12/02/2014

:00:36. > :00:40.Morning, folks, welcome to the Daily Politics. "Money is no object" when

:00:41. > :00:44.it comes to helping communities hit by floods. The Prime Minister says

:00:45. > :00:47.everything is being done to help struggling areas, including sending

:00:48. > :00:50.in troops. He's been chairing a special cabinet committee this

:00:51. > :00:55.morning and cancelled a trip to the Middle East to take charge of the

:00:56. > :01:01.situation. But should the Government be doing more? As politicians

:01:02. > :01:05.continue to search for answers, do they need to consider more radical

:01:06. > :01:11.solutions for dealing with floods? We speak to an expert. The floods

:01:12. > :01:18.will no doubt be the hot topic at Prime Minister's Questions, we'll

:01:19. > :01:24.have the action live at midday. And how do the spin doctors cope in the

:01:25. > :01:26.age of online and 24 hour news? One King of Spin takes a trip down

:01:27. > :01:42.memory lane. By walk down Henry Lane, do you mean

:01:43. > :01:45.pub crawl? Along the lines of that. All that coming up in the next 90

:01:46. > :01:48.minutes of public service broadcasting at its very finest.

:01:49. > :01:51.With us today, the former floods minister, Richard Benyon, and the

:01:52. > :02:01.Shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry. Welcome. We now -- Now,

:02:02. > :02:03.we know the floods must be serious because David Cameron called a

:02:04. > :02:05.Downing Street press conference yesterday, his first in over seven

:02:06. > :02:09.months. And the Prime Minister declared that

:02:10. > :02:12."money is no object" when it comes to helping communities stricken by

:02:13. > :02:14.the floods. This morning, though, the Transport Secretary said that

:02:15. > :02:24.didn't necessarily amount to a "blank cheque." If money is no

:02:25. > :02:28.object, it is a blank cheque! But, after a week of damaging sniping

:02:29. > :02:31.over who or what is to blame for the floods, David Cameron has sought to

:02:32. > :02:36.reassert his control over the situation. So, what do we know? As

:02:37. > :02:40.you said, once it was clear that the floods have become a crisis, the

:02:41. > :02:49.Prime Minister did say money is no object, but clarified it with, "in

:02:50. > :02:51.this relief effort. " So far, she has promised ?130 million for a

:02:52. > :02:57.emergency flood repairs and maintenance. And the deployment of

:02:58. > :03:01.600 troops. What about long-term? DEFRA spending on flood management

:03:02. > :03:07.has fallen since the coalition came to power, from a peak of ?670

:03:08. > :03:11.million in 2011, to ?576 million last year, and that is just in cash

:03:12. > :03:15.terms. Once you adjust for inflation, it is an even bigger

:03:16. > :03:21.difference. Central government money is on the slide, there is some extra

:03:22. > :03:30.cash from local councils, a ?148 million partnership funding. Back to

:03:31. > :03:34.you. So, it was a mistake to cut flood spending, wasn't it? That is

:03:35. > :03:39.not the way to look at funding for these schemes. No flood scheme goes

:03:40. > :03:43.from conception to commissioning in one year. You look at it over the

:03:44. > :03:47.whole spending programme. In that period, the four years of this

:03:48. > :03:53.spending programme, we are going to spend more. In money terms, not in

:03:54. > :03:57.real terms. The partnership funding, we have changed the system

:03:58. > :04:02.we introduced so that we can get many more schemes up and running,

:04:03. > :04:06.and more people will be protected. This is a political argument and

:04:07. > :04:14.this is one I have been having for many months and years. In today's

:04:15. > :04:17.context, it is sterile, but it is more money being spent on flood

:04:18. > :04:23.defences than ever before. Modi is more delighted than me that the

:04:24. > :04:28.contingency reserve that exists in the Treasury is being used. Can we

:04:29. > :04:35.get the figure is clear? This is from the Commons library, a very

:04:36. > :04:38.independent and reliable source. Government -- central government

:04:39. > :04:49.spending will reduce in real terms over the Spending Review period.

:04:50. > :04:58.2.34 1 billion, compared to a higher number in the preceding year. The

:04:59. > :05:06.figure I have is 2.4 billion as opposed to 2.2 billion. The figure

:05:07. > :05:10.is that in the last four years of the Labour government, and one

:05:11. > :05:24.year, including up to 2011 when spending was counted, the spending

:05:25. > :05:29.was two point -- was 2.371, falling to 2.341. In real terms, it will be

:05:30. > :05:34.more of a cut. There was more announced by the Chancellor in the

:05:35. > :05:39.November autumn statement just over a year ago. And more that has been

:05:40. > :05:45.announced since. And the projected period for the spending, we will see

:05:46. > :05:49.more money spent on flood defences than ever before. With the

:05:50. > :05:54.partnership funding scheme, which I was attacked for one I bought it

:05:55. > :05:56.in, people called it a flood tax, no government of any complexion that

:05:57. > :06:01.exists in this country and the future will change that system

:06:02. > :06:04.because it has meant places like Leeds, Exeter, they will get the

:06:05. > :06:10.flood protection they need. They would never have got that until we

:06:11. > :06:19.changed the system. In the Labour years, 2001-2010, 200,000 houses,

:06:20. > :06:23.new homes, were built on the flood plains. Shouldn't you have built

:06:24. > :06:28.better flood defences, given the number of people living there? I

:06:29. > :06:33.think that's a bubbly ride. And what happened as we had the floods in

:06:34. > :06:36.2007, then we had the review which recommended we take a better look a

:06:37. > :06:40.mess we increased the funding. I understand that the consider the

:06:41. > :06:46.Conservatives came in with austerity, and we talked about not

:06:47. > :06:49.being enough water. You can see in hindsight... Caroline Spelman, when

:06:50. > :06:56.she was doing the job, she said drought will become the new normal.

:06:57. > :07:06.The planet is becoming more unpredictable. It seems to be hot,

:07:07. > :07:11.cold, drought. We have to look at -- we have to take a proper strategic

:07:12. > :07:16.look now. This is an opportunity now to take a completely different look.

:07:17. > :07:18.Government will always have to spend billions on flood defences. But

:07:19. > :07:26.there are ways and people doing really interesting work, about how

:07:27. > :07:31.you can actually getting a completely new level of private

:07:32. > :07:40.funding on top of government funding for large-scale protections. He

:07:41. > :07:46.would always also say that nobody was listening to him a few years

:07:47. > :07:52.ago. The tragedy is, that what is happening now, it defines what the

:07:53. > :07:55.Environment Agency said. Now 99% of the time the Environment Agency says

:07:56. > :08:04.no to new building, it doesn't go ahead. Our Labour and Conservatives

:08:05. > :08:08.both guilty to allow the Environment Agency to implement a policy to put

:08:09. > :08:13.habitat ahead of people? I worked with the Environment Agency for 3.5

:08:14. > :08:18.years, with the best engineers and flood defences or third priority. I

:08:19. > :08:26.never had a conversation or felt they were being diverted from

:08:27. > :08:31.providing good flood defences. This is a flood defence in Somerset, and

:08:32. > :08:36.it does create better habitat, but it protects the community. Do you

:08:37. > :08:39.deny it was the policy of the Environment Agency, particularly

:08:40. > :08:44.under Margaret Young when she was the Chief Executive, to allow

:08:45. > :08:55.habitat to give precedence over pumping stations and dredging? In

:08:56. > :08:59.March 2008, there was support about the strategic flooding in Somerset.

:09:00. > :09:05.She is accused of saying she wanted to put Olympic mine on every pumping

:09:06. > :09:11.station. The dredging stopped! There was a culture that needed to be

:09:12. > :09:19.changed. Credit to Chris Smith. He has changed that culture. I had my

:09:20. > :09:22.run-in with Barbara Young after the 2007 floods in my constituency where

:09:23. > :09:34.I had precisely that argument with her about SSSI versus the homes

:09:35. > :09:40.people were living in. I think that has changed. There has been very

:09:41. > :09:46.little dredging at all that has taken place. Barbara Young's policy

:09:47. > :09:53.was, she said, in many speeches, including testimony to the House of

:09:54. > :09:56.Lords that building new habitats is very expensive. The easiest way is

:09:57. > :10:03.to let previous marshland received to -- reduced to wetland. If you

:10:04. > :10:11.want habitat, just add water. Was that a mistake? There was a ratio

:10:12. > :10:16.introduced under the new rules, for every pound you spend, you've got to

:10:17. > :10:21.save ?8. Which therefore means that farmland is going to be seen as less

:10:22. > :10:25.of a priority. It didn't stop them building the bird sanctuary. That is

:10:26. > :10:33.completely irrelevant. If people came to me last year and said, would

:10:34. > :10:37.you put up some money for dredging in the Somerset Levels? I could have

:10:38. > :10:42.done that. In terms of the taxpayers money, it would have meant taking

:10:43. > :10:48.funds away from other schemes, and of those communities were then

:10:49. > :10:55.flooded... They spent ?2.5 million on public relations! They only

:10:56. > :11:03.needed ?4 million to drain the whole of the levels. That is a little bit

:11:04. > :11:15.more than double what the agency was spending on PR. We would have had to

:11:16. > :11:18.divert different schemes. You wouldn't have had to do that. There

:11:19. > :11:25.were plenty of other areas where you could have found money. You have

:11:26. > :11:28.expertise in this area, when Chris Smith was first asked about

:11:29. > :11:34.dredging, and we're now talking less than ten days ago, when the call was

:11:35. > :11:40.that we asked you to dredge, you didn't do it, he replied that

:11:41. > :11:44.dredging is marginal. It is of marginal importance. The second

:11:45. > :11:48.thing he said a week later was that dredging is part of the story but

:11:49. > :11:51.not the whole story. Now he is saying, we couldn't really do it

:11:52. > :11:58.because of the Treasury formula. What is it? On Friday, there will be

:11:59. > :12:01.a report coming out which I think we'll show from hydrology engineers

:12:02. > :12:05.who really know what they are talking about rather than

:12:06. > :12:09.politicians about what would actually be effective. Tragically,

:12:10. > :12:12.for the Somerset Levels, and, please, can nobody look at the whole

:12:13. > :12:15.of the flooding problems we are looking at through the prism of the

:12:16. > :12:22.Somerset Levels because nobody should be dredging rivers that

:12:23. > :12:29.haven't ever been dredged. If you do dredge them, they flood. In Somerset

:12:30. > :12:34.it is difficult. It is a one in 5000 gradient, which is very shallow. The

:12:35. > :12:38.tide can block it like a bung, so you could spend all the money the

:12:39. > :12:45.Environment Agency has in dredging it and it wouldn't do anything.

