presidency and lost but changed political history. watch this week at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. starting on monday, 1844 candidate henry clay. ♪ right now, the british house of commons is on summer break. the next question time is scheduled for early december. 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 and response to the death of george floyd. from the bbc parliament, this is about an hour. ♪

>> welcome to westminster in review. in the next half-hour, we take a look at the other big stories since december, including a newly elected boris johnson gets his brexit bill through parliament. >> labour elects a new leader. >> he either dodges the question or gives dodgy answers. >> 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. >> boris johnson took over from 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 -- to the ballot and got the 80 seat majority. many of the new mps run in areas traditionally held by labour 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 more, including their leader, who was rejected by voters.

on december the 19th, the queen came to westminster for her 66 th opening of parliament. this was a more dressed affair than usual. a day dress and a brief speech with no surprise what is at the top. >> my government's priority was departure from the european union on the 31st of january. my ministers will bring forward legislation to ensure the united kingdom's exit on that date, and to make the most of the opportunities of this for all the people of the united kingdom. >> boris johnson would promise to get brexit done by the time they sat down for christmas lunch. he put his bill to mps the next day, paving the way for brexit on january the 31st, 2020. he said it was time to break the deadlock and reunite the country. >> this is the time when we move on and discard the old rules of

-- old labors -- old labels of leave and remain. or montagues and capulets at the end of the play. >> there would be a one-year transition in what would remain -- in which things would remain the same. boris johnson insisted that unlike divorce talks, the transition would not be extended. >> this bill learned an emphatic lesson and rejects further delay. >> theresa may's government was reliant on northern ireland's democratic unionists. not so boris johnson. his version of the divorce deal has different arrangements the -- arrangements for northern ireland. >> he needs to 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. >> with the labour party licking its wounds, jeremy corbyn expected parliament could not go on debating the brexit results. but boris johnson 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 food standards to match those of the united states, whether our so-called acceptable levels of rat heads and caprica, maggots in orange juice. it's true. northern ireland is getting a special deal on the right to decide their own future. the prime minister offers scotland nothing.

>> the uk's most of validly anti-brexit party decided it was time to move on. you cannot expect it to melt away overnight. i understand now that the battle to stop brexit is over. >> they passed the vote fulfilling boris johnson's christmas lunch pledge. but here's inflicted -- p eers inflected defeat on his premiership, making changes on citizens rights and legal rulings from the eu. but the biggest was over unaccompanied child refugees. he came to 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. ministers said child refugees would be protected by other

legislation. lord dove was not satisfied. >> by giving young people safety, we are thwarting traffickers and being humane in terms of getting an opportunity to join family members here. >> the minister said the government was committed to protecting vulnerable children. >> we received over 3000 styling claims from unaccompanied -- asylum 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. >> that and all the other objections were overturned in commons 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.

european union withdrawal agreement act 2020. order, order. >> with that, it was time to start talks with the eu on just what the uk's relationship for the biggest trading partner would be when transition ends on december 31. those negotiations continued, fitfully, with the two sides are far apart. the two inching closer together as the summer went on. having flexed his majority to get brexit through, boris johnson moved to put his stamp on his cabinet, reshuffling his ministers in mid february. that produced an immediate shock when the chancellor rejected the prime minister's order to fire his team of aides. he was replaced. -- replacement scarcely's scarcely a month later found himself 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 threshold. fees on fuel and alcohol. a tax on plastic packaging and amendment on the tampon tax. >> this is a government that gets things done. keeping the cost of living low. investing in our in hs. investing in our public services. investing in ideas. backing business and protecting our environment. building roads, railways, colleges, building our union. the budget has delivered a people's budget from a people's government and i commend it to this house. >> it's the leader of the 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 budget that will take action on climate change. a fuel duty freeze again? 27 billion pounds of 4000 miles 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 continued, opposition reviews did not get warmer. >> we've been told for years they have no money and yesterday they had it for hedge funds. it is not enough and not focused enough on safety in our communities. >> jeremy corbyn's appearance at

the budget was one of his last appearances as leader, saying he r'sld stand down after labou disastrous election results. >> it is the honor of the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the labour party. >> with coronavirus at its height, the announcement came by video. as did his message of support promising to work constructively with the opposition. time of the national crisis, at a 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 government social mobility concluding that there are now commission 600,000 more children living in relative poverty than in 2012. the report went on to say, child poverty rates are projected to increase to 5.2 million by 2022.

