Transcripts For BBCNEWS The Week In Parliament 20200111

Now on bbc news, the week in parliament. Hello, and welcome to the week in parliament. Was this the moment mps started to get brexit done . The ayes to the right, 330. The noes to the left, 231. The iran missile crisis. The Prime Minister lists the charge sheet against its military chief. And, of course, supplying explosive devices to terrorists who im afraid killed and maimed british troops. That man had the blood of british troops on his hands. The end of the peers show but what should a Second Chamber do . Unless we start by saying what do we think the house of lords is for, and once we have agreed on that, i think the options on how you compose that body will almost naturally flow from itself. And, how should the uk mark its departure from the eu . Will he make representations to the house of Commons Commission whose decision this is that big ben should bong for brexit . But first, a big moment for brexit. We are now a step nearer leaving the eu at the end of this month. The bill to put borisjohnsons brexit deal into law cleared the house of commons on thursday evening. The ayes to the right, 330. The noes to the left, 231. So, the ayes have it, the ayes have it. A government majority of 99 thats what you might call a meaningful vote after all the failed attempts to get the brexit deal through the commons. The Withdrawal Agreement bill covers divorce payments to the eu, Citizens Rights, customs arrangements for Northern Ireland and the planned ii month transition period. Mps had spent three days debating the details. But with a majority of 80, no opposition attempts to change it stood a chance of success. That didnt stop them trying. Labour will continue to fight to protect the most vulnerable. We may not win many votes in parliamentjust now but we can win the moral argument. And of course sir keir starmer hopes to do that as labour leader. Thursday also saw whats likely to be the last brexit questions in the commons the department for exiting the eu is due to be wound up at the end of the month the brexit secretarys job will disappear with it. There was a valedictory air to question time. During the three years the department has been in place, it has had three secretaries of state and three Permanent Secretaries but since the First Departmental question, just one shadow brexit secretary. Without in any way wishing tojinx his next steps, may i. Laughter. Place on record his contribution to the scrutiny of the government, which i am sure will continue in whatever role he plays in the house moving forward. So no more knife edge votes at westminster, but the uk government has failed to win the backing of the Scottish Parliament. Msps voted by 92 votes to 29 against giving formal consent to the Withdrawal Agreement bill. The scottish governments brexit secretary said scottish voters had shown repeatedly that they dont want to leave the eu. That message has been related time and time again. That message to the Prime Minister is as clear today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. Let me put it this way Prime Minister, we said no to brexit and we mean it. But presiding officer, the Prime Minister is not listening to the scottish people, just as his party in scotland, as we hear, is not listening. Because, in three weeks time, it is virtually certain that scotland will be taken out of the European Union against our will. And we will, each of us, be forcibly stripped of our european citizenship against our specific wishes. That is an intolerable situation, and this parliament, as the voice of scotland, must say so. And waless first minister Mark Drakeford says Assembly Members should vote down the bill when it comes before the senedd. The fact of brexit is undoubtedly now there. Nobody should believe that that means somehow that is a blank cheque for a uk government to do things in a way that would cause enormous damage to the welsh economy and to welsh interests. And we will continue to argue, wherever we can, to make sure that those interests are properly defended. Mark dra keford, with a hint of trouble ahead. So, lets take stock of where we are with a real life expert, professor anand menon of the uk in a changing europe thinktank at kings college, london. The bill sailed through the commons what did we learn along the way . Well, i think that older people like me have remembered and younger people will have heard what it was to have a majority government. Because all of a sudden, this government is going to win all the votes. And you see opposition parties wondering about amendments but knowing that ultimately, unless they get the support of the government, they are not going to go through. And we have just learnt what power borisjohnson has at his disposal, at the moment at least. So, its going his way so far. The bill will now go to the house of lords. Could anything go wrong there . The house of lords will grumble and quibble, im sure about that. But, remember, all the key elements of what is in this bill were part of the conservative manifesto so i find it very hard to believe