Now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament. Hello there, and welcome to wednesday in parliament where labour says borisjohnson shouldnt ignore medical worries about relaxing covid restrictions for christmas. Can he tell us whats the assessment, and has it been done of the impact that it will have on infection rates and increased pressure on the nhs . I wish he had the gutsjust to say what he really wants to do, which is to cancel the plans that people have made and cancel christmas. Thats really. I think thats what hes driving at. Also on this programme. Will the transport network cope with the christmas get a way . And the Deputy Speaker suspends an snp mp from the commons as he protests over a controversial brexit bill. If he wants to be named, does he want to be named . Is that whats happening . If that is what is happening, then we can do it. But first, Boris Johnson has accused the labour leader of wanting to cancel christmas. His comments came as sir keir starmer said the Prime Minister had ignored medical advice on covid 19 restrictions. The labour leader used the last pmqs of the year to give a verdict on borisjohnsons handling of the pandemic. Why does he think that britain the sixth richest country in the world, with all our brilliant scientists and amazing nhs ends the year with one of the highest numbers of covid deaths in europe, over 6a,000, each one leaving a grieving family and the deepest recession of any major economy. Why does he think that has happened . Perhaps he could tell me why it is that the uk is the first to produce a viable treatment for coronavirus in the form of dexamethasone, or the first country in the world to roll out a clinically tested vaccine. Mr speaker, this is a pandemic that has affected the whole of europe, and this government has continued to take the tough decisions necessary to beat it. Keir starmer accused the Prime Minister of repeating the same mistakes and losing public trust. We all know what the Tipping Point was, the 520 mile round trip to Barnard Castle and the humiliating way in which the Prime Minister and his cabinet chose to defend it. And now we learn, now we learn that while the Prime Minister and the chancellor are telling the armed forces, police officers, care workers and firefighters that they will get a pay freeze, Dominic Cummings has been handed at least a £40,000 pay rise. How on earth does the Prime Minister justify that . Well, mr speaker, he totally trivialises the efforts of the british people. Laughing. In getting the virus down. He says, and he says that none of the measures, none of the lockdown measures have worked, its absolutely untrue, mr speaker we will continue with that tiering system, and we will get that virus down. And that is the best way forward for this country. All he wants to do, mr speaker, is to lock the whole country down. Hes a one club golfer. Thats the only solution he has. And then, mr speaker, all he does is attack the economic consequences of lockdowns keir starmer said the next big mistake looked likely to be the easing of restrictions over christmas and he quoted the british medicaljournal. We believe the government is about to blunder into another major error that will cost many lives. The Prime Minister should listen to that advice, notjust ignore it as usual. And if he really is going to press ahead with this, can he tell us what is the assessment, and has it been done of the impact that it will have on infection rates and increased pressure on the nhs . Whats the impact . Well, mr speaker, iwish he had the guts just to say what he really wants to do, which is to cancel the plans people have made and cancel christmas. Thats really what. I think thats what hes driving at, mr speaker. He said the four nations of the uk had agreed to go ahead with the regulations that had already been set out about meeting up at christmas. Because we dont want to criminalise peoples long made plans, mr speaker, but we do think, we do think its absolutely vital that people should at this very, very tricky time exercise a high degree of personal responsibility, especially when they come into contact with elderly people, and avoid contact with elderly people wherever possible. Keir starmer said he wondered where the Prime Minister got his advice from. Well, now i know, because i hear the official newsletter of the wellingborugh conservative party. Its not on every ones christmas reading list, but it is a fascinating read because it gives a lot of advice to wannabe politicians. It says this, say the first thing that comes into your head. Laughing. Itll probably be nonsense, you may get a bad headline, but, if you make enough dubious claims, fast enough, you can get away with it. And it includes, the december edition, the advice, sometimes its better to give the wrong answer at the right time, rather than the right answer at the wrong time. So, my final question to the Prime Minister, my final question to the Prime Minister is this, is he the inspiration for the newsletter, or is he the author . Hear, hear well, mr speaker, ithink what the people of this country would love to hear from the right honourable gentlemen this season of goodwill is any kind of point of view at all on some of the. Hear, hear . On some of the key issues. I mean, he cant attack the government if he cant come up with a view of his own. Mr speaker, in the words of the song, all i want for christmas is a view the snps westminster leader turned to the impact of brexit on scotland. Mr speaker, scotland has been completely ignored by westminster throughout the brexit process, and now we are being kept in the dark over the devastating price we will be forced to pay. People in scotland arent willing to suffer the consequences of this economic vandalism. 