11/06/2014 Daily Politics

Good morning from the European Parliament in Brussels.

The results of the European elections have caused quite

a stir in Britain and now our new MEPs are here

So just what are they going to get up to?

We're live for a special Daily Politics from the heart of Europe.

Britain is sending an unprecedented number

of euro sceptic MEPs to Brussels - and that's not just from UKIP.

We'll have the results of a special Daily Politics survey of MEPs which

reveals their views on free movement of people, the euro and whether we

Closer to home, there's good news from unemployment figures -

But wages are still not keeping pace with prices.

The row over who should be the next President of the

Germany's Chancellor Merkel has reiterated her support for

A member of Mr Juncker's EPP party will join us to argue his case.

And Adam's brought his balls to Brussels to find out

who people here think has the best vision for Europe.

What does Austria think of David Cameron? I like this boy.

Bonjour, guten tag, hola, goedendag - you get the gist - welcome to the

This is a confusing place for the newly elected MEPs as they try to

find their way round the euro-maze, but most of them will already have

had a peak at the chamber, just a few metres behind us, where they

will debate the issues of the day and pass laws which affect us all.

This is a Daily Politics special but fear not, we will still be

bringing you PMQs from across the Channel back in dear old Blighty.

We've even found a couple of MPs loitering in the Brussels corridors.

I give you the Tintin and Snowy of British Politics,

Labour's shadow work and pensions minister Chris Bryant and former

First this morning, the biggest news in Britain this morning is that

unemployment has fallen again - down by 161,000 to 2.16 million in

the three months to April, taking the unemployment rate down to 6.6%.

But wages are still not keeping pace with prices.

Chris, there are now 780,000 more people in work than there were one

year ago. It is the biggest rise in 24 years. Why has Britain become

such a job-creating machine? I'm delighted all these people are in

work. But my concern is that we've seen a 40% increase in the number of

people in work now having to claim housing benefit, which is going to

come to some ?4.8 billion over the course of this Parliament. That is a

dramatic increase in the amount we have to pay a benefit. We don't know

from today, but a lot of these jobs are not full-time. Actually, a lot

of the increase is in full-time jobs. Well, by definition there will

be people on fewer hours than they want to be on. A higher percentage

of people on low hours than they would like the we've ever had. And

also wages are not keeping up with inflation. My question was, why are

we become such a job-creating machine? Most countries represented

in this parliament would give their left arm to have an unemployment

rate of 6.6%. Well, we had a much longer recession and I think was

necessary. We bumped along economic lead for the first three years of

this government. Other countries over that period have had much

better economic success, but we're getting it now. Apart from Germany

they all have higher unemployment rates. As I say, my experience from

my constituency in south Wales is a large number of people - and it is a

fact all the charities are now showing - that more people in

poverty are actually in work than out of work. That just shows we

don't have the balance right of making sure work pays. Liam Fox, why

are wages still seriously trailing prices? If you look at the figures

today it was a 1.7 increase in wages and 1.6% increase in inflation. No,

the increase in average earnings year-on-year is 0.9%. The increase

in inflation was 1.8%. That was excluding bonuses. No, it was

including bonuses. That was not the big eyesore. I can assure you they

were the figures released. -- that was not the figure eyesore.

were the figures released. -- that true people are finding

were the figures released. -- that to make ends meet, the best thing we

can do is to get the tax burden down on working people. That can be only

done by getting control over public finances. One of the differences

between the UK and other countries is we are tackling the deficit. In

the UK with Bulls had something most of these other countries don't

have, which is a fluctuating currency. You say we are tackling

the deficit. Most countries represented in this Parliament have

a much smaller deficit in Britain's. Germany, France, Italy,

Spain. Even Greece has a smaller deficit. We inherited the biggest

peacetime deficit and we had not got it down at the speed some of us

would have liked to see. But we have a long-term plan for the economy. If

you look at manufacturing figures, up 4.4% from a low base, we are

recovering. It is a positive figure that shows the economy is beginning

We lost half a manufacturing jobs We lost half a manufacturing jobs

touring the years of Labour. We have We lost half a manufacturing jobs

a long way to go but this is good news, particularly for youth

unemployment. 58% in countries like Spain. We still have high levels of

youth and employment in the UK. Even in a constituency like Newark you

had 26.5% youth unemployment and long-term youth unemployment. The

problem with youth unemployment in particular is, if you don't get your

first job, it is not just an economic issue, it ends up being a

social problem as well. But it is going down. It was going up when we

came to office. No, the government was not in recession and it was

going down. We have to move on. The make up

of Britain's MEPs is radically If you don't believe me,

ask the Lib Dems. So, being

the fine public service broadcasters that we are, we thought we would

carry out a survey to try to give you a flavour of what our European

Parliamentarians believe in. We contacted all 73 MEPs

and asked them four questions on the key European issues -

EU membership, the Euro, 52 got back to us,

so what did we find? UKIP have the biggest contingent

within the UK's representation, 24 MEPs, of which 17 took part. As you

would expect, they were of one mind, all agreeing the UK should

leave the EU if membership could not be changed. That citizens movement

should be restricted across borders and that the European Union should

not accept new members. What is a prize! They all disagreed with the

UK joining the euro, even if the conditions were right. What about

the party for whom it Europe is not historically a unifier? All but one

of the Tories and said the questionnaire. Most were

Eurosceptic. Serve -- 13 MEPs believed we should leave the EU if

terms could not be significantly changed. 12 agreed freedom of

movement across borders should be restricted and all but one disagreed

with the idea of the UK ever joining the euro. That didn't mean they

wanted to stop others joining. 12 out of 18 did not think new

countries should be stopped from joining the EU. What about more

pro-European parties? We spoke to every single Lib Dem MP for our

survey - or rather, the single Lib Dem MEP. As you would guess, they

disagreed with leaving the EU if membership should be changed. They

disagreed with freezing EU enlargement and disagreed with

restricting citizens freedom of movement. But, whilst we got pretty

straight answers from the Lib Dem, the Tories and UKIP, Labour got

themselves into a bit of a struggle. 18 took part before someone high up

decided they would not ants are individually but instead give as a

group and sub. Out of the eight we spoke to, all eight disagreed with

the UK leaving if the terms of membership could not be changed.

