14/09/2011

:00:23. > :00:28.Through the morning, this is the Daily Politics. Coming out in the

:00:28. > :00:36.next 90 minutes of public service broadcasting at its finest: More

:00:36. > :00:40.gloomy news on the economy with an extra 80,000 out of work, the DPM

:00:40. > :00:43.says he has a plan, but can it deliver growth? The unions are

:00:43. > :00:48.spoiling for a fight over pensions with ballots for strike action this

:00:48. > :00:51.autumn. Can disruption to public services be prevented?

:00:51. > :00:56.The shrinking British house, they are being built up to one-third

:00:56. > :01:00.smaller than the recommended size. We are certainly not getting any

:01:00. > :01:06.smaller! We well as the housing minister what is going to do about

:01:06. > :01:11.it. Everything goes with HP Sauce! And why do things always taste

:01:11. > :01:21.worse with the bad stuff taken out? What has happened to Houses of

:01:21. > :01:22.

:01:22. > :01:32.HP Sauce! I am not that much of a fan. I like it but it is not

:01:32. > :01:32.

:01:32. > :01:38.something I cannot live without! Probably some continental staff.

:01:38. > :01:41.You'll have chips just to have the HP Sauce with them. Before all of

:01:41. > :01:46.that, Prime Minister's Questions at noon, and joining us for the

:01:46. > :01:50.duration today, shadow Olympics Minister and Labour MP for Dulwich

:01:50. > :01:53.and West Norwood, at least for now, Tessa Jowell. And the Housing

:01:53. > :01:57.Minister, whose constituency is getting bigger under the boundary

:01:57. > :02:06.changes, no doubt to cope with all these houses he is not building,

:02:06. > :02:11.Grant Shapps. He is here to celebrate that you found out! -- he

:02:11. > :02:17.is here to celebrate that and his birthday. What is it like to be 21?

:02:17. > :02:21.It is not my birthday until November. It looks like the

:02:22. > :02:24.government is heading for a confrontation with public sector

:02:25. > :02:28.unions over reforms to pensions. Unison has announced it is

:02:28. > :02:33.balloting for strike action, as is the Fire Brigades Union. This was

:02:33. > :02:38.Dave Prentis at the TUC conference this morning. Today, Brendan Barber

:02:38. > :02:44.has convened a meeting of all public service unions to look at

:02:44. > :02:48.uniting, co-ordinating industrial action when the talks fail, and in

:02:48. > :02:56.moving to industrial action, I commit Unison to work as one with

:02:56. > :03:01.our sister Unison's GMB and Unite. -- unions. Today, as general

:03:01. > :03:06.secretary of Unison, I give formal notice to 9,000 employers that we

:03:06. > :03:11.are now balloting for industrial action. Grant Shapps, are we brace

:03:11. > :03:15.ourselves for a winter of discontent? Well, I really hope not.

:03:15. > :03:19.It sounds like it, though. I do not think it is the way forward. I do

:03:19. > :03:23.not think it is going to solve anything. Even Labour, with their

:03:23. > :03:27.close connections to the unions, are urging them not to do this.

:03:27. > :03:31.There is no need for it at this stage. The government has never

:03:31. > :03:36.been through this kind of hardship, none of your ministers have

:03:36. > :03:39.experienced like the strikes this country used to have. I do not

:03:39. > :03:42.think you have to live through the 1970s in order to be able to deal

:03:42. > :03:47.with it. The political mood is completely different, and the

:03:47. > :03:50.unions would be misjudging that mood, not least because there is no

:03:50. > :03:54.support in the country. Almost everybody, in the private and

:03:54. > :03:58.public sectors, you are sharing a lot of the pain with the sluggish

:03:58. > :04:02.situation that we have got globally. I think striking will only make it

:04:02. > :04:07.worse. I do not think they will have the backing of the people.

:04:07. > :04:11.is that because of that political mode that the Labour Party is not

:04:11. > :04:15.exactly wholeheartedly supporting this strike action, as we saw with

:04:15. > :04:20.Mr Miliband yesterday. important thing is that negotiation

:04:20. > :04:23.continues, and that it is negotiation in good faith,

:04:23. > :04:28.responsible, decent negotiation between the employers and the trade

:04:28. > :04:32.unions. The unions told Mr Miliband that the negotiations were a sham,

:04:32. > :04:36.that is the deeply held belief of the unions involved in the

:04:36. > :04:40.negotiations. I think that is right, Andrew, I think that is the view

:04:40. > :04:45.that the unions have, and it is for the government now to get those

:04:45. > :04:50.negotiations back on course. Because, you know, we are talking

:04:50. > :04:53.about millions and millions of public sector workers who are, for

:04:53. > :04:58.many people in this country, the most important people in their

:04:58. > :05:04.lives. These are not people to take strike action likely, but they are

:05:04. > :05:08.at risk of being driven to the edge of being able to stand the

:05:08. > :05:12.intransigence of the Government. the negotiations are a sham, which

:05:12. > :05:18.I think he seemed to concede, and it is what the union leaders and

:05:18. > :05:22.activists believe, why wouldn't you back them going on strike? Well, I

:05:22. > :05:25.do not think... I have, in government, been responsible for

:05:25. > :05:29.these negotiations, and in local government before that, and the

:05:30. > :05:34.best thing is not to provide a running commentary on negotiation,

:05:34. > :05:38.but for both sides to be serious, as I am absolutely sure the unions

:05:39. > :05:43.are. There will always be a few people, both on the employers' side

:05:43. > :05:47.and on the union side, was spoiling for a fight. I do not believe that

:05:47. > :05:52.represents the overwhelming number of trade unionists, and I think

:05:52. > :05:58.that the onus is now on the employee has to show the unions

:05:58. > :06:02.that they are serious about negotiation. I think the

:06:02. > :06:05.Government's stepped in May of imposing a 3.5% surcharge on

:06:06. > :06:11.pension contributions at a time when negotiations were under way

:06:11. > :06:14.was very unwise and provocative. the Fire Brigades Union, they have

:06:14. > :06:19.announced they are balloting members for a strike. The Fire

:06:19. > :06:23.Brigades Union is in the grip of the hard left. What are you going

:06:23. > :06:28.to do if the fire brigade goes on strike? You have not that the Green

:06:28. > :06:34.goddesses any more. Well, look, we had that quite protracted strike

:06:34. > :06:38.under the previous government. I hope they do not join us. The Green

:06:38. > :06:43.goddesses were not deployed then. You think you can survive without

:06:43. > :06:48.them? It was a long strike, and we survive them. Very skilfully

:06:48. > :06:52.handled by John Prescott. He knows a thing or two about the unions.

:06:53. > :06:56.knows a lot about negotiation. upshot of that strike is that it

:06:56. > :07:00.turned out to be a very long and protracted strike and largely

:07:00. > :07:03.pointless. It could have been discussed through negotiation. I

:07:03. > :07:07.would not comment either on the detail of the negotiation, because

:07:07. > :07:10.we are not in the room, it is unhelpful to give a running

:07:10. > :07:14.commentary of negotiations that are going along, and I think most

:07:14. > :07:18.people in this country recognise that people are living a lot longer.

:07:18. > :07:21.I quoted this statistic before that I welcome somebody to check or

:07:21. > :07:27.challenge, but everyday life expectancy in this country is

:07:28. > :07:33.raised by the Towers. It is a confusing statistic. -- eight hours.

:07:33. > :07:40.You have to do something about it. OK. With your shadow of Olympic

:07:40. > :07:48.portfolio around two, why are we having to pay Tube drivers who are

:07:48. > :07:54.already on a basic salary of �43,000, a basic salary, �1,800

:07:54. > :07:58.bonus simply to turn up during the Olympics? Well, the fact is that

:07:58. > :08:02.this is a decision, incidentally, of Transport for London. I know

:08:02. > :08:09.that, but do you agree with it? important thing is that this is not

:08:09. > :08:15.a no-strike agreement. This is compensation for the extra hours.

:08:15. > :08:19.No, it is not compensation. It is a bonus for turning up. Their basic

:08:19. > :08:24.is 43,000. If they work longer hours, they will get overtime at a

:08:24. > :08:29.higher rate. Andrew, I sincerely think that describing it as a bonus

:08:29. > :08:33.for turning up during the Olympics is misrepresenting this payment.

:08:34. > :08:42.Why do they need anything? Because they will be working longer hours.

:08:42. > :08:49.The pressure of demand will be much greater. And it is important that

:08:49. > :08:53.the Underground Service runs smoothly. You are the minister, I

:08:54. > :08:58.will ask you. No. My view is that overtime is fine, but we do not

:08:58. > :09:03.need bonuses like this to try to avert action which should not take

:09:03. > :09:10.place anyway. I understand that. If I was a trade union leader, seeing

:09:10. > :09:15.this, I would say �1,800 just for turning up? Let me finish the

:09:15. > :09:18.question, this lot, your government are a soft touch. The militants,

:09:18. > :09:23.you give in. I think that most people realise that the coalition

:09:23. > :09:28.could be accused of lot of things, but not being a soft touch. If you

:09:28. > :09:31.look at... I disagree with that, hold on a minute, if you look at

:09:31. > :09:36.the deficit reduction measures we have put in place. I mean in terms

:09:36. > :09:41.of strikes. Every single one of those measures as an implication,

:09:41. > :09:44.and often on people's jobs as well. People have been taking very

:09:44. > :09:49.difficult decisions as well. I look after areas of local government,

:09:49. > :09:53.and we have not seen strikes and a wide scale. That is my point, you

:09:53. > :09:59.have not been tested. We have made cuts. No doubt he will be in the

:09:59. > :10:03.weeks ahead, you will keep us in a job. I will be getting my back out

:10:03. > :10:08.again. I am up for it. It is not cold

:10:08. > :10:11.compared to where I come from. I want to let you into a TV secret.

:10:12. > :10:17.This studio may look big on television, but that is thanks to

:10:17. > :10:21.the use of a wide-angled lens. The same lens is used by estate agents

:10:21. > :10:25.and housebuilders when they are showing off properties. Funny, that,

:10:25. > :10:29.because it turns out that you build up an average 15% smaller than the

:10:29. > :10:32.recommended size, and some are as much as one-third of the size they

:10:32. > :10:36.should be. There are even rumours that they buy especially small

:10:36. > :10:40.furniture for their show homes, a bit like in here. They learned all

:10:40. > :10:46.their tricks from the telly, you know. Now we know where this lot

:10:46. > :10:50.are moonlighting, for estate agents! Grant Shapps, it is a

:10:50. > :10:52.serious point. Architects are saying that new homes are not big

:10:53. > :10:57.enough for families. Is there anything you can do about it?

:10:57. > :11:01.think there is. It is a real problem, I think, by the way. Homes

:11:01. > :11:05.should be big enough to live in. It is important enough to have enough

:11:05. > :11:08.space to bring up families. I agree we need bigger homes. One of the

:11:08. > :11:13.first things I did was scrap something called the density

:11:13. > :11:17.targets. That is something slightly different, which has not led to

:11:17. > :11:21.housebuilders signing up to a building homes... No, that is not

:11:21. > :11:25.true, homes are now being built figure in the last six months or so.

