20/12/2017 Wednesday in Parliament


20/12/2017

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Welcome to the programme. It's been

a dramatic evening here at

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Westminster, with the first

Secretary of State Damian Green

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resigning. Mr Green was one of

Theresa May's closest allies,

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sitting next to her today at PMQs.

He resigned from the Cabinet after

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an investigation found he breached

the ministerial code. Before that

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news reached us, it was a busy

parliamentary day. The government

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faced a rocky moment on Brexit.

Let me make it very, very clear. If

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there is any attempt by this

government to go back an amendment

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seven, I believe the rebellion will

be even greater.

The horror of an

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acid attack.

There is nothing about

me that I recognised. My identity as

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I knew it had gone.

And Michael Gove

unmasks a cheese traitor.

I am

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concerned about your unpatriotic

attitude towards Cheddar.

But first,

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the final PMQs of 2017, but there

was not much in the way of festive

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cheer.

In 2009, the Prime Minister

said it was a tragedy that the

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number of children falling into the

poverty cycle was continuing to

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rise. Every child deserves a roof

over their head and food on the

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table. Yet on her watch, in

Wandsworth alone, the number of

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families forced to survive on food

banks is continuing to rise, and two

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and a half thousand children, yes,

children, will wake-up homeless on

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Christmas Day. My question is

simple. When will this austerity

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driven government say enough is

enough, and put an end to this

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tragedy?

Thank you Mr Speaker. The

honourable lady should note that in

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fact this government has lifted

hundreds of thousands of children

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out of absolute poverty. But I think

it is important for all those who

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have heard her question to be aware

this. She talks of two and half

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thousand children in Wandsworth

making up on Christmas Day. Anybody

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hearing that will assume about what

that means is that two and a half

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thousand children will be sleeping

on our streets. It does not. It does

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not.

The Labour leader questions the

Prime Minister about how the NHS was

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coping.

Could I pay tribute to our

very hard-working National Health

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Service staff? Many of whom, unlike

us, won't get a break this

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Christmas. Is the Prime Minister

satisfied that the National Health

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Service has the resources it needs

this winter?

First of all, can I

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join the right honourable gentleman,

he refers to those NHS staff who

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will be working very hard this

Christmas and you won't get a break

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at Christmas. Of course it's not

only our NHS staff who will be

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working hard this Christmas, it's

also our emergency and many others

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who go to work on Christmas Day so

others can enjoy their Christmas day

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and we thank all of them. He asks

about reparations for winter, I can

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say to him in the health service has

prepared more extensively for this

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winter than ever before. These plans

are helping to ensure safe, timely

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care for patients. As that happens,

those are not my words, they are of

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the chief executive of NHS

providers.

But Jeremy Corbyn has his

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"From the chief executive of NHS

England.

Sir Simon Stephens did say

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the NHS needs for alien from the NHS

next year just a standstill, and the

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reality is the government has given

the NHS less than half of he asked

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for.

The last Labour government's

record on health, their NHS legacy

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was described as a mess. While you

are clearing that up, we are putting

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more money into the NHS. But who was

it who described Labour's NHS legacy

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as a mess? It was the right

honourable gentleman.

HECKLING

When

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he is running for leader, he

denounces the Labour Party, now he's

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Lever -- leader of the Labour Party,

he's trying to praise it.

Mr

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Speaker, Canet...

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I could quote the Prime Minister,

something she might be familiar

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with. If the government wants to

reduce the pressure is on the health

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service and keep people out of

hospital in the first place, then it

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needs to tackle the chronic

underfunding of care and support

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services in the community which are

at a tipping point. Who said that?

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Conservative leader of Warwickshire

County Council. Mr Speaker... The

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question was an social care. But the

issue is about the NHS as a whole.

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It is there to provide care and

dignity for all if they fall ill.

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But our NHS goes into this winter in

crisis.

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Just over two hours after that,

Theresa May was once again answering

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MP's questions, this time in the

more genteel surroundings of the

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Boothroyd room. She was appearing in

front of the Liaison Committee,

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comprised of chairs of all the

common select committees, inevitably

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the focus was on Brexit.

Is it still

love you that you can complete the

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negotiating of a Free Trade

Agreement by March 2019?

It is. That

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is what we are working to, and that

is what I believe we can do. I

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believe that is important, everybody

wants to know on what basis they

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will be operating in the future.

Such that the period is practical,

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which is implementing going towards

implementing the agreement that we

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have with the European Union. I have

said I and other ministers have

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said, that of course we start off at

a different point from other third

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countries as we will be, from other

third countries negotiating with the

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EU, because we are already a member

and already trading with them on a

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particular basis. As you will know

full well, there is... We can't

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legally sign in the new trade

agreement with the European Union

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until the third country, out of the

EU, the EU, the 29th of March 2019,

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but I believe we can negotiate that

arrangement in that time.

