24/10/2017 Tuesday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to our look back at the day here at Westminster.

Coming up in the next half hour: Opposition MPs have another go

at persuading the Government to suspended implementing

All of this, Mr Speaker, is reason to pause Universal Credit roll out.

The Foreign Office updates the Commons on the latest situation

now that the So-called Islamic State group has been forced out.

And MPs hear about new challenges for our police force.

Having seen this and been out of my own staff, in seems increasingly

like uniform social work rather than policing.

Last week we saw the highly unusual spectacle of a Government defeat

The vote was on pausing the implementation of

the new Universal Credit benefit system, though it wasn't binding.

Conservative MPs were ordered by their party to abstain.

Afterwards, opposition MPs condemned the Government,

saying ministers were reducing the Commons to a talking shop.

In the absence of a ministerial statement, the Speaker permitted

an emergency debate on the roll-out of Universal Credit.

And there was quite a lot of anger on the opposition benches.

In Wallasey, the roll-out will begin halfway through November.

The DWP will not be open on Christmas Day, which

means many of my constituents will have to wait until the New Year for

Which is why our local food bank is looking to

collect 15 tonnes of extra food to deal with the demand.

Does she agree with me that it's time this

Parliament listened and the Government listened

to what Parliament is saying and acted to alleviate

On December 13, when the scheme rolls out in Swansea, I am

anticipating mayhem for far too many vulnerable people.

It doesn't take a mathematician to work out that if

you transfer 12 days before Christmas and the payments take

between 35 and 42 days to appear in your bank account,

there are going to be a lot of Swansea residents in

dire straits at the worst possible time.

All of this, Mr Speaker, is reason for the Government to respect

This country's elected representatives and pause universal

I stand ready to work with them in the

national interest to address these issues

and avert a disaster that is

The decision of whether or not to vote as a matter

The decision of whether or not to vote is a matter

As you noted last week, it is a legitimate one to take.

Universal Credit was fully legislated for in

the welfare reformat 2012 and its subsequent SIs

and was subsequently debated by Parliament.

I just want to ask the Minister, if he

thought we had such a good debate last week, why did his party abstain

Well, Mr Speaker, I'm going to come to many of the things

As I said, it is legitimate as a decision

to vote, or otherwise, in such a debate, but there is much to take

It was a very high-quality session of this house.

Strong leadership would have seen action last week, strong

leadership would have accepted the parliamentary arithmetic,

would have accepted the mood of the house and

our constituents and would have accepted it needed to act.

Last week, we saw the desperate weakness

of a Government unwilling to defend its flagship

Social Security policy in the lobbies.

In what must be a near unprecedented scenario, they

If the Labour Party truly believe what

they were saying, that they do indeed support the principle of

Universal Credit, they would be working with Government to make sure

Rather than scaremongering and trying to

block the good reform to our benefit system.

We also need to, I believe, change the six-week period.

It is a very substantial period, it isn't in

the spirit, it's not in the values of Universal Credit.

It ought to be that four-week period.

So I think the Government is demonstrating it is listening and

a key part of that has been the introduction

I don't want the roll-out to be stopped, but for it to go on,

It was in January 2014 that the So-called

Islamic State group, or Daesh, seized control

Declaring the city to be its capital, IS embarked

on a campaign of violence and brutality against

Later that year, America launched air strikes.

The UK followed suit once Parliament had approved military intervention,

after a fierce debate in the Commons.

Now, nearly four year later, IS has been forced out of Raqqa.

The Minister's statement was instigated by a Labour MP.

He asked what the next steps would be to defeat IS and the evil

Raqqa was officially liberated on the 20th of October.

The Syrian Democratic forces supported by the

global coalition against Daesh began operations to liberate Raqqa in June

Military operations are ongoing, the liberation of Raqqa

this month follows significant Daesh territorial losses in Iraq,

Daesh has now lost over 90% of its territory it once

The Minister's statement was instigated by a Labour MP.

You will recall that in November 2015, the then Prime Minister, David

Cameron, made the case for the liberation of Raqqa,

which has now been achieved, as central to endorse

which had been taking place in Syria since that point.

