18/12/2013 Daily Politics


18/12/2013

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LineFromTo

Morning, folks, and welcome to the Daily Politics.

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A three-month wait for migrants to claim benefits in Britain will be

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introduced in January, but will the change put off Bulgarians and

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Romanians from coming here just weeks before restrictions on their

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right to work are lifted? Prisoners serving short sentences

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should get the vote - that's the conclusion of a committee of MPs and

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peers. But not all of their colleagues agree.

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Ed Miliband and David Cameron face each other across the despatch box -

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we'll bring you the final exchanges of 2013 live.

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And Olympic Gold Chris Boardman tells us why we need to make

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Britain's roads safer for cyclists. The last programme of the year - but

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we leave the best to last. Joining us for the duration shadow welfare

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minister Chris Bryant and treasury minister Nicky Morgan - who better

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to bring a little yuletide cheer to proceedings? Is that a quiz? Who

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better? Not yet! First this morning, the Prime Minister's left it late -

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the last Daily Politics of the year and only a few politics days until

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Christmas - but if you're Romanian or Bulgarian and hoping to travel to

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Britain for work on first January David Cameron wants you to know that

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you won't be able to claim benefits here for at least three months. --

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on January the 1st. Let's speak to our political correspondent Iain

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Watson, who is in Brussels. How will you manage to do that in

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what is left of this Parliament? Quite easily, simply by putting a

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regulation in Parliament, secondary legislation to go forward on January

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the 1st. Critics thought it would be impossible to rush this through. The

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question is, how effective will it be? Clearly, he wants this past

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before people can come from Romania and Bulgarians and get free access

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to labour market is, some of his own MPs wanted to talk about putting

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controls on for longer, he has batted that off until next month. He

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will be able to deny British benefits to Bulgarians and Romanians

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and anyone else coming from the EU for the first three months, there is

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another route for them to get benefits and they could potentially

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still come to Britain to seek work. This European Commission memo from

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late last month made it very clear that they have the right to apply to

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their home country to get their benefits exported, for their first

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three months in Britain they can get benefits paid out Romanian and

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Bulgarians level is. You might assume these are poverty stricken

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compared to the rest of us, but the benefits system is quite generous.

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Wages are lower in Bulgaria, for example, that benefits can be up to

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60% of the average wage, around ?50 or ?60, not dissimilar to

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jobseeker's allowance. They have also been speaking in Brussels about

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whether it is a phantom problem or a real problem. The European

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commission has been trying to get information, asking the British

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government how many people come from elsewhere in the EU and claim

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benefits, perhaps they are involved in abuse or fraud. The responses

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that they got worse that there was too much should emphasis placed on

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quantitative evidence. -- the responses that they got were that.

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Perception is that there be unfairness, that people could come

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to Britain and claim benefits, but perhaps we are a soft touch. The

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perception is being addressed, rather than solid evidence, perhaps,

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that we will be invaded by benefit tourists. Thank you.

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Nicky Morgan, when will Parliament pass this legislation? Is no one

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speaks against it when it is read this afternoon, it will be passed by

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the time the house rises tomorrow. If somebody speaks against it? There

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will have to be a debate, but I understand there is cross-party

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support. There has to be one difficult person in the house? I

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understand that this will go down, there have been lots of

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behind-the-scenes discussions. There is a clear intent to tackle the

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issue from January one. If somebody awkward decided to throw a spanner

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in the works, you would not get it through in time for the house

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rising? It has to be passed by the house... I think you are wrong, I

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think it has to be both houses. The House of Lords finishes tomorrow. It

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has to go through the same process in both houses. It has to go through

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the House of Lords statutory instruments committee, which can't

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meet now. I think it will go through. I have said it will be in

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place by tomorrow night. In this Parliament already we have got

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through legislation in one day, it is perfectly possible. The member

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who object to it will have to explain it to their constituents. We

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will find out, we will get our teams of gremlins panning out from the

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building to checklists. But why'd you think it is late? As

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Iain Duncan Smith said, he has been in discussion for two years with

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fellow EU member states. We have taken time to get this right, to

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listen to what people are saying, this is the way forward. We can get

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this through, it is about tackling an issue of major concern. We are

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down to the wire, Parliament has another day or a bit, the Lords are

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already disappearing, having got their expenses before they go,

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naturally. I am told that is what they do. If it is of such

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importance, why wasn't it done at least a month ago? We have known

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since 2004 when the last Labour government signed the accession

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treaty and then accepted that the Romanians and Bulgarians would have

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some time why they could not come through freely. We have known for

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years, why have they gone to the wire? These regulations will work,

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they will change the definition and they will stop people claiming out

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of work benefits for three months after they get here? Do you expect

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it to be a major deterrent? Yes, in the sense that people will be aware

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of it. Britain is open for people who want to work, if you come here

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with the intention of claiming from day one, that is not an option. I

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think it will deter people. How many? Let's not get into numbers.

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You could make it up as you go along. The last government proved

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how clearly they underestimated the number... We know that, but you have

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no idea how many people this will deter. It will be in place to

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deter... Since we have learned that in the first three months they are

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here, they can't claim British benefits, they can get benefits sent

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from their home country, so why would they deter that? I am not sure

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why people... Because they are looking for a job. If people have a

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job lined up they are welcome to come here and contribute to the

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United Kingdom and society. If they don't have a job lined up, the

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signal goes out very clear, they are not welcome. You are basically just

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tightening the existing rules, this is not a step change, it is

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tinkering at the edges? Allah this is the first step, there are other

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changes we are looking at, but it is an important step in place from the

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1st of January. A number of colleagues have been talking about

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child benefit and other benefits. What would you like to see? In

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relation to further tightening the up? Child benefit is suggested to me

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a lot, what can we do to make sure that people who move here cannot

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claim child benefit? I want to see the clear message that we are

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welcoming people who want to come here, and to work. There is a wider

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issue about the renegotiation of our relationship with the EU, we will

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hopefully get a majority Conservative Government after 2015

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and put the whole issue of EU membership to a referendum for the

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British people. Mr Cameron says he wants to restrict free movement in

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the EU, even though free movement of labour and capital were at the heart

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of the Treaty of Rome. Many people who don't like the idea of a federal

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Europe or even Eurosceptics quite like the idea of free movement of

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labour and capital. Do you have any idea what it would do? What does he

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want? It is open for negotiation. Do you have any idea? Freedom of

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movement of labour is right, but it is people coming to work, not claim

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benefits. I have many thousands of hard pressed constituents working

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very hard to payoff the tax system, they are not paying taxes for people

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with no intention of working. So Europeans could come here or could

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not play on welfare for a year, two years, five years? -- they could not

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claim welfare? We will have to discuss that. The idea is that they

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are coming to work and contribute. I understand that, nobody will argue

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with that. We all want people to work and contribute, that is fine.

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But I use saying that if people come here, never mind the three months

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when they become eligible, but they should not be eligible for welfare

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benefits for a lengthy period of time? That is something we will have

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to discuss and negotiate. The government view is very much that we

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want people to come here. We have talked about contributing...

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I am going to hear these words in my head all night. How many benefit

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tourists are they? I will not take lectures from you on

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immigration. We are not taking lectures from the Labour Party, who

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quadrupled net migration. How many are we talking about? I am here to

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answer questions from Andrew. Chris Bryant, your party is pretty much

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experts on mass migration from the EU, that is your default subject

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these days. What I want to ask is the rule restricting access to

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benefits for three months was in place in 2004/5 when the Polish and

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the accession eight, as they were known, were allowed to come. There

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is no evidence that it deterred migrants? Strictly speaking, these

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are not migrants, they are EU citizens exercising their EU right,

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just as British people going to work in Spain or Poland or wherever else,

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it is important that we bear that in mind. The country with the largest

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number of people living outside their own home country is the UK,

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but any of the others. So you welcome the arrival of Romanians and

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Bulgarians as fellow European citizens? They have every right to

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come here and work. What they don't have... And they don't have that

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now, incidentally, is the right to claim benefits from day one. My

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concern about what is happening today is that, in my experience, bad

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legislation is always brought in very swiftly at the last minute and

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without the opportunity for proper scrutiny. We have had months and

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months where we have been saying you should be able to tighten the rules

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of necessary. It should be based on evidence. If there are numbers we

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are talking about of people claiming benefits from day one, as the

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minister seems to think, we should be dealing with it. You support the

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three-month rule, do you think it should be longer? I think it is

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already three months, incidentally. Let's accept that for this

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discussion, should it be London -- longer? It should probably be six

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months, and we suggested that eight months ago. The government could

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have done something about that eight months ago but it is only now,

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literally at the very last minute in terms of Parliament, I suggest even

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passed the midnight hour... You have known since 2004 that the Romanians

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and Bulgarians are coming, you did nothing in government to prepare?

