:00:00. > :00:13.Now on BBC News, it's time for Tuesday in Parliament.
:00:14. > :00:15.Hello and welcome to Tuesday in Parliament,
:00:16. > :00:19.our look at the best of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:20. > :00:20.On this programme: Reaction at Westminster to
:00:21. > :00:29.We're doing everything that we can to help the Belgian authorities to
:00:30. > :00:31.work with our international partners, and of course to keep
:00:32. > :00:35.The Chancellor says he's sorry that Iain Duncan Smith resigned
:00:36. > :00:45.The Shadow Chancellor derides his opposite number.
:00:46. > :00:48.The behaviour of the Chancellor over the last 11
:00:49. > :00:52.days calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds.
:00:53. > :00:56.And an MP protests about the refusal of the owner of Sports Direct to
:00:57. > :01:01.Yesterday Mr Ashley indicated to the press, although not to the
:01:02. > :01:08.committee, that he has no current intention to attend the committee.
:01:09. > :01:10.But first, it was shortly after 7 o'clock
:01:11. > :01:13.in the morning when the terrorists struck in the Belgian capital.
:01:14. > :01:15.Two explosions at Brussels International Airport were
:01:16. > :01:18.followed one hour later by a blast at a metro station close
:01:19. > :01:23.Emergency services were soon at the scene.
:01:24. > :01:32.So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attacks.
:01:33. > :01:35.Later in the day, the death toll was put at more than 30.
:01:36. > :01:38.Belgium raised its terrorism alert to its highest level.
:01:39. > :01:41.The Belgian Prime Minister called the attacks "blind,
:01:42. > :01:46.At Westminster, at the Home Affairs Committee, the Home Secretary called
:01:47. > :01:53.We don't yet know the full details of these attacks, and the situation
:01:54. > :01:58.in Belgium as I'm sure members will recognise is fast moving.
:01:59. > :02:01.The Prime Minister earlier spoke to Prime Minister Michel of Belgium,
:02:02. > :02:06.and I've offered support to my counterpart, Jan Jambon.
:02:07. > :02:09.And we stand together against the terrorists, and they will not win.
:02:10. > :02:11.We already work closely with the Belgian authorities on security
:02:12. > :02:13.matters, we share intelligence routinely, and after the November
:02:14. > :02:18.attacks in Paris we deployed police and intelligence service resources
:02:19. > :02:21.to Belgium in support of the investigations into the
:02:22. > :02:28.attackers, which last week resulted in the arrest of Salah Abdeslam.
:02:29. > :02:31.In the UK, the threat level remains under constant review by the
:02:32. > :02:33.Independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, but has not changed.
:02:34. > :02:37.It is currently set at severe, which means that an attack is highly
:02:38. > :02:50.likely, and I would urge everyone to remain alert, but not alarmed.
:02:51. > :02:54.And so I'd like to reassure this committee and the public that while
:02:55. > :02:57.we will know more in the coming days and hours, we're doing everything we
:02:58. > :03:00.can to help the Belgian authorities to work with our international
:03:01. > :03:02.partners, and of course to keep people
:03:03. > :03:05.And there was also reaction in the Commons.
:03:06. > :03:07.Reaction to the terror attacks in Brussels.
:03:08. > :03:10.The Chancellor George Osborne has told the Commons he's sorry that
:03:11. > :03:13.Iain Duncan Smith quit the Cabinet at the end of last week.
:03:14. > :03:16.The resignation of Mr Duncan Smith from his job as Work and Pensions
:03:17. > :03:18.Secretary, over the original Budget plans for cuts in disability
:03:19. > :03:28.benefits, has created a classic Westminster political storm.
:03:29. > :03:30.There'd been much speculation about differences of opinion between
:03:31. > :03:34.George Osborne, noticeably absent from the Commons on Monday, was back
:03:35. > :03:38.in his place for the conclusion of the four-day debate on the Budget.
:03:39. > :03:40.He started by putting his speech into historical context.
:03:41. > :03:43.This is the first time in 20 years that a Chancellor has
:03:44. > :03:47.spoken on the last day of the Budget debate, and I think it is fair to
:03:48. > :03:50.say that we have had a livelier debate about this Budget than many.
:03:51. > :03:53.But let us be clear: the key principles behind this Budget are
:03:54. > :03:56.that if we are going to deliver a strong and compassionate society for
:03:57. > :04:00.the next generation, we have to live within our means, we have to back
:04:01. > :04:03.business to create jobs, and we have to make sure work pays
:04:04. > :04:13.by putting more money into the pockets of working people.
