04/09/2013 Daily Politics


04/09/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 04/09/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Good morning. This is the Daily Politics. Back

:00:40.:00:50.

from our summer break. There is plenty going on. President Putin

:00:50.:00:53.

warns the West against unilateral action against Syria, although he

:00:53.:00:56.

didn't rule out supporting a United Nations resolution authorising a

:00:56.:00:59.

military strike if it was proved beyond doubt that the Syrian

:00:59.:01:01.

government had used chemical weapons against its own people. Across the

:01:01.:01:12.

pond American Senators have agreed on a draft resolution that would

:01:12.:01:18.

authorise the use of force in Syria. It would allow President Obama to

:01:18.:01:21.

use limited and tailored military action to respond to the use of

:01:21.:01:24.

chemical weapons. Congress will vote next week. So what is likely to

:01:24.:01:30.

happen? It's the first PMQs since the summer

:01:30.:01:33.

break. It's the first since that vote on Syria last week. We will be

:01:33.:01:38.

looking at how the parties are shaping up.

:01:38.:01:42.

Ed may not want to go to war but appears the unions do. News this

:01:42.:01:46.

morning that the GMB union has cut the money it gives to the Labour

:01:46.:01:51.

party by more than a million pounds. And should MPs vote with their party

:01:51.:01:56.

or their conscience? We will be delving into the world of

:01:56.:01:58.

parliamentary rebellion. All that and more coming up. X

:01:58.:02:03.

Factor, Strictly, eat your heart out. There's only one programme the

:02:03.:02:13.

British public has been pining for. It's called the Daily Politics. One

:02:13.:02:21.

half of the Eagle sisters, Angela. She's shadow leader of the House of

:02:21.:02:27.

Commons in her spare time. And the pin-up boy of the Metropolitan

:02:27.:02:30.

Police. The former Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell. Welcome to you

:02:30.:02:38.

both. Now first this morning, let's discuss the latest scandal to rock

:02:38.:02:43.

the mother of parliaments. Pornography! Because a freedom of

:02:43.:02:50.

information request has revealed that users of computers in the

:02:50.:02:53.

Palace of Westminster tried to access internet pornography 300,000

:02:53.:02:58.

times last year. We would like to point out that 5,000 people work in

:02:58.:03:04.

parliament, including MPs and peers. So somebody is using it quite a

:03:04.:03:13.

lot! It is fairly astonishing. I have never been so bored in my job

:03:13.:03:19.

that I have resorted to that! Website got it from a Freedom of

:03:19.:03:25.

information request. According to the figures, almost 115,000 attempts

:03:25.:03:30.

to access pornography from the Palace of Westminster in November,

:03:31.:03:35.

but only 15 in February. Why is that? I did the elementary maths,

:03:35.:03:44.

Andrew, and 5000 people work there which means there is 60 attempts to

:03:44.:03:49.

access her head but I should point out the House of Commons have

:03:49.:03:55.

dismissed this as grossly inaccurate -- 60 attempts per head. It might be

:03:55.:04:06.

pop-ups, they said. I don't know. Did you not have to actively go onto

:04:06.:04:10.

pop-ups, they said. I don't know. the website? Having never gone on to

:04:10.:04:15.

a porn site, I'm afraid I can't answer that. I don't think accessing

:04:15.:04:18.

pornography is a good use of tax answer that. I don't think accessing

:04:18.:04:25.

payers money so I bet you the figures are different next year. The

:04:25.:04:28.

people who work at the House of Commons are paid for by the

:04:29.:04:34.

taxpayer. Not all of them. Some of this information seems dodgy but why

:04:35.:04:39.

was it released in the first place if it is not thought to be accurate?

:04:39.:04:44.

I have no idea where they got the figures from. You don't know whether

:04:44.:04:51.

it is some automatic process that goes on in computers, you know. This

:04:51.:05:02.

is very dodgy stuff. We have spent longer on this than I would have.

:05:02.:05:08.

The story is over! To something you will be more comfortable talking

:05:08.:05:13.

about, the economy! Labour is on the front foot in the Commons today,

:05:13.:05:16.

wanting to debate the crisis - their words not mine - over the cost of

:05:16.:05:21.

living. A report out today says almost five million British workers

:05:21.:05:24.

now earn less than the so-called living wage. A whole host of recent

:05:24.:05:27.

figures though suggest economic good news. Although writing in today's

:05:27.:05:36.

Guardian, the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls warns that the UK could be

:05:36.:05:38.

approaching an unsustainable recovery. But growth is returning

:05:38.:05:47.

and getting stronger, so say the think tanks. We welcome the return

:05:47.:05:53.

of growth. It is welcome but very delayed. We have had three years of

:05:53.:05:59.

stagnation and since 2010 living standards have fallen by effectively

:05:59.:06:03.

£20 a week for people in this country apart from a few at the very

:06:03.:06:09.

top. The issue is what we can do to create a sustainable economic growth

:06:09.:06:13.

rather than one that is fuelled by more bubbles in house prices? You

:06:13.:06:18.

have conceded that your argument about the flat-lining... But growth

:06:18.:06:24.

was the key and that was what the Labour Party's economic critique was

:06:24.:06:29.

built on and you said yourself you should perhaps congratulate the

:06:29.:06:32.

coalition that after one of the deepest recessions in history,

:06:32.:06:37.

growth is returning, unemployment did not reach the heights that were

:06:37.:06:42.

predicted in the OECD raised its projections for growth in the

:06:42.:06:48.

economy to 1.5%. That is all good news but the fact is, we have had

:06:48.:06:53.

three years of no growth, we have a million young unemployed and two

:06:53.:06:57.

thirds of the jobs created in the last period are on very, very low

:06:57.:07:03.

wages indeed so if we are going to have a proper rebalancing of the

:07:03.:07:07.

economy and sustainable growth going forward is we have to reboot the

:07:07.:07:11.

economy in a way that is sustainable. How do we do that?

:07:11.:07:18.

Create the sustainable recovery? A million private sector jobs have

:07:18.:07:24.

been created. But on very low pay. There are still millions of people

:07:24.:07:28.

in work who cannot make ends meet. Even those who are in work are

:07:28.:07:33.

finding life tough. When you have an economy that is based on consumer

:07:33.:07:37.

spending, that is not the most sustainable. We have to make our way

:07:37.:07:42.

in the world in the 21st-century and look at how we can support future

:07:42.:07:46.

industries that will make as prosperous in the future rather than

:07:46.:07:52.

unsustainable house price booms. The government will no doubt be

:07:52.:07:56.

delighted that growth has returned. The question is, what sort of

:07:56.:08:04.

recovery? Consumption is up, public confidence is returning, mortgage

:08:04.:08:09.

approvals and house prices are up. Will we enter another debt fuelled

:08:09.:08:14.

boom? I do not want to get involved in too much party your poo because

:08:14.:08:21.

people have had a difficult time -- ya-boo. But the government has stuck

:08:21.:08:30.

to its guns. It has taken the necessary painful measures to sort

:08:30.:08:34.

out the mess and this news is encouraging. If the projections,

:08:34.:08:41.

growth of 2%, are achieved, that is encouraging. If the projections,

:08:41.:08:48.

far more than anyone in visit and I think the Chancellor deserves some

:08:48.:08:53.

credit for ticking by his -- sticking by his very tough

:08:53.:08:56.

decisions. Many people said he shouldn't. There was much advice

:08:56.:09:01.

that it should be changed. He stuck to them and I believe we are reaping

:09:01.:09:05.

the benefit of that and thank goodness because it has been a very

:09:05.:09:16.

tough time. What sort of recovery has George Osborne started if we

:09:16.:09:18.

give him the credit for growth returning? Consumption is up.

:09:18.:09:21.

Mortgage approvals are up. House prices are up. It looks exactly like

:09:21.:09:27.

the sort of boom that the Conservatives criticised because

:09:27.:09:32.

they said it led to bust in 2008. These are exactly the same

:09:32.:09:34.

conditions that led to the bust and the recession. If you look at what

:09:34.:09:38.

the new governor of the Bank of the recession. If you look at what

:09:39.:09:42.

England said in his speech, I think we are not heading for that. He will

:09:42.:09:48.

keep interest rates low precisely so that people can continue to meet

:09:48.:09:52.

their mortgage payments. He does not think that would be the result. This

:09:52.:09:55.

their mortgage payments. He does not recovery is led by the private

:09:55.:10:00.

sector to. One of the things that Labour said, it is all very well the

:10:00.:10:06.

shake out in the public sector but it will not be picked up in the

:10:06.:10:10.

private sector and thank goodness that has been shown to be wrong.

:10:10.:10:13.

Let's look at the private sector jobs. Angela Eagle said many of them

:10:13.:10:20.

are part-time and low paid and have not been as a direct replacement of

:10:20.:10:25.

the public sector jobs lost. Do you accept that there is a problem with

:10:25.:10:30.

the cost of living? I do except that there is a serious issue to be

:10:30.:10:37.

looked at with the living wage -- I accept. We are looking at what one

:10:37.:10:44.

might do about that. Increasing the minimum wage? Yes, I am pleased we

:10:44.:10:49.

are looking at that. But we have taken 2.7 million of the least

:10:49.:10:55.

well-paid people out of tax, which is a significant contribution. We

:10:55.:11:00.

have frozen council tax. It helps people at the bottom by taking them

:11:00.:11:05.

out of tax. We have seen figures to date showing that over a million

:11:05.:11:11.

people have fallen down below living wage standards in the last year, so

:11:11.:11:16.

wages are continuing to be squeezed down. Yes, we have got some growth

:11:16.:11:21.

and that is to be welcomed, but because we have had three years of a

:11:21.:11:26.

flat-lining economy we are the only G-7 country that has not got back to

:11:26.:11:30.

