Yahoo News PMQs: Theresa May hits out at shadow Labour ministers who sent their children to private schools
PM attacks shadow Labour ministers over children's education
Britain will slap tariffs on EU goods if Brussels play hardball
EU threaten court action if PM refuses to pay £50bn Brexit bill
PMQs: Theresa May vs Jeremy Corbyn
Theresa May has hit out at shadow Labour ministers who have sent their children to grammar and private schools.
The Prime Minister launched a personal attack on Jeremy Corbyn and his senior allies, pointing out that he sent his child to a grammar school and attended one himself, while shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti had chosen private education for their children.
It came as Jeremy Corbyn attacked the Government over cutting pupil funding while spending £320m on Mrs May's grammar schools "vanity project".
The Labour leader accused the Government of "betraying a generation of young people."
Addressing Mr Corbyn, Mrs May said: "His shadow home secretary sent her child to a private school, his shadow attorney general sent her child to a private school, he sent his child to a grammar school, he went to a grammar school himself.
"Typical Labour - take the advantage and pull up the ladder behind them."
Mrs May was forced to defend the controversial shake-up of school funding in England after a respected economic think tank warned it would create "significant winners and losers".
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the Government's proposed plan to change the way money is distributed is "broadly sensible.
But warned some schools could face "protracted cuts" as a result of the shift from 152 different local authority formulae to a single national method of allocating funding.
Nicky Morgan stays loyal to PM
Nicky Morgan, the former Education Secretary, says the funding formula needs to be sorted and claims Labour ducked away from the issue.
The PM replies:
My Right Honourable Friend is right, this is an issue in terms of the funding formula that was ducked for too long.
We have actually started to address it, we have been looking at the formula, we have brought forward a proposal.
May says unfair funding should be dealt with. Points out some London schools get almost twice amount of schools elsewhere: has 2b addressed
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) March 22, 2017
May pushed on election spending
Pete Wishart, the SNP MP, asks what the PM, the Cabinet, and her aides knew about the misspending of general election money.
She replies:
The Honourable gentleman is asking me to respond to what is a party matter but I can assure him that the Conservative party did campaign in 2015 across the country.
We should be clear that such campaigning would be part of the party's national return, not candidates' local return.
As the Electoral Commission itself has said, the party accepted in 2016 it had made an administrative error, it brought that to the attention of the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission has looked into these issues as it has for the Liberal Democrat party and the Labour party - it has issued fines to all three parties and those fines will be paid.
Theresa May wishes Dame Vera Lynn a happy 100th birthday
'Free vote on Westminster renovation'
Edward Leigh says MPs should have a “completely free vote” on the Palace of Westminster renovations.
May says:
This Palace of Westminster is world-renowned, it's a very important part of our national heritage.
I an assure my Hon Friend as it will be a House matter it will be a free vote.
We have a responsibility to our constituents also to preserve this place.
That's interesting: PM confirms free vote on vacating House of Parliament for restoration. Can't imagine MPs and peers will back it #pmqs
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) March 22, 2017
'The PM is in denial'
We are back on schools now after the Labour MP Lilian Greenwood pushes May again on the school funding formula.
“The PM is in denial", she says.
Every single school in my constituency will lose an average of £584 per pupil.
Has she failed at maths or failed to read her own manifesto?
Lilian Greenwood twisting knife on school funding, asking PM if she's "failed at maths or failed to read her manifesto" #pmqs
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) March 22, 2017
Now May unable to answer Labour's Lilian Greenwood asking if PM failed at maths or didn't read the Tory manifesto. School cuts again #pmqs
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) March 22, 2017
May replies:
Just to reiterate, across this House for many years there has been a general acceptance that the current funding formula is unfair.
That is why this Government is looking to find a fairer formula, there's a consultation exercise and the Department for Education will respond to that in due course.
We are grasping this issue, Labour did nothing for 13 years.
PM challenged on housing for service families
Julian Brazier, the Tory MP, calls for better social housing for those who have served in the armed forces.
May says:
What we want to do is make sure people have a greater choice in where they live by using private accommodation.
We're continuing to support subsidised money for service personnel and the pot of money will not be cut.
Will these be her negotiating tactics with the EU?
Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster leader, hits out at Theresa May over Scotland and Brexit.
He says:
Last year the PM promised that she would secure a UK-wide agreement before triggering Article 50 on Brexit.
Since then, she has delayed, she has blocked, she has been intransigent and she has lectured and, surprise surprise, she has no agreement. There is no agreement.
Will these be her negotiating tactics with the European Union?
