:00:37. > :00:47.Good morning, this is the Daily Politics. Today's top story: 1775
:00:48. > :00:53.jobs will go at shipyards in Glasgow and Portsmouth. Ship building on the
:00:54. > :00:58.south coast of England. Completely. The news was confirmed in the last
:00:59. > :01:00.hour, we will bring you all the Westminster reaction as it happens.
:01:01. > :01:04.The job losses are bound to feature in PMQs. The weekly battle between
:01:05. > :01:06.David Cameron and Ed Miliband is live at midday.
:01:07. > :01:09.The dispute over what exactly happened in Falkirk continues to
:01:10. > :01:18.cause the Leader of the Opposition headaches - the local MP joins us in
:01:19. > :01:24.the studio. Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. That am I an addict? No.
:01:25. > :01:36.And can a self-confessed crack smoker continue as Toronto mayor? --
:01:37. > :01:44.but am I an addict? What is your view? I will tell you later, give me
:01:45. > :01:48.a time to think! I know you are an expert! Brave!
:01:49. > :01:51.All that and more in the next 90 minutes. And with us for the
:01:52. > :01:53.duration of today's programme, two of Westminster's finest - the Shadow
:01:54. > :01:55.Attorney General, Emily Thornberry, and the former Environment
:01:56. > :01:57.Secretary, Caroline Spelman. Welcome.
:01:58. > :02:04.First today, this morning's breaking news. Bad news for the Clyde and
:02:05. > :02:07.Portsmouth. Navy ships have been built at Portsmouth for 500 years,
:02:08. > :02:13.but this morning we learnt ship building is to cease at the
:02:14. > :02:19.dockyard. That'll be in the second half of next year. Gerald Vernon
:02:20. > :02:25.Jackson is the leader of Portsmouth Council, he joins us. This is a big
:02:26. > :02:31.blow, it will be around 1000 job losses after a dockyard workforce of
:02:32. > :02:35.around 11,000, it is very big. For me, the real worry is that
:02:36. > :02:40.Portsmouth is the last place in England which builds and has the
:02:41. > :02:44.ability to build advanced surface warships. All of the yard is being
:02:45. > :02:49.able to do that in the future would be in Scotland. What if Scotland
:02:50. > :02:54.chooses independence? The Royal Navy has never bought chips from outside
:02:55. > :02:59.our shores, now it will have to go looking to a foreign country to buy
:03:00. > :03:03.ships. To go to France, Germany, Scotland. That is very bad,
:03:04. > :03:08.strategically, for the defence of the UK. We will know on September
:03:09. > :03:13.the 18th next year whether Scotland votes for independence, but will the
:03:14. > :03:17.capacity have to be moved to England? The Royal Navy has never
:03:18. > :03:22.bought any ships from a foreign power, and by that time Scotland
:03:23. > :03:26.will be a foreign power. That is a huge waste of money. The Royal Navy
:03:27. > :03:31.built submarines at Barrow in Furness and they let most people go.
:03:32. > :03:35.We lost all the skills. When a new contract arrives you have to
:03:36. > :03:40.re-employ Andrey skilled people, a waste of public money. It is the
:03:41. > :03:43.wrong decision at the wrong time. Defence budgets are being scrapped
:03:44. > :03:48.all over Europe, including in this country. People are not ordering the
:03:49. > :03:55.kind of ships that Portsmouth builds. That aside Scottish
:03:56. > :03:59.independence, isn't it inevitable that work would be concentrated in
:04:00. > :04:05.the two yards opposite each other on the Clyde, and that Portsmouth would
:04:06. > :04:08.be the victim? That decision could have been made if the issue of
:04:09. > :04:13.Scottish independence was not around. We are in island nation and
:04:14. > :04:19.we depend on the sea to bring in all the food we eat, the gas and the
:04:20. > :04:24.central heating. We depend on the Navy to defend our sea lanes. It is
:04:25. > :04:30.ludicrous that the Royal Navy would have to go to a foreign power to buy
:04:31. > :04:33.warships. I don't think we will be building many more ships. I think
:04:34. > :04:43.the Royal Navy only has about 19,000. We have about 40 based in
:04:44. > :04:47.Portsmouth. The size of the Royal Navy has shrunk, we have one third
:04:48. > :04:52.of the number of frigates and destroyers we had when Mrs Thatcher
:04:53. > :04:56.came to power, so it is much smaller, but the political decision
:04:57. > :05:00.should have been not to make this decision until the Scottish
:05:01. > :05:05.independence... They could have waited for ten months to make this
:05:06. > :05:11.decision. What is the argument against that? Ten months is not
:05:12. > :05:15.long. There has to be a lead time so that the skills and excellent
:05:16. > :05:20.workforce in Portsmouth and the Clyde have the opportunity to find
:05:21. > :05:22.jobs commensurate with their skills. With the renaissance of
:05:23. > :05:26.manufacturing, certainly in my area, the West Midlands, these
:05:27. > :05:31.skills are highly sought after for investors looking to invest in this
:05:32. > :05:36.country. There are job losses in Scotland, too, almost as many as
:05:37. > :05:41.Portsmouth. Do you think these people could move from Portsmouth to
:05:42. > :05:46.the West Midlands? Not necessarily even have to move. If you look at
:05:47. > :05:53.how Tata invested in Jaguar Land Rover, they have created many extra
:05:54. > :05:56.jobs since the crash, 24,000 jobs in the supply chain alone, and part of
:05:57. > :06:03.the reason was looking at the pool of skilled labour. We are incredibly
:06:04. > :06:07.short of skilled engineers and engineering apprenticeships. There
:06:08. > :06:11.lots of apprenticeships but that are vacancies for people with these
:06:12. > :06:16.skills in your part of the world. Don't go away, but I need to hear
:06:17. > :06:20.from you. I wish Caroline was right. We can't forget that for every job
:06:21. > :06:24.loss in one of these yards, there are the shops, the people who
:06:25. > :06:29.provide the materials, many other jobs, the whole supply chain. The
:06:30. > :06:35.effect on Portsmouth will be enormous. Certainly, I hope that
:06:36. > :06:40.companies would be able to move into that area and employ some of these
:06:41. > :06:44.people. But there are certainly no guarantees, and if I was living in
:06:45. > :06:55.Portsmouth tonight I would be very worried, coming up to Portsmouth. --
:06:56. > :07:02.coming up to Christmas. The idea is that we either build more warships,
:07:03. > :07:08.or that we keep Portsmouth open eye closing one of the Scottish yards.
:07:09. > :07:12.Does Labour have a policy? At 12:30pm, I think Vernon Coaker will
:07:13. > :07:16.be asking on which basis this decision has been made, we need a
:07:17. > :07:21.proper explanation to what extent it has been a political decision or a
:07:22. > :07:27.commercial one, is that all isn't there Scottish factor? People in
:07:28. > :07:31.Glasgow and Portsmouth deserve that. Do you think you have been
:07:32. > :07:36.sacrificed on the altar of Scottish independence, or an attempt to stop
:07:37. > :07:40.it? It is clearly a political decision. The orders for where ships
:07:41. > :07:44.are built or maids are made by ministers. They could have made the
:07:45. > :07:51.decision to keep naval ship holding in England for the future. They have
:07:52. > :07:57.made the decision that they do not want to do that. They must assume
:07:58. > :08:01.that Scotland will vote no? That must be there working assumption? Or
:08:02. > :08:06.they have made the strategic decision that it is okayed to build
:08:07. > :08:13.Royal Navy ships abroad, I think they are wrong. The Secretary of
:08:14. > :08:18.State, Mr Hammond, is saying no to other things in Scotland, he says,
:08:19. > :08:27.you become a foreign country, we will not build better. There was a
:08:28. > :08:33.simple and easy solution that we suggested to the MoD, which they
:08:34. > :08:37.have rejected. I think we are now going to go to Portsmouth. It has
:08:38. > :08:43.been confirmed that Defence Secretary Philip Hammond will make
:08:44. > :08:48.his statement after PMQs. We are joined now by our reporter in
:08:49. > :08:56.Portsmouth. Have workers officially been told about the 940 job losses?
:08:57. > :09:01.This is a city built on naval shipbuilding. It is a long history
:09:02. > :09:06.and very proud heritage. The news that some 940 jobs will be lost has
:09:07. > :09:17.gone Dell like a lead balloon, as you might imagine. -- gone Dell
:09:18. > :09:22.unlike a red balloon. 140 jobs here, 700 zero jobs in Scotland, but
:09:23. > :09:27.Portsmouth is bearing the brunt. No new warships will be built here.
