tv The Week in Parliament BBC News January 29, 2017 5:30am-6:01am GMT
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of foreign nationals were detained at us airports following president trump's crackdown on immigration and refugees. a federaljudge has issued an emergency stay order that temporarily blocks the government from deporting people who land with valid visas. the british prime minister theresa may and the turkish president have signed a $125 million defence agreement during their talks in ankara. the deal to develop turkey's fighter aircraft could lead to multibillion—dollar contracts. they also discussed a possible trade deal after britain leaves the eu. wildfires in southern and central chile are now known to have killed at least 11 people and left several thousand others homeless. firefighters and volunteers are tackling more than 100 separate fires — half of which are still out of control. time now for the week in parliament. hello and welcome to
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the week in parliament. the government loses the brexit case in the supreme court, but seizes the initiative in parliament. i can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper, published to this house. ministers produce a brexit bill — mps complain about a lack of debating time. i was astonished at the amount of time it that the leader of the house has given this parliament to debate it. and doubts over whether theresa may can stand up to donald trump. how confident is she getting a good dealfor global britain from a president that wants to put america first, buy american and build a wall between his country and mexico? it's been a particularly fast—moving week for brexit. on tuesday, the government lost a legal battle over who should authorise starting the formal
quote
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process for leaving the european union. the government argued that it could use the royal prerogative — a power left over from the days of medieval monarchs. but the supreme court thought otherwise. the president — lord neuberger — said it was a task for parliament. today, by a majority of eight to three, the supreme court rules that the government cannot trigger article 50 without a parliamentry motion to do so. the government was quick to respond. a few hours later, the secretary of state for exiting the eu — david davis — promised to publish a bill seeking parliament's approval for triggering article 50. but some mps wanted to be clear about what they were voting for, and asked for a white paper setting out the government's strategy. david davis batted away their demands. will the secretary of state now agree to accept the unanimous recommendation of the brexit select committee, and, in the process, agree with himself, before he got this job, and now publish a white paper
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on the government's objectives, so these can be considered alongside the legislation he has just announced 7 i don't often dispute with myself, but let me say this to the right honourable gentleman, the speech given last week by the prime minister was the clearest exposition of a negotiating strategy that i have seen in modern times. it laid out very clearly what we judge the national interest to be, how we intend to protect it, what we want to do, what we hope does not happen, and how we're going to go about avoiding that too. but on wednesday, at prime minister's questions, there was a surprise change of heart. i recognise there is an appetite in this house to see that direction set out in a white paper. i can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper published to this house. so, a lot of activity on brexit.
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this is how the snp's pete wishart saw it. what a week it's going to be. first there was going to be no vote, now there's a vote. then there was no bill, now there's going to be a bill. then no white paper, and now a white paper. we should have chanced our arm and said we should definitely be staying in the european union! the timetable was laid out by david davis. presentation of bill, mr secretary, david davis. second reading, what day? tomorrow. cheering tomorrow. to discuss the bill and what it means for parliament, a former clerk of the
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commons who advised mps on parliamentary procedure, and a senior researcher from the institute of the government. you've seen many bills come and go in your time as a clerk in house of commons, what you make of this one? it's a very short bill which the government will want to get through as quickly as possible. the opposition are very busy trying to find ways to amend this bill. could you just explain to us how they're going to go about this? how easy it is it to get an amendment discussed in the commons? you can't have an amendment to negate the purpose of the bill, that would be out of order. there are two areas of amendment possible, one is to impose conditions before article 50 is triggered. and the other is when it is going to come into force. at the moment, there is no commencement provision in the bill. that means it will come into force when it was said, but it will be probably be possible to put down amendments to delay that. the big question is then,
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what about selection of amendments? if this goes to the committee of the whole house, the person responsible for selecting amendments is the chairman of ways and means. one area which is going to be really interesting is those who would like to have a post—negotiation referendum on the deal eventually reached may do that by amendment to this bill. but it's such a narrow bill, it may be decided that is outside the scope of the bill. this is notjust about procedure for many mps, this is about the substance of brexit. we've been promised a white paper, what do you think ought to be in that white paper to satisfy mps? the purpose of the white paper should be to give mps confidence that government can start negotiations. that it has thought through those negotiating principles and has not just gone its own way. what we might see is an evidence base, showing the government weighed up the costs
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as well as opportunities of its different negotiating opportunities. for example, to leave the customs union, has it weighed up the costs and benefits of that? other things you might expect to see in that white paper, and that mps would want to see, would be an explanation of how they will be able to scrutinise negotiations as they proceed. we heard, for example, the government wants meps and mp5 to have the same level of information about negotiations. we know that european parliamentarians tend to get quite a high level of information, they sometimes have access to private copies of provisional agreements or private briefings with negotiators. could that happen for mps? access to private documents? there may be, for example, reading rooms put in place in the palace of westminster to allow certain mps to draft agreements as they're being developed. what is your assessment of how this will go in the commons? it will depend on the numbers. the government will want to proceed quickly.