Most disagreed with restricting freedom of movement and restricting

new countries from joining. For agreed with joining the euro, to

disagreed and to did not answer. And the rest? Well, we are still waiting

for the group statement we were promised. As you heard, Labour said

they would give us a response. They said they would consider each new

country joining on its merits and while they support free movement

they think it's impact should be managed. We speak now to Jane

Collins, a brand-new MEP finding her way round the Parliament. Why did

Labour make such a fuss about it MEPs and swing these questions,

Chris? Sometimes when newspapers do these surveys, they are often based

on hypothetical questions, as three of these were, they start with the

word "if" and they are not very informative. On the whole, when I

get those surveys, I don't do them either. They are quite

straightforward questions of our time. What is wrong with a question

about whether the European Union should accept new member countries?

Well, let's see if another country wants to join. Croatia is in the

process of moving towards it. Once it completes that and adopts the

whole policy, it probably should join, but that is a moment in the

future. So why couldn't you just provide that and so? Well, what you

wanted was a yes or a no. So I would say it would be good in the long

term if the whole of the Balkans was in such a state that it was able to

join the European Union. Take the? Yes, we support Turkey 's eventual

membership. You need to have a good understanding of freedom of movement

before that could happen. What does better managed freedom of movement

mean? I think it is wrong in the UK now that you have companies that

advertise the jobs that will only be performed in the United Kingdom

which are only advertised in Polish, in Poland. It is morally

indefensible, and it is bad economic news. I actually think Brussels

should consider that that is not a good way of managing movement as

well. So I support free movement but I also want to say a needs to be

managed. You need to have laws to make sure local workers are not

being permanently undercut from outside. You know that would have no

more than a marginal effect on the movement of people. I think it would

have a dramatic effect. I will give you another instance. I think it is

wrong when I'm scrupulous employers in the UK go to a low-wage economy

elsewhere in Europe and take people, effectively trafficked them,

because they charge the cost of their travel to the UK and then put

them in substandard accommodation in the UK. It is exploitation and it

makes it impossible for local workers to gain access to the labour

market. How many migrants working now in Britain got their jobs

through migrant only job displays? I don't know the answer to that. So

how then do you know it would have a dramatic effect? Because I saw many

instances of it. That does not mean it is dramatic. If you don't have

the numbers, you cannot say that. I think it would be significant. We

cannot price local workers out of think it would be significant. We

jobs. I think that would make a difference. We also need

jobs. I think that would make a difference. barren mind the country

in the European Union that has the most nationals living elsewhere in

the EU is the UK. 2.5 million. British people living in Spain.

Using their board to accept that the huge blood is of immigrants under

the Labour years did affect the wages of people? I did not say that.

But the number of immigrants... Do you accept it reduced wages, or

don't you? I think it had an effect, I don't think it had the dramatic

effects some people suggest. I don't think there are millions of other

people wanting to come to the UK to take our jobs. I dislike all that

language, I think it is inappropriate. Actually,

historically, we panic country that has sent people to live and work

abroad and we've also accepted a lot of people into the UK. Should the UK

leave the EU if terms cannot be changed? If we are to continue on

the current trajectory, I would rather leave them stay under those

terms. I hope we can get a looser relationship. What I would like to

see is to go back to a much looser relationship. The only thing Britain

has ever given its assent to in terms of the population was the

common market. I think most people would like to have an economic and

trading relationship with Europe but they don't want all the other things

that have come along over time. How easily could reverse those will be

the key question. And the common market involved the freemen movement

of people. I would look at it from a different point of view. In the UK,

given the position that we have, with the migration we have had in

recent years, why can't we be more like Canada or Australia and have a

point system? Because they are not members of the EU, we are committed

a basic founding rule of the club. Exactly, one of the basic messages

we have had from the elections is that the publishing of Europe see

control of their borders as being synonymous with sovereignty. This

macro population of Europe. That is a key issue because the Brussels

bureaucracy and some of the European leaders don't want to accept that

point. But the populations of Europe no longer want to have open borders.

