:00:18. > :00:18.Hello and welcome to Tuesday In Parliament.
:00:19. > :00:23.The Government promises a more integrated approach
:00:24. > :00:30.In an overhaul of the railways, Ministers are told a report
:00:31. > :00:33.on community integration should not be used as a stick to beat
:00:34. > :00:37.And what would make you put down that glass of wine?
:00:38. > :00:41.Peers think it's time to put calorie labels on bottles of booze.
:00:42. > :00:44.Experiments I have seen show that if people are aware of the amount
:00:45. > :00:47.of calories they're drinking, they'll drink up to 50% less
:00:48. > :00:52.The Transport Secretary has set out his plans to overhaul the way
:00:53. > :00:55.that England's railway network is run.
:00:56. > :00:58.Chris Grayling wants to start bringing back together the operation
:00:59. > :01:03.Mr Grayling wants each rail franchise to be run
:01:04. > :01:07.by joint management teams, including representatives
:01:08. > :01:11.from both the train operating company and Network Rail.
:01:12. > :01:15.Each franchise will be run by one joint team,
:01:16. > :01:17.but the franchise owners and Network Rail will continue
:01:18. > :01:21.The first new joint management teams will come into operation
:01:22. > :01:24.when the South Eastern and the East Midlands
:01:25. > :01:31.Called to the Commons by Labour, he said he wanted to improve
:01:32. > :01:35.These reforms will set the railway on a firmer footing for the future.
:01:36. > :01:39.We can and will make sure our network plays its part
:01:40. > :01:46.in making this country a country that works for everyone.
:01:47. > :01:48.I will be bringing forward a new strategy for our railways
:01:49. > :01:51.with more detail than I'm setting out today, Mr Speaker,
:01:52. > :01:54.The last time the Tories privatised the rail tracks it resulted
:01:55. > :01:58.in a series of fatal accidents that led to the creation of Network Rail
:01:59. > :02:02.Now the Secretary of State wants to start us on the slippery slope
:02:03. > :02:04.back to the bad old days of Railtrack, where profit-chasing
:02:05. > :02:06.companies are entrusted with the safety-critical role
:02:07. > :02:08.of being responsible for our infrastructure.
:02:09. > :02:10.Has the Secretary of State not learned the lessons of Railtrack,
:02:11. > :02:12.or is he simply choosing to ignore them?
:02:13. > :02:16.And why does he expect it to be different this time?
:02:17. > :02:18.It's time for our railways to be run under public ownership,
:02:19. > :02:21.in the public interest, as an integrated, national asset
:02:22. > :02:27.in public hands with affordable fares for all and long-term
:02:28. > :02:30.Sadly, today's announcement will take us further away
:02:31. > :02:34.But an incoming Labour Government will be redress
:02:35. > :02:40.Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, there isn't an imminent
:02:41. > :02:44.The trouble is, with the party opposite, they always just
:02:45. > :02:49.They want to turn the clock back to the days of British Rail
:02:50. > :02:52.and unions having beer and sandwiches in Number 10.
:02:53. > :02:58.The point about this, this isn't about privatisation -
:02:59. > :03:02.I'm not privatising Network Rail - I'm creating teams on the ground
:03:03. > :03:05.with the same incentives to work together in
:03:06. > :03:10.The Secretary of State's right to acknowledge the problems
:03:11. > :03:12.with the rail network, but he shouldn't do this
:03:13. > :03:17.There is higher passenger satisfaction and reliability
:03:18. > :03:20.in Scotland than any other network in the UK, but Scotland
:03:21. > :03:24.Will he agree to devolve power over Network Rail
:03:25. > :03:30.The point the honourable gentleman has missed, he's just describd
:03:31. > :03:36.Scotland is the one place where we've got a working alliance
:03:37. > :03:41.So what he's describing is a step on the road to the model that
:03:42. > :03:44.I want to create across the railway, which, he says, builds
:03:45. > :03:47.A joined-up approach could bring benefits,
:03:48. > :03:49.and has been called for on many occasions by the
:03:50. > :03:51.Transport Select Committee, amongst others.