He asked what the next steps would be to defeat IS and the evil

The minister himself as always been assiduous on this matter.

I do say to the Government that their failure to offer a

statement to this house following the liberation, not only does it

suggest a lack of respect for Parliament and the British people on

whom we were asked to make the decision to send the Royal air

force into a theatre of combat, but also

there is a worried that it suggests a complacency and lack of it which

has too often been the hallmark of the aftermath of the Government on

both colours in attempting to maintain stability in the region

The Minister reassured him that the Foreign Secretary would be

making a full statement shortly but, in the meantime, he told MPs

In terms of stabilisation, in immediate terms we

have stepped up by humanitarian support, Secretary of State

announced an additional ?17 million and ordered to restore crippled

health facilities deliver much-needed medical

support and relief and crucially to clear lethal landmines

and explosives because in leaving the city, Daesh have left a reminder

Let me thank the Minister for his opening remarks.

I wholeheartedly agree with his sentiments and for

once we are in union that the victory against Daesh

in Raqqa is a vital blow against an evil death

cult and it makes a mockery of their pretensions to establish caliphate

It shows them to be the weaklings and the cowards

Will be Minister agree with me that British jihadists

need also to be captured where possible and tried for the heinous

war crimes, some of which can only be faced in international Crown

Things such as genocide for the whole were to

witness, rather than, and I quote, the only way

witness, rather than, and I quote, the only way of dealing with them

This of course will only fuel IS recruitment.

To make it very clear, is the Defence Secretary said

on the 12th of October, those who go to Syria put

Those who go to Syria to take action against

and the United Kingdom's interests put themselves in particular danger.

And if they are involved in conflict or

they are involved in planning actions which will take the lives of

British systems, they run the risk of being killed themselves.

Of course, those who surrender to forces, those in the area, must

expect to be treated by the laws of armed conflict and be treated

properly and humanely in terms of being brought to justice.

Those who return to the United Kingdom, as

indicated earlier, but also been questioned

about their activity and

I welcome the news that Raqqa has been liberated

Especially Paradise Square that the terrorists carried out

I want to thank the Minister for all the work that

he has done in securing a UN resolution to locate and prosecute

Some members of this house received and continue to receive

considerable abuse for the decisions that we took back in November 2015

to support the extension of the RAF mission to Syria.

Does the liberation of Raqqa and this

considerable setback to Daesh show that we were absolutely right?

The Minister agreed, saying that the Commons decision

to support air strikes was the right one.

You are watching Tuesday in Parliament, with me, Mandy Baker.

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The European Council President, Donald Tusk, has described the UK's

departure from the EU as the toughest stress test.

Addressing the European Parliament he told MEPs that if EU failed that

test, it would be a defeat for Brussels.

Suggestions of hope for a deal are just not good enough.

The Chancellor knows the economic perils our country faces

He described it rightfully as a worst-case scenario.

Can I urge him in the interests of our country to have the courage

of his convictions, stand up and face down his opponents

in Cabinet and confirm today that like us, he will not support or vote

Mr Speaker, as the honourable gentleman very well knows,

our clear objective, our priority, is to achieve a deal

Our preference would be for a deal that gives a comprehensive trade,

investment and security partnership between the UK and the

And as part of such a deal we will seek an implementation phase

that gives British businesses and indeed government agencies

proper time to prepare for the new circumstances

Can I just say if he cannot stand up to his opponents

on a no deal Brexit, can he please stand up

to them on the issue of the transition period?

Business leaders yesterday made it clear that they need the certainty

now that there will be a sensible transition period.

And yet the Prime Minister yesterday sowed more

confusion in her statement, giving the impression

that the transition is to be negotiated only after we have

settled on what she described as the future partnership

Businesses cannot wait, they need to plan now.