If you can have free movement more related to employment, so people

have jobs to come to and create wealth in the country, that is one

thing. But people coming speculatively is something the

public no longer accepts. Before we move onto UKIP, should David say

that if he can't get a major repatriation of powers, then he

would recommend leaving the EU? I am not good put words in his mouth. I

wouldn't advise him in public. What would you advise him in private? My

view is if we cannot get a change in their relationship, I would

personally rather leave them stay on the current trajectory, because the

me, the logical end stage of ever closer union is union, and I don't

want to be part of that. Let's speak to the newly elected UKIP MP for

Yorkshire and the Humber. Is it true you struggling to find partners? We

have made significant progress in the last few days but that is up to

Nigel to discuss but I think we will form a group, yes. Why have you

rejected working with the National front in France? They may share a

Eurosceptic view but not the rest of our views. To start with, the racist

element of her party is something we can't accept. Who would you like to

join with in the European Parliament to further you wanting Britain to

withdraw from the EU? As many Eurosceptics as you can stop -- as

we can. I'm going to leave it with Nigel to announce when he has things

finalised. Do you know who he has been talking to? I think he has got

to announce that. But you are not worried about where you're going to

be standing in future. What about the president of the European

Commission, presumably you will not be backing Jean-Claude Juncker as a

federalist, who are you backing? It is a difficult question for me to

ask, because we want withdrawal from the use whichever president you look

at, it is for more integration. So we're really not going to back any

particular president. But you topped the poll, admittedly with your

Eurosceptic agenda, but is the idea then just to frustrate, distort, go

against everything, what was the point? Definitely not. We are a

democratic party fighting for freedom, for the control of our

borders back, and within the EU, we are here to be the eyes and ears of

the people that voted for us and stop yes, we are going to get

involved in the voting system on things that should be voted for or

against, but we're not actually hear to be part of this enormous,

out-of-control union. So yes, we're not going to be obstructive or

rude... What are you going to vote on, give me some examples? At this

moment in time, with it being my second day... ! I think I'm going to

skip that one! You say you're not going to be obstructive, but you are

here, you will be claiming your salary and your fellow UKIP MPs,

people out there, you may be the eyes and ears of people who voted

for you but what will you do tangibly? We have got to look at the

thing is controlled by the EU, energy, immigration, the euro and

what directives and legislation. All these things have a negative impact

on individual countries, and we are here to make sure that the

directives that are put through, the people who are voted for us, they

know the impact they are going to have at home. Also about the dilute

of useless legislation that comes out about the shape of bananas and

where you can import your melons from and ridiculous things that gets

spewed out everyday. Chris Bryant will say those are myths. It is just

nonsense. Next week, if you want, I will put the directive in front of

you. Why are you rolling your eyes? What most voters in Britain want, I

grant that most of them are Eurosceptic, but I think they would

want MEPs who will genuinely engage in the process here. Directives

about working at height, for instance, will make an instant as to

whether people die at work. Having the same rules... Can't our own

government decide those? Do we need a European Union to tell us what

height we can work? As I understand it, you want a shared market. You

want a common market. For a common market committee need to have the

same rules. Of course you do. What do our own MPs do if you can't

decide that for ourselves? There is a lot of agreement between your

view, Liam Fox, and UKIP. But there is a key question about the single

market, which is whether it should be a market of mutual recognition,

or whether it is a market of harmonisation. We have gone down the

route of harmonisation, so we have imported lots of laws we don't need

for the single market to function. There is a huge space and where we

do agree is that there are lots of rules made in Brussels that should

be made by national governments or not made by national governments if

that is what they decide. What is the level running messages is across

the continent, citizens don't like the direction of travel and they

want more control over their own legislation. Where I think this is

misguided is the vast majority of people now live their lives, not

just within one country, they travel, they go on holiday, their

work may happen elsewhere within Europe or whether their company...

People go to work in America, we don't need the same laws. But one in

four people go to Spain every, one in six go to Greece. The largest

investor in the UK is French. Consequently, you do need... There

is no point in turning our backs on the reality of life, which is an

interconnected world and an interconnected Europe. Can I just

check, you said it was Labour policy to support Croatia's membership of

the EU? In the long term, it is not finished as a process. It joined in

July last year! Well done! You have caught me. Croatia became a full

member in July one, 2013. Now news reaches me that there is

some sort of soccer tournament starting tomorrow - it

will never catch on - there is another competition that is

almost as fiercely contested. Apparently the race to complete

the albums has reached a fever pitch with thousands

of grown men and even some women doing anything to get hold

of their last remaining stickers. Well, I've got some bad news

for them, because there's I speak of course

of the country's finest - Of course, the sticker that everyone

wants is the one no one can have - We won't swap it for a Lampard, a

Messi, a Rooney or even a Ronaldo, because there's only one way you

can get your hands on one of these. We'll remind you how to enter

in a minute, but let's see if you We didn't want a confrontation with

the countryside but he has got one. Countries coming into Europe share

our view of Europe as a Europe of independent nation states.

answer to our special quiz email address - that's [email protected].

And you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year

It's nearly 1 o'clock here but by the magic of television we can

go over to Big Ben and see that it's coming up to midday in London -

Yes, the first Prime Minister's Questions since the Queen's Speech

If you'd like to comment on proceedings, you can email us:

or tweet your thoughts using the hashtag #bbcdp -

And I'm pleased to say as a special treat the BBC's

Political Correspondent Ben Wright, who's just been following David

He is joining us today. What are they going to talk about at PMQ 's?

We have unemployment figures. What will Mr Miliband go on? He may be

tempted to torment the promised more on Theresa May and Michael Gove,

they had that awkward moment, separated only by Eric pickles. The

and implement figures are difficult for Labour, they are positive news

for the government but there is that slowdown in wage growth which plays

straight into their argument about the cost of living. There is a

passport fiasco story that is brewing at the moment in

Westminster. Theresa May a game, backlog of passports. The unions are

saying about half a million now have been delayed. Holidays being

scuppered, the sort of story that can really be problematic for the

government. This is a story that cuts through to people watching this

programme, way outside the Westminster village. It licks and

administratively problematic for the government in terms of mishandling a

basic thing I had about ten of 15 and people then lost their holidays.

People say, you should have sent in your passport for renewal earlier

but often you can't because you have got to work, you have a commitment

you to go abroad for. The passport office had built a repetition could

be one of the most efficient government agencies around. It was

turned around. The unions are saying it as a consequence of office

closures and job cuts. One minister was saying, there is a bit of a

problem, but it's evidence of a booming economy that people want to

go on holiday again. That will go down well if it's your one annual

holiday! But in order to go abroad you have to have a passport. Last

night there was saying there had been a sudden increase in numbers

and an unpredictable rise. They felt there was more money.

I wish the England football team the very best of British before their

first World Cup game on Saturday. This morning, I had meetings with

colleagues I wish every team in the World Cup good luck! That has been a

decision. If we continue at this rate, it is going to take 40 years

for everyone to get as -- assessed. Is that acceptable? It is important

when we introduce these new benefit it is done in a way that works well.

