02/02/2016 Tuesday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Tuesday in Parliament.

As Brussels sets out its first draft of a revised

relationship between the UK and the EU,

Labour MPs ask why David Caleron hasn't come to the Commons to tell

A development minister says the risk to the UK from the Zika virts

What exactly does the Enterprise Bill do?

The Enterprise Bill will strengthen the UK's position as one of the best

places in the world to start and grow a business.

We have a hugely ambitious title hiding a collection

of worthy but minor and underwhelming measures.

But first, proposed changes to Britain's relationship

with the EU have been published in Brussels.

Meanwhile, in a speech in Whltshire, David Cameron said there had been

"real progress" on things like restricting benefits to EU

migrant workers - but furthdr negotiations are needed.

Critics say the plans won't make much difference ,

and don't match the Prime Minister's original demands.

In the Commons, the Europe Linister was asked why Mr Cameron hadn't come

to tell MPs about the proposals first.

David Lidington said the PM planned to make a statement in the House

My right honourable friend the Prime Minister will offdr

an oral statement tomorrow following Prime

Minister's Questions to allow members of the House to question him

having first had a chance to digest the detail of the papers...

of the papers that have been issued within the last hour.

The government has been clear throughout that it

cannot provide a running colmentary on the renegotiation.

But I am able to say that much progress has been made

in recent days and it appears a deal is within sight.

The publication of the text by President Tusk

this morning is another step in that process,

but I would stress to the House that there is still a lot

If the texts tabled today are agreed by all member

states, they will deliver significant reforms in each

of the four areas of greatest concern to

Economic governance, competitiveness,

On sovereignty, the text shows significant advances

towards securing a United Kingdom carve-out

On the relations between thd euro ins and outs, the document

is a first step towards significant safeguards for

countries outside the euro zone as euro members integrate ftrther.

On competitiveness, we are seeing a greater commitment by the entire

union to completing the single market to trade and cutting

job-destroying regulations on business.

And on free movement, there are important ideas

in President Tusk's draft for reducing the pull

factor of our welfare systel and on action to address thd abuse

The minister says the Prime Minister does not wish to give a running

commentary on the negotiations, that is exactly what he is doing!

He has gone to a selected atdience in Chippenham this morning to give

a commentary on the negotiations but cannot come here to report

If he has an unbreakable commitment in Chippenham,

and it is a wonderful town, and I hope he enjoys his visit

there, he could get back to London in about an hour by train and give

The truth of the matter, Mr Speaker, is that this whole process,

conducted by the Prime Minister is not about engaging

with Parliament, is not engaging about the necessarx

questioning by MPs, it is about managing the problems

within the Conservative Party about this.

The big questions about rem`ining in the EU are far bigger

than his negotiations and they need full

However, Mr Speaker, we know there are important

elections in May to the Scottish Parliament,

to the Welsh National Assembly, to the

Northern Irish assembly and for the London Mayor

It simply cannot be right to have these elections and a referdndum

campaign clash with a June polling date on remaining

How can the Minister justify this pint sized

package as a fundamental change in the relationship

between the United Kingdom and the European Union with real

which represents the voters to which he himself

I welcome the publication of these draft proposals but given that

Britain's membership of the European Union

is about our continued economic prosperity,

about whether we are going to protect our security

in these troubled times, or whether we are an averagd looking

About whether we are an outward looking

or insular country, isn't it just bizarre the Prime Minister claims

that this massive decision is down to such

But if he is successful in getting those demands are met,

will you politely ignore the call from UKIP

and the SNP to delay the referendum job this summer because this

will destabilise our economy further?

Those of us who believe Britain s future is better in Europe

still want an ongoing process of reform

Indeed, to tackle the democratic deficit.

So, if democracy is a genuine priority

for the government, will yot join me in calling for more powers

for the European Parliament whose members

are elected directly and proportionally so that the most

democratic institution of all of them in the EU gets

greater powers of the commission, the Council and indeed the central

The Zika virus has been declared a global health emergency.

But MPs have been told the risk to the UK is "extremely low".

It has been linked to thous`nds of babies in Brazil being born

with under-developed heads and brains.

Now the World Health Organisation is warning it could spread.

