05/09/2012

:00:40. > :00:42.Morning, folks. This is the Daily Politics. Today's top story:

:00:42. > :00:45.As David Cameron puts the finishing touches to his Government reshuffle,

:00:45. > :00:49.the Mayor of London Boris Johnson spoils the party, claiming the PM

:00:49. > :00:55.is preparing to ditch his promise not to build a third runway at

:00:55. > :00:59.Heathrow. Deputy PM Nick Clegg is keen to

:00:59. > :01:03.show off his latest recruit. Former Minister David Laws returns as

:01:03. > :01:06.Schools Minister. But as a Tory MP says the reshuffle marks the start

:01:06. > :01:11.of a divorce in the coalition, are the Lib Dems strengthened or

:01:11. > :01:16.weakened? After an eight-week break, Prime

:01:16. > :01:21.Ministers Questions returns. We'll have all the cheers, jeers and

:01:21. > :01:23.tears live from noon. And should British politicians take

:01:24. > :01:31.a leaf out of the American political playbook and push their

:01:31. > :01:35.wives - or husbands - into the limelight? Iraq knows what it means

:01:35. > :01:40.when a family struggles. He knows what it means to want something

:01:40. > :01:46.more for your kids and grandkids. Barack knows the American dream

:01:46. > :01:49.because he's lived it. All that to come before 1.00pm, and

:01:49. > :01:52.with us for the duration the brand new Conservative Party Chairman

:01:52. > :02:02.Grant Shapps and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Labour's

:02:02. > :02:03.

:02:03. > :02:09.Rachel Reeves. Welcome to the Daily Politics. Before we get started,

:02:09. > :02:17.let's get something out of the way. We hear that wee Grant here has a

:02:17. > :02:20.bit of a problem. He doesn't like wearing ties, which is a bit of an

:02:20. > :02:25.issue for a politician. Apparently Mr Shapps hates them so much he

:02:25. > :02:31.spends as little as possible on them. This one cost �4? Yes, but

:02:31. > :02:36.Marks & Spencer's objected and said it was �5. On the Daily Politics we

:02:36. > :02:40.have noticed you're going for quite shiny ties - I don't want to say

:02:40. > :02:45.too shiny so we think you should go in for a new look in your new job.

:02:45. > :02:52.So how about these that we have rustled up here? Which camera is on

:02:52. > :02:58.here? That's very patriotic. have this one here for you.

:02:58. > :03:02.these yours, Andrew? Less of your heckling. Then we have another one

:03:02. > :03:07.- London too - little guards in a box at Buckingham Palace. That's

:03:07. > :03:12.also very nice, part of the era, and this, of course, is from my

:03:12. > :03:19.hometown, the world famous paisley pattern, which I think we nicked

:03:19. > :03:22.from somewhere in India, Raj Stan in the 19th century. A bit of

:03:22. > :03:29.history there. Yes, from the cotton mills. We have the three ties.

:03:29. > :03:39.Which one would you like? The one on your neck. No, the Lib Dem one.

:03:39. > :03:39.

:03:39. > :03:44.Can't find a tie like this. They're all machine washable, by the way.

:03:44. > :03:48.The 2012 one. Going to try to take this away, like the mug. Oh, you

:03:48. > :03:58.have done that before. The other two will be on eBay later today.

:03:58. > :04:04.

:04:04. > :04:07.LAUGHTER Now, after the big Cabinet moves -

:04:07. > :04:10.not that big - yesterday, this morning the Prime Minister has been

:04:10. > :04:14.finishing off his ministerial line- up with many of the more junior

:04:14. > :04:17.posts being filled. So let's have a look at how the class of 2012 is

:04:17. > :04:19.shaping up. What do we know, Jo? Well, we know pretty much

:04:19. > :04:23.everything. As Number Ten's reshuffle draws to a close, we can

:04:23. > :04:25.now have a good look at some of the key appointments in this new

:04:25. > :04:30.generation of Ministers. At the Business Department the fresh faces

:04:30. > :04:33.are Michael Fallon and Matt Hancock. That's being seen as a way for the

:04:33. > :04:36.Conservatives to keep a closer eye on Vince Cable, the Lib Dem

:04:36. > :04:39.Business Secretary. At Justice Chris Grayling replaces Ken Clarke

:04:39. > :04:42.at the Cabinet table. He's expected to take a harder line over prisons

:04:42. > :04:46.and the European court. Helen Grant, one of the 2010 intake, also gets a

:04:46. > :04:48.job. At Education the Lib Dem David Laws is back in Government two

:04:48. > :04:51.years after resigning over his expenses, and as Minister of State,

:04:51. > :04:54.this gives the party more influence at Michael Gove's Department. Liz

:04:54. > :04:57.Truss, another new girl, is also given a junior job. At Transport

:04:57. > :05:05.the new man in charge is Patrick McLoughlin, who unlike his

:05:05. > :05:08.predecessor says he has an open mind over a new runway at Heathrow.

:05:08. > :05:11.Simon Burns, the former Health Minister, joins him. And at Health

:05:11. > :05:14.David Cameron's old boss Andrew Lansley is out in favour of Jeremy

:05:14. > :05:21.Hunt. He's joined by Norman Lamb, an ally of Nick Clegg, and Anna

:05:22. > :05:24.Soubry and Dr Dan Poulter, both elected in 2010. So what does the

:05:24. > :05:27.Government look like after all these changes? Well, it includes

:05:27. > :05:29.more bright young things, with eight MPs from the 2010 intake

:05:29. > :05:32.beginning their climb up the Ministerial ladder. But as these

:05:32. > :05:37.are all junior posts the average age of the Cabinet is little

:05:37. > :05:45.changed, down from 54 to 52. And the number of women in the Cabinet

:05:45. > :05:48.has fallen from five to four. Baroness Warsi will continue to

:05:48. > :05:51.attend Cabinet despite being moved to a new position at the Foreign

:05:51. > :05:57.Office. Let's speak now to our deputy

:05:57. > :06:00.political editor James Landale. The warning has been at Heathrow, Boris

:06:00. > :06:04.Johnson trying to spoil the party for David Cameron. Yes, he clearly

:06:04. > :06:10.doesn't want to let this one drop. Yesterday he put out a statement

:06:10. > :06:12.raining on David Cameron's parade saying it was wrong to get rid of

:06:12. > :06:15.Justine Greening from the transport department simply because she was

:06:16. > :06:19.against a third runway and Boris Johnson is against a third runway.

:06:19. > :06:23.Today Boris Johnson decided to push that even further and has asked the

:06:23. > :06:27.Prime Minister not just to rule out any change of this policy into the

:06:27. > :06:31.next election, but he wants him to rule it out forever. This was

:06:31. > :06:36.something the Prime Minister's spokesman this morning was fairly

:06:36. > :06:39.dismissive of and saying the policy is the policy. The coalition

:06:39. > :06:43.agreement is the coalition agreement and governments don't get

:06:43. > :06:46.into what may or may not happen after the next election. The papers

:06:46. > :06:49.have reported that it is a tilt to the right. Lib Dems are saying

:06:49. > :06:54.they're going to hold them to the coalition agreement. Does this mark

:06:54. > :06:57.a start of a divorce in the coalition? Look, the point is this

:06:58. > :07:02.coalition remains. However much you change the personnel within it, it

:07:02. > :07:05.is still a coalition, and until such time it ceases to be a

:07:05. > :07:10.coalition it doesn't really matter how you change the personnel. Yes,

:07:10. > :07:13.you could have a bit more nuance here and there, but the agreement

:07:13. > :07:16.is pretty clear. The Liberal Democrats are making sure they're

:07:17. > :07:20.not going to change any of that they're saying if the Conservatives

:07:20. > :07:24.want to make more right-wing noises they can use that to their

:07:24. > :07:29.electoral advantage saying it's more important to have in their

:07:29. > :07:34.point of view Liberal Democrats in Government restraining these new

:07:34. > :07:37.right-wing Conservatives. On, for example, Heathrow, there might be a

:07:37. > :07:39.change of policy, but it's not going to be - Grant Shapps, the

:07:39. > :07:42.party chairman, made clear this - until the next general election.

:07:42. > :07:45.We're not talking about something that's going to happen in the next

:07:45. > :07:48.couple of years. We're talking about change to the Tory manifesto.

:07:48. > :07:52.Also on things like justice, yes, there might be a change in tone

:07:52. > :07:56.from Chris Grayling, but where exactly will he change policy? Is

:07:56. > :08:00.he suddenly going to turn on the taps and allow the prison numbers

:08:00. > :08:02.to go up and increase prison capacity. It won't be Lib Dems's

:08:02. > :08:08.restraining but the Treasury because they're just not going to

:08:08. > :08:12.give them the money. Thank you. Grant Shapps, what did Warsi do so

:08:12. > :08:16.wrong she had to be replaced by you? I don't think anything. I

:08:16. > :08:20.think she was a very good chairman. Whenever you reshuffle you always

:08:20. > :08:24.say why is that person not doing that job and doing something else

:08:24. > :08:29.and vice versa? The truth is at some point you need to move your

:08:29. > :08:35.team around. In the case of this Prime Minister... She went off in a

:08:35. > :08:39.huff to Yorkshire we're told. Before a reshuffle people say

:08:39. > :08:42.they're happy doing the jobs. I said the same about my housing job.

:08:42. > :08:46.It's with some regret I moved from that work because I would like to

:08:46. > :08:51.see it through, but she's about to do a important job at the Foreign

:08:51. > :08:57.Office. She's at a senior level, still going into the Cabinet, so I

:08:57. > :09:01.am sure her contribution will be there for a long time. I am told

:09:01. > :09:06.three Cabinet Ministers cried when they were fired or moved. Were you

:09:07. > :09:12.one? No. Are you sure? You're making me very emotional about it.

:09:12. > :09:16.Let me see if I can make you cry about something else - how many

:09:16. > :09:20.have you inherited? I haven't gotten into that. You're the

:09:20. > :09:24.chairman, and you don't know how many your party - any general

:09:24. > :09:30.fighting a war would want to know how many soldiers he has?

:09:30. > :09:32.appreciate the advice. Maybe I can help you because when Mr Cameron

:09:32. > :09:37.became Prime Minister - became leader of his party - not Prime

:09:37. > :09:41.Minister - in 2005, there were 300,000 Conservative members.

:09:41. > :09:49.According to a Conservative home survey just gone in July, there is

:09:49. > :09:52.now between 130 and 170,000, losing almost 50%. I treat this with

:09:52. > :09:56.scepticism for one reason because the truth is membership isn't

:09:56. > :10:00.entirely pooled centrally - some of it is, through a central system. A

:10:00. > :10:03.lot of place still work... You're denying the Conservative Party

:10:03. > :10:06.membership has plummeted? The truth is, and it's impossible to

:10:06. > :10:10.absolutely know because Conservative Party membership,

:10:10. > :10:15.actually, probably as with other parties, is handled at a local

:10:15. > :10:20.level and then pooled at a national level to try the find out figures.

:10:20. > :10:25.When I find out more about this, no doubt I'll come back and talk to

:10:25. > :10:28.you, but there will be lots of members not registered nationally.

