:00:20. > :00:20.Hello and welcome to Wednesday In Parliament,
:00:21. > :00:25.our look at the best of the day in the Commons and the Lords.
:00:26. > :00:30.The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, warns the British economy is set
:00:31. > :00:33.to grow more slowly, while Government borrowing is rising
:00:34. > :00:40.following Britain's decision to leave the European Union.
:00:41. > :00:43.This Autumn Statement responds to the challenge of building on that
:00:44. > :00:45.strength while also heeding the warnings in the OBR's figures
:00:46. > :00:50.as we begin writing this new chapter in our country's history.
:00:51. > :00:54.The Shadow Chancellor says it's an opportunity wasted.
:00:55. > :00:56.Today's statement places on record the abject failure
:00:57. > :01:16.This government's choice was to cut social care by ?4.6 billion
:01:17. > :01:27.It was just minutes before the Chancellor, Phillip Hammond,
:01:28. > :01:29.stood up to deliver his Autumn Statement
:01:30. > :01:32.that news came through from the Old Bailey
:01:33. > :01:35.that 53-year-old Thomas Mair had been found guilty
:01:36. > :01:42.The Yorkshire Labour MP was shot and stabbed to death in a village
:01:43. > :01:45.in her constituency of Batley and Spen on 16th June -
:01:46. > :01:52.Thomas Mair had shouted "Britain First" in the attack.
:01:53. > :01:55.But the Old Bailey judge said the true "patriot"
:01:56. > :02:01.There was reaction to the guilty verdict in the Commons.
:02:02. > :02:09.of a fierce advocate for social justice and a passionate campaigner.
:02:10. > :02:13.Her killing was an attack on democracy itself.
:02:14. > :02:18.Our thoughts are with her family this morning.
:02:19. > :02:22.I hope that the whole life sentence for Jo's murderer at least gives
:02:23. > :02:26.some comfort to her family at this incredibly difficult time,
:02:27. > :02:29.and will also enable us to remember Jo for the way that she lived
:02:30. > :02:32.rather than the way that she was murdered.
:02:33. > :02:35.I associate myself with the remarks that she has just made
:02:36. > :02:38.and I'm sure she's right, that the entirely sensible sentence
:02:39. > :02:43.that has been handed down will be a source of some comfort
:02:44. > :02:47.Well, half an hour before the Old Bailey
:02:48. > :02:52.the Chancellor had departed from Number 11 Downing Street
:02:53. > :02:55.and made the familiar, but short distance by shiny car
:02:56. > :03:00.It was Philip Hammond's first Autumn Statement,
:03:01. > :03:06.it turned out to be the last Commons occasion to be so-named.
:03:07. > :03:08.After days of speculation, interest was considerable
:03:09. > :03:12.in what the Chancellor might be about to deliver.
:03:13. > :03:14.But before announcing any new measures, Mr Hammond started
:03:15. > :03:19.by saying he was proud to be reporting on an economy
:03:20. > :03:23.which the International Monetary Fund had predicted
:03:24. > :03:26.would be the fastest growing in the world this year.
:03:27. > :03:28.An economy which, through the hard work of the British people,
:03:29. > :03:34.has bounced back from the depths of Labour's recession.
:03:35. > :03:36.And an economy which has confounded commentators at home and abroad
:03:37. > :03:40.with its strength and resilience since the British people decided
:03:41. > :03:44.exactly five months ago today to leave the European Union and
:03:45. > :03:52.Mr Speaker, that decision will change the course
:03:53. > :03:58.It has thrown into sharp relief the fundamental strengths
:03:59. > :04:05.of the British economy that will ensure our future success.
:04:06. > :04:09.from the Office for Budget Responsibility.
:04:10. > :04:12.Today's OBR forecast is for growth to be 2.1% in 2016,
:04:13. > :04:27.In 2017, the OBR forecast growth to slow to 1.4%,
:04:28. > :04:29.which they attribute to low investment and weak consumer demand,
:04:30. > :04:34.given respectively by greater uncertainty and by high inflation,
:04:35. > :04:35.resulting from sterling appreciation.
