:00:12. > :00:14.Hello and Welcome to Tuesday in Parliament, our look at the best
:00:15. > :00:17.of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:18. > :00:21.The sister of a man suspected of being a masked I.S.
:00:22. > :00:24.Jihadist in a propaganda video asks MPs who her family can turn
:00:25. > :00:40.Just in terms of what I can do to help my brother, is there anything I
:00:41. > :00:43.can do? We will certainly be contacting, if it is helpful to you,
:00:44. > :00:46.the Home Office. Peers voice fears about
:00:47. > :00:55.the dangers from drones. We warned about the risks from
:00:56. > :00:56.terrorism and aircraft and we must move on this now.
:00:57. > :00:59.And an MP who's battled cancer twice pleads for more support
:01:00. > :01:10.We need a landscape out there that allows for a personalised medicine
:01:11. > :01:15.that is coming down the tracks to us. Cancer will not wait for the
:01:16. > :01:17.regulator Nora will it wait for the patient.
:01:18. > :01:21.The sister of the British man thought to have appeared in a murder
:01:22. > :01:23.video produced by so-called 'Islamic State' has been talking
:01:24. > :01:27.In the video, a man with an English accent insults the Prime Minister
:01:28. > :01:29.before executing five men accused of spying against I.S..
:01:30. > :01:32.The man was thought to be Siddhartha Dhar from London.
:01:33. > :01:34.Also known as Abu Rumaysah, he'd fled Britain in 2014
:01:35. > :01:37.He'd been arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism,
:01:38. > :01:39.but then was able to travel to Syria.
:01:40. > :01:41.When his sister, Konika Dhar, appeared before the Home affairs
:01:42. > :01:54.committee, a Labour MP started the questioning.
:01:55. > :02:01.Is it fair to say, the sense I get from the evidence you have given,
:02:02. > :02:04.which in some sense is a little bit different from The Sunday Times
:02:05. > :02:08.article, is that you are still coming to terms with what has
:02:09. > :02:15.happened to you and your family? Would I be right in saying that you
:02:16. > :02:18.are in a bad dream in which you are unable to wake up? You have putted
:02:19. > :02:23.very well. People underestimate how traumatic the experiences, for the
:02:24. > :02:26.person and the families left behind and I think people expected me and
:02:27. > :02:35.everyone else to get on with it. It is harder than in practice. The
:02:36. > :02:38.committee is interested in the narrative of your brother,
:02:39. > :02:44.Siddhartha Dhar. The last time I saw him was in September 2014 and he
:02:45. > :02:55.seemed to me to be OK. Obviously, I was always aware that he was
:02:56. > :02:57.practising his Muslim religion. He kept his political movements Private
:02:58. > :03:04.and... He did not discuss it with you all? To be honest, I was not
:03:05. > :03:10.even aware he went by another name until he left. My instant reaction
:03:11. > :03:13.was, I do not know that person, I know my brother as the person I grew
:03:14. > :03:18.up with, I have never known anyone to go through this. It is important
:03:19. > :03:22.for other families to know what are the appropriate steps one needs to
:03:23. > :03:25.take in order to get their loved one back, who has the right person to
:03:26. > :03:33.contact and I thought I did the right thing, and I hope it is, but I
:03:34. > :03:37.am just a bit wary if I am making things worse. I am not trying to,
:03:38. > :03:42.but I miss my brother and I am trying to make him realise that none
:03:43. > :03:49.of this is him. Could you in your hard ever forgive him for what he
:03:50. > :03:54.has done in betraying the family and obviously the country that he lived
:03:55. > :04:01.in? I am still holding to the firm belief that what I am seen is not my
:04:02. > :04:11.brother. I have not have their occasion otherwise. I have said
:04:12. > :04:17.before that if it is, I don't... It is a difficult one. Yes it is. In
:04:18. > :04:22.your position, I would be as ambiguous as you are. Is he really
:04:23. > :04:26.my brother if he has done this? I cannot accept that he would do this.