:10:28. > :10:32.All the polls show people are worried about the economy, about

:10:32. > :10:36.jobs, about growth, about business, whether their business will still

:10:36. > :10:40.be in business. The Prime Minister has arranged the deck chairs on

:10:40. > :10:44.International Development, and who runs the Commons - not exactly in

:10:44. > :10:48.touch with public opinion, is he? think there has been change in

:10:48. > :10:51.probably half the Cabinet posts. Not the posts at the top. What he's

:10:51. > :10:54.tried to do is this - we want some stability within the Government in

:10:54. > :10:59.order to continue to tackle the really big issues of things like

:10:59. > :11:03.dealing with the deficit, but actually what you want to do have

:11:03. > :11:06.people who have a proven track record of delivery, so we have -

:11:06. > :11:10.we're about to bring into the Government - the man who delivered

:11:10. > :11:17.the Olympics, who got all the stadium built on time, the Chief

:11:17. > :11:20.Executive of LOCOG. That's somebody with - right, business people.

:11:21. > :11:24.me in the British history - a businessman who has been a success

:11:24. > :11:29.in British politics? Typically what we have seen from businessmen who

:11:29. > :11:33.have come in - I am thinking of Archie Norman or someone who has a

:11:33. > :11:37.very specific business background. What's different about this is he's

:11:37. > :11:39.not been running a business in the traditional sense -

:11:39. > :11:47.PROBLEM WITH SOUND Correct? Let me explain. There is a

:11:47. > :11:50.difference here. He's delivered through the public service the 2012

:11:50. > :11:54.Games, add staith stadia and had to battle the Whitehall machine from

:11:54. > :11:57.that perspective. He's an insider but good at delivery. The theme of

:11:57. > :12:00.the reshuffle is putting in place people who understand how to get

:12:00. > :12:04.the job done. We have passed all the legislation. We have had all

:12:04. > :12:07.the policy ideas. This half of the Parliament has to be about

:12:07. > :12:12.delivering it. That's what this team is about. You came in without

:12:12. > :12:15.a team for delivery? You wasted two years because you had people who

:12:15. > :12:18.couldn't deliver? Not at all. What you have in politics and in

:12:18. > :12:23.Parliament - you know, the process is a two-stage thing - three,

:12:23. > :12:26.really. You have to design the policy, something which has yet to

:12:27. > :12:32.happen for Her Majesty's opposition but a stage you have to go through.

:12:32. > :12:37.You have to implement that by passing the laws, which is a very

:12:37. > :12:40.elongated process. It took two years the pass the first bit of

:12:40. > :12:44.housing legislation getting through Parliament. We're into the third

:12:44. > :12:47.stage. What the Prime Minister has done is brought... You're into the

:12:47. > :12:51.first stage of implementation by what you just said. You said you

:12:51. > :12:54.designed the policies. You said you then had to make these policies law.

:12:54. > :12:58.Now you're going to implement. It's only after two years in power

:12:58. > :13:01.you're going to... I have said on your programme before democracy is

:13:01. > :13:07.a very slow process. I wish it was a lot faster. Let me ask you this -

:13:07. > :13:10.the deficit has started to rise again. The cuts have barely begun.

:13:10. > :13:13.88% of cuts have to be introduced. There is no growth in the economy,

:13:13. > :13:19.and you have increased the tax and regulatory burden on the economy.

:13:19. > :13:22.What difference will the reshuffle make to any of that? Well, let me

:13:22. > :13:26.just challenge your assumptions first of all. You're right that the

:13:26. > :13:30.deficit is proving difficult this year. It's absolutely true. No-one

:13:30. > :13:33.imagined the world economy in this position in Europe in particular

:13:33. > :13:37.all this way through. No-one - I think you have said that you have

:13:37. > :13:40.predicted it, but mainly economists weren't predicting three or five

:13:40. > :13:44.years after the start of this we'd be in this situation, so it's

:13:44. > :13:48.difficult. We're fighting strong head wind, but secondly it's not

:13:48. > :13:51.true to say that the deficit overall hasn't been cut. No, I

:13:51. > :13:55.haven't said that. I said the deficit is starting to rise again,

:13:55. > :13:59.and these are your Government figures, but never mind... Let's be

:13:59. > :14:06.clear. We dealt with a quarter... You have only cut the deficit by

:14:06. > :14:09.25% last year. It's now rising again. The deficit is under

:14:09. > :14:12.pressure. I absolutely agree. It's clear we're not getting as much

:14:12. > :14:15.growth as we would like, and the rest of Europe is getting none too.

:14:15. > :14:19.Let's not underestimate the problems. I must challenge your

:14:19. > :14:22.point about regulation. The surveys typically show that actually we

:14:22. > :14:26.have been making some headway on cutting regulation. I'll give you

:14:26. > :14:31.one simple example. Last week I got a housing development going which

:14:31. > :14:34.has been stalled for more than ten years in Kent. It will build 22,000

:14:34. > :14:39.homes in the next 20 years. How many quangos were involved in

:14:39. > :14:45.trying to get that going over those ten years? Answer: 63 of them. We

:14:45. > :14:49.have cut the number of kanggos down to virtually nothing and we are

:14:49. > :14:52.cutting the bureaucracy. Rachel Reeves, you're not denying the

:14:52. > :14:57.overall tax burden has risen under your Government? We have always

:14:57. > :15:04.said if we're going to deal with the deficit, we're going to reduce

:15:04. > :15:09.the spending... Yes or no? Let me explain. 8/10 of it has been

:15:09. > :15:13.reducing spending and the other has been reducing the tax burden. One

:15:13. > :15:17.last thing - people flippantly say most of the cuts have yet to come

:15:17. > :15:20.in. That's true if you work off the spending that was projected to go

:15:20. > :15:24.like this, but since we have already reduced the expenditure,

:15:24. > :15:28.you can take any moment in time, project forward and say, by there

:15:28. > :15:34.point you would have had all of that extra spending and the pain is

:15:34. > :15:39.going to be felt. It's not spent - you get that. I get you. You use

:15:39. > :15:43.the word "cut" where it matters. You must think it's much ado about

:15:43. > :15:47.nothing. The key personnel haven't changed, and the policies haven't

:15:47. > :15:50.changed. It's all well and good to say now we're going to move to

:15:50. > :15:54.implementation stage but we have had over two years now and all

:15:54. > :15:56.that's been delivered is a double- dip recession. I am still not at

:15:56. > :15:59.all convinced there are any policies in place to get us out of

:15:59. > :16:03.that situation. Of course there are problems in Europe and elsewhere.

:16:03. > :16:06.The reality is apart from Italy, we're the only one of the 20 most

:16:06. > :16:11.industrialised economies that's come back into recession, and the

:16:11. > :16:14.fact that we're in recession has to be due to the policies that have

:16:14. > :16:18.been implemented here in the UK, the decisions to cut as far and as

:16:18. > :16:22.fast as the Government have done have choked off economic growth,

:16:22. > :16:26.resulted in us going back into a recession. As you say, Andrew, also

:16:27. > :16:32.means that this year in the first four months of this year we're

:16:32. > :16:36.borrowing 25% more than we were doing a year ago, whereas -- with

:16:36. > :16:39.most people predicting borrowing this year will be more than last.

:16:39. > :16:44.That's not because the Government haven't made the cuts and put up

:16:44. > :16:54.tax. It's because tax revenue isn't coming in because businesses aren't

:16:54. > :16:56.

:16:56. > :16:59.succeeding and Unemployment is high Before we move on, why is Downing

:16:59. > :17:03.Street spinning against Justine Greening for sticking to your

:17:03. > :17:06.party's promise not to build a third runway? He's been attacked

:17:06. > :17:10.and she had to be moved and only in the job for ten months. She's the

:17:10. > :17:13.one who is sticking to the manifesto pledge? We are all

:17:13. > :17:23.sticking to it. That's to be absolutely clear. For now. We are

:17:23. > :17:23.

:17:23. > :17:32.not going to build a runway. It's back on - That's a bit disingenuous.

:17:32. > :17:39.Firstly, you went into the election - You were in favour of one.

:17:39. > :17:41.There's no problem. At least we are being honest. People in put any and

:17:41. > :17:46.Richmond didn't think you were going into the election saying you

:17:46. > :17:49.weren't going to build it in the next couple of years. When you go

:17:49. > :17:53.into an election you publish a manifesto and people expect you to

:17:53. > :17:58.stick to it and we are absolutely going to stick to it. I would

:17:58. > :18:03.suggest that you are both all over the place when it comes to this.

:18:03. > :18:06.You came to power being against it. And you are now in the process of

:18:06. > :18:10.changing your mind. You fought the last election being in favour and

:18:10. > :18:14.now you're against it. It's what called a muddle on the left and

:18:14. > :18:18.right. We'll come back to this after PMQs so hold that thought. We

:18:18. > :18:21.need to move on. Right, as we have been discussing, the reshuffle

:18:21. > :18:25.hasn't been solely a Conservative affair, with Nick Clegg getting in

:18:25. > :18:30.on the action too. The big news bringing David Laws back into

:18:30. > :18:35.Government as schools minister, and a Minister of State in the Cabinet

:18:35. > :18:40.Office. He was keen to show him off. The two joined the Breakfast Club

:18:40. > :18:45.in East London, where the Deputy Prime Minister enjoyed a bowl of

:18:45. > :18:49.porridge, whilst David Laws stuck to a single piece of toast. Mr

:18:49. > :18:52.Clegg used the visit to champion the pupil premium, money for

:18:52. > :18:59.schools for children from deprived backgrounds. The Liberal Democrats

:18:59. > :19:02.see this as one of their principal successes in Government. I attach

:19:02. > :19:05.particular personal significance to this. I heard and saw about this

:19:05. > :19:09.when I was travelling different cubs ten years ago and I first

:19:09. > :19:12.wrote about it ten years ago and David and I put it into our

:19:12. > :19:16.manifesto and put it into the coalition agreement and now it's

:19:16. > :19:20.coming to a school near you, so to speak. That is a very exciting

:19:20. > :19:24.journey for us to have seen. David in his new position in the

:19:24. > :19:28.department for education, among other things, will make sure that

:19:28. > :19:33.all schools use the premium as well as you have done. Nick Clegg there.

:19:33. > :19:39.We have been joined now by the Liberal Democrat MP, Martin Hoard.

:19:39. > :19:43.Welcome to the programme. He has two jobs, which is the most

:19:43. > :19:48.important? They are both important. In education he's clearly going to

:19:48. > :19:51.be championing the implementation, but the Cabinet Office role, with

:19:51. > :19:55.the free-roving brief is really quite significant. It will enable

:19:55. > :19:59.him to troubleshoot across issues where we don't have Lib Dem

:19:59. > :20:05.ministers, so that could be a very significant one that watch. What

:20:05. > :20:12.you like to see? Like defence? That's an obvious one. The Trident

:20:12. > :20:16.review is contentious within the coalition and there was a defence

:20:16. > :20:22.with Nick Harvey, but he's not there, so that's one area where

:20:22. > :20:26.David could offer advice and support. You have got David Laws

:20:26. > :20:29.back but everybody is saying this reshuffle is a move to the right.

:20:29. > :20:33.Menzies Campbell has also said so. Does that weaken the Liberal

:20:33. > :20:36.Democrats? I don't think it is. There are obviously the same number

:20:36. > :20:40.of Lib Dem ministers as before. We have important changes not just

:20:40. > :20:45.David, but people like Norman Lamb at health and Paul Burstow did a

:20:46. > :20:48.great job on the social care side, but Norman has enormous experience

:20:48. > :20:53.in mainstream NHS politics and policy, so that's going to be very

:20:53. > :20:58.important. I think overall, where there are some ministers who are

:20:58. > :21:01.being portrayed as sort of right- wingers going in, I think the point

:21:01. > :21:05.is if we stick to the agreement and the same is true on aviation, then

:21:06. > :21:09.we should be in for a reasonably smooth path. I think where the

:21:09. > :21:13.coalition has had problems in the last couple of years is where we

:21:13. > :21:17.have deviated from the agreement. That's the problem, because you say

:21:18. > :21:21.if you stick to the agreement, but we are seeing the Conservatives not

:21:21. > :21:24.sticking to the coalition agreement and you just haven't got that

:21:24. > :21:27.influence in Government to stop things happening like House of

:21:27. > :21:32.Lords' reform or tuition fees, which you went into the election

:21:32. > :21:36.promising one thing and did the total opposite. I wouldn't like to

:21:36. > :21:42.speculate if if we had in coalition with the Labour Party. There are

:21:42. > :21:46.issues like the NHS and - Which your conference voted against.