:12:46. > :12:55.Until the rain came. I want to be fair here. I don't want to be fair.

:12:56. > :13:03.The rain is worse than it has been. Your party is meant to believe in

:13:04. > :13:12.localism. And not in quangos in London. The society in charge of

:13:13. > :13:14.training has always drainage is the key to this not happening. The

:13:15. > :13:19.chairman of the Wessex flood defence, who is himself an

:13:20. > :13:23.engineering hydrologist has also said that. I would suggest that if

:13:24. > :13:32.you believe in the prison, let these people look after their own land. --

:13:33. > :13:36.if you believe in localism. How many properties or feels it would have

:13:37. > :13:42.protected from flooding is uncertain and this report on Friday will show

:13:43. > :13:47.us that. We have to work with local drainage boards and farmers, and we

:13:48. > :13:51.do, all around the country. And schemes last year predicted 175,000

:13:52. > :14:04.acres of farmland, along with many thousands of houses and properties.

:14:05. > :14:09.-- schemes last year protected. There are terrible winds about to

:14:10. > :14:13.hit Wales. The North of England as well. 100 miles an hour they are

:14:14. > :14:17.talking about. That will bring some rain as well. How much can we

:14:18. > :14:20.expect? Over now to a man known for his accurate forecasting and who's

:14:21. > :14:23.never knowingly missed a storm. Michael Fish, the former BBC weather

:14:24. > :14:33.forecaster, joins us from College Green. Looking back at the history

:14:34. > :14:39.books, how does the rain... I know that it is January's record, but how

:14:40. > :14:44.has the rain compared historically? The wettest on record, going back to

:14:45. > :14:49.the middle of the 18th-century. This particular flood is unique in that

:14:50. > :14:53.it is covering the larger area of the country and lasting for far, far

:14:54. > :14:58.longer. We have had more devastating floods in the past. Especially with

:14:59. > :15:04.the North Sea surges, like in December. In 1632, 20 5000 people

:15:05. > :15:14.were killed, and in 1634, 15,000. So we have had more severe weather than

:15:15. > :15:18.now, but not as widespread. I assume, sadly, that if more rain

:15:19. > :15:23.comes, it will get worse, because the ground is already sodden with

:15:24. > :15:27.water? We're expecting more storms in the near future. One is obviously

:15:28. > :15:32.under way at the moment and another one on Friday night, Saturday,

:15:33. > :15:35.another on Monday and then choose day-Wednesday next week. So I'm

:15:36. > :15:41.afraid there is no end to it. -- Tuesday. So we don't know when it

:15:42. > :15:48.will stop? I don't know it will get better in February. The main thing

:15:49. > :15:55.next month is that the storms will be less potent. When do you think we

:15:56. > :16:08.will see the first hosepipe ban?! It would be nice if we didn't get that.

:16:09. > :16:15.It was only a couple of days later. We ought to have a minister for

:16:16. > :16:18.heatwaves! Right! Well, that is probably an underemployed job at the

:16:19. > :16:25.moment. Thank you for joining us. Good to see you on the programme.

:16:26. > :16:28.Now, money is one thing, but is all the political talk about how much is

:16:29. > :16:34.being spent really what is at issue? We are now joined by Dr Hannah

:16:35. > :16:38.Cloke, who is associate Professor of hydrology at the University of

:16:39. > :16:41.Reading. Why don't know if you could hear before, we were talking about

:16:42. > :16:48.the impact dredging might or might not have had, particularly in the

:16:49. > :16:52.Somerset Levels. Would dredging have prevented the flooding in your

:16:53. > :16:55.mind? This is a particularly serious flood and I'd do not think it would

:16:56. > :16:59.have prevented this flood from happening at all. You would need to

:17:00. > :17:04.have... Got rid of the rain in some magic way in order to have prevented

:17:05. > :17:08.this flood in the Somerset Levels! So all of this talk from locals and

:17:09. > :17:14.ministers, who have been chastising the environment age and the because

:17:15. > :17:19.dredging stopped ten years ago and saying that actually led to the

:17:20. > :17:23.flooding of wrong? We do not have the evidence that this would have

:17:24. > :17:26.stopped flooding. What has happened is, we have decided you need a whole

:17:27. > :17:31.range of different measures in order to prevent or mitigate those kinds

:17:32. > :17:37.floods. What about the Somerset Levels? Can they, in your opinion,

:17:38. > :17:41.be protected for ever? It would be very difficult to protect them

:17:42. > :17:44.forever because we are living with the prospect of a changing climate

:17:45. > :17:51.and these events may become more awkward in the future and we need to

:17:52. > :17:53.think of clever solutions and possibly retreating slightly,

:17:54. > :17:58.helping communities become more resilient in other ways. So you

:17:59. > :18:03.think people living there could in, 30, 40, 50 years time might have to

:18:04. > :18:09.accept that the area will turn to some sort of Marshland? We need to

:18:10. > :18:14.look at the possible future and that surrounds having to retreat from

:18:15. > :18:17.that land in some way, yes. And we need to help those communities to

:18:18. > :18:21.understand that future and make themselves resilient to that. What

:18:22. > :18:25.are the clever ways you are talking about? What are the non-engineer

:18:26. > :18:33.ways of mitigating flooding and heavy rainfall? There are two

:18:34. > :18:36.things. Firstly, this series of storms has provided an enormous

:18:37. > :18:40.amount of rain and we would have seen this flooding however hard we

:18:41. > :18:43.tried to get rid of it in clever ways. But for smaller storms,

:18:44. > :18:49.certainly, you can detect yourself by trying to slow down the water in

:18:50. > :18:52.the river catchment. Upstream, we are looking at upstream measures,

:18:53. > :18:56.trying to hold back the water and get it to infiltrate into the

:18:57. > :19:01.ground. And in urban areas is trying to make those areas more porous,

:19:02. > :19:05.have sustainable training systems and maybe retrofit those to some

:19:06. > :19:10.existing properties. Let's go to our guests. In the end, the argument

:19:11. > :19:14.about dredging, according to our expert, has actually been slightly

:19:15. > :19:19.futile and you should have been, or successive governments should have

:19:20. > :19:22.been looking at longer term or natural methods of trying to deal

:19:23. > :19:27.with the rain? That is why I have been slightly grinding my teeth this

:19:28. > :19:31.week because I'd find this binding argument about whether you dredge or

:19:32. > :19:37.do not dredge is sterile. We have done so much over the last few

:19:38. > :19:40.years. It started with previous government but we have looked at the

:19:41. > :19:45.whole catchment approach, and it is about making land use part of it.

:19:46. > :19:47.Making sure that the incentives we give to farmers to manage their land

:19:48. > :19:52.in different ways, the crops they grow, the crops they don't grow,

:19:53. > :19:56.where they grow them, and how we secure all the feeder streams that

:19:57. > :19:59.come into the big rivers, and it is absolutely right that is part of an

:20:00. > :20:06.integrated plan, so we are talking about, yes, the environment and

:20:07. > :20:09.protection of it, but in conjunction with flood defence. In the first two

:20:10. > :20:14.years we were using with a catastrophic drought so it is those

:20:15. > :20:18.extremes. But it is fairly unpalatable to turn around to people

:20:19. > :20:21.in the Somerset Levels and say, this has a finite time for you guys and

:20:22. > :20:29.in the end you are going to have to retreat. It is not just about the

:20:30. > :20:32.Somerset Levels. There was a man in a bungalow in the Thames Valley who

:20:33. > :20:36.said he was woken up and had to be rescued by a fire engine and taken

:20:37. > :20:41.off. He said, we cannot go on the thing like this, and we can't. We

:20:42. > :20:47.have to have a strategic approach. May be the Somerset Levels - we

:20:48. > :20:55.cannot keep inhabiting them? I'm not going to keep... Are not going to do

:20:56. > :20:59.that because I want to be allowed to live. I do think there is much more

:21:00. > :21:03.we can do upstream in places like that to slow the water down, so, OK,

:21:04. > :21:09.this kind of rain will flood anyway but that is another storms... And in

:21:10. > :21:17.towns and cities we cannot have the whole thing concreted over. So

:21:18. > :21:22.having roots with green on the top or porous stone or whatever it is.

:21:23. > :21:25.Cannot come back to you on what we talked about yesterday, the

:21:26. > :21:31.saturation point. We saw these pictures of boreholes up to the

:21:32. > :21:37.top... Exploding out of the top. We are going to flood anyway, aren't

:21:38. > :21:40.we? We have to be realistic. In the near future there is going to be

:21:41. > :21:43.serious flooding around for a while and many communities will be

:21:44. > :21:49.affected by ground flooding as well as flooding from rivers. That is a

:21:50. > :21:53.reality. Where can the water go? We have to wait for it to drain away.