:11:25. > :11:29.We are starting to see an improvement. -- build bigger. Those

:11:29. > :11:32.density targets were put in place by John Prescott when he was in the

:11:32. > :11:37.office of the Deputy Prime Minister. I think that actually forcing lots

:11:37. > :11:40.of homes into a very small space is a bad idea. People need space to

:11:40. > :11:43.live and grow, and we are supportive of the idea of making

:11:43. > :11:47.them larger, against which you have the economics of time to produce

:11:47. > :11:52.enough homes. There is a balance to be struck. Is there anything you

:11:52. > :11:56.can do to stop housebuilders building what the architects are

:11:56. > :12:01.saying is an average three-bedroom home in the UK which is 88 square

:12:01. > :12:06.metres, shorter than the minimum size? Some of them are even smaller

:12:06. > :12:11.at 74 square metres, missing 22. That is a whole room, isn't it?

:12:11. > :12:16.That is right. What can you do to stop that? First of all, let's let

:12:16. > :12:20.the local areas decide what is the right kind of size. We want those

:12:20. > :12:23.targets set in neighbourhoods. If you are in the centre of London,

:12:23. > :12:27.Kensington and Chelsea has the densest housing in Europe, then

:12:27. > :12:31.they will set one kind of prescription. But actually, out in

:12:31. > :12:35.a more rural area, they may say that we want larger properties. I

:12:35. > :12:39.think you can be flexible about it. This is why we need planning reform,

:12:39. > :12:43.which is a big row going on at the dead, and that is tied up with the

:12:43. > :12:47.subject. Tessa Jowell, if you get rid of the density quotas and

:12:47. > :12:52.ratios, you live in a densely populated part of London, your

:12:52. > :12:57.constituency is there. People still want some space between homes. Is

:12:57. > :13:01.there still the problem of not enough land to build on? There is

:13:01. > :13:06.certainly a shortage of land. There is also a shortage of decent

:13:06. > :13:12.housing. It is not just that there is a great pressure to build more

:13:12. > :13:16.homes. It is probably one of the great crises of the time in which

:13:16. > :13:21.we live. We've got 2.5 million homes in the 13 years that we were

:13:21. > :13:26.in government. -- we build. short of the target. Of course it

:13:26. > :13:31.is, but you have to invest through incentivise in developers, but also

:13:31. > :13:36.making money available to local councils. You also have to bring

:13:36. > :13:40.already owned council homes up to decent standard. We were very

:13:40. > :13:47.successful in that. Four out of 10 were in poor standard, fell below

:13:47. > :13:52.the decent standard measure in 2002, which was down to one in 10 by the

:13:52. > :13:56.tyre we got to 2010. We still have this shortage. You are saying the

:13:56. > :14:00.issue is a planning issue, but the architect Hussain it is not a

:14:00. > :14:09.planning issue. They say there is enough room for these houses to be

:14:09. > :14:14.built, you are not using brownfield site on sites which are already

:14:14. > :14:17.available. I suspect at the end it is to do with economics, it is a

:14:17. > :14:21.question of the cost of land and the cost of building. We are clear

:14:21. > :14:25.that people should have space to live and grow, and that means doing

:14:25. > :14:29.things like ending the practice of garden grabbing, which became a

:14:29. > :14:33.very big thing, and we will change that policy to say that it should

:14:34. > :14:39.not be the expected norm. It means that people do not end up with

:14:39. > :14:43.space and gardens, room to expand. The homes that are built on those

:14:43. > :14:50.locations are, of course, very small by definition. There are a

:14:50. > :14:54.whole bunch of things you need to do. OK, thank you.

:14:54. > :15:01.Unemployment has reached almost 8% of the labour force, just over 2.5

:15:01. > :15:07.million people out of work, 80,000 of those, sorry, 800,000 young

:15:07. > :15:10.people under 24. It is the largest increase in unemployment in over

:15:10. > :15:15.two years, further evidence of the sclerotic state of the economy.

:15:15. > :15:23.What to do? This morning the Deputy Prime Minister has been writing a

:15:23. > :15:26.prescription for growth, and Jo has Nick Clegg has put his hard hat on

:15:26. > :15:31.today, warning of even tougher times ahead. Telling his audience

:15:31. > :15:36.the situation is even worse than six months ago. But he has a plan.

:15:36. > :15:40.Not a new plan B, but a speeding up of the national infrastructure plan,

:15:40. > :15:44.which the DPM says will lay the foundations for long-term growth.

:15:44. > :15:49.He has said that this represents a gear change, rather than a change

:15:49. > :15:53.of policy. With 40 projects given special priority, including new

:15:53. > :15:59.train lines, high-speed broadband and improvements to motorways and

:15:59. > :16:07.the National Grid. He's promising to pull levers, but the question

:16:07. > :16:10.remains - can he fix it? Government is not helpless. The coalition

:16:10. > :16:15.Government is not reluctant. That's despite the darkening global

:16:15. > :16:20.picture and the need to stay on top of the deficit, we'll do whatever

:16:20. > :16:25.it takes to return our economy to health. Whether driving co-

:16:25. > :16:31.operation abroad, or pulling the right levers at home. Tessa Jowell

:16:31. > :16:36.and Grant Shapps are still with us. We are joined by Mark Littlewood,

:16:36. > :16:39.the director of Institute of Economic Affairs. Grant Shapps how

:16:39. > :16:43.much new money is in this programme? I think I read the whole

:16:43. > :16:47.of the speech and what he was saying, there are important

:16:47. > :16:50.projects. He outlines 40 of them, where the plans are already kind of

:16:50. > :16:54.there. Everyone knows we need, for example, upgrades in broadband to

:16:54. > :16:56.high speed in this country and carry out some of the rail projects,

:16:56. > :16:59.but actually they are clogged down in Whitehall and don't move ahead

:16:59. > :17:03.at the speed they should. What he was talking about is the

:17:03. > :17:06.responsibility on all of us, ministers like me, to breakthrough

:17:06. > :17:09.that log-jam in Whitehall and get the projects moving and use the

:17:09. > :17:15.force of Government to make sure we get the infrastructure in place.

:17:15. > :17:20.There's no new money? Well, again, actually, alongside this, Danny

:17:20. > :17:25.Alexander was saying to ministers where you have money left over in

:17:25. > :17:29.your budgets don't go away, but spend is on the projects, so we'll

:17:29. > :17:33.make sure this is the focus and any money goes into delivering these

:17:33. > :17:36.quickly. That is old money being spent differently. So there is no

:17:36. > :17:40.new money? Being absolutely straight. There is a huge deficit.

:17:40. > :17:45.If we don't cut it, we're in big trouble. We are not looking to

:17:45. > :17:49.assign new money but get the work done quicker. At a time when we

:17:49. > :17:53.have a crisis in housing and growth, that is your fellow minister who

:17:53. > :17:56.told the Commons that on 5th and the Deputy Prime Minister says the

:17:56. > :18:01.situation is even worse than six months ago and unelployment is

:18:01. > :18:06.rising at a faster rate than the eurozone or America and the growth

:18:06. > :18:10.figures are likely to be dire, the coalition's response is to bring

:18:10. > :18:14.forward some infrastructure plans? That's it? The response is not to

:18:14. > :18:18.raise yet more debt, because we have seen in repeated countries, in

:18:19. > :18:22.Spain, fort gal and Ireland and Greece, what happens if all you do

:18:22. > :18:26.is add to debt and if you look at the stimulus packages that went

:18:26. > :18:29.ahead in France and Germany and in the States, they are in the same or

:18:29. > :18:33.worse pictures that we are in right now, even having added further to

:18:33. > :18:39.debts, so we don't think that is the answer. We think it's to

:18:39. > :18:42.prioritise the spending. President Obama in his first stimulus package,

:18:42. > :18:46.announced a number of jobs like this, that were new stimulus

:18:46. > :18:49.programmes, rather than bringing forward of what was already in the

:18:49. > :18:53.pipeline, and in the end American unemployment rose. He's had to come

:18:53. > :18:57.back with a new package of stimulus measures and we don't know what

:18:57. > :19:01.impact that will have. Why would you think simply bringing these

:19:01. > :19:04.things forward would make any difference? I think that kind of

:19:04. > :19:08.demonstrates the point about simply adding to the debt. What happens is

:19:08. > :19:11.you end up putting pressure on long-term interest rates. Are you

:19:11. > :19:14.doing it? It's expenditure that we already said we planned to do over

:19:14. > :19:17.the period, but isn't happening as fast as we would like. We think we

:19:17. > :19:21.can put the pressure on and break threw the Whitehall log-jam and get

:19:21. > :19:27.it done. By the way, this is working in as much as Britain

:19:27. > :19:32.borrowed at the lowest-ever rate - or had investment in bonds at the

:19:32. > :19:35.low-est rate this week, because people believe that we are a

:19:35. > :19:38.sustainable economy. If it's so cheap to borrow and it is

:19:38. > :19:43.historically cheap to borrow, why don't you borrow more and build

:19:43. > :19:47.more roads, bridges and tunnels? Here is one simple fact - we have

:19:47. > :19:52.arguments about tuition fees and investment in the police and those

:19:52. > :19:56.pensions on the union stuff we were talking about, we have a �43

:19:56. > :19:59.billion interest on the debt that we pay a year. We could do anything

:19:59. > :20:05.of these things if we didn't have that debt. The priority for paying

:20:05. > :20:10.down that debt trumps everything else. Mark, is this going to make

:20:10. > :20:13.any difference to the economy? I wouldn't hold your breath that -

:20:13. > :20:19.I'm not, believe me. If this is the Government's strategy for growth,

:20:19. > :20:22.don't expect to see the growth forecasts graded upwards in virtue

:20:22. > :20:25.of Nick Clegg bringing about greater efficiency of putting

:20:25. > :20:29.cables in the ground and doing that this year rather than next. I'm

:20:29. > :20:33.delighted if he's found a better way to make Whitehall more

:20:33. > :20:37.efficient, but that doesn't constitute a strategy for growth.

:20:37. > :20:41.Grant Shapps is right, the deficit being gotten under control is a

:20:41. > :20:44.necessary condition. What else needs to be done? You remember when

:20:44. > :20:48.Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister we were promised the great

:20:48. > :20:57.repeal act, the biggest war on red tape and the greatest recalibration

:20:57. > :21:01.between the individual and the State since 1832. Red tape and

:21:01. > :21:05.regulation has increased under the coalition Government. Not even

:21:05. > :21:10.including the EU. Whitehall directives have increased. Now, it

:21:10. > :21:12.is a challenge to get growth into the British economy, with the US

:21:12. > :21:16.hitting the buffers and the eurozone public a problem, but

:21:16. > :21:20.there's also a choice. The coalition Government is not making

:21:20. > :21:24.some of the tougher decisions it could in slashing back red tape and

:21:24. > :21:28.putting the minimum wage up next month. You can make those decisions,

:21:28. > :21:32.but you can't then claim that economic growth is the overriding

:21:32. > :21:36.priority. Other things appear to be the priorities. All right. The

:21:36. > :21:39.Government seems to think bringing forward infrastructure is part of

:21:39. > :21:44.this solution. You think deregulation on a large scale is

:21:44. > :21:49.the solution. What say you? I think both have pairt to play, unlike --

:21:49. > :21:54.part to play, unlike the Government, we would create a fund for

:21:54. > :21:59.infrastructure projects and very particularly training young people

:21:59. > :22:03.through a further tax. A windfall tax on bankers' bonuses which is

:22:03. > :22:08.estimated to bring around �3.5 billion. There is a combination

:22:08. > :22:15.here and all over the papers today you saw the Westfield. You would

:22:15. > :22:21.get 3.5 billion simply from taxing them? Yes. At what rate? I thought

:22:21. > :22:27.it was much smaller than that. in one year you get 1.75 billion.