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That is not true. Sorry to disagree with you. You are right in saying

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that I think we got something wrong when we initially allowed Poland,

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Serbia and Latvia and all of those... I am not talking about

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them. You put nothing in place... You had plenty of time to put in

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place new rules when the Bulgarians and Romanians extension ended, you

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did nothing. Not true. We introduce the habitual residency test.

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Reintroduced the extension to seven years from five years. Whether

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government has failed, they have been the government for three years.

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We have done that point. Just to clarify, six months would be Labour

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policy? We said that earlier this year. I would be happy with six

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months. Then we need to move on. But I want to see statistics. We all

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like statistics. If we are fighting with the Phantom, we might be doing

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the economy more harm than good. I don't think I was arguing with you

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on that. Iain Duncan Smith's department has

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said this regulation does not need to be laid in the Lords.

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John Major said it is not proven evidence. Let's move on. You cannot

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get the staff these days. Should prisoners be allowed to vote in

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elections? The Prime Minister thinks they shouldn't. The European Court

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of Human Rights says they should. Today the committee of MPs and peers

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set up to look at the question has published its report... And it's

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split. Oh dear! JoCo, what's happening?

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Yes. There's been a blanket ban on prisoners voting in the UK since

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1969. But back in 2005 the European Court of Human Rights decided in

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favour of convicted axe murderer John Hirst, saying the ban was in

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breach of his rights. Britain has been locked in a court battle with

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the ECHR ever since, despite MPs voting by an overwhelming majority

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to keep the ban in 2011. The government has been warned if it

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doesn't comply, prisoners could claim compensation of more than ?100

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million. But David Cameron insists they won't get the vote on his

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watch, he says it would make him feel physically sick. The government

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set up a cross-party committee of MPs and peers to look at what to do

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next and today it's recommended giving the vote to all inmates

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serving sentences of 12 months or less and to those within six months

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of release. But the committee was split, with a minority group

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insisting Parliament should be allowed to keep the blanket ban, and

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arguing that the European court has over-reached itself.

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Well we're joined now from central lobby by the committee chairman,

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Nick Gibb, who wants to keep the ban. And by former Prisons Minister,

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Crispin Blunt, who backed the majority view that some prisoners

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should be given the vote. Crispin Blunt, why should they be

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given the vote? We have got to see this issue within the context of the

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European convention on human rights. If we choose to defy the courts and

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stick by the rule of law, we need to denounce the convention and leave

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it. We have to decide if prisoner votes is an important issue or not.

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It isn't. There are weak arguments to give some prisoners a vote to

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assist their rehabilitation. It will not deter crime, no one is thinking

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about doing a crime and then does not do it because they will lose the

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right to vote. The court is in the right place on the merits. And so

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this is not really the right issue on which to defy the convention

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itself. It is just not worth it, for the reasons outlined by Crispin

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Blunt, it is not a deterrent, just a punishment in your view and you will

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be in breach of international law. Is it worth it? Most people who are

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sentenced to jail, lose their liberty and the right to take part

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in society and therefore lose their right to take part in elections. The

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European Court of Human Rights is taking another view. So the other

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issue we have been considering is who should make these decisions.

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Most people in Britain think those kinds of decisions are best made in

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this building by people who are elected by the British people to

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represent them and not by a group of judges in a foreign court. But

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European convention was established to deal with the aftermath of the

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horrors of the Second World War and the emergent common is blocked

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terror. It is not meant to deal with the minutia right of domestic

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politics. You have to stay firm and said to the European Court of Human

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Rights, you have overstepped the mark and we need to see a reform of

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that court, so they don't confront what is the established view of the

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British people. What do you say to that, Crispin Blunt, it is no longer

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fit for purpose? That is probably true, the court has overstepped the

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mark in regards to this. This was an unwise judgement. But the court is

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beginning to reform itself and was a meeting of the Council in 2012 which

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began the process of reform of the court. There are signs being sent by

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the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe who came to give evidence

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to others, that the court is beginning to these issues. We have

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to decide whether we will throw over the whole convention, whilst this

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system is in the process of reform. Or let the process go on and see if

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we will get more sensible judgements in future. What happens now? You

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want the national parliament to decide, but what happens in this

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stand-off? The government will respond to our committee's report

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and they will bring forward legislation next year. It is up to

:20:42.:20:46.

members of Parliament how they vote. No one can tell an MP or a peer how

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they will vote and I think they will reject out of hand to move the

:20:51.:20:55.

franchise to prisoners. The ball is in the court of the European Court

:20:56.:21:02.

of Human Rights to reform itself. And the Brighton declaration went

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some way, but nowhere near to the extent we need reform. There was a

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case heard by the animal rights movement to try to get paid,

:21:11.:21:15.

political advertising on our televisions. That was ruled out, but

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it could have easily been voted in, changing the way we run elections in

:21:21.:21:25.

this country. That cannot be the role of the European Court of Human

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Rights. They need to reform themselves more substantially done

:21:30.:21:35.

the Brighton declaration. The Prime Minister said, over his dead body,

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he will not change his view? If we are going to stick by the rule of

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law, we will have to denounce the convention because we will defy the

:21:45.:21:51.

courts. If we don't do that, and we simply defied a court and not

:21:52.:21:56.

denounce the convention, we are breaching our international treaty

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obligations and we will have to pay compensation to prisoners every time

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there is an election. Thank you both very much. Just on that word on the

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Lords and benefits, it is a negative statutory instrument. I have never

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heard of that. It becomes law without a debate or vote but maybe

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an old by a resolution of either House. Because it has to go to the

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Lords? No, it doesn't. Nicky, does the idea of giving prisoners the

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votes make you physically sick? Not physically sick, but I am opposed to

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it. If we don't, we will end up paying fines to prisoners, and 281

:22:46.:22:54.

prisoners have already lodged compensation claims. I would rather

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see the court reformed, but sometimes the principal is more

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important. I did a documentary on this in 2012, the forms being made,

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if any are very slight. I would say no to prisoners having the vote. You

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would pick and choose what European rulings you would follow? I think

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there comes a point, especially in this case when the UK as to say this

:23:28.:23:31.

has gone too far. The Supreme Court ruled in not Tober earlier on this

:23:32.:23:37.

year in the case of two prisoners that they did not have voting

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rights. It may be called the Supreme Court, but it is not supreme. In

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America, the Supreme Court is supreme, but are Supreme Court is

:23:47.:23:53.

subject to European rules? That is another discussion. Would you be up

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for leaving this court? As a former lawyer, you would have to think

:23:59.:24:03.

carefully. But there is a principle at stake here. It is up to

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Parliament to decide. I cannot see any justification for giving

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prisoners the vote. We know you are against it. But the issue is do we

:24:16.:24:20.

comply with the court or do we live with the consequence of paying

:24:21.:24:23.

fines. Or do we leave the court altogether? I am not in favour of

:24:24.:24:31.

giving prisoners the vote. But I don't want to leave the court. What

:24:32.:24:38.

would you do? There is a third way in between. The courts's original

:24:39.:24:45.

objection is to the blanket ban. In France, nearly every prisoner is

:24:46.:24:49.

deprived of the right to vote, but the judge decides as part of the

:24:50.:24:54.

sentence. Which is why I want to see the report that has been produced by

:24:55.:24:59.

the committee. It is interesting because obviously, the surprise is,

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the committee has said it is in favour of abiding by the ruling of

:25:06.:25:10.

the European Court. What they have said is if you are sentence for less

:25:11.:25:13.

than 12 months, you still get the vote. If you are coming to the end

:25:14.:25:19.

of your sentence, in the final six months, you would get the vote. It

:25:20.:25:26.

is pretty marginal, but it does meet the requirements of the European.

:25:27.:25:33.

Would you go along with that? Maybe. I have not seen the report. I have

:25:34.:25:40.

two instinctive reactions and they conflict with each other. The first

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is, I am supportive of of our being subject to European rights. It was a

:25:49.:25:54.

Brit who devised it in the 1940s. Maxwell Fyfe. And I think it means

:25:55.:26:03.

