tv The Week in Parliament BBC News September 10, 2018 2:30am-3:01am BST
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anti—immigration party, the sweden democrats, has gained nearly 18% of the vote. neither the ruling centre—left, nor the opposition centre—right coalition has won enough support to form a government alone but both are unwilling to work with the democrats. north korea has been marking the 70th anniversary of its foundation, with a series of big events. for the first time in five years it staged a ‘mass games‘ — a gymnastic display featuring thousands of entertainers. but the tone was more conciliatory than in previous years. russian and syrian jets are reported to have resumed intensive strikes in provinces of idlib and hama as government forces step up their assault on the rebels last major stronghold. a russian—iranian—turkish summit on friday failed to agree a ceasefire. the united nations has warned of an imminent catastrophe. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello there, and welcome
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to the week in parliament. our look back at all the big events here at westminster and beyond, as mps and peers returned from their summer break. coming up: theresa may sets out the evidence as she blames two russian intelligence officers for the salisbury novichok poisonings. should either of these individuals ever again travel outside of russia, we will take every possible step to detain them, to extradite them, and to bring them to face justice here in the united kingdom. scotland's first minister unveils her programme for government, while the northern ireland secretary announces she's cutting the pay of members of the stormont assembly, as the political deadlock continues. but one mp thinks it's time for outside help. it's truly apparent
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now that the exercise of hand wringing that we are all engaged in collectively here today isn't going to bring about the change that we need. also on this programme: a stark warning that antibiotic resistance could lead to the end of modern medicine. we will be given the choice of either having an expensive treatment that is likely to cure you, but you'll get an infection that might be resistant, and you'll probably die of it. but first: it was a hushed house of parliament that listened intently to theresa may's statement on wednesday on the salisbury nerve agent attacks. she told mps the two men responsible were believed to the russian military intelligence officers. former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, were poisoned back in march. this sparked a major police investigation. there was a widespread clean—up and decontamination effort in the city of salisbury. the pair were later revealed to have been poisoned with the nerve agent novichok.
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weeks later, dawn sturgess died, and her partner, charlie rowley, was treated after they came into contact with the substance, which they had come across in a discarded glass bottle. the government has blamed russia for the attack, and two men have not been named as being behind the poisonings. moscow has again denied any involvement. this morning, the police have set out how the two russian nationals travelled under the names of alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. names the police believe to be aliases. they arrived at gatwick airport at 3pm on friday, the 2nd of march. having flown from moscow on flight su 2588. theresa may went on to give a highly detailed account of the men's movement in the uk, setting out exactly when and where they travelled. were these two suspects within ourjurisdiction, there would be a clear basis in law for their arrest for murder. mr speaker, we repeatedly asked russia to account for what happened
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in salisbury in march, and they have replied with obfuscation and lies. this is including trying to pass the blame for the attack on the terrorists, onto our international partners, and even onto the future mother—in—law of yulia skripal. they even claimed that i, myself, invented novichok. based on a body of intelligence, the government has concluded that the two individuals named by the police and cps are officers from the russian military intelligence service. also known as the gru. the gru is a highly disciplined organisation with a well—established chain of command. so this was not a rogue operation. it was almost certainly also approved outside of the gru at a senior level of the russian state. we will back any further reasonable and effective actions, whether against russia as a state, or the gru as an organisation.
