Skip to main content

tv   The Week in Parliament  BBC News  February 24, 2019 2:30pm-3:00pm GMT

2:30 pm
temperatures will rebound in the sunshine. the rain will be moving north across the northern isles during the day. a sunny day in northern ireland and the warm sports again reaching into the high teens, just as they have done over the past couple of days. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: theresa may promises that mps will be able to have another say on her brexit deal by march 12th, ruling out a meaningful vote this week. we wa nt we want to leave the european union on the 29th of march with a deal, thatis on the 29th of march with a deal, that is what we are working for. we have good progress, constructive discussions with the european union, and we will be continuing that work so we can and we will be continuing that work so we can live on the 29th of march and leave with a deal. labour's deputy leader tom watson urgesjeremy corbyn to take a "personal lead" in eradicating anti—semitism, insisting that the party needed
2:31 pm
to change together. pope francis promises concrete action to tackle child sex abuse at the end of a vatican summit on paedophilia. venezuela's opposition leader calls on the international community to consider "all measures" to oust president nicolas maduro after several people are killed in border clashes. leicester city part company with their manager claude puel after only sixteen months in charge. now on bbc news a closer look at those 11 mp resignations in the week in parliament. hello there and welcome to the week in parliament where the splits in westminster‘s biggest parties finally burst into the open. this place is at war with itself. the tories and the labour party are imploding.
2:32 pm
the home secretary's praised by his own mps for stripping is runaway shamima begum of her british citizenship. but opposition mps condemn the move. in removing british citizenship, the home secretary is essentially saying she's somebody else's problem. we hear from the clerk of the commons as he says farewell after more than a0 years of westminster and makes a prediction for a forthcoming report on bullying. there will be stories, which will reflect badly both on individual members who will not be named, but on the fact that this sort of behaviour has, in the past, taken place. and mps call for a complete ban on eating cats and dogs. amazingly, it is still legal to personally slaughter your dog or cat and privately consume its meat here in the uk. but first, it was a case of going...going...gone. in the parliamentary week, 11 mps — eight labour and three conservatives
2:33 pm
quit their parties and formed what they are calling the independent group, quickly nicknamed tig. it was the biggest split since the 1980s when the labour party fractured with some of its members forming the rump of the sdp. those making the leap now had a variety of reasons. for the three ex—conservatives, who announced their departure minutes ahead of pmqs on wednesday, it was the government's handling of brexit and what they said was their party's shift to the right. but the former labour mps, it was a mixture ofjeremy corbyn‘s leadership, not least on brexit, and the party's struggles over anti—semitism. in parliament, the independent group took up their seats just along from labour and next to the dup. for the conservatives, it meant crossing the floor to sit with the opposition, where they relocated minutes ahead of prime minister's questions. now, neither theresa may nor jeremy corbyn raised
2:34 pm
the resignations, so it was down to the snp's westminster leader to bring up the split as he questioned theresa may over her handling of brexit. westminster is broken. we are in the middle of a constitutional crisis on the brink of a brexit disaster and, yet, this place is at war with itself. the tories and the labour party are imploding. he turns specifically to brexit. time is running out. will this house get to vote on the prime minister's brexit deal next week? and if not, when? while theresa may made no reference to the three mps that left her party or the eight who'd resigned from labour. instead, she focused on brexit. obviously, we're in these discussions with the european union and we will bring a vote back to this house when it is possible to bring a vote back, bring a deal back, that deals of the issue that the house of commons has raise.
2:35 pm
of commons has raised. we've listened to the house of commons and we are focusing on the views of the house of commons on the european union and will bring a vote back it's the right time to do so. mr speaker, quite simply, that is not good enough. you're bringing the uk economy to its knees! how many warnings? how many jobs? how many resignations will it take the prime minister to stop this madness? if you don't act, prime minister, scotland will. i'll tell him what's not good enough. it's an snp that wants to take scotland out of the united kingdom knowing full well that being a member of the united kingdom is worth £1,400 every year for each person in scotland. he talks about damaging the economy. the only people who are going to damage the economy in scotland are sitting on the snp benches. jeremy corbyn focused on brexit too. little over a month ago, and this government has failed to put the country first. the crisis ofjobs going,
2:36 pm
industries under threat and the prime minister indulges in what her own business minister calls "fanciful nonsense. " when is she going to put the interests of the people of this country before the interests of the conservative party? but theresa may said jeremy corbyn had consistently put his party political interests ahead of the national interest, frustrating a deal and making no deal more likely. but she reckoned that wasn't surprising coming from them. what do we see from his labour party? hamas and hezbollah, friends. israel and the united states enemies, hatton a hero, churchill, a villain. attlee and bevin will be spinning in their grave — that's what the right honourable gentleman has done to once proud labour party. we will never let him do it to our country!