British businesses and citizens can get... We are aware of the

:26:04.:26:12.

conflicts. But let's say you are saying that you are going along with

:26:13.:26:15.

it, but you would not go along with it? The Prime Minister's lying about

:26:16.:26:22.

it making him physically sick is childish. People like to have a

:26:23.:26:32.

clear line of reform. You would not go along with this compromise? The

:26:33.:26:37.

committee was asked to look at what was possible, but they have made it

:26:38.:26:41.

clear they do not support it. If this court had ruled in favour of

:26:42.:26:46.

paid, political advertising, what would have you done? But it didn't.

:26:47.:26:56.

It was only one vote. It is a hypothetical question. What would

:26:57.:27:04.

you have done? I don't want to give prisoners the vote, I don't want

:27:05.:27:09.

paid advertising on television but political campaigns. But you are

:27:10.:27:16.

asking a hypothetical question. Now, Canadian politicians know how to

:27:17.:27:18.

celebrate the festive season. That was the scene yesterday inside

:27:19.:27:38.

Toronto City Council chamber, presided over by their controversial

:27:39.:27:46.

mayor, Rob Ford. No, I'm sorry, there will be no dancing here! We'll

:27:47.:27:56.

be doing that a little later on. But in the meantime we're warming up

:27:57.:27:59.

with a Daily Politics mug of cheap plonk laced with sugar and spices.

:28:00.:28:11.

You don't have to drink it, Chris. It does not look very nice. On the

:28:12.:28:18.

licence fee! And it can be yours of course, well the mug, I am not sure

:28:19.:28:22.

the mulled wine will survive the post.

:28:23.:28:28.

And we'll remind you how to enter in a minute, but let's see if you can

:28:29.:28:31.

remember when this happened. Oh my goodness, Martin Bell. He

:28:32.:29:15.

could not be more wrong. I have decided to give the bank of England

:29:16.:29:18.

operational responsibility for setting interest rates. His name is

:29:19.:29:29.

Peter. To be in with a chance of winning a

:29:30.:29:58.

Daily Politics mug, send your answer to our special quiz email address.

:29:59.:30:02.

And you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year on our

:30:03.:30:15.

website. To all our friends at CNN who were watching the programme, the

:30:16.:30:19.

mulled wine is in the post. It's coming up to midday here. Just

:30:20.:30:25.

take a look at Big Ben. That can mean only one thing! Yes, Prime

:30:26.:30:28.

Minister's Questions is on the way. And that's not all, Nick Robinson is

:30:29.:30:33.

here. What is going to happen? I think

:30:34.:30:42.

both leaders will want to talk about the same thing, the cost of living.

:30:43.:30:46.

They will rehearse the battle they have been having for months, and the

:30:47.:30:50.

battle they will be having for the next 18 months. So it will be deja

:30:51.:31:06.

vu? Unemployment figures were pretty good? Both parties want to have this

:31:07.:31:15.

row now. The fact, 41 months after... Let's go straight over to

:31:16.:31:24.

the final PMQs of 2013. We should remember all our service

:31:25.:31:50.

personnel around the world. Our country owes a huge amount to them.

:31:51.:31:55.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others,

:31:56.:32:00.

and in addition to my meetings in the house, I will have further such

:32:01.:32:04.

meetings later today. Can I join him in his wishes to our

:32:05.:32:08.

armed forces and all the public sector workers who will be taking

:32:09.:32:12.

care of us over the Christmas period?

:32:13.:32:18.

Mr Speaker, unless the Mrs Ely Omer bill is changed, 6000 victims who

:32:19.:32:27.

were criminally and negligently exposed to asbestos at work will not

:32:28.:32:35.

is received compensation. -- the mesothelioma bill? Would he rather

:32:36.:32:39.

stand foreign assurance companies than innocent people? -- would he

:32:40.:32:46.

rather stand for insurance companies?

:32:47.:32:51.

The mesothelioma bill is a huge step forward. There has been no provision

:32:52.:33:00.

for these people. Once the scheme is up and running, roughly 300 people a

:33:01.:33:03.

year will receive approximately ?115,000 each. That is an important

:33:04.:33:09.

step forward. I will look at what he has to say but I think we should be

:33:10.:33:12.

proud that we are tackling this issue after a long delay. Will he

:33:13.:33:24.

join me in saluting the courage of the hundreds of thousands of people

:33:25.:33:26.

who have been peacefully processed and across Ukraine for the last

:33:27.:33:43.

will he hold out the prospect of closer links with Europe in the

:33:44.:33:49.

longer term, which is what the people of Ukraine want?

:33:50.:33:54.

I agree that we should pay tribute to those in Ukraine who want a

:33:55.:33:59.

future link to Europe, and once the peace, prosperity and stability that

:34:00.:34:04.

relationship would bring. -- and want the peace. The world is

:34:05.:34:10.

watching what the Ukrainian author says -- authorities have done and

:34:11.:34:23.

are contemplating doing. Mr Speaker, I joined the Prime

:34:24.:34:27.

Minister in paying tribute to all of our troops serving around the world,

:34:28.:34:31.

particularly in Afghanistan. Once again, they have turned our country

:34:32.:34:37.

proud, shown the utmost courage and bravery. Our thoughts are with them

:34:38.:34:42.

and their families this Christmas. Today's economic figures show a

:34:43.:34:48.

welcome fall in unemployment, and for every person that gets back into

:34:49.:34:56.

work at benefits not just them but their family as well. -- it benefits

:34:57.:35:03.

just not them. But at the end of this year there more people than

:35:04.:35:07.

ever before working part-time because they can't get the hours

:35:08.:35:14.

they need. I think it is worth looking at an employment figures in

:35:15.:35:17.

some detail, because I think they paint and encouraging picture.

:35:18.:35:24.

Unemployment is down by 99,000, the number of people claiming

:35:25.:35:26.

unemployment benefit has fallen by 36,000 this month alone, there are

:35:27.:35:33.

250,000 more people in work, youth unemployment is down, long-term

:35:34.:35:37.

unemployment is down, unemployment amongst women is down. We have

:35:38.:35:41.

talked about a million more people in work under this government, it is

:35:42.:35:49.

now 1.2 million more people in work. There shouldn't be one ounce of

:35:50.:35:52.

complacency, because we still have work to do to get the country back

:35:53.:35:57.

to work, and everyone back in work means greater stability for them,

:35:58.:36:01.

later ability to plan for the future, great help for their

:36:02.:36:05.

families. But the plan is working, let's stick at it and get an

:36:06.:36:10.

employment down even further. He didn't really and some pacific

:36:11.:36:16.

question. It is good our economy is creating more jobs, but too many

:36:17.:36:25.

part-time, low paid or insecure -- he did not really answer my specific

:36:26.:36:31.

question. Today's figures show what is happening to wages. Does he agree

:36:32.:36:36.

that it is of concern that average wages are ?364 lower than one year

:36:37.:36:41.

ago and ?1500 lower than at the general election? Let me talk about

:36:42.:36:48.

full-time and part-time employment. Full-time employment has grown much

:36:49.:36:53.

faster in recent months, and since the election, 70% of the new jobs,

:36:54.:36:58.

and there have been millions of them, 70% of full-time jobs. -- are

:36:59.:37:06.

full-time jobs. I agree we have to do more to put in place our

:37:07.:37:09.

long-term economic van to keep the economy growing, but it is all very

:37:10.:37:15.

well standing at the despatch box. He has said that there will be a

:37:16.:37:25.

million fewer jobs. And we are still waiting for him to correct the

:37:26.:37:31.

record about that. Of course, I want to see more money in people's

:37:32.:37:35.

pockets. The only way we can do that is keep on with the economic plan,

:37:36.:37:40.

keep cutting unemployment, keep taxes down, cut the deficit to keep

:37:41.:37:45.

interest rates down. That is our economic plan. What is his? Let's

:37:46.:37:53.

talk about his predictions. He said he would balance the books in five

:37:54.:37:58.

years. He has failed. He said he would secure Britain's credit

:37:59.:38:03.

rating, he has failed. And the worst prediction, he said he would be good

:38:04.:38:07.

at Prime Minister. He has certainly failed at that. -- he said he would

:38:08.:38:15.

be good at being Prime Minister. Order, order. Members on both sides

:38:16.:38:20.

of the House need to calm down. It will take as long as it takes, as

:38:21.:38:28.

always. Very straightforward. Isn't it interesting that they want to

:38:29.:38:31.

talk about the cost of living crisis facing families up and down the

:38:32.:38:36.

country least of all? That is because they know families are worse

:38:37.:38:40.

off. How much higher is the average gas and electricity bill this

:38:41.:38:47.

