17/10/2012

:00:38. > :00:40.Good morning. This is the Daily Politics. Today's top story:

:00:41. > :00:47.Unemployment is down, falling by 50,000 between June and August to

:00:47. > :00:51.just over 2.5 million. Charities claim disabled people will be worse

:00:51. > :00:55.off when the government introduces its new Universal Credit next year.

:00:55. > :00:58.We'll talk to Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson.

:00:58. > :01:01.David Cameron and Ed Miliband square up for the first Prime

:01:01. > :01:05.Minister's Questions for a month - we'll have all the action live from

:01:05. > :01:08.noon. And are our cinemas ripping off

:01:08. > :01:12.customers with the price of popcorn? We'll hear from George

:01:12. > :01:22.Galloway, who's leading a one-man crusade to cut the cost of a night

:01:22. > :01:26.

:01:26. > :01:30.out at the flicks. What else has he got to do? Well,

:01:30. > :01:38.it is a very important role. All that to come before one o'clock.

:01:38. > :01:42.It's almost as exciting as the Great British Bake-off final!

:01:42. > :01:46.What's that? Something to do with baking cakes. Actually, it's more

:01:46. > :01:49.exciting. And with us for the duration, we're joined by the baked

:01:49. > :01:51.alaska and strawberry cheesecake of British politics - Jim Murphy,

:01:51. > :02:00.Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary, and Steve Webb, the Liberal

:02:00. > :02:03.Democrat work and pensions minister. Which is which, I have no idea.

:02:03. > :02:13.Welcome to you both. Let's kick off with the latest unemployment

:02:13. > :02:14.

:02:14. > :02:24.figures, which showed another fall in the number of people out of work.

:02:24. > :02:25.

:02:25. > :02:31.The number of people out of work now stands at just over 2.5 million.

:02:31. > :02:35.That is the count of people claiming unemployment benefit. Are

:02:35. > :02:40.you surprised that total employment in this country, despite the fact

:02:40. > :02:45.that the economy has barely grown at all since this coalition came to

:02:45. > :02:48.power, is now higher than it was in the boom year of the Labour

:02:48. > :02:52.government? There are some peculiarities about this recession

:02:52. > :02:59.and double-dip recession we are in. There are issues about inflation

:02:59. > :03:03.and employment, the number of people in disability benefit. Any

:03:03. > :03:08.reduction in unemployment is good news for those who have found work.

:03:08. > :03:14.But it is not so enjoyable for folk who have yet to find work to hear

:03:14. > :03:20.politicians are celebrating the cut in unemployment. My worry is that

:03:20. > :03:23.the folk who have been at work for longest are getting -- the folk who

:03:23. > :03:29.are out of work for longest are getting further away from a job.

:03:29. > :03:35.People get stuck at in benefits. We are not going back to the '80s. It

:03:35. > :03:43.was not your fault, you were not in government then. In the '80s,

:03:43. > :03:47.people got lost out of work. And they stayed on benefit, and being

:03:47. > :03:51.on benefits ended up becoming the norm in the family. I worry that

:03:51. > :03:55.behind the headlines, there is a big increase in the number of

:03:55. > :04:01.people who are long-term unemployed. When you have to 0.5 million

:04:01. > :04:04.unemployed in the Labour Force Survey, there are always bad trends

:04:04. > :04:09.within that for the long-term unemployed. The official growth

:04:09. > :04:15.figures can be revised as well. Given that there is no growth, and

:04:15. > :04:19.88,000 increase in full-time employment is remarkable. 170,000

:04:19. > :04:27.fewer people on out-of-work benefits, and youth unemployment

:04:27. > :04:34.down 62,000. There is a substantial number of temporary jobs. That is

:04:34. > :04:39.better than no jobs, of course. 125,000 are part-time. Of that, we

:04:39. > :04:49.don't know how many are voluntary and how many involuntary. I am not

:04:49. > :04:50.

:04:50. > :04:55.here to say this is dreadful news. However, rather than celebrating it,

:04:55. > :04:59.understanding what is happening inside these figures is complicated.

:04:59. > :05:03.People who were out of work 12 months ago are not budging. There

:05:03. > :05:09.is a problem there for all of us. I cannot fix it in opposition, but

:05:09. > :05:13.these guys have to do more. Let me come to Mr Webb. I put it to you

:05:13. > :05:16.that the reason why the unemployment figures are better

:05:16. > :05:20.than they should be, given the overall state of the economy, is

:05:20. > :05:25.that Labour has become very cheap in this country. Real wages have

:05:25. > :05:29.not been rising. They have not kept pace with prices, and it is a

:05:29. > :05:32.bargain to employ people these days. But the price you pay for that is

:05:33. > :05:38.because real wages are not rising, there is a shortage of demand in

:05:38. > :05:42.the economy, and that is why it is not growing. Firms, rather than

:05:42. > :05:46.getting rid of people, are holding on to them through tough times

:05:47. > :05:51.because they think things will get better. If you thought we were

:05:51. > :05:56.going to Helen and cut with the economy, you would just sack people.

:05:56. > :06:02.-- If you thought we were going to hell in a handcart with the economy.

:06:02. > :06:07.People say, how do you square than number of people in work? These

:06:07. > :06:11.figures are hot off the press. Firms are keeping people because

:06:11. > :06:15.they believe there is a point in keeping them, because they can see

:06:15. > :06:19.things are starting to pick up. there are also keeping them because

:06:19. > :06:23.they don't need to give them pay rises. The labour market is so weak

:06:23. > :06:29.that they don't need to give them pay rises, even at a time when

:06:29. > :06:34.prices have been rising, and at things on which people have to

:06:34. > :06:40.spend their money, food, fuel, have been rising fast. Headlining for

:06:40. > :06:46.Asian, which includes food and fuel -- headline inflation has come down.

:06:46. > :06:49.It is better that we have people in jobs, yes, with modest pay rises,

:06:49. > :06:53.than in past recessions, when people have shed workers because

:06:53. > :06:59.they have no confidence in the future. We are all waiting on the

:06:59. > :07:05.growth figures now. We are. Let's see if it matches Steve's has this

:07:05. > :07:08.month. Nothing personal, but what I have heard this morning among some

:07:08. > :07:13.government ministers is that they are almost a uncorking the

:07:13. > :07:18.champagne. He when you get good news about employment month after

:07:18. > :07:28.month, it is good news. I thought they weren't allowed to drink

:07:28. > :07:29.

:07:29. > :07:33.champagne in the age of austerity! Inside these figures, there are

:07:33. > :07:40.parts of the country where things are just tougher. It is true that

:07:40. > :07:48.the figures in the north are not great. The North and Scotland are

:07:48. > :07:51.having tough times. That needs to be addressed. Thank you Fryatt

:07:51. > :07:53.opening salvo. And now for number two on the list.

:07:53. > :07:56.Barack Obama has fought back against his Republican rival Mitt

:07:57. > :08:00.Romney, as the two men step up the fight to be America's next

:08:00. > :08:07.president. The two men appeared on live TV last night for their second

:08:07. > :08:11.of three presidential debates. Here's a flavour. The unemployment

:08:11. > :08:15.rate is 7.8% now. If you take into account people who dropped out of

:08:15. > :08:20.the workforce, it would be 10.7%. We have not made the progress we

:08:20. > :08:26.need to make to bring people back to work. That is why we have a five

:08:26. > :08:33.point plan to bring 12 million jobs in four years. Mitt Romney says he

:08:34. > :08:36.has a five point plan. He has a one point plan, and that is to make

:08:36. > :08:41.sure that folks at the top player by a different set of rules. That

:08:41. > :08:46.has been his philosophy in the private sector, his philosophy as

:08:46. > :08:52.Governor and as a presidential candidate. Jim Murphy, you were up

:08:52. > :08:57.till the wee hours? I was, to about 4 o'clock this morning. I fell

:08:57. > :09:02.asleep at one point, which is maybe why I look so tired. Our make-up

:09:02. > :09:12.artist has done wonders. You don't look at all tired. But then she has

:09:12. > :09:14.

:09:14. > :09:21.me to practise on every day. Enough about your make-up, gentlemen. On

:09:21. > :09:26.President Obama, Heath lost last time in the present debate. Did he

:09:26. > :09:29.step up to the mark? Is the first debate, he seemed bored. He almost

:09:29. > :09:32.seemed as though it was bad- mannered of Mitt Romney to

:09:33. > :09:38.interrupt him, whereas we saw a different Barack Obama last night

:09:38. > :09:42.and early this morning. We did not see the Obama of the previous

:09:42. > :09:50.election, where there was a sense of him sitting on a hill with

:09:50. > :09:55.remarkable optimism. There was a sense of "if I did not do the

:09:55. > :10:00.things I did for the car industry, Ohio would be in difficulties". He

:10:00. > :10:06.swung some punches last night. He was winning points. To continue the

:10:06. > :10:10.boxing analogy, it was not a knockout. It is the third debate

:10:11. > :10:14.that has significance. This is potentially the decider. When it

:10:14. > :10:17.comes to the electoral colleges, it is conceivable that the person who

:10:17. > :10:22.wins the vote does not win the college and does not become

:10:23. > :10:30.President. The snap poll that was done by CNN did put President Obama

:10:30. > :10:35.ahead, although not by much. But on issues like jobs, taxes and

:10:35. > :10:41.healthcare, they put Mitt Romney ahead. What is your feeling about

:10:41. > :10:44.it now? What strikes me about the first debate is, you have been

:10:44. > :10:49.president for four years. You have been cloistered and treated with

:10:49. > :10:52.reverence, and suddenly, you are both candidates in a room. It took

:10:52. > :10:57.Obama time to adapt to the fact that he is President, but he is now

:10:57. > :11:00.a candidate. It was a culture shock to go out of that cocoon as

:11:00. > :11:05.President in to these debates. By the second one, he had worked it

:11:05. > :11:10.out. He had gone from his lecturing mode to being more of a visionary.