If the Prime Minister is not willing to stand up to the reckless

Brexiteers in her party, will the Chancellor make it clear

in the way the Prime Minister failed to do yesterday,

and as business leaders have been calling for,

we need the principles of any transition confirmed

Mr Speaker, the honourable gentleman is correct to say that this matter

And that is why we were so pleased that last week

at the European Council the 27 agreed to start internal preparatory

discussions in relation to an implementation period.

And I'm confident that we will be able to give businesses

the confidence and the certainty that they need.

Can I urge the Chancellor to reject the representations we have just

heard from the Shadow Chancellor, would he not agree with me

that you cannot agree a price until you know

And only a fool would write out a blank cheque of taxpayers money.

My honourable friend is absolutely right,

we should not be giving away our negotiating position

when we are going into one of the most important negotiations

this country has ever been involved in.

And that is why we need to make sure we are prepared

The Chancellor in his efforts to secure a good Brexit deal

and transition period, has the confidence and support not

only of right honourable members of this side of the House

but across the whole of British businesses.

And that includes of course businesses in Broxstow.

Unlike the party opposite which inspires complete fear

with their Marxist mayhem which they would put

into policy if they were elected into government.

But could my right honourable friend confirm that it really

is in the best interests of British business to secure a transition

Would he agree to make sure that he will do all he can to get

Yes, Mr Speaker, British business has make clear that it wants

the earliest possible certainty about the implementation

And it has also made very clear that it doesn't want

Now, there's always a considerable police presence in the Palace

of Westminster, but today one committee room boasted no fewer

than four chief constables and an assistant commissioner.

The Home Affairs Committee was gathering evidence on its enquiry

One of the questions was whether the pressure

on resources was making it harder to stop volume of crimes increasing.

What is the kind of tipping point that says at one point would be

the stress indicators that start to say service is kind of at a level

And, you know, I often use the kind of boiling of the frog analogy.

The water is starting to feel quite hot this summer and I think

there is a kind of real stretch in the last 18 months,

I think, that the service hasn't felt or other

I think different forces kind of experience this in different ways.

And there is a kind of stretch here that feels more

Do you think you are at the tipping point now?

I have kind of used the analogy of there are some red lights

Is there anything else in terms of you know,

when you have considered the statements you have to make,

the 2% pay rise for officers recently announced and all the other

pressures, is there any other budget pressures that you haven't mentioned

that you foresee coming down the line?

I think one of the areas that causes me concern

is what is happening to our local authorities.

And the pressures that they are under because of austerity.

And therefore any neighbourhood -based services that they are

providing also being at risk so we are seeing things like youth

offending teams being looked at, their own preventative arrangements

I think that is a very real concern for me.

We also recognise in West Yorkshire for example, 83% of my time in terms

of delivering services is not about crime.

I would agree about the issue around partners, I'm currently averaging

in a force the size of Staffordshire, 13

16 calls for service for mental health.

Issues called into the control room where we are deemed to be the most

I don't think that always turns out to be the case.

So those pressures on the public sector across the piece mean

that we are sometimes involved in things that perhaps

I have previously described it at times, it feels increasingly

Peers have called for the murder of a journalist in Malta to be

Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb

In recent blog posts, the journalist had accused senior

In the House of Lords, a Home Office Minister briefed peers.

My Lords, the UK is looking to identify how best that we can

We have not received any requests for UK officers to support

the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Should a request be received, the government would

My Lords, the United Kingdom has a very historic relationship

with Malta which is of course a member of the Commonwealth.

After her murder, Miss Galizia's son said, and I quote,

the state in Malta has become indistinguishable

She was of course investigating corruption at the highest level,

probably involving the Mafia, who may have been the

So could her Majesty's government encourage the involvement of Europol

..For all of Europe that the rule of law is observed and seem to be

My Noble Friend is absolutely right that we have a long-standing

And we have offered some initial advice to the Maltese

and we are considering with them how to support the investigation

Malta is one of four countries including us whose system

They are also party to the European Convention on Human Rights.

This extraordinary, courageous investigative journalist wrote

articles accusing the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition

In those circumstances will the government please remind

Malta of its obligations under the European Convention

on Human Rights to hold a truly independent

My Lords, I hope that an effective investigation will be

And of course we will encourage that to happen.

