07/05/2014 Daily Politics

Good morning. 365 days to go until the general election. You cannot

wait, but you will have to be patient! Labour and the Tories are

increasingly neck and neck. It is all to play for. What of the Lib

Dems? Then, the UKIP factor, which could put noses out of joint.

Ed Miliband claims he is much more intellectual is self-confident than

David Cameron. Downing Street says Ed Miliband is more self-satisfied.

Who will win the war of words at PMQs?

Has this man got too big for his boots?

In response to that question, the Prime Minister has finished, and he

can take it from me that he is finished!

And, tinkering with the syllabus, students look set to study Russell

Brand for English A-level, or are enough facts taught in school?

All of that and more coming up. With us, Nigel Evans and Sadiq Khan.

Welcome to both of you. First, let's talk about Nigel Evans,

last year he resigned as the Deputy Speaker and subsequently the

Conservative whip after he was charged with two indecent assaults,

five sexual assault and one rape. He was cleared on all counts, but last

week had the whip restored. The case highlights the Westminster drinking

culture. Nigel admitted that he had been an old fool and had behaved

drunkenly around young man. All had few admitted that the? No, but it

was easy gesture that I had, -- but it was said that I had. There is no

culture of being drunk, it does happen now and again, but that is

not the culture of Parliament. Once you were acquitted on all the

charges, there was still some commentary, he has been found not

guilty, but he has behaved stupidly. At times, no doubt I have, but when

you go through the torture of a public trial, the job of the

prosecution is to throw everything at you, including the kitchen sink,

so do not be surprised if some of the cutlery and dirty water sticks

on you. Personally, looking at everything, I wish it had never

happened. But the fact is I suspect I am the only politician that

Westminster who is happy at only getting 12 votes. Unless you are the

Lib Dems! The prosecution made a number of accusations on the

specifics of the cases against you, but you say they threw more at you

wider than that that was not true? It is the character assassination

that takes place during a trial, not just the prosecution. It is the job

to make it look as bleak as it possibly is. I had a treasury QC

against me, he was very good, I had to make sure I had equality of arms

and had a very good barrister as well. But when anybody dissects your

private life, you are standing there in a dock and people throw

everything that they possibly can, exaggerate and twist and light, and

you walk away an innocent man, but you are bruised and chastened, and

some of it does hurt. What has it done to you? What has changed?

Everything. I am far more caring than I ever was. My perception of

the police is not what it was, even before the Andrew Mitchell case, so

I am a bit more aware and weary. How were you treated on returning to the

Commons? They were superb. Throughout the 12 months, everybody

was brilliant on all sides. I told Ed Miliband that his guys had been

brilliant. Everybody has. I have had hugs from Glenda Jackson through to

George Galloway am a three to my own constituency. And David Cameron has

been superb. Just to face those allegations, normally a politician

does not want to be accused of six items in your basket when it says

five items only, so to get these things thrown at you, normally it is

career over. When the charges were pending, and during the trial, I

wonder whether some attitudes were more distant? No, I can say that

now. A lot of people were thinking come a dead man walking, or, there

are so many charges, one of them must stick, and even myself, winking

how credible it sounded and whether the jury will decide, we will acquit

him on most of it but he must have done something. But in the end, 12

good Northerners sat there, this to everything, looked at the evidence

and decided, no, this man is innocent, and I can only say how

grateful I am. When your life is in the balance like that, I watched the

foreman of the jury come in, he did not have any notes, and I thought,

he either knows which ones are guilty and innocent, or they will

all be the same. My heart was beating without me touching my

chest. When he started to go through them, there was almost a rhythm

there. The amusing thing is, between charges five and six, a phone went

off, and the judge stopped everything and said, could everybody

please make sure that their telephones are off? I thought, who

cares about mobile phones? The election is a year away, will you

stand again? That is plan A, there was never a plan B. Plan B would

only have come into place if I had been convicted of anything, and I

would have walked. What is the attitude of your party? The vast

majority are supportive, I walked around Clitheroe on the Monday

following the acquittal. People were lining up to shake my hand and pack

my bag. Do you think you will be reselected? Yes, I do. There will

not be a challenge? It depends how they operate. I have always left it

late, I have never thought they will be a problem. There is always

another duty to deselect, but I have left it to 12 people to decide my

fate once, I will now leave it to the members of my association who

will decide who their candidate will be at the next election. But I am

there if they wish. What is your attitude to your fellow Conservative

backbencher who played a key role in this whole matter, beginning the

process of law and ending up in court? I had a cup of tea with her

last week, we chatted through the issues, and all I can say is that we

had a very constructive and convivial chat, and we now look

forward to working together over the next months and years to come,

hopefully. Have you made up? Absolutely, we both see one

another's reasons, why she did what she did, given the evidence she was

given. But when she gave her evidence, she supported my case.

Should there be anonymity for those accused in this kind of case? It is

difficult. We know the arguments in favour of not having anonymity,

people can come forward. We have seen that with Stuart Hall and other

cases. It needs to be looked at. Perhaps by the Justice committee or

the Home Affairs Select Committee. I have got lots of questions, I do not

have all the answers, because I know how delicate the balance is. You are

not so keen on anonymity, your party? That's right. All of the

reasons why Nigel was treated the way he was is because in English law

there is a presumption of innocence, and he was presumed innocent and

treated that way by those people who know him, it is an important

principle. The reason why Nigel could persuade the jury he was not

guilty was because he had equality of arms, he had the means to afford

a good QC to defend him. One of my concerns is that the changes that

have been made mean other people who are not as fortunate as my job have

to go for a less experienced barrister, somebody who cannot do

the fantastic job that his QC did. But you are right about anonymity,

we think it is important there should be open justice, others could

come forward, but Nigel 's right to say that his case demonstrates some

of the difficulties that there are. You are numbered -- lumbered with a

big... ? Yes, I have spent the savings that I had, it is six

figures. You had to use an expensive QC? Yes, I had what I believed was

the best, and he was incredibly good. You need equality of arms. If

you do not have that, you could end up with a miscarriage of justice,

and that would be appalling. We are in election period, the Green

party are launching their local election campaign in Solihull. Their

leader Natalie Bennett joins me from there now. Welcome back to the

programme, this week you said the satisfaction with the three largest

parties is widespread # this satisfaction. But this illusion

voters are not coming to more of them are going to UKIP.

