Transcripts For BBCNEWS The Week In Parliament 20240714

Now on bbc news, its time for the week in parliament. Hello there and welcome to the programme. As the leadership race holds up, how likely is it that the parliament could be suspended to delivery no deal brexit . Parliament could be suspended to delivery Nodeal Brexit . If we get toa delivery Nodeal Brexit . If we get to a point where a Prime Minister is intent on doing this, the only way of stopping that Prime Minister would be to bring down that payment is thes government. Well be talking to two experts about whether prorogation is a legal or constitutional option. Also on this programme, the government does make accused of not going far enough with plans to radically cut Greenhouse Gas emissions. I do welcome this report, id welcome its a lot more if the government followed all of the recommendations, not just if the government followed all of the recommendations, notjust the ones that dont cause ideological indigestion. And could and agent cornish sport resolve the tory leadership contest . Maybe its the best way to solve the current leadership problems that we have got, may be the best way to do is to put all the contenders into a room, have a massive royal rumble and see who comes out on top. But first, the decision about who should be the uks new pie minister and leader of the conservative party edged closer in the week data Prime Minister. There were ten original candidates on thursday, by the end of the day three had been eliminated. The health secretary, matt hancock, later quit the race with others carrying out frantic lobbying over the weekend. The front runner, Boris Johnson, scooped up 114 votes putting him well ahead. In the commons, Opposition Mps were trying to make whoever eventually took the job couldnt take the uk out of the eu without a deal or, as some mps suggested, rogue or suspend parliament. At thes questions, the s p leader wrote in data right up theissues s p leader wrote in data right up the issues of trying to take control. They have nothing more than an assault on our common sense and tonight, will she vote to stop any no deal madness . The motion that is on the table tonight is about whether or not the government should have control of business in this house to the labour party and Scottish National party. That is something we will not do data and control. In the event that my minister asks her majesty the queen super Rogue Parliament against the express wishes of a majority of the house of commons, whose advice with the queen be obliged to follow . The advice of her Prime Minister or the express will of the sales data and prorogue. I will not stand at this dispatch box and speak about the decisions her majesty, the queen might make. A short time later, labour explained what it was trying to do. If the next one minister is for this enough to try to pursue a no deal brexit without gaining the consent of this house, or to Baroque Parliament in order to force do no deal, then parliament would have the means to prevent that. Prorogue. 0ne mp, together with the speaker, two members of this house can override the government business that comes before this house, and that is the effect of this motion. It is putting in the hands ofjust two members of parliament the precedence on what business comes before the house. It strikes me that there are two principles at stake today. One is a constitutional privilege to whether the government can prorouge parliament in pursuit of its policy objectives, with all that means for the crown and the crowns involvement in politics. I believe that the latter of those two principles is the weightier one and the one that we should be bearing in mind as we vote today. We will no doubt debate many times in future the consequences of no deal, the risks of which are becoming evermore apparent, and we should. Is he saying, on behalf of the government, her majestys government, that they accept and agree that a new Prime Minister could proRogue Parliament, deliberately, in the face of this place persistently voting against leaving without a deal . What i am saying to the right honourable lady is i speak as a minister on behalf of this government, and this Prime Minister has made her position clear, in terms of where she and the cabinet stand on the issue of prorogation. If we get to a point where a Prime Minister is intent on doing this, the only way to stop that Prime Minister would be to bring down that Prime Ministers government, and i simply have to say here and now i will not hesitate to do that if that is what is attempted. Even if it means my resigning the whip and leaving the party, i will not allow this country to be taken out of the eu on a no deal brexit without the approval of this house and, in my view, going back to the country and asking them if that is what they want. But when it came to the vote, mps backed the government and voted down the attempt to seize control of the parliamentary timetable. The ayes to the right, 298. The noes to the left, 309. Cheering. You wont be cheering in september so the government saw off that attempt to take over the commons timetable, which would potentially have given mps the chance to bind the hands of the new pm and stop no deal or prorogation. Now, prorogation is the way a session of parliament is ended, sending mps and peers away from westminster usually for just a few days. Its a power exercised by the queen on the advice of the government. And some mps fear the new pm could use it to enable no deal by simply keeping them out of