:04:27. > :04:32.I cannot accept it. I want to try and explore how he is living his
:04:33. > :04:39.life, do you still believe him to be a good man and is -- and if he is
:04:40. > :04:46.supporting Daesh, he is probably engaged in beheading and raping.
:04:47. > :04:51.This is what Daesh doors. One woman gave evidence, there was an article,
:04:52. > :04:55.about a number of women who have come forward to give evidence and
:04:56. > :04:59.one of them said, the saddest thing are member is this little girl, 12
:05:00. > :05:08.years of age and they raped without mercy. These are the activities your
:05:09. > :05:17.brother is engaged in, do you still believe he is a good man? I think
:05:18. > :05:21.this is... This is a sensitive topic to talk about, my opinion will be
:05:22. > :05:26.biased because he is my brother. I still do not want to associate the
:05:27. > :05:31.two, the activities that you have just described, with my brother and
:05:32. > :05:34.I know that may be hard for many people to believe, but that is
:05:35. > :05:38.because he is my brother and as far as I am concerned, I grew up with a
:05:39. > :05:43.different person. Thank you for coming in. It has been a very
:05:44. > :05:47.important thing for you to help us, it may not do anything concerning
:05:48. > :05:51.your brother, but hopefully it will give the committee and understanding
:05:52. > :05:55.of what is that tipping point that changes as you have said, and normal
:05:56. > :05:59.person into someone who is involved in the kinds of activities that we
:06:00. > :06:04.know Daesh has been involved in and we are very grateful to you for
:06:05. > :06:07.coming in today. If there is any other information that you want to
:06:08. > :06:14.help this committee with, please do write to us and we will welcome it.
:06:15. > :06:20.Thank you so much. Thank you. You are welcome to stay for the rest of
:06:21. > :06:29.the session. OK. Can I ask a question? Of course. In terms of...
:06:30. > :06:35.What I can do to help my brother, is there anything I can do? Well, there
:06:36. > :06:43.is nothing that this committee can suggest. But we will certainly be
:06:44. > :06:48.contacting, if it is helpful to you, the Home Office to see what support
:06:49. > :06:51.is on offer for the families of those who have been left in the way
:06:52. > :06:52.in which you and your mother have been.
:06:53. > :06:55.The crisis in UK steel-making means the Northern Powerhouse is actually
:06:56. > :06:57.more of a 'poorhouse', the claim of Labour's Dennis Skinner,
:06:58. > :07:00.as the problems in the industry were raised with the Chancellor.
:07:01. > :07:02.The monthly round of Treasury questions came on the day
:07:03. > :07:04.the International Monetary Fund downgraded its forecasts
:07:05. > :07:08.In the Commons, the Shadow Chancellor said just eight weeks ago
:07:09. > :07:21.George Osborne had promised 'an economic recovery for all'.
:07:22. > :07:27.Can I ask him on the day that the IMF has warned about the global
:07:28. > :07:31.economy and called for governments to increase their investment
:07:32. > :07:35.spending, just as we have on the side consistently called for, while
:07:36. > :07:38.the Chancellor reconsider his economic plan and investment plan
:07:39. > :07:42.think in particular? Biker gently suggest that he might want to
:07:43. > :07:46.changes own economic policy since in last week he has called for the
:07:47. > :07:49.return of flying pickets, he says he wants to ban companies paying
:07:50. > :07:58.dividends and he wants to spend billions of pounds on nuclear
:07:59. > :08:00.missile submarines without any nuclear missiles. And today he said
:08:01. > :08:03.he will tour the country with the former Greek Finance Minister, to
:08:04. > :08:06.educate us all about economic 's, I think the one thing they have in
:08:07. > :08:16.common is that they have both lost their marbles! John McDonnell. If
:08:17. > :08:22.the Chancellor will not reconsider his plans, can he at least
:08:23. > :08:26.appreciate how angry families of in South Wales are this morning?