:04:36. > :04:37.That is slower, of course, than we would wish.
:04:38. > :04:40.Mr Speaker, it is customary in the run-up to the Autumn
:04:41. > :04:42.Statement to hear representations from the Shadow Chancellor
:04:43. > :04:48.of the day, usually for untenable levels of spending and borrowing.
:04:49. > :04:52.We used to think on this side of the House that Ed Balls' demands
:04:53. > :04:56.were an extreme example but I have to say the current Shadow Chancellor
:04:57. > :04:59.has outperformed him in the fiscal incontinence
:05:00. > :05:04.What we don't know, of course, is whether he can also dance.
:05:05. > :05:15.Good. Good.
:05:16. > :05:18.The Chancellor said UK productivity had to be improved.
:05:19. > :05:22.I can announce that we are forming a new national productivity
:05:23. > :05:26.investment fund of ?23 billion, to be spent on innovation
:05:27. > :05:30.and infrastructure over the next five years.
:05:31. > :05:35.So we will focus government infrastructure investment
:05:36. > :05:47.With a new ?2.3 billion housing infrastructure fund to deliver
:05:48. > :05:51.infrastructure for up to 100,000 new homes in areas of high demand.
:05:52. > :05:55.And to provide affordable housing that supports a wide range of need,
:05:56. > :05:58.we will invest a further ?1.4 billion to deliver 40,000
:05:59. > :06:11.So today I can announce the national Living Wage
:06:12. > :06:21.will increase from ?7.20 to ?7.50 in April next year.
:06:22. > :06:23.That is a pay rise worth over ?500 a year
:06:24. > :06:27.I can also confirm today that, having consulted further,
:06:28. > :06:30.my right honourable friend the communities secretary will lower
:06:31. > :06:35.the transitional relief cap from 45% next year to 43%,
:06:36. > :06:39.That is complicated, but it is good news.
:06:40. > :06:50.Mr Speaker, our future transport, business and lifestyle needs
:06:51. > :06:52.will require world-class digital structure to underpin them.
:06:53. > :06:56.It says here, because I wrote it here.
:06:57. > :07:12.This is my first Autumn Statement as Chancellor.
:07:13. > :07:15.After careful consideration and detailed discussion
:07:16. > :07:17.with the Prime Minister, I have decided that it will also
:07:18. > :07:29.Mr Speaker, I am abolishing the Autumn Statement.
:07:30. > :07:32.No other major economy makes hundreds of tax changes twice
:07:33. > :07:50.So the Spring Budget in a few months will be the final Spring Budget.
:07:51. > :07:52.Starting in autumn 2017, Britain will have an Autumn Budget,
:07:53. > :07:54.announcing tax changes well in advance of the
:07:55. > :07:58.From 2018, there will be a Spring Statement, responding to...
:07:59. > :08:14.We are a great nation, bold in our vision, confident
:08:15. > :08:16.in our strengths and determined in our ambition to
:08:17. > :08:21.build a country that works for everyone.
:08:22. > :08:23.I commend this statement to the House.
:08:24. > :08:29.Unlike the Budget, the Autumn Statement
:08:30. > :08:32.is replied to not by the Oppositon Leader,
:08:33. > :08:38.John McDonnell had caused some entertainment in the chamber
:08:39. > :08:40.a year ago when he brought to the despatch box
:08:41. > :08:42.a copy of Chairman Mao's "little red book"
:08:43. > :08:50.Mr McDonnell said the time since Labour left power in 2010
:08:51. > :09:00.Mr Speaker, today's statement places on record the abject failure
:09:01. > :09:07.And offers no hope for the future.
:09:08. > :09:38.The so-called long-term economic plan has failed.
:09:39. > :09:40.And as the Treasury's own leaked paper revealed,
:09:41. > :09:42.the Government knew it had failed before the referendum
:09:43. > :09:47.The greatest economic challenge of a generation,
:09:48. > :09:50.and we face it unprepared and ill-equipped.
