tv The Week in Parliament BBC News June 18, 2018 2:30am-3:01am BST
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for republicans and democrats to work together to change the country's immigration policy. she made the comments amid controversy over president trump's zero—tolerance approach towards illegal immigrants. the conservative candidate ivan duque has won colombia's presidential election, having campaigned to overhaul the 2016 peace agreement with farc rebels. mr duque wants to introduce tougher punishments for war crimes committed by the farc. electoral officials said he polled more than 54% of the vote. at the football world cup in russia, the defending champions, germany, have made a disastrous start to their bid to retain the title. they were beaten 1—0 by mexico. another of the favourites to win the tournament, brazil, have also had a disappointing start, with a 1—1 draw against switzerland. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome to
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the week in parliament. coming up, between a rock and the other place. the brexit bill is back from the lords and ministers don't like what peers have done to it. what it actually amounts to is an unconstitutional shift which is undermining our negotiations with the european union. it's been a week of walkouts. first the snp... cheering ..then a leading leave campaigner leaves. you've run way past 20 minutes. so i'm sorry, but i'm afraid it's time to go. but first, the much—anticipated return of the brexit bill to the commons produced some high drama. the government seemed to be facing an embarrassing defeat.
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a junior justice minister resigned in protest at the way brexit was being handled. the main sticking point was the amendment on the role of parliament in the closing stages of the negotiations, the so—called meaningful vote. and what it actually amounts to is an unconstitutional shift which is undermining our negotiations with the european union. it enables parliament to dictate the government's course of action in international negotiation. if we pass what the lords want us to do, we, as aneurin bevan said, will be sending our negotiators back naked into the negotiating room. but a veteran tory remainer said the idea that a meaningful vote would undermine negotiations was ridiculous. it based on the proposition that out there on the continent they don't know there are divisions in the cabinet. a labour mp wondered what other factors might weaken the hand of british negotiators. is it the principle of parliamentary consent or is it the foreign secretary making damaging, unguarded remarks at a private dinner?
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is it the brexit secretary playing the hokey cokey about whether he's going to stay in the government or not? david davis said there was no need for an amendment. in the event the parliament rejects the deal put to it, the government would be legally obliged to make a statement on its proposed next steps in relation to article 50 negotiations within 28 days of that rejection. are honourable members really content for the sum of their role to be the chance to listen to a ministerial statement and to attempt to catch the speaker's eye to ask a question? a labour mp wanted to know what he should say to his constituents. how will we explain to them, that an unelected house of lords, if their amendments are passed, can overturn both the commons and the referendum? the snp were unhappy with the tone of the debate. i say to colleagues on all sides of the house, they can disagree passionately and fervently with
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each other, but please get the language of violence out of the vocabulary of this debate. then the now former conservative justice minister got to his feet to explain why he'd resigned. certainly it now seems inevitable that the people, economy and culture of my own constituency will be affected negatively and i cannot ignore that that it is to them that i owe my first responsibility as their member of parliament. and as the debate continued, the people who make sure mps toe the party line, the whips, stalked the chamber seeking out certain backbenchers for a quiet word. a group of rebels even had a meeting with the prime minister. then, all of a sudden, things seem to have changed, as a would—be rebel was about to explain. the solicitor general has given an important concession today and i would have supported the lords amendment had that concession not been made. but what was that concession?
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the commons clock had just struck 4:15 and that meant... the time is up. order. the allotted six hours were up. mps voted. the government won by a majority of 26. but that concession unravelled later in the week, with tory rebels accusing ministers of ripping up what they'd agreed. it wasn't a smooth ride for labour either. jeremy corbyn had ordered his mps to abstain in a vote on the european economic area. during the debate, a new metaphor emerged. now what is the cabinet doing at the moment? well, they spent two years arguing. first of all about how to create a "deep and special" lifeboat. they are trying to discuss whether they can come up with a lifeboat that will not breach its red lines. they've broken up into working groups. they're probably discussing the size, colour and shape of the lifeboat. the only thing that hasn't happened yet is a minister hasn't got up at the dispatch box and announced that no lifeboat is better than a bad lifeboat.