that the lords are going to kick up too much of a fuss, and even if they do, going back to that majority again, they can be overruled by the house. And what are the sort of thing is that they would grumble about . Well, several things. For instance, this version of the Withdrawal Agreement bill has removed parliamentary scrutiny over certain things, and i think that has caused some concern in parliament, but again, well, on the one hand, you can wonder why a government with a majority of 80 would bother doing that, on the other, there is not much that opponents can do. There is some slight concern, interestingly, in brussels, about some phraseology in the bill that says the institution being created to monitor eu Citizens Rights could be replaced by another one. And youve heard some rhetoric from the other side of the channel that actually they are a bit concerned about this. I wouldnt be at all surprised if you dont hear that being debated in the house of lords as well. And closer to home, the signs are that the scots and the welsh will withhold their consent from this bill. Is that a practical problem or a political one . It is more of a political one. I dont think weve had a piece of legislation go through without the consent of both the scottish and the welsh before. And the main political issue here is the scots because the snp are obviously pushing this line that we have a mandate for another referendum because of the outcome of the general election, and they will use brexit to try and strengthen that cause. And if we think as far back as last month, there was a queens speech, and there were other bills in that queens speech that focused on life after brexit. The government will presumably need to get these past this year. The government will need to get them past this year but until we reach the end of the year, we are essentially in the single market, in the customs union, we still have freedom of movement, all those things about trade bills and all those things to do with our new immigration policy will need to be in place for after that. So, we are talking about things like immigration, environment. Agriculture. Fisheries. Yes, agriculture, fisheries. There are many areas of Public Policy where essentially the eu has substituted for westminster, fisheries, agriculture, immigration when it comes to europeans, we will need to devise policies of our own in those areas, we might need to devise new policies and new spending commitments for things Like Research for things like regional spending. All the things where the eu used to play a large role. And, of course, not being in the eu any more, depending on the deal we negotiate, they might not play that role in the future. And a lot of those things will need to be done by december the 31st. Yes, absolutely. Because there is still a very real prospect we will end up leaving the European Union with no trade deal in place. If they cant Reach Agreement or if the agreement cant be ratified, then ultimately we are trading with the European Union on wto terms, and there are no special arrangements for anything. Professor menon, thank you very much. It was a week dominated by International Tensions by whats been called the iran missile crisis, prompted by the killing of the iranian army chief qasem soleimani. On tuesday night, Ballistic Missiles were fired at two air bases in iraq where us and uk forces are stationed. Irans revolutionary guard said the strikes were in retaliation for the assassination of general soleimani on the orders of donald trump. The crisis and how to respond to it dominated the first Prime Ministers questions since the general election. Mr speaker, i should begin by saying that we of course condemn the attack on Iraqi Military bases hosting coalition forces. Iran should not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks but must instead pursue urgent de escalation. The labour leader wanted the Prime Minister to confirm his opposition to any retaliation or further escalation of the crisis. Following the governments support for the United States over the assassination of general soleimani, is the Prime Minister confident that United Kingdom troops and civilians are not at further risk in the region and beyond . Mr speaker, i can of course confirm, and that is an important question, that as far as we can tell, there were no casualties last night sustained by the us, and no british personnel were injured in the attacks. The government has said that it is sympathetic to the assassination of general soleimani. What evidence has the Prime Minister got to suggest that this attack on him and his death was not an illegal act by the United States . Well, mr speaker, clearly, the strict issue of legality is not for the uk to determine since it was not our operation. But i think that most reasonable people would accept that the United States has a right to protect its bases and its personnel. And i would remind the house that the individual concerned, qasem soleimani, was not only responsible for many years, amongst other things, arming the houthis with missiles with which they attacked