:22:27. > :22:32.The Government have set a lower rate, which means that the tax -

:22:32. > :22:38.the bankers' tax will yield less. We would do it differently and also

:22:38. > :22:43.introduce a short-term cut in VAT, in order to boost demand. Although

:22:43. > :22:50.the original VAT introduced by us was scoffed at, we saw retail sales

:22:50. > :22:54.increase. I want to very quickly just say, take the Westfield

:22:54. > :23:00.shopping centre in East London. Traditionally, higher than the

:23:00. > :23:04.national average levels of unemployment. 900 million worth of

:23:04. > :23:11.investment six years ago, with withstood because they decided they

:23:11. > :23:15.could stick with it, which withstood the downturn, but coupled

:23:15. > :23:21.with the investment of public money in regenerating the Olypmic park.

:23:21. > :23:29.Also making that site now a site which in legacy will be a site for

:23:29. > :23:34.business to invest. I wish they had called it Eastfield. It is

:23:34. > :23:41.Westfield in the east. The point is that 18,000 jobs, but not just jobs

:23:41. > :23:47.- Only 2,000 locally. But that will change. If this worked, why did

:23:47. > :23:53.your Government cut infrastructure spending by 50%? We used PFI in

:23:53. > :23:58.order to fund it. No, no, in the plans that you come ut -- out with

:23:58. > :24:01.in 2009. You cut it going forward by 50%, so if it's such a good

:24:01. > :24:06.thing, why do it? Government investment in infrastructure, but

:24:06. > :24:10.the point I'm making to you and using this as an example is that

:24:10. > :24:16.that is an example about how Government enables the regeneration

:24:16. > :24:19.and making it worthwhile, the investment, by clearing this

:24:19. > :24:23.contaminated brownfield site and invests very heavily in

:24:23. > :24:29.apprenticeships so you begin to get a trained workforce available. The

:24:29. > :24:33.retailers at Westfield have formed their own retail academy. I don't

:24:33. > :24:36.want to dwell on that. It's only one part of the country in the

:24:36. > :24:40.capital. It's not relevant to Manchester or Birmingham. I want to

:24:40. > :24:45.come to you. It's a model that others can follow. What do you say

:24:45. > :24:51.to Mark that you are actually increasing regulation? Far from a

:24:51. > :24:59.bonfire, it's growing like topsy? If I want to bring something new in

:24:59. > :25:04.I have to follow this one-in one- out rule. I have to scrap something.

:25:04. > :25:08.The first thing I did was scrap the awful Home Information Packs.

:25:08. > :25:11.is not a bonfire, but standing still. Things go on all the time.

:25:11. > :25:15.Actually, to say this is all over is completely untrue. We are

:25:15. > :25:18.passing through Parliament, because democracy is a slow process, the

:25:18. > :25:21.very first piece of legislation from my department. It involves

:25:21. > :25:25.quite a lot of legislation, which is scrapped in the process. It

:25:25. > :25:29.hasn't even got through Parliament yet, but it's in the works and it's

:25:29. > :25:32.happening. Actually, it's right. It's in your department and it's

:25:32. > :25:36.been one of the better ones, but it isn't happening across Whitehall

:25:36. > :25:40.and my concern is I don't believe that there is a single senior

:25:40. > :25:45.Cabinet minister whose head is on the block for this. A massive

:25:45. > :25:49.bonfire was promised. It is true that your rule has stemmed the flow.

:25:49. > :25:53.The burden of regulation is growing less quickly than it was were the

:25:53. > :25:56.previous Government, but that ain't enough. It actually has to be cut

:25:56. > :25:59.back seriously and you need to go through with a red pen and

:26:00. > :26:03.basically torch most of the stuff. I think that the sort of people in

:26:03. > :26:06.Government seem to realise this needs to be done. There some sort

:26:06. > :26:10.of good intention there, but there hasn't yet been the political will

:26:10. > :26:16.to do that on a serious scale. have to leave it there. Thank you

:26:16. > :26:21.Mark, you two have to stay! Lock the doors! We come to the moment,

:26:21. > :26:26.when we give away the mug. It's much-beloved by viewers and

:26:26. > :26:29.politicians alike, I can tell you. In fact, it's almost as sought-

:26:29. > :26:34.after a a Parliamentary constituency with a decent majority.

:26:34. > :26:39.Are there any left? After this week, not quite!, we can't give away a

:26:39. > :26:42.safe seat in our competition. Sorry about that, Tessa, but a mug would

:26:42. > :26:46.be a good consolation prize? certainly would. Even we are not

:26:46. > :26:56.allowed to take them home. We'll remind you how to enter in a moment,

:26:56. > :26:56.

:26:56. > :27:00.but let's see if you can remember when this happened. The Republican

:27:01. > :27:09.nomination for 1980 also seems more than usually a prize worth going

:27:09. > :27:19.for. # Video killed the radio star... #

:27:19. > :27:26.

:27:26. > :27:33.# Oliver's army is here to stay... # I can't, I can't, stand losing

:27:33. > :27:42.# I can't, I can't stand losing... # Are you pleased to see it back?

:27:42. > :27:48.Very much, yes. # It's trag di$$NEWLINE# It's hard

:27:48. > :27:51.to bear... # I don't think anyone would share the view that there is

:27:51. > :28:01.mounting chaos. # I will survive

:28:01. > :28:06.

:28:06. > :28:09.# Oh, as long as I know love I know I'll stay alive... # Well, to be in

:28:09. > :28:19.with a chance of winning the mug send your answer to our special

:28:19. > :28:27.

:28:27. > :28:30.That opening piece by a rather young Martin Bell was maybe

:28:30. > :28:34.misleading, or maybe not. It's a trick. You have to decide. It's

:28:34. > :28:38.coming up to midday. We'll look at Big Ben. There it is behind us.

:28:38. > :28:43.Lovely morning this morning, actually. It can only mean one

:28:43. > :28:49.thing - Prime Minister's questions on its way and James is here. You

:28:49. > :28:52.are from Nick Clegg. You were there? I was. How did it go?

:28:52. > :28:56.Warmish response. Lots of academics and economists in the hall. They

:28:56. > :29:00.were left scratching their heads. His message was we need to make

:29:00. > :29:04.sure that the Government spends its capital budgets on time, but not

:29:04. > :29:07.actually rush them forward, so all the talk of acceleration is not

:29:07. > :29:11.going to happen. He's saying we are not going to make the same mistakes

:29:11. > :29:14.as previous governments over spending on the Jubilee Line here

:29:14. > :29:18.in London and they want to make sure the things happen on time.

:29:18. > :29:20.Some people thought it was motdest in ambition, that perhaps the

:29:20. > :29:28.Government has -- modest in ambition, that perhaps the

:29:28. > :29:31.Government has to do more. Governance over the years, there

:29:31. > :29:34.was an implication that if he presses the right buttons the

:29:35. > :29:37.Government machine will click into action. Many previous Government

:29:37. > :29:41.ministers will explain that that ain't how it works? That was his

:29:41. > :29:45.ambition. He said he's going to have a meeting and Danny Alexander

:29:45. > :29:48.will knock heads together and make sure the projects get spent on time.

:29:48. > :29:52.We wait to see if it happens. Minister's questions. What do you

:29:52. > :29:59.think Mr Miliband will go on if suggested the economy last week. I

:29:59. > :30:04.was utterly wrong. I would suggest perhaps the economy might be raised

:30:04. > :30:09.by him. He has pegs. The Alistair Darling book is now history.

:30:09. > :30:13.manage it might get an airing. If he cannot today stand up and say,

:30:13. > :30:20."This is what my party believes should happen on the economy ",

:30:20. > :30:26.when can he? He has to go on an a day when unemployment is now rising

:30:26. > :30:32.than fat -- faster than the United States or the eurozone, he has to

:30:32. > :30:37.go on it? I'm absolutely sure that he will and the fact that one in

:30:37. > :30:42.five young people are now out of work and that families are being

:30:42. > :30:46.squeezed in a way that view can ever remember. Also, feel more

:30:46. > :30:56.pessimistic about the future. go and find out. Over to the House

:30:56. > :31:06.

:31:06. > :31:09.Grieving families are waiting months and years for inquests to be

:31:09. > :31:15.concluded, longer than anywhere else in the country. They have

:31:15. > :31:20.Minister instruct the Justice Secretary to sack the incompetence

:31:20. > :31:24.Tayside Coroner? I will certainly look at the particular case that

:31:24. > :31:26.the honourable gentleman razors. have been reforming coroners

:31:27. > :31:30.services and putting money and resources into them to try to make

:31:30. > :31:36.them more effective, but I will take up the individual case that he

:31:36. > :31:41.makes. Mary MacLeod. Mr Speaker, when the Prime Minister give us an

:31:41. > :31:46.update on his recent visit to Russia, especially in relation to

:31:46. > :31:52.the tragic murder of Alexander Litvinenko, whose widow lives in my

:31:52. > :31:56.constituency? It caused a risk to public safety. Would he meet with

:31:56. > :31:59.her to give her an update? My right honourable friend the Foreign

:31:59. > :32:02.Secretary spoke to Alexander Litvinenko's widow before I

:32:02. > :32:06.travelled to Moscow, and let me be clear that the British government

:32:06. > :32:10.has not changed its the one jot about how wrong it was for that

:32:10. > :32:13.murder to take place and how we need a proper explanation of what

:32:13. > :32:18.happened and he was responsible, and we want justice for that family.

:32:18. > :32:21.We have not changed our view, but I think it is right, at the same time,

:32:21. > :32:25.to try to build a better relationship with Russia across a

:32:25. > :32:28.whole range of issues. We have common interests in trying to grow

:32:28. > :32:32.our economies and trade, common interest in working together on

:32:32. > :32:35.issues like the Middle East peace process. I made sure when I went to

:32:35. > :32:40.Russia that I did not just raised the Alexander Litvinenko case but

:32:40. > :32:43.other human rights cases, including another case, with the Russian

:32:43. > :32:49.President and with others. I think that is the right way to conduct

:32:49. > :32:54.international relations. Mr Ed Miliband. Mr Speaker, today's

:32:54. > :33:00.figures show that unemployment is up by 80,000. Does the Prime

:33:00. > :33:03.Minister still think the British economy is out of the danger zone?

:33:03. > :33:07.Well, first of all, let me say that these unemployment figures are

:33:07. > :33:12.disappointing figures, I do not want to hide from that. Every last

:33:12. > :33:14.job as a tragedy for that family, and I want to do everything I can,

:33:14. > :33:19.and his government will do everything it can to of those

:33:19. > :33:23.people back into work. That is why we have 360,000 apprenticeships

:33:23. > :33:28.starting this year, that is why we have 10,000 extra university places,

:33:28. > :33:31.and that is why, in the Work Programme, we have the biggest

:33:31. > :33:35.welfare-to-work programme this country has seen since the 1930s.

