04/05/2016 Wednesday in Parliament

Hello, welcome to Wednesday In Parliament,

our look at the best of the day in the Commons and the Lords.

On this programme, with hours to go before polling across the UK,

the political temperature rises at PMQs.

David Cameron issues a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.

He must stand up and say they are not his friends.

Anyone that commits racist acts or is anti-Semitic

is not a friend of mine, it is very clear about that.

Foreign correspondents describe their fears

Given how the fight will go, both from the defenders

and the attackers, Mosul, I believe, will be pretty bloody awful.

And, harmless joke or a tasteless insult?

The story of the German comedian gets an airing

Chancellor Merkel, under pressure from President Erdogan,

has agreed that this prosecution can go forward because she is desperate

But first, it is only a matter of hours before the polling stations

open in elections of different sorts around the United Kingdom.

One issue has loomed large in the last fortnight

of campaigning, namely claims and counterclaims of anti-Semitism

The MP, Naz Shah, was suspended from the party last week, saying

on Facebook that Israel should be moved to America.

In the Commons, at Prime Minister's Questions,

David Cameron was keen to keep the focus on the issue.

He repeatedly pressed Jeremy Corbyn over remarks the Labour Leader had

once made about the militant Islamic groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

First, Jeremy Corbyn spoke about commemorations about to take

place for Israel's Day of Remembrance for Holocaust victims.

I hope there is an agreement right across all parts of this House

in sending our best wishes to those commemorating the occasion

and sending a very clear statement that anti-Semitism has no place

in our society whatsoever and we all have a duty to oppose it.

Let me join the right honourable gentleman in saying, yes, of course,

we should always support Holocaust Memorial Day,

whether it is here in the United Kingdom,

where we have a number of commemorations,

But I am going to press him on this point because he did say this.

He said, it will be my pleasure and my honour to host an event

in parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking.

I have also invited friends from Hamas to come

Hamas and Hezbollah believe in killing Jews.

Not just in Israel, but around the world.

Because if he wants to clear up the problem of anti-Semitism

in the Labour Party, now is a good time to start.

Mr Speaker, I have made it very clear, Labour is an anti-racist

party and there is no place for anti-Semitism within it.

We have suspended any members that have undertaken any anti-Semitic

activities or work or statements and have established an enquiry

The points he was making earlier relate to a discussion I was hosting

in order to try to promote a peace process and it was not an approval

of those organisations, I absolutely do not approve

But I am afraid he is going to have to do this one more time.

He referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as has friends.

Now, he needs to withdraw that remark.

Are they your friends or are they not?

Because those organisations, in their constitutions,

believe in persecuting and killing Jews.

They are anti-Semitic organisations, they are racist organisations,

he must stand up and say they are not his friends.

Mr Speaker, obviously anyone that commits racist acts

or is anti-Semitic is not a friend of mine.

And, at this point, Jeremy Corbyn moved to the battle between two

of the candidates in this week's election for who will succeed

Those candidates being Zac Goldsmith for the Tories and

The Labour leader accused the Conservatives of

smearing Sadiq Khan, who is the MP for Tooting.

I would make this argument, as I said before at this

Despatch Box, we are not responsible for everything someone says

We cannot control everyone who appears in a picture

but there is a pattern of behaviour with the honourable

Let me tell him, he shared a platform with Sajeel Shahid,

the man who trained the ringleader of the 7/7 attacks and accused

the United States of bringing 9/11 on themselves.

He shared a platform with an extremist who called

When this was put to the honourable member for Tooting,

He described it as mere flowery language.

If he wants to know why he has a problem with anti-Semitism,

it is because his candidates share platform after platform

after a platform with extremists and anti-Semites and then

One more time, say you withdraw the remark about Hamas

Mr Speaker, last week the Prime Minister tried,

as he often does, to smear my friend, the member for Tooting

by his association with Solomon Ghani.

It turns out that Mr Ghani is actually an active

Who has shared platforms with the honourable

He also should reflect on the words said by Lord Lansley some years ago

that racism was endemic within his party.