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and i would encourage the prime minister to seek the widest possible european and international consensus for this to maximise its impact. should either of these individuals ever again travel outside of russia, we will take every possible step to detain them, to extradite them, and to bring them to face justice here in the united kingdom. we utterly condemn the appalling attacks, we condemn... we condemn the police and security... commend the police and security... we commend the police and security services for their diligence in investigating this appalling crime. and we will support any reasonable action to bring those responsible tojustice, and to take further action against russia for its failure to co—operate with this investigation. the news of the arrest warrants today will send a clear message that
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all of us here will not tolerate the behaviour from the russians that took place in salisbury. whilst i agree with the remarks of the prime minister and the actions are open to us, if the two individuals ever leave russia, that they faced the threat of arrest, i think working with our international partners, we ought for the maximum pressure on russia to turn these two individuals over. they must face trial here in the united kingdom. ian blackford. the scottish first minister, nicola sturgeon, promised an extra £250 million for mental health services over the next five years, as part of her programme for government. in scotland's equivalent of the queen's speech, she said her legislative plans for the next year, with 12 new laws and higher spending on her government's priorities. her announcement came as new figures showed that one third of children referred to mental health services in scotland and not seen within the 18 week target. today i'm announcing a package of measures that will complement our mental health tragedy. it will be backed by £250 million
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of additional investment, and increasing over the subsequent four years. she also announced plans for scotland's infrastructure. that commitment will mean invest investment in our hospitals, our schools, houses, transport with carbon technology, and digital connections will be around £7 billion higher than our current spending projections. but her opponents were not impressed. the start of a new term is not the time to be overly cynical, but given the sclerosis of this government's record, it is wise to be sceptical when we see the snp bearing legislative gifts today. gifts promised which all too often in the past get lost in the post. the parliament is at its midpoint, there is much still to do and too much time has already been squandered. the country cannot afford for this snp government to be distracted either by noises off, nor an unwanted rush to get more constitutional division. 11 years...
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11 years into the snp office, where is the vitality? where is the driving force? where is the real radical vision in this programme for government? 0ver those 11 years in office, the snp's ambition has simply not kept up with the growth in this parliament's powers. richard leonard. but while the scottish parliament is in full democratic flow, there's an eerie silence coming from stormont. members of the northern ireland assembly are to have their pay cut by around a third, as the political deadlock continues. there has been no devolved government since power—sharing collapsed in january 2017. mla salaries will be reduced from £49,500 to just over £42,000 in november, with a further cut three months later if the assembly is not restored. while assembly members continue to perform valuable constituency functions, it is clear that
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during any such interim period, they will not be performing the full range of their legislative functions. so in parallel, i will take the steps necessary to reduce assembly members' salaries in line with the recommendations made by trevor rainey. the reduction will take affect in two stages, commencing in november. karen bradley said she would also bring forward legislation to enable civil servants to continue making decisions in the absence of an executive. and she would be setting aside the legal requirement for a stormont assembly election if there is no devolved government. i have not believed and do not now believe that holding an election during this time of significant change and political uncertainty would be helpful or increase the prospects of restoring the executive. i give cautious welcome to the proposals set forward here today, although let us be very clear, the demands of the people of northern ireland is to see the restoration of democratic governance, and that demand must be echoed in this chamber. my concern is about the fact
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that it is difficult for the uk government to be seen as an honest an unbiased broker in this, given the reliance on the dup in order for the government to be here, and they're one of the parties involved in this negotiation. in the past when we have reached an impasse of this sort, we have looked outside. i think of the likes of senator george mitchell and others who have played an important role in moving on the process when there it has been necessary in the past. will she give the initiative the bulk of her attention? because frankly, as someone who has been engaged in this for years now, i don't see any other means of us hearing the progress that we need to. a dup mp suggested that those who refuse to take their seats in the commons should also have their pay cut. the announcement that an mla pay is the right decision, most mla style including my own
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colleagues who want to get the assembly working fully and immediately. however, everyone is being punished due to the refusal of one party, namely sinn fein. those of the northern ireland assembly members, which is right to do, would they agree that the same principles for northern ireland assembly members should not be applied to those who refuse to do their work in this house? the minister said any decision on mp pay is a matter for parliament. you're watching the week in parliament with me. now, england's chief medical officer dame sally davies has warned that increasing resistance to antibiotics could lead to a lot of suffering and the end of modern medicine. to increase public awareness of the problem, she recommended including on death certificates if an individual died of an infection that couldn't be treated with antibiotics. in this country, we have people dying of resistant infections,
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or those who don't die but doubled their time in hospital, and they have that morbidity in suffering and it cost the nhs at this time at least £180 million every year to cope with the level of resistant infections we already have. she suggested one way to raise public awareness. i would really love death certificates to collect when people die of infection, with infection and if resistance has been involved because that would really wake people up to the deaths as they happen. what i also meant was what kind of operational procedures will no longer be possible? we will lose modern medicine, so when i had a caesarean section, i had a prophylactic antibiotic to make sure that i didn't get the prevalent infections people had before antibiotics. we cover major surgery with antibiotics.