:21:46. > :21:51.Lords reform, that's where we have seen Conservative ministers perhaps

:21:51. > :21:56.not delivering or going off piste a little. The key message of the

:21:56. > :21:59.reshuffle is we now need to stabilise Government again. We have

:22:00. > :22:04.had a jittery year and we need to stabilise and look forward, but it

:22:04. > :22:07.needs to be rooted in the agreement and there's still plenty to do.

:22:07. > :22:13.Picking up on what Rachel is saying, do you think Jeremy Hunt should

:22:13. > :22:19.have been promoted to health? raised a few eyebrows. That's being

:22:19. > :22:29.nice. Do you think he should have been? It has raised Lib Dem

:22:29. > :22:30.

:22:30. > :22:37.eyebrows too. With the exception of BSkyB issue, he's proved to be a

:22:37. > :22:40.part of a good team. Conservative ministers have been describing this

:22:40. > :22:43.as removing obstacles to getting policies done. That sounds like the

:22:43. > :22:48.Liberal Democrats here in those departments. Do you agree? No, I

:22:48. > :22:52.don't, obviously. I think there are some - actually there is a lot of

:22:52. > :22:59.stability on the Lib Dem side within senior ministerial level and

:22:59. > :23:02.the Secretary of State levels. The key people - Vince Cable and Ed

:23:02. > :23:05.Davey will be there pursuing the green business agenda and

:23:05. > :23:09.delivering on things like the Green Investment Bank and the green deal.

:23:09. > :23:12.Which we are still waiting for? Absolutely. They are on track and

:23:12. > :23:15.they'll be delivered, so the commitments are still there and

:23:15. > :23:19.they're powerful. On issues like aviation and planning we have to

:23:19. > :23:24.stick to the agreement and we'll be fine. Making sure that nothing

:23:25. > :23:30.happens before 2015. Do you see it as the start of divorce, hold on to

:23:30. > :23:34.what they've got, but planning for the 2015 election? Not at all. On

:23:34. > :23:39.Heathrow Airport, you may see both parties probably starting to begin

:23:39. > :23:43.to think about 2015 manifestos and when they might promise in the next

:23:43. > :23:50.Parliament. Ministers have - didn't have any policies in the

:23:50. > :23:54.south-east. You are against any new runways. The coallation agreement

:23:54. > :23:57.says none at Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport or Stansted Airport.

:23:57. > :24:00.If the Conservative Party want to discuss it and changing what goes

:24:00. > :24:03.in their manifesto that's fine, but they need to stick to the coalition

:24:03. > :24:06.agreement in the meantime. Talking about business and how important

:24:07. > :24:11.the economy is and there are many in business who feel that there is

:24:11. > :24:15.still a block on reform, on things like employment law and supply-side

:24:15. > :24:20.measures that could be done and Vince Cable, as Business Secretary,

:24:20. > :24:25.two new hench man around him, obviously he is seen as someone who

:24:25. > :24:29.has brought in the reports. Do you think it needs to change? I found

:24:29. > :24:32.it was not very motivating to staff to threaten employment rights. I

:24:32. > :24:36.don't think that's the solution to jobs and growth. We need to

:24:36. > :24:41.concentrate, but Vince and others are consVinced that's much about

:24:41. > :24:45.the green economy and stimulating Britain in the areas in which we

:24:45. > :24:48.are exceptional and not about deregulating and damaging

:24:48. > :24:51.employment rights. There may be changes that we can work through

:24:51. > :24:55.and trying to support Europe in trying to rescue the eurozone,

:24:55. > :25:01.which I think is actually the biggest block to growth, these are

:25:01. > :25:04.the important things and I don't think we need to focus on things

:25:04. > :25:09.like Beecroft. Thank you. The new Cabinet will meet this afternoon to

:25:09. > :25:11.have the first get-together since yesterday. There will be a run for

:25:12. > :25:15.the chairs, since there probably aren't enough. The Conservatives

:25:15. > :25:18.believing in a limited government of course. The Prime Minister is

:25:18. > :25:24.expected to say warm words and outline what he expects, but what

:25:24. > :25:28.the Cabinet really wants, all of them, is one of these. They don't

:25:28. > :25:33.care about their new jobs and smart offices. They just want a Daily

:25:33. > :25:38.Politics mug. And if they're lucky David Cameron might be giving them

:25:38. > :25:41.out this afternoon, but for all of you at home you have to enter the

:25:41. > :25:51.Guess the Year competition. We'll remind you how to enter, but we'll

:25:51. > :25:53.

:25:53. > :26:00.see if you can remember when this happened.

:26:00. > :26:10.# Turn and face the strain # Changes... # How are you getting

:26:10. > :26:11.

:26:11. > :26:21.on with the new coins? It's just terrible.

:26:21. > :26:22.

:26:22. > :26:26.# You're never going to get my love # Mr Big stuff... #

:26:26. > :26:36.# The ink is black # The page is white

:26:36. > :26:39.

:26:39. > :26:43.# Together we learn to read and write... # The Times and financial

:26:43. > :26:47.times will go to the tabloid shape. It's the modern thing. We're just

:26:47. > :26:57.doing it first. # I tip my head to the new

:26:57. > :27:19.

:27:19. > :27:29.To be in with a chance of winning the mug send your answer to our

:27:29. > :27:32.

:27:32. > :27:36.special quiz e-mail address: Now, it's coming up to midday here. Just

:27:36. > :27:42.looking at Big Ben. It's a beautiful day here in Westminster.

:27:42. > :27:50.A lovely late summer's day or early autumn day, depending on how you

:27:50. > :27:56.look at it. There hasn't been questions for eight weeks, so we

:27:56. > :28:00.welcome back Nick Robinson. I was told by a leading Tory that what

:28:00. > :28:03.happened early in the summer, when it was clear that they couldn't get

:28:03. > :28:06.the boundary changes through and that the economy still wasn't

:28:06. > :28:11.growing, that the Prime Minister looked over the abyss and thought,

:28:11. > :28:14."I could be a one-term Tory Prime Minister. I better do something

:28:14. > :28:18.about it." And the reshuffle is part of doing something? Somebody

:28:18. > :28:22.said to me yet, he might only have two-and-a-half years and I think

:28:22. > :28:28.there is that sense that when you look at some of the ruthless

:28:28. > :28:34.changes, shoving Justine Greening out and having someone who is a

:28:34. > :28:37.climate change spep tick as the new Environment Secretary and --

:28:37. > :28:41.sceptic and the new environment and moving around Vince Cable, this is

:28:41. > :28:45.a man who has not lost faith in his economic strategy or Chancellor,

:28:45. > :28:50.but patience with the system to deliver the policies he's already

:28:50. > :28:54.announced. That's partly why they are so delighted to get the guy in

:28:54. > :28:59.from the Olympics, Mr Delivery, Paul Deighton to go around

:28:59. > :29:03.Whitehall saying, "Why isn't this working?" but that's partly because

:29:03. > :29:08.he thinks he might not be here any more and because it's the best

:29:08. > :29:14.chance of winning the next election, and get growth. You get a sense

:29:15. > :29:18.from David Cameron and Nick Clegg that when they make changes, like

:29:18. > :29:24.Mr Nick Clegg's wealth tax, or the change that David Cameron has made,

:29:24. > :29:28.which you have been through, they very much have an eye on their own

:29:28. > :29:31.backbenchers and they know have very few favours and they are doing

:29:31. > :29:36.things to play to that gallery? striking thing about this

:29:36. > :29:39.government and I find it a surprise constantly is it's much tighter at

:29:39. > :29:44.the top than many single party governments and much weaker at the

:29:44. > :29:49.bottom. In other words, you look back at economic crises of the past.

:29:49. > :29:53.Wilson devaluation and Heath on the U-turn and Thatcher on wets and

:29:53. > :29:57.dries and then devaluation. There were great battles in Cabinet.

:29:57. > :30:02.There is no battle in Cabinet about economic strategy. The Labour Party

:30:02. > :30:05.will probably say they wish there were, so I'm not making a point

:30:05. > :30:08.saying aren't they clever, but observing there is no that fight.

:30:08. > :30:11.Where is the tension in politics? It's between Liberal Democrats who

:30:11. > :30:15.don't like the direction their leadership is taking them in and

:30:15. > :30:18.many Tories who just dream of that majority we saw on Guess The year.

:30:18. > :30:22.Did you see that huge figure? Why haven't we got that, they'll be

:30:22. > :30:28.thinking. They want to be able to do things they think Tory

:30:28. > :30:33.governments ought to do and with a new justice sect who knows or the

:30:33. > :30:37.new party chairman. In a sense, they are ditching policies, because

:30:37. > :30:42.this was a Conservative reshuffle. It wasn't a Government reshuffle.

:30:42. > :30:46.It's a Tory reshuffle. The ditching policies hug a hoody and the husky

:30:46. > :30:50.and the greenness and no runway at Heathrow Airport. These are all

:30:50. > :30:53.positions they took in opposition for PR reasons. They didn't have

:30:53. > :30:58.big debates over the rights or wrongs. But took the positions

:30:58. > :31:03.because they were trying to reBrandt party and that rebranding

:31:03. > :31:07.is all unravelling now. Party organisations have those as symbols

:31:07. > :31:17.and much of that is unraveled. There is a big change since then,

:31:17. > :31:18.

:31:18. > :31:23.the economic crisis. Hold that House will wish to pay tribute to

:31:23. > :31:31.the servicemen who have fallen, Lance Corporal Matthew Smith of 26

:31:31. > :31:34.Engineer Regiment and Guardsman Jamie Shadrick of the Grenadier

:31:34. > :31:42.Guards. We send our deepest condolences to their friends,

:31:42. > :31:46.family and loved ones. Their selfless service to our Government

:31:46. > :31:50.will never be forgotten. I would like to say to the House one word

:31:50. > :31:55.about the huge success this summer of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

:31:55. > :31:59.I want to send our congratulations to the superb performance of

:31:59. > :32:04.Britain's athletes and Paralympians. Want to say a huge thank you to all

:32:04. > :32:06.the volunteers who put such a smiling fas on these Games and a

:32:06. > :32:10.large well-done to all the organisers. I think they made the

:32:10. > :32:13.entire country proud and as they have promised, they have indeed

:32:13. > :32:18.inspired a generation. This morning I had meetings with Ministerial

:32:18. > :32:23.colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall

:32:23. > :32:33.have further such meetings today. Is the Prime Minister aware that

:32:33. > :32:44.

:32:44. > :32:47.Look at the loud boos that greeted the Chancellor will halt the posh

:32:47. > :32:57.boys forever. Why doesn't he be a man and do the decent thing and

:32:57. > :33:00.call a general election? Very good to see the honourable gentleman

:33:00. > :33:06.back in such good form. I'm sorry when I was forming my government of

:33:06. > :33:10.all the talents I couldn't find him on my speed dial. But I have done

:33:10. > :33:20.something that new Labour never managed. I have taken a minor and

:33:20. > :33:27.