So I would say it is very important not to have artificial deadlines

replacing one benefit with another. The whole point about the personal

independence payment is it is more accurate and targeted than

disability living allowance. It will mean more help for those with the

greatest disabilities, and I am determined to get it right. With the

Prime Minister join me in congratulating the Foreign Secretary

on organising this week 's important global summit to end sexual

violence? It is indeed time to act. It is a huge credit to the Foreign

Secretary for the work he has done and I would like to pay tribute to

all of the NGOs across the world who come together for this extraordinary

summit in London. It is vital we never forget about the victims of

sexual violence in conflict. This is something far too prevalent in our

world, but real advances have been made by having a declaration for

countries to sign up to, and more importantly an action plan to

prosecute wrongdoers and make sure they are punished. We must listen to

the destiny -- testimony of survivors. Mr Ed Miliband. Let me

join the Prime Minister in wishing England the best of luck in the

World Cup. I'm sure the whole of the country will be behind them. Now,

everyone will of been concerned about what is happening in certain

schools in Birmingham, including girls forced to sit at the back of

the class and the forced removal of head teachers. It is about a failure

of local and national accountability. The key question for

parents is this. If there is a serious problem at their school,

where did they go to get it sorted out? First, let me echo what the

Right Honourable member has said about how important it is to get a

grip on this issue. The problem of Islamic extremism in schools is

serious wherever it happens. I am determined, as is the Home Secretary

and the Education Secretary, indeed the whole government, to make sure

this is unacceptable in our country. People should be being taught in a

way that makes sure they can play a full part in the life of our

country. In terms of where you go to if you are concerned about what is

happening in your school, firstly you go to the chair of governors and

the headteacher. While I hope we can forge real unity across the House of

Commons on combating Islamists extremism in our schools, I hope it

is not used as an agenda to try and knock down successful school

formats, whether Academy is created under the last government, all three

schools graded under this government. There is certainly a

degree on common ground, but the Prime Minister said people should go

to the cherub governors or the headteacher. In certain cases, the

headteacher was removed and the governing body was part of the

problem. The truth is, it is a hard question to answer as to who parents

should go to. We have an incredibly fragmented school system when no one

is properly responsible. Some of the schools were local authority schools

and some of them were academies, but what parents want is someone

responsible on a day-to-day basis who can intervene quickly when

things go wrong. We want to safeguard all schools. As I said,

the first port of call is the headteacher and the chair of

governors. If people believe there is a real problem, there is one

organisation that has responsibility and that is Ofsted, of course. That

is why it is so important what the Education Secretary has said about

no notice inspections. What the leader of the opposition just asked

is how can this happen quickly? Well, it will happen quickly if we

have these no notice inspections. This is an important debate. If we

are saying there is only one model of accountability that will work and

some people in this house believes the only model of accountability is

local government accountability, it is worth making the point that

Birmingham City Council failed in their Judy to be 's parents. That

night bed duty to be 's parents. So yes let us learn the lessons, but

they must be the right lessons. It is definitely worth making the point

about local academies. But on the issue of Ofsted inspections, they

may happen only once every five years. That is not the

accountability that is needed. Surely nobody believes the

Department for Education can run 20,000 schools from Whitehall. Maybe

this secretary of state believes that, but I don't think so. Nobody

is arguing to go back to the local authority system. Isn't it time...

If they just listen to the question... Isn't it time for a

proper system of local oversight, separate from councils, responsible

for standards at all schools, to prevent what happened in Birmingham

happening elsewhere? I have to say I always listen very carefully to

these proposals, but this sounds like creating a new local

bureaucracy when we need to make sure that the resources are going

into the schools for the teachers and the computers and the books and

the equipment? He says and Ofsted inspection can only take place every

five years. The point about these no notice inspections, if we're going

to give this issue the it deserves, that a report about these problems

could result in an instant inspection and instant action. Let

me make one other point. It is often said some of these new formats for

schools or free academies, which I thought the party opposite

supported, that they don't act as fast as local authority schools. In

fact, completely the opposite is the case. When there has been a problem

in three schools or academies, far faster action has been taken on many

of the local authority schools that have been left in a state of failure

for far too long. I do have to say to him he is no answer to this

question of accountability. Ofsted inspections are just not going to do

the job and everybody knows it. Mr Speaker, I want to turn from the

failures in the education Department to the failures in the Home Office.

Can the Prime Minister update the house on the backlog of people

waiting for their passport applications to be processed? The

situation with the passport agency is extremely important to get right.

I is extremely important to get right.

they want to be able to go on holiday. We have three and a

thousand extra applications than is normal at this time of year. We've

increased massively the staff. The level of applications outside the

normal three-week limit is less than 10% of that 300,000. Mr Speaker, the

truth is that is tens of thousands of people finding that holidays are

being cancelled because they are not actually getting a passport. He says

they have increased the resources of the passport agency - that is not

the case. There are greater responsibilities for the passport

agencies since 2010 and fewer resources. Will the Prime Minister

tell the house when the government first learnt about this problem? The

government has taken action to deal with this problem not today but in

past weeks. We've got 250 staff already redeployed to the front

line, prioritising all outstanding applications. That will allow for an

extra 25,000 examinations. Look, people will want to hear the

answers! Order! Mr Robertson, you do have something of a lion 's roar and

it lets you down because I can hear clearly it is you. As the EU, Mr

Lucas, I've told you you need to go on some sort of therapeutic training

course if you are to ascend to the level of statesmanship to which US

buyer. Let us hear the answer. -- to which you aspire. The Home Secretary

has announced today new offices will be opened in Liverpool next week

with an additional 100 staff. The Home Office has been on this from

the very start. It all begins with three and a thousand extra people

applying for passports compared with last year. -- with 300,000 extra

people. He says the government is sorting out the problem, but there

are tens of thousands of people we understand waiting for their

applications to be processed and who are finding that holidays are being

cancelled. We're the Home Secretary fighting with the Education

Secretary but not paying attention to the business of government. Here

is the thing. To add insult to injury, people are being told if

they want their applications processed in the three-week target

they have to pay ?55 extra. Can the primers to get a grip on the

situation and paid families when the backlog will be cleared? It will be

cleared, not least because we are not wasting time with the National

identity card scheme we inherited from the party opposite. Isn't it

interesting, Mr Speaker, not a word about the unemployment figures? He

simply cannot bear the fact in our country we now have 2 million more

people in work in the private sector. He cannot stand the fact

unemployment has fallen yet again. The claimant count has come down. He

is allergic to good news because he knows that as our economy gets

stronger comic he gets weaker. -- stronger, he gets weaker. It is now

28 years since the devastating event happened in chin bar and the effects

are still being felt, especially by children. Last year, we cancelled

visitation rights for many children. Since charging for visas, we've seen

a 50% reduction in these young people being able to come to counter

the UK for respite, will he reconsider that? I'm happy to

reconsider it. We all remember the horrific event. Obviously, we charge

for visas because we have to cover the cost of operations to make sure

we protect ourselves from people who should not come here, but I will

look carefully at what he has said and perhaps I will write to him.

