12/10/2011

:00:27. > :00:31.Good morning folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics. Coling up in the

:00:31. > :00:35.next -- coming up in the next 90 minutes, more questions for Liam

:00:35. > :00:39.Fox about his personal life and the role of his friend, Adam Werritty.

:00:40. > :00:45.Can the Defence Secretary survive this drip, drip, drip of

:00:45. > :00:49.allegations? young people who are feeling the

:00:49. > :00:52.brunt. We will look at why the so- called baby busters face an

:00:52. > :00:58.uncertain future. The Human Rights Act is a threat to

:00:58. > :01:01.the British way of life. But is it all a bit afcat flap?

:01:01. > :01:04.-- of a cat flap. And have you ever one of these

:01:04. > :01:08.through the post? Well, the Government could be making it

:01:08. > :01:15.easier for private parking operators to fin you. We will --

:01:15. > :01:18.fine you. We will ask the Transport Why indeed? It is the question of

:01:18. > :01:24.the day. Coming soon!

:01:24. > :01:27.Coming up in the next 90 minutes, with us for the duration, the newly

:01:27. > :01:32.appointed Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham and arriving at high-

:01:32. > :01:41.speed in his electric car, he is on time for one, the Transport

:01:41. > :01:51.Secretary, Philip Hammond. Papers are full of the details of

:01:51. > :01:55.Adam Werritty. The stories focus on the nature of Mr Mr Werritty's role

:01:55. > :02:01.and he accompanied the minister on trips.

:02:01. > :02:06.There are claims in the Sun newspaper that Conservative

:02:06. > :02:10.spokesman misled journalists about the details of a break break-in at

:02:10. > :02:14.Liam Fox's London flat. At the time it was reported from Fox was alone

:02:14. > :02:18.when it was broken into. It emerges now and has been confirmed by Mr

:02:18. > :02:22.Fox himself today that he had a male friend staying in his spare

:02:22. > :02:25.room that evening. He denies it was Adam Werritty and he rejects any

:02:25. > :02:29.suggestion that he sought to mislead the police about the

:02:29. > :02:36.incident. Reporters caught up with him as he left London for a meeting

:02:36. > :02:39.in Paris this morning. REPORTER: Should you resign?

:02:39. > :02:42.should carry on doing the job that I'm meant to do, the job I'm

:02:42. > :02:48.capable of doing. REPORTER: Don't the people deserve

:02:48. > :02:58.answers to questions, Dr Fox? That's why we have an inquiry set-

:02:58. > :03:02.

:03:02. > :03:07.Dr Fox, how was Adam Werritty paid? Dr Fox this morning. Philip Hammond,

:03:07. > :03:12.who was funding Adam Werritty? don't know. I've read the same

:03:12. > :03:15.speculation in the Press that you have done, but the Cabinet

:03:15. > :03:18.Secretary is conducting an inquiry. The Prime Minister made it clear he

:03:18. > :03:22.wants to know the facts and that inquiry will deliver him those

:03:22. > :03:26.facts. Do we have the right to know who

:03:26. > :03:31.was funding Mr Werritty? I think given the circumstances, we do need

:03:31. > :03:34.to understand exactly what was happening, exactly how Mr Werritty

:03:35. > :03:39.was funding his lifestyle and his trips and I'm sure that that will

:03:39. > :03:46.come out in the course of the work that the Cabinet Secretary is doing.

:03:46. > :03:50.And if he refuses to do so, is that not fatal for Dr Fox?

:03:50. > :03:54.You're speculating here. My understanding is that Liam Fox and

:03:54. > :03:57.Adam Werritty are collaborating fully with the inquiry that the

:03:58. > :04:02.Permanent Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary... That's not my

:04:02. > :04:07.understanding, Mr Hammond. I had spoken to someone who had spoken to

:04:07. > :04:11.Mr Werritty as you know. He hasn't spoken himself, but I spoke to

:04:11. > :04:16.someone last night and he made it clear to him he would not give the

:04:16. > :04:21.names of those private individuals who have been funding him. Well,

:04:21. > :04:24.look we're speculating now. No, no, that's not speculation.

:04:24. > :04:27.We're speculating as to what is or isn't going to be disclosed in the

:04:27. > :04:34.course of this investigation. Let me put it to you again. If the

:04:34. > :04:37.information about who is funding Mr Werritty is not given by him, if he

:04:37. > :04:42.refuses, is that fatal? Well, the Cabinet Secretary will make his

:04:42. > :04:47.report. If his report indicates to the Prime Minister that important

:04:47. > :04:50.pieces of information have been withheld, that will be a factor

:04:50. > :04:53.that the Prime Minister will weigh- in making his decision.

:04:53. > :04:56.Do you accept that someone who seems to be travelling around the

:04:56. > :05:02.world with the Defence Secretary, who has constant access to the

:05:02. > :05:07.Defence Secretary in his office here, who fixes up meetings for the

:05:07. > :05:10.Defence Secretary, we have a right, do we not, in a democracy to know

:05:10. > :05:14.who is bankrolling that individual. It maybe innocent. It may not be,

:05:14. > :05:19.but the principle is we have a right, agreed? Well, Adam Werritty

:05:20. > :05:24.clearly is a friend of Liam Fox. He met up with Liam Fox when he has

:05:24. > :05:26.been abroad on official missions. I don't think it is right to say he

:05:26. > :05:31.travelled with him. He met up with him.

:05:31. > :05:35.On 18 occasions? He met up with him. He might not have been on the same

:05:35. > :05:39.plane, but he must know where he is going.

:05:39. > :05:44.He travelled separately to a destination and clearly, one of the

:05:44. > :05:47.questions of legitimate public interest is how Adam Werritty's

:05:47. > :05:52.business affairs work and whether they are in anyway linked to what

:05:52. > :05:56.Dr Fox does and Dr Fox was very clear about this in his statement

:05:56. > :06:01.in the House of Commons yesterday. Well, he wasn't clear. When asked

:06:01. > :06:07.about the finances was that Mr Werritty was quote "not dependant

:06:07. > :06:14.on any transactional behaviour to maintain his income." What does

:06:14. > :06:18.that mean in English? He was not benefiting financially from any of

:06:18. > :06:26.these meetings. I would understand it as he wasn't being paid per job,

:06:26. > :06:30.but he could have been on a retainer? As opposed to a

:06:30. > :06:33.transactional piece of income? Andrew, you are trying to second-

:06:33. > :06:35.guess the questions that I'm quite sure the Cabinet Secretary will be

:06:35. > :06:39.asking and will be reporting to the Prime Minister on. These are the

:06:39. > :06:43.things that he will be wanting to get to the bottom of. Liam Fox has

:06:43. > :06:48.admitted that he has made mistakes in allowing his personal

:06:48. > :06:52.relationship to get too close to his professional duties. The

:06:52. > :06:56.Cabinet Secretary has to confirm to the Prime Minister that there has

:06:56. > :07:00.been no impropriety. You say that Liam Fox has been open

:07:00. > :07:07.and honest, but the BBC put 17 questions to the Defence Secretary

:07:07. > :07:11.such as if Mr Werritty isn't and never has been an adviser, why was

:07:11. > :07:16.it necessary for him to sit in on political meetings abroad, such as

:07:16. > :07:21.Washington, May, 2011. No answer. Well, I suspect... Does he have to

:07:21. > :07:26.answer that? I don't think he has to answer it to the BBC. The

:07:26. > :07:29.questions have to be answered in the context of the inquiry that the

:07:29. > :07:32.Cabinet Secretary is answering. I don't think anybody has to subject

:07:32. > :07:38.themselves to trial by media when there is a process being conducted

:07:38. > :07:41.by the highest civil servant in the land who whose integrity and

:07:41. > :07:45.determination to get to the facts is unimpeachable.

:07:45. > :07:49.The ministerial rule book says it shouldn't be the Cabinet Secretary

:07:49. > :07:55.doing that investigation? Well, the Labour Party called for Sir Gus

:07:55. > :08:03.O'Donnell to investigate. The Prime Minister has asked Sir Gusto donl -

:08:03. > :08:07.- Sir Gus O'Donnell to investigate. Why you call for Sir Gus O'Donnell

:08:07. > :08:12.to investigate? I don't know. That's Jim Murphy would have to

:08:12. > :08:16.confirm that. Is Dr Fox hanging by his

:08:16. > :08:19.fingernails? I think he is. I don't take any great delight in saying

:08:19. > :08:23.that, but I think he is. A day after, tw days after making a

:08:23. > :08:26.statement in the Commons in you are still the centre of the storm, it

:08:26. > :08:30.it starts to look difficult, indeed. There is just so many unanswered

:08:30. > :08:33.questions here. At the beginning Liam Fox said these were wild and

:08:33. > :08:35.baseless allegation. Well, clearly they weren't.

:08:35. > :08:39.He has not dealt straight from the outset.

:08:39. > :08:43.Mr Werritty will not tell us, the British people, through the Cabinet

:08:43. > :08:47.second, or the -- Cabinet Secretary or the BBC or hover, where his

:08:48. > :08:52.money comes from, isn't that fatal for the Defence Secretary? It has

:08:52. > :08:55.got to be in the public domain. We have got to have a clear answer

:08:55. > :08:57.about whether Mr Werritty profited from the meetings. We have to have

:08:57. > :09:00.an answer to that question in clear terms.

:09:01. > :09:04.We have to have an answer to that question. We clearly need, the

:09:04. > :09:07.Cabinet Secretary to confirm ta Mr Werritty -- that Mr Werritty did

:09:07. > :09:13.not profit from the meetings. That's clear. The sources of his

:09:13. > :09:16.private income are not necessarily something that need to be...

:09:16. > :09:20.can you tell he profited unless you know the source of his income?

:09:20. > :09:23.Cabinet Secretary will need to know. He is attending 18 meetings around

:09:23. > :09:28.the world, this is his business life was being involved in all this.

:09:28. > :09:35.So clearly all of his private income income needs to be looked at.

:09:35. > :09:39.We are speculate, but the Cabinet Secretary is a man of unimpeepable

:09:39. > :09:44.integ gretty. It he comes to the conclusion there has been no ip

:09:45. > :09:48.prop try tee, -- impropriety, I hope the Labour Party accept that.

:09:48. > :09:51.But it will be the Prime Minister's's decision in the end.

:09:51. > :09:54.Government ministers are warning that its shake-up of the NHS in

:09:54. > :10:01.England could be killed off if members of the House of Lords get

:10:01. > :10:05.their way this afternoon. Peers including Lord Owen, Lord Owen who

:10:05. > :10:08.we spoke to yesterday tabled an amendment which would refer

:10:08. > :10:12.discussion of one part of the Bill to a committee, a move which the

:10:12. > :10:16.Government says puts the Bill at risk. Now we have the new Shadow

:10:16. > :10:20.Health Secretary here. Have they brought you back in to save the

:10:20. > :10:23.NHS? Well, I will do my best. But it is in peril. The NHS is in the

:10:23. > :10:29.danger zone because of the decisions this Government has taken.