16 consecutive polls have shown a majority for independence, and mrspeaker, its little wonder. Isnt it as clear as day that the only way left to protect scotlands interests and our place in europe is for scotland to become an independent country. The uk currently has the highest Youth Employment in the g7, a point made to the advantage of the right honourable gentlemen opposite, and lower unemployment than france, italy, spain, the United States and canada. And, of course, there is a threat to the scottish economy, sadly, and that is the high tax regime, and the mismanagement of the scottish nationalist party. That is the problem that scotland faces, and i hope that the people of scotland can see it. The transport secretarys adviser on Christmas Travel preparedness said roads and railways should be able to handle the rush safely. People are being advised to book train tickets in advance if they plan to travel during the five Day Christmas window. Some mps are concerned that the relaxation of covid restrictions could create an artificial and possibly dangerous peak in the numbers travelling. Virtually, because were squeezing it into this window, it will lead to a level of overcrowding, or certainly a circumstance in which social distancing cannot be achieved. So, the very general answer to that is no. I think the circumstances are this, are these, which is that there is a proportion of the population which is self isolating, theres another proportion which is shielding, there is. All the Market Research suggests, well, the latest ones ive seen today suggest that 76 of people are not intending to travel, and of those that are, 80 are planning to travel by car, and we can get into individual modes later, but actually, quite a lot of that car travel will be on christmas day. And i think as a consequence, we are quite well placed for the public transport modes to operate so far as Long Distance travel is concerned entirely within the social distancing. Do you expect a considerable increase in demand that may occui over the Christmas Period . Well, yes. There will be an increase, but it wont be massive, simply because the trains cant accommodate it. So, i think you can see on the 23rd, that bookings during the day on the 23rd in easton, for example, are towards the upper limit for some trains of 70 thats reservable, and that will make the station appear busier than it has done in recent months, but it wont be half as busy as it is normally. And im not expecting, for example, to see anything like the numbers of people that we wouldve got pre covid. But what if there was unexpected demand or something went wrong . How would people who depended on the railways get to their destination . The money that was announced last saturday, which is up to £3 million for Coach Services to meet additional demand, is being put into networks which are very flexible, and we can tell them as we understand if Railway Bookings become full we can tell them what likely additional demand there is, and theyve assured us that theyre flexible enough to be able to cope with it. And i think thats a very good insurance policy. A conservative former immigration minister has warned that changes to the asylum system could see Vulnerable People living in camps with no mains, electricity or water. New rules which apply from next month will prevent people from claiming asylum in the uk if theyve passed through a safe third country, such as france. The current immigration minister told mps that the changes were designed to deter people from making dangerous journeys. Channel crossings are not only highly dangerous, but also unnecessary because france and other European Countries are safe, and asylum should be claimed there. These changes will mean that individuals who could and should have claimed asylum previously in a safe country may not have their asylum claims determined in the uk where we are able to safely return them. This will have a deterrent effect by sending a clear message to anyone thinking of coming to the uk dangerously from a safe country that they should not risk their lives by doing so. This deterrent effect will also destroy the Business Model of the ruthless criminal gangs. His predecessor as immigration minister said the changes would have far reaching implications. Intended to act as a deterrent to people traffickers, which, of course, is laudable, they instead create a separate tier of Asylum Seeker who will not have their claim considered and who the minister will seek to return with no mechanism yet to do so. And they will be housed in camps, like the one proposed in the valley with no mains electricity nor mains water. Does he think the changes might in fact see an increase to the asylum application backlog . I ask the minister, does he have a Strategic Plan or does he hope housing people on sites where he admits he will not provide health care willjust act as a deterrent . Mr speaker, the minister plans to put people in camps with no mains water at a time when we know hygiene is critical. And if it were not for you having granted this urgent question today, he would not even have come to the house to explain himself. At the heart of this is a desire to dissuade people, indeed, prevent people from making unnecessary and dangerous journeys, in particular across the English Channel endangering their own lives, feeding ruthless criminal people smugglers and all for no purpose. For no purpose because france is a safe country where asylum can easily be claimed. This change allows for the government to deem a claim inadmissible without any cooperation or agreement in place to facilitate returning that person to a third country. This is an unworkable half plan being introduced by the back door exchanges to the immigration rules with no opportunity for proper parliamentary scrutiny, mr speaker. The message this house should be sending out, all of us, the opposition front bench included, is that if somebody is in mainland europe, continental europe, and they feel they