Transcripts For BBCNEWS The Week In Parliament 20200301

Saying wheres boris . Since the flooding began there has been a constant stream of ministerial activity led by my right honourable friends. Can a new drive for kinder, gentler politics succeed where others have failed . He went like this to me, shhh, sit down. Like that, which is incredibly patronising, so i turned around to him and i said, mate, youre not my dad . And 100 years on, the enduring legacy of the first woman to speak in the house of commons. She introduces the intoxicating liquor bill and that of course is the reason why we all have to wait until we are 18 to drink today. All that to come and more. But first, it was a week when borisjohnson was accused of hiding rather than face up to the flooding crisis across england and wales. Jeremy corbyn accused him of being a, part time Prime Minister who goes missing during emergencies. Borisjohnson told him the government was working flat out to help people. The angry exchanges during Prime Ministers questions came after days of heavy rain. An emergency evacuation took place when rising waters on the river severn overwhelmed flood defences at ironbridge in shropshire. Residents were also evacuated from their homes in bewdley, worcestershire. Jeremy corbyn suggested the Prime Minister should visit flood hit areas, as he himself had done. When i visited pontypridd last week, i saw at first hand the damage and destruction these floods have caused to peoples lives, homes and businesses. But the Prime Minister was silent, sulking in his grace and favour mansion at chevening. After two weeks of flooding, after two weeks of flooding, mr speaker, there are now even memes being produced, asking not wheres wally . Saying, wheres boris . When is the government going to stop hiding and show people that it actually cares . Mr speaker, i am very proud of the response that the government has mounted over the past few days. We convened the National Flood Response Centre on the 14th. Since the flooding began, there has been a constant stream of ministerial activity, led by my right honourable friends the secretary of state for environment, the secretary of state for communities and local government. And never forget that in spite of the flooding, and no one should underestimate the anguish that flooding causes, and of course it is an absolute shock to the households that are affected, but it is thanks to the measures that this government has put in that 200,000 households have been protected from flooding. And we dont hear that from the honourable member. The Prime Minister was keen to pose for cameras when theres a crisis on during the election, but he often goes awol. He was late to respond to the london riots because he was on holiday. He was on a private island when the iranian general was assassinated, and last week he had his head in the sands in a mansion in kent. The mp for calder valley, another of his colleagues, said, it is not good enough. How can the Country Trust a Prime Minister, a part time Prime Minister . Last night schmoozing Tory Party Donors at a very expensive black tie ball, instead of getting out there and supporting the people who are suffering because of the floods . This government needs to step up to the plate and invest in defences and ensure there is real insurance for people whose homes are being ruined by these floods as we speak. Members cheer mr speaker, the right honourable gentleman asks what this government has been doing in the past few days, so let me tell him, not only have we been investing massively in flood defences and compensating those who have suffered from flooding, but we have been stopping the Early Release of terrorists, we have restored the nurses bursary, were beginning work on 40 new hospitals, we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers. And we can do that, mr speaker, because we have a strong and dynamic economy. The labour leader said the labour run Welsh Government had done its best to step up to the crisis, despite under funding from westminster. But in the senedd, in cardiff, the roles were reversed, with opposition conservatives attacking labour ministers over their response to the flooding. We were flooded out december 2015, march last year, storm ciara, more effects from storm dennis. Your Welsh Government, you have said in your question and response to me, no further reviews. People in llanrwst feel you are not interested, minister. You have to have a mechanism to be able to deliver that funding. Do you want to listen or not . I am listening. So, every house thats had internal flooding. You can smirk, janet finch saunders, im not even going to look at you because youre just. In fact, deputy presiding officer, i dont think shes worthy of an answer. Lively exchanges in the welsh assembly. Although flooding dominated Prime Ministers questions at westminster, borisjohnson also faced questions about his advisers, in particular Andrew Sabisky, who resigned after his past comments about eugenics and race came to light. An snp mp took personal offence. Graham was born with cerebral palsy, unable to talk, walk or feed himself. He broughtjoy and love to all who knew him. And last week one of the Prime Ministers advisers resigned when a basic check of their internet history revealed they had promoted eugenicist policies of the sort that would have ended my brother, graham dohertys life before it began. So can i ask the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to advise the house and every disabled person on this island why Andrew Sabisky remained at the heart of his government and was not removed from the position immediately when their abhorrent views became apparent . Mr speaker, let us be absolutely clear that i certainly do not share those views, and nor are they the views of anybody in this government. That individual no longer works for the government. Borisjohnson. Now for another potential crisis in the Prime Ministers in tray. The coronavirus outbreak has led to plunging stock markets, the closure of some schools and the cancellation of International Sports fixtures. The Health Secretary has warned the public against overreacting. Matt hancock acknowledged that the government expects more cases in the uk, but he said that schools should stay open unless there are specific reasons for them not