:33:35. > :33:39.But at the same time, let me say to the right honourable gentleman that

:33:39. > :33:43.it is right that we get on top of our debt and deficit, and today of

:33:43. > :33:46.all days it shows the danger of getting into a position that other

:33:46. > :33:52.European countries are in, where the whole credibility is being

:33:52. > :33:55.questioned. Ed Miliband. Mr Speaker, people are going to dress the Prime

:33:55. > :34:02.Minister on results. They do not want to hear his been about the

:34:02. > :34:06.Work Programme. Youth unemployment is up by 78,000 on today's figures.

:34:06. > :34:11.Even after his work programme has started. What young people and

:34:11. > :34:15.their families are has been his, where are the jobs? The Work

:34:15. > :34:19.Programme is the best way to help young people and indeed all people

:34:19. > :34:22.back into work. Now, of course, as I have said, these figures are

:34:22. > :34:26.disappointing, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that since the

:34:26. > :34:30.election there are 500,000 more jobs in the private sector, and

:34:30. > :34:38.employment overall. There are 300,000 more people in work than

:34:38. > :34:41.there were one year ago. There is not one ounce of complacency in

:34:41. > :34:47.this Government about the need to do more to help people back to work.

:34:47. > :34:51.We have a growth plan that includes cuts in Corporation Tax, freezing

:34:51. > :34:54.the council tax, cuts in petrol duty, introducing the Beatle Growth

:34:54. > :34:59.Fund, making sure we have enterprise zones in every part of

:34:59. > :35:04.our country, but we will be adding to that programme so we help people

:35:04. > :35:07.get back to work. -- Regional Growth Fund. He and his government

:35:07. > :35:12.are the byword for complacency in this country on the issue of

:35:12. > :35:17.unemployment! Youth unemployment was falling at the general election,

:35:17. > :35:23.and it has risen on his watch, it is his responsibility. Women's

:35:23. > :35:28.unemployment, too, is at its highest level since 1988. And, Mr

:35:28. > :35:34.Speaker, he is making the situation worse by cutting the childcare tax

:35:34. > :35:39.credit. How does it make sense, when unemployment is rising for

:35:39. > :35:42.women, to cut the support that helps them back into work? Let me

:35:42. > :35:48.remind the honourable gentleman that youth unemployment went up by

:35:48. > :35:51.40% under the last Parliament. 278,000 more young people

:35:51. > :35:55.unemployed when he was sitting in the Treasury and breaking our

:35:55. > :36:00.banking system and bankrupting our economy. That is what people

:36:00. > :36:03.remember. Now, when it comes to childcare, what this government is

:36:03. > :36:06.doing and we are the first government to do it is making sure

:36:06. > :36:10.they are 15 hours of reach out care for every four-year-old and every

:36:10. > :36:14.three-year-old, and we have extended that to every two-year-old.

:36:14. > :36:19.We have focused the tax credit system on the poorest people in our

:36:19. > :36:23.country so that child tax credits are going up by �290 this year and

:36:23. > :36:27.next for those who need the most. But let me say to the honourable

:36:27. > :36:31.gentleman that on a day when France and Germany are meeting to stop

:36:31. > :36:37.Greece go bankrupt, he must be the only person in the world he thinks

:36:37. > :36:40.you spend more to get out of a debt crisis. Ed Miliband! Mr Speaker, it

:36:40. > :36:44.is no wonder he does not want to talk about the British economy and

:36:44. > :36:50.what is happening here, because of what is actually happening. And not

:36:50. > :36:55.for the first time he is wrong in what he says at the dispatch box.

:36:55. > :37:02.Youth unemployment was falling at the general election, and now it is

:37:02. > :37:07.rising. Now, why is it not working, Mr Speaker? The reason is because

:37:07. > :37:10.his claim that the Chancellor's central claim that you could cut

:37:10. > :37:17.the public sector and the private sector would make up the difference

:37:17. > :37:21.is not happening. For every two jobs, for every two jobs being cut

:37:21. > :37:25.in the public sector, less than one is being created in the private

:37:25. > :37:30.sector. Isn't that the clearest sign yet that his policy just isn't

:37:30. > :37:35.working? So now we have it, Mr Speaker. He wants to tell us about

:37:35. > :37:38.the golden inheritance left by the last government! The fact they

:37:38. > :37:41.completely bust our banking system, the fact they doubled the National

:37:41. > :37:46.debt, the fact they gave us the biggest budget deficit in Europe

:37:46. > :37:51.that we are still recovering from. And he cannot even be consistent

:37:51. > :37:57.inside one day. This is what he said yesterday to the TUC. He said,

:37:57. > :38:01.you cannot spend your way to a new economy. Just 24 hours later, he

:38:01. > :38:05.has changed his tune all over again. No wonder the last Chancellor of

:38:05. > :38:09.the Exchequer said they have no credibility whatsoever.

:38:09. > :38:13.Miliband! The Mr Speaker, what an insult to the people up and down

:38:13. > :38:17.this country who have lost their jobs! He does not even try to

:38:17. > :38:21.answer the question about his central economic strategy to cut

:38:21. > :38:25.the public sector and make the private sector make up the

:38:25. > :38:29.difference. It is not happening! And the truth is, Mr Speaker, look

:38:29. > :38:34.at what has happened over the last year. Britain has grown slower than

:38:34. > :38:37.any other EU country apart from Portugal and Romania. Now, can the

:38:37. > :38:42.Prime Minister tell the country, and tell the people who have lost

:38:42. > :38:47.their jobs, what he is going to do differently over the next year

:38:47. > :38:50.compared to what he did over the last year? Let me correct him on

:38:50. > :38:55.his facts. This year, Britain is actually growing faster than

:38:55. > :39:05.America. That is something he does not choose to tell us. But look,

:39:05. > :39:09.let me and said... Let me answer directly... Order! The Prime

:39:09. > :39:12.Minister's answers must be heard. The Prime Minister. Let me answer

:39:12. > :39:15.directly this point about an employment in the public sector.

:39:15. > :39:18.All governments right now are having to take difficult decisions

:39:18. > :39:23.about cutting public spending. Anyone standing here would have to

:39:23. > :39:26.make those decisions. This government is reducing the welfare

:39:26. > :39:30.bill and is cutting and his reforming public sector pensions.

:39:30. > :39:33.If we were not taking those steps, you would have to make deeper cuts

:39:33. > :39:38.in terms of the rest of the public sector. He would be having even

:39:38. > :39:41.more unemployment, that is the truth. When is he going to learn

:39:41. > :39:47.what I thought he said yesterday, you cannot spend your way to a new

:39:47. > :39:50.economy? Is that still is be a 24 hours later? Ed Miliband!

:39:50. > :39:54.Speaker, so the message to all those people who have lost their

:39:54. > :40:03.jobs is the Prime Minister is not going to change course. The

:40:03. > :40:09.Chancellor of the Exchequer has lashed himself to the mass. -- Mass.

:40:09. > :40:14.Not for the first time, perhaps! Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, youth

:40:14. > :40:18.unemployment is at its highest level for 19 years. Women's and

:40:18. > :40:22.employment is at its highest level for 23 years. -- and employment.

:40:22. > :40:26.The highest level since the last time there was a Tory government.

:40:26. > :40:32.It turns out he is just like all the others. For him, unemployment

:40:32. > :40:36.is a price worth paying. It is this government that is cutting

:40:36. > :40:40.corporation tax, that has frozen the council tax, that cut the

:40:40. > :40:43.petrol duty, that started the regional growth fund, that ended

:40:43. > :40:46.the jobs tax, that has the biggest apprenticeship programme in decades,

:40:46. > :40:52.and that has increased capital spending compared with what Labour

:40:53. > :40:56.left. The truth is, Mr Speaker, it was the last government that Rob

:40:56. > :40:58.young people of their future by piling up the debt! It is this

:40:58. > :41:05.government that will deal with our debts and give them back their

:41:05. > :41:09.future. Kris Hopkins! Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister will be

:41:09. > :41:13.aware that the consultation on the draft national planning policy

:41:13. > :41:16.framework will come to an end next month. Can he confirm that the

:41:16. > :41:22.Government's proposals will ensure that local residents will be at the

:41:22. > :41:25.forefront of decision-making and important green spaces will retain

:41:25. > :41:31.their existing protection, and that this will not become a developer's

:41:31. > :41:35.charter? I can certainly give him that assurance. The fact is we do

:41:35. > :41:40.need reform. The current system is too slow, too bureaucratic, and it

:41:40. > :41:43.does not give local people are not of a save. What we're doing is

:41:43. > :41:46.replacing a vast 1,000 page bureaucratic guide with something

:41:46. > :41:51.which is much shorter. Local development plans will mean that

:41:51. > :41:55.local communities and local people have a far greater say in what is

:41:55. > :42:00.developed and where. We are not changing the rules are national

:42:00. > :42:03.parks, one green belts, on areas of outstanding natural beauty. Net the

:42:03. > :42:09.say this to everyone in a house, because there should be cross-party

:42:09. > :42:14.support in the house. That let me say. Today, the first-time buyer

:42:14. > :42:18.with no support from their family is aged 37. I think that is wrong.

:42:18. > :42:24.We need to build more houses to help more young people get and the

:42:24. > :42:28.housing ladder. Mr Robert Flello. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Last week

:42:28. > :42:32.the Prime Minister told this House that there are 25,000 police

:42:32. > :42:36.officers in back office jobs, but a Majesty's Inspectorate of

:42:36. > :42:42.Constabulary said that there are less than a thousand police

:42:42. > :42:46.officers and PCSOs in those jobs. Week after week, this house he is a

:42:46. > :42:49.litany of evasion, inaccurate answers and arrogant put-downs from

:42:49. > :42:54.the Prime Minister. We want a proper answer, so let's give the

:42:54. > :42:57.Prime Minister a chance today. Is it the inspectorate or is it the

:42:57. > :43:02.Prime Minister? We won't get an answer. I think the honourable

:43:02. > :43:06.gentleman is confusing two things, and that is the number of police

:43:06. > :43:11.officers who are not our frontline duties and the number of police

:43:11. > :43:15.officers who are actually in back office roles, like IT or a jar.

:43:15. > :43:19.Those are the figures that I gave, those are the figures that are

:43:19. > :43:22.right, and what is so complacent about the party opposite is they

:43:22. > :43:30.are not prepared to consider any reforms to try to get more police

:43:30. > :43:34.on to the front line, on to our streets. Dr Sarah Wollaston. I know

:43:34. > :43:37.the Prime Minister is serious about tackling violent crime, antisocial

:43:37. > :43:41.behaviour and over one million hospital admissions in England per

:43:41. > :43:46.year for alcohol related conditions. Will he meet with me to discuss the

:43:46. > :43:51.evidence that we need to go further on minimum pricing, availability

:43:51. > :43:55.and particularly the marketing of alcohol to young people? And I am

:43:55. > :43:58.very happy to meet with the honourable lady, who has made it a

:43:58. > :44:01.lot of speeches and written a lot of articles about this issue, about

:44:01. > :44:05.which she feels passionate, and she is right in many ways that actually

:44:05. > :44:09.there is a problem of binge drinking in our country, and a lot

:44:09. > :44:14.of it is related to very low cost alcohol, particularly in

:44:14. > :44:17.supermarkets. What I want to see is an end to that the discounting,

:44:17. > :44:24.rather than perhaps the way for which he suggests, but I'm happy to

:44:24. > :44:28.meet and discuss this vital issue. Angus MacNeil. A poll last week

:44:28. > :44:38.show that 60% of Scots want oil revenues devolved to Scotland.

