Transcripts For BBCNEWS The Week In Parliament 20170423

Turnout in the first round of the president ial election is slightly higher than at the same stage in 2012. A Murder Investigation has been launched after man was killed by thieves who stole his car from outside his house in manchester. Now on bbc news, bbc Parliaments Programme looking back at the week in westminster, presented by alicia mccarthy. Hello and welcome to the week in parliament, when theresa may went public with the best kept secret in westminster. I have just chaired a meeting with the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a General Election, to be held on 8thjune. Opposition parties say they welcome the fight, but. This is a Prime Minister who promised there wouldnt be one. A Prime Minister who cannot be trusted. Meanwhile in holyrood, the snp and the conservatives square up over scotlands future. But it wasnt all about the General Election. In the commons, there was concern over the Nuclear Ambitions of north korea. And condemnation of the alleged death, detention and torture of gay men in chechnya. Others would join in beating him with sticks or metal rods and demanding to know the names of other gay men that he knew in chechnya. But first, on paper it had looked like mps were set for a gentle return after easter, with just a little light legislating to keep them busy in the chamber. Peers, meanwhile, had not yet even returned from their break, with another week of their recess to run. So it was to a hastily assembled and unsuspecting press pack that theresa may unleashed the best kept secret in westminster on tuesday morning. Mrs may explained why shed changed her mind about holding an early election. The country is coming together, but westminster is not. In recent weeks, labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. The Scottish National party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals britains membership of the European Union. And unelected members of the House Of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way. Our opponents believe, because the governments majority is so small, that our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course. They are wrong. If we do not hold a General Election now, their political gameplaying will continue and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run up to the next scheduled election. Division in westminster will risk our ability to make a success of brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. So we need a General Election, and we need one now. Because we have at this moment a one off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position, and before the detailed talks began. Theresa may no longer has the power to call an election exactly when she wants. Under the fixed term parliaments act, two thirds of mps must support of the idea. So it was announced that the next afternoon thered be a 90 minute debate and that all important vote. But first, there was the small matter of Prime Ministers questions to get through. We welcome the General Election, but. But this. But this is a Prime Minister who promised there wouldnt be one. A Prime Minister who cannot be trusted. She says its about leadership, yet is refusing to defend her record in television debates. And it is not hard to see why. The Prime Minister says we have a stronger economy. Yet she cant explain why peoples wages are lower today than they were ten years ago, or why more households are in debt, 6 Million People earning less than the living wage, Child Poverty is up, Pensioner Poverty is up, so why are so many people getting poorer . Well, i can assure the right honourable gentleman, first of all, i would point. I would point out to him that i have been answering his questions and debating these matters every wednesday that parliament has been sitting since i became Prime Minister, and i will be taking out to the country in this campaign a proud record of a conservative government. A stronger economy, an economy with a deficit nearly two thirds down, with 30 Million People with a tax cut, 4 Million People taken out of income tax altogether, Record Levels of employment, and £1,250 more a year for pensioners. Thats a record we can be proud of. If the Prime Minister is so confident that a hard brexit, Pro Austerity and the Immigration Case is right, she should debate it with leaders during the campaign. Theresa may said shed be out campaigning in every part of the uk, and she had this advice for the snp. Now is the time for them to put aside their Tunnel Vision on independence and actually explain to the scottish people why under the snp they are not putting as much money into the Health Service as they have been given from the uk, there are not exercising the powers theyve been given, and Scottish Education is getting worse. Its time they got back to the dayjob. The British Public deserve to hear Party Leaders set out their plans and debate them publicly, but the Prime Minister has refused to take part in televised leaders debates. Why will she not debate these issues . What is she scared of . I can assure the honourable gentleman that i will be debating these issues publicly across the country, as well as every Single Member of the conservative team. A veteran labour mp raised alleged breaches of Election Expenses from the 2015 election, which are still being investigated by some police forces. Will the Prime Minister give a guarantee that no tory mps who are under investigation by the police and the legal authorities over Election Expenses in the last General Election will be a candidate in this election . Because if she wont accept that, this is the most squalid Election Campaign that has happened in my lifetime. I stand by all the conservative mps who are in this house, and who will be out there standing again, campaigning for a conservative government that will give a brighter and Better Future for this country. Theresa may. A short time later, mps had their chance to debate and vote on mrs mays call for an early election. If this election is, as the Prime Minister says, about a secure future for this country, if it is an election of such national significance, we should have an urgent change in the law to give britains 1. 