the way. So, having failed to take over the commons timetable to stop that happening, what options do those opposed to no deal have left, and what are the legal implications of all of this . They were questions i put to barrister sam fouls and first to jack simson caird from the Bingham Centre for the rule of law. I think its not quite clear what the options are. I think the problem is that one of the reasons labour took this opportunity, or attempted to take this opportunity to secure more of the parliamentary timetable, is that its not certain that there will be many other opportunities, precisely because they are running out of opposition days, the days in which there is some time set aside for the opposition to have some parliamentary time. Its not clear whether or not the government will give the opposition any more opposition days between now and exit day, on the 31st of october, so i think thats why there was this sense that they had to act. Lets assume that we do look like were heading for a no deal brexit and we have a Prime Minister who thinks that one of the ways this can be achieved is by proroguing parliament. At what point do the courts get involved and what could they do . Well, firstly, the courts will not want to get involved in this. This is not the sort of thing you usually see the courts getting involved in, because the constitution is a very delicate balance between parliament and the courts, and the courts try to give parliament as much sort of leeway as possible to make its own decisions, because parliaments considered sovereign. However, if the Prime Minister was to try and use his or her own powers to stop parliament being involved in a decision, then that might be the tipping point. And i think theres two ways the courts might get involved. Of course, the. Ultimately, proroguing parliament is the queensjob, is the Royal Prerogative. But you can review the Royal Prerogative in some limited situations. One of these, as was held in the miller case, which was the case that said parliament had to vote on article 50, and that is to review the extent of the power. So you cant say, oh, shes used this in the wrong way, but you can say the power doesnt extend that far. And the other way is to look at the Prime Ministers advice and say, is the Prime Minister able to give advice to proRogue Parliament . So, the question for the courts will be, does the queens Royal Prerogative extend to proroguing parliament to exclude it from being involved in a major constitutional decision no deal brexit or does the Prime Ministers power extend to advising the queen to do that . If the Court Decides their powers dont extend that far, then the court may be able to say, well, your majesty, well, Prime Minister, youve gone too far. Youre not allowed to use your power in that way. But would they be able to do that fast enough to stop us heading out of the door on the 31st of october . Well, technically, yes, the courts can act in advance in these situations. They can give an injunction or they can give a ruling in advance. Practically, that is very, very difficult. And could the commons and the lords, could Parliament Pass a law to limit the scope of prerogative powers and therefore stop this proroguing of parliament in this instance . I think that sort of legal instrument is possible, is feasible. There are plenty of examples where parliament has passed laws to limit the prerogative power. Thats certainly possible. I think we just come back to this fundamental point that our system depends on shared understandings on Core Principles parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, separation of powers and, really, what we need to work out is whether or not the new Prime Minister will respect those values as much as the previous one did. And, sam, what kind of precedent does all this set . Where does this leave us . Well, i think if they were to go that far, if they were to proRogue Parliament, then thats a very worrying precedent for a democratic body. And theres a lot of arguments about, well, we were. All they would be doing is fulfilling the mandate thats been given in the 2016 election. But i think thats actually quite a worrying argument from a sort of First Principles perspective as well, because it implies that democracy sort of stopped in 2016, which, of course, it didnt. And essential to democracy is the right of everyone to change their minds if we decide to. We are allowed to be contrarian. All right, jack, last one for you. Of course, the other big issue is the clock is ticking. Parliament is due to go into recess at the end ofjuly. Its quite possible that with an extension of something as simple as parliamentary recesses, mps could be kept away until the end of september. Thats a core point. I think the issue of prorogation that people are missing is that, ultimately, government controls the parliamentary timetable, so i dont think that anyone that really wanted a no deal would actually have to resort to prorogation. I think that you could simplyjust not schedule any opportunities, not schedule any opposition days, as i started out by saying, or simply programming other business or not sitting on particular days. Ultimately, in our system, the executive is largely in control of parlimentary business, and that could very much be the reason that parliament has limited opportunities to stop no deal. All right, we will wait and see what happens. But for now, jack simson caird and sam fouls, thank you both very much for coming onto the programme. Thank you. Now lets take a look at some news in brief. A new bill to allow extradition from hong kong to Mainland China has led to violent demonstrations. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters. The demonstrators fear the law could target political opponents of beijing. And peers, too, were worried. In 2018, according to the wall streetjournal, the courts in chinasjiangsu province acquitted just 43 while convicting 96,271, and recall how a hong kong book seller imprisoned for eight months in china was told by the authorities, if we say youve committed a crime, you have committed a crime. There was condemnation of protests that have been going on outside of ca rterton that have been going on outside of carterton Park Primary School in birmingham. Some parents say children are too young to learn about lg bt relationships. Children are too young to learn about lgbt relationships. They also said the lessons contradicted islam. But peers back to the head teacher. Who has bravely resisted a homophobic, what would one call it . Mob, who are protesting against some teaching in schools. As i understand, these children are being taught about relationships. Some children have to mummies and some children have to mummies and some children have to daddies. That is all that is and if people do not like it, that is the way the modern world is. I have utmost admiration for sarah clark ibbotson, and every sympathy for some of the abuse that she has had to face. Children of four years of age are not taught about gay sex, children of four years of age are taught about relationships. And that relationships. And that relationships can look different in different households. A leading muslim organisations as comments made last summer by the former foreign secretary and tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson about women wearing face veils led toa about women wearing face veils led to a rise in reports of islamophobia abuse. Mrjohnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph that in full face veils should not be banned, but it was absolutely ridiculous that women chose to go around looking like letterboxes. He also compared them to look like bank robbers. He was later cleared of making the conservatives code of conduct. Because the words letterboxes and bank robbers were used about women wearing hats cards, notjust the face veils. And again, that is where Political Leadership comes with responsibility, huge responsibility. Because people look at that political leader and the words that political leader and the words that political leader and the words that political leader is using and people then reuse these grounds these words on the ground, in the streets. We do ask every single candidate thatis we do ask every single candidate that is coming out now and the leadership race really ensuring that they work on addressing issues within communities but also one being responsible in the language that they use. Somebody henry says a lack of public diversity is undermining public broadcasters and driving people to seek better representation elsewhere. The actor and producer gave evidence at the house of Lords Communications committee, which is looking into the place of Public Service broadcasters in the age of Online Platforms like netflix. He had a picture to illustrator was making programmes. These are all the people that make the programmes for a lot of netflix output. It is extraordinary. A lot of women, a lot of black and brown people, a of hispanic people. And once again, i think that is why, the fa ct once again, i think that is why, the fact that, the idea of reach, of going to that particular audience and saying, you want this programme . We are going to make this programme about the exonerated five, we are going to make this programme called blackish, were going to make this about whatever the fact that they can direct this programme directly at she will subscribe and change your viewing habits. It means people are absolutely deserting traditional fa re are absolutely deserting traditional fare because it is not serving them. This represented a photograph of everybody involved in making stuff behind the scenes at netflix, my hope one day able to hold up a picture of this, like this, the bbc, itv, channel 4 and five, and i think that would be a real step forward. Then new mp for peterborough, lisa forbes, took a seat in the commons. She won the by election byjust 683 votes a nd she won the by election byjust 683 votes and joins one of the longest sessions of Parliament Since the english civil war. Sessions of Parliament Since the english civilwar. I do sessions of Parliament Since the english civil war. I do solemnly and sincerely and truly declare and affirm that i will be faithful and better allegiance to her majesty, Queen Elizabeth ii, her heirs and successors, according to law. Meanwhile, former labour and change uk mp chuka umunna announced at the end of the week that he was joining the liberal democrats. The stratton mp told the times he had been wrong to think millions of politically Homeless People wanted a new option on the ballot paper. He was one of six change uk mps to quit after it won only 3. 