Will the Prime Minister agree that now more than ever we need to build

a strong and robust civil society? 100 years ago this August, the war

broke out which killed 16 million and devastated communities. The lack

of active participation in politics is declining rapidly, only 34% of

people boated in the recent elections. Can we agree to meet on a

cross-party basis to look at citizenship in this country in a

serious way so we can look at how to encourage active citizenship? I

think people feel that these institutions are rather distant to

them and they don't feel the relevance. I would prefer that we

put our resources and effort into practical programmes, like national

citizens service, which I think it's a superb service that many young

people are taking part in the vacancy the importance of engaging

in their communities and the world. That will lead to greater political

participation. Will the primers to join me in welcoming the 2 million

new private-sector jobs... The Prime Minister join me. And will he

continue with the long-term economic plans to make sure that figure will

go up? I think he makes an important point, this is a milestone we have

reached, there are 2 million more private-sector jobs than when this

government came into office, 2 million reasons for sticking to the

long-term economic plan. Can I thank him particularly for the work he has

done for his constituents in terms of running job club after job club

to help make sure that the businesses that need more workers

are put in touch with the people looking for a job. It is a vitally

important service that MPs are delivering. Given the revelation

that the royal prerogative of Mercy has been granted in at least 16

cases related to terrorism in the days and weeks following the Belfast

agreement, and cases stretching back to the 1980s, would see

minister-macro agree in the interest of openness and transparency and

justice, and cases here in Britain itself, that he should be

intervening to ensure that the circumstances of these exercising of

royal prerogative should be repealed so people will know the facts of

these cases? I will look very carefully at what the honourable

gentleman says about this. The last government had to make some very

difficult decisions to get the peace process working. I don't want to

second-guess those difficult decisions because what we have in

Northern Ireland now, yes we have frustrations and difficulties, and

we have the basic architecture of devolution and parties working

together across historic divide and I don't want to put that at risk.

Today's employment figures show that implement is down by 37% since May

2010, in Kingswood. I have held eight jobs fairs advertising

hundreds of local jobs, just some of the 2 million private sector jobs

created since this government. But there are still more to do. I am

launching the Kingswood Challenger today, and mentoring or job

fostering scheme where local business leaders will be paired with

local people looking for work, helping provide them with one-to-one

support. Can I thank him for what he's doing, to put people touch with

businesses, this is absolutely key, because there is no complacency on

the side of the house about unemployment whatsoever, youth

unemployment, long-term unemployment, we need to remove

these scourges from our country. We have a goal of full employment and

the way to achieve that is not simply through a growing economy but

the way to achieve that is not also by making sure we help people,

train people and give them all that is necessary to get a job.

Shockingly, one in three children in the north-east are now living in

poverty, it is the highest rate in the UK. Significantly, two out of

three young people who are living in poverty are living in working

households now. With the prime Minster agree with me that something

has gone sadly wrong with regards to child poverty and can he say,

please, please tell me where it all went wrong in the first place? What

I would say to the honourable gentleman is that the best route out

of poverty is work. If we look at the north-east, the number of people

employed in the north-east is up by 47,000 over the last year. That's

what's happening in the north-east. I know Labour want to have this

narrative in our country but let me give them some facts. Inequality is

at its lowest since 1986. There are 300,000 fewer children in child

poverty than when I became Prime Minister, half a million fewer

people in relative poverty then at the election. Mr Campbell, when you

are eating curry, in the Kennington tenderer, you don't yell across the

restaurant. Don't yell across the floor of this house! What we need to

do is tackle the causes of poverty. Underachievement at home, drug

addiction, that is what drives this government, there are 250,000 fewer

children in failing schools than when we took office. A toss of

taking even longer to carry out medical assessments, they are rotten

to send assessors to Argyll and Bute. Will the Prime Minister tell

them that they should not discriminate against people in this

way and they must receive their assessment as quickly as in the rest

of the country? BC there are challenges, particularly in

far-flung rural like his, but we have to make sure that those people

get their assessments properly carried out but these assessments

are important. The whole point is we don't want to leave people on

unemployment or other benefits year after year, we want these tests and

assessments properly carried out so we can see if they are applicable

and what help they need to get work. Did the Prime Minister's intention

to legislate to help people with the cost and insecurity of renting their

homes lose its slot in a packed Queen 's speech, in the plan to ban

plastic bags ordered him not have any proposals in the first place?

The government is ensuring we build more houses, that is what we need to

do. Yes, we need greater transparency in terms of what

letting agencies do and we are delivering that, that is part of our

programme, but I don't believe our policy of rent controls which we

have told would put up rents, is the answer. Metal fabricators, hydraulic

fitters, CMC turners, mechanical engineers and vehicle maintenance

apprenticeships are just some of the real jobs for local people on offer

at my jobs there. -- jobs fair. With the news that 2 million private

sector jobs have been created since 2010, will he continue to support

those who are creating real jobs and quality apprenticeships? Absolutely.

The point he makes is a good one, we are seeing a rebalancing of our

economy. Manufacturing figures, with a growth in manufacturing, all the

elements of GDP, construction, manufacturing, growing. We want to

see a recovery which is broadly based across the different sectors.