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in the explanatory notes to this bill, they said they are going to fast track it, that means, essentially, amendments can be tabled before the second reading debate. thereafter, it's a matter of how quickly they want to push on with it. it may be sensible to programme it quite generously. timetabling exists in the commons, but isn't in the lords. a generous programme would allow a wide expression of views. that would draw some of the difficulty out of the commons. you are a member of the house of lords, there is no time limit, they can talk about any amendment as long as they like. do you think the government will have more difficulty in the house of lords? it may be that the government has to work harder presenting its case, because of the ramifications of this, even though the bill is so short. it is interesting how many members said the lords must not be silly about this, because the commons
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is the elected house. the lords can ask the commons to think again, but it would be difficult after a lengthy consideration in the commons to identify areas where it would be reasonable to ask the commons to think again. so you believe the lords will not be silly? i very much hope they will not be. it has been said this is a great opportunity for parliament? it is heartening to see that parliament will be involved from the very beginning, but also have a vote at the end. the other thing to say about parliament is it's notjust an opportunity for mp5 to have their voices heard, it's a chance for lots of other external voices, whether the public, third sector, businesses, to use parliament as a channel to have their voices heard in the negotiations. are we going to see this in the parliament now? i agree with everything robyn said, but it hangs on uncertainty.
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if things are being decided in the two chambers, and you can't predict that happening, and people will not be able to relate what is happening over the next two years. if parliament can position itself that it is taking a central part and that process, it will be a very good time for parliament. thank you very much. the government has announced the timetable for debating the brexit bill. there'll be two days for the second reading and three days for detailed scrutiny — called the committee stage — when amendments can be made. some labour mps don't think that's enough. i was astonished at the amount of time that the leader of the house has given this parliament to debate it. and he is being very coy about whether the white paper will be published before
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the committee stage of the bill. can he give us more time and tell us whether he's going to publish the bill before next week? i think, if you consider that this is a two—clause bill, in which the second clause is only dealing with the extent of the bill to the united kingdom, there is by the time, including two full days at second reading for all opinions to be fully expressed. as we discussed earlier, the government could find things rather more challenging in the house of lords. here's a taste of what's to come. we will, therefore, be seeking to amend the bill to provide for a referendum to be held under times of which the government has been able to negotiate. the government may have a mandate to start brexit negotiations, it certainly does not have a mandate to impose harsh brexit turns on the country. —— terms does my noble friend accept that if parliament accepted the advice and treated the referendum as advisory and decided this country should not leave the eu, they would be no
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option for those of us who were in the majority and voted to leave, other than to take to the streets and start breaking things? all i can say is that i very much hope this does not happen. i thank the lordships for the constructive positions are to be made through this process that we will avoid that. the prime minister theresa may is one of the first foreign leaders to meet donald trump. in a speech during her trip to the united states, she said the uk and us could not return to what she called "failed" military interventions, "to remake the world in our own image". but she also said they should not "stand idly by when the threat is real". donald trump has made a series of controversial policy statements during his first week as president, including saying that waterboarding a form of torture — "absolutely works". before her visit, theresa may insisted that she, too, would speak her mind. i'm pleased that i am able to meet president trump so early in his
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administration. that is a sign of the strength of the relationship between the united kingdom and the united states of america. a special relationship on which he and i intend to build. and i also say to the leader of the opposition, i am not afraid to speak frankly to a president of the united states. i am able to do that because we have that special relationship. a special relationship that he would never have with the united states. mr speaker, we would never allow britain to be sold on the cheap. how confident is she getting a good deal for global britain from a president who wants put america first, buy american and build a wall between his country and mexico? the foreign secretary borisjohnson was also quizzed — by a lords committee — on the uk's relationship with the united states.
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boris johnson chose his words carefully. do you think it's acceptable on the international relations shared by the uk and united states to have a ban on refugees from certain middle east countries? i don't want to disappoint the committee by retreating too much into this formula, but we haven't yet seen the legislation brought forward. rather than get into some sort of hypothetical dispute, let's see exactly what the proposals are. president trump has been very clear that he wants to eliminate radical islamic militancy from the face of the earth and he has been clear that he is prepared to have a new approach to vote or prioritise the defeat of isis, would you support a change of us— uk direction in that... to support those goals, possibly evenjoining forces militarily with russia to do so?