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six mps resigned from junior roles in the shadow cabinet to defy the leadership. in all, 75 labour mp rebelled in favour of keeping the uk in the european economic area, while 15 labour brexit supporters rebelled to vote against. the ayes to the right, 327. noes to the left, 126. ministers easily won the vote to throw out the idea. well, the eu withdrawal bill isn't quite the creature it was when it was first drafted, but that's the nature of bills. bits are added and removed, changed, reinstated and maybe even removed again. so how does it feel if you're the person who drafted the thing in the first place? well, daniel greenberg worked as parliamentary council for 20 years, literally writing our laws and he's been heavily involved in the legislation for withdrawing from the eu. the brexit bill must have been a nightmare, mustn't it? the perception is as important
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as the law on this particular bill. there's politics in every line of it. and it was always bound to be sought to be amended at various stages, so they would have thought about that, they would have thought about trying to produce a structure that would keep its integrity despite layers of amendments. very, very difficult. well, i've got it here. when a bill is produced like this which you have actually written, you know, you're very proud of it, it's like your own your book, your piece of work? yeah, bills that i've written, i have been proud of them. sometimes you're more proud than other times. sometimes the process, either because of the politics or because of the interests involved, mean that after you've
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produced your nice clean bill, you actually have to play around with it quite a lot and it only looks quite how you wanted it to look. and when you finish this, of course, it's like it's marked by 650 mp5, isn't it, and then maybe up to 800 lords. how do you feel about that process, when you know other people are going to be looking at it? you do feel possessive. the other thing you quite often feel is a little bit frustrated because of course you can't go along and shout at them and say, hold on, you're missing the point, that wasn't what i meant, or you're not reading it right. now, of course, if they're not understanding it then you haven't written it properly. you get comments, i mean on the eu withdrawal bill, for instance. matthew pennycook, who's the shadow brexit minister, said this bill began life as a fundamentally—flawed
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piece of legislation. i mean, he did say it was the government's fault but that must hurt? no, it does. i've had that on on bills that i've drafted. you have to remind yourself that people don't mean it. they don't mean that it's the drafter who has failed to produce, or normally they don't mean it. and equally you have to remember when they praise the bill they don't mean you either. when they say it's terribly well drafted they don't mean that, they mean that they're happy with the result of the bill. it's very painstaking work, isn't it? have you developed any strategies for relieving the seriousness of the whole thing? well, i have i have been known on... very lengthy and technical pieces of legislation occasionally to lighten my own mood by doing word games in it or something, without compromising the integrity
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or efficacy of the text. just keeps me awake. and it's always nice to see whether anybody reading spots it and says, did you mean to make an acrostic at the beginning of the schedule, or something like that. but yes, it's a serious business. like all professions, we have to relieve the tension sometimes with a bit of humour. how have you felt when you've watched what's been happening with the amendments made by the lords and then taken out by the commons and now going back to the lords? i don't think anybody would necessarily expect us to be quite where we are now. but as i say, as the drafter, you just try and set out a canvas that can support whatever political process parliament decides to carry out on your on your text. so was this was predictable? no, but it was predictably unpredictable.
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daniel greenberg, thank you. now, no—one was really expecting a particularly lively prime minister's questions. the most exciting thing seemed to be the presence of a very small baby cradled in the arms of her mother in the visitors' gallery. so, what happened next came as a bit of a surprise. mr speaker, under the circumstances, given the disrespect that's shown, i've got no option but to ask that this house now sits in private. now, what on earth does that mean? well, calling for the house to sit in private is a procedural device to disrupt business and register a protest. the snp weren't happy because the previous day's brexit debate on devolved powers returning from brussels was cut short tojust 18 minutes. invoking this device would mean prime minister's questions would have to be suspended. there was mayhem as everyone tried to work out what was going on. finally, the speaker called for order. there can be a division and it will be at the end of this session. not now. that is the end of the matter. the prime minister. mr speaker, might i ask.... no, resume your seat. mr blackford. no, no, you're not moving anything. resume your seat, young man.