:11:10. > :11:15.But worthy debates illuminating? Do they really matter? Yes, the Poles

:11:15. > :11:19.did a job for Mitt Romney last time, so in that sense, they did. But,

:11:19. > :11:24.not wanting to be too cynical about Nick Clegg's game changing TV

:11:24. > :11:30.debate, but in the end, the Liberal Democrats did not get as many seats

:11:30. > :11:37.as they thought. An extra million people voted Liberal Democrat who

:11:37. > :11:41.had not previously. I met people on the doorstep who said, I like your

:11:42. > :11:51.guy on the telly last night. So they do make a difference. I don't

:11:51. > :11:56.like the debates. They will be a common practice now in the UK. And

:11:56. > :11:59.they will become law that the campaign is about. With Cup finals,

:11:59. > :12:02.you have the pre-match build-up, the match itself, the post-match

:12:02. > :12:08.analysis and then straight away, you are back in to a pre-match

:12:08. > :12:12.warm-up. At least it is what the candidates say and it is not

:12:13. > :12:16.mediated through third parties. could learn from last night, where

:12:16. > :12:21.it appeared to be genuinely independent voters who were asking

:12:21. > :12:28.real questions. It was a better format. The last one was much more

:12:28. > :12:33.stiff. They were stuck behind the podiums. I liked watching them roam

:12:33. > :12:38.around more, almost touching confrontational. It is theatre.

:12:38. > :12:42.Nick Clegg proved at the last debate that he could make himself a

:12:42. > :12:47.player. He was not just the third party guy in the corner. And

:12:47. > :12:50.because he did well without notes, he became a player. Ed Miliband

:12:50. > :12:55.spoke without notes at the conference speech for an hour, so

:12:55. > :13:01.that will benefit him. I think we can learn from last night's debate

:13:01. > :13:04.in the UK, with real people asking tough questions, with a Moderator

:13:04. > :13:11.interrupting when possible. Gerry Ford could not have done it

:13:11. > :13:16.last night. He could not walk and talk at the same time. I have not

:13:16. > :13:20.mastered that yet. The universal credit is the

:13:20. > :13:24.government's flagship Welfare Reform Policy. It has already got

:13:24. > :13:28.its critics. Today the former Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson

:13:28. > :13:34.joined them, claiming in a report that up to half a million disabled

:13:34. > :13:38.people and their families could be left worse off.

:13:38. > :13:41.He from October, next year, some of the biggest benefits including

:13:41. > :13:45.income support, income based jobseeker's allowance, housing

:13:45. > :13:48.benefit and child tax credits will be combined into one universal

:13:48. > :13:52.credit. The scheme, which the government says is the biggest

:13:53. > :13:57.welfare reform for 60 years, is the brainchild of Work and Pensions

:13:57. > :14:00.Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and is intended to make work pay by

:14:00. > :14:06.insuring that benefits are reduced at a consistent rate as earnings go

:14:06. > :14:10.up. But Barras Tanni Grey-Thompson has today published a report backed

:14:11. > :14:14.by several charities, concluding that the group likely to be most

:14:14. > :14:20.affected his disabled people. It claims that over time, 100,000

:14:20. > :14:24.families with disabled children stand to lose up to �28 a week, and

:14:24. > :14:28.116,000 disabled people who work will be at risk of losing �40 a

:14:28. > :14:32.week. It also says that many disabled people plan to cut back on

:14:32. > :14:36.heating and food bills because of the changes. But the government

:14:36. > :14:39.said the report is highly selective and could result in irresponsible

:14:39. > :14:43.scaremongering. The Department for Work and Pensions insisted that

:14:43. > :14:46.there will be no cash losers under the universal credit, and said many

:14:46. > :14:50.disabled adults and children would Yvette get more support than at

:14:50. > :15:00.present. Here is the welfare minister, defending the reforms.

:15:00. > :15:01.

:15:01. > :15:07.We are introducing Universal Credit, which has a much simplified system,

:15:07. > :15:11.which people will be able to understand. Lots of disabled people

:15:11. > :15:16.will actually benefit, because we are focusing our money particularly

:15:16. > :15:20.on the most severely disabled. There will be transitional

:15:20. > :15:25.protection for people so there are no cash loses, it is misleading to

:15:25. > :15:29.suggest there will be. If someone changes their circumstances, that

:15:29. > :15:33.is the same as the current position, but there will be cash protection

:15:33. > :15:38.in the sense that there is transitional protection. I am

:15:38. > :15:42.concerned the scaremongering and there is going round, because it

:15:42. > :15:47.will make disabled people unnecessarily frightened.

:15:47. > :15:53.We are joined by the Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson. The government

:15:53. > :15:58.has promised that the Universal Credit, which wraps up a number of

:15:58. > :16:03.benefits that are paid at the moment, will be fairer, Burma,

:16:03. > :16:08.simpler and there will be less fraud and error. They say no one

:16:08. > :16:13.will lose out. What do you say? And a report says that up to 450,000

:16:13. > :16:18.disabled people will be worse off. Disabled children, disabled people

:16:18. > :16:22.in work, and also severely disabled people who live on their own and

:16:23. > :16:27.don't have any hope. It is a very challenging time, but it could

:16:27. > :16:32.actually pressure the cost elsewhere, on to local authorities,

:16:32. > :16:39.and could actually cost us more in the long run. Could you explain how

:16:39. > :16:44.in your view these hundred and 50,000 that will lose out, why will

:16:44. > :16:50.they lose out? Are people could be losing anywhere between 28 and �50

:16:50. > :16:52.a week. For someone who has a disabled child, the cost of

:16:52. > :16:56.childcare is incredibly expensive, it makes it difficult for them to

:16:56. > :17:00.go into work. For someone who is severely disabled who lives on

:17:00. > :17:05.their own, he uses the money for someone to care for them, they

:17:05. > :17:12.could lose that. Why would they lose it, though? As I understand it,

:17:12. > :17:18.the credit was meant to wrap up the existing payments. Why will they

:17:18. > :17:21.lose the money? They will visit in the changeover, because the severe

:17:21. > :17:25.disability premium is disappearing. The government says that it pays

:17:25. > :17:29.for the extra cost of disabled people, that doesn't cover the

:17:29. > :17:35.additional extra costs of being disabled and living on your own.

:17:35. > :17:41.Steve Webb, was it the intention of the welfare reforms to make 150,000

:17:41. > :17:46.disabled people worse off? No, and they will not. First of all,

:17:46. > :17:52.disabled -- Universal Credit is not about cuts, it is about extra. It

:17:52. > :17:56.is putting more money... A all chancellors like to spend less

:17:56. > :18:02.rather than more! But in the context of spending less, defined

:18:02. > :18:07.over 2 billion extra to help people in low wages, including people in

:18:07. > :18:12.work, all of us want to see disabled people able to work and

:18:12. > :18:15.able to do so, this means you will keep more of what you earn. But it

:18:15. > :18:22.is true for everybody? In is particularly relevant for disabled

:18:22. > :18:28.people. If you are doing a part- time job, or you're in out of work,

:18:28. > :18:33.the system is much better. response we have had from 3500

:18:33. > :18:37.disabled people doesn't match up with that. They're saying the money

:18:37. > :18:42.they currently get, the dads think they will get it within the new

:18:42. > :18:45.system. There are lots of things in Universal Credit which are good,

:18:45. > :18:50.but the reporters four recommendation to a round children,

:18:50. > :18:57.child care, and we think we can help the government moved to where

:18:57. > :19:03.they want to be. Your report says that half a million disabled people

:19:03. > :19:08.will be worse off. But your own department, in its impact

:19:08. > :19:16.assessment, said that around 800,000 disabled households would

:19:16. > :19:19.be worse off. That was in November 2011. One question is, if you put a

:19:19. > :19:23.whole thing in tomorrow, what would it look like? The money spent on

:19:23. > :19:27.disabled people is the same overall, roughly 800,000 disabled people

:19:27. > :19:34.will gain. Do people who would get less are protected, so the cash

:19:34. > :19:37.amount they get is protected, and that is the point. Of course Tanni

:19:37. > :19:44.Grey-Thompson is right to raise awareness of these issues, but our

:19:44. > :19:47.worry is people read the headline, disabled people lose cash. Your

:19:47. > :19:55.money is protected, all of this is coming in over the years, it is

:19:55. > :20:00.gradual. Let me get this clear. Are you saying that if you are disabled,

:20:00. > :20:05.whatever the disability, if it qualifies for some form of welfare

:20:05. > :20:10.payment, when this credit comes in, we will not be worse off? The that

:20:10. > :20:15.is what I'm saying. The Universal Credit replaces it the other system

:20:15. > :20:22.of credits. The cash amount will be protected, this is being done over

:20:22. > :20:26.a series of years. He is live on air, he has said it! That is great

:20:26. > :20:29.if you're currently on the benefit. It is not there for a new claimant,

:20:29. > :20:37.people can have the same level of impairment on different levels of

:20:37. > :20:44.support. Doesn't that always happen in a transition? I just... What do

:20:44. > :20:48.you say it to the claim that your report looks at various things, and

:20:48. > :20:52.you may well have found problems with his Universal Credit, I am

:20:52. > :20:55.sure the government will have to read it carefully, but there seems

:20:55. > :21:00.to be an element of scaremongering. You talk about disabled people

:21:00. > :21:05.having to cut back on food, 80% said they would cut the amount on

:21:05. > :21:10.heating. People will be contemplating suicide. Children's

:21:10. > :21:16.futures will be redeemed. Have you gone too far? Are that is what

:21:16. > :21:21.people have said to us. We're at parents saying they would consider

:21:21. > :21:26.putting their disabled child in two residential care because of the

:21:26. > :21:30.debt they would slip into. I think it is important that been raised

:21:30. > :21:33.this with disabled people, so they know the changes are coming. I also

:21:33. > :21:37.think it is important that we did this research. It is not me sitting

:21:37. > :21:44.in my office thinking about disabled people, we need to have

:21:44. > :21:50.facts to go back to the government. Jim Mate, I wanted to hear the

:21:50. > :21:54.report coming out and the government's response, but just a

:21:54. > :21:58.clarification, his Labour in favour of Universal Credit? We think it is

:21:58. > :22:03.a good idea, we were looking at it in government. But importantly, it

:22:03. > :22:06.is how you then design it. Politicians of all parties have got

:22:06. > :22:12.to talk and carry this argument Caerphilly, because people watching

:22:12. > :22:15.today would genuinely be worried. I think Tanni Grey-Thompson has done

:22:15. > :22:20.a great job at highlighting some real concerns, I think the

:22:20. > :22:27.government has got to listen to disabled people themselves, from

:22:27. > :22:32.their perspective. Because there is a genuine worry. The government has

:22:32. > :22:39.now got to respond. But I assume you have a gut to get together, the

:22:39. > :22:43.two if you, and compare notes. think people sometimes imagine that

:22:43. > :22:49.policies are disabled people are made in some sort of ivory tower.