:10:29. > :10:32.The great... But... The great mistake that Mr Cameron made was

:10:32. > :10:35.allowing his Health Secretary to dig in with this unwanted and

:10:35. > :10:38.dangerous reform when in fact the Health Service needed to be getting

:10:38. > :10:41.on with the big big challenge it faces which is the financial

:10:41. > :10:44.financial challenge. The combination of the financial

:10:44. > :10:49.challenge with this reo means they plunge the NHS into chaos.

:10:49. > :10:52.Well, you say that, except now, it is the case that Labour would back

:10:52. > :10:56.GP commissioning if the Government drops its Bill is that right?

:10:56. > :11:01.came into the job at the weekend and I wanted to move things on. I

:11:01. > :11:06.wanted to make a genuine offer to Mr Lancely. When we were in the

:11:06. > :11:11.Government, we wanted a greater role for clinicians. We had a

:11:11. > :11:16.programme called Practise Based Commissioning. It was going to be

:11:16. > :11:19.the hallmark of our next stage of reforms that we had clinicians for

:11:19. > :11:23.involved. I have no objection to the principle. What I object to is

:11:24. > :11:28.this Bill which goes way beyond that principle.

:11:28. > :11:32.OK... And drives a coach and horses through the National Health Service.

:11:32. > :11:37.The GP commissioning was very much the centrepiece of the reform and

:11:37. > :11:41.now you're saying you back that centre piece of that reform so

:11:41. > :11:45.you've changed the position. It was called an unnecessary top, down

:11:45. > :11:48.reorganisation by Labour. Now you're saying as an offer, you're

:11:48. > :11:51.going to back GP commissioning if the Government drops its Bill. You

:11:52. > :11:55.back the reform? It is a constructive and genuine offer. Mr

:11:55. > :11:59.Lansley is in a difficult position. He can't get his Bill through

:11:59. > :12:02.Parliament. I came into the job at the weekend and I said, "The best

:12:02. > :12:07.thing you could do for the NHS, if we were to put the NHS first, the

:12:07. > :12:11.best thing to do is to drop the Bill altogether." And that's what

:12:11. > :12:19.Labour peers will vote for today, but we don't want to plunge the NHS

:12:19. > :12:22.into an abyss. Which it would. W-we will work with them to establish

:12:22. > :12:25.GP-led comirking. -- commissioning. It was something I could have

:12:25. > :12:28.supported when I was Health Secretary. What I am amazed by is

:12:28. > :12:33.the reply I've had. I put the offer on the table and the offer still

:12:33. > :12:37.stands. The Health Secretary has written back with a petulant rant...

:12:37. > :12:43.Tell us what it said? It is unbelievable.

:12:43. > :12:47.It said no, basically? He goes into a complete political rant. Given

:12:47. > :12:51.where we are, you know, surely now people want to see politicians

:12:51. > :12:56.working together for the good of the NHS. To have the the Health

:12:56. > :12:59.Secretary so dug in this this way, so oblivious to what people are

:12:59. > :13:03.saying, I can only take from this letter that he sent to me that the

:13:04. > :13:08.man has lost the plot. Hang on Andy Burnham, you say he lost the plot,

:13:08. > :13:13.but you are asking him to drop it which would plunge the NHS into

:13:13. > :13:16.chaos? No, no, because GP-led commissioning can be implemented

:13:16. > :13:19.through the current legal structure in the National Health Service. It

:13:19. > :13:23.is quite possible, indeed it would be better for the NHS because you

:13:23. > :13:26.could have it in place within weeks and you would make savings. You

:13:26. > :13:30.would not have all the unnecessary costs of this reorganisation. That

:13:30. > :13:35.is the offer. Mr Lansley should should accept it.

:13:35. > :13:39.Andy Burnham is right, there has been this ruse that if the peers

:13:39. > :13:43.don't go with the Government today, that it will kill off the Bill. It

:13:43. > :13:49.won't kill off the Bill at all? would create a delay that would be

:13:49. > :13:55.fatal. No, it wouldn't. No, it wouldn't,

:13:56. > :14:00.Philip Hammond. Lord Owen said extra scrutiny of the Bill would be

:14:00. > :14:03.done by December, plenty of time for it to complete its

:14:03. > :14:07.Parliamentary passage. understanding from discussions I

:14:07. > :14:11.had with the business managers in the House of Lords this would be

:14:11. > :14:15.fatal to the Bill. It is a Parliamentary tactic.

:14:15. > :14:19.Burnham talked about the threat to the NHS as he calls it. The the

:14:20. > :14:24.real threat to the NHS is Labour's refusal, even now, to commit to the

:14:24. > :14:28.additional funding that we have committed to the NHS. They would

:14:28. > :14:35.take away still �30 billion over the lifetime of this... Can I

:14:35. > :14:38.correct you? Can I correct you? Andy Burnham described as

:14:38. > :14:42.irresponsible our commitment to ring-fence NHS funding.

:14:42. > :14:49.A brief answer, Andy Burnham. I'm sorry, you better take that

:14:49. > :14:51.back because I didn't. I did a deal before the election to secure the

:14:51. > :14:54.front-line of the National Health Service. We secured the front-line

:14:54. > :14:57.in the police and in in schools and the National Health Service. I said

:14:57. > :15:00.I would spend some of that money, ring-fenced for the NHS on social

:15:00. > :15:03.care because hospitals wouldn't function if Local Government was

:15:03. > :15:09.stripped of the funds to help older people get out of hospital. I

:15:09. > :15:12.suggested a transfer, at your Spending Review you did the same

:15:12. > :15:18.thing. You are going to have to continue

:15:18. > :15:26.this argument later on! Amp the After the programme. We have to ask

:15:26. > :15:31.you whether you have to take it What was this about Chris Huhne

:15:31. > :15:36.accusing you of speeding? He must read a piece in the Mail on Sunday,

:15:36. > :15:46.which referred to the fact I had some now expired speeding points.

:15:46. > :15:53.Haven't we all? Unfortunately Chris Huhne inserted the word "recent".

:15:53. > :16:02.Did he not apologise? He has apologised to me, yesterday. I am

:16:02. > :16:09.sure he has. Unemployment reached a 17 year high,

:16:09. > :16:19.more joined the ranks of those out of work. Bringing the total to 2.5

:16:19. > :16:22.

:16:22. > :16:27.It is more evidence of the continued poor performance of the

:16:27. > :16:31.British economy, no sign of growth picking up. But there is one group

:16:31. > :16:41.that seems to be suffering badly and that is the young. Youth

:16:41. > :16:43.

:16:43. > :16:47.unemployment reached 900 -- 991,000. A worrying figure of a Government

:16:47. > :16:57.that has pledged to end what David Cameron has called the scandal of

:16:57. > :17:00.youth unemployment. The measure of unemployed 16-24 year olds is the

:17:00. > :17:02.highest since current records began in 1992. Their long-term prospects

:17:02. > :17:06.are also not good. A report yesterday claimed a generation of

:17:06. > :17:08."baby busters" born in 1993 will be 25% worse off than their parents.

:17:08. > :17:11.This week TUC research also revealed that workers in the

:17:11. > :17:14.lowest-income sectors are among the worst hit by recent unemployment,

:17:14. > :17:17.including sales and bar staff. The riots this summer led some

:17:17. > :17:20.commentators to claim that a lost generation is emerging. But the

:17:20. > :17:22.Government has pledged action with work academies covering industries

:17:22. > :17:28.such as construction and hospitality, offering training and

:17:28. > :17:31.a guaranteed job interview at the end. The figure is slightly lower

:17:31. > :17:36.than the predicted headache headline of 1 million, but that may

:17:36. > :17:40.only be weeks away. I'm joined now by Matt Whale who is 19 and

:17:40. > :17:43.unemployed. He's also one of the campaigners recreating the Jarrow

:17:43. > :17:48.march of 1936 when over 200 men walked from the north east to

:17:48. > :17:56.London to protest against unemployment and poverty. The

:17:56. > :18:00.current march is making its way through Harley near Rotherham.

:18:00. > :18:05.Thanks for joining us, how long have you been unemployed? I had

:18:05. > :18:10.just finished a temporary job and before that I was eight months. For

:18:10. > :18:14.over a year without long-term employment. We have outlined the

:18:14. > :18:18.prospects which don't look great. We are looking at the figures,

:18:18. > :18:24.coming up to a million. How do you friends and family feel about the

:18:24. > :18:34.statistics? How worried are you? Everybody is worried, morale is low

:18:34. > :18:38.with young people as it is. We have had tuition feels -- tuition fees

:18:38. > :18:43.trouble. Another job situation for well-paid jobs is unattainable but

:18:43. > :18:49.thousands of kids as well. We have absolutely no future at the moment.

:18:49. > :18:54.What about the situation in Hull itself? What is happening in your

:18:54. > :18:59.home town? David Cameron said we would see a situation where private

:18:59. > :19:05.injury would take over from the public sector. 1000 jobs had just

:19:05. > :19:09.gone from BAe Systems just outside of Hull. 1000 manufacturing jobs,

:19:09. > :19:15.it means young people in the city had been given this opportunity to

:19:15. > :19:18.get into work. We are the second highest for youth unemployment and

:19:18. > :19:23.it will only rise would the current public sector cuts with the local

:19:23. > :19:33.authority, the biggest employer in the regions. What do you want the

:19:33. > :19:41.march to achieve? We want the reinstatement of the BMA and the

:19:41. > :19:44.scrapping of tuition fees. Social housing to be built. Scrapping up

:19:44. > :19:48.the work there schemes and the Academy's which had been announced

:19:48. > :19:57.which will offer no future for young people. No guarantee jobs,

:19:57. > :20:03.the reopening of youth services and the sustainable jobs to be created

:20:03. > :20:07.rather than bailing out the banks. Philip Hammond, are we headed for 3

:20:08. > :20:13.million unemployed? I hope not, these are disappointing figures.

