:00:36. > :00:40.Afternoon, folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics. Britain is to take
:00:41. > :00:43.in several hundred of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, but with
:00:44. > :00:55.more than two million having fled the country is it any more than a
:00:56. > :00:57.token gesture? Some Conservative MPs don't think the Government's
:00:58. > :01:01.Immigration Bill is tough enough. Can a deal be done to avoid a defeat
:01:02. > :01:05.in the Commons tomorrow? Labour has got its 50p tax rate, the Lib Dems
:01:06. > :01:11.favour a mansion tax. Is hitting the rich an election-winning formula? It
:01:12. > :01:14.is all smiles as the Governor of the Bank of England meets Alex Salmond.
:01:15. > :01:16.But will the First Minister still be smiling when he's heard the
:01:17. > :01:27.Governor's speech this afternoon, addressing the independence issue?
:01:28. > :01:33.All that in the next 90 minutes of the very finest public service
:01:34. > :01:35.broadcasting. And with us for the duration today Shadow Public Health
:01:36. > :01:43.Minister Luciana Berger and Conservative Party Chairman Grant
:01:44. > :01:46.Shapps. Welcome to both of you. Any truth in the rumours that Lynton
:01:47. > :01:53.Crosby is not very impressed with you and you'll be replaced by Esther
:01:54. > :02:00.McVey before the general election? No truth whatsoever. We get on
:02:01. > :02:08.really well. He said, just remind us, when did we ever have a cross
:02:09. > :02:19.word? So, you will be party chairman. That is not up to me but
:02:20. > :02:25.no plans. As usual, we are bringing new Prime Minister 's questions at
:02:26. > :02:28.noon. Now, we're expecting a statement from the Home Secretary,
:02:29. > :02:30.Theresa May, immediately after Prime Minister's Questions. She'll have
:02:31. > :02:34.details of that decision to allow Syrian refugees in. And we'll bring
:02:35. > :02:37.you that later in the programme. First this morning though the Prime
:02:38. > :02:40.Minister was holding talks with his backbenchers last night to resolve
:02:41. > :02:42.an impending revolt over the Government's Immigration Bill
:02:43. > :02:45.tomorrow. As many as 100 many conservative MPs do not think the
:02:46. > :02:48.bill is tough enough and are threatening to amend the bill. The
:02:49. > :02:56.Conservative MP Dominic Raab has tabled his own amendment and joins
:02:57. > :03:02.me now from Central Lobby. What do you want to see changed? It is a
:03:03. > :03:08.very practical unfocused amendment. I want to deal with the hundreds of
:03:09. > :03:17.cases each year, where claiming spurious rights to family life and
:03:18. > :03:22.other social ties, we have serious criminals flouting and scuppering
:03:23. > :03:25.deportation orders. If we do that, we could strengthen a decent bill
:03:26. > :03:29.and show the public we are dealing with a problem we have been
:03:30. > :03:35.grappling with for several years. The bill does make it easier for
:03:36. > :03:40.foreign criminals to be deported. As you say, you'd think the bill is
:03:41. > :03:46.reasonable. If you carry on along this line, it could scupper the
:03:47. > :03:52.whole thing. It will take five minutes to have a debate on this,
:03:53. > :03:56.preferably more. It is one amendment, voting for it or against
:03:57. > :04:01.it. I would not vote against it because my amendment did not pass.
:04:02. > :04:06.As for the existing clauses, they are a step in the right direction.
:04:07. > :04:10.They are a balancing act for the judges. They will almost certainly
:04:11. > :04:17.be dumbed down. Let's not just talk about the problem, let's deal with
:04:18. > :04:23.it precisely. Mine is a modest, focused amendment and I hope it is
:04:24. > :04:28.acceptable. Have you had discussions with ministers? Is their sympathy
:04:29. > :04:33.for you strengthening of the amendment? I am not going to brief
:04:34. > :04:37.on air my ongoing discussions because it is not a professional
:04:38. > :04:42.thing to do. Over the last three years, I have had a range of
:04:43. > :04:47.consultations. Ministers have been great, including the Home Secretary
:04:48. > :04:51.and officials. My complaint is not lack of consultation. There are a
:04:52. > :04:58.number of objections and I have tried to deal with them. I think we
:04:59. > :05:03.have seen some of the objections fall away. It has been well covered
:05:04. > :05:08.in the press today the concerns that Strasbourg may have issued an
:05:09. > :05:12.amendment against this. I am trying to get this practical and value
:05:13. > :05:16.adding measured through to strengthen what is a decent bill to
:05:17. > :05:22.deal with this problem. The public wants us to tackle issues and not
:05:23. > :05:26.just talk about them. It sounds in your professional way that a
:05:27. > :05:31.compromise is on the cards. You sound confident and optimistic that
:05:32. > :05:38.there will be some give here. There is many a slip between a cup and a
:05:39. > :05:42.lip. There is cross-party support and it is the most popular
:05:43. > :05:49.amendment. Senior Labour people back it as well. I am not going to sort
:05:50. > :05:54.of bob and weave. That is the deal on the table. It is an amendment and
:05:55. > :05:59.it is relatively short. I have catered for all the concerns and
:06:00. > :06:07.thought through the legalities and concerns. Remind me of that Billy
:06:08. > :06:20.the kid phrase? There is many a slip between the cup and the lip. Dominic
:06:21. > :06:25.Raab writes in the Daily Mail today, I have tabled a clear and robust
:06:26. > :06:30.amendment about the deportation of foreign criminals jailed for a year
:06:31. > :06:35.or more, unless they face a risk of being tortured or murdered on
:06:36. > :06:47.return. What is wrong with that? The bill achieved a lot of what, as
:06:48. > :06:53.Dominic was saying, helps matters. What is wrong with the phrase? The
:06:54. > :06:57.point about the bill as it stands committed to make it easier to
:06:58. > :07:02.deport foreign criminals it will build on the work which is to cut
:07:03. > :07:08.nearly a third of net immigration in the country. Doing a lot of the
:07:09. > :07:15.right things. Will you accept the amendment or not? It is an
:07:16. > :07:27.independent amendment. I would not have to ask if it was going to be
:07:28. > :07:37.accepted or not. It is a government Bill. Let me try one more time will
:07:38. > :07:50.stop will you will you not accept the amendment? The bill as it
:07:51. > :07:56.stands... I'm answering your question. This is as we want it.
:07:57. > :08:01.Will Labour vote for it? The likelihood of us reaching the
:08:02. > :08:05.Dominic Raab amendment tomorrow is unlikely. The Government has
:08:06. > :08:10.dedicated just four hours to the report stage. The Government has
:08:11. > :08:14.tabled 52 amendments. Dominic Raab tabled his amendment very late. If
:08:15. > :08:20.it were earlier, we might have a different conversation. You mean, I
:08:21. > :08:26.have just wasted my time. Unfortunately... If we do reach this
:08:27. > :08:31.amendment for a vote, how will Labour vote? I have concerns. The
:08:32. > :09:38.issue with this amendment as it is written means we
:09:39. > :09:44.Opportunities for us to vote on this tomorrow. I don't think you are
:09:45. > :09:50.right to tear up the human rights act. Article eight spells out there
:09:51. > :09:52.is a right to a family life and that is where a number of foreign
:09:53. > :09:57.criminals have not been deported because the courts have lent over
:09:58. > :10:04.backwards in many cases to rule in favour of a right to family life.
:10:05. > :10:06.But Article eight says that can be overruled when necessary for
:10:07. > :10:12.national security, public safety, preventing disorder, crime or to
:10:13. > :10:18.protect others. Unlike you cannot send people back to be tortured on
:10:19. > :10:26.which there are no exemptions. This amendment simply requires judges to
:10:27. > :10:29.approve the deportation of foreign criminals who have been jailed for
:10:30. > :10:32.more than a year unless they face the risk of being tortured or
:10:33. > :10:41.murdered. Why does that fly in the face of Article eight? My
:10:42. > :10:49.understanding of it is, I can only go on... Do you agree now your
:10:50. > :10:54.understanding is wrong? We have looked at this issue and it is our
:10:55. > :10:57.interpretation that it does fly in the face of the human rights act. I
:10:58. > :11:02.would not want anything to compromise that. That is the issue
:11:03. > :11:06.with this amendment tomorrow. The criminals pleading to a right to
:11:07. > :11:13.family life in the UK is accounting for 98 ascent of successful appeals.
:11:14. > :11:17.We had this crazy situation a couple of years back to dispute whether the
:11:18. > :11:23.cat was the reason they should not be deported. Theresa May got into
:11:24. > :11:28.hot water over that. But the fact we are having to have this discussion
:11:29. > :11:33.shows the balance has gone wrong. What this bill already does, as you
:11:34. > :11:42.suggested, it tightens up the whole different set of criteria in order
:11:43. > :11:45.to make it easier to deport people. This government has had a lot of
:11:46. > :11:49.success in getting rid of people who have been in this country for too
:11:50. > :11:52.long who should not have been here. Sometimes with a terrorist
:11:53. > :11:59.background and it should be easier to deport them. We have a good track
:12:00. > :12:03.record on this. It turns out that far from flat-lining, the economy
:12:04. > :12:15.grew by almost 2% last year. This year is expected to reach the dizzy
:12:16. > :12:18.heights of 2.4%. We are starting to the financial crisis behind us but
:12:19. > :12:24.is there an appetite to make the wealthy difference to Labour and the
:12:25. > :12:34.Lib Dems think so. The Conservatives not so much.