Labour wanted to know what action the government

The Minister will be aware that

In Brazil alone, in the past four months, they have recorded lore

than 4,000 cases of microcephaly, babies

They must also be aware that the Olympics

is in less than 200 days and more than 1 million tourists are expected

Does the Minister agree that research is a high

We urgently need proof of a causative link between the Zika

infection and microcephaly `nd then to know how the virus damagds

These developing countries will need support if those women

with thousands of deformed babies are going to be able

And does the Minister also agree that

diagnostics, anti-viral drugs and above all,

Well, I entirely agree with the honourable lady th`t

This is a disease that we pdrhaps don't know enough about,

particularly in relation to the links to microcephalx

and other consequences that she alludes to.

And the UK stands ready to play a full part in upgrading our

knowledge and specifically, we just recently

announced a ?400,000 Newton fund Zika research project

between Glasgow University and an organisation in Pern`mbuco.

We are at the hotspot of the outbreak and scientists

from the London school of hygiene and

tropical medicine arrived in Recife last weekend and we are currently

to the UK populating remained "extremely low"

but MPs wondered about those travelling abroad.

I wonder if the honourable gentleman can

explain any assessment that the government has madd

of threats in other parts of the world.

now talking about international response, as he anything to add

about any precautions British travellers ought to make

if going to other parts of the world where

mosquitoes are present, such as Africa or Asia.

Well, I thank my honourable friend for

raising that, because I know there would be a concern

for many of her constituents and mine.

And what I would suggest to her is to

entreat her constituency to consistently access the Foreign

Office travel advice for the countries and territories

where there is an ongoing ottbreak of the virus and directing

travellers to the advice is viewed by the National

the advice issued by the National travel health network.

That advice is constantly updated and it can be

We welcome the statement from the Minister and

would echo that there isn't a direct threat to people here in Brhtain.

I would have thought that the biggest

threat is actually spectators and competitors returning

from the real Olympics back to other hot countries

such as sub Saharan or North Africa and therefore do not need to support

having a massive campaign bdfore the Olympics to reduce the burden

Because if it travels and these people are not

identifiable, not testable, they don't even know

they are unwell, we could end up with this establishing

in north Africa where many pregnant women go on holiday,

or southern Europe, where many pregnant women

Well, I thank the honourabld lady for an extremely potent point

and I have a huge amount of empathy with it, not

least, having ministerial responsibility for sub Saharan

To reassure her, Public Health England have been in contact

with the International Olympic Committee regarding travel `dvice

for the Olympics in Rio and that organising committee is working

with the Ministry of health in Brazil to

develop travel advice for Olympic visitors and they are currently

looking at all the potential risks and will circulate guidance.

International Development Minister, Nick Hurd.

You're watching Tuesday in Parliament, here on BBC

Parliament, with me, Alicia McCarthy.

Terror groups, including so-called Islamic State,

are distributing their prop`ganda and gathering support

MPs think that the big firms - Google, Facebook and Twitter -

aren't doing enough to comb`t terrorism on the internet.

have been questioned by the Home Affairs Committee.

They insisted that they werd working hard to drive terror groups

off the net, but admitted there was more to do.

Daesh are probably mounting the most successful campaign

for an evil regime since Godbbels and the Nazis in the 1930s.

They are using your platforms to do it.

your companies have some of the top tech brains in the world,

and you are some of the most profitable companies in the world.

became the most valuable colpany in the world.

So are you seriously telling this committee that,

with all that expertise and with all the power your companies have,

that you cannot do more in the fight against Daesh?

I think it's always possible to do more.

there was a limit to Google's capabilities.

We do want to be humble about what we are able to do.

We can't solve all of the world's problems,

but if we can make sure our platform is a hostile place for extrdmism,

then we are committed to doing so and we are commhtted

to working with the other platforms who are not here today,

to make sure that they have the same skills.

I reject what you are suggesting that Daesh

are being a success because of our platforms.

We are one of the main weapons, we worked very hard to disrtpt

what they do in partnership with other organisations

And we will continue to strive to do better.

but I reject the suggestion that we don't care about thd issue.

Because I'm sure you could do more, but you may have reasons

in principle or cost for not doing more.

Numerous academics have looked at this question

of automating an algorithm to find this content

and particularly dealing with text and language,

and I think that is a distant hope for the future.