:09:28. > :09:31.This is the last naval yard with the capability to build advanced
:09:32. > :09:35.warships in England, and the leader of the council says it is a
:09:36. > :09:41.devastating blow. He believes there will be some kind of capability
:09:42. > :09:45.necessary in England for building this type of vessel. The sweetener
:09:46. > :09:50.is that it will be retained as a maintenance yard where work will be
:09:51. > :09:56.carried out repairs and maintenance, but that cut little ice with those
:09:57. > :10:00.likely to lose jobs today. There has already been quite a stiff political
:10:01. > :10:04.reaction. The Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South, Mike Hancock, says
:10:05. > :10:09.workers will be utterly devastated by this news today. The local
:10:10. > :10:13.Chamber of Commerce has weighed in, saying that the headline job losses
:10:14. > :10:16.are merely the tip of the iceberg. There are many other jobs in the
:10:17. > :10:21.supply line which will now be lost as a result of this decision. We
:10:22. > :10:24.will know more detail when Philip Hammond stands up and makes the
:10:25. > :10:30.statement in the House of Commons at around 12:30pm. Thank you. We are
:10:31. > :10:36.joined now by Mike Hancock, the local MP for the area. He joins us
:10:37. > :10:40.in the House of Commons. He was Lib Dem but I think he is independent
:10:41. > :10:45.now. What is your reaction to the decision to close naval building in
:10:46. > :10:49.Portsmouth? I am absolutely devastated, along with the
:10:50. > :10:54.individuals concerned and the city as a whole. 500 years of tradition
:10:55. > :10:58.will be swept away, 940 jobs will go, which will be very hard to
:10:59. > :11:06.replace and very difficult to get all those people that came to work
:11:07. > :11:09.in a very quick time. It is very disappointing and pretty upsetting
:11:10. > :11:14.for everybody concerned. Do you believe the decision has been taken
:11:15. > :11:19.to close Portsmouth but keep the two yards on the Clyde as part of the
:11:20. > :11:24.Government pulls-macro efforts to keep the union together? I'd have to
:11:25. > :11:28.be extremely cynical to say that was the only reason. I think it is part
:11:29. > :11:31.of the reason. I think the other parties do way in which the Ministry
:11:32. > :11:38.of Defence has run the procurement programme for the last ten years --
:11:39. > :11:46.I think the other part is the way. I think BAE one to minimise their --
:11:47. > :11:51.want to minimise their costs. It is a combination of the three things
:11:52. > :11:56.which we will have to pay a price for in Portsmouth. If we are in an
:11:57. > :12:01.era of deep defence cuts, we spend about ten percentage of our GDP on
:12:02. > :12:07.defence these days, then three shipyards will be one too many for
:12:08. > :12:12.the Navy? These are not the sort of things you could replace easily. If
:12:13. > :12:15.things went knees up in Scotland by the referendum going against the UK
:12:16. > :12:20.Government, it would be very hard to replace what we have taken apart in
:12:21. > :12:25.Portsmouth. I don't think there is a fallback. I think it is a very
:12:26. > :12:33.serious foolish government which puts all its eggs in one basket when
:12:34. > :12:38.it has three, efficient yards. People I have spoken to are heaping
:12:39. > :12:43.praise on the workforce in Portsmouth, the unions in Portsmouth
:12:44. > :12:46.have played the game, they have kept disputes to a minimum and worked
:12:47. > :12:51.with the company. The company has rewarded them by stabbing them in
:12:52. > :12:55.the back in this way, which I think is a very bitter blow for anyone,
:12:56. > :12:59.including many of my constituents, who spent their whole working lives
:13:00. > :13:05.in that yard. Thank you for joining us. We will
:13:06. > :13:08.wait to see what the Defence Secretary Mr Hammond has to say at
:13:09. > :13:15.12:30pm when he makes that statement. One of the difficulties,
:13:16. > :13:19.I would suggest, is that the frigates and destroyers that we make
:13:20. > :13:24.now are incredibly sophisticated. They are floating computers at the
:13:25. > :13:31.highest level. When you lose these skills, almost no body makes a
:13:32. > :13:56.ships, other than the Americans and ourselves and maybe one or
:13:57. > :14:01.people are highly skilled, they need to keep their skills up to date,
:14:02. > :14:07.we're not in a position to switch the tap on and off. We are really
:14:08. > :14:14.short of skilled labour, we can't fill positions in the growing part
:14:15. > :14:19.of the private sector. The recovery has barely begun and we are short of
:14:20. > :14:24.skilled labour? ! Bee we are short of engineers, and these computing
:14:25. > :14:30.skills are transferable. Longbridge closed with thousands of jobs. They
:14:31. > :14:34.have all been reabsorbed into the success of the West Midlands car
:14:35. > :14:41.manufacturing. Jaguar Land Rover took them on. Into similar jobs, car
:14:42. > :14:45.building, there will not be an alternative boat builder. This is
:14:46. > :14:52.one way of finding a sustainable future. There was a loss of 500
:14:53. > :14:57.engineering jobs in Southampton. The most popular job that people moved
:14:58. > :15:02.into, not through choice, was being taxi drivers. That is not moving
:15:03. > :15:08.skills into high-end engineering. We can go over to Nick Robinson.
:15:09. > :15:17.The decision was whether this was a strategic commercial or a political
:15:18. > :15:22.decision? We are well aware of the politics of
:15:23. > :15:27.the Clyde, aware of the danger of closing one of the Glasgow shipyards
:15:28. > :15:32.on the Clyde ahead of a Scottish referendum. Here is the case against
:15:33. > :15:40.that that is being made to me by defence insiders. First of all, they
:15:41. > :15:46.say that Govan builds ships cheaper than Portsmouth. From a Tory
:15:47. > :15:52.perspective, it is in their interest to keep jobs in the south of England
:15:53. > :15:57.and not have jobs in Scotland. The more compelling case is this. They
:15:58. > :16:02.say that the decisions about which shipyards to close were discussed
:16:03. > :16:07.three years ago when the government had a Strategic Defence Review in
:16:08. > :16:12.2010. That was before Alex Salmond was re-elected in Scotland. In other
:16:13. > :16:17.words, what people are saying is that it was always inevitable that
:16:18. > :16:20.once this massive project of building two aircraft carriers came
:16:21. > :16:27.to an end, the jobs would go. The issue then was, did the jobs go in
:16:28. > :16:33.Portsmouth or Scotland? There is no doubt that political factors around
:16:34. > :16:37.the referendum have reinforced the case in Scotland. The case being
:16:38. > :16:44.made to me is that there were overwhelming reasons to choose Govan
:16:45. > :16:48.and Scotstoun. The issue of the timing has been discussed in the
:16:49. > :16:54.studio. Bearing in mind it is less than a year until the referendum,
:16:55. > :16:59.why not wait until we knew which way Scotland would go? The reason may be
:17:00. > :17:06.that there is a problem looming. Work is gradually being wound down
:17:07. > :17:11.on those aircraft carriers. It will carry on until 2015 but it is being
:17:12. > :17:18.wound down. Replacement work, work for the new generation of frigates,
:17:19. > :17:23.13 of them, that is not due to start for many years. There was a gap that
:17:24. > :17:28.had to be filled if we were to find there was no work at all on the
:17:29. > :17:35.Clyde. What we know is that the gap will be filled by orders for new
:17:36. > :17:40.vessels, things we did not know about before. The Ministry of
:17:41. > :17:43.Defence has found money by renegotiating the contract for
:17:44. > :17:47.aircraft carriers to keep people working on the Clyde. If they had
:17:48. > :17:52.done nothing, those jobs would have gone unless they work being
:17:53. > :18:11.subsidised for sitting, literally, on their hands. Thank you very much.
:18:12. > :18:14.Ed Miliband is under pressure to open the Labour enquiry into the
:18:15. > :18:17.selection of their candidate in Falkirk this morning, after the
:18:18. > :18:20.Unite union issued a statement last night giving their side of events
:18:21. > :18:24.following a number of newspaper allegations over the weekend. Over
:18:25. > :18:26.to Jo to bring us up to date. It is a complicated story and gets more
:18:27. > :18:29.complicated as the days go by. Unite have issued a statement aimed at
:18:30. > :18:33."clearing up the confusion" over their role in the selection of the
:18:34. > :18:36.Labour Party candidate in Falkirk. Unite say the core of the
:18:37. > :18:38.allegations reported by the Daily Mail and other newspapers over the
:18:39. > :18:41.weekend were already contained within the internal Labour Party
:18:42. > :18:44.report, which Unite claim they never received but one of their officials
:18:45. > :18:48.has read. Unite describe the internal Labour report as "no more
:18:49. > :18:51.than a list of allegations" and that it couldn't be considered a final
:18:52. > :18:54.investigation into what went on in Falkirk. But, perhaps confusingly,
:18:55. > :18:58.they say that Labour was right not to reopen its July enquiry. The most
:18:59. > :19:01.senior Labour figure to weigh into the debate over Falkirk was former
:19:02. > :19:04.Chancellor Alistair Darling who said on Monday that Labour should
:19:05. > :19:12.consider reopen its investigation, saying it was important that this
:19:13. > :19:15.time the outcomes were published. But yesterday Ed Miliband was
:19:16. > :19:18.repeatedly asked whether Labour would reopen their enquiry or
:19:19. > :19:21.publish the findings of the old one. He told journalists a second police
:19:22. > :19:24.investigation was underway, and he did add that leader of the Scottish
:19:25. > :19:32.Labour Party, Johan Lamont, would look into any new allegations that
:19:33. > :19:40.emerge. I was taking notes! We are joined in
:19:41. > :19:46.the studio by the former Labour MP for Falkirk, Eric Joyce. Welcome
:19:47. > :19:53.back. Should Labour reopen the investigation? Yes, of course they
:19:54. > :20:01.should. There are many reasons. The longer a lawyer's statement is...