:09:51. > :09:53.Today, we have seen the very people the Prime Minister promised
:09:54. > :09:59.The Chancellor has failed to break with the economic
:10:00. > :10:03.The country remains unprepared and ill-equipped to meet
:10:04. > :10:06.the challenges of Brexit and secure Britain's future as a
:10:07. > :10:14.After all the sacrifices, after all the sacrifices people have
:10:15. > :10:17.made over the last six years, I fear today's statement has laid
:10:18. > :10:21.the foundations for more wasted years.
:10:22. > :10:24.And then came the response from the SNP benches.
:10:25. > :10:30.The Chancellor did give us plenty of information today,
:10:31. > :10:33.but with no more than kind of a glib reference to being match
:10:34. > :10:40.fit at the beginning and a bit of deflection,
:10:41. > :10:43.very little actually on the elephant in the room, which is Brexit.
:10:44. > :10:46.It is not as if the Treasury don't know what the consequences will be.
:10:47. > :10:49.Their own assessment tells us that tax yield could be down 66 billion
:10:50. > :10:51.a year after 15 years, GDP down perhaps 9.5%,
:10:52. > :10:54.a figure confirmed by the LSE as a result of reduced trade,
:10:55. > :11:01.That amounts to some ?6,500 per year per household.
:11:02. > :11:04.And plenty of questions from backbench MPs
:11:05. > :11:12.May I congratulate the Chancellor on reverting to the extremely
:11:13. > :11:16.sensible practice of only having one Budget a year, which Gordon Brown
:11:17. > :11:18.abandoned in order to try to buy votes twice a year
:11:19. > :11:26.The OBR tells us on page 19, Mr Speaker, that ?58 billion
:11:27. > :11:30.of the worsening in the public finances is due to
:11:31. > :11:39.Isn't this a salutary warning to us about the decisions we take
:11:40. > :11:43.Isn't it a very strong argument for us remaining as close
:11:44. > :11:45.as possible to our largest trading area, the single market,
:11:46. > :11:48.and inside, not outside the customs union?
:11:49. > :11:50.The Chancellor's Autumn Statement suggests yet more public borrowing,
:11:51. > :11:57.with total public debt due to increase to ?1.6 trillion
:11:58. > :11:59.in the New Year and 1.9 trillion by 2020,
:12:00. > :12:05.Rather than a reflection of Brexit, is the accumulation of these
:12:06. > :12:08.unsustainable levels of public debt not due to the failures of his
:12:09. > :12:10.predecessor to match his words with deeds and get a grip
:12:11. > :12:17.Disappointingly, this Chancellor has joined his predecessor in failing
:12:18. > :12:19.to mention the words "climate change" even just once
:12:20. > :12:23.That is in the year that is the hottest on record,
:12:24. > :12:26.set to be the hottest on record, and when part of the country
:12:27. > :12:33.The elevation of the condition of working people has always been
:12:34. > :12:36.a priority of the Conservative party and, in that vein, I particularly
:12:37. > :12:38.welcome the fiscal changes in the Autumn Statement,
:12:39. > :12:40.particularly fuel duty, tax allowances and the national
:12:41. > :12:43.Living Wage, which I campaigned for for many years.
:12:44. > :12:45.There is actually not one single mention in the 72 page
:12:46. > :12:51.Autumn Statement document of the words NHS, social care,
:12:52. > :12:58.The Chancellor cannot ignore the fact that our health and social
:12:59. > :13:05.care services are in crisis, facing massive, massive deficits.
:13:06. > :13:08.The North of England is crying out for a plan for investment
:13:09. > :13:10.in rail, and people will be left asking today, where is it?
:13:11. > :13:13.But it is also crying out for investment in social care
:13:14. > :13:15.and, quite frankly, Mr Speaker, it is unbelievable
:13:16. > :13:19.that the Chancellor could find no mention for it today.
:13:20. > :13:22.An awful lot of R money, funding, is going to fund my constituency.
:13:23. > :13:25.The scientific businesses I have in South Cambridgeshire have been
:13:26. > :13:27.worried since Brexit, so thank you for that.