:12:35. > :12:36.Tax rates became the latest political tussle after Shadow
:12:37. > :12:39.Chancellor, Ed Balls, announced a new target for Labour on the weekend
:12:40. > :12:42.- Britain's biggest earners. He whacked the rich with a promise to
:12:43. > :12:46.raise income tax on earnings above ?150,000 to 50%. Boss class cried
:12:47. > :12:48.out Labour's attitude was "if it creates wealth, let's kick it" -
:12:49. > :12:59.complained former Trade Minister, Lord Jones. That may not deter the
:13:00. > :13:02.Lib Dems though. They're willing to wring billions from the really rich
:13:03. > :13:05.with a mansion tax on properties over ?2million and a 20% cut to the
:13:06. > :13:08.lifetime tax-free limit on pension contributions to just ?1million. All
:13:09. > :13:10.measures approved at their party conference last year. The
:13:11. > :13:14.Conservatives however, don't think it pays to take too much from top
:13:15. > :13:18.earners. David Cameron has ruled out a mansion tax saying it's not right
:13:19. > :13:21.if you want to reward saving and people who work hard and do the
:13:22. > :13:25.right thing. Whilst Boris wants them to brood on bringing down the top
:13:26. > :13:50.tax rate to a beneficent 40% which George Osborne has not yet ruled
:13:51. > :13:57.out. Basically, you could only go into coalition with Labour on that
:13:58. > :14:01.basis. What is right is to say we should be asking people who do have
:14:02. > :14:05.large amounts of wealth to be able to contribute more. That has to be
:14:06. > :14:10.the right thing to do. I would like to see more people moved out of
:14:11. > :14:12.income tax at the bottom end. The Lib Dem policy has been very
:14:13. > :14:15.successful and saved a lot of money. We would like to go further
:14:16. > :14:22.and match that to the national minimum wage. Nobody on the national
:14:23. > :14:26.minimum wage has to pay income tax. It seems right it is the people with
:14:27. > :14:32.the most money, with large amounts of wealth, who contribute to that.
:14:33. > :14:39.That is up to you. You want a mansion tax on homes of more than 2
:14:40. > :14:44.million and tax relief to be cut back on pensions. You want capital
:14:45. > :14:51.gains tax to rise on income tax. You want to keep the 45p tax rate. I do
:14:52. > :14:56.not think it would rule out going to 50. -- you would rule out. All of
:14:57. > :15:01.these things you are more likely to get from Labour than the
:15:02. > :15:07.Conservatives. What with the Tories agreed to? Let me ask him. We have
:15:08. > :15:17.the chairman of the Conservative party here. The only question we
:15:18. > :15:22.should be asking ourselves is, do we want to grow the economy and what
:15:23. > :15:25.help the poorest people the most? The answer is getting jobs and
:15:26. > :15:31.making sure people keep more of the money they earn. If by taking any of
:15:32. > :15:36.these steps it means there are fewer jobs in the economy and it means
:15:37. > :15:42.taxes are raised and employment levels are depressed as a result, it
:15:43. > :15:47.is the wrong thing to do. I do not think mansion tax makes sense. I am
:15:48. > :15:57.trying to find out where you are. You are against 50p as well. You can
:15:58. > :16:03.jack up taxes and export all of the expertise and wealth creators to
:16:04. > :16:11.another country. You would like a mansion tax? If I could come back to
:16:12. > :16:18.a point, if I could. Thank you very much. We hear from the Lib Dems and
:16:19. > :16:23.the Tories about how they would increase the income tax threshold.
:16:24. > :16:30.We have asked the people on lowest and middle incomes to pay the most.
:16:31. > :16:40.The average household is actually seeing a net reduction of ?891
:16:41. > :16:48.because of tax changes. You want a mansion tax? What we need to be
:16:49. > :16:53.looking at is an introduction of the 50p tax. You want a mansion tax?
:16:54. > :17:01.Yellow marker that is what we are looking at. Just looking at? It is
:17:02. > :17:07.your policy to have a mansion tax. As we heard from Ed Balls, I think
:17:08. > :17:11.it is fair. So, you want it? This morning my job is not to argue about
:17:12. > :17:17.the reasons for all against, it is to establish what you are for. You
:17:18. > :17:21.want a mansion tax and so does he. You want a top rate of tax of 50p?
:17:22. > :17:26.You would go along with that, wouldn't you? The key question is
:17:27. > :17:39.whether it raises more money. It is a very marginal case.
:17:40. > :17:44.If it did, would you go along with Labour on a 50p tax? You need to
:17:45. > :17:50.have more money coming from the richest to help the poor. If it
:17:51. > :17:54.reduces the income and damages the economy, there is no point. But it
:17:55. > :18:04.is a matter of negotiation for the two of you. You are both in favour
:18:05. > :18:08.of an mansion tax, you would want it if it brought more money in on the
:18:09. > :18:24.50p. The chairman of the Conservative Party is against both.
:18:25. > :18:31.We're talking Lib-Lab. I would be very dubious. Provocative. If the
:18:32. > :18:38.Lib Dems are not against it, have you got any idea what this 50p rate
:18:39. > :18:42.with ringing? We now essentially what has happened by reducing the
:18:43. > :18:46.tax rate down to 45p has seen a giveaway of ?3 billion. Where did
:18:47. > :18:53.you get that figure from? That is from the Treasury. No it is not,
:18:54. > :19:01.where did you get it from. That is the figure we have in terms of...
:19:02. > :19:07.No, you don't. HMRC figure that the court is down to 100 million. Not
:19:08. > :19:15.300. The Treasury figure is not 3 billion. We know that we saw a ?10
:19:16. > :19:23.billion extra raised by increasing the tax rate. We don't know that
:19:24. > :19:26.either. Shall we just clarify this. What was done previously was based
:19:27. > :19:33.on assumptions that ministers may, not made by their hatred seek, done
:19:34. > :19:39.in very quick time by George Osborne in the run-up to the 2012 budget.
:19:40. > :19:43.The 10 billion figure Ed Balls alluded to was a HMRC projection.
:19:44. > :19:48.The whole thing is complicated, lower rates coming in, venue hire
:19:49. > :19:55.rates were coming in. Between both of your parties, you have made quite
:19:56. > :20:00.a Horlicks of the whole thing. What we do know is when the top rate was
:20:01. > :20:05.cut to 45%, the amount the government talk in from that rose by
:20:06. > :20:10.about 7 billion. What we don't know if it was more people paying tax or
:20:11. > :20:16.if they had held back their income until the 45p came in. The reason I
:20:17. > :20:21.ask is because your party has come up with this because it is an
:20:22. > :20:26.essential part of cutting the deficit. But if it's main purpose
:20:27. > :20:33.was to cut the deficit, you need a clear idea of how much it will bring
:20:34. > :20:37.in? The previous estimates made by George Osborne, work done by the
:20:38. > :20:42.hate Jamar is the was done in quick time and there was lots of
:20:43. > :20:46.assumptions made by behaviour. As far as I am aware, we did see an
:20:47. > :20:52.increase of ?10 billion that came into the Treasury as a result when
:20:53. > :20:59.the tax rate went up to 50p. I have looked through the figures and that
:21:00. > :21:04.is not true. There is a lot of talk about the squeezed middle, where are
:21:05. > :21:09.all these ordinary middle-class families who don't, particularly in
:21:10. > :21:12.London and the south-east, don't earn that much. 40,000 a year if you
:21:13. > :21:21.live in London and the south-east is not a princely sum. What are you
:21:22. > :21:27.doing about them? We want to get rid of the deficit, we have got rid of a
:21:28. > :21:37.third of it so far. We said by 2017, 18 we can pay back money, or start
:21:38. > :21:43.to pay back money. You will only have 1.5 trillion to pay back. You
:21:44. > :21:48.will pay that back before any of those in the 40% bracket will get
:21:49. > :21:54.any relief? The important key moment is the point when we stop adding to
:21:55. > :21:59.the debt and start repaying it. The only argument about tax or anything
:22:00. > :22:03.else is what helps us get to that point the fastest. There is no doubt
:22:04. > :22:06.the number of jobs created in the economy and the speed at which the
:22:07. > :22:12.economy has started to grow can be put at risk by Ed Balls figures. He
:22:13. > :22:16.came out at the weekend using the wrong figures, without realising
:22:17. > :22:30.that those were projections and not actual figures. Julian, then
:22:31. > :22:35.Luciano. If we allowed you to have ?1 million tax-free annual pension,
:22:36. > :22:38.which is still a lot of money, ?45,000 a year to live on, but we
:22:39. > :22:44.will not subsidise people above that. People with a House worth ?2
:22:45. > :22:53.million, they can provide more money to help people at the bottom. What
:22:54. > :22:58.if they are asset rich and cash poor. What if they inherited the
:22:59. > :23:02.House, an old lady who has no income, what will they do? It would
:23:03. > :23:08.he set up as a charge against the House, so you would not pay it until
:23:09. > :23:12.you sell the House. But then you would not get the money to pay for
:23:13. > :23:17.what you want to spend now? Absolutely, it takes some time to
:23:18. > :23:24.come in. So you can't use it to finance current spending? Most
:23:25. > :23:29.people I expect, with pay as they go. You said people on mansion tax
:23:30. > :23:34.to use it to take people out of tax altogether, if you are declaring the
:23:35. > :23:43.mansion tax, you cannot use it? You would defer a small bit of it.
