This is bbc news, the headlines at the 2020 oscars, brad pitt has taken home one of the nights major awards winning best supporting actor for the Quentin Tarantino film 0nce upon a time in hollywood. many of cinemas biggest stars are attending the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, in los angeles. Millions of chinese citizens are due to go back to work, after the extended Lunar New Year break but coronavirus restrictions mean, many businesses remian closed. The number of deaths from the epidemic has now risen to more than 900 after Hubei Province reported 91 new fatalities. Irelands general election has seen an unprecedented surge in support for the left wing nationalist party, sinn fein. Despite fielding far fewer candidates, its share of the popular vote appears similar to those of the two long dominant centrist parties. Now on bbc news, the week in parliament. Hello there and welcome to the week in parliament, where after sacking the woman in charge of an International Climate conference, borisjohnson comes under pressure over his green credentials. Why is the Prime Minister failing so spectacularly to measure up to the scale of the Climate Crisis that this country and indeed this planet is facing . This is the first country, the first major economy in the world, in the world to have set a target of Carbon Neutral by 2050. We hearfrom new mps signing up to scrutinise the government. Ive seen an absolute wealth of experience, life experience, professional and political experience that people have, and i hope that i can contribute to that through this committee. And, as the lords consider getting rid of one of their ancient traditions, we take a lesson in the art of hat doffing. Take the end of the hat with your right hand, and forward, a good forward projection of the hat. But first. At Prime Ministers questions, borisjohnson confirmed a plan to introduce emergency legislation to make terrorist offenders serve more time in prison. It follows the shooting of sudesh amman by police after he stabbed two people in streatham in south london. Amman had been released from prison on the 23rd of january after serving half of his sentence for terrorism offences. At the start of pmqs, borisjohnson made clear he wanted to change the rules. The whole house will want to pay tribute to the police
and all of the Emergency Services for their brave response to the terrorist incident in streatham on sunday. This appalling incident makes plain the case for immediate action and we will shortly introduce emergency legislation to make sure that we do everything to protect the public. That emergency legislation is expected in the commons in the next few days. Jeremy corbyn also paid tribute to the Emergency Services whod responded to the stretham attack, but the focus of his questions was the Un Climate Conference known as cop 26, to be held in glasgow in november. More than 200 World Leaders are due to attend, but in a surprise move the government sacked the president of the event former conservative minister, Claire Oneill. In an interview, she said the Prime Minister had admitted he didnt really get Climate Change and she claimed there was a huge lack of leadership and engagement from the government. So, Jeremy Corbyn asked the pm what she meant. Borisjohnson said the governments
record was phenomenal. Last year was the first year on record that renewables produced more of the energy of this country than fossil fuels. We are delivering for the people of this country, we are reducing greenhouse gases. All he produces, im afraid, is a load of hot air. Jeremy corbyn honed in on what Claire Oneill had said. His own former tory minister said, we should have clear actions, an agreed plan and a road map for the year of action but we do not. So, why is the Prime Minister failing so spectacularly to measure up to the scale of the Climate Crisis that this country and indeed this planet is facing . Mr speaker, this is beyond satire. This government, this is the first country, the first major economy in the world, in the world to have set a target of Carbon Neutral by 2050. Earlier in the week, politicaljournalists walked out
of a downing street briefing after number ten said some publications werent welcome. The snp leader at westminster reckoned borisjohnson was taking a leaf out of another leaders book. In the first few days of brexit britain, this Prime Minister has sacked an official, taken an isolationist approach to trade, and banned the press from a downing street briefing. Is he intentionally trying to impersonate donald trump . The Prime Minister had given a speech earlier in the week about the next stage of brexit and said hed set out an internationalist and outward looking approach. I dont think anybody, anybody listening to my speech, i think it was on monday, could have mistaken it for anything but the most passionate, internationalist, globalist, open, outward looking approach. There is only one party in this country that has nationalist in their name, mr speaker, thats them, thats them. They would break up. Thats them. They would break up the most successful Political Partnership of the last 300 years. He and his party should concentrate on the dayjob and doing a better job for the people of scotland. Mr speaker, the Prime Minister doesnt even know the name of our party. Ian blackford, the leader of the Scottish National party at westminster. Now, as well as finding office space and making maiden speeches, new mps have been signing up to select committees to scrutinise policy. For some, this has meant contesting a further election to win a place while others were nominated unopposed. We asked two new members why theyd gone for their particular roles. Well, i first got into politics locally, actually. Wandsworth council closed down my childrens centre, and ive got four children so very involved in that, and i saw