:22:49. > :22:53.Disabled people scrips are in and out of that department constantly.

:22:53. > :23:03.-- disabled people's groups. Come back and see us after you have had

:23:03. > :23:03.

:23:04. > :23:10.the dialogue! Now, for the big news this week. The German Chancellor

:23:10. > :23:15.Angela Merkel, Greece's favourite politician, she is a bit hacked off

:23:15. > :23:21.with our dear Prime Minister. According to the magazine Der

:23:21. > :23:27.Spiegel, she likens David Cameron and our glorious country to be

:23:27. > :23:33.grumpy Muppets. The ones who are constantly grumbling from the

:23:33. > :23:37.sidelines! Angela Merkel is apparently fed up with David

:23:37. > :23:45.Cameron's approach to Europe, the air macro is a surprise! How can we

:23:45. > :23:51.help? We have just the thing. We have a Daily Politics mug, build,

:23:51. > :23:58.of course, with freshly brewed it English Breakfast tea. If you want

:23:58. > :24:08.to get your hands on one of these, all you need to do it is when our

:24:08. > :24:17.

:24:17. > :24:27.Guess The Year competition. Can you More than 2000 stations will be

:24:27. > :25:03.

:25:03. > :25:13.closed. The most dramatic effect is When are you taking up residence in

:25:13. > :25:36.

:25:36. > :25:46.Number 10? I don't know, much too To be in with a chance of winning a

:25:46. > :25:52.

:25:52. > :26:00.Daily Politics mug, send your It is coming up to midday, let's

:26:00. > :26:09.take a look at Big Ben. That can only mean one thing. Prime

:26:09. > :26:13.Minister's Questions is on its way. Nick Robinson is here. I watched

:26:13. > :26:21.your love-in with Alex Salmond! I was in the Middle East. People

:26:21. > :26:27.talked of nothing else. I always thought of you and I ASBOs Muppets!

:26:28. > :26:33.Which is which? But older! I have two words to you, Andrew Mitchell.

:26:33. > :26:37.Interesting choice for Ed Miliband. I would be amazed if there wasn't a

:26:37. > :26:41.reference to him, but I would be surprised if you do it head-on. The

:26:41. > :26:46.danger for an opposition leader, in a story that is causing a huge

:26:46. > :26:51.embarrassment to the government, the act of using it up front can

:26:51. > :26:55.rally the whole of the government benches to support the guide. So

:26:55. > :26:59.why would be saying, I probably won't some good jokes, make it look

:26:59. > :27:03.awkward, but if you do it head-on, the danger is that Cameron has to

:27:03. > :27:07.back him, at the back benches have to back him, in a sense it makes it

:27:07. > :27:12.harder. Curiously, sometimes when you are faced with an open goal, it

:27:12. > :27:19.is more to the got to know where to put the ball! But it is not just

:27:19. > :27:27.Labour, even a former Tory whip was having a go. My Right Honourable

:27:27. > :27:31.Friend, who I might say is sorely missed as Chief Whip,... Could he

:27:31. > :27:35.give an assurance to my constituentss in its field that

:27:35. > :27:41.services will not be damaged by these changes, and bought to the

:27:41. > :27:44.point, that stations like Lichfield Trent Valley, badly in need of

:27:45. > :27:52.improvement for disabled access, one might find that any new works

:27:52. > :27:55.are delayed as a consequence? we see no delays in investment, I'm

:27:56. > :28:00.always grateful to my honourable friend, who is always trying to be

:28:01. > :28:05.helpful. There have been various reports

:28:05. > :28:08.that there is a larger number of cabinet ministers are unhappy that

:28:08. > :28:16.Andrew Mitchell is still on the front bench, still in his job as

:28:16. > :28:20.chief whip. Can you corroborate that? There is certainly a number

:28:20. > :28:24.of Cabinet ministers who were amazed he was not fired, and pick

:28:24. > :28:27.anybody else and had done the same thing would have been out. There

:28:27. > :28:32.are others who were not urging the Prime Minister to fire him, but

:28:32. > :28:36.cannot see how he gets away from this story and cannot see how the

:28:37. > :28:45.conversation goes when he has to halt in the Tory MP and say, you

:28:45. > :28:52.have to behave well in public, you know! My sense is that the Prime

:28:52. > :28:59.Minister has decided he will not give his party's opponents are

:28:59. > :29:01.scalp now. The interesting question is whether, in a few months' time,

:29:01. > :29:07.whether the Prime Minister might start to think again about whether

:29:07. > :29:12.there is not an important shift he needs to make. But this was the one

:29:12. > :29:21.reshuffle - he has only had one reshuffle - this was the one man to

:29:21. > :29:27.take them through to the next election. It would be obvious, but

:29:27. > :29:31.what government stranding his do it after a quiet time, Boxing Day... I

:29:31. > :29:35.am not saying that I know anything, but I get the sense that they will

:29:35. > :29:41.not let Mitchell go now, but they know he is not necessarily

:29:41. > :29:46.guaranteed to be in his job till the next election. He hasn't got

:29:46. > :29:52.that much support in the back benches, or even the front benches,

:29:52. > :29:58.but some Tories are furious for the Police Federation, they believe it

:29:58. > :30:02.is the Police Federation that has kept it going. In the Times

:30:02. > :30:08.yesterday, a Labour MP, a fascinating article, siding with

:30:08. > :30:12.Andrew Mitchell! If you talk to politicians up either side, they

:30:12. > :30:18.will tell you that the Police Federation is about the fiercest,

:30:18. > :30:28.most scary Union, although it isn't officially a union, you will ever

:30:28. > :30:29.

:30:29. > :30:33.face. The Home Secretary's, they had sought to ritually humiliate

:30:33. > :30:39.them at their conferences. They often sat them in front of a slogan

:30:40. > :30:47.implying that they are in favour of slashing the police. At these guys

:30:47. > :30:50.fight tough in -- for their members. There is no doubt in my mind that

:30:50. > :30:56.the federation think that the public will be bored, may not even

:30:56. > :31:02.be sympathetic to stories about pay and regulation, but if you talk

:31:03. > :31:07.about plebs, the public are on your side. So it has cut through!

:31:07. > :31:12.does. The Police Federation are still locked in a battle about

:31:12. > :31:17.their own pensions, their own pay and conditions. Some conditions

:31:17. > :31:25.that an independent report suggested were pretty generous.

:31:25. > :31:35.we should look to Mr Miliband, and see if he goes for truncal. Why not

:31:35. > :31:48.

:31:48. > :31:51.find another subject about the We pay tribute to the following.

:31:51. > :31:55.Sergeant Jonathan coops of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical

:31:55. > :32:00.Engineers. Captain James Townley of the Royal Engineers and captain

:32:00. > :32:04.Carl manly of the Royal Marines. Once again, we are reminded of the

:32:04. > :32:07.immense danger our armed forces operate in top hold our safety and

:32:07. > :32:11.security. Their families and the whole country should be proud of

:32:11. > :32:16.their heroic service, and we will always remember them. I am sure the

:32:16. > :32:20.house will also join me in paying tribute to PC Fiona Bone and PC

:32:20. > :32:24.Nicola Hughes, who were killed, brutally murdered in the line of

:32:24. > :32:28.duty on 18th September. The whole country has been shocked and

:32:28. > :32:32.saddened by the loss of these two young dedicated officers. Our

:32:32. > :32:37.thoughts are with their families and colleagues at what must be a

:32:38. > :32:42.very difficult time. I also know the House will join me in sending

:32:42. > :32:46.our condolences to the family of Malcolm Wicks, who sadly passed

:32:46. > :32:50.away on 29th September. All sides of this House will remember him as

:32:50. > :32:54.a real gentleman, a man of integrity and compassion who put

:32:55. > :32:59.his constituents first and work to cross party lines and was a decent

:32:59. > :33:05.man. He served the house with great distinction for 20 years and will

:33:05. > :33:08.be missed by all who knew him. We must also pay tribute to another of

:33:08. > :33:12.Parliament's great characters. It is hard not to believe that he is

:33:12. > :33:16.not sitting in front of me, Sir Stuart Bell. He was hugely popular

:33:16. > :33:21.across the house and was honoured for his services to Parliament. We

:33:21. > :33:23.will remember him as a passionate and dedicated member of the house,

:33:24. > :33:29.whose kind us again transcended the political divide. We send our

:33:29. > :33:33.sympathies to his wife and family. This morning, I had meetings with

:33:33. > :33:39.ministerial colleagues and others, and I shall have further such

:33:39. > :33:42.meetings later today. Come ISAs it all honourable and right honourable

:33:42. > :33:45.members with the Prime Minister's tribute to the members of the armed

:33:45. > :33:53.forces and police who have died in the service of our country and to

:33:54. > :33:57.their families. We in this house and the people of Middlesbrough and

:33:57. > :34:03.Croydon North will miss Sir Stuart Bell and Malcolm Wicks. Last week,

:34:03. > :34:06.the Prime Minister promised that work would always pay, but this

:34:06. > :34:08.morning, Baroness Tanni Grey- Thompson and the Children's Society

:34:08. > :34:14.have revealed that his current plans for universal credit next

:34:14. > :34:23.year will mean that up to 116,000 disabled people in work could lose

:34:23. > :34:30.as much as �14 a week. Doesn't it say everything about how this

:34:30. > :34:36.divisive Prime Minister always stands up for the wrong people,

:34:36. > :34:41.while at the same time handing huge tax cuts to 800,000 people, nearly

:34:41. > :34:47.over �1 million a year? He will penalise some of the bravest

:34:47. > :34:52.strivers in the country. honourable gentleman raises an

:34:52. > :34:55.extremely serious issue. The money that is going into disability

:34:55. > :35:03.benefit will not go down under universal credit, it will go up.

