:00:15. > :00:19.And welcome to Tuesday in Parliament, our look at the best
:00:20. > :00:21.of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:22. > :00:32.The Government promises to repair England's broken housing market.
:00:33. > :00:39.There are young people right now in every one of our constituencies,
:00:40. > :00:41.staring into the windows of estate agents, dreaming of renting or
:00:42. > :00:43.buying a decent home. The Lord Speaker says
:00:44. > :00:44.the Commons Speaker didn't consult him before talking
:00:45. > :00:55.about whether President Trump My view is that I will keep an open
:00:56. > :00:56.mind and consider any request for Mr Trump to address parliament if and
:00:57. > :00:57.when it is made. And do we need to increase
:00:58. > :01:13.the nation's defences They squabble with each other, they
:01:14. > :01:15.squawk at all hours of the day and night, creating a nasty racket.
:01:16. > :01:17.The Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, has unveiled
:01:18. > :01:19.the Government's new housing strategy for England.
:01:20. > :01:21.He said house-building needed to rise to a quarter
:01:22. > :01:24.of a million new homes a year, with local councils made to publish
:01:25. > :01:26.projections for house building in their areas,
:01:27. > :01:30.and developers forced to use-or-lose planning permission once granted.
:01:31. > :01:33.There'll also be extra protection for tenants.
:01:34. > :01:36.The Minister told MPs the housing market was broken.
:01:37. > :01:44.He started his statement to MPs with a jibe at the Speaker's expense.
:01:45. > :01:51.I had hoped, Mr Speaker, that this would dominate the headlines this
:01:52. > :02:03.morning, but it seems that someone else has beaten me to it. Let me
:02:04. > :02:04.just gently say to the Right Honourable gentleman, I did make my
:02:05. > :02:06.statement to the house first. He said unaffordable housing
:02:07. > :02:19.was one of the UK's biggest But its root cause is simple. For
:02:20. > :02:24.far too long, we have not built enough houses. Relative to
:02:25. > :02:27.population size, Britain has had western Europe was back lowest rate
:02:28. > :02:29.of house building for three decades. He said the planning
:02:30. > :02:38.system would become more And we will tackle unnecessary
:02:39. > :02:42.delays cost by everything from planning conditions to great crested
:02:43. > :02:46.newts. We will be giving developers a lot of help to get building and we
:02:47. > :02:51.will give local authorities Beatles to hold developers to account if
:02:52. > :02:55.they fail to do so. Local authorities also have a vital role
:02:56. > :02:58.to play in getting homes built quickly. I am therefore looking
:02:59. > :02:59.again at how they can use compulsory purchase powers.
:03:00. > :03:01.He summed up the aims of the Government's
:03:02. > :03:10.It will help the tenants up-to-date facing rising rents, and turkeys,
:03:11. > :03:15.and in secure tenancies. It will help the home of the right homes
:03:16. > :03:18.built in the right places and it will help our children and their
:03:19. > :03:25.children Buzz McGeorge and by halting decades of decline and
:03:26. > :03:30.fixing our broken housing market. It is able vision and I commend it to
:03:31. > :03:34.the house. This is a Government that have pledged to build a million new
:03:35. > :03:42.homes by 2020 and yet the total newly built last year is still less
:03:43. > :03:51.than 140 3000. While the level of new affordable house building has
:03:52. > :03:55.hit 24 year low. And we need all sectors, Private house-builders,
:03:56. > :03:59.housing associations, and councils, to be firing on all cylinders to
:04:00. > :04:03.build the homes we need. So why will you not drop the deep Tory hostility
:04:04. > :04:11.to councils and let them build again to meet the needs of local people?
