:00:00. > :00:10.its close. Join me live for the ceremony of prorogation.
:00:11. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to Wednesday in Parliament.
:00:14. > :00:19.Questions on corruption at the last PMQS of this session of parliament.
:00:20. > :00:21.The Culture Secretary is called to the Commons ahead
:00:22. > :00:24.of the publication of his plans for the BBC.
:00:25. > :00:27.And peers are told - in no uncertain terms -
:00:28. > :00:34.it's time to give up their opposition to the Housing Bill.
:00:35. > :00:39.Enough is enough. It is time to stop.
:00:40. > :00:41.But first, to a rumbustious Prime Minister's Questions -
:00:42. > :00:43.the last before the end of this session of parliament.
:00:44. > :00:45.It started politely enough, with tributes to the veteran
:00:46. > :00:51.wildlife broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough.
:00:52. > :01:04.Since we often celebrate great national events in this house, with
:01:05. > :01:08.the Prime Minister wish Sir David Attenborough are very happy 90th
:01:09. > :01:11.birthday and thank him for the way he has presented nature programmes
:01:12. > :01:16.on television and awakened the ideas of so many people to the fragility
:01:17. > :01:21.of our ecosystem and educated a whole generation. I certainly join
:01:22. > :01:24.the right honourable gentleman in wishing Sir David Attenborough are
:01:25. > :01:32.happy birthday. Many of us feel we grew up with him as our teacher on
:01:33. > :01:37.the environment and natural world. I am proud to say the Royal Arctic
:01:38. > :01:48.ship will be named after David Attenborough. There was strong
:01:49. > :01:50.support for Boaty McBoatface. I think the submarine on the boat will
:01:51. > :01:52.be named Boaty McBoatface. But with the niceties over MPs
:01:53. > :01:55.turned to the subject of corruption. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister
:01:56. > :01:57.was caught on camera telling the Queen that Nigeria
:01:58. > :02:04.and Afghanistan were 'possibly the two most corrupt countries
:02:05. > :02:08.in the world.' Both states are due to attend
:02:09. > :02:10.an anti-corruption summit in London. David Cameron's comments
:02:11. > :02:12.were raised right at the start of Prime Minister's
:02:13. > :02:22.Questions by a Labour MP. Even fantastically corrupt Nigeria
:02:23. > :02:28.is asking Britain to clean up its act and introduce beneficial
:02:29. > :02:34.ownership registers in overseas territories. Will the Prime Minister
:02:35. > :02:37.achieve this tomorrow at the anti-corruption Summit? First of all
:02:38. > :02:42.I better check the microphone is on before speaking, that is probably a
:02:43. > :02:45.good idea. I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. The
:02:46. > :02:50.answer to his question is yes. We have asked three things of the
:02:51. > :02:54.overseas territories and Crown dependencies, automatic exchange of
:02:55. > :02:58.tax information, common reporting standard for national companies and
:02:59. > :03:02.central beneficial ownership registries so we know what companies
:03:03. > :03:06.are based there. They have delivered on the first two and they will be
:03:07. > :03:08.following an delivery on the third. That is what he asked for that is
:03:09. > :03:09.exactly what he's getting. It was a subject picked up
:03:10. > :03:20.by the Labour leader, What he will do about the UK
:03:21. > :03:24.administers tax havens who receive large amounts of money from dodgy
:03:25. > :03:30.sources which should and must be closed down, as should any tax
:03:31. > :03:33.evasion in the City of London. We need a British government that is
:03:34. > :03:39.prepared to chase down this level of corruption. This government has done
:03:40. > :03:44.more than any previous government to deal with this issue of making sure
:03:45. > :03:47.that our overseas territories and Crown dependencies are not tax
:03:48. > :03:49.havens but behave in a responsible way.
:03:50. > :03:51.The SNP leader at Westminster raised the recent
:03:52. > :03:55.elections, before turning to the corruption issue.