:13:28. > :13:29.East/West rail links and road links will help us
:13:30. > :13:32.But, overall, for the money in universal credit,
:13:33. > :13:36.It's not everything we wanted, but I very much welcome the money
:13:37. > :13:43.The last word in the Commons on the Autumn Statement.
:13:44. > :13:45.You're watching our round-up of the day at Westminster.
:13:46. > :13:52.The last word in the Commons on the Autumn Statement.
:13:53. > :13:54.You're watching our round-up of the day at Westminster.
:13:55. > :13:58.Could Sir Philip Green's yachts be sold to fill the black hole
:13:59. > :14:04.Normally, the centre-stage act in Parliament on Wednesdays
:14:05. > :14:07.This time, it had to take second billing.
:14:08. > :14:10.So, before the Autumn Statement got underway, the Labour leader decided
:14:11. > :14:12.to make social care for elderly and vulnerable people the key
:14:13. > :14:16.Jeremy Corbyn accused Theresa May of failing to fund adequately both
:14:17. > :14:18.the National Health Service and also social care budgets in England.
:14:19. > :14:26.The Prime Minister told him that Labour government's had failed
:14:27. > :14:28.to come up with a suitable plan to deal with the rapidly
:14:29. > :14:30.expanding demands placed on care services.
:14:31. > :14:35.Part of the reason for the strain on our National Health Service
:14:36. > :14:37.is that more than 1 million people are not receiving
:14:38. > :14:41.As a result of this, there's been an increase
:14:42. > :14:44.in emergency admissions for older patients.
:14:45. > :14:46.Margaret wrote to me this week, saying...
:14:47. > :14:58.She described how her 89-year-old mother suffered two falls,
:14:59. > :15:01.leading to a hospital admissions, due to the lack of nursing care.
:15:02. > :15:12.What action will the Prime Minister take
:15:13. > :15:15.to stop the neglect of older people, which ends up forcing them
:15:16. > :15:21.when they should be cared for at home, or in a care home?
:15:22. > :15:24.Well, we've introduced the Better Care Fund
:15:25. > :15:28.Let's just look at what Labour did
:15:29. > :15:39.They... They said they'd...
:15:40. > :15:41.They said they deal with social care in the '97 manifesto.
:15:42. > :15:44.Introduced a royal commission in 1999.
:15:45. > :15:51.Said they'd sort it in the CSR of 2007.
:15:52. > :16:06.Mr Speaker, as the Prime Minister well knows, health spending
:16:07. > :16:12.trebled under the last Labour government.
:16:13. > :16:17.And the levels of satisfaction with the National Health Service
:16:18. > :16:25.This government's choice was to cut social care by ?4.6 billion
:16:26. > :16:35.At the same time as they found the space,
:16:36. > :16:40.shall we say, to cut billions in corporate taxation bills.
:16:41. > :16:45.The whole house, I'm sure, would have been appalled
:16:46. > :16:48.by the revelations in the BBC Panorama programme this week,
:16:49. > :16:50.showing older people systematically mistreated.
:16:51. > :16:52.The Care Quality Commission's assessment that care homes
:16:53. > :16:55.run by the Morley Group require improvement.
:16:56. > :16:57.And they have issued a warning notices.
:16:58. > :17:00.The Commission goes on to say that the owner has allowed services
:17:01. > :17:04.to deteriorate further and has, and I quote...
:17:05. > :17:10."Utterly neglected the duty of care to the residents of these homes".
:17:11. > :17:13.What action is her government going to take to protect
:17:14. > :17:18.What we do about it is ensure that we have the CQC,
:17:19. > :17:21.which is able to step in, which takes action, which has powers
:17:22. > :17:23.to make sure that nobody, nobody in the chain
:17:24. > :17:25.of responsibility is immune from legal accountability.
:17:26. > :17:30.But we know that there's more that can be done.
:17:31. > :17:34.That's why the CQC is looking into ways in which it can
:17:35. > :17:41.improve its processes, increase sufficiency.