When it comes to the figures today, you can see pay levels in industries

like many factoring and services rather than... Last week, the Right

Honourable member for Schlitz said that people in the UK have not yet

felt any sense of recovery -- Rushcliffe. Today the ONS confirmed

that in the north-east, full-time workers are ?36 a week worse off

than they were last year. Does the prime ministers agree with his

Cabinet colleague? There are 47,000 more people in work in the

north-east than there were a year ago. The best route out of poverty

is work. What that needs to be followed by the tax reductions that

this government is bringing on to make sure that you are in work and

better off in work. The company based in my constituency have

increased their turnover by 10% to over ?2 billion last year. They have

increased their workforce significantly, contributing to the 2

million private sector jobs created under this government. On top of

that they have just been voted European family business of the

year. Will he join me in congratulating them and agree to

visit this British success story? I'm sure I will be visiting his

constituency before long. I join him in congratulating this great British

company, I believe they came with me to China where we were pushing

speeders as hard as we could, including getting them on a vital

Chinese equivalent to Amazon, to make sure that they could be sold.

Happy to come and visit, this is part of the economic success story

of our country. On Monday, I am going to the UN to address a number

of member states and to present a cross-party petition in support of

the inclusion of the right to healthy early childhood in the new

post 2015 millennium development goals. This petition has been signed

by people from 170 countries. Can I therefore ask the Prime Minister to

support, with his advocacy and support of his government, this

leadership by the United Nations to create benefit for at least 200

million of the world 's poorest children? I patiently to the Right

Honourable Lady and what she's doing in this area. Britain has tried to a

leading role in making sure there is a replacement for the millennium

development goals. I co-authored a report about what should be put in

their place. At the heart of this was the idea of better maternal

health and health services for women in childbirth. Very happy to look at

the proposal she makes and make sure we put the full weight of the

British government behind it. Could I join my right honourable friend in

wishing the England football team every success at the World Cup.

Could I also raise one of the darker aspects of the beautiful game.

Recently one of my constituents were seriously assaulted while refereeing

a local football game by one of the players on the field. He was very

seriously injured. Could I ask the Prime Minister what steps the

government is taking to ensure that violence, whether it occurs on the

field or off the field, is treated with equal seriousness and is never

tolerated? He makes an important point, we all support the England

football team, it's good to say that again, but it is really important we

crack down on all forms of bad behaviour, whether on or off the

pitch. Referees should have the full protection of the Lord Mitchell

community football is safe and enjoyable. I pay tribute the FA,

spending the importance of respect in our game. I'm afraid I might have

nightmares this evening about the Prime Minister modelling speedos but

I thank him for sharing that image with us! On a more serious

I thank him for sharing that image Scotland alone, since this Prime

Minister took office, the number of people reporting to be forced into

using loan sharks is up 57%, it is estimated as a total of 85,000

people in Scotland. Can I ask the Prime Minister what his government

is going to do about this? That we reassure the honourable lady that

speedos do also make shorts, so if I can clear that picture out of her

mind... ! On this issue... Look, there is a series of issues that

Honourable members quite rightly raise, that we need to properly

tackle to make sure that we make sure everyone in the country

benefits from economic recovery, on the minimum wage, which was

declining, became PM, it is now increasing. Unserer hours contracts,

legislation to get rid of it -- zero hours contracts. On payday lending,

now being properly credited with a cap on payday lending. On the wage,

the penalties not playing it have been quadrupled under this

government. -- on minimum wage. The Prime Minister must know that every

member of this has collectively and jointly shares at total repugnance

that a young woman has been sentenced to 100 lashes and the

death penalty simply for wanting to practice her faith. Will he request

the UK delegations to the UN Council on human rights to press the case

that the concept of apostasy is in and total conflict with the UN

Convention on human rights and will he reassure the house that the

Sudanese government has left us in no doubt what apparent they are held

in. If you share his apparent about the way this case has been treated,

it is barbaric. I can confirm we will be raising this case at the

forthcoming UN human rights Council, Sudan is on the agenda at

this council and we should ring the full weight of everything Britain

can do to make clear the acceptable way the woman has been treated. It

is good of him to wish the England football team every luck but with

this Cabinet split and the coalition fractured, should he not be picking

up the phone to Roy Hodgson and asking for some tips on team

discipline? I wouldn't want to offer Roy to much advice but what I would

say about this government... We have had the same chancellor for four

years and we have record growth in this country. We have the same Home

Secretary and we have had record falls in crime, the same Education

Secretary and we have too much and 50,000 fewer children in failing

schools. -- too much and 50 fewer children.

The Prime Minister will have heard calls from Honourable members on all

sides of this house for an independent enquiry on the

Hillsborough model into organised child sexual abuse in this country.

Can he be satisfied that current police investigations are sufficient

for the public to have confidence that we are both willing and able to

get to the truth? He makes a very important point, I have looked at

this carefully with ministerial colleagues. We have a series of

enquiries taking place into what happened in various hospitals and

care homes and indeed media organisations. It is important the

government keeps a clear view about how these are being co-ordinated and

how the lessons are being learned. At the moment, led by the Home

Secretary and her colleagues, we do have a proper view of what is

happening at these organisations. The Labour Party's policy to

allocate NHS funding based on health needs actually reduced health

inequality by 85%. White of the government to scrap its?

Why did the government scrap it? The government has made sure that health

budget ring fenced and to deliver the money according to the need of

the various areas. The only part of the country I'm aware where Labour

policies are put in place is Wales, where they haven't hit a health

target since about 1989. Experts are saying people are dying because the

matter of time they spending on waiting lists. Youth unemployment in

my area is down 83% since 2010. It reflects the 2 million new

private-sector jobs created since then. Will he be building upon this

success by providing more opportunities and skills for young

people by expending traineeships and apprenticeships? Even though 50 is a

small number of people to be young and unemployed in Harrogate, it is

still 52 many. Our ambition in the next Parliament should be to make

sure everyone has the chance of going to university or taking an

apprenticeship and relieve no one behind.

recruit reserves. What has happened is the number has actually declined

since 2012. If the content to continue to provide an update on

this further example of the government incompetence? What we

inherited in terms of defence was not only ?1 billion black hole but a

situation with the military reserves where they had been under resourced

and undervalued for years. We now have a programme for building them

up. We're now going to see the strongest possible professional army

with all the quit meant they have and a strong reserve force making

sure we can meet all the obligations -- obligations we have. Now, that

brings us to the end of our coverage of that. We are back to daily

politics now. Mr Miliband talked about both the fallout from the

Birmingham schools row and in particular was asking to whom should

parents go if they are worried about something happening in the school?