:35:03. > :35:08.The overall amount of money will go from one point �35 billion last

:35:08. > :35:11.year to �1.45 billion in 2015. Under the plans, both recipients

:35:11. > :35:19.will lose out unless their circumstances change. All current

:35:19. > :35:23.recipients are protected by the scheme. This is a choice we have

:35:23. > :35:29.made that future recipients, we will increase the amount we give to

:35:29. > :35:34.the most severely disabled children. And there will be a new low amount

:35:34. > :35:38.for less disabled people. We are increasing the overall amount of

:35:38. > :35:45.money, focusing on the most disabled. That is the right

:35:45. > :35:51.approach. May I congratulate the Government on the early

:35:51. > :35:55.introduction of the adjudicator bill? Farmers in the Third World

:35:55. > :35:58.and developing country producers desperately need protection from

:35:58. > :36:05.what have been described by the Competition Commission as bully-boy

:36:05. > :36:09.tactics of the supermarket buyers. In view of that, could I ask how

:36:09. > :36:14.quickly it will be before the government introduces this

:36:14. > :36:21.important measure? We are making progress with introducing this

:36:21. > :36:26.measure. It is an important measure. It is important to stand up for

:36:26. > :36:30.farmers so that they get a fair deal from supermarkets. On occasion,

:36:30. > :36:39.there have been unfair practices, things like retrospective discounts

:36:39. > :36:42.that have sometimes been proposed. Mr Ed Miliband. I joined the Prime

:36:42. > :36:48.Minister in paying tribute to the six servicemen that have died since

:36:48. > :36:52.the House last met. Lance Corporal Dwayne groom of first Battalion

:36:52. > :36:56.Grenadier Guards, sergeant Gareth Thursby and Private Thomas role of

:36:56. > :37:00.third Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, Sergeant Jonathan coops

:37:00. > :37:04.of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Captain James

:37:04. > :37:09.Townley of the Court of Royal Engineers and captain Carl manly of

:37:09. > :37:13.the Royal Marines. They all died heroically serving our country.

:37:13. > :37:17.They showed bravery and sacrifice, and our condolences go to their

:37:18. > :37:23.family and friends. I also joined him in pay tribute to PCs Fiona

:37:23. > :37:28.Bone and Nicola Hughes. They remind us of the dangerous work our police

:37:28. > :37:32.officers do day in, day out in the line of duty. Fair bet is a great

:37:32. > :37:36.loss due Greater Manchester Police have -- their death is a loss to

:37:36. > :37:39.Greater Manchester Police, their communities and their families. I

:37:39. > :37:42.also thanked the Prime Minister for his generous comments about the two

:37:42. > :37:46.Labour colleagues we have lost since we last met. Stuart Bell was

:37:46. > :37:50.the son of a miner and a long- standing member of this house. He

:37:50. > :37:55.was passionate about European issues and served with distinction

:37:55. > :37:58.as a Church Commissioner. His death was sudden, his illness diagnosed

:37:59. > :38:04.just days before he died. The condolences of this side of the

:38:04. > :38:09.house and the whole house go to his family. And on Malcolm Wicks, he

:38:09. > :38:12.was one of the deepest thinkers in this house. He was a brilliant

:38:12. > :38:17.minister. I know from my time as the Energy Secretary what a

:38:17. > :38:22.brilliant minister he was. He also faced his illness with the utmost

:38:22. > :38:26.bravery. He knew what was going to happen to him, but carried on

:38:26. > :38:30.writing, thinking, talking and engaging with the work of this

:38:30. > :38:34.house. My last conversation with him was before our party conference,

:38:34. > :38:39.where he talked passionately about politics as he always did. Our

:38:39. > :38:43.condolences go to his family. The unemployment figures today are

:38:43. > :38:46.welcome, particularly for youth unemployment. I am sure we all

:38:46. > :38:50.agree that there are too many people still looking for work, and

:38:50. > :38:56.the number of people out of work for a long period over a year

:38:56. > :38:59.remain stubbornly high. Can the Prime Minister tell us why he

:38:59. > :39:02.believes the fall in unemployment is not yet been matched by the

:39:02. > :39:05.figure for long-term unemployment? I thank the right honourable

:39:06. > :39:11.gentleman for his generous remarks about those who have fallen, those

:39:11. > :39:18.brave police officers and the colleagues we have lost. In terms

:39:18. > :39:24.of the unemployment figures, this is a good piece of news that should

:39:24. > :39:28.be welcomed. A number of different things are happening. Employment is

:39:28. > :39:34.up by 212,000 this quarter. Unemployment is down by 50,000. The

:39:34. > :39:41.claimant count has fallen by 4000. Since the election, that means

:39:41. > :39:45.there are some 170,000 fewer people on out-of-work benefits. These

:39:45. > :39:50.figures show that there are more women in work than at any time in

:39:51. > :39:55.our history. The overall level of employment is now above where it

:39:55. > :40:00.was before the crash in 2008. We still have huge economic challenges

:40:00. > :40:06.to meet. We are in a global race. We need to make a set of reforms in

:40:06. > :40:10.our country to education, welfare and the private sector, but this is

:40:10. > :40:14.positive news. Unemployment is still too high, partly because of

:40:14. > :40:18.the increase in unemployment that took place at the time of the crash.

:40:18. > :40:22.But we need to do more to deal with long-term unemployment, and that is

:40:22. > :40:27.why the work programme has helped thousands of people already. We are

:40:27. > :40:32.prepared to spend up to �14,000 on one individual long-term unemployed

:40:32. > :40:37.person to get them back into work. We do have the measures in place to

:40:37. > :40:40.tackle this scourge. withstanding that, youth

:40:40. > :40:44.unemployment, long-term unemployment and long-term youth

:40:44. > :40:48.unemployment are all higher than when he came to office. On the

:40:48. > :40:51.particular issue about long-term youth unemployment, he cut

:40:51. > :40:59.attributed to the craft are happened four years ago, because it

:40:59. > :41:02.has been rising over the last 18 months. It remains a big concern.

:41:02. > :41:06.The number of people out of work for more than a year is continuing

:41:06. > :41:11.to rise. Does he agree that the longer young people remain out of

:41:11. > :41:14.work, the greater the damage not just now, but to their long-term

:41:14. > :41:19.prospects and the greater the damage to our economy? Of course he

:41:19. > :41:22.is right. The longer people are out of work, the worse for them and the

:41:22. > :41:26.economy. That is why we have the youth contract and the work

:41:26. > :41:30.programme, the biggest back-to-work programme since the war. He

:41:30. > :41:34.mentions the problem of long-term unemployment. In the last two years

:41:34. > :41:38.of the last Labour government, long-term unemployment almost

:41:38. > :41:43.doubled, so we should hear about that before we get a lecture. In

:41:43. > :41:48.terms of helping young people, under this Government, 900,000

:41:48. > :41:51.people have started apprenticeships. We are backing apprenticeship

:41:51. > :41:56.schemes and are reforming the school and welfare system so that

:41:56. > :42:00.it pays for people to get jobs. We face enormous economic challenges.

:42:00. > :42:05.We have to rebalance our economy. The state sector was to be, the

:42:05. > :42:11.private sector was too small. Since the election, 1 million new private

:42:11. > :42:15.sector jobs have happened, which makes up for the loss of jobs in

:42:15. > :42:19.the state sector. We have a huge amount more to do - reform welfare,

:42:19. > :42:23.reform schools, boost the private sector and Britain can be a winner

:42:23. > :42:27.in the global race. On long-term unemployment, there are more people

:42:27. > :42:31.out of work for longer than at any time for two decades. That is

:42:31. > :42:37.happening on his watch. Let me turn to one group who are losing their

:42:37. > :42:41.jobs as a result of government policy. A year ago, he told me a

:42:41. > :42:44."there is no reason for there to be fewer frontline police officers".

:42:44. > :42:50.Can he tell the House how many frontline police officers have lost

:42:50. > :43:00.their jobs since the election? percentage of officers on frontline

:43:00. > :43:06.duties has gone up. Frankly, who weather won the last election was

:43:06. > :43:10.going to have to reduce police budgets. They were committed to

:43:10. > :43:14.reducing police budgets. We have had to reduce police budgets. We

:43:14. > :43:19.have increased the percentage because we have cut paperwork and

:43:19. > :43:22.taken difficult decisions about pay and allowances. It is remarkable

:43:22. > :43:30.that while the percentage of officers on the frontline is up,

:43:30. > :43:39.crime is down. I really hope, just for once, we would get a straight

:43:39. > :43:43.answer. All the Prime Minister needs to do, they were like this -

:43:43. > :43:51.all the Prime Minister needs to do is take a leaf out of the Police

:43:51. > :44:00.Minister's book. On Monday, he told the House the truth. He said there

:44:00. > :44:05.are 6778 fewer frontline police officers than when he came to power.

:44:05. > :44:09.I don't think he is going to help. Maybe the part-time Chancellor is

:44:09. > :44:19.taking over the Home Office. Another promise broken. They are

:44:19. > :44:21.