:17:42. > :17:43.The Scottish National Party focused on disability benefits.
:17:44. > :17:44.It's widely trailed that the Prime Minister
:17:45. > :17:47.will make changes impacting on benefit recipients in work.
:17:48. > :17:49.Will the Prime Minister confirm that she has no intention
:17:50. > :17:51.of helping people with disabilities and medical conditions?
:17:52. > :17:54.Why should people who are unable to earn a living be punished
:17:55. > :17:56.for their disability or illness by losing ?30 a week?
:17:57. > :18:05.Does she have any intention of changing that?
:18:06. > :18:08.The overall funding and spending on disability benefits will be
:18:09. > :18:13.higher every year to 2020 than it was in 2010.
:18:14. > :18:17.But it is also important to recognise that,
:18:18. > :18:19.when we give support for people with disabilities,
:18:20. > :18:21.it isn't simply about the benefits system and how much
:18:22. > :18:27.For those workers who are able to get into work and on that part
:18:28. > :18:30.of the ESA we provide packages which are outside of the benefits.
:18:31. > :18:32.Because we recognise that people want the dignity
:18:33. > :18:37.That's what we are helping people with disabilities,
:18:38. > :18:42.Earlier this week, Boris Johnson was accused of being "provocative"
:18:43. > :18:47.and "arrogant" after apparently telling politicians in Turkey
:18:48. > :18:50.he supports their country's bid to join the EU.
:18:51. > :18:54.The leading German Member of the European Parliament,
:18:55. > :19:00.Manfred Weber, called the Foreign Secretary's comments
:19:01. > :19:02."unbelievable", given his warnings about Turkish migrants
:19:03. > :19:11.during the referendum campaign in Britain.
:19:12. > :19:14.The German MEP said, "I cannot respect him anymore".
:19:15. > :19:17.on the words of the German politician.
:19:18. > :19:18.The Brexit Secretary and the Foreign Secretary
:19:19. > :19:20.are described by a senior German politician as...
:19:21. > :19:25."having no idea what Brexit really means".
:19:26. > :19:26.The Times reports today that EU ambassadors think
:19:27. > :19:28.the Foreign Secretary's more colourful outbursts
:19:29. > :19:36.are damaging our relationship with member states.
:19:37. > :19:40.When is the Prime Minister going to get a grip on her ministers?
:19:41. > :19:42.And when she going to demonstrate the country,
:19:43. > :19:54.that she has a coherent, workable plan for Brexit?
:19:55. > :19:57.I've been very clear in this house on many occasions about the plan
:19:58. > :20:00.Crucially, we will be leaving the European Union.
:20:01. > :20:03.And we will be triggering Article 50 by the end of March next year.
:20:04. > :20:08.And that's when the formal negotiations will start.
:20:09. > :20:13.As millions of public sector workers face another year of suppressed pay,
:20:14. > :20:18.after another week of shambolic Brexit negotiations,
:20:19. > :20:21.and with a National Health Service facing the winter crisis,
:20:22. > :20:27.and crying out for cash, does the Prime Minister worry
:20:28. > :20:30.that her government is only just about managing?
:20:31. > :20:33.What the Right Honourable gentleman wants to do is to stop us
:20:34. > :20:36.from leaving the European Union by denying the people the decision
:20:37. > :20:40.and the deliverability of the vote that they took rightly on 23rd June.
:20:41. > :20:42.He wants to deny people what they want.
:20:43. > :20:50.Earlier this year, the Lib Dem MP and former Minister Norman Lamb
:20:51. > :20:52.put forward a proposal to ban the use
:20:53. > :20:58.when dealing with incidents in mental health units.
:20:59. > :21:00.On that occasion, the Commons voted down the proposal.
:21:01. > :21:03.But there's been a long-standing campaign from human rights activists
:21:04. > :21:11.sometimes called electro-shock weapons -
:21:12. > :21:12.on patients in psychiatric hospitals.