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people with cancer are prone to infections and cancer treatments that increase your immunity immensely. you will be given of the choice of having an expensive treatment that is likely to cure you but you will get an infection, it might be resistant. you will likely die from it. so your bucket list, try that. meanwhile, all transplants will be out the window because they are all prone to infections, many of them have to stay on long—term antibiotics so there will be a lot of suffering and modern medicine will be lost. i think about it in terms of supply and demand, we can get all the drugs that we need to get, hopefully, but that will only work until they become resistant. what you need to do is permanently reduce the demand, particularly the inappropriate demand. jim 0'neill.
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now of course, mps couldn't get through their first week back without discussing brexit. when they returned to the chamber on tuesday, it was time for a catch—up on developments since the prime minister delivered her chequers plan. now, you'll remember it was a document setting out what sort of relationship the uk would have with the eu after brexit. and it sparked the resignations from the cabinet of both david davis and borisjohnson, who couldn't sign up to her ideas. over the summer, it has been down to the new brexit secretary dominic raab to begin trying to steer the plan through with the eu and others. in the commons, it did seem to unite many backbenchers in opposing the chequers agreement. what a tory brexit shambles! chequers is as dead as a dodo, the secretary of state knows that and so does everyone else in this house, it has been rejected by the tory right, and rejected
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by the european union. the fact is that there are people in this house and in the european union and in the irish republic using the issue of the irish border, and more despicably, the irish peace process and the political process to either taught brexit or two moulded in their own way. michel barnier made it very clear yesterday in brussels to the select committee when we met that the government's proposal for a facilitated customs arrangement and a common rulebook is not acceptable. none of us who was present listening to mr barnier yesterday could be in any doubt that he understands perfectly what is involved in the chequers arrangements, and he rejects without any qualification the facilitated customs arrangement and also the common rulebook. and so why doesn't my right honourable friend accept his get—out
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clause and chuck chequers now? he's right that the commission and michel barnier have raised concerns around some aspects of the economic partnership. he's right. equally, we had positive feedback from member states and we are confident that as we work through these proposals, they provide an enduring solution to the challenges we face and that the eu face, and that is what we are pursuing. and brexit plus labour's troubles with anti—semitism came up the next day at prime minister's questions. we are continuing to do what we've always been doing, which is working to get a good deal with the european union for our future relationship once we have left the european union, but it is entirely right and proper that we should prepare for all eventualities because we haven't come to the end of the negotiations. i say to the prime minister quite simply this — she can't keep dancing round all the issues. laughter a jibe at the prime minister's
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dancing during her recent african trip. mr corbyn wasn't finished. the prime minister has repeatedly said that no deal is better than a bad deal but no deal is a bad deal, and everyone from the cbi to the tuc to her own chancellor are telling her the same thing. the chequers proposal is dead, already ripped apart by her own mps. when will the prime minister publish a real plan that survives contact with her cabinet and with reality? those are, of course, two very separate concepts. when will we get proposals that put jobs and the economy ahead of the survival of herself and her own government? what i'm doing is negotiating a brexit deal for britain. i'm making sure that the economy works for everyone. i'm building a stronger, fairer country. what is the right honourable gentleman doing? he is trying to change his party so anti—semites can call
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the creation of israel racist. and he should be ashamed of himself! it was then the turn of the snp leader at westminster. the prime minister's chequers plan is even more unpopular than the poll tax! why is the prime minister gambling with scotland's future by taking us out of the eu against her will with her disastrous chequers plan? the only people who are gambling with scotland's future are the scottish national party, who want to take scotland out of the united kingdom. theresa may. the government has announced that it has to asked for a review of hate crime legislation in england and wales, including whether or not misogyny should be considered as a hate crime. at the moment, attacking someone on the grounds of race, sexuality, disability or religion constitutes a hate incident.