:23:44. > :23:46.Labour, cut capital gains tax to 18%, so it was less than the basic
:23:47. > :23:53.rate of income tax. That helps people who get paid in ways you can
:23:54. > :23:56.adjust to that. We wanted to be equal to have the balance between
:23:57. > :24:04.the different options. The times we will have to face 2015, 16, George
:24:05. > :24:08.Osborne told us he would be balancing the books. That is not
:24:09. > :24:14.going to happen. Now we will have a deficit of 79 billion. The policy is
:24:15. > :24:18.you are going to follow, the ones that have stopped other economy is
:24:19. > :24:26.growing and increased unemployment elsewhere. The Chancellor has the
:24:27. > :24:30.whole service -- Civil Service, it is only fair when we have seen the
:24:31. > :24:34.?3 billion giveaway to those on the highest incomes, those on the lowest
:24:35. > :24:41.have that to suffer over the course of your government. You guys don't
:24:42. > :24:46.even know your own numbers. As Ed Balls proved that the weekend. You
:24:47. > :24:53.take the Labour version of the mansion tax becomes a home tax,
:24:54. > :24:58.taxing houses of 440,000. That as it starts, no doubt it would come down
:24:59. > :25:02.after that. People would be hit because they live in an area with
:25:03. > :25:08.higher House prices like London and they would be hit by your so-called
:25:09. > :25:12.mansion tax. In principle, why do you think it is right those with the
:25:13. > :25:20.broadest shoulders don't contribute as much? They do, they pay most of
:25:21. > :25:23.the tax of the tax in this country. My concern is if you get rid of the
:25:24. > :25:26.wealth creators in this country, unemployment goes up and that is
:25:27. > :25:35.what has happened in other countries who have pursued the same line as Ed
:25:36. > :25:43.Balls. You have mentioned France. I have a little test for you. You have
:25:44. > :25:48.mentioned have bad things are under President Hollande. Family people
:25:49. > :25:57.are unemployed in France? 11.1%. What is the size of the French
:25:58. > :26:10.deficit? Pass. 4.1%. What is the size of the French national debt?
:26:11. > :26:16.Around 100%. 93.4%. Why is the 50p tax such a disincentive? Here is
:26:17. > :26:21.what I know, you can create an economy where people want to work in
:26:22. > :26:24.the economy, create jobs and they employ people. I was in Halifax last
:26:25. > :26:30.week and met an individual who has just done into business, she started
:26:31. > :26:33.six months ago and is ready to employ her first employee. The
:26:34. > :26:44.things we are doing to make it easy to employ people... We had to stop
:26:45. > :26:47.there. Julian we will keep you go but we will keep these two hostage
:26:48. > :26:50.because we were having so much fun. Now, the pub landlord, Al Murray, is
:26:51. > :26:53.a patriotic, right wing, Queen-loving character - just like
:26:54. > :26:57.the Prime Minister, some might say. They both enjoy a pint and a white
:26:58. > :27:00.wine for the lady, Blue Nunn presumably. And it turns out they're
:27:01. > :27:03.also related. Yes genealogists have discovered that Al Murray is the
:27:04. > :27:10.Prime Minister's first cousin five times removed.
:27:11. > :27:12.Who worked that out? Their great-great-great-great-great
:27:13. > :27:19.grandfather is one William Thackeray, grandfather of the famous
:27:20. > :27:22.novelist. And they don't just have shared interests, as you can see
:27:23. > :27:32.that have a remarkable visual resemblance too. Maybe the next time
:27:33. > :27:37.they meet in the Dog and Duck they can have a toast with one of these.
:27:38. > :27:41.But if either of them wants to get their mitts on one, they'll have to
:27:42. > :27:45.enter our competition. We'll remind you how to enter in a
:27:46. > :27:50.minute, but let's see if you can remember when this happened. This
:27:51. > :28:06.contains flashing images. A belief dictates that justice be
:28:07. > :29:21.served and mercy be shown. I think it is an easy one this one.
:29:22. > :29:25.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug send your answer
:29:26. > :29:29.to our special quiz e-mail address. And you can see the full terms and
:29:30. > :29:31.conditions for Guess The Year on our website.
:29:32. > :29:35.It's coming up to midday here, just take a look at Big Ben. That can
:29:36. > :29:39.mean only one thing! Yes, Prime Minister's Questions on its way. And
:29:40. > :29:47.that's not all - Nick Robinson is here. Syria, the economy, got to be
:29:48. > :29:54.two things? I think so. It is a repeat of last week. Ed Miliband
:29:55. > :29:57.will want to gain some of the credit for the decision on Syria. Labour
:29:58. > :30:01.put the motion down debated on Syria. The conservative Immigration
:30:02. > :30:08.Minister said it would be a token to have Syrian refugees. Ed Miliband
:30:09. > :30:13.will want to claim this is because of Labour pressure in Parliament.
:30:14. > :30:19.And we are only days since Ed Balls unveiled the policy on 50p tax. The
:30:20. > :30:27.day after the GDP numbers. He did not raise the economy, he would be
:30:28. > :30:31.jeered about as much as Ed Balls was jeered for the amount of time he
:30:32. > :30:35.took to get to his feet yesterday. It will be interesting to see how
:30:36. > :30:45.Labour are just position as evidence of the recovery gathers steam? It
:30:46. > :30:50.has been doing that already. But the cost of living crisis will not be
:30:51. > :30:56.sold by growth on this scale. In a sense both parties agree with that.
:30:57. > :30:58.The problem again, before the recession. Let's go over to the
:30:59. > :31:12.Prime Mr Speaker, figures showed the UK
:31:13. > :31:20.economy is growing at its fastest rate since 2007. That is proof that
:31:21. > :31:26.our plan is working. There is a choice, stick with it or abandoned
:31:27. > :31:29.the plan that is delivering a better economic future and jobs for my
:31:30. > :31:39.constituents in Norwich North. With the Prime Minister Brindley
:31:40. > :31:45.long-term decisions are helping -- with the Prime Minister agree these
:31:46. > :31:50.long-term decisions are helping? That should be the test of the
:31:51. > :31:54.decisions we are taking. It will secure a better future, more
:31:55. > :31:58.stability, more peace of mind for our children and grandchildren. Last
:31:59. > :32:02.week we saw the biggest number of new jobs in a quarter since records
:32:03. > :32:06.began. This week we see the fastest growth in our economy was she is.
:32:07. > :32:11.There should be no complacency, the job was nowhere near complete. If we
:32:12. > :32:27.stick to our long-term economic plan, we can see our country rise
:32:28. > :32:32.and people rise as well. We were welcomed the change of heart
:32:33. > :32:36.regarding Syrian refugees. We look forward to the statement by the Home
:32:37. > :32:41.Secretary. Will he reassure the house he will act with the utmost
:32:42. > :32:47.urgency, because we are talking about the most honourable people in
:32:48. > :32:52.refugee camps, who need help now? We will act with the greatest urgency.
:32:53. > :32:57.When it comes to Syria, we have acted with the greatest urgency
:32:58. > :33:02.throughout. We have made available ?600 million, which makes the second
:33:03. > :33:08.largest humanitarian donor. We have provided food for 188,000 people and
:33:09. > :33:11.clean water for almost 1 million. Medical consultations for almost a
:33:12. > :33:16.quarter of a million. We will be coming forward with a scheme to help
:33:17. > :33:20.the most needy people in the refugee camps and offer them a home in our
:33:21. > :33:25.country. We want to make sure we help those who have been victims of
:33:26. > :33:29.sexual violence. The Foreign Secretary has rightly, on behalf of
:33:30. > :33:36.the whole country, championed this across the world. I welcome the
:33:37. > :33:40.decision by the Government to accept Syrian refugees. It is a very
:33:41. > :33:47.important cause. Another subject, can I ask the Prime Minister, who
:33:48. > :33:51.said this before the election, showing we are all in this together
:33:52. > :34:09.means the rich will pay their share? That is why the 50p tax rate
:34:10. > :34:14.will have to stay. Be fact is... The question has been asked and the
:34:15. > :34:17.answer must be heard. Under this government, the richest will pay
:34:18. > :34:22.more in income tax in every year than any year when he was in
:34:23. > :34:27.office. I want the richest to pay more in tax and under this
:34:28. > :34:31.government they are. We are creating jobs, we are creating growth. We are
:34:32. > :34:35.encouraging investment. What we heard from Labour over the last 48
:34:36. > :34:44.hours is they want to attack that grows, they want to tax jobs and
:34:45. > :34:54.businesses. We now have in Britain and anti-business, and he grows,
:34:55. > :34:58.anti-jobs party. What we have is a policy with the overwhelming support
:34:59. > :35:08.of the most important people of all, the people of Britain. He is
:35:09. > :35:14.busy rather coy in telling us. It was he who said it in 2009, just
:35:15. > :35:18.before the election. It was him that said, the 50p tax rate was a symbol
:35:19. > :35:25.of us all being in it together and now it has gone. Now, can he tell us
:35:26. > :35:33.whether he rules out cutting the top rate further to 40p? The Chancellor
:35:34. > :35:37.set out yesterday exactly what our priorities are. Cutting taxes for
:35:38. > :35:40.the lowest paid and for middle-income people. I am not
:35:41. > :35:43.surprised he did not hear the Chancellor because, like the rest of
:35:44. > :35:51.the Labour Party coming here was not here yesterday. -- the Labour Party,
:35:52. > :35:57.he was not here yesterday. They left the Shadow Chancellor all on his
:35:58. > :36:06.own. While we are in the business of who has said interesting things in
:36:07. > :36:21.recent days... Let me ask him this... Mr Robertson! Mr Robertson,
:36:22. > :36:31.calm yourself, man! The lion must get back in his den. There is plenty
:36:32. > :36:36.more. There is plenty more. While we are on the subject of interesting
:36:37. > :36:41.quotes, who, in the last 48 hours, said this? Do I think the level of
:36:42. > :36:48.public spending going into the crisis was a problem for Britain?