:21:13. > :21:15.When a Lib Dem peer raised the issue at Lords Question Time,
:21:16. > :21:22.this was the reply of a Home Office Minister.
:21:23. > :21:23.My Lords, there is ongoing work to ensure that any operational
:21:24. > :21:27.police decisions on the use of force in a mental health setting
:21:28. > :21:42.This includes development of a new protocol on police
:21:43. > :21:43.attendance, national collection from 2017 to 2018
:21:44. > :21:45.of police data on any force used.
:21:46. > :21:48.And a request to local areas to scrutinise the use of any Taser
:21:49. > :21:56.I thank the minister for that response.
:21:57. > :21:58.But she will know that a recent Independent Police Complaints
:21:59. > :22:01.Commission report has stated that people suffering from mental illness
:22:02. > :22:03.are four times more likely to die after police use of force
:22:04. > :22:11.Will the government look at the possibility that better
:22:12. > :22:13.training for police officers in how to deal with people suffering
:22:14. > :22:17.from mental health illness might alleviate the need for them
:22:18. > :22:26.Because they might understand better how to deal with the situation?
:22:27. > :22:28.It cannot be the position that the police officers
:22:29. > :22:31.are called in to mental health units, actually into the units,
:22:32. > :22:34.unless there has been a major failure of care
:22:35. > :22:37.This is blaming the people who are clearing up the mess,
:22:38. > :22:48.rather than dealing with the problem itself.
:22:49. > :23:00.I think that we agree on one level, because if somebody has got a mental
:23:01. > :23:05.health problem or is experiencing a mental health crisis, it is a health
:23:06. > :23:10.issue. However, if somebody experiences of behaviour that is
:23:11. > :23:15.both a danger to themselves or to others, including staff within these
:23:16. > :23:20.mental health settings, then there may be no other option. These
:23:21. > :23:22.situations are rare, but there may be no other option then for police
:23:23. > :23:24.restraint to be used. Seven months ago came news that
:23:25. > :23:28.British Home Stores had collapsed, with debts of more
:23:29. > :23:30.than ?1.25 billion. In October, MPs took the
:23:31. > :23:32.unusual step to vote for a removal of the knighthood
:23:33. > :23:35.given to the shop's former owner, Since then, there's been
:23:36. > :23:43.speculation that Sir Philip might have something else
:23:44. > :23:45.taken away, namely his yachts. Sir Philip's been pictured more
:23:46. > :23:47.than once apparently enjoying life on board in various
:23:48. > :23:49.Mediterranean locations. But could the yachts be used
:23:50. > :23:52.to fill the large deficit A question for the
:23:53. > :24:08.Work and Pensions Committee. First of all, I would like to assure
:24:09. > :24:13.that the NHS pension scheme members that we are pursuing the best
:24:14. > :24:18.possible outcome that we can secure for them. -- BHS. On the 2nd of
:24:19. > :24:22.November, we issued a warning notice, giving indication of our
:24:23. > :24:26.intention to attempt to use our powers against various targets. The
:24:27. > :24:30.committee will understand that I am reluctant to discuss the precise
:24:31. > :24:38.terms of settlement offers and so on. What I can say is that typically
:24:39. > :24:44.in these situations, it is not... If it was as simple as a check being
:24:45. > :24:53.written, then we'd all be happy that that would be a good outcome if it
:24:54. > :24:58.was a right to some. It could be though? Absolutely right. But if the
:24:59. > :25:01.offer takes a more complex form in some way, then we have to not just
:25:02. > :25:05.be satisfied that the monetary amounts are correct. But also to
:25:06. > :25:11.ensure a good outcome for the members that there is not any
:25:12. > :25:22.residual risk. My last question, partly because the public have been
:25:23. > :25:28.lobbying me over it. This ostentatious display of his boats.
:25:29. > :25:30.That might be for the courts to decide? That is correct.
:25:31. > :25:32.And that's where we tie up our boat for now.
:25:33. > :25:35.But do join me for our next daily round-up from Westminster.
:25:36. > :25:40.Until then, from me, Keith Macdougall, goodbye.