:03:52. > :03:55.But in the specific model that he's now advocating,
:03:56. > :04:02.And could this be the beginning of a potentially highly expensive
:04:03. > :04:06.The opposite is the case, Mr Speaker.
:04:07. > :04:14.This is not about fragmentation, it's by joining up.
:04:15. > :04:17.As she will know, we have teams on the ground around the railway,
:04:18. > :04:19.some looking after the tracks, some looking after the trains,
:04:20. > :04:21.sometimes working together well, sometimes not.
:04:22. > :04:24.By creating a structure that shapes teams on the ground -
:04:25. > :04:26.and that involves decentralisation within Network Rail of the kind
:04:27. > :04:29.Nicola Shaw recommended, the kind of partnerships that
:04:30. > :04:32.Sir Roy McNulty recommended - and I think that takes us
:04:33. > :04:35.to the place that she's talked about in the past, to a more
:04:36. > :04:37.joined-up railway, that does a better job for the customer.
:04:38. > :04:40.Isn't this the Minister that's got a bit of form?
:04:41. > :04:45.In a previous job, he wrecked the prison system.
:04:46. > :04:49.And now he's got the job at Transport, and he's
:04:50. > :04:55.Does he share my hope that this might stop the buck-passing
:04:56. > :04:58.between train-operating companies and Network Rail, something that
:04:59. > :05:04.many of my constituents north of the river on the Thameslink line
:05:05. > :05:06.have suffered on a daily basis, and something I drew
:05:07. > :05:15.My friend is absolutely right, I make no pretence that there
:05:16. > :05:17.are some genuine problems on our railways at the moment.
:05:18. > :05:20.They are mostly a problem of intensive use, of dramatic
:05:21. > :05:22.increases in passenger numbers, beyond anything that was envisaged
:05:23. > :05:25.So we do have to deliver change and improvement.
:05:26. > :05:28.That partly comes through capacity improvements - and a lot of money
:05:29. > :05:30.is being spent on the Thameslink route right now.
:05:31. > :05:33.It also comes through just better performance on a day-to-day basis.
:05:34. > :05:35.The Communities Secretary has told MPs that too many UK politicians
:05:36. > :05:38.have refused to tackle integration problems as they feared
:05:39. > :05:43.Sajid Javid was answering an urgent question
:05:44. > :05:46.on a Government-commissioned review on integration.
:05:47. > :05:50.Dame Louise Casey concluded in her report that segregation
:05:51. > :05:53.and social exclusion are at "worrying levels",
:05:54. > :05:57.and are fuelling inequality in some areas of Britain.
:05:58. > :06:00.She said women in some communities are denied even their basic rights
:06:01. > :06:03.as British residents, and she accused public bodies
:06:04. > :06:07.of ignoring or condoning divisive or harmful religious practices
:06:08. > :06:14.Among her recommendations were that immigrants could take an oath
:06:15. > :06:17.of integration with British values and society, with schoolchildren
:06:18. > :06:31.Sajid Javid set out the Government's initial response to the report.
:06:32. > :06:33.I've seen for myself the enormous contribution that immigrants
:06:34. > :06:35.and their families make to British life, all without giving
:06:36. > :06:40.But I've also seen with my own eyes the other side of the equation.
:06:41. > :06:42.For too long, too many people in this country and been
:06:43. > :06:44.living parallel lives, refusing to integrate and failing
:06:45. > :06:48.to embrace the shared values that make Britain great.
:06:49. > :06:51.And for too long, too many politicians in this country have
:06:52. > :06:56.They've ducked the problem for fear of being called a racist,
:06:57. > :07:02.failing the very people that they're supposed to be helping,
:07:03. > :07:04.and I will not allow this to continue.