Why? What we are seeing is, like in Solihull, where we are now looking

to become the official opposition to the Tories on the council, people

are turning to us. We are expecting to win new councillors up and down

the country in London, Liverpool, Bristol, Oxford and many other towns

and cities. We are growing councillors, we are seeing steady

and cities. We are growing ideas. The argument that we need

real change in a society that works for the common good. We have got

plans and policies, and people can see that. But last May, UKIP gained

139 councillors and received 23% of the vote, you gain five. Yes, and

among those, our first councillors in Cornwall, Essex, Surrey, Kent,

and in several places here in the West Midlands. From a solid base, we

are electing good people who are long-term campaigners, who are in it

for the long haul. I have not seen the figures for how many of those

UKIP councillors are no longer there, but there are quite a few. Do

you think people are put off because they have looked at Ryton, the UK's

only green council, which will not go down as an example of great

governance, and they have thought, if that is what you get, we will not

vote for them? If people look at the record of Brighton and Hove green

council as a minority administration, it has a long list

of achievements, from making it a living wage council to keeping all

of the branch libraries open. Too greatly improving the GCSE results.

We have got a proud record of achievement. If you look at the

issues that affect people's lives, we have proved that they are making

a difference there. In January, a vote of no-confidence in the

illustration was passed, after plans were put forward to raise the

council tax by 4.75%. Last May, many people remained -- remembered the

bin strikes, and have had to bring in mediators to calm infighting in

your group. Are you proud of that? We are a minority administration, a

vote of no-confidence is hardly surprising when you never had a

majority. What we have tried to do is put forward a proposal to have a

referendum for a 4.9% increase in council tax because we said the

money we are getting from central government is not enough to maintain

the quality of social care that we think the vulnerable and poor

deserve. Sadly, we could not give the people the chance to choose

that, but it is a sign of how we want to campaign and fight for real

change, in a society that looks after the most for rubble as well as

-- the most vulnerable in some of working for the top 1%. All of the

parties are talking about housing supply, how would you pay for it?

But we need to do is look at the nature of the housing programme, it

is to be affordable, council housing, on Brownfield sites. This

site has been sitting vacant for many years. What we need to do is,

if we build council housing, we could have borrowing, we cannot rely

on private developers any more, they are not building the homes we need.

One more year until the election, 365 sleepless nights! The

strategists will be tinkering with their campaign books over the next

12 months, and it is all to play for, with the pulse pretty close.

Although a tension is on the European and local elections that

are just around the corner, today, it is exactly a year until the

really big maypole. The general election on this month of May 2015.

The official campaigning period is around five weeks, but the reality

of a fixed term parliament means that the jostling for position has

already started. But there are plenty of trip ups ahead. Today, the

Institute of government warned that the Conservatives and Liberal

Democrats need to agree new rules for policy-making. Otherwise,

caution will prevail and insufficient work will be undertaken

in areas where the coalition partners disagree. It could be the

last time the UK dances to the same tune. Depending on the result of

Scotland's independence vote in September. It does not look like any

of the parties have found a winning rhythm. Labour only slightly ahead

of the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats well out of step

with the public. All three will be looking nervously over their

shoulder at the newest political move on the scene, UKIP. Now third

in the polls, with almost 60% of people voting for them in the

European elections planning to do the same in the general election, it

could be UKIP that decides who gets to dance into Downing Street.

Already 40% of those intending to vote for you in the European

election have no intention of doing so in the general election, so you

have already lost them. That were unnaturally happen in any election,

but I believe is our campaign grows, we will be able to bring more of

those people back. There is a key point about the polls and we are

seeing when we knock on the doors and are canvassing is there are a

lot of people who have not voted for a long time and they are drawn to

UKIP and our message and we will get them in the 2015 election. Critics

will say voters have always used the local elections and the Euro

elections as a chance to vote for a protest party. The argument we are a

protest vote has been thrown at as many times, but you have seen the

progression and shown it on your show on many occasions. People

believe they want their democracy and independence in Europe. They are

concerned about immigration as a whole and we have the most ethical

immigration policy. But there is no evidence beyond that, however well

you do in the European elections, to indicate they will go on and vote in

the general election? That is a contradiction. You have indicated

today that we have got 60% of those who are voting for us and the

European election and they will stay with us. In the last European

election polls suggested we would be doing very badly. But what you have

now is a much more significant numbers staying with us from a much

larger base and that is something you have to consider and the other

political parties know that. You have got a big event tonight. We

have Nigel's last speech on the tour where he has been going around the

country speaking to huge crowds. Tonight you will see a large

proportion of members from London and across the country coming to

stand behind Nigel along with myself and those who signed the letter that

was published in the Independent newspaper today to deal with the

question that we are a racist party. Tonight we will show you we

are not a racist party, we are an inclusive party from

are not a racist party, we are an backgrounds, religions, creeds and

colours. I like the Morris men. I would like to see more of that. It

especially for you. Welcome to Tom Brake, MP. Labour was on average in

the poll of polls 8% ahead of the Conservatives. You are now neck and

neck. What has gone wrong? I think this will be a very close general

election. I don't remember, I was in nappies, but the last time a

political party lost a general election and bounced back. Were they

disposable nappies? 1974 was the last time a party bounced back.

disposable nappies? 1974 was the if the polls tighten any more, the

Tories will be ahead? My prediction is they will be neck and neck. Those

who stay at home in 2010, we will persuade them why they should vote

Labour. The fact we are neck and neck is a tribute. You used to be

ten points ahead at one stage. We are about five or six points ahead

still. The most recent was you were one point ahead. Then neck and

neck, given the margins of error. There must be something about your

core message, this cost of living crisis, that is not resonating. We

got 29% of the vote in 2010. We have made huge progress on that. We have

got new members, activists, councillors, who are interesting and

exciting. We are making progress. If four years ago you would have said

after the second worst defeat in our history we would be competitive and

neck and neck, I would have bitten your hand off. Mr Cameron did not

even win the election. The last time a party bounced back was in 1974. In

1979 we were out for 18 years. In 1997, the Tories were out for 13

years and they only managed to get back in with the help of these guys.