:36:49. > :36:54.No, I don't, nor our deficit, nor the national debt. He even said in
:36:55. > :37:02.some areas, we can spend more. That is the Shadow Chancellor. We were
:37:03. > :37:09.talking earlier about our children. Can our children in future turned to
:37:10. > :37:17.the dictionary and look up the definition of denial and find it
:37:18. > :37:23.will say Balls, aired. A long time ago, I asked a question. The Prime
:37:24. > :37:33.Minister failed to answer it. Let's give him another go. Does he rule
:37:34. > :37:41.out giving another tax cut to the richest in society by cutting the
:37:42. > :37:53.top rate to 40p? Calm down, calm down. Yes, yes or no? There is so
:37:54. > :37:58.much good news I cannot wait to get up and tell him. Our priority is to
:37:59. > :38:04.cut taxes for the lowest paid in our country. That is why we have taken 2
:38:05. > :38:09.million people act of tax. Let us look to the reaction to his 50p
:38:10. > :38:13.announcement. Businesses have said it would cost jobs. Labour ministers
:38:14. > :38:21.that he's served alongside have queued up to say it is economic leap
:38:22. > :38:26.illiterate. The ISS has said it will raise hardly any money. It is a
:38:27. > :38:33.disastrous policy launch from a disastrous Labour economic team.
:38:34. > :38:37.With every answer he shows who he stands up for, a few at the top and
:38:38. > :38:44.not the ordinary families of Britain. That is the truth. It is a
:38:45. > :38:47.very simple question. I know the Prime Minister does not love
:38:48. > :38:51.answering questions at Prime Minister 's questions but that is
:38:52. > :38:57.the point of these occasions. We are asking him a very simple question.
:38:58. > :39:03.We have a very clear position which we would reverse the millionaires
:39:04. > :39:09.tax cut and put a top rate of tax back to 50p. I am asking him for a
:39:10. > :39:18.very simple question: Does he rule out reducing the top rate to 40p?
:39:19. > :39:27.Yes, or no? Our priority are tax cuts for low earners and middle
:39:28. > :39:36.earners. What have we seen from him so far this year? A banking policy
:39:37. > :39:39.the Governor of the Bank of England will say increases risk. A tax
:39:40. > :39:46.policy that business leaders said would be a risk to our recovery.
:39:47. > :39:51.There is a crisis in our country, it is a crisis of economic credibility
:39:52. > :39:55.for the Labour Party. The whole country will have heard he had three
:39:56. > :40:00.opportunities to answer and he could not give us a straight answer to the
:40:01. > :40:04.question. After four years of this government, people are worse off.
:40:05. > :40:10.This is a Prime Minister who has already given those at the top,
:40:11. > :40:15.millionaires, a ?100,000 tax cut and he wants to give them another one.
:40:16. > :40:20.He can only govern for the few, he can never governed for the many. I
:40:21. > :40:26.will tell you who we are governing for, the 1.3 million people who got
:40:27. > :40:29.jobs under this government, the 400,000 new businesses under this
:40:30. > :40:33.government, the 2 million people we have taken out of tax under this
:40:34. > :40:37.government, people on the minimum wage you have seen tax bills come
:40:38. > :40:41.down by two thirds under this government, that is who we are
:40:42. > :40:45.governing for. We have more factories producing more goods and
:40:46. > :40:50.more people taking home a pay packet, more security for
:40:51. > :40:55.hard-working families. Now we can see their risks - Labour, a wrist to
:40:56. > :41:09.jobs, a risk to the recovery and the future of Britain 's security. Mr
:41:10. > :41:13.Speaker, the severe flooding on the Somerset levels is causing acute
:41:14. > :41:17.distress to the people who live in that area. Will the Prime Minister
:41:18. > :41:22.gave a commitment today to both take immediate action to try and clear
:41:23. > :41:26.the flood water from the Somerset levels as soon as possible, and also
:41:27. > :41:32.to put in place a long-term plan to try and make sure that this does not
:41:33. > :41:42.happen again in the future? I can give my honourable friend both those
:41:43. > :41:48.assurances. COBRA will be meeting again. The system is not -- the
:41:49. > :41:55.situation is not acceptable. Dredging will start as soon as it is
:41:56. > :41:58.practical and as soon as the waters have started to come down. The
:41:59. > :42:02.Environment Agency is pumping as much water as possible, given the
:42:03. > :42:10.capacity of the rivers around the levels. I have ordered high pressure
:42:11. > :42:14.pumps to be made available to increase this operation as soon as
:42:15. > :42:21.there is capacity in the rivers to support that. We are looking at
:42:22. > :42:27.further help and I will try to get this problem sorted. Can I invite
:42:28. > :42:36.the Prime Minister to visit my constituency in Corby? Spend a day
:42:37. > :42:39.on a zero hours contract with someone on the minimum wage and he
:42:40. > :42:47.can get an insight into the world of work for many people on his watch? I
:42:48. > :42:53.will be visiting his constituency in the next 16 months. It is
:42:54. > :42:56.unacceptable that people are paid below minimum wage. We want to see
:42:57. > :43:02.more enforcement, more action to make sure that does not happen. It
:43:03. > :43:09.is not accessed double. We have a minimum wage for a good reason and I
:43:10. > :43:14.want to see it properly enforced. Is it not the case we have learned over
:43:15. > :43:25.successive years over the last two or three decades that irresponsible
:43:26. > :43:30.economic policy to maximise tax rates, if they are set too high,
:43:31. > :43:37.they are the politics of envy and raise less taxes? Might honourable
:43:38. > :43:40.friend makes a very sensible point. The point of this is to raise
:43:41. > :43:45.revenue and not to make a political point. What the party opposite wants
:43:46. > :43:48.to do is make a political point because they believe in the politics
:43:49. > :43:53.of envy and not raising money for public services. In the end, the
:43:54. > :43:58.truth is this... The top 1% of taxpayers in our country are paying
:43:59. > :44:01.30% of the total income tax take. The richest taxpayers are actually
:44:02. > :44:15.going to be paying more in every year of this government. Mr Speaker,
:44:16. > :44:20.over 300,000 people are reported to be paid less than the minimum wage.
:44:21. > :44:24.I was heartened by what the prime minister just said. If that is the
:44:25. > :44:31.case and he is really committed to the minimum wage, why have only two
:44:32. > :44:36.employees been prosecuted and half the level of investigations? We have
:44:37. > :44:39.seen around 700 penalties issued for not paying minimum wage. We are
:44:40. > :44:44.taking enforcement action and we need to take more enforcement
:44:45. > :44:48.action. The Chancellor has made very clear that we also want to see the
:44:49. > :44:53.opportunity for the minimum wage to rise as the economy recovers. It
:44:54. > :44:58.should be possible to see the value of the minimum wage restored. We are
:44:59. > :45:02.keen to see that happen. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I know the Prime
:45:03. > :45:08.Minister deals in facts. We have more jobs in this country than ever
:45:09. > :45:13.recorded before. We also have a gross prediction that is higher than
:45:14. > :45:17.anyone would have thought a year ago. Will we now consider looking at
:45:18. > :45:21.the minimum wage and considering whether the level of the minimum
:45:22. > :45:29.wage could be racer that we ensure that everyone benefits from this
:45:30. > :45:33.recovery? -- could be raised. It is extremely good news we have over 30
:45:34. > :45:37.million people in work - record numbers in work. What has happened
:45:38. > :45:42.under this government is that the minimum wage has gone up by 10%. We
:45:43. > :45:46.have cut taxes are low earners and that means another 10% increase in
:45:47. > :45:51.the minimum wage. I hope it will be possible to see the real value of
:45:52. > :45:53.the minimum wage restored. I think we should listen and allow the low
:45:54. > :45:58.pay commission to do their work. I do not want to see this issue is
:45:59. > :46:02.becoming something of a political football. Everyone agrees, as an
:46:03. > :46:11.economy recovers, it should be possible to restore that value.