2008 levels of growth in our economy. Thank you, both.

:11:30.:11:36.

It's been a long hot summer. Or at least it has for Jo. She has been

:11:36.:11:45.

sunning herself on the Costa del Chiswick. I've been here tidying the

:11:45.:11:48.

office and manning the phones. So for those of you who have only just

:11:48.:11:52.

tuned back into politics, Jo has been brushing up on what the party

:11:52.:11:56.

leaders got up to on their summer holidays.

:11:56.:12:00.

Yes, it's been a summer of highs and lows for the party leaders. David

:12:00.:12:04.

Cameron went on so many holidays the papers nicknamed him "departure

:12:04.:12:07.

lounge Dave", as he took trips to Portugal, Scotland and Cornwall. He

:12:07.:12:11.

also revealed he had been suffering from a bad back, which meant he

:12:11.:12:14.

could no longer go deerstalking in the Hebridies. But he could at least

:12:14.:12:18.

comfort himself with the gloom hanging over Ed Miliband. The Labour

:12:19.:12:23.

leader reportedly had his mobile phone switched off while he enjoyed

:12:23.:12:26.

a fortnight in the south of France, so perhaps he didn't hear news that

:12:26.:12:30.

Labour's poll lead over the Tories fell from 13 points in May to just

:12:30.:12:35.

three by the end of July. The leader's own personal ratings also

:12:35.:12:38.

continued to slide, with one poll putting him on -31. That even led

:12:38.:12:42.

some to draw parallels with the failed Tory leadership of Iain

:12:43.:12:47.

Duncan Smith. As usual, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg took his family to

:12:47.:12:51.

the Spanish town which is home to his wife's family. But he still

:12:51.:12:56.

weighed in on some of the summer's big stories, including taking time

:12:56.:12:59.

to criticise the Home Office for ad vans telling illegal immigrants to

:12:59.:13:03.

"go home". But everyone's holidays were cut short by the decision to

:13:03.:13:07.

recall parliament for a vote on Syria, and at least in the short

:13:07.:13:10.

term, the decision to oppose the government seems to have given

:13:10.:13:13.

Labour and Ed Miliband a boost, with the party's lead over the

:13:13.:13:16.

Conservatives back up to double digits. Andrew.

:13:16.:13:21.

And we're joined now by the Home Office Minister, the Liberal

:13:21.:13:26.

Democrat MP, Jeremy Browne. Let's have a look at some of the things

:13:26.:13:31.

that have been happening. We learned this morning that the GMB is now one

:13:31.:13:35.

of the big unions that helps this morning that the GMB is now one

:13:35.:13:39.

bankroll your party, and is now going to only pay for 50,000 members

:13:39.:13:47.

rather than 650,000 members. Tom Watson says this could be the

:13:47.:13:52.

beginning of the end of the historic link between the Labour Party and

:13:52.:13:55.

the unions, which has endured for over 100 years. It is the absolute

:13:55.:14:02.

right of the GMB executive committee to take this decision. I hope we can

:14:02.:14:07.

involve the link with the trade unions so we get more people who are

:14:07.:14:11.

out at work defending people in their trade unions... We have to

:14:11.:14:19.

change it and evolve it. Perhaps it hasn't changed soon enough. We have

:14:19.:14:24.

to persuade individual members of the trade unions that they should

:14:24.:14:28.

join the party. After all we have been talking about the problems of

:14:29.:14:34.

people on low wages now. The coalition government have given a

:14:34.:14:39.

tax cut to millionaires. We have got to have discussions with those who

:14:39.:14:44.

are defending people's rights not to be treated arbitrarily at work and

:14:44.:14:47.

persuade them that the Labour Party is for them. The GMB things only 50%

:14:47.:14:56.

-- 50,000 people will choose to affiliate with the party rather than

:14:56.:15:02.

650,000. That means you have been taking the money of 600,000 people

:15:02.:15:08.

under false pretences. It is in the GMB's rules that they can affiliate

:15:08.:15:13.

how much the executive committee decides and they have made this new

:15:13.:15:18.

decision. We need to go and argue with them that the best interests of

:15:18.:15:24.

their members are served with them being actively involved in the

:15:24.:15:30.

Labour Party. If we can get another 100,000 of them actively involved,

:15:30.:15:34.

that is more members than the Conservative Party has in the whole

:15:34.:15:37.

country. We want to create a new mass participation party. This is a

:15:37.:15:47.

big risk but we can come out stronger? Where else in the Western

:15:47.:15:56.

world is there a mass party? It is a tough call, politics has been

:15:56.:16:01.

declining everywhere. So why on earth do you think the Labour Party

:16:01.:16:06.

will buck the trend? We have to try to recreate new interest in our

:16:06.:16:09.

democracy and politics and to do that we have to try to get more

:16:10.:16:13.

democracy and politics and to do people involved. But the GMB things

:16:13.:16:18.

that less than a 10th of the people they all -- automatically affiliate

:16:18.:16:23.

will volunteer to affiliate! We have to go and tap the discussions. And

:16:23.:16:25.

will volunteer to affiliate! We have then you will get 50,000! They think

:16:25.:16:32.

that. We have to go and have the discussions. They know their members

:16:32.:16:37.

but I want to talk to GMB members and save join the party, make us

:16:37.:16:42.

stronger, help create a fairer society. How many people do the

:16:42.:16:51.

Conservative Party have as members? Membership of political parties has

:16:51.:16:54.

been declining. But he won't tell us! Why not? You will have to ask

:16:54.:17:03.

the chairman, Grant Schatz. He won't tell me but I thought he might tell

:17:03.:17:09.

you! I have not asked him!But you won't make it public. The reason we

:17:09.:17:13.

are assuming is because membership has collapsed! There has been a

:17:13.:17:19.

widespread trend which is people join special-interest groups, single

:17:19.:17:22.

lobbying issue groups, and they choose to do that rather than

:17:22.:17:30.

joining. I was going to ask Angela what she would regard as a success.

:17:30.:17:36.

If we can get more than there are Conservative party members, that

:17:36.:17:40.

would be good. But you will never know! You have set a yardstick which

:17:40.:17:47.

is unknown! I think it is around 100,000, that is the rumours. The

:17:47.:17:54.

rumours are it has plummeted below 100,000. 253,000 voted in your last

:17:54.:18:02.

leadership and the rumours are that your party will not tell as the

:18:02.:18:06.

figures because it is probably below 100,000, so you have set a pretty

:18:06.:18:09.

figures because it is probably below low yardstick. How many Lib Dems are

:18:09.:18:16.

there? Not as many as I would like. It is about 50,000. I have got

:18:16.:18:24.

42,500. I think Labour are doing the right thing. When I joined the Lib

:18:24.:18:30.

Dems 20 years ago, it was more like 100,000 I think and that is the

:18:30.:18:32.

Dems 20 years ago, it was more like decline that nearly all of the party

:18:32.:18:37.

have seen. It is across the western world. But I think Labour are doing

:18:37.:18:43.

the right thing. The era of the block vote and people being

:18:43.:18:48.

surprised to a political party they do not necessarily support is

:18:48.:18:54.

anachronistic. We want to revive our party and revive politics. The

:18:54.:18:58.

lobbying bill yesterday, where the coalition government are trying to

:18:59.:19:04.

stop campaigning groups from having a say at the general election, is

:19:04.:19:08.

trying to exclude even more. In your view, how many people of your fellow

:19:08.:19:17.

backbenchers voted against the government over Syria because they

:19:17.:19:20.

do not like David Cameron rather than the issue? Stop a lot They make

:19:20.:19:48.

very good speeches which made it very clear I would think there is a

:19:48.:20:00.

large number who are worried about Mr Miliband than Part of the problem

:20:00.:20:38.

was this was Barack Obama has specifically excluded even need the

:20:38.:21:13.

report of the UN inspectorate. For you to make We needed a serious,

:21:13.:21:22.

thoughtful approach to this issue, rather than a bungled, rushed vote

:21:22.:21:25.

that was announced on Twitter without any of the proper This is a

:21:25.:23:01.

rapidly moving situation. We've had more intelligence released. We've

:23:01.:23:04.

had the appalling napalm bombing of a primary school by a Syrian fighter

:23:04.:23:08.

jet. We've got the additional intelligence

:23:08.:23:37.

What is your view? Would you like another vote? I don't think there

:23:37.:23:47.

should be another vote on the same question. The only caveat I would

:23:47.:23:54.

put, my short answer is no. The slight caveat is if there is a

:23:54.:23:56.

put, my short answer is no. The complete change in the issue that we

:23:56.:24:00.

are being asked to confront and consider,

:24:00.:24:11.

must reserve the right to have another look at it. We all agree

:24:11.:24:16.

with that. But... We have to leave it. The cruel vagaries of politics.

:24:16.:24:28.