I am trying to explain how much we have managed to achieve. Is that any

good news for the Lib Dems? There has been good news in relation to

past elections. For instance in areas where there is already strong

Liberal Democrat representation. The Parliamentary seats we hold in the

council elections we have done well. There is a certain resilience of the

Liberal Democrat vote which I think national polls do not pick up. But

do you think your own party briefing paper thinks it is possible that you

could lose all of your MEPs in the European elections? I do not think

that is going to happen. Clearly the economy is showing strong signs of

recovery. There is a time lag between the figures looking positive

and people starting to feel the difference in their pay packets, so

to speak, and their pockets. We will see over the next 12 months that

will start to change around. We are already seeing wages increasing

greater than the rate of inflation. The recovery has been going on for

more than a year, it started in April, 2013. It is now made 2014 and

your poll ratings continue to slide. You are down to 9%. Interestingly in

the Nick versus Nigel debates, the polling satisfaction for neck out of

those debates was 30% for one and 20% for the other. The evidence in

the areas where we are strong and campaign hard is those national

polls which looked at the country as a whole. The way things are looking

it is going to be a very tough day for us, but interestingly the UKIP

element and the fact they take vote more substantially from the

Conservatives in a lot of councils were Lib Dems are fighting

Conservatives, that makes those results much less predictable. And

if the Conservatives lose seats in the local elections, which they will

do, and they come up with third in the European elections, which the

polls suggest you will, how many hours is it before your party goes

into headless chicken mode? I do not think that will happen. It will be a

difficult European election. The big question is what that turnout is

going to be like. We have heard what UKIP have said. It is going to be

low. When you say those who vote UKIP will be retained, the fact is

when it comes to a general election it is going to be who are we going

to vote for who will form the next Government? You are now a

backbencher and the backbenchers have the discipline not to go mad

when you come a poor third in the European elections. We will look at

the European elections is mostly an opportunity for people to protest

and that is what it is. We are not going to see a change of Government

the day following the Sunday results of the European elections. People

will dust themselves down after the European election results and start

to focus on the next 12 months ahead. You may remember I fought the

Ribble Valley by-election and I lost and it was the 30th safest seat in

the country. 12 month later I1. 12 months is a long time in politics.

It will be difficult for all the major parties. If you go from very

low expectations... You are happy coming third in Europe, you are

happy losing in Europe... What really alarms me is that all the

parties here agree there is a need to reform what happens at a European

level, but with the prospect of a large number of UKIP MEPs getting

elected who do not engage at all in Europe, the ability for the UK to

put across an agenda reform disappears and the country cannot

afford it. The public do not care. They do not mind voting for people

who are not going to turn up and that is a big question for all of

us. If you think UKIP is going to be a problem, wait until you see who

the Dutch, the Greeks, etc are about to send. The takeover of AstraZeneca

is likely to come up at PMQs and when it comes to drug deals it is

likely some MPs will be urging the Government to just say no. Before we

carry on, I need to inform you that this programme has also received a

hostile bid for one of its most coveted products. I don't mean Jo! I

imagine there will also be questions in the House on this shortly and MPs

will be itching to call for an enquiry. Yes, the rumours are true,

another programme has made a bid for the treasured Daily Politics mug. Is

there nothing these people wouldn't do to try to improve their ratings?

But fear not because there is one way, and only one way, that anyone

can get their hands on one of these beauties and that is to enter our

guess the year competition. Employees of Sky News are allowed to

enter. Maybe they could give it to Adam as a leaving present. He is not

actually leaving. We will remind you how to enter in a minute. Let's see

if you can remember when this happened.

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It is coming up to midday, let's take a look at Big Ben. It can only

mean one thing, PMQs on its way. If you would like to comment on

proceedings, please be polite because we are most of the time! You

can e-mail us or you can tweet your thoughts using the hash tag. As

always, Nick Robinson joins us as well. Pretty hard for the front to

avoid the AstraZeneca, Pfizer business. Vince cable said his legal

options were very limited yesterday but he said repeatedly he was not

closing down the options. I sat in the gallery and nobody seemed to

pull at that thread and say, what do you mean? What are your options?