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the labour mp stella creasy wants incidents motivated by hatred of someone because of their gender to be added to the list. she made the call during a debate on the voyeurism bill which makes up—skirting — taking a photo under someone‘s clothes — a crime in england and wales. stella creasy said anyone convicted of a crime should get a tougher sentence if their actions were motivated by misogyny. she had examples of the harassment that women faced. 66% have experienced unwanted sexual attention or sexual or physical contact in a public place. 40% said they experienced verbal harassment. 15% said they have been touched, groped, or grabbed at least once a month. what does that mean in practice? it means the experiences of my own constituents who i asked about this issue — the woman followed down the road by a man in a car demanding that she get in, and then telling her that he was pranking her when she complained, and a racist for refusing
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to go with him. peers have been told that the government is looking closely at changes in the divorce laws in england and wales. earlier this year, a woman who wants to divorce her husband on the grounds that she is unhappy lost her supreme court appeal. tiny 0wens wanted the court to grant her a divorce from her husband of a0 years, hugh, who is refusing the split, forcing her to stay married until 2020. surely this summer, the recent case of 0wens versus 0wens shows clearly that our divorce law isn't working. it is not up to standard and encourages people to enter into a blame game and therefore increases acrimony within the family. so can i press my friend further, can she today now confirm the reports, as reported in the press, thatjustice ministers are now wanting to work with the noble and learned baroness on her private member's bill, taking forward reform on divorce law? indeed, the case of owens v owens in the supreme court this summer
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is not typical. only 2% of respondents actually contest the divorce usually and only a handful of those do so in a contested court hearing. however, that said, we have noted the judgement and as importantly the comments by the lord justice that change is needed. the ministerfor prisons in england, rory stewart, has ruled out setting up an independent commission to look into the running of birmingham jail. last month, the chief inspector of prisons, peter clark, called it the worst he had ever been to. inspectors found blood, vomit, and rat droppings on the floor, sleeping staff, cockroaches, and an overpowering smell of drugs. in august, ministers announced that government was taking over the prison from gas, bringing in extra staff and cutting inmate numbers. a labour mp didn't think it should be handed back to the firm to run. a month ago, mr speaker,
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my constituent was beaten within an inch of his life at hmp birmingham, not once but twice. not in a dark corner but in the full glare on a video that was then posted to social media. the chaos that gas presided over in hmp birmingham was dark, dangerous, and violent. and i have to say to the minister, it is very hard to square a future where this prison is returned to gas, with the level of investment and staffing which is needed in order to ensure birmingham is a prison that is safe. now, parliament cost £550 million to run last year and most of the time was taken up with brexit, according to a new report. the institute for government says the commons sat for eight hours a day on average, and mps spent a% of the sitting time on voting. the question of, in particular voting, and how that takes up parliamentary time is
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a really interesting one. six sitting days of commons time, a bit less of the lords time.‘ but, really, i think you also need to think about parliamentary time in terms of trade—offs. so when time is spent on votes, for example, that limits the amount of time that can be spent on other things. and in the last year, we saw on the eu withdrawal bill, time spent voting on amendments, was — limited the time spent on issues relating to devolution. that led to the snp to protest. so i think, in the commons, time is quite prescribed. government schedules most business and the largest amount of time is spent on government business, but whenever timing in parliament changes, that does have impact on other areas of pa rliament‘s business. time now to look at what has been happening in the wider world of politics this week. alex partridge is our guide. corbyn wins by a landslide —
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at least in the westminster dog of the year contest. mike ainsley‘s cockapoo won the poll, although that does beg the question, how does jeremy corbyn feel about mps naming their pets after him? all change at the welsh conservative party as davies is replaced by davies. paul davies beat susie davies, no relation, to replace andrew r t davies — also no relation — as party leader. watch as stephen kinnock confounds disbelieving dominic raab with his grasp of french about what michel barnier told him about the chequers deal. he said... speaks french 0k. something like that. vince cable says he's planning on stepping down as lib dem leader once brexit is resolved. so he's potentially in the job for a very, long time. and is there a new dance craze in the offing? the times reports that 5,000 people on facebook are planning on attending ‘dance like theresa