One minute, the coast of the Commons, the next you are just

:24:28.:24:33.

toast. Even when your career is at an end, cruel and unusual judgements

:24:33.:24:37.

do not stop. No, they don't. Spare a thought for this little fellow here.

:24:37.:24:46.

There he is. Do you know who it is? Well done, it looks nothing like

:24:46.:24:51.

him. Chris Huhne. Enough people voted for him to become Prime

:24:51.:24:55.

Minister in 1963. He emerged without voted for him to become Prime

:24:55.:25:02.

even a vote in the Conservative Party. Would you like to come and

:25:02.:25:11.

help us tomorrow morning? He was chosen by a cabal of older Tony and

:25:11.:25:17.

is, that Iain Macleod called the Magic Circle, in a famous editorial

:25:17.:25:25.

in The Spectator. Nobody elected him, because in the own -- olden

:25:25.:25:32.

days they were not elected. It has been found that while Margaret

:25:32.:25:37.

Thatcher, Winston Churchill and Tony Blair still fly off the shelves,

:25:37.:25:42.

maybe because people are throwing them, not a single person has bought

:25:42.:25:47.

little Alex. Nobody voted for him, nobody is buying him. Enough to make

:25:48.:25:52.

you choke on your digestive. But the quality of our tea is not strained.

:25:52.:25:58.

If there was a Daily Politics Toby jug, I am sure it would be more

:25:58.:26:02.

popular than anybody else. There we go. Who is that?The good old Daily

:26:02.:26:09.

Politics muggy will always be in vogue. We will remind you how to

:26:09.:26:15.

enter the competition in a moment. Let's see if you can remember when

:26:15.:26:17.

this happened. Who is the Briton who checked in as

:26:17.:26:25.

Richard Reid? # Just can't go on too long

:26:25.:26:50.

# Your tragedy starts to happen... # I'll stand by your side, as I

:26:50.:27:00.

always do. Smugglers decreed we should wear burkhas, which the

:27:00.:27:09.

Taliban force every woman in Afghanistan to wear.

:27:09.:27:13.

# You got stuck in a moment, now you can't get out of it. # I am today

:27:14.:27:23.

resigning from the government. To be in with a chance of winning a

:27:23.:27:53.

mug and the Douglas Hume jug, send your ansa to our special quiz e-mail

:27:53.:27:59.

address. You can see the terms and conditions on our website.

:27:59.:28:07.

It is coming up to mid-day, Big Ben will appear as magic. Prime Minister

:28:07.:28:13.

's questions will be pretty good, I think. We will hear the fallout from

:28:13.:28:24.

the Syria debate. Jesse Norman had some sort of position in number ten,

:28:24.:28:29.

and he has had to resign, he has effectively been fired. There will

:28:30.:28:35.

be others, no doubt. He is on the policy board, so he is an adviser,

:28:35.:28:42.

but he was brought off the back benches as a rising star. He did not

:28:42.:28:48.

vote with the government on Syria, so he has gone. There has to be

:28:48.:28:59.

consequences, said an insider. Desperately proving that the Bell

:28:59.:29:03.

did not work! Or she has got to purchase a hearing aid! We tested

:29:03.:29:08.

it, it was working! They tested it the week before! They could be more

:29:08.:29:21.

victims? Once the reshuffle comes, there will be fallout. The

:29:21.:29:25.

interesting thing about PMQ 's, what there will be fallout. The

:29:25.:29:33.

is the tone? The real poison has entered the relationship between the

:29:33.:29:35.

Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition. People often think that

:29:35.:29:42.

the leaders hate each other. Often, they do not, there is a respect. But

:29:42.:29:47.

real poison into the relationship. I think Ed Miliband will go on Syria,

:29:47.:29:56.

he is wanting to show that there is something you can do, but he opens

:29:56.:30:01.

himself up to the possible charge that he helped Parliament to rule

:30:01.:30:05.

out military action, when he personally said he was in favour in

:30:05.:30:09.

the right circumstances. There were so many caveats. But his starting

:30:09.:30:15.

position was, there were chemical weapons that did cross a red line,

:30:15.:30:19.

it was the case that the President Assad used it, but now, he says it

:30:19.:30:27.

is the Prime Minister's fault. David Cameron has got problems in terms of

:30:27.:30:31.

his management of it, it looks like he rushed to an American timetable

:30:31.:30:36.

and could not deliver. To which the Americans then changed. People like

:30:36.:30:42.

Malcolm Rifkind say, for goodness sake, talking, because the only way

:30:42.:30:50.

Parliament can have another vote, the only way the Prime Minister will

:30:50.:30:55.

then another vote, is if the politics changes. If the leader of

:30:55.:30:59.

the opposition says, I am willing to join with you in certain

:30:59.:31:05.

circumstances. We need to trust each other. At the moment, there is not a

:31:05.:31:09.

chance. Living standards are the theme of the day for the Labour

:31:09.:31:16.

Party. Economic growth.Let's find out.

:31:17.:31:24.

Before listing my engagements, the house will wish to join me in

:31:24.:31:28.

congratulating the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their

:31:28.:31:32.

son, Prince George of Cambridge. I am sure I speak for the nation in

:31:32.:31:36.

son, Prince George of Cambridge. I sending our congratulations and wish

:31:36.:31:38.

them and Prince George a happy and healthy life. I can assure

:31:38.:31:44.

honourable members they can offer their own congratulations next

:31:44.:31:45.

Monday when This morning I had meetings with

:31:45.:31:53.

ministerial colleagues and others and I shall have other meetings

:31:53.:32:04.

today. Can I also congratulate their Royal Highnesses. Since we last met

:32:04.:32:09.

there has been a spate of good economic news. Unemployment is down

:32:09.:32:19.

and the economy is growing. Isn't it time for those who still oppose it

:32:19.:32:24.

to stop messing around, give it up, and abandoned plan B? Business

:32:24.:32:40.

confidence is at its highest level since 2000 date, consumer confidence

:32:40.:32:45.

is up, and the figures on construction, manufacturing and

:32:45.:32:46.

is up, and the figures on services are going in the right

:32:46.:32:48.

direction. These are early days but services are going in the right

:32:48.:32:52.

it is because of the tough decisions that this government took that we

:32:52.:32:57.

can now see progress and the party opposite told us unemployment would

:32:57.:33:02.

go up, it has gone down, they said the economy would go backwards, it

:33:02.:33:07.

has gone forwards, and it is time for them to explain why they were

:33:07.:33:11.

wrong and we were right. Ed Miliband! I join the Prime Minister

:33:11.:33:22.

in congratulating the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of

:33:22.:33:24.

Prince George and I wish them all of Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of

:33:24.:33:29.

the happiness in the world. At the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg

:33:29.:33:33.

tomorrow, will the Prime Minister do everything he can to get other

:33:33.:33:39.

countries to match the UK's important aid commitment to

:33:39.:33:42.

alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Almost one third of

:33:42.:33:47.

town-macro families have been forced to leave their homes but the UN has

:33:47.:33:51.

less than half the resources that it needs. -- one third of Syrian

:33:51.:34:02.

families. We are the second largest aid donor there has been. We must

:34:02.:34:10.

make clear our revulsion at the use of chemical weapons, our desire for

:34:10.:34:15.

a peace process but above all getting donor countries together and

:34:15.:34:20.

making sure they do everything they can to live up to their

:34:20.:34:24.

responsibilities so we can help the Syrian people. The Civil War and

:34:24.:34:30.

refugee crisis in Syria are having profound impacts across the Middle

:34:30.:34:36.

East, specifically in Lebanon, where the population is up by 20% since

:34:36.:34:43.

the Civil War began. What specific support beyond the welcome

:34:43.:34:46.

humanitarian assistance can Britain give to these countries to help them

:34:46.:34:50.

deal with the burden on their economy and society and

:34:50.:34:56.

infrastructure? Having been to a refugee camp in Jordan I have seen

:34:56.:35:00.

how great the pressures are. That camp is now one of the biggest

:35:00.:35:03.

how great the pressures are. That cities in that country. We have well

:35:03.:35:07.

funded embassies and diplomatic networks, very close relationships

:35:07.:35:12.

with Jordan and Lebanon and the Turks as well. We are well placed

:35:12.:35:20.

because we are spending serious money on the humanitarian aid

:35:20.:35:24.

programmes. At the end of the day we need a solution to the Syrian

:35:24.:35:30.

crisis. We also need to make sure we are clear about our revulsion in

:35:30.:35:36.

terms of chemical weapons. We should be making sure our aid programme is

:35:36.:35:40.

helping give the Syrian people protection from the appalling

:35:40.:35:46.

attacks. The revulsion about chemical weapons attacks is shared

:35:46.:35:54.

on all sides of the House. I wanted to talk about getting the talks

:35:54.:36:00.

going. The opposition Syrian National Council is meeting the

:36:00.:36:04.

Foreign Secretary in the next couple of days. Can the Prime Minister tell

:36:04.:36:08.

us what work he is doing to make those talks in Geneva happen? One is

:36:08.:36:17.

we want to support those elements of the Syrian opposition that support a

:36:17.:36:24.

clueless stick, democratic and free Syria -- a pluarlistic. But we go

:36:24.:36:32.

further because we recognise the rebels that back those views also

:36:32.:36:38.

deserve our support, in terms of training and advice, because we

:36:38.:36:43.

won't get a peace process in Syria unless Assad realises that his

:36:43.:36:47.

regime is under some sort of threat and pressure, not just from the

:36:47.:36:51.

rebels but from the millions of Syrians that we must be standing up

:36:51.:36:57.

for, who want democracy and freedom. We should be on their side.

