05/12/2017 Tuesday in Parliament

Hello there and welcome to our round

up of the day in Parliament. Coming

up in the next half hour, after the

failure to reach an interim Brexit

deal, Labour reckons it's the DUP

tail wagging the Government dog.

What an embarrassment! The last 24

hours have given a new meaning to

the phrase coalition of chaos.

A

review of counterterror intelligence

draws an uncomfortable conclusion

about the magister arena bombing --

Manchester bombing.

It is

conceivable that the attack might

have been averted had the cards fall

indifferently.

And the work Pensions

Secretary says he will release

documents on Universal Credit to a

Commons committee. But first, it was

not the appearance before MPs that

the Government had been hoping for.

There'd been some optimism that

after Monday's talks, Theresa May

will be able to come to the Commons

and announced progress on Brexit.

But such hopes were torpedoed when

the DUP leader Arlene Foster made it

clear to Theresa May at the last

minute that she would not accept a

deal which appeared to online

Northern Ireland's trading wools

with that of the Irish Republic

instead of the UK -- trading rules.

The aim had been to avoid bringing

back customs posts and checks on the

Irish border. And do so, it was the

Brexit Secretary David Davis who

appeared in the comments to insert

an urgent question. He faced

laughter and heckles from the Labour

badges as he explained that talks

were continuing.

We held for the

talks in Brussels in the past few

days. Progress has been made. We

have not yet reached a final

conclusion. However, I believe we

are now close to concluding the

first phase of negotiations and

moving on to talk about our future

trade relations.

That was and how

Labour side.

Mr Speaker, what an

embarrassment. The last 24 hours

have given a new meaning to the

phrase coalition of chaos. Yesterday

morning, Number ten was briefing

that a deal would be signed. There

was high expectation that the Prime

Minister would make a triumphant

statement to the House. By tea-time,

we had 849 second press conference

saying the deal was off.

The

problem, he argued, could be traced

back to Theresa May's conference

speech.

That was when she recklessly

select options like a customs union

and a single market off the table

and rolled out any... Yet maintain

she could maintain a hard border in

northern Ireland. Yesterday, the

rubber hit the road. Will the Prime

Minister now think her reckless red

lights and put options such as a

customs union and civil market back

on the table? -- single market.

Because if the price of the Prime

Minister's approach is the Rick

above the union and reopening of

bitter divides in Northern Ireland,

the price is too high.

The

suggestion that we might leave part

of the United Kingdom behind in the

customs union, that is emphatically

not something UK Government is

considering. When the First Minister

of Wales complained about or the

First Minister of Scotland test

something about battering the film

independence, I say they are making

a foolish mistake. No UK Government,

let alone Conservative and Younes

one. -- Younes one.

It's no surprise

that are circling around the Prime

Minister because the Prime Minister

has today been interviewed for the

job of Scotland football manager for

her fantastic ability to drop the

feed from the jaws of victory. --

dry defeat. A government that

refuses to give Parliament any say

in the development in the

negotiating position has now let

that negotiating this should be

dictated by a party in the smallest

of these four nations.

The British

people are fed up to the back teeth

with all of this. They want a

solution. It may be that regulatory

alignment is the solution, but if

it's good enough for Northern

Ireland, it is good enough for the

rest of the country.

The way to

solve the border issue, protect the

Good Friday Agreement and hold our

United Kingdom together is to stay

in the customs union and single

market. Isn't it the case that the

Government only has itself to blame

for choosing to rule this option out

what it does not have to? Putting

the future of our country at risk.

No surprise that the Dublin and the

Irish government wishes advance its

interests. The way that it has gone

about it in such an aggressive and

anti-union this way is disgraceful.

It has setback relations and damaged

the relationships within Northern

Ireland in terms of the devolution

settlement, and that is going to

take a long time to repair. One of

the good things that came out of

yesterday is from all sides of this

House, Labour, Conservative

backbenchers to Marie Davidson,

everybody, there is now an agreement

that United Kingdom since together

and nothing will happen that will

cause the break up of this great

United Kingdom.