Given the Labour leader has decided to say that he would not block the

bid, but there should be other tests applied to it, it seems to me Ed

Miliband has to tease out what David Cameron is up to. But if in the end

you cannot block the bed, and the test would be an interesting

exercise, but if the test has failed and you cannot block the bid, you

will look stupid. The question is whether you can link Government

contract, in terms of the tax breaks, the patented box, or via the

NHS, whether you can link all that sort of business that a new company

combined would do via the Government with them keeping their promises. It

could never apply to Cadbury because the Government doesn't buy

chocolate. But the pharmaceutical business depends incredibly heavily

on Government regulation, tax policy and in this country on a Government

owned and run National Health Service. It will be interesting to

see whether Cameron is considering that. If this was to be blocked, it

would be largely a European matter. It would get referred to the

European Commission. Although this does not meet the test of plurality

on competition, the French managed to block a yoghurt

I shall have further meetings today. As the father of three daughters, I

am sure that the entire house will share my deep concern for the more

than 270 Nigerian schoolgirls held captive in that country. The only

so-called crime which they face is that they aspired to receive an

education. Would he set out for the house the step that this government

is taking to ensure that we help to ensure their release as soon as

possible? My honourable friend speaks for the whole House and

country, I am the father of two young daughters, and my reaction is

the same as his and any parent in this land or in the world, it is an

act of pure evil, it has united people to stand with Nigeria, to

help find these children and return them to their parents. We have made

repeated offers of help to the Nigerian government, I will speak to

the Nigerian president this afternoon, and will again say that

we stand ready to provide any assistance, working very closely

with the US. We already have a military training team in Nigeria,

we have counterterrorism experts, and we should be proud of the role

we play, where British aid is helping to educate 800,000 Nigerian

children, including 600,000 girls. It is a global issue, there are

extreme Islamists around who are against education, against progress,

against equality, and we must fight them and take them on. Let me begin

by associating myself with the Prime Minister's remarks on the situation

in Nigeria. On our proposal for three-year tenancies in the private

sector, can he tell us when he expects to make the inevitable

journey from saying they represent dangerous Venezuelan style thinking

to saying they are quite a good idea? I have not had the time to

study the rent-controlled proposals, but I am sure he can lay them out

for us. Let me be clear. If there is an opportunity to find longer term

tenancy agreements to give greater stability, a proposal made at last

year's Conservative conference, then I am sure we can work together. But

if the proposal is for rent controls that have been tried all over the

world, including in Britain, and have shown to fail, that is a very

bad idea. Even by his standards, this is a quick U-turn. Last week,

the chairman of the Conservative party was saying this was all back

to Venezuela, completely wrong, but the community secretary has

supported these proposals. How will we make it happen? I have got some

good briefing on these proposals from Labour MPs. Here they are!

Let's begin with the housing minister, you think she would

support the policy, she says, I do not think it will work in practice.

Then, moving over to the Department for local government, where the

shadow Secretary of State says this, we do not want to return to rent

controls, because the rental sector is meeting a demand for housing. The

authentic voice of Venezuela! Then, the head of the select committee, a

Labour MP, the member for Sheffield, he said, rent-controlled is not

feasible. There we have a Labour policy completely unclear about what

it is, but the one thing that is clear, Labour MPs do not back it.

All he shows is that he has nothing... Order. It has to be said

every week. However long it takes, a simple exercise in democracy, the

question will be heard, and the answer will be heard. It is

incredibly simple. All he shows is he has no idea about this incredibly

able that issue facing the country. There are 9 million people renting

in this country. Our proposal is to say there should be fixed three-year

tenancies, is the norm, for those people with predictable rent

changes. That is the proposal. Many people across the country think this

is for the first time a party addressing the issue they face. Can

he explain what is wrong with going from one year tenancies with

unpredictable rent rises, to three-year tenancies with

predictable rent a? Why has the Conservative Party even up on

millions of people who are generation rent? We want to build

more houses so we have a better rental sector with more affordable

rent. As I said to him in my first answer, if there -- if this is about

new tenancies that give longer-term security, yes, if it is about

mandating from the centre and destroying the housing market, no.

The problem I have with his policies is they all come from the same

place. They come from the Unite union. They said the nationalised

railways, he wants to. They said, let's have old-style rent controls,

he wants them. The problem with rent controls is

he wants them. The problem with rent for rent, their candidates are, and

their leader is. Thank you. The Prime Minister will

be as encouraged as I am that unemployment in my constituency is

down by almost a third since the last election. However, the future

for almost 1000 workers related to the power station in my constituency

is less certain. Will he meet with me to make sure we have a future for

this asset in my constituency? I am happy to meet with him and discuss

this, it is welcomed what he says about the fall in unemployment,

which we can see right across the country. Employment is growing

fastest not in the south-east, but in Wales, it shows the recovery is

increasingly more broadly based. I know about the problems at the power

station and the demand for further action, as has been agreed at Drax.

I have two world-class hospitals in my constituency. The Secretary of

State for health has decided that Hammersmith will lose its accident

and emergency, charring Cross will be demolished, losing all consultant

emergency services, including accident and emergency and the

country's best stroke unit. Will he stopped his Health Secretary putting

my constituents' lives at risk? What we are doing is making sure the NHS

is getting more money, it will get 2.4 billion this year, 74 million

than a year before. If you remember, his own party was Mike policy was to

cut the NHS, like they are doing in Wales. The changes being made there

are backed by clinicians and local people, and we want to see the NHS

improved, as it does under this government. Does he agree that you

keep's policies are based on fear, fear of the world, feel of

foreigners, and is a great trading nation, we should embrace the

world, and if anybody comes to my constituency and goes to hospital or

to the nursing homes or to the farms or to the building sites, they will

see the great contribution being made to our communities and to the

growth of our economy by fellow EU citizens. He is absolutely right,

Britain has benefited from being an economy that is open to investment

and open to people coming who want to contribute and work hard here. I

agree with what he says about UKIP, so much of their view is we do not

have a bright future, I believe that we do if we get our deficit down,

our economy growing, invest in apprenticeships, we can be one of

the success stories of the 21st-century. We are making

progress, that is how we challenge their worldview. There is deep

concern in the British business and scientific community about the

proposed takeover of AstraZeneca by two, it would have an impact on

British jobs, investment, export and science. The Business Secretary said

he is not ruling out intervention. What type of intervention is under

consideration by government? I agree with what he said yesterday, but let

me be clear, the most important intervention we can make is to back

British jobs, science, research and development, medicines and

technology, and that is why I asked the Cabinet Secretary and my

ministers to engage with both companies, right from the start of

this process, and I make no apology for that, because we know what

happens when you do not engage, when you stand back, say you are opposed

to everything, what you get is abject surrender and no guarantees

for Britain. We are fighting for British science, it is a pity he is

trying to play politics. Let me say first of all, it is good to hear he

agrees with the Business Secretary. He said this, one of the government

was Mike options will be to consider using our public interest test

powers. There needs to be a proper assessment of this bid. The Business

Secretary said he was open to doing this. This could be done through

this House, and we would support making that happen. Will he agreed

to do it? The assessment that I want is from the business Department on

this deal or, as there is not an offer on the table, any subsequent

offer. I will judge all of these things about whether it expands

British jobs, investment and science. I worry the point may be

lost in the debate. He thinks he is clever, we all know that, but he may

have missed this point. Britain benefits massively from being open

to investment. Nissan is producing more cars than the whole of Italy.

Jaguar Land Rover under Indian ownership has created 9000 jobs in

the West Midlands since I became Prime Minister. Vodafone and

AstraZeneca have benefited from the backing of an open country to go out

and build and purchase businesses around the world. There is more

inward investment into Britain today than the rest of the EU combined.