:44:21. > :44:28.not just breaking their promise, it is their conduct as well. This is

:44:28. > :44:31.what the mayor of London said. order. It will just take longer to

:44:31. > :44:35.get in a backbenchers who wish to participate, as opposed to shouting

:44:35. > :44:39.and screaming in a juvenile fashion, because I will have to extend the

:44:39. > :44:43.session. The drop the -- the leader of the opposition will be heard,

:44:43. > :44:47.and the Prime Minister will be heard. This is what the mayor of

:44:47. > :44:52.London, his new best mate, said last year at the Conservative Party

:44:52. > :44:59.conference. "I reckon we need to make it clear that if people swear

:44:59. > :45:03.at the police, they must expect to be arrested". He says from a

:45:03. > :45:09.sedentary position that he did not say that. Maybe he will tell us

:45:09. > :45:15.what he actually did say. According to the official police report, "a

:45:15. > :45:20.man claiming to be the chief whip called the police plebs and told

:45:20. > :45:26.them they should know their place, and used other abusive language".

:45:26. > :45:31.Can the Prime Minister tell us, did the chief whip use those words?

:45:31. > :45:36.What the Chief Whip did and said were wrong. I am clear about that.

:45:36. > :45:41.That is why it is important that the Chief Whip apologised. That

:45:41. > :45:45.apology has been accepted. order. I said a moment ago that the

:45:45. > :45:52.leader of the opposition must and would be heard. The same goes for

:45:52. > :45:56.the prime minister. What the Chief Whip did and said were wrong. That

:45:56. > :46:01.is why it is important that he apologised. That apology has been

:46:01. > :46:04.accepted by the officer concerned and by the head of the Metropolitan

:46:05. > :46:14.Police. That is why this Government will get on with the big issues

:46:15. > :46:18.

:46:18. > :46:24.about helping Britain compete and No straight answers on the Chief

:46:24. > :46:28.Whip! It is a real issue, abusing a police officer. Just because a

:46:28. > :46:35.police officer has better manners than the Chief Whip, he doesn't

:46:35. > :46:38.mean he should keep his job. If a York in a city-centre abused a

:46:38. > :46:44.police officer, ranting and raving, the chances are they would be

:46:44. > :46:48.arrested and placed in the back of a police van. And rightly so. The

:46:48. > :46:53.Prime Minister would be the first in the queue to say it was right.

:46:53. > :46:57.But whereas it is a night in the cell but then, it is a night at the

:46:57. > :47:04.Carlton Club for the Chief Whip. Isn't that the clearest case there

:47:04. > :47:07.could be a total double standards? This apology has been accepted by

:47:07. > :47:10.the police officer, accepted by the head of the Metropolitan Police, it

:47:10. > :47:14.is clearly not going to be accepted by the leader of the opposition,

:47:14. > :47:20.because he doesn't want to talk about what we need to do in this

:47:20. > :47:25.country to get out deficit down, because he has got no plans. He

:47:26. > :47:29.doesn't want to talk about building on our record on unemployment, but

:47:29. > :47:36.he is input -- approach to welfare caps. He wants to discuss these

:47:37. > :47:40.issues because he has nothing serious to say about the country.

:47:40. > :47:45.Here is the most extraordinary thing. They say that I practise

:47:45. > :47:49.class war, and they go around calling people plebs! Can you

:47:49. > :47:52.believe that? It is good to see the Cabinet in their place come are

:47:52. > :47:57.supporting him in public, but in the newspapers, what are they

:47:57. > :48:02.saying in private? His position is untenable, in other words, he is

:48:02. > :48:06.toast. That is the reality. He is the truth about this government.

:48:06. > :48:10.What everybody else loses their jobs, the Chief Whip keeps his. If

:48:10. > :48:20.you are a millionaire, you get a tax cut. If you are everybody else,

:48:20. > :48:26.

:48:26. > :48:35.Order! Order! I am very worried about your health! You're shouting

:48:35. > :48:42.in a bizarre manner, calm yourself, They are totally out of touch with

:48:42. > :48:47.this government, one rule for everybody else. Now we know, he

:48:47. > :48:52.wrote those questions yesterday, before unemployment fell. He

:48:52. > :48:57.obviously wasn't listening earlier, so let me remind him. Employment is

:48:57. > :49:03.up 212,000, that is a success. Unemployment, down a 50,000 of this

:49:04. > :49:06.quarter. The claimant count down, that is a success. He comes to this

:49:06. > :49:16.house, he has written out his clever political questions, he

:49:16. > :49:19.

:49:19. > :49:29.doesn't care what is really Or the! -- order! Mystic Lynn

:49:29. > :49:29.

:49:29. > :49:38.Over two weeks ago, April Jones was abducted when playing with her

:49:38. > :49:41.friends in my constituency, a well behaved, quiet town to stop well

:49:41. > :49:47.Mike honourable friend at the Prime Minister Trinny in paying tribute

:49:47. > :49:54.to the amazing way in which the people in the town have come

:49:54. > :49:56.together and committed to the ongoing search for April. I will

:49:56. > :50:00.certainly join my honourable friend in doing that, I think the whole

:50:00. > :50:05.country has not only been shocked by these appalling events, but also

:50:05. > :50:09.the whole country, frankly, has been lifted and incredibly

:50:09. > :50:13.impressed by the response of this community and everything everybody

:50:13. > :50:18.has done to help the police, helped the emergency services. We have

:50:18. > :50:26.seen a whole community come together, not just in grief, but in

:50:26. > :50:29.action, to help this family. At the energy summit last year, he prized

:50:29. > :50:36.faithfully he would take action to help people reduce their energy

:50:36. > :50:40.bills. Can he tell the House and the country how that is going?

:50:40. > :50:43.have encouraged people to switch, one of the best ways to get your

:50:43. > :50:48.energy bills down. And I can announce that will be legislating

:50:48. > :50:56.so that energy companies have to give the lowest tariff to their

:50:56. > :51:03.companies -- customers. Something Labour didn't do in 13 years.

:51:03. > :51:06.Closed question, Dr Julian Lewis. know that my honourable friend will

:51:06. > :51:09.be delighted to know that the answer is yes, we are committed to

:51:09. > :51:15.retaining an independent nuclear deterrent based on the Trident

:51:15. > :51:24.missile system, that is why we have continued with the programme to

:51:24. > :51:32.replace the vanguard scheme of. That is indeed an excellent answer.

:51:32. > :51:38.Given that apart time nuclear deterrent would be dangerously

:51:38. > :51:43.destabilising, with the Prime Minister confirm -- would be Prime

:51:43. > :51:49.Minister confirm that the British Trident successor submarines must

:51:49. > :51:53.and will operate on the basis of continuous at sea deterrence?

:51:53. > :51:57.think he is absolutely right to raise this issue. One of the key

:51:57. > :52:01.elements are the credibility of our deterrent has been the fact it is

:52:01. > :52:04.continuously at sea. It is something the Royal Navy take

:52:04. > :52:09.immense pride in, being able to deliver that without a break for so

:52:09. > :52:14.many years. Having met some of the crews, it is incredibly impressive

:52:14. > :52:20.what they do. I pay tribute to them up for the service they provide. It

:52:20. > :52:25.is a key part of our deterrent. a parliamentary answer to my friend

:52:25. > :52:31.from Wrexham yesterday, the government said, "we remain very

:52:31. > :52:38.concerned by continuing reports of Rwandan support for the M23 rebels,

:52:38. > :52:42.who are killing, maiming and creeping in east Congo." so why did

:52:42. > :52:48.the chief whip authorised the payments of �60 million of British

:52:48. > :52:54.taxpayers' money to Rwanda as his parting shot on his very last day

:52:54. > :52:59.as international development secretary? I would like to wish the

:52:59. > :53:05.honourable gentleman habit that date for yesterday. -- happy

:53:05. > :53:12.birthday. I'm sorry I wasn't invited! It is a very important

:53:12. > :53:18.Haydn that he raises. -- important Haydn. Ryan Day is a continuing

:53:18. > :53:22.success story, a culture that has gone up from genocide and disaster

:53:22. > :53:28.to being a role model in lifting people out of poverty in Africa. --

:53:28. > :53:31.Rwandan. I am proud that we have continued to invest in that success,

:53:31. > :53:35.but we should be proud and firm with the Rwandan regime that we do

:53:35. > :53:40.not accept that they should be supporting it militias in the Congo

:53:40. > :53:45.or elsewhere. I have raised this issue personally with the President,

:53:45. > :53:49.but I believe that investing in Rwanda's success as at an African

:53:49. > :53:57.country showing you can break the cycle of poverty, is something we

:53:57. > :54:01.are right to do. A today, the unemployment figures show a

:54:01. > :54:05.reduction of 62,000 in the number of 16 to 24 year-old out-of-work

:54:05. > :54:11.for the three months to August, and employment is now at the highest

:54:11. > :54:15.level since records began in 1971. I'm sure the Prime Minister will

:54:15. > :54:17.want to commend the economic policies of this government to the

:54:18. > :54:26.whole house, rather than more borrowing and spending from

:54:26. > :54:31.opposite. Mark Bent makes an important point, what we need is an

:54:31. > :54:35.important rebalancing of the economy -- my honourable friend.

:54:35. > :54:39.That has more than made up for the job losses in the public sector.

:54:39. > :54:45.But there is more we need to do to tackle youth unemployment, long

:54:45. > :54:52.term unemployment, but these figures should be welcomed.