:36:57.:37:04.

There is no difference within the House on the need to stand up for

:37:04.:37:09.

the innocent people of Syria. The question... The question... JEERING.

:37:09.:37:22.

We have approached this in a calm and measured way so far and we

:37:22.:37:26.

should carry on doing that. There are large barriers, big barriers, as

:37:26.:37:35.

we found out, to the Geneva peace talks actually happening. Can I ask

:37:35.:37:39.

the Prime Minister whether there isn't a case for immediate talks

:37:39.:37:44.

between those countries backing the rebels and those countries backing

:37:44.:37:48.

the regime? That happened during the Civil War in Lebanon and would at

:37:48.:37:52.

least provide a basis for discussion. I agree that Britain

:37:52.:37:57.

should use all of its diplomatic muscle to discuss with those

:37:57.:38:01.

countries that have backed the regime and to join with those

:38:01.:38:05.

countries who backed the rebels and the opposition to try to bring those

:38:05.:38:09.

talks about and that is why I have had repeated discussions, for

:38:09.:38:14.

instance with President Putin, and why I travelled to see him

:38:14.:38:18.

specifically to discuss this, but I come back to this point. It is all

:38:18.:38:21.

specifically to discuss this, but I the real world for the countries

:38:21.:38:24.

supporting either side to want the peace talks to take place. What you

:38:24.:38:29.

also need is for those people involved in the conflict in Syria to

:38:29.:38:33.

recognise that it is in their interest to see the beginning of the

:38:33.:38:38.

peace process. I think we can convince the Syrian national council

:38:38.:38:40.

peace process. I think we can it is in their interest, but we need

:38:40.:38:47.

the regime, Assad himself, to realise that it is is -- it is in

:38:47.:38:56.

his interest. And for that to happen the world is to take a very tough

:38:56.:39:09.

response. We must not in any degree give up our after revulsion of the

:39:09.:39:18.

chemical weapons attacks... Nobody disagrees with our revulsion at the

:39:18.:39:22.

use of chemical weapons, the question is how to deal with it.

:39:22.:39:27.

Given the difficulty of getting direct talks moving between the

:39:27.:39:34.

Syrian government and the opposition, is there a case for

:39:34.:39:38.

getting regional partners involved? We know the role Iran has played in

:39:38.:39:47.

fuelling this conflict but given that successful diplomacy involves

:39:47.:39:51.

talking with those with whom we profoundly disagree, what is the

:39:51.:39:58.

position on Iraqi participating? The Foreign Secretary will be meeting

:39:58.:40:01.

with the Iranians Foreign Minister -- the position on Tehran

:40:01.:40:10.

participating? Let's not forget what Iran have done to our embassy. We

:40:10.:40:16.

all want these peace talks to take place, we all want Geneva to happen,

:40:16.:40:22.

but we can't want it more than the participants involved in Syria's

:40:22.:40:27.

bloody conflict and we have to make sure it is in the interest that

:40:27.:40:31.

these talks go ahead and that is why yes, diplomacy is important, but the

:40:31.:40:37.

work that we do with the Syrian opposition, that is important. They

:40:38.:40:43.

are standing up for millions of Syrians who have been bombed out of

:40:43.:40:46.

their houses. Those are the people you need to talk to in the refugee

:40:46.:40:52.

camps in Jordan and elsewhere to see how they feel how badly the rest of

:40:52.:40:56.

the world is letting them down. Nobody disagrees with that of the

:40:56.:40:59.

world is letting them down. Nobody disagrees with that overview we take

:40:59.:41:05.

about Iran's behaviour but the question is how to bring the

:41:05.:41:10.

regional parties and the opposite sides together? Does he accept there

:41:10.:41:15.

remains support across the country for Britain taking every diplomatic,

:41:15.:41:19.

political and you monetarily and effort to help the Syrian people?

:41:19.:41:25.

Last week's vote was not about Britain shirking its global

:41:25.:41:29.

responsibility. It was about preventing a rush to war. Last week

:41:29.:41:35.

the House of Commons voted clearly and I respect the outcome of that

:41:35.:41:40.

vote and I won't be bringing back plans for British participation in

:41:40.:41:42.

vote and I won't be bringing back military action. I agree we must use

:41:42.:41:48.

everything we have in our power, and diplomatic networks, influence with

:41:48.:41:55.

other countries, membership of the EU, NATO, UN, but my only regret

:41:55.:42:02.

from last week is I do not think it was necessary to divide the House on

:42:02.:42:07.

a vote that could have led to a vote but he took the decision that it

:42:07.:42:18.

was. SHOUTING. We hear today the UK services business activity index is

:42:18.:42:22.

at its highest level for six and a half years. Does this not show that

:42:22.:42:27.

the government economic policy is working? Will the Prime Minister

:42:27.:42:30.

the government economic policy is commit to ensuring our increased

:42:30.:42:33.

prosperity helps to pay for Shrewsbury's Northwest relief road?

:42:33.:42:40.

I will look at the proposal. I know he wants Shrewsbury to be a

:42:40.:42:45.

connected hub in our country. The good news about this economic

:42:45.:42:49.

recovery is we are seeing it in more people in work. 1.3 million private

:42:49.:43:02.

sector jobs more and we need to see further progress with that because

:43:02.:43:06.

the best way to improve living standards in the country is to see

:43:06.:43:09.

an increasing number of people in gainful work. Jack Straw! May I

:43:10.:43:17.

press the Prime Minister on the issue of relations with Iraq. His

:43:17.:43:24.

previous answers sounded as if he had taken no account of the fact

:43:24.:43:27.

that since our embassy was outrageously sacked by the reigning

:43:27.:43:35.

president and his thugs, there has been an election in Iran that has

:43:35.:43:41.

led to a different individual becoming president who to my

:43:41.:43:44.

knowledge is someone the West and a British Prime Minister can deal

:43:44.:43:49.

with. Can I ask him to look carefully with the Foreign Secretary

:43:49.:43:52.

at how we make steps now to improve relations with Iran and try to get

:43:52.:44:00.

them involved in solving Syria? I agree that the election of a

:44:00.:44:04.

president who has a greater commitment to reform is a positive

:44:04.:44:11.

step and I have written to President Rouhani to raise a series of issues

:44:11.:44:15.

that need to be settled between Britain and Iran and we need to see

:44:15.:44:19.

progress on what he himself has said is important, which is trying to

:44:19.:44:24.

come to an agreement where Iran gives up the idea of nuclear weapons

:44:24.:44:29.

and in return we see every leaf on sanctions. But we should do this not

:44:29.:44:33.

from a position of just hoping for the best. We have seen what Iran can

:44:33.:44:39.

be capable of. We should go into these discussions cautiously.

:44:39.:44:48.

Does he agree accuracy of statistics is vital to inform

:44:48.:44:56.

public debate? Is he aware that 4% of the people believe that Elvis

:44:56.:45:01.

Presley is still alive? Double the number we hear today that they that

:45:01.:45:04.

the member for Doncaster North is not a natural leader! I can see my

:45:04.:45:13.

Honourable Friend, he has put his summer to very good use. I am

:45:13.:45:18.

grateful for his question. You need to see opinion polls before you can

:45:19.:45:21.

grateful for his question. You need see a true trend. Why does the

:45:21.:45:30.

Prime Minister believe that his plans to restrict lobbying are

:45:30.:45:35.

opposed from organisations from the Salvation Army, the Countryside

:45:35.:45:44.

Alliance, and so on. I listen to the exchanges before I came in and

:45:44.:45:48.

it seems to me there is a concerted campaign being run by the trade

:45:48.:45:55.

unions, who mysteriously managed to convince members of parliament to

:45:55.:46:00.

raise this problem. We know what is going on. They do not want the

:46:00.:46:05.

trade unions brought within the law, they walked the trade unions to go

:46:05.:46:11.

on spending millions, trying to alter an election campaign rather

:46:11.:46:13.

than having them properly controlled by the law. That is what

:46:13.:46:20.

the lobby in bill is about. -- lobbying. The UK economy will

:46:20.:46:29.

benefit from £50 million by a posting them round the world yacht

:46:29.:46:33.

race. Will the Prime Minister come to Gosport to see one of the top

:46:33.:46:38.

marine and sailing centres and congratulate those people who are

:46:38.:46:44.

flying the flag for tourism trade and watersports? I think my

:46:44.:46:49.

Honourable Friend is right. I have seen a model of the vessel. I

:46:49.:46:54.

welcome the fantastic contribution it makes to the economy. It was

:46:54.:46:58.

great to see the race in London for the first time and that it was led

:46:58.:47:04.

by a British boat and supported by the great campaign. I will take

:47:04.:47:09.

into account the kind invitation. I wish Sir Robin Knox Johnston well

:47:09.:47:15.

and all those taking part. Can I take him back to the answer he gave

:47:15.:47:20.

my friend a few minutes ago, can he be more positive about building

:47:20.:47:26.

better relations urgently with Iran, as one of the keys of bringing

:47:27.:47:32.

about a peace process in Syria and the region, simply attacking Iraq

:47:32.:47:36.

all the time will not bring them to the negotiating table. It is better

:47:36.:47:43.

that he is more positive. If you are trying to build a relationship

:47:43.:47:46.

with someone, it depends on the actions they take. Given that the

:47:46.:47:53.