:04:12. > :04:17.It is tragically clear, Mr Speaker, from the statement that seven years
:04:18. > :04:22.of failure on housing is set now too stretched to ten. We were promised a
:04:23. > :04:27.white paper. We are presented with a white flag. People want to hear the
:04:28. > :04:31.truth. They want to hear Government and politicians more generally first
:04:32. > :04:34.of all recognise the size of this problem, to recognise that there are
:04:35. > :04:39.young people right now in every one of our constituencies staring into
:04:40. > :04:43.the windows of estate agents, their faces glued to them, dreaming of
:04:44. > :04:50.renting or buying a decent home, but knowing that it is out of reach
:04:51. > :04:52.because prices have risen so high. I hope the Secretary of State will
:04:53. > :04:56.forgive me but I think that he flatters himself that he thinks that
:04:57. > :04:59.on a quiet news day, this would have deserved headlines. This is an
:05:00. > :05:04.unambitious and disappointing paper. One thing I want to call out is that
:05:05. > :05:09.the paper refers to a family in the market for an affordable home is
:05:10. > :05:13.being on an average income of ?80,000 a year. I wonder I can
:05:14. > :05:18.respectfully ask what planet he is letting on. Average incomes in my
:05:19. > :05:23.constituency are ?26,000 a year. Doesn't that show that what we need
:05:24. > :05:29.is a commitment to genuinely affordable homes. The building of a
:05:30. > :05:32.million new councils will allow that. I am pleased that the
:05:33. > :05:35.Government has finally recognised that the housing market is broken,
:05:36. > :05:40.but I disagree with his perception that supply is the only answer to
:05:41. > :05:44.this. In Manchester, we have built thousands of new homes. We have
:05:45. > :05:48.upgraded all of the council hopes to decent standards. But by far and
:05:49. > :05:53.away, the worst quality housing in Manchester is in the Private rented
:05:54. > :06:00.sector. It is unfit for human habitation, infested, damp, and
:06:01. > :06:02.dirty. And I am worried, is being paid for by the taxpayer through
:06:03. > :06:05.housing benefit. So when will the Government intervene in this broken
:06:06. > :06:11.market? My Conservative run Forest of Dean council is working hard to
:06:12. > :06:15.get its local plan in place, give planning permission to get new homes
:06:16. > :06:18.put in place, and it gets frustrated when developers do not build them
:06:19. > :06:22.and then the same developer bits in a speculative application and argues
:06:23. > :06:25.there is no land supply because they are not building their own houses.
:06:26. > :06:32.What more can the Secretary of State do. To make sure that those
:06:33. > :06:35.developers build the houses as his excellent housing minister said,
:06:36. > :06:40.people can't live on planning permissions, they need houses. This
:06:41. > :06:43.Speaker, that is a very important point and he's quite right that many
:06:44. > :06:46.local authorities likely get the straight it when they take those
:06:47. > :06:51.difficult decisions that they don't see the houses being built. Sajid
:06:52. > :06:53.Javid. The Government has made clear
:06:54. > :06:55.Parliament will get a say on the final draft Brexit agreement
:06:56. > :06:58.before it's voted on by The announcement, by
:06:59. > :07:01.the Brexit Minister David Jones, Opposition MPs and some backbench
:07:02. > :07:05.Conservatives had wanted the Commons to have the power to send Ministers
:07:06. > :07:08.back to the European negotiating table if the final terms
:07:09. > :07:13.were not good enough. The change of approach emerged
:07:14. > :07:18.as MPs continued the debate on the details of the EU
:07:19. > :07:21.Notification of Withdrawal Bill - the legislation that authorises
:07:22. > :07:33.Ministers to start the process But the central theme of the case I
:07:34. > :07:38.will seek to make this afternoon is that a built in this house must be
:07:39. > :07:42.before the deal is concluded. That is the dividing line that makes the
:07:43. > :07:46.real difference here. I can confirm that the Government will bring
:07:47. > :07:48.forward a motion on the final agreement to be approved by both
:07:49. > :07:54.houses of parliament before it's concluded and we expect and intent
:07:55. > :08:03.that this will happen before the European Parliament debates and
:08:04. > :08:07.votes on the final agreement. Minister, I am very grateful for
:08:08. > :08:15.that intervention. That is a huge and very important concession about
:08:16. > :08:25.the process that we are to embark on. The argument I have made about a
:08:26. > :08:30.vote over the last three months is that the vote must cover both the
:08:31. > :08:33.article 50 deal and any future relationship, and I know that to my
:08:34. > :08:36.colleagues that it is very important, and that that vote must
:08:37. > :08:40.take place before the deal is concluded and I take that from what
:08:41. > :08:44.has just been said. That he agree with me that it is not just the
:08:45. > :08:49.issue of the vote, it is what happens if this house declines to
:08:50. > :08:55.accept the deal that the Government has put forward? The Prime Minister
:08:56. > :08:59.said on the 25th of January that if this parliament is not willing to
:09:00. > :09:03.accept a deal that has been decided upon with the European Union, then
:09:04. > :09:06.as I have said, we will have to fall back on other arrangements. That
:09:07. > :09:12.does not guarantee this house as the final decision on our future
:09:13. > :09:15.relationship with the EU. My Right Honourable friend the Minister has
:09:16. > :09:20.made it perfectly clear that there will be a vote. I will in a moment.