But the point that the Noble Lord makes about journalists being free

to express their views on what they perceive as wrongdoing

in their country should absolutely be preserved.

The state may not like it, but we really welcome

My Lords, in asking this question, I would like to pay tribute

to Daphne Caruana Galizia for her courage as a generalist.

I had the privilege and until recently of having her son

Paul working with me at the Legatum Institute.

Only one in seven people in this world lives in a nation

And my question for my Noble Friend the Minister is what steps is this

country, where we do enjoy freedom of the press, taking

to preserve our own freedoms and to see those extended worldwide?

My Noble Friend makes a very important point.

The UK supports freedom of expression as both a fundamental

right in itself and as an essential element of a full

The freedom of expression is required to allow innovation

to thrive and ideas to develop and of course people must be allowed

to discuss and debate issues freely without fear

The International Development Secretary, Priti Patel,

has said that other governments need to do more to help hundreds

of thousands of Rohingya refugees who've fled to Bangladesh to escape

She called it the fastest growing humanitarian crisis in the world.

Priti Patel was being questioned by the International

This is a crisis, a humanitarian crisis.

And it costs money, it costs resources.

And it may be very uncomfortable thing for the world to see

and witness, but I tell you what, it will be even more uncomfortable

And provide the resources that are needed to stop diseases,

to stop sexual abuse and violence that is taking place

If they don't provide the social, psychological support

that is required for women and children who have seen such

And importantly, provide the immediate humanitarian relief,

food, water, all the things that many of us take for granted.

Thank you for speaking up about it, we all know it is appalling genocide

And the creating of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

It will take many years before any of them are able

Are there any countries that are being absolutely

obtrusive and saying no, we're not getting any more money?

And the fact that they don't give 0.7% to begin with is clearly

appalling for a lot of them who can afford to do so.

I think from the discussions we have had with many colleagues,

I think we should be clear about that.

But this is not just about the money.

This is about the diplomatic efforts that are required.

And this is actually about the world just sort of pressing that pause

button for now and just sort of standing back and saying,

I believe through the changes that I have instituted

in the Department on money, because we have looked

at our spending, I have stopped programmes and projects,

I have not hesitated in stopping programmes and projects that I have

felt have not delivered effectiveness or value for money.

Of course that gives us more scope to save lives today and change

lives in the long one for tomorrow as well.

At the Conservative Party Conference you said were other government

departments need to improve their aid spending, I'm challenging

them to raise their game and be accountable to UK taxpayers.

Can you give an example of where you have done that and how

We are constantly accused of shoving money out of the door.

I think that is the phrase that is used in popular parlance.

And we are accused of that, other government departments have

So changing the way in which other government departments fundamentally

work, to plan ahead and to make the right kind of strategic

decisions and choices on their spending.

During your campaign you were one of the great Brexiteers. Once we leave

the European Union we will look at all programmes, not just write

checks unconditionally in the way we have done already to the European

Commission. But we will look at where we can have the right kind of

partnership, if it is for example in a refugee camp, in Jordan or

Bangladesh, and that kind of work would continue but a different world

working to what we have now where we just give a chunk of money over to

the European Commission but have no oversight.

Finally, Priti Patel was asked about the appointment

of Zimbabwe's President Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador

by the World Health Organisation - a decision that was reversed

Quite frankly the decision that was made there and the right

decision was obviously achieved afterwards, it is completely

And we do not subscribe to the system where that kind

of decision is made without having some kind of influence in terms

Head of Channel 4 has denied stealing great British break off

from the BBC but appearing before the culture committee David Abraham

came under sustained attack from a rather disgruntled cure. I have

watched it and what is innovative about the new show, we have three

different presenters but all old hat presenters we have seen elsewhere.

David Abraham set out to prove her criticisms were half baked and said

the show was a recipe for success. And that's it from me for now,

but do join me at the same time tomorrow for another round up

of the day here at Westminster, including the highlights

from Prime Ministers Questions. But for now from me,

Mandy Baker, goodbye.