:04:14. > :04:15.On the resignation of my right honourable friend the Member
:04:16. > :04:19.I am sorry that my right honourable friend chose to
:04:20. > :04:22.Let me here, in this House, recognise his achievements
:04:23. > :04:24.in helping to make work pay, protecting the vulnerable
:04:25. > :04:29.and breaking the decades-old cycle of welfare dependency.
:04:30. > :04:31.Together, we had to confront a huge deficit
:04:32. > :04:39.And of course, there is always robust discussion between the
:04:40. > :04:40.Treasury and the spending departments
:04:41. > :04:49.The decisions we made to keep our economy secure are always
:04:50. > :04:52.difficult, and where we do not get them right, I have always been
:04:53. > :04:57.But I am very proud that my right honourable friend and I
:04:58. > :05:00.worked together longer than any two people doing our jobs before us
:05:01. > :05:08.It's less than a week since he stood up to deliver
:05:09. > :05:10.the Budget and made that decision affecting disability independence
:05:11. > :05:12.payments - something that upset many hundreds of thousands
:05:13. > :05:19.He has made a welcome U-turn, but shouldn't he now acknowledge
:05:20. > :05:25.that that decision was a mistake that he should say sorry for?
:05:26. > :05:27.I am going to come on to speak about the disability benefits
:05:28. > :05:30.and our way forward, but I have made it very clear-I have
:05:31. > :05:34.just said it-that where we have made a mistake, where we have got things
:05:35. > :05:41.But where is the apology from the Labour Party
:05:42. > :05:48.Would he agree with me that the one thing that is more dangerous
:05:49. > :05:51.for our economy than him remaining Chancellor is that we might leave
:05:52. > :05:54.the European Union; and that him being called out by his former
:05:55. > :05:57.colleague as acting not in the economic interests of the country,
:05:58. > :06:00.but in a short-term political way, brings a risk that the referendum
:06:01. > :06:11.will be a referendum on him, and not on the future of our role in Europe?
:06:12. > :06:16.Will he act in the national interest and resign?
:06:17. > :06:19.The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said yesterday, in his
:06:20. > :06:22.first statement, that the Government would not be making any further cuts
:06:23. > :06:26.to welfare during this Parliament, but later on he said that there were
:06:27. > :06:30."no plans" to make further cuts to welfare during this Parliament.
:06:31. > :06:33.Can the Chancellor now confirm, for the sake of disabled people
:06:34. > :06:36.and others, that there will be no further cuts to the welfare budget
:06:37. > :06:46.Well, my right honourable friend said yesterday what
:06:47. > :06:50.It was very clear that while the reforms proposed to
:06:51. > :06:52.personal independence payments two weeks ago drew on the work
:06:53. > :07:02.of an independent review, they did not command support.
:07:03. > :07:05.We have listened, and they will not go ahead.
:07:06. > :07:07.And even if they had, this Government is spending more
:07:08. > :07:10.on disabled people than the last Labour Government ever did.
:07:11. > :07:12.If it has been relatively simple to absorb this change,
:07:13. > :07:15.why on earth did the Chancellor introduce it in the first place, and
:07:16. > :07:20.frighten the life out of seriously disabled people in this country?
:07:21. > :07:22.People are terrified about what was being proposed, and
:07:23. > :07:25.you've just said that we can absorb this change easily - why didn't you
:07:26. > :07:29.If we take no decisions to control welfare spending
:07:30. > :07:31.and public expenditure, you destroy the nation's finances and
:07:32. > :07:38.the people who suffer are precisely the most vulnerable in society.
:07:39. > :07:42.So yes, we have taken difficult decisions, but where we have not got
:07:43. > :07:47.them right we have listened and we have learned.
:07:48. > :07:51.Let me make it clear from the outset that, in my view, and I believe the
:07:52. > :07:54.view of many others, the behaviour of the Chancellor over the last 11
:07:55. > :08:10.days calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds.
:08:11. > :08:15.I also believe it certainly calls into question his fitness for any
:08:16. > :08:34.What we have seen What we have seen is not the actions of a Chancellor,
:08:35. > :08:36.a senior Government Minister, but the grubby,
:08:37. > :08:50.incompetent manipulations of a political chancer.
:08:51. > :08:54.A Tory MP recalled a past remark of Mr McDonnell's that IRA members
:08:55. > :08:56.The honourable member has called into question the morality
:08:57. > :08:59.of the leadership of my right honourable friend the Chancellor.