Not quite a clear and so mad. Then he moved on to this growing row over

the passport office, people not getting their passports in time. Mrs

May has been making statements that they are on top of it. Apparently,

they are going to the extent of opening the passport office for

seven days a week. The Minister of defence had to sit between the Home

Secretary and the Education Secretary today to make sure there

was no hostility! As far as we could see, nobody was hurt in the process.

Let's hear what you thought. Philip Hammond working on behalf of the

whole of the government there! Now, viewers and said both on schools and

passports. This tweet from Tom Jones said, despite Labour's attack, they

actually favour more freedom for schools as well. Another view said

Ed Miliband's responds shows his fear of basic local accountability.

And a final response: If is dead -- Ofsted cannot monitor all the

schools, I am concerned. Another viewer said Ed Miliband went for the

wrong topic. The cost of fuel is more relevant. On schools, it is

interesting that Labour is not challenging there is a problem. If

you read some of the press coverage over the weekend, reports suggested

this is overblown. Labour has not gone down that route. It is saying,

if the local authority does not run the school anymore, who do you go

to? That's right, and they are in a difficult decision. They took

forward the academy programme, they wanted schools to be independent. So

now they are in a bind. Do they advocate greater local authority

site again, which is what the Prime Minister was goading Mr Miliband to

say, or do they go for some new way of holding schools to account? Free

schools and academies are all overseen by the Department for

Education. Ed Miliband was calling for a unified structure of

accountability at a local level. I'm not quite clear what he's got in

mind. The Prime Minister was vague about what he thought about the

idea, but that is the issue they are grappling with. A fragmented

situation. Today I asked the Ghostbusters question, who are you

going to call? Who do you call if there is a problem? As a

constituency MP of a parent came and said there was a problem in the

school, first you would go to the local teacher and governors. If you

didn't get satisfaction, you would go to the local education authority,

and after that the MP would write to the secretary of state. What do we

do if it is an Academy or free school? Well, you still have the

governors and the headteacher. If you're not happy with that, it is

perfectly reasonable for the parent to talk to the MP who would then do

the same thing. So why we would need a whole new level across the whole

country, I wasn't clear about the proposal. In Birmingham, part of the

problem would seem to be the governors. Absolutely, and I think

this issue has shown it the Achilles heel of the government's education

policy is this issue of what happens when it goes wrong. Where does the

buck stop? Where do you go? Our proposal is very simple, you should

have a local director of standards whose job it is to make sure there

is a port of call. Would that be more bureaucracy? Well, you can call

it a bureaucrat. I'm wondering what it would consist of. It would be

more than one person, I'm assuming. You would need resources to

investigate and you would have to legislate in order for that to

happen. And whom would they be accountable to? Well, at the

moment, they are accountable to nobody other than the secretary of

state and education. On the whole, I don't like Westminster deciding one

system to be the same everywhere in the country. There are no free

schools or academies in Scotland. I take it it is the same in Wales.

What I'm saying is you cannot have the secretary of state as the sole

person responsible for 21,000 schools. Now, the second issue Mr

Miliband spoke of was this growing row dominating the papers and online

about passports. It's unclear if the government actually accept there is

a crisis. To reason may was said to have taken her eye of what's going

on. The Prime Minister said there had been a spike in applications, I

think he said 300,000 more than this time last year. But the

government's response is to keep passport offices open longer, open

an office in Liverpool and employ more staff. The danger for the

government is, if people come forward with their stories about

horrendous delays and a backlog does emerge, David Cameron, he did not

give a sense of real urgency. In your view, is there a crisis in the

passport office? I've not had a huge number of complaints as a

constituent MP. But you can't tell from that. From what I understand,

for one reason or another, there is a much bigger of applications than

you would normally get at this time of year. It would be interesting to

find out why. Just working out the figures, 30,000 across the country,

that sounds like a bit of a crisis to me. It is 45 in every

constituency. And normally it is not one person affected, it is a family.

Certainly that is the case in the first instance I had. That was 2.5

months ago, it was my next-door neighbour. Were unable to go on

holiday when their child who had applied for their first passport was

not allowed to go. All the talk in Parliament

at the moment is about whether Jean Claude-Juncker should get the top

job of European Commisson President. Mr Juncker him

self has said he's found the scrutiny, particularly from the

British press, difficult to deal I use it in you will be president of

the commission? -- are you certain. I do not give interviews. What do

you think of the British Prime Minister? Do you have any message

for the people of Britain interested in your candidacy? A year a lot

about you but they don't hear from you. We are not doing an interview.

Well, he didn't look very happy there. How could you harass that

gentle man? If looks could kill, I don't think I would be here. I've

been talking to people around him. I think in Britain we write about

Europe, we write about Jean-Claude Juncker. There was a piece a week

ago calling him the most dangerous man in Europe. This stuff does get

read. It gets through to Berlin. They read it. I think he is angry

with the press, you know is how he is being talked about. It is one

reason he does not want to do interviews with the British media.

His team say they are not doing anything until it is clear who the

council is going to appoint as their nomination. But I've seen him do

interviews with German TV. He does not want to talk to the British

press. I said to them after that, that looks ridiculous, why does he

not sit down and talk about why he once the job? But they do not want

to engage. Well, Mr Juncker, if you are watching, and I know you are, we

will give you an interview and we will be very polite. All the

candidates presented themselves to the European Parliament, whiting you

give them that? Aymac why did you not broadcast that? Well, thank you

for your advice! Talking of Mr Juncker

and his plans for Europe, we thought we would see what the good people in

and around the European Parliament thought about the competing visions

of Mr Cameron and Mr Juncker. Adam's popped over on the Eurostar

with his balls to find out We've got a good spot here at the

European Parliament, we've got some Euro coloured balls, and we are

going to have people who has the best vision for Europe, David

Cameron, or Mr Juncker? None of those. Do we have to choose between

those two? Mr Juncker has more experience in European politics. I

will go for Mr Juncker. I live in Luxembourg. Have you heard of

someone called Mr Juncker? Of course. Who do you prefer? Juncker,

Mr Juncker. What does Austria think of David Cameron? I like this boy,

but I don't understand him. I think I heard thunder so it might be time

to go inside. evening with? With both! Can I? I

don't see Jean-Claude Juncker as how he's been characterised. What is he

actually like as a person? He is very funny. I would say Mr Cameron.