:46:12. > :46:20.A man who lived in the UK for 40 years and who has family in my
:46:21. > :46:25.constituency has been convicted of blastomeres and sentenced to death
:46:26. > :46:29.in Pakistan. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2010 and
:46:30. > :46:33.was treated in Edinburgh. But the judges refused to take that into
:46:34. > :46:36.account. I wrote to the Foreign Secretary yesterday, but can the
:46:37. > :46:44.Prime Minister is your meat the government is doing what they can to
:46:45. > :46:48.return this man to the UK to get the treatment he needs? I can get the
:46:49. > :46:53.honourable lady the assurance she asked for. I am concerned about this
:46:54. > :46:55.death sentence, and it is our long-standing policy to oppose the
:46:56. > :47:00.death and naughty in all circumstances. But the Pakistani
:47:01. > :47:06.authorities can be in no doubt of the seriousness with which we view
:47:07. > :47:09.this. We spoke to the Punjab in Monday, and the high commission in
:47:10. > :47:15.Islamabad continues to raise this. Foreign officials are meeting
:47:16. > :47:26.Pakistani officials in London today. We take this seriously and we are
:47:27. > :47:33.making that clear at every level. Portsmouth is an entrepreneurial
:47:34. > :47:37.city delivering eight drop of 25% in GSA claimants over the last year.
:47:38. > :47:42.With this in mind, is the Prime Minister aware of a commercial plan
:47:43. > :47:46.put forward to build a number of specialist vessels designed to
:47:47. > :47:50.revolutionise and facilitate the industrialisation of the tidal
:47:51. > :47:54.energy sector. Would the Prime Minister agree that Portsmouth would
:47:55. > :47:58.be an excellent place to build those ships? Can I congratulate the
:47:59. > :48:06.honourable lady for everything she has done to highlight Portsmouth and
:48:07. > :48:10.all matters and maritime. I am aware of this project. I understand there
:48:11. > :48:15.will be a meeting with the business department. It is testament to the
:48:16. > :48:18.excellent reputation Portsmouth has that there is so much interest in
:48:19. > :48:24.this sector that we want to see expanded. The appointment of a
:48:25. > :48:28.minister the Portsmouth will make a big difference. It is good news the
:48:29. > :48:34.youth claimant is down so far in Portsmouth, but we must stick to the
:48:35. > :48:39.economic plan. Increasingly in London, young people are finding it
:48:40. > :48:43.impossible to be able to afford or rent or buy a home. Why is it under
:48:44. > :48:48.this government we are seeing the fewest number of housing starts
:48:49. > :48:55.since the 1920s and a housing bubble that is being driven by wealthy,
:48:56. > :48:58.overseas buyers? First of all, on that last point, it is this
:48:59. > :49:02.government that is introducing capital gains tax for overseas
:49:03. > :49:09.buyers, some think the Labour Party for 13 years never did. When it
:49:10. > :49:12.comes to housing, you have nearly 400,000 new homes delivered since
:49:13. > :49:18.2010. Huge amounts of money going into social housing. It is this
:49:19. > :49:20.government reforming the planning system, often opposed by the party
:49:21. > :49:27.opposite, to make these things happen. Does my right honourable
:49:28. > :49:31.friend share my concern that the Public Administration select
:49:32. > :49:39.committee enquiry into police recorded crime statistics has found
:49:40. > :49:41.flaws in reliability. While crime is undoubtedly falling over all, would
:49:42. > :49:47.he agree with me the Home Office should work urgently with police
:49:48. > :49:50.chiefs across the country to restore the authority of these statistics
:49:51. > :49:55.and police chiefs should concentrate on leadership based on values and
:49:56. > :50:02.service to the public, not on discredited targets? On his last
:50:03. > :50:08.point, we scrapped all targets apart from the target of reducing crime,
:50:09. > :50:12.which is the most important thing. It is important statistics are as
:50:13. > :50:15.robust as possible, that is why we transferred responsibility to the
:50:16. > :50:21.independent office of National statistics. We have passed HMRC to
:50:22. > :50:27.carry out an audit on crime recording in every Louise Fors. The
:50:28. > :50:32.Home Secretary has written to all police constables to make sure
:50:33. > :50:40.statistics must be recorded credibly. It is whether you look at
:50:41. > :50:42.crimes recorded by the police or the British crime survey, they show
:50:43. > :50:50.crime is falling and has fallen by more than 10%. I would like to thank
:50:51. > :50:56.the Prime Minister for his comments about the man in Pakistan who has
:50:57. > :51:00.given the death sentence. Dozens of your own back ventures have said
:51:01. > :51:03.they will support the amendment to the Immigration Bill which will be
:51:04. > :51:09.incompatible to any treaties. One Tory MPs have demanded British
:51:10. > :51:12.Parliament be able to veto every single European law, which he knows
:51:13. > :51:17.is unworkable. The Prime Minister has given concession after
:51:18. > :51:22.concession to the anti-Europeans. When will he learn they will never
:51:23. > :51:28.be satisfied with anything except a British withdrawal from the European
:51:29. > :51:33.Union? I don't agree. We need to correct in the Immigration Bill, the
:51:34. > :51:36.fact it has been so difficult to deport people who don't have a right
:51:37. > :51:42.to be here, who should be facing trial overseas, or should be
:51:43. > :51:46.deported overseas, but they make spurious arguments about the right
:51:47. > :51:50.to a family life. It is right we are changing that. It is a sensible step
:51:51. > :52:01.and nothing anti-European about that and we should pass the Immigration
:52:02. > :52:04.Bill with speed. Mr Speaker, last year the government successfully
:52:05. > :52:10.deported Abu Qatada. The new Immigration Bill will crack down on
:52:11. > :52:16.illegal immigrants make it easier to deport foreign criminals. Can he
:52:17. > :52:22.confirm immigration law applies to political parties and their gurus? I
:52:23. > :52:30.can, but I am sure I should not comment on this case that is now
:52:31. > :52:34.being investigated. Don't tempt me! It is an important piece of law we
:52:35. > :52:37.will be discussing on Thursday, because we don't just need to have
:52:38. > :52:40.control at our borders, we need to make sure Britain cannot come to
:52:41. > :52:46.Britain and abuse our health service or get rights to counsel or other
:52:47. > :52:51.housing, bank accounts and driving licences if they have no right to be
:52:52. > :52:56.here. The Immigration Bill makes those important changes. And many
:52:57. > :53:00.more, including making it possible for us to deport people who don't
:53:01. > :53:03.matter have a risk in their own country before they have an appeal.
:53:04. > :53:09.They can appeal from overseas. I hope we will not delay too much
:53:10. > :53:12.before passing this bill. People in my constituency and up and down the
:53:13. > :53:16.country are working harder just to make ends meet, as their pay is
:53:17. > :53:20.outstripped by prices. Does the Prime Minister agree with the
:53:21. > :53:26.Business Secretary who said a property fuelled recovery is the
:53:27. > :53:31.wrong recovery? And the answer is on page 37 in his folder! What I think
:53:32. > :53:37.he will find is the Business Secretary said, it is welcome that
:53:38. > :53:40.in terms of our GDP growth, we have seen strong growth in manufacturing
:53:41. > :53:46.and industrial production and not just in services. In terms of making
:53:47. > :53:52.sure we genuinely help people, as our economy grows, we need to cut
:53:53. > :53:58.taxes. We have cut taxes, because we have made difficult decisions about
:53:59. > :54:01.public spending. Every one of those decisions has been opposed by the
:54:02. > :54:05.party opposite will stop if we had listened to them people would have a
:54:06. > :54:10.more difficult situation with the cost of living. Can I thank the
:54:11. > :54:18.Prime Minister for his announcement on the dredging of the rivers in
:54:19. > :54:23.Somerset, an area where we have an area bigger than the size of Bristol
:54:24. > :54:28.underwater and it has been under water for more than a month. Can I
:54:29. > :54:33.take it from him, that what he is doing is committing the whole of
:54:34. > :54:38.government, including DC LG, transport and the Treasury to
:54:39. > :54:43.working with Defra to deal with this situation, not now, but for future
:54:44. > :54:50.years as well? I can give him that assurance. I don't want to see
:54:51. > :54:55.dredging work being held up by arguments in other departments. We
:54:56. > :54:59.have got to crack this problem. I would like to praise all the
:55:00. > :55:02.emergency services, Environment Agency, local flood wardens who have
:55:03. > :55:07.done such a valuable work, including in the Somerset Levels. We now need
:55:08. > :55:11.to move more rapidly to things like dredging. Mount Pleasant in my
:55:12. > :55:19.constituency is a development site that used to belong to Royal Mail.
:55:20. > :55:25.It was sold for an absolute song. Is it morally right for at least half
:55:26. > :55:29.of that site to be used for local people. Independent valuers have
:55:30. > :55:33.said developers could build 50% genuinely affordable housing and
:55:34. > :55:38.still make a huge profit. In those circumstances, given the level of
:55:39. > :55:41.local opposition, would it not be outrageous for the Mayor of London
:55:42. > :55:46.to approve the development of this site? How can 12% affordable housing
:55:47. > :55:52.help with the cost of living crisis for Londoners? I am happy to look at
:55:53. > :55:57.the site she mentions. But I think it is important we allowed the Mayor
:55:58. > :56:01.of London to carry out his planning responsibilities. When there are
:56:02. > :56:04.redevelopment opportunities, it is important they are not endlessly
:56:05. > :56:10.blocked because we need the developments, we need the growth and
:56:11. > :56:17.we need the housing. With the Prime Minister... The honourable gentleman
:56:18. > :56:21.is talking about Holocaust Memorial Day, let's have some respect.