:09:00. > :09:02.Would he please discuss with this House the morality that allows HIM
:09:03. > :09:05.to stand with bombers who murdered my friends in Northern Ireland -
:09:06. > :09:12.After it became clear that the cuts to personal independence
:09:13. > :09:16.payments were planned as a way to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, it
:09:17. > :09:19.was my honourable friend the leader of the Labour Party who made it a
:09:20. > :09:27.key part of his excellent response to the Budget last week.
:09:28. > :09:30.The Chancellor sent out his large team of spin doctors to try to lay
:09:31. > :09:33.the blame on the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,
:09:34. > :10:17.the right honourable member for Chingford and Woodford Green.
:10:18. > :10:47.We should not be running a deficit of this percentage of GDP,
:10:48. > :10:49.and piling up more debt for our successors.
:10:50. > :10:52.So my only doubts are, whether this pause is totally justified - I
:10:53. > :10:56.accept it probably was - certainly we've got to resume things, and I
:10:57. > :10:59.listened to a Shadow Chancellor who plainly hasn't got an idea in his
:11:00. > :11:02.head about how he would save any money, how he would do anything
:11:03. > :11:04.other than continue spending and borrowing...
:11:05. > :11:04.Totally profligate stuff.
:11:05. > :11:08.The Budget figures that we have been presented with in the Red Book, and
:11:09. > :11:10.with the OBR's independent analysis, suggest that business investment
:11:11. > :11:14.will have to be double the level of its historical average, now at the
:11:15. > :11:16.moment, when the global economy's slowing, in order for the Budget
:11:17. > :11:24.A lesser man would have gone off into a cave and stayed there. Not
:11:25. > :11:29.this man. He went out there and did all he could and has done for the
:11:30. > :11:33.poorest in our society, and I commend him for it.
:11:34. > :11:36.And at the end of the debate, a series of Budget resolutions won
:11:37. > :11:40.You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:11:41. > :11:43.Still to come: Peers voice some strong opinions about the proposals
:11:44. > :11:48.Claims that the chief executive of the NHS was persuaded to ask for
:11:49. > :11:52.less money than the service needed have been dismissed in the Commons.
:11:53. > :11:56.At the weekend, the former coalition minister, the Lib Dem David Laws,
:11:57. > :11:59.claimed that Simon Stevens asked for ?30 billion for the service
:12:00. > :12:05.Half of that would come from efficiency savings,
:12:06. > :12:10.But Mr Laws said Mr Stevens was persuaded to ask
:12:11. > :12:58.The matter was raised at Health Question time in the Commons.
:12:59. > :13:09.What you are describing is ?10 billion a year, more than used it on
:13:10. > :13:14.at the last election. The Health Secretary may talk a good game when
:13:15. > :13:18.it comes to funding, but the funding to GP surgeries tells a very
:13:19. > :13:23.different story. The entire system is on its knees, and the revelation
:13:24. > :13:28.of the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury this week and confirmed
:13:29. > :13:33.what everybody in the NHS already knew. ?22 billion worth of
:13:34. > :13:40.efficiency savings over the next four years is pure fantasy. In the
:13:41. > :13:44.interests of transparency, will the Health Secretary published a full
:13:45. > :13:51.analysis explaining how NHS England arrived at the figure of 22 billion?
:13:52. > :13:58.Let's look at what the Chief Executive actually said, not what he
:13:59. > :14:04.is alleged to have done. He said that when it came to the spending
:14:05. > :14:08.review, the government actively supported the NHS case for spending
:14:09. > :14:13.and that he could kickstart his plan for the NHS. It is rather academic,
:14:14. > :14:18.because Labour refused to fund his plan at all. It goes to show that
:14:19. > :14:19.when it comes to the NHS, Labour Right the speeches, conservatives
:14:20. > :14:41.write the cheques. But Mr Laws said Mr Stevens was
:14:42. > :15:12.persuaded to ask That means we need to find ?22
:15:13. > :15:18.million of efficiency savings. I want to reassure him that I meet the
:15:19. > :15:21.chief executive to review the plan every week and we are determined to
:15:22. > :15:59.make sure we roll it out as quickly as possible. Do I take it that the
:16:00. > :16:05.word inadvertently has been inserted? Yes. She may have
:16:06. > :16:12.inadvertently not been listening previous answers that I gave, and
:16:13. > :16:18.let's look at what Simon Stevens, the CEO of the NHS, said about the
:16:19. > :16:22.spending settlement. He said that the government listened to and
:16:23. > :16:24.actively supported the case for public spending.