Christmas compared to last? Let us deal with the predictions. Order,

:38:48.:38:54.

the question was asked, and the answer must be heard. Prime

:38:55.:38:59.

Minister. They have a programme which will clearly lead to the

:39:00.:39:04.

disappearance of a million jobs. Now we have 1.6 million more

:39:05.:39:07.

private-sector jobs, 1.2 million more people in work, it is time he

:39:08.:39:13.

apologised for his prediction of talking the economy down. He asks

:39:14.:39:20.

about the cost of living, let us compare records on the cost of

:39:21.:39:24.

living. They doubled council tax, we froze it, they put petrol tax 12

:39:25.:39:32.

times, we froze it. They put up the basic state pension by 75p, we put

:39:33.:39:39.

it up I ?15. Oh, we have a new hand gesture from the Shadow Chancellor!

:39:40.:39:45.

I would have thought up to today's briefing in the papers the hand

:39:46.:39:55.

gesture for the Shadow Chancellor should bye-bye! You don't need it to

:39:56.:39:59.

be Christmas to know when you are sitting next to a turkey!

:40:00.:40:16.

We will wait until colleagues can't down. I don't mind how long it

:40:17.:40:22.

takes, I have all day if necessary. I thought that, just for once, he

:40:23.:40:28.

might answer the question he was asked. Let's give him the answer,

:40:29.:40:33.

energy bills are ?70 higher than one year ago. Despite all his bluster,

:40:34.:40:39.

that is the reality. ?300 higher than when he came to office. The

:40:40.:40:46.

cost of childcare is crucial for parents going out to work. Can he

:40:47.:40:51.

tell is how much childcare has gone up this year? We are providing 15

:40:52.:40:57.

hours of childcare, nursery education, for two, three and four

:40:58.:41:04.

year old. He was never able to do that in government. It is all very

:41:05.:41:08.

well making these promises, the only reason we can keep our promises is

:41:09.:41:12.

we took tough decisions about the economy. We took tough and difficult

:41:13.:41:17.

decisions to get the deficit down. We took difficult decisions to get

:41:18.:41:23.

our economic van in place. The fact is, this Christmas the economy is

:41:24.:41:28.

growing, 1.2 million more people are in work, exports are increasing,

:41:29.:41:32.

manufacturing is up, construction is doing better, the economy is getting

:41:33.:41:36.

stronger and Labour is getting weaker.

:41:37.:41:45.

I tell you what, Mr Speaker, that was a turkey of an answer. Why

:41:46.:41:50.

doesn't he just for once answer the question? Childcare costs have gone

:41:51.:41:56.

up ?300, ?300 in the last year, nearly three times the rate of

:41:57.:42:00.

inflation. He is doing nothing about it. There is one group he has helped

:42:01.:42:05.

out with the cost of living this year. His Christmas card list. Can

:42:06.:42:13.

he tell us... I know he does not like me asking, but can he tell us

:42:14.:42:20.

someone earning over ?1 million a year, how much lower our taxes this

:42:21.:42:27.

year compared to last year? The top tax rate and this government is

:42:28.:42:29.

higher than it ever was under his government. The highest 1% of

:42:30.:42:34.

earners are paying a greater percentage of income tax than they

:42:35.:42:38.

did when he was sitting in the cabinet. Those are the facts. If he

:42:39.:42:43.

wants to talk about what he has done on the cost of living, we have cut

:42:44.:42:48.

income tax for 25 million people, they voted against it. We have taken

:42:49.:42:53.

2.4 million people out of tax, they voted against it. We froze council

:42:54.:42:58.

tax, they voted against it, we froze fuel duty, they voted against it. We

:42:59.:43:05.

have a long-term economic plan. He ends the year with no plan, no

:43:06.:43:10.

credibility, no idea how to help the economy. We all know his long-term

:43:11.:43:17.

plan, to cut taxes for his Christmas card list and make everyone else

:43:18.:43:21.

think all swim. That is his long-term plan. And I have got to

:43:22.:43:30.

say... The usual low graders can make as much noise as they like. For

:43:31.:43:35.

their own benefit, and I will say it again, however long it takes, right

:43:36.:43:40.

honourable and honourable members will be heard. It is so simple it is

:43:41.:43:49.

probably now clear. The more he reads out lists and statistics, the

:43:50.:43:52.

more out of touch he seems to the country. This was the year that the

:43:53.:43:58.

cost of living crisis hit families hardest. This was the year the

:43:59.:44:02.

introduced the bedroom tax while cutting taxes for millionaires. This

:44:03.:44:07.

was the year he proved beyond doubt he is the Prime Minister for the

:44:08.:44:13.

few, not the many. He may not like the facts, but you can't hide from

:44:14.:44:20.

them. The typical taxpayer is paying ?600 less, because we cut taxes. The

:44:21.:44:25.

deficit is falling by a third because we took difficult decisions.

:44:26.:44:28.

Today, for the first time in history, there are 30 million people

:44:29.:44:36.

in our country in work. The fact is that, at the end of this year, we

:44:37.:44:40.

have a recovery they can't explain, growth they said would never come,

:44:41.:44:44.

jobs they said would never happen and, meanwhile, they are stuck with

:44:45.:44:48.

an economic policy that does not add up under Shadow Chancellor they

:44:49.:44:52.

can't defend. That is why the British people will never trust

:44:53.:45:09.

Labour with the economy again. Order, order. We will just have to

:45:10.:45:22.

keep going a bit longer. The right honourable gentleman will be heard.

:45:23.:45:29.

Sir Malcolm Bruce. I can give the House something to cheer about. Will

:45:30.:45:33.

the Prime Minister welcome the fact that investment in our oil and gas

:45:34.:45:41.

industry this year will reach billions of pounds. Is he aware

:45:42.:45:48.

there is a report that says we need collaboration between government and

:45:49.:45:51.

industry to unlock three to 4 billion barrels of oil worth ?2

:45:52.:45:58.

million which would otherwise be left under the sea? He makes an

:45:59.:46:04.

important point because this is an excellent report. We want to

:46:05.:46:07.

maximise the returns in employment and investment in the North Sea. In

:46:08.:46:11.

recent months we have seen encouraging sign of greater

:46:12.:46:15.

investment in the North the, not least because of the decisions taken

:46:16.:46:19.

by the Chancellor to bring into play some of these marginal fields. Does

:46:20.:46:29.

the Prime Minister understand that even if Dr Richard Haass dozens,

:46:30.:46:33.

that agreement and consensus are desirable, but will be impossible to

:46:34.:46:41.

achieve and viewed in the unionist community as dilating art essence of

:46:42.:46:45.

Britishness as Northern Ireland seeks to strengthen its position in

:46:46.:46:50.

the United Kingdom are not weaken it? What I will say is, we all agree

:46:51.:46:57.

Richard Hass is carrying out an important and difficult task,

:46:58.:47:01.

looking into the issues of parades, flags and the past. I have met with

:47:02.:47:07.

Richard Hass, he is an impressive individual, we should let him do is

:47:08.:47:11.

work and judge him on the results he produces. Everyone will look at this

:47:12.:47:18.

process with give and take to bring the communities together.

:47:19.:47:25.

Unemployment in my Peter borough constituency stands at 5.5%, the

:47:26.:47:27.

lowest since the financial crisis and there are 1800 fewer JS say

:47:28.:47:33.

claimants. But there are too many young people who are jobless and

:47:34.:47:40.

lacking any skills. Will the Prime Minister give an early Christmas

:47:41.:47:48.

present to Peterborough people by deciding on our technical college? I

:47:49.:47:55.

know the education secretary will look closely at the technical

:47:56.:48:00.

college. But the news on youth unemployment is better, 19,000 down

:48:01.:48:06.

this quarter. The claimant count is falling, but there is a lot more

:48:07.:48:12.

work to do and we should look at the work experience programmes which

:48:13.:48:14.

seem to have one of the best records and reducing youth unemployment and

:48:15.:48:18.

encourage businesses to get involved in this work experience programme.

:48:19.:48:25.

With the Archbishop of Canterbury reminding us of society's

:48:26.:48:29.

responsibility towards the support of the poor and the vulnerable and

:48:30.:48:34.

the Archbishop of Westminster criticising the inhumanity aspects

:48:35.:48:38.

of government policy, does the Prime Minister regret as we approach

:48:39.:48:42.