innocent civilians, arming hezbollah with missiles, which again they used to attack innocent civilians, sustaining the assad regime in syria, one of the most brutal and barbaric regimes in the world, and of course supplying improvised explosive devices to terrorists whom im afraid killed and maimed british troops. That man had the blood of british troops on his hands. Mr speaker, if we stand by international law, as im sure the government does and would want to, then surely killing somebody in a foreign territory is an illegal act and should be condemned as such . This governments response is not putting the interests of this Country First but instead seems more interested in prioritising the Prime Ministers relationship with President Trump over the security of the region and of this country. Isnt the truth, mr speaker, that this Prime Minister is unable to stand up to President Trump because he has hitched his wagon to a trade deal with the United States and that prioritises Everything Else that he ought to be considering . Well, mr speaker, i was waiting for the little green men thing to come out at the end of that, about the trade deal. This is absolute fiction. But what i will say is that the uk will continue to work for de escalation in the region. I think we are having a great deal of success in bringing together a European Response and in bridging that, the European Response with that of our american friends, and working both with the iranians and with the iraqis to dial this thing down. Later, in a phone call, the Prime Minister told the iranian president Hassan Rouhani there should be an end to hostilities. That was before evidence emerged that suggested an iranian surface to air missile brought down a ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near tehran. Four britons were among the 176 people who died in the crash shortly after take off. Borisjohnson said information suggests the plane was shot down, but this may well have been unintentional. Lets have a look at some westminster news in brief now. And where better to start than with some election news . Three new deputy speakers have been elected by mps nigel evans, dame rosie winterton, and dame eleanor laing. Dame eleanor is the most senior of the three, and will chair budget debates. The first one to be elected is dame eleanor laing. Cheering. Was elected the first ever woman to be first woman to be elected chair of westminster. Cheering. Youre clapping whatever we do no clapping, said the speaker, but he did call it a historic occasion. You intend to do a lot to bring this place into the 21st century, and to restore faith in our democracy. And i look forward to doing all i can to helping you. Thank you very much. Cheering. Dominic cummings, the Prime Ministers controversial adviser, prompted a stir with a government recruitment drive launched on his personal blog. The debate spilled over into treasury questions. The Prime Ministers special adviser now wants a Civil Service packed in the cabinet comprised of weirdos and misfits with odd skills. So. Laughter. So as a member of that cabinet, what weird explanation does the chancellor have as to why, according to the office of national statistics, productivity is falling at its fastest annual pace for five years . Mr speaker, weve just had an unprecedented decade of growth. Its the first decade of uninterrupted growth only the third time since 1700 that weve had an uninterrupted decade of growth, thanks to the work of this government and when it comes to weirdos and misfits, i know there are many on that side of the house, but they need not apply. And an mp accused a member of the house of lords of abusing security staff at westminster. The snps Hannah Bardell raised the alleged behaviour of lord maginnis a former ulster unionist mp with the commons speaker. Yesterday on reentering the building for the first time after christmas, i witnessed one of the worst cases of abuse of security staff i have seen in my time here. One of the members of the other place, who i will name so as to not incriminate anybody else, lord ken maginnis, had forgotten his pass something weve all been guilty of. However, instead of taking the advice of the security staff who, as we all know, are here for our security and our safety, he proceeded to verbally abuse and shout at both members of staff, calling them crooked, saying, did they not know who he was, he had been here for 46 years and refusing to take the advice and assistance of both myself, the security staff, and the police that then attended. Lord maginnis later told a newspaper the row was much ado about nothing and he had nothing to apologise for. Hannah ba rdell has reported him to the police. Now David Cameron used to say that it was a third term issue low priority but could house of lords reform be back on the political agenda . The conservative manifesto promised to set up a constitution, democracy, and Rights Commission and the future of the lords may well be part of it. Ministers are said to be looking at plans from a Cross Party Group that could see the lords either abolished, or become