:00:14. > :00:16.Hello and welcome to Wednesday in Parliament, our look at the best
:00:17. > :00:18.of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:19. > :00:25.The theme of the Chancellor as he unveils a new tax on sugary
:00:26. > :00:36.Today I can announce that we will introduce a new sugar levy on the
:00:37. > :00:38.soft drink industry. Among other measures,
:00:39. > :00:40.George Osborne announces a longer school day and a new lifetime ISA
:00:41. > :00:42.for young people. He says Britain is well-placed
:00:43. > :00:45.to handle a cocktail But the Labour leader denounces
:00:46. > :00:58.the Chancellor's performance He has failed on the budget, failed
:00:59. > :01:00.on debt, failed on investment, failed on productivity.
:01:01. > :01:02.The party leaders clash over air pollution.
:01:03. > :01:05.And a former Lib Dem leader makes a scathing attack
:01:06. > :01:08.on the Government's record on taking in migrants.
:01:09. > :01:14.What is it like to be the member of a Government, a British Government,
:01:15. > :01:16.that has to take lessons in leadership, compassion and courage
:01:17. > :01:18.from the German Chancellor? But first, it may not
:01:19. > :01:20.have all the trappings of State Opening Day at Westminster,
:01:21. > :01:23.but Budget Day still has its own And sure enough, outside
:01:24. > :01:26.Number 11 Downing Street, stepping into the March daylight,
:01:27. > :01:30.was the Chancellor. Complete with the famous red box
:01:31. > :01:35.containing all the closely-guarded secrets of the annual Budget speech
:01:36. > :01:39.he's about to give MPs. Once into a suitable vehicle,
:01:40. > :01:41.George Osborne made the short journey along Whitehall,
:01:42. > :01:44.around Parliament Square, and into the precincts
:01:45. > :01:47.of the Palace of Westminster. It was George Osborne's
:01:48. > :01:52.eighth Budget. He told the Commons the UK economy
:01:53. > :01:55.was set to grow faster than that of any other advanced
:01:56. > :01:57.country in the world, with a deficit that was
:01:58. > :02:02.now falling each year. The British economy is stronger
:02:03. > :02:05.because we confronted our country's problems and took the
:02:06. > :02:09.difficult decisions. The British economy is growing
:02:10. > :02:15.because we did not seek short-term fixes, but pursued
:02:16. > :02:27.a long-term economic plan. He turned to spending totals. My
:02:28. > :02:31.spending plan in the last Parliament reduced the share taken by the state
:02:32. > :02:35.from the unsustainable 45% we inherited to 40% today.
:02:36. > :02:38.My spending plans in this Parliament will see it fall to 36.9%
:02:39. > :02:43.In other words, the country will be spending no more than the country
:02:44. > :02:48.So I am asking my right honourable friends the Chief Secretary
:02:49. > :02:50.and the Paymaster General to undertake a further drive
:02:51. > :02:59.The aim is to save a further ?3.5 billion in the year 2019-20.
:03:00. > :03:02.At less than half a percent of Government spending in four
:03:03. > :03:04.years' time, that is more than achievable while maintaining
:03:05. > :03:09.He was confident the UK economy would show a ?10 billion
:03:10. > :03:19.We said our country would not repeat the mistakes of the past
:03:20. > :03:23.Today, we maintain that commitment to long-term stability
:03:24. > :03:33.Decisive action to achieve a ?10 billion surplus.
:03:34. > :03:38.He announced reductions in corporation tax, and then moved
:03:39. > :03:43.From April next year, 600,000 small businesses will pay no
:03:44. > :03:54.That is an annual saving for them of up to nearly ?6,000, forever.
:03:55. > :03:57.A further quarter of a million businesses will see their rates cut.
:03:58. > :04:00.Mr Osborne said the oil price had continued to fall.
:04:01. > :04:04.So we need to act now for the long term.