2:37 pm
theresa may. but the cracks and splits in the two main parties weren't over. on friday, after mps have returned from their constituencies, ian austin announced he'd resigned from labour too, saying he was going to stand with the victims of racism and not the people responsible for or tolerating it. and it was anti—semitism which had led mps like luciana berger to quit. she said she'd seen obfuscation, smears in action and denial of the issue. when it was debated in the chamber on wednesday, a shadow minister made an emotional apology to jewish people on behalf of his party. how can it be that we are struggling so badly to eradicate anti—semitism from our own membership? i want on behalf of my party to publicly apologise to the jewish community that we have let you down. we know it.
2:38 pm
we are trying to do better. we are trying to become the party we have always aspired to be. we will not stop working until we once again become a safe and welcoming political home for people from the jewish community, as from every other. our debate today gives us the chance to say we reject this, we oppose this and we stand together against anyone seeking to advance a narrative of bigotry, hatred and division. isn't it also our problem, all of our problem that sometimes we just say, oh, you know, these sort of things exist, but we do not stand up enough and we do not say loudly enough each time that this is totally u na cce pta ble ? one of the mps who left labour over its handling of anti—semitism spoke about the hatred she'd face. spoke about the hatred she'd faced. i have just in the past year alone
2:39 pm
seen two people convicted. one from the far right imprisoned after he threatened to kill me, convicted under counterterrorism legislation, and another just before christmas, a former member of the labour party convicted of harassment. mr speaker, that takes my tally to six/seven individuals depending on how you interpret it who are convicted of anti—semitic inspired hate crimes and threats. and it was my political home for nearly 20 years until i resigned from the labour party on monday, where i have seen obfuscation, smears, inaction, denial every step of the way. i am sick and tired and my heart is breaking a little more every day by what i have to experience and what i have to read. and i am devastated that my closest political sister in this house has been hounded out of my party. but i have a message for everybody.
2:40 pm
i will not be silenced. i am going nowhere. and they will have to take my membership card away from me. because this is too important. not for me, not for you, but for the people who we represent outside. at the end of the debate, the ministerjames brokenshire said how much he'd been struck by her speech and noted that she was sitting beneath the coat of arms ofjo cox, a labour mp who was murdered by a right—wing extremist in 2016. now, the week's other big controversy was the decision of the home secretary to strip shamima begum of her british citizenship. the teenager fled london to join the so—called islamic state group in syria when she was just 15. government sources said it was possible to revoke her uk nationality as she was eligible for citizenship elsewhere. her family are challenging the decision.
2:41 pm
she has recently given birth to a son and now wants to return to the uk. in the commons, sajid javid refused to comment directly on the case, but said it was right to act where individuals posed a threat. deprivation is a powerful tool that can only be used to keep the most dangerous individuals out of this country and we do not use it lightly. in removing british citizenship, the home secretary is essentially saying she's someone else's problem. in the words of the former conservative chancellor of the exchequer, george osborne, which other country is supposed to look after her on our behalf? and what of her child? this child is an innocent british citizen and we have a clear responsibility to ensure his well—being. what steps is he taking to uphold that important responsibility? let me remind the home secretary of article 15 of the universal declaration of human rights.