:20:02. > :20:09.Yes, of course they should. What do you say to that, Emily? I say that
:20:10. > :20:12.we have suspended the party in Falkirk, we have had an
:20:13. > :20:16.investigation, we are completely changing the way Labour Party does
:20:17. > :20:21.things, and our relationship with the trade unions. We have stopped
:20:22. > :20:24.the system of getting members into the Labour Party directly through
:20:25. > :20:30.the unions which may have been abused. We have stopped any members
:20:31. > :20:33.who were recruited under that basis of being involved in the selection
:20:34. > :20:38.process. The National executive committee will be looking after the
:20:39. > :20:40.election process. The local party is in special measures and the
:20:41. > :20:46.controversial candidates are no longer standing. What more should
:20:47. > :20:54.the Labour Party do? You have had a good say, Eric Joyce? The Labour
:20:55. > :21:00.Party say nothing untoward went on in Falkirk, and Emily has listed a
:21:01. > :21:08.whole list of things. This is a very significant move, this is 40% of
:21:09. > :21:13.this constituency. You have suspended 40% of the members as you
:21:14. > :21:19.have said. It seems very clear that Unite have been very domineering in
:21:20. > :21:25.this process and in the Grangemouth process, and Labour seems afraid to
:21:26. > :21:32.admit that many things went wrong in Falkirk. Forgave me but I am a
:21:33. > :21:35.practical politician and we have done what we should have done. We
:21:36. > :21:40.have referred our findings to the police. There may well be another
:21:41. > :21:43.investigation. There were allegations made in the Daily Mail.
:21:44. > :21:57.That was investigated by our general secretary. You know... They were
:21:58. > :22:04.living at three different addresses as an old lived at the same place! I
:22:05. > :22:11.feel that we have done what we need to do. What we need to do now is
:22:12. > :22:19.select somebody to replace you! Have you done all that you need to do?
:22:20. > :22:24.Why did the Labour Party not even speak to the people at the centre of
:22:25. > :22:34.this order candidate that really were trying to put in? -- that they
:22:35. > :22:39.were trying to put in? The enquiry was done by a small number of people
:22:40. > :22:45.and I have not seen the report. Those who were being enquired into
:22:46. > :22:48.were told that the report would not be available. You are asking about
:22:49. > :22:53.the details of the investigation and I do not have those details because
:22:54. > :23:02.I was not... I am not asking for the details, I am asking you a simple
:23:03. > :23:07.question. How can it be a proper enquiry when you did not interview
:23:08. > :23:15.the two main people on the Unite side? I tell you what, why do not
:23:16. > :23:25.help me? What do you think the Labour Party ought to do more than
:23:26. > :23:31.we have done? You have just asked another question. It is manifestly
:23:32. > :23:36.obvious that there are hundreds of people who've been signed up to make
:23:37. > :23:43.the conclusion public. Instead of saying that the party 's position is
:23:44. > :23:47.here, there is nothing... Alistair Darling once an enquiry, I suggest
:23:48. > :23:53.he knows more about Scottish Labour policies than you. Johan Lamont was
:23:54. > :23:58.another enquiry. I suggest she knows more about these matters than you.
:23:59. > :24:07.Why would the party in London not agree to what these major figures in
:24:08. > :24:10.Scotland one? What Ed Miliband said yesterday was that if new
:24:11. > :24:20.information came to light, there would be in enquiry. You said and
:24:21. > :24:27.enquiry by smart -- you said and enquiry? The most important thing
:24:28. > :24:30.for the people of Falkirk is to get a new Parliamentary candidate so we
:24:31. > :24:36.can have a good MP in that area representing those people. The real
:24:37. > :24:41.question for the people of Falkirk is to ask whether they are being
:24:42. > :24:48.represented properly by a Labour candidate. We have run out of time.
:24:49. > :24:54.You just get to be the Observer here! Very briefly, where do we go
:24:55. > :25:00.from here? Labour has to do have an enquiry. Emily said nothing happens
:25:01. > :25:07.but that will not do. Let's say we have no enquiry, what will be the
:25:08. > :25:15.result of that? We have given our information to the police. They are
:25:16. > :25:21.the ones... It is up to the police. OK, we are going to have to go. We
:25:22. > :25:25.have PMQs. We have a major public issue that Labour does not want an
:25:26. > :25:31.enquiry in, that is quite at the moment! The days are getting wetter,
:25:32. > :25:37.politicians are tearing each other up. Here is something I want you to
:25:38. > :25:40.do, smile. A survey for the organisation of economic development
:25:41. > :25:46.has found that the British are more satisfied with our lives than five
:25:47. > :25:50.years ago. According to the OECD, we are even ahead of Germany, the US,
:25:51. > :25:54.and Japan as one of the best places to live and work. Well - whether you
:25:55. > :25:57.believe that or not - there's one thing these people can't measure.
:25:58. > :26:10.Just one thing that will guarantee to turn that frown upside down. It
:26:11. > :26:13.is snow-white! Yes. You've guessed. The real measure of contentment.
:26:14. > :26:17.Your true path to Utopia, Nirvana, and Shangri-La. The Daily Politics
:26:18. > :26:27.Mug! And all you have to do is listen to JoCo. We'll remind you how
:26:28. > :26:34.to enter in a minute, but let's see if you can remember when THIS
:26:35. > :26:39.happened. For the first time for the benefit of Her Majesty's subjects,
:26:40. > :27:12.the opening of Parliament was filmed. A Cabinet crisis. The
:27:13. > :27:15.resignation of Mr Thornycroft. Over eight miles long, it will be the
:27:16. > :27:50.first motorway to be built in Great Britain.
:27:51. > :27:55.# Everybody let's rock! To be in with a chance of winning a
:27:56. > :28:01.Daily Politics mug, send your answer to our e-mail address. You can see
:28:02. > :28:11.the full term and conditions on our website. You can reach Nirvana! It
:28:12. > :28:16.is coming up to midday, let's take a look at big then. PMQs are only a
:28:17. > :28:24.few minutes away. If you would like to comment on the proceedings, you
:28:25. > :28:40.can e-mail us. Or you can treat your thoughts. -- tweet. Portsmouth is a
:28:41. > :28:44.big breaking story this morning, it will come up in PMQs. It does not
:28:45. > :28:51.provide the two frontbenchers so what will Ed Miliband talk about? He
:28:52. > :28:56.has talked about the cost of living for a number of weeks so I think you
:28:57. > :28:59.will find something new. You can occasionally push your luck too much
:29:00. > :29:09.and they will be strongly tempted to think of something else. Maybe the
:29:10. > :29:13.crisis in ANA. -- accident and emergency. You have the crisis at
:29:14. > :29:17.Colchester Hospital. It would not surprise me if that is the area he
:29:18. > :29:25.wants to talk about instead of talking about water bills and energy
:29:26. > :29:29.bills. The Prime Minister, whatever issue Ed Miliband brings up, he will
:29:30. > :29:35.want to broaden it out to the growth figures which are beginning to go
:29:36. > :29:39.Britain's way. Yes, but the trouble is that he gets drawn into that
:29:40. > :29:43.territory and gets drawn back into the issue of cost of living. There
:29:44. > :29:47.are conservative voices saying that they won something to say in
:29:48. > :29:51.response to Labour voices. They are desperate to get back to a broader
:29:52. > :29:58.agenda. The trouble is that today that someone will say that we have
:29:59. > :30:05.lost an awful lot of jobs in shipbuilding. There is a Scottish
:30:06. > :30:10.dimension, is there not? I have been to the Prime Minister's briefing
:30:11. > :30:14.with his spokesman and we repeatedly said that a lot of people here think
:30:15. > :30:22.that Scottish votes are more important than English votes and the
:30:23. > :30:26.primaries are's spokesman repeatedly declined any opportunities to answer
:30:27. > :30:35.that question. He said they were difficult decisions but they were in
:30:36. > :30:45.the national interests. He would not deny that the retention of the union
:30:46. > :30:55.was important. There is a whole programme about that. I mean, there
:30:56. > :31:00.are no votes for the Tories in this, are there? No. It is interesting
:31:01. > :31:06.that they would do that. There are no votes on the Clyde. It is a tough
:31:07. > :31:38.commercial point. Over to the Commons.
:31:39. > :31:45.This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues, in addition
:31:46. > :31:50.I will have further such meetings later today.
:31:51. > :31:54.I am sure we wish to associate ourselves with the Prime Minister
:31:55. > :32:01.putts-macro fitting tribute. Hard-working businessmen facing
:32:02. > :32:06.tough decisions... Decent trade unionists and newspapers including
:32:07. > :32:15.the Daily Mirror will have been appalled by the... The so-called
:32:16. > :32:19.leveraged tactics... The so-called leveraged tactics of Unite in the
:32:20. > :32:24.Grangemouth dispute. Will my right honourable friend take steps to
:32:25. > :32:32.ensure that families and children and homes are protected from a
:32:33. > :32:38.minority of militants? He makes an important point. This
:32:39. > :32:42.sort of industrial intimidation is completely unacceptable. We have
:32:43. > :32:47.seen wanted posters put through children's letterboxes, we have seen
:32:48. > :32:52.families intimidated and we have seen people 's neighbours being told
:32:53. > :32:56.that they are evil. It is completely shocking, what has happened. It is
:32:57. > :33:01.also shocking that the Labour Party is refusing to have a review to
:33:02. > :33:10.stand up to Len McCluskey, and at the next stage, they should do so.