:04:05. > :04:12.I am today cutting in half the supplementary charge on oil
:04:13. > :04:15.and gas from 20% to 10%, and I am effectively abolishing
:04:16. > :04:17.petroleum revenue tax too, backing this key
:04:18. > :04:28.None of this support would have been remotely affordable if,
:04:29. > :04:30.in just eight days' time, Scotland had broken away
:04:31. > :04:35.from the rest of the UK, as the nationalists wanted.
:04:36. > :04:37.The Infrastructure Commission was urging stronger transport links
:04:38. > :04:42.So we are giving the green light to High Speed 3 between
:04:43. > :04:46.We are finding new money to create a four-lane M62.
:04:47. > :04:49.And we will develop the case for a new tunnelled road
:04:50. > :05:01.My honourable friends for Carlisle, Penrith and Wrexham have told us not
:05:02. > :05:06.to neglect the North Pennines. So we will upgrade the A66
:05:07. > :05:08.and the A69 too. The Government who are delivering
:05:09. > :05:12.Crossrail 1 will now commission I know this commitment to Crossrail
:05:13. > :05:15.2 will be warmly welcomed by the Leader of the Opposition,
:05:16. > :05:19.the right honourable It could have been designed just
:05:20. > :05:23.for him, because it is good for all those who live in north
:05:24. > :05:26.London and are heading south. I have listened to the case made
:05:27. > :05:30.by Welsh Conservative colleagues and I can announce today that
:05:31. > :05:33.from 2018 we are going to halve the price of the tolls
:05:34. > :05:35.on the Severn crossings. I am today providing extra funding
:05:36. > :05:42.so that by 2020 every primary and secondary school in England
:05:43. > :05:45.will be, or be in the process The Chancellor switched
:05:46. > :05:59.to the content of drinks. We all know one of the
:06:00. > :06:01.biggest contributors to childhood obesity
:06:02. > :06:02.is sugary drinks. A can of cola typically has nine
:06:03. > :06:06.teaspoons of sugar in it. Some popular drinks
:06:07. > :06:08.have as many as 13. I am not prepared to look back
:06:09. > :06:11.at my time here in this Parliament, doing this job, and say
:06:12. > :06:13.to my children's generation, We knew there was a problem
:06:14. > :06:17.with sugary drinks. We knew it caused disease,
:06:18. > :06:19.but we ducked the difficult So today I can announce
:06:20. > :06:23.that we will introduce a new sugar We're going to use the money
:06:24. > :06:29.from this new levy to double the amount of funding we dedicate
:06:30. > :06:35.to sport in every primary school. And for secondary schools,
:06:36. > :06:37.we are going to fund longer school days for those that want to offer
:06:38. > :06:40.their pupils a wider range of activities,
:06:41. > :06:41.including extra sport. We have consulted widely
:06:42. > :06:45.on whether we should make compulsory But it was clear there
:06:46. > :06:51.was no consensus. Indeed, the former
:06:52. > :06:52.Pensions Minister, the Liberal Democrat Steve Webb,
:06:53. > :06:55.said I was trying to abolish Instead, we are going to keep
:06:56. > :06:59.the lump sum and abolish Mr Opperman, you may have been
:07:00. > :07:12.an amateur jockey, but I do not want From April 2017, anyone under
:07:13. > :07:23.the age of 40 will be able to open a Lifetime ISA and save up
:07:24. > :07:26.to ?4,000 each year. For every ?4 you save,
:07:27. > :07:39.the Government will give you ?1. So, putting ?4000, and the
:07:40. > :07:42.Government will give you ?1000 every year until you are 50. You don't
:07:43. > :07:46.have to choose between saving the first time or saving for your
:07:47. > :07:47.retirement. With the new Lifetime Iser, the Government is giving you
:07:48. > :07:49.the money to do both. One that reaches a surplus
:07:50. > :07:54.so the next generation does not have One that reforms our tax system