2:42 pm
one, everyone has the right to a nationality. two, no—one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality. can the home secretary explain how his actions are not in breach of the articles of the declaration? no—one should ever be made stateless. and it's not something we would ever do and we would never take a deprivation decision if someone only has one nationality, being british, we will not do that and will not leave anyone stateless and the right honourable lady somehow suggests this kind of decisions are arbitrary. as i've just shared with the right honourable gentlemen, each one of these decisions is taken incredibly seriously, the facts are weighed up on a case—by—case basis and it is anything but arbitrary. the young woman we're talking about is british. she was radicalised in britain. daesh is a worldwide phenomenon but she is our problem. why isn't the home secretary bringing her home to put her
2:43 pm
on trial here to be judged by a jury of her peers? meanwhile, in lords, there were calls for the laws meanwhile, in the lords, there were calls for the laws of treason to be rewritten to make it easier to prosecute people returning to the uk if theyjoined so—called islamic state in syria. to prosecute terrorists for treason, risks giving their actions a political status or glamour they do not deserve rather than treating them as merely as criminals. the government has just passed the counterterrorism border security act, which updates terrorism offences and introduces new powers to reflect the threat we face today from foreign terrorist fighters. i don't believe this would glamorize the things that are being done by people that are so loathsome, and i think it is appropriate that actually as a nation, we show how repugnant this is and how appalling this sort of behaviour is and when i was a minister, it was very difficult at times to actually pin — to get into court people who clearly should've been in our courts, to be tried.
2:44 pm
update the treason law and show these people to be traitors, something that our nation really believes they are. i agree that the 1351 act is rather an old act, of course it was relatively recently updated in 1861, ithink. but of course whether a prosecution isjustified in individual cases, will in fact be a matter for the courts and whether that appropriate charge is treason. but i'm not dismissing it. now, honda's decision to close its swindon plant with the loss of 3,500 jobs was described as a bitter blow to the economy by the business secretary greg clark. the japanese company builds 160,000 honda civic cars a year in swindon, its only car factory in the eu. the firm said the move was due to global changes in the industry and the need to lodge electric
2:45 pm
vehicles that had nothing and the need to launch electric vehicles that had nothing to do with brexit. the plant is due to shut in 2021. i'm not going to understate what a bitter blow this is. to the 3,500 skilled and dedicated workers at honda in swindon and their families. to the many more people and businesses who supply the plant and to the town of swindon, which has been proud to be home for 3h years to one of the best car factories in the world. it is a blow to the whole british economy. honda have given the reason for their decision as accelerating the move to electric propulsion and choosing to consolidate investment in their facilities in japan. following the entry and enforce of the free trade agreement this month, because exported from the eu will drop from 10% currently, to zero by the 1st of january 2026. honda will then export from japan rather than britain to europe and the rest of the world. labour accused the government of botching brexit and creating uncertainty. the likes of airbus, nissan,
2:46 pm
ford and jaguar land rover have all halted investment or slashed jobs as a direct result of the uncertainty. nissan, only two weeks ago, reversed their decision to build the x—trail here. jlr have slashed 4,500 jobs and ford have cut 1,000 jobs. so there can be no doubt that this government's reckless threats of no deal and prolonged uncertainty is having an impact on business decisions in the here and now, even if that is not the top line of a press release. so no deal must be taken off the table and a firm commitment to the customs union and a single market deal agreed. does he agree or disagree, for the sake of those who are failing to understand, with the senior vice president of honda, ian howells, who has confirmed this decision has nothing to do the brexit, is not driven by brexit and it is not because of brexit? of course, i completely respect... everyone has to respect the reasons
2:47 pm
for their decision that have been given — but it's — well, i am pretty familiar with this industry and others and there are a number of factors and i report to my honourable friend, truthfully, that the — on the minds of many investors around the world, there is an anxiety that is caused by a lack of knowledge as to what our trading relationships will be with our most important neighbours in just over a months time. a memorial has been unveiled outside of parliament as a permanent tribute to pc keith palmer, the police officer killed during the westminster terrorist attack in march 2017. keith palmer was stabbed while on duty in the grounds of the palace of westminster and died, despite an mp's attempts to save him. he was one of five people who died in the attack on the 22nd of march 2017.
