Transcripts For BBCNEWS Tuesday In Parliament 20180228

To tuesday in parliament. Coming up on this programme mps and experts talk trade after brexit. With the former head of the World Trade Organization predicting new deals wont compensate for the loss of business with the the eu. The 1 you can gain there will be comparable to the 5 , 6 or 7 you would lose on the other side. A committee of mps asks if theres enough information for smokers about e cigarette. And the governments urged to act to help end a Hunger Strike of the yarls wood Detention Centre. One woman has described it as being kidnapped. Not knowing when it is going to end or whats going to happen to her. But first. In a speech on tuesday morning, the International Trade secretary liam fox said britain must be free to make its own trade deals outside europe, if its to seize new opportunities to sell to developing countries. Labour wants the uk to form a new Customs Union, but doctor fox insisted that would be a complete sell out of Britains National interest. His speech came as a former permanent secretary at the department for International Trade had described brexit as, giving up a 3 course meal in return for a packet of crisps. A comment raised by a labour mp at treasury questions. Does the chancellor agree with the former secretary that giving up the Single Market and the Customs Union is like giving up a 3 course mealfor a packet of crisps in the future . If he does not agree, then can he identify what specific evidence his department has seen that future trade agreements will outweigh the damage of leaving the Single Market and Customs Union for businesses and jobs across the country, but particularly the northeast. Hear, hear well, mr speaker, it is the governments intention to maintain the highest possible access for british businesses to European Union markets. And the honourable lady is right, that we should approach this on an evidence basis. We should look for the evidence of value of our trade flows with europe, what that generates in the uk in terms ofjobs, and we should look objectively at the opportunities that lie with third country trade deals and the likely profile of newjobs and new trade and new opportunities that can be created, and we should weigh those carefully. But another quote appeared to have the chancellor just a little stumped. Labors Stella Creasy raised comments from the foreign secretary borisjohnson. Hes used a bbc interview to dismiss concerns that a hard irish border would emerge after leaving the eu Customs Union, suggesting the lack of border checks between camden and westminster did not stop motorists paying the congestion charge. Could the chancellor set out the benefit or otherwise of the arrangement the government appears to have for a Customs Union between camden, islington and westminster . Laughter. Im sure, mrspeaker, when i go home and reflect on it, the deep meaning of that question will become clear to me. Laughter. But what i will say in response to the honourable lady is, that if we look at the way goods and Services Flow freely between different parts of our own economy, and indeed different parts of the united kingdom, we see at once the huge benefit that it brings having frictionless borders as we move our goods and services. Well, by coincidence, the former general of the World Trade Organization was giving evidence to mps on the brexit committee, and he was asked about the border between Northern Ireland and the republic. Currently it reflects on this border there, if we resorted to wto rules, how would the wto regard the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic . And what would they expect to happen at that border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic . The Irish Republic, being a member of the eu and Northern Ireland of course being outside the eu after brexit. Whatever option you take either a Bilateral Agreement or the wto option uk exiting eu, meaning Northern Ireland exiting eu, this will necessitate a border. He suggested one possible model like that of macau and china. In order to be a wto member, you dont need to be a sovereign. You need to have another members customs policy, which is something which macau, hong kong has whereas in the case of macau they clearly belong to china, but they are members of the wto in their own right, because they have an autonomous trade. And the macau option would be that you should think it out, giving to Northern Ireland. The same trade capacity as china has given to macau, which doesnt mean that macau doesnt belong to china. And then you have the single system. Apply the same trade relations as ireland. Otherwise you have to have a border. Again, where is this border . Is it north south, is the east west . That is politically an extremely complex question. But in my view and i am putting this very simply as an expert if it is not east west it has to be north south. So, what was his view of our future trade prospects . Im not saying the uk will not have trade opportunities, which it may not have today as part of the eu. But i would very much doubt as an expert and again i am not entering any politics that the 1 you can gain there will be comparable to the 5 , 6 or 7 you will lose on the other side. Pascal lamy. Now, the former chief executive of the collapsed Construction Firm carillion has said hes perplexed by the governments decision not to give the Company Financial help when it reached a crisis point. Carillion, one of the governments biggest contractors, went into liquidation last month with debts totaling £1. 