:21:54. > :21:57.We can divert it in places but really we have to wait and ride it

:21:58. > :22:01.out, this particular event, and really we need to be looking to the

:22:02. > :22:06.future to help ourselves out next time this happens. And it probably

:22:07. > :22:10.will happen. What about health risks? Because all that stagnant

:22:11. > :22:14.water sitting around for the foreseeable future, does that mean a

:22:15. > :22:17.significant health risk? One of the problems is where sewage comes into

:22:18. > :22:24.contact with people, so these are the problems that need to be sorted

:22:25. > :22:29.out with stagnant water. It is quite disgusting in many cases. That is a

:22:30. > :22:34.problem and you have mentioned climate change. Is it time to say,

:22:35. > :22:37.this is what is going to happen, this is climate change, it is going

:22:38. > :22:42.to happen more often? Or is it that... There is definitely some

:22:43. > :22:46.indication that this is caused by some change in the climate. We know

:22:47. > :22:50.the likelihood of these types of storms and rainfall events will get

:22:51. > :22:54.more frequent in the future. So we could think of this as a sort of

:22:55. > :23:02.test run for climate change. OK, Hannah. I was talking to a scientist

:23:03. > :23:08.from the Royal Society last night and he said, people talk about

:23:09. > :23:16.people not beating Manchester City, it is to do with marine youth. It is

:23:17. > :23:19.like that. So we have to be prepared for climate change to happen in the

:23:20. > :23:25.future because I think it is something like that. But it seems

:23:26. > :23:30.extraordinary to have someone in charge of DEFRA who does not believe

:23:31. > :23:34.when change is man-made. I was there when he spoke to the staff and he

:23:35. > :23:42.explained quite clearly. He recognises something is very serious

:23:43. > :23:47.that is happening. But he cannot deny climate change looking at what

:23:48. > :23:54.we are doing. He does deny... Try to find somebody who doesn't deny it.

:23:55. > :23:57.Even the most sceptical scientist on climate change is still believing

:23:58. > :24:01.man is somehow involved in what is happening. It is just a bandwidth.

:24:02. > :24:08.Where we all are on that is up for debate. Glad we got you there in the

:24:09. > :24:11.end. Thank you, Hannah. Now, if you're watching this with

:24:12. > :24:15.the water lapping at your feet, we'd firstly like to thank you for taking

:24:16. > :24:18.a break amid all the chaos to enjoy our little programme. No doubt

:24:19. > :24:22.you'll have spent the morning stacking sandbags at the front door,

:24:23. > :24:26.but we all know you'll have to do far more than that to stop a

:24:27. > :24:29.politician in nice new wellies, or worse still, full-on waders, from

:24:30. > :24:36.turning up in your area to point at the water and tell you how terrible

:24:37. > :24:41.it all is. Goodbye, I'm back to London! They do care, you know. But

:24:42. > :24:44.here at The Daily Politics, we'd like to offer you a far more

:24:45. > :24:47.practical gift that really could help you reduce those water levels.

:24:48. > :24:50.With its magical water-scooping powers, I'm talking, of course,

:24:51. > :24:53.about the Daily Politics mug. Literally within weeks you could

:24:54. > :24:57.once again be dry as a bone and ready to use it for its other

:24:58. > :25:05.calling for a good old-fashioned cup of tea to reward all your efforts.

:25:06. > :25:09.How versatile! We will remind you how to enter in a minute but let's

:25:10. > :25:16.see if you can remember when all of this happened.

:25:17. > :25:20.With hope and prayer in our hearts, we sent her fourth on her mission,

:25:21. > :25:38.this noble ship. The Prime Minister arrives to raise

:25:39. > :26:03.the trickle as the guns boom their salute. -- the trickle or flag.

:26:04. > :26:09.And in a neck and neck finish, the horse wins the toughest steeplechase

:26:10. > :26:21.in the world. # Loving one who loves you,

:26:22. > :26:26.# And then taking that allow, # Nice work if you can get it,

:26:27. > :26:30.# And if you can get it, won't you tell me how!

:26:31. > :26:37.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug, send your answer

:26:38. > :26:41.to our special quiz email address. You can see the full terms and

:26:42. > :26:45.conditions for the competition on our website.

:26:46. > :26:51.It's coming up to midday here. Just take a look at Big Ben. There it is.

:26:52. > :26:54.And that can mean only one thing - yes, Prime Minister's Questions is

:26:55. > :26:58.on its way. Should be a good one today! If you'd like to comment on

:26:59. > :27:00.proceedings, you can email us at daily.politics@bbc.co.uk, or tweet

:27:01. > :27:08.your thoughts using the hashtag #bbcdp. We'll read some out after

:27:09. > :27:13.PMQs. And Nick Robinson is here as well.

:27:14. > :27:16.Now, before we come to you, Nick, disturbing evidence has been

:27:17. > :27:20.unearthed by the Daily Politics munchkins about PMQs. In a new

:27:21. > :27:24.report, the Hansard Society say it's a big turn-off for the public.

:27:25. > :27:27.Really?! Yes, for you at home. But, please, do stay tuned. The report

:27:28. > :27:31.says people are put off by the noise, bluster and showing off from

:27:32. > :27:36.MPs at PMQs, and has a number of suggestions on how to make it

:27:37. > :27:39.better. It should be moved to a Tuesday or Wednesday evening to

:27:40. > :27:47.allow a broader range of people to watch. Good luck getting that on the

:27:48. > :27:51.schedules! That'll knock the EastEnders ratings! The number of

:27:52. > :27:54.questions from the Leader of the Opposition should be reduced to

:27:55. > :27:58.allow more time for questions from backbenchers. Ordinary people should

:27:59. > :28:02.be able to submit questions once a month. And a new sin bin penalty,

:28:03. > :28:05.naming members for disorderly conduct and removing them from the

:28:06. > :28:14.chamber, should be introduced at the Speaker's discretion. He will love

:28:15. > :28:19.that! There will be no one left! Is there a bin big enough? Let me go

:28:20. > :28:27.out on a limb there and say none of this will happen. You see, they do

:28:28. > :28:36.this. He doesn't follow football. I thought you were going to sell your

:28:37. > :28:40.men wise! -- men wire! The truth is, any new Prime Minister gets the

:28:41. > :28:43.chance to try to change it. If Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister

:28:44. > :28:47.after the next election, there is no doubt, and we have discussed it

:28:48. > :28:50.before, doesn't much like this and does not think it is particularly

:28:51. > :28:54.fruitful. But, in the end, what tends to happen is prime ministers

:28:55. > :28:57.think, how do we just minimise the amount of time it takes in our

:28:58. > :29:02.schedule, which is why Tony Blair reduced it from twice a week to once

:29:03. > :29:07.a week. And, in the end, do they really want to make it more hard by

:29:08. > :29:13.giving more questions -- getting more questions from outsiders? It

:29:14. > :29:17.would be good if he could answer some questions. I am one of the ones

:29:18. > :29:22.who shouts at the Prime Minister when he doesn't answer. He doesn't

:29:23. > :29:25.even pretend to answer! I think in the end, because there is no chance

:29:26. > :29:33.of getting an answer, the question becomes the thing. A vicious circle.

:29:34. > :29:36.That is right. I think we should have something like they do in

:29:37. > :29:50.Australia, where they have a time-out when it gets too noisy.

:29:51. > :29:56.Would he agree it would be both complacent and ignorant to flout the

:29:57. > :30:01.warnings of the Met Office and his own advisers who warned that climate

:30:02. > :30:06.change will lead to even more such events in the future? Can he conform

:30:07. > :30:09.to the House and to everyone in my constituency that doing everything

:30:10. > :30:17.he can will include not only reversing cuts to the Environment

:30:18. > :30:27.Agency budget but also, crucially, removing... Prime Minister. Let me

:30:28. > :30:31.reassure the honourable lady that I listen very carefully to my experts

:30:32. > :30:35.in the Met Office and in the Environment Agency. Every COBRA

:30:36. > :30:39.meeting starts with a briefing from the Met Office. It is clear we are

:30:40. > :30:44.seeing more extreme weather events, and we will go on to see them and we

:30:45. > :30:48.need to do everything we can to improve the resilience of our

:30:49. > :30:52.country. Let me repeat again, when it comes to this relief effort,

:30:53. > :30:56.money is no object, and we will spend what's necessary to help

:30:57. > :31:00.families, people, communities get through this very difficult time.

:31:01. > :31:04.Things are likely to get worse before they get better because of

:31:05. > :31:08.the very high levels of rainfall we've seen, and we have seen very

:31:09. > :31:17.serious high winds as we speak in this House today. But whatever can

:31:18. > :31:21.be done, will be done. Last year, my constituents daughter was brutally

:31:22. > :31:23.murdered. At the trial it was revealed that her attacker had

:31:24. > :31:28.previously attacked another young girl five years earlier.

:31:29. > :31:34.Unbelievably, that attacker got off from the early offence with a police

:31:35. > :31:39.caution. A written warning. Will the Prime Minister join me in calling

:31:40. > :31:43.upon West Mercia Police to publish all relevant material relating to

:31:44. > :31:49.that earlier case in order that any lessons that can be learnt will be

:31:50. > :31:52.learned? First of all, he's right to take up his constituent's case in

:31:53. > :31:57.this way and he has written to me about this specific case. I said

:31:58. > :32:01.they goes out to the family and friends of George Williams. I

:32:02. > :32:04.understand the Independent Police Complaints Commission are currently

:32:05. > :32:09.considering their response to a referral from West Mercia Police

:32:10. > :32:13.into the handling of this case. On the issue of cautions, let me say we

:32:14. > :32:16.announced last year that we are banning the use of simple cautions

:32:17. > :32:20.for all of the most serious offences, including manslaughter,

:32:21. > :32:25.rape, robbery, as well as a range of other offences. This is a tragic

:32:26. > :32:32.case and we must get to the bottom of what went wrong. I join the prime

:32:33. > :32:35.minister in expressing all of my sympathies with people affected by

:32:36. > :32:38.the floods, who have been driven out of their homes and who are facing

:32:39. > :32:44.disruption to their lives. I also join him in paying tribute to all of

:32:45. > :32:47.those helping with relief efforts and to the extraordinary resilience

:32:48. > :32:51.we have seen of the people of our country. He will know that people in

:32:52. > :32:55.affected communities are relieved that help from the Armed Forces has

:32:56. > :32:59.now arrived. Many feel they were sent into late. With further

:33:00. > :33:03.flooding expected in the coming hours and days, can the Prime

:33:04. > :33:09.Minister provide an assurance that people will get the help in time,

:33:10. > :33:13.not after the event? I can give that assurance and let me repeat again

:33:14. > :33:17.that it is important to praise our urgency services, to praise

:33:18. > :33:20.volunteers, all of those working for the Environment Agency who have

:33:21. > :33:25.worked night and day, around the clock, to help our communities. They

:33:26. > :33:30.have done amazing work. In terms of the engagement of the military, this

:33:31. > :33:34.is important. It has always been possible for Gold commanders in

:33:35. > :33:38.these emergency situations to call on military assets. A military

:33:39. > :33:48.liaison officer is supposed to sit with those gold commanders and

:33:49. > :33:50.liaise with them. What we have done in recent days is say very clearly

:33:51. > :33:52.to all the local authorities concerned, and we contacted them

:33:53. > :33:56.individually, if you want military assistance, do not think twice about

:33:57. > :34:00.it. Just ask. So, we have now thousands of military in a state of

:34:01. > :34:06.readiness to help out, and a huge number have already been deployed.

