Transcripts For BBCNEWS Tuesday In Parliament 20200916

Now on bbc news, tuesday in parliament. Hello there and welcome to tuesday in parliament, coming up in the next half hour, the Health Secretary faces more questions from mps about how their constituents can get a coronavirus test. If they put an aberdeen postcode into the system, they can get a test in twickenham. Meanwhile, peers want to know how covid marshals to enforce coronavirus regulations will work. Can he tell us how they differ from phantom armies deployed by a deranged despot from his bunker as everything collapses around him . And an mp reckons we ought to be told when images have been artifically enhanced to stop. Creating a digitally warped reality, striving for bodies that can never be achieved. But first, the Health Secretary has told mps there are operational challenges with coronavirus testing which the government is working hard to fix. Matt hancock made the comments in a commons statement, where mps from all sides said people were struggling to get tested and, in some cases, were being asked to drive hundreds of miles. He was also told that People Living in south west london had been advised to enter an aberdeen postcode in order to be tested in their local area. The Health Secretary explained that the virus was once again on the increase. Mr speaker, the epidemic is growing. There are signs that the number of cases in care homes and the number of hospitalizations is starting to rise again. So, last week, we acted quickly, putting in place new measures the rule of six which came into force yesterday. We do not do this lightly, but the cost of doing nothing is much greater. Mr speaker, testing also has a vital part to play. Everyone in this house knows that were doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation. He said over 20 million tests for coronavirus had been carried out. But the whole house knows that there are operational challenges and were working hard to fix them. Weve seen a sharp rise in people coming forward for a test, including those who are not eligible. And, mr speaker, throughout this pandemic, we have prioritised testing according to need. Over the summer, when demand was low, we were able to meet all requirements for testing, whether priorities or not, but as demand has risen, so were having to prioritise once again. But labour reckoned he should have seen the increased demand for tests coming. When schools reopen and people return to workplaces and social distancing becomes harder, infections rise, so extra demand on the system was inevitable, so why didnt he use the summer to significantly expand nhs lab capacity and fix Contact Tracing . People want to know when they will get a test and when this mess will be fixed. Today, there will be thousands of ill people trying to book a test, only to be told none are available. The Prime Minister promised us whac a mole, but instead, his mallet is broken. The secretary of state is losing control of this virus. He needs to fix testing now. A week ago today, the secretary of state told the Health Select committee that he expected to have this Problem Solved in two weeks. Since then, in my constituency, i have had two farnham residents sent to bristol for their tests, a councillor sent to the isle of wight for her test and a teacher who tested positive who had to wait a week for her results, so is the secretary of state, given the efforts that his department is making, still confident that in a weeks time, we will have this Problem Solved . Well, i think that we will be able to solve this problem in a matter of weeks. And in his own constituency yesterday, 194 people got their tests, so we are managing to deliver record capacity. But as he well knows, demand is also high, and the response to that is to make sure we have prioritisation so the people who most need it can get the tests that they need. With a reported backlog of 185,000 tests, is he not concerned that results will not be received quickly enough to allow timely Contact Tracing . Like many others, ive been inundated with e mails from doctors, teachers, parents unable to access the tests they desperately need. However, a number of them have also been advised that if they put an aberdeen postcode into the system, they can get a test in twickenham, and they have succeeded. So could the secretary of state please tell me how on earth a world beating test and trace system is functioning in this way . What is he doing to fix it . And in the meantime, does he recommend that i tell those constituents who desperately need a test to game the system in this way . No, mr speaker. In fact, its incumbent on all of us to take a responsible approach and tell our constituents that tests are available, in large numbers, that the average distance travelled is 5. 