4 of the vote in the european elections. Greenhouse gas emissions in the uk are to be cut to almost zero by 2050, under a new plan to tackle Climate Change. The business secretary said ministers would legislate to meet the target. There are many issues in this house on which we passionately disagree but there are moments when we can act together, to take on long term decisions that will shape the future of the world s but we leave to our children and our grandchildren. Just over one decade ago, i was the shadow secretary of state for energy and Climate Change when the right honourable member for Doncaster North secured royal assent for the landmark 2008 Climate Change act. And i was proud on behalf of my party to speak in support of the first law of its kind in the world, setting a legally binding targets to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions for at least 80 by 2050, relative to 1990 levels. And today i am proud to stand on the side of the house to propose an amendment to that same act which will enable this parliament to make its own historic commitment to tackling Climate Change. But labour said achieving the new target would need huge investment. In its advice, Climate Change Committee Said very specifically that as well as setting the target itself, the government must put in place the policies to meet the targets. That means, as they said, a 2030 cut off date for new petrol and diesel vehicles, not 2040. A proper decarbonisation plan for our 27 million homes which we do not have. And an end to what i believe is now economically illiterate, frankly, a moratorium on onshore wind, given it is now our cheapest fuel available. Onshore wind, given it is now our cheapest fuel availablelj onshore wind, given it is now our cheapest fuel available. I do welcome this report, but i would welcome this report, but i would welcome it more of the government had welcome it more of the government ha d followe d welcome it more of the government had followed all of the recommendations from the committee on Climate Change, notjust the ones which do not cause it ideological indigestion. In particularthe Committee Recommended the Emission Reduction effort needs to be done here at home, not outsourced to poorer countries. Carbon offsetting basically slows decarbonisation, which deprives poorer countries of the low hanging fruit they need in order to meet their own reduction targets. So will he review the decision to rely on dodgy loopholes and make sure that the domestic action is all done here at home . Caroline lucas. Now, to Prime Minister s questions, whether labour leader launched an attack on the governments industrial strategy. 0ver the governments industrial strategy. Over the course of his six questions, Jeremy Corbyn claimed ministers had not done enough to help steel and Motor Industries and had failed on renewables. They promised a northern powerhouse. They have failed to deliver it. And every northern newspaper is campaigning for this government to power up the north. They promised net zero x 2050, yet they have failed on renewa bles 2050, yet they have failed on renewables and are missing, and. 0rder renewables and are missing, and. Order the right honourable gentleman will not be shouted down. It isnt going to happen. Dont waste your breath, its not productive and its terribly boring. Jeremy corbyn. Mr speaker, they promised net zero x 2050, yet they have failed on renewa bles 2050, yet they have failed on renewables and are missing their Climate Change targets. They promised an industrial strategy. 0utput is falling. So which does the Prime Minister see is the biggest industrial failure of our government . The car industry, the Steel Industry or the Renewables Industry . Can ijust say to the gentleman, he can pose for his youtube clips as much as he likes, but lets actually look at what this government has delivered. We have delivered a Racial Disparity audit, the deals with the inappropriate inequality of Public Services, for people with different community. Record investment and transport and infrastructure in the north, a record employment rate, lowest unemployment for 45 years, wages growing faster than inflation, a record cash boost for the nhs, Better Mental Health support, more homes being built, stamp duty cut, Higher Standards in our schools, and leading the world on Climate Change theresa may. Now, what has been happening in the wider world of politics this week . Gary connor has our countdown. Some say politics is show business for ugly say politics is show business for le, say politics is show business for t say politics is show business for ugly people, but this week appears debated the cost of theatre tickets. The learmonth trilogy, if any of your lordships has not seen it, i would recommend you go and see it. At four, Westminster Hall was packed on monday when mps debated access to Cystic Fibrosis treatment, so popular in fact that a small, furry 0bserver just couldnt keep popular in fact that a small, furry 0bserverjust couldnt keep away. At three, a bad week for tory leadership hope for mark harper, who failed to win enough votes to stay in the contest. Though you cant say that he docked the big questions. In the contest. Though you cant say that he docked the big questionsm a fight, it would be. . A lion or a bear. 0k, a fight, it would be. . A lion or a bear. Ok, on the basis that the mind is the symbol of britain, i am going to say the lion. At two, you know you are getting older when members of the house of lords are getting younger. The new lord robbinsdale is just 37 years old and shared some advice he been given by the dorky. You are appear of the realm, my lord, you should bowl in there like you own place. And at one, celebrations as the oldest living former mp reached yet another birthday milestone. Ron atkins, first elected for labour in 1966, turned 103 years old this week. Many happy returns from all of us at Bbc Parliament. Gary connor there. Happy returns from all of us at Bbc Parliament. Gary connorthere. Now, every day in the house of commons ends with an adjournment debate, when a backbencher has the chance to raise an issue and get a reply from the minister. Wednesdays topic was cornish wrestling, an ancient sport first recorded in 1139, when it was said to be fought by giants. Championing the cause was North Cornwall mp scott mann. We caught up with him to find out more, but first, here is a taster of the sport, as reported by the bbcs tonight programme in 1955. 