an elected senate of the nations and regions. Campaigners say change cant come quickly enough, but theyre not holding their breath. Weve heard talk of lords reform in terms of better regional representation being on the desk of people at number ten. But weve been here before, theres lots of talk about lords reform in fact, in the last 20 years, theres been nine attempts at lords reform of some sort, if we look at draft bills and committees and white papers, but what we really need to see is some action. This is an issue which has high public support, and we really cant go on much longer with an unelected upper chamber. Its just simply doesnt fit in our modern democracy. The idea of lords reform features in an act of union bill put forward by the constitution reform group. The former labour mp and ex chair of the vote leave campaign, gisela stuart, sits on the groups steering committee. Gisela stuart, what is the problem that your act of union bill is trying to fix . It started about five years ago when i asked the then Prime Minister, David Cameron and this was before he called the referendum on our membership of the European Union whether he would meet us, because it was our argument that devolution was in very much Unfinished Business in the United Kingdom. We had devolved power in a very asymmetric way to Northern Ireland, scotland, wales, and london. We kind of finished and overlooked the rest of england. We started doing Coalition Years that the function of the house of lords is being a revising chamber when no party had the majority was no longer working very effectively. And i remember literally saying to David Cameron, irrespective of the outcome of the eu referendum, you are the Prime Minister of a deeply fractured nation. And thats what we are trying to address, a new look of how the four nations Work Together and hold together. And what is your solution for the house of lords . We offer one option, which goes for you have complete abolition. And you really look very much like the german Second Chamber, where you have representatives of the regions who speak collectively. Or you have a house of lords which has an element of being elected. We ended up with a figure of 292 to be elected for 15 year terms, and 100 appointed. So we have a natural churning. The one thing we definitely decided was that the house of lords should not be for life. Right, right. And havent we been here before . You were an mp back in 2003. You will remember mps spent a whole day discussing voting on seven different options for the future of the house of lords, and they rejected them all. The problem is that people may agree there needs to be change, but they cant agree on the type of change that there should be. Oh, i remember it well. And theres nothing worse in the house of commons than when mps are not whipped on how to vote, and you have a whole string of votes and. Make up their own mind . And you go, what are we voting on . Is it 18, is it 100 . But you identified the problem in your question. There were so many options on the table, and i think that unless we start by saying, what do we think the house of lords is for . And once weve agreed on that, i think the options on how you compose that body will almost naturally flow from itself. Gisela stuart, thank you very much, indeed. Pleasure. The newly strengthened snp force at westminster has wasted little time in making its presence felt. With 48 of the 59 seats in scotland, the snp dominated scottish questions its mps making the same demand for scotland to have the power to hold another independence referendum. The partys westminster leader drove home the message during Prime Ministers questions. Mr speaker, today the Scottish Parliament will decline legislative consent to the withdrawal vote we are deliberating later today. Why is this conservative government dismissing the will of the people of scotland, ignoring their voicing, and disregarding our parliament . Mr speaker, i think the real question is, why does the snp keep going on about breaking up the most Successful Union in history . To distract from their abundant failures in government cheering. In spite of getting an extra £9 billion a year from the uk exchequer which of course they would lose if they were to foolishly break away they are mismanaging their health care, and youll see, im afraid it is not the fault of scottish pupils, but youre seeing scottish schools falling behind in the educational sense. Concentrate on what youre doing, and stop going on about breaking up the union now whats been happening in the wider world of politics this week . With our countdown, heres najiba feroze. At five pronouncing place names that are not spelled phonetically can be tricky sometimes. Here is how the leader of the house of commons, jacob rees mogg, dealt with it. For starters, its rhondda. Not rhon da, rhon the. The honourable gentlemen, the memberfor. Very generously, when i was newly elected, took me to the smoking room and gave me a couple glasses of scotch from his finest produce to help me learn how to pronounce his constituency. At four the scottish