:16:25. > :16:26.Members of the House of Lords have raised concerns over
:16:27. > :16:29.Last week, the Chancellor announced plans
:16:30. > :16:32.for all schools to become academies, no longer needing to include
:16:33. > :16:57.Contribution be made by parents whether they want them or not, and
:16:58. > :17:02.getting rid of parent governments. The contribution will be a massive
:17:03. > :17:07.efficiency saving as schools working together in groups collaborating in
:17:08. > :17:12.groups will have a much higher calibre of financial people, and we
:17:13. > :17:16.are not getting rid of parent governors, we are saying that you
:17:17. > :17:21.don't have to have parents, you can have as many parent governors as you
:17:22. > :17:25.need, and we will also be ensuring that schools engage with their
:17:26. > :17:32.parents on a much more consistent and effective basis than having the
:17:33. > :17:37.odd parent if they want it. Surely all schools can benefit from having
:17:38. > :17:44.parent governors, and would he be a little more encouraging than he has
:17:45. > :17:47.been on that subject? I entirely agree that all schools can benefit
:17:48. > :17:51.from that, but we are trying very hard to focus governments on skills
:17:52. > :17:52.so people must have the relevant skills, but they may represent all
:17:53. > :17:56.sorts of different parents. A Labour peer probed the plan to
:17:57. > :17:59.create a national funding formula. Currently local authorities
:18:00. > :18:09.decide how the money is spent. The national funding formula is
:18:10. > :18:12.another example of the government's centralist mindset. It is not the
:18:13. > :18:20.latest, because since this was announced we have always done that
:18:21. > :18:25.also had the white paper. The ability to have any say over the
:18:26. > :18:31.distribution of funding in their local area. Can the honourable
:18:32. > :18:37.member say why he believes that that is the case? The simple fact is that
:18:38. > :18:43.we inherited a funding formula from the Labour government that was
:18:44. > :18:50.incomprehensible and confusing, and it got progressively more compared,
:18:51. > :18:54.so we have to simplify it. Following the Chancellor's announcement of an
:18:55. > :18:58.additional 500 million to support the introduction of a national
:18:59. > :19:03.funding formula, can he give any indication of how quickly therefore
:19:04. > :19:07.the transition from the present situation to meeting the target
:19:08. > :19:13.allocations in each part of the country may be achieved? We do want
:19:14. > :19:16.areas that appear to be underfunded, and I'm aware that is
:19:17. > :19:21.the case in Cambridge, to improve their funding as quickly as
:19:22. > :19:27.possible, and we want to move at a pace that is manageable for all
:19:28. > :19:33.schools. Can the noble lord the minister say how in five years when
:19:34. > :19:39.we look back and see how this has been applied, that it won't just
:19:40. > :19:48.benefit Conservative controlled areas. I can give that assurance, it
:19:49. > :19:51.is clear it will benefit many areas that are Labour-controlled, and it
:19:52. > :19:55.is driven entirely on the basis that there is a level playing field for
:19:56. > :19:56.all pupils, so we can deliver excellent everywhere.
:19:57. > :19:59.A Lib Dem peer was concerned salaries for headteachers at
:20:00. > :20:13.Can the minister say that the very high levels of salary paid to some
:20:14. > :20:17.of the heads of Academy chains, some reported as three times that of the
:20:18. > :20:24.PM, does he think that is a good use of public funds? As they think we
:20:25. > :20:30.set out in the white paper, I think we are behind Academy trusts, and
:20:31. > :20:32.where schools are delivering excellent people deserve to be
:20:33. > :20:33.awarded accordingly. A Labour MP has claimed that
:20:34. > :20:36.the internet is responsible for an increase in the number
:20:37. > :20:38.of potentially dangerous electrical In a Westminster Hall debate,
:20:39. > :20:49.Carolyn Harris queried whether current laws were sufficient
:20:50. > :20:51.to stop tragedies happening. The Charity Electrical Safety First
:20:52. > :20:54.estimates that some 70 deaths every year are caused by electrical
:20:55. > :21:08.accidents - more than one a week. This debate is about how we can make
:21:09. > :21:13.electricity and its application through products safer in this
:21:14. > :21:16.country. It has been undermined by cheap, poorly constructed,
:21:17. > :21:20.substandard or counterfeit electrical goods. All our
:21:21. > :21:25.constituents are at risk. Risk from electric shock, from fire in their
:21:26. > :21:31.home, caused by one of these product, or even death. What are the