:34:07. > :34:09.As we see the levels rising on the Thames again, coming into this

:34:10. > :34:13.weekend, we should do everything we can to get extra help into those

:34:14. > :34:17.communities that could be affected and make sure they are helped. All

:34:18. > :34:22.the military assistance required is there, people only have to ask. I

:34:23. > :34:25.welcome that promise of proactive help from the Prime Minister. Given

:34:26. > :34:30.the forecasts of the extreme weather, one of the key issues that

:34:31. > :34:34.will concern people is not just their homes but continuing gas and

:34:35. > :34:38.electricity supplies. We have learned from previous experience

:34:39. > :34:41.that protecting electricity substations that can be responsible

:34:42. > :34:45.for power to hundreds of thousands of homes is of particular

:34:46. > :34:50.importance. Can he reassure the House about the steps being taken to

:34:51. > :34:55.protect these vital services? I can give him that assurance. The

:34:56. > :34:59.Minister carried out a review into the resilience of our infrastructure

:35:00. > :35:04.and a lot of extra steps were taken following that and that has made a

:35:05. > :35:06.difference. In the COBRA system, we are monitoring every day this

:35:07. > :35:11.particular bits of infrastructure that could be under threat. In

:35:12. > :35:15.recent days, it has been about water treatment works rather than electric

:35:16. > :35:20.works. I spoke to the Minister responsible for an edgy policy at

:35:21. > :35:25.this morning's COBRA and to make sure that everything is being done

:35:26. > :35:29.to stand up the people that will be necessary if there is further supply

:35:30. > :35:34.disruption. I think the experience there, where there were problems in

:35:35. > :35:37.Kent after Christmas, since then, the energy companies have done a

:35:38. > :35:44.better job at reconnecting people more quickly. One of the

:35:45. > :35:48.reassurances he provided yesterday, as he said earlier, was to say money

:35:49. > :35:52.was no object. This morning, the Transport Secretary said it is not a

:35:53. > :35:56.blank cheque. Can he tell the House exactly what areas of spending

:35:57. > :36:03.yesterday's promise covers? I was very clear last night. As I said,

:36:04. > :36:07.money is no object in this relief effort and I want communities who

:36:08. > :36:11.are suffering, and people who see water lapping at their doors to know

:36:12. > :36:15.that when it comes to the military, when it comes to sandbags, when it

:36:16. > :36:21.comes to the emergency services, one it comes to restoring broken flood

:36:22. > :36:26.defences, money is no object. To be fair, this is what the Transport

:36:27. > :36:33.Minister said. Money is not the issue in this relief job. He is

:36:34. > :36:36.absolutely right. He is right about the relief effort. He said we will

:36:37. > :36:41.spend whatever it takes to recover from this. And to make sure we have

:36:42. > :36:45.a resilient country for the future. Let me give him an example in that

:36:46. > :36:50.context. He praised the Environment Agency staff, but they are in the

:36:51. > :36:55.process this year of making 550 people dealing with flooding

:36:56. > :36:58.redundant. These are staff that help put in place and maintain flood

:36:59. > :37:03.defences and help deal with clean-up. If money is no object, is

:37:04. > :37:08.he committing now to reconsider these redundancies? Let me tell him

:37:09. > :37:12.what we are doing with the Environment Agency and their

:37:13. > :37:20.budget. We are spending ?2.4 billion over four years between 2010 - 2014,

:37:21. > :37:24.comparing with ?2.2 billion in the previous four-year period. What I

:37:25. > :37:28.can say to the House, and this is important, as the waters recede, it

:37:29. > :37:31.will be important for the Environment Agency, for local

:37:32. > :37:36.authorities, they must all look again at the flood patterns we have

:37:37. > :37:40.seen, at the models they have, and work out what fresh flood defences

:37:41. > :37:45.will be necessary. In addition, I can tell the House we will be

:37:46. > :37:49.introducing a grant for all affected homeowners and businesses to build

:37:50. > :37:54.in better flood protection as they repair their properties. That will

:37:55. > :37:58.be up to ?5,000 per house, per business, and on top of that we are

:37:59. > :38:03.announcing a ?10 million fund to help farmers who had seen their land

:38:04. > :38:07.waterlogged day after day, week after week. And I can also announce

:38:08. > :38:11.that we will be deferring the tax payments that businesses have to pay

:38:12. > :38:19.and all of the businesses that have been affected by floods will get

:38:20. > :38:26.100% business rate relief. Mr Speaker, these steps are welcome and

:38:27. > :38:32.we welcome them across the House. I'm afraid he didn't answer the

:38:33. > :38:37.question I asked. The 550 people that the Environment Agency are

:38:38. > :38:41.planning to make redundant that work on flood defences. They are people

:38:42. > :38:46.who are currently helping with the clean-up and put in place the flood

:38:47. > :38:50.defences. Similarly on the issue of spending on flood defence, the

:38:51. > :38:55.committee says we are spending less on flood defence then we should. My

:38:56. > :38:58.question is a simple one. Given yesterday's promise to make sure we

:38:59. > :39:04.have a resilient country for the future, and spend whatever it takes,

:39:05. > :39:08.as he committing now to reconsider these redundancies, and reconsider

:39:09. > :39:12.the amount of money we invest in flood defences? Let me tell him what

:39:13. > :39:16.we are doing with the Environment Agency budget into the future. In

:39:17. > :39:23.terms of the capital spending, we have set out the figures all the way

:39:24. > :39:27.up to 2020. We have made capital spending pledges in areas like

:39:28. > :39:31.transport and in terms of flood defences, pledges that no one else

:39:32. > :39:36.is able to match, particularly not if they are committed to a 0-based

:39:37. > :39:40.budget review, but promises we are happy to make so that people can see

:39:41. > :39:49.how much money will be spent on flood defences, 2015, 2016, 2017,

:39:50. > :39:52.2018, 2019, 2020. We are able to make those pledges because we have

:39:53. > :39:59.managed our economy effectively and our budgets. I say to the Prime

:40:00. > :40:03.Minister that he came along yesterday at his press conference

:40:04. > :40:06.and made what sounded like a very grand promise to spend whatever it

:40:07. > :40:11.takes to recover from this, and make sure we have a resilient country for

:40:12. > :40:14.the future. And the simple point I'm making to think is that there are

:40:15. > :40:18.real doubts when it comes to making members of the Environment Agency

:40:19. > :40:22.who deal with flooding redundant. And the lack of investments with the

:40:23. > :40:28.committee on climate change, the expert body, to invest in flood

:40:29. > :40:31.defences says is not happening. He needs to reconsider those things. I

:40:32. > :40:36.would urge the Prime Minister, the government need to speak with one

:40:37. > :40:40.voice on this issue. The response needs to be speedier than it has

:40:41. > :40:43.been, and everyone affected needs to feel they are getting the help they

:40:44. > :40:48.need. If the government does this, they will have our full support.

:40:49. > :40:53.What I said last night is exactly what I've said today. When it comes

:40:54. > :40:57.to this relief effort, money will be no object. I don't want people to

:40:58. > :41:01.worry about penny-pinching, as they see the vital work that is needed to

:41:02. > :41:05.help them with their houses, to help them deal with the floods. That is

:41:06. > :41:08.what this government is doing. We are deploying the military when we

:41:09. > :41:14.have been asked for the military, deploying more pumps, raising the

:41:15. > :41:17.compensation to local government to 100%, because that is what local

:41:18. > :41:21.communities should have. I'm sorry he seeks to divide the House when we

:41:22. > :41:30.should be coming together for the nation. Can I thank my right

:41:31. > :41:35.honourable friend for his recent visit to Plymouth to discuss our

:41:36. > :41:38.broken rail link? Will he commit our government to finding long-term

:41:39. > :41:43.solutions to rail resilience in the far south-west? Will he join me

:41:44. > :41:46.today in sending a very clear signal to the rest of the country that

:41:47. > :41:51.despite our current problems, Devon and Cornwall is firmly open the

:41:52. > :41:56.business? My honourable friend is right. That message needs to go out

:41:57. > :42:00.loud and clear. Businesses, including tourist businesses, want

:42:01. > :42:06.to see people's custom and want people to know that the peninsular

:42:07. > :42:10.Devon and Cornwall -- that the peninsula is open for business. We

:42:11. > :42:16.are finding ?31 million to fund ten rail resilient projects in the

:42:17. > :42:20.south-west. This will include work at Cowley Bridge junction, Chipping

:42:21. > :42:26.Sodbury, white walled tunnel, and a number of other places, and clearly

:42:27. > :42:31.the most important thing is that Dawlish rail link, which I saw for

:42:32. > :42:35.myself yesterday, the intense damage done to backtrack, and the huge

:42:36. > :42:39.destruction that was wrought by the waves. That will take up to six

:42:40. > :42:48.weeks. Network Rail are working as hard as they can, and any help they

:42:49. > :42:53.need, they only need to ask. Number three, Mr Speaker. We are the first

:42:54. > :42:58.government to name and shame employers who fail to pave the

:42:59. > :43:02.minimum wage. The name of the first company was published in 2011. We

:43:03. > :43:04.have revised the skin to make publication easier. I'm not

:43:05. > :43:08.satisfied this has been going fast enough. Their density of those

:43:09. > :43:13.companies found breaking the law will be made public very, very soon.