what it can do for the community so i got involved in campaigning about education. Ive got four children going through school and ive recently been running Youth Services as well. So, i think ive got a lot of knowledge from the inside of the Education System about what its really like, what i can bring into being on the select committee. For me, it is very important that we scrutinise what is happening in the health arena. But in particular i wanted to be able to bring a slightly different angle which is that i have done a lot of work in the Digital Space around health, and also on the Mental Health side of things. So i really wanted to bring that to bear so that when we are looking at the future of the nhs, looking at the future of social care and looking at things like Mental Health which are really important to me, i wanted to be able to bring that experience. Obviously, youve just been through one election to get elected to parliament and then you have put yourself forward for election once again, how did you find the whole process . For me, this was really a case of fact finding and getting the opportunity
to speak to everyone. And i think that the real benefit for this selection for me was getting to know a whole gambit of members across the house and in particular in the conservative party, but also seeing the absolute wealth of experience, life experience, professional and political experience that people have, and i hope that i can contribute to that through this committee. What impact can new members and a select committee itself have when the government has a large majority . I think it is really good to have that mix of older more experienced mps but also new mps. Weve got a lot to bring. I hope i can achieve something here. I hope that we can really scrutinise the government and i hope that it can be a place of genuine cross Party Working to really look at what is happening across our country and what is affecting real people. So, im optimistic, always optimistic, that is why i have joined a select committee. Now for a look at some news in brief. As we heard earlier, the government is to end the Early Release of prisoners on terrorism charges. 20 year old sudesh amman was shot dead by armed officers after a man
and a woman were stabbed in streatham in south london in what Police Called an islamist related terrorist incident. Police had been tracking him since his release from jail halfway through a three year sentence for terrorism offences. The justice secretary said the incident made the case for immediate action. We will therefore introduce emergency legislation to ensure an end to terrorist offenders getting released automatically, having served half of their sentence with no check or review. The underlying principle has to be that offenders will no longer be released early automatically and that any release before the end of their sentence will be dependent upon Risk Assessment by the parole board. We will look at the proposals that have been referred to in the secretary of states statement because our priority must be to keep the public safe. But to be clear, the government cannot use sentencing as a way of distracting from their record of bringing the criminaljustice
system to breaking point. The minister says that we are at the forefront of tackling terrorism and that we have robust measures in place but those measures did not prevent what happened in my constituency yesterday. And whilst i note what he says about automatic release, i cant fathom, and the people of streatham cannot fathom this situation in which somebody so dangerous who has to be under surveillance immediately from leaving prison is allowed to leave. The government has apologised to the victims of the Breast Cancer surgeon ian paterson. Hes been jailed for 20 years after carrying out unnecessary and botched operations on hundreds of patients. In some, breast tissue was left behind meaning the disease returned whilst others had surgery they didnt need. An inquiry chaired by the bishop of norwich identified multiple individual and organisational failures. Nothing i can say today, madam deputy speaker, can lessen the horrendous suffering that patients and their families experienced
and continue to go through. I can only start to imagine the sense of violation and betrayal of patients who put their trust in ian paterson when they were at their most vulnerable. This report must not remain on a shelf to be forgotten. Because the report is clear, this wasnt just the action of one rogue lone surgeon, but systemic organisational failures were at fault as well. It went on over 14 years, and i think it does again highlight a failure to listen to people who raised concerns early on in the scandal and the fact that there was a power differential between paterson and other people who were raising concerns. Mps have approved the final stages of a bill putting a conservative manifesto commitment to increase nhs funding into law. The bill commits ministers to raise investment in the Health Service in the years to 202k. The government says its a near £34 billion increase in cash terms, taking total nhs england spending to {148. 5 billion. But when it came to the vote,