Christmas, his government's retreat from the compassionate conservatism

:48:43.:48:48.

he used to adopt? I don't accept what he says. There is nothing more

:48:49.:48:53.

compassionate than getting more people into work. The best route out

:48:54.:49:01.

of poverty is work. What we can see is 30 million people in work. I

:49:02.:49:05.

enjoy debating and listening carefully to the archbishops. I

:49:06.:49:10.

don't agree with what the Archbishop of Westminster said about

:49:11.:49:21.

immigration. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mr Speaker. The

:49:22.:49:32.

people of Suffolk have enjoyed a cracker of a Christmas present with

:49:33.:49:39.

the excellent news of the A14. Does he agree that calls to abandon the

:49:40.:49:44.

government's long-term economic plan for the other side to borrow more

:49:45.:49:51.

will raise taxes and mortgages for the hard-working people of this

:49:52.:49:55.

country? Can I congratulate my honourable friend on her ingenious

:49:56.:50:00.

way in ensuring she is called regularly in debates in the House.

:50:01.:50:06.

On that note, a happy Christmas to you as well, Mr Speaker. She has

:50:07.:50:11.

been very clear in her campaign against the toll on the A14, and I

:50:12.:50:17.

am glad we have settled that issue. But she is right to say the biggest

:50:18.:50:21.

threat to our economy would be to abandon our plans. We are getting

:50:22.:50:26.

the deficit down, interest rates are still down and people are getting

:50:27.:50:31.

back to work. The biggest risk is more spending, the biggest risk that

:50:32.:50:39.

got us into this mess. In November I visited a wrought college in my

:50:40.:50:42.

constituency. They are collecting food to help needy families over

:50:43.:50:48.

Christmas and will have a foodbank on the school site in the New Year.

:50:49.:50:53.

What shocked me is a young girl aged 15 who arrived just before my visit

:50:54.:50:58.

who had not eaten all weekend because there was no food in her

:50:59.:51:01.

house. How does the Prime Minister expect that young girl to fulfil her

:51:02.:51:08.

educational potential? We have to do all we can to help families into

:51:09.:51:11.

work and that is what we are doing under this government. We have to

:51:12.:51:16.

make sure we protect the income levels of the poorest. That is why

:51:17.:51:21.

the child tax credit is up ?390 under this government, protecting

:51:22.:51:26.

the money that goes to the poorest people of this country. Experts say

:51:27.:51:34.

that Labour's energy price freeze an announcement would raise prices in

:51:35.:51:39.

the short term... Order, order. Opposition members should not yell

:51:40.:51:43.

at the honourable gentleman when he is asking his question. Experts said

:51:44.:51:50.

Labour's energy price freeze announcement would raise prices in

:51:51.:51:55.

the short term and protect the big six by freezing new investment.

:51:56.:51:59.

Since then prices have gone up and the National Grid says half of new

:52:00.:52:06.

investment. I am struggling to find anything that relates to the Prime

:52:07.:52:13.

Minister in his question. So we will proceed with Mr Gordon Marsden.

:52:14.:52:23.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Has the Prime Minister to relax with his family

:52:24.:52:29.

and friends, will he spare a thought to my constituents in black girl

:52:30.:52:32.

whose Christmas is mired in the incompetence and random cruelty of

:52:33.:52:38.

the benefit sanctions. My casework on this includes the woman denied

:52:39.:52:42.

job-seeker's allowance for doing voluntary work at one local branch

:52:43.:52:45.

of a national charity rather than another. Will his New Year

:52:46.:52:50.

resolution be resolving this chaos on sanctions and non-universal

:52:51.:52:57.

credit? The best thing we can do all constituents is keep on with the

:52:58.:53:01.

economic plan that is generating more jobs in our country. If we look

:53:02.:53:05.

at the north-west, the number of people employed is up by 37,000

:53:06.:53:11.

since the election. Unemployment has fallen by 29,000 since the election.

:53:12.:53:16.

We need to keep on with that while making sure the benefit system works

:53:17.:53:22.

for those who need it. But he does not do his constituents any favour

:53:23.:53:26.

by talking down the economy. Will the Prime Minister paid tribute to

:53:27.:53:32.

Norfolk's emergency services who have done such a great job in

:53:33.:53:35.

tackling the recent floods and repairing the damage. Floods that

:53:36.:53:41.

were potentially worse than six years ago that killed 300 people.

:53:42.:53:46.

Does he agree special mention should be made of the two local newspapers

:53:47.:53:54.

who campaign tirelessly and raised money for the appeal. Can he tell

:53:55.:54:05.

the House what government can do? He is right to raise this issue. I was

:54:06.:54:11.

impressed when I went to Norfolk to see not only the amazing

:54:12.:54:14.

contribution the emergency services had made, but local newspapers in

:54:15.:54:18.

highlighting this issue to help people prepare for what was to come

:54:19.:54:24.

and also the flood coordinators and people who work voluntarily. I was

:54:25.:54:29.

impressed I what I saw in terms of what the lifeboats had done. The

:54:30.:54:34.

enormous wave that swept through their station but they were able to

:54:35.:54:37.

get out and get their and help people. What because we put money

:54:38.:54:43.

into flood defences we were able to protect more homes that otherwise

:54:44.:54:48.

would have been affected. Ministers have admitted to be that completing

:54:49.:54:55.

personal independence claims. My constituents, Cathy is still waiting

:54:56.:55:01.

to have a decision made on her claim. She had an appointment

:55:02.:55:04.

yesterday with an assessor who did not turn up. Why is the Prime

:55:05.:55:09.

Minister and allowing cancer patients to suffer because of

:55:10.:55:15.

incompetence of his government. I am willing to look at the KC mentions.

:55:16.:55:23.

I am happy to look at the individual case to see what could be done. The

:55:24.:55:31.

number of unemployed claimants in my constituency has fallen to 439, the

:55:32.:55:36.

third best performing constituency in the country. Will he join with me

:55:37.:55:41.

in congratulating local businesses for the role they have played in

:55:42.:55:47.

this? I am happy to congratulate local businesses, but what we are

:55:48.:55:53.

seeing and what Labour predicted would not happen is a private sector

:55:54.:55:58.

led recovery. For every job lost in the public sector we have seen three

:55:59.:56:01.

or four created in the private sector. We must keep up this

:56:02.:56:09.

economic environment. At the last election many of my constituents

:56:10.:56:13.

believe the Prime Minister when he said there would be no third runway

:56:14.:56:19.

at Heathrow. They are now faced with the threat of not only a third

:56:20.:56:24.

runway, but a fourth runway. People losing the homes, schools being

:56:25.:56:27.

demolished and people having to dig up their dead in the local cemetery.

:56:28.:56:33.

What does he say to those who have lost their faith in him? I don't

:56:34.:56:40.

accept what he says. We said there would not be a third runway and we

:56:41.:56:44.

have stuck with that promise. We have a report being done by Howard

:56:45.:56:50.

Davies. It is a very good interim report. I think people should read

:56:51.:56:54.

that report before they start shouting across the House of Commons

:56:55.:57:00.

in an inappropriate way. Order, order. I know what I am doing, I

:57:01.:57:08.

don't need any help. A reference was made to treatment of constituents

:57:09.:57:13.

not to observations made in respect of members of the House. I am clear

:57:14.:57:18.

on that and the procedure is clear as well. In the north-east, all 29

:57:19.:57:27.

constituencies have heard -- seen an increase in apprenticeships since

:57:28.:57:30.

2010. I opened an engineering Academy in Hexham. Does he agree

:57:31.:57:35.

with me that it is only by the provision of better skills and

:57:36.:57:39.

apprenticeships we will improve the living standards of young people

:57:40.:57:44.

today? He is absolutely right, I saw for myself what a difference the

:57:45.:57:48.

apprenticeships and extra funding has made. We want to share this

:57:49.:57:56.

across the country. In the North East, unemployment has fallen this

:57:57.:58:01.

quarter. 28 thousand more in work since the election, but we have

:58:02.:58:04.

further to go and stick with the economic land. Is the Prime Minister

:58:05.:58:11.

concerned in the detail of the small print of the Autumn Statement that

:58:12.:58:20.

by the end of this Parliament, levels will be lower. If he looks at

:58:21.:58:27.

disposable income, it is higher than it was between 1997 and 2010. In

:58:28.:58:32.

spite of slow wage growth we have cut taxes. You can only cut taxes if

:58:33.:58:37.

you take difficult decisions about the deficit, difficult decisions

:58:38.:58:42.

about spending and we have not had support from the party opposite for

:58:43.:58:44.

one single of those difficult decisions. Cut the Prime Minister

:58:45.:58:54.

help get justice for my constituents who want to know why an

:58:55.:58:58.

investigation into the meetings had by the former transport secretary

:58:59.:59:02.