:54:52. > :54:55.constituent of mine loftiest left - - lost his leg in Afghanistan then

:54:55. > :55:00.lost his disability allowance. The Prime Minister promised to look

:55:00. > :55:03.after ex-servicemen and women. What has happened? I have insisted on a

:55:03. > :55:08.special car out for limbless ex- servicemen, they will be separately

:55:08. > :55:13.looked after through the Ministry of Defence. This house agrees that

:55:13. > :55:19.it did mean to politics when negative campaigning, designed to

:55:19. > :55:21.scare vulnerable people, is used. A campaign to save our hospital were

:55:21. > :55:26.now hospital is not closing is possibly the worst example of that

:55:26. > :55:35.I have ever seen. But my honourable friend grieve me that Labour's

:55:35. > :55:40.Campaign in Corby is a disgrace? -- was my honourable friend agree with

:55:40. > :55:44.me? He is entirely right. A Labour MP after a Labour MP is trooping up

:55:44. > :55:48.to Corby and claiming that hospital isn't safe, and they know it is

:55:48. > :55:51.simply not true. The local newspaper is now backing up the

:55:51. > :55:56.fact that this hospital is being invested in by this government

:55:56. > :56:04.because unlike the party opposite, you are going to stay there for a

:56:04. > :56:10.very long time! And the reason... Do reason you are going to stay

:56:10. > :56:14.there... The reason you are going to stay there is the reason this

:56:14. > :56:24.country is in a mess because of the borrowing, spending and debt did

:56:24. > :56:28.

:56:28. > :56:37.you delivered. So get yourself comfortable. Why will the Prime

:56:37. > :56:40.Minister... Over here! Why will the Prime Minister not publish all the

:56:40. > :56:46.texts come e-mails and other forms of correspondence between himself

:56:47. > :56:50.and his office and Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson and News

:56:50. > :56:55.International? So that we can judge whether they are relevant. Is it

:56:55. > :57:00.because they are too salacious and embarrassing for the Prime

:57:00. > :57:04.Minister? I wouldn't smile. When the truth comes out, the Prime

:57:04. > :57:08.Minister will not be smiling. Or is it because there is one rule for

:57:08. > :57:12.the Prime Minister and another for the rest of us? Before answering

:57:12. > :57:16.this question I would like everyone to recall that the member macro

:57:16. > :57:20.stood up in this house and read out a whole lot of the Leveson

:57:20. > :57:28.information that was under embargo, he wasn't meant to read it out.

:57:28. > :57:38.Much of which turned out to be untrue, and he has never apologised.

:57:38. > :57:52.

:57:52. > :58:00.Until he apologises, I am not going I hope that house will have the

:58:00. > :58:05.self-restraint and courtesy to hear Employment levels in Wales have

:58:05. > :58:09.increased by 40,000 in the last quarter, not least because of the

:58:09. > :58:15.contribution... Will the Prime Minister are welcome me in

:58:15. > :58:19.welcoming the extension that has created 8000 new businesses?

:58:19. > :58:22.will certainly during my honourable friend. The new enterprise

:58:22. > :58:26.allowance gives people who have become unemployed at the chance to

:58:26. > :58:29.set up their own business, their own enterprise. Under the current

:58:29. > :58:33.rules, they have to wait three months before being able to access

:58:33. > :58:38.that programme, but under our plans, they will be able to get that from

:58:38. > :58:42.day one of becoming unemployed. I was to see new businesses starting

:58:42. > :58:45.up in our country, to build on the record of last year, when more

:58:45. > :58:51.businesses were established in Britain that at any year in our

:58:51. > :58:57.history. When in opposition, at the Prime Minister said, "all too often,

:58:57. > :59:05.when questions are put to ministers, the answer is met as a not me,

:59:05. > :59:09.governor, shrug of the shoulders. *" SOCA and the promise to tell us

:59:09. > :59:14.which one of his ministers will take responsibility of the West

:59:14. > :59:18.Coast Main Line? De Transport Secretary can do this house and

:59:18. > :59:22.made a full statement and gave a full apology -- came to this house.

:59:22. > :59:32.Can we ever remember a minister from the party opposite about

:59:32. > :59:32.

:59:32. > :59:37.apologising for anything? Returning to the Trident issue, has the Prime

:59:37. > :59:44.Minister looked at the severe cost pressures facing defence at the

:59:44. > :59:49.very moment Trident replacement has to be paid for? Frigate, airplanes,

:59:49. > :59:54.unmanned aircraft, army vehicles, all need paying for at much the

:59:54. > :00:02.same time. This has to come out of the defence budget. Will the Prime

:00:02. > :00:06.Minister keep an open mind on how exactly to replace our nuclear

:00:06. > :00:10.deterrent? The list of things that he goes through it are all

:00:10. > :00:14.programmes that are fully funded and properly going to be invested

:00:14. > :00:20.in because this government has sorted out, as he knows, the

:00:20. > :00:24.defence budget. What I would say to him about the deterrent is I don't

:00:24. > :00:29.believe that we would save money by adopting some alternative nuclear

:00:29. > :00:33.deterrent posture. If you are going to have a deterrent, it makes sense

:00:33. > :00:41.to have something that is credible and believable, otherwise there is

:00:41. > :00:48.no point having one at all. There are record levels of support for

:00:48. > :00:51.the British Union. In a recent poll, the Prime Minister will no that

:00:51. > :00:59.only 7% of the population of Northern Ireland want a united

:00:59. > :01:08.Ireland, that only rises to 32% in 20 years' time. But the Prime

:01:08. > :01:11.Minister agreed that the agreement he signed up to this week, to

:01:12. > :01:18.ensure there is a single, decisive question asked of the Scottish and

:01:18. > :01:28.British Union, that it is now up to him and his house to unite in a

:01:28. > :01:35.

:01:35. > :01:39.campaign to maintain sustained I am delighted to answer in the

:01:39. > :01:44.most positive way I can. I am pleased we have reached an

:01:44. > :01:48.agreement with the Scottish government, a single, simple

:01:48. > :01:54.question on the referendum, so we can put beyond doubt the future of

:01:54. > :01:59.the UK. I hope everyone will vote to keep the UK together. I know

:01:59. > :02:09.this will have cross-party support. I have always wanted to share a

:02:09. > :02:13.

:02:13. > :02:17.platform with Ian Paisley. Maybe I will get my chance! Recently a lap-

:02:17. > :02:24.dancing club has been granted a licence. It doesn't matter if it is

:02:24. > :02:29.a Wembley sized incinerator or a lap-dancing club in a beautiful

:02:29. > :02:32.market town, there is no weight in planning the law. With the Prime

:02:32. > :02:36.Minister agree that it is time there was a planning law so that

:02:36. > :02:41.when a catastrophic applications come Fordwich blight the

:02:41. > :02:46.environment people living, which distresses people to a great degree,

:02:46. > :02:51.their voices should be heard. speaks for many people about the

:02:51. > :02:56.frustration the planning system can sometimes deliver. We have changed

:02:56. > :03:01.the licensing laws to give the planners greater power to alter or

:03:01. > :03:05.licences, and that can apply to the sort of the premises she refers to.

:03:05. > :03:09.The second thing is, and our plans be broken right made their plans

:03:09. > :03:13.which give greater control to residents about the shape of their

:03:13. > :03:23.community. I would encourage her to take up the issue with the

:03:23. > :03:26.

:03:26. > :03:31.department. Could I thank the prodigious that there tributes? On

:03:31. > :03:37.the theme of policing, as the house has heard, there are nearly 7000

:03:37. > :03:44.from one police which have now disappeared from our system. -- a

:03:44. > :03:48.frontline police. Will the Prime Minister give me a straightforward

:03:48. > :03:54.answer, in what is my last question in this house, and give a

:03:54. > :03:59.commitment there will be no more cuts whatever happens to policing

:03:59. > :04:02.it? And nobody wants to prejudge the wisdom of the Greater

:04:02. > :04:09.Manchester electric, but I wish to honourable gentleman well if he is

:04:09. > :04:18.successful. The point I would make is the point the police force would

:04:18. > :04:25.make to him, "the effectiveness of policing can only be measured by

:04:25. > :04:27.the reduction in crime." Crime is down 12% in Greater Manchester.

:04:27. > :04:33.They rise difficult decisions, and the Labour Party was committed to

:04:33. > :04:40.even greater cuts than we have it delivered. Turkey is, can we crack

:04:40. > :04:50.down on the paperwork? -- the key is. Can we cut crime? The answer is

:04:50. > :04:56.

:04:56. > :05:00.I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to Mr Wicks. Isn't one way

:05:00. > :05:03.we can honour his memory to continue to improve our national

:05:03. > :05:07.health service so that more people beat cancer and don't have their

:05:07. > :05:11.lives tragically cut short? honourable friend speaks for the

:05:11. > :05:15.whole house in what he says about Malcolm Wicks. I understand he

:05:15. > :05:19.often used to drive Malcolm home to Croydon after the vote, and Malcolm

:05:19. > :05:23.refer to your car as the cab. And the fare was apparently a bottle of

:05:23. > :05:28.wine at Christmas. We will make sure the Inland Revenue lay-off

:05:28. > :05:31.that, but it is a good arrangement. He is right. One of the greatest

:05:32. > :05:35.things we can do to remember Malcolm is ensured the continued

:05:35. > :05:41.success of the cancer drugs fund, which has helped thousands, and

:05:41. > :05:44.make sure people get urgent treatments as well as urging drugs.

:05:44. > :05:47.The Secretary of State of Education said this weekend that if there

:05:47. > :05:51.were a referendum on Britain's continued membership of the EU, he

:05:51. > :05:58.would vote to leave. A third of the Cabinet to agree with him. How

:05:58. > :06:02.would the Prime Minister vote? don't want an in-out referendum,

:06:02. > :06:06.because I am not happy with us leaving the European Union. But I

:06:06. > :06:10.am not happy with the status quo either. I think the majority of the

:06:10. > :06:15.country wants a new settlement with Europe, and that settlement being

:06:15. > :06:23.put to fresh consent. That will get a ringing endorsement from the

:06:24. > :06:29.British people. Does my right honourable friend

:06:29. > :06:34.agree that there was no structural deficit at the top of the boom, as

:06:34. > :06:38.claimed by the Shadow Chancellor? My right honourable friend makes an

:06:38. > :06:42.important point, which is that in the IMF report out this week, it

:06:43. > :06:50.shows that the structural deficit in 2007 at the height of the boom

:06:50. > :06:54.was 5% of our GDP, or �73 billion. The shadow Chancellor said there

:06:54. > :06:59.was no structural deficit. This demonstrates how little they have

:06:59. > :07:04.learnt. We have talked about our plans for the British economy, how

:07:04. > :07:08.we will help it compete and succeed. Their plans are to go on a giant

:07:08. > :07:12.march with their trade union paymasters. That is how the leader

:07:12. > :07:22.of the opposition will be spending his weekend, the most lucrative

:07:22. > :07:34.