5 billion. The company had employed 43,000 people and had contracts to run services in hospitals, schools and prisons throughout the uk. As part of the investigations into the firms downfall on january 14, some of its former bosses had been facing the questions of a joint committee of mps. Did government or did any one individual in government give you assurance that there would be a potential cash support from government to get you over what you considered at that point to be a hump, to get you through to the end of the Financial Year . The assurance we did not get. The government certainly did not say, yes, we will support you. What they did say is, please put forward a proposal and we are prepared to consider and contemplate that proposal. The key point here is there was a number of different ways that cash could have come into carillion. We could have reached a settlement with government on specific contract issues or government could have given us a short term loan, which to be clear would have been repaid out of the financing of the restructuring, of the results of the Restructuring Plan that we were working for. Mr green, what was your view on the governments response following carillions downfall . Right up until the very end, we were optimistic that they would be able to play a positive role. And we were deeply disappointed, and to an extent surprised when that didnt happen. The funding we were asking for those two weeks in january, essentially 10 million to be matched, 10 million from the banks and then some guarantee underpinning for a supply of change financing against which we would, they would be tested through the broader Restructuring Plan. And i do find it somewhat perplexing when one looks at the funds that government is now having to spend on the liquidation on carillion, on the guarantee arrangements that have needed to be put in place to support the supply chain. You know, i still truly believe that the least cost outcome for the taxpayer would have been to support carillion, as it sought to restructure the business. Did you ever have a conversation with your colleagues, saying, actually the government is never going to let us go to the wall because we are too big to fail and weve got such major contracts . For example hs2 . Because you expressed some surprise that i feel as if you actually really believed that the government was going to bail you out of what was a poor situation. Would that be fair . No, it would be fair. Let me be clear, we were not looking for a bailout. That is not how i would view government support. This was a short term loan to help us facilitate a broader restructuring. The Company Successfully delivered many hundreds of contracts, to the satisfaction of government and all stakeholders. The reason the company got into difficulties during 2017 was because it had too much debt and its Balance Sheet wasnt able to withstand the shock from particularly four contracts that went badly wrong in the middle of 2017. Did you not have a naive belief frankly in government being the solution, taxpayers money coming into frankly bailout carillion . That was essentially what you are hanging it all on at the end, wasnt it . As we said, we dont accept or recognize the bailout. We believed we were trying. But a loan to a company in difficulty, a loan would have only been a loan if you had been recovered enough to pay it back. It would be a very big risk. In middle of january it was £10 million for one week to take us to the next stage. So, a final point from sir geoffrey. The real answer that you considered yourself to be to fail . No. That the government would have to bail you out because you were too big to fail . That was not the view of the board, that was not what we believed. We really didnt. Well, i think we may beg to differ on that. But can i thank you for your time. Meg hillier, there, bringing the session to a conclusion. Youre watching tuesday in parliament here with me, alicia mccarthy. Now, the appointment of the controversial columnist toby young to the board of englands new University Regulator caused a storm last month. After disparaging comments hed made about women and disabled people came to light. He then resigned. Now, a report by the commissioner for public appointments has found serious shortcomings and political interference in the appointments process. Weeks ago, the government told this house the process was a fair and open competition, and in accordance with the code of practice. But the commissioner has found that this is not the case. One candidate was rejected on the basis of their past public statements. Incredibly, this was not toby young. Laughter. It was the student representative, rejected due to the desire by ministers and special advisers not to appoint someone with close links to the student union. Hear, hear shocking. The report also notes that can the minister tell us why being elected by students makes someone unsuitable to represent them . And how could the then minister tell us that it was not reasonable to vet social media, when they did so for the student representative . Clearly it was not as extensive as it couldve been. Hear, hear it was the previous Higher Education ministerjoejohnson who oversaw the appointments. He came in for some stinging criticism from mps. This report is absolutely damning. Particularly in relation to the former universities minister and his role in this appointment. And there are very serious questions that he should be answering to this house about claims that he made that it was not appropriate to do Due Diligence on candidates, a statement he made from despatch box yet his department and him himself ordering the very same Due Diligence against a cabinet he did not want to appoint. The same Due Diligence was carried out by the same advices on all candidates and as ive said in response to an earlier question, the Due Diligence couldve more