House of Commons
Parliament

What is the Common Fisheries Policy? What are fishing quotas? Are sea bass stocks declining?

The answers to all of these questions and more can be found in the House of Commons library briefing for this debate, external.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SDLP member for South Down, Margaret Ritchie, speaks about problems faced by the industry in Northern Ireland and Western Scotland.

She asks for a meeting with ministers on the crewing of trawlers in her area. The minister, she says, is aware of the "serious problems" fishing crews have had in recruiting local people to work in the fleet which has resulted in "qualified and experienced" non-EEA, external crews.

Ms Ritchie says this could "tie up" her local industry.

"That is not scaremongering that is fact," she says.

House of Lords
Parliament

Crossbencher Lord Warner, and Labour peer Viscount Hanworth both point out the precarious financial position of many private care providers.

Viscount Hanworth cites the case of residential care provider Southern Cross, which was forced to sell a number of care homes it managed in 2011.

Lord Warner quotes the Care Quality Commission findings that "for the first time ever, new private providers are not entering the sector".

He recommends the transfer of responsibilities for local social care from the Department for Communities, to the Department of Health to ensure a better co-ordinated approach to care provision.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP for Waveney Peter Aldous calls for unity between those on different sides of the referendum debate.

He urges MPs to "put that battle behind us and grasp the opportunity to breathe life back into this great industry".

Mr Aldous says the government must have the "three Rs" in mind at all times when considering the fishing industry; repatriation, reallocation, and regeneration. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Baroness Farrington speaks on the pressures faced by family carers, she says it isn't always easy to care for an elderly person, as "some of us, myself included, become irascible, demanding and difficult".

She warns the minister against building up another problem in future, "if we don't look after carers", many of whom are informal, family carers who are "put under intolerable pressure", she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNPs Stephen Gethins admits that even as a European, he realises the Common Fisheries Policy has "ill-served" the fishing industry since its introduction.

That said, he asks MPs to keep in mind the importance of the single market to the Scottish seafood sector, saying that in 2015 Scotland exported £438m of seafood to the EU, and that this is the second largest food and drink export after whiskey.

Mr Gethins also says that the fishing industry has not always been well represented by its member state, the UK.

The SNP member finishes by warning that devolution has changed the context of the way this debate is held in the UK and says Scotland's opinion must be respected.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alistair Carmichael, says that "taking control back is only part of the answer" and says that of just as much importance is the question of what you do with it.

He says there is now an opportunity to construct our own domestic fisheries management system that puts fishermen, conservationists, and scientists at the heart of fisheries management.

Mr Carmichael says this should allow "proper regional and local management".

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Cavendish rises to make her maiden speech.

Camilla Cavendish is a former journalist and was head of the prime minister's policy unit from May 2015 to July 2016.  

She now sits in the Lords as a Conservative peer.

Baroness Cavendish says too many people are not aware of the kind of care that might be available to them in old age, and how much they may need to be prepared to provide for themselves.

People don't like to think what will happen to them when they get older, she says, and so policy on social care "lags behind" that devoted to the NHS.

She closes saying care services must be properly supported because they will be caring for "our mothers and grandmothers" if not today, then tomorrow.

House of Commons
Parliament

Former environment, food and rural affairs secretary, Conservative Owen Paterson now speaks in the debate, and unsurprisingly takes a different view of the referendum vote than Labour MPs. 

"Brexit is a most wonderful opportunity for our marine environment and those who work in it," he says. 

The MP for North Shropshire calls the Common Fisheries Policy "a biological, environmental, economic, and social disaster" that is beyond reform. 

He goes on to call the system of quotas and throwing caught fish back into the sea "an act of criminal insanity". 

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Pitkeathley opens the debate and notes that peers present are the "usual suspects", "who bang on about this subject whenever we get the opportunity".

Lamenting the fact that last week's Autumn Statement did not mention social care, she says: "I bow to no one in my desire to see better broadband in rural Hertfordshire, but can we get our priorities straight?"

She says politicians have to start being honest with care recipients about what level of care they can expect tor receive. 

Westminster Hall

Justice minister Sam Gyimah is now answering the debate on prison safety and security.