That's the

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view you hold, and the government

holds, but the view on the other

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side of the negotiating table is

that the West that is going to be

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achieved by March 2019 is a scoping

of what a agreement would cover, and

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certainly I have met nobody who

thinks it is possible to negotiate

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all the details of that by March 20

19. Why the government is so

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confident they can be done when with

whom it is negotiating to think it

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can.

A lot is often said about the

time it takes to negotiate trade

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deals. There are different

experiences around the world of the

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length of time it takes to negotiate

trade deals, as I say, the reason

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I'm confident we can do this within

the time concern, is because we

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start off from a different point. We

have not got a situation where

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country a is coming to negotiate

with the EU not having had any

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arrangements with the EU before. We

come from the point where we are

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actually a member of the European

Union, operating on the same basis

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at the moment, and therefore I think

that stops us off from a different

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position in terms of our

negotiations on trade in the future.

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Having called the election, did you

imagine you would be back six months

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later and bake the European Union

for two more euros in the Florence

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speech?

I have not begged the European Union

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for two more years. If you like what

I said in the Lancaster house

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speech, you will see that we were

already talking about the concept of

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a smooth and orderly process of

withdrawing from the European Union.

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That is what the implementation

period is about. This is not two

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more years to negotiate with the

European Union. This is about two

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years when practically both

businesses and governments will be

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able to put in place the changes

necessary to move from the current

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relationship to the future

partnership that we will have.

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The chavvy Home Affairs Committee

press the Prime Minister on the

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meaningful vote that MPs had secured

last week and exchanges which would

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have consequences later in the day.

Will that primary legislation happen

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before written goes through the

ratification process for the treaty?

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Will will have had to, parliament

would have an opportunity say

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whether or not it agrees with the

Treaty that we have agreed with the

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European Union. There will be then a

process of bringing that agreed

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treaty into UK law.

After the tension of those

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exchanges, one Labour MP seemed

concerned for Theresa May's

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well-being.

You do not have to do everything,

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Prime Minister.

As I say, we will

respond to, I think and I hope the

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female members of the committee will

agree that women are pretty good at

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multitasking.

Frank Field was not letting go.

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Your health sake. I think, as Sarah

said, there's a real opportunity of

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governing difficulty while you get

on with the main issue.

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Food for thought. You are watching

Wednesday in Parliament. You can

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find all our programmes over on the

BBC iPlayer.

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The day finally dawned, the EU

withdrawal bill was back in the

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Commons for its eighth day of

detailed scrutiny. We had only had

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56 hours of this but what with the

last eight bring? One of the main

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points of discussion was to be an

amendment allowing ministers to

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change the date on which the UK

leads the EU. An amendment the

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Government has accepted. One

Conservative MP was not going to

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wait for the afternoon debate two

began. He bridged the subject our

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Prime Minister's Questions.

As one

of the synergies to amend and 400 to

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the EU withdrawal bill. May I seek

an assurance from the Prime Minister

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that its provisions to change the

date of our leaving the EU will be

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invoked only if at all under

extremely exceptional circumstances

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and only for a very short period?

That reassurance. We are very clear.

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We will be leaving the EU on the

29th of March, 2019, at 11pm. The

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bill that is going through, it is

not determined that the UK leads the

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EU, but as part of Article 50

process, a matter of international

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law. It is important that we have

the same position legally as the

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European Union that is why we have

accepted the amendment. But I can

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assure my honourable friend and the

House, we would only use this power

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in exceptional circumstances for the

shortest possible time and an

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affirmative motion would be brought

to the House.

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So, with appetites whetted, it was

onto the main course. You will

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remember last week the Government

suffered a defeat. Ministers did not

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want to go through that again the

Conservatives divide the data

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amendment and the Government

accepted it. The compromise would

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allow ministers to amend the date if

needed.

So the debate began. I am

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really profoundly grateful, not only

those are my right honourable friend

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's who have joined us on this

amendment but also to the Government

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which I think is showing exactly the

way to deal with these things which

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justified a sensible compromise that

brings all of us on these benches

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together and make the opposition

entirely relevant to the discussion.

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Indeed, it hampers the process. It

is frankly just another example of

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the Government bearing red meat to

the more extreme Brexiteers on their

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benches. And, as we said on day one,

this amendment is not serious

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legislation. It is a gimmick. And it

is a reckless one.

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I could not see why we were losing

the sensible flexibility of the way

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in which the bill had originally

been drafted. But I do recognise,

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underlying this, there does seem to

be a sort of the races abroad that

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sometimes this magical date might

not be reached. -- new

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sometimes this magical date might

not be reached. -- new. I can't

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fully understand some of these of my

right honourable friend.