:08:27. > :08:29.Knowing that when the bankers bonuses were threatened, immediately
:08:30. > :08:36.shot across to Brussels with lawyers to defend them. He would jump into a
:08:37. > :08:43.helicopter for a Tory fundraiser but it has taken him four months to lift
:08:44. > :08:51.a finger for a steelworker to save their jobs. It does it prove he is
:08:52. > :08:53.the bankers Chancellor? We want a successful financial services
:08:54. > :08:57.industry because hundreds of thousands of people across the
:08:58. > :09:01.country work in it. We also want as accessible manufacturing and steel
:09:02. > :09:04.industry and that is why we have taken action to reduce energy costs,
:09:05. > :09:08.something that had not happened previously and that comes into
:09:09. > :09:12.effect today. That is why we are taking action to change procurement
:09:13. > :09:16.rules so that the British Government and others are encouraged to buy
:09:17. > :09:22.British Steel, again something that never happened when the Labour Party
:09:23. > :09:28.was in office. Does the northern powerhouse occur in Redcar, where
:09:29. > :09:33.the steel industry has been closed because of him allowing the Chinese
:09:34. > :09:37.to dump steel? Are they talking about it in Scunthorpe where they
:09:38. > :09:42.have lost 1000 jobs, are they talking about it in Port Talbot
:09:43. > :09:47.where they are going to lose a lot more jobs? The truth is they do not
:09:48. > :09:51.talk about the northern powerhouse in the coalfields where the Tories
:09:52. > :10:03.have shot the last three pits, they call it the northern house! That is
:10:04. > :10:06.its real name! He seems to forget that the red car works first closed
:10:07. > :10:11.under the Labour government that he supported. It is also the case that
:10:12. > :10:16.during that government which he supported from that bench there, the
:10:17. > :10:20.number of steel jobs lost in this country was 30,000. We are doing
:10:21. > :10:22.everything we can to preserve the steel jobs that remain. George
:10:23. > :10:24.Osborne. Labour has failed in an attempt
:10:25. > :10:27.to reverse a Government decision to scrap maintenance grants
:10:28. > :10:29.for the poorest students in England In a Labour-led debate,
:10:30. > :10:32.ministers were warned that not enough consideration has
:10:33. > :10:34.been given to the impact From this autumn, means-tested
:10:35. > :10:38.grants are to be switched to loans The Government has said
:10:39. > :10:41.the change will mean extra As students protested
:10:42. > :10:44.outside the Commons, the shadow universities minister
:10:45. > :10:46.said the end of grants would leave them with debts of more
:10:47. > :11:07.than 50 thousand pounds. Scrapping maintenance grants will
:11:08. > :11:10.leave people struggling to go to university. People here today have
:11:11. > :11:16.talked about consequences, people will talk about their own
:11:17. > :11:19.experiences, I was a student of the open university and I know the
:11:20. > :11:23.experience of many of the students who I'd taught was that they had
:11:24. > :11:27.been put off higher education at an earlier age by the cost. What we
:11:28. > :11:32.have seen is an increase, what we have seen is an increase in the
:11:33. > :11:35.number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds going to
:11:36. > :11:36.university. His argument does not stack up.
:11:37. > :11:39.Mr Marsden rejected that and attacked the way the decision
:11:40. > :11:41.was taken in private - accusing ministers of
:11:42. > :11:50.So we have brought this debate today to hold them to account. Because
:11:51. > :11:53.this being such a major issue that the government have refused to bring
:11:54. > :11:56.the changes to the floor of the house themselves but preferred to
:11:57. > :12:02.stick them through delegated legislation work can be debated and
:12:03. > :12:08.voted on by only a handful of MPs. It is a scandal in 2013 that impact
:12:09. > :12:13.statement that the NUS strike out of the Ministry that confirms that this
:12:14. > :12:17.proportionately affects black and minority ethnic students, affects
:12:18. > :12:22.women and affects disabled students, does not merit a proper boat and
:12:23. > :12:26.debate in this house. The fact that the government had proceeded with
:12:27. > :12:30.this considering the importance of secondary legislation without the
:12:31. > :12:35.proper full debate is an absolute disgrace. For families who are
:12:36. > :12:39.living under the constant threat of debt for whom life is a continual
:12:40. > :12:48.battle to survive between meagre wage packets, the decision to take
:12:49. > :12:53.out a loan introducing further debt is extremely difficult and often it