:09:21. > :09:25.But the bulk that there is to be, he has also made it clear is able to
:09:26. > :09:29.between the option of accepting a particular set of arrangements that
:09:30. > :09:33.have been negotiated by Her Majesty's it and not excepting those
:09:34. > :09:39.arrangements, and thereby leaving the you without either in one case a
:09:40. > :09:44.withdrawal agreement, or any other case, an arrangement for the future.
:09:45. > :09:47.Everyone today said that they agree that the parliamentary vote should
:09:48. > :09:54.be meaningful, but in fact, what the minister said does not provide that
:09:55. > :09:58.assurance at all. What concerns me is what happens if, despite its best
:09:59. > :10:06.effort, the Government fails to no fault of its own and we have no
:10:07. > :10:11.deal, and how revolutionary is it to say, in the event of no deal, and in
:10:12. > :10:17.the right and meaningful time as we go to that new relationship, please
:10:18. > :10:22.could we have a say? Not on behalf Parliament, on behalf of all our
:10:23. > :10:26.constituents. That is a little bit as though you can imagine two years
:10:27. > :10:32.of travel, journeying down those roads of negotiation and we get to
:10:33. > :10:37.the edge of the canyon and we have a point of decision. Are we going to
:10:38. > :10:41.have that bridge across the chasm? Which might be the new treaty? It
:10:42. > :10:46.might take is to that new future. Or are we going to potentially decide
:10:47. > :10:50.to drive off into the unknown, into the abyss. And Parliament should
:10:51. > :10:52.have the right to decide that point. This is the concession that I think
:10:53. > :10:56.many honourable members are seeking. MPs voted in favour
:10:57. > :10:58.of the Government's position The Commons Speaker caused
:10:59. > :11:02.controversy at the start of the week when he declared that
:11:03. > :11:04.President Trump should not be allowed to address MPs
:11:05. > :11:06.in Westminster Hall - he went on to accuse him
:11:07. > :11:10.of racism and sexism. The unexpected remarks
:11:11. > :11:12.from the Speaker were commented on 24 hours later by a seasoned
:11:13. > :11:26.Conservative. Point of order, Sir Edward Lee. As
:11:27. > :11:31.we are a democratic assembly, I think that the only way we can work
:11:32. > :11:38.is to respect the authority of the speaker. Otherwise, there will be
:11:39. > :11:43.complete chaos. Now, it may be that I have my own personal view, but
:11:44. > :11:47.personally, I think that if the Queen has issued an invitation to Mr
:11:48. > :11:51.Trump on the advice of her ministers, I think he is the
:11:52. > :11:55.president of the free world, and if we have entertained the president of
:11:56. > :11:58.China then we can entertain him. But that is my view. But at the end of
:11:59. > :12:05.the day, I think we have to respect that support the office of Speaker.
:12:06. > :12:10.Not sure there is, but I will take it and I will come back to the
:12:11. > :12:13.honourable gentleman. You may recall at business questions last week, I
:12:14. > :12:17.raise the inability of ordinary members of this house to express an
:12:18. > :12:25.opinion through a vote on what was an unprecedented quick invitation to
:12:26. > :12:30.a head of state, and I believe that we all you a debt of gratitude for
:12:31. > :12:35.deciding in this case that such an invitation should not be supported
:12:36. > :12:40.by members of this house. We know the reasons why it was done. It was
:12:41. > :12:44.done rapidly in order to avoid political embarrassment to the Prime
:12:45. > :12:51.Minister. But this certainly shouldn't be extended, any
:12:52. > :12:58.invitation to this house, to such a person as Donald Trump. First in
:12:59. > :13:01.respect of the point of order just raised by the honourable gentleman,
:13:02. > :13:08.can I thank you for what he has said and added merely that I responded to
:13:09. > :13:11.a substantive point of order on this matter yesterday and I think it only
:13:12. > :13:17.fair to say that there is no need for me to provide a running
:13:18. > :13:23.commentary today. But there is a worrying breach of etiquette that
:13:24. > :13:27.has broken out now over the last few months of members clapping in this
:13:28. > :13:32.chamber. Is there anything in your power to do anything about that?