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the prime minister hovered, unsure of what to do. the baby in the gallery clung to her mother as the snp clapped approvingly and scottish conservatives shouted at them. but ian blackford remained on his feet, and that's not allowed. so the speaker threw him out and all the other snp mps followed. the episode ended with a more light—hearted moment. several labour employees who'd been standing decided to make use of the free seats and the next mp to speak did find some humour in the situation. with the amount of people leaving, it feels like one of my after—dinner speeches. well, that wasn't all that happened at prime minister's questions. jeremy corbyn reminded mps about the secretly—recorded comments boris johnson had made. mr speaker, when the prime minister met president donald trump last week, did she do, as the foreign secretary suggested, and ask him to take over the brexit negotiations? laughter the speaker interrupted to call for order. on the brexit negotiations, i might remind the right honourable gentleman that before december, labour cast doubt on whether we would get a joint report agreed. we did. before march he cast doubt on whether we'd get an implimentation period and we did.
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you've got to face the fact there may now be a meltdown. mr speaker, they‘ re not actually my words but those of the foreign secretary. even as his fellow cabinet ministers are preparing people for the government's negotiations, which he clearly thinks are going to end in disaster. but theresa may had a jibe of her own about labour's summer music festival. i don't know if all members of the house are aware of the headline act at labour live. the headline acts are the shadow chancellor and the magic numbers. just about sums them up. pmqs finally finished a few seconds shy of one o'clock, a truly marathon session and quiet to the very end was
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the baby in the gallery. for all the turbulence and discord of today's proceedings, the little baby who has been observing them has been a model... ..of impeccable behaviour from start to finish. cheering it turned out the proud father was the labour mp clive lewis. now let's take a look at some of the other news from westminster in brief. a senior minister admitted the disclosure of evidence to the defence in criminal cases has been a mess. the crown prosecution service has looked at more than 3,500 cases in england and wales after the collapse of a number of trials. chief constables and the college of policing should be accountable, according to the minister.
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the primary role here i think comes from chiefs but the college has got an incredibly important role to support in terms of the training, guidance and the codes. sounds like you're washing your hands of it, minister. not at all. because i've signalled the importance of this issue, and because i think it is quite fundamental to the criminal justice system. the warm words and friendly platitudes usually associated with international summits were replaced by something altogether less convivial when the g7 met in canada. the meeting of world leaders in quebec ended in disarray, after donald trump retracted his support for their agreed communique and then took to social media to criticize the canadian prime minister. theresa may reflected upon this most unusual gathering when she reported back to the commons. this was a difficult summit with, at times, some very candid discussions. but the conclusion i draw is it is only through continued dialogue that we can find ways to work together to resolve the challenges we face. the engineering firm rolls royce announced it was cutting 4,600 jobs
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over the next two years as part of a major restructuring program. most of the posts affected are at the company's base in derby. middle managers and back office staff will bear the brunt of the cuts. the business secretary said it was a worrying time for staff but he struck an upbeat note. rolls—royce has a growing order book of over £170 billion. mr east told me we'll need more staff directly employed on both the manufacture of components and assembly to meet that demand. pleased to hear him say that he recognizes the huge importance of a world class company like rolls— royce, especially as we approach leaving the european union and these are the kind ofjobs, this is the kind of industry we want for the future, because of its export potential, and because of its potential across the world. peers debated the plight of more than 600 people who have been left at sea on the rescue ship aquarius. they were stranded after italy and malta refused
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to let the ship dock. the un refugee agency and the european union have both called for a swift end to the standoff between the two countries, before spain's prime minister stepped in and agreed to take them. 0ne peer had a suggestion for the minister to alleviate the problem. might ijust press her to revisit suggestions made in your lordship‘s house about the creation, on the coast of north africa, of internationally guaranteed safe havens, where people can live in security and develop livelihoods and have homes and also look at the root cause of violations, egregious in many cases, of human rights in countries like eritrea and sudan from which people are fleeing by their hundreds of thousands. and at noon on thursday, a year on from the terrible fire at grenfell tower, mps stood in silence to remember the 72 victims. colleagues, thank you. the strength, dignity and determination showed by the survivors and the families of all those affected has been truly inspiring. i want to pay tribute to all of them.