2:48 pm
the speaker paid his own tribute in a brief statement to mps. pc palmer was nothing short of a hero in the way in which he ran towards danger to ensure the safety of us all on that day. he paid the ultimate price for doing the job that he loved, and we owe him a profound debt of gratitude for his bravery. john bercow. now at the start of the week, the death was announced of lady falkender, who was personal and political secretary to labour prime minister harold wilson throughout his two terms in number10. she was regarded as one of the most influential women in politics at the time and was thought to have helped harold wilson draw up his controversial resignation honours list in 1976. the death was also announced of 84—year—old labour mp paul flynn. he was first elected in 1987. in 2016, he was a surprise appointment to the shadow cabinet whenjeremy corbyn gave him the job
2:49 pm
of shadow leader of the house. you may be a tad surprised to see me in this position because, for the past 26 years, i've been a backbencher by choice and that wasn'tjust my choice — it was the choice of the past five leaders of my parties. but today, for very positive reasons, as part of a diversity project in my party, of which we have done splendidly, we have far more women on the front bench and in parliament than ever before — but though not enough — far more ethnic minorities, but we have a total absence on the front bench of octogenarians. in prime minister's questions, there were tributes from the party leaders. he was an outstanding parliamentarian, a tireless campaigner and championed his constituency of newport west and wales with energy and enthusiasm for over 30 years. his book on how to become an mp is absolutely a must—read. he was respected all across this
2:50 pm
house, and i think we are all going to miss his contributions and his wit and his wisdom. jeremy corbyn. the top official of the house of commons retires at the end of the week. sir david is the 50th clerk of the house and his 11.5 years have seen two general elections, three governments and the eu referendum. in total, he has worked in the commons for 43 years. mark darcy went to see him and asked about the highs and lows. it has been interesting, challenging procedurally, and turbulent. and we've also had two other non—political events which have affected parliament quite deeply — one was the murder ofjo cox during the referendum campaign, of course, and the second thing was on the 22nd of march 2017, so almost exactly two years ago when we had the terrorist attack on parliament, which, indeed, isaw, or saw the immediate aftermath of from the window of this room after having heard the shots.
2:51 pm
so all that put together made for a turbulent political time. you entered the service of the house in the 1970s — a time where you would've had to wear full court dress in the chamber, including the wig, it's only recently been disposed of now. leaving aside the trappings, what for you were the highs and lows? i suppose the lowest point was probably the terrorist attack, oddly enough — personally the lowest point. and the expenses scandal was — the house did briefly lose confidence in itself, in some ways, and members lost confidence in themselves, including those who really had done nothing wrong. so personally, recently one of the high points was when the house, with some difficulty, decided to go ahead with the renewal of this fantastic palace. because i was convinced that that was utterly necessary, that members should get out, that the place should be redone and that members
2:52 pm
should come back in again. that was a big struggle to get that to be accepted by a majority. the next big problem coming down the track at the house of commons seems to be the bullying report on the scandal, the next big report on that. many organisations have had their bullying issues over the years, but people seem to be looking ahead to this in rather apocalyptic terms. is this something that could take the house of commons back to the bad old days of the expenses scandal and reduce its credit again, do you fear? i don't want to anticipate what the report would say. i don't know. i am distant from it. but i fear it will make for uncomfortable reading and there will be stories which will reflect badly both on individual members, who will not be named, but on the fact that this sort of behaviour has, in the past, taken place. i suppose that is a good thing. it is better to know what the problem is,
2:53 pm
to have some idea what the scale of it, which will be helpful and to consider how to ensure it doesn't recur or continue. and since july 2018, when we passed our behaviour code and we have now a fully independent complaints procedure and a scheme whereby people can complain and have complaints properly and independently investigated, i think we are in a much better place than we were. your predecessors, sir robert rogers, as he then was, had a famous — 'robust' is probably too weak with speaker john bercow. how was your experience with him? i think the speaker and i have a very good professional relationship, as you'd expect. we see each other virtually every day — we don't meet on weekends, although we talk on
2:54 pm
weekends on occasion. it is myjudgement — and you can ask him — we've got on professionally very well. he is very engaged in parliament and there is no difficulty in having his attention on parliamentary matters, he's very knowledgeable and a very experienced presiding officer. now, in westminster hall, mps called for a total ban on the consumption of dogs and cat meat in the uk and elsewhere. the dup‘sjim shannon said 30 million dogs were killed every year around the world. during their short lives, these dogs undergo horrifically inhumane treatment, treated like cargo. they are cramped in small cages, put through physical and mental torment as they wait to be killed for their meat. worse still are the misplaced beliefs dictating that dogs are tastier and that their meat is filled with better properties if the animals are stressed or in pain at the moment of death.