:33:27. > :33:31.put them in the Cabinet and they Order. Order. The House must calm

:33:31. > :33:37.down. Nadine Dorries. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, you will be

:33:38. > :33:42.aware that the Deputy Prime Minister and local Democrats

:33:42. > :33:46.renegged on a promise. They said they'd deliver boundary changes. I

:33:46. > :33:49.wonder if the Prime Minister could answer if the Deputy Prime Minister

:33:49. > :33:53.goes to him and says in exchange for state funding of political

:33:53. > :33:58.parties he would deliver boundary changes, what would the Prime

:33:58. > :34:01.Minister's answer be? Well, I'm not in favour of extending state

:34:01. > :34:04.funding. I think it's very important that all political

:34:04. > :34:11.parties work hard tie tract members, to attract donations, and frankly,

:34:12. > :34:16.when we get those, we pay credit to people for funding political

:34:16. > :34:19.parties, which is in in the public interests. Mr Speaker, let me join

:34:19. > :34:27.the Prime Minister in paying tribute to Lieutenant Andrew

:34:27. > :34:35.Chesterman to have 3rd Lieutenant the Rifles, Lance Corporal Smith

:34:35. > :34:38.and Guardsman Jaimmy Shadrick of the Green deer Guards. They all

:34:38. > :34:42.died serving our country. They will never be forgotten, and our

:34:42. > :34:45.thoughts are with their family and friends. I also want to join the

:34:45. > :34:51.Prime Minister in thanking everyone involved in the Olympic and

:34:51. > :34:55.Paralympic games, our athletes, our fantastic volunteers and indeed our

:34:55. > :34:58.whole country that united in support of Team GB and did come

:34:58. > :35:01.together. It did show our country at its best, and we should all be

:35:01. > :35:06.proud of the achievement. Mr Speaker, after two-and-a-half years

:35:06. > :35:10.in Government, the Prime Minister returned from his summer break and

:35:10. > :35:15.told the nation that he now realised it was time to cut through

:35:15. > :35:22.the dither. LAUGHTER

:35:22. > :35:26.Who did he have in mind? LAUGHTER

:35:26. > :35:33.I must say, he's had all summer to think of a question, and that's the

:35:33. > :35:39.best - is that really the best he can do?! Let me - let me set it out

:35:39. > :35:42.for him. Let me explain what this reshuffle is all about. It is not -

:35:42. > :35:47.it is not that there are two economic departments in our country

:35:47. > :35:52.- the Treasury and Business. I want every single department to be about

:35:52. > :35:56.the economy. I want the Transport Department building roads. I want

:35:56. > :36:00.the Communities Department building houses. I want the Culture

:36:00. > :36:03.Department rolling out broadband. I want the Agriculture Department

:36:03. > :36:07.backing British food. This is gaff that means business, and we've got

:36:07. > :36:12.the team to deliver it. Mr Speaker, he mentions the reshuffle, and of

:36:12. > :36:17.course, it's good to see the Chancellor still in his place. I

:36:17. > :36:20.have to say to the - I have to say to the Prime Minister, he's come up

:36:20. > :36:26.with an ingenious solution to the problem of his part-time Chancellor

:36:26. > :36:29.- he's appointed another one - the former Justine Greening -- Justice

:36:29. > :36:34.Secretary. It's a job share. We'll see how they get on. I don't know

:36:34. > :36:37.if he remember, but a year ago, he published his national

:36:38. > :36:41.infrastructure plan alongside the autumn statement, and he said at

:36:41. > :36:47.the time of that plan it was an all-out mission to unblock the

:36:47. > :36:53.system. So can he tell us one year on of the road building projects

:36:53. > :36:57.announced in that plan, how many have actually started? Well, first

:36:57. > :37:01.of all, I'm glad he mentioned the issue of Chancellors because, of

:37:01. > :37:08.course, I have got my first choice as Chancellor. He's got this is

:37:08. > :37:13.third choice as Shadow Chancellor. And apparently, he still has to

:37:13. > :37:17.bring in the coffee every morning. That's just how assertive and butch

:37:17. > :37:20.the Leader of the Opposition really is. Now, he asked about

:37:20. > :37:30.infrastructure. He asks about infrastructure. If you look at what

:37:30. > :37:30.

:37:30. > :37:35.is planned by this Government between 2010 and 2015, we will be

:37:35. > :37:40.investing �250 billion in infrastructure. That compares with

:37:40. > :37:43.just �113 billion between 2005 and 2010. That shows he's absolutely

:37:44. > :37:46.not got a clue. The difference between the Shadow Chancellor and

:37:46. > :37:52.the Chancellor is the Shadow Chancellor was right about the

:37:52. > :37:56.economy, and the Chancellor was wrong, and look, and look, I have

:37:57. > :38:00.to say - I have to say, Mr Speaker, the Paralympic crowd spoke for

:38:00. > :38:04.Britain. APPLAUSE

:38:04. > :38:07.Now, of course, characteristically, it's another Prime Minister's

:38:07. > :38:12.Questions - we're back. He doesn't answer my question. The answer is,

:38:12. > :38:15.none of the red-building programmes announced in his grand

:38:15. > :38:22.infrastructure plan have started. Let's look at another grand claim

:38:22. > :38:25.he made. In March he published his housing strategy, and he said our

:38:25. > :38:28.housing strategy is beginning to get Britain building again. Before

:38:29. > :38:32.he starts talking up his next announcement about housing, let's

:38:32. > :38:37.look at the last. Can he tell us since his announcement how many

:38:37. > :38:41.houses have started to be built? Housing starts are up 30% since

:38:41. > :38:47.2009, which was the lowest rate of house building since the 1920s.

:38:47. > :38:53.That is what his Government left. Now, he prays to the gunwales. Let

:38:53. > :38:59.us remember it is the Shadow Chancellor who landed us in this

:38:59. > :39:02.mess. Who was the City Minister when the City went bust? The Shadow

:39:02. > :39:06.Chancellor. Who was the man who gave us the biggest deficit budget

:39:06. > :39:10.in the developed world? The Shadow Chancellor. That is what that team

:39:10. > :39:15.has developed. That is why British people will never trust them again.

:39:15. > :39:19.Mr Speaker, I think sometimes he forgets - he's been Prime Minister

:39:19. > :39:23.for two-and-a-half years. He's got to defend his record, and he can't

:39:23. > :39:29.defend his record. Of course, again, he didn't answer my question. I

:39:29. > :39:35.asked him - I asked him about what happened to housing starts since he

:39:35. > :39:41.made his announcement. The reality is housing starts have fallen since

:39:41. > :39:44.then and are 20 - 24% lower than they were a year ago and lower than

:39:44. > :39:48.they were at time of the last Labour Government, so another grand

:39:48. > :39:54.claim, another grand claim that hasn't materialised. Now let's talk

:39:54. > :39:57.about planning. In March after 18 months of consultation, he hailed

:39:57. > :40:01.his flagship planning policy and said it was the biggest revolution

:40:01. > :40:07.in 60 years, but on Sunday, Mr Speaker, he said he was frustrated

:40:07. > :40:10.by the system, and the hoops we have to jump through, and he wanted

:40:10. > :40:15.to change it again. Mr Speaker, how is the Prime Minister so

:40:15. > :40:20.incompetent that he brings in a flagship planning bill, calls it a

:40:20. > :40:25.revolution, then six months later says it's not fit for purpose?

:40:25. > :40:32.national planning statement we inherited from Labour was over a

:40:32. > :40:34.thousand pages. It is now down to just 52 pages. We have radically

:40:34. > :40:39.simplifyed the planning system, something he should be praising

:40:39. > :40:43.rather than attacking. He might want to notice that today the World

:40:43. > :40:47.Economic Forum has come out and said for the first time in a decade

:40:47. > :40:51.instead of Britain going down did world competitiveness ratings,

:40:51. > :40:56.we're back in the top ten and rising. Let me read what they said:

:40:56. > :40:59."The United Kingdom continues to make up lost ground in rankings

:40:59. > :41:03.this year, lost ground that happened under the last Labour

:41:03. > :41:07.Government." Now, there is a reason for that. It's because this

:41:07. > :41:12.Government is cutting regulation, cutting corporate tax, taking

:41:12. > :41:15.people out of tax, getting our businesses moving in this country,

:41:15. > :41:18.investing in the regional growth fund, delivering more

:41:18. > :41:22.apprenticeships than any other Government. That's what we're doing.

:41:22. > :41:27.What's he done this summer? Where are the policies on welfare and on

:41:27. > :41:30.education? Nothing. Where is the great plan for our economy? His

:41:30. > :41:38.only answer to a debt crisis is to spend more, borrow more and put up

:41:38. > :41:42.the debt. Back to the bunker, I'm afraid, after that one, Mr Speaker.

:41:42. > :41:45.I notice - I think the crimson tide is back as well.

:41:45. > :41:48.LAUGHTER Mr Speaker, over the last two-and-

:41:48. > :41:52.a-half years we have seen announcements on infrastructure

:41:52. > :41:57.failed, announcements on housing failed, announcements on planning

:41:57. > :42:00.failed. Now, what's the reason for this economic failure? The reason

:42:00. > :42:04.is his fundamental economic approach is wrong. After the summer,

:42:04. > :42:12.we now know that in his whole two- and-a-half years as Prime Minister,

:42:12. > :42:17.the British economy has not grown at all. So why doesn't he admit it?

:42:17. > :42:21.The real problem is this: plan A has spectacularly failed. Let me

:42:21. > :42:26.tell him what is actually happening in our economy, which is you're

:42:26. > :42:30.seeing the private sector growing and expanding. There are 900,000

:42:30. > :42:35.more people employed in the private sector than there were two years

:42:35. > :42:39.ago. We are now a net exporter of cars and motor vehicles for the

:42:39. > :42:43.first time since the 1970s. You're seeing the fastest rate of business

:42:43. > :42:48.creation that you have seen for decades. That is what is happening.

:42:48. > :42:54.Our economy is rebalancing. There is growth in the private sector.

:42:54. > :42:59.Our exports to China are up 72%,ed to inia, up 94%, to Russia up over

:42:59. > :43:02.a hundred per cent. That is what is happening. It is a hard road, a

:43:02. > :43:08.difficult road but we'll stick to that road because we'll deliver for

:43:08. > :43:12.the British economy. Mr Speaker, we're in the longest double-dip

:43:12. > :43:18.recession since the Second World War. How out of touch does this

:43:18. > :43:21.Prime Minister sound? And I - I have to say - and I have to say to

:43:21. > :43:25.Tory Members of Parliament, if they go to their constituents and start

:43:25. > :43:28.trying to blame everybody else - they have been in Government two-

:43:28. > :43:32.and-a-half years! It's happened on their watch. Now, Mr Speaker, Mr

:43:32. > :43:37.Speaker, we saw a reshuffle yesterday. He brought back the

:43:37. > :43:41.member for Yeovil who had been sacked. He promoted the Culture

:43:41. > :43:43.Secretary, who should have been sacked, and he left in place the

:43:43. > :43:49.part-time Chancellor that the whole country knows should be sacked.

:43:49. > :43:54.It's the same old faces, the same old policies and no change

:43:54. > :44:00.reshuffle. Mr Speaker, if he really wants to cut through the dither,

:44:00. > :44:04.there's no place like home. The big difference in British politics is

:44:04. > :44:09.that I don't want to move my Chancellor. He can't move his

:44:09. > :44:15.Shadow Chancellor. The fact is in spite of all the economic

:44:15. > :44:18.difficulty, this is a strong and united Government, and in spite -

:44:18. > :44:28.and in spite - in spite of all the opportunity, this is a weak and

:44:28. > :44:29.