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0ur overwhelming priority over the last year and going forward is to ensure the survivors of this terrible event get the homes and support they need, and the truth and justice they deserve. if you live in the far south west of england, are you british or cornish? the tory mp steve double wants the office for national statistics to include a cornish identity box on the next census form in 2021. he raised the issue in an end of session debate on monday. gary connor has the story. the cornish are the only nationality in the uk recognised as a national minority that doesn't have the option of a identity tick box in the census. the scots, welsh and northern irish do, so i believe we have a unique case
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for cornwall to be recognised in that way. so i hope that my debate will be part of the campaign that ends up in persuading the 0ns to put a cornish tick box in 2021 census. he says it's notjust a tick in a box. it is a matter of pride but also has a very practical application in terms of gathering data. that by having the option for people to identify as cornish means we can gather data about issues around education, health, economic activity, which can be very important, valuable in shaping future government policy for cornwall. cabinet office minister chloe smith said the 0ns is looking at how best to mark cornish identity in the next census. it's still up for grabs, we can still continue to make the case. my hope is that we can persuade the 0ns to make that recommendation that a cornish national identity tickbox is included. many a business executive called before a commons committee has ended up shame faced, if not torn apart by the experience. but this week one committee chair seemed to have met his match.
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the leading leave campaigner arron banks was giving evidence to the culture committee as part of theirfake news inquiry. things began straightforwardly enough. when we started our campaign, we realised, to get a share of the voice, what we had to do was be slightly alternative, but teach journalists. you know, they're the cleverest stupidest people on earth. because actually they're clever but also they really want to believe some of this stuff. so we were not above using alternative methods to punch home our message or lead people up the garden path, if we had to. a piece of advice we got right from the beginning was, remember this is a referendum, it's not about facts, it's about emotion. you've got to tap into that emotion. it doesn't matter how many facts you throw. it's white noise to people. a conservative questioned mr banks
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about his business interests. all these different companies and names and complicated arrangements seem to be trying to unravel journalists or whoever. it suggsts that you have something to hide in all this. it may have some connection to influencing politics across the world. i like to think i'm an evil genius with a white cat that controls the whole of western democracy but clearly that's nonsense. at a quarter to two the committee chair said there'd be a few final questions. but arron banks had other ideas. you said 20 minutes. i do have another appointment which i don't want to be late for. just one or two questions. i have to insist. i was told a certain time. you canjoin us if you want. we'll be in the... mr banks, can you give us five minutes? no. you said when you left, 20 minutes. we've run way past 20. i'm sorry but i'm afraid it's time to go. and with that they were off to the commons bar. 0k. rockstar, monster energy, relentless.
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rock bands headlining at labour live? no. they're actually energy drinks. for the last four months, the sale of energy drinks to youngsters under 16 has been banned by several supermarkets on a voluntary basis. the drinks contain high quantities of sugar and caffeine. so is it time to take tougher action and make it unlawfulfor anyone under 16 to buy an energy drink? the science committee heard from a panel of experts. these are so available. i've got a lovely quote from a one of our young participant that says you can get them everywhere, apart from the furniture shop and the pet shop. which is true.
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they are everywhere. the idea that we're breeding a culture where people believe they need external pick—me—ups to get through the day. now, adults tend to believe they need a coffee. we've all been there. i suppose all night sittings at the house. but i suspect you know that the decisions made all night sittings of the house get worse and worse and worse with the more caffeine everybody drinks. i've got anecdotal evidence of children who are 10 years old saying that they drink them because they are cool and they will to fit in with their peers drinking them as well. so there's this kind of culture around energy drinks that they are linked with gaming, they are linked with sports events and that's the way that they're being advertised. the bottom line, all four of your are advocating a legal ban? yes. now let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this week. julia butler has our countdown. at five, theresa may was ever the diplomatc when questioned by one of her backbenchers. trudeau or trump?