Does my right

honourable friend sure my sense of

gratitude to our friends in the

Democratic Unionist Party who love

helped her majesties Government

secure its own policy in these

negotiations. And as another centre

that the red lines on maintaining

the United Kingdom and a great story

divergence when the benefits of

leaving...

The red demo for me, is

delivering the best Brexit for

Britain and that's what we will do

-- the redline for me.

David Davis

called on rival parties to unite and

speak with one voice in a bid to

keep the UK in the single market.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament,

Mike Russell said there was

overwhelming support for this both

at Holyrood and among the public.

Scotland did not vote to leave the

EU. The best solution would be to

stay. In the continued move towards

Brexit, there is overwhelming

support in this Parliament and

across the country to attain

Scotland and the UK's place in the

single market and customs union. I

think they're fully decipher all of

us, but here is Colin and across the

UK, at this crucial time -- here in

Scotland. Reject a hard Brexit. It

is time for Scotland to speak with

one voice and I would encourage all

of us who realise that single market

and customer union membership is

vital to say so and to work to

achieve it.

Yesterday, the First

Minister hastily took to Twitter to

demand a separate Brexit deal for

Scotland. Can the Minister explain

how separate arrangements for

Scotland and England will be

beneficial to the rest of us given

that trade with Britain is worth

four times more to Scotland and the

whole of the European Union?

Our

preference is to stay in the EU. If

that is not what is to happen to him

and I think the evidence for doing

so is stronger and stronger, the

whole UK approach staying in the

customs Union is what will be

required. Call it what you will.

That would be the best solution. In

the circumstances in which we are in

today, that is also the best

solution to resolve the difficulty

that has arisen in Ireland and

Northern Ireland.

The SMP's Mike

Russell. -- SNP. In the Welsh

assembly...

We cannot allow parts of

the UK to be treated more favorably

than others. We fully expect it

remains the same everywhere. The UK

Government was clearly looking to do

a deal with the EU yesterday. That

he was torpedoed by the DUP, which

asked the question why it is that a

small party in Northern Ireland has

the ability to have a veto over what

is good for the UK in terms of

negotiations with the EU. We one

Wales also to benefit from any

distinct or special arrangements --

we also want.

Nobody in their right

minds would want to see a hard

border on Ireland. I know the First

Minister agrees with me on that, but

shifting a hard border eastwards is

not a solution that would work for

Wales and certainly not for my

constituents.

Now, away from Brexit,

any report that the intelligence

service and my five and the police

have opportunities to police to

prevent the Manchester bombing

earlier this year -- have

opportunities. The attack was

carried out by Salman Abedi and

make. Reports say he had been a

subject of interest in my five on

other occasions. The revelation came

as the Home Secretary made comments.

I would like to pay tribute to him

and my five and the police, who

worked tirelessly to keep us safe.

They have now disrupted to do plots

since the murder of leaving the

2013, 950 West Mr attack in March

this year. -- 9 cents the

Westminster attack. I received from

them to him highly classified

documents -- ten highly classified.

In June, I commissioned David

Anderson to provide independent

assurance of an external challenge

to the reviews. Based on the police

reviews, David Anderson explains

that in the case of the Westminster

attack, Khalid Masood was a subject

of interest as -- at the time of the

attack. Police did not have any

reason to anticipate the attack.

Regarding the Manchester Arena

attack, Simon Abedi was also a close

subject of interest, and so not

under active investigation. In early

2017, they nonetheless received

intelligence on him which was

assessed as not being related to

terrorism. In retrospect, the

intelligence can be seen to be

highly relevant. Had investigation

been reopened at the time, it cannot

be known whether his plans could

have been stopped. Based as it would

have been unlikely. Across the

attacks, including Manchester Arena,

David Anderson notes that CT

policing got a great deal rights.

However, in relation to Manchester,

he also commented that "It is

conceivable that the attack might

have been averted had the cards fall

differently."

She said of the

actions to be taken... She added

intelligence was imperfect.