Don't let's put that at risk. He does not understand, this is simply

about something very straightforward, having an

independent assessment of this bid and whether it is in the national

interest. I want to ask him the question again, because it matters

to people across the country, is he ruling out all ruling in using the

public interest test on this takeover's we could make it happen.

His Business Secretary could make it happen, and we would support it. If

he does not take action now, and the bid goes through without a proper

assessment, everybody will know that he was cheerleading for this bid,

not championing British science and industry. I think it is deeply sad

that the leader of the opposition makes accusations about cheerleading

when what the government was doing was getting stuck in to help British

science, investment and jobs. Doesn't it tell you everything

that, given the choice of doing the right thing for the national

interest, working with the government, or making short-term

political points, that is what he chooses to do? We might ask why the

public interest test was changed in the first place. It was when they

were sitting in the Treasury. They wrote the rules, they sold the gold,

they saw manufacturing client by a half, and we will never take

lectures from the people who wrecked our economy. Will the Prime Minister

confirmed that under his leadership this country will never spend less

than the NATO recommended minimum of 2% of GDP on defence? We are

spending in excess of 2%, 2% of GDP on defence? We are

only countries in Europe to do that. The Greeks are spending ahead of 2%

not on the things that are useful for NATO. We should continue to make

sure we fulfil all our commitment in terms of defence spending. Will the

Prime Minister urgently meet again with me and fellow MPs to find a way

forward on consultant led, maternity services to be run by the University

Hospital in Stoke on Trent? The Right Honourable Lady has asked me

about this in the past. Despite all the difficulties I wanted to make

sure there was an opportunity to have a way for having consultant

led, maternity services. People who live in our major towns want to be

able to have their babies locally and it is important we do that. I am

regularly updated and I would be happy to meet with a delegation of

Staffordshire MPs if it is necessary to drop further at this point. Last

week, Boston consulting group published research that found in

Britain to the number one competitive manufacturing country --

whole of Western Europe. It is number four globally behind China,

the United States and South Korea. Does my right honourable friend

agree this is the sort of company we should be keeping an further

evidence that our strategy to rebalance the UK economy towards

manufacturing and the West Midlands and other regions is working? I am

grateful for what might honourable friend says because for the first

time in a decade all three main sectors of the economy,

manufacturing, services and construction, have grown by 3% in

the last year. Manufacturing is important in itself, but also

because so much of it can be traded and we want to see Britain invest

more. The moves made by my right honourable friend in the budget are

very much dedicated towards that angle. We must remain the open

economy that will encourage people to invest in our manufacturing base.

Later this meet -- week the opening stages of the Giro d'Italia will

take place in Northern Ireland and along with the Tour de France coming

to Yorkshire, these sporting events allow us to showcase our region and

wrote the local economy. But as we seek to build a more prosperous and

better future for all of our people in Northern Ireland, it is important

that the suffering and hurt of victims is never forgotten? Whether

it is one years ago or ten years ago or 42 years ago, justice must be

pursued and the police must be allowed to follow the evidence

wherever it leads. First of all, can I agree with the right honourable

gentleman about the importance of these sporting events. The one in

Northern Ireland and the Tour de France in Leeds which will be great

for Yorkshire and the United Kingdom. We should do as much as we

can to promote these. He raises an important issue about terrorist

victims. We discussed over trying to secure greater assistance from Libya

over Semtex. We should be proud of the fact that a free country has an

independent judiciary and legal system and police service. They

decide who to arrest, who took Western and two to charge and that

is how it must remain. Dementia is one of the biggest challenges facing

our country. Will he join with me in congratulation the Alzheimer's

Society to raise awareness and challenge the stigma? Will he ensure

that there is a new dementia strategy at the end of the year

because the current one ends this year, so we can ensure people with

dementia get the support they need? We have turned the zero on Number

Ten into the dementia flower today to help boost the importance of

raising awareness about this issue and to encourage more people to

train as dementia and friends. It is about investing in research and

science, dementia friendly communities, and also making sure

our hostels and care homes better treat people with dementia. I will

perhaps write to him about the update to the strategy. 100,000

people are already dead in Syria. Others are dying as we are here

today. They need help desperately. We have talked about humanitarian

help. What on earth are we doing about it? The right honourable lady

is right. Britain is the second largest, bilateral aid donor in

terms of humanitarian aid going into Syria. We are helping to feed,

clothe and house people in Turkey, Lebanon and elsewhere. She raises

the important point about getting aid into Syria. More is being done

on that, but it is extremely difficult because of the security

situation. We will continue to do what we can. As we mug the Centenary

of the First World War it is a national disgrace that the graves of

Victoria Cross winners are derelict. As the patron of the Victoria Cross

trust, we pledge ?100,000 to help restore the graves and the Sun

newspaper have highlighted this campaign. As the Government have

managed to match fund every penny raised, will the PM join me in

urging people to go online and donate and ensure we have fitting

memorials for the bravest of the brave. I think the Sun newspaper did

a good job of highlighting the importance of this issue. The

Communities Secretary has announced ?100,000 funding for the Victoria

Cross which will go to restoring the grave of Victoria Cross recipients.

Local authorities will put up paving stones for people who have won the

Victoria crosses in their area. The most important thing we are doing is

the huge, multi-million pound investment going into the Imperial

War Museum which will open this summer and it brings the First World

War to live in an extraordinary way and that is at the heart of our

commemorations. My constituent's disability means he needs a

specially adapted bed, so it cannot share a room with his wife, but they

are hit by the bedroom tax. Can the Prime Minister explain why the

Government is punishing him for his disability? We have the

discretionary housing payments for exactly this sort of case and the

money has been topped up, so there is no reason for people to be

disadvantage. AstraZeneca is Macclesfield's greatest employer, so

I shared constituents' concerned about the Pfizer bid. I welcome

steps from the Government. But what further steps are being taken to

strengthen those commitments and to safeguard highly skilled

manufacturing jobs in Macclesfield? I am grateful for my honourable

friend's remarks. There are 2000 people employed in his constituency.