:44:29. > :44:33.divided opposition. THE SPEAKER: Order. Order! Order!

:44:33. > :44:38.There is going to be more, and it's going to be from a knight, Sir

:44:38. > :44:43.Malcolm Bruce. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wonder if the Prime

:44:43. > :44:46.Minister has seen today that PWC have produced a report saying that

:44:46. > :44:51.Aberdeen needs to recruit 120,000 skilled people in the next ten

:44:51. > :44:56.years if we're to deliver our capacity in the global energy

:44:56. > :44:59.economy? Will the Government take steps to ensure that an energy

:44:59. > :45:02.academy and the necessary support for training is put in place so we

:45:02. > :45:05.can deliver growth for the United Kingdom? I think my Right

:45:05. > :45:11.Honourable friend raises a very important point, which is the

:45:11. > :45:14.growth of the economy around Aberdeen obviously linked to that

:45:14. > :45:17.area which has been extremely successful. I want to see that

:45:17. > :45:20.continue to expand. I'll listen carefully to what he says and what

:45:20. > :45:25.the Government can do to help provide that extra capacity, which

:45:26. > :45:31.I have seen for myself. Can the Prime Minister confirm that we know

:45:31. > :45:34.in the summer that the UK have borrowed �9.3 billion more in the

:45:34. > :45:43.first four months of this year than it did in the corresponding period

:45:43. > :45:46.We have cut the Budget Deficit by a quarter in two years, but obviously

:45:46. > :45:52.it's very challenging to get the deficit down. I would just note

:45:52. > :45:57.that Labour's answer to getting the deficit down is to borrow more. To

:45:57. > :46:06.borrow an extra �200 billion. The one way you cannot get borrowing

:46:06. > :46:11.down is to put borrowing up. Speaker, my constituents were

:46:11. > :46:15.delighted when BMW announced 250 million to increase Mini production

:46:15. > :46:19.and call their axe Ford plant the heart and home of this great

:46:19. > :46:22.British success story, does the Prime Minister agree that this kind

:46:22. > :46:26.of inward investment is vital to kickstart the economy and we must

:46:26. > :46:34.do more to prioritise policies to make the UK more attractive to

:46:34. > :46:38.investors? My honourable and friend have neighbouring constituencies

:46:38. > :46:43.and many constituents who work there say it's very good news that

:46:43. > :46:47.BMW are investing 250 million, on top of the 500 million announced

:46:47. > :46:52.last year. That is safeguarding over 5,000 jobs in the Oxford and

:46:52. > :46:55.Swindon plants. It is part of a huge recovery story for the British

:46:55. > :47:00.motor manufacturing industry. We are now net exporters. That hasn't

:47:00. > :47:06.happened since the 1970s and it's a huge credit to Jaguar Land Rover

:47:07. > :47:10.and Nissan and Toyota and BMW, to all the companies that are invest -

:47:10. > :47:14.- investing and choosing Britain. They are not choosing Britain

:47:14. > :47:23.because of the weather, but because we are cutting tax and investing in

:47:23. > :47:27.the infrastructure and they know this is a country open to business.

:47:27. > :47:31.Poor Wirral families face the indignity of food banks and Save

:47:31. > :47:36.The Children are launching their first campaign for British children.

:47:37. > :47:43.What is the Prime Minister doing to help? We target families who are

:47:43. > :47:47.the poorest in the country with the tax credits. But we should also

:47:47. > :47:50.praise the voluntary efforts that help the poorest families in this

:47:50. > :47:54.country too. Would my right honourable join me in paying

:47:54. > :47:57.tribute to the 23 people in our country who work with such

:47:57. > :47:59.commitment in the private sector, the one that generates the wealth

:47:59. > :48:03.of this country and would he welcome the fact that under this

:48:03. > :48:07.government we now have more people employed in the private sector than

:48:07. > :48:12.at any time in our history? I think the point he makes is very

:48:12. > :48:15.important. If you actually look at the figures and include all of the

:48:15. > :48:19.financial sector, there are more people employed in the private

:48:19. > :48:23.sector today, in Britain, than at any time in our history. What you

:48:23. > :48:26.seek - oh, the Shadow Chancellor says that's because we are if

:48:26. > :48:30.recession. It's because companies are choosing to employ people and

:48:30. > :48:34.the private sector is getting larger and that is good news.

:48:34. > :48:38.Employment is up 201,000 this quarter. Unemployment is down

:48:38. > :48:41.46,000 this quarter. The claimant count has fallen. The rate of

:48:42. > :48:47.unemployment is down. Youth is down and I would have thought the whole

:48:47. > :48:51.House would welcome those figures. Last Sunday, the Prime Minister

:48:51. > :48:56.told us there should be no more excuses for failure. Given that his

:48:56. > :49:00.policies have produced the longest double-dip recession since the war,

:49:01. > :49:04.with output down and borrowing up and a collapse in consumer

:49:04. > :49:10.confidence, is his failure to apologise because he doesn't take

:49:10. > :49:13.his own advice or because he considers that a record of

:49:13. > :49:18.outstanding success? This comes from an honourable lady who served

:49:18. > :49:21.in a government which after 13 years delivered us the longest and

:49:21. > :49:24.deepest recession since the war. And gave us the biggest budget

:49:24. > :49:28.deficit virtually any country in the developed world had. Of course,

:49:28. > :49:38.it takes time to get yourself out of a hole, as deep as the one that

:49:38. > :49:43.was dug by the Shadow Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition.

:49:43. > :49:49.Does - over the summer Jaguar Land Rover announced the creation of

:49:49. > :49:54.1100 further jobs. This is in addition to the 750 jobs they are

:49:54. > :49:58.creating in my constituency. Does the Prime Minister agree there is a

:49:58. > :50:01.stark contrast between the rhetoric of the last Labour Government about

:50:01. > :50:05.reriefg the industry and the actions and delivery -- reviving

:50:05. > :50:12.the industry and the actions and delivery of this Government? He's

:50:12. > :50:16.right. In the last two years Jaguar Land Rover has hired an extra 8,000

:50:16. > :50:23.new workers. That is a massive success story for the West Midlands

:50:23. > :50:25.and for a great British brand, but also a big success for massive

:50:25. > :50:30.inward investment from the Indian parent company. We should praise

:50:30. > :50:33.all these and recognise we have to do even more to make Britain a

:50:33. > :50:36.really business-friendly country. With low rates of regulation and

:50:36. > :50:40.tax and lots of support for apprenticeships and infrastructure.

:50:40. > :50:45.That is what we are delivering on this side of the House and we'll

:50:45. > :50:51.continue to do so. Hundreds of young people from outside Europe

:50:51. > :50:54.chose London Metropolitan University, confident in British

:50:54. > :51:00.higher education. He needs to tackle visa fraud, but will he lift

:51:00. > :51:05.the threat to deport students who paid their fees and complied with

:51:05. > :51:08.all the rules? I know that the honourable gentleman speaks with

:51:08. > :51:11.considerable experience and obviously wants to speak up as well

:51:11. > :51:15.on behalf of his constituency. Having looked at this case and look

:51:15. > :51:19.at the action that the Border Agency has taken, it seems to me

:51:19. > :51:23.there was some real abuses going on. What I want to see is Britain open

:51:23. > :51:27.to students - and let's be clear, anyone who can speak English and

:51:27. > :51:31.who has a university place is able to come here and study at our

:51:31. > :51:35.universities, but quite rightly the immigration minister has been very

:51:35. > :51:38.hard in terms of closing down bogus colleges and making sure that good

:51:38. > :51:41.universities like this one, if they are not meeting the rules, they

:51:41. > :51:49.have to take action. That must be right if we're going to control

:51:49. > :51:54.immigration. Does the Prime Minister -- is the Prime Minister

:51:54. > :51:58.aware that in Watford in the last quarter of 2012, where the numbers

:51:58. > :52:02.have just come out, 327 new companies were incorporated? This

:52:02. > :52:06.is a record. This is way beyond anything else in history and I

:52:06. > :52:11.think he would agree it shows the Government's poll for encouraging

:52:11. > :52:16.private enterprise is succeeding. He makes a very important point. As

:52:16. > :52:19.I understand it, 2011 saw the fastest rate of new business

:52:19. > :52:24.creation of any year that we have seen in decades. That's what our

:52:24. > :52:26.economy requires. It takes time and patience, because we need a massive

:52:26. > :52:31.rebalancing, away from the public sector, towards the private. We

:52:31. > :52:34.need to see other industries, not just finance and retail succeed. We

:52:34. > :52:38.want to see the business regeneration happening right across

:52:38. > :52:40.the country. This rebalancing takes time. It is difficult, but it's the

:52:41. > :52:48.only long-term way out of the economic difficulty that we were

:52:48. > :52:52.left by the party opposite. Prime Minister is right to

:52:52. > :52:57.celebrate the most extraordinary Paralympics that we have seen and

:52:57. > :53:03.are seeing at the moment and the exceptional achievement of Team GB

:53:03. > :53:09.within those Games. What will he then say to Baroness Tanni Grey-

:53:09. > :53:13.Thompson and the others who have warned this week that his decision

:53:13. > :53:18.to cut disability living allowance will prevent disabled people

:53:18. > :53:22.participating in sport and threaten the legacy of the London Games?

:53:22. > :53:27.First, the message I would give to everyone in Paralympics GB, the

:53:27. > :53:30.separate team to Team GB is a huge congrallations for their massive --

:53:30. > :53:35.congratulations for their massive success. It's been truly inspiring

:53:35. > :53:39.being able to watch on television or the privilege of going there, to

:53:39. > :53:43.see absolutely packed stadiums for the Games. Not something everyone

:53:43. > :53:47.expected, but something that says a lot about our country and people.

:53:47. > :53:51.Answering the question directly, we are not cutting the money that is

:53:51. > :53:53.going into supporting disability. We are reforming the system,

:53:53. > :53:57.replacing disability living allowance with a personal

:53:57. > :54:00.independence payment and it is all about recognising people's needs.

:54:00. > :54:07.It has been worked up with the disability lobby very, very

:54:07. > :54:11.carefully and I think it will be improvement on the current system.

:54:11. > :54:16.The Prime Minister, I know, is well aware of the lack of capacity at

:54:16. > :54:19.Britain's airports, but in seeking to resolve this problem, will he

:54:19. > :54:23.consider of the opportunity presented by regional airports like

:54:23. > :54:28.those in Birmingham, that can help rebalance the economy? I think my

:54:28. > :54:31.friend makes a very good point about regional airports. Let me be

:54:31. > :54:33.frank, the very large infrastructure projects are

:54:34. > :54:38.extremely difficult for individual governments to take and to deliver.

:54:38. > :54:43.I think what we need to do is build a process that hopefully has cross-

:54:43. > :54:46.party support so we can look carefully at this issue and deliver

:54:46. > :54:49.changes that will address the problems of capacity that we'll

:54:49. > :54:53.have in future years and that address the issues of the hub

:54:53. > :54:57.status of the UK. I'm hoping to make an announcement about this

:54:57. > :55:00.over the coming days, but it's important we worse across party

:55:00. > :55:07.lines, because this won't happen unless parties actually sign up to

:55:07. > :55:10.a process that can deliver. wondered if I could cut through the

:55:10. > :55:15.waffle that the Prime Minister gave us in the answer to disability

:55:15. > :55:21.living allowance. The reality is that 600,000 disabled people will

:55:21. > :55:26.be losing an extra cost benefit. Instead of just giving warm words

:55:26. > :55:28.to disabled people in this country, why doesn't he take aside his

:55:28. > :55:33.immovable Secretary of State and say to him it's time we thought

:55:33. > :55:36.again on this one? The move from disability living allowance to

:55:36. > :55:39.personal independence payments has been an exercise of huge

:55:39. > :55:43.consultation, with the disability lobbies, to try to make sure that

:55:43. > :55:47.we get this right. The fact is there are hundreds of thousands of

:55:47. > :55:51.people on DLA, who have never had a recheck since they started to take

:55:51. > :55:55.on that benefit. There are many others on disability living

:55:55. > :56:00.allowance and I know this as a parent who filled out the form

:56:00. > :56:03.myself, who have to fill out reams without getting a proper medical

:56:03. > :56:11.check that would get them the benefit quicker. We are moving from

:56:11. > :56:21.an out-of-date system to a new that will help disabled people.

