0:00:21 > 0:00:25Hello and welcome to Tuesday in Parliament, our round-up
0:00:25 > 0:00:26of the highlights of the day.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28On this programme.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Renewed anger over the involvement of private providers in the NHS,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33as the Commons reacts to the loss of 700,000 items
0:00:33 > 0:00:43of medical correspondence.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Are these not an example of when the ideological
0:00:47 > 0:00:48agenda of the party
0:00:48 > 0:00:51opposite to contract out our NHS services has failed and as a result
0:00:51 > 0:00:52of that the patients are suffering?
0:00:52 > 0:00:54What happened at SBS was totally unacceptable.
0:00:54 > 0:00:55It was incompetent.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57The First Minister of Scotland announces a re-setting
0:00:57 > 0:00:59of the timetable for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02We will not seek to introduce the legislation for an independence
0:01:02 > 0:01:05referendum immediately.
0:01:05 > 0:01:11And more new MPs make their maiden speeches in the Commons.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Today sadly we have a society in which the
0:01:13 > 0:01:15middle-class are told to blame the working class.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17The working class are told to blame the benefit claimants.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20And the benefit claimants are told to blame the asylum seekers and
0:01:20 > 0:01:25refugees.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27The rapid changes of 21st century Britain can make
0:01:27 > 0:01:31people afraid but rather than calling for a day of rage, I hope to
0:01:31 > 0:01:33call for days of courage.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35But first, to lose one medical letter in the post
0:01:35 > 0:01:36is understandable.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38But, more than 700,000?
0:01:38 > 0:01:41That sounds like serious carelessness.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46The facts are that some 709,000 items of NHS correspondence,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48written by doctors and other medical staff, were, rather
0:01:48 > 0:01:53than delivered on time, instead placed in a warehouse,
0:01:53 > 0:01:59by a company called NHS Shared Business Services, or 'SBS'.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01The National Audit Office believes more than 1700
0:02:01 > 0:02:03people may be affected.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Correspondence which did not reach its intended destination
0:02:05 > 0:02:07includes blood tests, cancer screening and
0:02:07 > 0:02:09child protection notes.
0:02:09 > 0:02:17The Health Secretary explained what happened.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20The backlog arose from the primary care services GP mail
0:02:20 > 0:02:25redirection service that SBS was contracted to run.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29None of the documents were lost and all were kept in secure storage.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31But my immediate concern was patient safety had been
0:02:31 > 0:02:35compromised by the delay in forwarding correspondence.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38So a rapid process was started to identify whether anyone
0:02:38 > 0:02:40had been put at risk.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43To date no harm has been confirmed to any patients
0:02:43 > 0:02:45as a result of this incident.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Today's National Audit Office report confirms that patient safety
0:02:49 > 0:02:53was the Department and NHS England's primary concern.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55The minister said transparency was his
0:02:55 > 0:02:57priority.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I was advised by my officials not to make the issue public last March
0:03:01 > 0:03:04until an assessment of the risks to patient safety had been
0:03:04 > 0:03:11completed and all relevant GP surgeries informed.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Is it not an absolute scandal that 709,000 letters
0:03:14 > 0:03:17including blood test results, cancer screening appointments,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20child protection notes, were failed to be delivered,
0:03:20 > 0:03:26left in an unknown warehouse, and many destroyed?
0:03:26 > 0:03:28And does not the NAO reveal today a shambolic catalogue of failure
0:03:28 > 0:03:34which took place on the Secretary of State's watch?
0:03:34 > 0:03:37As of four weeks ago 1700 cases of potential harm to patients
0:03:37 > 0:03:43have been identified, with the number set to rise.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46A third of GPs have yet to respond on whether unprocessed items sent
0:03:46 > 0:03:49to them indicate potential harm for patients.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Now, Mr Speaker, he is a board member of Shared Business Services
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and many honourable members have warned him about problems and delays
0:03:55 > 0:03:57with the transfers of records with Shared Business Services.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Not least my honourable friend the member for Exeter.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Given that these warnings were on the record, why did he not
0:04:03 > 0:04:08insist on stronger oversight of this contract?
0:04:08 > 0:04:11And the cost of this debacle could be at least 6.6 million
0:04:11 > 0:04:13for administration fees alone, that is the equivalent
0:04:13 > 0:04:18to the average annual salary of 230 nurses.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Does he agree with the NAO that there was a conflict
0:04:20 > 0:04:22of interest between his role as Secretary of State
0:04:22 > 0:04:27and his role as a board member?