It is incredibly difficult to do now.

And actually, speaking on doing more, I think,

as we we heard, we will look to do more.

JM Berger, who is with the George Washington University

programme on extremism, again, these are the people

to validate our efforts and I think he published a report last Larch

that said that the IS-supporting social network on Twitter

has been significantly constrained by the suspension campaign.

I think it is possible to measure success

but we're not the people to be the auditors, if you like.

Surely, the quickest way is to reduce the threshold

of what levels of abuse people can post on your website?

Just looking at your community guidelines.

that means having more than 100 people monitoring,

or whatever numbers that you have,

And that is going to eat into your profits.

I'm worried that you're going to come back

and talk about freedom of expression,

but surely we are talking about safety and community.

And I follow my colleagues' concerns that this is more

about making money than makhng sure your platforms are a safe space

Can you give us a quick answer to that?

Our community guidelines go way beyond the law of the UK

or indeed any other country that I am aware of

So there is speech which is allowed not only in this place,

that we don't allow in our community,

because we think it is not part of respectful dialogue.

I will simply say that I don't think those two things are in tension

The profitability of our pl`tforms is absolutely based on therd

Safety is something that we see as being a core part of our business

and we constantly refine our policies to make sure

and give people greater clarity about, as Simon says,

content that we believe is unacceptable.

Do you feel hunted by Parli`ment over this issue?

Or do you understand why, three years

after we published a report on this committee, we are still concerned

about the fact that the Intdrnet companies are not doing enotgh,

as has been expressed from the questions put by mdmbers

of this committee, to deal with Daesh

and to deal with those who try to propagate terrorhsm?

to feeling hunted but said they understood

The Justice Secretary, Mich`el Gove, has faced rigorous questionhng

over the Government's proposals for a new British Bill of Rhghts.

It would replace the Human Rights Act, or HR@,

which Tony Blair's government introduced 17 years ago

to bring Europe's Convention of Human Rights into UK law.

But the HRA has been accused by some of fuelling the so-called

"compensation culture" and giving too much power to judges.

When Mr Gove came before a committee of peers, he admitted that the term

"human rights" had got itself a bad reputation.

through its courts and its parliament,

determined to play a leading role in the protection of rights,

nevertheless human rights h`ve and it's a source of regret to us -

with unmeritorious individu`ls pursuing claims through the courts,

which don't command public support or sympathy.

More troublingly, human rights are seen as something

that are "done" to British courts and the British people

rather than being something which we originally championed

Bringing in a British Bill of Rights, in any circumstance

where there was any kind of contradiction

or conflict with the European Union Charter

with regard to our relationship with the European Union,

the precedence would be givdn to the European Charter

It would trump the British Bill of Rights by the very fact that

being part of the European Tnion means that European Union l`w

and in this area with regard to rights,

It is a bald statement of what everyone understands by the law

And the committee touched on how a British Bill of Rights

would be accepted by the devolved nations of the UK.

Your description is, all the same rights will be there,

and that there will be a gloss essentially put on things,

and you wouldn't accept that it was involving diluthon,

or any of the words that my colleagues have said.

And I'm tempted just to say to you a song from Guys Dolls -

"Sit down, sit down, sit down, you're rocking the boat."

Because it feels like the swaggering of centralised power,

telling the devolved nations that they need this

when the changes are of such a minimal kind.

Taking up your challenge from Guys Dolls...

I'm just going to say, far from being swaggering,

the approach of Her Majesty's Government is nicely, nicelx.

The Justice Secretary Michadl Gove in the role of Mr Nice Guy.

MPs have begun debate on the Enterprise Bill.

The legislation has already passed through the house of Lords.

The Business Secretary told MPs what it would do.

The Enterprise Bill will strengthen the UK's position as one

of the best places in the world to start and grow a business.

It will cut red tape that too often strangles growth.

It will support investment in skills that British businesses

need to be competitive, now and in the future,

and it will help deliver the economic growth and sectrity

that benefits every single one of us in this country.

He said the Bill would end the "Whitehall knows best approach"

to the regulation of Sunday shopping.

We will introduce amendments in this Bill to allow local authorities

to decide whether to extend hours in their areas.

Central government will not be dictating how to use this power

The decision will be entirely local, affecting the local preferences

shopping habits and economic conditions.