extensive. Toby young believed in eugenics. He made terrible remarks about disabled people. He made awful remarks about women. This is a man that his predecessor thought was fine to be on the board of office for students. I say to him, what confidence now should working class young people across this country, underrepresented groups and ethnic minorities have in the office for students if we have a government where the minister who did this cannot come to the despatch box, apologise or step down . Does he think it was a sound judgement call to allow number ten advisers to essentially blacklist anybody and then appoint somebody who is a chum, by not following any proper process. Was that a good judgement call . Every decision any minister makes involves a judgement. Its not a scientific process. In terms of making sure the process works better, the department which has ultimate responsibility to make sure we have a much more robust and stringent process next time. The governments come under fire over a port showing the number of people in england and wales being detained under the Mental Health act has been rising year on year. Labors Luciana Berger used an urgent question to raise the finding of the watchdog, the care quality commission. This scathing report finds that too many patients who are subject to the Mental Health act continued to experience care that does not fully protect their rights or ensure their well being. Despite repeated government promises, we have seen yet another year of inaction. Can the minister in her response except that and 2018 here in england that what is outlined in todays report is completely on acceptable and could she tell us exactly what she is going to do this week to ensure that no patient in our country and a Mental Health unit is deprived unnecessarily of their human rights. The Health Minister welcomed the cqcs report and said the Prime Minister had already ordered a review of the use of the Mental Health act by professor simon westley. I do agree with her and indeed with the report that the review of the Mental Health act in itself is not the entire answer. Thats why we have this annual inspection from the cqc and we will act on it. Central to the work that simon wesley is leading is identifying exactly those things which are non legislative that we can take action and to make the system work better and again we are involved in many cross government initiatives to do exactly that. Meanwhile in the lords, peers demanded to know what the government was doing about a Hunger Strike at the yarlswood detention center. The independent online says more than 100 women at the Immigration Removal Center have gone on Hunger Strike over inhumane conditions at the facility. Theyre said to be concerned about Health Provision and uncertainty over how long they are to be held. A liberal democrat said there were around 400 people held at yarlswood, the majority of them women. One algerian woman came to this country at the age of 11, has been here for 24 years and it wasnt until she applied for a passport and found she was undocumented that she was been detained and so far she has been there for three months. Would the minister not agree that one of the main reasons for the Hunger Strikes is that people are being detained unfairly, unreasonably and indefinitely . One woman has described it as like being kidnapped. Not knowing what its going to end and whats going to happen to her. He said one person had been detained for four and a half years. Would the minister not agree that it is time to introduce a 28 day limit on immigration detention . The reasons for refusing food and fluid are not forjust one reason, there may be for a multitude of reasons. They may be an protest against their detention but they may also be for other reasons such as dietary and religious reasons. Its true. It is not a simple issue. In terms of indefinite detention, the noble lord did point out that detention for the particular case that he outlined was not indefinite but in fact the lady had been detained for three months. Every four months a detainee is reassessed for immigration bail and is actually quite fair to say that most people in detention, 92 , do not stay in detention for more than four months. Will the government not reconsider looking at the mechanisms used in the scandinavian countries where work is done within the community to encourage and successfully to get people to leave when they have no right to be there and apply a more humane and frankly more effective policy such as the ones we see in those countries. I dont have concerns that the governments policy is not working. The reason that someone may remain in detention for longer than they might have done. Is because they made themselves. The reasons for detention are many and complex but the purpose for detention is for swift removal. Do you agree that we need a bit of balance on this subject . In particular does she agree that the credibility of the immigration system depends on being able to remove people who no longer have a right to be in this country . Clearly there will be difficult cases and clearly they must be dealt with in the best possible way but fundamentally, we have to be able to remove or the entire credibility of the system is removed. The noble lord is absolutely right. That is the purpose of detention for necessary removal and i do also take his point that while we do need to deal with people sensitively who perhaps are traumatised or have Mental Health problems or other reasons for which they may be vulnerable, the ultimate aim of the Detention Centre is for removal. According to the office for national statistics, 7. 6 Million People smoke in the uk am and that number is falling. 7. 