He begins by noting the tone of the debate has been "sensible" and that opposition members are right to want to press the government for detail on its proposals.

He goes on to express his support for the work of prison officers, and says the department has come to an agreement with the Prison Officers Association to improve staff pay and pensions. 

Mr Gyimah says the proposals are not simply "long on aspiration" but that the new team in the Justice department are "determined to succeed".

House of Commons
Parliament

The Labour MP for Tynemouth Alan Campbell begins his comments by commemorating those who have died at sea in the industry in the last year, in what, he tells MPs, is still the most dangerous peacetime industry. 

He also thanks the work of those who keep them safe, including the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and other organisations and volunteers. 

Mr Campbell taps a similar vein as Sarah Champion in speaking about pledges made during the EU referendum campaign to fishing communities, saying "I voted Remain but if I was a fisherman I would have voted Leave". 

This, he says, is because "they were encouraged to believe" a number of things by Leave campaigners. 

The Labour MP also asks about EU funding for fisheries. "If it's not EU funding then where is it going to come from?" he asks. 

House of Lords
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Image source, PA

Peers now move on to a debate on the challenges in the current system of social care and of proposals for reviewing it and for longer-term reform of the system.

Former pensions minister Ros Altman has warned that Britain is "sleepwalking into a social care crisis".

Older people with assets of more than £23,250 have to pay for the full cost of any care they receive.

From April 2020, the government is introducing a cap on care charges at £72,000 from the age of 65 onwards. This change has been delayed from the original 2016 introductory date.

Westminster Hall

Speaking for the opposition in the prisons debate, shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi says the lack of detail in the government's white paper is "worrying", and that the reforms are far from the historic overhaul that has been claimed.

In response to an intervention from the minister, Ms Qureshi denies she is against the white paper but is asking for greater clarity on how the proposals will be carried out in practice.

Ms Qureshi says the levels of violence "have not even stabilised" in prisons while the government considers its response.

She closes by calling on the government to consider re-employing those experienced officers who have already been made redundant, to address the shortage of staff.

House of Lords
Parliament

Foreign Office Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns now replies for the government.

Concerning Brexit negotiations, she says there is a balance that needs to be struck. 

She says the government wants to be open but at the same time "it is rather wise not to reveal your hand to soon".

On immigration, she says the government wants to control immigration whilst welcoming those with the "drive, skills and expertise" to help the UK. 

We need to win the battle for talent, she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Westminster Hall

Speaking for the SNP in this prisons debate, Richard Arkless returns to the statistic that 6,000 officers were assaulted last year, or 16 assaults per day.  He says its "no wonder they're feeling demoralised".

Mr Arkless says the resource issue is the most pertinent in the "cocktail" of problems facing prisons.

He says many of the government's proposals, such as increased searches for drugs and more purposeful activity for prisoners, relies on there being enough staff.  

Mr Arkless closes saying he hopes the minister will pay tribute to the work of prison officers.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Conservative MP and Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Neil Parish, highlights a number of issues faced by the industry.  

First, though, he praises the fisheries minister George Eustice, saying that fishermen across the country "expect a very good deal" from him because he's "such a magnificent minister". 

"We expect him to come back with more fish in his pockets and his suitcase," he says. 

Mr Parish also acknowledges the fact that European workers are very important to the fishing industry, and so says the government need to realise that this labour will also be needed. 

He also speaks about the need to ensure there is good conservation, and says Brexit will allow better reaction to problems of fish stocks.  

The MP for Tiverton and Honiton says there is also a lot more to be done to encourage the British people to eat the many different kinds of fish that are caught in our waters instead of sending them abroad. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town responds for Labour.

She accuses the government of prioritising immigration "over everything" else including jobs and prosperity. 

She urges the government to build "a national consensus" for a Brexit plan that "will work across the whole UK".

House of Commons
Parliament

Ms Onn says that it was "very easy" for Leave campaigners to blame the EU for the decline of the fishing industry, but says their view of history is "partial at best" and says that major declines in the industry happened before the UK joined the Common Market.

She accuses Leave campaigners of "selling a false hope" to her constituents and other fishing communities.

"This just isn't fair," she says.