5 million 16 and 17 year olds a say in what will very much be their future on 8thjune. The people of Northern Ireland will have a clear choice. They will have a clear choice as to whether they will want to rally round and say very, very firmly that they want Northern Ireland to remain part of the united kingdom, or whether they want to go down the route presented by sinn fein, which is this Marxist Leninist Concept Of A Republic which has been rejected even by most people who accept their nationalism, but reject what they stand for in terms of their Economic Outlook and all the rest of it. In essence, the Prime Ministers argument is that she has no confidence in parliament. So we have this bizarre situation where we had a referendum that was about taking back control and parliamentary sovereignty, but a Prime Minister who pronounces that she has no confidence in parliament. Against the eu, for the eu, then against again. Against holding a General Election, and now determined to have a General Election. The record is about as straight as the legendary European Union banana. To suggest that she needs a mandate to negotiate brexit isjust ridiculous. She was given that mandate on 24th june, by a majority of the british people, and it is up to her now to carry that out. There is only one reason why the Prime Minister wants a General Election on 8th june, and that is she figures she has a better chance of winning it now than she does in the future. I know that this government, which has delivered so much already and has so much more to deliver, will have a resonance with the British Public when they look at what is on offer from the other parties, who are divided, they are wrangling, theyre scaremongering, and they are in brexit denial. And at the end, mrs may comfortably got her way. Order, order. The ayes to the right, 422. 522. The noes to the left, 13. And that meant theresa may had well over the two thirds majority she needed to dissolve parliament for an early election on 8thjune. The snp won all but three of the 59 scottish seats at westminster, but they abstained on that commons vote. At holyrood, where they form the government, they were rather more demonstrative. At First Ministers questions on thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said the question was who would stand up for scotland against an increasingly hardline tory government. We have seen the damage that tories do with a small majority. I know they dont want to hear it, but with a small majority the tories have cut scotlands budget, theyve imposed the bedroom tax, the rape clause, cuts in disabled support, robbed women of their pension entitlement. Lets think about the damage a tory government could do with a bigger majority. She focused on what the snp are calling the rape clause, a benefits change which limits payments to two children, unless a woman can show a third child resulted from rape or coercion. This tory government is forcing women to prove that they have been raped before they get access to benefits for their children. I will give. Ill give Ruth Davidson the chance to do today what she has shamefully so far refused to do. Do not pass the buck. Stand up here today and tell this chamber, tell scotland straight, do you support the rape clause in principle or do you, like me, think it is utterly abhorrent . Answer the question. Ill answer the question the same way i answered it in the press this morning. If the First Minister doesnt like the two child tax policy, she can change it. But the truth is. The truth is this First Minister is always happier, always happier, complaining about the uk government than she is about doing anything herself. And the fact is that the way the snp is readying itself to pour negativity on this country at this election is shameful. And she might not like it, she might not like it, but scotland is part of this united kingdom. And if the First Minister really wants to set out her stall at this election, isnt a practical vision of how she is governing scotland the very least that we should all expect . Given the way that education and the economy are going, is she just banking on the fact that scots just wont buy it . The First Minister has said that she wants an honest debate. So lets have it. It suits the snp for the tories to stay in power. Thats why they refused to vote theresa may out of office yesterday. And every day that the tories remain in power, 430,000 scots go without a real living wage. Women go without the pension they have worked their whole lives for. And young people have their Housing Benefit stripped away from them. It suits the snp for the tories to stay in power because the only thing the snp has ever cared about is independence. So tell us, First Minister, on 8thjune, what is more important . Kicking the tories out of office or having another divisive referendum . Jeremy corbyn is unelectable and will leave Labour Carping