:56:22. > :56:29.Holocaust Memorial day to race on Monday, will he join me in
:56:30. > :56:35.commemorating the Holocaust Memorial trust? I am grateful to the
:56:36. > :56:41.honourable gentleman for his question. Holocaust day is an
:56:42. > :56:45.important day. It gave me an enormous pleasure to welcome to
:56:46. > :56:50.Downing Street, no less than 50 Holocaust survivors who came and
:56:51. > :56:55.talked about their stories. Incredible and brave. We should rank
:56:56. > :56:59.them for the work they have done going into school after-school
:57:00. > :57:02.reminding people of the dangers of what happened in the past and how we
:57:03. > :57:07.should drive out hate and prejudice from our national life. The
:57:08. > :57:11.Holocaust commission has been set up and it is a cross-party commission
:57:12. > :57:18.with representatives from all parties, in order to ask the
:57:19. > :57:20.question, as tragedy -- tragically these Holocaust survivors come to
:57:21. > :57:25.the end of their lives, what should we do as a country to make sure the
:57:26. > :57:28.memory of this never fades? Whether it is recording their memories,
:57:29. > :57:33.museum, all these things will be looked at. I am sure the report will
:57:34. > :57:37.have support across this House. Despite the rhetoric, for most
:57:38. > :57:42.ordinary people, the reality is child poverty up, foodbank usage up,
:57:43. > :57:48.payday lending up, energy costs up, and wages down. The Prime Minister
:57:49. > :57:54.said he wanted the top job because he thought he would be good at it.
:57:55. > :57:59.So, when will he start to govern for all of the people in all of the
:58:00. > :58:02.country? Just to correct the first thing that came out of his mouth,
:58:03. > :58:10.under this government child poverty is down. I am not satisfied with the
:58:11. > :58:17.measure, I think we need a better measure. But employment is up,
:58:18. > :58:20.growth is up, the number of businesses is up. Yes we have a long
:58:21. > :58:26.way to go to restore our economic fortunes but we have a long-term
:58:27. > :58:32.economic plan, delivering for Britain's families. We have got to
:58:33. > :58:36.stick at it. Mr Speaker, I am pleased to report large companies
:58:37. > :58:46.are finding Watford and attractive place to do business from. I want to
:58:47. > :58:53.mention Wickes who are setting their headquarters up. But I went to the
:58:54. > :59:01.enterprise Hub in Watford last week and saw quite a few small businesses
:59:02. > :59:06.such as AC Solutions who said to me they were frustrated why the amount
:59:07. > :59:10.of bureaucracy and red tape that is hindering their business. I would
:59:11. > :59:17.like to ask the Prime Minister what he intends to do about it? I am
:59:18. > :59:20.grateful for what he says about the business environment in Watford. We
:59:21. > :59:26.are helping with taxes and red tape and helping with exports on red
:59:27. > :59:28.tape. This is going to be the first government in modern history that at
:59:29. > :59:33.the end of the parliament we will have less regulation than at the
:59:34. > :59:36.beginning of the parliament. I would commend the Minister for government
:59:37. > :59:42.policy and the business Department for his heroic effort to get those
:59:43. > :59:47.legislation onto websites so people can tell us what we can remove. We
:59:48. > :59:52.are on target for scrapping 3000 regulations under this government.
:59:53. > :00:01.This month, Cabinet papers revealed the Thatcher government sought to
:00:02. > :00:06.escalate the miners strike, close pits and the scars of that dispute
:00:07. > :00:10.are deep in communities like Wigan. Some families have never recovered
:00:11. > :00:14.and some have died waiting for justice. 30 years on they deserve
:00:15. > :00:19.the truth and an apology. Why are they still waiting? As my right
:00:20. > :00:23.honourable friend said, we have a system for releasing paperwork from
:00:24. > :00:28.ten, 20, 30 years ago and we should stick to that. If anyone needs to
:00:29. > :00:33.make an apology for their role in the miners strike it should be
:00:34. > :00:38.Arthur Scargill for the way he made that union. If other people want to
:00:39. > :00:42.ask about their roles, there was the role of the leader of the Labour
:00:43. > :00:47.Party, who at that time never condemned the fact they would never
:00:48. > :00:49.hold a ballot. There are lessons for Labour to land, and judging from
:00:50. > :00:59.their performance today, they have not learned any of them. Thank you
:01:00. > :01:04.Mr Speaker. There are plans to how is the new Bishop of Bath outside
:01:05. > :01:09.the city. Can the Prime Minister do everything in his power to postpone
:01:10. > :01:14.the residents of the bishops of Bath and Wells which has served perfectly
:01:15. > :01:19.well for 800 years? I think that might be a question for the member
:01:20. > :01:24.for Banbury, who guides me in these important issues. But I will go away
:01:25. > :01:30.and look at the issue of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. I will try and
:01:31. > :01:34.put the image of Blackadder out of my mind and try and come up with the
:01:35. > :01:39.right answer. If we are to have a parliament that reflects the people
:01:40. > :01:48.it serves, the Prime Minister must he disappointed that one in ten of
:01:49. > :01:54.his women MPs who came in in 2010 have indicated they will not
:01:55. > :01:59.re-stand. And that one of his most senior chairs of committee is facing
:02:00. > :02:06.deselection. What is the Tory party's problem with women? I am
:02:07. > :02:08.proud of the fact in the last parliament we had 19 women
:02:09. > :02:13.Conservative MPs and now it is closer to 50 in this Parliament. Do
:02:14. > :02:23.I want is to go further and faster? Yes I do. We will start by targeting
:02:24. > :02:28.his seat at the next election! I am sure the whole House will wish to
:02:29. > :02:30.congratulate my right honourable friend, the chancellor of the
:02:31. > :02:38.Exchequer, in sticking to their economic ones which is producing
:02:39. > :02:44.prosperity for the country. Would he agree with me it would be a foolish
:02:45. > :02:51.mistake if the British people were to place their trust in the shadow
:02:52. > :02:55.chancellor who has never owned up to their responsibility of last Labour
:02:56. > :03:02.government the catastrophic budget and sticks to the Socialist party of
:03:03. > :03:10.tax and spend which will ruin Britain? He put it with Carrick
:03:11. > :03:14.touristic strength and clarity. The party opposite have learned no
:03:15. > :03:18.lessons from the past, they said they will do it all over again and
:03:19. > :03:24.have a tax policy that tack -- cost jobs and now they have as Ms saying
:03:25. > :03:32.they have not got a clue. They remind me those two, have you seen
:03:33. > :03:41.the film Gravity? It is about to people who stepped out into a void
:03:42. > :03:44.and had no clue what to do next. Caroline Lucas. In light of the
:03:45. > :03:52.Prime Minister's welcome recognition at last week's PMQs, Brighton is a
:03:53. > :03:56.superb and sunny place. Will he visit Brighton energy co-op in my
:03:57. > :04:03.constituency that is showing the real potential of renewable energy,
:04:04. > :04:07.particularly solar power? And if we can see the energy strategy
:04:08. > :04:10.particularly provision for energy providers to sell to consumers, its
:04:11. > :04:17.potential would have far more. We pursue this strategy instead of
:04:18. > :04:19.fracking? I am sure I will be in Brighton before long and look
:04:20. > :04:25.forward to hearing about the renewable energy story. We need both
:04:26. > :04:29.of these things, we have set out the strike prices and the energy act, so
:04:30. > :04:34.we can be a real magnet or investment in renewable energy. We
:04:35. > :04:40.also need to take advantage of shale gas, clean gas, helping to keep
:04:41. > :04:45.energy bills down. I would say to those in the green movement who
:04:46. > :04:49.oppose it simply because shale gas includes carbon, it is a misguided
:04:50. > :04:51.approach. We want affordable energy as well as green energy. That should
:04:52. > :05:04.be our goal. The Home Secretary is about to make
:05:05. > :05:08.a statement to the House following PMQ 's. He only asked one question
:05:09. > :05:14.and then moved on, perhaps because we are getting this statement. It
:05:15. > :05:20.was then argy-bargy about the economy. It was interesting because
:05:21. > :05:25.the Prime Minister came off the back of the announcement by Ed Balls of
:05:26. > :05:29.Labour going for a top rate of 50p, it was not the best received
:05:30. > :05:33.announcement. Then we had the growth figures. The Prime Minister seemed
:05:34. > :05:48.to be less than sure-footed, despite the backdrop to today's PMQs. Last
:05:49. > :05:52.week, Christopher says, Ed Miliband asked David Cameron to allow Syrian
:05:53. > :05:58.refugees into the UK. This week he well. Maybe all this lark works.
:05:59. > :06:01.Another tweet saying we have descended into farce. Quite a few
:06:02. > :06:11.e-mails and tweet along that line, because of the noise and bickering.