8 miles and that people should take this seriously and not game the system. I would gently say to the secretary of state, i know he knows theres a real problem here. Trying to rebut every argument with, honestly, weve got more people doing more stuff and people need to get with the programme, and all of that, itjust doesnt wash with the public. And theres a real, real danger that if he does too much of that, people willjust say, well, we cant trust you any more. Matt hancock insisted tests were available and hundreds of people in every constituency were getting tested every day. Meanwhile, the first minister, mark drakeford, has said he doesnt know when the Welsh Government was first told about a data breach involving 18,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus. Details including initials, date of birth, geographical area and sex were published on the Public Health wales website on 30 august and not removed until the next morning. Public health wales revealed the breach to the public in a statement on monday. The welsh conservative leader asked mr drakeford to apologise. Given that this is not the first time there has been a problem with Public Health data, its deeply worrying that the Health Minister didnt come forward with this immediately and with an explanation on what steps will now be taken to restore Public Confidence, because its been suggested that the government has known about this for weeks. So, first minister, i hope youll now take the opportunity today to apologise to the people affected by this latest data breach. And will you also take the opportunity to tell us how long the Welsh Government has known about this breach and what youre doing to restore Public Confidence . I learned of this data breach yesterday. And i learned of it as a result of Public Health waless statement, which, as paul davies has said, drew attention to the data breach. It is a serious matter when data regulations are not properly observed. The initial inquiries suggest that no harm has been done as a result, but that is a matter of luck rather than anything else. One member questioned the Welsh Governments whole approach. Youve locked down my constituents in the caerphilly council area and even talked about the possibility of curfews and restrictions on alcohol sales as potential measures you may consider. Having taken peoples summer away, only for cases to rise again, do you accept that lockdown fatigue has taken hold and that you cannot keep people locked down forever . How much longer do you expect to drag out this pandemic in wales through your restrictions . Very far from the Welsh Government denying people freedoms which they should have experienced, we have done our very best to restore freedoms whenever it has been safe to do so. And i am saddened by the fact that, at the moment, we are faced with a position where the welsh experience of coronavirus, instead of improving, is worsening. And we may all have to make those efforts again that we made earlier this year unless we are able to persuade all of those people, in the members constituency and otherwise, to act in a way that protects themselves, protects others and helps us all to keep wales safe. Mark drakeford. Now, conservative peers have joined opposition members in the house of lords in criticising the government on two fronts. There was more dismay over the possibility of the government breaking its brexit treaty with the eu. And there was concern, too, about the use of covid marshals in england to stop people gathering in groups of more than six. A labour peer questioned whether marshals would be subject to background checks and whether theyd be given protective clothing. They may be spat at, they may need stab vests. Is it correct that no money is being provided for this, though the Daily Telegraph tells us that theyre going to be paid 30,000 a year, and these marshals will have no powers to enforce anything . So, the noble lord the minister cannot tell us how many there will be, when they will arrive, so can he tell us how they differ from phantom armies deployed by a deranged despot from his bunker as everything collapses around him . My lords, i note the rhetorical flourish, but i would say that marshals have already been employed throughout the country very successfully to encourage and support compliance and to welcome people back into public areas, places such as leeds, bradford, cornwall, devon, peterborough and crawley, and we will continue to work with local areas to come up with approaches to deployment, the training required, and also an announcement on funding will be made in due course. Whats to prevent too many of these largely self appointed law enforcers from becoming busybodies, score settle rs and simply social gunslingers . My lords, its fair to say that, in many of the areas where marshals are being used, they havent been called marshals, theyve been called stewards or wardens or ambassadors, and they welcome people to the local area. This is about improving compliance as opposed to the existing enforcement arm of the state, and i think were seeing great successes in the number of very diverse places, and well build on that. Later, there was more anger over the governments internal market bill, which gives ministers the ability to override parts of the brexit deal with the eu. Borisjohnson says that may be needed to stop the eu slapping tariffs on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of the uk. But the conservative partys official historian felt that was no excuse for law breaking. Is it not difficult to retain confidence in the lord chancellor and the law offices of the crown when they acquiesce in the governments declaration for willingness to break International Law . Are they not charged, these officers of the crown, with responsibility for ensuring that ministers respect the rule of law, national and international, in all circumstances a duty with which permitting threats to break it are hardly compatible . I have to say to this house that, in my opinion, the