If the people of Bromsgrove or Barking say they want to see

who are we, here in Westminster to stand in their way?

According to the Government, the Bill before us

is meant to be about creating an open, enterprising econoly.

Transforming Britain's business culture,

it is supposed to reward entrepreneurship,

generate jobs and higher wages for all,

give people opportunities at every stage of their livds.

In the Other Place, Baroness Brady even said,

and I'm quoting, it was an exciting attempt

Well, all I can say is that she gets very excited pretty easily.

Madame Deputy Speaker, we have before us a Bill

which is been variously described in the Other Place

as a curate's egg, a hodgepodge of minor measures,

a legislative herbaceous border a dog's breakfast,

and even a big legal pudding, made up of all sorts of ingredients.

And that was someone who was supporting the Bill,

We have a hugely ambitious title hiding

a collection of worthy but linor and underwhelming measures,

which it is hard for anyone to be opposed to in principle.

Angela Eagle, with a rather different view

the Enterprise Bill has been through the House of Lords `lready.

peers called on the Governmdnt to toughen it up

further as it continues its passage through the Commons.

At the end of January, the supermarket ombudsman -

the Grocery Code Adjudicator - said Tesco had seriously brdached

"knowingly delayed paying money to suppliers

in order to improve its own financial position".

Opposition peers thought it just wasn't good enough.

My Lords, the Grocery Code Adjudicator's report

definitively establishes th`t Tesco has been in breach in all tdn

of the undertakings required of members of the Prompt Payment Code.

The Enterprise Bill, my Lords, is still in the Other Place.

So, my Lords, would it not be sensible for the Government

to bring forward an amendment to that which would make

backed by significant penalties for those who are unable to meet it?

My Lords, as the noble lord is aware,

as he took a leading role in the Enterprise Bill

in your Lordships' house, the Groceries Code Adjudicator

does have weapons in being `ble to now fine companies

Which, my Lords, is a considerable amount of money.

My Lords, the Government does welcome the findings

of the first investigation by the GCA.

The report highlights that we still have some way

to create a responsible payment culture in the UK.

The Government remains committed to tackling

the poor payment practices that hinder our small busindsses.

This report today lifts the lid on the abuse

suffered by suppliers at the hands of Tesco and,

on late payments, the Liber`l Democrats urged the Governmdnt

to impose statutory fines for repeated offenders

which has been alluded to by Labour earlier.

The Government refused and the Business Commissiondr,

who the Minister has already mentioned,

has barely any powers to tackle this scourge.

So, in the light of this report today,

if the Government does not want to be perceived

as having a deferential atthtude towards big business,

My Lords, I can't answer for part of what

but, basically, the whole issue here is for companies

to treat their suppliers, to cut down on late payments.

We're not, and the noble Baroness is quite right,

going to be imposing sanctions as she described.

And, talking of shopping, shampoo, shoes, and razors

are just a few of the items that women apparently pay more for.

It's been dubbed by some as "the pink tax"

and, following a recent investigation

by the Times newspaper, one Labour MP had examples.

Tesco appears to be charging double the price for ten disposabld razors,

In fact, standard razors for women tend to cost on average a htge 9%

At Argos, identical children's scooters were ?5 more expensive

And Bic sells a range of "for her" ballpoint pens

that are more expensive than its ordinary range,

even though the products are almost entirely identic`l.

this price differential could add up to a significant sum -

and she pointed to research in the US.

studied the issue of gender,based pricing of services,

and estimated that women effectively paid

an average gender tax of approximately $1,351

Helpfully, my office has bedn contacted by a number of retailers

in the last few hours to discuss these matters.

And, as my right honourable friend,

the honourable lady for Basingstoke,

correctly pointed out and indeed a number of others have,

Boots have today corrected the price of disposable razors

So we will be paying the same price in future.

It seems that the power of the female consumer,

the female voice, once brought to the attention

like this, once brought to the public debate,

And that is something we, of course, encourage

and we would encourage other retailers to take note.

The Equalities Minister, Caroline Dinenage.

And that's it for now, thanks for watching.

Do join me again at the samd time tomorrow for another round-tp

of the best of the day here at Westminster,

including Prime Minister's Puestions and that expected statement

from David Cameron on his EU renegotiations.