SNP's Robertson lambasts May for failing to get UK agreement on Brexit talks. May looks uncomfortable for first time this #PMQs
— Charlie Cooper (@CharlieCooper8) March 22, 2017
May replies:
What we want to make sure is we get the best possible deal for all of the UK, including the people of Scotland, because at heart we are one people.
On a second independence referendum, she says:
This isn't a question about whether the people of Scotland should have a choice, the people of Scotland exercised their right to self-determination and voted in 2014 to remain a part of the UK.
The people of the UK last year voted to leave the EU. We are respecting both of those votes, he is respecting neither of them.
Mat 'betraying a generation of young people'
Jeremy Corbyn says May and her Government are "betraying a generation of young people."
He says:
Children will have fewer teachers, larger classes and all the PM can do is focus on her grammar school vanity project that can only ever benefit a few children.
Is the PM content that this generation will see their schools decline, their subject choices diminished, their life chances held back by the decisions of her government today?
Mat his back:
Protected school funding, more teachers in our schools, more teachers with first class degrees, more children in good and outstanding schools - it's not a vanity project to want every child to have a good school place.
Mat hits out at Labour's shadow cabinet
Corbyn attacks Theresa May over grammar schools.
He says:
In the Budget the Government found no more money for the schools budget but it did find £320m for her own grammar schools vanity project.
No money for Eileen’s schools, yet £320m for divisive grammar schools. What kind of priority is that?
May hits out at where Labour frontbenchers' sent their their own children.
He talks about the issue of the sort of system in schools we want - yes, we want diversity, we want different sorts of schools.
But I say to the Right Honourable Gentleman, his shadow home secretary sent her child to a private school, his shadow attorney general sent her child to a private school, he sent his child to a grammar school, he went to a grammar school himself.
Typical Labour - take the advantage and pull up the ladder behind them.
Wow! Extraordinary attack on shadow ministers who send their children to grammars and private schools by Theresa May. #PMQs
— Christopher Hope (@christopherhope) March 22, 2017
Corbyn replies:
I want a staircase for all, not a ladder for a few.
'Come on Eileen!'
Jeremy Corbyn reads out a question from a teacher called Eileen:
He says:
She wrote to me to say: ‘Teachers are purchasing items such as pens. out of their own pockets- this is disgraceful’, says Eileen. Does the Prime Minister agree with Eileen?
Corbyn quotes a letter from Eileen. Tory MPs make the connection. Speaker tells them off for "Come On Eileen" references. #PMQs
— PARLY (@ParlyApp) March 22, 2017
Cheers of "Come on Eileen" resound around chamber as Corbyn name checks her for writing to him, concerned over school funding #pmqs
— Mark Lobel (@marklobel) March 22, 2017
May hits back:
We are seeing record levels of funding going into our schools, we have protected the schools budget, we've protected the Pupil Premium but what matters for all of us concerned about education is we ensure that the quality of education.
'No wonder the editor of the London Evening Standard is up in arms'
The Labour leader suggests the schools funding breaks a Tory manifesto.
He says:
Mr Speaker, the cut to school funding equates to the loss of two teachers across all primary schools, six teachers across all secondary schools.
Is the PM advocating larger class sizes? A shorter school day? Or unqualified teachers? Which is it?
He also jokes:
No wonder even the editor of the London Evening Standard is up in arms about this.
No wonder that even the editor of the London Evening Standard is up in arms, Corbyn says of schools funding #PMQs
— Kylie MacLellan (@kyliemaclellan) March 22, 2017
May says they have protected the schools budget, and says there are now more teachers in our schools.
She says:
We believe in diversity in education and choice for parents, he believes in a one-size-fits-all take it or leave it model.
May challenged on schools funding
Jeremy Corbyn is up and he asks a question about schools funding.
He says the Government is cutting the schools budget by 6.5 by 2020.
He says:
Today we learn the proposed national funding formula will leave 1,000 schools facing additional cuts of 7 per cent beyond 2020.
Can the PM explain why cutting corporation tax is more important than our children’s future?
May responds by saying that she is committed to ensuring all our children get the education that is right for them.
She says:
That's building on a fine record of the past six and a half, nearly seven years where we've seen 1.8m more children in good and outstanding schools.
The National Funding Formula is a consultation and obviously there'll be a number of views, the consultation closes today and the Department for Education will respond to that consultation in due course.
Corbyn 'smiles and talks' to Tom Watson
Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson are side by side at #pmqs despite this week's...tensions
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) March 22, 2017
.@Mike_Fabricant#Corbyn makes a show of smiling and talking to Tom Watson. They normally sit angled away from each other.
— Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) March 22, 2017
Jeremy Corbyn just squeezed in next to Tom Watson for start of #PMQs don't see much small talk
— Andy Bell (@andybell5news) March 22, 2017
MPs pays tribute to Martin McGuinness
Theresa May kicks off PMQs by paying tribute to Martin McGuinness, the former Northern Ireland deputy first minister.
She says "we don't condone the path he took earlier in life" but says he helped bring peace.
Who will be called in PMQs?
Q1 John Mann (Bassetlaw) If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 22 March.
02 Lucy Allan (Telford)
Q3 Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
04 Charlie Elphicke (Dover)
05 Alex Cunningham (Stockton North)
06 Sir Julian Brazier (Canterbury)
07 Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South)
08 Chris Evans (lslwyn)
09 Simon Hoare (North Dorset)
Q10 Pete Wishart(Perth and North Perthshire)
Q11 John Stevenson (Carlisle)
Q12 Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)
Q13 Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle)
Q14 Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden)
PM leaves No 10 for PMQs
EU to threaten Britain with court action
Britain will be threatened with court action by the EU if it tries to walk away without paying a £50 billion “divorce bill”, leaked papers reveal.
A draft copy of the EU’s negotiating strategy for the forthcoming Brexit talks discusses taking Britain to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
It quotes an official as saying that if Britain refuses to pay, “in that case it is, see you in The Hague!”
Theresa May has received advice from Government lawyers that Britain could legally leave without paying. A House of Lords committee came to the same conclusion.
However Britain’s ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, has warned that Brussels had confidence in “other legal options”.
The leaked document, obtained by the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, says the EU strategy will also insist that access to the single market will only be granted if freedom of movement remains.
Britain will slap tariffs on EU goods
Theresa May is prepared to put tariffs on EU goods if European leaders are difficult over Brexit, according to reports.
A new trade bill, which will set out a new law to take back control of trade policy, is expected to coincide with the start of Brexit negotiations this summer.
Brussels negotiates trade deals and collects tariffs on behalf of Britain, but this new law will transfer that power back to Westminster.
It will send a firm message to Europe that Britain is prepared to walk away from talks without a new trade deal.
A government insider told the Sun it will “come as no surprise” that the bill will for part of the Government’s ‘Brexit Queen’s Speech’.
A Whitehall source told the newspaper: “There are a number of decisions that need to be taken, but all options are still being considered.”
What will Brexit mean for British trade?
As an EU member, the UK and companies based here can sell their goods freely to customers anywhere else in the EU without those customers having to pay additional taxes to import those goods.
British consumers and companies can also import from elsewhere in the EU without tariffs. The EU also has agreements allowing free trade with countries such as Norway, Switzerland, South Africa and South Korea.
Outside the EU, the UK will need to strike new deals in order to have free trade with those countries or the remaining EU members.
What sort of trade agreement will we have with Europe?
That depends on what kind of deal the UK was trying to strike.
After decades of EU membership UK business regulations are already heavily harmonised with Europe, meaning that the UK could probably strike a very quick deal if – and it’s a big ‘if’ – it was prepared to go on applying those rules in exchange for access to the EU single market, much as Norway does today.
In practice, the UK would be more likely seek to negotiate a novel form of Free Trade Agreement, but as Pawel Swidlicki of Open Europe notes, the trade-off is between “speed and scope”.
If the UK wants a broad deal, particularly one covering services, including financial services, it could take some time.
Past precedent for other deals suggests negotiations might take anywhere from four to 10 years. How long precisely might depend more on politics than economics.
German car makers and French winemakers might well be pushing for access to the UK, but given other tensions in the EU and the need for the deal to be agreed by a qualified majority vote, there would be plenty of scope for other nations to hold the process to ransom.
In the absence of a deal between the UK and the EU, the UK would then be required to follow World Trade Organisation rules on tariffs.
The UK’s top 10 trading partners
What will that mean?
The UK would pay tariffs on goods and services it exported into the EU, but since the UK would pay ‘most favoured nation’ rates, that would prohibit either side imposing punitive duties and sparking a trade war.
These WTO tariffs range from 32 per cent on wine, to 4.1 per cent on liquefied natural gas, with items like cars (9.8 per cent) and wheat products (12.8 per cent) somewhere in between.
John Springford, an economist with the Centre for European Reform, the total cost of those tariffs would be large, ranging from a 2.2 per cent of GDP (£40 billion) to 9 per cent.
Business for Britain, which campaigns for exit, estimates that at worst, tariffs would cost British exporters just £7.4 billion a year and says the UK would save enough on EU membership fees to be able to compensate exporters for that.
Damian Chalmers, professor of European Union law at the London School of Economics, says the bigger threat to the UK exports would not be from WTO tariffs, but other EU states imposing new regulations and other “non-tariff barriers” to keep UK services out.