0:04:27 > 0:04:33Well, let me respond to those points.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36First of all what happened at SBS was totally unacceptable.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38It was incompetent and they should never have allowed that
0:04:38 > 0:04:39backlog to develop.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42There was a very specific reason why, if we had informed the public
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and the House immediately, GP surgeries would have been
0:04:45 > 0:04:50overwhelmed, 709,000 pieces of patient data we're talking about.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53And they would not have been able to get on as quickly as we needed
0:04:53 > 0:04:55them to do with identifying risk.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And that was the priority.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Whilst I completely recognise that with the government arrangements
0:05:00 > 0:05:02there is potential conflict of interest, I do not
0:05:02 > 0:05:05accept there was actual conflict of interest,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07because patient safety concerns always overrode any interest
0:05:07 > 0:05:14that we had as a shareholder in SBS.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16This is not an isolated case.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19We have got a pattern occurring where the government
0:05:19 > 0:05:23is failing in its governance over patient records.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Will the Secretary of State now review that governance
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and bring that back in-house?
0:05:28 > 0:05:33It is so urgent that we oversee safety of patients first.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Being a doctor myself understand the importance of ensuring that
0:05:36 > 0:05:39results and letters are reviewed in a timely manner.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43In any system relying on bits of paper being sent around,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46there will always be the opportunity for error.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Which is why in hospitals such as Peterborough where I have worked,
0:05:49 > 0:05:54they provide results electronically, which is quicker as well as
0:05:54 > 0:05:59in back-up paper form which provides for patient safety.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01We have seen a pattern across government not just
0:06:01 > 0:06:04in the Department of Health but work and pensions, for example.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Where contracts are awarded to companies, Home Office too,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09and they fail miserably.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12They have the contracts taken away from them but then they get awarded
0:06:12 > 0:06:13another government contract.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16So clearly there is a lesson to be learned across government that some
0:06:16 > 0:06:18companies simply are not fit for purpose when it comes
0:06:18 > 0:06:21to delivering public services.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23In my own constituency, a tender for cancer care
0:06:23 > 0:06:24was ended prematurely, costing millions of
0:06:24 > 0:06:28pounds to the taxpayer.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30But are these not examples of where the ideological agenda
0:06:30 > 0:06:33of the party opposite to contract out our NHS services is failing
0:06:33 > 0:06:38and as a result of that, patients are suffering?
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Quite the opposite.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Because what those examples show is that when the private
0:06:42 > 0:06:44sector lets us down, we take the contracts
0:06:44 > 0:06:47off the private sector.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Jeremy Hunt.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Nicola Sturgeon has abandoned her demands for a new Scottish
0:06:53 > 0:06:57independence referendum before the Brexit deal is signed.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00The First Minister of Scotland had called for an independence vote
0:07:00 > 0:07:05in either autumn next year or the spring of 2019.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07But in the General Election, the SNP lost a third
0:07:07 > 0:07:10of its seats at Westminster.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Nicola Sturgeon outlined her revised thinking at the Scottish
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Parliament at Holyrood.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21We face a Brexit that we did not vote for, and in a form more extreme
0:07:21 > 0:07:26than most would have imagined just one year ago.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29And now the terms of that Brexit are being negotiated by a UK
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Government with no clear mandate, precious little authority and no
0:07:31 > 0:07:37real idea even within its own ranks of what it is seeking to achieve.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38Before, during and since the election campaign,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I have had hundreds of conversations with people in every
0:07:41 > 0:07:43part of Scotland about the issues of Brexit
0:07:43 > 0:07:45and a second independence referendum.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47I want to reassure people that our proposal is not
0:07:47 > 0:07:50for a referendum now or before there is sufficient
0:07:50 > 0:07:59clarity about the options.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03But rather to give them a choice at the end of the Brexit process
0:08:03 > 0:08:05when that clarity has emerged.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I'm therefore confirming today that having listened and reflected,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11the Scottish Government will reset the plan I set out
0:08:11 > 0:08:16on March the 13th.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18We will not seek to introduce the legislation for an independence
0:08:18 > 0:08:23referendum immediately.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Instead we will in good faith redouble our efforts
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and put our shoulders to the wheel in seeking to influence the Brexit