:06:12. > :06:14.Philip Jones, Ed Miliband smells the Prime Minister -- nails the Prime
:06:15. > :06:23.Minister. The runner can Nelson from Liverpool, Ed Miliband attempts to
:06:24. > :06:28.raise the politics of envy. Ray from Nottingham, how does Ed Miliband get
:06:29. > :06:36.away with the tax cut for millionaires jibe? A bit messy,
:06:37. > :06:44.Nick? In a way because Ed Miliband did a simple tactic in asking a
:06:45. > :06:49.question, don't get the answer, ask it again, don't get the answer and
:06:50. > :06:55.ask it for a third time. That is what the Labour leader decided to
:06:56. > :07:05.do. The Prime Minister does not want to rule this out because one day
:07:06. > :07:09.they may want to do it. He had not got easily a kind of easy answer to
:07:10. > :07:13.it. He said all the things he should have been able to do, about the
:07:14. > :07:17.growth rate and inflation and unemployment, and pulling out all
:07:18. > :07:24.those quotes from business leaders and former Labour ministers having a
:07:25. > :07:27.go. He struggled to do. What is most interesting about it, Ed Miliband
:07:28. > :07:32.was criticised internally for not sticking with strategy. He announced
:07:33. > :07:35.something in a speech and talked about something different. What it
:07:36. > :07:39.showed what he had learned that lesson. If you're going to make a
:07:40. > :07:44.big announcement and think it is popular, stick with it. Keep it in
:07:45. > :07:49.peoples minds and keep banging away with it until people have caught and
:07:50. > :07:53.on that is what you are about. Why would a Conservative Prime Minister
:07:54. > :08:00.not say that one day, when finances allow it and economic conditions
:08:01. > :08:05.are, we would like to return to 40p? We want all taxes to come down,
:08:06. > :08:10.including all rates of tax. He did not say that. What he did say in
:08:11. > :08:16.response to this political manoeuvring from Ed Miliband, trying
:08:17. > :08:19.to kind of stick around this 40, 45, 50p tax thing, the Prime Minister
:08:20. > :08:24.said his main concern is getting tax down for lower and middle income
:08:25. > :08:31.people. You are going to expect it Prime Minister to stand at a
:08:32. > :08:37.dispatch box -- you are not going to expect a Prime Minister to stand at
:08:38. > :08:42.a dispatch box before the election and bright a budget. What we're
:08:43. > :08:49.looking for is principles of taxation. Why did he not say, of
:08:50. > :10:09.course he is taking those at the lower end out of tax? He has not
:10:10. > :10:15.done anything Labour has got you on the run on this, they have made you
:10:16. > :10:19.nervous about top rates of tax. Where as most conservatives would
:10:20. > :10:24.like to see a red return to the top rate of 40%, because of Labour's
:10:25. > :10:28.position, the Prime Minister is frightened of the political fallout?
:10:29. > :10:35.For Labour it is all to do with positioning. For us it is what
:10:36. > :10:39.creates a better economy. We have come out over the weekend and said
:10:40. > :10:47.it would be mad to sign up to putting tax up to 50p, if that means
:10:48. > :10:53.it loses jobs. We would only return to taxes under a Labour government?
:10:54. > :11:02.The Prime Minister was asked three times, a direct question. He did not
:11:03. > :11:07.and set it. While we have seen this ?3 billion giveaway to these people
:11:08. > :11:13.earning the top rate of tax, when the average working person is now
:11:14. > :11:23.?1600 worse off. If you don't include the fact they have had their
:11:24. > :11:29.taxes reduced. The equivalent of those tax credits and child benefit,
:11:30. > :11:37.it is ?881 per household. The Prime Minister was asked a direct question
:11:38. > :11:52.about the top 1%, who had not had to experience any pain. It is a much
:11:53. > :12:04.larger amount than 1%. You will probably have the figures? Who pay a
:12:05. > :12:09.higher tax rate. Higher, not top. Three .5 million paid 40%. It would
:12:10. > :12:14.be close to 5 billion by the end of your government. Why is 40p and then
:12:15. > :12:20.now if it wasn't unfair for 13 years of Labour government? We are coming
:12:21. > :12:27.back to what is happening now. The average working person, ?1600 worse
:12:28. > :12:34.off. What do the cuts to the top rate of someone earning tax meant?
:12:35. > :12:40.Reduce their income down from 116,000 to 114,000. I'm talking
:12:41. > :12:45.about the current context of deficit reduction. Millions of households up
:12:46. > :12:49.and down the country are expected to pay while those with the top incomes
:12:50. > :12:56.have not reduced the bonanza. I don't think it is fair. Do you agree
:12:57. > :13:02.with the 2.7 million who have been taken out of paying any tax? All of
:13:03. > :13:09.those people have been taken out of tax entirely. Rather than talking
:13:10. > :13:12.about those 2.7 million... You cannot talk about that in isolation.
:13:13. > :13:18.You have to look at the combination, the other fact is child benefit, you
:13:19. > :13:22.have to look at the impact of working tax credit. In my
:13:23. > :13:26.constituency I have working couples who cannot make up the hours because
:13:27. > :13:31.of the local supermarket in my constituency, don't have the hours
:13:32. > :13:35.for them to do. You must accept employment has gone up, more people
:13:36. > :13:41.are in work, including in your past, certainly in the north-west and the
:13:42. > :13:47.last election. The rate of wager my constituency has gone down by 1%.
:13:48. > :13:58.And they have been increased to ?10,000, the amount they can earn
:13:59. > :14:02.tax-free. What Labour have concluded is they do not want to get stuck in
:14:03. > :14:12.an economic debate. The Chancellor made an announcement on economic
:14:13. > :14:18.deficit reduction and then made a statement about the 40p tax. Whose
:14:19. > :14:24.side are you on is one of the most powerful questions in politics.
:14:25. > :14:29.Briefly, Andrew, Barack Obama used it again and again. That is why he
:14:30. > :14:38.beat Mitt Romney. He could say that Romney was on the side of the rich.
:14:39. > :14:43.He did his best to prove that. The when asked, did he like football, he
:14:44. > :14:53.said, yes, two of my friends own teams. We need you to stay. While we
:14:54. > :14:57.have been talking, Theresa May has been giving MPs details of plans to
:14:58. > :15:02.allow some Syrian refugees into Britain. Here is what she said. Our
:15:03. > :15:05.country has a proud tradition of providing protection to those in
:15:06. > :15:10.need. Whether are particularly difficult cases of honourable
:15:11. > :15:15.refugees who are at risk, we are willing to look at those cases.
:15:16. > :15:18.Following a meeting in London in recent days, I can tell the house
:15:19. > :15:23.that the Government will be launching a new programme to provide
:15:24. > :15:29.emergency sanctuary in the UK for displaced Syrians who are
:15:30. > :15:32.particularly vulnerable. There we go. A small number of Syrian
:15:33. > :15:37.refugees will be allowed in. You said, taking in a small number of
:15:38. > :15:42.Syrian refugees was tokenistic. I did not want to see happen we are
:15:43. > :15:47.putting over half ?1 billion in aid. That is as much as the other
:15:48. > :15:55.European countries altogether, that be discounted and then a relatively
:15:56. > :16:01.small move of taking in the small number being replaced. You said it
:16:02. > :16:05.was tokenistic. I was being asked in an interview, isn't it good that all
:16:06. > :16:09.these other countries, Germany, France and elsewhere, are taking
:16:10. > :16:13.people in? I was trying to point out we are giving more help than all of
:16:14. > :16:18.those countries put together. Why don't we take in more? There are 2
:16:19. > :16:27.million people and we cannot take in all of them. 5000, 10,000 is more
:16:28. > :16:34.than tokenistic and is a humanitarian gesture. The cases we
:16:35. > :16:38.are talking about now is children, where both parents have been killed
:16:39. > :16:43.and they do not have that support. Perhaps women who have been sexually
:16:44. > :16:52.abused. We are looking at the most honourable cases. The very worst
:16:53. > :16:56.cases. People in Britain can stand proud. We have given a huge amount
:16:57. > :17:01.of aid and we have this approach as well. We are stepping up to the
:17:02. > :17:05.plate and doing our bit. Is it not a sign of how toxic this issue has
:17:06. > :17:17.become that even Labour is only arguing for 500 Syrian refugees?
:17:18. > :17:27.I would like to understand the detail of how it will work. I'm not
:17:28. > :17:31.sure how it will work. We have to look in the context of the other
:17:32. > :17:39.countries that are signed up for it. Ireland is taking 90 people. France
:17:40. > :17:44.is taking relatively the same number as us. But we are British, aren't we
:17:45. > :17:52.meant to be better at this? We have a proud history. Why don't we argue
:17:53. > :17:57.for more? We want to be part of the process, set an example. It will be
:17:58. > :18:02.hundreds, rather than thousands, that is the indication? The scale of
:18:03. > :18:07.this thing shows with 2 million people displaced in Syria and moving
:18:08. > :18:11.out of Syria, there is not a physical number we could reach that
:18:12. > :18:15.could solve the problem. It is right to take the most vulnerable cases.
:18:16. > :18:25.At that to the extraordinary amount of British aid, ?600 million. It is
:18:26. > :18:28.a foreign aid budget of 14 billion, we should give more instead of how
:18:29. > :18:32.we do spend it. Giving money to India that has its own space
:18:33. > :18:39.programme. That is coming to an end. But it is not ended yet. 27
:18:40. > :18:44.countries in the EU, we are giving more than all of them put together.
:18:45. > :18:51.The Home Office have resisted taking refugees. They want to get net
:18:52. > :18:54.migration down to meet a Tory promise of getting net migration
:18:55. > :19:01.down. Like it or not, people think refugees are different -- different
:19:02. > :19:08.from immigrants, in terms of the merit of them coming here.