:20:13. > :20:18.But confidence in the economy, consumer confidence and investor

:20:18. > :20:21.confidence has taken a massive knock as a consequence of what is

:20:21. > :20:25.going on around the world, particularly the eurozone. Until we

:20:25. > :20:28.have recovered their confidence we won't see the benefits coming

:20:28. > :20:32.through up a stable platform that has been created by the plans to

:20:32. > :20:38.reduce the deficit that had been set out and of working that had

:20:38. > :20:43.interest rates at record lows. You need confidence to get economic

:20:43. > :20:46.growth. These figures are already out of date, the in the take us to

:20:46. > :20:50.August. Given what we know about the way the economy has not been

:20:50. > :20:57.growing, is pretty clear that figures on already worse. It will

:20:57. > :21:01.get worse before it gets better? are facing some tough times. And

:21:01. > :21:06.the Chancellor made that clear. it will get worse before it gets

:21:06. > :21:12.better? I won't predict where unemployment is going, Botnets not

:21:12. > :21:16.used site of the context. We have 124,000 more full-time jobs in the

:21:16. > :21:23.economy than we had this time last year. Although the current trend is

:21:23. > :21:28.in the wrong direction, it is not entirely bad news. But not to keep

:21:28. > :21:33.growth -- pace with the growth in the labour force. Private sector

:21:33. > :21:40.job creation outpaced the private sector job losses until February.

:21:40. > :21:45.What has gone wrong? Businesses in the UK have got cash. The they

:21:45. > :21:49.won't invest it? They have large balances but they won't invest it

:21:49. > :21:54.because of weak consumer demand and weak confidence. We have a climate

:21:54. > :21:58.of uncertainty around the world. The Chancellor has said, the

:21:58. > :22:03.eurozone needs to make a decision about what it's doing about Greece.

:22:03. > :22:07.In needs to capitalise its bail-out fund, in needs to recapitalise its

:22:07. > :22:13.banks in order to create the certainty that will allow business

:22:13. > :22:16.confidence to be restored and investments to resume. At the most

:22:16. > :22:21.economists will say it is going to get worse before it gets better.

:22:21. > :22:25.That seems to be the trend and the growth. But the early heads up on

:22:25. > :22:30.growth figures for this quarter, the third quarter, don't look great

:22:30. > :22:34.either. Isn't this a global phenomenon to some extent? You can

:22:34. > :22:38.criticise where the growth strategy is working or not, but throughout

:22:38. > :22:48.the Western world there is an unemployment problem? It has been a

:22:48. > :22:54.global crisis since 2007. A conveniently the Conservative said

:22:54. > :22:59.it was domestic policy. Now they're saying it is the eurozone. The

:22:59. > :23:03.crisis we have seen has developed over the summer. We're talking

:23:04. > :23:10.about no growth in the economy for a year. Of course it has played a

:23:10. > :23:15.part, but so have the decisions he you have taken. The decision to

:23:15. > :23:18.scrap that you should jobs and has put people out of work. The

:23:18. > :23:22.decision to remove the educational maintenance allowance has put

:23:22. > :23:27.people out of education and training. The decisions have added

:23:27. > :23:32.to these figures and when we said to far, too fast, that is what's we

:23:32. > :23:36.meant. We always accepted there was an important global dimension to

:23:36. > :23:40.what happened. A charge against the previous Government is they make

:23:40. > :23:46.matters worse in the UK by irresponsible borrowing at the top

:23:46. > :23:50.of the boom when they should have been repaying debt. Mr Cameron and

:23:50. > :23:58.Mr Osborne called it a tough settlement, and they would be

:23:58. > :24:05.sticking with those spending limits. You will wahhabism after the event.

:24:05. > :24:13.-- you were wise after the event. Shall I give you that figures from

:24:13. > :24:19.your Government? When you came to power, its �624,000 Best 6024000

:24:19. > :24:23.out of work. And then it rose. did a lot during our time in

:24:23. > :24:26.Government to get young people into education and youth unemployment

:24:26. > :24:33.down. When the financial crash came, of course the numbers of young

:24:33. > :24:42.people went up. Even before that you had not got back to the 1997

:24:42. > :24:47.figure. We tried to get young people into jobs to help them.

:24:47. > :24:53.is what we are doing. It's not a good time to be young and looking

:24:53. > :24:57.for a job in Britain? Look at any country in Europe and use

:24:57. > :25:03.unemployment is too high, in much higher percentages in other

:25:03. > :25:07.countries. It is a serious problem, we are tackling it with 250,000

:25:07. > :25:12.additional apprenticeships, technical training colleges, work-

:25:13. > :25:15.experience places. Now on Monday the Prime Minister

:25:15. > :25:21.announced the citizenship test should be toughened up and include

:25:21. > :25:24.questions on British History. Now we have with us here two men who

:25:24. > :25:27.are not mere citizens but a Secretary of State and a shadow

:25:27. > :25:37.Secretary of State, so they should be able to answer these questions -

:25:37. > :25:54.

:25:54. > :25:58.shouldn't they, Jo? Can we do a Assistant.

:25:58. > :26:00.Yes. Now raise your hands if you have the right answer - I'll not

:26:00. > :26:03.have any shouting out. The Magna Carta was signed in

:26:03. > :26:13.Philip Hammond's constituency of Runnymede. But when - and I want

:26:13. > :26:31.

:26:31. > :26:37.That June 15th, 15. If you don't know when the Magna Carter was

:26:37. > :26:47.signed in your own constituency! It wouldn't have been right for

:26:47. > :26:48.

:26:48. > :26:51.daytime television. Who was Henry VIII's first wife?

:26:51. > :26:59.Don't you watch television? The one he got rid of.

:26:59. > :27:07.He got rid of a lot. She wasn't British? She was Spanish,

:27:07. > :27:11.Catherine of Aragon. Who won the Battle of Naseby?

:27:11. > :27:21.Neither of you know who won the Battle of Naseby.

:27:21. > :27:24.

:27:24. > :27:32.The Roundheads? Well done. Who led the army?

:27:32. > :27:42.Was it Oliver Cromwell? I think that would have counted as well.

:27:42. > :27:44.

:27:44. > :27:46.You make or may not qualify as British citizens. You may or may

:27:46. > :27:49.not qualify as British citizens, but you're performance wasn't good

:27:49. > :27:52.enough to win one of these! A contest which I'm afraid you're

:27:52. > :27:56.disqualified from entering anyway. For the rest of you, we'll remind

:27:56. > :28:06.you how to enter in a moment. But first see if you can remember when

:28:06. > :28:16.

:28:16. > :28:26.did this happen? There is flash # I am just a teenage date back

:28:26. > :28:27.

:28:27. > :28:37.baby. # Out of reach, so far.

:28:37. > :28:44.

:28:44. > :28:54.It was the smugglers who decreed we We have customers from the ethnic

:28:54. > :29:00.mix and age group and we have no problem at all.

:29:00. > :29:10.They must be more to politics than the constant media pressure and

:29:10. > :29:28.

:29:28. > :29:31.exposes that has dogged me over the To be in with a chance of winning a

:29:31. > :29:40.Daily Politics mug, send your answer to our special quiz email

:29:40. > :29:46.And you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year on

:29:46. > :29:51.our website: It's coming up to midday here, just take a look at

:29:51. > :30:01.Big Ben and that can mean only one thing! Yes, Prime Minister's

:30:01. > :30:01.

:30:01. > :30:05.Questions is on its way. The first PMQs since the three

:30:05. > :30:10.party conferences, what will dominate? I think Ed Miliband will

:30:10. > :30:13.have to talk about the economy. While most people around

:30:13. > :30:17.Westminster will expect him to seize on the Liam Fox the first and

:30:17. > :30:22.ask questions, there are dangers about that. There isn't a smoking

:30:22. > :30:27.gun and it looks like you are throwing around questions without

:30:27. > :30:32.claiming victory later on. It will be damaging and dangerous they Ed

:30:32. > :30:36.Miliband. Again he will seize on unemployment figures and that

:30:36. > :30:46.things are those in the country care about. Let's go over to the

:30:46. > :30:56.

:30:56. > :30:58.And Marine David Fairbrotherment our thoughts and sympathies should

:30:58. > :31:02.with their families, their friends and their colleagues.

:31:02. > :31:05.This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others

:31:06. > :31:09.and in addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further

:31:09. > :31:14.such meetings today. Mr Speaker, the whole House will

:31:14. > :31:16.want to endorse the Prime Minister's words about our heroic

:31:16. > :31:20.service personnel and their families. Most of us will want to

:31:20. > :31:23.see the earliest possible withdrawal of our combat troops

:31:23. > :31:28.from Afghanistan. But on another issue, what is the Prime Minister

:31:28. > :31:33.going to do about that group of women already in their late 50s who

:31:33. > :31:38.have seen their State pension age rise from 60 to 64 and now face a

:31:38. > :31:47.two year further increase from 64 to 66. The coalition had to reform

:31:47. > :31:52.the pensions system, but this anomaly needs addressing..

:31:52. > :31:57.friend is right to identify, of course, it is right to equalise men

:31:57. > :32:00.and women's State pension ages. That's been a long-term goal shared

:32:00. > :32:04.across the House of Commons. It is right to raise the retirement age

:32:04. > :32:07.to 66. We know there are a group of people affected by the transition

:32:07. > :32:11.and some people are having to potentially work for an extra two

:32:11. > :32:14.years. We are looking at what transitional help we can give to

:32:15. > :32:21.this group of people and we will be making an announcement shortly.

:32:21. > :32:31.THE SPEAKER: Ed Miliband. Mr Mr SPeabg, can I -- Speaker, can

:32:31. > :32:31.

:32:32. > :32:36.I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to servicemen. These were

:32:36. > :32:39.exceptionally courageous men who died serving their country and our

:32:39. > :32:43.deepest condolences go to their family and friends. Mr Speaker, a

:32:43. > :32:46.year ago during our exchanges, the Prime Minister justified his

:32:46. > :32:52.economic policy by saying, "Unemployment would fall this year,

:32:52. > :32:58.next year and the year after." Given that unemployment has risen

:32:58. > :33:02.by 114,000 today, isn't it time he admitted his plan is not working?

:33:02. > :33:06.First of all, these are very disappointing figures that have

:33:06. > :33:09.been announced today and every job that is lost is a tragedy for that

:33:09. > :33:13.person and for their family and that is why this Government is

:33:13. > :33:17.going to do everything it possibly can to help get people into work.

:33:17. > :33:22.That is why we have the work programme which is the biggest back

:33:22. > :33:26.to work programme since the 1930s. It is going to help 2.5 million

:33:26. > :33:30.people. That is why we have Welfare Reform to make sure it pays for

:33:30. > :33:35.people always to be in work. That is why we are reforming our schools,

:33:35. > :33:39.including raising the participation age to 18, so we end the scandal of

:33:39. > :33:45.16 and 17-year-olds left on the dole the. And that is why we have a

:33:45. > :33:48.record number of apprenticeships, 360,000 this year, but I accept we

:33:48. > :33:53.have got to do more to get our economy moving, to get jobs for our

:33:53. > :33:57.people, but we mustn't abandon the plan that has given us record low

:33:57. > :34:01.low interest rates. Mr Speaker, the same script month

:34:01. > :34:06.after month. It is not working. Doesn't he realise today's figures

:34:06. > :34:11.show it isn't working and it is his failure that means today in Britain

:34:11. > :34:15.we have nearly one million young people out of work. Why doesn't he

:34:15. > :34:17.accept some responsibility for doing something about it?