Our approach is based upon trying to secure the best possible deal in

terms of jobs, investment and science. That is why it was right to

ask the cabinet secretary to engage with Pfizer. I find it extraordinary

we are being criticised for this. There is no offer on the table, but

the commitments made so far are encouraging in terms of completing

the Cambridge campus, making sure 20% of the combined companies' total

is in the UK's workforce going forward and it mentions substantial

manufacturing facilities in Macclesfield. Because of the

patented box we have introduced, the company would look at manufacturing

more in the UK. But I am not satisfied, I want more. But the way

to get more is to engage and not to stand up and play politics. I know

the Prime Minister has raised the important issue around the awareness

of mental health. Can he explain why since 2011 there is a 30% drop in

mental health beds in the NHS? Is it right mental health patients are

having to travel up to 200 miles? What matters is the quality of

provision and parity of esteem between physical health and mental

health. We have not solved every problem, but we have put into the

NHS mandate proper parity of esteem and proper targets for some of the

talking therapies that are vital in terms of mental health. Measuring

the output of our NHS purely by the number of beds is not a sensible

approach. The Government is making a substantial investment in renewing

and expanding the nation's infrastructure. There is a real need

to get more people into engineering so they will have long-term skills.

Will my right honourable friend assure me this Government will do

all it can to inspire the next generation of engineers? I know he

has been campaigning very hard to get the HS2 Academy to go to Milton

Keynes because there is a vital bit of skilled work that needs to be

done. The key thing about these investments, whether it is

Crossrail, the Olympics, HS2, is to plan in advance about the skills we

need so we can help people wanting to take on those skills. Today the

Chancellor and the Minister for schools have launched a campaign

which is all about encouraging young people to get into Stem subjects and

to stay in them because there is a falloff from GCSE up to a level,

particularly in physics. I am delighted to see the Prime Minister

is wearing his dementia friends badged today and I congratulate the

Alzheimer's Society on their commitment to get ?1 million over

the next year. Will he commit today to commit personally to put a

scandal to low wages and zero hours contracts for dedicated home carers

who look after people with dementia in our country? Let me praise the

right honourable lady for her work on dementia and the work she has

done to spread awareness about this. On the issue of 15 minute working

times, this is an issue for local councils. My own local council has

decided to stop these 15 minute visits because they believed you

cannot get any meaningful work done. On zero hours contracts we are

the first Government to have a proper review into this and we are

very unhappy about exclusivity clauses that do not allow you to

work elsewhere. But it is important to make sure our care system has got

people inside it who are caring and understanding about the problems of

dementia. We have both been through the very short dementia training

course. I need a refresher. With 1.3% growth in manufacturing in the

last quarter and strong performances from local firms in my constituency,

does the Prime Minister agree that one key element of the long-term,

economic plan is the need to improve... The need to further

strengthen our skills base so these firms can continue to grow and work

hard for Britain and generate exports? The key part of the

long-term plan is to rebalance our economy away from purely the South

East and toward manufacturing, exports and investment. He has

played his part by organising a festival for manufacturing and

engineering in Stroud. We have to inspire a new generation to think of

these careers and the subjects they should be studying in school and

university. Last Thursday the EU ban on the import of Indian mangoes took

effect. As a result hundreds of businesses in the UK will suffer

millions of pounds of losses. There was no consultation with this house

and no vote by British ministers. Next week he will be having his

first conversation with the new Indian Prime Minister. Will he do

his best to reverse this ban so we can keep the special relationship

with India and so we can have our delicious mangoes once again? I know

how much the honourable gentleman cares about this, so much that he

delivered a tray of mangoes to ten Downing St missing the deadline so

they could safely be consumed by people inside. This is a serious

issue. The European Commission has to look on the basis of the science

and the evidence. There are concerns about cross contamination in terms

of British crops and British interests. I understand how strongly

he feels and how strongly the Indian community feels and I look forward

to discussing it with the new Indian Prime Minister. With the Prime

Minister join me in congratulating the world-class furniture

manufacture to locate in Leamington. It was based on our rich industrial

heritage. Well he also paid tribute to local businesses that have

created jobs and reduced the number of DSE claimants in Warrington by a

remarkable 54% since May, 2010. I congratulate my honourable friend

for the decline in unemployment in his constituency. It is notable what

he says about furniture factories because these are the sort of

businesses that were going offshore. We are seeing a slow trend of

getting businesses coming back to Britain, investing and expanding in

Britain. We must do everything we can to encourage this, whether it is

keeping taxes down, cutting national insurance, training more apprentices

and investing in infrastructure. My constituent's son has recently

returned from serving in Afghanistan. Does the Prime Minister

think it is right she has to pay the bedroom tax to keep a room available

for him to stay in at home? If the spare room subsidy extension does

not apply, there spare room subsidy extension does

discretionary housing payment which is another way of dealing with this

and I would hope that Scunthorpe Borough Council would take up the

offer the service sector grew at its fastest level. Does this demonstrate

we must stick with the long-term economic plan? It is right, we have

to stick to the long-term economic plan and for him to be called on

Wednesday shows that plan and for him to be called on

that anything you can wear. The Prime Minister will know that over

365 people in Northern Ireland were given the royal prerogative of mercy

despite ten years of violence. Could he give a commitment that these

names will be made public? If the Queen takes the time to sign 365

names, surely the public and the victims have the right to know? What

I would say to the honourable lady is there were difficult decisions

that were taken principally by the last Government at the time of the

various agreements that involved very difficult choices, hard choices

that had to be made in order to try and build a platform for peace and

reconciliation. I am happy to look at the specific point she says and

to reassure her in a letter. I do not want to unpick decisions taken

at a difficult time to give us the peace we enjoy today. The Chief

Medical Officer warned we are misusing antibiotics that we risk to

turning to the 19th century environment where routine operations

carry a grave risk of death. The World Health Organisation issued a

similar warning. On that basis, it surely is madness we continue to

allow so many antibiotics to be used in our factory farms. We know it is

contributing to resistance. My honourable friend raises an

extremely serious problem that is global in its nature and could have

unbelievably bad consequences in terms of antimicrobial resistance

leading to a minor ailment is not being properly treated. One of the

problems is the current way research is done by pharmaceutical companies

is not necessarily bringing forward you antibiotics in the way we need.