:03:56. > :04:01.The Prime Minister's government was elected with 37 cents of the vote,
:04:02. > :04:06.so I am sure he would acknowledge the success of Nicola Sturgeon and
:04:07. > :04:16.the SNP in being returned victoriously for a third time with
:04:17. > :04:18.46% of the vote, the highest of any political party in national
:04:19. > :04:26.elections anywhere currently in Western Europe. Mr Speaker, on the
:04:27. > :04:30.anti-corruption Summit, has the Prime Minister read the appeals from
:04:31. > :04:35.Nigerian campaigners who say our efforts are sadly undermined if
:04:36. > :04:40.countries such as your own are welcoming our corrupt to hide their
:04:41. > :04:43.ill gotten gains in your luxury homes, department stores, car
:04:44. > :04:48.dealerships, private schools and anywhere else that will accept their
:04:49. > :04:52.cash with no questions asked. The role of London's property market as
:04:53. > :04:56.vessels to conceal stolen wealth has been exposed in court documents,
:04:57. > :05:02.reports, documentaries and more. What is the Prime Minister going to
:05:03. > :05:05.do about this? First of all I am delighted to congratulate Nicola
:05:06. > :05:09.Sturgeon on her victory in the Scottish elections, as I'm sure he
:05:10. > :05:20.would want to congratulate Ruth Davidson. CHEERING
:05:21. > :05:24.We have something in common, because of course the SNP have gone from
:05:25. > :05:29.majority to minority while but conservatives have gone from
:05:30. > :05:35.coalition to majority. Next week he can get up and asked me how we
:05:36. > :05:38.getting an ordering some new panda bears for Edinburgh zoo. But the
:05:39. > :05:41.question he asks about the corruption Summit is absolutely
:05:42. > :05:46.right. The whole point of holding the summit in London is to say the
:05:47. > :05:50.action is required by developed as well as developing countries. One of
:05:51. > :05:53.the steps we are taking to make sure foreign companies that own UK
:05:54. > :05:58.property have to declare who the beneficial owner is will be one of
:05:59. > :05:59.the ways we make sure that plundered money from African countries can't
:06:00. > :06:00.be hidden in London. The Liberal Democrat leader also
:06:01. > :06:17.raised last week's elections. Mr Tim Farron. Order! Order.
:06:18. > :06:22.LAUGHTER However irritating the honourable
:06:23. > :06:28.gentleman... CHEERING LAUGHTER
:06:29. > :06:38.May be to government backbenchers, he has a right to be heard, and he
:06:39. > :06:44.will be heard. Mr Tim Farron. I am fantastically grateful to you, Mr
:06:45. > :06:49.Speaker. LAUGHTER I heard the Prime Minister on two
:06:50. > :06:52.occasions this afternoon congratulate the numeric London,
:06:53. > :06:57.Sadiq Khan, and I would like to repeat that myself. He did not
:06:58. > :07:01.however apologise for his disgraceful and racist campaign the
:07:02. > :07:06.Conservative Party decided to run in that campaign. Will he take the
:07:07. > :07:11.opportunity to apologise for dividing communities in order to win
:07:12. > :07:16.cheap votes? It is a great way to end the session, getting lessons on
:07:17. > :07:19.clean campaigning from the Liberal Democrats. David Cameron.
:07:20. > :07:22.The Chancellor George Osborne has been challenged over the accuracy
:07:23. > :07:25.of claims made by Remain campaigners about the negative consequences
:07:26. > :07:31.The Treasury Committee homed in on a warning that British
:07:32. > :07:38.households would be ?4,300 worse off if the UK
:07:39. > :07:42.The Chancellor stuck by his figures, insisting that Britain would be
:07:43. > :07:48.poorer and less secure outside the EU.
:07:49. > :07:54.We've had in the last few days and weeks tens of thousands of jobs that
:07:55. > :08:00.will go in the city. Every household were soft, we will come back to that
:08:01. > :08:05.one surely I expect. Interest rates going up, house prices are going to
:08:06. > :08:13.slump. We've been told there will be an increase in terror threat to this
:08:14. > :08:19.UK and it has all culminated in heavy breathing by the newspapers.