We have set up a commission of enquiry, I suggest he might think

David Cameron had with him remarks made by Solomon Ghani.

Do you want to know the views of the person that your

leader has just quoted? He described women...

The honourable member for Islington might be interested in this.

He described women as subservient to men.

He said that homosexuality was an unnatural act.

He stood on a platform with people who wanted an Islamic State.

That is why his attempts to deal with anti-Semitism are utterly

Because he won't even condemn people who sit on platforms

with people like that. Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Speaker, I did point out to the Prime Minister,

I was actually trying to help him, that the gentleman concerned

So maybe he would care to think about that.

He might also consider that Shazia Awan, a former Conservative

parliamentary candidate, said this of the Tory mayoral campaign.

"A lifelong Tory voter and ex-candidate, I am ashamed

The Prime Minister, this Government, has cut income tax for the richest.

Cut capital-gains tax, cut corporation tax

At every turn, they make the wrong choices.

Tomorrow people can make their own choices.

About the crisis of social care, the housing crisis in this country.

The unprecedented cuts to local councils in areas of greatest need.

The cuts to further education, taking opportunities away

The choices have been made, they cut taxes for the rich.

We want to ensure that there is proper taxation to ensure

there are decent services for the rest.

He's right, tomorrow is about choices.

You can choose a party that is on the side of security

That wants to make sure there are more jobs,

better pay, lower taxes, good schools for your children,

a seven-day NHS there for you when you need it.

Or the other choice, you can back a party that puts

That is utterly incapable of providing the leadership

your local council needs or our country needs.

Well, a little later at Prime Minister's Questions,

David Cameron disclosed that ministers are in talks

with the Save The Children charity about what more Britain can do

to help unaccompanied child refugees from Syria.

There are been threats of a Conservative rebellion over

the refusal, up to now, of the Government to take child

So far, the Government has only been willing to take children

The SNP's leader at Westminster quoted Sir Eric Reich,

chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugees Kindertransport

He wrote, the echoes of the past haunt many of my

Whose fate similarly rested with members

I feel it is incumbent on us to once again demonstrate our compassion

and human kindness to provide sanctuary to those in need.

Why has it taken so long, and the threat of a parliamentary

defeat, for the Prime Minister to begin changing his mind?

We are already taking child migrants in Europe with a direct family

connection to the UK and we will speed that up.

I am also talking to Save The Children to see what we can

do more, particularly with children who came here before the EU

Because, as I say again, what I don't want us to do

is to take steps that will encourage people to make this

Otherwise, our actions, however well-meaning they will be,

could result in more people dying, rather than more people

Mr Speaker, last week I accused the Prime Minister of walking

by on the other side when he stoutly defended his then policy opposing

further help from unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.

So if what we are hearing now is indeed the beginnings

of a U-turn, I very much welcome it, as I'm sure the members

May I encourage him to think more about what can be done given,

of course, that the Kindertransport helped 10,000 children from Europe?

Will I asked the Prime Minister, finally, to take the opportunity

to thank Lord Alf Dubs and all campaigners who have worked

so hard for the UK to live up to the example and the spirit

I certainly think that all those people deserve recognition

for the work they have done to put this issue so squarely

But let me just say again, I do reject the comparison

For this reason, I would argue that what we are doing, primarily,

taking children from the region, taking vulnerable people

from the camps, going to the neighbouring countries

and taking people into our country, housing them, clothing,

feeding them, making sure they can have a good life here,

that to me is like the Kindertransport.

To say that the Kindertransport is taking today children from France

or Germany or Italy, safe countries that are democracies,

I think that is an insult to those countries.

As I have said, because of the steps we are taking, it will not be

necessary to send the amendment back to the other place,

the amendment doesn't now mentioned a number of people.

We are now going to go round the local authorities and see

what more we can do but let's stick to the principle that we should not

And, outside the chamber, Downing Street explained that

children registered in Greece, Italy or France, before

the EU-Turkey deal was signed last month, would be

Well, the Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, said Britain

is not bound to sign up to new EU rules on asylum seekers.