:44:38. > :44:39.

:44:39. > :44:49.the Prime Minister agree with 68% of Scots, or does he not? Well...

:44:49. > :44:53.If you as a stupid question, you get hasty Bonanza! The fact is that

:44:53. > :44:56.the whole of the United Kingdom, rightly, has invested in the North

:44:56. > :45:00.Sea. The whole of the United Kingdom should benefit from the

:45:01. > :45:05.North Sea. I think we should do everything possible to keep the

:45:05. > :45:09.United Kingdom together, because we are stronger, England, Scotland,

:45:09. > :45:13.Northern Ireland and Wales, than we ever would be separately. Mrs Helen

:45:13. > :45:23.Grant. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that we need more

:45:23. > :45:25.

:45:25. > :45:30.I completely agree. The current figures are simply not good enough.

:45:30. > :45:34.Only 14% of FTSE 100 company directors are women. We should do

:45:34. > :45:38.far better. We have some experience from the problems and the problems

:45:38. > :45:43.we had in our own party and the need to take much more pro-active

:45:43. > :45:48.action to make sure we have a better balance at the top of

:45:48. > :45:53.politics and at the top of the boardrooms as well. Aren't the most

:45:53. > :45:59.vulnerable people in the care of the Health Service those silent

:45:59. > :46:04.voitions who live in residential homes -- voices, who live in

:46:04. > :46:10.residential homes? Will he express his regret that the reduction of

:46:10. > :46:15.number of inspections is 70%, because money was moved from

:46:15. > :46:22.inspection to bureaucracy? Doesn't this again prove that the National

:46:22. > :46:26.Health Service is not save in the hands of the Nasty Party? I think

:46:26. > :46:29.the report that is released today makes a very important point about

:46:29. > :46:32.the future and work of the Care Quality Commission and I think it's

:46:32. > :46:36.important that it focuses on inspections and making sure that

:46:37. > :46:39.standards are high. Rather than simply, on a process of

:46:39. > :46:49.registration and bureaucracy. I look forward to see the

:46:49. > :46:50.

:46:50. > :46:54.Government's response, but I think it's a very good report. Was my

:46:54. > :47:01.Right Honourable friend taught at whatever school he happened to

:47:01. > :47:09.attend, that one of the key functions of Parliament over the

:47:09. > :47:16.sentries has been -- centuries has been to diminish what historians

:47:16. > :47:19.call the over-mighty subject? In the 18th century -

:47:19. > :47:26.LAUGHTER THE SPEAKER: I want to hear the

:47:26. > :47:36.honourable gentleman's views about the 18th century.

:47:36. > :47:41.In the 18th century it was the Indian naybobs and in the 19th

:47:41. > :47:47.century it was the ruthless industrialists humanised by

:47:47. > :47:57.shaftsbury. In the 20th century it was the trade union leaders tamed

:47:57. > :48:00.

:48:00. > :48:10.by Lady Thatcher. Today, the allmighty subject is the bankers.

:48:10. > :48:16.

:48:16. > :48:24.In the United States the federal authorities are prosecuting a wide

:48:24. > :48:28.swathe of the top banks. When is that going to happen here? Well,

:48:28. > :48:31.first of all, the Right Honourable gentleman obviously had a much

:48:31. > :48:35.better aide indication than I did. That is apparent. Also, very good

:48:35. > :48:39.to hear him say something very positive about Margaret Thatcher.

:48:39. > :48:44.That is also good. I think the serious point that he's make ing is

:48:44. > :48:47.right, that we need to see responsibility from our bankers. I

:48:47. > :48:51.support what Vickers has said in terms of the reforms that we need

:48:51. > :48:54.and to answer his question directly, if people break the law, no matter

:48:54. > :49:02.where they come from or who they are, they should face the

:49:02. > :49:05.consequences and be punished. does the Prime Minister think of

:49:05. > :49:10.local authorities encouraging developers to put in planning

:49:10. > :49:14.applications not on greenbelt, but greenfield sites in order to use

:49:14. > :49:18.the new homes bonus to balance their budgets? I have the

:49:18. > :49:22.completely original and shocking view that these matters should be

:49:22. > :49:25.matters for local people and local authorities. I think in the past we

:49:25. > :49:29.have had far too much central direction. I think people in

:49:29. > :49:32.Derbyshire should make up their own mind, through their local council,

:49:32. > :49:38.about what planning should take place and where. That's the agenda

:49:38. > :49:42.this Government is going to follow. I'm sure my Right Honourable friend

:49:42. > :49:44.would have noted the very sound advice recently that in order for a

:49:44. > :49:49.Government to operate effectively there should be complete unity at

:49:49. > :49:54.the top. With this in mind, could he assure the House and country he

:49:54. > :49:58.does not feel the need to re-write a Budget 48 hours before it is due?

:49:58. > :50:05.I can confirm that these discussions these days take place

:50:05. > :50:10.in a proper way and between the two partners in the coalition and it's

:50:10. > :50:16.not a battle between number 10 and 11. It's nothing like going to the

:50:16. > :50:22.dentist and there is no need for anaesthetic when there is a meeting.

:50:22. > :50:28.I'm all all parties in the House have welcomed the news that

:50:28. > :50:33.Mikeical Brown has been found living under an assumed name in the

:50:33. > :50:41.republic of Dominica. Can the Prime Minister tell the House what steps

:50:41. > :50:44.this Government is taking to bring Mr Brown to face justice? We like

:50:44. > :50:47.to extend the countries that we have these treatities with and I'll

:50:47. > :50:51.look into the case and get back to the honourable gentleman. While we

:50:51. > :50:55.are at it, perhaps we can search for the individual donor to the

:50:55. > :51:05.Labour Party. I gearplg there was only one and e-- gather there was

:51:05. > :51:06.

:51:06. > :51:13.only one and he was called Alastair Campbell. Will the Prime Minister

:51:13. > :51:18.join me in congratulating Burnley football club, who, in partnership

:51:18. > :51:22.with a local university, have delivered the first university of

:51:22. > :51:26.football business in the UK, which has generated immense interest

:51:26. > :51:30.among the young people in the country and across Europe. I with

:51:30. > :51:33.will happily praise the work of the club. I've been very struck in this

:51:33. > :51:40.job of the privilege you get of seeing different football clubs

:51:40. > :51:45.working not just on their own football skills, but on inspiring

:51:45. > :51:49.young people not only here, but around the world. There is a huge

:51:49. > :51:54.role for football to change people's lives and I fully support

:51:54. > :51:58.what our clubs do. Contrary to the answer last week, can the Prime

:51:58. > :52:07.Minister confirm that the winter fuel allowance this year will be

:52:07. > :52:12.�50 less for the over-60's and �100 for the over-80's. Age UK say it's

:52:12. > :52:16.a cut. Does he agree? That payment will be as set out by Labour in

:52:16. > :52:19.their March Budget, one that he supported, but at the same time the

:52:19. > :52:28.increase in the cold weather payments is actually going to be

:52:28. > :52:31.maintained throughout this Parliament. Small and medium-sized

:52:31. > :52:35.enterprises are vital around the country. But sadly the cost of new

:52:35. > :52:40.regulations put on businesses under the previous Government amount to a

:52:40. > :52:44.starringering �90 billion a year. - - staggering �90 billion a year.

:52:44. > :52:47.What is the Prime Minister doing to tackle that unacceptable burden on

:52:47. > :52:51.British businesses There's an unacceptable burden in terms of

:52:51. > :52:59.regulation and so what this Government does specifically on the

:52:59. > :53:05.retail sectors, we have removed 257 regulations. We have the new one in,

:53:05. > :53:08.so any minister wanting to introduce a regulation has to

:53:08. > :53:12.abolish one first. All regulations are up on a website for everyone to

:53:12. > :53:18.challenge to see what is still necessary and what we can get rid

:53:18. > :53:24.of. The Prime Minister will be aware that right across the whole

:53:24. > :53:28.of the United Kingdom, we have some excellent industries, businesses,

:53:28. > :53:33.trained staffed within those companies, but because of the

:53:33. > :53:39.decision to put off banking reform until after the next election,

:53:39. > :53:43.surely that will have a detrimental effect on the companies and it will

:53:43. > :53:46.cause a major difficulty? The point I would make is that we ask

:53:46. > :53:51.professor Vickers to look at this issue and he recommended

:53:51. > :53:55.legislating in this Parliament, but introducing the reforms at the same

:53:55. > :53:59.time as the changes elsewhere in 2019. That is exactly what we are

:53:59. > :54:02.going to do. But at the same time, it seems vital that we address the

:54:03. > :54:06.issue of the failure of banks to lend enough money, particularly to

:54:07. > :54:12.small businesses. That's why we put in the Merlin agreement in place

:54:12. > :54:19.and that's why bank lending is not going down, as the Shadow

:54:19. > :54:21.Chancellor is wrong about, as with everything. It's going up. With

:54:21. > :54:25.with the closure of the Derbyshire building society headquarters in my

:54:25. > :54:34.constituency, perfectly situationed to take the Green Investment Bank,

:54:34. > :54:40.with the move from Derby to Nottingham and the Post Office

:54:40. > :54:44.sorting centre and other offices and with the closure of another

:54:44. > :54:49.company and the potential closure of bombardier, would the Prime

:54:49. > :54:53.Minister encourage his Secretary of State to look at sending more Civil

:54:53. > :54:58.Service jobs to Derbyshire so that we can have more employment in the

:54:58. > :55:04.area? She makes an important point. I know that there are real concerns

:55:04. > :55:07.because of what has happened at Bombardier and let me say this, on

:55:07. > :55:10.the issue of the Green Investment Bank, I know there are going to be

:55:10. > :55:14.many bids to house this excellent institution. On the issue of

:55:14. > :55:16.Bombardier, let me say this - I think it's encouraging to hear that

:55:16. > :55:20.the Department of Transport is looking into the possibility of

:55:20. > :55:24.upgrading an existing fleet of their diesel trains to enable them

:55:24. > :55:26.to run using electric power. This could be a good breakthrough. The

:55:26. > :55:30.fact is, about the previous contract and we have discussed this

:55:30. > :55:34.in the House before, it was established by the last Government.

