turkish president erdogan, and the role of islam. hosted by the middle east institute, that is beginning at 12:00 noon eastern on c-span and you can watch online at c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. right now, the british house of commons is on summer break with the next question time scheduled for early september. we look back at highlights of the recent parliamentary session in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including u.k. relations with russia and china and protests in response to the death of george floyd. from the bbc parliament, this is just about one hour. ♪

>> hello and welcome. the months have not always been about coronavirus. in the next half hour, we will take a look at the other big stories since december, getsding boris johnson this through parliament. >> this bill learns the emphatic lesson and suggests any further delay. >> the new leader reckons the prime minister is all bluster. >> he has been found out. he gave the dockless of any chancellor gives a short-lived budget. tensions rise with russia and china. the uk's colonial history comes under the spotlight, and as new mps make their first speeches, one tells us her struggle to get into politics. i was told that a chance like some of my getting a job in

parliament would be very slim, and to not try. took over fromn theresa may in july of 2019. but they faced the same problem. a parliament with no majority to push through his brexit. attempting to break the deadlock, he tried and failed to call an election, but opposition parties agreed to develop and got the 80 seat majority. run of the new mps traditionally held by labor in the north of england. the other big winners was the scottish national party for scotland's 59 constituencies. but it was a dismal showing for jeremy corbyn's labour party, ending up with 202 seats, down 60. while the liberal democrats gain some, but lost him more, including their leader, who was rejected by voters. the 19th the queen

came to westminster for her 66 opening of parliament. >> a dangerous and a brief speech. >> my government's priority was to deliver the -- from the european union on the 31st of january. my ministers will bring forward legislation to ensure the united states -- united kingdom's exit on that date, and to make the most of the opportunities of this, all for the united kingdom's. >> boris johnson would promise to get brexit done by the time they sat down for their lunch. he paved the way for brexit on january the 31st, 2020. he said it was time to break the deadlock and reunite the company -- country. >> this is the time when we move on and discard the old rules of

leave and remain. or montague's and capulet's at the end of the play. >> there would be a one-year would remain what the same. allowing times for you ke and negotiations on the future relationship. talks, thedivorce transition would not be extended. this bill was an emphatic lesson. rejecting any further delay. theresa may's government was reliant on northern ireland's democratic unionists. boris johnson's version of the divorce deal has different arrangements the northern ireland. --he needs to under the understand the concerns of the customs in northern ireland. they have the potential for change.

he needs to understand the concerns we share because we want to ensure we lead as one nation. labor licking out loans, jeremy corbyn expected parliament could not go on with the brexit results. but boris johnson spills was terrible, guiding the u.k. to deregulation and what he called a proxy deal with donald trump. >> the choice we know face is between keep us -- keeping the highest environment in order to get a future trade deal with the european union, or, slashing standards to match those of the united states, whether our so-called acceptable levels of peppery gut, medicine orange , medicine paprika orange juice. it's true. northern ireland is getting a special deal on the right to decide their own future. the prime minister offer scotland nothing. valiantk's most

anti-brexit parties that it was time to move on. expect inside the use and it is overnight. i will not cease to wipe this opinion. the battle to stop rex is -- the battle to stop brexit is over. they passed the vote fulfilling boris johnson's christmas lunch credits -- pledge. there was a defeat on his premiership, making changes on citizens rights and legal rulings from the eu. but the biggest was over unaccompanied child refugees. britain as a child fleeing the nazis and was unhappy that the withdrawal agreement bill would no longer allow children to come to the u.k. to be reunited with their families.

child refugees would be protected by other legislations. but he was not satisfied. safetyiving young people , we are humane in terms of getting an opportunity to join family members here. thehe minister said government was committed to protecting vulnerable children. >> we received over 3000 filing claims from unaccompanied children in 2018. the third highest intake of any eu member states. >> but they were not persuaded and the government was defeated. content, 300. not content, 220. >> all the other lords of jackson were overturned and the divorce was passed just a week before brexit on january 31. >> i have to notify the house in accordance with the act of 1967, that her majesty has signified

the following act. withdrawalion agreement act 2020. order, order. start talksme to with the eu on just what the uk's relationship for the biggest trading partner would be in transition ends on december 31. those negotiations continued, but the two sides are far apart. the two inching closer together after summer went on. having flexed his majority to through, boris johnson move to put his stamp on his cabinet, reshuffling his ministers in mid-recovery. that produced an immediate shock when the chancellor rejected the prime minister's order to fire his team of aids. he was replaced. himselflater he found on the parliament's big event of budget.