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This Christmas moment, the soldiers

have met on the fields of no man's

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band singing Silent Knight has peace

breaking out at an opportune moment.

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I am filled with the Christmas

spirit of my honourable friend. Very

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much which to see that, not only be

present to Christmas but also

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carried through into the New Year.

I can assure the House that we would

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only use this power in exceptional

circumstances to extend the deadline

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for the shortest period possible and

that we cannot envisage the date

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being brought forward.

As my right honourable friend the

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Prime Minister has said many times,

we and the EU are planning on the UK

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leaving the European Union at 11pm

on the 29th of March, 2019.

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Several MPs were concerned about

what the prime Mr Howard said that

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the liaison committee about the

meaningful vote or amendment seven.

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-- Prime Minister had said.

Our

Prime Minister appears to be rowing

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back on that and we have a minister

who is not able to give an

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unequivocal statement at the

dispatch box that this Government

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will not order amendment seven. Let

me make it very, very clear. If

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there's any attempt by this

Government to go back an amendment

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seven, I believe that the rebellion

will be even greater and it will

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have even bigger consequences and

will give way.

I am happy to give my

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right honourable friend an early

Christmas present. I can give her

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the following assurance on behalf of

the Government. The Government has

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accepted amendment seven will stop

written ministers statement that the

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abolition of the exit of the EU...

On the withdrawal treaty, the terms

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of the future agreement and of

course there will be in a withdrawal

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agreement, implementation bill which

the House will consider in detail.

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All legislation is amended. I think

that is the unequivocal statement

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that I'm looking for and if it is,

I'm extremely grateful to the

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Minister for doing that, clearing

that up and it is a great Christmas

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present.

At morning News conference, the EU's

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chief negotiator Michel Barnier said

he was not aware of any free trade

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deal the EU had agreed which

included unfettered access for

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financial services. Large

London-based financial institutions

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have released set up subsidiaries

the EU to pre-empt Brexit. A few

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hours later, become that the Bank of

England emphasise the importance of

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the UK to the rest of Europe the UK

financial system is effectively the

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bank of the Europe any most

complicated bits of finance, the

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wholesale markets.

There are substantial economies of

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scale and scope their benefit both

sides.

He said that free trade or

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some form of corporate abridgement

of financial services was now

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possible.

I do not accept the argument that

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just because it has not been done in

the past, it cannot be done in the

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future. We can't just walk away from

progress.

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It is claimed that parts of London

are now no-go areas for mopeds

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delivery drivers because of fears

about acid attacks. A debate in

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Westminster Hall figures on the

sharp rise in the number of

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incidents where corrosive substances

are used as a weapon. Two Labour MPs

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from the East End of London started

the debate.

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I've had a number of discussions

with representatives of mopeds

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delivery drivers and they say there

are now part of London where their

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drivers are not willing to go

because of the danger of attack and

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I think all of us would regard it as

unacceptable that there are no-go

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areas in parts of London and parts

of the UK. Possession of acid should

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in itself be an offence and exactly

the same way that possession of a

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knife is an offence at the moment.

January 2012, the number of acid

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attacks in London has gone up by a

horrifying 550%.

Lynne Brown read

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out the words of a acid attack

victim Katie Piper he says had to be

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rebuilt by surgeons.

When I held the

mirror, I thought someone had given

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me a break in one or put a silly

face on it. As a joke. I knew they

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had taken my face away and it was

somewhere in a bin in the hospital.

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But in my head, I had assumed I

would look like the old Katie, just

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with a few red blotches. I wanted to

tear the whole thing off and make it

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go away. There was nothing about me

that I recognise. My identity as I

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knew it had gone. Katie's courage

and her will to survive and thrive

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are just simply amazing. She is done

to go more than 250 surgeries since

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the attack. She still has bad days

but she has transformed her life.

It

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is an undeniable fact that still far

too easy if the wrong people to get

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their hands on these dangerous

substances which called life

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changing harm to people. It is the

case that restricting access to

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these dangerous acids will in many

cases will force them to find a

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different method to continue their

violence. In addition to committing

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efforts to end acid violence, you

must equal attention to preventing

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violence occurring in the first

place.

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A Home Office minister said the

gunmen had drawn up an action plan

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to counter the rising number of acid

attacks. -- the Government.

Tackling

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the use of acid used in violent

attacks. It is vital we work

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together and protect the public and

prevent attacks which is why we are

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working so closely with a range of

partners, including the police, the

0:19:350:19:41

CPS and retailers. We will continue

to review and monitor the

0:19:410:19:45

implementation of the action plan

that in addition to this action

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plan, the Government is committed to

tackling serious violence and that

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is why the Home Secretary has

announced a new series by that

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strategy which will be published in

early 2018. I'd very much the acid

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attacks being included in that as

part of that strategy.