:21:32. > :21:34.law working? Had they kept up-to-date with the development of
:21:35. > :21:39.the internet? Are they stopping items from being imported through
:21:40. > :21:44.the major internet shopping sites? I don't believe this is the case. It
:21:45. > :21:47.is easy to say that customers should be more careful to check what they
:21:48. > :21:50.are buying, but it often doesn't occur to them that what they are
:21:51. > :21:57.buying could actually kill them. People tend to trust goods bought on
:21:58. > :22:01.trusted sites on the internet implicitly, assuming they must be
:22:02. > :22:06.legitimate to be acceptable for the site or onto eBay. I do believe we
:22:07. > :22:12.need to have more legislation to make those websites responsible for
:22:13. > :22:18.the products that they sell. When we were employing people locally in the
:22:19. > :22:22.UK to manufacture these products, we had an interest in that. We could
:22:23. > :22:25.chase the supply chain back and everyone had an interest in making
:22:26. > :22:28.sure the products were safe and legitimate, because we knew who
:22:29. > :22:33.would buy it at the end. Producing locally have an impact, where we
:22:34. > :22:37.know who will buy the product. We can feel more secure when we have a
:22:38. > :22:44.stake in the production of the product. For all that the internet
:22:45. > :22:51.has created opportunities for criminals and those who would abuse
:22:52. > :22:55.freedom, and nevertheless it is also even greater opportunities for
:22:56. > :22:59.legitimate traders and for consumers, and I do believe that
:23:00. > :23:06.there are opportunities through the internet, as the honourable member
:23:07. > :23:08.rightly says, to share with people information about suppliers who have
:23:09. > :23:14.failed to live up to their obligations, product that have
:23:15. > :23:17.failed to do what they say they should do, or that are themselves
:23:18. > :23:18.either counterfeit or faulty. These are turbulent days for
:23:19. > :23:20.the sportswear firm Sports Direct, and its founder, the billionaire
:23:21. > :23:24.Mike Ashley - the man who also owns In January,
:23:25. > :23:33.nearly half a billion pounds was wiped from Sports Direct's stock
:23:34. > :23:36.market value, and the company has Mike Ashley has blamed "
:23:37. > :23:39.negative publicity" about the firm. Meanwhile, a committee of MPs has
:23:40. > :23:42.summoned Mr Ashley to face questions about pay and working conditions
:23:43. > :23:45.at Sports Direct, following claims The chair of the committee told
:23:46. > :24:06.the Commons he'd been attempting to This was in response to claims that
:24:07. > :24:16.his workers were not being paid the minimum wage. I myself has received
:24:17. > :24:20.correspondence from staff saying that they were kept for an hour
:24:21. > :24:25.after their scheduled finish time without pay to tidy shops, and
:24:26. > :24:27.workers finishing at 5pm and required back at work two hours
:24:28. > :24:27.later. The committee wanted to ask him
:24:28. > :24:40.about these practices. Last week, the committee formally
:24:41. > :24:44.ordered him to attend. Yesterday, Mr Ashley indicated to the press,
:24:45. > :24:50.although not the committee, that he has no current intention to the
:24:51. > :24:52.committee. The house expects witnesses to a baby order to
:24:53. > :25:07.attend. He operates zero hours contracts for
:25:08. > :25:10.thousands of people, there are very few full-time people. He believes as
:25:11. > :25:14.a billionaire he can do what he likes. I will just put it on the
:25:15. > :25:20.record for you Mr Speaker, you had better act very firmly with the
:25:21. > :25:25.person concerned. Would it not be appropriate for him to appear at the
:25:26. > :25:29.bar of the house? There have been occasions in the past where this has
:25:30. > :25:35.occurred and the House of Commons has shown that it will not tolerate
:25:36. > :25:41.such contempt, and I will put it to you perhaps this could be considered
:25:42. > :25:44.as well. I am grateful to the honourable gentleman for his point
:25:45. > :25:48.of order. I recognise that there are historical precedents, but it is
:25:49. > :25:50.only right for me to say that it is not for me to make any such
:25:51. > :25:51.decision. Do join me
:25:52. > :25:55.for our next daily round-up. Until then, from me,
:25:56. > :26:13.Keith Macdougall, goodbye. For many of us,
:26:14. > :26:15.this has been the driest spell It is because the jet stream, the
:26:16. > :26:20.thing that drives weather systems across the Atlantic, has been
:26:21. > :26:23.staying well to the north of the UK. It has allowed high
:26:24. > :26:26.pressure to build.