Iranian government was complicit in completely smashing the embassy and

:47:53.:47:57.

residence in the capital, we will want to see action so that we can

:47:57.:48:02.

build that relationship. I have reached out by writing to the

:48:02.:48:06.

President, congratulating him on his accession to power, and wanting

:48:06.:48:12.

to discuss these issues. If we believe there is a magical key to

:48:12.:48:16.

the Syrian conflict, I suddenly adopting a different posture, I do

:48:16.:48:22.

not think we will make a good decision. La suite, we saw the

:48:22.:48:28.

proportion of households with no one in work for to the lowest since

:48:28.:48:31.

records began. Is this further evidence well for -- welfare

:48:31.:48:40.

reforms are working? He makes a very good point. In the second

:48:40.:48:45.

quarter, there are 3.5 million households without work, down

:48:45.:48:52.

182,000 on the year and 425,000 since the election. Each statistic

:48:52.:48:57.

tells a story about people who will be able to get into work, provide

:48:57.:49:02.

for their family, make something for their lives. We should be proud

:49:02.:49:07.

of the reforms. Every single one of them was opposed by the party

:49:07.:49:12.

opposite. We have not just saved £83 billion of measures they

:49:12.:49:16.

opposed, we have given hope to millions of families. I condemn the

:49:16.:49:24.

opposed, we have given hope to chemical attacks in Syria. Is it

:49:24.:49:28.

not time for joined-up thinking? Surely an American strike would

:49:28.:49:34.

squander opportunities offered by the new Iranian leadership and by

:49:34.:49:40.

the new US initiative in Palestine? Will the Prime Minister do what

:49:40.:49:44.

British people want and insist that the G20 searches for a way to bring

:49:45.:49:50.

about a ceasefire, rather than a new bombing raid. I respect the

:49:50.:49:58.

decision the house came to after the debate and Britain will not

:49:58.:50:02.

play any part in action. I would ask her to put herself for a moment

:50:02.:50:06.

in the shoes of the President of the United States and others. He

:50:06.:50:12.

set a clear redline. If there was large-scale chemical weapons used,

:50:12.:50:16.

something had to happen. We know the regime used chemical weapons on

:50:16.:50:22.

previous occasions. I think that to ask the President, having made that

:50:22.:50:27.

warning, to step away from it, I think that would be perilous. In

:50:27.:50:33.

response, I think you would see more chemical weapons attacks from

:50:33.:50:38.

the regime. The Honourable Lady has a long track record in supporting

:50:38.:50:43.

peace talks and I respect that. I will do everything to bring the

:50:43.:50:49.

peace talks together. I do not believe there is a contradiction in

:50:49.:50:53.

taking a tough line on the use of chemical weapons and also want in

:50:53.:50:56.

the peace talks that could bring the crisis to an end. -- wanting.

:50:56.:51:06.

the peace talks that could bring Cancer funding per head in

:51:06.:51:10.

Herefordshire is half that than in Birmingham. Academic research

:51:10.:51:14.

suggests that the current funding formula discriminates against rural

:51:14.:51:20.

areas. And against older people. Does he share my view that the NHS

:51:20.:51:24.

should move as quickly as possible to fairer funding for rural areas?

:51:24.:51:30.

He makes an important point. He will know we have given many

:51:30.:51:34.

decisions away from ministers to NHS England. They said they are

:51:34.:51:39.

looking at a fairer formula and I am sure they will look at those

:51:39.:51:44.

arguments. I would ask him to look at the cancer drugs fund, which has

:51:44.:51:49.

been a success. Sadly it was not copied by Labour in Wales. The fund

:51:49.:51:53.

has helped constituents to get treatment they need. Can he tell

:51:53.:52:01.

the House what he is doing to support food banks in the United

:52:01.:52:06.

Kingdom. What we have done is something the food bank movement

:52:06.:52:10.

had asked for for years but Labour did not grant them because they

:52:10.:52:14.

were worried about public relations and that is the ability to say to

:52:14.:52:18.

people at the JobCentre who needed help that they could go to a food

:52:18.:52:23.

back. That might be something they did not want to do because it was

:52:23.:52:27.

bad publicity. We did it because it was right. Does the Prime Minister

:52:27.:52:35.

agreed that the combination of good weather, deficit reduction and the

:52:35.:52:39.

control on public spending has given confidence to business and

:52:40.:52:44.

individuals to create 1.3 million jobs? Given these encouraging

:52:44.:52:50.

figures, is he somewhat surprised that the opposition believe the

:52:50.:52:56.

policy will cost 1 million jobs? He could add to the good weather that

:52:56.:53:00.

Andy Murray when macro Wimbledon and England retained the Ashes. --

:53:00.:53:10.

won. There was a key judgment parties had to make weather in this

:53:10.:53:14.

Parliament they get to grips with the deficit and take tough

:53:14.:53:19.

decisions to turn the country round. We make those tough decisions. The

:53:19.:53:27.

party opposite got to them. -- ducked them. The Government is

:53:27.:53:36.

right to extend nursery provision. Four in 10 councils will not have

:53:36.:53:39.

sufficient places. Can he guaranteed those children promised

:53:39.:53:45.

a place will actually have one? We put in place funding to provide

:53:45.:53:47.

that and I am confident they will put in place funding to provide

:53:47.:53:54.

receive the services they deserve. Unemployment in my constituency is

:53:54.:53:59.

lower than any time since the general election. Locally I

:53:59.:54:05.

organised two jobs fairs and I am organising a third. Does he agree

:54:05.:54:08.

that this goes to show the Government is right to stick to the

:54:08.:54:11.

economic plan despite calls to abandon it by the members opposite?

:54:11.:54:18.

He is right. The figures on employment are encouraging with

:54:18.:54:22.

more people in work than ever before. More people in private

:54:22.:54:27.

sector employment. A record number of women in work and almost 1

:54:27.:54:31.

million more people in work compared with the situation we

:54:31.:54:36.

inherited. At some stage the party opposite will have to admit they

:54:36.:54:44.

got it wrong. Even today, the shadow chancellor is saying he will

:54:44.:54:48.

borrow even more, even when we have started turning around the economy,

:54:48.:54:57.

he has learned nothing. £3.3 billion profit windfall while

:54:57.:55:01.

ordinary families face energy bills going up by £300 in year. Why is

:55:01.:55:05.

ordinary families face energy bills the Prime Minister not standing up

:55:05.:55:08.

to energy companies and getting a better deal from the market for

:55:08.:55:13.

ordinary families? I do not know where she was in the debate on the

:55:13.:55:17.

energy bill but this government is legislating to make sure people are

:55:17.:55:20.

put on the lowest tariffs. This legislating to make sure people are

:55:20.:55:23.

government has done that. When the leader of the Labour Party was

:55:24.:55:25.

Energy Secretary and bills leader of the Labour Party was

:55:25.:55:28.

through the roof, there was none of this sort of action. Given that the

:55:28.:55:37.

end N S has revised figures up words for growth, -- ONS come and

:55:37.:55:47.

there are good conditions for young people to get into work, does he

:55:47.:55:51.

think this would have been achieved if he took the advice of the Shadow

:55:51.:55:57.

Chancellor? It is interesting. Every time there is a question

:55:57.:56:01.

about the economy and the fact more people are in work and more

:56:01.:56:05.

businesses are established and the economy is growing, the party

:56:05.:56:07.

businesses are established and the opposite do not want to hear a word

:56:07.:56:13.

of it. Britain is succeeding and Labour is failing. Will the Prime

:56:13.:56:18.

Minister accept any responsibility for the fact it is forecasted on

:56:19.:56:23.

wages working people will, by the time of the election, have lost

:56:23.:56:29.

£6,660 in real terms while he has been in Number 10? There is only

:56:29.:56:35.

one sustainable way to get living standards up, and that is to get

:56:35.:56:40.

the economy growing, to cut taxes and to keep mortgage rates low,

:56:40.:56:42.

the economy growing, to cut taxes which we are doing. If we listened

:56:42.:56:48.

to the party opposite, who have won plan, to spend more and build up

:56:48.:56:52.

more debt, we would be back to where we started -- one plan. As

:56:52.:57:04.

the Syrian tragedy has unfolded, I have always had the Armageddon

:57:04.:57:09.

question in the back of my mind, which I will put to the Prime

:57:09.:57:19.

Minister. If the Americans illegally bombard the Assad forces,

:57:19.:57:26.

and Assad legally invites the Russians in, to degrade the rebels,

:57:26.:57:36.

what will NATO do? The first thing I would say is that we would never

:57:36.:57:41.

support illegal action. We debated this at some length last week. It

:57:41.:57:47.

is not the case the only way action can be legal is a United Nations

:57:47.:57:52.

resolution. We would only support action that is illegal. Britain

:57:52.:57:57.

would not be taking part in any of this action. You have to put the

:57:57.:58:01.