from the sidelines. How do we know that . Because thats what Kezia Dugdale said about Jeremy Corbyn. I agree with Kezia Dugdale about how awful and how damaging this tory government is. Thats why i think it is so utterly shameful and disgraceful that labour have allowed itself to get in the position that this lot are 20 points ahead of them in the Opinion Polls uk wide, and even ahead of them in scotland as well. That is labours failure and it is an utter disgrace. Nicola sturgeon. Away from the election, mps turned their eyes to the wider world and united in condemnation of the treatment of gay men in the russian republic of chechnya. Answering an urgent question, the Foreign Office minister sir alan duncan, who was the first openly gay conservative mp, said the reported torture and killing was beyond contempt. The arbitrary detention and ill treatment of over 100 men in chechnya because of their Sexual Orientation is of deep concern to the uk. Credible reports suggesting that at least four people have been killed and many have been tortured are particularly shocking. Statements by the Regional Government in chechnya which appeared to condone and incite violence against lgbt people are utterly despicable. The question had been raised by a labour mp. We are talking about beatings, abuse, electric shock treatments. I do not say this lightly, but some have described gay concentration camps. And the guardians shaun walker expressed the horrors that we are seeing, he described a situation where an individual at least once a day, captors attached metal clamps and sent powerful electric shocks through his body. If he managed not to scream, othersjoined in beating him with sticks or metal rods and demanding to know the names of other gay men that he knew in chechnya. So if we have any doubts of the brutality of this regime towards the lgbt community, we need not have them. So he asked, what had the British Government done to put pressure on the russian or chechen governments . We fully condemn this. We do use all engagement with russia to make our voice clear. I did so personally with the Deputy Foreign minister of russia when i met him two or three weeks ago. We spoke on general Human Rights Matters and also chechnya. And may i say that i hope this house will be fully united in giving as strong as possible a message to russia, and to chechnya in particular, that this kind of activity is beyond contempt and is not acceptable in the world in which we live. Whether we like it or not, kadyrov actually has the fundamental support in some terms of his nation, as a region of the russian federation. So how do we underline that is also about investment and also about our foreign aid in tackling human rights across the world . Will the Deputy Foreign minister commit now here on the floor of the house in fighting for human rights, lgbt and other rights in places like chechnya, to ensure that his foreign aid budget doesnt change after the General Election . I think we should all commit to Fighting Prejudice wherever we find it, and i hope that when we stand in the election onjune 8th, that will be part of all of the views that we hold as we present ourselves to the electorate. The Foreign Secretary came to the commons to update mps on the situation in north korea following a failed missile test. North koreas vice Foreign Minister told the bbc pyongyang would continue to test missiles and would launch a pre Emptive Nuclear strike if it thought the us was planning an attack. In the commons, borisjohnson called on china to use its influence with the country. The regime is now developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles which would be capable of delivering a Nuclear Strike on the mainland United States. These weapons have not yet been fully tested, but no one can be complacent about the potential threat they pose. Yesterday, i spoke to my chinese counterpart and i urged him to use beijings unique influence to restrain north korea and to allow a peaceful resolution of this crisis. This crisis can only be resolved through coordinated international action, through the de escalation of tensions, and ultimately through negotiations. So can he assure us that britain will argue against any unilateral Military Action taken by the United States and instead urgently back chinas call for the resumption of the Six Party Talks . When it comes to north korea, the world needs statesmanship, not brinksmanship. Labour says food prices are on the rise and is warning things will get worse if theres a bad brexit deal. But the Environment Minister argued the proportion of income spent by the poorest households on food hadnt gone up. Children are returning to school after the easter holidays hungry. The elderly are being admitted to hospital for malnourishment. And still this government refuses to properly measure the levels of hunger and food poverty in our country. Isnt it true that they refuse to measure it because then they would have to admit some culpability . The honourable lady is wrong. We do mention it, and we have a longstanding living cost of food survey which has run for many, many years and which includes a measure for Household Spending among the 20 poorest households. And i can tell her that Household Spending in those poorest households has remained steady at around 16 for at least a decade. Fashion Industry Leaders have told mps that the uks departure from the eu could put their haute couture designs at risk of being copied. Its currently possible to get protection across the whole eu. I have got my trademarks registered