I have met with the Chief Medical Officer to discuss this. There are a

number of steps we can take here in the UK and I hope to say something

about it soon. Yesterday the Secretary of State for business,

innovation and skills said he was working with civil servants to

ensure that any securities during the proposed takeover of AstraZeneca

could be made legally binding. Does the Prime Minister back this? The

more we can do to strengthen the assurances we are given, the better.

But the only way you will get assurances is by engaging and

getting stuck in with those companies and I find it

extraordinary the Labour Party chooses to criticise us for that.

The Pfizer bid for AstraZeneca is driven by tax advantages. Has the

Prime Minister spoken driven by tax advantages. Has the

Government over changes to their tax law? Pfizer mentioned in a letter to

me that the patent box is a positive reason for wanting to invest in

Britain and to examine whether they could increase manufacturing. The

way it works is you only get the low tax benefit if you make your

investment and research in the UK and then exploit that research by

manufacturing in the UK. We should be incredibly hard-headed about

this. It is an advantage that Britain is a low tax country. We

used to bemoan the fact companies were leaving because of our high

taxes. Now they want to come here. But that is not enough, we want the

investment, the jobs and the research that comes

Ed Miliband split his questions into two, the first were on Labour's

plans for rent, not rent controls, they say, but plans to extend the

leases and make the increase in rent more predictable. That was the first

part. When he came back, it was about what the government position

is, and what the Labour Party's position is, on Pfizer's bid to take

over AstraZeneca. The Prime Minister made a remarkable claim, edge did

not seem right, that Nissan in Sunderland alone produces more cars

now than the whole of Italy. We got into checking that, and amazingly,

the Prime Minister is right. Italy produced 388,000 cars in 2013,

Nissan in Sunderland reduced half a million. Who would have thought? It

is a great fiat! Oh, dear! You try to act in the best traditions of

public service broadcasting, trying to see if it was true, and admitting

that he was right, and this is what you have to say! Lots of reaction to

those subjects, one person said, the rent in this country is diabolical,

even in Housing Association properties. The building quality

does not warrant such a large sum of money. One person says, Ed

Miliband's Internet seems to have failed him, rent control is a bad

idea, not supported by most of the public. One person says, Ed Miliband

is going on the right issues but using the wrong words and tone. He

must start being human. One person says, there should be emergency

legislation to introduce full public interest powers in the case of major

mergers. One person said, with regard to AstraZeneca, it is a

British company but it is not owned by Britain, shareholders must be

given the ultimate decision will stop --. One person said, I am in

despair of David Cameron's ducking and diving, not answering questions

apart from those from his backbench flunkies. That is a good word! I can

see the light in your eyes shine! Over to queue, Nigel Evans! I would

have been won last week, but the speaker just missed me. It is quite

interesting, the sound and fury from both front benches that AstraZeneca.

I am not clear what other side things should be done. Labour Party

think they can use the public interest test. All of the law around

takeovers was changed by the last Labour government to more narrowly

defined when you can intervene about banking, media takeovers and

national security. The Labour Party believe there is still some

possibility that you could intervene using the public interest test. I

was just reading up on this, Vince Cable, many years ago, said, when

the law was passed in 2002, it will now become almost a matter of course

for large mergers to be referred for examination. Very different from

what he is saying now. He said yesterday in the House of Commons,

the law is narrow, but we would need clearance by the European

commission. So it looks as though both government does not rule out

the possibility of intervening, David Cameron ignored the

questions, I suspect because they still discussing behind the scenes

what they can and can't do, and the Labour Party say it will possible

without spelling out how and why their legal view is that this is

possible. There would be a danger as a result of the narrower public

interest test that resulted from the changes the last Labour government

made, that if any British government tried to enforce it, by and large,

if it is not a competition basis, there is little ground, unless it is

a national security issue, but if the British government tried to use

that test, such as it is, it would almost certainly be litigated by

Brussels. As regards the 2002 at, it is sufficient to deal with the

concerns that Ed Miliband talks about. Vince Cable talked about

changing legislation, there is a vehicle going through to do that.

AstraZeneca are important to our country, it is an important science

base, it is not an -- not a normal company. Is it in our interest for

this company to be taken over and for jobs to be lost, or for research

and develop and to close down? Pfizer have form, not just in Kent,

but in Sweden as well. Vince Cable seemed to accept this. The point Ed

Miliband was asking, do you agree with your Business Secretary, and if

so, what are you going to do about it? We are willing to work with you.

If you have the public interest power, you would stop the takeover?

It is a test. You say to Pfizer, these are our concerns and

indicators, can you assure us you are satisfied? This is the

difference between a gentleman's agreement and getting reassurance

that is binding and will hold firm about jobs being kept and research

and develop and taking place. Is this a good thing or a bad thing in

general? I suspect this is all quite sensitive, it is not just working

out what you can and can't do. We are talking about share prices. It

is perfectly open, there may be sensitivity for the shareholders,

but we can say what we like. Absolutely, but I can understand why

do you have to be sensitive about the share price. It goes back to the

car industry, I remember when I is rolled when Jaguar Land Rover were

taken over, if they're going to be any British owned, never to be any

British owned, new factory at the end of the day? The fact is, we are

producing and selling more cars than before. It is not a worry as to who

owns it, it is a worry as to whether the jobs will be preserved and the

research and of element maintained. AstraZeneca, Macclesfield,

producers, I am told, 2% of the UK's exported goods. For people who

do not know why pharmaceutical matters, that is why. What should

children be taught in school and how? Hardly a new question, but one

that continues to preoccupy politicians, teachers and parents.

For our soapbox this week, we hear from one ex-London teacher, Daisy

Christodoulou, who believes that the education system is failing children

by prioritising experience over learning hard facts.

Silence! The lesson has started. Sit up. Pay attention. Repeat after me.

Education has come along way since the days of classrooms like these.