Armageddon question around the other way, which is if no action is

:58:01.:58:06.

taken following President Obama's Red Line, and it is not taken

:58:06.:58:10.

following the use of chemical weapons, you have to ask what sort

:58:10.:58:15.

of Armageddon other Syrian people going to be facing? The Prime

:58:15.:58:21.

Minister says he does not support a mansion tax for people living in

:58:21.:58:26.

mansions over £2 million. Because, he claims, some people living in

:58:26.:58:31.

these mansions are capital rich and cash poor. Can the Prime Minister

:58:31.:58:37.

tell me how he rounds that circle with his support with the bedroom

:58:37.:58:43.

tax? That is where he is punishing people who are capital poor and

:58:43.:58:50.

have no cash. He has to get clear what is a tax, and what is not a

:58:50.:58:55.

tax. Before the changes, there was a subsidy for people who had

:58:55.:59:00.

additional rooms they did not use. We believe it is fair to have the

:59:00.:59:05.

same rules in private sector rented accommodation and in council

:59:05.:59:10.

accommodation. You have ranted and raved, Labour, about the spare room

:59:10.:59:17.

subsidy. Will you reverse it? Are you going to reverse it? That means

:59:17.:59:26.

no. That means yes. Any chance? Absolutely nothing to say. It is

:59:26.:59:41.

not a trivial decision for somebody to leave their home and their

:59:41.:59:45.

country, fleeing for their safety. How many people must have left

:59:46.:59:50.

Syria before it is impossible for the regime to declare any kind of

:59:50.:59:56.

moral entitlement to govern back- country? I do not believe the

:59:56.:00:02.

regime is legitimate. The way it has treated its own people, the

:00:02.:00:07.

bombing of its own citizens and the use of chemical weapons, it is an

:00:07.:00:11.

illegitimate regime. We have to bring pressure to bear for a

:00:11.:00:15.

transition so that we can end up with Syria in totally different

:00:15.:00:23.

hands. The cost of secondary school uniform has spiralled to £285 as

:00:23.:00:29.

new free schools and academies insist on branding clothing. But

:00:29.:00:33.

one Academy, 70% of parents had to take out a loan. Why has the Prime

:00:33.:00:39.

Minister failed to act so that his policy is leading to loans that can

:00:39.:00:45.

only add to the profit of pay-day loan companies? Like many parents I

:00:45.:00:51.

think it is right for schools, if they want to choose, to have a

:00:51.:00:58.

tough uniform policy. I was at the opening of a free school in

:00:58.:01:00.

Birmingham yesterday where the parents were very grateful of the

:01:00.:01:05.

fact that is exactly the policy they had. What I see from the

:01:05.:01:11.

Honourable Lady is trying to find a way of opposing free schools. We

:01:11.:01:14.

Honourable Lady is trying to find a now have 194 free schools in our

:01:14.:01:20.

country that they don't like, because parents think it is a good

:01:20.:01:44.

education. It cost the Ministry of Defence £1.4 billion to extend the

:01:44.:01:47.

life of the Trident submarines in order that the Liberal Democrats

:01:47.:01:52.

could have a study of alternatives. Now that study has shown there is

:01:52.:01:56.

no alternative, will the Prime Minister consider signing the main

:01:56.:02:02.

contract for the first two submarine so that we can never

:02:02.:02:05.

again be blackmailed by the Liberal Democrats in a hung parliament? I

:02:06.:02:12.

have to credit the Honourable Gentleman with a remarkable

:02:12.:02:15.

consistency on the issue, on which I agree with him. We have Trident.

:02:15.:02:22.

It is the right approach. We need to renew Trident. The delay of the

:02:22.:02:28.

decision has saved money. His point about the review is right. If you

:02:28.:02:32.

want to have a proper functioning deterrent, you need to have the

:02:32.:02:38.

best and that means a permanently at Sea submarine based alternative.

:02:38.:02:42.

That is what a Conservative only government after the next election

:02:42.:02:52.

will deliver. Is it not the case... Is it not the case... Order. The

:02:52.:03:01.

Honourable Gentleman is something of an exotic creature in house.

:03:01.:03:05.

That excite the interest on government benches. I wish to hear

:03:05.:03:08.

what the Honourable Gentleman has to say. Is it not the case that in

:03:08.:03:16.

real wages have fallen by almost 1500 pounds the years since he

:03:16.:03:17.

became Prime Minister? We live in 1500 pounds the years since he

:03:17.:03:23.

tough times because of the incredible mess we had to clear up

:03:23.:03:27.

from the party opposite. The party opposite, complaining about the

:03:27.:03:31.

economy, complaining about living standards, is like the arsonist

:03:31.:03:36.

complaining to the fire brigade. This government is turning the

:03:36.:03:40.

economy round and that is how we will get living standards up.

:03:40.:03:49.

Burnley recently was awarded by the Department of business, innovation

:03:49.:03:53.

and skills, an award for the most enterprising town in the UK. Would

:03:53.:03:59.

he wish to congratulate the many businesses in Burnley who are

:04:00.:04:03.

members of the scheme on their achievement? I congratulate

:04:03.:04:09.

businesses large and small for the enterprise they have shown. The

:04:09.:04:13.

fact about the recovery is that it is private sector-led. That is what

:04:13.:04:19.

we needed after excessive government spending and it is very

:04:19.:04:22.

good that businesses have done so much to take people on and get the

:04:22.:04:31.

economy moving. The first Prime Minister's

:04:31.:04:34.

questions of the new parliamentary season. It was

:04:34.:04:45.

It was built by everybody except Nick Robinson as a Guy Fawkes night

:04:45.:04:52.

of action but in fact it was rather subdued, so Nick Robinson was night.

:04:52.:05:09.

-- was right. Someone said to me it was like two bald men fighting over

:05:09.:05:16.

a coma, Ed Miliband and David Cameron talking about Syria -- --

:05:16.:05:21.

comb. The Tory backbenches were laced with

:05:21.:05:34.

questions planted by the whips on the economy but they were still a

:05:34.:05:43.

little bit behind the times because nobody managed to plant a question

:05:43.:05:48.

about the GMB withdrawal of money. It happened too late. They should

:05:48.:05:56.

keep up with the news. A flat encounter between the two

:05:56.:06:02.

today, says John. Both tried to be statesman-like and both not willing

:06:02.:06:07.

to make others think otherwise. Helen Manning says, David Cameron

:06:07.:06:11.

does not need to take lessons on Syria from duplicitous and

:06:11.:06:17.

hypocritical Ed Miliband. Backbone was needed to take action in Syria.

:06:17.:06:25.

But Diane said I thought David Cameron might be attacked humble and

:06:25.:06:30.

contrite after his humiliating defeat. As a floating voter I would

:06:30.:06:34.

have hoped for him to show some understanding there was no appetite

:06:34.:06:39.

for military intervention but his performance today was bad and

:06:39.:06:42.

arrogant. Someone else asks is it known how

:06:42.:06:48.

much of the economic rise in growth is due to natural changes rather

:06:48.:06:55.

than the Prime Minister's policies? While PMQ 's have been going on in

:06:55.:07:00.

London there are reports that German intelligence had been briefing the

:07:00.:07:05.

German parliamentarians in Berlin. They have said their information is

:07:05.:07:11.

that Assad in Syria was responsible for the poisoned gas attacks on the

:07:11.:07:16.

21st of August and German intelligence says the intercepted

:07:16.:07:19.

traffic between Hezbollah, they had Lebanese -based group operating on

:07:19.:07:26.

Assad's side, and the Iranians embassy in Berlin, in which the

:07:26.:07:32.

traffic between Hezbollah and the Iranians embassy confirmed that

:07:32.:07:39.

Assad had used chemical weapons. Confirmation from a country that

:07:39.:07:43.

will not be part of any action but interesting that that is what German

:07:43.:07:47.

parliamentarians are being briefed on. Briefly, that is pretty

:07:47.:07:53.

significant because the doubts amongst many MPs were about the

:07:53.:07:58.

assertion that the Assad regime was definitely responsible. They had

:07:58.:08:12.

widespread doubts in the House because of the reliance on Israeli

:08:12.:08:18.

intercepts, partly. German intercepts are much less politically

:08:18.:08:25.

controversial, hot if you like, then Israeli ones, and the fact that the

:08:25.:08:31.

Germans are not in favour of action but are releasing that assessment is

:08:31.:08:36.

really quite significant and would perhaps persuade people like Andrew

:08:36.:08:39.

Mitchell that Britain should look at this again. It underlines that we

:08:39.:08:46.

should keep an open mind. And also, why did we have such a rush to vote

:08:46.:08:49.

last week before all of this had been given a chance to come out? Do

:08:50.:08:54.

you think the vote would have been different then? I think there was a

:08:54.:08:59.

big worry in the House of Commons on all sides that there was a kid and

:08:59.:09:03.

timetable and that we were being bounced into a decision before all

:09:03.:09:07.

of the processes and evidence had been gone through so that does cast

:09:07.:09:11.

some doubt on the Prime Minister's judgement. This came out from

:09:11.:09:21.

several Labour backbenchers. Why is it Labour policy to put so much

:09:21.:09:25.

faith in Iran? It is not about faith, it is about trying to get a

:09:25.:09:29.

dialogue about the people behind what is going on in the Middle East.

:09:29.:09:35.