brexit secretary, michael russell, and conservative msp murdo fraser. You used to be opposed to brexit, so at least i am consistent. Well, i am a democrat. We had a referendum, and i believe we should honour the outcome of the referendum. But lets not get into this, because its a matter of debate. Well, i know its embarrassing for you. Oh, im not the one embarrassed, cabinet secretary commissioner. At three oh, what kind of tea should you drink in scotland . Have a listen to what lord duncan of springbank says. On a bizarre point, i was criticised over the Christmas Period for not drinking scottish tea, but yorkshire tea. Even on these issues in scotland, grievances can be found. Laughter. At two was this a freudian slip from the treasury minister, rishi sunak . Weve committed to finding 20,000 new Police Officers by the end of 2023 to help keep our seats streets safe. Laughter. And at one away from the commons, laura smith, a former mp who lost her seat in the general election has been photographed at the localjobcentre. She tweeted her response. Najiba feroz reporting. Now, the brexit arguments may be on hold in the commons at least for now but theres plenty of Unfinished Business there. Mps are still divided over how if at all to mark the uks departure from the eu at the end of the month. A party, or a wake . A celebratory drink, or a dram to drown your sorrows . Or should a famous bell currently silent be centre stage . As we leave at a precise, specified time, those who wish to celebrate will need to look to a clock to mark the moment. Laughter. It seems inconceivable to me and many colleagues that that clock should not be the most iconic timepiece in the world big ben. Will he make representations to the house of Commons Commission, whose decision this is, that big ben should bong for brexit . Can the government confirm whether or not it will request for the chiming of big ben to mark 11pm on 31 january . Because this is not going to be a moment of celebration for many people across the uk, but a moment of considerable concern, not least my constituents who are citizens nationals of the European Union. And perhaps they should be asking on that side of the house, if they do want to hear the bells chime, is for whom the bell will toll . Ministers are sympathetic to the idea, but itll be up to the commons authorities to decide. Thats it for the week in parliament. I hope you canjoin mandy baker on Bbc Parliament at 11pm on monday night for the latest from the commons and the lords. Thank you for watching. From me, david cornock, bye for now. Hello there, the wind is starting to howl again, it is drawing into very mild hour from a long way south mind the exeter gliders bringing more rain across scotland and Northern Ireland. The winds are picking up as well, though, from a long way south, mind you so drawing mild air after a cold start to the night. The night. The tempers are continuing to rise. The ability nine, 10 degrees or so by the time i get your early morning. On saturday a picture start to the night. The tempers are continuing to rise. The ability nine, 10 degrees or so by the charmer get your early morning. On saturday habitually the rain across scotla nd saturday habitually the rain across scotland and Northern Ireland, heaviest over the hills, its going to be this way south and slowly dipping somewhat weather to the current into snowdonia, shall variance constant and Northern Ireland as the wind starts to ease through the afternoon. The track days blustery, cow cycling in some places. Mild across many parts of the uk with typical temperatures around 11 or12, the uk with typical temperatures around 11 or 12, bit that integrates. That band of rain is going to sweep its way southwards during saturday night, drawing behind cool air with sunshine and showers, a lot of the rain walking away from the south east corner and on sunday and weve got the copper showers running through the methods, could be had for a while, easing in the afternoon and sunshine for scotla nd the afternoon and sunshine for scotland and often either. Showers in the north west, it will be wintry ofa in the north west, it will be wintry of a Higher Ground because we are back into cold air in the northern pa rt back into cold air in the northern part of the uk. Sunny will be less spending. Only briefly because look what is out in the authentic. A storm is racing our way, that is going to strengthen the winds on monday and bring in rain two. We suffered a probably dry, there will be sunshine and dry weather for the eastern side of the uk into the afternoon but further west the cloud thickens, beget the ram that could be heavy. It will be the strength of the wind that causes the biggest issues with or severe gales at 70 miles an hour across Western Areas of the uk. Still mild, temperatures typically 8 11 degrees. Thats assessing on what is going to be a very changeable weekend ahead often windy with someone at mac brandt times, but for the most part of continue this mild theme. Goodbye. Welcome to bbc news im james reynolds. 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