:34:17. > :34:22.I accept responsibility for everything that happens in our

:34:22. > :34:24.economy. I just sometimes wish that people who are in Government for 13

:34:24. > :34:28.years would accept some responsibility for the mess they

:34:28. > :34:33.made. What this Government is pledged to

:34:34. > :34:37.do is everything we can to get our economy moving. That is why we have

:34:37. > :34:42.cut petrol tax and corporation tax, why we are reforming the planning

:34:42. > :34:46.system, why we introduce the regional growth fund, why we are

:34:46. > :34:52.forcing the banks to lend money, why we have created 22 enterprise

:34:52. > :34:58.zones. He wants us to change course on reducing our deficit. If we

:34:58. > :35:02.change course on reducing our deficit, we would end up with

:35:02. > :35:07.interest rates like Spain, Portugal and Greece and we would send our

:35:07. > :35:11.economy into a tail-spin. Mr Speaker, I want him to change

:35:11. > :35:14.course so he has a credible plan to get people back to work in this

:35:14. > :35:19.country. You see, what the Prime Minister what, the Prime Minister

:35:19. > :35:22.doesn't seem to understand is that month after month, as unemployment

:35:22. > :35:27.goes up, the number of people claiming benefit goes up, the costs

:35:27. > :35:31.go up and fewer people are in work and paying taxes. To have a

:35:31. > :35:35.credible plan on the deficit, you need a credible plan for growth and

:35:35. > :35:39.he doesn't have one. Now, it is not just young people who are suffering,

:35:39. > :35:44.can the Prime Minister tell us when was the last time that unemployment

:35:44. > :35:47.among women reached the levels it has today?

:35:47. > :35:52.First of all, he is wrong in his figures. There are 50,000 more

:35:52. > :35:56.women in work than there were at the time of the election. There are

:35:56. > :36:02.actually 239,000 more people in work at the time of the election.

:36:02. > :36:08.There are 500,000 more credible and private sector jobs, but he asks

:36:08. > :36:13.about a credible growth plan. I would ask - where is his credible

:36:13. > :36:17.growth plan? Why is it that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer

:36:17. > :36:22.said this, "If you don't have a credible economic plan, you are

:36:22. > :36:26.simply not at the races." THE SPEAKER: Order. Whatever people

:36:26. > :36:30.think of what is being said on either side of the House, they must

:36:30. > :36:35.not shout their heads off. The Prime Minister and the Leader of

:36:35. > :36:40.the Opposition will be heard and that'sted end of T -- end of it.

:36:40. > :36:47.Our plan is supported by the CBI, by the IOD, by the business

:36:47. > :36:51.organisations, by the IMF, by the OECD, he cannot get support from

:36:51. > :36:55.his own former Cabinet m the former Home Secretary says this, "I think

:36:55. > :36:59.the economic proposition that Labour puts at the moment is

:36:59. > :37:03.unconvincing." If he he can't convince his own party, how can he

:37:03. > :37:10.convince the country? Mr Speaker, and the Conservative

:37:10. > :37:14.chair of his Select Committee says his policies on growth are

:37:14. > :37:17.inconsistent. He can't convince him, can he? Typically he didn't answer

:37:18. > :37:25.the question on women's unemployment so let me tell him.

:37:25. > :37:29.Women's unemployment is at its highest level since 1988. Since

:37:29. > :37:34.1988 the last time there was a a Conservative Government in power.

:37:34. > :37:40.Mr Speaker, I have to say instead of apologising four months late to

:37:40. > :37:45.my right honourable friend for saying, "Calm down dear. Scwths he

:37:45. > :37:52.should be appolyjicing to the women of this country. Last year, in his

:37:52. > :37:57.Budget, the Chancellor announced a flagship policy on growth. He said

:37:57. > :38:01.the national insurance holiday for start-up firms would help 400,000

:38:01. > :38:09.businesses. Account Prime Minister tell this House how many businesses

:38:10. > :38:18.have actually taken part? 7,000. Right and on the issue and on the

:38:18. > :38:22.issue and on the issue of women in work, of course, of course, of

:38:23. > :38:26.course, I want to see more women if work and there are 50,000 more

:38:26. > :38:29.women in work than at the time of the last election, but it is this

:38:29. > :38:32.Government that introduced free childcare for all vulnerable two-

:38:33. > :38:38.year-olds. That it extended the childcare for three and four-year-

:38:38. > :38:41.olds. That has increased the Child Tax Credit by �290 and for the

:38:41. > :38:46.first time, announce that had we will be giving childcare to all

:38:46. > :38:50.people working less than 16 hours. Helping thousands, hundreds of

:38:50. > :38:54.thousands of women and families out of poverty into work and into a

:38:54. > :38:58.better life. That is what we're doing, but the question he has got

:38:58. > :39:02.to address, is the big picture which is this - he can't convince

:39:02. > :39:05.the former Home Secretary, the former Trade Minister, the former

:39:05. > :39:09.chancellor that he has got any idea of what to do with the economy and

:39:09. > :39:15.the reason why is if he adopted his plan, we wouldn't be working with

:39:15. > :39:20.the IMF to sort out the eurozone, we would be going to the IMF to ask

:39:20. > :39:25.for a loan. In case he hadn't realised, when

:39:25. > :39:31.the Chancellor says 400,000 firms will benefit and only 7,000 are, it

:39:31. > :39:33.should tell him something! LAUGHTER

:39:33. > :39:36.It should tell him his policies aren't working. That policy is not

:39:36. > :39:42.working. His plan isn't working. Why doesn't he just for once agree

:39:42. > :39:44.with us, cut VAT and put more money into people's pockets. Help the

:39:44. > :39:49.construction industry get moving and invest in getting young people

:39:49. > :39:53.back to work by having a bankers bonus tax. When is the party

:39:53. > :39:57.opposite going to learn? You cannot borrow your way out of a debt

:39:57. > :40:04.crisis. They left us, they left us the

:40:04. > :40:09.biggest deficit, the most leveraged banks, the most endebted house Hodz

:40:09. > :40:13.and what is -- households and what is their answer - to borrow more

:40:13. > :40:17.money? Digby Jones said this, he described the Labour leader's

:40:17. > :40:21.speech at the conference as a divisive and a a kick in the teeth

:40:21. > :40:24.for the only sector that generates wealth and pays the tax and creates

:40:24. > :40:27.the jobs this country needs. That is what a Labour minister said

:40:27. > :40:33.about a Labour policy and that's why he has no credibility

:40:33. > :40:38.whatsoever. Mr Speaker, what a terrible answer!

:40:38. > :40:41.And yes, and yes, and yes, I will take on, I will take on those

:40:41. > :40:45.companies in this country who aren't doing the right thing like

:40:45. > :40:53.the energy companies and we're seeing change today in the energy

:40:53. > :41:02.sector because of what I said. Now let me say to him... Now let me

:41:02. > :41:06.just say to him, let me just say to him. On the day of the worst... On

:41:06. > :41:10.the day of the worst... On the day of the worst unemployment figures,

:41:10. > :41:14.on the day of the worst unemployment figures in 17 years,

:41:14. > :41:17.the Prime Minister is is fighting to save the job of the Defence

:41:17. > :41:20.Secretary by his doing nothing to save the jobs of hundreds of

:41:21. > :41:26.thousands of people up and down this country. It is one rule, if

:41:26. > :41:29.you are in the Cabinet, it is another rule for everyone else!

:41:29. > :41:34.Well, the last Labour leader thought he had saved the world. I

:41:34. > :41:37.think after this, this Labour leader is Walter Mitty. What they

:41:37. > :41:40.have got to do is accept some spont for the mess what -- responsibility

:41:40. > :41:43.for the mess that you made of this economy. You are the party that

:41:43. > :41:46.borrow too much, that spent too much, that left us with the

:41:46. > :41:50.unregulated banks, that left us with the mess that we have to clear

:41:50. > :41:54.up and when you see those two, sitting on the frontbench, who

:41:54. > :41:58.worked for so long in the Treasury, you have to ask yourself, you

:41:58. > :42:07.wouldn't bring back Fred Fred Goodwin to sort out the banks, why

:42:07. > :42:15.would you bring them back to sort out the economy?

:42:15. > :42:21.THE SPEAKER: The House will want to hear Sir Peter Tapp sill.

:42:21. > :42:31.As my right honourable happened to notice that since I put the point

:42:31. > :42:31.

:42:31. > :42:38.to him last month the head of our service Fraud Squad, has publicly

:42:38. > :42:44.deplored the fact that no senior British bankers have been

:42:44. > :42:49.prosecuted for their ill sponsor -- ill responsibility and has urged

:42:49. > :42:55.that legislation should be introduced as soon as possible to

:42:55. > :42:58.empower his office, to prosecute such offenders in the future.

:42:58. > :43:06.I think it is important that inquiries are conducted into what

:43:06. > :43:09.went wrong at RBS and HBOS because clearly we are left clearing up a

:43:09. > :43:14.mess that the responsibility of others have left. If there is room

:43:14. > :43:18.for crim criminal criminal prosecutions there should, our job

:43:18. > :43:21.is to regulate the banks and the financial institutions properly and

:43:21. > :43:23.that's why we put the Bank of England back at the heart of this

:43:23. > :43:28.job. Mr Speaker, will the Prime Minister

:43:28. > :43:34.publish a full list of all the ministers and Downing Street staff

:43:34. > :43:37.who since May 2010 met Mr Werritty in in either an official and social

:43:37. > :43:42.capacity, including whether he himself, as Prime Minister, has met

:43:42. > :43:50.him? I'm happy to look at that.

:43:50. > :43:53.Thank you, Mr Speaker. THE SPEAKER: Order.

:43:53. > :43:57.Would my right honourable friend, the Prime Minister, agree that in

:43:57. > :44:04.light of difficult times encountered by some of my

:44:04. > :44:09.constituents, working for BAe, it is even more important that this

:44:09. > :44:15.Government continues its excellent support for investment and for the

:44:15. > :44:22.development of typhoon and in new unmanned aerial assistance vehicles.