:12:54. > :12:57.is one that they just cannot take. There has been a 36% increased in
:12:58. > :13:00.the number of the poorest background is going to university and the fact
:13:01. > :13:05.that we raise the level at which you had to pay back a student loan to
:13:06. > :13:08.?21,000, the fact that we have reduced the amount you would be
:13:09. > :13:11.paying back, the fact that you do not start paying interest on it
:13:12. > :13:25.until you leave university and the fact it has the time
:13:26. > :13:29.limit on it so that it gets written off after a period of time, all
:13:30. > :13:31.these things are key aspects in making sure that we get people to
:13:32. > :13:33.university and meet their potential. He is telling the house in clear
:13:34. > :13:36.terms, an explicit Conservative story of hard work, opportunity and
:13:37. > :13:40.meritocracy. In sharp contrast to the narrative opposite... The
:13:41. > :13:45.minister denied the change have been sneaked in. Rather than using some
:13:46. > :13:50.obscure procedure as honourable members have suggested, we are
:13:51. > :13:53.actually following the very parliamentary processes which the
:13:54. > :13:59.last Labour government created for this purpose. Labour asked for a
:14:00. > :14:04.debate on the regulations on the 9th of December, the government tabled a
:14:05. > :14:08.motion which appeared on the order paper on January the 5th, referring
:14:09. > :14:09.these regulations to delegated Legislation committee, Labour did
:14:10. > :14:20.not object. This is about social cleansing and
:14:21. > :14:26.keeping them out of university and it is wrong. Jeremy Corbyn said in
:14:27. > :14:33.July he should be removed completely with grants attendant Phil. This was
:14:34. > :14:37.costed by Labour at ?10 billion. These policies move us backwards,
:14:38. > :14:42.are unsustainable and at the conservative estimate would add ?40
:14:43. > :14:46.million to the deficit over a five-year Parliament. We should be
:14:47. > :14:50.clear about this would mean. More reckless borrowing, more taxes on
:14:51. > :14:53.hard-working people and the reintroduction, inevitably, student
:14:54. > :14:56.number controls. We have listed student number controls and we will
:14:57. > :14:58.not allow the Labour Party to reimpose a cap on young people's
:14:59. > :15:00.aspirations. You're watching our round-up
:15:01. > :15:02.of the day in the Commons Still to come: Peers voice fears
:15:03. > :15:12.about the dangers from drones. Blame for the current chaotic state
:15:13. > :15:15.of Libya lies with the long regime of Colonel Gaddafi, not with British
:15:16. > :15:18.intervention in the country - that was the claim at a committee
:15:19. > :15:22.hearing of William Hague, Gaddafi was removed as leader
:15:23. > :15:29.following the deployment of the RAF in the country - along
:15:30. > :15:31.with other Western forces - during the time Lord Hague
:15:32. > :15:36.was Foreign Secretary. But after Gaddafi was overthrown,
:15:37. > :15:39.Libya descended into violence and instability, with the formation
:15:40. > :15:41.of hundreds of militant groups. Lord Hague was facing questions
:15:42. > :15:53.from the Foreign Affairs committee. Did we really understand what was
:15:54. > :15:59.happening on the ground? Did we understand the extent to which
:16:00. > :16:02.Islamic extremists were on the rebels' site? Why did we not pick up
:16:03. > :16:06.on this more? It might have helped when it came to the lamentation,
:16:07. > :16:12.realising you are dealing with a fragmented situation. They
:16:13. > :16:17.themselves to and understand the situation. Cardinal Qaddafi and his
:16:18. > :16:29.intelligence had no idea what was about to happen. -- temp Gaddafi.
:16:30. > :16:36.They had no idea which was about to hit them. Should that not have been
:16:37. > :16:43.a lesson to us? That's going back to the broader question. Foreign policy
:16:44. > :16:50.and decisions are choice between unpalatable alternatives. You are
:16:51. > :16:55.taking a step into the unknown, there is no military action, very
:16:56. > :17:00.few in history have had a certain course once they are embarked on,
:17:01. > :17:04.but on the other hand as we discussed when I came to the
:17:05. > :17:14.committee before, we had to make a decision about what to do in the
:17:15. > :17:20.face of the threat to the area, and the state of intention of the
:17:21. > :17:25.Gaddafi Government. As Doctor Fox said, one of the lessons has got to
:17:26. > :17:30.be focusing on clearly defined, achievable objectives, and if we are
:17:31. > :17:33.saying we have no idea how it is going to turn out, that does
:17:34. > :17:52.question the initial intervention, surely. Now, I don't think it does.