to. About 700 people at a hotel on the island of tenerife were confined to their rooms and will remain in isolation for 1h days. The hotel was placed in lockdown on tuesday after an italian doctor staying there tested positive for the virus. In his statement, matt hancock said the government had published guidance for schools, employers and the travel industry. Mr speaker, we have a clear four part plan to respond to the outbreak of this disease. Contain, delay, research and mitigate. We are taking all necessary measures to minimise the risk to the public. We have put in place enhanced monitoring measures at uk airports, and Health Information is available at all international airports, ports and International Train stations. I can tell the house that in the coming days we will roll out a wider Public Information campaign. While the government and the nhs have plans in place for all eventualities, everyone can play their part. To reiterate, our advice is for everyone to take sensible precautions like using tissues and washing hands more. The World Health Organization has warned that countries are simply not ready for a pandemic. There has now been significant spread of the virus across the european continent, italy in particular, but other cases have been identified in austria, croatia and switzerland. This is clearly now very, very serious. He moved on to the situation in schools. We do have several schools in england and Northern Ireland shut completely at the moment for a deep clean, after students and teachers returned from skiing trips. I understand his point that schools should check relevant websites and get local advice, but is he expecting any advice to be sent to schools from the department for education . And if schools have to start shutting, will the government consider arrangements for alternative schooling provision for those affected . We have issued, repeatedly issued advice to schools, which goes from the department for education. I am glad to see the minister for schools in his place. And we issued revised advice to schools this morning. Our goal here is to keep schools open wherever we can, as long as that protects the public. Our wider goal is to have minimum social and economic disruption, and indeed to the nhs, subject to keeping the public safe. Matt hancock. Now you may have noticed its the awards season. The baftas, the oscars, the parliamentary book awards. This year theres even a new set of awards celebrating politicians who behave with courtesy and decency to one another. The civility in politics awards are designed to recognise those politicians who engage in thoughtful, reflective public debate. Those shortlisted include the former cabinet ministers Andrea Leadsom and kenneth clarke. Those who didnt make the shortlist spoiler alert include these two mps known for their robust approach. He put his policy to the british people, inasmuch as anyone could discern it, in a general election. He was slaughtered. What bit of that message does he not understand . Its a delight to see your children here watching today, because i know that while you have a responsibility to parliament, that you take your responsibilities as a parent incredibly seriously also, and now to the Prime Minister. Jess phillips and Mark Francois overcame their disappointment at not being shortlisted to join me to discuss civility in politics. I think its good that they have got these awards and i can imagine someone like Jacob Rees Mogg doing well in that context. Well have to wait and see who the winners are, but i wasnt expecting to be up until the small hours worrying about it, to be honest. And jess phillips, are you equally phlegmatic about this . Yeah, i think that. | suppose it depends how one judges civility, is it people working together for the common good, or is it those who understand that using a nice voice and saying please and thank you is the way to appear, at least, civil . So i suppose well have to wait and see, but again i shant be losing much sleep. Do you think it is effective or important in politics . Does civility get things done . It does, it definitely does, and there has to be an amount of cross party working. It was vastly more important in the time of a Hung Parliament, and it had much more power in the time of a Hung Parliament in order to get things done and i dont mean about the substantive, the brexit issue, i mean about all the other things parliamentarians are working on, whether they get talked about or not. But people will have seen you over the years being slightly less than civil, challenging theresa may, and challenging john bercow when he was the speaker . I suppose my style is combative. But i hope not too uncivil, i have never sworn at anyone in the chamber or anything like that. But there were great issues at stake and people felt passionately about them because if youre not going to get passionate about the destiny of your country, what are you going to get passionate about . And jess phillips, you occasionally have put your case very robustly, sometimes personally in the case of borisjohnson as Prime Minister . Less than civil . Perhaps it is less than civil, but to me the personal is political. It feels very personal to me and as mark said, if youre not going to get passionate about children not being able to go to school or poverty on our streets, what will you get passionate about . Its very, very personal to me that the decisions made by borisjohnson dont affect him, but they do affect me and my family. Its very personal and so i will absolutely bring my personal to work and i will expect him to have to answer to that. But cant you make that point in a civil way . Of course, im very civil. I wont be civil when faced with incivility, and. People can criticise me, when youre faced with a marauding crowd, or people on social media having a pop at you, i dont feel the need to always be completely civil with people. I wouldnt ever be abusive, but i will fight for what i believe in and fight to be heard. I think people want their mps to have character about them. They dont want the idea of 650 sheep. The question is where you draw the line . In my case, i learnt a fairly combative debating style when i served on Basildon Borough Council in the 90s, once described as the only local authority in the uk where at Council Meetings the