:07:05. > :07:06.Does he agree with Louise Casey, that speaking English
:07:07. > :07:12.And will he agree to reverse the cuts that have been made
:07:13. > :07:15.to the funds available for courses in teaching English
:07:16. > :07:21.Does the Secretary of State have a view on the recommendations
:07:22. > :07:24.to promote British values in all communities, especially
:07:25. > :07:29.those values of tolerance and respect for others,
:07:30. > :07:31.and which would support equality on the grounds
:07:32. > :07:35.of sex, sexuality, race and religion?
:07:36. > :07:38.Given that many of the recommendations are challenging -
:07:39. > :07:42.some may be controversial - will he have a programme to consult
:07:43. > :07:45.with elected councils and the different communities
:07:46. > :07:52.in those areas most impacted by the recommendations?
:07:53. > :07:54.It is an independent report, it is not a statement
:07:55. > :07:58.Naturally, the Government would want to take the right amount
:07:59. > :08:01.of time to look at each of the findings of the report.
:08:02. > :08:15.And certainly, the recommendations that Dame Louise has made.
:08:16. > :08:17.He also asked about the importance of English, that is one
:08:18. > :08:20.of the central machinations of the report, making sure that
:08:21. > :08:22.every community in Britain can speak English.
:08:23. > :08:24.I remember, when I was about eight or nine years old,
:08:25. > :08:27.going with my mother when she had to visit the GP, and acting
:08:28. > :08:32.Many years later, I'm pleased to say, she learned English
:08:33. > :08:34.and now speaks it very well, and it has transformed her life.
:08:35. > :08:37.Not just for her, but it's great news for British society
:08:38. > :08:43.I know from experience the difference that can make.
:08:44. > :08:46.One of the issues that was highlighted by the chair
:08:47. > :08:49.of the Select Committee is that of speaking English.
:08:50. > :08:52.One of the most concerning areas of the report is how women in some
:08:53. > :08:56.communities are denied equal rights and opportunities.
:08:57. > :08:58.We are constantly urging people who suffer sexual abuse,
:08:59. > :09:03.You cannot speak out if you cannot speak English.
:09:04. > :09:07.If you cannot speak English, you cannot even ring 999.
:09:08. > :09:11.And yet, the Casey Report finds that DCLG spent more money promoting
:09:12. > :09:16.the Cornish language between 2011-13 than it did English.
:09:17. > :09:19.The minister said that wasn't the case - the Government spent
:09:20. > :09:25.?780,000 on the Cornish language and 11 million on English.
:09:26. > :09:38.I welcome all efforts to prevent a great in the UK.
:09:39. > :09:40.This is not the first study to find problems in this area.
:09:41. > :09:44.But I am concerned that there is no real understanding in this report
:09:45. > :09:46.of the simple truth that integration is a two-way street,
:09:47. > :09:49.and it should definitely not be used, as it so often is,
:09:50. > :10:00.as a stick with which to beat the minority communities of Britain.
:10:01. > :10:03.I agree with the Secretary of State that we have for too long had
:10:04. > :10:04.a soft-headed attitude towards integration,
:10:05. > :10:07.which has led to segregated communities up and in this country.
