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli

capital before a final status

agreement. We believe it is

unhelpful in terms of prospects for

peace in the region. The British

entity to Israel is based in Tel

Aviv and we have no plans to move

it.

There was a reason that before

yesterday no other country would

locate its embassy in Jerusalem and

no other country would recognise

Jerusalem as Israel's capital,

because to do either thing, let

alone both of the same time, confers

legitimacy on Israel's occupation of

East Jerusalem, an occupation with

no basis in international law and

which is a permanent barrier to

achieving a political settlement

that we all wish. The sheer

recklessness of that decision needs

no debate. Donald Trump is not

crying fire in a crowded theatre, he

is the liberally setting fire to the

theatre. And then he has the

unbelievable cheeks to pretend he is

doing this to move forward the peace

process when in reality, he is

setting it back decades.

The minister said the question

was how did the UK

government respond now.

I think it is imperative that the

work that the President's and boys

have been doing, that have shared

with a number of parties, we now

need to see this. These needs to

come forward and more quickly than

perhaps people anticipated and then

we can see what there is to work on,

for friends about of Israel and the

Palestinians, so the process has to

move on. If the process was derailed

by this, that would compound the

young helpfulness of the decision.

If the president has a cunning plan

which he has not shared with any of

his allies, and I invite my right

honourable friend to speculate when

it might be?

I have no intrigue into

the thinking of the president of the

United States, but as everything in

his whole business is used one way

or another, just possibly, there are

those within the State of Israel who

will recognise... And maybe when

push comes to shove, that might be

some assistance.

We do share the

values of tolerance, inclusion and

respect across these islands. Taking

this into consideration, will the

Secretary of State today completely

rule out a state visit from

President Trump and send out a clear

message that his divisive and

reckless actions are not welcome

here?

Alistair Burt said an invitation had

been made, but no date had been set.

The Minister confirm that if we are

to maintain that he will maintain a

robust position with the states to

seek a two state solution, although

it is suggest...

He will be aware

that one of the most grievous

consequent as of this position is

the impact on Palestinian public

opinion. More and more people are

giving up on a two state solution

and with Britain cosmic detail or

historical response abilities would

not now be the time to recognise

Palestine as a state?

Recognition of

the State of Palestine I do not

think is necessarily a consequence

of what we have heard yesterday. It

is not a tit-for-tat. It is more

important than that. Accordingly, it

should be a decision made by the

United Kingdom at a time when we

believe it is in the best interest

of the process of peace. That is the

view and that is the view for now.

If the reality that the peace

process has been stalled for 24

years, since 1993 and what would you

need now following this announcement

is direct peace talks between the

state of Israel and Palestinian

representatives, and if can get from

the United Nations, a brokered

position whereby this peace talks

start, actually, this could end up

being quite a good decision.

I have

no sense that yesterday's decision

made a contribution to advancing the

peace process will stop Trump's

desperation to take off every ill

judged device of campaign sound bite

now threaten the peace process in

one of the most volatile

geopolitical regions of the world.

The Government welcomes his reports

of a two state solution. Mr Nesbitt

Copper Little when his actions,

coupled with the expansion of

Israeli illegal settlements make the

prospect of a two state solution

more distant than ever. The

Government clearly has limited

ability to influence the US position

actually it is now time to listen to

the clear will of this House to

confirm UK commitment to a two state

solution by recognising the state of

Palestine as we do the state of

Israel.

Well, Alistair Burt said

a collective decision had to be made

about when the time was right to do

that, but he added the views

of colleagues were well known.

Now, MPs have been told that a cap

on social care costs in England,

due to come into effect in four

years' time, is to be scrapped.

The cap of £72,500 on an

individual's care costs was brought

in following the recommendations

of the Dilnot commission in 2011 -

and had already been put

into an Act of Parliament,

but the Government says

there will now be a fresh

consultation on the future

system of social care.

The minister was making

the statement following a vote

by MPs earlier in the year.

The Prime Minister has been clear

that the consultation will include

putting a limit on the care cost

individual face to aloud be fuller

engagement... And the latest paid

for, we will not be taking forward

the previous government's plans to

implement care costs -- a cap on

care costs in 2020.