:56:21. > :56:29.

:56:29. > :56:33.Selective dor sal rhizoo -- dorsal operations are only available

:56:33. > :56:36.outside the NHS. Will the Prime Minister look at this situation and

:56:36. > :56:41.help the families who are raising money for their children to have

:56:41. > :56:45.this operation across the country get NICE to change their mind?

:56:45. > :56:49.will look closely at this. I quite understand, as I said one moment

:56:49. > :56:53.ago, as a parent of a very disabled child, if there was anything you

:56:53. > :56:57.could do to get that child out of the wheelchair you would want that

:56:57. > :57:01.to happen. I've looked at this case. NICE actually says this operation

:57:01. > :57:03.is a treatment option for some children and young people, but it

:57:03. > :57:07.does caution against the potentially serious complications,

:57:07. > :57:10.because it's an irreversable operation and so there are risks

:57:10. > :57:20.involved. I'll look very carefully and see if there is anything more

:57:20. > :57:23.than NICE should consider. Prime Minister always advises the

:57:23. > :57:27.trade unions to go for remembering sillation and in the interests of

:57:27. > :57:31.fairness can I ask you to speak to his new Health Secretary and say

:57:31. > :57:34.would he involve himself in the dispute in Northumbria healthcare

:57:34. > :57:41.and ask their board to do what the people are doing and refer their

:57:41. > :57:45.dispute to the NHS Staff Centre for Resolution. He will have been

:57:45. > :57:49.listening carefully and I'm sure he will be able to discuss it with the

:57:49. > :57:56.honourable gentleman. I think it's very important that motorists have

:57:56. > :58:00.the right to renew their car tax at the Post Office, if they don't have

:58:00. > :58:05.internet access. The DVLA contract is up for renewal soon. Will the

:58:05. > :58:08.Prime Minister make sure it stays with the Post Office? I think he

:58:08. > :58:11.makes an important point, particularly representing, as he

:58:11. > :58:13.does, a far-flung rural constituency with people living

:58:13. > :58:17.across a number of different islands. I'm sure the Business

:58:17. > :58:20.Secretary will have been listening to what he says, although there's a

:58:20. > :58:26.limited amount of interference into contracts like these that can the

:58:26. > :58:32.Government can make. Does the Prime Minister have full confidence in

:58:32. > :58:35.his police and crime commissioner in Hampshire? What I would say

:58:35. > :58:39.about the commissioners is we haven't yet had the elections. We

:58:39. > :58:42.are going to have elections in November. I think it's a very good

:58:42. > :58:48.opportunity to broadcast from this House what an important set of

:58:48. > :58:50.elections these are. I want to see a new form of accountibility, it

:58:51. > :58:55.coming through our policing forces. I think it's an excellent reform

:58:55. > :59:02.and I'm sure one that many people want to turn out and vote and I

:59:02. > :59:05.hope vote for their local Conservative candidate. Over the

:59:05. > :59:10.summer, a number of commuters in my constituency suffered flooding and

:59:10. > :59:14.we were flooded in part because our drainage dykes are not cleared out,

:59:14. > :59:17.because the boards fear prosecution under conservation habitat

:59:17. > :59:21.legislation. Will the Prime Minister meet with his new

:59:21. > :59:25.Environment Secretary and take away this threat of prosecution so that

:59:25. > :59:29.drainage dykes that were built and dug to protect property, can do

:59:29. > :59:32.their job? As someone who represents a constituency that has

:59:32. > :59:37.been subjected to flooding, I know how many frustrations there can be

:59:37. > :59:40.in local communities when things that need to be done don't get done

:59:40. > :59:43.quickly enough. Sometimes that is the fault of different agencies.

:59:43. > :59:46.Sometimes it's the fault of landowners and locals authorities.

:59:46. > :59:52.All sorts of issues have to be crunched through, but I'm sure the

:59:52. > :59:55.Secretary of State will have been list being -- listening carefully.

:59:55. > :00:00.Can the Prime Minister confirm with no ifs or buts that there will be

:00:00. > :00:04.no third runway at Heathrow Airport whilst he leads his party? Clearly,

:00:04. > :00:08.while I do believe we need to establish a form of review that

:00:08. > :00:15.will bring parties together and make a decision about airport

:00:15. > :00:20.capacity, I will not be breaking my manifesto pledge. A letter from and

:00:20. > :00:23.a meeting with the Secretary of State for Defence has confirmed

:00:23. > :00:29.that the seabgd battalion, the Royal regiment of Fusiliers is the

:00:29. > :00:36.only one that should not have been cut on military grounds. Instead,

:00:36. > :00:42.what did happen was the further criteria that regimental losses be

:00:42. > :00:46.capped to one battalion, thus saving more other battalions in

:00:46. > :00:54.Scotland. Would the Prime Minister meet with me and others from across

:00:54. > :00:57.the House to discuss this issue? I'm very happy to around a meeting

:00:57. > :01:01.between my friend and the Defence Secretary and others. I think it's

:01:01. > :01:06.right to see the Army changing the structure not in the overall size,

:01:06. > :01:09.because with 82,000 regular soldiers and 30,000 territorials,

:01:09. > :01:13.the Army won't be changing in its overall size. It was difficult and

:01:13. > :01:17.it is difficult to do that in a way that respects regimental decisions

:01:17. > :01:20.and issues that I know a number of honourable members hold very dearly

:01:20. > :01:23.and it's important we do that across the United Kingdom. That is

:01:23. > :01:33.what the Government has set out, but I'm happy to arrange that

:01:33. > :01:36.

:01:36. > :01:42.Comes to an end on a point of order, first PMQs in the new parliamentary

:01:42. > :01:49.season. The economy dollnating the exchanges between the two sides, as

:01:49. > :01:53.expected. We'll come to analysis of that in a

:01:53. > :01:56.moment but first, we'll hear what you thought of this exchange.

:01:57. > :02:02.the comments were about the economy - whoever and whichever party you

:02:02. > :02:05.support. So Diane from Truro, Cornwall said, "A reshuffle that

:02:05. > :02:11.failed to address the economic woes or failed economic policies was

:02:11. > :02:17.doomed to quickly break down. Ed Miliband left off from the break

:02:17. > :02:21.with a strong performance today" but heather said, "His dither at

:02:22. > :02:29.the start of PMQs is lame. He should be scoring multiple goals

:02:29. > :02:31.against David Cameron. If he can't, Labour are sunk" this one, "What is

:02:31. > :02:34.Labour's plan? Ed Miliband says their economic plan is wrong, that

:02:34. > :02:40.the Prime Minister has been in for two-and-a-half year, yet this

:02:40. > :02:45.follows a 30-year spending binge which accelerated under Gordon

:02:45. > :02:49.Brown", from Nathan in Kent, "I am one of the few Tory Party members

:02:49. > :02:54.Grant Shapps inherited, although my membership does expire this month,

:02:54. > :02:57.Ed Miliband has made a stack point at PMQs. David Cameron has been in

:02:57. > :03:02.for two-and-a-half years. He can't keep blaming the last Government.

:03:02. > :03:08.We're not buying that excuse anymore." There we go, not sure if

:03:08. > :03:16.we should be helping the Conservative Party to recruit. That

:03:16. > :03:19.may be the way - before we come on to the less important analysis,

:03:19. > :03:24.let's just get out of the way immediately the big issue that was

:03:24. > :03:29.raised at PMQs, which was that the Prime Minister accused Mr Miliband

:03:29. > :03:32.of not being butch enough. Are you butch enough, Grant Shapps? Well, I

:03:32. > :03:38.think what he was probably trying to describe... I am not asking

:03:38. > :03:42.about that I am asking about you. Yes, yeah, yeah. You are? Of course.

:03:42. > :03:46.What evidence do we have to show this? Do you make coffee for

:03:46. > :03:51.anyone? I haven't gone about making coffee for other people. Does that

:03:51. > :03:59.count? You write under another name. That's not butch. That's a pen name.

:03:59. > :04:03.That's right. Michael Brown. Green. I thought he used to advertise cars

:04:03. > :04:05.on television. Look, I think the point he was trying to make is

:04:05. > :04:08.simple - you have a shadow Chancellor he doesn't want. He

:04:08. > :04:13.didn't ask for this man. He actually appointed somebody else

:04:13. > :04:17.who ended up not doing it, tried to appoint a second person, has ended

:04:17. > :04:21.up with his third choice. Who was the second one? Nick will fill us

:04:21. > :04:26.in with the detail. Maybe I have had too long on the is unlounger.

:04:26. > :04:32.Clearly Alan Johnson was the Shadow Chancellor. I think he tried then

:04:32. > :04:36.not to appoint Balls and delayed. I... How can I forget - he was

:04:36. > :04:41.trying to get his brother David back in and convince him to do it,

:04:41. > :04:46.and he refused to do it for the second time. Who told you that?

:04:46. > :04:50.didn't reappoint straight away. did. It was done within an hour. I

:04:50. > :04:56.understand there was a conversation. You may know better. Look, he

:04:56. > :05:05.wanted his brother to do it. He wouldn't. He has ended up with Ed

:05:05. > :05:09.Balls. In the Cabinet meetings Balls is disrespecting his leader

:05:09. > :05:12.on his Blackberry, not interested in anything he says, but back to

:05:12. > :05:15.the Blair-Brown division that dogged the last Government, we

:05:16. > :05:19.realised how divisive it was and how it affected the running of this

:05:19. > :05:23.country. Of course, if David Cameron was butch enough he might

:05:23. > :05:26.have taken on his Chancellor and put a new one in. I think the

:05:26. > :05:29.Chancellor is doing a job any person who wants to see this

:05:29. > :05:36.country avoid the Greek deficit crisis or what's happening in Spain

:05:36. > :05:39.where, you know, rates are six, 7% to borrow money... That's... We're

:05:39. > :05:42.1.5% here. We have come to the conclusion you cannot solve the

:05:42. > :05:46.debt crisis by spending more money. I have this question for you, which

:05:46. > :05:49.is this: when are we actually going to hear anything at all from Her

:05:49. > :05:54.Majesty's opposition about what you would do in Government? Not a

:05:54. > :05:59.single policy, nothing. You have asked the question. I raise the

:05:59. > :06:02.question. Normally what you would do is allow the person to answer.

:06:02. > :06:07.We have been very clear that if we were in Government now, we would

:06:07. > :06:12.put forward a plan for jobs and growth that include teampsrary cut

:06:12. > :06:15.in VAT... More borrowing. genuinely bring forward more

:06:15. > :06:23.investing. This Government talks about infrastructure and roads,

:06:23. > :06:28.planning, housing, and as Ed Miliband said today none of it has

:06:28. > :06:33.been delivered. A bank bonus tax of 50% and using that money to create

:06:33. > :06:37.jobs for young people and the construction of 25,000 new

:06:37. > :06:41.affordable homes. Those - wait a second. Let me finish - that would

:06:41. > :06:50.help get the economy growing again, but by getting people back to work

:06:50. > :06:54.and helping businesses succeed and pay tax would help get that down.

:06:54. > :06:57.Without the tax receipts flowing in and with the benefits bill going up,

:06:58. > :07:02.the Government ends up borrowing more, not less. We need to get the

:07:02. > :07:08.economy back on track if we're going to get the deficit down.

:07:08. > :07:12.come to you in a minute - I have not forgotten you're there. Ice-

:07:12. > :07:17.skating - I have to hold up - LAUGHTER

:07:17. > :07:22.A quick reply? All it is, is a list of more taxes and more spending

:07:22. > :07:27.because, hold on... A tax cut for ordinary families? A tax cut for

:07:27. > :07:30.small businesses. We know the tax cut would be about �12.5 billion,

:07:30. > :07:34.so more debt, higher taxes. The question is when we were two-and-a-

:07:34. > :07:37.half years into opposition people were saying, where are the detailed

:07:37. > :07:41.policies? What would you actually do in all of these areas of

:07:41. > :07:45.Government... She just gave you some detail. You might not like

:07:45. > :07:49.them. That's a different matter. Policies that'll help get the

:07:49. > :07:52.economy moving again and the recession in. We're in a double-dip

:07:52. > :07:57.recession, the longest since the Second World War, and the deficit

:07:57. > :08:01.is beginning to increase by 25% in the first four months of this year.

:08:01. > :08:07.You have those two problems, and they're related because without the

:08:07. > :08:12.jobs and growth, the deficit goes up. Rather than a few abstract...

:08:12. > :08:17.Can I bring in the - ALL SPEAK AT ONCE

:08:17. > :08:20.He's a very patient man. Someone said to me this morning that the

:08:20. > :08:23.real - we saw these exchanges on the economy, and the Government is

:08:23. > :08:29.in a difficult position on the economy at the moment. There is no

:08:29. > :08:32.growth. If the third quarter produces no growth as well, that's

:08:32. > :08:36.a really difficult position the Government finds itself in. It is,

:08:36. > :08:39.but you have just seen them absolutely double up on their

:08:39. > :08:43.economic strategy. Clearly Labour and a lot of people think that's a

:08:43. > :08:45.mistake. They came under a huge amount of pressure in the build-up

:08:46. > :08:49.to this reshuffle including business. Business groups were

:08:49. > :08:52.saying why aren't you delivering? I thought the strike thing about

:08:52. > :08:57.Prime Minister's Questions were those facts. Ed Miliband in fact

:08:57. > :09:01.deployed a trip used against Gordon Brown when he was Leader of the

:09:01. > :09:05.Opposition. I remember in 2008-09 David Cameron would say how many of

:09:05. > :09:09.this opposition have happened - and the answer was always nil because

:09:09. > :09:13.it's easy to announce policies, and they get frustrated, whether Lib

:09:13. > :09:18.Dem or Tories, where's it gone? I suspect David Cameron will go back

:09:18. > :09:23.to the office and say, why aren't we getting roads built? It's one of

:09:23. > :09:26.the reasons he's trying to bring someone in. You're right. It would

:09:26. > :09:30.be incredibly hard if there is no third quarter growth. Remember

:09:30. > :09:33.behind the scenes in Government there is confusion about whether

:09:33. > :09:36.employment statistics are giving the real picture or growth

:09:36. > :09:43.statistics. The growth statistics are down. Some people think they're

:09:43. > :09:46.wrong and slightly overstated. Is the economy flat or dropping? It

:09:46. > :09:50.will be interesting over the next six months to see which is giving

:09:50. > :09:53.us a proper view. Gordon Brown suffered from this. He had some

:09:53. > :09:55.growth statistics that looked very bad in 2009. Actually, they were

:09:56. > :10:01.revised up. The economy was doing just a little bit better than

:10:01. > :10:06.people at the time were saying. Does Labour have any idea how big

:10:06. > :10:09.the deficit could go? Because it will have - I take your point that

:10:09. > :10:13.you think things you'll do will bring back growth, and so therefore

:10:13. > :10:16.in the longer term the deficit starts to come down, but in the

:10:16. > :10:21.short run it seems to me it's impossible to deny that the deficit

:10:22. > :10:26.goes up. Do you have any idea by how much that deficit can go up

:10:26. > :10:30.before the bond markets simply say, you're not on? Interest rates rise.

:10:30. > :10:34.If you look at the plan Alistair Darling set out before the last

:10:34. > :10:37.election, that was to half the deficit during the course of this

:10:38. > :10:41.Parliament. This Government have set out to eliminate the structural

:10:41. > :10:46.deficit during the course of this Parliament. They haven't. They're

:10:46. > :10:49.now putting it back by two years and going to borrow at least �250

:10:50. > :10:53.billion more. Now you have the ratings agencies saying growth is

:10:53. > :10:58.as important as the deficit numbers because actually, as I have been

:10:58. > :11:03.saying, without growth you can't get the deficit down. Can I remind

:11:03. > :11:06.you that when Alistair Darling unveiled his plan Britain was on

:11:06. > :11:11.negative watch by the ratings agencies. We are on negative watch

:11:11. > :11:17.then, and could you tell me what was - what was our yield on ten-

:11:17. > :11:21.year bonds? Well, the yield on ten- year bonds has barely changed since

:11:21. > :11:26.the election. It's gone up. That's not true. The ten-year bonds

:11:26. > :11:29.Britain was paying, the yield was similar to Italy's at that time.

:11:29. > :11:34.Italy's have gone up because of... No, the timing was the same. We

:11:34. > :11:37.were paying a lot more. No. We weren't. The point I am trying to

:11:37. > :11:43.get - I understand it's a difficult thing to do. There comes a point

:11:43. > :11:46.when you can - a tipping point on the deficit, and the difficulty for

:11:46. > :11:50.Labour is if you're going to add to the deficit is to know when that

:11:50. > :11:53.tipping point would be. Let me say about the eurozone countries like

:11:53. > :11:59.Greece and Portugal and Spain and Italy - none of those countries

:11:59. > :12:01.have the flexibility that the UK has. We've pursued under the last

:12:01. > :12:06.Government and this Government quantitative easing to keep

:12:06. > :12:11.interest rates low. Our currency was depreciating, which you can't

:12:11. > :12:16.have in the eurozone, so Britain was never going to be like Greece,

:12:16. > :12:22.Italy or Portugal because we have that flexibility in the UK to...

:12:22. > :12:25.Just as well we didn't join the euro. Let me just say about

:12:25. > :12:29.quantitative easing - �300 billion of Government bonds have been

:12:29. > :12:32.bought by the Bank of England. That has kept our interest rates low and

:12:32. > :12:36.means we're not going to default because we have a buyer of last

:12:36. > :12:41.resort of our Government bonds. more thing, and I now want to talk

:12:41. > :12:47.about the King of the water, also known as Boris Johnson. I found it

:12:47. > :12:50.quite remark - I remember the days of the Tory wets, and they always

:12:50. > :12:53.criticised Mrs Thatcher in coded language which was kind of deniable

:12:53. > :12:57.- not Boris Johnson. No, I don't think we have ever seen anything

:12:57. > :13:01.quite like this. Totally out there. It's a clear challenge to Mr

:13:01. > :13:06.Cameron. Let's just run the tape on what he has been saying on this

:13:06. > :13:10.airport capacity business. I am not criticising David, who I like and

:13:10. > :13:15.admire hugely. All I am saying is they need to end the ambiguity.

:13:15. > :13:20.I'll say this more clearly if you want in the press conference. They

:13:20. > :13:24.need to end the ambiguity about Heathrow because at the moment a

:13:24. > :13:28.lot of people think that there's going to be a U-turn and that

:13:28. > :13:32.they're sort of gearing up to ditch the commitment against the third

:13:32. > :13:37.runway. They're going to put another huge runway in the middle

:13:37. > :13:42.of London's western suburbs when that is not what the City needs.

:13:42. > :13:44.Boris Johnson wearing his helmet in case there are any in-coming

:13:44. > :13:46.missiles from Number Ten Downing Street. What he's doing there -

:13:46. > :13:50.he's putting the Prime Minister's feet to the fire and saying, all

:13:50. > :13:53.right. I accept you're not going to come it for a third runway this

:13:53. > :13:59.side of the next election. I want you to rule it out forever, which

:13:59. > :14:04.is the question the Labour MP asked in the PMQs very cleverly, and it's

:14:04. > :14:07.the last thing the Prime Minister wants to answer. Absolutely. John

:14:07. > :14:12.McDonald quoted back - he was quoting David Cameron back at

:14:12. > :14:19.himself when Cameron in, sorry 2009 at a Conservative Party event said,

:14:19. > :14:25."No third runway no, if's no, but's." Zach's constituency.

:14:25. > :14:32.nearest equivalent to "read my lips", the famous quote by George

:14:32. > :14:37.Bush Senior before he raised tax. Would he stick to that as

:14:37. > :14:43.Conservative leader, cleverly worded, beyond the next election?

:14:43. > :14:48.The Prime Minister said, "I won't break my manifesto pledge," which

:14:48. > :14:51.means no runway before 2015, which in truth he has to say because of

:14:51. > :14:58.political reasons, and the Lib Dems wouldn't let him do it even if he

:14:58. > :15:02.wanted to change his mind. You're right. The row Boris Johnson wants

:15:02. > :15:05.is to put people out of their misery. They're not going to

:15:05. > :15:08.because all the parties are in a bind about runways. The trick David

:15:08. > :15:14.Cameron will now try to perform, having moved Justine Greening, is

:15:14. > :15:17.to have an independent commission on this. Sure, which won't report

:15:17. > :15:21.in the after the next election. don't know. I think they'll report

:15:21. > :15:26.before. I don't actually know the answer to that question. But you

:15:26. > :15:29.see, the equivalent of what they're trying do is what happened on high-

:15:29. > :15:33.speed rail where the Transport Secretary got the Tories onboard so

:15:33. > :15:39.whoever was in Government after the next election, it won't happen.

:15:39. > :15:43.Grant Shapps, are you in any doubt that Boris Johnson is running to be

:15:43. > :15:47.his successor? Boris said he isn't, so I'll take his word for it.

:15:47. > :15:51.would you do that? He's an honourable man. A man who was

:15:51. > :15:56.editor of the Spectator, promised not to become the Tory MP and

:15:56. > :16:00.within six months was the MP for Henley. No-one can second-guess

:16:00. > :16:03.Boris Johnson's mind. You're right. When you see these clips of Boris

:16:03. > :16:08.saying these things, don't forget, the Mayor of London is campaigning

:16:08. > :16:12.for his own airport solution which is the Thames estuary. You really

:16:12. > :16:22.don't think Boris is running to be the next leader? He says he's not.

:16:22. > :16:26.

:16:26. > :16:33.You'll have to run against him, I He didn't deny it. On that crash

:16:33. > :16:39.revelation, of naughty, we say goodbye to Nick. Grant Shapps for

:16:39. > :16:42.next leader. Unemployment seems to be rarely out of the news at the

:16:42. > :16:44.moment, but is the media's, and for that, matter the Government's,

:16:44. > :16:46.fixation on youth unemployment overlooking a more fundamental

:16:46. > :16:49.problem? Colin Crooks is a social entrepreneur with 20 years'

:16:49. > :16:52.experience in creating jobs for unemployed people and he argues

:16:52. > :16:54.that by concentrating on the young we ignore a whole generation of

:16:54. > :17:04.unemployed men and women who've been left behind without any

:17:04. > :17:16.