:44:22. > :44:25.concern and that's why we have put in place plans for an enterprise

:44:25. > :44:30.zone on both sides of the Pennines to help with that important

:44:30. > :44:37.business. BAe is a great British company. There is a huge forward

:44:38. > :44:42.order book for it, not least from our defence defence Budget, I will

:44:42. > :44:45.do everything I can to support that company including promoting its

:44:45. > :44:50.exports abroad where I had conversations with the Japanese, I

:44:50. > :45:00.will be talking to the Saudi Arabians and others to make sure

:45:00. > :45:00.

:45:00. > :45:04.this great British company goes on Imperial Health Care Trust which

:45:04. > :45:09.offers outstanding clinical care and research in three major

:45:09. > :45:15.hospitals in west London is being forced to make 5% per annum cuts

:45:15. > :45:18.for five years, 25% of its �900 million a year budget. How does

:45:18. > :45:23.that fulfil the Prime Minister's promise not to cut health services

:45:23. > :45:28.to my constituents? We are increasing NHS spending throughout

:45:28. > :45:34.this Parliament. It is a complete contrast to the party opposite

:45:34. > :45:39.policy. They have a new health spokesman. I was worried I wouldn't

:45:39. > :45:46.have the same quantity of quotes, but he has not disappointed. He

:45:46. > :45:51.said this "it is irresponsible to increase NHS spending in real

:45:51. > :45:57.terms." that is their position, it is irresponsible to increase health

:45:57. > :46:00.spending. We disagree. Too many children in Britain today live in

:46:00. > :46:04.families that don't provide them with the loving and stable

:46:04. > :46:08.environment they deserve. That has led to many of our most social

:46:08. > :46:14.pressing problems. Will a Prime Minister agreed this Government

:46:14. > :46:19.needs to do all it can to help some of Britain's most problem families?

:46:19. > :46:23.I completely agree with him. If you look at the evidence, some of the

:46:23. > :46:26.most troubled families in our country get a huge amount of

:46:26. > :46:31.interventions from the police, social services, education and the

:46:31. > :46:37.rest of it. But no one is really getting in there to turn those

:46:38. > :46:42.families around, give them a better chance. We are establishing a new

:46:42. > :46:45.unit under the leadership of Louise Casey, who has been a superb

:46:45. > :46:52.official over the last decade and we will be putting huge resources

:46:52. > :46:55.into turning around the 120,000 at most troubled families in our

:46:55. > :47:00.country. Or we can make a difference to those families and

:47:00. > :47:05.then reduce the burden they place on the taxpayer at the same time.

:47:05. > :47:09.Will the Prime Minister instruct our ambassador in Kiev to make

:47:09. > :47:14.representations on behalf of the Government and Parliament about the

:47:14. > :47:19.appalling show trial of prison sentences handed down on the former

:47:19. > :47:24.Prime Minister. Prime ministers do make mistakes! They to lose

:47:24. > :47:33.elections as she did. She has been put on trial for policy decisions

:47:33. > :47:40.she took. Make it clear the Ukraine won't be able to open membership

:47:40. > :47:48.talks with the EU because of this disgraceful act, Stalinist show

:47:48. > :47:52.trial? We agreed the treatment of the former Prime Minister is

:47:52. > :47:55.disgraceful. The Foreign Secretary has made a strong statement. The

:47:55. > :47:59.Ukrainians need to know if they leave the situation as it is it

:47:59. > :48:04.will severely affect their relationship, not only with the UK

:48:04. > :48:10.but with the European Union and NATO. Small business and not more

:48:10. > :48:13.Government debt is due to -- key to job creation. Will the Prime

:48:13. > :48:18.Minister join me in welcoming the support from Bedfordshire

:48:18. > :48:23.University, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire on Sunday newspaper

:48:23. > :48:29.and 100 business leaders in my constituency to set up a mentoring

:48:29. > :48:32.scheme to support early-stage businesses in Bedford? Canny work

:48:32. > :48:37.with me to see if it can be replicated in other towns across

:48:37. > :48:40.the country? This Government recognises it will be small

:48:40. > :48:44.businesses that will provide the growth, jobs and wealth this

:48:44. > :48:49.country needs. That is why we have an agreement with the banks to

:48:49. > :48:55.increase lending to small businesses, we are providing a

:48:55. > :48:58.great relief for small businesses. We have the one in, one out rules

:48:58. > :49:04.for regulation and I applaud all levels at a local level giving

:49:04. > :49:07.small businesses the support they need to grow.

:49:07. > :49:10.Responding to the science select committee support on forensic

:49:10. > :49:15.science, a Home Office minister says we don't agree with the

:49:15. > :49:21.committee's report. It mistakes and number of significant points. Given

:49:21. > :49:25.the Home Office's financial case was 50% adrift and they now agree

:49:25. > :49:29.with the argument the national archive should be protected, will a

:49:29. > :49:35.Prime Minister urgently intervene and review the decision to close

:49:35. > :49:40.the FSS because the profession is now losing key scientific staff

:49:40. > :49:45.from the country and from the profession? I will look at what he

:49:45. > :49:48.says, but I look at this decision at the time in some detail, having

:49:48. > :49:52.known well the Forensic Science Service when I worked in the Home

:49:52. > :49:56.Office many years ago. The evidence was pretty overwhelming that

:49:56. > :50:00.actually the model wasn't working and change was needed. That is what

:50:00. > :50:05.has happened and sometimes it is better to make that change rather

:50:06. > :50:10.than endlessly review it. The Prime Minister inherited a welfare system

:50:10. > :50:14.where families were able to claim �2,000 a week in housing benefits

:50:14. > :50:19.and some fan of -- families are worse off working than those on

:50:19. > :50:24.benefits. What can the Prime Minister do to help those hard-

:50:24. > :50:28.working families in share would who get out of bed and work hard

:50:28. > :50:33.because of their self pride and responsibility? I think he speaks

:50:33. > :50:37.for most in the country when people say what they want is a welfare

:50:37. > :50:42.system that will do the right thing. We are putting in place a cap so

:50:42. > :50:47.you cannot have these absurd amounts of money going in housing

:50:47. > :50:51.benefit to individual families. As he says, sometimes �2,000 a week.

:50:51. > :50:55.Universal credit will make sure it is always worthwhile people working

:50:55. > :50:59.and worthwhile working harder. To the party opposite that now claim

:50:59. > :51:03.after a decade of giving people something for nothing, let's see if

:51:03. > :51:07.they are prepared to back that by voting for a tough caps in the

:51:07. > :51:11.welfare bill. If a minister breaks the

:51:11. > :51:15.Ministerial Code, should they keep their job? The ministerial code is

:51:15. > :51:19.clear, it is for the Prime Minister to decide whether someone keeps

:51:19. > :51:23.their job. In the case of the Defence Secretary, it is important

:51:23. > :51:27.when the leader of the opposition has called for an inquiry by the

:51:27. > :51:32.Cabinet Secretary, when I have established an inquiry by the

:51:32. > :51:36.Cabinet Secretary. Let us allow the Cabinet Secretary to do his work,

:51:36. > :51:40.establish the facts and then a decision can be made. I think the

:51:40. > :51:45.Defence Secretary has done an excellent job clearing up a

:51:45. > :51:51.complete mess he was left by Labour. Retirement ages have to go up but

:51:51. > :51:55.the timetable in the pension spell is too fast for women. I was

:51:55. > :51:58.pleased to hear the Prime Minister say you was looking at transitional

:51:58. > :52:04.arrangements and I hope it will slow down the increase of

:52:04. > :52:08.retirement age for many women. have looked at this issue, we will

:52:08. > :52:12.be making an announcement shortly. I think we have to look at the most

:52:12. > :52:17.difficult cases where people have quite an extra amount of working

:52:17. > :52:21.time they would have to do. He it is right, and the must look at the

:52:21. > :52:25.big picture to equalise men and women's pension arrangements and

:52:25. > :52:28.moved to 66, given the extra longevity we enjoy as a country.

:52:28. > :52:33.Given that I hope he will be pleased when the announcement is

:52:33. > :52:36.made. Of the Prime Minister and leader of the opposition are on

:52:36. > :52:40.record in supporting gender equality for future Royal

:52:40. > :52:43.successions. Will the Prime Minister update the house on the

:52:43. > :52:47.consultation he and the Deputy Prime Minister are having with

:52:47. > :52:51.other Commonwealth leaders about this issue? Does he not agree it is

:52:51. > :52:56.better we resolve this matter before, rather than after any

:52:56. > :53:01.future Royal children are born? certainly believe this issue should

:53:01. > :53:06.be sorted out, I am on the record as believing that. Across the house

:53:06. > :53:10.there has been widespread support. In terms of the consultation I have

:53:10. > :53:13.written to the heads of state, the prime ministers of the other roles

:53:13. > :53:18.concerned and we will be having a meeting about this. It is not an

:53:18. > :53:21.easy issue to sort out. For many of them there may be issues and

:53:22. > :53:26.worries about starting a Parliamentary and legal process.

:53:26. > :53:33.But it is an issue we should get sorted and I am delighted to play a

:53:33. > :53:37.part in doing that. Does the Prime Minister agree with the reasons

:53:37. > :53:42.advice from the shadow Treasury minister who said what we must not

:53:42. > :53:47.do and cannot do is pick good winners and losers and conceived

:53:47. > :53:50.such a simplistic sinners and winners a model, which shows a

:53:50. > :53:55.distinct misunderstanding of business? She makes an important

:53:55. > :54:00.point. The greatest need in our economy is to generate wealth and

:54:00. > :54:03.jobs and investment. What was in labour did at their conference?

:54:03. > :54:08.They launched a big attack on British business, which is what is

:54:08. > :54:13.going to help us out of these difficulties. Was the Prime

:54:13. > :54:19.Minister a were before today his chief spokeswoman was a former

:54:19. > :54:25.colleague of Mr Adam Werritty? whole issue is being looked at by

:54:25. > :54:29.the Cabinet Secretary. He will produce his report and I ask people

:54:29. > :54:35.to have a little patience, there are questions be answered and then

:54:35. > :54:39.we can move ahead. Is my Right Honourable Friend aware,

:54:39. > :54:43.nearly 40 members from the side of the House have signed an amendment

:54:43. > :54:47.in my name requiring that all offenders convicted of using a

:54:47. > :54:52.knife in a threatening or endangering fashion, will receive a

:54:52. > :54:58.custodial sentence? And not just those over 18. Will he consider

:54:58. > :55:01.supporting this amendment? I will look closely at what he says and I

:55:01. > :55:05.know the Justice Secretary is doing this. We want to move ahead with a

:55:05. > :55:11.mandatory sentence for adults and we will look at the arguments he

:55:11. > :55:18.makes. Sir John Major said four days ago the Government should use

:55:18. > :55:23.the Euro crisis as an opportunity to loosen EU powers over Britain.