This is a

shameful waste of taxpayers money.

Over £1 million of today's money was

spent on commissioning to review and

it is a waste of Parliamentary time

and it is no good for the Minister

to say that the Government are

consulting on this. They consulted

on this during the general election,

Mr Deputy Speaker, and their

proposals were rejected by the

electorate.

Can we start looking

seriously at some of the challenges

that we faced with an ageing

population? I think the Government

has had its head in the sands.

In

the absence of provision that I

might make and indeed Delmont might

have encouraged me to make, is it

reasonable for me to expect for my

social care costs to be paid for by

the state and yet my heirs to

inherit my substantial housing

assets?

I think my honourable friend

in a nutshell actually summarises

one of the debates that we have to

have in the space, which is, how do

we ensure that people can achieve

care when they need it and that it

can be pay for it whilst at the same

time achieving intergenerational

fairness?

I should welcome the idea

of a green paper. Halley can

actually build a party consensus for

the long-term. A change is going to

be years away from that green paper

and the problems are here and now

for local councils and this... We

estimate next year there will be a

funding gap of £2.6 million, so what

is the Minister going to do about

that? Where's the money to make sure

that an inadequate social care

system does not get even worse next

year?

Clearly, local authorities

more than any other constituency in

this space, are desperate for a

solution as I think it is incumbent

on all of us to actually have a

construction discussed at the best

constructive discussion about a

solution to this.

The key issue is

that this is causing misery for

thousands of people now. I am 53, Mr

Deputy Speaker. Will my vote would

be suffering the same level of

misery about my care costs in the

next but Sako 30 years? -- in the

next 30 years.

I think we were clear

and the general election we just had

that we will be revisiting this

issue.

A Liberal Democrat raised

a problem over back pay

for overnight shift staff.

HMRC said workers were owed

the minimum wage for every hour

of an overnight stay

at a residential care home.

Previously, employers had been given

the all-clear by the government

to pay sleep-in staff

a flat rate of about £30.

Many providers say the bill for six

years' back pay is unaffordable.

If that is not sorted very soon, a

number of very reputable charities

and organisations might go bust.

The minister accepted it was a big

issue but said the government

was working with care providers

to address it.

You're watching Thursday in

Parliament with me, Alicia McCarthy.

MPs have pressed the Government

for more urgent action to tackle

what they say is a "crisis"

in prisons in England and Wales.

Ministers have put forward

a Prison Safety and Reform Plan

with measures to tackle drug abuse,

recruit more staff and create

new prison places.

But a Justice Committee report

warned of a rapid deterioration

in safety driven by a population

at a historic high - now at more

than 86,000 inmates.

The report was the focus

of a debate in the Commons.

We can't avoid the reality, that our

prison system has reached a stage

where we have to use the -- the

phrase, a crisis. It does not come

lightly to me. The truth is that we

simply

incarcerate too many people.

Particularly people with mental

health problems, a staggering

percentage of people in prison have

mental health problems. Or a

learning disability or autism. And

actually be ought to be investing

more in keeping people out of prison

and getting them the treatment that

they need to help them to avoid the

criminal justice system in the

longer run.

We need to be much more

discerning and to do that, we need

to have a much more sophisticated

approach to our penal policy. We

have been putting in place genuinely

robust alternatives for those who

are not a threat and a danger to the

public and can be reformed without

going to present.

MPs turned to other problems

including violence and drugs.

Assaults on staff continuing to

rise, and when we see the number of

hospital admissions continuing to

rise there is some real challenge in

the system. I would contend there is

a challenge because of reduction and

resource, there is a challenge

because of reduction in staff.

There's also a challenge because a

reduction, sorry an increase in the

amount of psychoactive substances

and drugs getting to present.

There

are gang operations going on within

the presidents that are putting

pressure on some offenders to go out

on licence halfway to their

sentence, and incredibly are almost

driven to reoffend deliberately to

break their licence, to then go back

into prison and ordered to smuggle

more drugs back in. It is an

astonishing idea than the 21st

century we have reoffending as a way

of making a living.