:43:14. > :43:16.Can I thank the prime minister for his response but say to him that two

:43:17. > :43:19.employment agencies in my constituency have been found not to

:43:20. > :43:23.be paying the minimum wage to their workers and they have had to pay

:43:24. > :43:25.penalties but the government says they got to protect the

:43:26. > :43:30.confidentiality of these companies. My constituents think the government

:43:31. > :43:34.is standing up for the wrong people. Will he look at it? We will be

:43:35. > :43:39.publishing the name of these companies, something that never

:43:40. > :43:45.happened under Labour. We are taking the action. When it comes to

:43:46. > :43:47.penalties for not paying the mid-wage, if we look at the

:43:48. > :43:53.penalties last year, over 700 employees received penalties for

:43:54. > :43:56.failing to comply with minimum wage law, and the value of those

:43:57. > :44:01.penalties was almost seven times higher than in the final year of the

:44:02. > :44:04.last Labour government. So, we are hearing a lot of talk about

:44:05. > :44:07.enforcing the minimum wage from the party opposite, and you see a lot of

:44:08. > :44:20.action from the government right here. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Crime

:44:21. > :44:22.is down 10%, and our excellent Home Secretary's police reforms are

:44:23. > :44:29.allowing good offices to do more with less. But will the Prime

:44:30. > :44:33.Minister immediately implement the Normington reforms of the Police

:44:34. > :44:38.Federation said that police culture can be further improved? We are

:44:39. > :44:43.working with the Police Federation on this issue. The Police Federation

:44:44. > :44:47.is clearly an organisation in need of reform. To be fair to the new

:44:48. > :44:52.head of the Police Federation, whom I met with, he recognises this and

:44:53. > :44:57.he wants to act. We need to support him in sorting his organisation

:44:58. > :45:06.out. Two weeks ago, the chief secretary to the Treasury ruled out

:45:07. > :45:13.any further tax cats. Last week, he said it would be over his dead body.

:45:14. > :45:28.Can the Prime Minister helped out by ruling out tax cats? Well, I saw him

:45:29. > :45:32.this this morning at COBRA. Our priority is to cut taxes for low and

:45:33. > :45:37.middle earners. That is what we have done. When it comes to April this

:45:38. > :45:41.year, her constituents will be able to earn ?10,000 without paying any

:45:42. > :45:45.income tax at all. That is equivalent to a 10% increase in the

:45:46. > :45:48.minimum wage. It means their income tax bill will have gone down by two

:45:49. > :45:54.thirds under this Government. Those are the sort of tax cuts we are

:45:55. > :45:58.interested in. Can I thank the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

:45:59. > :46:02.for their personal engagement with our issues on the Somerset Levels.

:46:03. > :46:07.But, asking a question which identify the Secretary of State for

:46:08. > :46:12.communities and local government grasped on Monday. Which is this.

:46:13. > :46:17.When the emergency, the crisis phase of this problem, is over, we have to

:46:18. > :46:22.have sustainable plans to protect people on the Somerset Levels. That

:46:23. > :46:25.will require a revenue stream which will come through local government,

:46:26. > :46:28.and that means changes to the way that is administered. When we have

:46:29. > :46:32.those detailed plans, will the Prime Minister meet with me and others

:46:33. > :46:37.from Somerset to ensure we have a sustainable future? I am very happy

:46:38. > :46:41.to meet with him and other MPs from Somerset. I have visited twice

:46:42. > :46:46.myself to see for myself. But the problem is, as we know, the pumping

:46:47. > :46:50.capacity, which is taking 3 million tonnes, soon 5 million, of water off

:46:51. > :46:54.the Somerset Levels, but because there is 65 million tonnes or more

:46:55. > :46:59.of water it will take time. What we need to do, once that water level

:47:00. > :47:02.stars to come down, is get the dredging going and work out the

:47:03. > :47:05.long-term programme for making sure this man-made environment is

:47:06. > :47:09.properly looked after by man so it is sustainable for the future. I am

:47:10. > :47:16.very happy to meet with him and discuss that. Conditions outside our

:47:17. > :47:19.dreadful. The voluntary sector, emergency services and individuals

:47:20. > :47:23.have been amazing but people and businesses are angry and in the

:47:24. > :47:28.south-west, they are angry because of the excessive costs they see of

:47:29. > :47:32.HS2 when we have the whole of the West Country without a resilient

:47:33. > :47:36.rail network. And the money announced today is welcome but not

:47:37. > :47:46.enough. Will he commit in the medium term to ensuring support of growth

:47:47. > :47:51.and... Recovery in the region, that Plymouth is put onto the strategic

:47:52. > :47:56.transport network? It is not there at the moment and it should be. I

:47:57. > :48:00.make three points to her. I understand the concern of her and

:48:01. > :48:03.her constituents. Firstly, don't want anybody to be under the

:48:04. > :48:07.misapprehension that HS2 will be built at the expense of the West

:48:08. > :48:11.Country. In the next Parliament, we will spend three times more on other

:48:12. > :48:15.road and rail schemes as we will spend on HS2, and some of those will

:48:16. > :48:19.direct a benefit people in the West Country. Secondly, while we are

:48:20. > :48:24.working as fast as we can to restore the Dawlish link, we do need to look

:48:25. > :48:27.at longer term alternatives, and I have discussed this with Network

:48:28. > :48:34.Rail and First Great Western, to see what more can be done. Thirdly, in

:48:35. > :48:42.the meantime, while Dawlish is at -- as it is, we need to look at other

:48:43. > :48:46.measures, and we have taken ?5 of the cost of flights, for example,

:48:47. > :48:50.but we'll so need to make sure replacement bus services are as good

:48:51. > :48:55.as they can be. -- we also. If we can do these things, it will lessen

:48:56. > :48:59.the impact for the West Country. With flooding in front and for

:49:00. > :49:05.residents and businesses, and more risk to my constituency with the

:49:06. > :49:08.risk warnings for the Severn estuary, does the Prime Minister

:49:09. > :49:13.agree that the action taken so far by various agencies and councils has

:49:14. > :49:18.been helpful, and can he reassure my constituents that the Government

:49:19. > :49:22.will continue to invest in flood defences? I can certainly give him

:49:23. > :49:26.that assurance. He is right to mention the difficulties on the

:49:27. > :49:32.River Severn, because several rivers, including the River Thames,

:49:33. > :49:42.the River Tame and Areva why, are expecting flood fall. The pig is

:49:43. > :49:47.expected on Sunday and Monday that -- the peak is expected on Sunday

:49:48. > :49:51.and Monday and that could affect many people. It is worth making the

:49:52. > :49:56.point, and this is to be fair to the last government as well as this one,

:49:57. > :49:59.if you take the 2007 floods, when 55,000 homes were flooded, since

:50:00. > :50:03.that time, if you look at the schemes that have been built, they

:50:04. > :50:06.are actually protecting well over 1 million properties which would have

:50:07. > :50:12.been flooded this time around were it not for the important work that

:50:13. > :50:17.has been done. This week, Shelter found house prices have been rising.

:50:18. > :50:21.And wages in most parts of the country. Does the Prime Minister not

:50:22. > :50:25.agree that the lack of affordable housing is making the cost of living

:50:26. > :50:27.crisis worse for millions of people across our country, and will he

:50:28. > :50:35.confirm that this Government has presided over the fewest number of

:50:36. > :50:40.homes built since the 1920s? Housing starts are up from the dreadful

:50:41. > :50:45.situation we were left with and now we are investing huge amounts into

:50:46. > :50:48.affordable housing. But make no apology that it is right to deal

:50:49. > :50:54.with the demand side of housing as well as the supply side. Things like

:50:55. > :50:56.help to buy schemes are helping to get builders building, because

:50:57. > :51:14.builders will not build unless they believe buyers are able to buy.

:51:15. > :51:28.I just want to put on record that the volunteer flood wardens, to

:51:29. > :51:31.thank them for the work they are doing to help my constituents. I

:51:32. > :51:37.welcome the schemes he has talked about. Will he ensure that the

:51:38. > :51:42.detail for these schemes is made available to everybody affected so

:51:43. > :51:45.they can make use of them? I think he makes an important point and I

:51:46. > :51:48.know he is working very hard to bring people together in his own

:51:49. > :51:55.constituency to make sure that everything can be done in Reading is

:51:56. > :51:58.done. We will publish details on all of these announcements I have made

:51:59. > :52:04.and we will add into that the fact that the major banks are coming

:52:05. > :52:08.forward with over ?750 million of financial support, which will mean

:52:09. > :52:12.repayment holidays, reduced or waived fees, loan extensions and

:52:13. > :52:15.increased flexibility of terms and specialist support teams deployed on

:52:16. > :52:20.the ground for businesses and farmers who desperately need help.