what does the prime minister think caused that? >> it goes what he says about poverty. absolute poverty in relative poverty have both declined. 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. -- the following week. >> there is a theme to these exchanges. last week i asked the prime minister about two claims of child poverty. he said absolute child poverty and relative child poverty declined under the government. on monday the office of the children commission ruled this was mostly false. he has been found out. he gives dodgy answers. >> there are 100,000 fewer children. 500,000 children falling below

the threshold and material deprivation. the government is massively increasing a universal credit. 7 billion more that will force the median families in our country. >> and boris johnson reckoned it leader who kept changing his mind. away 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. a deal was brokered by julian smith and the irish foreign minister. triumph forrt-lived the secretary come as five weeks later he was fired. the initial meeting of the assembly appointed a new minister and head deputy. members of the scottish parliament voted 64-54 for a new referendum on scottish independence.

the first minister wants to hold the poll this year. for that to happen, the prime minister has to agree. something he has rejected. nicola sturgeon set out her case. >> i'm asking parliament to endorse a basic but fundamental principle. the principle that scotland's future should be decided not by politicians at westminster, where 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. >> let's be upfront about why we 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 behind 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 debate 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. >> there were muted celebrations when the national assembly for wales officially changed its title. the 60 elected members are now known as members of the senate. it is estimated the new name will cross around 290,000 pounds over five years. the change was not just cosmetic, the law that voted it in lowered the voting age from 18 to 16. elections at whatever age were not the answer for 100,000 antiracism demonstrators 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.

the met police, after mostly peaceful protests, officers faced unacceptable scenes of violence and disorder. 27 police officers were injured. of aistol, a statue prominent 17th-century slave trader was ripped down and thrown into the river. the attack on police were strongly condemned by the home secretary. >> there is no excuse for violence against police officers. throwing bikes at police officers, attempting to disrespect them, or vandalizing the statue of winston churchill. >> does the home secretary recognize there is structural inequality, discrimination and racism in our country? does the home secretary 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 racism she faced. >> i am really saddened that the

honorable lady effectively said that this government does not understand racial inequality. on that basis, it must have been a very different secretary who was a child he was frequently acki on 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. >> let's take a quick look at some of the bills that got through parliament this year. legislation to reduce between -- reduce mudslinging between divorcing couples in england and wales became law. the divorce 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 the release of convicted terrorists halfway through the sentence. two people were killed on london bridge. and stabbings in south london left two injured. in both cases the attackers were released halfway through their sentences. the move prevented 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. experts say it fundamentally changes the territory legal system, introduces new crimes

with severe penalties, and our -- and allows 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 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 increasingly clear we need an alliance of democracy to maintain a constructive dialogue with china on shared challenges, not least climate change, all -- while standing up to aggressive behavior and clear breaches of international law. >> due to coronavirus, some mps contributed to debate via video link. but being away from westminster did not stop the last british governor of hong kong backing

international action. >> the government should take a lead in putting together in international contact group, which could keep in touch with development and continue 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. over the use of chinese tech building thei in countries 5g mobile communication network. it increased internet capacity. they insist they are independent of the chinese 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 t the chronicaccep 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. >> it talks about huawei being a chinese answer to john lewis. this is a faustian pack with the chinese communist party and he needs to be honest about that. >> disquiet continued among conservative mps, who formed a new chinese research group to shape policies. >> we have no friends out there anymore on this issue. whether the canadians, americans, australians or new zealanders, they all disagree with us. , the a vote on huawei government saw its majority cut to just 24.

38 torry mps rebelled. including the x leader. just before the summer break, the government announced it would be stripping out huawei, but at a price. >> today's 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. >> china was not the only nation rocking the government boat. intelligence and security committee on alleged russian interference was controversial long before it was even published. there had been anger it had not been made public before december 's election and then a row about how long it was taking to

reform. when it did meet the members , rejected the government's chairman and a fellow tory, who was booted out of the conservative parliamentary party. when the report was finally published it accused ministers , of underestimating the threat of russian interference. it raised 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 russian wrongdoing. >> we have been clear that assist -- desist its attack on the u.k. and our allies. we have been resolute in defending our country, our democracy and values. >> he said the government will -- was committed to new legislation on espionage but the opposition was scathing. wonder the government was so desperate to delay the publication of this report.

sitting on it for months and blocking its publication before a general election was a dereliction of duty. >> the report concluded russian money was being used for building influence across a wide sphere of the british establishment. >> i am mystified the government ministers are still taking millions of pounds from dodgy russian oligarchs. we have to clean up our act and has to start with the government. focusedservative peer on those who worked directly for rushing 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 persian regime. >> i think it is extremely important that we should be on our guard against the activities of the putin regime. >> back in the commons, the

general election brought in 140 new faces. a rite of passage for every newbie is to make a speech. traditionally they are lighthearted affairs, recognizing their predecessor , the electorate, and the unrivaled beauty of their constituency. for many, it's a chance to tell their story. >> i wanted to get into politics. 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, a worker or a scientist. well, mom.

[laughter] given i have a biology degree biology degree and the nature of modern politics, it is a 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 the tests and dramas of westminster life. for now, goodbye. ♪