There were concerns, too,

at the state of older

prisons like Rochester.

The all 1840s prayers and buildings

there are described as deplorable

and deteriorating. -- 1840s prisons.

That impact under create meant which

had been frozen in this present and

they way in which the situation was

demoralising to staff.

New prisons weren't popular either.

The truth of the matter is we are...

Westminster is turning the old South

goes into a homage of New South

Wales these are not my words these

are the comments of Frances crook,

CEO of the... He went as far as to

draw a parallel between infamous...

As a society affinity to be asking

about the numbers of women and

jailed while the woman of a majority

committed a nonviolent offence with

half of them in prison for theft. If

prison is about rehabilitation as

well as punishment, what is the

point of seven in ten women serving

12 weeks or less in jail? Recruiting

more staff, investing in

intelligence and technology, ruling

out a drug strategy... Giving more

power to the inspection, these are

things that will solve issues in our

prisons. Spam always been to cult

places to manage and will be so.

There are significant investment

going into tackle the problems that

we have in our prisons. It will not

be done overnight at the actions

that I'm outlining today sure

determination our will to overcome

these problems and to make sure that

prisons are places of safety and

also of reform.

Sam Gyimah.

With Christmas not far off

and a cold spell on the way,

peers have said the government must

take emergency action

to tackle homelessness.

One Peer raised the

problems found in London

and the work being done in the run

up to the festive season.

We admire the work done by these

crisis organisations, and those that

look after people for Christmas

only. This is a much greater problem

than just Christmas, homelessness

has become desperate. I have come in

contact with people trying to up

people recently, it is extremely to

the Gulf.

My noble friend is right

about some of the particular

challenges faced by London, she is

also absolutely right to pay tribute

to crisis and also shelter both of

whom are presented on the advisory

board that we have just set up in

relation to tackling the problem of

rough sleeping, which you have put

£28 million into that amount of

funding three pilots in the country

as well as the £20 million rough

sleeping grant that are ready

exists.

As a possible we can do

something more on the lines of an

emergency because wherever you go in

our cities, whatever crisis or

shelter do, there are people out

there, many of the mentally ill and

it is an absolute disgrace. It is

nothing to do with human rights. We

have to move very quickly because

these people are dying before our

eyes.

Pepe tribute to the mass of

work that the noble Lord does in

this area. He and I visited

Sheffield together and did see some

project worked out going on there.

And other projects which are

considerable. There are complex

problems cash with this command is

not just a straightforward problem.

Some of these pilots will be looking

at the complex nature of this,

wraparound help... Where working

with the Ministry of Justice and

Rhett Laois into ex-offenders who

have a homelessness problem as well

very much with rough sleeping. In

the budget never mind the minister

that the government only committed

itself to a laminating WAFA sleeping

by 2027. Why does it take ten years?

My Lords, the noble Lord as about

that. We have committed to that and

it is a massive and combat problem

as I've indicated. I think it is a

realistic timetable both up it is a

national problem, it is not just

associated with our city, it is a

national problem. I think it is a

realistic timetable but obviously we

will be watching that, the noble

Lord will be holding our feet to the

fire.

The work main causes is the

shortage of supply and the huge rise

in cost of housing, particularly in

the renting sector. With the

government not try to address at

least that part of the problem by

engaging in a programme of the mass

of the building of pre-fabricated

housing? As someone who was abroad

up very happily in a prefab, a come

to bowl and affordable prefab,

register until my late teens can I

recommend to him, strongly, that

this is a rapid and effective way of

addressing a fundamental problem of

this 21st century.

We are engaged in

the most ambitious house building

programme with targets of 300,000

new homes per year by middle of the

20 20s. He is right about modern

methods of construction as he

preferred to call these now rather

than prefabs. User about how

important they are. About 15% of new

homes are modern methods of

construction but we can get that up

and we're looking at either doing

that.

Lord Bourne.

The Government faced criticism

in Westminster Hall over its

rejection of all six recommendations

from the Women and Equalities

Committee to get more women

to enter Parliament.

The Chair of the Committee,

explained that, so far,

progress had been slow.