:13:33. > :13:40.Well, members shouldn't do so, and the answer is that maybe I should be
:13:41. > :13:44.even more robust. I usually am pretty robust. The point was made
:13:45. > :13:48.yesterday about that, that it shouldn't happen. All I can say is
:13:49. > :13:52.that one has to deal with every situation as it arises and sometimes
:13:53. > :13:56.it is better just to let thing past had to make a song and dance about
:13:57. > :13:57.it, but I respect the gentleman's Goodman to tradition.
:13:58. > :13:59.Meanwhile, the Lord Speaker was making his views known
:14:00. > :14:10.the rich speakers received an address by United States to address
:14:11. > :14:15.parliament, they both have to agree to the invitation after
:14:16. > :14:19.consultation. The whole purpose is to seek consensus injuring both
:14:20. > :14:23.houses have the opportunity to consider the request. Yesterday in
:14:24. > :14:28.the Commons Mr Burgos said he was opposed to the president bigging. I
:14:29. > :14:33.should make it clear I was not consulted on that decision or its
:14:34. > :14:36.timing. However the Speaker contacted me this morning and told
:14:37. > :14:41.me that while human Keynes 's view on the issue he was genuinely sorry
:14:42. > :14:46.for failing to consult with me. Obviously I accepted that apology.
:14:47. > :14:50.My view is that I would keep an open mind and consider any request from
:14:51. > :14:56.Mr Trump to address parliament if and when it is made. I do not intend
:14:57. > :15:00.to argue the case for or against Mr Trump's visit. That is not my role
:15:01. > :15:07.as Speaker. The risk procedure as it stands means that either Mr Speaker
:15:08. > :15:11.or myself can effectively vetoed a proposal for visiting leader to
:15:12. > :15:18.address parliament at least as far as Westminster Hall is concerned. I
:15:19. > :15:22.think it is for Parliament to consider whether there is a better
:15:23. > :15:24.way in which such decisions can be made.
:15:25. > :15:27.You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:15:28. > :15:36.The Government's defended its treatment of interpreters
:15:37. > :15:40.who used to work with UK troops in Afghanistan.
:15:41. > :15:44.A Conservative MP on the Defence Committee -
:15:45. > :15:46.which has been looking at what support is given to local
:15:47. > :15:48.people who've worked alongside the British -
:15:49. > :15:54.Raffi Hottak, a former interpreter who was injured in Helmand
:15:55. > :15:57.and now lives in the UK, described how - if workers moved
:15:58. > :16:00.to different parts of Afghanistan - they would be seen as having backed
:16:01. > :16:06.The perception all over the country for them is that they have
:16:07. > :16:09.served the infidel forces, they are the eyes and ears
:16:10. > :16:14.You move to a different location, they see you as a spy.
:16:15. > :16:18.You flag up in this society where you don't belong to.
:16:19. > :16:21.I dealt specifically with a case that was brought to my attention
:16:22. > :16:24.by two colleagues of mine who are still serving and felt
:16:25. > :16:26.rather constrained by this in terms of bringing it
:16:27. > :16:30.But this particular individual had worked with us
:16:31. > :16:36.When the Americans had left he had gone back to his province
:16:37. > :16:39.in the east of the country, where he then received nightly
:16:40. > :16:43.letters and then he had to leave his family.
:16:44. > :16:49.He attempted to access one of the schemes that we had set up,
:16:50. > :16:52.but he fell outside the rather tight and overtight boundaries
:16:53. > :16:57.Hundreds of applications that have been granted to people under
:16:58. > :17:03.the redundancy scheme to come here, but as I understand that there has
:17:04. > :17:05.only been a single application, maybe that has gone up a bit,
:17:06. > :17:10.of people who have applied to come to the UK and the intimidation
:17:11. > :17:13.scheme and it's the intimidation scheme that we are most worried
:17:14. > :17:19.about, because our main concern has to be that people who helped us
:17:20. > :17:27.are now being left to dangle and twist in the wind.