:07:55. > :08:00.so the next generation One that takes the imaginative steps
:08:01. > :08:03.so the next generation One that takes bold decisions
:08:04. > :08:07.so that our children grow up This is a Budget that gets
:08:08. > :08:11.the investors investing, savers saving, businesses doing
:08:12. > :08:15.business, so that we build for working people a low-tax,
:08:16. > :08:18.enterprise Britain, secure at home, I commend to the House a Budget that
:08:19. > :08:31.puts the next generation first. And with that, George Osborne
:08:32. > :08:37.concluded his speech. In line with parliamentary
:08:38. > :08:44.tradition and custom, the Budget is replied to not
:08:45. > :08:47.by the Shadow Chancellor but by the Leader of
:08:48. > :08:49.the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. It was his first time responding
:08:50. > :08:52.to a Budget since becoming Mr Corbyn said the speech
:08:53. > :08:56.the Chancellor had given the nation was, in fact, the culmination
:08:57. > :08:58.of six years of failure. It is a recovery built on sand
:08:59. > :09:05.and a Budget of failure. failed on debt, failed
:09:06. > :09:08.on investment, failed on productivity, failed
:09:09. > :09:10.on the trade deficit, failed on the welfare cap and failed
:09:11. > :09:13.to tackle inequality in this This Budget has unfairness
:09:14. > :09:19.at its very core, paid for by those He could not have made
:09:20. > :09:29.his priorities clearer. While half a million people
:09:30. > :09:36.with disabilities are losing over ?1 billion in Personal
:09:37. > :09:38.Independence Payments, corporation tax is being cut
:09:39. > :09:41.and billions handed out in tax cuts The gulf between what
:09:42. > :09:47.the Conservative Government expects from the wealthiest
:09:48. > :09:49.and what they demand from ordinary British taxpayers
:09:50. > :09:58.could not be greater. The "mates rates" deals for big
:09:59. > :10:00.corporations on tax deals is something they will be
:10:01. > :10:04.for ever remembered for. This is a Chancellor who has
:10:05. > :10:08.produced a Budget for hedge fund managers more than
:10:09. > :10:11.for small businesses. Every library that has been closed,
:10:12. > :10:18.every elderly person left without proper care,
:10:19. > :10:20.every swimming pool with reduced opening hours or closed altogether
:10:21. > :10:23.is a direct result of the Government underfunding our local
:10:24. > :10:31.authorities and councils. Far from presiding over
:10:32. > :10:37.good-quality employment, he is the Chancellor who has
:10:38. > :10:40.presided over underemployment I want to hear the Leader
:10:41. > :10:52.of the Opposition and I expect you to hear the Leader
:10:53. > :10:54.of the Opposition. If you do not want to hear him,
:10:55. > :10:58.I am sure the Tea Room awaits. Perhaps there will be a phone call
:10:59. > :11:08.for Mr Hoare if he keeps shouting. Security comes from knowing your
:11:09. > :11:14.income and knowing where your job is. If you are one of those nearly 1
:11:15. > :11:17.million people on a zero hours contracts, you don't know what your
:11:18. > :11:19.income is, you don't have that security.
:11:20. > :11:22.Over the past six years, the Chancellor has set targets
:11:23. > :11:26.on deficit, on debt, on productivity, on manufacturing
:11:27. > :11:38.He has failed in all of them, and he is failing this country.
:11:39. > :11:41.There are huge opportunities for this country to build
:11:42. > :11:43.on the talent and efforts of everyone, but the Chancellor
:11:44. > :11:45.is more concerned about protecting vested interests.
:11:46. > :11:48.The price of failure is being borne by some of the most vulnerable
:11:49. > :11:55.Next came the reaction to the Budget of the SNP.