2:55 pm
this results in the widespread torture of these poor animals. amazingly, it is still legal to personally slaughter your dog or cat and privately consume its meat here in the uk. chinese authorities have said that until we make it illegal here, why should they? and they have a point. we should be leading the world on this, as we do on other international issues. we have already led the world in opposing ivory poaching, even though we have no elephants roaming across the south of england — or anywhere else in britain, for that matter. but we should seek to mirror that example, as we should in our world—leading opposition to modern slavery, bull—fighting and whaling. i understand, not least from today's debate, one of the core aims of this campaign is to set an example and to highlight to other countries the uk considers that the dog meat trade is cruel and unusual as a practise. i applaud that aim and i applaud the contributions being made today.
2:56 pm
the secretary of state and i are working with officials to explore what more we we can do to address this. we should be sending out a clear message, particularly to those countries where dog meat is eaten, that the consumption of dog meat should never be tolerated. finally, it's not every day that the house of lords is alive with the sound of music, but a burst of song rang around the chamber at a most unlikely moment. as we know, northern ireland has been without a devolved government for two years. but the british and irish governments say they are working on a new plan to restart talks. a ministerfor northern ireland said he'd been looking for the right words to capture the development. many of you will be of an age when you would remember angela lansbury at her prime in bedknobs and broomsticks, and she sang a song, after all, it's a step in the right direction. # after all, it's a step in the right direction. # it's a step in the right direction # it's a step in the right direction after all. there you go.
2:57 pm
lord duncan. on song. and that's it for me for now, but do join christine on bbc parliament on monday night at 11:00 for a full round up of the day here at westminster, but for now, for me alicia mccarthy. it has been another remarkable weather day, not least in wales were according to the met office we could have seen the highest temperature recorded in wales in the month of february, over 19 celsius. we will keep watching for confirmation of that and for many, it has been a sunny afternoon after a foggy start. on the satellite picture there is a good deal of cloud in northern ireland, hazy sunshine coming
2:58 pm
through the cloud in scotland. misty along the east coast as well. this evening, fog will redevelop across yorkshire and north—east england. dense in places. away from the cloud in northern ireland, patchy rain edging towards the western isles later in the day in fine weather continues as the afternoon goes on. the warm sports are in the high teens, exceptionally mild for the time of year across the uk. tonight, patchy rain to the west of northern ireland but particularly the western isles in north—west scotland. fog through yorkshire and north—east england, dense in places. it could impact on travel. england and wales will see the lowest temperatures under clear skies. a sharp frost for parts of east anglia and south of england. mine is for my degree is in the countryside so it will be cold tomorrow to start the day after a warm day today. high pressure keeping most the us settled for most
2:59 pm
people, but there is a weather front in north scotland tomorrow, giving a damn start. the cloud and rain will push north to the northern isles during the day as sunshine breaks out elsewhere in scotland. a sunny day northern ireland, the four gradually clearing from the north of england and the bulk of england and wales will see blue skies again. as warm as the last few days. 18 degrees in the warmest places. for the first half of the week, we continue in a similarfashion. then it looks like it will turn unsettled by the end of the week. especially next weekend. we can take a look at some city forecasts. you can see the sunshine to start the week, more cloud later in the week, temperatures drop off a little bit, but next week and low pressure takes over and we are more likely to see spells of wind and rain coming our
3:00 pm
way next weekend. that is how it is looking at the moment. all fine and warm in the sunshine, but hints of much reality on the way. this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at three. theresa may promises that mps will be able to have another say on her brexit deal by march 12th, ruling out a meaningful vote this week. we want to leave the european union on the 29th of march with a deal. that is what we are working for, we have good progress, constructive discussions with the european union, and we will be continuing that work so we can leave on the 29th of march and leave with a deal. labour's deputy leader tom watson warns jeremy corbyn he has to act urgently if the party is to stay together. there is almost a sort of crisis for the soul of the labour party now and that means that anyone who cares about our future, whatever tradition they represent, have to find it within themselves to work more closely together and that is as big a challenge

66 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on