council is actively heckled by the public gallery, so it was a lively forum in which to learn. One important change you will see, now we have a change of speaker i think that has materially affected the atmosphere in the house. Lindsay is very good at controlling the house with a bit of humour in a gentle way and i think now we have had that change you will see a lot of the tension go out of it. You said you werent civil when people were uncivil to you. Whats the most uncivil thing someone has said to you in the commons . Oh, gosh. Erm, you get quite a lot of. Its not necessarily people walking up directly, that rarely happens, argy bargy in the corridors, that doesnt happen. But when you stand and speak, one minister who is now a minister again, i was stood talking about something and he went like this to me, shush sit down like that, which is incredibly patronising, so i turned around and said, mate, youre not my dad, i earned my seat here, i will carry on exactly as i like. Modern Technology Allows people to be rude to you anonymously and some people take advantage of that. At least in the commons if you disagree with someone in the other party they can look you in the eye while you are doing it, online you can be a coward and some people unfortunately are. Jess phillips is nodding. Thats a good note of agreement, a civil note of agreement to end. Thank you both very much. Mark francois and jess phillips, trying their best to get themselves nominated for next years civility in politics awards. This years winners will be announced later in march. Time for a look now at what else has been happening around westminster. The former chancellor, sajid javid, delivered a measured but pointed attack on borisjohnson and his style of government that surprised many tory mps. Mrjavid resigned after mrjohnson told him to sack his advisers to make way for a joint team of advisers for the Prime Minister and the chancellor. Advisers advise, ministers decide, and ministers decide on their advisers. I couldnt see why the treasury, with the vital role that it plays, should be the exception to that. A chancellor, like all cabinet ministers, has to be able to give candid advice to a Prime Minister so he is speaking truth to power. I believe that the arrangement proposed would significantly inhibit that and it would not have been in the national interest. An emergency bill to block the automatic Early Release of people convicted of terrorist offences became law after being rushed through parliament. The terrorist offenders restriction of Early Release act was introduced after an attack in streatham, south london earlier in february. The attacker, sudesh amman, had recently been freed from prison. Convicted terrorists will serve at least two thirds of their sentence before being considered for release. Now, introducing emergency legislation is not a step the government would ever take likely, but the law was not working and we had a responsibility to act. I am pleased that this house agreed with that assessment and we were able to get the new law on the statute book as a matter of urgency. There was widespread criticism of the governments policy towards war widows pensions. Last year, the ministry of defence ruled that from april 2015, those who remarry, cohabit or form a Civil Partnership would be entitled to keep the pension for life. But this rule doesnt apply retrospectively. We are talking about 200 300 war widows whose former partners served in the falklands, Northern Ireland, the first gulf war, among other theatres. And whose only course of action, my lords, today if they want their pension reinstated is to divorce and remarry their present partners. How bonkers is that, my lords . I want to make clear, my lords, that in no way does the government seek to diminish or disregard the support and contribution made by the ladies to whom the noble lady refers. My problem is that i have got a very hard nut and i dont have a hammer to crack it. The first woman mp to take her seat in parliament made her maiden speech a century ago this week. The conservative nancy astor had won the plymouth seat vacated by her husband, viscount astor, after hed moved to the house of lords. Her speech had a lasting impact, as Gabrielle Oneill reports. Presiding over members dining room, the woman whose arrival had mps spluttering over the dover sole. Nancy astor is back in westminster as part of a drive to display more artworks depicting female politicians. And if new mps are nervous about making their maiden speeches in 2020, what must it have been like for the first woman to do so . This is the hansard parliamentary debates volume for february 1920 which includes the maiden speech of nancy astor, the first woman to take her seat in parliament. And so her first words are, i shall not begin by craving the indulgence of the house. I am only too conscious of the indulgence and the courtesy of the house. I know that it is very difficult for some honourable members to receive the first lady mp into the house. It is almost as difficult for some of them as it was for the lady mp herself to come in. I think it mustve been incredibly daunting. She was the first woman to ever enter, with 500 plus men in there, and i think it probably took a lot of courage. She said so herself. The commons was less welcoming than this portrait suggests. The original larger version was gifted to parliament by her husband, but was sent back, and astor was to prove a controversialfigure. Who faced accusations of appeasement, anti semitism and anti catholicism in her lifetime. She did make statements that are extremely unpalatable at any time. But she was a woman of her time. There were other people at that time who held similar views. Thats not to condone them in any way, but it has been a challenge to actually present nancy astor as a real person or as a whole person. Maiden speeches are often on fairly innocuous topics, but actually astor chose a really controversial one. But thats because the topic was so important to her. It does take a bit of courage to address the house on the vexed question of drink. And that really is one of nancys objectives. She really is motivated, as much by the letters from women and children who complained to her about the impact of drink on their lives that come into her mailbox, as she often is by her own