:33:11. > :33:14.Ed Miliband! Let me start by joining the Prime
:33:15. > :33:17.Minister in recognising the enduring importance of giving thanks on
:33:18. > :33:21.Remembrance Sunday to all those men and women who have served our
:33:22. > :33:24.country. This is a moment to remember all of those who have lost
:33:25. > :33:29.their lives and to think about their families. That is why I know members
:33:30. > :33:32.from across the house, and across the country, are wearing their
:33:33. > :33:41.poppies with pride this week. Could the Prime Minister guaranteed there
:33:42. > :33:45.won't be an A crisis this winter? We will do everything we can to make
:33:46. > :33:50.sure the NHS continues to perform in the excellent way that it does
:33:51. > :33:55.today. Let me give him the latest figures. Last week was the 27th week
:33:56. > :34:02.in a row that we met our A targets. The NHS is treating 1.2
:34:03. > :34:07.million more people in A than it was when he was in office. I can
:34:08. > :34:13.tell him where there will be a particular problem. There won't be a
:34:14. > :34:18.winter crisis in the NHS in Wales, where Labour are in control, because
:34:19. > :34:27.there is a crisis every day of the week in Wales.
:34:28. > :34:33.Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister is simply wrong about the figures. If
:34:34. > :34:37.you look at what is happening in our A departments in hospitals, the
:34:38. > :34:42.target has been missed for 15 consecutive weeks. The whole country
:34:43. > :34:47.will have heard that the Prime Minister can't guarantee that there
:34:48. > :34:53.won't be a crisis this winter in A, that is because there is
:34:54. > :34:59.already a crisis, Mr Speaker. That is what the president of the Royal
:35:00. > :35:04.College of emergency medicine says. He's says, I know they don't want to
:35:05. > :35:10.hear about the crisis in A, but they're almost daily in instances in
:35:11. > :35:11.most A departments of patients facing extended trolley waits. The
:35:12. > :35:36.Prime Minister said let me give him one simple fact...
:35:37. > :35:41.Order, there is simply too much noise in the chamber on both sides.
:35:42. > :35:45.I appeal to the house, I get bucketloads of letters every week
:35:46. > :35:49.from members of the public complaining about it. Cut it out, it
:35:50. > :35:54.is low-grade, down-market and not necessary.
:35:55. > :36:00.Let me give him one simple fact, in A today, the average waiting time
:36:01. > :36:04.is 50 minutes. When the Shadow Health Secretary was sitting here as
:36:05. > :36:08.Health Secretary, the average waiting time was over 70 minutes.
:36:09. > :36:13.Those are the fact. Because this government didn't take the
:36:14. > :36:17.advice... I wouldn't listen to the Health Secretary, he is the man who
:36:18. > :36:26.refused to apologise for the mess at Stafford! The NHS is getting better
:36:27. > :36:31.under this government. Across the medical profession they
:36:32. > :36:36.are saying there is a crisis in A We have a Prime Minister saying
:36:37. > :36:45.crisis, what crisis? How out of touch can he be? In the last year, a
:36:46. > :36:51.million people waited more than four hours in A A weights are.
:36:52. > :36:57.Patients waiting on trolleys up, delayed discharges up, ambulance
:36:58. > :37:02.response times up. Why? Because of a top-down wee organisation that
:37:03. > :37:06.nobody wanted all voted for. How many NHS managers have received a
:37:07. > :37:12.six-figure redundancy package as a result of the reorganisation? There
:37:13. > :37:21.are 20,000 fewer administrative grades in the NHS. There are 5500
:37:22. > :37:28.more doctors in the NHS. There are 1000 more midwives. There are 1000
:37:29. > :37:36.more health visitors. Let me tell him why. His Health Secretary said
:37:37. > :37:41.it would be irresponsible to increase NHS spending. We rejected
:37:42. > :37:52.that advice. We invested in our NHS and we are proud of it.
:37:53. > :37:55.What the Shadow Health Secretary did was warned of cuts to social care,
:37:56. > :38:02.that is exactly what they did and that is the crisis they produce.
:38:03. > :38:07.Here is the answer to the question he didn't answer. The answer is 2300
:38:08. > :38:18.managers have received six-figure payoffs.
:38:19. > :38:23.Order. Too much noise. It had better stop, or the process will take
:38:24. > :38:29.longer. I say to those who can't grow up, try. Try.
:38:30. > :38:33.He is giving P45 's two nurses and six-figure payoffs to managers. Can
:38:34. > :38:38.he tell us how many of the people who have been let go from the NHS
:38:39. > :38:45.about three been fired, paid off and then we hired? We are saving ?4.5
:38:46. > :38:50.billion by reducing the amount of managers in the NHS, and for the
:38:51. > :38:54.first time anyone re-employed house to pay back part of the money they
:38:55. > :38:58.were given. That never happened under Labour. But we don't have to
:38:59. > :39:04.remember the Labour record of the past, we can look at the Labour
:39:05. > :39:10.record in Wales. They have been running the health service. They cut
:39:11. > :39:17.the budget by 8.5%, they have not met a cancer target since 2008, an
:39:18. > :39:21.A targets since 2009. He is too weak to stand up to the poor
:39:22. > :39:26.management of the NHS in Wales, just as he is too weak to sack his Health
:39:27. > :39:29.Secretary. And we have a Prime Minister to
:39:30. > :40:05.clueless to know the facts about the NHS.
:40:06. > :40:08.Prime Minister sacks nurses. He seems to be saying it is untrue. If
:40:09. > :40:12.he gets facts, he can tell me whether it is untrue. The NHS is
:40:13. > :40:19.failing because of his boss should organisation, the abolition of NHS
:40:20. > :40:25.Direct, cuts to social care and 6000 fewer nurses. He is the only person
:40:26. > :40:29.responsible for the crisis. We have taken 20,000 administrators
:40:30. > :40:34.out of the NHS, and I will not take lectures from a government which saw
:40:35. > :40:39.patients drinking out of... Order, members are shouting from the
:40:40. > :40:43.tops of their voices, they must stop doing so.
:40:44. > :40:50.Let me give him the facts about the NHS under this government. Mixed sex
:40:51. > :40:54.accommodation downed by 98%, over 1 million more people treated in A,
:40:55. > :41:00.half a million more inpatient. We are not following Labour 's advice,
:41:01. > :41:04.which was to cut the NHS. Under this government, the NHS is getting
:41:05. > :41:10.better. Labour would have cut it, they never stand up for the NHS.
:41:11. > :41:16.What the hell country will have heard today is a Prime Minister
:41:17. > :41:21.complacent about the A crisis and clueless about what is happening in
:41:22. > :41:27.the NHS. Watch the British people know is that the NHS is heading into
:41:28. > :41:32.winter with fewer nurses, a lack of A doctors and a shortage of beds.
:41:33. > :41:38.He promised to protect the NHS but it is now clear that the NHS is not
:41:39. > :41:43.safe in his hands. Once again, he is wrong on the
:41:44. > :41:48.facts. There are more A consultants working in A than five
:41:49. > :41:52.years ago. That is why we are meeting targets in England, that is
:41:53. > :41:57.why Labour is missing targets in Wales. I am clear, my job is to
:41:58. > :42:02.stand up for the NHS and deliver a stronger NHS. When will he
:42:03. > :42:09.understand that his job is to stand up to the bullyboys of Unite and
:42:10. > :42:18.show courage? Marcus Jones.
:42:19. > :42:22.Thank you. Over the past week, we have heard about Unite union 's
:42:23. > :42:26.attempt at strategy to disrupt business supply chains. Given the
:42:27. > :42:30.Government 's push for inward investment, what signal does the
:42:31. > :42:36.Prime Minister thinks this action sends around the world to businesses
:42:37. > :42:40.looking to invest in Britain? This sort of industrial intimidation
:42:41. > :42:43.is bad for Britain, it very nearly cut off petrol surprise to a large
:42:44. > :43:18.part of the United Kingdom. neither the Prime Minister nor the
:43:19. > :43:24.leader of the opposition has found fit to raise it. I hope the Prime
:43:25. > :43:30.Minister 's Ford are with people set to lose their jobs. -- the Prime
:43:31. > :43:36.Minister 's thoughts. Will he agree with the BAE 's statement that
:43:37. > :43:39.Glasgow is the best place to build frigates? The Defence Secretary will
:43:40. > :43:42.be making a statement right after Prime Minister's Questions. Our
:43:43. > :43:47.first thoughts should be with all of those affected. Frankly, I was
:43:48. > :43:51.surprised that the Leader of the Opposition did not choose to raise
:43:52. > :43:54.this important issue. We want our Royal Navy to have the best and most
:43:55. > :43:59.modern ships and the best technology, meaning we will go on
:44:00. > :44:03.building warships on the Clyde. We will announce three new offshore
:44:04. > :44:06.patrol vessels, keeping that yard busy rather than paying it to remain
:44:07. > :44:11.idle, as the last government proposed. There will be job
:44:12. > :44:15.reductions in Portsmouth, but there are many more people involved in
:44:16. > :44:22.ship servicing than building, so the workforce will go from 12,000 to
:44:23. > :44:26.11,000. But under this government we will have aircraft carriers, type 45
:44:27. > :44:29.destroyers, new frigates, submarines. If there was an
:44:30. > :44:37.independent Scotland, we would not have any warships at all.