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Victoria Atkins.

These are -- the Environment

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Secretary has suggested

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will stop

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The Environment Secretary,

Michael Gove, has told MPs

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on the Environment Committee

he could block any trade deal

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with the US that allowed chlorinated

chicken to be imported into the UK.

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animal where four walls, things we

will not compromise.

You would hold

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a whole trade deal, were due, City

of London, everything, to make sure

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that we do not get chicken chlorine

washed?

I think, the whole point

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about trade deals is you have got to

do, be assertive in the defence of

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your own interest and high animal

wealth of standards and

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environmental standards are not

things that are important to British

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consumers, important to British

producers.

The problem with animal

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welfare and a piece of meat is the

fact that you have to actually

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analyse how that poultry or that

take all Dachau or she is actually

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been read. When you actually see the

meat that is there to buy, you will

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not be able to tell whether it is

organic, whereas it is free range on

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what it is, you will not be able to

test would. This is an issue, as we

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do those deals, you want to be sure

that products that come in, have met

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those standards or else they are

very clearly labelled that they have

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not. I think that is something that

we really will be keen on because I

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think otherwise farming will not

compete in the New World.

I think

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there is more that we can do in

order to allow people who are

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British consumers to make better

informed judgments about where it

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comes for. You are right there is

more we can do to ensure people are

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aware of the circumstances under

which food in other countries is

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sometimes produce. We do say that

there are some countries whose

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animal welfare standards are so

compromise that we will not import

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particular types of food from them.

The effect of Brexit on farmers and

0:22:020:22:07

consumers depend on what kind of

deal the UK gets.

0:22:070:22:09

Brexit in itself, it can mean a

variety of different things. We

0:22:090:22:13

could end up with, this is the

Government's then, a deeper gobblers

0:22:130:22:18

of free trade agreement, the

opportunity to secure arrangements

0:22:180:22:25

with other countries. We might not

get a trade agreement that is

0:22:250:22:28

perfect in every respect, there is a

chance we are doing everything we

0:22:280:22:31

can to prevent it that we might end

up trading with the EU police for a

0:22:310:22:37

period on WTO terms. Our view is...

You are doing some assessments on

0:22:370:22:43

what WTO rules would mean both to

agricultural. The department is

0:22:430:22:47

doing that?

Yes.

Cheddar cheese, it

is my favourite. It'll have a 40%

0:22:470:22:58

tariff. We import lots cheddar from

Ireland. How much will cheddar

0:22:580:23:02

prices go up by?

I am deeply upset

by your unpatriotic attitude to the

0:23:020:23:13

cheddar.

I would like to have a

discussion on every type of cheese

0:23:130:23:16

in the country, they are all very

good.

0:23:160:23:18

Things got a little bit he did.

The amount we give something to the

0:23:180:23:23

European Union is recorded in these

districts. Teacher prices is a

0:23:230:23:27

rejection and people can disagree

what the factors might be. On your

0:23:270:23:32

point about the system of changing

agricultural support, we will be

0:23:320:23:37

saying more and outlining how we

will do that in the command paper we

0:23:370:23:41

published next year.

Sorry, sorry.

The 50 million of the was alive. It

0:23:410:23:49

was untrue.

Technically speaking,

one of the things I would say is

0:23:490:23:58

absolutely not. More broadly,...

Parliamentary language.

Please. They

0:23:580:24:08

reason that they voted as they

continue being union, they were too

0:24:080:24:12

stupid to understand the argument

is, good luck at the next election.

0:24:120:24:16

Let us leave it there.

Finally, there was a little tinsel

0:24:160:24:22

dangling from the wall of

Parliamentary recess. A copyright

0:24:220:24:27

like Turing by Mr's questions.

Last

year the Prime Minister told the

0:24:270:24:32

radio Times that she likes to

prepare and cook our own goose. In

0:24:320:24:40

the spirit of Christmas, can I

suggest to her that in order to

0:24:400:24:45

extract the maximum pleasure from

the messy job of stuffing her goose,

0:24:450:24:50

but she names that either Michael or

Boris?

It is a mark of the remedy of

0:24:500:24:56

such humidity got a round of

applause. In fact, the Speaker had

0:24:560:25:00

to quieten them down with a quip of

his own.

Order! I am sure the prime

0:25:000:25:05

has got better taste than that. --

Prime Minister.

Can I say I think I

0:25:050:25:13

will have to resist the temptation

to call the goose Jeremy.

Comedy

0:25:130:25:18

gold. But is it from me, just one

more day before the seasonal

0:25:180:25:23

Parliamentary close down. Do join me

at the same time tomorrow. Now, from

0:25:230:25:27

me, good night.

0:25:270:25:36

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