:07:34. > :07:37.That overrun a bit. There were a couple of perfunctory exchanges on

:07:37. > :07:41.unemployment, a hugely important issue, but it was not the one they

:07:41. > :07:49.all wanted to pop about. That was Andrew Mitchell. It did not take

:07:49. > :07:53.long for the leader of the opposition to get onto that. They

:07:53. > :07:56.were looking at the government attitude to the police and police

:07:56. > :08:03.numbers. Andrew Mitchell, the Chief Whip, was sitting on the front

:08:03. > :08:10.bench. He may have responded from a sedentary position. We are still

:08:10. > :08:15.trying to check that out. Let's hear from what the voters thought.

:08:15. > :08:18.The viewers all talked about Andrew Mitchell. Tony in West Berkshire

:08:18. > :08:21.said the remark caught our attention, but the dishonesty is

:08:21. > :08:25.the point. The minister may have apologised and the officer may have

:08:25. > :08:29.accepted it, but there is still the matter of who is lying. Jack says

:08:29. > :08:33.Ed Miliband has a point. The Chief Whip has failed to confirm what he

:08:33. > :08:37.said and should be sacked. Fill in Doncaster says Andrew Mitchell

:08:37. > :08:41.behave badly, but this is a mountain out of a molehill. Colin

:08:41. > :08:44.says Sean Ed Miliband realises that the more he goes on about the Chief

:08:44. > :08:48.Whip's behaviour, the more difficult it is the David Cameron

:08:48. > :08:53.to get rid of him. Antoni says Ed Miliband is trying to milk a mouse

:08:53. > :09:03.by pursuing the Chief Whip. Can you do that? I have never heard that

:09:03. > :09:07.

:09:07. > :09:11.expression. Put the image away. What do you make of it all?

:09:11. > :09:15.well, you said before that sometimes when the goal is open, it

:09:15. > :09:19.is hard to score. I don't think he slotted it in the net. On the other

:09:19. > :09:24.hand, Ed Miliband will know that this has resonance as a story. It

:09:24. > :09:28.is easy to understand. The viewers' e-mails reflect that. They think he

:09:29. > :09:34.either said plebs, or he didn't. Someone was accusing someone of

:09:34. > :09:37.lying. So it in one sense, he can't help but win on that. But, and this

:09:37. > :09:40.is an important but in the psychology of Westminster, if you

:09:41. > :09:46.put the ball in the back of the net on Prime Minister's Questions,

:09:46. > :09:49.those faces behind the Prime Minister Goh glum. They were

:09:49. > :09:55.cheering by the end, not because they support Andrew Mitchell, not

:09:55. > :10:00.because they think David Cameron should keep him in the Cabinet, a

:10:00. > :10:04.but because there was a little slip of the tongue by Ed Miliband, where

:10:04. > :10:08.he talked about everyone losing their jobs when Andrew Mitchell

:10:08. > :10:14.keeps his. He allowed the Prime Minister to say hold on, you

:10:14. > :10:17.weren't listening. Unemployment has gone down. It was a little thing,

:10:17. > :10:22.but it means that as David Cameron goes back to his office and is

:10:22. > :10:26.surrounded by people talking about the Mitchell thing, they will feel

:10:26. > :10:29.better than they thought they would feel before they went in.

:10:29. > :10:34.Murphy, this has been a running sore for the Conservatives. It

:10:34. > :10:39.angers a lot of Tory backbenchers and Cabinet ministers. At the

:10:39. > :10:42.Conservative conference, Cabinet ministers were openly critical of

:10:42. > :10:49.Andrew Mitchell, which does not happen often. I wonder where the

:10:49. > :10:53.story goes from here? Politics is so unpredictable. It is one of the

:10:53. > :10:59.rare beauties of politics. Your viewers might not since this, but

:10:59. > :11:05.in Parliament, the Chief Whip has to be seen and not heard. He is not

:11:05. > :11:08.a news story. That's right. It is a small thing, but an important thing

:11:08. > :11:14.for the theatre of Parliament. When Ed Miliband was talking about it,

:11:14. > :11:18.the minimum the Chief Whip was doing was shaking his head. He is

:11:18. > :11:24.voluntarily putting himself back into it by virtue in responding

:11:24. > :11:28.that way. How does it work out? If David Cameron sacks him, it is a

:11:28. > :11:33.week sacking. So I suspect he will try to cling on to him. But this is

:11:33. > :11:40.not just about who lied, the Chief Whip or the police. They can't both

:11:40. > :11:45.be telling the truth. It also gets into real communities, living rooms

:11:45. > :11:49.and pubs across the country. It is one of those things people

:11:49. > :11:53.genuinely talk about spontaneously. The longer he is there, the more

:11:53. > :11:58.that conversation will continue, none of which is good for the

:11:58. > :12:06.Conservative Party. I am not paid to give the Tory party advice.

:12:07. > :12:16.Would you like to be? No. For does your own side pay you to give

:12:17. > :12:17.

:12:17. > :12:20.advice? No one listens! But I would have dispatched him weeks ago. The

:12:20. > :12:26.Prime Minister standing up for the wrong people. You stand up for

:12:26. > :12:30.someone who went to the same posh schools as you. Are they makes?

:12:30. > :12:34.public perceive it that way. They have a similar background. That is

:12:34. > :12:41.toxic for the Conservative Party, which has been trying to change its

:12:41. > :12:46.image. There is this thought of, did Andrew Mitchell shout out a

:12:46. > :12:50.comment? You might think of course he did, because Ed Miliband reacted.

:12:50. > :12:53.Famously, Tony Blair wants reacted to a heckle in Prime Minister's

:12:53. > :12:57.Questions which was not made. He was taunting William Hague about

:12:57. > :13:02.which countries supported Tory policy on Europe, paused as

:13:02. > :13:06.suddenly went, Norway? No one had anyone in the chamber Saynor way.

:13:06. > :13:11.We went back over the tape, and nobody did. I am not saying Ed

:13:11. > :13:21.Miliband made it up. There may have been a heckle, but now we are all

:13:21. > :13:23.

:13:23. > :13:27.asking about it. I was racking my brains while watching that. Maybe

:13:27. > :13:31.you have heard people talking about Andrew Mitchell. I have only had

:13:31. > :13:37.three or four e-mails about it. People have just moved on. He

:13:37. > :13:44.should not have done it. He was stupid to do it. But in terms of

:13:44. > :13:51.real people contacting me, which they do about all sorts of stuff...

:13:51. > :13:54.Are you saying our viewers are not real people? It is one of those

:13:54. > :13:58.things that emanates from Westminster that people talk about.

:13:58. > :14:02.Maybe that is because it is an accessible story about a prominent

:14:02. > :14:09.person swearing at a police officer. I don't know what it is about this

:14:09. > :14:14.story. Despite your constituents, it has taken off. I do get the

:14:14. > :14:18.impression that Mr Mitchell lives to fight another day... Last week,

:14:18. > :14:23.it was the Telegraph editorial. People were saying, we are not

:14:23. > :14:28.going to have the Daily Telegraph sacked on ministers. Now they will

:14:28. > :14:33.not have Ed Miliband sack their ministers. The line now is not just

:14:33. > :14:39.that somebody like. The line now from Mr Mitchell and the government

:14:40. > :14:43.is, they misunderstood. Nobody is lying, they just misunderstood.

:14:43. > :14:47.last thing they want to do is get into a detailed conversation about

:14:47. > :14:52.who said what, possibly because if he had really lost it, he might not

:14:52. > :15:01.have a clue what he said. It is possible that he can't remember

:15:01. > :15:07.what he said. I am like that out of the newsroom quite often.

:15:07. > :15:11.Politicians often fight the last war. David Cameron is interested in

:15:11. > :15:16.Tony Blair's memoirs. They reflect the former Prime Minister saying, I

:15:16. > :15:22.should not have led Peter Mandelson go when I did. I did it because the

:15:22. > :15:25.press hounded me. I think David Cameron has thought, I am not going

:15:25. > :15:29.to make that mistake. He may well be making a different mistake,

:15:29. > :15:35.which is that he may be holding on to someone who is toxic for the

:15:35. > :15:40.Tory brand. There we leave it. Dwayne Fields was brought up in

:15:40. > :15:45.Hackney, east London. One night, he got into a fight. A Gunn was pulled

:15:45. > :15:48.on him. It was fired twice, but he was not hit. This made him take a

:15:48. > :15:51.different turn in life. He became the first black British man and the

:15:51. > :15:55.second black man in the world to reach the North Pole. Now he has

:15:55. > :15:59.his sights set on the South Pole. He wants to help inner-city

:15:59. > :16:02.teenagers to make them realise that they can do something, too. For him,

:16:02. > :16:12.getting them out into the countryside is the key, which he

:16:12. > :16:14.

:16:14. > :16:19.argues means more funding for youth groups. Here is his soapbox.

:16:19. > :16:24.This is something you hardly see, a young black man enjoying the

:16:24. > :16:27.countryside. When I am out here training, I hardly ever see any

:16:28. > :16:32.young people enjoying the countryside, let alone black people.