:44:38. > :44:42.As we approach Remembrance Sunday, looking ahead to the centenary of
:44:43. > :44:47.the First World War, will he join me in commending the work of the
:44:48. > :44:50.Victoria Cross trust? Will he look in particular at how the government
:44:51. > :44:54.might assist the trust and it's important task of restoring and
:44:55. > :44:59.maintaining the grades of some of the nation 's bravest soldiers,
:45:00. > :45:07.sailors and aircrew? I pay tribute to his support for the
:45:08. > :45:13.Victoria Cross Trust, and his hard work. I appreciate any initiative
:45:14. > :45:18.which remembers those who gave their lives for the country. Lots of this
:45:19. > :45:22.falls under the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, we will work with
:45:23. > :45:31.both of organisations to do everything so that these people are
:45:32. > :45:44.properly remembered. Page 47 of the Tory party manifesto says, we. The
:45:45. > :45:49.-- we will halt the forced closure of A ward. How was I going, Prime
:45:50. > :45:56.Minister? Go were no changes to services unless they are supported
:45:57. > :46:05.by MPs, and that is what -- the complete difference of what happened
:46:06. > :46:12.under Labour. According to Unite, it is increasingly recognised that
:46:13. > :46:16.bullying, violence and harassment is a major problem in industry. Does
:46:17. > :46:20.the Prime Minister agree that the authorities should always
:46:21. > :46:23.investigate harassment against employees and their families,
:46:24. > :46:29.including when they involve members of a trade union? My honourable
:46:30. > :46:33.friend is right. They are very serious, these allegations of
:46:34. > :46:39.harassment. They need to be looked at. The party opposite is ducking
:46:40. > :46:43.its responsibilities and we will have to consider what to do to stop
:46:44. > :47:00.the leader of the Labour Party is behaving like the Mayor of town
:47:01. > :47:15.towards the Mafia. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I asked a question about
:47:16. > :47:22.zero hours contracts and most honourable members would agree that
:47:23. > :47:29.the response was a fudge. Can I put it plainly and simply to the Prime
:47:30. > :47:35.Minister. How many people in this place and in the government
:47:36. > :47:41.buildings are employed on zero hours contracts? He does not care! I do
:47:42. > :47:45.not have those figures to hand but I can tell the honourable gentleman
:47:46. > :47:48.that we are having a review into these contracts and we are
:47:49. > :47:57.particularly looking at those people on zero hours contracts who are 4
:47:58. > :48:05.billion for working with other employers. -- 4 billion. The Prime
:48:06. > :48:11.Minister and the Chancellor closed the gaping loophole left by the last
:48:12. > :48:18.government 's too close stamp duty. Is it not now time to close the
:48:19. > :48:27.other disgraceful loophole they left for overseas investors to buy a
:48:28. > :48:32.property in London? My honourable friend makes a very important point.
:48:33. > :48:37.The stamp duty change we made was vital to make sure foreign buyers
:48:38. > :48:41.pay stamp duty properly in London. That needed to happen. The Shadow
:48:42. > :48:48.Chancellor who was city minister when these things went wrong is
:48:49. > :48:55.shaking his head. It is this government who insisted that people
:48:56. > :48:59.pay the taxes that are due. The Prime Minister is right to extend
:49:00. > :49:05.supervision to short sentence prisoners and to seek new ways of
:49:06. > :49:11.reducing reoffending, but he must be aware of the growing concern that
:49:12. > :49:16.his government's current plans will undermine the probation service. Now
:49:17. > :49:22.that a criminal investigation has been opened into G4S and So ago,
:49:23. > :49:25.Willie sit down with the Justice Secretary and trial the payment by
:49:26. > :49:31.results proposal that he has made to see whether it works? I welcome
:49:32. > :49:38.that. He has huge experience in this area about the importance of making
:49:39. > :49:42.sure there is probation support for people when they leave prison. I
:49:43. > :49:47.think it can make a big difference to reducing reoffending. The fact is
:49:48. > :49:51.that half of all prisoners are back in prison within two years. It is
:49:52. > :50:00.time to try a different approach and that is what the Lord Chancellor is
:50:01. > :50:06.doing. The regional growth fund created 23 jobs this year. Can we
:50:07. > :50:13.congratulate the managing director and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as
:50:14. > :50:17.Bentley, on this success. We consider a visit to the company? I
:50:18. > :50:23.would be delighted to make that visit. I would like to look at what
:50:24. > :50:29.is happening in the Black Country in terms of greater job opportunities.
:50:30. > :50:34.This is a country where the 1.4 million in private sector
:50:35. > :50:44.employment. That is in spite of the prediction where would we are aware
:50:45. > :50:49.we would lose jobs. Since the Prime Minister decided to deliberately
:50:50. > :50:52.downgrades the country's terror laws, two suspects have used their
:50:53. > :50:59.government granted freedom to escape. The latest one was clad in a
:51:00. > :51:13.burger. Will the Prime Minister admits this was a irresponsible
:51:14. > :51:16.mistake was to mark -- burka. I do not accept what the Right honourable
:51:17. > :51:24.gentleman says. Under the control order regime , seven people
:51:25. > :51:28.absconded. These were control orders that were being hacked away by the
:51:29. > :51:32.courts. We needed a new system that had the confidence of the police and
:51:33. > :51:37.security services. We will look at every single thing we can do to make
:51:38. > :51:40.sure the system is as good and robust as it can be. We should be
:51:41. > :51:46.frank that what we are dealing with is people who are not able to charge
:51:47. > :51:50.and lock-up. Many of them we would like to throw out of the country but
:51:51. > :51:54.we cannot currently. We need a regime like this but we will do
:51:55. > :52:00.everything we can to make sure it is robust. Woods the Prime Minister
:52:01. > :52:11.join me in congratulating the engineering industries in Morecambe?
:52:12. > :52:17.They export and fabricate metal exports all over the world. They
:52:18. > :52:21.have contributed to the drop in employment -- unemployment in my
:52:22. > :52:26.constituency. Is this not in stark contrast to the grim economic
:52:27. > :52:33.predictions of the party opposite? Would he visit the industry with me?
:52:34. > :52:37.My honourable friend does an excellent job for standing up for
:52:38. > :52:44.the people of Morecambe. Across the West, private sector employment is
:52:45. > :52:47.up since 2010. The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance is
:52:48. > :52:52.down 29,000, and he is right that the party opposite addicted that we
:52:53. > :52:56.would lose 1 million jobs. The answer is the complete opposite.