:52:21. > :52:22.It is a time for our insurance companies and banks to demonstrate

:52:23. > :52:25.real social responsibility. I believe they are beginning to do

:52:26. > :52:29.that and we should encourage them to do so. Does the Prime Minister agree

:52:30. > :52:33.that after months of letting energy companies get away with increasing

:52:34. > :52:36.their profits on the back of hard-working people across this

:52:37. > :52:43.country that the Energy Secretary's letter this week was simply too

:52:44. > :52:47.little too late? I think he was right to write to Ofgem because they

:52:48. > :52:51.are part of this competitive review which we have announced. But it is

:52:52. > :52:55.on this side of the House that we have delivered the ?50 off else by

:52:56. > :53:03.rolling back the cost of the green levies. That is the right approach

:53:04. > :53:10.rather than promising a freeze to then see prices go back up. Does he

:53:11. > :53:14.agree that policies creating more jobs than forecast is very

:53:15. > :53:19.encouraging? But would you also agree that in order to get sustained

:53:20. > :53:24.growth, we need businesses to invest more? So will he do all he can to

:53:25. > :53:29.support my right honourable friend, the Chief Secretary, in encouraging

:53:30. > :53:34.more business investment? In this next stage of the recovery, it is an

:53:35. > :53:38.increase in business investment that we need to see. I think there are

:53:39. > :53:42.positive signs from the last GDP numbers. She talks about there being

:53:43. > :53:46.more jobs than forecast and it is whether bring the Leader of the

:53:47. > :53:49.Opposition told the CBI in October 2010 they have a programme that will

:53:50. > :53:56.lead to the disappearance of 1 million jobs. -- it is worth

:53:57. > :54:00.remembering. Since then, we have seen 1.6 million private sector jobs

:54:01. > :54:08.and 1.3 million more people in work. More forecasts like that,

:54:09. > :54:12.please! With almost 1 million young people unemployed and a work

:54:13. > :54:16.programme in the Chancellor's own words underperforming, Wilbur

:54:17. > :54:21.Promina is to think again and introduce Labour's youth jobs

:54:22. > :54:26.guarantee? -- will be Prime Minister think again? If you look at the job

:54:27. > :54:32.creation record under this Government, as I have just said, 1.3

:54:33. > :54:35.million more people in work and a reduction in youth unemployment, a

:54:36. > :54:38.reduction in long-term unemployment, more people in our

:54:39. > :54:42.workforce than ever before. There is always more to do to get young

:54:43. > :54:46.people into work. I think the best schemes we have had our ones like

:54:47. > :54:53.the work experience scheme that seem to be providing real hope and jobs

:54:54. > :54:57.for our young people. Can I thank my right honourable friend for coming

:54:58. > :55:00.to Plymouth on Monday to see for himself how hard First Great Western

:55:01. > :55:05.is working to try to get trains back on track. One thing that will be in

:55:06. > :55:08.credibly helpful is to make sure we actually have a timetable for these

:55:09. > :55:13.actions so we can deliver a resilient railway line as well? I

:55:14. > :55:19.completely understand his concern. The gap in the rail provision

:55:20. > :55:22.created by the Dawlish disaster is going to take time to deal with, and

:55:23. > :55:27.above and beyond that, I know what he wants and people in Plymouth want

:55:28. > :55:30.is a timetable of getting to a three-hour service implement to see

:55:31. > :55:34.more trains arriving early in the morning. We have a longer term

:55:35. > :55:40.programme of looking at rail alternatives and at the same time,

:55:41. > :55:44.restoring the Dawlish line. With economic growth delayed for three

:55:45. > :55:52.years after the election, we have been left... We have been left with

:55:53. > :55:59.more young people. With more young people out of work long-term than at

:56:00. > :56:05.any time for 20 years. Surely we must do more so we don't waste the

:56:06. > :56:08.potential of a generation? I can only think the honourable gentleman

:56:09. > :56:15.is suffering from a form of memory loss. He was a Treasury Minister

:56:16. > :56:18.when we lost 7% of our GDP! When youth unemployment doubled! When

:56:19. > :56:22.people were being thrown out of work! What has happened under this

:56:23. > :56:26.Government, the economy is growing, 1.3 million more people in work with

:56:27. > :56:30.young people getting back to work, while countries elsewhere are

:56:31. > :56:33.struggling, and our economy is growing, and that is partly because

:56:34. > :56:36.we took tough and difficult decisions to get the budget deficit,

:56:37. > :56:46.which he and his henchmen left us, under control. Unfortunately, some

:56:47. > :56:50.tourist concerns in my constituency reported lost bookings. Partly as a

:56:51. > :56:56.result of over sensationalising the crisis that we have. When the crisis

:56:57. > :57:00.is over, Wilbur Prime Minister talked to the Treasury about

:57:01. > :57:05.allocating a sum of money to market the far south-west to potential

:57:06. > :57:08.visitors and businesses, to get the message across we really are open

:57:09. > :57:16.for business? -- will be Prime Minister? This is a concern of a

:57:17. > :57:21.number of businesses that I have visited, all wanting to see much

:57:22. > :57:24.more advertising and publicity about how Devon and Cornwall is open for

:57:25. > :57:28.business. So I will take every opportunity I have to help with that

:57:29. > :57:32.issue. When the Dawlish line is restored that will be a big moment

:57:33. > :57:39.to really market the benefits of Devon and Cornwall wherever been on

:57:40. > :57:44.holiday myself. -- where I have been. Can I ask to recall the day

:57:45. > :57:49.when he asked the country to imagine a Tory government that would be the

:57:50. > :57:57.most family-friendly in Europe? And when he reflects on that... When he

:57:58. > :58:01.reflects on that day, will he consider the more recent report from

:58:02. > :58:06.the centre for economic and business research, which shows the cost of

:58:07. > :58:10.raising a child and getting that child through university has

:58:11. > :58:15.actually risen by ?5,000 in one year? Does he think that for most

:58:16. > :58:19.families, money is no object? Many families have faced a very tough

:58:20. > :58:24.time in this country, not least because of the appalling recession

:58:25. > :58:29.we had under the party opposite. But what this Government has introduced

:58:30. > :58:33.is, we have taken steps to increase flexible working, we are introducing

:58:34. > :58:36.tax free childcare, we have supported more childcare for

:58:37. > :58:38.families and the last government did, helping to-year-olds,

:58:39. > :58:45.three-year-olds and four-year-olds. We have the new rules on potential

:58:46. > :58:48.shared leaf and now we have more people in work because the economy

:58:49. > :58:53.is moving, businesses are employing people and those 1.3 million extra

:58:54. > :58:56.jobs is 1.3 million extra families with the security and peace of mind

:58:57. > :59:05.of a regular pay cheque coming in. And that is the best way to help our

:59:06. > :59:09.families. Thank you. Through you, can I remind the Prime Minister that

:59:10. > :59:14.in 1998, Northampton suffered serious floods, killing two people

:59:15. > :59:20.and impact on upon 2000 houses. Since that time, I have noticed we

:59:21. > :59:23.have not over bothered not to build upon flood plains. Will the Prime

:59:24. > :59:28.Minister, after this episode has been dealt with, and his time is

:59:29. > :59:37.more readily available, ensure we do not build on flood plains so people

:59:38. > :59:41.are not inconvenienced in this way? I think the figures suggest that in

:59:42. > :59:44.terms of applications for properties being built on flood rains, the

:59:45. > :59:52.official advice, that includes advice from the Environment Agency,

:59:53. > :59:56.that the advice is followed in 99% of situations. Areas like London are

:59:57. > :00:01.part of a flood line so I do not think it is possible to say that no

:00:02. > :00:04.house can ever be built on a flood plain, but what we need to do is

:00:05. > :00:10.look at the walls, listen to the experts and only build where we can

:00:11. > :00:18.protect. -- look at the rules. Thanks to the Parliament, Scots may

:00:19. > :00:23.soon be free of the bedroom tax. So will he today even sure went to the

:00:24. > :00:26.House and Scottish people that he will work with the Scottish

:00:27. > :00:39.Government to help bring this about? -- will he today ensure?

:00:40. > :00:43.Because if he won't, we will! Under our devolved system, different parts

:00:44. > :00:46.of the United Kingdom can make different decisions to spend money

:00:47. > :00:49.as they choose, but in my view it is not fair to say to some of the in

:00:50. > :00:53.private rented accommodation that you don't get money for extra

:00:54. > :00:57.bedrooms when you say to someone in social accommodation that you do. I

:00:58. > :01:06.think it is a basic issue of fairness and that is why it has

:01:07. > :01:12.overwhelming public support. I undertook a one and a half hour walk

:01:13. > :01:17.to experience the real difficulties that blind and partially sighted

:01:18. > :01:21.people experience as pedestrians. It was very tricky. Will my right

:01:22. > :01:25.honourable friend look very carefully at the recommendations of

:01:26. > :01:31.that organisation for shared street surfaces? I will look carefully at

:01:32. > :01:35.what my honourable friend says. I think everyone has noticed how huge

:01:36. > :01:38.amount of improvements have been made to the way streets and traffic

:01:39. > :01:42.lights on pavements and everything arranged for particularly this

:01:43. > :01:47.purpose and I'm very happy to look at what he says and what more needs

:01:48. > :01:52.to be done. If the Prime Minister believes that flood defences are so

:01:53. > :01:59.important, why did he cut the budget? As I've explained, we will

:02:00. > :02:04.be spending ?2.4 billion in this four-year period, compared with ?2.2

:02:05. > :02:10.billion under Labour. He will find 2.4 is more than 2.2. Also, by

:02:11. > :02:15.setting up the spending figures all the way up to 2020, he has to ask

:02:16. > :02:19.the Shadow Chancellor who is backing majestic elation game, if he's going

:02:20. > :02:23.to have a 0-based budget review, doesn't he have to admit to his

:02:24. > :02:34.colleagues that he cannot guarantee to match any of the spending we have

:02:35. > :02:39.announced? Silence. The Prime Minister is aware of a cross-party

:02:40. > :02:44.group of some 80 MPs campaigning for recognition of our nuclear test

:02:45. > :02:48.veterans. Given the UK compares poorly as to how other countries

:02:49. > :02:53.treat their veterans, and the very high incidence of ill health

:02:54. > :02:57.suffered by their descendants, would the Prime Minister meet with us,

:02:58. > :03:01.given we have hit a brick wall with the MoD, and given this

:03:02. > :03:06.government's good track record at recognising past wrongs? I know my

:03:07. > :03:09.honourable friend has consistently campaigned on this issue and I have

:03:10. > :03:13.discussed it with him before, and director him a month ago, setting up

:03:14. > :03:16.the government's view about this. This and previous governments

:03:17. > :03:21.frequently stated as issue is that there is no peer review residence of

:03:22. > :03:27.mortality, but it is right to look at going on this issue -- to go on

:03:28. > :03:42.looking at Prime ministers questions, dominated

:03:43. > :03:48.by the floods. It is expected to get worse with more rain on its way. The

:03:49. > :03:51.exchange between Mr Miliband and Mr Cameron began with discussions about

:03:52. > :03:54.what could be done to help people who are currently suffering and

:03:55. > :03:57.those who might suffer as it gets worse. They moved on to questions

:03:58. > :04:04.about how much has been spent, has the government cut, is it spending

:04:05. > :04:11.more than Labour, what did the Prime Minister turned a little bit nasty.