have not been reported on this bike for months of waiting and assurances

:59:03.:59:10.

that I would have the answer. The honourable lady was referring to the

:59:11.:59:14.

member for Chipping Barnet. She has taken up this issue and I am sure

:59:15.:59:21.

she will get an Ansa shortly. Mr Speaker, on a slightly more seasonal

:59:22.:59:30.

notes, may I probed the Prime Minister on the revelation contained

:59:31.:59:35.

within the Autumn Statement that over this Parliament, borrowing is

:59:36.:59:41.

forecast to be 198 billion pounds more than originally planned. Will

:59:42.:59:50.

he accept his pledge to balance the books by 2015 has all the

:59:51.:59:53.

credibility of some proposal to build an airport on a nonexistent

:59:54.:59:57.

islands in the middle of a bird sanctuary in the Thames estuary? He

:59:58.:00:05.

always brings a flavour of pantomime to proceedings. If he is worried

:00:06.:00:14.

about the deficit, if he is worried about borrowing, he should look in

:00:15.:00:17.

front of him, rather than look behind him. We haven't had one bit

:00:18.:00:23.

of support on anything we have done to cut the deficit. If he is worried

:00:24.:00:29.

about the deficit, why does his party propose to put it up? It is

:00:30.:00:35.

good news a record number of people are in work. But there was another

:00:36.:00:42.

milestone this week where we reached 2 million new pension savers, thanks

:00:43.:00:47.

to auto enrolment. Is that another example of how this government is

:00:48.:00:53.

taking long-term decisions? She is right to raise auto enrolment. It

:00:54.:00:58.

means more people are saving for their retirement which means more

:00:59.:01:02.

stability and ability to plan for their future. There are so many more

:01:03.:01:08.

people in work this Christmas last and they can plan better for the

:01:09.:01:18.

future. Now that the Prime Minister has declared mission accomplished in

:01:19.:01:21.

Afghanistan, will he guarantee non-Avar brave servicemen and women

:01:22.:01:28.

who have served their will face redundancy when they come home? I

:01:29.:01:34.

was praising the role of the Armed Forces. They have carried out the

:01:35.:01:40.

tasks we asked them to and they have done it with professionalism and

:01:41.:01:44.

skill. They will be able to leave that country with their heads held

:01:45.:01:48.

high, secure in the knowledge we have put in place what is necessary

:01:49.:01:52.

to stop terrorism and terrorism training camps to return to that

:01:53.:02:06.

country. Today there are fewer people out of work in Worcester than

:02:07.:02:12.

when unemployment peaked under Labour. 700 businesses likely to

:02:13.:02:17.

benefit from the extension of small business rate relief. Can I urge the

:02:18.:02:20.

Prime Minister to do everything he can to help the high Street and

:02:21.:02:23.

remove burdens on businesses creating jobs? It is great news what

:02:24.:02:30.

is happening in Worcester and not only is unemployment down but

:02:31.:02:33.

vacancies are up, which is good news for the future. In terms of the high

:02:34.:02:38.

street we have taken important steps forward in terms of the rent rebate

:02:39.:02:46.

-- rate rebate. And the ?2000 employment allowance which means

:02:47.:02:48.

they don't have to pay their first ?2000 of national insurance

:02:49.:02:54.

contributions and that means businesses all over the country can

:02:55.:02:59.

take on more people. Further to the questions from the honourable member

:03:00.:03:02.

from Saint Albans, for months were passed in serious allegations were

:03:03.:03:06.

made that the Northern Ireland secretary broke the rules during her

:03:07.:03:11.

time as transport Secretary. Will the Cabinet respond before the House

:03:12.:03:18.

rises for Christmas recess? I have seen a copy of the response and it

:03:19.:03:27.

will be sent in the next few days. I welcome the Prime Minister's

:03:28.:03:29.

acceptance something needs to be done to stop the EU migrants

:03:30.:03:36.

accessing British benefits. But would he agree with me that what he

:03:37.:03:40.

is proposing, which will probably be found illegal by the European Court,

:03:41.:03:44.

is spitting in the winds when it comes to the problem we face, that

:03:45.:03:49.

the only way to get control of our borders and control of benefits

:03:50.:03:53.

system is to leave the European Union? I don't share his pessimism.

:03:54.:04:00.

The steps we are taking, including this announcement that people coming

:04:01.:04:05.

to the UK cannot claim benefits within the first three months, we

:04:06.:04:12.

are taking these steps by looking at what other countries in the EU do. I

:04:13.:04:15.

want to make sure the right of free movement is not abused. There is a

:04:16.:04:21.

right to work in different countries but they should not be a right to

:04:22.:04:26.

claim in different countries of the EU. But we need to do more in future

:04:27.:04:29.

and the lesson we learn is the mistake Labour made to give

:04:30.:04:34.

unfettered access to our labour market when Poland and others joined

:04:35.:04:38.

the EU which led to 1.5 million people coming to our country, was a

:04:39.:04:44.

profound mistake. Average household incomes will be lower in 2015 than

:04:45.:04:50.

in 2009. Is the Prime Minister concerned and what will he say to my

:04:51.:04:54.

constituents who are struggling with the cost of living crisis caused by

:04:55.:04:59.

his government's policies? The first thing I would say is we are raising

:05:00.:05:04.

to ?10,000, the amount people can earn before they pay income tax.

:05:05.:05:12.

That is worth ?705. The cause of the progress we have made, disposable

:05:13.:05:17.

income made this year is higher than any year between 1997 and 2010. The

:05:18.:05:20.

members opposite might not like these facts but it is worth

:05:21.:05:27.

remembering why we are in this situation in the first place. He

:05:28.:05:30.

should not have to shout to make himself heard. Prime Minister. The

:05:31.:05:37.

point I was making is the reason we are in this situation is this

:05:38.:05:42.

achieved for fiscal studies said we have happen biggest... They should

:05:43.:05:52.

be apologising for that before moving onto the next question.

:05:53.:05:58.

Christmas in Syria will be defined by stopping grief and horror in sub

:05:59.:06:06.

zero temperatures. I encourage the Prime Minister to keep focus on

:06:07.:06:10.

humanitarian relief in Syria and encourage the rest of the

:06:11.:06:15.

international community to reach the demand for ?4 billion of assistance

:06:16.:06:19.

and make sure it is more imaginative and generous? I am grateful for him

:06:20.:06:27.

raising this issue before Christmas. That is where our thought should be.

:06:28.:06:33.

It is a huge humanitarian crisis. The first thing I would say, Britain

:06:34.:06:38.

can be proud of the fact that at 500 million, we are the second bilateral

:06:39.:06:45.

donor in terms of aid going to Syria and neighbouring countries and

:06:46.:06:50.

helping people in those camps. We should be encouraging other

:06:51.:06:52.

countries to step up and make sure we fulfil our moral obligations to

:06:53.:06:55.

these people who will be suffering at Christmas time.

:06:56.:07:04.

They spoke mostly about the economy, as Nick Robinson predicted. A lot of

:07:05.:07:11.

youth unemployment and part-time jobs for people who want to work

:07:12.:07:16.

full-time, and then they have moved on to Labour 's theme for the second

:07:17.:07:21.

half of this year, the cost of living. We have heard it all before.

:07:22.:07:26.

I am not sure we heard anything new, that it was a reprise of what we

:07:27.:07:29.

have been hearing for quite some time. What did the viewers make of

:07:30.:07:36.

it? One said that if Cameron's government has achieved so much, why

:07:37.:07:40.

are the British people feeling so poor and worse off now than in 2010?

:07:41.:07:47.

But on Twitter one viewer USA's, as usual Ed Miliband is flailing about

:07:48.:07:51.

like a plucked and cooked Christmas turkey.

:07:52.:07:56.

-- one viewer says. Jim in the neat and says that Miliband and the

:07:57.:08:01.

Labour Party have nowhere to hide. Most of their predictions have been

:08:02.:08:05.

proven wrong. David from black than things that after today's very rowdy

:08:06.:08:10.

performance, the MPs must have come to the house straight from the bar.

:08:11.:08:18.

Peter says, watching PMQs confirms my opinion that Parliament should be

:08:19.:08:22.

culled to two had and 50 members on ?100,000 each. -- culled to 250

:08:23.:08:32.

members. I think the House of Lords should be culled to 250 members. 800

:08:33.:08:42.

and rising. The political debate has started to

:08:43.:08:46.

change with the change on the economy. Most news is pretty good

:08:47.:08:51.

now, that is likely to continue into the first part of 2014. I suspect

:08:52.:08:56.

the Chancellor, in the March Budget, will up the growth rate further as

:08:57.:09:00.

he did in the Autumn Statement. Labour's fallback position is to

:09:01.:09:05.

talk about who is benefiting from it. Can that be sustained through

:09:06.:09:13.