mps from scotland and wales staged a protest. The nhs bill covers england, meaning they didnt get a say. But the snps westminster leader Ian Blackford said the bill would have spending implications for scotland. A bill to bring in no fault divorce in england and wales was debated in the lords. Currently, one spouse must allege adultery or unreasonable behaviour by the other for Divorce Proceedings to start straight away. If the bill passes, spouses will only have to state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. While under certain circumstances divorce may well be the least worst option for some couples, this bill promotes individual choice over and at the expense of the sort of commitment, self giving and sacrifice which lies at the heart of the marriage covenant. I dont accept that this bill will lead to an increase in the overall number of divorces overtime, and i say, i refer to this having been through a divorce when there was no financial conflict, no conflict over parental responsibilities, and yet the divorce for me and i think for my husband was a deeply and profoundly painful experience, and i believe every divorce is. The government has defended plans to delay the full roll out of universal credit to september 202a. Labour and the snp insisted that universal credit was causing hardship. Until my election to this place, i was a universal credit claimant, as a single parent. I ask the minister to scrap the five week wait and stop plunging ha rd working families and individuals into further debt by having to avail of a loan from the dwp. Thank you. Well, mr speaker, ithank the honourable gentleman for his question and i would suggest he very strongly should visit his
localjob centre because he would have a better understanding. And, mrspeaker. Youre a disgrace, you dont even listen. A former bbc chairman has warned the government not to weaken and impoverish the bbc. Ministers have launched a consultation looking at whether or not non payment of the Television Licence fee should remain a criminal offence. Lord grade told peers that the bbc finances were under huge pressure as the corporation was now having to pay for free licences for some over 75s. This feels like another attempt to impoverish the bbc and weaken it. The bbc. May i remind my noble friend the minister and the government, that the bbc is the cornerstone of the Creative Industries in this country, which is one of the Fastest Growing sectors of the uk economy. It has huge, huge success in promoting the brand of Great Britain around the world, it is a fantastic engine for social mobility and weakening the bbc and impoverishing the bbc is so damaging to this country and should be abandoned immediately. I think the last thing this government wants to do is weaken or abandon an asset as strong and important as the bbc. Somalia has declared a National Emergency as large swarms of locusts spread across east africa. The insects eat huge amounts of vegetation, posing a major threat to somalias fragile food security. There are fears that the situation may not be brought under control before the harvest begins in april. The un says the swarms are the largest in somalia and ethiopia in 25 years. Its perhaps appropriate that a member of these benches is raising issues about the plagues of locusts. But in fact we are facing the humanitarian crisis which is unraveling in front of us. In some parts of ethiopia 90 of the crops are already gone, 20 Million People are facing no food. The un said last thursday, we need 76 million now to begin to address the problems. Uka aid is helping to tackle the outbreak through our funding to the un central response fund, but we are considering the case for additional support. One of the key figures in the snp government in scotland, the finance secretary, derek mackay, was forced to stand down in the week after it was revealed he sent hundreds of messages to a 16 year old boy. Mr mackay resigned just hours before he was due to deliver his budget in the Scottish Parliament. The first minister, nicola sturgeon, told msps that his behaviour had been unacceptable. His resignation meant it was the Public Finance minister, kate forbes, who stepped
in at the last minute to set out the budget, announcing thered be no changes to income tax rates in scotland. To cement the programme of our tax system, we will increase the basic and intermediate Rate Threshold by inflation to protect our lowest and middle earning taxpayers. The higher and top Rate Thresholds will be frozen. That will ensure that 56 of scottish taxpayers pay less than they would if they lived elsewhere in the uk. Scotland will continue to be the lowest tax part of the uk for the majority of income taxpayers. The tories said the scottish govenrment was benefiting from a boris bonus due to an increase in its grant from westminster. As to the tax rates. The tax rates introduced by the former finance secretariat, egged on by the greens, making scotland the highest taxed part of the united kingdom, havent actually raised any additional revenue for the scottish public services. All they have done is fill the black hole that has been created by the fact that the scottish economy is growing more slowly than the rest of the uk under
the snps stewardship. Despite the financial leaders that have come to the Scottish Parliament over the last decade, the snp government has failed, leaving our country and our people and our essential services, not worse off. They have endeavored to hide that through smoke and mirrors, and that is the case again today. The greens reckoned the budget was timid. I can find no evidence of a shift in a way from be damaging, traffic inducing transport projects that the government has been supporting up until now. Councils have only been given half of what they need to. Does she not accept that that will hit local services, including the promises that the government has made on their behalf . We have provided cash increase