:08:20. > :08:26.-- every briefing that led to the headline, a Brexit could lead to
:08:27. > :08:29.war. This does seem a bit overdone. I'm just wondering whether you are
:08:30. > :08:34.strengthening weakening your argument on its own terms by going
:08:35. > :08:38.in for this stuff? I actually completely reject what you just
:08:39. > :08:41.said, because the claims on the impact on the economy has been
:08:42. > :08:47.supported by the Bank of England, the OECD, the IMF and every major
:08:48. > :08:51.credible institution in the wild. The claims on security that have
:08:52. > :08:55.been made were supported a couple of days ago by the two people who ran
:08:56. > :08:59.MI6 and MI5 and kept this country safe for many years. The arguments
:09:00. > :09:03.about the border stability of Europe once every other country in Europe
:09:04. > :09:10.would echo. So I would say what we have done, on the side of those
:09:11. > :09:15.arguing to remain in the European Union, is set out credible
:09:16. > :09:19.opposition is about the very serious consequences for this country, our
:09:20. > :09:21.economy, our security and our place in the world were we to leave.
:09:22. > :09:23.The Chancellor was asked to explain predictions that
:09:24. > :09:29.households would be worse off outside the EU.
:09:30. > :09:39.?4300, this figure by which households are going to be worse
:09:40. > :09:48.off, that is a central point about which a lot of noise was made. You
:09:49. > :09:52.pre-briefed it, which was regrettable, and a number of
:09:53. > :09:58.newspapers led with it as some hard fact, when in fact you have
:09:59. > :10:11.explained today that this is a product of modelling, that modelling
:10:12. > :10:15.is inherently a science,, and you are publishing a range which
:10:16. > :10:19.reflects the lack of indecision and not setting great stalked by this
:10:20. > :10:25.single figure, are you, Chancellor? I think the figure is what I
:10:26. > :10:31.described at the time, the central figure in a range. It enables people
:10:32. > :10:34.to understand the scale of the loss they would face as a family, and
:10:35. > :10:41.that the country would face. It is echoed by similar ranges provided by
:10:42. > :10:44.the OECD and London School of economic. As far as I can see,
:10:45. > :10:45.nobody has credibly undermined the range we provided.
:10:46. > :10:47.Jacob Rees-Mogg started by thanking the Chancellor
:10:48. > :10:59.The man from vote leave was difficult to get in, I am grateful
:11:00. > :11:08.you showed better response to Parliament on my own friends do.
:11:09. > :11:14.LAUGHTER Bowled the is my right honourable
:11:15. > :11:23.friend. These are strange days. -- he is my right honourable friend.
:11:24. > :11:26.The moment the leaves campaign... The leave campaign has immediately
:11:27. > :11:31.started to assert that public expenditure would be higher if we
:11:32. > :11:37.left, that we would impose new tariff barriers to protect certain
:11:38. > :11:45.industries in the UK... This low tax. This is your report with your
:11:46. > :11:50.name on it. Your assumption. The whole we're going to be this superb,
:11:51. > :11:54.low tax, low spending, low tariff economy if we leave the EU has been
:11:55. > :12:00.somewhat exposed by the nature of the campaign that is being waged at
:12:01. > :12:07.the moment. I'm about to finish. It leaves the suspicion that the report
:12:08. > :12:12.has taken absolutely the best for remaining and the worse for leaving.
:12:13. > :12:18.Chancellor, if I may, a speech made on the 17th of May 2010, you set out
:12:19. > :12:21.the Office for Budget Responsibility. You said I am the
:12:22. > :12:26.first chance to remove the temptation to fiddle the figures by
:12:27. > :12:30.giving up control of the economic and fiscal forecasts. Have you taken
:12:31. > :12:34.back control so you can fiddle the figures? No, not at all. We are
:12:35. > :12:37.presenting scenarios here. But you can go and get independent figures.
:12:38. > :12:41.You're watching Wednesday in Parliament with me, Alicia McCarthy.
:12:42. > :12:44.The last tussle between the Lords and the Commons ended
:12:45. > :12:47.when peers finally backed down on the housing bill.
:12:48. > :12:50.At the start of the day David Cameron told peers
:12:51. > :12:53.to stop blocking the plans, insisting they were holding up
:12:54. > :12:56.the delivery a Government manifesto commitment.