2014? If it fits in with people's experiences. The Labour Party is

:09:14.:09:17.

counting on the fact that lots of people watching this programme and

:09:18.:09:21.

politics in general are feeling squeezed. There is a debate about

:09:22.:09:24.

the figures, the Labour Party has a figure of ?1500, a drop in average

:09:25.:09:33.

earnings since the last election. It does not take on tax cuts or factor

:09:34.:09:38.

everything in, there would still be a cut but it would be slightly

:09:39.:09:42.

lower. The Prime Minister uses a figure which no one I know users,

:09:43.:09:46.

the Institute for Fiscal Studies says it is misleading, but it is

:09:47.:09:51.

official data. He talks about real household disposable income. He is

:09:52.:09:55.

taking, effectively, the aggregate, all of the income is of all of the

:09:56.:09:59.

people of the country, and they are going up. Frankly, it is very

:10:00.:10:05.

interesting but it tells you nothing about how households are feeling.

:10:06.:10:11.

Overall, real household income has gone up because they're more

:10:12.:10:15.

households, but the population is rising and the only way to measure

:10:16.:10:19.

the living standards is made per capita basis. We have talked about

:10:20.:10:24.

this before, I spoke to some backroom Tories, they are investing

:10:25.:10:30.

in next year. Their view is that the per capita real disposable household

:10:31.:10:34.

income will go up, so by using the figure now they are trying to give

:10:35.:10:37.

its currency and flavours so that when the figure goes up so well they

:10:38.:10:41.

can say, hey presto, it is actually going up. Part of the squeeze on

:10:42.:10:48.

living standards that Labour quite rightly points two has been caused

:10:49.:10:53.

because the Bank of England keeps missing its inflation target.

:10:54.:10:56.

Inflation has been consistently higher than the 2% targets at a time

:10:57.:11:00.

when wages have been static or barely rising. The significance this

:11:01.:11:07.

week of the 2.1% inflation was that they were pretty close to the

:11:08.:11:13.

target. There is the accidental squeeze through price increases and

:11:14.:11:16.

there is also a completely deliberate party policy. The whole

:11:17.:11:21.

point of 's territory, how do you control the size of the public

:11:22.:11:24.

sector, one way of doing it is cutting public sector wages. If

:11:25.:11:29.

public sector wages go up less than the rate of inflation, which the

:11:30.:11:33.

government is in favour of and, interestingly, the Labour Party said

:11:34.:11:37.

they would match, their household incomes go down because wages are

:11:38.:11:42.

not keeping up with inflation. When will living standards rise?

:11:43.:11:48.

Increases have been forecast from next year, but we recognise that

:11:49.:11:51.

times have been tough and it would be wrong to give the impression that

:11:52.:11:54.

people in Westminster are completely unaware of the fact that people have

:11:55.:11:59.

suffered a squeeze in living standards. The Prime Minister said

:12:00.:12:03.

the point about the fact that we have suffered the largest recession

:12:04.:12:12.

in 100 years, our economy contracted by over 7%, it is taking to which

:12:13.:12:18.

feeds to household budgets. The income figure he also includes the

:12:19.:12:25.

benefits and tax cuts. The wages figure alone does not recognise

:12:26.:12:29.

that. It is important to know that households receive wages, of course,

:12:30.:12:33.

but there are other sources of income, particularly benefits. But

:12:34.:12:40.

the national statistics on the real household incomes take everything

:12:41.:12:46.

into account, but also incomes to universities and charities. Why? I

:12:47.:12:52.

think you are right, it is a broader... It makes it unreliable.

:12:53.:12:59.

Here is a political question. Will living standards by May 2015 be

:13:00.:13:08.

higher than in May 2010? I think it is hard to make that addiction. I

:13:09.:13:14.

would love to be able to say yes -- I think it is hard to make that

:13:15.:13:19.

prediction. I am well aware that you would like to say yes! Will they or

:13:20.:13:26.

won't they? The OBR is forecasting that living standards will go up.

:13:27.:13:34.

URA Treasury Minister, the OBR does not forecast. It forecasts that

:13:35.:13:41.

sometime in the second half of 2014, wages will start to pull ahead of

:13:42.:13:45.

prices, that is not saying that overall living standards will rise.

:13:46.:13:52.

I was going to say that the OBR is forecasting an increase in wages, I

:13:53.:13:56.

was about to say that before I was interrupt did. -- interrupted. Why

:13:57.:14:06.

did you get it so wrong over jobs? Your leader predicted a loss of a

:14:07.:14:11.

million jobs since the Tory led coalition, you got it completely

:14:12.:14:16.

wrong. Just as when we introduced the national minimum wage, David

:14:17.:14:19.

Cameron predicted a loss of a million jobs and we put 2 million

:14:20.:14:23.

into the economy. So shouldn't you have learned from that? So having

:14:24.:14:30.

made a ridiculous prediction which was totally wrong, your answer is

:14:31.:14:34.

that David Cameron made 115 years ago? Predictions are not normally a

:14:35.:14:42.

wise territory for politicians. You got it completely wrong. David

:14:43.:14:46.

Cameron's prediction for this Parliament was that they would have

:14:47.:14:50.

got rid of the deficit by the end of the Parliament, but now we know that

:14:51.:14:56.

there will be... So politicians are useless? Sometimes I watch... Please

:14:57.:15:03.

let me finish one sentence, Andrew. Just one. I am almost always in the

:15:04.:15:10.

chamber for PMQs, I found it quite depressing watching it from outside.

:15:11.:15:14.

When you are in now you get caught up with the shouting and the noise,

:15:15.:15:18.

but watching it from out side, I think it is really depressing. We

:15:19.:15:23.

love it. The volume is louder than it ever has been. I would love to

:15:24.:15:28.

ban questions which say, with the Prime Minister agree with me? Would

:15:29.:15:32.

the Prime Minister congratulated the following people? You were saying,

:15:33.:15:39.

of course, he is going to. How many jobs have been created since 2010? I

:15:40.:15:46.

don't know, I know that in my own constituency... 1.6 million. 400,000

:15:47.:15:52.

lost in the public sector, so the net is 1.2 million. Your leader said

:15:53.:15:57.

we were going to lose a million, you were out by two point 8 million.

:15:58.:16:04.

Almost as bad as your Polish immigration figures. In my

:16:05.:16:08.

constituency there is about to be another run of cuts, my local

:16:09.:16:11.

authority has to find millions of pounds worth of cuts.

:16:12.:16:22.

ALL TALK AT ONCE We can take as long as we liked...

:16:23.:16:28.

We can't, unfortunately. We should clarify at this point before we move

:16:29.:16:31.

on that the former prisoner John Hirst who we were talking about, who

:16:32.:16:36.

challenge the ban on prisoners voting in the European Court, was

:16:37.:16:40.

jailed for manslaughter, rather than murder, as I said earlier. Now,

:16:41.:16:43.

something slightly different. One city, 13 days, six deaths. Last

:16:44.:16:47.

month's grim figures for cycling fatalities in London may be

:16:48.:16:49.

relatively unusual, but cycling groups say they highlight an all-too

:16:50.:16:52.

common problem. British roads are not safe enough for cyclists - and

:16:53.:16:55.

it's time that central government and local councils did more. Chris

:16:56.:16:58.

Boardman is policy adviser for British Cycling, the national

:16:59.:17:01.

governing body for the sport. He also just happens to be an Olympic

:17:02.:17:05.

gold medallist and has more than one Tour de France yellow jersey to his

:17:06.:17:10.

name. We'll talk to him in a moment but, first, here's his soapbox.

:17:11.:17:30.

Take a look around you, you can see that our streets are not designed

:17:31.:17:37.

for people who want to work -- walk or get around by bike. For the last

:17:38.:17:40.

50 years we have been prioritising cars, buses and lorries above all

:17:41.:17:46.

else on the roads. Now we have massive congestion problems, over

:17:47.:17:51.

35,000 deaths a year from obesity related illnesses and emissions

:17:52.:17:54.

targets we are failing to meet. What most people don't know is that in

:17:55.:17:59.

the 70s, Copenhagen was heading in exactly the same direction, but they

:18:00.:18:03.

took a bold decision to prioritise walking and cycling and make that

:18:04.:18:08.

their preferred modes of transport. Now 36% commute by bike.