You need to recognise reality on the ground. What is going on between

:09:35.:09:44.

tribes, which countries are supporting which actors in Syria,

:09:44.:09:48.

and to try to get some sort of process to deal with this. Yes, but

:09:48.:09:54.

why do you think Iran is the key to peace and progress in Syria? That is

:09:54.:10:00.

not what was being said but what was asked is since there is now a new

:10:00.:10:06.

president in Iran, does this present a new opportunity to try to get more

:10:06.:10:11.

constructive engagement? What evidence is there to suggest that

:10:11.:10:16.

this new president is a chance for that? He has been seen as being much

:10:16.:10:21.

more moderate all around, by the people that watch these things, and

:10:21.:10:25.

in fact the Prime Minister has already written to him as he

:10:25.:10:30.

revealed. It is not very nice when you have to deal in diplomacy but

:10:31.:10:35.

you have to try to get the people having an effect into a dialogue.

:10:35.:10:41.

What is the evidence that this new president is in anyway more moderate

:10:41.:10:46.

than the previous one? He is known by those who know him. You heard

:10:46.:10:51.

Jack Straw talking about M. Less of a head-banger. You are aware that he

:10:51.:11:01.

is the man, when Iran was having this green revolution, educated

:11:01.:11:05.

people marching in the streets for basic freedom, that this man you

:11:05.:11:10.

describe as more moderate called for the extermination of these

:11:10.:11:13.

protesters. I didn't say he was a Democrat. This is Iran and they are

:11:13.:11:21.

post-revolution. What is more extreme than calling for the

:11:21.:11:25.

extermination of demonstrators? It is pretty extreme. What can be more

:11:25.:11:31.

extreme? Nothing can be more extreme. Why do you call him a

:11:31.:11:39.

moderate? He is widely seen as a potential new start for diplomatic

:11:39.:11:42.

relations between the West and Iran which have been in deep freeze since

:11:42.:11:48.

the uranium Revolution. Interesting development. -- the Iranians

:11:48.:11:55.

revolution. That came up again and again. It is right to make sure we

:11:55.:12:01.

give Iran a chance to show it has turned a page and the new president

:12:01.:12:04.

may indeed meet that. But your point turned a page and the new president

:12:04.:12:09.

about what he has done in the past are very relevant. That is why we

:12:09.:12:15.

should test it and see whether there is a change in Iranians policy. Why

:12:15.:12:20.

should anybody outside of this country care what Mr Cameron or Mr

:12:20.:12:23.

Miliband have to say about Syria? country care what Mr Cameron or Mr

:12:23.:12:33.

They are irrelevant. This region has been convulsed by an extraordinary

:12:33.:12:39.

catastrophe. The G20 is a chance to move the process forward. Anybody

:12:39.:12:44.

who knows anything about Syria, which in this country is not a lot,

:12:44.:12:49.

knows that negotiation is not an option. This is a tribal war which

:12:49.:12:56.

the Assad clan know there can only be two outcomes for them. They win

:12:56.:13:01.

or they get killed. This is why I was so strongly in favour of

:13:01.:13:06.

military action. The only way in which the Assad regime will be

:13:06.:13:09.

brought to the negotiating table is if they realised if they continue,

:13:09.:13:15.

they will lose. That is why it is essential that the world sends an

:13:15.:13:18.

incredibly strong signal about military action. But the Prime

:13:18.:13:24.

Minister made it clear we are not going to send that message. That is

:13:24.:13:28.

true but as I say, we need to await further evidence and I believe the

:13:28.:13:34.

Americans will take action. You think he will get the vote in

:13:34.:13:41.

Congress? I think he will.The German intelligence may help. The

:13:41.:13:45.

Prime Minister has been defeated on a central issue of his premiership.

:13:45.:13:50.

Normally that would cause chaos in the first Prime Minister 's

:13:50.:13:55.

questions, shouting match, demands for vote of no-confidence. The two

:13:55.:13:59.

leaders reminded me of people who had had a few really strong can

:13:59.:14:04.

argument at a party and came down in the morning sheepish. Ed Miliband

:14:04.:14:10.

repeatedly said, there is no different on this issue of chemical

:14:10.:14:14.

weapons, but nobody asked him whether there was! He feels

:14:14.:14:18.

vulnerable on that. The Prime Minister felt the need to repeatedly

:14:18.:14:21.

tell people there would be no military action because both men

:14:21.:14:25.

feel uncomfortable about where they military action because both men

:14:25.:14:32.

have ended up. We are on the eve of almost certain United States

:14:32.:14:36.

military action in Syria and they were having a perfectly interesting

:14:36.:14:39.

chat about who might go to peace talks, but with the best will in the

:14:39.:14:45.

world it did not feel like the most pressing set of questions given that

:14:45.:14:48.

serious military action could happen. I still have my doubts he

:14:48.:14:55.

will get it through the house. I think he will get it through the

:14:56.:15:03.

Senate. Isolationist and protectionist contingent, tea party

:15:04.:15:08.

and left wing there. But we will see! John Kerry said he would not

:15:08.:15:19.

rule out them taking action anyway! If it turns out that the president

:15:19.:15:23.

has a majority in Congress and the Americans proceed, what are the

:15:23.:15:27.

implications for the people we've just been watching? We are

:15:27.:15:31.

spectators. Many people may be saying, thank goodness for that.

:15:31.:15:32.

They may think that is exactly what saying, thank goodness for that.

:15:32.:15:37.

their elected representative to do, not for Britain to join the United

:15:37.:15:40.

States, but it does minimise the influence of the British Government

:15:40.:15:44.

over the course of events. If there is a phase two, if after the

:15:44.:15:50.

military action there is a Syrian reaction or an Iranian reaction or

:15:50.:15:56.

Russian reaction, which then needs more military operations, would that

:15:56.:15:59.

be sufficient for the British Government say, well, maybe we

:15:59.:16:04.

should consider our position? Given that overnight at those

:16:04.:16:10.

Congressional hearings we've heard the Secretary of State refused to

:16:10.:16:13.

rule out boots on the ground in certain circumstances, talk about

:16:13.:16:18.

hardening up the punishment of the regime to be beyond what Obama

:16:18.:16:23.

originally talked about. It seems to be this debate, however much the

:16:23.:16:24.

front benches may wish it otherwise, be this debate, however much the

:16:24.:16:29.

this debate cannot end, it won't end. Tune in next week.

:16:29.:16:38.

Something a little different. Time was our cuddly looking guest of the

:16:38.:16:41.

day, nice looking Andrew Mitchell here, would strike fear into the

:16:41.:16:43.

day, nice looking Andrew Mitchell hearts of Conservative MPs in his

:16:43.:16:48.

role as his party's top enforcer, the Chief Whip. These days, though,

:16:48.:16:51.

you could be forgiven for thinking the boot was on the other foot, with

:16:51.:16:56.

backbenchers seemingly feeling free to rebel with gay abandon. The

:16:56.:17:00.

latest manifestation of this was last week's defeat for the

:17:00.:17:02.

latest manifestation of this was government over Syria, but it's not

:17:02.:17:11.

just a passing fad. These days the Commons is a pretty scary place if

:17:11.:17:17.

you are a Prime Minister. It is clear to me that the British

:17:17.:17:21.

Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to

:17:21.:17:25.

see British military action. I get that and the government will act

:17:25.:17:30.

accordingly. Last week's revolt on Syria was a biggie, but it was not

:17:30.:17:34.

alone. Imagine if you could build your own MP. They would probably be

:17:34.:17:39.

independent, fearless, not afraid to put the views of their constituents

:17:40.:17:44.

above those of the party machine. In fact, a bit of a rebel. Well, if

:17:44.:17:49.

that is your cup of tea, the good news is there's a lot of them about.

:17:50.:17:55.

This Parliament is currently the most rebellious parliament in terms

:17:56.:18:02.

of the number of divisions of any in the post-war era. If you go back to

:18:02.:18:05.

the 1950s, there were two sessions, two whole years in which not a

:18:05.:18:10.

single government MP rebels even once. Today's whips would bite your

:18:10.:18:16.

hand off for that level of cohesion. So who is Britain's most rebellious

:18:16.:18:21.

MP? Philip le bone, focused on Kettering. My test as always, were I

:18:21.:18:26.

to walk down Kettering high street and speak to 100 of my constituents

:18:26.:18:31.

who had the time, energy and enthusiasm to look at the

:18:31.:18:34.

legislation before the House, what would a majority decide? At the end

:18:34.:18:40.

of the day, my job is to represent constituents in Westminster. It is

:18:40.:18:42.

of the day, my job is to represent not to represent Westminster in the

:18:42.:18:46.

constituency. The real problem for the whips, the men and women tasked

:18:46.:18:50.

with trying to make backbenchers to the party line, isn't serial rebels

:18:50.:19:02.

like Philip, revolt isn't a risk-free option. There's lots of

:19:02.:19:04.

opinion poll evidence showing that people want their MPs to be

:19:04.:19:06.

rebellious, that is on the increase. The percentage of them

:19:06.:19:10.

wanting to be loyal is on the decline. The problem is there's no

:19:10.:19:14.

evidence that the public then reward MPs at the ballot boxes. And there

:19:14.:19:17.

is evidence the public punish divided parties. If the public were

:19:17.:19:21.

to see that there was a party, for example be Conservative Party, which

:19:21.:19:24.

allowed freedom of thought amongst its backbenchers, allowing them to

:19:24.:19:27.

be independently minded on issues, giving them all free votes at

:19:27.:19:30.

committee stages of bills, for example, I think the public would

:19:30.:19:34.

appreciate that. Rebellious MPs aren't new, but the new mode -- mood

:19:34.:19:38.

of revolt at Westminster seems here to stay, and that could make whips

:19:38.:19:44.

and ministers afraid, very afraid. We are all scared here. We are

:19:44.:19:48.

joined by the Conservative MP Peter bone, who's been known to display a

:19:48.:19:52.

rebellious streak or two in the past. You are looking at me

:19:52.:19:56.

quizzically. How much of a rebel are you? I voted more times for the

:19:56.:20:00.

government and the deputy Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the

:20:00.:20:03.

government and the deputy Prime Prime Minister. I can't be that

:20:03.:20:07.

rebellious. New one of the top six most rebellious MPs. I think it's

:20:08.:20:11.

different when you have a coalition government. I voted all along for

:20:11.:20:15.