0:08:29 > 0:08:35talks in a way that protects Scotland's interests.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38But the issue that we have had this last year has been
0:08:38 > 0:08:41with a First Minister who has tried to use the UK's decision
0:08:41 > 0:08:43to leave the European Union to try and impose another referendum
0:08:43 > 0:08:47on independence in Scotland at the earliest opportunity.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50No once in a generation, no Edinburgh agreement
0:08:50 > 0:08:52of respecting the result, just a single vision drive
0:08:52 > 0:08:55to the line by Nicola Sturgeon to try and secure her
0:08:55 > 0:08:58place in history.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And as her own MSPs have accepted, that decision cost her 21 seats
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and the support of half a million Scottish voters in
0:09:04 > 0:09:09the general election.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12But the truth is the threat of an unwanted second
0:09:12 > 0:09:14independence referendum is dead.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17And this didn't happen because Nicola Sturgeon wanted it
0:09:17 > 0:09:26to, the people of Scotland have taken that decision for her.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28But the First Minister is digging her heels in,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31putting her fingers in her ears and pressing on regardless.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35She is just not listening.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38If she wants to prove she has listened, the First Minister should
0:09:38 > 0:09:41trigger a vote in this Chamber which would rule out another
0:09:41 > 0:09:45independence referendum in this Parliamentary term.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47Willie Rennie.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Well back at Westminster, the SNP attempted to instigate
0:09:49 > 0:09:52a debate on the controversial deal struck between the Conservatives
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58The deal came earlier this week after days of on-off talks,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00some of it in Downing Street, involving the DUP leader
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Arlene Foster and Theresa May.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06In return for the DUP supporting the Conservatives in Commons votes,
0:10:06 > 0:10:16one billion pounds will be made available for infrastructure
0:10:18 > 0:10:21in Northern Ireland in areas such as health, education and broadband.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23The SNP said the agreement needed some urgent
0:10:23 > 0:10:24discussion in the Commons.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Yesterday morning the government confirmed a confidence
0:10:26 > 0:10:28and supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party
0:10:28 > 0:10:32to secure a working majority in this Parliament.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37The central part of this deal involved a funding arrangement that
0:10:37 > 0:10:40would see Northern Ireland benefit with over ?1 billion of extra
0:10:40 > 0:10:42investment but the other nations of the United Kingdom would secure
0:10:42 > 0:10:45next to nothing.
0:10:45 > 0:10:56The full details of this deal must be fully debated and all the issues
0:10:56 > 0:10:57properly scrutinised as quickly as possible,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01certainly ahead of Thursday's votes on the Humble address.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02Hear, hear.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04I have listened carefully, it was my decision to allocate
0:11:04 > 0:11:07to the honourable gentleman three minutes in which to make his
0:11:07 > 0:11:09case, to the application from the honourable member.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12However, I'm not persuaded that this matter is proper to be discussed
0:11:12 > 0:11:13under standing order number 24.
0:11:13 > 0:11:23I do realise that that will disappoint the honourable gentleman.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27But he is a persistent terrier and I feel sure that he and other
0:11:27 > 0:11:30members from his benches will raise this matter in all sorts of ways
0:11:30 > 0:11:34in days to come and they will not be deterred in any way by the thought
0:11:34 > 0:11:35that they might be repeating themselves.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37John Bercow ruling out a special emergency debate
0:11:37 > 0:11:41on the Conservatives' deal with the DUP.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44The Business Secretary has said he will ensure that the voice
0:11:44 > 0:11:48of business is heard as the Brexit talks proceed.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Greg Clark was speaking in the first question time of the new parliament.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Business chiefs have said recently the economy must take centre stage
0:11:56 > 0:12:00in the Brexit negotiations.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And in a recent letter to the Business Secretary five top
0:12:03 > 0:12:08business groups urged ministers to keep the UK in the
0:12:08 > 0:12:10European single market.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11I've held discussions with businesses,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14workers, and local leaders across the UK and investors
0:12:14 > 0:12:16all round the world.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19These will continue over the coming months including my weekly meetings
0:12:19 > 0:12:23with the directors general of the five main
0:12:23 > 0:12:27business organisations.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And the Government is creating a new EU Exit Business Advisory Group
0:12:30 > 0:12:33to ensure that business is not only heard, but is influential
0:12:33 > 0:12:35throughout the negotiations.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Many businesses are concerned about additional checks on imports
0:12:38 > 0:12:43and exports in trade, if we leave the customs union.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Can the Secretary of State give any reassurance at all to businesses
0:12:47 > 0:12:49that there will not be additional checks if and when we leave
0:12:49 > 0:12:58the customs union?
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Well, what I would say to the right honourable lady is that I have
0:13:01 > 0:13:05always been clear and the government has been clear that we want to have
0:13:05 > 0:13:07not only no tariffs, but no bureaucratic impediments
0:13:07 > 0:13:08of the type that she describes.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10And that is one of the objectives that the business
0:13:10 > 0:13:11organisations have set out.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15She knows that the negotiations have just started, but we are very clear
0:13:15 > 0:13:16that that is our objective.
0:13:16 > 0:13:17Jacob Rees-Mogg.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18Thank you, Mr Speaker.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Will my right honourable friend be asking businesses to list the most
0:13:21 > 0:13:23egregious and restrictive EU directives that may be
0:13:23 > 0:13:25removed once we leave, to make British business more
0:13:25 > 0:13:26competitive and efficient?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Well, we do have, and I'm sure my honourable friend will be
0:13:29 > 0:13:34an assiduous contributor to the scrutiny of the Repeal Bill,
0:13:34 > 0:13:39the approach is to transfer into UK law that which was part of EU law
0:13:39 > 0:13:42precisely, so that this House can scrutinise and consider
0:13:42 > 0:13:49what we should continue with.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
0:13:52 > 0:13:53Still to come:
0:13:53 > 0:13:55That railway dilemma - it is sensible for the trains
0:13:55 > 0:14:00and the tracks to be run by different companies?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03It's been the fourth day of debate on the Queen's Speech
0:14:03 > 0:14:06in the Commons, where there were rowdy exchanges on education.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10The Education Secretary claimed Labour's manifesto pledge to scrap
0:14:10 > 0:14:13student tuition fees in England was no better than
0:14:13 > 0:14:16"snake-oil populism".
0:14:16 > 0:14:19But her opposite number claimed the Royal Address had so little
0:14:19 > 0:14:22to say on education it was not so much a programme,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24"more a post-it note".
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Deriding Labour's plans, Justine Greening said one only had
0:14:28 > 0:14:31to look at their record in Wales to see how disastrous
0:14:31 > 0:14:33they would prove in government.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37According to the OECD, it's the lowest-performing
0:14:37 > 0:14:40country in the UK.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It's the one that's run and overseen by the Labour Party.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47In fact, it's significantly below England now in maths,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51reading and science, and that is Labour's
0:14:51 > 0:14:54legacy for Welsh children, that they would import
0:14:54 > 0:14:58to English children if they ever get the chance.
0:14:58 > 0:14:59I will give way.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04The Welsh Government are quite open about the fact we need to get better
0:15:05 > 0:15:08schools in terms of the results.
0:15:08 > 0:15:14But what I will not have from the Secretary of State
0:15:14 > 0:15:16is the way, yet again, that Tory Government
0:15:16 > 0:15:17are trying to demonise Wales.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19They did it before on health, the line between life
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and death, it is a disgrace.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Was she not apologise to the people of Wales?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26They will never be credible to parents in England,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28until Labour sets out why it feels it is failing children
0:15:28 > 0:15:32in Wales and failing children on opportunity.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37I will give way, then I will make more progress.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40The honourable lady quite rightly talks about credibility
0:15:40 > 0:15:43in the eyes of parents for the Government strategy.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Can I ask her then, what credibility does she think her Government has
0:15:47 > 0:15:50with parents when schools are sending home letters requesting
0:15:50 > 0:15:53donations so that they can afford to buy books and computer equipment
0:15:53 > 0:15:55so that children can have an education?
0:15:55 > 0:16:01I think what parents are most interested in is the fact that,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04when we have independent inspections going on in schools from Ofsted,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08they're now saying that nearly nine out of ten schools in this country
0:16:08 > 0:16:11are now good or outstanding.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16And I think the intervention by the honourable gentleman shows
0:16:16 > 0:16:19very clearly the difference between these two
0:16:19 > 0:16:21sides of the House.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26On one side, a genuine intent to see standards raised.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30On the other side of the House, it's all about politics.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33It's not about outcomes for children, on the ground.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38And we just heard when we were intervened on by a Welsh Labour
0:16:38 > 0:16:45MP had nothing to say about the standards in Wales.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Labour are not being honest and upfront with young
0:16:47 > 0:16:51people in our country about the implications
0:16:51 > 0:16:56of their proposals on higher education funding.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01It is simply snake-oil populism.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05In the last Labour Government, we expanded higher education
0:17:05 > 0:17:07and had a cap on fees.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10She talks about one million young people being unemployed.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13In the first parliament under the Tory Government,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17unemployment was at 1 million - youth unemployment -
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and the work programme was a disaster, wasting
0:17:20 > 0:17:22billions of pounds.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Can I ask her to reverse the 3 billion education cuts
0:17:24 > 0:17:28that her Government is proposing that will devastate aspiration
0:17:28 > 0:17:30in our schools around the country?