:19:09. > :19:12.Now, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England is in Edinburgh
:19:13. > :19:15.today to discuss the currency implications of a "yes" vote in the
:19:16. > :19:17.Scottish independence referendum. Mr Carney, who met First Minister Alex
:19:18. > :19:20.Salmond for discussions this morning, has agreed to provide
:19:21. > :19:23.technical, objective, dry analysis ahead of the vote in September. The
:19:24. > :19:27.Scottish Government say they plan to keep the pound under independence,
:19:28. > :19:40.but the UK Government has said any such currency union would be
:19:41. > :19:44.unlikely. The Bank of England is an independent institution. It does not
:19:45. > :19:49.take a role in party politics. We had a splendid discussion and have
:19:50. > :19:56.agreed to continue the technical discussions. Not negotiations, but
:19:57. > :19:58.the technical discussions the Bank of England has been having with the
:19:59. > :20:05.Scottish Government so our proposals are soundly based on technical
:20:06. > :20:12.terms. Clear as mud! A lot of the use of the word, " technical". What
:20:13. > :20:17.is quite interesting is, people have said is it right for the governor of
:20:18. > :20:24.the Bank of England, it covers the whole of the UK. And founded by a
:20:25. > :20:29.Scotsman. He is a Canadian. Mark Carney, because he is a Canadian,
:20:30. > :20:33.because he was governor of the bank of Canada, because they have had to
:20:34. > :20:38.independence referendums in Q where the issue of the currency was an
:20:39. > :20:47.issue, he is well placed to judge the complexities of this argument.
:20:48. > :20:52.Quebec. We are told he is giving a speech, which will be playing a very
:20:53. > :20:58.big in the politics of Scotland in the next few months. One of the
:20:59. > :21:03.messages will be, a successful currency coming out of the economic
:21:04. > :21:06.European monetary union, is it does involve ceding some national
:21:07. > :21:11.sovereignty which is a difficult issue for the Scottish Nationalists
:21:12. > :21:17.who want Scotland to regain total national sovereignty. Then say as
:21:18. > :21:20.part of a national union we will give back some of our national
:21:21. > :21:25.sovereignty. Exactly, the question whether Britain should join the
:21:26. > :21:30.national sovereignty, then we would give some power over our interest
:21:31. > :21:37.rates, and fiscal spending to Brussels. Of course, if you are
:21:38. > :21:40.going to say, a bank in England, a bank in London will set your
:21:41. > :21:47.interest rates, the Scottish might think it is not really governing
:21:48. > :21:52.yourselves at home. We shall see. Let's return to the issue of Syria.
:21:53. > :21:56.So the government has announced that Britain will take in some of the
:21:57. > :21:59.most vulnerable refugees fleeing from the Syrian conflict. But as the
:22:00. > :22:03.death toll tops 100,000 should we be intervening more directly? In our
:22:04. > :22:06.Soapbox this week, Sunny Hundal, founder of the left wing Liberal
:22:07. > :22:09.Conspiracy blog argues that it is time to contemplate taking military
:22:10. > :22:10.action. His report contains images that some viewers may find
:22:11. > :22:37.upsetting. More disturbing pictures from Syria.
:22:38. > :22:44.Most are too upsetting to show. These are amongst 55,000 images
:22:45. > :22:48.smuggled out of the country showing systematic murder by the government.
:22:49. > :22:52.It is compared to what happened in that see Germany. I think the time
:22:53. > :22:55.has come to discuss military intervention. Not only has the
:22:56. > :23:02.bloodshed. Worse and has the potential to get worse, the conflict
:23:03. > :23:05.is spreading elsewhere. The two main arguments against intervention is we
:23:06. > :23:09.could aggravate the situation or, it is their mess and we should not get
:23:10. > :23:16.involved. Both arguments are redundant. Syrian rebels forced to
:23:17. > :23:20.recruit Al-Qaeda groups, who are not interested in freedom but want to
:23:21. > :23:26.establish a permanent base away from Afghanistan. They want to share a
:23:27. > :23:30.state in both Syria and Iraq before other Middle Eastern countries are
:23:31. > :23:34.absorbed. If they get the upper hand they will use that new base to
:23:35. > :23:38.launch audacious attacks in Islamic countries and the West. The
:23:39. > :23:45.humanitarian crisis gets worse every day. Over 100,000 people have died
:23:46. > :23:47.since this conflict began and nearly 10 million people have been driven
:23:48. > :23:52.away from their homes. More worryingly, the civil war in Syria
:23:53. > :23:57.is spreading to nearby countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and
:23:58. > :24:03.Pakistan. As they get drawn in further, thousands more will die and
:24:04. > :24:06.millions more will become refugees. We cannot sit by and watch another
:24:07. > :24:11.Rwanda take Les. Despite peace talks there is no viable, diplomatic
:24:12. > :24:17.solution. And Bashar al-Assad will not lead because Russia and Iran are
:24:18. > :24:21.backing him. Al-Qaeda groups will not simply disappear. I am not
:24:22. > :24:30.saying the UK and the USA act alone. They can work with NATO, and other
:24:31. > :24:38.groups in the region. But Syria will become a danger. Intervention is not
:24:39. > :24:43.a matter of if, but when. If we wait the cost of human lives is likely to
:24:44. > :24:48.be much, much higher. Very moving.
:24:49. > :24:52.And Sunny Hundal joins us now. You are arguing in favour of
:24:53. > :24:56.intervention, have you always been in favour of intervention in this
:24:57. > :25:00.conflict? Yes, in Syria. I was against the war in Iraq, but I have
:25:01. > :25:06.said we have got to do something about Syria because it will become a
:25:07. > :25:09.much broader civil war, draw in other countries and become an
:25:10. > :25:14.intractable conflict that will draw us in sooner or later. What was your
:25:15. > :25:18.reaction when the British Parliament had its say and voted against some
:25:19. > :25:23.sort of incident -- intervention? I don't think that was right. The US
:25:24. > :25:28.government had not explained what their plan was. Their focus was just
:25:29. > :25:34.on chemical weapons. I wanted a broader intervention. We hadn't even
:25:35. > :25:42.explain to the public until what the vote was for and why we would go in.
:25:43. > :25:46.At that time I said it was right to have a pause, but not just take it
:25:47. > :25:51.off the table entirely. The problem is, the Conservative government
:25:52. > :25:54.said, we will not do anything about this now. We have taken the option
:25:55. > :25:58.of the table and Labour have followed them. It is the wrong thing
:25:59. > :26:03.to do because it sends out a signal saying the UK Government will not
:26:04. > :26:10.get involved, so resident is sad can do what he wants. What sort of input
:26:11. > :26:15.-- intervention do you envisage? The Arab League is calling on us to do
:26:16. > :26:20.more of an intervention. There have been two cease-fires, 2011 and 2012,
:26:21. > :26:27.which fell apart and the massacres followed after that. The Arab League
:26:28. > :26:32.has been saying for a while, gets a military firepower. What we need is
:26:33. > :26:38.a no-fly zone. We need to be much stronger on President Assad in
:26:39. > :26:44.saying he has to leave. There is no way he will leave, he has been
:26:45. > :26:49.backed to the hilt. Who or what would replace President Assad? I
:26:50. > :26:53.think this Syrian people should make that choice. Don't you have to make
:26:54. > :26:56.that a thought. The argument people by many in Iraq was the lack of
:26:57. > :27:01.planning and what would happen afterwards. Do you not have to think
:27:02. > :27:07.through a strategy after President Assad? Yes, but we need to get the
:27:08. > :27:11.local people involved, get the surrounding countries involved. So
:27:12. > :27:17.it is not just the UK and the US intervening. You get the local
:27:18. > :27:20.countries involved, the Arab League have a peacekeeping force, get some
:27:21. > :27:27.stabilisation and then we can have peaceful elections. The UN has
:27:28. > :27:31.accused the opposition, and the opposition is broad in that sense,
:27:32. > :27:40.of war crimes. Last week, so quite recent. Are they any better? There
:27:41. > :27:45.is a danger of lumping the opposition in one block. There is
:27:46. > :27:50.lots of groups. Al-Qaeda affiliated groups are starting to get the upper
:27:51. > :27:57.hand. These groups have come in and said, we are not interested in just
:27:58. > :28:00.getting rid of President Assad, we want to establish ourselves in Syria
:28:01. > :28:05.and Iraq and have a conflict in Lebanon and other places. They are
:28:06. > :28:12.part of the problem. I don't think we should work with them. If we
:28:13. > :28:15.don't help the Syrian rebels, the moderate rebels, they will lose
:28:16. > :28:17.out. The only option we have is between President Assad and
:28:18. > :28:21.Al-Qaeda, which is the worst solution. We are running out of
:28:22. > :28:23.time. But we have to pick the winner of
:28:24. > :28:37.our competition. Very nice part of the world. That is
:28:38. > :28:45.it for today, thank you to our guests. The one o'clock News is
:28:46. > :28:51.starting on BBC One. We will be back tomorrow with the big elliptical
:28:52. > :28:55.stories of the day. Make sure you join me here. From all
:28:56. > :29:00.of us, goodbye.