Conservative policies. When liberal ones were being put forward I voted

:20:15.:20:20.

against. I don't think last week's vote on Syria can possibly ever be

:20:20.:20:23.

suggested that the whips can tell you to vote when you are putting

:20:23.:20:28.

people 's lives at risk. I think people across the House made their

:20:28.:20:31.

own decisions. I don't think they said, OK, my whip is telling me to

:20:31.:20:36.

vote this way, I will do that. What do you say to that? There are still

:20:36.:20:41.

Conservative MP is, there was a government motion and David Cameron

:20:41.:20:45.

put his case. Is it really valid to say there shouldn't be whips

:20:45.:20:49.

involved in that vote, when it was a key part of foreign policy and

:20:49.:20:53.

delivered a humiliating defeat for David Cameron? To be fair, on an

:20:53.:20:59.

issue like that you have to have cross-party support. There's a block

:20:59.:21:03.

of people on both sides who are virulently opposed to using

:21:03.:21:07.

military... The question about the whips. I don't think your point

:21:07.:21:12.

really stands on that debate. There's another trend that has been

:21:12.:21:15.

going on in Parliament over recent years which is much greater power

:21:16.:21:20.

for the legislature to hold the executive to account. David Cameron

:21:20.:21:23.

made that point in the immediate aftermath, that he accepted that

:21:23.:21:28.

this was the of Parliament. He is a Democrat and would accept what

:21:28.:21:31.

Parliament had decided. Parliament has moved to give much greater

:21:31.:21:36.

power, we all made this decision, to the legislature at the expense of

:21:36.:21:40.

the executive. So it's a nightmare for the whips, whose job it is to

:21:40.:21:45.

make sure that people oil. If that happened every day we never get any

:21:45.:21:49.

legislation passed. It shows you that the job of the whips has become

:21:49.:21:53.

a more sophisticated and difficult one. But it's always been a myth

:21:53.:21:55.

a more sophisticated and difficult that the whips can bully and cajole

:21:55.:22:00.

people. In order to be in Parliament you have to be quite a tough

:22:00.:22:02.

character. In the end, charm and persuasion are much more

:22:02.:22:03.

character. In the end, charm and weapons ban the bludgeon. There was

:22:03.:22:07.

good but discipline under Tony Blair at the beginning, and that must have

:22:07.:22:11.

been partly down to the whipping operation. I agree with Andrew that

:22:11.:22:15.

soft power is always better when you are dealing with MPs. The difference

:22:15.:22:21.

between Tony Blair's Parliament and the parliament we've got now is that

:22:21.:22:25.

they were big majorities then. At the moment we have not only got a

:22:25.:22:30.

coalition, it is pretty unstable at both edges. That is why Peter

:22:30.:22:35.

can... He's picking and choosing which things he is rebelling on. I

:22:35.:22:41.

think we've had 185 coalition MPs rebel, which is why Philip Cowley

:22:41.:22:45.

was saying this is the most rebellious Parliament. It makes life

:22:45.:22:49.

interesting when they can't vote to support their own legislation. Do

:22:49.:22:54.

you want to get rid of the whips office? I get could be abolished in

:22:54.:22:59.

a sense that elected MPs should not be whips. All the things done in

:22:59.:23:03.

running the House could be done by paid officials. The government

:23:03.:23:07.

should be able to argue its case and then expect its MPs to support it.

:23:07.:23:13.

We should not come under pressure from other MPs telling me how to

:23:13.:23:17.

vote. You have to have whip's offices. They are an essential part

:23:17.:23:27.

of the government getting its legislation. You were Chief Whip for

:23:27.:23:34.

six weeks, do you miss it? The Chief Whip's drop is incredibly

:23:34.:23:38.

difficult. I'm enjoying not being chief whip. Do you think George

:23:38.:23:46.

Young has done a good job? An extremely good job in very difficult

:23:46.:23:50.

circumstances. You've made his life very difficult. I think the new

:23:50.:23:56.

change in Parliament, the fact that Parliament is beginning to hold the

:23:56.:24:01.

executive to account is a really good thing. David Cameron promises

:24:01.:24:05.

in his speech on fixing broken politics, before he came to power,

:24:06.:24:10.

he has honoured that. It was very courageous and right of him to bring

:24:10.:24:14.

Parliament back and put a motion to the House. That would not have

:24:15.:24:21.

happened under Blair. Philip Cowley's words there, the

:24:21.:24:24.

constituents that MPs represent won't necessarily thank you for

:24:24.:24:27.

supposedly representing their interests. UR in Parliament to do

:24:27.:24:33.

what you think is right. Tony Blair did bring Parliament back and we did

:24:33.:24:40.

have a vote. When did we vote on Afghanistan? The majority help.

:24:40.:24:49.

Let's go back to Syria. France's National Assembly holds an emergency

:24:49.:24:52.

debate on Syria this afternoon but no vote is planned. French MPs will

:24:52.:24:58.

debate the country's position on possible military action on Syria.

:24:58.:25:02.

Axelle Lemaire is an Assembly Members in the French Socialist

:25:02.:25:07.

party and represent a constituency that includes Great Britain. What is

:25:07.:25:11.

it like to be France's new best friend, sorry, America's new best

:25:11.:25:19.

friend? Should I understand there is any jealousy in that comment? No, I

:25:19.:25:23.

think burgers go well with french fries. The reason why France...

:25:23.:25:35.

Sorry, we seem to be having a little bit of trouble with the line. I'll

:25:35.:25:40.

just come back to getting my original question correct. How did

:25:40.:25:44.

you feel about being America's new best friend? No, we seem to have

:25:44.:26:04.

lost the line. I'm back! Let me ask you this. What I wanted to say is

:26:04.:26:12.

the reason why France is leading on this is that we've always been

:26:12.:26:16.

against the use of chemical weapons. My country was the first to

:26:16.:26:21.

against the use of chemical sign the protocol in 1925,

:26:21.:26:25.

prohibiting the use of chemical weapons after World War II. It is

:26:25.:26:30.

here in Paris in 1993 that the convention of Paris was signed and

:26:31.:26:36.

ratified by 183 countries full stop France is a member of the Security

:26:36.:26:41.

Council, so of course we are hand-in-hand with America on this.

:26:41.:26:47.

But it is not just France alone. I think that is the National Assembly

:26:47.:26:52.

behind you there. Why shouldn't your Parliament have a determining vote,

:26:52.:26:58.

like the British Parliament and the American Congress? Why is your

:26:58.:27:02.

president able to do this without parliamentary sanction? It is my

:27:02.:27:08.

time to be a little jealous now. According to the terms of the French

:27:08.:27:13.

constitution, Article 35 precisely, in case of military intervention,

:27:13.:27:19.

the French president has a duty to inform Parliament. He can do so

:27:19.:27:24.

three days after the start of an intervention. But there is no vote.

:27:24.:27:30.

That is what the text says. That is the theory. In practice, there is

:27:30.:27:34.

the theory. In practice, there's an increased political pressure to

:27:34.:27:38.

organise such a vote. We would have to find entirely that option, but

:27:38.:27:44.

what is important for the moment is to have a debate. That is what we

:27:44.:27:50.

are going to have. Are you voting for war? For the moment I'm not

:27:50.:27:56.

going to vote, I need to be convinced. I want to see the

:27:56.:28:00.

evidence. The intelligence services have released some documents that

:28:00.:28:05.

were classified, which helps me make my view on the issue of the

:28:05.:28:11.

intervention. I was amazed to realise that the zones attacked by

:28:11.:28:14.

chemical weapons are entirely controlled by the opposition. I'm

:28:14.:28:20.

sorry, we've run out of time. Thank you for bearing with us in the

:28:20.:28:24.

glorious Paris sunshine. It's quite nice in London as well. Time to put

:28:24.:28:29.

you out of your misery and give you answers to Guess the Year. It was

:28:29.:28:34.

2001. We will find out who the winner is.

:28:34.:28:41.

That is it for today. Thanks to all of our guests. The one o'clock News

:28:41.:28:48.

starting on BBC One. We will be back tomorrow at noon. I will be joined

:28:48.:28:53.

by the chairman of the Local Government Association. I'm off to

:28:53.:28:56.

Brussels. She gets all the gigs!

:28:56.:28:59.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS