23/03/2016 Daily Politics


23/03/2016

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LineFromTo

Hello and welcome to the Daily Politics.

:00:36.:00:38.

The authorities in Brussels say two brothers who were known to them

:00:39.:00:42.

are amongst those responsible for the Brussels attacks.

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A third unsuccessful airport bomber also linked to the Paris attacks

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As Europe reels from the third serious attack in 15 months,

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this time striking the de-facto capital of the European Union,

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does passport-free travel inside the EU make us more

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The Chancellor confirms that he's cancelled proposed changes

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to Personal Independence Payments for disabled people,

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but he's already broken his own spending limits on welfare,

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so how will he make the promised savings?

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And, with friends like this, who needs enemies?

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When it comes to attacking the Government, why Conservative MPs

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All that in the next hour, and with us for the whole

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of the duration today, Housing Minister Brandon Lewis

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So, Belgian authorities have identified two of the bombers

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responsible for yesterday's attacks as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.

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They were both known to the authorities.

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They have both been jailed for serious crimes involving AK-47s.

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And both are linked to the prime suspect in the Paris massacre,

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Salah Abdeslam, who was detained in Brussels last week.

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A third man pictured at the airport but whose bomb did not apparently

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detonate has been named as Najim Laachraoui,

:02:23.:02:33.

a 24-year-old who is reported to have travelled to Syria in 2013.

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He's thought to be the Paris bomb maker, and has just been arrested

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in the Anderlecht district of Brussels.

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He is thought to have made the suicide belts as well. Reports are

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that he was arrested in Anderlecht this morning.

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Do we know for sure yet or not whether the man in the right hat has

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been arrested and Mac white hat? We don't know for sure. We had reports

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and our ago that he had been, that was widely reported in the Belgian

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media, and now those reports are being withdrawn, so he may well not

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have been arrested, which would be a blow for the Belgian authorities who

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have already been hugely criticised for their failures of intelligence

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both in the run-up to the Paris attacks in November and these

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attacks in Brussels yesterday. This is a key suspect. As you said, his

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DNA was found in one of the houses that was used by the Paris

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attackers, he is very closely linked to the Paris attacks, and

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significantly he travelled to Hungary last year before the Paris

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attacks with Salah Abdeslam. He was arrested on Friday, the police in

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France and Belgium had been looking for him, he escaped from Paris after

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those attacks, the only one of the attackers who got away. He slipped

:04:20.:04:24.

into Belgium, he was hunted for four months, he was caught last Friday,

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and ever since he has been interrogated while he is awaiting

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extradition. There is a theory that the accomplices close to Salah

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Abdeslam put forward any other attacks they were planning because

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they knew he was being interrogated and might well give them names and

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addresses away, might expose them to the police, so because these attacks

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in Brussels were only four days later, perhaps there is a link

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between that arrest and what happened yesterday. It would seem

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that the Belgian authorities need some kind of victory quite quickly

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to restore their credibility. We learned that the man was at the

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police shoot out in Brussels ten days ago, part of the Salah Abdeslam

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manhunt, the man that they now have for the Paris bombing, he got away,

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not only that it seems he found a new address, access to guns and

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explosives, and in just over a week it was at the airport with two other

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suicide bombers. Yes, critics of the Belgian authorities will say they

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have been huge intelligence failures. They are not as on top of

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what terror suspects there are in this city as, for example, British

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intelligence agencies and counterterror police are in the UK.

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It is difficult, they would say, because some areas of the city of

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Brussels, with high Muslim populations, are difficult to

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penetrate, they don't have much human intelligence on the ground.

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They have not done well. The first raid where it seems he may have

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escaped, although they raided the property, they were not expecting to

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find terror suspects, but it seems extraordinary that a couple of them

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could escape pretty much at the back while the police came to the front.

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It seems a bit basic. There have been failures, and the Belgian

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security forces have been described as the weak link in the European

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fight against terror. On big brothers, with the famous gloves on

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only one hand, which is hugely significant, we now learn, I have

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not had this confirmed, but one of them was jailed for nine years in

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2010 for firing at police with an AK-47 during a robbery, and the

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other was jailed for five years in 2011 for carjackings and also

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touting an AK-47. I don't know what the question is to you now, having

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just read that out! One of the points is that a lot of the people

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involved in the Paris attacks and these latest attacks appear to have

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criminal records for a variety of crimes. Salah Abdeslam was one of

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them. He maybe got further radicalised in prison. You are

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right, one of the brothers, who was using a false name, had rented a

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flat in an area of Brussels which was raided last week, he was

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responsible, it seems, for the metro attack yesterday. The brothers

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carrying out the operations, but he was the one who attacked the Metro

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station, his brother was the one who attacked the airport, if you

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remember the CCTV image, the three of them pushing the trolleys, he was

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in the middle. Huge questions for the Belgian police, security

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agencies, judiciary about how it deals with these people and the

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wider question is, they knew there was a cell in Brussels that was

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partly responsible for the Paris attacks, they were trying to track

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them down, it now seems that the number of terror suspects in

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Brussels and in Belgium was much larger than anything they had

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anticipated before or anything they had expected. We have partly seen

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the results of that yesterday. A sad day in Brussels, many questions

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remain to be answered. We are just getting confirmation that the

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Belgian media is now backtracking on staying that the suspect in the

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white hat, also wanted with his DNA found in the Paris bombing, they are

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backtracking on whether or not he has been arrested, it seemed that he

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has not been. Joining us now from Brussels

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is Ukip's defence spokesman Do you think it was right to start

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making political capital out of what was happening before the Belgian

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authorities had even had a chance to count the number of dead? I don't

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believe I was making political capital. I have been talking about

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open borders for the last year, nobody was listening. We live in a

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media world, something happened and the media call you up straightaway

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and want to know a comment, so this is the world we live in. I have been

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talking about this for over a year, open borders. Do you want to take it

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back, now you can give a more considered response? Everything I

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have said yesterday, I have said over months, and I stand by it. Two

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of the suspected suicide bombers, the brothers, were Brussels

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residents, so what did Schengen have to do with that? These people that

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were arrested last week and who carried out this attack yesterday

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seemed to have had free range, moving about freely through Europe,

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with open borders, they have been across to Syria on several occasions

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to be trained, and anybody who thinks open borders is not a part of

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this is naive and quite dangerous. If they had Belgian passports, they

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would be able to move between European countries regardless of

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Schengen. Correct? I worked in Calais last year, and this year, and

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passports are quite easily gained, they can change their identity

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within minutes. Whatever passport they were using, and they were

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probably using false passports, they are easily gained. We know one of

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the people who was arrested with Salah Abdeslam did come in on a fake

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Syrian passport into the EU. But even if we were outside the EU,

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would we not still face that problem? We would have to be alert

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to the possibility of fake Syrian passports or fake European

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passports, and we cannot always be sure that we will be, there are some

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sophisticated fakes around. If we had our own sovereignty and borders,

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we controlled our borders, we can check who is coming in and who is

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going out. If they have got a Syrian passport... Interpol and other

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agencies can gain intelligence. It one of the German defence ministers

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have said nearly 50% of the member states don't pass intelligence. What

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do you say to that, Rachel Reeves? We are not part of Schengen, so we

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do control our borders. Not for people with European passports. We

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are not part of Schengen. But with a European passport you can come to

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this country. But your passport is checked, you cannot just cross the

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board without any checks. But that would be true whether we were in or

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out. The point is we do control our borders because we have passport

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controls. People can come and work in this country, but you are still

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checked at the border will stop that would be true if we were in or out

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of the EU. If one of these people who has been trained by Islamic

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State comes to Europe, then gets a European passport, it will be more

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difficult to stop them coming in. How would we know? That would be the

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case if they got a fake passport and came directly to the UK. This is an

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argument for strengthening the border police, better control and

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ports and airports, so we know who is coming in, we are checking

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everything robustly. It is not an argument about our membership of the

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EU. What do you say to that? I agree. One of the problems with the

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argument that Ukip made, apart from the crassness of the timing... It

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was disgraceful. But the reality is, if somebody has a fake passport, the

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challenge of dealing with that is the same if you are in or out of the

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EU. We have the ability to share information, it is a strength. What

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intelligence are we sharing? Being part of Europe, even as of today and

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yesterday, we are offering support... We do that anyway. That

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intelligence sharing is done at a bilateral level. Brussels

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intelligence shares with our intelligence services, we share with

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French, that is not an EU process, that is a bilateral arrangement, and

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surely that will continue in or out of the EU. It could do, but part of

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our renegotiation, some of these countries might want to change the

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agreement. Why would they stop sharing intelligence? We are far

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closer sharing with the United States and Canada, and we were not a

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member of the United States or Canada.

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The point that is being me doesn't stack up. We have control of our own

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borders because we are not part of Schengen. The ability for submitted

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to come to this country because of being part of Europe is a false

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statement. We haven't got control in the sense that if someone presents

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an EU passport at our borders and we regard it as kosher, as a bona fides

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passport, you can't stop them coming in. That's the same whether we are

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in the European Union or not. You could stop them if we weren't in the

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EU. If you're travelling abroad, if you've got a genuine passport, you

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would be allowed to go into that country regardless of whether or not

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it is part of the EU. The argument they are making simply doesn't stack

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up. You've heard what our guests are saying. I'll give you a final word.

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What is disgraceful as allowing terrorists free movement across

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Europe. Terraces begin to our country, and I'm from the port of

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call and we had 18 migrants that came in through Hull. We need to

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check our borders. There are seven member states now who've reinstated

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their borders because they are frightened to death of what's

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happening with terrorism. Mike Hookem in Brussels, thanks for

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joining us this morning. Conservative MPs rallied around

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George Osborne as he closed the Budget debate and explained that

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he'd listened and learned, cancelling changes to

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Personal Independence Payments for the disabled, as well as

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the so-called tampon tax And he had warm words

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for the departed Work and Pensions Secretary Iain

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Duncan Smith, as he tried But has the unravelling of last

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week's Budget left the Chancellor in the naughty corner,

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and what does it mean for his plans The Conservative Party Manifesto

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promised to keep spending on working-age welfare,

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so that excludes pensions, But George Osborne is already

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on course to breach the cap next year, set at some ?115.2 billion,

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with spending on working-age welfare forecast to be over ?4

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billon more than that. And by the end of the Parliament

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the overspend is predicted But the Budget says that will be put

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right in the Autumn Statement, However, the new Work

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and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb said on Monday there were no further

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plans for welfare cuts other than those already in the pipeline,

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and confirmed the changes to Personal Independence Payments,

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or PIPs, that prompted the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith

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will not go ahead. The Chancellor was hoping the PIP

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changes would save ?1.3 billion So will the Chancellor press ahead

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with further cuts to welfare or abandon his welfare cap and break

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a manifesto promise? In the Commons yesterday,

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he reiterated what Stephen Crabb had Well, my right honourable friend

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said yesterday exactly We have no further

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plans to make welfare savings beyond the very substantial

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savings legislated for by Parliament two weeks ago, which we will

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focus on implementing. George Osborne in the House of

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Commons yesterday. Brandon Lewis, the Chancellor said he was sorry

:18:17.:18:19.

that Ian Duncan Smith had resigned but he didn't apologise for the

:18:20.:18:22.

policies that drove him to that resignation. Should he have done? I

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think in outlining as he did yesterday the fact that we have

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said... As he has done before, actually. He outlined yesterday that

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he had listened to colleagues and people across the House and it's a

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good thing we've got a government that is bred to listen and make

:18:41.:18:44.

changes. So in your view he has apologised for the policies? They

:18:45.:18:48.

were the wrong policies to pursue? He outlined last week what the

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government's policy was. Having listened to colleagues and listen to

:18:54.:18:56.

people across the country and right across the House, making those

:18:57.:19:01.

changes, it they have been clear we will not move forward. Was a clear

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message. We are listening to people and making decisions a stomach

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information and taking the budget process seriously. Democracy in

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action. It is clear, then, that there will be no welfare cuts in

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this Parliament? You can confirm that? You've just seen on the clip

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their, there are no plans other than what was voted for a few weeks ago.

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No plans to leave it open. I want to know and the viewers want to know,

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are they going to be no further cuts to welfare in this Parliament? Well,

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not just because I'm not the Secretary of State for the DWP or

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the Chancellor, we've got four years left of this Parliament, so there

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are several fiscal positions with all Autumn Statement and budgets to

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come through. The OBR will report back up the Autumn Statement and

:19:48.:19:49.

then the Chancellor will have to ally where we are with regards to

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the welfare cup. But there are no plans for further welfare cuts. So

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you can't rule it out? I accept your not a Chancellor Angela Merkel in

:20:00.:20:02.

the department... You might be after this programme! But you can't rule

:20:03.:20:06.

it out? We've got four years of Parliament left and none of us know

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what the economic... What we are very clear about is that we would

:20:11.:20:16.

need to get the deficit under control, which has led to difficult

:20:17.:20:20.

decisions, but I'm very pleased we got a government that listens to

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people and is making decisions based on the thing of the information in

:20:24.:20:26.

front of it. How will people trust what George Osborne says if you're

:20:27.:20:30.

sitting here today saying, "There are no plans at the moment but there

:20:31.:20:35.

could be because of your commitment to the welfare cup"? He's also had

:20:36.:20:41.

to U-turn on tax credit changes and do the same on the changes to PIP.

:20:42.:20:47.

If you are disabled person and you are watching this, you will think,

:20:48.:20:52.

even now, my future is still uncertain in terms of future

:20:53.:20:55.

finances, it is if there are going to be no further cuts, how is George

:20:56.:20:58.

Osborne going to meet his welfare cup by the end of the Parliament?

:20:59.:21:04.

Firstly, to be very clear for vulnerable and disabled people in

:21:05.:21:06.

that position, not only have we spent 3 billion more in the last few

:21:07.:21:11.

years than we had in 2010, spending for disabled people goes up every

:21:12.:21:15.

year in this Parliament. But it doesn't go up in the way it has been

:21:16.:21:19.

and that was the point. The changes were going to mean that that

:21:20.:21:23.

increase would be lower. But answer the question about how he is going

:21:24.:21:26.

to meet his welfare cup. Let me answer the point you made about how

:21:27.:21:29.

people will have trusts around the welfare cup. We are determined to

:21:30.:21:34.

get that deficit and debt down and protect the most honourable but I

:21:35.:21:37.

think people will like the fact that we have a government that listens to

:21:38.:21:44.

people and has responded to that. How is George Osborne GoToMeeting is

:21:45.:21:48.

welfare cup by the end of the Parliament? We've already predicted

:21:49.:21:53.

that we will have a very clear surplus by the end of the

:21:54.:21:59.

Parliament... BIF S have said that is going to be very difficult but as

:22:00.:22:03.

it stands at the moment, you are going to breach that cap and you are

:22:04.:22:07.

not going to make the savings that George Osborne hopes to because of

:22:08.:22:12.

the changes to PIP being scrapped so as I say, he's either going to

:22:13.:22:15.

breach his welfare cup on the figures we have now or he's going to

:22:16.:22:19.

make further cuts. Which is a? We will outline at the Autumn Statement

:22:20.:22:22.

where we are in terms of the welfare cup. We are also very clear we will

:22:23.:22:31.

show that surplus in 2021. Used said he's not going to make further cuts

:22:32.:22:34.

so where is he going to meet his welfare cap? We are talking about

:22:35.:22:42.

the welfare cap. How is he going to meet his welfare cap if he is or do

:22:43.:22:47.

bridging it by 3.2 billion, at the 1 billion he was going to say from

:22:48.:22:51.

PIP. Where is he going to take it from if he's not going to do make

:22:52.:22:55.

further cuts to the welfare budget? There are no further plans to the

:22:56.:23:01.

welfare budget. He is going to breach his welfare cup. The

:23:02.:23:04.

Chancellor will assess where we are and make a statement about where we

:23:05.:23:07.

are with the welfare cap and have to make a statement to Parliament about

:23:08.:23:19.

the changes going forward. We have responded positively to what people

:23:20.:23:22.

have outlined. I think it is very clear that people appreciate having

:23:23.:23:28.

a government that listens to people and makes changes fall the most

:23:29.:23:33.

vulnerable people in society. You supported the welfare cap when it

:23:34.:23:35.

was introduced to stop I still in favour of it? I think there should

:23:36.:23:39.

be a cap on welfare spending but we would go about controlling the cost

:23:40.:23:42.

of Social Security in a very different way from the Tories. We

:23:43.:23:45.

never signed up to the specific numbers in the welfare cap that the

:23:46.:23:48.

government... Yours would have been higher? We said in the last

:23:49.:23:53.

parliament that we would have cancelled the bedroom tax, so that

:23:54.:23:56.

would have meant higher spending on social security but it would have

:23:57.:23:59.

been the right thing to do. How much I would it be, bearing in mind it is

:24:00.:24:03.

already a massive budget and the predictions are to go up to 230

:24:04.:24:08.

billion. I think it stands at 220 billion in the next two years. If

:24:09.:24:11.

you look at the reasons why Social Security spending is increasing,

:24:12.:24:15.

it's because the Government are not getting enough disabled people back

:24:16.:24:19.

into work. There are too many people in low paid work, relying on tax

:24:20.:24:22.

credits and universal credit to make en suite -- make ends meet. The

:24:23.:24:28.

employment figures have been good but so many jobs, about 25 descent

:24:29.:24:32.

of jobs, are paying less than the living wage so people are relying on

:24:33.:24:38.

benefits to make up the money. And if you look at house-building, it is

:24:39.:24:43.

at a record low, which means that the housing benefit bill is going up

:24:44.:24:50.

because rents are going up. So if you want to control the cost of

:24:51.:24:52.

Social Security, do it by ensuring there are more good quality jobs, by

:24:53.:24:56.

ensuring that more people are going out to work, being paid a wage they

:24:57.:25:01.

can afford to live on, and ensure there is housing... Is that what you

:25:02.:25:06.

are going to do? Let me help you little bit with where you might be

:25:07.:25:09.

able to find the money. How many houses would you have to build in

:25:10.:25:12.

order to bring the housing benefit bill down enough to bring George

:25:13.:25:17.

Osborne within his cap? We are up to 10,000 to get for house formation.

:25:18.:25:21.

We are aiming to build a million homes. Is that going to mean you are

:25:22.:25:27.

going to bring housing benefit down enough? If we build more homes we

:25:28.:25:31.

get more people into the web of their own home. The lowest level of

:25:32.:25:34.

house-building in this country was when John Healey was the housing

:25:35.:25:40.

minister in 2008-9. We have to venture because we have PMQs coming

:25:41.:25:44.

up in a few minutes but at the moment, I can't quite see how George

:25:45.:25:47.

Osborne is going to meet his welfare cap.

:25:48.:25:48.

I will ask him for you. Here at the Daily Politics,

:25:49.:25:53.

we pride ourselves on our loyalty. Loyal to BBC values,

:25:54.:25:55.

loyal to each other and, But not everyone rates

:25:56.:25:58.

loyalty so highly. Apparently, Jeremy Corbyn's allies

:25:59.:26:01.

have ranked every Labour MP by their loyalty to the leadership

:26:02.:26:07.

and then divided them into five groups, from a core group of those

:26:08.:26:10.

closest to Mr Corbyn down And Rachel is reported to be

:26:11.:26:13.

in the hostile group, along with the London mayoral

:26:14.:26:19.

candidate Sadiq Khan and the Labour Now, Rachel, we don't think

:26:20.:26:23.

of you as a hostile woman. In fact, we trust you so much, we've

:26:24.:26:32.

even lent you a Daily Politics mug. Please don't betray our

:26:33.:26:39.

trust by stealing it. And if you're a loyal viewer,

:26:40.:26:41.

you could win your own mug. # We don't need your

:26:42.:26:44.

money, money, money # It ain't about the

:26:45.:26:54.

ch-ching, ch-ching #. # I think I wanna marry

:26:55.:27:03.

you # We could have had it

:27:04.:27:15.

all # You had my heart and soul in your

:27:16.:27:24.

hands # You'd understand why I want

:27:25.:27:33.

you so desperately # Right now I'm

:27:34.:27:50.

looking at you and I can't believe # Security just can't fight them

:27:51.:27:53.

all # I'm in my Speedos trying

:27:54.:28:11.

to tan my cheeks To be in with a chance of winning

:28:12.:28:16.

a Daily Politics mug, send your answer to our special quiz

:28:17.:28:24.

email address, that's Entries must arrive by 12:30pm

:28:25.:28:26.

today, and you can see the full terms and conditions

:28:27.:28:32.

for Guess The Year on our website. It's coming up to midday here,

:28:33.:28:34.

just take a look at Big Ben, and that can mean only one thing:

:28:35.:28:46.

Yes, Prime Minister's Questions PMQs will take place to the backdrop

:28:47.:29:00.

of the developing story because it is far from over and a lot more will

:29:01.:29:05.

be coming out. How does that constrain Mr Corbyn? I think it

:29:06.:29:09.

means certainly the tone at the beginning of Prime Minister's

:29:10.:29:12.

Questions will be very sombre and the Home Secretary is also to make a

:29:13.:29:16.

statement later today. So I think as ever on these kinds of occasions,

:29:17.:29:21.

when there is a very upsetting, dangerous, difficult situation in

:29:22.:29:25.

one of our new neighbours, or frankly any of these events around

:29:26.:29:28.

the world, it does set the tone and their four restrict Mr Corbyn.

:29:29.:29:32.

However, there has also been an extraordinary few days politically.

:29:33.:29:38.

The most extraordinary few days the government has faced so far and

:29:39.:29:46.

whether or not he will mention that, there is a huge amount for him to go

:29:47.:29:54.

on. Many Labour MPs were disappointed that he didn't mention

:29:55.:29:57.

IDS earlier in the Commons. There will be difficult for him to make

:29:58.:30:00.

that tradition but strange if he didn't. After the Primus and Leader

:30:01.:30:04.

of the Opposition say what they have to say, it will likely move on to

:30:05.:30:09.

the whole business of the IDS resignation, the government pulling

:30:10.:30:14.

out of its welfare changes, the hole that is now the Chancellor's budget.

:30:15.:30:21.

You and I have sat here on many occasions saying, we would all

:30:22.:30:24.

expect Jeremy Corbyn to raise this issue or to go on this particular

:30:25.:30:29.

thing, and then he hasn't. That said, Labour have, they would say,

:30:30.:30:32.

and it is true that they have continually raise the question of

:30:33.:30:37.

measures to raise visibility payments... John McDonell made a

:30:38.:30:41.

huge response to that yesterday. Jeremy Corbyn also mentioned that in

:30:42.:30:44.

his response to the budget. So I thing we can expect questions on

:30:45.:30:47.

welfare. Whether or not Jeremy Corbyn inflates that web of

:30:48.:30:51.

complaints that with political difficulties...

:30:52.:30:58.

A Belfast prison of the died last week as a result of injuries caused

:30:59.:31:04.

by a bomb placed under his vehicle. A murder investigation is under way,

:31:05.:31:09.

a man has been charged, but we should offer our condolences to the

:31:10.:31:14.

family and friends. Let me also briefly update the house on the

:31:15.:31:19.

attacks yesterday in Brussels. Details are emerging, but at least

:31:20.:31:22.

34 people were killed and many others injured. Daesh claimed

:31:23.:31:31.

responsibility, following their attack in Istanbul. We are aware of

:31:32.:31:36.

for British nationals injured, and we are concerned about one missing

:31:37.:31:40.

British national. We face a common terror threat and I am sure the

:31:41.:31:45.

whole house will join me in expressing our solidarity with the

:31:46.:31:50.

people of Belgium. I spoke to the Belgian Prime Minister yesterday to

:31:51.:31:54.

pass on our condolences, our police and agencies are doing everything

:31:55.:31:58.

they can to support. We have increased police patrols and border

:31:59.:32:02.

screening here. The Home Secretary will make a statement later setting

:32:03.:32:06.

out the steps we are taking. Britain and Belgium share the same values of

:32:07.:32:10.

liberty and democracy, the terrorists want to destroy

:32:11.:32:14.

everything that we stand for, but we will never let them. I had meetings

:32:15.:32:20.

with ministerial colleagues and others this morning, and I shall

:32:21.:32:22.

have further such meetings later today. Bombers aim for public

:32:23.:32:33.

reaction and this unity. Can we disappoint them by uniting for hope,

:32:34.:32:40.

not hate? He is absolutely right to say that. These people packed their

:32:41.:32:47.

explosives with nails to kill as many innocent people, women and

:32:48.:32:51.

children, as they could, and we should unite in condemnation, stand

:32:52.:32:57.

with the people and Government of Belgium and with all countries

:32:58.:33:00.

afflicted by this appalling menace and say they shall never went. I

:33:01.:33:09.

wish to support the words just said by the member for Worthing and the

:33:10.:33:12.

Prime Minister in solidarity with the people of Belgium and the

:33:13.:33:16.

victims of the horrific attacks that have taken place in Brussels and

:33:17.:33:21.

Ankara in the last few days. We pay respect and tribute to their

:33:22.:33:25.

families and friends and enormous respect to the emergency services of

:33:26.:33:29.

all the nominations for the huge work they have done to save life. We

:33:30.:33:32.

must defend our security and values in the face of such outrages and

:33:33.:33:37.

refuse to be drawn into a cycle of violence and hatred. We take pride

:33:38.:33:43.

in our societies of diverse faiths, and creeds, and we will not allow

:33:44.:33:47.

those who seek to divide us to succeed. My right honourable friend

:33:48.:33:52.

will respond on behalf of the Labour Party to the Home Secretary. I also

:33:53.:33:59.

joined the Prime Minister in sending my deepest condolences to the man's

:34:00.:34:07.

wife and daughters, the people of Northern Ireland chose to follow the

:34:08.:34:10.

path of peace when they widely adopted the Good Friday agreement,

:34:11.:34:17.

the actions of an unrepresented few should not change the course

:34:18.:34:19.

supported by the overwhelming majority of people. On a different

:34:20.:34:25.

subject altogether, last week I got a letter from Adrian, he said, I am

:34:26.:34:32.

disabled and live in constant fear of my benefits being reassessed and

:34:33.:34:35.

stopped and being forced onto the street. Could the Prime Minister do

:34:36.:34:41.

what the Chancellor failed to do yesterday and apologise to those who

:34:42.:34:46.

went through such anguish and upset during the threat of cuts in their

:34:47.:34:51.

personal independence payment? Let me thank the right honourable

:34:52.:34:55.

gentleman for what he said about the terrorist attacks in Belgium and for

:34:56.:34:59.

what he said about Northern Ireland and the fact that we have achieved

:35:00.:35:03.

so much peace and progress in that valuable part of the UK. Turning to

:35:04.:35:08.

the issue of disability benefits, as I said on Monday, when you are faced

:35:09.:35:14.

with having to take very many very difficult decisions, including many

:35:15.:35:17.

spending reductions, as we were after becoming the Government in

:35:18.:35:22.

2010, you do not always get every decision right. I am the first to

:35:23.:35:26.

admit that, and on every occasion that happens it is important you

:35:27.:35:29.

learn the lessons of. But we will continue to increase spending on

:35:30.:35:35.

disability benefits, which will be ?46 billion more a year by the end

:35:36.:35:41.

of this Parliament, to pay to I became Prime Minister. Government

:35:42.:35:48.

figures published only this morning showed the number of people with

:35:49.:35:52.

disabilities and homeless is now up by 39% since 2010. 300,000 more

:35:53.:35:58.

disabled people are living in absolute poverty. That is why people

:35:59.:36:04.

like Adrian are very worried, there has been big disarray in the

:36:05.:36:11.

cabinet, so can the Prime Minister now absolutely, categorically rule

:36:12.:36:15.

out any further cuts to welfare spending in the lifetime of this

:36:16.:36:22.

Parliament? Simply, yes or no? Let me respond to the point he made. He

:36:23.:36:26.

talked about the number of people in poverty, we have seen poverty fall

:36:27.:36:32.

over this Parliament. Secondly, he referred to the regrettable rise in

:36:33.:36:36.

homelessness, with figures out today, but it is still 58% below the

:36:37.:36:42.

peak that it reached under Labour, that is important. They talked about

:36:43.:36:47.

the number of disabled people, this is a Government committed to

:36:48.:36:51.

supporting the disabled, but in the last two years there are extra

:36:52.:36:57.

293,000 disabled people who got it to work. We want to continue as we

:36:58.:37:01.

have set out in our manifesto to close that this ability gap. As for

:37:02.:37:06.

the question about further welfare reductions, let me repeat a

:37:07.:37:11.

statement that the new secretary made on Monday, the Chancellor made

:37:12.:37:18.

on Tuesday. I dealt with these issues on Monday. If he does not ask

:37:19.:37:23.

the questions, I get the answers, even if he had not given the

:37:24.:37:28.

questions, but we are not planning additional welfare savings other

:37:29.:37:32.

than the one that we set out in our manifesto and that are in train. My

:37:33.:37:39.

question was actually about the poverty of people with disabilities,

:37:40.:37:42.

which the Prime Minister did not answer. In his failure to explain

:37:43.:37:49.

how he would fill the hole in his Budget left by the change of heart

:37:50.:37:54.

on the IP, the Chancellor said, we can absorb such changes. If it is so

:37:55.:38:01.

easy to absorb changes of this nature, why did the Chancellor and

:38:02.:38:04.

the Prime Minister ever and answered in the first place? Will he now

:38:05.:38:09.

listen and learn and withdraw the ?30 a week cut to disabled ESA

:38:10.:38:13.

claimants, which is Government is pursuing? The changes have been

:38:14.:38:20.

through both Houses of Parliament, and it is important to note that

:38:21.:38:25.

employment and support allowance for the most disabled, the support

:38:26.:38:30.

group, are up by ?650 a year under this Government, we have increased

:38:31.:38:35.

the higher rate of attendance allowance, carers allowance, the

:38:36.:38:39.

enhanced rate of PIP, because a stronger economy should support the

:38:40.:38:43.

most disabled people, and that is what we have legislated to do. If he

:38:44.:38:47.

wants to get on to discussing black holes, I say, bring on the argument,

:38:48.:38:55.

because we inherited an 11% Budget deficit from the Labour Party. Under

:38:56.:39:00.

this team of ministers and this Chancellor, we have cut that deficit

:39:01.:39:05.

by two thirds since we became the Government. From Labour, all we have

:39:06.:39:10.

had is more proposals for more spending, more welfare, more taxes,

:39:11.:39:14.

more debt, all of the things that got us into the biggest mess with

:39:15.:39:18.

the biggest Black hole in the first place. If it is also fine and dandy,

:39:19.:39:30.

why did the member for Chingford feel it necessary to resign as Work

:39:31.:39:34.

and Pensions Secretary, complaining that the cuts being announced were

:39:35.:39:41.

to fit arbitrary fiscal targets? He said they were distinctly political

:39:42.:39:44.

rather than in the national economic interest. If the -- in the initial

:39:45.:39:50.

announcement he proposed cuts in PIP, then changed his mind.

:39:51.:39:58.

Is the honourable member right when he says it was a political decision?

:39:59.:40:06.

After seven or eight years of economic growth, it is right to be

:40:07.:40:11.

targeting a surplus, as a responsible Government put aside

:40:12.:40:15.

money for a rainy day. I do not want to be part of a Government that does

:40:16.:40:19.

not have the courage to pay off our debts and leave them instead to our

:40:20.:40:24.

children and grandchildren. That is the truth. What is dressed up as

:40:25.:40:27.

compassion from the party opposite just means putting off difficult

:40:28.:40:31.

decisions and asking our children to pay the debts we were not prepared

:40:32.:40:36.

to pay ourselves. I don't know why the shadow leader of the house is

:40:37.:40:42.

shouting at me. We have got an interesting document, the

:40:43.:40:45.

spreadsheet of which Labour MP is on which side. The honourable lady

:40:46.:40:54.

shouting, but it says here... She is neutral but not hostile. The Chief

:40:55.:41:01.

Whip on the other hand is being a bit quiet.

:41:02.:41:12.

Mr Speaker... There are five categories. We have core support,...

:41:13.:41:24.

I have got all the way. We have got poor support,... You can include me

:41:25.:41:36.

in that lot. They have -- the Chief Whip is being quiet because she is

:41:37.:41:40.

in hostile. I thought I had problems!

:41:41.:41:49.

If I could invite the Prime Minister to leave the theatre and return to

:41:50.:42:01.

reality... The reality is he has presided over a Budget that

:42:02.:42:05.

unravelled in two days and now contains a 4.4 billion black hole.

:42:06.:42:10.

He may wish to consult the Chancellor on get another change of

:42:11.:42:14.

heart on this matter. Could he now consult the Chancellor and tell the

:42:15.:42:20.

country who will pay for this black hole? Will it be cuts or tax rises?

:42:21.:42:25.

Where we'll be cuts fall, where we'll be tax rises take place? 4.4

:42:26.:42:29.

billion has to be found from somewhere. Suddenly the king of

:42:30.:42:42.

fiscal rectitude speaks! He may have noticed the Budget passed last night

:42:43.:42:47.

and it cuts the deficit in every year of this Parliament, it delivers

:42:48.:42:51.

a surplus by the end of this Parliament, and none of that will

:42:52.:42:55.

change. He talks about this Budget,... Hold on, hostile shout,

:42:56.:43:04.

that's right, but neutral but not hostile, you have to be quiet, I

:43:05.:43:05.

think. Hands up who is core support plus?

:43:06.:43:22.

Anybody else? I would tell you what this Budget did, it had a million

:43:23.:43:27.

people out of income tax, it saw more money for our schools, it

:43:28.:43:30.

helped the poorest people to save, it cut taxes for small businesses,

:43:31.:43:35.

for the self-employed, it made our economy stronger and our country

:43:36.:43:39.

fairer, and it will help this country do better.

:43:40.:43:46.

The truth is it was a Budget that fell apart in two days. Many people

:43:47.:43:54.

with disabilities went through the most unbelievable levels of stress

:43:55.:44:00.

and trauma after the attempt to -- after the PIP announcement was made.

:44:01.:44:06.

There are still people going through stress and trauma. I am not sure

:44:07.:44:14.

those members opposite that are shouting so loudly at the moment

:44:15.:44:19.

have any idea what it is like to try and balance a Budget at home when

:44:20.:44:22.

you do not have enough money coming in, the rent is going up and the

:44:23.:44:29.

children need clothes. Order. There is too much shouting on both sides

:44:30.:44:34.

of the house. Stop it. The public are bored stiff by it. The right

:44:35.:44:38.

Honourable gentleman will finish his question, we will have an answer,

:44:39.:44:44.

but no shouting from members of any grouping. The Budget has do mean

:44:45.:44:49.

something for everybody, however poor and however precarious their

:44:50.:44:56.

lives are. This Budget downgraded growth, downgraded wage growth,

:44:57.:45:04.

downgraded investment, the Chancellor has failed on debt

:45:05.:45:08.

targets, on deficit targets, as the official figures have shown. The

:45:09.:45:14.

fiscal rule is failing. The Treasury Select Committee scrutinised it,

:45:15.:45:18.

they could not find any credible economist who backed it. Can the

:45:19.:45:22.

primaries to find anybody that backs a Budget and a policy that is a

:45:23.:45:29.

Budget with a big hole in it and downgrades everything a forecast

:45:30.:45:31.

that they set themselves before the Budget was made?

:45:32.:45:36.

He's a bit late because the budget passed through this House with large

:45:37.:45:42.

majorities on every single vote. Let me remind him, this is

:45:43.:45:43.

a government that is spending more on the disabled than in any year

:45:44.:45:48.

under the last Labour government. We are spending more on the most

:45:49.:45:52.

disabled, including the most disabled children in our country. We

:45:53.:45:56.

got more disabled people into work and ever happened under Labour and

:45:57.:46:00.

what we see with this budget is the background of an economy that is

:46:01.:46:04.

growing, employment at a record high, investment that is rising,

:46:05.:46:07.

businesses that are creating jobs in Britain, that is the envy of other

:46:08.:46:12.

European economies. And it's because we got a strong economy that we are

:46:13.:46:15.

able to provide this support. That is what you concede, Britain getting

:46:16.:46:19.

stronger and the Labour Party a threat to the economic security of

:46:20.:46:26.

every family in our country. I'm sure the Prime Minister is as

:46:27.:46:30.

appalled as I am that incidents of anti-Semitism are on the rise. Does

:46:31.:46:35.

my right honourable friend agree with me that all organisations,

:46:36.:46:41.

public and private, should root out anti-Semitism without hesitation? I

:46:42.:46:45.

completely agree with my honourable friend. Anti-Semitism is an absolute

:46:46.:46:51.

cancer in our society and we should know that when it grows, it is the

:46:52.:46:56.

signal of many even worse things happening to ethnic groups and

:46:57.:46:59.

different groups all over our country. There is, sadly, a growth

:47:00.:47:04.

of anti-Semitism in our country and we see it in terms of attacks on

:47:05.:47:08.

Jewish people and Jewish students and it absolutely has to be stamped

:47:09.:47:13.

out. We should all, all of us, whatever organisation we are

:47:14.:47:15.

responsible for, make sure that happens. We do see a growth in

:47:16.:47:19.

support for segregation and four anti-Semitism in the heart of the

:47:20.:47:23.

Labour Party and I would say to the lead opposite it is his party, he

:47:24.:47:25.

should sort it out. Order! This sort of gesticulation

:47:26.:47:42.

across the chamber... Order! Is way below the level and the dignity of

:47:43.:47:46.

the senior members of the front bench on either side. Terribly

:47:47.:47:51.

tedious. Cut it out. Angus Robertson. When terrorists attack

:47:52.:48:00.

Russells or Paris or London or Glasgow, we are as one in our

:48:01.:48:03.

condemnation of these atrocities, as we equally condemn the killings of

:48:04.:48:11.

your CDs, of Kurds, of Syrians and Iraqis by other extremists. -- of

:48:12.:48:19.

Yazidis. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who work here and abroad in

:48:20.:48:22.

the face of the ongoing terrorist threat. Will the Prime Minister

:48:23.:48:25.

confirm that absolutely everything is being done to help the Belgian

:48:26.:48:29.

authorities and the people of Belgium in the wake of the Brussels

:48:30.:48:34.

tax? I can certainly confirm that. In my conversation with the Belgian

:48:35.:48:38.

Prime Minister, I made a number of offers about policing and

:48:39.:48:40.

intelligence assistance that we could give, particularly high-end

:48:41.:48:46.

expert and technical capabilities. There are already some intelligence

:48:47.:48:50.

officers embedded with the Belgian authorities and strong police to

:48:51.:48:54.

police co-operation. Clearly the Belgians could be with an

:48:55.:48:56.

unprecedented situation in their country. We stand ready to do

:48:57.:49:02.

anything more that we can and we are examined all the capabilities we

:49:03.:49:06.

have here to see what more we can do to safeguard our own country. A

:49:07.:49:11.

defining characteristic of a democratic society is our trust in

:49:12.:49:16.

our institutions and democratic oversight by parliamentarians of

:49:17.:49:19.

those who work so hard to keep us safe. We have that oversight with

:49:20.:49:23.

our police, we have that oversight with our security services. We don't

:49:24.:49:27.

yet have that with UK special forces under the intelligence and security

:49:28.:49:31.

committee or the Defence Select Committee. Will the Prime Minister

:49:32.:49:38.

address this? I'm afraid I just part company with the right honourable

:49:39.:49:41.

gentleman on this one. We have put in place I think some of the most

:49:42.:49:46.

extensive oversight arrangements for our intelligence and security

:49:47.:49:50.

services. They do a remarkable job and, of course, the police are

:49:51.:49:53.

regular record to account both locally and nationally. I think the

:49:54.:49:58.

work our special forces do is absolutely vital for our country.

:49:59.:50:01.

They are subject to international law, as everyone else's in our

:50:02.:50:06.

country, but I do not propose to change the arrangements under which

:50:07.:50:13.

these incredibly brave men work. In England, this government has

:50:14.:50:16.

delivered better GCSEs, better A-levels and a better chance of

:50:17.:50:18.

getting into university than Labour in Wales. Would my right honourable

:50:19.:50:24.

friend agree with me that members opposite have no right to criticise

:50:25.:50:28.

our education policies when their own education minister in Wales has

:50:29.:50:32.

had to issue a public apology for the failure of his own? I think my

:50:33.:50:38.

honourable friend makes an important point. What we've seen in England,

:50:39.:50:42.

and we should praise the teachers who worked so hard to deliver these

:50:43.:50:47.

results, but it's the result of rigour in standards, independents in

:50:48.:50:51.

our schools and accountability for results. And when we look at Wales,

:50:52.:50:55.

we don't see those things in place so I would urge the Welsh Assembly

:50:56.:50:58.

Government and urge Welsh people when they've got a choice that these

:50:59.:51:01.

elections to make sure that they vote for parties that but education

:51:02.:51:05.

reform, education standards, education rigour and education

:51:06.:51:13.

accountability first. In 1992, the oil tanker Bray ran aground on the

:51:14.:51:23.

coast of Shetland. It was carrying tonnes of crude oil which spilled

:51:24.:51:28.

into the seas and on our shoreline. It caused economic and environmental

:51:29.:51:33.

devastation. Since a report into that disaster, we have had an

:51:34.:51:37.

emergency pump stationed in the Northern Isles. It is our protection

:51:38.:51:39.

against ever being blighted in that way again. The Maritime and

:51:40.:51:44.

Coastguard Agency now wants to take that talk away. There will be no

:51:45.:51:50.

finance for it after September. Will the Prime Minister look again at

:51:51.:51:54.

that decision and will he give an undertaking to the people of

:51:55.:51:59.

Shetland that he made in 2014 not to leave them exposed in that way

:52:00.:52:05.

again? The writer will gentleman makes a very important point and my

:52:06.:52:10.

understanding is that the one told that has been there, sustained off

:52:11.:52:14.

the coast of Scotland, has played an important role in the past. The cost

:52:15.:52:19.

is between two and ?3 million the year and it is currently used very

:52:20.:52:23.

sparingly, so it is right to look at the right way to deliver the service

:52:24.:52:26.

in the future. Alternative options will take time to develop and

:52:27.:52:29.

implement, which is why we've announced that this will be funded

:52:30.:52:33.

until the 30th of September 2016 and will have to make a decision on

:52:34.:52:36.

provision in due course and I'll keep him in touch with those develop

:52:37.:52:44.

on. -- developments. We believe in doing the right thing and that's why

:52:45.:52:53.

it's absolutely right that the proceeds of crime are returned to

:52:54.:52:55.

the local communities that have been the victims of crime.

:52:56.:53:01.

Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, is

:53:02.:53:03.

calling on community groups in Cannock Chase to apply for grants

:53:04.:53:11.

from his proceeds of crime fun. Does my right honourable friend agree

:53:12.:53:16.

that this shows that our excellent Conservative Police and Crime

:53:17.:53:18.

Commissioner is delivering real value for the people of

:53:19.:53:23.

Staffordshire? I think she makes an important point. I think Police and

:53:24.:53:27.

Crime Commissioners Ruby now have bedded in properly as a means of

:53:28.:53:30.

bringing up police to account. I think the a committee recently said

:53:31.:53:39.

that they provide clarity for policing and are the most vibrant

:53:40.:53:44.

public as providing accountability. When they bring forward ideas like

:53:45.:53:52.

using the process -- proceeds of crime light she says, they should be

:53:53.:53:59.

rewarded at the ballot box. The list of Cabinet ministers who have

:54:00.:54:01.

resigned since the premise expresses full confidence in them is extensive

:54:02.:54:07.

so does the Prime Minister still have full governors of the

:54:08.:54:10.

Chancellor? Of course because he is the one working as part of a team

:54:11.:54:12.

that has delivered the fastest-growing economy in the G7,

:54:13.:54:17.

2.4 million people in work, inflation that is virtually zero,

:54:18.:54:20.

wages that are growing, an economy that is getting stronger. The House

:54:21.:54:31.

of Commons library confirms that this year, our net contribution to

:54:32.:54:37.

the EU will increase by over ?2.6 billion. I think it is actually 2600

:54:38.:54:45.

?27 million. Prime Minister, should that money be spent supporting

:54:46.:54:49.

people in Bulgaria and Romania or should it be spent in this country

:54:50.:54:52.

supporting our vulnerable and disabled people? What I would say to

:54:53.:54:58.

my honourable friend is, our net contribution to the EU accounts for

:54:59.:55:02.

about just over 1p in every pound that is paid in taxes. So as we

:55:03.:55:07.

enter this vital debate, we have to work out whether we believe that

:55:08.:55:11.

that sort of investment, 1p out of every pound, is worth the jobs and

:55:12.:55:15.

the investment and the growth and the security and the safety and the

:55:16.:55:18.

solidarity that we get through working with our partners. I will be

:55:19.:55:22.

on the side saying that I think that it is and he is clearly going to be

:55:23.:55:25.

on the side saying that he thinks that it isn't, but we should have a

:55:26.:55:29.

polite and reasonable debate as we go about this. What I would stay,

:55:30.:55:33.

which I'm sure he will welcome, is we have, of course, limited our

:55:34.:55:37.

contributions to the EU budget because we set an overall budget

:55:38.:55:41.

which is falling over the next six years. The reason our contributions

:55:42.:55:47.

vary as part of it is generated determining on the success of your

:55:48.:55:50.

economy. Because our economy has been growing faster than others in

:55:51.:55:54.

Europe, we been making a slightly larger contribution than we

:55:55.:56:01.

otherwise would be. My constituents Susan suffered not only the death of

:56:02.:56:06.

her son but the unexplained circumstances in which this

:56:07.:56:09.

occurred. This meant a 12 year battle with the authorities in

:56:10.:56:13.

Belgrade, where this happened. The UK coroner has now ruled this as

:56:14.:56:17.

murder so would the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary meet with the

:56:18.:56:23.

family and do what can be done to get a proper investigation to

:56:24.:56:25.

resolve the question marks that remain and achieve justice for

:56:26.:56:30.

Peter? I'm not aware of the case the honourable lady mentions but it is

:56:31.:56:35.

important that hurt constituent gets proper resolution in this matter and

:56:36.:56:38.

I'll make sure she has a meeting with Foreign Office ministers to

:56:39.:56:44.

discuss it. JP Morgan Chase, sun-seeker, Cobham lush and many

:56:45.:56:47.

other local businesses are supporting the inaugural mid Dorset

:56:48.:56:54.

apprentice ship and jobs fair. I know the Prime Minister will be

:56:55.:56:57.

warmly welcomed if he happens to be free. It is on the 15th of April in

:56:58.:57:04.

Wimborne. I know the Prime Minister will warmly welcome the news that

:57:05.:57:07.

unemployment in my constituency is down by more than 60% but will he

:57:08.:57:11.

ensure that we are not complacent and that we secure the vital

:57:12.:57:16.

infrastructure needed to get good quality jobs in Dorset and across

:57:17.:57:21.

the south-west? He is absolutely right. One of the reasons why we've

:57:22.:57:24.

managed to get our unemployment rate down to around 5% and we've seen 2.4

:57:25.:57:30.

will he and more of our fellow countrymen and women into work is

:57:31.:57:38.

because we've seen businesses recover and apprenticeships are

:57:39.:57:41.

taking place as part of the 3 million target for adventurous we

:57:42.:57:46.

have in this Parliament. Academics, civil society and the Scottish

:57:47.:57:49.

Government have all condemned the government's anti-lobbying clause in

:57:50.:57:55.

new grant agreements. How can the Prime Minister promote transparency,

:57:56.:57:57.

democracy and freedom of speech overseas when this clause is

:57:58.:58:00.

clamping down on those principles here in the UK? I would answer very

:58:01.:58:05.

simply that I want to see taxpayers' money going to good causes, rather

:58:06.:58:13.

than in lobbying ministers and MPs and spending money here. That's what

:58:14.:58:16.

they should be spending their money on. That it is worth making the

:58:17.:58:20.

point that we are only one day away from what would have been separation

:58:21.:58:26.

day for Scotland. Had that happened, there wouldn't be money for

:58:27.:58:29.

charities, there wouldn't be money for anything. Pubs are the beating

:58:30.:58:39.

heart of many communities across the UK. Will the Prime Minister join me

:58:40.:58:43.

in welcoming the support given to pubs in successive budgets, join me

:58:44.:58:50.

for duty frozen pint in the Crown Hotel in my constituency and tell

:58:51.:58:54.

the House more he can do to support this vital part of our economy? I

:58:55.:58:58.

thanked him for his kind invitation. I think we've seen in budget after

:58:59.:59:02.

budget this government supporting the pub industry is such an

:59:03.:59:06.

important part of our economy and such an important part, particularly

:59:07.:59:10.

of rural communities. I can make one announcement today which is that

:59:11.:59:13.

subject to the usual conditions, will be extending pub opening hours

:59:14.:59:17.

on the 10th and 11th of June this year to mark Her Majesty The Queen's

:59:18.:59:22.

90th birthday. I'm sure that will be welcome right across the House. If

:59:23.:59:28.

you compare my constituency to the constituency of the Prime Minister

:59:29.:59:31.

and the Chancellor, you will find that I have four times the number of

:59:32.:59:34.

youths unemployed, more than double the disabled claimant count and an

:59:35.:59:39.

average weekly wage of 20% less. Are these the reasons that the Prime

:59:40.:59:43.

Minister and Chancellor never had the compassion to realise that the

:59:44.:59:46.

disabled cuts were so obviously wrong when everybody else did? I

:59:47.:59:51.

give him one further opportunity - will he apologised to my

:59:52.:59:53.

constituents who have been scared witless over the past week?

:59:54.:59:57.

Obviously there remain challenges in his constituency but the claimant

:59:58.:00:00.

count is down by 16% in the last year alone but at the claimant count

:00:01.:00:06.

has fallen by 50% since 2010 and the claimant count but he is visibly

:00:07.:00:10.

mentioned has fallen by 12% in the last year. That has been because we

:00:11.:00:18.

have a strong economy, businesses want to invest in our country, we

:00:19.:00:22.

are supporting apprenticeships and we are making sure that growth is

:00:23.:00:25.

delivering for people and in just two weeks, the national living wage

:00:26.:00:29.

will come in, giving the poorest people in our country a ?900 a year

:00:30.:00:34.

pay rise and that will be tax-free because we are lifting the tax

:00:35.:00:40.

threshold in our country. Does my right honourable friend the Prime

:00:41.:00:45.

Minister - is my right elbow friend the Prime Minister aware of the

:00:46.:00:48.

remarks of Sergei Lavrov this morning that we should put aside our

:00:49.:00:51.

differences, that terrorist should not be allowed to run the show, and

:00:52.:00:55.

will he agree with me that we should be stronger if we could work

:00:56.:00:58.

together but to do that we are going to have to have a better

:00:59.:01:03.

understanding of Russian security? What I would say is, of course we

:01:04.:01:08.

want to work with everyone we can to combat terrorism but when it comes

:01:09.:01:12.

particularly to what is happening in Syria, it is vitally important that

:01:13.:01:16.

the Russians stopped any attacks and do not restart any attacks against

:01:17.:01:22.

moderate Sunnis, moderates in opposition, which clearly have to

:01:23.:01:25.

form a part of our country. You cannot in the end defeat terrorism

:01:26.:01:28.

simply through use of guns and missiles. You defeat terrorism

:01:29.:01:33.

through governance and good working democracies cause in that way,

:01:34.:01:37.

people can see their own interests being represented by the countries

:01:38.:01:44.

in which they live. The former Work and Pensions Secretary described the

:01:45.:01:46.

cuts to personal independence payments for the disabled as

:01:47.:01:50.

divisive, unfair and against the national interest. The Chancellor's

:01:51.:01:56.

U-turn suggests he now agrees. Can the Prime Minister explain how on

:01:57.:01:59.

earth he allowed this to happen in the first place? Well, it's good to

:02:00.:02:04.

have an intervention from someone who I think is neutral but not

:02:05.:02:09.

hostile. I'm sure if she keeps going, she could join core group

:02:10.:02:15.

plus. She'd be very welcome in core group plus. I'll tell you what this

:02:16.:02:19.

government has done - it has increased spending on disability

:02:20.:02:24.

benefits, it's seen 293,000 more disabled people into work in the

:02:25.:02:28.

last two years, 2.4 million more people into work. That is bringing

:02:29.:02:31.

the country together. We've got a growing economy that is delivering a

:02:32.:02:39.

fairer society. My right honourable friend will have seen the recent

:02:40.:02:42.

OECD reports on literacy and numeracy in England. Based on data

:02:43.:02:49.

from 2012, it ranks our teenagers as bottom out of 23 developed countries

:02:50.:02:54.

for basic maths and reading. A damning indictment of 13 years of

:02:55.:03:03.

Labour's education policy. Doesn't this show... Order! The honourable

:03:04.:03:09.

lady is entitled to ask a question. The same goes for every other

:03:10.:03:15.

member. Doesn't this show why a more rigorous curriculum and more

:03:16.:03:20.

autonomy for schools to succeed are vital to turn around the life

:03:21.:03:26.

chances of the next-generation? My honourable friend makes an important

:03:27.:03:31.

point, which it is worthwhile benchmarking your education system

:03:32.:03:34.

against other advanced countries. And what we've seen in recent years

:03:35.:03:38.

is that the competition is very tough but when you let other

:03:39.:03:40.

countries that are succeeding, whether it is the Republic of Korea

:03:41.:03:45.

or Finland, they have well-paid teachers, they have proper

:03:46.:03:48.

accountability systems for results, they have a rigour in terms of their

:03:49.:03:52.

discipline and that is exactly what we are introducing in our country

:03:53.:03:55.

with the new curriculum coming in right now. The women of this country

:03:56.:04:06.

are tired of waiting, waiting for equal pay, waiting for an end to

:04:07.:04:10.

maternity and pregnancy discrimination and waiting for a

:04:11.:04:16.

fair deal for pensioners. It is 2016. Can I ask the Prime Minister

:04:17.:04:22.

how much longer? The honourable lady is absolutely right to raise these

:04:23.:04:26.

issues and it is good that the pay gap is now at a historic low. It is

:04:27.:04:31.

almost evaporated for under 40s, but there is more to be done in the

:04:32.:04:34.

public sector and the private sector to bring that about. On the issue of

:04:35.:04:40.

pensions, what we've introduced is a pensions system which will benefit

:04:41.:04:44.

many, many women in years to come because we've got a single tier

:04:45.:04:49.

pension without a means test, operated for prices, earnings or

:04:50.:04:53.

2.5%. We were only able to do that because we raised the pension age,

:04:54.:04:57.

saving over the long-term something like no 5p. A difficult decision but

:04:58.:05:02.

the right one because it means we can look our pensioners in the eye

:05:03.:05:06.

and know they are getting security in their old age. -- something like

:05:07.:05:19.

?0.5 billion. If we are going to meet the target for apprenticeships

:05:20.:05:23.

to which the Prime Minister referred, the whole public sector

:05:24.:05:26.

needs to play its part. Will the Prime Minister and ensure that every

:05:27.:05:31.

part of the public sector invests in training our young people so we have

:05:32.:05:36.

the skills the country needs? He is right to raise this. It is a very

:05:37.:05:42.

stringent target, getting 3 million apprentices trained in this

:05:43.:05:45.

Parliament. We are going to have to see those large companies that have

:05:46.:05:48.

put their shoulders of the wheel on this agenda to continue to do so,

:05:49.:05:52.

but there are two sectors where we need to do better. One is in the

:05:53.:05:56.

public sector, where we need more public sector organisations to get

:05:57.:05:59.

behind apprenticeships, and we need to make it simple and attractive for

:06:00.:06:02.

small businesses to start training apprentices again. That is what my

:06:03.:06:08.

right honourable friend, the Member for Grantham, is doing and we all

:06:09.:06:11.

need to work very hard to do this by the end of the Parliament. If the UK

:06:12.:06:19.

votes to leave the EU in June, does the Prime Minister believed that the

:06:20.:06:21.

EU institutions will respond vindictively? It's a very difficult

:06:22.:06:33.

question to answer. I think that if we were to vote to leave, I do think

:06:34.:06:40.

we should be naive about believing that other countries would

:06:41.:06:42.

automatically cut us some sort of sweetheart deal. I think if you just

:06:43.:06:48.

take one industry as an example, take farming. Our farmers now know

:06:49.:06:54.

they have duty-free, quota free, tax free access to a market of 500

:06:55.:07:00.

million people. Were we to leave, can we really guarantee that French

:07:01.:07:04.

farmers or Italian farmers or Spanish farmers wouldn't put

:07:05.:07:07.

pressure on their governments to give us a less good deal? I don't

:07:08.:07:11.

think we can and that's one of the many reasons I think we are safer,

:07:12.:07:15.

more secure and better off in a reformed EU. In April 2015, the

:07:16.:07:22.

Prime Minister said that there should be a new Carlisle principle

:07:23.:07:25.

to ensure that other parts of the UK do not lose out by Scottish

:07:26.:07:30.

devolution. Could the Prime Minister confirm that this principle will

:07:31.:07:33.

apply, who will review the position and when will it report and who will

:07:34.:07:39.

it report to? He is absolutely right and I think this is important,

:07:40.:07:42.

particularly for constituencies like his, very close to the border, to

:07:43.:07:47.

make sure that decisions that are made, quite sensibly and rightly, by

:07:48.:07:53.

devolved parliaments and assemblies don't disadvantage the rest of the

:07:54.:07:59.

UK. That was the principle set out and the Chancellor will report

:08:00.:08:01.

regularly on that as he updates the House on his fiscal plans. I trust

:08:02.:08:09.

that the Prime Minister will be aware that there is a critical

:08:10.:08:14.

meeting of the board of Tata in Mumbai on Tuesday. I will be flying

:08:15.:08:17.

out to Mumbai with the general secretary of community union to make

:08:18.:08:22.

the case for British Steel. That meeting will be deciding the future

:08:23.:08:25.

of the Port Talbot steelworks in my constituency. Will the Prime

:08:26.:08:29.

Minister join me in exhorting Tata to stand with that plan and to

:08:30.:08:34.

secure the future of the Port Talbot steelworks? I absolutely give him my

:08:35.:08:40.

backing on that. A team of ministers met yesterday to discuss all of the

:08:41.:08:43.

things that we can do to get behind the steel industry at this vital

:08:44.:08:47.

time. It is an extremely difficult market situation with the massive

:08:48.:08:51.

global overcapacity and the huge fall in steel prices but the areas

:08:52.:08:55.

where we've taken action already, and will continue to look at what we

:08:56.:08:59.

can do, and that is stated compensation so we can secure the

:09:00.:09:04.

energy costs, greater flexibility over EU emissions legislation. We've

:09:05.:09:07.

done huge amount in terms of public procurement, which can make a big

:09:08.:09:11.

difference our steel industries, and all of those things and more, and

:09:12.:09:16.

making sure that tartar and others understand how valuable we believe

:09:17.:09:20.

this industry is to the UK and as a government, within the limits that

:09:21.:09:23.

we have, we want to be very supportive and helpful.

:09:24.:09:33.

Jeremy Corbyn went on benefits for the disabled, linking it to

:09:34.:09:41.

homelessness, he wanted to know why it was rising, especially the poor

:09:42.:09:46.

and disabled numbers will stop he traded statistics with the Prime

:09:47.:09:52.

Minister. He then broadened it out into a general attack on the Budget

:09:53.:09:55.

and how the figures would now add up, given that the Government will

:09:56.:10:00.

not go ahead with other welfare cuts. He then ended with the Prime

:10:01.:10:11.

Minister falling back on a gimme, this list of Labour MPs, there are

:10:12.:10:19.

now five categories, they are divided into whether they are

:10:20.:10:24.

hostile or friendly, poor support or hostile, to Jeremy Corbyn. The Prime

:10:25.:10:31.

Minister said, you are core friendly, you are caught hostile,

:10:32.:10:37.

put up your hands all of whom are core support, and the Tories put

:10:38.:10:42.

their hands up. That is how the mother of Parliaments came to an end

:10:43.:10:43.

today. A lot of viewers thought Jeremy

:10:44.:10:52.

Corbyn missed an open goal in terms of mailing the Prime Minister on the

:10:53.:10:56.

changes. John Wakefield said, he was right to be shooting at camera and

:10:57.:11:00.

on his Chancellor's attempt to give tax cuts to the well off at the

:11:01.:11:05.

expense of the poor and disabled. Ian said, Jeremy Corbyn kicked the

:11:06.:11:11.

ball hard, it ricocheted off Cameron's crossbar and into his own

:11:12.:11:16.

net. He started OK but Cameron back at him away and started enjoying

:11:17.:11:21.

himself. Stephen said, Jeremy Corbyn asked him what he knew about

:11:22.:11:26.

hardship, this from a man who was privately educated and lives in an

:11:27.:11:29.

expensive property in Islington. John said, how long can the

:11:30.:11:34.

Conservatives bang on and on about the debt they were left by the Brown

:11:35.:11:39.

Government? Am I missing something or is PMQs is supposed to be the

:11:40.:11:44.

Prime Minister answering questions, not attempting a bad stand-up act?

:11:45.:11:50.

There has been a demonstration of a disabled lobby in the Central Lobby

:11:51.:11:55.

of the Commons. Literally just outside the chamber. There has been

:11:56.:12:01.

a couple of dozen people angry about what has happened with the

:12:02.:12:05.

disability cuts, they have gone to protest. John McDonnell has gone out

:12:06.:12:12.

to address them. That is a science that Jeremy Corbyn picked the right

:12:13.:12:18.

issue today. But whether he actually managed to get very far with the

:12:19.:12:20.

Prime Minister is a different question. Think about the last week,

:12:21.:12:26.

that should have been one of the worst PMQs that David Cameron has

:12:27.:12:30.

ever faced in his six years as Prime Minister, but at the end, he was

:12:31.:12:35.

cracking gags, he looked like he was in charge and enjoying every minute,

:12:36.:12:38.

partly because of the list you were talking about, and what will make

:12:39.:12:44.

its way into the coverage is an unfortunate week that was sent by

:12:45.:12:46.

one of the Labour backbenchers during that session, who was already

:12:47.:12:52.

in the hostile category, John Woodcock, no stranger to this

:12:53.:12:56.

programme, I will not use the language... I am glad to hear that!

:12:57.:13:03.

Watched by Her Majesty The Queen and young children and students learning

:13:04.:13:08.

about politics. I shall paraphrase his description of what just

:13:09.:13:13.

happened. It was a something something something disaster, the

:13:14.:13:15.

worst week for David Cameron since he came in, and that stupid

:13:16.:13:20.

something something list makes us look like a laughing stock. That is

:13:21.:13:24.

his view of PMQs come up on the Labour backbenches, but that is what

:13:25.:13:29.

will be picked up. He has deleted it, but it is doing the rounds. The

:13:30.:13:35.

dangers and the lights of social media, very little stays private for

:13:36.:13:42.

long. He was probably try to send it as a direct private message, a slip

:13:43.:13:47.

of the finger. How do you know? Moving along! Which of the five

:13:48.:13:52.

categories are you in on on the list? The list is disappointing. All

:13:53.:14:00.

Labour MPs have been in the chamber, trying to hold the Prime Minister

:14:01.:14:03.

and George Osborne to account for these cuts. There has been a lock to

:14:04.:14:09.

hold them to account for. Exactly, and a list like this which

:14:10.:14:14.

categorises us... Who has drawn it up? It is disappointing. The people

:14:15.:14:22.

which are hostile to the Conservatives, all Labour MPs are

:14:23.:14:24.

trying to get another Labour Government and get rid of the

:14:25.:14:30.

Tories, so I wish that the leader's office, if it comes from there,

:14:31.:14:33.

would concentrate on holding the Tories to account, rather than

:14:34.:14:37.

trying to divide the Parliamentary Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn's office

:14:38.:14:42.

say they do not have knowledge of the list. Do we know who drew it up?

:14:43.:14:47.

The suspicion it was people in and around his circle, the suggestion

:14:48.:14:54.

that it was the former Labour MP who is now his political secretary.

:14:55.:15:01.

Whoever did it, it was apparently drawn up in January. If you think of

:15:02.:15:05.

those early days in the year, when things were more bumpy for Jeremy

:15:06.:15:09.

Corbyn around the pantomime around the reshuffle... Can we rule out

:15:10.:15:18.

Tory dirty tricks? My colleagues in the lobby who got hold of the list

:15:19.:15:25.

have got a pretty good track record. They think it is an internal list?

:15:26.:15:32.

Which category argue M? In January, I had just come back from maternity

:15:33.:15:36.

leave, I had been off work for six months, so I am not sure how hostile

:15:37.:15:42.

I was. I am not sure what I was doing that has so upset somebody.

:15:43.:15:48.

Hostility at a distance. The only people this benefits the

:15:49.:15:51.

Conservatives, and Labour have been working incredibly well together on

:15:52.:15:57.

asking some of those difficult questions, and these lists have no

:15:58.:16:04.

place. In the hostile column, I do there with annoyance or a sense of

:16:05.:16:10.

pride? I want there to be a column which is the Labour MP 's column,

:16:11.:16:14.

and I want us to work together. You have made that point, but are you

:16:15.:16:20.

happy or sad to be hostile? I am sad there is such a list, it is totally

:16:21.:16:25.

ridiculous. It gave the Prime Minister a get out of jail card. It

:16:26.:16:29.

got them off the hook. I don't want to agree with everything that John

:16:30.:16:34.

Woodcock wrote in that sweet, but it does make us look silly and a

:16:35.:16:41.

laughing stock. Maybe not entirely off the hook, because when the

:16:42.:16:46.

Leader of the Opposition asked the Prime Minister if there would be any

:16:47.:16:50.

more welfare cuts, the Prime Minister's reply was there would be

:16:51.:16:53.

no more cuts other than what is in the manifesto. The manifesto

:16:54.:16:58.

included ?12 billion of welfare cuts. Is that still Government

:16:59.:17:04.

policy? He outlined that today, it backs up what I said, Parliament

:17:05.:17:10.

voted on some welfare cuts, there is no more planned beyond what is in

:17:11.:17:14.

the manifesto. So there will be 12 billion pound of welfare cuts and

:17:15.:17:21.

they will be on the working poor? We have been clear that we will always

:17:22.:17:28.

ensure it pays to work and we will protect the most vulnerable. I am

:17:29.:17:37.

quoting Iain Duncan Smith. He said they had already made ?22 billion of

:17:38.:17:42.

cuts in welfare for the working poor, and because you have ring

:17:43.:17:48.

fenced pensions, the NHS, the 12 billion was coming out of cuts to

:17:49.:17:53.

the working poor. Never mind where they come from, can we get you to

:17:54.:18:00.

confirm that there will still be ?12 billion of welfare cuts in this

:18:01.:18:04.

Parliament? The Prime Minister has been clear, we will deliver on our

:18:05.:18:08.

manifesto pledge, and on the legislation we passed. So, yes? We

:18:09.:18:13.

have to get the debt down, that involves reducing the Budget. Where

:18:14.:18:21.

will it come from? As has been outlined, getting more of those

:18:22.:18:27.

people back into work. That 12 billion assumes you add another half

:18:28.:18:31.

a million or so jobs by 2020. That is in the projections. Where will be

:18:32.:18:38.

12 billion come from? We have got an Autumn Statement coming up. As the

:18:39.:18:43.

Chancellor outlined, in light of the decisions made, responding, we will

:18:44.:18:52.

feedback on that, --. We have got to get the deficit down, we will

:18:53.:18:59.

deliver on our manifesto. Give me an idea that if there are still 12

:19:00.:19:03.

billion of cuts on the cards on welfare, which by a process of

:19:04.:19:08.

elimination will be largely on the working poor, where will it come

:19:09.:19:12.

from? I don't accept the second part of that. Answer the first part. I am

:19:13.:19:19.

not going to prejudge or be tempted into prejudging. We are in the same

:19:20.:19:24.

situation as we work during the election. I asked people like you

:19:25.:19:30.

again and again, where of the 12 billion coming from, the answer was

:19:31.:19:38.

none, now you are giving me the same answer. We will deliver on our

:19:39.:19:43.

manifesto pledge, protecting the most vulnerable, but I cannot

:19:44.:19:47.

prejudge the Autumn Statement. At the Treasury Select Committee, it

:19:48.:19:57.

was said that the government will Mrs welfare cut by ?20 billion over

:19:58.:20:00.

the course of this Parliament and the factors you can't cut social

:20:01.:20:04.

security spending without hurting the most vulnerable. Social security

:20:05.:20:09.

spending goes to people who are disabled and who are out of work and

:20:10.:20:13.

to an low pay, so the reality is it is going to hurt poor people. One

:20:14.:20:17.

thing worth noting through all of this, in the end, he might have had

:20:18.:20:20.

to resign to do it, but Iain Duncan Smith's actions did get ministers to

:20:21.:20:25.

commit to not raiding the welfare budget any further. If the 12

:20:26.:20:29.

billion a commitment or not? Much of the 12 billion cuts have actually

:20:30.:20:33.

been agreed and legislated for and this is part of the legislation that

:20:34.:20:37.

has gone through. Not all of it but the real question this week has been

:20:38.:20:40.

about whether or not the DWP would be expected to cough up the ?4

:20:41.:20:45.

billion of savings. That is a no and it was a very nifty move by the new

:20:46.:20:51.

Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions.

:20:52.:20:53.

It's not entirely clear whether or not the Chancellor wants to go that

:20:54.:21:03.

far. Laura, thank you very much. When you are quoting these MPs,

:21:04.:21:13.

you've got to be very careful. Ending violence against women has

:21:14.:21:18.

been a priority but there is no strategy for tackling violence gets

:21:19.:21:19.

men or boys. The former editor of Loaded magazine

:21:20.:21:22.

Martin Daubney thinks something It's time to face up to an ugly

:21:23.:21:39.

truth. It's not just men who can murder and violently attacked their

:21:40.:21:42.

partners. This has recently been brought into grim focus with the

:21:43.:21:47.

horrific murder of David Edwards, violently stabbed to death by his

:21:48.:21:51.

wife just eight -- of just eight weeks, Sharon. Women murdering men

:21:52.:21:57.

in Britain is still mercifully rare. Last year, 19 men died at the hands

:21:58.:22:03.

of their partners or ex-partners, compare to 81 women. However, the

:22:04.:22:07.

number of women convicted of domestic abuse as more than

:22:08.:22:12.

quadrupled in the last ten years, to almost 5000 cases in 2014-15.

:22:13.:22:21.

Indeed, according to the male domestic violence charity, for every

:22:22.:22:27.

three people who suffer domestic abuse, two will be female and one

:22:28.:22:32.

will be male, and the Office for National Statistics claims that half

:22:33.:22:36.

a million men suffered Partner abuse in the last year. But the true

:22:37.:22:43.

figure may be even higher. While more women suffer partner abuse than

:22:44.:22:48.

men in Britain, it is estimated that 10% of men tell the police, as

:22:49.:22:56.

opposed to 26% of women. Such statistics shatter the false

:22:57.:22:59.

narratives that only women get battered, men are never victims and

:23:00.:23:05.

women never attack. But while ending violence against women and girls is

:23:06.:23:09.

rightly a governmental priority, there is no similar strategy to

:23:10.:23:12.

tackle violence against men and boys. At least half a million

:23:13.:23:19.

battered men and murdered men, and David Edwards, do they not matter

:23:20.:23:23.

solely because they had the bad fortune to be born male?

:23:24.:23:29.

Martin joins us now. Welcome to the Daily Politics for stock doesn't it

:23:30.:23:32.

make more sense that more resources are being put towards, teen violence

:23:33.:23:36.

against women when clearly the statistics show that more women are

:23:37.:23:42.

victims? Absolutely and that is what is happening right now. Nicky Morgan

:23:43.:23:45.

announced ?80 million of additional funds to combat violence against

:23:46.:23:49.

women and girls, and it is amazing that that piece of strategy is one

:23:50.:23:53.

of the best pieces of legislation in living memory. It is an awesome

:23:54.:23:57.

piece of government and it just doesn't include men and boys. That's

:23:58.:24:01.

the point of my film. It directly doesn't include men and boys because

:24:02.:24:05.

it was formed to combat violence against women and girls. At the

:24:06.:24:08.

moment these men don't have a voice or anywhere to go. There is

:24:09.:24:11.

certainly not the funding to do this. The Mankind initiative needs

:24:12.:24:17.

40 grand to give its phone lines open and it can't get the money. Why

:24:18.:24:24.

doesn't it include that because the figures clearly show that men also

:24:25.:24:27.

the victims of domestic partner abuse? The focus is clearly on the

:24:28.:24:31.

larger side of this, women who suffer, but for men as well, we do

:24:32.:24:36.

fundamental advice line and local authorities who bid to provide the

:24:37.:24:40.

services can use the money for male support. Can you tell me how much of

:24:41.:24:45.

that 80 million quid will be helping men? You said none of it so you

:24:46.:24:50.

sounded like you knew. Do you know that none of it is going to men? May

:24:51.:24:53.

be an official answer might be clearer because I've looked at the

:24:54.:24:56.

legislation and I think it's nothing but I'd like to know if it's

:24:57.:25:01.

nothing. The cool authorities this money. They will use the money and

:25:02.:25:05.

it will be for them to look at what they need in the area, so they can

:25:06.:25:08.

use it for support for men. Which means they could make the decision

:25:09.:25:12.

not to use it to support men. The problem is that hostels for work and

:25:13.:25:16.

children are closing. 34 have closed in the last few years. I'm the

:25:17.:25:23.

patron of leads Women's Aid. Women are being turned away every day.

:25:24.:25:30.

Local authorities have got a reducing budget and women's hostels

:25:31.:25:36.

are closing. There are still 4000 refuge places to protect, rightly

:25:37.:25:40.

so, abused women. There are 25 for men. But you would want to take away

:25:41.:25:45.

the money and resources that go to women? Women's hostels are closing

:25:46.:25:49.

so it is hard for councils to fund yours. You are trying to raise

:25:50.:25:55.

awareness. Do you think that part of the problem is that men, certainly

:25:56.:25:58.

historically and traditionally, still view it as a stigma to talk

:25:59.:26:02.

about these issues in a way that means it's not cutting through? Of

:26:03.:26:08.

course. Men talk about their feelings and it is viewed as them

:26:09.:26:11.

being less of a man. But what I want to say is that strong men reach out

:26:12.:26:16.

for help because you can't just die in silence. What I want to do is to

:26:17.:26:21.

get the message across. Yesterday I found out that it is women calling

:26:22.:26:24.

these helplines for men because the men still feel the stigma and the

:26:25.:26:29.

shame. It is mothers, daughters, sisters, girlfriends, because the

:26:30.:26:32.

men feel disenfranchised and is empowered but when you talk about

:26:33.:26:36.

this issue on the streets... I'm here making a movie about domestic

:26:37.:26:40.

violence against men and the women I told about it were laughing. It is

:26:41.:26:44.

still seen as some sort of joke. It doesn't really exist and when it is,

:26:45.:26:48.

we will sweep it under the carpet. It is like domestic violence against

:26:49.:26:53.

women in the 1970s. It's like we are in a state of denial. It is time to

:26:54.:26:57.

face up to it. Do you think you are the right person to be campaigning

:26:58.:27:00.

on this? People might say, well, it's all right, you use to edit a

:27:01.:27:08.

labs' Madoc -- a lads magazine. Do you think it will finally get to an

:27:09.:27:17.

end but not through people like you? Anybody that has the voice is

:27:18.:27:21.

somebody. It is easy to shoot the messenger. I want people to listen

:27:22.:27:25.

to the message and Jamie Benn. Men listen to me because of my dubious

:27:26.:27:30.

heritage. Young men, lads, listen to people like me, not politicians. If

:27:31.:27:35.

they're told by men they kind of admire, or at least they listen to,

:27:36.:27:39.

that it's OK to talk out, I don't care if I get the flak. I just want

:27:40.:27:43.

these men to pick up the phone and get help. Rachel, do you think it is

:27:44.:27:47.

an issue that needs to be addressed, as well as the issue about domestic

:27:48.:27:51.

violence towards women? Absolutely. I pay tribute to you for speaking

:27:52.:27:56.

out about these things because you are right that people use to brush

:27:57.:27:59.

domestic violence against women under the carpet and just say, it's

:28:00.:28:07.

just normal and acceptable... And he won't do it again? Or, if he's had a

:28:08.:28:14.

difficult day at work or a few too many drinks but he loves you really.

:28:15.:28:20.

We have to end it there. Thanks very much. Very interesting.

:28:21.:28:24.

There's just time to put you out of your misery and give

:28:25.:28:27.

The year was 2011. Rachel, press the buzzer, which matches your dress.

:28:28.:28:39.

I notice you didn't try to pronounce that name! How is the wee bairns?

:28:40.:28:50.

Nine months now. Doing well. BBC One carrying the news shortly. We will

:28:51.:28:55.

be here on BBC Two again at the same time tomorrow. Until then, thanks

:28:56.:28:57.

for watching and bye-bye.

:28:58.:29:00.

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