:11:56. > :12:02.The current account will not be back in the black now until 2018/ 19. The
:12:03. > :12:09.targets keep getting pushed back, more broken promises. Borrowing in
:12:10. > :12:13.four years' time will still be higher than they promised it would
:12:14. > :12:20.be this year. That is the scale of the failure of the key economic
:12:21. > :12:25.methods. This is all about political choices. We said at the election,
:12:26. > :12:30.and we hold to it, a very modest half percent real terms increase in
:12:31. > :12:34.expenditure could have released money not just the investment but to
:12:35. > :12:39.make sure those on benefit did not fall any further behind. That would
:12:40. > :12:42.have been a sensible, humane and productive thing to do. The
:12:43. > :12:47.Chancellor and this Government have gone against that one more time. He
:12:48. > :12:50.may be able to sell that to some of his backbenchers, he has been unable
:12:51. > :12:54.to sell it in Scotland and I fear that will continue to be the case
:12:55. > :12:59.for him. And after that came the views of backbenchers. If we are
:13:00. > :13:02.going to have a tax based on sugar, I wonder whether over the longer run
:13:03. > :13:07.we shouldn't consider widening that base. After all, it is not just
:13:08. > :13:13.sugar in drinks that are held to be harmful. Whether we want to find tax
:13:14. > :13:17.bases all the time on health grounds is another matter, but that bridge
:13:18. > :13:22.has now been crossed now the levy has been introduced. Britain is now
:13:23. > :13:25.at a crossroads. The structural deficit will be gone next year, so
:13:26. > :13:30.the Chancellor is choosing to make unnecessary cuts to meet an
:13:31. > :13:35.unnecessary target. It is his choice to remove support from people with
:13:36. > :13:39.disabilities. It is his choice to cut universal credit. It is his
:13:40. > :13:40.choice to stand by as child poverty increases.
:13:41. > :13:44.And the Budget debate continues for another three days.
:13:45. > :13:46.You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons
:13:47. > :13:54.The Justice Secretary talks of his plans for a new type of prisons.
:13:55. > :13:57.It's normally the main event, but on Budget Day,
:13:58. > :14:01.Prime Minister's Questions becomes the supporting feature.
:14:02. > :14:04.Little point in the party leaders debating the economy,
:14:05. > :14:08.as they've yet to hear the Budget speech.
:14:09. > :14:10.So the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn focused on a non-financial matter,
:14:11. > :14:14.It's an issue moving up the political agenda,
:14:15. > :14:19.All the candidates for Mayor of London have said they regard
:14:20. > :14:21.improving London's air as a top priority.
:14:22. > :14:23.Mr Corbyn produced some stark figures on the effects
:14:24. > :14:32.The sad truth is that 500,000 will die because of this country's
:14:33. > :14:40.failure to comply with international law on air pollution.
:14:41. > :14:42.Perhaps he could answer another question -
:14:43. > :14:45.pollution cost our economy every year?
:14:46. > :14:47.Of course it costs our economy billions, because people
:14:48. > :14:52.That is why we have the new clean air zones, and emissions from cars
:14:53. > :15:07.The Royal College of physicians estimates and pollution costs our
:15:08. > :15:12.economy ?20 billion per year. The failure to deal with air pollution
:15:13. > :15:17.is killing people. Only a few days ago, London faced a severe smog
:15:18. > :15:26.warning. His friend, the Mayor of London has resided over at legal
:15:27. > :15:38.breach of air quality in the capital bore many times since 2012.
:15:39. > :15:45.It was the Conservative government in the 1950 that passed the clean
:15:46. > :15:51.air act, and I am sure it is this government which will continue that.
:15:52. > :16:01.Things have moved on a bit since then. The governments... The
:16:02. > :16:05.government are now... The government are now threatened with being taken
:16:06. > :16:10.to court for its failure to comply with international law on air
:16:11. > :16:17.pollution. He is proposing to spend tens, if not hundreds of thousands
:16:18. > :16:21.of pounds of public money defending the indefensible. Why not invest
:16:22. > :16:28.that in clean air and better" to for everyone in this country? We are
:16:29. > :16:32.investing money in clean air. We are phasing out the use of coal-fired
:16:33. > :16:36.power stations, far in advance of what other European countries are
:16:37. > :16:44.doing, blazing a trail in terms of more renewable energy. The questions
:16:45. > :16:49.to the Prime Minister are these,... He once boasted he led the greenest
:16:50. > :16:57.government ever. No huskies was safe from his cuddles. Could he explain
:16:58. > :17:01.why the energy and climate change select committee has produced a
:17:02. > :17:05.damning report when it comes to green energy, saying major investors
:17:06. > :17:13.describe his policies as risky as a result of cuts and changes? The
:17:14. > :17:17.climate action network said Britain is the second best country in the
:17:18. > :17:22.world for tackling climate change after Denmark. That is our record.