:10:08. > :10:10.I know he has already been asked about faith schools,
:10:11. > :10:13.can I ask him to spend some more time looking at the report,
:10:14. > :10:15.because I share its concern that faith schools further
:10:16. > :10:21.Does he agree with me that this report does is a serious and
:10:22. > :10:22.determined response? Ending austerity, I believe,
:10:23. > :10:24.is the best thing this Government could do to tackle social exclusion
:10:25. > :10:26.and promote integration. Will he challenge the toxic rhetoric
:10:27. > :10:29.that pits groups in our society Will he look to Scotland to see how
:10:30. > :10:33.the strategies we're implementing are giving opportunities for people
:10:34. > :10:36.to share experiences? Will he reverse the damaging cuts
:10:37. > :10:40.to ESOL, as others have mentioned? And will he refuse to accept
:10:41. > :10:45.the offensive suggestion It's a shame, Madam Deputy Speaker,
:10:46. > :10:55.that the honourable lady has to be And that, for once, she can't act
:10:56. > :11:04.in a more mature fashion. When she and the SNP has something
:11:05. > :11:07.useful to say, I will respond. The Justice Secretary Liz Truss has
:11:08. > :11:10.faced renewed criticism over the time it took her to come
:11:11. > :11:13.to the defence of three High Court judges who ruled the Parliament must
:11:14. > :11:16.have a say in triggering Brexit. That decision was criticised by MPs
:11:17. > :11:20.and some newspapers, with one - the Daily Mail -
:11:21. > :11:23.saying the judges were The Supreme Court is now hearing
:11:24. > :11:28.the Government's appeal After calls for Liz Truss to condemn
:11:29. > :11:33.the attacks on the judges, it took nearly two days
:11:34. > :11:36.for her to release a statement defending the independence
:11:37. > :11:39.of the judiciary as, "the foundation upon which our
:11:40. > :11:47.rule of law is built." After the press attacks
:11:48. > :11:49.on the judiciary, it took the Justice Secretary nearly 48
:11:50. > :11:51.hours to release a statement. The former Lord Chief Justice,
:11:52. > :11:54.Lord Judge, said of this statement, "I think it was a little too
:11:55. > :11:57.late, and think it's And if so, will she now take
:11:58. > :12:08.the opportunity to apologise? It is not the job of the Government
:12:09. > :12:11.or the Lord Chancellor The process is working
:12:12. > :12:16.absolutely as it should. People have the right
:12:17. > :12:19.to bring a case to court. The Government has the right
:12:20. > :12:23.to defend its position in the court. The judiciary are independent
:12:24. > :12:26.and impartial, and the press can scrutinise the process
:12:27. > :12:29.within the law. As we sit here today,
:12:30. > :12:33.in this Parliament, just across Parliament Square,
:12:34. > :12:37.the Supreme Court is sitting with 11 She not agree with me -
:12:38. > :12:44.does this whole House not agree with me -
:12:45. > :12:46.that the integrity of the Supreme Court and the Justices
:12:47. > :12:50.should not be impugned? Well, I completely agree
:12:51. > :12:53.with my honourable friend. As I said last month,
:12:54. > :12:55.the Supreme Court Justices are people of great
:12:56. > :12:59.integrity and impartiality. In recent years, it's become
:13:00. > :13:02.commonplace for some members on the benches opposite to deprecate
:13:03. > :13:06.the judges of the European Court of Justice and European Court
:13:07. > :13:10.of Human Rights simply for Does she agree with me that such
:13:11. > :13:19.scant respect for the rule of law has encouraged the climate
:13:20. > :13:23.in which a major tabloid - which I believe some
:13:24. > :13:32.people call a newspaper - think it's appropriate to describe
:13:33. > :13:34.justices of our own Supreme Court The independence of the judiciary
:13:35. > :13:39.is a vital part of our rule of law. But as my honourable
:13:40. > :13:41.friend has just said, what I think is important
:13:42. > :13:44.here in the UK is that it's British courts making those decisions,
:13:45. > :13:46.and that's precisely what we're The president of the Supreme Court,
:13:47. > :13:51.Lord Neuberger, said at the beginning of the Article 50
:13:52. > :13:55.appeal, "This appeal is concerned "with legal issues, and as judges,