party. So, when other mps, all different parties, trickle in to the house of commons throughout the 1920s, they Work Together and theres a new agenda, and its a new agenda about women and the protections of women and children. But in particular, two years, three years later, she introduces the intoxicating liquor bill and that, of course, is the reason why we all have to wait until were 18 to drink today. Drjacqui turner there. Time for a look at the wider world of politics now. George dabby has our countdown. The long awaited blue passports have arrived. Priti patel is the first to take a look at a new piece of brexit memorabilia. So much for mp power. That 296 majority in favour of a third runway counted for nothing when the court of appeal tore into the heathrow expansion plans, ruling that they were unlawful. Much sniggering at the back as welsh secretary simon hart accidentally revealed the filming location for the hit Comedy Series sex education. Sex education, filmed in my ministerial colleagues constituency. Laughter. President trump visits a famous indian palace. Its not the first time he has visited a taj mahal, but the last one had a slightly different feel. Did you win the jackpot, donald . From trump to toasties. £840 of lords questions have revealed that lord nasebys world had fallen apart with the crunchy comestible taken off the bishops bar menu for health and safety reasons. Not a problem here, i am glad to say. Bon appetit, your lordship george dabby giving lord naseby hunger pangs there. Now to the political revelation of the week a long forgotten passageway used by Prime Ministers and closed up by victorian labourers. Historians working on the renovation of the house of commons found the lost 360 year old passageway, hidden in a secret chamber. This is the way charles ii came on the way to his coronation and also james ii, and it was the main way to the house of commons, which was where st Stephens Hall now is. The speakers of the house of commons would have come this way, many mps over the centuries, so it is a very historic route. The chamber was a passageway to the house of commons. And the contents of this rather unassuming looking space are fascinating, for example there was graffiti on the wall, which was put there by charles barrys masons when they were walling it up in 1851, which showed theyd had a party with old ale and gives all their names and declares them to be true democrats. History was lost and now its found, and a fact we found it is amazing, we talk about graffiti but here it is going back to 1834, the builders have come in with a jug of ale and we had a bit of beer and a bit of history about themselves, and they were the workmen that came in 1834 and the fact they left their mark is the mark of history. Sir Lindsay Hoyle discovering that the palace of westminster still has a secret of two to give up. That was the week in parliament. Thank you for watching. Ill be back on Bbc Parliament at 11pm on monday evening with the latest from the commons and the lords. Until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. Hello. Some quieter weather on the way for a time this week. It is not going to be as windy or as wet. Some places will have a largely dry few days. Not quite there yet though, storm jorge still sitting north of scotla nd storm jorge still sitting north of scotland and it is still windy out there, but the winds are slowly easing as we go deeper now into the day. For many of us, we have seen the sunshine so far today, just a few clouds around and clearly it is still very wet on the ground. There is still significant flooding places, lets not forget that. Rain, sleet and snow affecting parts of scotland, mainly north and central belt and 80 centimetres falling into the higher hills. There are showers out there, namely in the west with hailand out there, namely in the west with hail and thunder, and guests pushing these further east across the afternoon. The winds are easing a bit now, but it does still chilly in the wind. It will be chilly as we go through this week. Tonight, i see in places, and the showers will keep going over Northern Ireland, north and western england and and scotland. I see treatment on surfaces, and some rain and hell is 110w surfaces, and some rain and hell is now moving it through here. The temperature is here not going down too far in the south. Elsewhere, frosty and i seek to start the day tomorrow. Dont be surprised if you see some rain coming from this weather system before it closes away. Following on from that, sunshine and showers again tomorrow. Probably emerging from a longer speu probably emerging from a longer spell of wet weather in scotland, hill snow and spell of wet weather in scotland, hillsnow and rain spell of wet weather in scotland, hill snow and rain and sleet. Not as windy though, and for some places, particularly the east, it will be largely dry. We will see some sunshine occasionally this week, are showers rather than necessarily these prolonged spells of rain. Not as windy, not as wet, on the chilly side with frost and ice in places. A lot of showers will come into western scotland, Northern Ireland and north west england. Parts of southern england could see wayne occasionally, more especially in the channel islands, but that is a flavour of what is happening next week. Into friday, a band of rain and another area of low pressure looks to be coming in next weekend, with more rain and wind at times. Of course, the flooding goes on, even though the weather is just turning a bit quieter. Lots of warnings out there, more details at our website. And a forecast for where you are or where youre going. Goodbye for now. This is bbc news. Im lukwesa burak. The headlines at three. Another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. The government insists its prepared to do all it can to contain the virus. We dont take anything off the table at this stage because you got to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary. It comes as an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus. Another school in gloucester, St Marys School in tetbury, also confirmed a member of its staff tested positive for the virus. Labour calls for home secretary priti patel to attend the commons tomorrow to explain allegations from her departing Civil Service chief that she bullied staff