while he drew up plans for the coronavirus crisis, there was plenty else in his speech. he announced rises to the national insurance rush holt. it frees on fuel and alcohol. packaging andstic in and to the tampa on tax. >> this is a government -- tampon tax. cost of living low. investing in our in hs. in our public services. investing in ideas. tracking business and protecting our environment. roads, railways, colleges, building our union. delivered a people's budget from a people's government and i commend it to this hour. of the the leader opposition not the shadow chancellor who responds to public statements. >> having ruthlessly forced down the living standards and life

chances of million of our people for a decade. the talk of leveling up is a cruel joke. >> the government tries to pretend this is a got -- this is an action that will work on climate change. of 4000 milesnds of road, that does not sound like a green transport policy to me, mr. deputy speaker. and this is going to make a difference, one billion pounds on green transport measures. this is completely absurd. as the debate continues, opposition reviews did not get warmer. fundsterday's for hedge was up. not argue that the u.k. government needs to answer.

>> jeremy corbyn said he was stand down after the election results. >> it is the honor of the privilege of my life, the lx -- to be elected as leader of the labour party. >> with coronavirus at its height, the announcement came by video. messages of support is promising to work constructively. and as they are hospitalized for covid-19, the two did not face it -- face each other in the comments. at the time of the national crisis, there early exchanges were low-key. the new labour leader increasingly pressured the pm over policies, such as rates of child poverty. >> a report last week from the governor's social mobility commission, concluding that there are now 600,000 more children living in relative poverty than in 2012. say, childwent on to

poverty rates are projected to increase to 5.2 million by 2022. what does the prime minister singh caused that? says aboutwhat he poverty. absolute poverty and poverty has both the client. there are 400,000 fewer families living in poverty now than there were in 2010. >> he was so unhappy with those answers he raised the figure again in the week. to theseis a theme exchanges. i asked the prime minister about to claims of child poverty. absolute out poverty and relative child poverty declined under the government. on monday the office of the children commission was mostly fours. he has been found out. he either dodges the question or gives dodgy answers. >> there are 100,000 fewer children. below0 children falling

the threshold and material deprivation. increasing ay universal credit. 7 billion more that will force the median families in our country. >> and boris johnson reckoned it was the labor leniant -- leader who kept changing his mind. from westminster, after a three-year deadlock, it was finally restored to northern ireland. the coalition collapsed in january of 2017 over a green energy row. irish was broken and the prime minister. it was a short-lived trial for the northern ireland shut kerry -- ireland secretary. five weeks later he was fired. the initial meeting of the assembly appointed the do you p -- appointed the dup. the scottish

parliament voted 64-54 for a new referendum on scottish independence. the minister wants to hold the poll this year. for that to happen the prime minister has to agree. something he has rejected. she set out her case. basic, butg a fundamental principle. the principle that scotland future should be decided not by politicians that westman's will have not won a general election in scotland since the 1950's, but instead by all of us who live here and call scotland home. welet's be upfront about why are here. it's not because the first minister think she will hold the referendum, she knows it won't happen. the reason we were called here today is because she needs to convince the yes movement i her and beyond that something is happening. or that if something isn't actually happening, then don't worry, it will happen soon. what must be understood in this parliament, in this bait this afternoon is that the people of

scotland do not want another independence referendum anytime soon. we need to move on. we need to unite the country. we need to tackle the challenges that we all face. if we do that, we will have a better scotland and a better united kingdom. former muted celebrations from the national assembly officially changed its title. the 60 elected members are now of the senate.s an estimated the new name will cross around 290,000 pounds over five years. the change was not just cosmetic , the laws of voted in and lowered the voting age from 18 to 16. at whatever age were not the answer for 100,000 antiracism demonstrations who took to the streets across the u.k., following the death of african-american george floyd, killed by u.s. police. one of the biggest gatherings was in london.

after mimi peaceful protests, officers faced unacceptable scenes of riots and disorder. 27 police officers were injured. 17bristol, a prominent century slave trader was ripped down. the attack on police were strongly condemned by the home secretary. >> throwing bikes at police officers, attempting to , or vandalizing the statue of which injured chill. secretarye home recognize various structural inequality, discrimination and racism in our country? do you recognize people want to see action from the government? my son turned three yesterday. i don't want to wait until he is a teenager before we see changes in this country. >> the home secretary used graphic language to recall

raises some she faced. i am really saddened that the honorable lady effectively said that this government does not understand racial inequality. it must have been a very different secretary who was a child who was attacked in the playground. a secretary who was racially abused in the streets. or uses her husband in order to advance her career. when it comes to racism, sexism, tolerance for social justice, i will not take lectures from the other side of the house. atlet's take a quick look some of the bills that got through parliament this year. legislation to reduce between divorcing couples in england and wales became law. and separation bill is the biggest shakeup in 50 years. previously one side had to have unreasonable behavior for

separation. now they only have to state that the marriage or partnership has broken down irretrievably. emergency legislation was passed to end -- terrorist halfway through the sentence. two people were killed on london bridge. londonbbings in south left to injured. the attackers were relief halfway through their sentences. the move possessed the release of a third man who was due to be free at the end of february. while the u.k. was strengthening its anti-terror laws, the chinese authorities got more power in hong kong. in 2019, demonstrators took to the streets over a plan, eventually withdrawn, to allow extradition to mainland china. but in spring of 2020, china went back on the offensive with a new national security law.