:17:23. > :17:25.The leader of the SNP switched subjects to the situation in Libya.
:17:26. > :17:27.There is widespread reporting that the UK Government
:17:28. > :17:30.are about to commit to send ground troops to Libya to train
:17:31. > :17:36.Is this true, and why has Parliament not been informed about it?
:17:37. > :17:41.Libya is a people smuggling route, which is bad for Europe and bad
:17:42. > :17:45.for us, and we also have the growth of Daesh in Libya, which is bad
:17:46. > :17:47.for us and bad for the rest of Europe.
:17:48. > :17:50.If we have any plans for troop training or troop deployment
:17:51. > :17:53.in a conventional sense we will of course come to the House
:17:54. > :18:02.The UK spent 13 times more bombing Libya than it did on securing
:18:03. > :18:07.the peace after the overthrow of the hated Gaddafi regime.
:18:08. > :18:11.The critics of UK policy even include President Obama
:18:12. > :18:18.Will the Prime Minister give a commitment to bring to Parliament
:18:19. > :18:21.the issue of any potential Libyan deployment of any British forces
:18:22. > :18:32.for approval before giving the green light for that to happen?
:18:33. > :18:40.Very happy to give that commitment, as we always do. I think I am very
:18:41. > :18:44.clear that it was right to take action to prevent that slaughter
:18:45. > :18:48.that Colonel Gaddafi would have carried out against his people in
:18:49. > :18:52.Benghazi. I believe that was right. Of course Libya is in a state that
:18:53. > :18:53.is very concerning right now and everyone has to take their
:18:54. > :18:57.responsibilities for that. Regional elections in Germany
:18:58. > :18:59.at the weekend resulted in sweeping gains by the anti-immigrant
:19:00. > :19:01.AfD Party. Its success has been seen
:19:02. > :19:03.as a reaction against the policy of the German Chancellor Angela
:19:04. > :19:06.Merkel to accept a million migrants. A German government spokesman has
:19:07. > :19:09.said despite the outcome of the regional polls,
:19:10. > :19:11.the immigration policy In the House of Lords,
:19:12. > :19:18.a former Lib Dem leader sharply contrasted the approach of Germany
:19:19. > :19:32.with that of Britain. My Lords, Germany has provided a
:19:33. > :19:35.refuge for more than 1 million refugees. The German Chancellor has
:19:36. > :19:41.said that despite the recent election results, by the way, and
:19:42. > :19:46.relatively minor in their fact, she will not change course. In contrast,
:19:47. > :19:50.Britain provides refuge to not a single refugee currently seeking to
:19:51. > :19:55.flee from the Syrian battlefield. Many women and children amongst
:19:56. > :20:00.them. Our Prime Minister boasts he will have nothing to do with the
:20:01. > :20:03.European plan that deals with manifestly European and pan-European
:20:04. > :20:09.issue. What is it like to be the member of a government, a British
:20:10. > :20:15.Government, that has to take less than -- lessons in compassion from
:20:16. > :20:23.the German Chancellor? I find it a great honour to be part of this
:20:24. > :20:38.government. But the noble Lord refers to the refugees in Syria.
:20:39. > :20:40.The noble Lord referred to the refugees in Syria.
:20:41. > :20:42.We should also congratulate the Turkish people on all
:20:43. > :20:45.that they have done over this period; they have nearly 3 million
:20:46. > :20:50.I do not think that I need to draw the attention of the House to this,
:20:51. > :20:53.At the Syria conference at the beginning of February,
:20:54. > :20:57.11 billion euros was raised in a day - the largest amount ever raised
:20:58. > :21:05.Don't the elections in Germany and elsewhere in the EU just show the
:21:06. > :21:14.democracy is at last taking over from the failed corporate project of
:21:15. > :21:30.European integration? The quicker that is abandoned, surely be better.