:04:12. > :04:16.The Prime Minister maintaining he is spending more in the five-year

:04:17. > :04:19.period than Labour did in an equivalent five-year period. And

:04:20. > :04:27.also saying that the figures we gave this morning are right. And also

:04:28. > :04:35.spending up to 2020. There was floods. What else? Quite a few of

:04:36. > :04:40.the viewers noticed the preponderance of women on the Tory

:04:41. > :04:46.front bench. A week late? They say that. One says, an impressive Mr

:04:47. > :04:49.Miliband capturing the country's concern and anger in the right

:04:50. > :04:54.proportions. I can't help but think the Prime Minister has made it

:04:55. > :05:02.political gaffe. That is visited about the floods. Another, Ed

:05:03. > :05:08.Miliband is trying his best, but he is out of his depth. This from John

:05:09. > :05:20.Morris in Worcester, Mr Cameron is like King Canute - a load of ladies

:05:21. > :05:26.appearing too late on his front flood defences to lead. Will David

:05:27. > :05:32.Cameron reiterate his comments on insurance companies paying quickly?

:05:33. > :05:39.And this one from Julie, look at them. Look at that build-up.

:05:40. > :05:43.Westminster needs dredging. I think they are talking about us. This

:05:44. > :05:49.could be a long while away because of the weather, and how sodden the

:05:50. > :05:52.ground is, but when this ceases to be an immediate problem, when it all

:05:53. > :05:59.dies down, what will the political consequences be? I think two. The

:06:00. > :06:07.first is whether a leader looks like he has got grip. Lots of people are

:06:08. > :06:13.not obsessed with politics, but when trains are cancelled, homes flooded,

:06:14. > :06:17.they suddenly zone in on the guy in charge and think, does he look like

:06:18. > :06:21.he has got it, is he doing the right thing? One of the reasons every

:06:22. > :06:29.single politician has been donning their wellies in the last couple of

:06:30. > :06:34.days, they know that the election is coming up. They know that particular

:06:35. > :06:40.in areas of the South and West, the competition sometimes involving

:06:41. > :06:47.Labour, but it is a Tory and Lib Dem battle. And the impressions formed

:06:48. > :06:52.now harden, not just for the elections this May, but also the

:06:53. > :06:57.general election next year. And Ed Miliband was talking about do you

:06:58. > :07:03.not just spend money to repair the damage done now, do you spend money

:07:04. > :07:08.no object to actually deal with the potential of future floods caused by

:07:09. > :07:12.climate change, and the figure I put to the Prime Minister yesterday of

:07:13. > :07:16.about half ?1 billion estimated by the climate change committee at what

:07:17. > :07:21.they say would be necessary to improve that. And what was

:07:22. > :07:25.interesting, he was asked about that and the cuts to the staff of the

:07:26. > :07:29.Environment Agency, and he repeatedly did not answer the

:07:30. > :07:35.question. Will the Prime Minister come to regret money no object? We

:07:36. > :07:40.have a contingency fund in government. It is entirely right it

:07:41. > :07:47.is spent at this time... Yes, but that is limited, and money no

:07:48. > :07:49.object? He's offering money to householders and businesses so that

:07:50. > :07:53.they can get their houses repaired, putting measures to make sure they

:07:54. > :07:57.are less likely to flood in the future. These are all welcome

:07:58. > :08:03.measures. I think there is a debate that we have to have. Outside that

:08:04. > :08:08.sort of environment. But with real experts to sort of see different

:08:09. > :08:13.ways of getting much more money into making our whole economy more

:08:14. > :08:16.resilient against the weather. That is going to require politicians to

:08:17. > :08:20.work together, it is going to have to be big, and we need to recognise

:08:21. > :08:25.that if we don't do this and don't have a 25 year plan, we are going to

:08:26. > :08:33.consign future generations to real problems. Picking up Nick's point,

:08:34. > :08:43.money is no object, he has committed himself to that. The cameras are

:08:44. > :08:48.around. Now adding, "for relief. " and he said he wants a resilient

:08:49. > :08:53.country in the future. That I think is something we have to hold him to

:08:54. > :08:57.account for. We have to be strategic so that in two or three years time,

:08:58. > :09:03.perhaps something like this might happen again, we need to make sure

:09:04. > :09:07.we are prepared. It may be the reason the Prime Minister is not

:09:08. > :09:11.promising to reverse the job cuts at the Environment Agency is he thinks

:09:12. > :09:15.they don't need to cut them. But if they cut jobs at headquarters, if

:09:16. > :09:20.they did less of the things they do at headquarters, they could spend

:09:21. > :09:23.more on the front line. The Environment Agency does a lot of

:09:24. > :09:28.different work and people have been drawn in from all the other areas, a

:09:29. > :09:33.quality in all the other things, to deal with this problem. -- air

:09:34. > :09:39.quality. The senior management needs to say, yes, we can cope we don't

:09:40. > :09:45.need thousand people. It added 1000 people in the past year. For

:09:46. > :09:51.example, on the capital funding, the Darling plan at the end of the last

:09:52. > :09:57.Labour government was going to see a 50% cut in departments like DEFRA.

:09:58. > :10:03.They would probably say they would knew once that as far as flat --

:10:04. > :10:08.flooding is concerned. As we need to find a way to pay for the huge

:10:09. > :10:12.amount of work that needs to be done over two or three decades to make

:10:13. > :10:16.sure we are resilient. But as the recommendation to spend twice as

:10:17. > :10:20.much money than we are at the moment to protect us from the floods? We

:10:21. > :10:24.have to make a hard-nosed decision. How much will you spend to protect

:10:25. > :10:28.us from the droughts? This is the problem you all face. If you are

:10:29. > :10:34.telling us that climate change, global warming, can mean anything at

:10:35. > :10:40.all, it could be the polar vortex coming into Chicago in the middle of

:10:41. > :10:44.America, or the hottest temperatures in Australia, or it can be flooding

:10:45. > :10:49.and drought, I have no idea how you can respond. Many people will say

:10:50. > :10:57.don't talk about droughts, it will make you look out of touch. But I

:10:58. > :11:00.will talk about them. If we had a dry year in 2012, if the Duke of

:11:01. > :11:04.Edinburgh hadn't been made to stand in the rate on that memorable day at

:11:05. > :11:10.the Jubilee, we would have faced more anger. In the six largest -- we

:11:11. > :11:18.other sixth-largest economy in the world, we would have seen people

:11:19. > :11:23.collecting water from tanks. I want concentrate on the floods. They are

:11:24. > :11:26.now moving into a richer part of the country, closest to the national

:11:27. > :11:33.media. That means they are getting a lot more coverage. A lot of people

:11:34. > :11:37.in the North... Yes, a lot more deaths and damage in the north, I

:11:38. > :11:47.did remember this wall-to-wall coverage in 2007. The governor of

:11:48. > :11:51.the Bank of England made an amazing announcement this morning, which, if

:11:52. > :11:57.true, it has huge potential. The Bank of England is forecasting the

:11:58. > :12:01.economy will grow by 3.4% this year! Gangbusters, I think is the

:12:02. > :12:06.technical term. It is way above trend and might be filed under

:12:07. > :12:10.room. He's saying business investment is going to rise by 11%,

:12:11. > :12:14.which is what we have been waiting for because this growth is not

:12:15. > :12:19.sustainable on consumer spending alone. I put a caveat here, because

:12:20. > :12:24.the Bank of England forecasts don't come out as planned, especially when

:12:25. > :12:28.it involves inflation, but if that is true, that is a potential

:12:29. > :12:34.political game changer. Absolutely, that is what it would be.

:12:35. > :12:37.Politicians of all parties and economies have been saying, when

:12:38. > :12:42.will businesses spend the money they've got in their bank accounts?

:12:43. > :12:48.I did mean small businesses, big corporations who have got fast

:12:49. > :12:52.cash. ?750 billion. The only defence of what is a consumer led growth at

:12:53. > :12:57.the moment has been the hope that the consumer will persuade companies

:12:58. > :13:05.to unlock their bank balances. If not, we are in trouble because we

:13:06. > :13:09.will be in debt. If he is right, if his forecast is right, this totally

:13:10. > :13:17.changes the nature of the economic debate. It's interesting the Tories

:13:18. > :13:24.couldn't even prime, because of the floods, they couldn't even prime a

:13:25. > :13:30.Tory backbencher to mention this. The backbenchers are primed to ask

:13:31. > :13:37.questions at PMQs? What would anybody say about that? They have to

:13:38. > :13:44.look to not be complacent. When you talk to people, they feel that the

:13:45. > :13:48.growth in the economy doesn't affect them. They are finding the cost of

:13:49. > :13:54.living is making life more and more difficult, every month, they are

:13:55. > :14:00.poorer. I am well aware of the squeeze on the middle and below

:14:01. > :14:05.middle incomes in recent years, but what your party cannot answer is if

:14:06. > :14:11.it is a crisis, if it is as bad as you make out, how come people are

:14:12. > :14:15.spending more than ever? Why our retail sales at record levels? It

:14:16. > :14:21.has been driven by house prices in London and the south-east. Why would

:14:22. > :14:25.that mean people are spending more? Because they are selling houses, it

:14:26. > :14:36.is worth employing people to do their places up. Have you been to

:14:37. > :14:43.Gateshead? It is packed with people! In Birmingham, Manchester. It is not

:14:44. > :14:46.just in London. It is a South East centric picture. I was in Plymouth,

:14:47. > :14:52.in the shopping centre there, and people do not feel the boom has hit

:14:53. > :14:57.there. I don't think there is a boom because it hasn't hit yet. They are

:14:58. > :15:01.finding it as more and more difficult to make ends meet. The

:15:02. > :15:07.whole debate has changed. Ed Balls' comments about an increase in

:15:08. > :15:15.unemployment and an increase in problems have been proved wrong. The

:15:16. > :15:21.trend growth as they call it is 2.5%, so it is massively above

:15:22. > :15:31.trend. There will be an national cull of economists because nobody

:15:32. > :15:38.told us it was coming. What did you predict? I predicted it would be

:15:39. > :15:44.above 3%. Where did the Queen go when she said, why did none of you

:15:45. > :15:56.see it coming? Shoes at the Bank of England. Nobody saw it coming.