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we are already engaged in attacking daesh in iraq. we already know of what is sought, we are there. are you prepared to see the alliances of forces, including russia, attack daesh? to switch sides, to come in on the side of assad and the russians and would be seen as, i think, a great betrayal of the people of syria who have opposed assad and it would be seen as a betrayal of the moderately armed opposition that we have supported and it would be a...
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it would have grave repercussions in the area. this week sees the centenary of a report which helped pave the way for votes for women. at a speaker's conference in 1917, the issue was debated and resolutions were sent to the prime minister lloyd george. as an exhibition in parliament reveals, the key vote proved to be a close one. here's ros ball. britain during the first world war. with men sent to the front, women do the jobs they left behind. an exibition of parliament shows how, as the war dragged on, the contribution shared mps and peers to electoral reform. of course, here were men in the middle of the war fighting and dying all over the world and it was politically acceptable to have a next general election on the basis that member there. they had to give the vote to more men and because
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women had been paying a great part in the war effort, they had to discuss whether to get the better do some women as well. mps and peers debated the issue injanuary 1917 in a conference. it was mp dickinson who came up with this, as his granddaughter recalls. they voted down various options. the final one, as you can see that this is where he made his proposition that women of a certain age, which was 30, could get it. it only won by nine votes to eight. the resolutions fed into the act. this meant giving the vote to women with a property qualification. having more women in parliament, because in a very good at it in the country, and particularly bad in the conservative party. it's wonderfulfor this extraordinary heritage through my grandmother and her father, sir willoughby. and you can see more of the vote
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100 exhibition online at the parliament.uk website. now for a quick round—up of a few other stories in westminster. there was an unusual moment at the brexit committee after the chief minister of gibraltar made some impassioned remarks about the historic links between the people of gibraltar and the uk. we are born british. that rock is red, white and blue for us. there is nothing else we have known. the make—up of my understanding of the world is british. how can i suddenly now be something else? i can speak fluent conversational spanish but not professional or political spanish in a way i might be expected to, should i have to navigate the waters of the spanish system. you look at the spanish system today, it doesn't have much to commend it to the people of the world. we criticise ourselves in the british system so constantly and constructively that we it stronger. that's system we believe in. that's the rule of law we believe in.
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the supreme court that ruled yesterday is what we respect. my blood is red, but i'm red, white and blue inside out and so is that rock. we will never exchange that. applause that was a most passionate and eloquent answer. gordon brown — the former prime minister — was back in parliament to talk about his role as the un's global envoy for education. i was in a village just outsidejuba and there was this project, the bangladesh group who use the small huts as schools. there are places in that school for only about 20 kids and i remember being in that. in there, there were 100 kids who could get the education they wanted. one mother said she had to choose between twins, both eight years old, which one went to school. and the wales bill came to the end of a rather turbulent
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journey through parliament. the former welsh secretary, the conservative stephen crabb, was a driving force behind the legislation. the original objectives, madam deputy speaker, that we sought to set out right at the start have not changed. what we wanted to do was create a stronger devolution settlement for wales. a clearer devolution settlement to end the constant arguing that resulted in the uk governments and welsh trotting off to the supreme court to argue about which administration is responsible for what aspect of policy. it was ridiculous. but he didn't think it was the end of the book — as he put it — on welsh devolution. but i think that we do need a prolonged period 110w where the welsh government actually learns to really deploy its powers and used its competence in a way that benefits the people of wales. at the start of the week, the defence secretary sir michael fallon was summoned to the commons to answer questions about newspaper reports of an unarmed trident missile going off—course
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during a test launch. sir michael refused to give much away. injune last year, the royal navy conducted a demonstration and shakedown operation designed to certify hms vengeance and her crew prior to their return to operation. this included a trident missile test launch. prior to this, hms vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified as ready to rejoin the operational cycle. we do not comment on the detail of a submarine operations. the secretary of state has advised us not to believe everything we read any sunday newspapers but should be believe the white house official who, while we've been sitting here debating, has confirmed to cnn that the missile did auto self—destruct off the coast of florida? if that is the case, why is the british parliament and british public the last people to know.
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we do not in this house, nor has any previous comment, we do not in this house, nor has any previous government, given any operational details of the demonstration and shakedown operation of one of our sub dreams, conducting a test with one of our trident missiles. the defence committee took up the issue, inviting lord west — who was once head of the navy — to give evidence. he briefed mps about nuclear missile tests and said finding out the details was easy — if you knew who to ask. first of all, we have to inform all the aviators across the atlantic. also, whether it's an american firing or not, we won't rush so they don't think we are starting will walk free. we are very aware this all happen. we don't even know which date the guests to place on, but i have heard a suggestion that it was on the 20th ofjune.