0:17:30 > 0:17:35It's time to act, Secretary of State, not attack the opposition.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38When you are in power, deal with the cap on aspiration now.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41There were few interventions on the Government side.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45One or two backbenchers wanted to flag up their continuing concern
0:17:45 > 0:17:49about the proposed changes to the funding formula for schools.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The current funding formula is unfair and depends
0:17:52 > 0:17:53on a lottery code.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Does she agree that every pupil in this country
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and every school deserves a fairer minimum funding?
0:17:59 > 0:18:09Well, as he knows, we are absolutely committed to making sure we do have
0:18:10 > 0:18:11fair funding across our schools.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14We had an extensive consultation that had 25,000 responses to it,
0:18:14 > 0:18:19which we have now gone through, and we are pulling together what it
0:18:19 > 0:18:20means for the right way forward.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23The Secretary of State concentrated more on the Labour Party
0:18:23 > 0:18:26than her own Government and the Queen's Speech.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29There are over 2500 words about education in the manifesto
0:18:29 > 0:18:39on which the Prime Minister stood just a few weeks ago,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42but barely 50 in the speech we heard last week.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Maybe that's why, Mr Speaker, she concentrated so much
0:18:44 > 0:18:46in the Labour Party manifesto.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50It's not so much a programme, but a post-it note.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Angela Rayner said she would give Justine Greening a copy of Labour's
0:18:53 > 0:18:56manifesto to show how it should be done, and even get it signed
0:18:56 > 0:18:59by the next Prime Minister.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05The debate over education.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Now, it was more than 20 years ago that British Rail was broken up
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and the country's rail system was privatised.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12After lengthy discussion at the time, the decision was made
0:19:12 > 0:19:14to separate the management of the track from the operating
0:19:14 > 0:19:16companies that run the trains.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19It was thought it made economic sense if the train companies didn't
0:19:19 > 0:19:24have the responsibilities for track renewal and maintenance.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26The arguments have raged ever since.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29And the issue resurfaced when discussion at
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Lords questions turned, once again, to the long-running dispute
0:19:32 > 0:19:34affecting Southern Rail services.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Two rail unions, the RMT and Aslef, have been in dispute
0:19:37 > 0:19:41with Southern's parent company, Govia Thameslink, for more
0:19:41 > 0:19:46than a year over the role of guards on trains.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Would he like to consider whether it is really sensible
0:19:49 > 0:19:54to have the ownership and management of the track and the trains
0:19:54 > 0:19:58in separate hands?
0:19:58 > 0:20:01It didn't work that way in the great days of the LNER
0:20:01 > 0:20:09and the GWR and Southern Rail before the Second World War.
0:20:09 > 0:20:18They'd better put them back together again and then we might have some
0:20:18 > 0:20:19sensible management.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Could the minister just remind us, in the course of this,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25when and by whom the decision was taken to separate the track
0:20:25 > 0:20:29from the trains and privatise them both separately?
0:20:29 > 0:20:35It was taken, as my noble friend reminds me,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37by the John Major Government.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39But I see no evidence that the Labour Party policy
0:20:39 > 0:20:41of renationalising the railways, handing even more
0:20:41 > 0:20:46power to their friends in Aslef and the RMT,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50will bring any improvement for passengers whatsoever.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It will enable them to hold the whole of the country to ransom
0:20:53 > 0:20:56rather than just the poor miserable passengers on Southern Rail.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58My Lords, how optimistic is my noble friend the minister that
0:20:58 > 0:21:01passengers, even miserable ones such as myself on the Southern Rail
0:21:01 > 0:21:04franchise, can expect a decent service over the summer months,
0:21:04 > 0:21:11when there is industrial action planned for later this week,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I understand, and also for the 10th of July by both the RMT and Aslef?