:55:23. > :55:26.His first priority was the common fisheries policy. When is the Prime

:55:26. > :55:32.Minister going to take his advice and tell the European Union Britain

:55:33. > :55:37.intends to withdraw from the Common Fisheries Commission? I always

:55:37. > :55:41.listened to his advice. What Britain desperately needs to do in

:55:41. > :55:46.the short term, is get behind the solution to the eurozone crisis. It

:55:46. > :55:51.is having a chilling effect on the whole of the European economy and

:55:51. > :55:54.the American economy as well. I do accept that at the same time as

:55:54. > :55:58.doing that, it is going to be important to get some safeguards

:55:58. > :56:02.for Britain as eurozone countries go ahead and sort out their

:56:02. > :56:12.problems. We need safeguards to make sure the single market goes on

:56:12. > :56:14.

:56:14. > :56:20.working for the United Kingdom. Edward engineering advice 25 new

:56:20. > :56:27.jobs in the town at JobCentre plus have got 249 jobs on offer. Does

:56:27. > :56:29.the Prime Minister agree it would be further good news if he kept the

:56:29. > :56:36.pressure on and encouraged businesses in Wales to advertise

:56:36. > :56:40.even more jobs? We will keep the pressure. It is worth making the

:56:40. > :56:42.points that in spite of the difficulties there are half a

:56:42. > :56:47.million new private sector jobs in the economy compared with at the

:56:47. > :56:52.time of the elections. We need all of the things that help businesses

:56:52. > :56:55.expand and grow to be in place and bank finance is one of those things.

:56:55. > :56:59.We have the Merlin agreement which is increasing lending to small

:56:59. > :57:07.businesses. We have credit easing to make sure we look at other ways

:57:07. > :57:11.of expanding credit in our economy. This week I had the privilege of

:57:11. > :57:15.meeting two men from the ready for work campaign, impressive people

:57:15. > :57:18.campaigning against rising youth unemployment. Can the Prime

:57:18. > :57:23.Minister tell us what has happened to his bow from earlier this year

:57:23. > :57:28.to reverse the trend. Can he tell the House when he last met a young

:57:28. > :57:33.unemployed person? What has been happening is it has been going up

:57:33. > :57:36.since 2004. It went up in the growth years as well as in the

:57:36. > :57:40.difficult years. We need a comprehensive strategy that deals

:57:40. > :57:46.with all of the problems of youth unemployment, including the fact

:57:46. > :57:50.there are too many people leaving school aged 16, who spent 13 years

:57:50. > :57:53.under a Labour education secretary. They need to take some

:57:53. > :57:59.responsibility for others, the left school without qualifications to

:57:59. > :58:02.help them get a job. We need better education, a welfare system that

:58:02. > :58:12.helps people into work, and the work programme that does not

:58:12. > :58:18.

:58:18. > :58:25.provide phoney jobs. And recent TaxPayers' Alliance report reveals

:58:25. > :58:29.that 38 union leaders are were remunerated at over �100,000 each,

:58:29. > :58:36.including Derek Simpson argue night. He received over half-a-million

:58:36. > :58:40.pounds. -- of unite. Does he agree it is time for union boss of pay

:58:40. > :58:44.restraint? They always listen to the trade unions, but they will

:58:44. > :58:49.never listen to the taxpayers alliance. They don't want to hear

:58:49. > :58:55.about excessive pay in the public sector, local Government or in the

:58:55. > :59:00.trade unions. This is another question the Prime Minister won't

:59:00. > :59:04.want to answer. Can he get a grip of his back benches following last

:59:04. > :59:08.night's debacle in this chamber relating to business in this house

:59:08. > :59:12.on 17th October. Doesn't he understand the perception in the

:59:12. > :59:18.real world is some MPs would like to talk about their own pensions

:59:18. > :59:23.instead of discussing a 22 year olds in justice and the deaths of

:59:23. > :59:27.96 men, women and children? We are going to protect the time but that

:59:27. > :59:31.absolutely vital debate. On the issue of NP's pensions, we have to

:59:31. > :59:34.show restraint at a time when the rest of the public sector is being

:59:34. > :59:38.asked to show restraint. Because of what happened last night there will

:59:39. > :59:44.have to be a debate but it won't eat into the time of the important

:59:44. > :59:50.debate he mentioned, I know many members care deeply about. Can he

:59:50. > :59:54.tell the House what action he is taking to reintroduce rigour into

:59:54. > :00:01.our education system and end the ridiculous situation under the last

:00:02. > :00:05.Government when 22% of students study proper, academic studies?

:00:05. > :00:08.think the education secretary is doing a superb job in focusing

:00:09. > :00:12.schools on results, including English and maths, making sure we

:00:12. > :00:17.look at the English Baccalaureate which includes the core subject

:00:17. > :00:21.that employers and businesses valued. And doing some

:00:21. > :00:27.straightforward things like making sure punctuation and grammar count

:00:27. > :00:33.when you do an exam. Considering the Prime Minister met

:00:33. > :00:38.with a family yesterday, will he reflect on the Commons made on the

:00:38. > :00:42.Taoiseach relating to that meeting and the outcomes and the agreements

:00:42. > :00:47.made at the Weston Park talks in 2001, up by both governments there

:00:47. > :00:51.should be an independent public inquiry? Of course I have reflected

:00:51. > :00:55.incredibly carefully on what was said yesterday. I have reflected on

:00:55. > :00:59.this whole issue for many months since becoming Prime Minister. I

:00:59. > :01:04.believe the right thing for this family, for Northern Ireland, and

:01:04. > :01:07.for everyone in the United Kingdom is not to have another costly and

:01:07. > :01:12.open-ended public inquiry, which may not find the answer. But

:01:12. > :01:17.instead, for the British Government to open up and tell the truth about

:01:17. > :01:19.what happened 22 years ago. We don't need an inquiry to do that.

:01:19. > :01:24.That is why the Northern Ireland Secretary will be making a

:01:24. > :01:28.statement explaining how we will do this, who will be involved. In the

:01:28. > :01:32.end, the greatest healer is the truth, frank acknowledgement of

:01:32. > :01:37.what went wrong, and apologies. Let's not have another Savell

:01:37. > :01:42.protest to get there, let's do the right thing.

:01:42. > :01:47.Will he join me in welcoming the news it seems Gilad Shalit will be

:01:47. > :01:54.released in the next few days and this could go a long way for peace

:01:54. > :01:57.in the area? I am grateful for him raising this. I think if any one

:01:57. > :02:01.reflects on what that young soldier has been through for those weeks,

:02:01. > :02:06.months, years, it is something I think anyone in this house would

:02:06. > :02:11.find difficult to contemplate. If it is the case he will be coming

:02:11. > :02:21.home soon, I wish him and his family and everyone in his real

:02:21. > :02:30.

:02:30. > :02:34.It was familiar territory for those of you who followed the debates at

:02:34. > :02:41.the party conferences recently. I am not sure we learned anything new.

:02:41. > :02:45.We saw the Justice Secretary, Mr Clarke and the Home Secretary, Mrs

:02:45. > :02:51.May sitting together. You couldn't have put a cat's whis ter between

:02:51. > :02:55.them -- whisker between them, I think! Like lion and the lamb, they

:02:55. > :02:59.laid out and peace has broken out at least for the cameras today! We

:02:59. > :03:06.will hear from our specialist, by the way the Prime Minister quoted

:03:06. > :03:11.from yesterday's Daily Politics about an ex-Labour Home Secretary,

:03:11. > :03:21.Charles Clarke, saying that he didn't understand or that the

:03:21. > :03:27.

:03:27. > :03:32.labour economic policy did - he did not mention the Daily Politics.

:03:32. > :03:36.Miliband was asking about the economy on unemployment figures.

:03:36. > :03:43.Jane in Surrey saved, "David Cameron, clearly rattled at PMQs

:03:43. > :03:51.and had to resort to abuse again calling Ed Miliband, Walter Mitty."

:03:51. > :04:00.Another viewer saying, "David Cameron is acting like he is in

:04:00. > :04:04.Opposition." This from Diane "the best thing the coalition can do is

:04:04. > :04:08.stimulate consumer confidence." Another viewer said said "Ed

:04:08. > :04:12.Miliband had a great opportunity, but he blew it big time." This is

:04:12. > :04:18.from Simon who says "when will Ed Miliband and Labour accept that the

:04:18. > :04:24.plan is working? Yes, it is painful, but necessary." This from Stephen

:04:24. > :04:31.Wiltshire in Cheltenham, "it is all good and well Labour moaning about

:04:31. > :04:40.unemployment. Their record wasn't great. It shows how two-faced

:04:40. > :04:43.Labour has become.". In a sense the die is cast. The Government will

:04:43. > :04:48.not change its its fiscal policy and we know what Labour says it

:04:48. > :04:58.would do if it was in power. So events are going to determine this

:04:58. > :04:59.

:04:59. > :05:02.debate, aren't they? What we saw today in four minutes flat a

:05:03. > :05:08.complete upsum of the party conferences with John Bercow added

:05:08. > :05:12.in which we missed. He saw Ed Miliband retort, but we need to

:05:12. > :05:18.have a better plan involving greater spending and David Cameron,

:05:18. > :05:25.saying how going to pay for it? We heard it during the party party

:05:26. > :05:29.conference seasons. On. We are nine days away from the grand bargain to

:05:29. > :05:32.save the eurozone. A week on Sunday, you have the European heads of

:05:32. > :05:37.Government meeting in Brussels to determine how on earth thet pullth

:05:37. > :05:40.put -- they will put together the rescue package, but how we regulate

:05:40. > :05:45.the City of London and whether or not we will see any measures being

:05:45. > :05:49.imposed on us. It is important and yet that wean really a -- wasn't

:05:49. > :05:55.really a subject that took off in the chamber.

:05:55. > :05:58.We reran the easy debates. You saw the favourite movements. Ed Balls

:05:58. > :06:04.with his hands movements referring to slow-growth.

:06:04. > :06:10.Is that what he means when he does that? Flat lining. I haven't seen

:06:10. > :06:16.him on the dance floor! I saw Nick Clegg looking solemn

:06:16. > :06:19.with his tie undone. He used to smile and look

:06:19. > :06:24.adoreingly at the Prime Minister, now he just kind of looks at his

:06:24. > :06:26.nails and looks straight ahead. We saw some other bits. PMQs is

:06:26. > :06:30.interesting for the stuff outside the leaders, the change on

:06:30. > :06:36.Hillsborough I thought was quite significant. I am not sure that MPs

:06:36. > :06:39.come out terribly well looking if they are seen to be talking about

:06:39. > :06:43.their pensions rather than the issues. And some interesting stuff

:06:44. > :06:49.around you with healthcare. And health funding.