:17:53. > :17:57.I have placed flowers at the Memorials because in each case, the
:17:58. > :18:00.world that nothing when thousands of people were being slaughtered.
:18:01. > :18:05.Hundreds of thousands. When you add in office facing the situation, that
:18:06. > :18:07.is what you have to think about, are you going to let that happen again?
:18:08. > :18:12.Members of the House of Lords have called for stricter controls
:18:13. > :18:14.on drones to prevent a possible terrorist attack.
:18:15. > :18:17.The Labour peer and former Security Minister Lord west said
:18:18. > :18:19.the dangers from unmanned aerial vehicles had been raised several
:18:20. > :18:21.years ago before the London Olympics.
:18:22. > :18:24.He said capable drones were easily available from supermarkets.
:18:25. > :18:31.The issue was raised during Lords Question Time.
:18:32. > :18:33.Colin Smith asserts that there are almost weekly incidents that
:18:34. > :18:35.endanger air passengers because drones fly into the path
:18:36. > :18:47.of aeroplanes, whether deliberately or by accident.
:18:48. > :18:50.What assessment have the Government made of this risk?
:18:51. > :18:53.Do they believe that we now urgently need to update the licensing
:18:54. > :19:02.and training processes relating to drones?
:19:03. > :19:06.We are aware of the advance of the technology.
:19:07. > :19:08.The Government are looking urgently at the issues involved.
:19:09. > :19:11.It would be a mistake to rush into legislation at this stage,
:19:12. > :19:16.but it is important to look at all the facts.
:19:17. > :19:18.We initially raised the issue of drones way back
:19:19. > :19:20.when we were preparing for the Olympics.
:19:21. > :19:25.There was great difficulty getting a cross-party group set up.
:19:26. > :19:30.Two years ago we were warning of the real risks from
:19:31. > :19:37.There are now highly capable drones that can carry a substantial weight,
:19:38. > :19:41.which you can buy for ?2,000 from a supermarket.
:19:42. > :19:44.They can also do intelligence-gathering.
:19:45. > :19:47.This is a very real risk and we need to move on it.
:19:48. > :19:50.Would the Minister not admit that we must really make something
:19:51. > :19:53.happen as soon as possible this year?
:19:54. > :19:57.Indeed, I think I have outlined exactly what we are doing.
:19:58. > :20:00.It is important that we look at the facts first and then come
:20:01. > :20:02.back with a full report by September, which is not
:20:03. > :20:05.However, we are not being complacent about the safety issues
:20:06. > :20:14.Last week, the World Health Organisation declared three
:20:15. > :20:18.countries of West Africa to be free of Ebola.
:20:19. > :20:21.The outbreak of the Ebola virus is reckoned to have led
:20:22. > :20:23.to the deaths of some 11,000 people in Africa.
:20:24. > :20:25.It's also had a major impact on West African economies,
:20:26. > :20:29.as borders have been closed and trade has declined.
:20:30. > :20:33.But within a few days of the WHO announcement,
:20:34. > :20:38.a 22-year-old female student was found to have died from Ebola.