under eu trademarking. It gets renewed every so many years. I dont know what that means now we are out of it. Are we protected . So youre going to have a lot of companies have registered trademarks on this eu trade intellectual property right, which is going to have to be unravelled. So its a mess. But with every situation like this, there are opportunities, and so it requires fresh thinking, innovation from the side of government, to really think about how you are going to deal with it, and that requires investment. Around one million uk pensioners are now resident in overseas locations, many in sunny retirement destinations such as spain, france and the caribbean. More than half of them dont receive yearly increases in their State Pensions. A conservative argued that wasnt fair. This leads to the ludicrous situation where a british pensioner living on one side of Niagara Falls in canada receives a frozen pension, while another living just a mile across the falls, in the United States, has their pension uprated every year. These people are not immune from the effects of inflation, yet are forced to cope with the rising costs of living on a static income. As you can imagine, this has a major impact upon their lives. But the minister said the cost of giving all uk pensioners overseas an annual uprating was too high. Those who are eligible for uk State Pension can have their pension paid whenever they choose to live. The rules governing the uprating of pensions are straightforward, widely publicised, and have been the same for many years. The governments position remains consistent with that of every government for the last 70 years, and the annual costs of changing it is a long standing policy and will be an extra half a billion pounds, which the government believes cannot be justified. Finally, a conservative mp got into some some hot water after a tactless comment about his wife and her beauty secrets. During environment questions, sir Henry Bellingham attempted to make a point about microbeads, bits of plastic found in many bathroom products, which cause environmental damage when they work their way into the seas and ocean life. Sir henry explained hed been doing some investigating of his own. I was recently rummaging through my wifes collection of shampoos, and to my horror i found a plastic container of olay anti wrinkle, anti ageing lotion, complete with exfoliating microbeads. Obviously, neither the Secretary Of State nor the minister will have need to use this sort of product, but will she get on the telephone to the Chief Executive of Procter Gamble and tell him that selling this sort of product is completely outrageous and it should be withdrawn from the market at once . Extraordinary. Minister. Mr speaker, what i find extraordinary is that Lady Bellingham is a flawless picture and wouldnt even need these products. Im sure that my honourable friend will be Buying Flowers later today to make up for this. I think it might takejust a little more than that. Finally, lets go back to theresa mays surprise election. Heres gary connor with five things we learned this week. The General Election is on but Manchester Gorton is off. Mps cancelled the by election to replace sir gerald kaufman. His successor will now be chosen on 8thjune. The much promised reduction in the number of constituencies hasnt been finished, so this election will be fought under the existing boundaries. Its goodbye to some famous faces. George osborne, Gisela Stuart and alanjohnson were some of the first to say they wont be standing again. But is it hello to some old faces . 73 year old lib dem Sir Vince Cable has declared he wants to come back. The conservative grandee ken clarke has cancelled his retirement. He is hoping to be voted in again. We wont know who will be sitting on these green benches for a little while yet, but the occupant of The Big Green Chair will be familiar. Speakerjohn bercow has already said hell be coming back, if he wins his election, of course. Gary connor. And thats it from us for now, but Dojoin Me On Monday Night at 11pm for another round up of the day here at westminster. The House Of Lords is back from its easter break and both mps and peers will be busy as the government decides which bills it wants to push through before Parliament Dissolves for the General Election. But for now, from me, goodbye. It looks like we will have to get those thick coat out again, notjust this second. A beautiful picture from cornwall. The evening is not looking back across most of the uk, just scattered cloud. The change is starting to take place in the far north. The cold air will be sinking south over the next 2a to 48 hours. South over the next 24 to 48 hours. The cold front moves through scotland, Cold Air Coming in from the arctic, we will start to see some wintry showers across the scottish hills. To the south, mild. Watch how the front moves further south. That is the leading edge of the colder air. Anything south of thatis the colder air. Anything south of that is relatively mild. To the north, sunshine and scattered wintry showers. The week ahead, just an echo of winter heading our way. Good afternoon. The Labour Leader has said he would order a review of all aspects of defence if he wins power. Speaking to the bbcs andrew marr, Jeremy Corbyn refused to say whether hed keep britains Trident Nuclear deterrent. But then a Party Spokesman said the decision to retain trident had been taken, and labour supported that. The conservatives said labour would dismantle the uks defences. Our political correspondent, susanna mendonsa, has more