:21:31. > :21:35.Democracy, as Lord Pearson Brannock said,... I would never dream of
:21:36. > :21:40.commenting on what has happened or advising on what has happened in
:21:41. > :21:45.Germany. Should we not take some comfort from the fact that although
:21:46. > :21:51.the vote in Germany was disturbing, 80% of those who voted did not vote
:21:52. > :21:55.for an ultra-right-wing party. It was clear last autumn, unless we
:21:56. > :21:59.stopped the flow of refugees from Libya and Turkey, into what was
:22:00. > :22:03.becoming a worse and worse Mediterranean, that there would be
:22:04. > :22:07.many deaths. We have still not really got together any composite
:22:08. > :22:14.plan to stop this blow of refugees before they leave territorial seas.
:22:15. > :22:18.-- this flow of refugees. Put the noble minister let us know are we
:22:19. > :22:22.coming to some conclusion to stop people going to see? If we don't,
:22:23. > :22:32.they will die, and they are dying every day. The noble Lord draws
:22:33. > :22:37.attention to some of the saddest aspects of this crisis. The whole
:22:38. > :22:46.point of the summit of last week was in fact to break the business model
:22:47. > :22:48.of the people traffickers. And end the link between getting in a boat
:22:49. > :22:51.and getting settlement in Europe. The Justice Secretary Michael Gove
:22:52. > :22:54.has said a new Bill will pave the way for prisons in England
:22:55. > :22:57.and Wales to follow the system of academy schools, with league
:22:58. > :23:00.tables and provision for failing jails to be taken over
:23:01. > :23:03.by more successful jails. At the Commons Justice Committee,
:23:04. > :23:07.Mr Gove admitted there was a problem with overcrowding in some prisons
:23:08. > :23:16.but said it was not extreme. There are steps we hope to introduce
:23:17. > :23:20.to ensure that prisons work better, and I'm sure we can talk more
:23:21. > :23:27.about some of the administrative Ideally, what we want to do
:23:28. > :23:32.is create a freestanding foundation, what we call a reform
:23:33. > :23:34.prison, and in order to allow governors to
:23:35. > :23:36.have a significantly greater degree of freedom than we currently grant
:23:37. > :23:39.them, we will need to create a new legal status, in the same way
:23:40. > :23:43.as the Blair government created We are looking at what the firm
:23:44. > :23:49.legal foundation should be for prisons
:23:50. > :23:54.that operate in an independent way. I'm interested in the prison
:23:55. > :23:57.league table idea. Essentially, could you tell
:23:58. > :24:01.us what it is the one measuring, how you are measuring it
:24:02. > :24:04.and not happen when it doesn't meet We have worked out or are working
:24:05. > :24:15.out three types of measurement. The first is a set of aspirational
:24:16. > :24:18.measurements that will let us know that prisons are doing
:24:19. > :24:20.well in three, four, And they would link to, for example,
:24:21. > :24:30.the quality as well as the number of qualifications that
:24:31. > :24:31.the prisoners are securing. They would link to the
:24:32. > :24:36.success of that prison in basic resettlement goals meaning
:24:37. > :24:39.prisoners find and staying in accommodation and find and stay
:24:40. > :24:42.in jobs, desist from criminality Then we think there
:24:43. > :24:53.should be some dipstick measures so that anyone visiting
:24:54. > :24:55.a prison or observing how it is operating,
:24:56. > :24:57.by a week by week or month by month, can
:24:58. > :25:04.see how it is doing. The broader picture there
:25:05. > :25:06.is about successful you think prison reform will be when we still have
:25:07. > :25:09.such a large prison population and when the result
:25:10. > :25:11.of that is the extreme overcrowding. I wouldn't say we have extreme
:25:12. > :25:16.overcrowding. It is certainly the case
:25:17. > :25:19.that the ideal would be one prisoner in each room
:25:20. > :25:34.and we are very far from that. I wouldn't over fixate on numbers,
:25:35. > :25:37.because I think there is a danger of being paralysed by the thought,
:25:38. > :25:40.we can't make any change I think let's make
:25:41. > :25:43.changes within the Do join me for our
:25:44. > :25:47.next daily round-up. Until then, from me,
:25:48. > :25:51.Keith Macdougall, goodbye.