:13:56. > :13:59.our duty is to consider those issues "impartially and to decide
:14:00. > :14:03.the case according to law. So does the Lord Chancellor agree
:14:04. > :14:10.with me that, had she done her duty and spoken out at the time to defend
:14:11. > :14:16.the judiciary, those words would not I frequently make it clear
:14:17. > :14:20.that the independence of the judiciary is a vital part
:14:21. > :14:24.of our constitution But I also think it's absolutely
:14:25. > :14:28.right that the president of the Supreme Court,
:14:29. > :14:31.who has absolute integrity and impartiality, should
:14:32. > :14:35.make that case as well. An independent judiciary
:14:36. > :14:37.and a free press are two And while we may not always like how
:14:38. > :14:43.each acts, we should be I absolutely agree
:14:44. > :14:49.with my honourable friend. We can be incredibly
:14:50. > :14:52.proud in this country of our independent judiciary, it's
:14:53. > :14:55.the cornerstone of the rule of law, But we also have a robust,
:14:56. > :15:01.free press, which is vitally important in making sure
:15:02. > :15:06.we have a free society. You're watching Tuesday in
:15:07. > :15:13.Parliament with me, Alicia McCarthy. Now, is a GP who sees 15 patients
:15:14. > :15:17.in a day productive? And what about a surgeon who
:15:18. > :15:21.performs ten operations in one week? Economists accept that
:15:22. > :15:23.it's difficult to measure productivity in the NHS,
:15:24. > :15:26.but the Office for Budget Responsibility has nevertheless
:15:27. > :15:30.concluded that growth in health care productivity "has been slower
:15:31. > :15:35.than in the economy as a whole." A Lords committee investigating
:15:36. > :15:39.the future of the NHS has been questioning senior health officials
:15:40. > :15:42.about how to make health The OBR's analysis of how
:15:43. > :15:51.productivity has grown, particularly since 1997-2013, we saw an average
:15:52. > :15:58.of 0.9% which is incredibly small, despite unprecedented levels of
:15:59. > :16:01.spending on health I think both of you would agree
:16:02. > :16:06.that productivity - and Professor Whitty
:16:07. > :16:08.has just mentioned it in his previous answer -
:16:09. > :16:11.is going to be fundamental the books in terms of what we spend
:16:12. > :16:16.and what we actually deliver. What can be done to actually
:16:17. > :16:22.improve it and why are there such variations in productivity
:16:23. > :16:27.around the health care system? Well, it's a much debated
:16:28. > :16:30.question and I'm not going to try and give you a sort
:16:31. > :16:34.of pat answer because of course there have been long treaties
:16:35. > :16:36.written on the subject, but clearly key to it is
:16:37. > :16:39.the relationship As you well know, what you see
:16:40. > :16:46.in most sectors of the economy is technology is one of the biggest
:16:47. > :16:50.drivers of productivity Health has a very different
:16:51. > :16:58.relationship with technology. Most technologies, wonderfully,
:16:59. > :17:01.both prolong life and allow us to treat diseases we've
:17:02. > :17:08.never been able to treat before And so why is health
:17:09. > :17:14.behind other sectors? I think that is probably
:17:15. > :17:17.the root cause of it. Well, there are two things
:17:18. > :17:20.if I might interrupt. First of all, all the health
:17:21. > :17:23.care providers in the period since '97 have had access to the
:17:24. > :17:26.same technologies. Their levels of productivity
:17:27. > :17:31.have varied enormously and I know dashboards
:17:32. > :17:34.are actually demonstrating that Dashboards are used by some NHS
:17:35. > :17:37.bodies to assess performance I think actually, you've
:17:38. > :17:44.already stolen my answer. I think the transparency
:17:45. > :17:47.around this in terms of the data and
:17:48. > :17:50.the dashboards available is probably the single
:17:51. > :17:53.most important thing we can do in that
:17:54. > :17:56.area and what we need to do is promote a culture in which health
:17:57. > :18:02.providers are looking at who is best in class and asking themselves
:18:03. > :18:06.what can they do in exactly the same way as you see in most
:18:07. > :18:09.sectors of the economy. With masterly understatement,