6 Million People smoke in the uk and that number is falling. 2016 saw the highest proportion of smokers who quit since their records began. Nearly 3 Million People now use e cigarettes. But researchers and producers said that number was battling. The producers wanted to stress the benefit compared with smoking. The research is very similar to that that the Public Health england have reviewed and that you find far fewer toxicants and emissions from that is toxicants and emissions from the e cigarettes, the toxicological impact of those omissions is much lower than with cigarette smoking. The results showed that the reductions in exposure, so exposure to harmful chemicals comes close to that seen in those who stop smoking altogether for the duration of the study so very encouraging. But there were claims from researchers of a dearth of information about heat not burn products which contained tobacco but have fewer risks than traditional cigarettes because the tobacco doesnt combust. In terms of heat not burn, 350 degrees down to 30 degrees, we know in circumstances there is no combustion but you will still be releasing some potentially harmful chemicals albeit in smaller amounts. Actually comparative studies have been done or they have been so desperate that its very difficult to compare one study with another. What about the chemicals in e cigarettes . Compared to conventional cigarettes the levels are much lower. We havent done an exact comparison but they are much, much lower. Its the dose thats important. We dont know at this stage, maybe others do, im not sure there is a cut off we can say this level will translate into development of cancer. We dont know over the longer term what kind of levels of repeated exposure are going to have an impact on health risk. Both researchers and producers agree more long term studies were needed into exactly the potential risks, but all of them stress the risks compared with traditional cigarettes were much lower. Finally, tuesday got off to a slightly spiky start with a minister getting into trouble with the Speakerjohn Bercow. The treasury minister liz truss with the chancellor Philip Hammond sitting alongside her on the front bench was answering a question about funding for local councils. And took the opportunity to give examples of where she thought theyd wasted money. But as she expanded on her theme, the Speakerjohn Bercow reckoned she had strayed too far from herjob, talking about government responsibilities. So, for example, momentum supported. Which cost the taxpayer £40,000 per day. Reading. Resume your seat minister. You answer for government policy. You dont waste the time of the house by launching into rants about policies of other parties. Ive made the point. If the chancellor is confused about it, he really is underinformed. The Speakerjohn Bercow delivering his own arctic blast at treasury questions. And thats it from us for now. Do join me at the same time tomorrow for another round up of the day here at westminster, including the highlights from Prime Ministers questions. But for now, from me alicia mccarthy, goodbye. The coldest snap of this winter season so the coldest snap of this winter season so far is set to continue with more snow in the forecast, some areas seen a lot of snow particularly the eastern side of the uk, totals will continue to top up because we have more heavy snow forecast, further travel disruption likely and winds will increase, it will increase the wind chill. We have seen this bitterly cold air coming from siberia across Northern Europe towards our shores, all these snow showers of the north sea into eastern areas, and amber warning in eastern areas, and amber warning in east anglia and weekends is gerry and in kent during course of the night, heavy snow showers pushing into the north east of england and eastern scotland. We have an amber warning in force for this part of the uk and further 5 15 centimetres of snow likely even to the central belt of scotland where we could see significant disruption and total is higher than this locally, certainly of higher ground. There will be a lot of disruption to travel across parts of scotland and the north east of england, further south it looks like showers will ease through the day, there will be heavy ones around but good sunny spells in between. Bitterly cold day, some places barely getting above freezing. Add on the strong winds and it will feel more like 5 to make 10, significant wind chill. Looking to the south this deep area of low pressure which has been named by the Portuguese Met Service as storm emma will continue to move. It will bump into the cold air and turn into snow and we could see heavy disruptive snow in southern counties during thursday towards south wales pushing a bit further north into the midlands. Further north will be plenty of heavy snow showers again across much of central and eastern scotla nd across much of central and eastern scotland and into Northern Ireland and we maintain these amber warnings, the one across the northeast and also this across the south west. Disruption and nasty conditions. Very cold day expected on thursday. Welcome to bbc news broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. My name is mike embley. Our top stories 400,000 civilians remain trapped in eastern ghouta, as plans to suspend fighting for a humanitarian pause fail on the first day. A blow to team trump as the president s son in law and senior adviser, jared kushner, has his White House Security clearance downgraded. Europes big freeze continues. Record snowfalls and temperatures as low as minus 20 celsius bring many cities to a standstill. And, shaping Popular Culture with classic films we pay tribute to director Lewis Gilbert whos died aged 97