Not

every attack can be stopped. As we

do not live in a surveillance state,

it would always be a challenge to

law enforcement to stop determined

attackers getting through. Despite

this, we should remember that most

attacks continue to be successfully

disrupted.

As David Anderson is, the

policing got a great deal right. But

he also says the Manchester attack

in particular might have been

averted had the cards fallen

differently. We believe on this

site, that is a telling phrase. As

the Home Secretary noted, Salman

Abedi was a close subject of

interest, not under active

investigation, but the intelligence

came out in muscle for the attack

which as David Anderson puts it, had

its true significance been properly

understood, with -- would have

called an investigation to be

reopened into them. In closing, I

would like to think and give our

respect on the side of the House on

counterterrorism for their great

work on these matters, but we have

to repeat this does come down to

resources. And resources not just

for counterterrorism as such, but

resources for community policing.

You're watching Tuesday in

Parliament with me. And don't

forget, you can find previous

programmes on the BBC I player.

The last two elections have had one

thing in common. They were not happy

events for the pollsters. Anxious to

find out why the Board committee on

political polling have been holding

an inquiry and their main witness

was a face very familiar to election

results programmes.

Given our

electoral system, the thing above

all you have to get right is the

conservative leader, but that is

probably the most difficult thing to

get right, but other things in 2015,

and for example the astonishing

success of the SNP, him which many

people think this cannot happen. In

the EU referendum, it is worth

bearing in mind that if you take

into account all of the polls that

were conducted during the official

campaign period, slightly more had

Leave van remain Mac, and I think it

is one of the mysteries of history

and -- as to what would have

happened if the referendum would

have been on June 16. At which

point, the vast majority of opinion

polls were pointing to Leave being

ahead, as to whether or not the

polls would have been regarded as a

success which told the country

something that was anticipating...

There was a bit of a swing back, but

what is also true about 2016 is a

lot of people were assuming that the

polls were going to be wrong,

because of the evidence that in

some, but in all all referendums,...

That expectation was exaggerated so

I think insofar as there was

something of a swing back, in the

polls, in the last week of the

referendum, albeit still too polls

had Leave ahead, people said

therefore it is obviously Remain are

going to win. Any sensible person

who looked at the final polls... We

have also had the fax of two

elections where the polling

performed rather poorly in relating

to its predictions, plus the zero

referendum, which your own paper

suggests are pretty inaccurate. This

is a problem for polling or a crisis

for polling, or should we just... I

would suggest to you that even in

2017, the opinion polls told you an

awful lot of things that it was

useful to know. They told you, that

actually, the public were changing

their minds about the merits of the

Leader of the Opposition and they

told you that the public were

changing their minds about the

merits of the Minister.

And being in

the polling business, Professor

Curtis framed his unquestioned.

Our

opinion pollsters are necessarily

immune from the zeitgeist in which

they live with but? I think

certainly given that most of the

changes that were made in the method

-- methodology of the EU referendum

tended to push the polls and a more

Remain direction. Was there a risk

that an industry that is

middle-class and London-based and

whether the zeitgeist... No one will

be daft enough to leave the European

Union. Whether or not the industry

was in Leave, we have to ensure that

this is right, because otherwise the

London professional middle-class

will be bad for people who occupy

this building and they really will

cruise the fires.

Release documents

about universal credits to a

committee of MPs on a confidential

basis. He was heeding calls and a

liberal led debate to get

which has been mired in criticism

and controversy.

Five reviews were

carried out by the then major

project authority between 2012-2015.

These, as you know, our independent

reviews, which provide assurance to

major projects. They contain

in-depth analysis of the

implementation of a project,

including detailed assessment of the

risk phase and the progress that has

been achieved against the

government's the Jets this, in this

case, to deliver the programme

Universal Credit.

The government

refused a freedom of information

request to review it.

On the 30th of

August, this year, the office ruled

that this information must be

disclosed by the Department in full,

with the exception of the names of

the civil servant named in the

reports.

I wonder if she agrees that

the project right from the start has

been one of the reasons why it has

gone so badly wrong.

My friend hits

the nail on the head.