:17:28. > :17:30.In terms of the number of people who have applied
:17:31. > :17:34.for intimidation scheme, it's about 400, of whom about 30
:17:35. > :17:38.have been granted money to relocate in Afghanistan and of whom one
:17:39. > :17:43.or two, depending on how you define one, who is a Foreign Office LEC,
:17:44. > :17:48.who have been accepted for Visa applications to come back to the UK.
:17:49. > :17:53.How many of those who applied to the intimidation scheme
:17:54. > :17:59.How many asked to come to the UK and how many were turned down?
:18:00. > :18:03.Probably the vast majority wanted to come to the UK.
:18:04. > :18:05.I mean, it is probably unfair to say turned down.
:18:06. > :18:08.What we do is look at what is required to manage
:18:09. > :18:12.In some cases their concern is quite generic, it's
:18:13. > :18:14.about instability in Afghanistan, it's about a desire
:18:15. > :18:20.In some cases it's an absolutely specific threat which we will
:18:21. > :18:22.address, and in some cases that is meant by changes
:18:23. > :18:28.In some cases it is met by relocation to another
:18:29. > :18:34.I'm not in any way saying that everybody that applies is saying
:18:35. > :18:38.economically they would be better off here if somebody could do this.
:18:39. > :18:42.But it is fully investigated by trained officers who actually see
:18:43. > :18:47.And at the same time we have to be very conscious of, you know,
:18:48. > :18:54.Given, in my opinion, our shabby treatment
:18:55. > :18:58.of Afghan interpreters, do you think in future operations
:18:59. > :19:00.it is going to severely impede our ability to recruit locals
:19:01. > :19:10.I would probably have assumed that, but actually because we pay very
:19:11. > :19:14.well, there is a good contract, there are new schemes going forward,
:19:15. > :19:17.we have no shortage, interestingly enough,
:19:18. > :19:23.but people who want to work with us and interpreters
:19:24. > :19:25.For too long, the European Union has been 'marching
:19:26. > :19:28.The phrase of the business leader and former Trade
:19:29. > :19:30.Minister Digby Jones, now Lord Jones.
:19:31. > :19:36.He told a committee of MPs weighing up Britain's trade options
:19:37. > :19:40.after 2019 that when it came to trade, the EU had been
:19:41. > :19:45.You have mentioned in the past, I think it was in your
:19:46. > :19:47.book Fixing Britain, that our own government,
:19:48. > :19:52.whether elected politicians or enforcers in the civil service,
:19:53. > :19:53.must not suffocate our lifeline into the 21st-century.
:19:54. > :20:03.The point that you have just made around the way that European Union
:20:04. > :20:05.regulations are introduced in Britain as opposed
:20:06. > :20:08.to other parts of the EU, is it not also possible that
:20:09. > :20:12.many of the issues you faced were actually as a result of the EU
:20:13. > :20:18.having that exclusive competence over trade which stops the agility
:20:19. > :20:20.of British business and therefore if the British Government act
:20:21. > :20:32.They appear to be marching valiantly towards 1970.
:20:33. > :20:40.Whether you're the US, Nafta at the moment,
:20:41. > :20:44.whether you are Britain in out of the EU, wherever you are you have
:20:45. > :20:49.got to be globally competitive in a value-added economy
:20:50. > :21:01.So in a way, if Britain's exit can put that wake-up call into Brussels
:21:02. > :21:04.to bring about the reform that if only it had reformed,
:21:05. > :21:06.Britain would probably have voted to stay in,
:21:07. > :21:09.then that will be a good thing and I come back to the point,
:21:10. > :21:12.this is about an unemployed kid in Athens having no chance
:21:13. > :21:16.of a job because the whole ideology is not globalised.
:21:17. > :21:20.And one thing Britain has always done in, out,
:21:21. > :21:24.any political party in power, it doesn't matter, they have always
:21:25. > :21:29.They have always had an open market and they have always wanted
:21:30. > :21:33.And the one thing that being a member of the EU has not
:21:34. > :21:36.allowed us to do is to the best deal for a kid in Manchester,
:21:37. > :21:42.because we've had to do what Brussels has said.