present bill does not of itself constitute a breach of International Law or of the rule of law. Last week, the Northern Ireland secretary, brandon lewes, told mps the bill would let ministers break International Law. The party that changes its story on the law, as this government does, shows it lacks backbone. How does the advocate general feel able, consistent with personal honour and professional duty, to remain as the advocate general . My lords, i have satisfied myself thats the correct legal position in this context. Let us be clear. As i indicated to the Justice Sub Committee this morning, its my view that the secretary of state for Northern Ireland essentially answered the wrong question. And. Groaning for Goodness Sake hes a cabinet minister i hope my honourable and learned friend does not become unwell, in view of the noises emanating from him. But if he has, i wish him well for the future. Meanwhile, back in the commons, mps began their line by line scrutiny of that controversial legislation to allow the government to rewrite parts of the brexit divorce deal. The internal markets bill is designed to enable the uks four nations to trade freely with one another after the transition period with the eu ends on december the 31st. But what happens if the four nations cant agree on rules or standards . The snps drew hendry claimed the uk government wanted to be able to overrule its counterparts elsewhere in the uk. The office for the internal market will have an effective veto over the scottish parliament, and the subsequent result is that devolution will be hamstrung. This is yet another step in introducing a system where standards are set by westminster, and they must be accepted by scotland in devolved areas. The government has a choice to make. Does it want to respect and strengthen the devolution settlement by pushing powers closer to people in communities as promised in the referendum . Or do they want to retain all those powers here in westminster . At best, this bill is a missed opportunity to strengthen our union, and at worst, it threatens the future of the uk itself. As we have heard today, giving the first minister and the snp all the grievances they need to turbo charge their independence campaign. The minister denied the office for the internal market or 0im would inhibit the scottish parliament. The 0im will not be empowered to bind administrations or veto regulations. It will only be concerned with assessing the Economic Impact on regulation, never its merit. We are not acting at the request of an administration for reporting the advice, the 0im would only ever be concerned with monitoring the health of the uks internal market, such as the flow of trade, the impact of regulations on inter uk competition and investment, or the ready available goods and services for all our citizens. Paul scully there. And mps will return to their detailed debate on the internal market bill on wednesday. Youre watching tuesday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. The chancellor has told the cabinet that getting people back into work is his number one priority. But he said indefinitely keeping people out of work is not the answer. In other words, he wont extend the Job Retention orfurlough scheme. His comments came as uk unemployment hit its highest level for two years. During treasury questions the chancellor was pressed over what he would do. There will be many thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of jobs which are going to be viable after covid is dealt with but will not make it unless they are provided with further targeted support after the end of october. He is right that businesses do need support, which is why many of the interventions that we have put in place last through to next year, for example, the Business Rates holidays and, indeed, the support for economy and jobs through initiatives like our stamp duty cut to catalyse housing market. But i hope you will be reassured that throughout this crisis, i have not hesitated to act in creative and effective ways to support jobs and employment and will continue to do so. The chancellor said that he would do whatever it takes, and if the situation changed, he would not hesitate to take further action. Those excluded from support schemes, the 700,000 made redundant since march, and those losing theirjobs due to the premature ending of the furlough scheme want to know if the chancellor will be true to that commitment or if his words are worth nothing . Rishi sunak said the government had met businesses demand for a vat reduction. It was also delivered with an extra initiative, eat out to help 0ut, which proved to provide an enormous fillet to the reopening of that economy, and its also worth bearing in mind that all of the businesses engaged in their industry are not paying any Business Rates at all until march of next year. The labour leader, sir keir starmer, has called for the furlough scheme to be replaced with targeted help to avoid mass unemployment. We would happily support the government in developing a targeted flexible wage support scheme for hard hit sectors central to our countrys future. We have been saying this day in, day out for months now, the governmentjust havent been listening. Rather than stubbornly sticking to a decision made back injuly, can this chief secretary not accept that the situation has changed and the government must too change