:18:10. > :18:12.the OBR say that measuring medical productivity
:18:13. > :18:14.is not straightforward, But I have to say in this area,
:18:15. > :18:19.I think that the medical profession And there are many leaders
:18:20. > :18:24.of the medical profession around the table here,
:18:25. > :18:26.you know, my plea to the medical profession for me would be
:18:27. > :18:29.that this is something they should take seriously because currently,
:18:30. > :18:34.they do not in reality. The incentives are not
:18:35. > :18:35.stacked up along actually trying to improve
:18:36. > :18:37.productivity, they're stacked up along trying to prolong life
:18:38. > :18:40.which is a very important thing to do but the two need to be kept
:18:41. > :18:43.firmly in balance. What other barriers
:18:44. > :18:44.are there for the medical and how would you
:18:45. > :18:50.break those barriers? Well, I think it's quite
:18:51. > :18:53.interesting in the sense that I think the medical profession has
:18:54. > :18:57.warped itself into a place which is incredibly efficient in terms
:18:58. > :18:59.of single disease management of conditions which is what led to many
:19:00. > :19:01.of the remarkable advances we've seen, but firstly,
:19:02. > :19:03.that doesn't deal very well with multi-morbidity
:19:04. > :19:05.which it is actually quite inefficient at dealing
:19:06. > :19:07.with as a result, and the second problem
:19:08. > :19:13.is that the medical profession
:19:14. > :19:15.has got itself hung up, I think, on longevity rather
:19:16. > :19:19.than quality of life measures and longevity rather than efficiency
:19:20. > :19:24.measures and if you make those bits of the system as important in
:19:25. > :19:27.medical training all the way through the system, I do think we could
:19:28. > :19:30.change it incrementally If we wish to make the NHS
:19:31. > :19:35.sustainable, there are two, clearly, broadly two ways you can do that
:19:36. > :19:38.which is increase the amount of money going into the system is one
:19:39. > :19:42.approach but the other is whatever quantum is given by the public,
:19:43. > :19:45.to actually make the system more efficient and actually the data
:19:46. > :19:48.to do that and incentives to use Peers have renewed their calls
:19:49. > :19:52.for a minimum price per unit of alcohol
:19:53. > :19:55.to tackle problem drinking. The Scottish Government
:19:56. > :19:58.is already attempting to bring But the Scotch Whisky
:19:59. > :20:03.Association is fighting the move and has applied to appeal
:20:04. > :20:08.in the UK Supreme Court. There's been a lengthy legal
:20:09. > :20:10.challenge over the policy, which would set a minimum unit price
:20:11. > :20:15.of 50p in Scotland. In the Lords, one peer highlighted
:20:16. > :20:18.findings from a recent review by Public Health England
:20:19. > :20:22.on the consequences of alcohol abuse and he urged the Government
:20:23. > :20:26.at Westminster to act. Is she aware that the report
:20:27. > :20:29.indicates that we now have over a million people a year going
:20:30. > :20:33.into hospital due to alcohol-related illnesses of one sort
:20:34. > :20:35.or another and that this report now indicates
:20:36. > :20:38.that alcohol is the biggest killer
:20:39. > :20:43.of males between 15 and 49 and that it's time that we really do need
:20:44. > :20:46.to start taking some action on this? Can she give some indication that we
:20:47. > :20:51.will have discussions taking place on the report, to give us
:20:52. > :20:54.a timetable on that, and what the likely progress would be and not
:20:55. > :20:57.simply wait Isn't she aware that if we move
:20:58. > :21:01.ourselves, we would help Scotland I concur with much of
:21:02. > :21:07.what the noble Lord says. It's frustrating to have to wait,
:21:08. > :21:10.but we do think it is important to wait for the outcome
:21:11. > :21:17.of the case in Scotland with I totally agree with him
:21:18. > :21:26.that the admissions to hospital that are alcohol-related are absolutely
:21:27. > :21:32.worrying and that it's now the leading risk factor
:21:33. > :21:36.in ill health for people Is my noble friend aware of any
:21:37. > :21:41.plans to improve calorie Experiments I have seen show that