:16:32. > :16:35.I am not tried to say everyone should go to the North Pole. I want

:16:35. > :16:40.to encourage them that their choices in life are not limited to

:16:40. > :16:43.being a rapper, Sports personality or a footballer. I want to get them

:16:43. > :16:47.out into the countryside as a way of opening up their world. They

:16:47. > :16:51.think it is not for them, but that is because they don't see it. I was

:16:51. > :16:56.born in Jamaica and loved it. I would run around in the forest all

:16:56. > :17:00.day. No one would see me for hours. When I came to London, I had a

:17:00. > :17:04.small concrete backyard to run around in. It was crowded. School

:17:04. > :17:09.was not much better. It was painful and tedious. We did camping trips,

:17:09. > :17:14.but that was about it. We hardly ever saw a different way of life,

:17:14. > :17:18.or even new one existed. I lived in a difficult part of London. The day

:17:18. > :17:25.I was shot at twice over nothing made me want to do something

:17:25. > :17:29.different. That is why I decided to go to the North Pole. I want

:17:29. > :17:32.teenagers to realise that they can do something, too, and getting out

:17:32. > :17:37.into the countryside is a great way to show that the world has more to

:17:37. > :17:42.offer them. I love the countryside, because you are out of the city,

:17:42. > :17:46.away from the noise. It opens a new up to a different way of living. In

:17:46. > :17:52.the countryside, you see big houses. People have time to say hello and

:17:52. > :17:56.smile at you. Here, you can relax, focus, think about decisions you

:17:56. > :17:59.want to make. It gives you something to do, keeps you away

:17:59. > :18:03.from trouble, away from your peers and the pressures that come with it.

:18:03. > :18:08.You can't survive on your own in the wilderness. It helps you learn

:18:08. > :18:12.to rely on other people. You are not just thinking about yourself or

:18:12. > :18:18.your own needs. The only way to encourage more young people into

:18:18. > :18:21.the countryside is to increase the funding to youth groups like army

:18:21. > :18:25.cadets, Sea cadets, Scouts. Increasing funding rather than

:18:25. > :18:29.cutting is the way forward. Unless we start giving more opportunity

:18:29. > :18:39.and choice to young teenagers, their worlds will remain narrow,

:18:39. > :18:40.

:18:40. > :18:44.and they are more likely to choose Looks lovely out there in the

:18:44. > :18:49.countryside! Or what made you think of trekking to the north pole of

:18:49. > :18:53.you had had that terrible incident? In surely, it wasn't about trekking

:18:53. > :18:59.to the North Pole, it was about doing something different to what I

:18:59. > :19:02.would normally do. -- initially. It came up through Ben Fogle and James

:19:02. > :19:08.Cracknell, I heard them on BBC Breakfast say they wanted to go to

:19:08. > :19:18.the South Pole. I thought, that is as different from my normal life as

:19:18. > :19:19.

:19:19. > :19:25.I could get. They directed due to the North Pole instead! What do

:19:25. > :19:33.your friends say? You described eloquently, the contrast with city

:19:33. > :19:36.life, do your friends to feel the same way? It is strange, initially

:19:36. > :19:40.it was really difficult for them to come to terms with why I wanted to

:19:40. > :19:45.go. As soon as they realised that I had a passion borders, they started

:19:45. > :19:49.to follow, because passion is contagious. So they started to

:19:49. > :19:54.follow my lead, or one of two of them came out into the countryside

:19:54. > :19:59.and enjoyed it would meet. In general, they are City folk. But

:19:59. > :20:04.they did comment and say, they understand why a lot -- I love the

:20:04. > :20:10.countryside. Do you think more money should be given to help kids

:20:10. > :20:16.living in urban areas, in cities, to go to the countryside? They do

:20:17. > :20:21.city farms to give kids a taste of the countryside. I think funding

:20:21. > :20:25.needs to be put into it. When you are in the countryside it is

:20:26. > :20:30.totally different to the lifestyle that you live in the city. You have

:20:30. > :20:36.space to think, you have silent for a change. Not many people get to

:20:36. > :20:40.experience what silence feels like. You are alone, you have time to

:20:40. > :20:46.think about issues come up problems, challenges you might face and

:20:46. > :20:52.possible solutions. Do some of your friends think it might be boring? I

:20:52. > :20:57.often hear this idea that when you have kids, the AD up thank you for

:20:57. > :21:01.living in the countryside. It is not seen as a cool thing to do

:21:01. > :21:04.until people experience it. That is just belief. When you bring a group

:21:04. > :21:09.of young people into the countryside, they see the benefits,

:21:09. > :21:15.I have seen it with my own eyes. I have spoken tickets, their reaction

:21:15. > :21:20.is, there is nothing out there. It is just the sticks. The fact is, we

:21:20. > :21:26.knew what out there, you enjoy it, they enjoy it, they want to go back.

:21:26. > :21:30.Do you think people will say that this is not the most critical think

:21:30. > :21:35.-- think we should be spending money on? A I disagree. To prepare

:21:35. > :21:38.young people are adult life, it is about getting them out into the

:21:38. > :21:42.wilderness, giving them a small challenges, allowing them to

:21:42. > :21:48.overcome challenges as a group and a small community, and then bring

:21:48. > :21:53.them back to the city. It line to up to face other challengers.

:21:53. > :21:59.do you think? This idea that enthusiasm is contagious is great,

:21:59. > :22:03.hopefully people who are watching get that sense today. Would you put

:22:03. > :22:10.money into it? We can chat afterwards and see how we could do

:22:10. > :22:14.that. One of the wider point is the way in which a lot of children get

:22:15. > :22:21.an experience of the countryside would be three uniformed

:22:21. > :22:26.organisations, the guides, the Scouts, a lot of that still happens,

:22:26. > :22:32.but a reduction in the involvement, I remember I was about nine or 10,

:22:32. > :22:41.but I can still remember it, lighting a fire. That is my only

:22:41. > :22:45.experience. Is there a problem in psychology, the children are

:22:45. > :22:49.cosseted, letting them roam freely... We I have seen it all

:22:49. > :22:54.work, I live in a south Gloucestershire village commit is

:22:54. > :23:01.quiet at night, the primary school there is twinned with the a school

:23:01. > :23:06.in inner-city Bristol. Tickets from the inner city school came out and

:23:06. > :23:14.really enjoyed the experience. It - - the kids. It just needed a bit of

:23:14. > :23:23.initiative. Maybe you should talk about these opportunities! Not to

:23:23. > :23:33.be done in the home! You can see the stars at night.

:23:33. > :23:35.

:23:35. > :23:39.Have you got your popcorn? We have! We are talking cinemas. Someone

:23:39. > :23:49.picks these things are too expensive and wants to take action

:23:49. > :23:56.

:23:56. > :24:06.to stop but who is the man who He is taking on the US Senate.

:24:06. > :24:12.not now, nor have I ever been, and oil trader. He has taken on Big

:24:12. > :24:20.Brother. But now George Galloway is turning his sights on a cinema near

:24:20. > :24:26.you and their prices. Fighting for your fizzy pop, at dishing out flak

:24:26. > :24:33.for your savoury snack. His weapon? An early day motion in Parliament.

:24:33. > :24:38.An adventure guaranteed to tap your height and purse-strings. George

:24:38. > :24:48.Galloway, taking on cinemas in his new blockbuster. This time, it is

:24:48. > :24:49.

:24:49. > :24:53.We had joined now by George Galloway. He has embarked on a

:24:53. > :24:59.crusade to cut the cost of a night out at the cinema. I heard you say

:24:59. > :25:07.you have never had popcorn. What got you into this? I had to buy it

:25:07. > :25:17.for my kids, and it is a 1,000% mark-up. I went to watch the

:25:17. > :25:25.terrific new, very Scottish movie, Braved a. It is a wonderful, feisty

:25:25. > :25:32.film. But you cannot drag your kids crying, I want popcorn, it is a

:25:32. > :25:35.1,000% mark up, you have to buy it. Then I started looking at ice cream,

:25:35. > :25:41.Coca-Cola, it is absolute profiteering. They throw you out if

:25:41. > :25:48.you bring your own. In Westfield, which is where I went, you would

:25:48. > :25:52.get banned from the whole of that brought. Not just London. My friend

:25:52. > :26:02.in New York brought his dude in come the end up getting arrested,

:26:02. > :26:06.because he tried to bring it in -- brought his food in it. What is the

:26:06. > :26:14.price of a big bucket of popcorn? How much would you pay for that?

:26:14. > :26:22.Depends if you get one of these meal deals! You don't know this!

:26:22. > :26:32.You don't know the price of milk! You would get it for about �8.50

:26:32. > :26:32.

:26:32. > :26:42.Foster I'm vegetarian, I don't get a hard dog! -- hot dog. I think it

:26:42. > :26:45.

:26:45. > :26:53.is �4.99. No, it is �4.40. However, in the Odeon, according to the

:26:53. > :27:02.watchdog, it is a five per M25 pence. Oh I am now the country's

:27:02. > :27:10.expert on these matters! It looks awful to me. But kids love it.

:27:10. > :27:20.can make at home! The kids were saying, dad, dad! But I didn't want

:27:20. > :27:23.

:27:23. > :27:28.to pay that price. But what is to be done? I think the OFT, or which

:27:29. > :27:32.macro, somebody... We need some kind of public pressure. A people

:27:32. > :27:40.may not realise they are being ripped off. They are in such a

:27:40. > :27:47.hurry to get into the cinema that they soon forget. Why not have, for

:27:47. > :27:52.example, private enterprise outside the cinema, a selling popcorn? You

:27:52. > :27:57.will not get banned or jailed for bringing it in. Why should they be

:27:58. > :28:01.allowed, effectively, because they are licensed premises, they are

:28:02. > :28:11.effectively private clubs, they can exclude you or banlieue, had you

:28:12. > :28:15.

:28:15. > :28:22.taken from the premises. -- have So you tabled an early-day motion?

:28:22. > :28:31.Yes, Sir Peter Bottomley... This is the 4th interview I have done on

:28:31. > :28:36.this! I salute your indefatigability. I well remember

:28:36. > :28:41.that the next time I go to the Cinema! We haven't got time to pick

:28:41. > :28:47.the winner for Guess The Year, but we will do it tomorrow. The answer