course. Hear, hear the reality is that the furlough pays a higher rate of peoples wages than spain. It supports a wider range of businesses than new zealand, and the scheme runs for twice as long as that in denmark. That shows the flexibility and the willingness to listen to my right honourable friend. Many of those whose jobs are at risk work in the creative industries, performing arts and hospitality which without coronavirus would be thriving. Why is the chancellor persisting with a cliff edge approach which will inflict the hardship and misery of unemployment on so many people instead of taking a flexible approach to furlough to save good jobs for the long term . Well, mr speaker, the furlough scheme as it is currently constructed is flexible. It was a key demand from business groups and unions which we responded to, to ensure that as the economy is slowly reopening over the late summer and autumn, the furlough scheme has adapted to that allowing businesses to bring back their employees in a flexible fashion and that is exactly what they are currently doing. Can i congratulate my right honourable friend for the introduction of the self employment support scheme in particular. But does he recognise that this cannot continue indefinitely . Its not possible to sustain this level of intervention. I fully agree with him, those who are entrepreneurial and self employed deserve our support, and they will continue to get it as we drive our recovery out of this crisis. The unemployemnt of 18 24 year olds claimants has almost doubled. Can i say this to the chancellor, if history teaches us anything, young people and those People Living in deprived areas will be most adversely affected by any downturn in the economy. So im therefore asking what special measures hes considering to ensure that areas like mine which are mostly deprived and for young people would be put in place . In our plan forjobs, we outlined this kick start scheme which will initially make available fully funded government job placements for a quarter of a million young people at risk of long term unemployment. Im confident that many young people in his constituency, like all of ours, can benefit from that scheme, and i would urge them to work with his local businesses to get them signed up to the scheme and take on a young kick starter. 0n the day that the bbc published its annual report the Culture Committee was looking at the Bigger Picture the outlook for Public Service broadcasting and whether the licence fee can survive. The us media firm netflix which makes and streams films and tv shows online is seen as a threat to Public Service broadcasters. But one netflix executive told mps that she loved the bbc and would hate to see it diminished. We have the bbc annual report out today. Obviously, there is a huge debate about the future direction of the corporation. I was wondering as a company that runs on a subscription model, whether you think the licensing fee in its current form is sustainable long term crucially long term and if not, which of the models or combination of models do you think would work . Personally, i dont know if it is our role to comment on the future strategy of the bbc. I think what we need to do is look to what were doing in the uk and ensure that we work with the pses to support them long term and as much as we can. I think theres so many ways that i could say the wrong thing just because i dont know the internal workings of the bbc at this time. Im sorry, forgive me, really, do forgive me, but just say what you actually think if you would just give us your views. I mean, there is no right or wrong thing in particular over this. This is an open debate that people are having. What is your actual view . I absolutely believe in the long term sustainability of the bbc. I love the bbc, i think that they make some of the best shows. If you look at what they have done this year with anything from i may destroy you to suitable boy, i back the idea of having uk economy Creative Economy that is built on a number of different models, from subscription through to licence, and i would hate to see the bbc diminished in its impact in the uk. Netflix produces it own content, such as the crown, but its mainly known for streaming films on demand. Julian knight was concerned that the service steered subscribers towards watching the same content. Unashamedly, im a horror movie fan. I will watch any horror movie no matter how bad, and many of them are absolutely appalling but at the same time, whenever i come onto my netflix im then presented with endless horror movies. I go back at the weekend, i find my netflix has changed because my wife doesnt like horror movies, she likes romantic comedies. So essentially what happens is that we end up with two types of, effectively, what happens is, we end up in a situation where people like something and then they are pushed towards more of it. The system is optimistic, so we are trying to make sure that whilst you are needs to watch things you love are met, we also offer you other things that you might not know that you yet love. The Committee Also questioned executives from viacomcbs, which owns channel 5 which has a Public Service remit. 