:21:42. > :21:47.if people are aware of the amount they will drink up to 50% less
:21:48. > :21:53.than they plan to otherwise. I'm not entirely sure
:21:54. > :21:57.whether the Government is planning to introduce calorie
:21:58. > :22:01.labelling and I know there is calorie labelling
:22:02. > :22:04.on some drinks, but certainly, I'll have to get
:22:05. > :22:10.back to the noble lady because I don't know
:22:11. > :22:13.the answer to it. Finally, peers have held their first
:22:14. > :22:15.big debate on the Government's Among other things, it aims to give
:22:16. > :22:20.students more information about who goes to a particular
:22:21. > :22:24.university and what they achieve and make it easier and quicker
:22:25. > :22:28.for new universities and higher Opening the debate for
:22:29. > :22:33.the Government, Lord Younger reassured peers that
:22:34. > :22:36.standards wouldn't suffer. Research from the UK Commission
:22:37. > :22:40.for Employment and Skills tells us that nearly half of job vacancies
:22:41. > :22:44.between now and 2024 are expected to be
:22:45. > :22:46.in occupations most likely
:22:47. > :22:49.to employ graduates. So to meet this need, the Bill
:22:50. > :22:52.speeds up and streamlines the processes for new providers to enter
:22:53. > :22:56.the market while maintaining the world-class reputation of our
:22:57. > :23:01.higher education institutions. But, let me reassure
:23:02. > :23:04.this House, this does not mean and must not mean
:23:05. > :23:07.a lowering of standards. In order to enter the market,
:23:08. > :23:10.become eligible to award its own degrees and ultimately
:23:11. > :23:14.to call itself a university, pass rigorous entry requirements
:23:15. > :23:21.and undergo tough scrutiny. The key to our concerns
:23:22. > :23:23.is that the main focus of the Bill is not about promoting
:23:24. > :23:26.scholarship, encouraging research or a concern for truth,
:23:27. > :23:30.but rather the goal of turning the UK's higher education
:23:31. > :23:32.into an even more competitive, market-driven one
:23:33. > :23:35.at the expense of both quality A Lib Dem criticised any suggestion
:23:36. > :23:42.that universities could be graded. Many universities like to
:23:43. > :23:45.hang banners from their estate proclaiming all sorts
:23:46. > :23:48.of positive statements Do we really want
:23:49. > :23:53.to see banners which say, this is a gold or
:23:54. > :23:56.silver institution? I guess there won't be many
:23:57. > :23:59.proclaiming bronze status. This will be a terrible message
:24:00. > :24:03.to prospective students and which will see the gold-standard
:24:04. > :24:10.universities prospering even further while bronze will become
:24:11. > :24:13.the poor relation. Today's second reading debate
:24:14. > :24:16.is an opportunity to look at the Bill as a whole
:24:17. > :24:21.and I welcome it. Indeed, one of my regrets
:24:22. > :24:25.is that we did not legislate in the last coalition Government
:24:26. > :24:31.as we intended to do and I am pleased that the Government is now
:24:32. > :24:35.grasping that nettle. The man who'd been in charge
:24:36. > :24:37.of universities towards the end of the last Labour government
:24:38. > :24:41.explained what he'd wanted to do. A bigger sector,
:24:42. > :24:45.a better and more applied sector, and one that was
:24:46. > :24:51.more accountable to its users. It would therefore
:24:52. > :24:53.be churlish for me, I think, not to acknowledge that
:24:54. > :25:00.this Bill has similar stated aims. But I was also clear that more does
:25:01. > :25:04.not necessarily mean better That's why the Government must
:25:05. > :25:10.guard against lower entry standards for new challenger
:25:11. > :25:14.institutions, reducing the quality of Britain's University
:25:15. > :25:18.offer overall. The stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap
:25:19. > :25:26.approach would be hugely retrograde. Do join me again at the same time
:25:27. > :25:31.tomorrow for another round up of the day here at Westminster,
:25:32. > :25:33.including the highlights David Liddington will be filling in
:25:34. > :25:43.for Theresa May. But for now from me,
:25:44. > :25:53.Alicia McCarthy, goodbye.