:52:57. > :53:01.There are 1 million more people in jobs. It is about time they
:53:02. > :53:12.apologised or the wrong prediction. Last month, a Tory councillor was an
:53:13. > :53:16.invite to Number Ten. He is subject to an arrest warrant in Pakistani
:53:17. > :53:21.connection with a brutal murder. After shaking this man's hand, and
:53:22. > :53:26.having photos taken, would the Prime Minister like to say that he thinks
:53:27. > :53:30.this gentleman should be returned to Pakistan have faced justice? I am
:53:31. > :53:45.looking carefully into this case and I will write to the honourable
:53:46. > :53:50.gentleman. May I ask the Prime Minister whether he is of the
:53:51. > :53:56.opinion that the intelligence services of some countries may be
:53:57. > :54:03.dangerously out of political control? Is the confidence that he
:54:04. > :54:10.is kept fully informed of all sensitive, external initiatives
:54:11. > :54:16.taken by our services? I do not want to break the rule of commenting on
:54:17. > :54:20.intelligence issues but to answer his question as directly as I can, I
:54:21. > :54:26.have looked very carefully at the governance we have in the UK for our
:54:27. > :54:29.intelligence services, the work of the intelligence and Security
:54:30. > :54:33.committee, and the oversight, particularly by the Home Secretary
:54:34. > :54:39.and Foreign Secretary. We have a good system in our country and I am
:54:40. > :54:45.fully involved in these decisions. Two years ago the Prime Minister
:54:46. > :54:50.quite rightly agreed that extra resources be made available to
:54:51. > :54:54.assist in the search for Madeleine McCann and yet only months later he
:54:55. > :55:00.turned down a request for my constituents, Kerry Needham, whose
:55:01. > :55:08.son Ben is still missing after 22 years. Will the Prime Minister think
:55:09. > :55:12.again and response to my letter by making extra resources available to
:55:13. > :55:18.help a desperate mother search for her son? This has been a
:55:19. > :55:21.heartbreaking case that I know the whole country has followed over the
:55:22. > :55:28.years. I will look carefully at the letter. Obviously, it is very
:55:29. > :55:32.important that the police make these decisions themselves. The government
:55:33. > :55:37.will stand by to help which is what happened with the Madeleine McCann
:55:38. > :55:40.case. Can I ask the Prime Minister to elaborate on his statements about
:55:41. > :55:50.the effects that the government are going to put in place with regards
:55:51. > :55:54.to the mediation between the core jobs at BAE Systems and the many
:55:55. > :56:01.thousands of jobs in the supply chain? I will expand a little but I
:56:02. > :56:09.will leave the Defence Secretary to give Eddie tell answer. The current
:56:10. > :56:14.workforce in Portsmouth will go down to 12,000. The MoD will invest ?100
:56:15. > :56:21.million in Portsmouth into vital shipbuilding works, and as he knows,
:56:22. > :56:30.there have been many more people involved in ship servicing than
:56:31. > :56:33.building. Two aircraft carriers are at Portsmouth and that will mean a
:56:34. > :56:41.lot of work for Portsmouth and the naval base. Many women face
:56:42. > :56:46.discrimination when they become pregnant. How will charging them
:56:47. > :56:53.?1200 to go to an industrial tribunal help them? Before he
:56:54. > :56:59.attacks the trade unions, I would like to make it clear that I am a
:57:00. > :57:03.trade unionist and I am proud of it! I think there are millions of people
:57:04. > :57:14.in our country who are also proud but they are led badly by Willie boy
:57:15. > :57:17.tactics. -- Belize. Intimidating families, intimidating witnesses and
:57:18. > :57:23.intimidating the Leader of the Opposition! That is what we have
:57:24. > :57:26.come to with Unite. They picked their candidates, they picked their
:57:27. > :57:36.leader and then they bully him into other get what they want. I think
:57:37. > :57:39.the questions was about tribunal 's! It is a good idea to remember the
:57:40. > :57:52.essence of the question that was placed. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
:57:53. > :57:57.Judicial reviews can be valuable for communities to have their say. What
:57:58. > :58:01.steps is the Prime Minister taking to prevent what is happening in
:58:02. > :58:05.Bristol where a small, unrepresentative group are using
:58:06. > :58:10.judicial review, costing the taxpayer thousands. It is preventing
:58:11. > :58:19.the building of a stadium for Bristol Rovers. I know that my
:58:20. > :58:23.honourable friend has been campaigning very hard and
:58:24. > :58:26.relentlessly to provide Bristol Rovers with the ground that they
:58:27. > :58:30.need, and I commend her for that. There has been an issue with
:58:31. > :58:34.judicial reviews and these play a role in holding the government to
:58:35. > :58:39.account but I share her frustration that judicial review has become an
:58:40. > :58:50.industry, and we need to fix that. We have taken a series of steps to
:58:51. > :58:56.do that. A bit of courtesy, the honourable gentleman did not hear.
:58:57. > :59:02.It is perfectly understandable. One of the objectives before the Second
:59:03. > :59:09.World War was to bring about a fairer society in the UK. Is he
:59:10. > :59:13.aware how wrong it is that the Chancellor would never have any form
:59:14. > :59:24.of financial insecurity is now pursuing policies that take place on
:59:25. > :59:29.the most vulnerable, millions who are badly paid and find it difficult
:59:30. > :59:33.to feed their children. What is happening is unacceptable and
:59:34. > :59:37.contemptible. What I would say to the honourable gentleman is that we
:59:38. > :59:41.have taken 2.4 million of the poorest people in our country out of
:59:42. > :59:46.income tax altogether. The figures simply do not fit with the story he
:59:47. > :59:54.is trying to tell. The facts are that inequality is at its lowest
:59:55. > :59:59.level since 1986. There is more money being given to the poorest
:00:00. > :00:01.children in our schools. Applications from disadvantaged
:00:02. > :00:07.children to universities has gone up and not down, fact. There are fewer
:00:08. > :00:17.households where people do not work. I am keen to answer the question, Mr
:00:18. > :00:23.Speaker. Payday lending, regulated properly for the first time. Yes, a
:00:24. > :00:28.proper consultation of zero hours contracts. Those are the actions we
:00:29. > :00:37.are taking to build a better Britain. Thank you, Mr Speaker. On
:00:38. > :00:42.the 3rd of September I wrote to the prisons minister requesting a
:00:43. > :00:45.meeting to discuss the future of Wellingborough. I received no
:00:46. > :00:54.response to that request. I received a letter from the prisons minister
:00:55. > :00:57.that the prison was to be sold. I do not understand because it was the
:00:58. > :01:01.third cheapest in the country to be run. Would the Prime Minister meet
:01:02. > :01:07.with me and constituents to discuss the matter? I will arrange for that
:01:08. > :01:14.meeting with the prison minister so he can discuss the future of the
:01:15. > :01:26.prison. It is important to modernise it and get value for the money. The
:01:27. > :01:31.Prime Minister has been boasting about 1 million extra jobs in this
:01:32. > :01:36.country. Can he therefore explain why the number of people in my
:01:37. > :01:42.constituency, unemployed for more than two years, has risen by 350% in
:01:43. > :01:47.the last year alone? It is the worst in the country. Nine of the ten
:01:48. > :01:51.constituencies in this measure are in the north-east. Mr Speaker, is
:01:52. > :01:59.this because the same old Tories, who do not care... The fact is that
:02:00. > :02:04.we are seeing right across the country, including in every region,
:02:05. > :02:09.more opportunity in jobs, more people involved in the, and the
:02:10. > :02:14.claimant count coming down. In the north-east we have a new factory
:02:15. > :02:18.that will make a real difference. We have the expansion of Nissan which
:02:19. > :02:24.will do very well. We need to do more to keep the economy growing and
:02:25. > :02:29.keep people employed. I am certain about one thing. We will not do that
:02:30. > :02:35.if we put up taxes because the fact is, today, Labour is the greatest
:02:36. > :02:41.risk to our recovery. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the Prime Minister
:02:42. > :02:45.confirm that in the review of levies on energy Bills, it is the fairness
:02:46. > :02:51.of the funding process that is the priority. Does the government still
:02:52. > :02:59.support vital measures to enslave people's homes? -- insulates. Of
:03:00. > :03:04.course we want to see that. We want to help vulnerable people to keep
:03:05. > :03:08.their Bills down. We should be looking at every subsidy and making
:03:09. > :03:13.sure it is value for money and making sure it is not in place for a
:03:14. > :03:20.moment longer than is needed. Mr Speaker, the Chancellor of the
:03:21. > :03:25.exchequer would not answer this. After so-called new jobs that he
:03:26. > :03:29.spoke about, how many of those on zero hours contracts? I do not have
:03:30. > :03:34.the figure for that but the fact is that there are more people at work
:03:35. > :03:39.in our economy than ever before. Two thirds of those jobs have been
:03:40. > :03:45.full-time jobs, and while we're on the subject, perhaps it is a good
:03:46. > :03:51.moment to recognise that Labour controlled Don Caster does not pay a
:03:52. > :03:59.living wage whereas London does! Don Caster. Is it not more important
:04:00. > :04:12.than ever to tell our young people that engineering offers them
:04:13. > :04:17.rewarding careers? My honourable friend is absolutely right about
:04:18. > :04:22.this and he has campaigned hard for respect for engineering. We are
:04:23. > :04:25.seeing a growth of young people studying engineering but it is true
:04:26. > :04:32.that if you look at the skills shortage list, there are still
:04:33. > :04:36.engineering jobs on that list, and that is a rebuke to our country
:04:37. > :04:39.where we need to get more people studying maths and science at
:04:40. > :04:49.school, and more people studying engineering at University. Last
:04:50. > :04:53.year, Banca's bonuses grew 91% faster than wages for ordinary
:04:54. > :04:57.working people despite the prime Anissa's assurances that this would
:04:58. > :05:01.not happen. Can the Prime Minister talus whether he is unwilling to act
:05:02. > :05:06.or whether he is useless at being Prime Minister? The point the
:05:07. > :05:13.honourable lady should bear in mind is bonuses were 85% higher when the
:05:14. > :05:21.Shadow Chancellor was sitting in the Treasury. It is this government that
:05:22. > :05:29.is making sure... Sun order! I want to hear the answer. We inherited a
:05:30. > :05:34.situation where the cleaners were paid higher tax rates than the
:05:35. > :05:37.managers they worked for. She should look at her own front then for
:05:38. > :05:52.anyone who is useless! James Landale was right, he said
:05:53. > :05:58.they would probably go on the A crisis or the NHS. The Leader of the
:05:59. > :06:05.Opposition concentrated on the pressure that the A units are
:06:06. > :06:09.under. Maybe anticipating a cold winter, and if there is one, you
:06:10. > :06:12.could see the pressure grow and grow. Maybe the Leader of the
:06:13. > :06:19.Opposition was laying downy marker for what is to come if the winter is
:06:20. > :06:22.really cold -- laying town a marker. Relations between the Speaker of the
:06:23. > :06:29.House and the Prime Minister reached a new depth. For the second week in
:06:30. > :06:32.a row, the the Speaker interrupted the Prime Minister just as he was
:06:33. > :06:37.getting into his stride in a reply to Mr Miliband, and then rebuking
:06:38. > :06:43.the Prime Minister for not quite answering a particular question. The
:06:44. > :06:45.Prime Minister was asked how many zero-hour contracts there were in
:06:46. > :06:52.the Palace of Westminster. He did not know the answer. There were 1810
:06:53. > :07:01.years ago, 73 when Labour left office, there is now 163 -- there
:07:02. > :07:05.were 18 ten years ago. He also said that of Scotland were independent we
:07:06. > :07:12.would have no navy ships at all. I think by week, he meant Bay. That is
:07:13. > :07:16.probably not quite true. Adjust for accuracy's sake, an interesting
:07:17. > :07:21.fact. When the Edinburgh and Westminster Parliament 's were
:07:22. > :07:29.unified in 1707, the English navy had 240 ships, the Scottish Navy had
:07:30. > :07:37.three. What are the e-mails saying? Public service broadcasting at its
:07:38. > :07:43.finest! E-mails and tweets. Most of the
:07:44. > :07:48.reaction was about the NHS and A Ian Jordan in Tamworth, Ed Miliband
:07:49. > :07:53.has hit a rich seam politically on the cost of living and did well to
:07:54. > :07:59.mix up his attacker with the NHS, on which Cameron was weak. But I feel
:08:00. > :08:03.he should go back to the debt, obviously missing debates on the
:08:04. > :08:08.broader economy. Colin in Rugby says that if the figures quoted by Ed
:08:09. > :08:12.Miliband about the numbers of people receiving six-figure pay-outs and
:08:13. > :08:16.those made redundant and re-employed are correct, it is a disgrace. Is it
:08:17. > :08:20.possible for the Daily Politics to check the numbers? I am sure that
:08:21. > :08:25.Andrew will. Sue in Cheshire says that any
:08:26. > :08:29.problems in A were caused by Labour. Ed Miliband should wake up
:08:30. > :08:32.to the fact that uncontrolled immigration and diabolical GP
:08:33. > :08:36.arrangements mean more people turning up A for problems which
:08:37. > :08:40.should dealt with elsewhere. Samuel says it takes seven years to
:08:41. > :08:46.train a doctor, the coalition has been in power for three years, so
:08:47. > :08:51.who trains the new doctors, Dave? Another person said that many people
:08:52. > :08:56.do not use the NHS regularly so it ends up a battle of statistics.