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are you in a position...? i absolutely don't know. i don't know the date and i don't know why, i can see no reason whatsoever... i can tell you, i could phone up mr putin because i did him a favour, rescuing some sub mariners when they were drowning, and he could tell me. he would certainly know the date. now, let's take a look at what's been happening in the wider world of politics this week. ben butcher has our countdown. ed miliband speaks at prime minister's questions since he was at the dispatch box and mps were more than happy to welcome him back. it brings back memories, actually. what do you give the man who has everything? a traditional scottish ornament was given to president trump by theresa may. michael gove got a vote of confidence when discussing the ups and downs of political life.
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speakerjohn bercow was the victim of a mic gaffe when he offered advice to michael fallon on how to deal with questions. and old habits die hard, as this baroness found herself using an old technique to calm the chamber. my lords, order! we end with some worries about housekeeping. there are a host of problems with the palace of westminster. the plumbing fails regularly and the electrical system is faulty, increasing the likelihood of fires. and, there's a lot of asbestos that needs removing. there are strongly—held views
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on whether mps should move out or stay while the work is carried out. labour's chris bryant says the best — and cheapest — option is for everyone to leave. our predecessors got it it is the wrong 19th—century. they kept on delaying necessary work. that meant the fire in 183a was not only possible but inevitable. we lost st stephen's chapel and the most set of beautiful medieval buildings renewal, they were then sends insisting on staying on—site in early new building was built around them and chronically complained about the noise and the design. the result was more long delays and a massive budget overrun. but a conservative, sir edward leigh, is on the remain side. as during the second world war, the house of commons debating chamber shoots at all sides be maintained in the palace of westminster. it is known that this was alluded to that
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there is an alternative expert review. instead of building what i believe to be a fully costing £85 million of a replica chamber in the courtyard of which house, that we should use the house of lords chamber. what the two mps do agree on, though, is that parliament needs to make a decision as soon as possible. but the government hasn't set a date for debating an issue that's almost as controversial as whether to remain or leave the eu. and that's it from me for now, but dojoinjoanna shinn on monday night at 11 for another round up of the day at westminster. but for now, from me, kristina cooper, goodbye. hello there. the weather is changing somewhat as we head over the next few days. we will eventually be losing the wintry chill that has been
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with us for a while. but not just yet. we still have icy conditions, particularly across more northern parts of the country but we could see icy stretches almost anywhere to start sunday. a cold start to the day with rain moving in as we head through the course of the day, heading in from the south—west. many areas, across the north of the country in particular, below freezing first thing in the morning in more rural spots. that means we could have slippery surfaces and icy conditions almost anywhere across the country. it is milder towards the south—west as the cloud creeps in here, bringing outbreaks of rain. sunshine for much of scotland and northern england lasting for quite a part of the day but northern ireland and wales, central and south—western england we will see the rain heading in. mild temperatures into double figures, particularly towards the south—west but breezy at times as well. the far south—east and east anglia are likely to stay dry into the middle part of the afternoon but the rain pours in across the midlands
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towards northern ireland. sunshine for northumberland and much of scotland with a chance of wintry showers continuing up towards the northern isles. a lot going on in sunday's weather. eventually that rain will move towards the east as we head into monday. we are left with a lot of cloud, low cloud, mist, fog and some freezing fog. still cold conditions across many northern and north—eastern parts of the country, whereas towards the south—west we have milder air heading in. a murky day on monday. a lot of cloud, freezing fog or fog patches. later in the day we will see further outbreaks of patchy rain heading their way slowly eastwards mainly affecting the western part of the country. further east you will stay dry but also colder. six degrees in aberdeen and around 11 in plymouth. as we move through the latter part of monday into tuesday you can see the frontal system moving in from the atlantic, slowly across the country because there is still pressure slowing things down situated across continental europe. we are likely to see a spell of wet weather on tuesday moving in from the west, a lot of cloud once again.
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low cloud, hill fog as well but with that southerly breeze temperatures will be much milder than they have been. into wednesday and the frontal system is lingering slowly across parts of the country. the next front and low pressure system waiting out in the wings. on wednesday, another fairly mild day with quite a bit of cloud around. rain clearing towards the east and showers from the west. that sets us up for a milder and more unsettled week ahead. good morning. it's sunday the 29th january. also: a statue of diana, princess of wales, is to be built in kensington palace by her sons prince harry and the duke of cambridge. a warning that living standards could be set to fall because of higher inflation and stagnating wages. in sport —
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