In the past 100 years since women

were first given the rights to vote

and the rights to stand for

election, just 489 women have ever

been elected to this place. I was

the 265th woman elected in 2005. We

had record numbers of women in work,

women achieving record highs when it

comes to education, but just a

handful have had the opportunity to

use their skills and expertise to

represent their communities and this

place.

Where you have one set of

people were tepid people, there are

more likely to agree than disagree.

It is much better if you have people

of different religions, sexuality,

gender and ability around the

decision-making table because it

will make for better decision-making

processes.

Labour has used all-women

shortlists to boost

the number of its female MPs.

It is unacceptable that we look at

evidence very clear evidence that

the heavy lifting and the reason

that we have more women in

Parliament now is that in the last

election the Conservative Party went

backwards. The Labour Party is

searched for words, and of them you

wrong the Labour Party is in no

way... I have to apologise it is in

no way thoughtless in this area but

it is willing to do the thing that

actually works. It is willing to do

it at every single level of the

political party also so every single

Perkin who sits on the seat has to

be balanced. It is not because of

people who want to claim that there

are great heroes of the movement, it

is because of women in the Labour

Party fighting and bearing the

scars.

In most political parties

individual consists... Constituency

parties are bodies who are

determined to contain control over

this selection of candidates. I

think we have to allow the parties

to have structures that allow those

associations to have autonomy and I

know that a 1-size-fits-all solution

is not going to give us the answer.

Caroline Nokes.

The Environment Secretary,

Michael Gove, says the Government

will make an announcement next week

about recognising the principle

of animal sentience and providing

stronger welfare protection

in UK law.

MPs voted not to incorporate part

of a European Union treaty

into the EU Withdrawal Bill that

recognised animals could

feel emotion and pain.

Ministers argued that

the recognition of animals'

sentience already existed in UK law.

This sparked a row - not least,

over the reaction on social media.

The vote was raised in the Commons

at Environment Questions.

I along with many of my colleagues

have been contacted by constituency

razor concerns over the vote on the

new clause in the EE withdrawal bill

intended to weaken the protection of

animals. We are committed to the

highest standards of animal welfare

however can you please provide

absolute assurances of the so be the

case as we leave the EU?

She has

been a consistent advocate for

animal welfare. It has been

absolutely the case that we are

committed to ensuring batches that

we recognise the pencil of animal

sentence that we provide appropriate

and started production in UK law and

will be bringing proposal shortly by

the detection.

The Secretary of

State was asked to confirm that

article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty

which categorizes animals are

sentient beings but pastor me

Bill... Here replied absolutely.

What caused induce agree with

himself?

I am tempted to quote from

the American power it, his name I

temporarily forget who made the

point that I contain not to dudes.

We want to go further than

existing... There is a bit of

legislative vehicle and we will make

an announcement up that next week.

Another impact of Brexit on animal

welfare was raised by the former

Liberal Democrat Leader.

Britain leads the world in food

hygiene and in animal welfare but

that is at risk given the

Association reckons that's many of

the that's FME EU and that many of

them are leaving. -- that's in the

youthful. Vets in the VE you. On I'm

very grateful for raising this

issue.

More than 90% of the

veterinarians come from the E U

countries. My department have been

talking to representatives of the

profession in order to ensure that

those who do a wonderful job

continue to feel valued and also

ensuring the public of high

standards of food hygiene.

Finally, loyalty is a much-treasured

trait in politics,

and it was clearly on display

in the Lords at question time.

At the despatch box,

Lady Goldie strongly defended

the Prime Minister's negotiating

stance in the Brexit talks -

following Monday's

failure to agree a deal.

But having stood up for her boss,

the Peer made it clear she wasn't

going to give anything away

about the negotiations.

Everyone will understand these are

sensitive and could tickle stage, I

not going to be drawn on detail.

Lady Gouldie, refusing

to crack under the pressure

of questioning about Brexit!.

And that's it from me for now but do

join me on Friday night

at 11 for our round up

of the week at Westminster.

As the government tries to secure

an interim Brexit deal.

But for now, from me,

Alicia McCarthy goodbye.