:06:49. > :06:53.You liked the soundbite, Philip Hammond, that you can't borrow your,

:06:53. > :06:58.what was it... You can't borrow your way out of debt.

:06:58. > :07:03.You liked that, didn't you? It sums up neatly the problem that Labour

:07:03. > :07:07.has. They rail against the economic policy that George Osborne has set

:07:07. > :07:13.out, that is reducing the deficit. But their only alternative is

:07:13. > :07:16.things like cuts in VAT. Hold on. Borrowing more money.

:07:16. > :07:20.Failing to acknowledge that the underlying problem here is a debt

:07:20. > :07:25.problem. This is not like some of the crisis we have had in the past.

:07:25. > :07:33.So if you like the soundbite, you can't borrow your way out of a debt

:07:33. > :07:37.crisis, why are you in the process of borrowing �0.5 trillion now?

:07:37. > :07:41.in terms of the Government's borrowing? You are about to borrow

:07:41. > :07:47.�0.5 trillion more. You are borrowing your way out of a debt

:07:47. > :07:53.crisis. Andy, we inherited an enormous deficit. Let him answer.

:07:53. > :07:58.Never mind that. Just answer my question. If you can't borrow your

:07:58. > :08:03.way, why are you continuing to borrow your way? Remember reducing

:08:03. > :08:06.the deficit. Year on year we are reducing it.

:08:06. > :08:09.There were record borrowing figures rinetly.

:08:09. > :08:18.-- recently. It can not be reduced to zero

:08:18. > :08:24.overnight. You are cutting the deficit every

:08:24. > :08:29.year, that's the plan, but you are adding to borrowing every year.

:08:29. > :08:37.debt will go on increase as we go continue to borrow a declining

:08:37. > :08:40.amount each year until we have in 2014/2015 eliminated the deficit.

:08:40. > :08:42.Ed Balls is proposing that we should increase the amount each

:08:42. > :08:48.year, making our debt increase more quickly.

:08:48. > :08:55.You are borrowing more each year and that's why you are adding �0.5

:08:55. > :09:00.trillion. We are borrowing less each yearment. Yearment.

:09:00. > :09:06.You are still borrowing more. Let me ask you, the Government says

:09:06. > :09:14.it will borrow �122 billion which is a huge amount of money. It is

:09:14. > :09:20.about 10% of our GDP. Some suggest it will be �125 billion. How much

:09:20. > :09:24.more would you borrow? Borrowing is going up as Ed Miliband said today.

:09:24. > :09:28.We know that. How much more would you borrow for the stimulus?

:09:28. > :09:30.would have a growth plan because growth would bring down the need to

:09:30. > :09:34.borrow. They are paying young people to have them doing nothing

:09:34. > :09:37.on the dole. That's what this money is paying for, to have people out

:09:37. > :09:41.of work. You cannot have no plan for growth in jobs.

:09:41. > :09:45.Are you therefore saying you will have a fiscal stimulus that will

:09:45. > :09:47.not add to borrowing, is that what you are saying? Yes, because we've

:09:47. > :09:51.said. It is not a stimulus then.

:09:51. > :09:55.It would be paid for by a bonus tax on the banks.

:09:55. > :10:00.That's not a stimulus? We would a specific proposal to get young

:10:01. > :10:02.people back to work paid for by a bonus tax on the banks.

:10:02. > :10:09.That's not what Ed Balls is calling for.

:10:09. > :10:13.It is not a fiscal stimulus. Balls is calling for a cut in VAT.

:10:14. > :10:17.The missing bit is confidence in the UK's credit worthiness, if we

:10:17. > :10:21.were to go down the route of more boa owing to buy our way out of

:10:21. > :10:28.this crisis, we would have our credit rating collapsing, interest

:10:28. > :10:33.rates rising... People are paying VAT on fuel.

:10:33. > :10:38.All right, let me move on, I'm puzzled by both your positions.

:10:38. > :10:43.Let's get back to Mr Werritty. Where are we now after that

:10:43. > :10:45.exchange, after what we know, where do you think we go from here?

:10:45. > :10:48.it was interesting if Prime Minister's Questions when the

:10:48. > :10:51.subject came up and David Cameron was asked about it, there wasn't a

:10:52. > :10:55.huge cheer of support. In the House on Monday, there was a feeling that

:10:55. > :10:58.Liam Fox was on top of the situation. There wasn't a great

:10:58. > :11:04.deal of a sense of him being ahead of the game.

:11:04. > :11:07.It has changed now, hasn't it? has a bit. There are a couple of

:11:07. > :11:12.key oints, from everything -- points from everything that we have

:11:12. > :11:16.seen in the public domain so so far, there is nothing that cause him to

:11:16. > :11:20.resign. If he goes, it will be because of something that has yet

:11:20. > :11:23.to come out, likely to be something to do with how Adam Werritty made

:11:23. > :11:26.his money, whether or not he benefited from his relationship

:11:26. > :11:31.with Liam Fox and I think this is the test the Government are trying

:11:31. > :11:36.to frame as the key question question whether or not Adam

:11:36. > :11:40.Werritty directly benefited in a tran actional -- transactional

:11:40. > :11:45.sense by by knowing the Defence Secretary, by by introducing the

:11:45. > :11:51.Defence Secretary to key figures. Do we know if he had access to more

:11:51. > :11:55.than Dr Fox? Did he use his access to Dr Fox to go round Whitehall

:11:55. > :11:59.getting access? Have you met him since you became a minister? Not to

:11:59. > :12:04.my knowledge, unless I met him in a social situation.

:12:05. > :12:09.I haven't had a meeting. I was on Liam Fox's team when he

:12:09. > :12:12.was Shadow Henght and a-- Health Secretary and Adam was an intern. I

:12:12. > :12:15.know him, but I haven't met him since I have been a minister,

:12:15. > :12:21.certainly. You wanted to get Hillsborough off

:12:21. > :12:24.your chest. I was pleased that Steve Rotherham raised it. Because

:12:24. > :12:28.there was an extraordinary event in the House last night. I have been

:12:28. > :12:33.working on this issue for a number of years and over the summer there

:12:33. > :12:37.was an e-petition, 10,000 people signed -- 140 people signed it, a

:12:37. > :12:42.statement of solidarity to the Hillsborough families who faced

:12:42. > :12:45.insults as they faced their campaign for truth and justice.

:12:45. > :12:48.That swept this issue back to the Commons and it was due to take

:12:48. > :12:52.place last Monday. A Tory backbencher objected to the

:12:52. > :12:58.timetabling of that debate because he wanted more time to debate his

:12:58. > :13:03.own pension. The Government did say and made a commitment that it would

:13:03. > :13:07.overturn that. One MP wants to debate his pension and 140,000

:13:07. > :13:11.people can't have their debate on Hillsborough. It is an unbelievable

:13:11. > :13:19.state of affairs. This is a backbench who routinely

:13:19. > :13:22.objects to timetabling motions. Who is it? Chris Chope.

:13:22. > :13:27.The Prime Minister made clear that the Government is going to protect

:13:27. > :13:30.this business so we can have the debate.

:13:30. > :13:33.A final thought from you, Sam. I thought thought it was a school

:13:33. > :13:41.draw, but it didn't change the political direction much.

:13:41. > :13:46.We have got your letter, Andy, we are running out of time.

:13:46. > :13:48.What he did in the Commons is going to back fire on him a lot. My

:13:48. > :13:52.statement related to their commitment to the election to

:13:52. > :13:57.increase health spending in real terms. They didn't do that that at

:13:57. > :14:02.the Spending Review, they protected it at inflation. They didn't do

:14:02. > :14:05.what they were pledging to do at the general election. He will rue

:14:05. > :14:11.reading that quote out in the House of Commons. You would not have

:14:11. > :14:18.protected it. You have had your final words now..

:14:18. > :14:23.Now, last week, we heard a lot about a cat called Maya, she was in

:14:23. > :14:26.the news because the Home Secretary claimed her owner owner couldn't be

:14:26. > :14:31.deported because her owner had a cat.

:14:31. > :14:35.Theresa May Said this is an example of why we should get rid of the

:14:36. > :14:39.Human Rights Act. This provoked a spat after Clarke used -- Ken

:14:39. > :14:47.Clarke used colourful language to tell Theresa May that she was wrong.

:14:47. > :14:57.Why are so many people keen to get rid of the Act.

:14:57. > :15:00.Patrick O'Flynn tells us why he What do you think when I say the

:15:00. > :15:10.words, "Human Rights Act."? Well if opinion polls are to be believed,

:15:10. > :15:12.

:15:12. > :15:15.the reaction of most of you will be You may not know this, but Winston

:15:15. > :15:19.Churchill dreamt up the European Convention on Human Rights after

:15:19. > :15:26.the Second World War. He wanted to ensure that totalitarian regime

:15:26. > :15:29.could spend up and oppress their peoples. That convention is now

:15:29. > :15:35.enshrined in British law in the Human Rights Act and many cases

:15:35. > :15:41.brought under it, end up here. But there are a few problems with that.

:15:41. > :15:45.Our Supreme Court is not Supreme at all. It remains Junior to the

:15:46. > :15:51.European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. That's where judges of

:15:51. > :15:55.variable quality make decrees that inflamed British public opinion.

:15:55. > :16:00.And our own public officialdom are so scared of being sued under

:16:00. > :16:04.provisions of the Human Rights Act, they make crazy concessions. Like

:16:04. > :16:08.bringing a police van miles to transport a defendant just a few

:16:08. > :16:18.yards to a court house. Delivering hot food to a criminal perched on

:16:18. > :16:19.

:16:19. > :16:23.someone else's roof. # I don't want to change the world.

:16:23. > :16:28.That is why I would like to see the Human Rights Act scrapped and

:16:28. > :16:32.Britain withdraw from the European Court. Instead we need a British

:16:32. > :16:37.Bill of Rights, just like David Cameron promised us before the last

:16:38. > :16:47.General Election. Now, last week we heard a lot about

:16:48. > :16:58.

:16:58. > :17:00.Won't it ultimately be the same? rehab various players in this. We

:17:00. > :17:05.have public officialdom bearing ridiculously on the side of caution

:17:05. > :17:08.in avoiding having cases brought against them. The worst player in

:17:09. > :17:14.all of this is the European Court of Human Rights, which is a bunch

:17:14. > :17:18.of former polytechnic lecturers from the Balkan states, telling us

:17:18. > :17:23.about our human rights regime. But the Human Rights Act itself seems

:17:23. > :17:27.to have allowed judicial activism to make right that was supposed to

:17:27. > :17:31.be held in the balance. Were a British Bill of Rights change that?