:08:57. > :09:01.James, do you detect a beer in government circles that the NHS will
:09:02. > :09:05.become a big issue in a cold winter? There is certainly a fear of that. I
:09:06. > :09:10.would expect in the Autumn statement that something is announced to that
:09:11. > :09:14.effect. I am speaking not from knowledge but from some eyes, cold
:09:15. > :09:23.weather payments, more money to help. The problem for the government
:09:24. > :09:28.is that... We have had these crises before, these things are promised
:09:29. > :09:33.every winter. It has a real impact on some people. The government,
:09:34. > :09:36.politically, will face a lot of blame for the reorganisation. Even
:09:37. > :09:43.if there is no direct link, there is a political narrative for Labour.
:09:44. > :09:49.the government has already marked an extra dimension ?50 million to help
:09:50. > :09:56.with winter pressures. This extra 1.2 million people going through
:09:57. > :10:01.A, why has that happened? I think you had a tweet from somebody
:10:02. > :10:05.mentioning the GP contract. It is incredibly difficult to get a GP
:10:06. > :10:10.appointment when you needed. I am a mother, I have to ring up and get
:10:11. > :10:15.these appointments. If you go to the telephone advice service, very often
:10:16. > :10:20.they direct you to take your relatives straight to A We really
:10:21. > :10:24.need to revisit the question of GP availability. We worked during the
:10:25. > :10:29.week, GPs need to be available at weekends. We finish work late, they
:10:30. > :10:36.need to be available in the evening. We pay more, we need more access.
:10:37. > :10:41.Reign the reason we are asking questions about A isn't just in
:10:42. > :10:44.anticipation of a cold winter, it is because the service is more
:10:45. > :10:51.ill-equipped and ill-prepared for this winter, for the A crisis,
:10:52. > :10:59.than it has been for many years. 111 does not have nurses on it. That
:11:00. > :11:03.is the advice line? Yes. And GP contracts have changed, we had a
:11:04. > :11:08.guarantee you could get an appointment within 48 hours, the
:11:09. > :11:13.Tories has stopped that. It did not work. But the biggest reason, and I
:11:14. > :11:17.was on the bill when they were trying to reorganise the National
:11:18. > :11:23.Health Service, I said, don't spend ?3 billion reorganisation. Not only
:11:24. > :11:26.will you be laying off all these managers and rehiring them with a
:11:27. > :11:32.different name, but you are taking your eye off the ball, elderly
:11:33. > :11:36.people largely use the NHS and they need to be supported at home so they
:11:37. > :11:45.do not come into A on a blue light in crisis. That is why we are
:11:46. > :11:49.ill-equipped. When we were trying to deal with the huge deficit as a new
:11:50. > :11:52.government coming in, we made the conscious decision not to cut
:11:53. > :11:59.spending to the Department of Health. The department that I ran
:12:00. > :12:06.had to take a huge reduction of 30%, but the Department of Health was
:12:07. > :12:11.spared because... You did not tell us about it. The public believe we
:12:12. > :12:15.spend too much on managers and management, that money needs to be
:12:16. > :12:19.redirected to the front line automatically. That means some
:12:20. > :12:24.redirection of resources. The in increase demand through A has a
:12:25. > :12:29.lot to do with the fact that people can't get hold of the doctor, the
:12:30. > :12:35.family doctor, the gatekeeper and the linchpin of the National Health
:12:36. > :12:38.Service. What is the answer, the reorganisation of the GP contract
:12:39. > :12:46.has resulted in more people going to A? It was reorganised in 2001,
:12:47. > :12:52.2002, it did not result in the crisis. The change in government
:12:53. > :12:59.came in 2010, that is history. You don't think it had anything to do
:13:00. > :13:02.with it? Know, in 2010 the 48-hour guarantee was got rid of, and the
:13:03. > :13:10.additional money for keeping GPs open on Saturdays. I am a mum as
:13:11. > :13:15.well, trying to get an appointment for a child when you work is really
:13:16. > :13:19.difficult, of course. People work long hours and, certainly, of
:13:20. > :13:25.course, we should have GP surgeries open in the evenings and weekends.
:13:26. > :13:29.That was not a condition of the reorganisation, of the new
:13:30. > :13:34.contracts, which were incredibly generous to GPs? We are talking
:13:35. > :13:39.about contracts from ten years ago. The changes made then do not have
:13:40. > :13:46.the impact now. The impact now is getting rid of the 48 hours, and GPs
:13:47. > :13:50.open on Saturdays. Weren't the reorganisation come back to haunt
:13:51. > :13:53.you? In the last election you said that you would increase health
:13:54. > :13:58.spending in real terms by a bit which, broadly, that you never said
:13:59. > :14:04.you would go for a massive reorganisation of the NHS. I was
:14:05. > :14:09.with fancy before elections, when he met with GPs in my constituency to
:14:10. > :14:13.ask whether they would be willing to take back a commissioning role in
:14:14. > :14:21.the NHS. He got a resounding yes. I am watching our GP commissioners get
:14:22. > :14:28.good results. For example, A locally has a GP supported unit next
:14:29. > :14:33.to A, local to me. It was not in your manifesto. We made it clear
:14:34. > :14:38.that we would not cut expenditure to the NHS, we would tackle expenditure
:14:39. > :14:44.on management... The Prime Minister repudiated the idea of a major
:14:45. > :14:49.top-down wee organisation. GP commissioners are close to the
:14:50. > :14:51.ground, they can address these winter pressures by putting
:14:52. > :15:01.resources where they are really needed. You did not tell us. I was
:15:02. > :15:06.not Secretary of State for health. I don't mean you, personally! The
:15:07. > :15:11.Secretary of State as GPs whether they would take on a commissioning
:15:12. > :15:14.role. He was in the studio as Shadow Health Secretary and he did not tell
:15:15. > :15:20.our viewers that is what he was planning. James, no standard of
:15:21. > :15:26.living? One brief reference, but that was about it.
:15:27. > :15:31.It seems that every opportunity he can, the Prime Minister will
:15:32. > :15:34.shoehorn Unite in? In recent prime ministers questions it is a much
:15:35. > :15:38.more organised campaign by the Labour with us, they are getting
:15:39. > :15:44.everybody to read out the questions so it is repeated. You get momentum.
:15:45. > :15:49.Labour, they could have organised to ask more questions about health or
:15:50. > :15:52.maybe the cost of living, just to keep that going. Clearly, the
:15:53. > :15:56.Conservatives believe there is a rich seam, they want to keep
:15:57. > :16:02.punching the wound on this. As long as it is unresolved and there are
:16:03. > :16:08.unresolved questions, they will keep pushing. Thank you, James.
:16:09. > :16:13.Did you enjoy school dinners? Did. What was your favourite? Fish and
:16:14. > :16:18.chips. Fish and chips on a Friday, all peak custard and cake? Despite
:16:19. > :16:24.recent campaigns to improve their nutrition and image, take-up is very
:16:25. > :16:28.poor. Nick Clegg wants to change this and announced at the Lib Dem
:16:29. > :16:32.conference that all five to seven-year-olds will get free
:16:33. > :16:36.lunchtime meals from September. It is National School Dinners We Can,
:16:37. > :16:58.we have gone back to the dining room. Anne Bull has this week
:16:59. > :17:06.Up until recently, people's perceptions of school food has not
:17:07. > :17:12.been positive. People can remember soggy cabbage and lumpy custard.