:21:43. > :21:46.A Labour MP says she's "ashamed to live in a country"
:21:47. > :21:49.where unexpected deaths of mental health patients is on the rise.
:21:50. > :21:53.Monday's night Panorama programme on BBC TV revealed how an increase
:21:54. > :21:57.in deaths of such patients had coincided with cuts in numbers
:21:58. > :22:08.At health questions in the Commons, the former Shadow Health Minister
:22:09. > :22:10.Luciana Berger said no-one should lose their life in
:22:11. > :22:15.Members across this House might have seen that Panorama programme
:22:16. > :22:17.last night and frankly it was shocking and disgusting.
:22:18. > :22:21.And I am ashamed to live in a country where in the past year
:22:22. > :22:24.there has been over 1000 more unexpected deaths under the care
:22:25. > :22:27.That is not a reflection of a country that cares equally
:22:28. > :22:30.about mental health as it does about physical health,
:22:31. > :22:32.and in spite of what the Secretary of State just told us,
:22:33. > :22:35.the money he talks about is not getting to where it is intended.
:22:36. > :22:38.What is he actually going to do to ensure that no person
:22:39. > :22:41.in our country, not one single person should lose their life
:22:42. > :22:43.because they have a mental health condition that is not
:22:44. > :22:47.Let me start by saying I agree with her.
:22:48. > :22:50.There is a huge amount we need to do to improve mental health
:22:51. > :22:54.But let me also said to her that a huge amount has been
:22:55. > :22:58.We are now, as she knows, seeing 1400 more people every day
:22:59. > :23:03.We are committing huge amounts of extra money into mental health
:23:04. > :23:06.provision and we are a think becoming a global leader
:23:07. > :23:08.in mental health provision, certainly according to the person
:23:09. > :23:11.who is in charge of the Royal College of Psychiatrists,
:23:12. > :23:14.and I think we have to support the efforts that are happening
:23:15. > :23:18.in the NHS, because I think we are one of the best in the world.
:23:19. > :23:21.Now, once upon a time they were a harmless feature
:23:22. > :23:27.But have they now become too much of a curse of modern-day living?
:23:28. > :23:31.A recent study says Britain's seagull population has
:23:32. > :23:37.But are they getting not just more plentiful but more aggressive?
:23:38. > :23:41.Time for a parliamentary debate on what to do about seagulls.
:23:42. > :23:46.A coastal MP explained why things were getting serious.
:23:47. > :23:48.My local newspaper the Plymouth Herald ran
:23:49. > :23:51.a story last summer titled, "Plymouth will belong
:23:52. > :23:56.to seagulls this summer, but this is how you can avoid them."
:23:57. > :23:59.You see photos in the press of a pensioner with
:24:00. > :24:06.We read stories about a diving seagull killing a pet dog.
:24:07. > :24:11.Things have become so bad and so widely publicised that our
:24:12. > :24:16.former Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted a big conversation
:24:17. > :24:23.When I am on the phone in my constituency talking to anyone else,
:24:24. > :24:26.anywhere else in the country, they always referred to the lovely
:24:27. > :24:29.sound of seagulls in the background, so for many, many people they come
:24:30. > :24:32.to Cornwall because of the contribution that seagulls make,
:24:33. > :24:34.but the truth is they are getting and it is getting
:24:35. > :24:39.The problem of seagulls is not confined to town
:24:40. > :24:45.They breed and nest on the flat roofs of houses.
:24:46. > :24:48.They squabble with each other, they squawk incessantly at all hours
:24:49. > :24:51.of the day and night, creating a nasty racket.
:24:52. > :24:59.And this noise and filth, which can only be a health hazard,
:25:00. > :25:03.constitutes quite a serious challenge for residents even
:25:04. > :25:10.There could be a case for, as I like to put it,
:25:11. > :25:19.mobile licensing awareness points around homes.
:25:20. > :25:22.Simply desks with printers and bits of information to tell people
:25:23. > :25:25.what their rights are to empower them to take back their communities
:25:26. > :25:27.against the blight of seagulls which is so often
:25:28. > :25:37.But do join me for our next daily round-up.
:25:38. > :25:48.Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.