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may‘ classes following her questionable moves last month. alex partridge. finally, for now, to business questions, where the leader of the commons andrea leadsom tells the mps what is on the agenda for the next couple of weeks. it's also a chance for mps to ask for debates, and in the case of one snp mp, to poke a little fun at the government and theresa may's now—famous dancing. we did learn a few things in the course of the recess. one is it does look like we are possibly heading for this no—deal brexit with all the attendant food shortages and medicine stockpiling. we have also learned that this government is increasingly relaxed about that particular prospect. we've also learned that the prime minister definitely can't dance, though we know nothing about twinkle toes leadsom. but what we have found is that the eu negotiators are waltzing right around the uk while the honourable member for north east somerset is doing a quickstep while this government can barely muster a cha—cha—cha. well, thank you, mr speaker.
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and i have to take issue with the honourable gentleman, i think the prime minister can dance. and i would just like to draw his attention to the all—party parliamentary group for scottish country dancing, he might like to write to the prime minister and invite her along with him to that. he claims to be able to sing. i can see some new bonding going on there. it would be fantastic. and that is it from me for now. but don't forget to join keith macdougall on monday night at 11 o'clock on bbc parliament for a full round—up of the day here at westminster. and i will be back with you on tuesday night. but for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello there.
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we're starting the new week in the midst of a battle between warm air and cool air. we got to feel the effects of both over the weekend. the warmest weather towards the south—east, where we also had the best of the sunshine. temperatures close to 25 degrees. further north, big shower clouds and temperatures more like 16 degrees across the north—east of scotland. and actually, this rather disturbed weather has been continuing across scotland over recent hours. some very heavy downpours of rain, blown in on winds gusting up to 50 or 55mph. those winds only slowly easing through the first part of the morning. further south, a quieter start to monday. and quite a sunny start for many across england, wales and the eastern side of scotland. still some showers across north—west scotland. as we go on through the day, the crowd will thicken up across northern ireland, with some rain here around lunchtime. into western scotland through the afternoon, a bit of patchy rain for north—west england and north wales. further south and east, it should stay largely dry with some spells of sunshine.
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not as warm as it was on sunday, but still, those temperatures up to 21 degrees, just ia in glasgow. some rain moving across northern parts of the uk. and then for tuesday itself, we'll be left with this weather front sitting in place across central parts of the country, bringing some cloud, some outbreaks of rain. could get quite misty and murky around some of those western coasts and hills. but remember that battle between the warm and the cool air? it's this weather front that will divide the two. across the south—east of the country, still some warm air clinging on at this stage. in fact, temperatures might get up to 2a, perhaps 25 degrees. further north and west, some sunshine, blustery showers into western scotland. but a much cooler feel, 15—19 degrees at best. by wednesday, this weather front, this dividing line between the warm air and the cool air will still most likely be sitting in place across some central and southern areas. temperatures for all of us dipping away, just 17 degrees if it rains
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through the day there in london. and as this frontal system drifts its way slowly south—eastwards into the first part of thursday, it will leave all of us in the cooler air as we head towards the end of the week. and there is still the potential for some rain at times, particularly in the north and west. don't expect anything particularly warm as we head towards the end of the week. generally cool, rain at times, but not all the time. there'll still be some spells of sunshine around. most of the rain on thursday towards the north and west, perhaps pushing a little further south and east on friday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is ben bland. our top stories: in sweden's general election, the far right party gains almost i8% of the vote. north korea is celebrating its 70th anniversary. mass games follow a huge military parade. as the bombs fall on idlib province, the un warns of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe in syria. and heading for
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