Because he brings in something new. Reluctantly, almost... No question!

Mr Cameron. There aren't many of you around here, is it lonely? Not at

all. Europe has spoken clearly, reform is needed. I don't vote. No,

no. Who has got more balls, David Cameron Jean-Claude Juncker. That is

not a question! It is a question! The bad news is, we have been thrown

out of the European Parliament, you are only allowed to interview MEPs

here, not do things like this. What is so bad about Mr Cameron?

Since the British became a member, they have created the impression

that they must have a special exception for everything. You look a

bit like Jean-Claude Juncker! I think I will go with Cameron because

Jean-Claude Juncker is not the right man. Is he like Margaret Thatcher?

We have been rained on, thrown out of the European Parliament, rained

on again and look, David Cameron, I'm afraid, you don't have that many

friends here. With me now is the

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who's vice chair of the European People's Party

and Jean Lambert, who's an MEP What is the case of Mr Juncker? I

guess it is democracy, because the European parties are in the running

of those elections, so with those lead candidate, one of them was

Juncker. 40 formerly in people voted for him. But they didn't vote for

him. They voted for the party to selected him to be the candidate.

More people voted for him than in Britain for Mr Cameron. It is

inconsistent on the British side, David Cameron's side, to criticise

that the commission is overrated bureaucrats and then, when we want

to make it elected, to contest that. We are ready to talk about the

substance of the programme but not the verdicts of democracy and we

don't think it should come from the oldest democracy in Europe, which is

Britain. But the Lisbon Treaty only says that the Council of ministers

has to take into account how people vote is, how the parties stacked

up, not how it has to follow the results.

vote is, how the parties stacked up, not how it has to follow the He

or she should be elected by a qualified majority is in the

Council, and there is a qualified majority already in the council. So

he has to have two qualified majority is Andy has both. It is

only Mr Cameron who is questioning that. Across Europe, there were

millions of people, who in the way they voted, showing this

satisfaction with the European establishment at the moment. --

dissatisfaction. Would it not be a slap in the face to appoint somebody

who is synonymous with the ways of the European establishment? Just the

opposite, it would be strange to elect somebody who was not a winner,

who did not get the majority. The fundamental principle of

democracy... His name wasn't on the ballot paper. He was on our

programmes, yes, yes. His name wasn't on the ballot paper.

Everybody knows who the leader of the server tips labour. Now,

everybody knows who he is! Thanks to David Cameron! Only 7% of Germans

had ever heard of him. But who else is not the winner should be elected?

The idea that people who voted for any party that was part of it was

voting directly for Juncker 's and the key thing is whether those who

have been running the European project understand what happened at

the European elections. There was a seismic shift. The idea they should

carry on saying nothing is happened will only increase the void. They

are not directly elected to say everybody knew who he is utterly

untrue. I doubt anyone in Britain knew who he was. Would you like to

see as the President? I don't have a candidate or an agenda. What we

should be looking for is a candidate who doesn't simply want to continue

in the same direction and at the same speed as before, there needs to

be some account taken of the fact that almost 30% of the seats in the

European Parliament now belong to parties who have a different

direction or who want to leave altogether. If not, the voice will

be louder next time. Did you support Juncker? You have your candidate for

the presidency but that isn't going to happen, do you think Jean-Claude

Juncker should be President? For us, should be the first one to put

forward a programme and every vote on the programme. I want to see what

is on the programme. There is an assumption that because of what he

has been, therefore that is what he will present. If he is the astute

politician people think he is, he will be looking at what has come out

of the European election, looking at areas of disaffection, also looking

at the challenges the European Union now faces, which are not about going

back to a simple free-trade agreement with deregulation, whether

it is environment, workers rights, whatever, he will have to look at

some of the challenges the EU faces, they are financial, social,

democratic, environmental. If he does that Will you and your fellow

Greens back in? If he manages to do that, we will be amazed, but we will

have it. Will you be convinced he is a changed man and will take into

account what happened in the elections in terms of the showing

from some on the left, anti-austerity parties, to get

support from the Greens? The basic rule of Westminster is the winning

party gets the Prime Minister ship. It is the same. Faction of the

Greens and the Christian Democrats and Socialists, all of them are in

favour so we have a majority in the parliament in favour of the

designated winner. So David Cameron can stuff it. He has no majority in

the parliament either. He is try to solve the eternal British problem

with European instrument and blackmailing the majority of

European voters. Does labour ward? , correct something, Iceland is the

oldest democracy in Europe. Unlike Croatia. I wouldn't vote for Juncker

myself but I do accept some of the argument, I think it is overplayed,

this argument about democracy. This is not a full democratic campaign

that was late, I think it's a sign of weakness Britain now has that the

Conservative Party cannot have a candidate because it is not in the

EP BP. We are bit lukewarm about Martin Shaw... He is a federalist

like Tim Moore. I am being told we have run out of time.

Before we go and enjoy a plate of moules-frites washed down with

a pint of Belgian beer, there's just time to give you the result

Sadly BBC competiton guidelines being what they are we couldn't

bring the infamous red button with us, but

The red button, I have got it, I am pressing it. There you are! The mud

is yours, Julia. That is about the hardest thing he

has had to do all week! The One O'clock News is

starting over on BBC One now. What's the hardest thing

about being a foster parent? You're constantly trying

to build the elusive trust. It's like a big old question mark

in your heart.