have a protection claim that needs to be heard, they should not attempt a dangerous crossing of the English Channel. They should not pay money to ruthless people smugglers. They should use the very well functioning asylum systems in our very civilised european neighbours. Let that message go out from this house today. It will save life. It seems to me this isnt about fixing the asylum system, rather, its about blocking access to it, leaving people in limbo and undermining the Refugee Convention in doing so. As i have already said, the people in this cohort will not be in limbo because after a reasonable period of time, if no return to another country as possible, the asylum claim will be substantially considered here. So the possibility of limbo that he referred to does not exist. But conservative mps hoped things would change. Sooner or later, theres going to be an appalling tragedy in the channel. The reason why economic migrants make this crossing is because they know that our present asylum laws are a complete joke, that if you make it halfway across the channel, the chance of ever being deported are virtually zero because of activities of so called human rights lawyers who are actually putting lives at risk by their shenanigans in the law courts. What we want to have from the minister is an absolute Firm Commitment that as from the ist ofjanuary, if you cross the channel, it is obvious you are coming from a safe country, you will be immediately returned. Thats what we want to know. Of course, that is the policy objective of the government, its my objective, its the home secretarys objective and indeed the Prime Ministers, but in order to affect returns, we need the agreement of the receiving country, and so one of our top priorities, well, my top priority, as soon as the european level of negotiations are concluded, is to seek exactly those kind of return agreements. Chris philp there. Youre watching wednesday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. Now, regular viewers will know theres been a parliamentary tussle over the uk internal market bill. The legislation has been bouncing between the lords and the commons with devolution the final sticking point. Some powers from the eu are due to return to the uk at the end of the transition period. The bills opponents feared that meant westminster getting more power at the expense of the devolved bodies. Under a compromise brokered in the lords, the bill will now allow limited flexibility for the devolved nations to do things differently. Peers finally gave the bill go ahead late on tuesday night. And so it was back in the commons one last time. The government is confident that these amendments provide an appropriate way to ensure that Market Access principles in this bill can act to ensure certainty and a seamlessly functioning internal market for all british businesses and citizens. They do this whilst allowing for a degree of flexibility reflecting different circumstances in particular parts of the uk. He will be aware that the Welsh Government remain deeply dissatisfied and have actually announced that they intend to take the uk government to court over the provisions in this bill, not least the state aid provisions and the economic intervention proposals. It is still far from ideal, and the government have been tracked to these issues kicking and screaming because of the pressure we have applied working tirelessly in the other place. But the snp reckoned the bill was still an aberration. Westminster ministers will still have the right to impose lower food, environmental, and other devolved standards on scotland regardless of the view of holyrood. This bill is the biggest assault on devolution in the history of the scottish parliament. It undermines devolved policymaking, grabs spending powers, and removes state aid from being a devolved responsibility. And when mps began to vote on the uk internal market bill, drew hendry protested noisily shouting outrageous and unacceptable. The honourable gentleman must resume his seat. He must resume his seat. The honourable gentlemen must resume his seat, and he knows that. Its just. This isjust showing off. After a telling off from the Deputy Speaker dame rosie winterton, he was named meaning he suspended and sent out of the commons chamber. If he wants to be named. Does he want to be named . Is that whats happening . If that is what is happening, then we can do it. Mps from all sides of the commons have called on the government to take action against china over its treatment of uighur muslims. A bbc investigation found that china is forcing hundreds of thousands of uighurs and other minorities into hard labour primarily in the cotton industry. The Foreign Office minister said he expected china to live up to its international responsibilities. Evidence of forced uighur labour within xianjing and in other parts of china is credible, it is growing, and deeply troubling to the uk government. Yesterdays media reporting based in part on Chinese Government documents suggests forced labour is occurring on a significant scale. The reports raise particular concerns regarding the cotton industry with serious implications for international and uk supply chains. The shocking bbc revelations must be the trigger for action following accounts of forced sterilisations, beatings, and re education camps which undeniably share features of genocide. Yesterday, it became clear that britain is deeply involved in this story. Were tied to the uighur people through our Global Supply chains, importing cotton borne of forced labour into our markets, and in doing so unwittingly helping to sustain these appalling mass atrocities. Will he legislate for uk garment retailers to show on the labelling if cotton is sourced from force uighur labour in xianjing so consumers can decide for themselves which brands they wish to support . The minister said the gov