:12:57. > :13:01.Ministers have pledged to build 200,000 starter homes,
:13:02. > :13:04.to be sold at a discount to younger first-time buyers -
:13:05. > :13:08.and to allow the sale of some high value council housing to fund plans
:13:09. > :13:12.giving housing association tenants the right to buy their homes.
:13:13. > :13:16.In the Commons the housing minister told peers it was time to back down.
:13:17. > :13:19.This is the third time we have had to vote to confirm a key
:13:20. > :13:25.manifesto commitment, so I do not intend to detain
:13:26. > :13:31.I know that I do not have to remind the House of what we said
:13:32. > :13:34.in our manifesto, as I outlined those commitments last week
:13:35. > :13:39.The Lords have scrutinised the Bill more than adequately,
:13:40. > :13:44.and I thank them for their efforts, but this is no longer scrutiny: this
:13:45. > :13:50.Enough is enough; it is time to stop.
:13:51. > :13:52.Lord Kerslake's amendment has two levels of problems.
:13:53. > :13:55.It would impact on our ability to work with local authorities
:13:56. > :13:57.to deliver the best, most cost-effective,
:13:58. > :14:00.deals for replacement housing, and that could reduce the funding
:14:01. > :14:03.for our manifesto commitment to deliver right-to-buy discounts
:14:04. > :14:10.We received a clear mandate for that at the general election.
:14:11. > :14:12.The Labour frontbencher said the Government's refusal to accept
:14:13. > :14:22.Lord Kerslake's clause would "sound the death knell" for social housing.
:14:23. > :14:25.The Government were forced to make a string of concessions in the House
:14:26. > :14:27.of Lords and were defeated multiple times, showing the extent
:14:28. > :14:32.It does nothing to fix the causes of the past six years of failure,
:14:33. > :14:35.sounds the death knell for social housing and will be a big let-down
:14:36. > :14:42.for people who are desperate for a home.
:14:43. > :14:47.Council housing acid should not be used to fund the right to buy for
:14:48. > :15:02.tenants. We should not be adopting this top-down policy of forcing the
:15:03. > :15:06.sale of council assets. The legislation was sent to appears
:15:07. > :15:13.again and the Lordships finally back down but not before the labour front
:15:14. > :15:17.bench to the highly unusual attempt of condemning attacks on the cross
:15:18. > :15:25.be here -- peer behind much of the opposition to the bill.
:15:26. > :15:28.Mr Lewis says of this distinguished and highly respected public servant:
:15:29. > :15:30."Not only is Lord Kerslake unelected, he is the owner
:15:31. > :15:33.of his own home who is trying to stop others from owning theirs".
:15:34. > :15:35.Quite apart from the offensive language unworthy of a Minister
:15:36. > :15:38.of the Crown, this disgraceful attack entirely overlooks the role
:15:39. > :15:46.of the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, in supporting the voluntary
:15:47. > :15:47.agreement between the housing association movement,
:15:48. > :15:50.of which he is a leading member, and the Government in extending
:15:51. > :15:54.He is owed a prompt and full apology.
:15:55. > :15:58.Lord Kerslake himself accepted it was time to back down.
:15:59. > :16:01.In the end, any contest between this House and the other place
:16:02. > :16:08.That is as it should be: it is elected and we are not.
:16:09. > :16:11.However, that should not dissuade us from making our case
:16:12. > :16:20.clearly and forcefully on issues that really matter.
:16:21. > :16:24.In this case the matters involved matter a great deal.
:16:25. > :16:28.The underlying concerns about this Bill have been about its fairness,
:16:29. > :16:36.its commitment to localism and its deliverability.
:16:37. > :16:41.Most of all it has been about whether it will deliver
:16:42. > :16:44.the additional houses of all types and tenures that this country
:16:45. > :16:50.And he argued he'd had to balance political conventions
:16:51. > :16:54.with what he knew about the lives of real people.
:16:55. > :16:57.I give just one example of a family with five children living
:16:58. > :17:03.in a two-bedroom flat less than half an hour from this House.
:17:04. > :17:10.The five children share a single bedroom.