:17:13. > :17:22.There has been hard work going on to make improvements and we are cooking
:17:23. > :17:31.on gas now. What have you got there? Some salad. Salad, is that your
:17:32. > :17:38.favour? Yes. I have cucumber, spaghetti, sweetcorn, and red. That
:17:39. > :17:45.is nice bread, is it home-made? I think so. Politicians are getting
:17:46. > :17:50.the message as well. Nick Clegg announced a package to give free
:17:51. > :17:54.school meals to all children in England. The Department for
:17:55. > :18:02.Education published their school food plan in the summer. Many
:18:03. > :18:04.schools have already introduced free school meals to primary school
:18:05. > :18:13.children, realising the benefits they provide. Only 1% of packed
:18:14. > :18:18.lunches contain the nutritional standards that have been applied to
:18:19. > :18:26.school food. School food is fresh and healthy and is the best option.
:18:27. > :18:29.Across the country, take-up of school food remains stubbornly low
:18:30. > :18:32.and the majority of children bring in a packed lunch or buy something
:18:33. > :18:40.outside of school, which is more than likely junk food. Head teachers
:18:41. > :18:44.tell us that performance, behaviour and concentration all improve when
:18:45. > :18:47.children have a balanced meal. Working parents say free school
:18:48. > :18:59.meals can save money on packed lunches. Academies and free
:19:00. > :19:10.schools, and those outside of local government control, do not have to
:19:11. > :19:15.do apply food standards. It is a time we were more transparent. Anne
:19:16. > :19:19.Bull joins us now. I am feeling hungry! The biggest problem is
:19:20. > :19:27.image, or it has been in the past. People will remember semolina. Is
:19:28. > :19:36.that an issue now? We have moved on from there. It has taken time, I
:19:37. > :19:41.agree. The image of school food and nutritious food is important. This
:19:42. > :19:44.week is National school Dinners Week and it allows us to showcase what is
:19:45. > :19:52.good about food up and down the country. We are giving the children
:19:53. > :19:57.the chance to try food. Local councils are doing it differently we
:19:58. > :20:04.were in a school in Islington and they have taken on board free school
:20:05. > :20:08.dinners. What about the take-up? Why do not more schoolchildren take
:20:09. > :20:17.school dinners? I think the take-up has gone up in the last five years.
:20:18. > :20:22.It is still low, though? Exactly. The image is still one of the issues
:20:23. > :20:26.but in the older children, they are allowed out of school. We are
:20:27. > :20:32.working with headteachers and the school in terms of this approach. We
:20:33. > :20:41.are trying to encourage children to eat within the school. There are
:20:42. > :20:48.some children who are fussy eaters and I have always opted for school
:20:49. > :20:52.dinners. It is more convenient. There are a lot of children who say
:20:53. > :20:56.they do not like them. I will be interested to see what the take-up
:20:57. > :21:04.is like once you have offered the free school meal to children. What
:21:05. > :21:13.can you do about parent's attitudes? A lot of them remember what it was
:21:14. > :21:18.like in their day. Research has shown that there is a 92%
:21:19. > :21:22.satisfaction rate from parents so we must be getting it right. There is
:21:23. > :21:30.work to do but we are getting there. You said you were frustrated but
:21:31. > :21:35.what are you doing to persuade the government to include parents within
:21:36. > :21:43.the National food standards? The plan was introduced in July and we
:21:44. > :21:48.represent the industry and schools. We are saying as part of the plan
:21:49. > :21:53.that we want standards across the board in academies and free schools.
:21:54. > :22:00.I have been into schools in my constituency is and you have to get
:22:01. > :22:07.over this stigma that is applied. Free schools are included in this?
:22:08. > :22:13.Academies do have some autonomy. It is not just the saving in the cost
:22:14. > :22:16.of the food that the improvement in academic attainment. Why would you
:22:17. > :22:22.not want to embrace this approach? There is a two month advance in
:22:23. > :22:29.terms of educational attainment in one academic year. What is not to
:22:30. > :22:35.like about that improvement? In Islington... Is it across The
:22:36. > :22:45.Borough that it is happening? It is our borough and in the last four
:22:46. > :22:57.years we have had free school meals. Teachers say behaviour and
:22:58. > :23:01.concentration is better. They get children to grow tomatoes in a
:23:02. > :23:05.bucket and they get them to understand about food and nutrition.
:23:06. > :23:10.It is, without doubt, a fantastic policy. The Liberals did not like it
:23:11. > :23:16.but they are now in favour of it. What goes around comes around.
:23:17. > :23:18.Now, in London we are used to our Mayors being rather unorthodox
:23:19. > :23:22.characters. Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson - neither of them would be
:23:23. > :23:25.confused for a conventional, ordinary politician. But the Mayor
:23:26. > :23:34.of Toronto, Rob Ford, puts our city leaders firmly in the shade. A few
:23:35. > :23:42.months ago rumours emerged of a video featuring Rob Ford smoking
:23:43. > :23:45.crack cocaine. He initially denied the allegations but after the
:23:46. > :23:49.Toronto police announced they had a copy of the tape, he admitted he had
:23:50. > :23:53.smoked crack. But he is refusing to go. Here's the mayor in action over
:23:54. > :23:57.the last few days - starting with his unusual way of dealing with the
:23:58. > :24:03.Canadian press. Thank you very much, get off my
:24:04. > :24:08.property! Thank you very much. Do you not understand? Get off my
:24:09. > :24:20.property, partner! Thank you very much. Thank you. What you tell us,
:24:21. > :24:24.Mr Mayor? Thank you! I have been advised that we are now in
:24:25. > :24:30.possession of a recovered digital video file relevance to the
:24:31. > :24:40.investigations that have been conducted. That file contains images
:24:41. > :24:44.which appear to be those images that were reported in the press. I think
:24:45. > :24:50.it is fair to say that the Mayor does appear in that video but I am
:24:51. > :24:56.not going to get into the details of what activity is depicted. Yes, I
:24:57. > :25:04.have smoked crack cocaine. Do I? Am I an addict? No. I have tried it in
:25:05. > :25:10.one of my drunken stupor is about a year ago. There have been times when
:25:11. > :25:18.I have been drunk. I want everybody in the city to see the tape. I
:25:19. > :25:28.sincerely, sincerely, sincerely apologise. I may be wrong but I
:25:29. > :25:32.think he apologised most sincerely. That is Rob Ford. And we're joined
:25:33. > :25:35.by Jeff Semple, a reporter for CBC - that's the Canadian Broadcasting
:25:36. > :25:44.Corporation. He's been working in Toronto for the last three years but
:25:45. > :25:49.moved to London only last week. You got a promotion! I will miss
:25:50. > :25:59.covering him! You finally have a story! I have been the butt of jokes
:26:00. > :26:10.in many e-mails. Are the people of Toronto angry? I did a live report
:26:11. > :26:18.about the international reaction to all of this and as shocking as it
:26:19. > :26:21.seems on the outside looking in, a lot of people in Toronto are not
:26:22. > :26:31.surprised. The writing was on the wall. Since the reporter published
:26:32. > :26:38.that they had seen this video, saying that they had been shown the
:26:39. > :26:41.video, the admission is not surprising. What is surprising is
:26:42. > :26:50.that he is insisting on keeping his job but also running in the next
:26:51. > :26:55.election. When easy up? In a year. It's may seem far-fetched that he
:26:56. > :27:01.would keep his job but I can take you back to the Mayor of Washington,
:27:02. > :27:09.DC. He got re-elected. Yes, I think so. Is he still in with a chance? He
:27:10. > :27:14.is, and I was looking at the polling numbers at the weekend and it is
:27:15. > :27:19.remarkable. His support has held steady and one report suggested his
:27:20. > :27:28.support had gone up after he apologised for the oh deal. I think
:27:29. > :27:33.politicians could study Rob Ford. Does he have previous bad
:27:34. > :27:36.behaviour? He does. He was in trouble for drunk driving
:27:37. > :27:44.allegations, smoking marijuana, and it is not uncommon to hear about Rob
:27:45. > :27:49.Ford turning up at public events intoxicated. Is he a good Mayor of
:27:50. > :27:55.Toronto? That is a sticking point. That is where people love or love to
:27:56. > :28:05.hate Rob Ford. He came to power to stop the gravy train at City Hall.
:28:06. > :28:09.He cut government waste in spending and if you talk to supporters of Rob
:28:10. > :28:15.Ford, they say they do not care what he does in his own time as long as
:28:16. > :28:23.he keeps taxes down. We are going to cover the election for the first
:28:24. > :28:27.time! We will need your help! I have run out of time so will not ask you
:28:28. > :28:31.if you want to confess to anything! Now, time to put you out of your
:28:32. > :28:34.misery and give you the answer to Guess The Year. 1958 was the answer.
:28:35. > :28:47.Caroline, press that big button there and reveal the winner. That's
:28:48. > :28:50.all for today. Thanks to our guests. The One o'clock news is starting
:28:51. > :28:54.over on BBC One now. We'll be back tomorrow at noon with all the big
:28:55. > :29:03.political stories of the day. We going to do a Thursday together for
:29:04. > :29:07.once! Bye bye.