0ne mp raised an 0fcom report which gave channel 5 low scores for news. I dont mean to be unkind, but i dont know anybody who says, i must at home watch channel five news. People turn into sky, bbc news, itv, youre really not cracking it when it comes to news provision in terms of, i think, i suspect public demand, and public taste. We take a decision about the editorial direction, you know . How does it impact ordinary lives . And the result of that is that we have a demographic that it is majority c d. That sounds enormously patronizing. To say, what do poor people want to watch . I will skew the news, towards the poor. I would not want it to sound patronizing, that is the last thing we would want to do. However, you know, the fact that we have a largely c d audience is something that we viewers are positive, not as a negative, but as a positive, and that means we want to continue to build on our reputation in news. Finally, a conservative mp has introduced a bill to make it compulsory for advertisers and publishers to mark images with a logo if theyve been artificially enhanced. A survey by the girl guiding Charity Found that images of perfect bodies were having a devastating impact on self esteem. Luke evans, whos a gp, told the commons he didnt want to ban the images. He just wanted people to know when the body proportions had been fundamentally changed. With a click of a mouse, you can have bigger biceps. With a swipe of a thumb, you can have a slimmer waist. We are therefore creating a digitally warped reality striving for bodies that can never be achieved. He explained what he hoped to gain from the bill. What i actually hope, i will never see this logo, as advertisers, broadcasters and publishers dont feel the need to fundamentally alter the proportions, but if they do, they are honest about it. I hope that those who are social influencers wont feel the need to change their images. And anecdotally already, there are reports in the press that the bill would change habits. But as someone who got married last year, i hope to be a father in the next year or two, so this bill is a small step, to me, my daughter is less likely to worry about her diet, or my son is less concerned about Building Muscle to an aspiration that simply cannot be possible, then i will rest a little bit easier. The bill passed its first stage, but without Government Support its unlikely to become law. And thats it from me for now, but before i gojust time to tell you that you can watch the education secretary, gavin williamson, appearing before the Commons Education Committee on Bbc Parliament at 10am on wednesday morning. And ill be back with the best of the day at westminster at the same time tomorrow, but for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. Hello, cooler weather on the way. That, of course, most noticeable where the past couple of days have been so hot and also along some north sea coast, eastern scotland, northeast england with more of an onshore breeze for a stunner of a tuesday it will feel much cooler during wednesday. And the reason were losing High Pressure that brought the warmth up from the south, replacing it with another area of High Pressure, the flow of air around that coming from a cooler direction in the northeast into some of the north sea coasts during wednesday and also this weather front moving south with cloud and not a huge amount of rain. Before that completes its journey south, rather warm start for many of us on wednesday morning and it will feel cooler by thursday morning. From that weather front, cloud and a few spots of light rain and drizzle, parts of scotland, northern england, maybe Northern Ireland pushing further south during the day, taking some cloud to the north and east of wales, the midlands and east anglia later on. South of that, south wales and southern england seeing some sunshine, just a slight chance of a shower in south east england. Northern scotland with sunny spells and temperatures in the mid teens here, and for some on the north sea coasts. The further south you are, some warmth into the mid 20s but that temperature still isnt as high as it has been in the past couple of days. Now overnight and into thursday, some areas of cloud, patches of mist and fog and maybe some low clouds and mistiness running down the north sea coasts to start the day, on thursday, there will be a cooler night more of us seeing temperatures dipping down into single figures. Now, on thursday, it is High Pressure replacing High Pressure, still a lot of settled weather around. Still a good deal of sunshine, particularly into england and wales. Sunny spells through the cloud across most of scotland and Northern Ireland, we could see some rain in the Western Isles and temperatures are much closer to average for the time of year, still a little bit above, though. Quite a keen and noticeable easterly breeze blowing across southern parts of the uk in particular. Whilst many on friday hold onto the sunshine as the weather front moves into scotland and approaching Northern Ireland, some thicker cloud and you may see a bit of rain that does not appear to amount to very much. Looking into the weekend, High Pressure holding on for many of us, so an area of low pressure throwing up this weather front and maybe a few showers that way later on in the weekend, but for most over the weekend, it is looking dry, variable cloud and some sunny spells, and brisk easterly breeze to the south and a growing chance of picking up a shower, particularly into parts of england by sunday. Welcome to bbc news. My names mike embley. 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