fundamentally changes the territory legal system, introduces new crimes with severe penalties, and our house mainland security personnel to operate in hong kong with impunity. the decision sparked protests in hong kong and condemnation around the world. the foreign secretary warned that if beijing went ahead, the u.k. would extend visa rights for hong kong british national overseas passport holders. >> even at this stage i sincerely hope china will reconsider it approach. -- its approach. but if not, the u.k. will not just look the other way when it comes to people of hong kong. >> it is clear we need an alliance of democracy to a constructive dialogue with china on shared challenges, not least climate change, all standing up to aggressive behavior and clear breaches of international law. >> some mps contributed to debate via video link. but being away from westminster

did not stop the last british governor of hong kong acting international action. >> the government should take a lead in putting together in international contact group, which could keep in touch with developments and continued to press china not to breach its international treaty obligations, and not to breach the commitments it has made for a high degree of autonomy and hong kong. >> a successful campaign brought ministers into u-turn. huaweie years of having and building the five treat -- five g mobile communication network. it increased internet capacity. independentthey are of the government, but it was to be excluded on security grounds. at the start of the year mps began piling on the pressure. >> i hope the administer will see the concern that the whole house feels towards huawei. and the idea that we should be allowing the fox into the

henhouse when really we should be guarding the wire. >> what is the government doing to build the sector? and does the minister except the chronic lack of investment and leadership from the government that has brought us to the situation? >> discontent grew when the government announced it would allow huawei a limited role in the uk's 5g network. being alks about huawei chinese answer to john lewis. he needs to be honest about that. mps formed a new chinese research group to shape chinese policies. out there no friends anymore on this issue. whether the canadians, americans, australians or new zealanders, they all disagree with us. the government sought its majority cut to just 24. 38 torry mps rebelled.

just before the summer break, the government announced it would be stripping out huawei, but at a price. decision to ban the procurement of huawei 5g equipment from the end of this year will delay rollout by further year, and will add up to half a billion pounds of cost. requiring operators in addition to remove the huawei equipment from the 5g networks a 2027. it will add hundreds of millions of pounds to the cost and further delay rollout. nationa was not the only watching this. the intelligent security committee and alleged russian interference was controversial long before it was even published. they were angered that had not been made public before december selection, and then a row about

how long it was taking to reform. the members rejected the government's chairman, a fellow tory who was booted out of the conservative elementary party. when the report was finally published it accused ministers of underestimating the threat of russian interference. it raise concerns about the prevalence of russian money in the u.k. and said the government actively avoided investigating kremlin interference in the brexit referendum. the home office minister spoke and said the u.k. had a record of taking action against ruffin -- russian wrongdoing. >> we have been clear that russia must resist its attack on the u.k. and our allies. we have been resolute in defending our country, our democracy and values. the government will lift its new legislation on espionage but the opposition was scathing. wonder the government

was so desperate to delay the publication of this report. awking its publication before general election was a dereliction of duty. >> the russian money was being used for influence across a wide fear of the british establishment. mystify the government ministers are still taking millions of pounds from dodgy russian oligarchs. we have to clean up our accent has to start with the government. >> a conservative minister focused on those who worked directly for rushing countries linked to the -- companies linked to the kremlin. i wonder if my noble friend could ensure that there is an investigation into the links that people have with the regime. >> i think it is extremely onortant that we should be our guard against the activities of the putin regime. back in the comments, the

general election brought in 140 new status. a rite of passage for every newbie is to make a speech. traditionally they are lighthearted affairs, recognizing their predecessor and the on rising beauty of their constituency. for many, it's a chance to tell their story. politicsed to get into . i was literally told that the chance of someone like me getting into parliament would be very slim, and to not even bother trying. i won't name him, but i hope he is watching me now. >> another revealed she has been presented with career options. >> my mom who has regularly said, catherine, you will either be a stripper or a worker. well, mom.

a biology degree and the nature of modern politics has a very good chance to achieve all three. >> her career advice brings her to the end of the program. join us on september the first as the government of westminster finalizes brexit in the new mps face more of a test of westminster life. goodbye. ♪