:18:09.:18:22.

HGV vehicles are involved in more than 20% of the accidents involving

:18:23.:18:30.

bikes in this country. That rises to 55% in the capital despite being

:18:31.:18:36.

just 5% of the traffic on our roads. Most of those accidents occur at

:18:37.:18:41.

junctions. We need to see national government bring in legislation that

:18:42.:18:45.

sees HGV 's fitted with safety equipment that eliminate line spots.

:18:46.:18:52.

Local authorities should follow example set by Dublin or Paris where

:18:53.:18:56.

the largest HGV vehicles are restricted from moving in the city

:18:57.:19:03.

in peak hours. It does not have to be complicated or expensive to make

:19:04.:19:06.

life safer and more attractive to cyclists. Less than a mile from the

:19:07.:19:11.

busy junction we have just seen, they have used planters to segregate

:19:12.:19:18.

cyclists from the traffic. It is a technique that has been used in New

:19:19.:19:26.

York. The humble bicycle could prove an incredible powerful tool in

:19:27.:19:31.

making our country and is a place to live. If we did choose to prioritise

:19:32.:19:36.

walking and cycling as the preferred mode of transport, it could have a

:19:37.:19:41.

massive impact on health. It just needs the political will to do so.

:19:42.:19:46.

The Prime Minister committed to cycle prove all roads and junctions.

:19:47.:19:50.

There is no time like the present to turn those words into actions. And

:19:51.:19:57.

Chris Boardman made it safely back home after his London cycle ride. He

:19:58.:20:08.

joins us from Liverpool. One of the things I noticed, you

:20:09.:20:14.

were not wearing a helmet? Can I sidestep this question because

:20:15.:20:18.

otherwise we will spend the interview talking about it. Viewers

:20:19.:20:25.

will want to know. To make cycling safe in this country we need more

:20:26.:20:32.

people riding bicycles. Cycling is something we do with normal people

:20:33.:20:35.

in normal clothes, the same thing they do 400 miles from here.

:20:36.:20:41.

Statistically, ten times around the planet per cycling death. The fact

:20:42.:20:46.

we were talking about the news, cycling deaths, however tragic, is

:20:47.:20:54.

still a very safe way to get around. Culturally, the problem is not

:20:55.:20:58.

enough people cycle so there is not much appreciation the cyclists on

:20:59.:21:04.

the roads. But cyclists here are quite aggressive when they are

:21:05.:21:09.

cycling to work. It does not make it genteel like it is in Copenhagen and

:21:10.:21:16.

Amsterdam. Does there need to be a change in the way we approach this

:21:17.:21:21.

subject? It is the wrong thing to be talking about. This was debated in

:21:22.:21:30.

1994. -- 1997. The National cycling body was set up, that did not work

:21:31.:21:36.

very well. We have a Commons commission looking into cycling

:21:37.:21:39.

safety. All the information is there, all that is missing is the

:21:40.:21:45.

political will to do something. All the proof is there to show there is

:21:46.:21:48.

no logical reason not to promote this mode of transport. In New

:21:49.:21:53.

York, a 250% increase in cycling because the political will was there

:21:54.:22:00.

to make it happen. You push more people to cycle, despite the

:22:01.:22:05.

headlines recently. But in terms of practical things you can do, what

:22:06.:22:10.

about banning heavy goods vehicles at peak periods? Because of those

:22:11.:22:19.

deaths, there are some positives that have come out of those

:22:20.:22:24.

tragedies, because a lot of measures are taking place and London is at

:22:25.:22:27.

the forefront of pushing those measures through. Chris Boardman,

:22:28.:22:33.

thanks very much. Do you think people should wear helmets when they

:22:34.:22:39.

are cycling? Personally, yes I do. If I were cycling I would feel more

:22:40.:22:44.

confident. But HGV vehicles are in the mood -- news at the moment and

:22:45.:22:52.

the government is doing more to make sure they can see in blindspots.

:22:53.:22:58.

With emission targets, some are banned at peak times already. There

:22:59.:23:03.

have been debates, and you could not have a more pro-cycling Mayor of

:23:04.:23:09.

London van Boris Johnson? But compared to other cities, not that

:23:10.:23:12.

many people cycle compared to Copenhagen and Amsterdam? I don't

:23:13.:23:18.

like cycling around London. I cycle a bit around the Rhondda Valley and

:23:19.:23:24.

the valleys of South Wales. We have opened new track so people can see

:23:25.:23:28.

that as a viable alternative for getting to work. You let him get

:23:29.:23:34.

away without answering the question on the helmet. If he was a

:23:35.:23:39.

politician you would have said, " typical politician". Whether helmets

:23:40.:23:46.

make it safe or not, he would have gone on about that. There is

:23:47.:23:57.

political will. It is not a party political issue, we have published a

:23:58.:24:03.

manifesto for cycling which lays out things, a clear timetable for heavy

:24:04.:24:10.

goods vehicles, so there are no blindspots and they are safer. And I

:24:11.:24:18.

think there is the will to do that. We have got to move on. We were

:24:19.:24:25.

bombed a lot during the Second World War and we build a lot of things and

:24:26.:24:30.

a lot of London is still difficult and impenetrable for cyclists. 2013

:24:31.:24:52.

has been a bitty political year. What five stories got the most

:24:53.:25:00.

attention of BBC online this year? In a one off special return, he we

:25:01.:25:08.

have top of the political Pops. After his 2012 budget went down like

:25:09.:25:16.

an off pasty, the Chancellor hoped this year it would see his political

:25:17.:25:22.

ambitions born again. Cuts, tax health for the poor and growth

:25:23.:25:30.

anybody would be disappointed with. A slap in the face, big bounding

:25:31.:25:37.

box, Nigel Farage celebrates local election success for his party or

:25:38.:25:44.

the swivel eyed loons as some people have put it.

:25:45.:25:51.

The Prime Minister kicks Internet search engines in the Google and

:25:52.:25:56.

tell them to get tough on children's access to online porn. He

:25:57.:26:01.

said technical issues were not a decent excuse for inaction and they

:26:02.:26:07.

should all their fingers out. Syria, and a sad day for the Prime

:26:08.:26:12.

Minister. He was hoping to march his troops to the top of the hill and

:26:13.:26:16.

offer military action if the optometrist turned tyrant did not

:26:17.:26:20.

stop using chemical weapons. But he was defeated in the Commons when to

:26:21.:26:24.

many of his own men had a conversion on the way to Damascus and jumped on

:26:25.:26:28.

the military bandwagon. And this year's number one. Baroness

:26:29.:26:35.

Thatcher, the most iconic post-war Prime Minister, often respected by

:26:36.:26:40.

many and deeply disliked by some, dies and sees her legacy widely

:26:41.:26:45.

discussed in coverage of her state funeral. Some wanted to make a

:26:46.:26:49.

ding-dong, but more wanted the iron Lady to rest, not rust in peace.

:26:50.:27:01.

We were talking about predictions the 2014, but are running out of

:27:02.:27:07.

time. I have some presents to give. Nicky, this is for you. Very kind.

:27:08.:27:18.

Don't mention it. Is this on BBC expenses, paid for by the licence

:27:19.:27:25.

fee payer. What have you got? Housing bubbles. This is for you.

:27:26.:27:37.

The does not fit. That includes pensions. How could you. Manchester

:27:38.:27:51.

City. I will have the red and white of Manchester United around my neck.

:27:52.:27:57.

What is the difference, it is Manchester? I think the difference

:27:58.:28:02.

is we have won the championship 20 times. The great joys about being

:28:03.:28:11.

homosexual is you do not pretend to have two be interested in football.

:28:12.:28:18.

It is about football, I thought it was about the city itself. Guess the

:28:19.:28:26.

year was 1997. Chris, press the button. Well done. Do you think he

:28:27.:28:37.

will want the scarf as well? Ok that's all for 2013. Thanks to

:28:38.:28:41.

all our guests especially Nicky and Chris. The One o'clock News is

:28:42.:28:44.

starting over on BBC One now. The Daily Politics will be back on sixth

:28:45.:28:48.

January for the start of a bumper year of politics. But I am on BBC

:28:49.:28:52.

One tomorrow night for the last This Week of the year when I will be

:28:53.:28:56.

joined by Nigel Farage, Diane Abbott, Michael Portillo, Miranda

:28:57.:28:58.

Green, Quentin Letts, Kevin Maguire and Nick Watt.

:28:59.:28:59.

Merry Christmas!

:29:00.:29:03.

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