:55:34. > :55:38.We had to follow those instructions. That's why that contract had to be

:55:38. > :55:43.awarded elsewhere, but we looking to the future of the company and

:55:43. > :55:46.Derby and we want to make sure this is a bright future. Last week, the

:55:46. > :55:50.Prime Minister told the honourable member for South Derbyshire he

:55:50. > :55:54.would do everything he could to help Bomb yardier, but the British

:55:54. > :56:00.train building industry is hanging in the balance now, as a result of

:56:00. > :56:04.the plan to build trains in Germany, rather than in Derby. Can I ask the

:56:04. > :56:08.Prime Minister if he will meet me and a cross-party delegation from

:56:08. > :56:13.Derby to discuss how to review the contract and it is possible to

:56:13. > :56:18.review it, in order to secure the future of the industry and keep

:56:18. > :56:21.Bombardier in Britain? We want to keep it in Great Britain and the

:56:21. > :56:25.company working and that's why I've just said there is this new

:56:25. > :56:30.opportunity. This should be set in the context of the fact that we are

:56:30. > :56:35.putting a lot of investment into our rail industry. �14 billion into

:56:35. > :56:39.network grants for Network Rail. 3.8 billion for Crossrail. 750

:56:39. > :56:46.million for high-speed II. This is a Government that wants to do more

:56:46. > :56:50.for our railway industry and wants to do more more Bomb yard --

:56:50. > :56:53.bombardier were so badly left down. Campaigners on the right want to

:56:53. > :56:56.get rid of the 50 pence tax rate and those on the left want to

:56:57. > :57:00.juggle with VAT. Will the Prime Minister agree that the most fair

:57:00. > :57:02.way to maintain confidence in the economy is to stick to the

:57:02. > :57:08.Government's policies, but accelerate the process of raising

:57:08. > :57:12.the tax threshold to �10,000? have made and I'm grateful to my

:57:12. > :57:16.friend for thinks question, but we have raised the perm allowance

:57:16. > :57:19.significantly in our budgets and taken over one million people out

:57:19. > :57:23.of tax altogether and committed to going further. On that tax, we

:57:23. > :57:27.should look at the evidence of this. We are going to find out soon just

:57:27. > :57:33.how much money this tax is raising. Let's look at it and see whether

:57:33. > :57:38.it's a good way of raising money or not. Prime Minister, when the

:57:38. > :57:43.Croydon riots hit our borough on that terrible Monday night, there

:57:43. > :57:47.were, at most, 100 police officers on the streets, including some very

:57:47. > :57:51.young Community Support Officers, facing mobs, hundreds and hundreds

:57:51. > :57:56.strong. The result being that my borough was undefended, it was

:57:56. > :58:02.burnt, it was looted. Can I put it to the Prime Minister, not as a

:58:02. > :58:05.partisan point, but as a sensible point, that when the facts - when

:58:05. > :58:09.the criminal facts change in England, following the riots, a

:58:09. > :58:15.sensible Government would pause for thought and change its mind and the

:58:15. > :58:18.last thing it would do is reduce police numbers? Firstly, I came to

:58:18. > :58:21.visit Croydon and met with him and met with a number of people, who

:58:21. > :58:24.had seen some shocking things happen in that borough, that must

:58:24. > :58:27.not be allowed to happen again. Let me say to him, even after the

:58:27. > :58:32.changes we are making in police funding, the police will be able to

:58:32. > :58:37.surge in a way that they did in Croydon and did in Tottenham and in

:58:37. > :58:41.Manchester and in Salford. The problem on the night of the riots

:58:41. > :58:44.was that surge didn't take place soon enough. I think he's confusing

:58:45. > :58:48.the response to the riots in the immediate circumstances and what is

:58:48. > :58:51.happening to police funding. The police have assured me they will be

:58:51. > :58:59.able to deliver as many police on to the streets of London as they

:58:59. > :59:04.did when they got control of the riots. Following the question from

:59:04. > :59:09.the honourable member from Keighley, would the Prime Minister agree to

:59:09. > :59:13.meet other organisations to reassure their members that the

:59:13. > :59:17.proposed changes to the planning system don't represent a blank

:59:17. > :59:26.cheque? I'm very happy to meet anyone to discuss this. I know the

:59:26. > :59:29.National Trust have specifically met already with the planning

:59:29. > :59:34.minister and have had a lot of reassurances about what the

:59:34. > :59:37.planning changes mean. Let me a it again - because we'll have stronger,

:59:37. > :59:41.local plans, that gives local people a greater ability to decide

:59:41. > :59:44.what is in the local plan and what is out of the local plan. At the

:59:44. > :59:47.same time, having a presumption in favour of sustainable development

:59:47. > :59:52.will cut a lot of bureaucracy in the system. We are not changing the

:59:52. > :59:56.rules for greenbelt or ANOBs or special sites of scientific

:59:56. > :00:00.interest and all the rest. I do think people need to focus on that,

:00:00. > :00:04.because what we need to happen is sensible, sustainable development

:00:04. > :00:08.to go ahead, without the bureaucracy and topdown system, but

:00:08. > :00:11.with all the reassurances that people need. Last week the Prime

:00:11. > :00:15.Minister told this House that the number of young people not in

:00:15. > :00:18.education, employment or training was coming down. In actual fact the

:00:18. > :00:20.published figures show that over the last three quarters it has

:00:20. > :00:24.risen by 27,000. Would the Prime Minister like to take this

:00:24. > :00:29.opportunity to correct the record? I think he'll find what I actually

:00:29. > :00:33.said was that the number of 16-18- year-olds who are not in employment,

:00:33. > :00:37.education or training has come down. Indeed, they have come down and

:00:37. > :00:41.that is a step forward, but if you look at the overall number of youth

:00:41. > :00:45.unemployment it has gone up and that is unacceptable and that's why

:00:45. > :00:48.we need the work programme, we need the more apprenticeships and more

:00:48. > :00:55.university places and it's that, that this Government is putting its

:00:56. > :01:01.money into. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating all the

:01:01. > :01:06.winners in last night's women in public life awards, including the

:01:06. > :01:10.excellent Mary Mears in Brighton and Hove. I will certainly join my

:01:10. > :01:13.honourable friend in doing that and congratulating the winners. As I

:01:13. > :01:18.said to my honourable friend, the member nor Maidstone, I think we

:01:18. > :01:21.need to do more to promote women in public life, whether in politics or

:01:21. > :01:25.local Government. This party took some steps, I think frankly we

:01:25. > :01:28.still have more to do, because there are many organisations in our

:01:28. > :01:33.country where we don't have equality of opportunity, where we

:01:33. > :01:37.need to have that, and it's not enough just to open the door and

:01:37. > :01:43.say it's able to let everyone in. There are occasions when you need

:01:44. > :01:47.to take positive action in order to get this done. Now that the Prime

:01:47. > :01:51.Minister has committed himself fully to backing the boundary

:01:51. > :01:53.changes, which will reduce the number of MPs in this House, and

:01:53. > :01:56.ensure that Prime Minister's questions reflects the subject that

:01:56. > :02:00.has been most debated in the corridors of Westminster over the

:02:00. > :02:03.past number of days, will the Prime Minister now commit to delivering

:02:03. > :02:09.on the other pledge that he and his colleagues made, before the

:02:09. > :02:12.election, which was to deal with the scandal of people who are

:02:12. > :02:16.elected to this House who do not take their seats and continue to be

:02:17. > :02:21.paid millions of pounds in allowances, included the equivalent

:02:21. > :02:24.of short money, which they can use for party political purposes,

:02:24. > :02:30.whilst we have to use it for Parliamentary purposes. Please give

:02:30. > :02:34.us a vote to deal with that. Firstly, on the boundary review,

:02:34. > :02:37.what we are looking at here is trying to make sure a basic

:02:37. > :02:42.fairness, which is that every seat in the House of Commons should be

:02:42. > :02:47.the same size. Today, what we have, is you have got some seats that

:02:47. > :02:52.have as many as 90,000 voters and some seats, including some in Wales,

:02:52. > :02:55.that have as few as 40,000. How can that be fair? On the issue in terms

:02:56. > :03:03.of Northern Ireland and the issue he raises, I haven't changed my

:03:03. > :03:09.view and I think it's an issue that needs addressing. In Kenya last

:03:09. > :03:12.week the father of my constituent was killed and his mother was

:03:12. > :03:16.kidnapped and remains missing. What steps are the British Government

:03:16. > :03:20.taking to assist in the return of Mrs Tebbett and the apprehension of

:03:20. > :03:24.the murderers? We are doing everything we possibly can on this

:03:24. > :03:28.desperately tragic case. I chaired a meeting of cobra about this

:03:28. > :03:31.yesterday to make sure we are co- ordinating everything the

:03:31. > :03:35.Government does. The Foreign Secretary has met with the family

:03:35. > :03:39.today. I think on some of the cases it's not right to air all of the

:03:39. > :03:49.issues in public, but I can reassure him, the family and all

:03:49. > :04:03.

:04:03. > :04:07.that know the family, we'll do A prime minister was talking about

:04:07. > :04:14.a growth strategy, because growth is something he has that precious

:04:14. > :04:17.little of. We saw the parameters of what will dominate this autumn and

:04:17. > :04:22.into the conference season, the economy taking stage. We will hear

:04:22. > :04:27.from our guests in the moment. Concern about unemployment figures

:04:27. > :04:32.is reflected in about 90% of the e- mails. Diane Road, we do not want

:04:32. > :04:37.excuses, we want action to tackle unemployment, not more pain of

:04:37. > :04:43.tuition fees and austerity. Ian sex head, a winner for Ed Miliband,

:04:43. > :04:47.clear questions, a very funny crack at the Chancellor. I cannot imagine

:04:47. > :04:53.what he was referring to. David Cameron could not answer the

:04:53. > :04:57.question without referring to the last government. From Mark Allen, a

:04:58. > :05:02.definite win for Miliband, Cameron repeating questions and looking

:05:02. > :05:06.rattled. This is far more to win in Manchester, as ever, Mr Cameron

:05:06. > :05:10.chooses not to answer the questions about the economy and unemployment.

:05:10. > :05:15.People need a boost. But we had this also from John in Welwyn

:05:15. > :05:19.Garden City, Ed Miliband used his questions correctly for PMQs and

:05:19. > :05:23.was on a par with David Cameron, but Labour still have a problem

:05:23. > :05:28.arguing the economy because they have not pushed their alternative.

:05:28. > :05:31.This is from Trevor in Lancashire, discussing and employment, she and

:05:31. > :05:35.Mr Cameron have reminded Mr Miliband that if his party had not

:05:35. > :05:41.allowed net migration to rise to 200,000 per year, unemployment

:05:41. > :05:45.would not be as high as it is now? From Martin in Wolverhampton, David

:05:45. > :05:50.Miliband, Freudian slip, Ed Miliband has no credibility. The

:05:50. > :05:55.problem we have is a lack of productivity and wealth creation.

:05:55. > :06:01.The Chancellor lashed to the mast. An interesting turn of phrase.

:06:01. > :06:05.something to stare that! -- sniff at! Have we seen the parameters of

:06:05. > :06:09.the British political debate this autumn, the coalition on the back

:06:09. > :06:15.foot over the economy, because of the lack of growth and the huge

:06:15. > :06:19.squeeze on living standards? Labour on the offensive, now, because they

:06:19. > :06:24.see a big opportunity. As we also know from the poll in the Times

:06:24. > :06:28.this morning, the public is not yet convinced that Labour or Mr

:06:28. > :06:32.Miliband in particular knows what to do about the economy either. Is

:06:32. > :06:35.that what will dominate the conference season? Yes, we are in a

:06:35. > :06:39.holding position at the moment where you have the political mood

:06:39. > :06:42.and the public mood beginning to say, we buy the idea that the

:06:42. > :06:45.deficit needs to be reduced, but we are looking to see what more the

:06:45. > :06:51.government and everybody else can do to promote growth, find jobs.