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laughter. i'm not sure what activity he's asking me to undertake with either! four, palmerston is earning his keep. a freedom of information request revealed that the foreign office cat has caught 42 mice since january last year. three, a novel suggestion was made for tackling the japanese knotweed problem in wales. you may have heard recently that there's been idea that perhaps we should eat more of this knotweed, as it's full of vitamins and minerals. edible but horrible. that's is the government line. two, last staged in 1928, the commons pigeon race took place at bletchley park. tory mp alberto costa was lucky enough to sponsor the winning bird. and at one, lewisham east has a new mp. labour's janet davey won the by—election with 50.2% of the vote. finally, returning to the dramatic walkout by
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the snp leader ian blackford at prime minister's questions. 0ne labour veteran wanted a little more clarity as to the exact nature of his punishment. well, as a bit of an expert on being thrown out... laughter. can ijust explain to you, mr speaker, that there are various ways of throwing people out? one is, obviously, everybody can follow. it's never happened in my case. secondly... secondly, it is possible for somebody, sent by the speaker's office to the room upstairs, which i inhabited, and he said to me, "on reflection," the speaker said, "you can stay." that's one difference. and the other is, sometimes you are barred from the house, but not from the building. so which was it?
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the speaker confirmed ian blackford had been excluded from the whole building. in fact, one of my colleagues later spotted him holed up in pret a manger. 0ther cafes are available. and that's all we've got time for. don't forget there's a round—up of each day in parliament every night at 11 o'clock on bbc parliament. but for now, from me, mandy baker, goodbye. well, the weather over the weekend wasn't especially spectacular. in fa ct, wasn't especially spectacular. in fact, it was quite cool. but guess
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what, the weather is set to warm up across the uk, in fact a return to summertime temperatures mostly across southern and central part of the uk. in fact, across southern and central part of the uk. infact, in across southern and central part of the uk. in fact, in the north, across scotland and northern ireland, we are expecting that bridges to pretty much where they are right now so a little on the cool side and some rain and some rain in the forecast as well. the moment the clouds keep on streaming off the atlantic. this is the warm and sunny weather towards the south. we are still in the stream of cloud, so we are still in the stream of cloud, so through the course of the night while one area of cloud drifts away and gives way to clear skies, another area of cloud behind it start to push in once more. so that means that the morning is looking sunny means that the morning is looking sunny across many means that the morning is looking sunny across many western and northern areas. but, through the course of the morning, yet more cloud will drift in and start hugging some of these western coasts. they might even be a bit of light rain or drizzle. however, if you live in the east, the weather should be much brighter here for newcastle, norwich, down to london and central and southern england. and it will be warm, 2a expected in london, into the 20s across
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yorkshire as well. but scotland will be cooler and windy as well. here is tuesday's weather outlook. you can see the weather coming in from the south but it takes a turn in kind of misses northern ireland in scotland and instead there is a weather front here which separates the warm air and humid airto here which separates the warm air and humid air to the south and the much cooler air in the north. so the forecast for tuesday, we are expecting what affront to move into north—western parts of the country. so some rain expected in northern ireland, and eventually western scotland. south of that it is more humid and a lot warmer. 25 in london and comfortably into the low 20s across parts of northern england as well. on wednesday we do expect that weather front to shift a little bit further south. now, that means one thing. the heat in the south will also be shipping a little bit further south. so the cooler air sta rts further south. so the cooler air starts to wind across the northern half of the uk. fairly fresh, with sunshine and showers across scotland, northern ireland. decent enoughin scotland, northern ireland. decent enough in northern england. the real warmth will be the far south and the south—east. temperatures here on wednesday could get up to a roundabout 26, maybe 27 or 28 degrees, whereas in newcastle is 16,
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and it will match that in belfast on wednesday as well. thursday, high—pressure establishes itself across the uk. it won't be quite so hot in the south. typically in the low 20s. goodbye. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: "i hate to see children separated from their families" — america's first lady speaks out about a controversial practice the right—winger ivan duque is elected colombia's president in a landmark election. a day of surprises at the world cup with title—holders germany beaten in their first round match by mexico. addicted to video games? the world health organisation recognises "gaming disorder" as a medical condition.
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