:17:17. > :17:20.prospect of work. Here's his Soapbox. Unemployment is a much

:17:20. > :17:23.more profound issue that politicians like to admit. It's

:17:23. > :17:28.especially concentrated in areas like this, which frankly they try

:17:28. > :17:34.to ignore and where the people have no voice. I believe that just

:17:34. > :17:39.concentrating on youth unemployment is a profound mistake. A generation

:17:39. > :17:44.of our people were brought up to work in the local factory. They

:17:44. > :17:51.weren't educated for anything else. As these jobs dried up, they were

:17:51. > :17:57.left completely stranded. In some parts of the country unemployment

:17:57. > :18:02.reaches 50% and even 60% and multiple Government initiatives

:18:02. > :18:06.have made very little difference to them. For me, these people

:18:06. > :18:10.represent a let-down generation and they are the victims of a terrible

:18:10. > :18:14.double whammy. There are up to 10 million people without a GCSE to

:18:14. > :18:24.their name. That means they can't even apply for most of the jobs

:18:24. > :18:25.

:18:25. > :18:29.that are on offer. The secret to employibility and education is

:18:29. > :18:33.attitude. A child's attitude is largely determined by their parents.

:18:33. > :18:39.Home life, not school, is largely responsible for up to 90% of a

:18:39. > :18:48.child's educational outcome. Any investment in jobs and skills for

:18:48. > :18:53.parents will have a massive impact on their children. You Rennes

:18:53. > :18:57.social enterprises and create jobs in over 20 years. I know places

:18:57. > :19:02.like Eco Computers is one of social enterprises that kep hem people get

:19:02. > :19:05.back into work. They don't want charities or grants, but they just

:19:05. > :19:13.want contracts with real clients and they can create real work and

:19:13. > :19:17.real training. Why are those jobs? Typical government schemes

:19:17. > :19:23.concentrate on K Vs and interview skills, but they miss the point.

:19:24. > :19:27.They are honed at work, not in a classroom. The Government, local

:19:27. > :19:31.authorities and big business need to actively contract with

:19:31. > :19:34.organisations such as these that really understand the issues that

:19:35. > :19:42.people face and actively want to create jobs for the unemployment.

:19:42. > :19:47.If we do this we will breathe life back into our communities and

:19:47. > :19:52.create positive adult role models and prospects for our young people.

:19:52. > :19:55.Colin joins us now. Taking up the points in that film, the jobs are

:19:55. > :19:59.needed, so do you think in the economic situation that the country

:19:59. > :20:03.is in that there is the capacity for the sort of jobs to take on the

:20:03. > :20:08.people you've described? Absolutely. I've spent 20 years employing these

:20:08. > :20:12.people and creating jobs out of nothing and it's contracts and

:20:12. > :20:15.about getting local authorities and Government deciding to buy from

:20:15. > :20:20.social enterprises that work with these people. We don't want grants.

:20:20. > :20:23.What I want is a contract. I want Government departments to say, "I

:20:24. > :20:29.will buy a service from you, whether or not it's supplying

:20:29. > :20:33.toilet rolls or cleaners or whether it's recycling, I will buy from you

:20:33. > :20:38.in your area where you create people who have been oppressed and

:20:38. > :20:42.depressed for 20 years." Why isn't it happening? The bureaucracy in

:20:42. > :20:45.this system is phenomenal and the Government hasn't focused. The

:20:45. > :20:48.Government thinks about new deals and work programmes. Do they work?

:20:48. > :20:51.Barely, to be honest. It doesn't touch these people. It touches the

:20:51. > :20:59.people at the top who would probably get a job in any case. It

:20:59. > :21:02.does not touch the people at the bottom who are struggling. None of

:21:02. > :21:05.these work. We need for them to spend the money they are going to

:21:05. > :21:09.spend. I don't need any extra borrowing or loans. I want the

:21:09. > :21:12.Government to say, "We are already buying services for this building,

:21:12. > :21:17.why don't we buy them from this company here that's employing

:21:17. > :21:21.people who are hard to employ?" Grant Shapps, why isn't it

:21:21. > :21:24.happening? It's frustrating to hear when it doesn't happen. I know

:21:24. > :21:28.there is a nursery in my constituency that a contract with

:21:28. > :21:31.the local authority and they are employing people who otherwise

:21:31. > :21:35.would find it difficult to be in the market. I've seen it work. In

:21:35. > :21:40.my last role, partly as a local Government minister, I spent some

:21:40. > :21:44.time on this finding out why it was that councils feel they have to

:21:44. > :21:47.impose such incredible prequalification question airs to

:21:47. > :21:51.sell anything to that -- questionnaires to sell anything to

:21:51. > :21:54.that local Government and when a business can come in and be more

:21:54. > :21:58.flexible. It means the local authority buys uncome petively and

:21:58. > :22:01.it doesn't go to a social enterprise. Because they've never

:22:01. > :22:07.been good as procurement. They've been talking about for years. Why

:22:07. > :22:10.is not changing? It's like biting through, I don't know, what, to get

:22:10. > :22:14.to the people to make the changes. I was involved in trying to cut

:22:14. > :22:18.down the size of the application. We are saying to local authorities

:22:18. > :22:21.and you maybe come across this, they should not introduce these

:22:21. > :22:26.questionnaires if what they are buying isn't more than a certain

:22:26. > :22:31.figure which could be several hundred,000 pounds, but they will

:22:31. > :22:35.be directly involved in it and you don't want to contract wider still.

:22:35. > :22:38.We recognise the problem which isn't being dealt with. What about

:22:38. > :22:43.Colin's point that actually the programmes that the Government has

:22:43. > :22:49.put on track to try to employ people they barely work? I think

:22:49. > :22:53.you have to do a combination of things. You can do a programme -

:22:53. > :22:56.you made a great point, governments have tried over many years and

:22:56. > :23:01.guess what, it doesn't really help. You have to do it all together. One

:23:01. > :23:04.of the things I think will help is the lasting legacy is the universal

:23:04. > :23:07.credit and it's to Iain Duncan Smith's credit it's been brought in,

:23:07. > :23:11.because it means when you go to work you are better off through

:23:11. > :23:15.work and you have to do that as well as put in targeted support and

:23:15. > :23:19.I think again that offers the best opportunities to start to make the

:23:19. > :23:23.schemes actually work and be efficient to produce and create,

:23:23. > :23:27.because people get paid and it's worth doing. Unemployment is coming

:23:27. > :23:31.down from the figures, down by 46,000. Do you think that is a fair

:23:31. > :23:35.reflection of what is going on out there, particularly with - no?

:23:35. > :23:40.in the slightest. What is actually happening is it's coming down

:23:40. > :23:45.because people are paut into part- time jobs. If you look under --

:23:45. > :23:49.being put into part-time jobs, if you look under that, 30% of our

:23:49. > :23:52.working population, 10 million, don't work, so it's a bigger number.

:23:52. > :23:57.A lot would like to, but they're not counted? I meet them every day.

:23:57. > :24:00.They want a job. Is it the wrong emphasis focusing so much attention

:24:00. > :24:04.on the youth which is the point made by Colin in terms of looking

:24:04. > :24:07.for role models? You should be looking at the lost generation?

:24:07. > :24:10.thought that was an interesting point, because obviously

:24:10. > :24:16.unemployment at any age is a serious problem. The reason that

:24:16. > :24:20.politicians tend to focus on youth is because if you allow early on in

:24:20. > :24:24.someone's life worklessness to become a way of life that that

:24:24. > :24:28.becomes a problem throughout and the point is wider, which is if you

:24:28. > :24:33.look at the inactive economic population, who are inactive, it

:24:33. > :24:36.may well go much wider and things like making sure that it quite

:24:36. > :24:40.simply always pays you when you go out and do an extra hour's work you

:24:40. > :24:45.will always be better off than the welfare equivalent. Those things

:24:45. > :24:49.are as important. You would agree with this, Rachel, in terms of work

:24:49. > :24:53.paying? Of course. That's why tax credits were always important to

:24:53. > :24:59.get people to go back to work, but we have the real problem and Colin

:24:59. > :25:04.highlights it, underemployment and the difference between the GDP

:25:04. > :25:07.numbers that show us in recession and then the others that are

:25:07. > :25:14.decreasing, that some people only work part-time, because the work

:25:14. > :25:18.isn't really there and there is the creation of jobs, but not real --

:25:18. > :25:22.really giving people an income, but talking also about contracts for

:25:22. > :25:26.social enterprises. It's also an issue for small businesses in and

:25:26. > :25:30.around the country. Small businesses as well can't get

:25:30. > :25:32.contracts either from local Government or central Government

:25:32. > :25:39.because of the bureaucracy and they need to have the track records of

:25:39. > :25:45.success and the big contracts. It's a catch 22 situation. Colin, thank

:25:45. > :25:48.you very much. While political attention here in the UK is on

:25:48. > :25:55.David Cameron's reshuffle and the return of MPs to Westminter, over

:25:55. > :25:57.in the United States the race for the White House is unde rway. Last

:25:57. > :26:00.week, the Republicans held their convention, with a starring role

:26:00. > :26:03.for Ann Romney, the wife of the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.

:26:03. > :26:13.This week, it's the turn of the Democrats, and last night Barack

:26:13. > :26:20.

:26:20. > :26:29.Obama's wife, Michelle made a keynote speech. This is the man

:26:29. > :26:33.America needs. This is the man who will wake up every day with the

:26:33. > :26:37.determination to solve the problems that others say can't be solve, to

:26:37. > :26:41.fix what others say is beyond repair. This is the man who will

:26:41. > :26:45.work harder than anyone so we can work a little bit hard. I can't

:26:45. > :26:50.tell you what will happen over the next four years, but I can only

:26:50. > :27:00.stand here tonight as a wife, mother and grandmother, and an

:27:00. > :27:11.

:27:11. > :27:19.American and make you some solemn commitment - this man will not fail.

:27:19. > :27:26.We must work like never before. And we must once again come together

:27:27. > :27:32.and stand together with a man we can trust. That's to keep moving

:27:32. > :27:42.this great country forward. My husband, our President, Barack

:27:42. > :27:42.

:27:42. > :27:46.Obama. Thank you. God bless you. God bless America. That's the two

:27:46. > :27:50.First Ladies for the election campaign. It's very American. The

:27:50. > :27:54.speeches are pretty much devoid of substance. It's all emotion and

:27:54. > :27:57.bigging up your husband. Could you see that happening in this country,

:27:57. > :28:03.Mrs Miliband going in front of a Labour conference and saying these

:28:03. > :28:08.things about Ed? I just think it would be nice to see more women in

:28:08. > :28:11.front-line politics. That's not the issue. I'm talking about spouses

:28:11. > :28:16.here. If it's Hillary Clinton running it will be Bill that will

:28:16. > :28:20.have to do it. Should spouses play this role? I would like to come

:28:20. > :28:25.back to my point, because what we don't see in America or the UK or

:28:25. > :28:29.any countries are enough women. are only seeing them as women

:28:30. > :28:35.because they're married to men. are seeing them as the appendage of

:28:35. > :28:41.their husbands and we did see it a bit in the UK election in 2010.

:28:41. > :28:45.Will Mrs Mill -- Mrs Miliband do something like that? I very much

:28:45. > :28:48.doubt it. I with like to see the women making their decisions rather

:28:48. > :28:52.than supporting. One day I'll get them to answer the question I'm

:28:52. > :28:56.asking. Before we go, just time - we can't do the competition, so we