:20:39. > :20:43.Her death has served as an illustration that Ebola can
:20:44. > :20:47.In the Commons, a Conservative MP said the recent death
:20:48. > :21:01.It is fair to say that the worst predictions during the previous
:21:02. > :21:08.outbreak did not materialise but across West Africa, more than 11,300
:21:09. > :21:13.people died between 2014 and 2015. Many more died of preventable
:21:14. > :21:23.diseases which a bird and health care system was unable to cope with
:21:24. > :21:26.-- burdened. We should deal with this latest outbreak and deal with
:21:27. > :21:28.resilience in the health care system to deal with the disease which may
:21:29. > :21:37.now be endemic in the region. We may all have expected that having
:21:38. > :21:40.gotten over the maximum period of their outbreak that there would be
:21:41. > :21:47.sporadic cases that would continue to appear. That is the phase we are
:21:48. > :21:52.now in. Getting on top of those, as he says, is the way in which we will
:21:53. > :21:55.get to this resiliency and all be more confident that we won't see any
:21:56. > :22:01.future cases coming up. We've worked with the Government of Sierra Leone
:22:02. > :22:04.to work with their health systems and strengthen society including
:22:05. > :22:09.civil society to allow them to be prepared and we continue to stand by
:22:10. > :22:13.ACLU on cars as we have always made clear, there is always the potential
:22:14. > :22:19.for further cases and that is why a response note is made on assisting
:22:20. > :22:21.Sierra Leone and isolating new cases of Ebola before they spread.
:22:22. > :22:24.I am a Member of the House with a Sierra Leonean mother,
:22:25. > :22:26.so will the Secretary of State assure the House,
:22:27. > :22:29.my family and the wider Sierra Leonean diaspora that support
:22:30. > :22:31.for Sierra Leone will continue until local facilities are able
:22:32. > :22:38.to withstand further health difficulties such as this?
:22:39. > :22:40.Will she also assure the House that our future economic
:22:41. > :22:42.and diplomatic relationship with Sierra Leone will not be
:22:43. > :22:45.defined by this darkest period in the history of such
:22:46. > :22:50.We have to learn the lessons, however.
:22:51. > :22:57.On many occasions, I had deep reservations about the effectiveness
:22:58. > :23:00.This is a time to reflect on whether the WHO is
:23:01. > :23:08.If it is not, the UK should try to do something about it.
:23:09. > :23:12.The Conservative MP Jo Churchill, who's fought cancer twice,
:23:13. > :23:15.has again pleaded for a secure future for the Cancer Drugs Fund,
:23:16. > :23:18.which pays for non-NHS approved drugs that can improve the quality
:23:19. > :23:24.The ?200 million-a-year fund was set up six years ago
:23:25. > :23:30.to help patients who've being denied life-extending drugs,
:23:31. > :23:34.because of decisions taken by the drugs approval body, Nice.
:23:35. > :23:41.But set up as a stop-gap measure, the fund's future is uncertain.
:23:42. > :23:44.MPs have been debating the CDF in Westminster Hall.
:23:45. > :23:46.In the world of pharmaceuticals and, more importantly, genomics,
:23:47. > :23:53.We need a space where we can trial medicines for use not only in big
:23:54. > :23:56.cohorts, but for rarer cancers and diseases.
:23:57. > :23:58.We need a landscape that will allow for the personalised medicine
:23:59. > :24:03.that is coming down the tracks to us.
:24:04. > :24:12.I have been diagnosed with cancer and pre-cancerous
:24:13. > :24:16.That is why I challenge the Minister on behalf of other cancer patients
:24:17. > :24:21.and my constituents in need, to ensure that the CDF delivers
:24:22. > :24:30.reforms that will improve patient access to effective cancer medicine.
:24:31. > :24:33.There are many who believe that, wherever they live and whatever
:24:34. > :24:38.their age, cancer patients - and there many different types
:24:39. > :24:42.of cancers - should be able to access clinically effective,
:24:43. > :24:44.evidence-based treatments in a fair, consistent, timely and transparent
:24:45. > :24:57.Clearly, when the average survival rate is between two and six months,
:24:58. > :25:00.even an extra two months' survival gain represents a relatively large
:25:01. > :25:07.amount of time for patients to spend with their loved ones,
:25:08. > :25:21.and the value of that was indicated earlier.
:25:22. > :25:34.After Nice have said no, NHS England have the funds to buy drugs that
:25:35. > :25:37.Nice have said no to, and there is a commitment to an assessment funds to
:25:38. > :25:38.look at these drugs that are coming into the stream earlier in the
:25:39. > :25:45.Do join me for our next daily round-up.
:25:46. > :25:49.Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.