:06:51. > :06:54.That is a question that Ed Miliband was asking of the government. It is

:06:54. > :06:58.a question that is being asked across government, which in

:06:58. > :07:02.government, by the city, everybody is saying, what more can you do? We

:07:02. > :07:06.had a speech from Nick Clegg having half a crack at it. The government

:07:06. > :07:10.is promising more. Nick Clegg was talking about what he had set up,

:07:10. > :07:13.and we are going to hear more from David Cameron at the party

:07:13. > :07:19.conference, or from George Osborne at the Autumn Statement. 29th

:07:19. > :07:22.November. Can the government get through this period and come up

:07:22. > :07:26.with something? We heard David Cannon at Prime Minister's

:07:26. > :07:30.Questions repeating his list, cutting corporation tax, etcetera

:07:30. > :07:34.etcetera. -- David Cameron. But the government is clearly aware that

:07:34. > :07:40.that list is a holding pattern and they have to do more. If there is a

:07:40. > :07:46.plan for growth, or at least if plans are taking centre-stage, she

:07:46. > :07:50.endured apartments come in Malta that? -- shouldn't your department

:07:50. > :07:54.come in more to that? I was looking at the figures, there are 330

:07:54. > :07:57.houses with planning permission, but they are not being built.

:07:57. > :08:00.think the figure is smaller, but any house which has planning

:08:00. > :08:06.permission at not being built needs to be got going, and we are looking

:08:06. > :08:10.at ways to manoeuvre or put pressure on housebuilders to start

:08:10. > :08:15.building. Shouldn't it be time- limited, if you get planning

:08:15. > :08:18.permission? That is my... That is one possibility, but let me also

:08:18. > :08:22.said that half of the house builders are very small businesses.

:08:22. > :08:26.If you force them to build when they cannot, you send more

:08:26. > :08:29.businesses bust and make more people unemployed. Government is

:08:29. > :08:35.complex, they are inter-related facts, but the unemployment figures

:08:36. > :08:39.today were not what you would want to say. For everybody who has been

:08:39. > :08:42.experiencing that, you know, along with the MPs who have been

:08:42. > :08:47.experiencing the thought of it, it is a difficult process. The

:08:47. > :08:52.difference is, which was not mentioned there, is that

:08:52. > :08:56.unemployment is below where it was 18 months ago at the election. Are

:08:56. > :09:00.they million private-sector jobs have been created. There is, I

:09:00. > :09:05.think, just a glimpse of the idea that if you can create sufficient

:09:05. > :09:08.dynamism in the economy, then there is a way through this, and adding

:09:08. > :09:15.to the debt, spending more public money is the opposite to that. That

:09:15. > :09:20.is the way to get into more mess and higher repayments. There are

:09:20. > :09:24.750,000 long-term empty properties in Britain. I can tell you exactly,

:09:24. > :09:28.we have put �100 million into a fund to make announcements any day

:09:28. > :09:32.now about how we expect that to be spent by local communities to help

:09:32. > :09:36.bring those homes back into use. Some homes are empty because people

:09:36. > :09:41.are moving around and that sort of thing, so the true figure is lower,

:09:41. > :09:46.but I absolutely back that 100%. Either way, putting 2.5 billion

:09:46. > :09:51.into the decent homes programmed which Tessa was mentioning earlier.

:09:51. > :09:57.We are keen to see that fish, and that makes homes more habitable as

:09:57. > :10:00.well. -- See that finished. Why do you think so many Labour voters do

:10:00. > :10:07.not think Ed Miliband is prime ministerial material? I think that

:10:07. > :10:11.is changing, and I think that... I think that what Ed is doing, and

:10:11. > :10:16.over the last six months, he is developing an account of Britain

:10:16. > :10:20.from which policy flows, from which position as for the Labour Party,

:10:20. > :10:24.focusing on the pressure for families that do not consider

:10:24. > :10:29.themselves to be rich, do not consider themselves to be poor, the

:10:29. > :10:35.pessimism about the prospects that people feel, about their own

:10:35. > :10:41.children. But also recognising, in very tough terms, the need to

:10:41. > :10:43.address the deficit. When will that be reflected in public opinion? The

:10:43. > :10:49.poll in the Times this morning is disastrous reading for him, among

:10:49. > :10:53.his own supporters. Andrew, it is not disastrous. 40% of Labour

:10:53. > :10:59.voters do not think he is prime ministerial material. Labour

:10:59. > :11:03.voters! I hope that I will come back many times over the next three

:11:03. > :11:07.years and you will say that position changed. Absolutely

:11:08. > :11:11.clearly. Now, there is a second point I wanted to make, having

:11:11. > :11:17.answered that question, which is that you know a Prime Minister is

:11:17. > :11:22.on the ropes when they start reeling off lists, but what David

:11:22. > :11:26.Cameron has got to think about... He was truly terrible today, and he

:11:26. > :11:32.is actually a pretty slick and self-confident PMQs performer, but

:11:32. > :11:37.the other story today is how the Conservatives have been deserted by

:11:37. > :11:42.women voters. And there is a very important point here. I mean, I am

:11:42. > :11:47.doing a speech at the launch of some research we have done on the

:11:47. > :11:50.modern British family later today with Britain Thinks. You know,

:11:50. > :11:56.having set in a number of these focus groups, are what these

:11:56. > :12:03.mothers are playing back is what Ed Miliband is talking about. Now, the

:12:03. > :12:08.Tories, we know, are very worried about the decision of women, and

:12:08. > :12:12.David Cameron's performance to date did absolutely nothing, scoffing at

:12:12. > :12:18.the cost of childcare, which is the means by which women are able to

:12:18. > :12:23.work and make their family afford everything they need. What was

:12:23. > :12:27.that? Don't go on? I didn't say anything, but she is not to turn it

:12:27. > :12:33.into a monologue! James, the one thing that was not mentioned at all

:12:33. > :12:37.at PMQs, and it is the dark cloud hanging over us all at the moment,

:12:37. > :12:43.is the eurozone crisis, which could be heading towards the end game now.

:12:43. > :12:46.That is the other issue which could hang over the way the crash of

:12:46. > :12:50.Lehman Brothers did over the party conference season. That is the

:12:50. > :12:55.other thing. I saw Bloomberg reporting yesterday that there is

:12:55. > :12:59.now a 98% expectation that the Greeks will default. And you have

:12:59. > :13:03.got Chancellor Merkel pleading with them, saying, don't even raised the

:13:03. > :13:06.issue, don't speculate about it, to try to calm the markets. This is

:13:06. > :13:10.the cloud hanging over the government at the moment, because

:13:10. > :13:13.if that goes as badly as the worst case scenarios are, that would

:13:13. > :13:17.force the government to change all its parameters. At the moment,

:13:17. > :13:22.there is a debate about finding growth and what the government can

:13:22. > :13:25.do, but if the eurozone goes down and you have another 2008 Mark Two,

:13:25. > :13:29.then all the parameters change, and the government at the moment are

:13:29. > :13:35.trying to plan ahead, see if they can foresee how they could get out

:13:35. > :13:41.of that. The EC and the worry is genuinely there, but at the moment

:13:42. > :13:46.they say, what can we do? -- but the fear and the worry. Apart from

:13:46. > :13:51.George Osborne try to encourage fiscal unity. As long as he is not

:13:51. > :13:54.part of it. Thank you for that, James. Watch this space over the

:13:54. > :13:58.weekend. Over the past few weeks, thousands

:13:58. > :14:01.of us were last seen him and we pay for our gas and electricity entries.

:14:01. > :14:04.Most of the big energy companies have put prices up, but did you

:14:04. > :14:07.know that you are also paying for many of the Government's green

:14:07. > :14:10.initiatives through your energy bills? We sent Matthew Sinclair of

:14:11. > :14:15.the TaxPayers' Alliance and the author of a new book on green taxes

:14:15. > :14:25.are a former power station to give us his take on a rising energy

:14:25. > :14:28.

:14:28. > :14:32.When you open your electricity and gas bill, are you aware of just how

:14:32. > :14:36.much of that cast is the result of attempts to cut greenhouse gas

:14:36. > :14:40.emissions? Are you prepared, can you afford the drastic rises in

:14:40. > :14:43.prices that are coming as a result of draconian climate change

:14:43. > :14:48.regulation? To meet our environmental targets, we need to

:14:48. > :14:53.invest more in the energy sector than Germany, France and Spain put

:14:53. > :14:56.together. Aim for all that investment means higher profits for

:14:56. > :15:03.the energy companies. -- paying. Paying for higher profits means

:15:03. > :15:06.higher bills. �200 billion just does not come cheap. Independent

:15:07. > :15:13.analysts think the huge investment needed in the energy sector is

:15:13. > :15:17.going to drive a more than 50% rise in real terms in deal of your

:15:17. > :15:22.household bills. Even if we use energy more efficiently, we are

:15:22. > :15:25.still looking at more than a third increase in our bills, and we have

:15:26. > :15:30.to pay for the extra insulation it takes to be more a vision. Despite

:15:30. > :15:34.the huge cost, this enormous that of does very little to affect

:15:34. > :15:39.global warming. Our paltry share of global emissions, less than 2% of

:15:39. > :15:43.the total, is almost meaningless, particularly if we are just

:15:43. > :15:47.exporting those emissions, moving their missions and jobs from

:15:47. > :15:51.Runcorn to Ryan Donk does not aim for the climate. Politicians make

:15:51. > :15:55.all these measures less cost- effective by picking losers. The

:15:55. > :16:00.most expected sources of income like solar panels debt by far the

:16:00. > :16:04.most subsidy. It would be more sensible to focus on research for

:16:04. > :16:09.now and then deploy these new sources of energy when they are

:16:09. > :16:14.affordable. Big businesses make billions in windfall profits.

:16:14. > :16:18.Governments levy hefty green taxes. It is consumers who pay the price.

:16:18. > :16:21.The people who will be hit the hardest of the poor and the elderly.

:16:21. > :16:27.They are the most vulnerable families in Britain, and it is

:16:27. > :16:30.simply wrong for politicians do and then the bill for this expensive,

:16:30. > :16:35.corrupted and failing agenda. Particularly at a time when there

:16:35. > :16:45.are so many other pressures on their finances. They cannot afford

:16:45. > :16:51.

:16:51. > :16:55.Matthew now joins us. The point you made is that we need to focus on

:16:55. > :16:59.research before we actually adopt the forms, but with predictions

:17:00. > :17:03.that the light may go off soon, isn't it crucial we look now and

:17:03. > :17:07.that we use them rather than wasting more time on research?