There is a

reason why report commissioned by

the infrastructure and projects

authority and the major projects

authority have not been released by

governments. The Public accounts

committee has already recognised

that there is a need to protect

information that is commercially

sensitive and for there to be a safe

space for candid evaluation and

debate.

On this occasion, he will

not be making an exception.

In line

with the motion before this house, I

will provide by the time the House

rises for Christmas recess, the

reports directly to the working

pension select committee. I just

wish to point out to the shadow

Secretary of State that her motion

to require us to publish these

reports. The dozen require us to lay

out before the House.

The committee

chairs that he will not be seeking

advice on the committee's

obligations.

We are in a totally new

constitutional waters if the motion,

which has now been accepted, so we

can all go home in a minute, bring

on the next business.

And he

reminded MPs about the backdrop to

the debate, destitution and hunger.

On Friday, the most brilliant and

unnecessary organization, recorded a

meeting of a husband, wife, and

young child. The child was crying

with hunger. The family was bad. The

father -- the father said he was --

it was a lucky week for him. He

invited them to a funeral, so that

they could finish off the food after

the other funeral guests had been

fed.

One MP found his remarks very

moving.

I don't know where to start

after that. I am humbled by the

words from Mike Honorable

Goodfriend. -- Mike. No government

is perfect, no benefit system is

perfect. But if we work together, we

can make this better.

Do rural

communities fare worse than urban

ones? Many peers clearly think so

and at question time, Lady Jones

challenged the Minister over what

was being done to tackle poverty and

countryside communities. She argued

they were being left behind in

comparison to cities.

We know that

is too low skilled and insecure and

we know the board is making matters

worse for those who work on the land

and young people in rural areas

don't have easy access to decent

schools, to training opportunities,

or post 16 education. The wind is

the government going to accept their

responsibility to tackle role

poverty and the lack of social

ability and the areas, which is

holding a prosperity back?

600,000

fewer people are an absolute

poverty, a record level. 200,000

fewer children in absolute poverty,

and 300,000 fewer working age adults

in absolute poverty. 3 million more

people in work, 954,000 fewer work

lists homes. That is the way in

which we will ensure that we have

prosperity across this country. It

is white rural areas have lower

unemployment, it is white we are

working extremely hard on a range of

issues to ensure that there is a

rural prosperity and I think this

government is doing all it can to

ensure that.

Truly fast broadband in

the countryside, not the Phantom

speeds abandoned by open ridge,

would lead to much greater jobs and

increase in prosperity.

The Minister

said he had been told the same thing

at a meeting just that morning.

If

we can crack connectivity, we have

cracked almost everything. I

entirely agree this is a challenge

in rural communities and for

business, but we are on track with

95% of UK homes and businesses to

have access to superfast broadband

by the end of this year will stop we

are seeking to increase that to 97%

over the next few years. The

Universal service obligation I think

is important as a safety net and we

are looking at all sorts of

innovative ways of getting to the

hard-to-reach areas.

House prices in

rural areas, local working families

are priced out of the market. The

Right to Buy scheme has not led to

new housing replacing those sold.

There are now large numbers of

essential workers unable to afford

to live in rural areas. Will the

government agree with me that it is

time that the government provided

homes for essential workers, such as

care workers, teachers, nurses,

firefighters, and front-line police

officers?

The government was putting

money into housing to make sure that

the people who work in the

countryside and made communities

tick had affordable homes. Finally,

the former Olympics minister has

resumed her seat in the Lords after

treatment for brain cancer. She sits

as a laser -- labour appear and was

diagnosed in May.

I do swear by

Almighty God that I will be faithful

and bear true allegiance to her

Majesty, the Queen Elisabeth, her

heirs, and successors, according to

the law.

There was a warm welcome

after she signed the register and

swore the oath of allegiance.

Formally resuming her seat. That

brings us to the end of this edition

of the programme, but do join me at

the same time tomorrow for another

round of the day at Westminster.

Including the highlights from prime

ministers questions and the next day

of detailed debate on the EU

withdrawal bill. But for now from

me, goodbye.