:17:31. > :17:35.It wouldn't necessarily change would it, the European Court of

:17:35. > :17:40.Justice you have just outlined. It wouldn't make a difference.

:17:40. > :17:44.should be out with the European Court of Human Rights. The

:17:44. > :17:48.convention itself is a flexible instrument. David Cameron thought a

:17:49. > :17:53.British Bill of Rights could be framed with a more balanced towards

:17:53. > :17:57.responsibilities as well as rights that would restrain liberal judges,

:17:57. > :18:01.albeit of a higher quality than the Strasbourg judges. They will be

:18:01. > :18:06.pleased to hear that. It is not a high bar to get them across. They

:18:06. > :18:09.could still interpret the law, judges, the way they see it. They

:18:10. > :18:15.could still take into account those human rights elements if they saw

:18:15. > :18:18.fit, even under a British Bill of Rights. The bill could be drafted

:18:18. > :18:22.in such a way to balance the responsibilities and the rights of

:18:22. > :18:29.the innocent, which is something Alan Johnson was talking about in

:18:29. > :18:32.the Commons, in relation to the DNA database. We have the liberal left,

:18:32. > :18:38.pouncing on that cat and trivialising things, but not

:18:38. > :18:45.answering why you have a failed asylum seeker able to run over a

:18:45. > :18:50.child and leave her dying in the road and not be deported. And the

:18:50. > :18:55.Somalian who murdered the British police officer, Sharon

:18:55. > :19:00.Borysoglebski, he was not deported. The liberal left don't think these

:19:00. > :19:04.things are worth addressing. Wouldn't it go further, wouldn't

:19:04. > :19:07.Britain or the UK have to withdraw from the EU altogether in order to

:19:07. > :19:12.escape, as you would see it, from the European Convention on Human

:19:12. > :19:17.Rights? My many pro-European friends tell me it is not right. In

:19:17. > :19:21.any event that wouldn't be a problem for me. The Daily Express

:19:21. > :19:25.wants Britain to lead the European Union. But it is not something

:19:25. > :19:29.necessarily the Government will entertain. Something has to happen

:19:29. > :19:33.that is very unlikely to, which is withdrawing from the EU altogether

:19:33. > :19:37.at the moment? That is not what David Cameron said before the

:19:38. > :19:42.election when he framed the British Bill of Rights. Let's get to the

:19:42. > :19:47.cat, who was right? The claim from Theresa May it was used, she was

:19:47. > :19:53.used as part of the arguments for this Bolivian immigrant who had

:19:53. > :20:00.overstayed, to stay longer Clarke, claiming their right to a family

:20:00. > :20:05.life? Everybody sees there is abuse of the Human Rights Act, the treaty

:20:05. > :20:09.on Human Rights. It is dealing with what are obviously abuses, were

:20:09. > :20:14.common sense dictates we go one way and the courts interpret the Human

:20:14. > :20:18.Rights Act, or ultimately the treaty to take us another way. The

:20:18. > :20:22.Government is determined to tackle that situation, so we get

:20:22. > :20:27.commonsense and comes. That sounds reasonable, but how do you achieve

:20:27. > :20:33.it? How do you achieve that commonsense without overhauling the

:20:33. > :20:37.whole system? The Prime Minister has set up a Commission which is

:20:37. > :20:43.looking at all aspects of the Human Rights Act. It's one not be

:20:43. > :20:47.reporting for a long time. It will report back and then set out how we

:20:47. > :20:51.intend to go forward. In the meantime, the Home Secretary is

:20:51. > :20:56.clear that were incremental things can be done to improve the way the

:20:56. > :21:01.system works, to minimise the wrong and comes, if you like, she will do

:21:01. > :21:06.that. Let's get back to the original question, was Ken Clarke

:21:06. > :21:12.right, was it nonsense to use the example of the cat, or was Theresa

:21:12. > :21:18.May right? I don't think it was nonsense. The point Theresa May was

:21:18. > :21:23.using was an absurd example. she? Yes, the existence of a

:21:23. > :21:28.jointly owned cat, supposedly proved the existence of a family

:21:28. > :21:38.relationship. That in turn gave a right to remain. That seems like,

:21:38. > :21:40.

:21:40. > :21:46.too many people... Most people reading a tabloid newspaper, would

:21:46. > :21:54.see this as ridiculous. So Ken Clarke was wrong? I think he was on

:21:54. > :21:59.this occasion. When he neighbour was in power, there were also

:21:59. > :22:03.criticisms of the Act? Misinterpretations of the Act

:22:03. > :22:08.brought it into disrepute. You are right to point the finger at the

:22:08. > :22:12.European Court. Prisoners voting rights, I cannot defend that. Where

:22:12. > :22:18.I disagree is to say you get rid of this Act and these rights

:22:18. > :22:22.altogether. These are right Britain cemented in Europe after the Second

:22:22. > :22:26.World War. They belong to everybody. If you got rid of the Human Rights

:22:26. > :22:30.Act, British people could still seek to have those rights and

:22:30. > :22:36.forced at European level. They were brought in to save people the time

:22:36. > :22:41.and the cost of going to Strasbourg. The right not to be tortured is an

:22:41. > :22:48.amiable, the right to a family life is caveat it. They are different

:22:48. > :22:53.rights. What I meant was, everybody has a right to a family life.

:22:53. > :23:02.there is no caveat to torture. There is to a family life. The

:23:02. > :23:08.judges never take the second part in two considerations. I agree with

:23:08. > :23:12.you on that. Patrick, what is your response? I would like to see an

:23:12. > :23:17.interim, very simple merger -- measure while the clever craftsman

:23:17. > :23:22.and lawyer sort it out, which it would be, if we were to pay human-

:23:22. > :23:25.rights the legal work at the rate of the minimum wage, then these

:23:26. > :23:30.lawyers who have made so much money over the last few years could prove

:23:30. > :23:36.to everyone and the British public they are in it for idealism and

:23:36. > :23:45.justice. I can sign up to that, too. Can you all signed up to that?

:23:45. > :23:51.will put it to be just a secretary. It is the justice secretary's

:23:51. > :23:56.budget that will benefit from this. A lack the ideas of lawyer's being

:23:56. > :23:59.on the minimum wage. One of the judges in the European Court is a

:23:59. > :24:04.TV presenter. We could do that. Guilty!

:24:04. > :24:08.You are fired. If you are a driver you live in

:24:08. > :24:12.fear of wheel clampers. The good news is the Government is going to

:24:12. > :24:16.do away with them, but the bad news is, you may get a ticket and a

:24:16. > :24:20.hefty fine instead. This is what happened to one motorist.

:24:20. > :24:24.We had been away on holiday and when we came back there was a lot

:24:25. > :24:33.of post behind the door. One of these letters was a letter from a

:24:33. > :24:41.company called G20 four. They were demanding �75 for parking in a car

:24:41. > :24:47.park for more than three hours. I frequently go to Wickes, but never

:24:47. > :24:51.more than 15 or 20 minutes. I knew it was wrong, I felt the company

:24:51. > :24:56.was like these camping organisations, just put out penalty

:24:56. > :25:02.charges and hope people pay them. We contacted the parking firm

:25:02. > :25:05.mentioned, they declined to comment. Luckily Mr Smith could prove he was

:25:05. > :25:15.parked somewhere else at the time and the fine was eventually waived.

:25:15. > :25:20.But only after he rode to the store's chief executive. -- wrote.

:25:20. > :25:25.Is it a growing problem? It is. Lots of tickets are issued

:25:26. > :25:30.automatically by cameras. Some of the letters are very threatening,

:25:30. > :25:34.they threaten credit reference agencies, debt collecting. But

:25:34. > :25:40.although they look official, there is no mandate. What kind of car

:25:40. > :25:44.parks are we talking about? Service areas, large out-of-town

:25:44. > :25:49.superstores and private land. you need to pay the ticket to get

:25:49. > :25:55.out in the first place? No, these are places you can park for a short

:25:55. > :25:59.time, two to three hours when you are buying a kitchen. People take a

:26:00. > :26:04.lot of time choosing, exceed the time limit. Then through the post a

:26:04. > :26:09.few weeks later, they get a ticket through the post. What is the

:26:09. > :26:13.Government's planning to do that will make it worse? We are glad

:26:13. > :26:18.wheel-clamping is to be scrapped. But we have got to tackle ticketing.

:26:18. > :26:22.We estimate 3 million private tickets are issued every year. It

:26:22. > :26:27.is an automated process. It is a huge privilege parking companies

:26:27. > :26:31.have to access drivers' names and addresses. But it is not regulated

:26:31. > :26:36.by the law, except by a trade association code of practice,

:26:36. > :26:40.signed up. He think it will get worse? We think it will grow

:26:40. > :26:44.because clamping is ending. thought you ending the war on

:26:44. > :26:50.motorists? The first important thing to say is we are scrapping

:26:50. > :26:56.wheel-clamping. Thanks for that, what about this? The problem with

:26:56. > :27:00.wheel-clamping is immediate. People feel they have to pay up because

:27:00. > :27:09.they cannot move their car. Stock filibustering an answer the

:27:09. > :27:14.questions. You can disputed afterwards. It's people have been

:27:14. > :27:20.charged �90 for staying two hours. Land owners, this is not just a

:27:20. > :27:25.cheap parking sites, it is big stores, university campuses, all

:27:25. > :27:30.these people have to be able to deal with non-compliant parking.

:27:30. > :27:36.The way they have to do with that is by issuing an having contractors

:27:36. > :27:41.who will issue tickets. What we are going to do under the act that has

:27:41. > :27:46.just passed the Commons, just gone through the Commons is to regulate

:27:46. > :27:51.through the BPA, with an appeal scheme through the BPA, the conduct

:27:51. > :27:54.of companies authorised to issue tickets. If they don't comply with

:27:54. > :28:00.the code of conduct, which the Home Secretary will have to approve,

:28:00. > :28:06.they won't be able to access the DVLA database. There will be a lot

:28:06. > :28:11.of aggravation before that. cannot accept a trade association

:28:11. > :28:17.arbitration process. It has to be fully approved. It will be approved

:28:17. > :28:21.by the Home Secretary. Is that good enough? Not for us, we wanted it

:28:21. > :28:27.regulated. Be needs to be independent and transparent. At the

:28:28. > :28:34.moment we don't feel it does the job. Vat on petrol and the war on

:28:34. > :28:39.motorists! That's it for today. Many of you got the competition

:28:39. > :28:43.right. We are still printing out your entries to choose the winner.

:28:43. > :28:49.2001 was the answer, we will pick the winner tomorrow. We thank all

:28:49. > :28:52.of our guests. We will be back tomorrow afternoon as usual with