1965. Well, a rather nasty bash on the floor that you just saw and heard is technically known as an on the heave, one of the six main throws, or hitches, as they are called, in cornish wrestling. Cornish wrestling is the oldest sport in the united kingdom. We refer to it as rattling in cornwall, which is the cornish phrase for wrestling. Generally competed with men. We have women and junior sections. The objective is to grab hold of each other and to throw each other on your back to score points. I want to raise the profile with sporting england. They gave us £8,000 about ten years ago now to raise the profile of the sport and that was successful for a period of time. I would like Sport England to get involved and i am also quite keen to see adventure in someway the commonwealth games. Maybe not in birmingham, but if we can showcase it in birmingham, maybe for future commonwealth games. Lots of dramatic logy commonwealth games. Lots of dramatic mythology surrounds these open air contests. Proud cornish man right of the scent of crushed grass on a summer s day, the tense, patient play for a fall. So, has scott mann taken part himself . I would have loved to do. I have been and witnessed it once but i didnt have enough agility to take part, maybe next time it is on i will be straight in there. Maybe it is the best way to solve the current leadership problems weve got. Maybe the best way of doing it is to put all the contenders into the ring, and have a massive royal rumble and see who comes out on and have a massive royal rumble and see who comes out on top. That was scott mann, on the ancient art of cornish wrestling. And thats it from me for now. We will be back on Bbc Parliament on monday night at 11 oclock. But for now, from me, melissa mccarthy, goodbye. Alysia mccarty. Hello. The weekend isnt looking as wet as its been, particularly in those areas which have had a soaking in the past week but there will still be some rain or showers around and the reason why low pressure is still close by towards the north west of the british isles, around that were seeing weather disturbances moving through, with either some rain at times, very least getting showers from west to east. Still fairly unsettled this weekend. It wont be wet all weekend long. Some sunshine occasionally, looking breezy this weekend. Still not particularly warm, though feeling a bit warmer than it has done for the past week. It looks like quite wet start to saturday morning in Northern Ireland after rain overnight. It peps up at the end of the night. Some rain too towards western scotland, wales and western parts of england. This is that first weather disturbance coming our way, slowly moving eastwards, reain becoming more patchy, showery in nature but still one or two heavy showers. Ahead of that, some sunny spells, maybe a shower, brightening up. The chance of catching a shower on a breezy saturday with temperatures close to 20 in the warmest parts of eastern england. Most of us will fall a few degrees short of that. Saturday evening, this first area of showers will push away. We could see more coming in towards South West England and wales on through saturday evening and pushing a bit further northwards as we go through the night. Clear spells too the chilliest spots into single figures maybe towards mid single figures in one or two areas, certainly prolonged clear spells overnight and onto part two of the weekend, look familiar . Deja vu. Weather disturbances moving around the showers at times could be heavy and possibly thundery. Well start off with a batch of showers, close to Northern England on sunday, especially north west england. South west scotland pushing northwards across scotland as the day goes on. Sunshine, one or two showers elsewhere and the potential for some heavier downpours to come into Northern Ireland through the day, into parts of wales as well. Still some sunshine occasionally, not everywhere will be wet. Maybe not many showers at all towards east anglia. Close to 20 in the warm spots. It looks like a similar picture on monday. Showers in Northern Ireland and scotland. She rain and a few showers affecting parts of england and wales, south east of that, it could be a bit warmer into the low 20s and for many, it will start to feel a bit warmer. Monday to tuesday. Right now, tuesday is looking mainly dry. So the story of next weeks weather is something drier, a bit warmerfor a time at the start of the week. I think it looks like it turns wetter again around mid week and it starts to turn cooler once again as well. Welcome to bbc news. Im reged ahmad. Our top stories President Trump claims the attack on two tankers in the gulf of oman has iran written all over it. Iran denies the claims. Emergency teams in chile try to locate three miners trapped 70 metres below ground after a landslide. Hello and welcome. President trump has dismissed irans insistence it had no involvement with the attacks on two tankers in an Important Oil route in the gulf of oman