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I'm afraid the noble lord is correct in that the unions have announced
0:21:18 > 0:21:23further industrial action starting from Thursday.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26So I can't give him any consolation because we can spend as much
0:21:26 > 0:21:28as we like on on upgrading the infrastructure, on providing
0:21:28 > 0:21:31new trains, on taking action over management failings,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35but if drivers and conductors failed to turn up for work,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37there's very little we do about it.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39The Lords discussing trains.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Now, the June 8th election was a significant landmark.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Not only did it ruin Theresa May's hopes of greatly increasing
0:21:45 > 0:21:48her Commons majority, it also ended the Westminster
0:21:48 > 0:21:53careers - for the moment, anyway - of several individual politicians
0:21:53 > 0:21:58and it sent a clutch of brand-new MPs to Westminster.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00The grand total of new MPs is 87.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Some have been making their maiden speeches in the Commons.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Here are a few of them.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09The people of Southport are egalitarian and charitable.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11But too often they have been taken advantage of,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and the town has suffered as a result.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I can assure my constituents that Southport will
0:22:17 > 0:22:20no longer be a soft touch, and I will solicit investment
0:22:20 > 0:22:23into the town every day that I have the privilege
0:22:23 > 0:22:25of representing it.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28For too long, it is the most vulnerable who have felt
0:22:28 > 0:22:30the sharp end of this Government's austerity programme.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Today, sadly, we live in a society where the middle class are told
0:22:33 > 0:22:36to blame the working class, the working class are told to blame
0:22:36 > 0:22:38the benefit claimants, and the benefit claimants are told
0:22:38 > 0:22:42to blame the asylum seekers and refugees.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45After that and eventually, there is nowhere left to blame.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49We can choose in this place, to be self-obsessed, to be
0:22:49 > 0:22:53a perpetrator of fear and greed, a monument to injustice, or,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Mr Speaker, it can be a place that elevates equality,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01facilitates the power of the people, esteems and properly funds a rich
0:23:01 > 0:23:04network of public services so that nobody is left in the
0:23:04 > 0:23:07indignity of poverty, thank you.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10The rapid changes of the 21st-century Britain
0:23:10 > 0:23:12can make people afraid.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15But rather than calling for a day of rage, I hope to call
0:23:15 > 0:23:16for days of courage.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Courage to face the test of globalisation and help recognise
0:23:21 > 0:23:23the opportunities that they provide.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Courage to face the challenges of identity and nationhood,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30whilst recognising the strength of our United Kingdom.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34And finally, the courage to stand behind our political conviction,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38but then know when it is best to stretch our hand across the aisle
0:23:38 > 0:23:41to work for the betterment of our communities.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Every school in my constituency is facing cuts, with many
0:23:45 > 0:23:49secondaries facing half a million stolen from their budget
0:23:49 > 0:23:53by an Orwellian description of a fairer funding formula.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56It promises some of our poorest schools in my constituency
0:23:56 > 0:23:59to lose out the most.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Not fair at all.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05The Government may say there's record spending,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09but when our excellent local schools an High Peak are about to lose
0:24:09 > 0:24:14over ?4 million a year, our children are already in classes
0:24:14 > 0:24:18of 34 or more, it doesn't cut much ice to say that we could have
0:24:18 > 0:24:22lots of money for a free school if we want one.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26We have outstanding schools already.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Is there anything more important than the support and the love
0:24:29 > 0:24:31that we give to the youngest in our society?
0:24:31 > 0:24:36After all, one day, they may well be sat here, looking after us.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40And I beseech the Government, in this time of great uncertainty,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44let's make sure we give them everything we possibly can to help
0:24:44 > 0:24:49them, and by extension all of us, succeed.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Let me close today by once again quoting Sir Winston Churchill.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58"The state must increasingly and earnestly concern itself
0:24:58 > 0:25:01"with the care of the sick, the aged and the young.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05"The state must increasingly assume the position
0:25:05 > 0:25:07"of the reserve employer of labour."
0:25:07 > 0:25:11For the sake of the people Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath, and the communities
0:25:11 > 0:25:15across the country, I sincerely hope we will all seize this moment
0:25:15 > 0:25:18to stop repeating the mistakes of history and look to find new ways
0:25:18 > 0:25:26to regain a sense of society and opportunity for all.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28A sprinkling of maidens.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29And that's it for this programme.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Do join me for our next daily round-up.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Until then, from me Keith Macdougall, goodbye.