:17:11. > :17:17.Will their chances of securing a decent family home be enhanced
:17:18. > :17:21.or diminished by the passage of this Bill?
:17:22. > :17:25.I fear we know the answer to that question.
:17:26. > :17:29.In my view, it is the interests of this family and the many others
:17:30. > :17:37.like them that should come first in our deliberations in this House.
:17:38. > :17:40.And with that the Lords backed down on their last legislative
:17:41. > :17:42.disagreement with the Commons - clearing the way for this session
:17:43. > :17:49.The Government will publish its White Paper on the future
:17:50. > :17:55.the shadow Culture Secretary called John Whittingdale to the Commons
:17:56. > :17:58.to answer an urgent question on the corporation -
:17:59. > :18:02.and accused the Government of seeking to destroy it.
:18:03. > :18:04.The recent consultation on the BBC charter -
:18:05. > :18:09.response to a Government consultation ever - shows that three
:18:10. > :18:13.quarters of the public want the BBC to remain independent.
:18:14. > :18:19.The BBC does a brilliant job in informing, educating
:18:20. > :18:23.and entertaining us all, and four fifths of the public believe that it
:18:24. > :18:30.Today we read in the newspapers that the Secretary of State intends
:18:31. > :18:37.He is wrong to do so, and we will oppose any such revision.
:18:38. > :18:41.He is seeking to turn the BBC away from a mission that has succeeded
:18:42. > :18:49.brilliantly for 90 years and of which the public approve.
:18:50. > :18:53.He did not like the results of the public consultation,
:18:54. > :18:56.so he is simply ignoring them, but the public love the BBC and want
:18:57. > :18:59.it to carry on doing what it has been doing so well for more
:19:00. > :19:04.May I finish by giving the Secretary of State a bit of advice?
:19:05. > :19:07.It is not too late for the Secretary of State to start
:19:08. > :19:16.He will not be forgiven, and nor will his party,
:19:17. > :19:19.if he continues on the path, which he has been briefing
:19:20. > :19:22.to the newspapers, that will lead to the destruction of the BBC
:19:23. > :19:26.as our much loved national broadcaster and turn it instead
:19:27. > :19:31.into a mouthpiece of the Government of the day.
:19:32. > :19:34.We have had an extensive consultation and have
:19:35. > :19:42.I would simply say to her that they are legitimate questions
:19:43. > :19:48.for tomorrow when she has had the chance to read the White Paper
:19:49. > :19:52.rather than for now, when she has read comments
:19:53. > :19:55.in the newspapers that range from complete fantasy to others that
:19:56. > :19:58.are quite well informed but certainly not informed by me
:19:59. > :20:11.We occasionally criticise the BBC for repeats and insist on original
:20:12. > :20:14.content wherever possible, but I suspect we will have an awful
:20:15. > :20:16.lot of repeats tomorrow from the Honourable
:20:17. > :20:18.Lady, because that is when she should ask the questions
:20:19. > :20:21.and when I shall be happy to provide her with answers.
:20:22. > :20:24.Members on both sides of the House wait with some trepidation
:20:25. > :20:26.for the publication tomorrow of the White Paper on the future
:20:27. > :20:29.of the BBC, but the Government should be in no doubt
:20:30. > :20:31.about the support for editorially independent public service
:20:32. > :20:37.broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom.
:20:38. > :20:41.There often seems to be something of a gulf between some
:20:42. > :20:44.of the whackier notions floated by the Government via the press
:20:45. > :20:50.One of the most bizarre must surely be the idea that the BBC should
:20:51. > :20:55.desist from broadcasting popular programmes at the same time that ITV
:20:56. > :21:00.broadcasts popular programmes, presumably,
:21:01. > :21:06.the BBC should show only dull, unpopular programmes at those times.
:21:07. > :21:11.There are reports that that remains a sticking point
:21:12. > :21:12.between the Government and the director-general.