The European Commission plans to alter what is called

These state that asylum applications should be considered in the first

country in the European union that a claimant reaches.

The European Commission wants it changed so that the continent

is better able to deal with a future refugee crisis.

And to ease the burden on front line countries like Greece.

Mr Brokenshire was answering an urgent question in the Commons.

As the House will be aware, the UK has an opt-in to any EU

proposals on justice and home affairs issues.

It is not bound to sign up to the proposals the commission has

published today and we will have three months to consider

In practice, the Dublin Agreement is very far from perfect and the EU

is desperate to find ways of evening out the strains of the large numbers

of asylum seekers as well as not rocking the British boat

Even the European Commission has acknowledged that the current Dublin

system doesn't work, Germany has all but abandoned it

and Greece has not abided by it apparently since 2011.

In relation to the benefit, yes, we do see significant benefit

from the existing Dublin regulations and, as I have indicated,

we have sought to remove nearly 12,000 people from the UK to other

EU member states over the last ten years, using that process.

It is also clear we have got a keen national interest and a moral

responsibility to ensure that effective systems are in place

to tackle the worst humanitarian crisis in a decade in Europe.

A humanitarian crisis on a scale that clearly needs

It's clear the Dublin arrangements are not working on the ground.

Dublin arrangements are not able to cope with the numbers

and to process the claims the need to be processed.

and to process the claims that need to be processed.

We, Labour, have been calling for a reconsideration of how

the Dublin arrangements actually work in practice for many months

The Government, as ever, has been slow and reluctant to act,

characterised by the involuntary appearance here today.

The Government believes the long-standing principles

at the heart of the Dublin system are the right ones.

And it would be a major error to tear them up and replace them

Dublin may not be operating as it should but that does

not mean its principles are fundamentally flawed.

The migrant crisis we face is our part of a crisis that affects

every European Union member state and it requires

It is a complete absurdity, first promulgated by Ukip,

that somehow if we left the EU these people would no longer be

I know the minister is very proud of his opt-in but,

in reply for to the right honourable member for Rushcliffe,

he seemed to agree that, in principle, the refugee crisis

is a European crisis that requires collective action.

Therefore, if we were having the Brokenshire regulations instead

of the Dublin regulations, what exactly would they be?

I'm very grateful to honourable gentleman for framing

I think what it underlines is the need for each EU member state

to play a part, which is precisely what the UK Government is doing.

But first, it was a busy day in Parliament for David Cameron.

It seems to me the right thing to do is to make sure that if there is a

website, a government website, then it is not refreshed or updated

during the period of purdah, but I would just ask whether it is right

to take something down. It seems that is rather an extreme position

but I want to understand your concerns about that. Well, in the

case in 1937... Leaving a notice on a golf club notice board is a

continuing at of publication. And in other more recent rulings, every

time the server is hit by another request for a page that constitutes

republication of the material. So I think you will find you cannot keep

up that website. Well, we will look at our legal advice and respond to

our letter -- your letter. If we can raise the funds, expect a writ.

Moving on... The trade union Bill... LAUGHTER

Better get back to the office fast, then! It seemed reasonable to me,

taking down a website is like saying you have to remove other

publications people might have from the government or whatever. Correct.

I visited a girl's school that had been bombed on sports day in Aleppo.

One bomb had hurled a girl against the wall

and blasted, in black, her outline there, so there was just

at the end of the school corridor the outline

of a girl of about nine or ten years old, blasted, her silhouette,

That sort of stuff happens the whole time.

It is a terrible vision, it's very

difficult to actually explain to people here because it is so

And there was a warning worse. Come if no soul fell.

We should also prepare ourselves for how bad Mosul will

The word Stalingrad is banded around far too much by the

media and elsewhere but Mosul really has the potential to be really quite

catastrophic given how the fight will go,

both from the defenders and

Mosul will, I believe, be pretty bloody awful.

Is it important in the fight against Isis to actually take

One of the things that the Islamic State

says is it is a state, its ideology is, we

Other people have talked about a caliphate, doing

something other, we have established a real Islamic State.