:17:07. > :17:11.should be separating out two challenges. One of keeping the

:17:11. > :17:14.light on and then cutting emissions. Keeping the light on doesn't have

:17:14. > :17:17.to necessity any of the big costs which talking about here. The

:17:17. > :17:21.amount that needs to be invested in repolice station pts and renewal in

:17:21. > :17:29.the reports I was talking about there, is much less than the amount

:17:29. > :17:35.needed to meet targets. Offshore wind that is costing all the money

:17:35. > :17:41.there. I was trying to set out a plan that looks as more at how we

:17:41. > :17:44.can develop new options and make clean energy cheaper, rather than

:17:44. > :17:49.making dirty energy more expensive. Even if we are willing to pay more,

:17:49. > :17:53.other countries aren't. Saying we need everyone to take up the more

:17:53. > :18:00.expensive sources is vanity that doesn't get us anywhere, because we

:18:00. > :18:05.are less than 2% of the global total. In terms of the viewers and

:18:05. > :18:10.the e-mails about the costs, would it be better from the punters'

:18:10. > :18:14.point of view if it was made clear what percentages are going towards

:18:14. > :18:17.green taxes? Would you be in favour of more transparency on people's

:18:18. > :18:25.bills? I think that would be great, because people don't know. How many

:18:25. > :18:29.people could even tell you the European Union emissions. All the

:18:29. > :18:32.policies have never really been debated. There has never been the

:18:32. > :18:37.contentious debate as in Australia and the United States and Canada

:18:37. > :18:41.and as a result that means people are not aware. They rate it as the

:18:41. > :18:45.most important economic issue, more important than the eurozone, than

:18:45. > :18:48.any other. Even so if we researched in some of the other forms and you

:18:48. > :18:52.put more transparency on the bill so people could see how much was

:18:52. > :18:55.going towards that, you have to accept that over the years not

:18:55. > :19:00.enough has been invested into our energy supply so we are all having

:19:00. > :19:04.to pay for it now and we have to get on with it? It's a fiction to

:19:04. > :19:08.say that Britain's energy sector isn't fit for purpose. It's only -

:19:08. > :19:13.Enough has been invested? It's only not fit for purpose if you have the

:19:13. > :19:17.idea that we need to generate more energy by 2020 in renewables. What

:19:17. > :19:21.Britain did was invested a huge amount in gas and there is a

:19:21. > :19:26.relatively affordable - we can all find the problems, but we had a

:19:26. > :19:31.relatively affordable way forward in the dash for gas that happened

:19:31. > :19:38.and a relatively low emissions way forward. We stand out as being low

:19:38. > :19:42.renewables and it's the word that is driving up the huge costs.

:19:42. > :19:47.you a climate change sceptic? think it's real and I think that

:19:47. > :19:51.man makes a contribution to it. I'm no scientist but I'm willing to

:19:51. > :19:54.debate on that basis. The problem is the cost and failure of the

:19:54. > :19:58.policies. On the cost issue, Grant Shapps, Matthew has outlined it's

:19:58. > :20:04.the number one issue, does that surprise you? That is what people

:20:04. > :20:07.are most worried about? It doesn't surprise me at all. I have to take

:20:07. > :20:13.issue with one or two of the ideas raised. Solar power, for example,

:20:13. > :20:19.even without the Government's subsidy, the feed tariff, is a win

:20:19. > :20:23.for hundreds of my constituents who have got solar panels on their roof.

:20:23. > :20:29.There has been a scheme that every single council house has got the

:20:29. > :20:34.offer and people have taken it up and it's giving them money off

:20:34. > :20:40.every year. What about the tariff, which is an incredible amount

:20:40. > :20:43.compared to the price of the energy and the other subsidies.? We know

:20:43. > :20:47.that it only saves at the high level to get the industry kick-

:20:47. > :20:50.started and it will come down in future years. Up until next April

:20:50. > :20:57.is the best time if you are thinking of putting cells on the

:20:57. > :21:01.roof. The point is this - houses account for 27% of all the Co2 and

:21:01. > :21:05.buildings is 50%. So unless you grapple with the problems of

:21:05. > :21:08.climate change, but by the way, will be here longer than the

:21:08. > :21:13.economic problems now. Do you accept that basically people's

:21:13. > :21:16.bills are going to go up something like �300 a year, the average bill,

:21:16. > :21:20.as a result of the Government's green energy policies? No, I don't

:21:20. > :21:24.think that is right. According to one of the senior policy advisers

:21:24. > :21:28.to David Cameron, he says that is what is going to happen in a leaked

:21:28. > :21:34.memo. I can always take a line out of those. He goes on to say, "The

:21:34. > :21:38.policies are set to add �300 a year to the average household fuel

:21:38. > :21:42.bill." Put them together. We have heard there is a generous feed-in

:21:43. > :21:46.tariff available for solar and quite generous for others like

:21:46. > :21:52.heating on the roof also. If you put the two things together, I've

:21:52. > :21:56.just said it's possible my constituents are experiencing �200

:21:56. > :22:00.year improximity by going for solar. You can offset the rises. That's

:22:00. > :22:04.all right for some. It's not all right for the most vulnerable

:22:04. > :22:09.families who will be hit. talking about my council tenants,

:22:09. > :22:13.who have had the scheme done through third parties. They are

:22:13. > :22:16.fitting the panels and letting the householders get the money for it.

:22:16. > :22:21.Everybody else is paying for that and they don't necessarily want to.

:22:21. > :22:25.That is the point. They want to see how much is added on to my bill to

:22:25. > :22:30.pay for your council tenants' benefits of having that energy and

:22:30. > :22:33.they don't want to pay up to �300 a year. No-one wants to pay more

:22:33. > :22:37.money. You agree that others around the country are paying for that?

:22:37. > :22:41.have to get to a position in the country where we decarbonise the

:22:41. > :22:44.energy supply and you can only do that by taxing the really dirty

:22:44. > :22:48.things and giving advantage to the things that are really clean like

:22:49. > :22:55.solar. It's perfectly sensible and people can mitigate some of the

:22:55. > :22:58.rises by very inexperiencive things like a �15 metre on your window

:22:59. > :23:03.sill to be clear whether you have left things switched on and I think

:23:03. > :23:06.those could be practical and help people. Briefly, Tessa, isn't the

:23:06. > :23:11.problem and the challenge over the next 20 years we'll have a decline

:23:11. > :23:17.in our own gas supply and what will we do? That has to be addressed. I

:23:17. > :23:20.think that Matthew - We can't do both, can we? No, but what we have

:23:20. > :23:23.to address now and people watching at home are thinking not about what

:23:23. > :23:26.is going to happen in 20 years, but how they'll pay the bill that will

:23:26. > :23:33.come through the door at the end of this month. There are six million

:23:33. > :23:42.people in this country who are in fuel poverty. Regrettably the

:23:42. > :23:50.Government are winding up under the legislation Consumer Focus which

:23:50. > :23:53.represents consumer interests in relation to the fuel companies.

:23:53. > :23:56.whole debate here is largely meaningless. Neither Consumer Focus

:23:56. > :24:01.nor the green deal are going to make a big difference to the

:24:01. > :24:06.majority of consumers who will see mass jif upgrades in their bills

:24:06. > :24:10.and -- massive upgrades in their bills and that can't be offset.

:24:10. > :24:17.There will be a third increase. I'll have to stop you there. How

:24:17. > :24:25.many of you are old enough to remember this?

:24:25. > :24:31.# English beef and Irish stu # For every meal, we know of course,

:24:31. > :24:37.everything goes with HP Sauce ...." "$$TRANSMIT This traditional

:24:37. > :24:40.British sauce was named HP, after the inventor who was a

:24:40. > :24:44.Nottinghamshire grocer heard it was being served in the Houses of

:24:44. > :24:48.Parliament. It was said to be a favourite of Harold Wilson's when

:24:48. > :24:51.he wanted to be thought of as a man of the people and questions were

:24:51. > :24:58.asked in Parliament when production was re-located from Birmingham to

:24:58. > :25:03.the Netherlands. The Netherlands?! That was a few years ago. Now, it's

:25:03. > :25:08.US owners have -- its US owners have caused fresh controversy by

:25:08. > :25:12.tinkering with the restcy. It is still made from tomatos and

:25:12. > :25:18.tamarind and molasses, but the amount of salt has been cut, in

:25:18. > :25:23.line with Government targets. It's good to see the deregulation agenda

:25:23. > :25:28.is going strong! We are joined by Geoffrey Robinson. He's a fan of

:25:28. > :25:32.the sauce. Many of us are. One of the Midlands MPs who campaigned to

:25:32. > :25:36.keep production in the UK joins us, when it was going to Holland, and

:25:36. > :25:46.it is now owned by the Yanks, but we need to test it ourselves, so

:25:46. > :25:48.

:25:48. > :25:52.John come on in. This is from the executive dining room. We'll remind

:25:52. > :25:58.ourselves of the taste of the original sauce. Right, now. Let me

:25:58. > :26:02.just check this out here. Come on, Jo, get stuck in. I've been looking

:26:02. > :26:12.forward to this. This is the new stuff. I need to get the original

:26:12. > :26:13.

:26:13. > :26:18.first. Can I have one? Of course you can. I need one there. The old

:26:18. > :26:23.stuff, definitely better! It's spicier, I think. While we are

:26:23. > :26:29.tasting all this and you all have to try this. This is an important

:26:29. > :26:35.consumer test. We did give a chance for the owners to speak. The owners

:26:35. > :26:39.are now Heinz of the 57 varieties, to defend themselves and they said

:26:39. > :26:44.this: this very minor change to our famous recipe was made in November

:26:44. > :26:49.last year and rigorous consumer tests confirmed there was no

:26:49. > :26:52.significant difference in flavour between the old and the new recipes.

:26:52. > :26:57.Can you taste the difference? you for that, Heinz. There went the

:26:57. > :27:01.way of coke, I would like to remind you. What is the story here? It's a

:27:01. > :27:06.very sad one. I think the reduction of salt is just silly. We are all

:27:06. > :27:10.in favour of that, but to take it out of a recipe which is long-

:27:10. > :27:20.established and written there. remember the bottle used to have

:27:20. > :27:22.

:27:22. > :27:26.the labels in French. It was great. They are now in Birmingham mews

:27:26. > :27:30.seem and the whole country is becoming an archaeological

:27:30. > :27:36.industrial site instead of industry, but there is a serious issue, apart

:27:36. > :27:41.from the salt, ownership of British assets and the subsequent move

:27:41. > :27:47.abroad. This is the nanny state gone mad, Tessa. I can see the

:27:47. > :27:54.Daily Mail headline now! You have ten seconds to defend yourself.

:27:54. > :28:04.not continue to sell both and mark one quote low salt.". There is a

:28:04. > :28:05.

:28:05. > :28:08.difference. I don't know whether I can tell it is less salt. It's

:28:08. > :28:14.silly. It's consumed in small quantities. I'm hungry enough this

:28:15. > :28:19.lunch time to eat either. It may enhance the flavour of soups and

:28:19. > :28:23.stews and hash browns. They called it Wilson's gravy for a while.

:28:23. > :28:28.have to move on, but we have put it back on the map and it's time to

:28:28. > :28:34.put you out of your misery. Ronald Reagan going for the Republican

:28:34. > :28:42.nomination was the clue. The answer was of course, 1979. Even though

:28:42. > :28:45.Martin mentioned that 1980 date. You have to pick a winner. The

:28:45. > :28:50.winner is Richard Scott from Dunstable. Richard, the mug is

:28:50. > :28:54.yours. That's it for today. We thank all of your guests. We praise

:28:54. > :28:59.HP. Special thanks to Grant and Tessa for being our guests. We are