However, that is not to say everything about modern education is

perfect. Pupils leave school still facing serious difficulties with

literacy and numeracy. When I started working as a teacher, I saw

the impact of this. One of the main reasons it is happening is because

modern methods assume you can teach skills and you do not have to bother

about facts. But there are some facts you simply have to learn

before you can progress. Here we have a map of the British

Isles. And right here is London. Over the last 50 years we have

discovered evermore about how our minds work. Everybody has a limited

working memory, a maximum of seven new items. Any more and we get

overwhelmed. That is why we cannot just rely on the Internet and that

is why it is important to memorise things. You commit it to long-term

memory, leaving valuable space in working memory, and that is why it

is easier to solve a maths problem when you know your times tables. But

many prominent educationalists and Government agencies were giving

advice that ran counter to this evidence. They dismissed that

learning as being outdated, but that is not true. Learning facts does not

have to look like this. There are plenty of modern and engaging ways.

Memory is vital for learning. It is time for modern education to learn

that lesson. And Daisy Christodoulou who is currently Director of

Research and Development at the ARK Academy chain of schools joins us

now. You say you saw the human impact,

what was that human impact? There is an assumption you can achieve

expertise and get top grade, but you do not have to worry about mastering

facts and learning them very well. That is not the case. Modern

education is not fact free. My kids have to learn spelling is by road

and there are times tables. They do have to learn them. There are lots

of teachers doing great things and teaching facts. The problem for me

is, unfortunately there is an awful lot of advice and in some cases man

patient of practices which are not about learning the facts and getting

the fluency. I think that is what I am worried about. Unfortunately, the

advice teachers get does not back it up. Where is that voice coming

from? Where is that direction coming from because of technology we can

Google everything we need to know? That is widespread and not just in

education, almost across the board in society. With smartphones we do

not have to learn anything. There is a general tendency across society,

but there are some education departments and some Government

agencies, think and make some teachers more frightened to teach

facts because they are worried about what Ofsted inspectors say. Do you

think Michael Gove is trying to rectify that problem? It is more

than a party political issue. There is a clear scientific consensus

about facts. It would be good for that concerns us to be better

known. What is the best way to learn facts? A lot of research shows

having teacher led lessons helps. There was a big study done in

America in the 60s and 70s which showed a method of direct

instruction was successful. As well as recognising we need to learn

facts, we have to accept teacher led ways of doing it is not bad. They

can be inspiring. Do you think it was helpful for Michael Gove to

describe the educational establishment as a blog? All of us

as MPs value greatly what they do in our own schools. Independent grammar

schools, academies and other schools all do a brilliant job from what I

can see in my patch. So you did not really agree with him. It is an

amorphous blob. I am not as good. It is rare for us to have a guess of

the rare calibre as baby, take a look at her in action in University

Challenge. Which two European stains I had the

smallest landmass in the world divided by two nations? France and

the Netherlands. What is the surname of the cricketing family...? Hadley.

What two firms followed reduce in the environmentalist area? Which

newly formed party led by Edward Olmert...? Academia. It you enjoy

that? I hope you are feeling nervous. We have only got a few

seconds. We have got some questions and you can all join in. Do not

delay. What year was William Shakespeare born? 1564? Sorry, am I

allowed to join in? What is the capital of Azerbaijan? Backward?

What is 12 times 13. Wii 166. Know, 56. What is the most abundant

element in the human body? Water? No, what are. Who is the longest

serving British Prime Minister? Robert Walpole. How long did he

serve? 14 years? You are not getting points for imaginative answers? Did

you know that, Daisy? Note. You have got to learn and memorise these

facts. For how many years? 20 years and 314 days. Did and answer these

questions? Daisy, thank you very much. Now, since we have a former

Deputy Speaker on the programme we thought we'd ask if the current

speaker, John Bercow, was getting rather too big for his boots. Last

week he made the headlines after cutting short the Prime Minister at

PMQs. In fact, Mr Bercow makes the headlines rather a lot. Here he is

in action. Order! Order! You really are a very over excitable

individual. You need to write out 1000 times, I will behave myself at

PMQs. His role is to nod his head in the appropriate places and to fetch

and carry notes, no noise required. The Government Chief Whip has

absolutely no business whatsoever shouting from a sedentary position.

Try to calm down and behave like an adult and if you cannot, if it is

beyond you, leave the chamber and get out, we will manage without you.

He tends to behave as though every exchange is a conversation with her.

With the honourable lady answer, it could have done, it didn't. Order! I

have not finished. Order! In response to that question, the Prime

Minister has finished and he can take it from me he has finished. It

is interesting when you bring it all together. We are treading on

eggshells because we would all try to catch the eye of the speaker. But

it is a difficult job. The house gets a bit noisy at times and I know

the only time I sort of lost it a bit was against Ian Austin when I

shouted order, order and Glenda Jackson came up to me and said even

I stopped talking and I was in my office! It is a huge problem. I

cannot think of any speaker in modern times who has behaved like

that. No, and he is getting a lot of publicity. The barbed bit at the end

of Simon Burns' question where he said, I hope he will get an

opportunity to answer it in full, was directly in relation to John

Bercow stopping David Cameron last week in giving a full response. No

love lost. Is there not a sense that because this is broadcast on network

television and other channels, that there is a bit of grandstanding

going on? A bit of theatre and almost everybody in the house can be

accused of some form of grandstanding at some time. John

gets the focus of attention because he is in the referee's chair. Does

he not get the focus of attention because it is serial behaviour? It

is a rowdy house and you have to keep it in control. John does it in

his style. We have gone through the entire order paper. Under Michael

Martin if you were below question seven, the chances of you getting

selected were very thin. John makes sure more backbenchers get to ask

questions. Why is he not more popular? I'm not sure how unpopular

he is. What he has done as a speaker is give the legislature more powers

to give and hold the executive to account. He is a tough task master.

He is always looking to his right, the Conservatives. Look at Fiona

McTaggart last week, you can edit in all sorts of ways. We all feel

slighted when we are not chosen. We are going to put you out of your

misery and give you the answer to guess the year. It is 1971. Press

the red button, Nigel. This is the winner. That is it for today. Jo

will be on her own tomorrow. I am out filming. BBC One news is

starting now. Goodbye. Sorry, what?

I gotta get off the show. ..galling things you have done in the

short time that we have known you...!