This is a big ideological blow if that state goes

They are different from other types of

Secondly, it is important in terms of security, the

terrorist attacks we have seen in Brussels, in Paris, potentially

here, what makes them different from terrorist

attacks we have seen in the past is they have the resources

of what is a de facto organised state behind them.

Do you think Russia's action has ensured that Assad is

And should we accept that as the new norm and

The evil genius of what Putin has done

Once Assad cannot lose, eventually, the other side, I

believe, it will filter down, and that means he cannot win.

believe, it will filter down, and that means we cannot win.

There was also evidence that they had approached the conflict in the

wrong way. We had Egypt, we had

Libya, two leaders had I think the political

class looked at that, grandstanding, left,

right and centre. Demanded President Assad should go,

that put his back against the wall and gave him nowhere to go

whatsoever and I think it was a mistake for us to be calling

all the time go, go, go. It is a mistake we have been

repeating for five, six We have now got ourselves

into the position where we say, yeah, you could go, sort of, a bit,

but not necessarily right now. Forgive me for the extended rant

but it was a political mistake that the political class

needs to think much harder about Do you really want to

push this person into You have to keep talking to Russia

and, as I was saying earlier, I think Russia and the significance

of Russian relationship with Assad, there is a positive

side to that in that of outside decisions

in What I also want to say

is that, regardless of outside decisions

foreign policy, war is not something when it is that long-term and that

intense that can just be turned off like a tap by outside powers.

War is about what goes on on the street,

what goes on in a village and what goes on in a valley.

The emotions in this conflict are far hotter than

can be doused by just some foreign policy decision.

Now, a German comedian is being investigated by prosecutors

after reading out an obscene poem on his TV show about

Jan Boehmermann was aware that it included material that breaches

a German law banning insulting remarks about representatives

This man should perhaps be prosecuted for obscenity and it

appears that Chancellor Merkel, under pressure from the president,

has agreed that this prosecution can go forward because she is desperate

for Turkish assistance on the migrant issue. Now, my lords... We

are told we have great influence in the EU, so could Her Majesty's

government use that great influence to insure this prosecution does not

take place? Will tell Chancellor Merkel and the Germans to resist any

pressure, to resist blackmail and not to kowtow to President Burda

one, whose record on human rights and free speech is frankly

lamentable? -- President erred again. It is ultimately for the

people of Germany to implement and set their own laws and the

Chancellor has referred his matter, as is proper, to the security of

authorities for them to make the decision. The President of Turkey is

using a sledgehammer to crush a comic. And in so doing and seeking

to exert pressure upon Angela Merkel he is making it clear that he is

presenting himself more, indeed, as the head of a caliphate, a medieval

caliphate, rather than the leader of a modern country that is desperately

aspiring to be a member of the EU. Now, is there too much academic

pressure on young children? This week there has been a boycott of

exams and the exams have been criticised forcing children to learn

details of English grammar that only of detailed -- limited use. This

point was distracted at PMQs. For the benefit of the House and ten

and 11-year-olds up and down the country, will the Prime Minister

explain what the past progressive tenses, will he differentiate

between a coordinating conjunctive and his definition of a modal verb?

The whole point of these changes is to make sure our children are better

educated than we are. And that's why I'm delighted with three children at

state schools going off to do these tests and I am delighted they are

going to be. And finally an MP raise the case of

his 100-year-old mother. Four years ago I asked my right honourable

friend on behalf of my mother, Maud, in the EU referendum that the vote

be brought forward because of her age. She was then 100. She now

wishes to know if she needs to set a world record for longevity before

Chilcott report is published! LAUGHTER

I think I can reassure her that this summer she will have, I think, a

double opportunity to deal with these things. A referendum on June

the 23rd, and I'm sure the Chilcott report will, not too much longer

after that. I rather imagine she will then want a backbench business

committee debate on the matter! That is it from us. Join us for our

next daily round-up and enjoy polling day. From me, goodbye.