:21:13. > :21:15.Will the Secretary of State reassure us that there is no truth
:21:16. > :21:29.Following the lefty-lovey hysteria at the weekend,
:21:30. > :21:32.Friend agree that scrapping the discredited BBC Trust,
:21:33. > :21:37.asking for more transparency in a publicly funded organisation
:21:38. > :21:40.and wanting the BBC to be distinctive and impartial is hardly
:21:41. > :21:45.the end of public service broadcasting as we know it?
:21:46. > :21:52.Friend, and I think he will find that our proposals certainly do not
:21:53. > :21:56.represent the end of public service broadcasting.
:21:57. > :21:59.Indeed, I hope it will be felt that they strengthen public
:22:00. > :22:09.If constructed, the nuclear power station
:22:10. > :22:11.in Somerset would be the first new nuclear plant
:22:12. > :22:15.in Britain for 20 years, and, at ?24 billion,
:22:16. > :22:26.The project's been on the cards for more than seven years.
:22:27. > :22:28.But in the last 12 months serious doubts have emerged over
:22:29. > :22:31.whether the French energy firm EDF is willing to take the financial
:22:32. > :22:34.There'll be finance from China as well.
:22:35. > :22:37.In the Lords, a numbers of peers had misgivings over whether the whole
:22:38. > :22:41.My Lords, there is no economic case for Hinkley Point and there is no
:22:42. > :22:52.The numbers do not work; neither does the EP reactor.
:22:53. > :22:55.We need nuclear plants but we do not need this nuclear plant.
:22:56. > :22:57.In the light of this, for the sake of the UK taxpayer
:22:58. > :23:03.and the UK energy consumer, is it not time that we pulled
:23:04. > :23:15.My Lords, I hesitate to disagree with my noble friend but I do
:23:16. > :23:21.We need Hinkley C and there is a very strong economic case,
:23:22. > :23:24.as I have indicated, in terms of jobs and the power
:23:25. > :23:27.I agree that we also need other nuclear plants.
:23:28. > :23:30.We are of course developing those as well to help us transition away
:23:31. > :23:38.My Lords, does the Minister recognise that, with all due
:23:39. > :23:41.respect, we do not need his noble friend to put the boot
:23:42. > :23:45.The French Cabinet and the board of EDF are quite capable of doing
:23:46. > :23:48.Is my noble friend aware that the Chinese also have a plan B,
:23:49. > :23:51.which is to bypass EDF altogether and to build two smaller reactors
:23:52. > :23:54.on the Hinkley C site, and to do it rather quicker
:23:55. > :23:58.My Lords, are there not fears about the safety
:23:59. > :24:07.Is it not a very expensive project and could nuclear provision not be
:24:08. > :24:14.better arrived at by building smaller nuclear power stations
:24:15. > :24:26.My Lords, standards of nuclear safety are second to none
:24:27. > :24:30.The noble Lord is of course right about small modular reactors,
:24:31. > :24:32.and we are progressing with that, as my right honourable
:24:33. > :24:34.friend the Chancellor announced in the Budget.
:24:35. > :24:35.We have had 38 expressions of interest...
:24:36. > :24:39.My Lords, I am sure the Minister is well aware that the global solar
:24:40. > :24:42.industry is doubling every two years.
:24:43. > :24:44.In spite of this Government's withdrawal of subsidies,
:24:45. > :24:49.there will be sufficient global capacity in 12 years to cover
:24:50. > :24:55.Does that not make Hinkley Point obsolete?
:24:56. > :25:01.We will probably not even have it built in 12 years' time.
:25:02. > :25:03.My Lords, the noble Baroness is right on the growth of renewables
:25:04. > :25:06.and absolutely right to highlight the importance of that,
:25:07. > :25:08.as I have been doing repeatedly, without subsidy.
:25:09. > :25:12.But she is wrong to say that we do not need a back-up,
:25:13. > :25:15.That is where nuclear is so important and why
:25:16. > :25:31.The arguments used by those campaigning for the UK to the within
:25:32. > :25:36.the EU have an echo of those used in the No campaign in the Scottish
:25:37. > :25:42.referendum, according to the SNP. The subject came up on a regular
:25:43. > :25:47.round of Scotland questions. That is it for now but join me tomorrow for
:25:48. > :25:58.the very last day of this session of Parliament. For now, goodbye.