:15:57. > :16:00.Anyway, we will see. Now, half the country might be flooded...

:16:01. > :16:02.Well, not quite as much as half! But there has been concerned that

:16:03. > :16:09.certain establishments popular with the Westminster elite might be

:16:10. > :16:15.drying up. Get the connection? First, the restaurant known as the

:16:16. > :16:21.Labour Party canteen was put up for sale. Then there were rumours it

:16:22. > :16:27.might become a wine bar. I think they might be right. I prefer wine

:16:28. > :16:34.bars to pubs. They were saying it might be a pub. But for the flow of

:16:35. > :16:39.the narrative, Andrew! We sent former Labour spin doctor Charlie

:16:40. > :16:42.Whelan on a trip down memory lane, and, needless to say, there were a

:16:43. > :16:58.few drinks along the way! Ah! Those were the days! Well, for

:16:59. > :17:02.some of us at least. Now, we have all heard about what went on behind

:17:03. > :17:07.closed doors of Downing Street, but where did the real business go on?

:17:08. > :17:10.The red Lion, Westminster's most notorious watering hole. Some said

:17:11. > :17:15.it would be turned into a trendy wine bar but it isn't. Apparently,

:17:16. > :17:19.it is just getting a face-lift. It was in here where spin doctors,

:17:20. > :17:25.politicians and civil servants would meet after a hard day's work. I was

:17:26. > :17:29.enjoying a drink in the Red Lion when Tony Blair phoned me on my

:17:30. > :17:40.mobile. Obviously I couldn't speak to the premise in the pub so I came

:17:41. > :17:48.here he wanted to know why the time was splashing on Britain and the

:17:49. > :17:52.euro. This was the restaurant where I met Gordon Brown to talk about the

:17:53. > :17:58.leadership of the Labour Party after Tony Blair. He came back and was

:17:59. > :18:01.hungry because it was a trendy restaurant and they don't eat there!

:18:02. > :18:14.He said, I have done a deal with Tony Blair. I'd just laughed my head

:18:15. > :18:21.off! -- I. So, the two chairman, where I would meet for more intimate

:18:22. > :18:28.chats. New Labour needed a story to show that we, too, could be tough on

:18:29. > :18:35.public spending. The Royal yacht! Yeah. A few of us came up with that

:18:36. > :18:38.idea. And we did splash in a few of the Sunday papers but the problem

:18:39. > :18:44.was, nobody bothered to tell Tony Blair! Or the Queen! Could you

:18:45. > :18:52.remember things after you had had a few? Yes. After a few white wines

:18:53. > :18:58.precursors, a few beers and some soda water. I still think it was you

:18:59. > :19:07.rather than me writing it down. It was in the telling rather than the

:19:08. > :19:11.hearing. What was that? I think it was unemployment... I remember

:19:12. > :19:15.before one Budget, I'd nicked into the press gallery bar. Only about

:19:16. > :19:22.half an hour before Gordon was about to step up and speak. -- I nipped. I

:19:23. > :19:26.said, can I have about 5000 cigarettes, please? I think they got

:19:27. > :19:31.the message that he was going to put up tax on cigarettes! Over to Soho,

:19:32. > :19:36.and a politicians' favourite restaurant. If you already famous,

:19:37. > :19:48.you got your picture on the wall. ICU have Michael Foot up here. Sadly

:19:49. > :19:58.missed. -- I see you have. Tony Blair's book up there. Did Tony ever

:19:59. > :20:06.come here? I don't think I saw him. Gordon and Damien Duff this place,

:20:07. > :20:11.too. I always thought, who is this? Charlie! Unbelievable! Doesn't look

:20:12. > :20:22.anything like me! You look so much healthier now. My ugly mug up here!

:20:23. > :20:30.Who is this? Andrew Neil! Tell us a few stories about Andrew Neil. I'm a

:20:31. > :20:43.Saint! He would kill me! -- I must not. Oh, I am filled up now! -- full

:20:44. > :20:46.up. Following that attractive portrait,

:20:47. > :20:52.we have the man here in the flesh. Do you miss it all? Certainly not! I

:20:53. > :20:57.enjoyed fishing in the Highlands of Scotland! Is it not true? Do you not

:20:58. > :21:01.feel some warmth in your heart as you watch that film, thinking, I

:21:02. > :21:05.could be briefing with those friendly journalists in the pubs and

:21:06. > :21:09.watering holes around Westminster? It was certainly fun to go back but

:21:10. > :21:17.today there is a lot more pressure. You have the whole social media that

:21:18. > :21:20.wasn't around then. And you were speaking on your phone and you

:21:21. > :21:24.thought, somebody is bound to be listening in. So it was a matter of

:21:25. > :21:31.meeting in pubs and it was fun, I will be honest. So it has changed.

:21:32. > :21:36.With Twitter it is so instant, so did you have a bit more ease of

:21:37. > :21:40.pressure to sit, brief journalists in your favourite pubs, and spend

:21:41. > :21:45.the afternoon talking about politics? We certainly did. It is

:21:46. > :21:49.not just me. The journalists today, there are few of them, there is

:21:50. > :21:52.pressure and they all have to produce instant stories for their

:21:53. > :21:58.websites. They have to tweak themselves. So the journalists don't

:21:59. > :22:01.have time. They cannot spend an afternoon with Charlie Whelan in the

:22:02. > :22:06.pub! But we used to. And did it work? Clearly books have been

:22:07. > :22:11.written about the successful spin operation but did it work for you?

:22:12. > :22:18.Yes, because sometimes... You know, a couple of journalists who came up

:22:19. > :22:22.with that Royal yacht story. They came up with that. Journalists know

:22:23. > :22:30.what makes a good story. Could you survive into day's environment? I

:22:31. > :22:33.don't think so! Of course you could! You think it will be difficult to

:22:34. > :22:40.get that sort of operation that Labour were? Could you do that now?

:22:41. > :22:44.I think we could but you would probably have to cut out the

:22:45. > :22:49.drinking a bit! So you would have to be a bit more healthy. I love that

:22:50. > :23:01.story -5000 cigarettes before the Budget! Well, it was just not knows

:23:02. > :23:06.bagging every day from Westminster. Do you think it is better that

:23:07. > :23:17.Westminster has cleaned up a bit? It is cafe lottos and sparkly water?

:23:18. > :23:21.Well, I don't know. When you told the Prime Minister we were joining

:23:22. > :23:24.the euro, what did he say? Gordon Brown said he had never been so

:23:25. > :23:31.shocked in all his life ever than to be told by Charlie Whelan. But I had

:23:32. > :23:37.assumed that Alistair Campbell and Tony Blair knew about it. And the

:23:38. > :23:41.reason why the Prime Minister rang me was because Alistair Campbell had

:23:42. > :23:52.gone a while, and I don't blame him! -- had gone missing. I think we

:23:53. > :23:57.had briefed The Times. So they had forgotten to tell Alistair Campbell

:23:58. > :24:02.and Tony Blair? So the Prime Minister was the last man to know!

:24:03. > :24:08.You were accused of leaking information that led to the

:24:09. > :24:15.resigning of Lord Mandelson. Home alone? Did he leak it? I suspect he

:24:16. > :24:21.leaked it against himself! Was that not you, the first time? I would

:24:22. > :24:27.never do anything to damage Peter Mandelson's career! Say that hand on

:24:28. > :24:32.heart! What about now? And Miliband's operation - do you think

:24:33. > :24:36.it runs a tight ship? He seems to be doing the right things. There was

:24:37. > :24:42.talk yesterday of going to India. I did a tweet saying, of course he

:24:43. > :24:45.cannot go to India. And then he is not going. So they are aware of

:24:46. > :24:52.things like the floods and how to deal with them. A great training

:24:53. > :25:00.ground reporting on me as a councillor! Don't go away because,

:25:01. > :25:06.Charlie, cast your mind back to the sum of 2007. A little while but we

:25:07. > :25:12.can remember. Britain had a new Prime Minister. It was Gordon Brown!

:25:13. > :25:21.A surge in popularity called the Brown Bounce! Where did that come

:25:22. > :25:25.from, you ask? It was down to his response to the tough floods at the

:25:26. > :25:29.time. He is talking to Nick Robinson about how the saving of a power

:25:30. > :25:34.station in Gloucester was so important. I think people would be

:25:35. > :25:38.very worried if the damning didn't work and they weren't able to use

:25:39. > :25:41.the heavy pumps to get water out, because then that electricity power

:25:42. > :25:45.station would deprive millions of people of power and that would have

:25:46. > :25:50.a run-off effect to hospitals, shops and stores. And therefore it would

:25:51. > :25:54.cause a huge additional problem, not just for people who had lost their

:25:55. > :25:57.electricity but people then losing water and ability to get supplies,

:25:58. > :26:04.so it was a very important effort last night and I was involved right

:26:05. > :26:08.up till 11pm. So, that was the then Prime Minister on the floods of

:26:09. > :26:22.2007. Why should point out 13 people died in these floods and 40 44,600

:26:23. > :26:28.homes were flooded. What about how Gordon Brown handled that at the

:26:29. > :26:36.time? Well, maybe they should have worked with people who dealt with

:26:37. > :26:44.those floods. The main thing is working swiftly... He put pickles --

:26:45. > :26:48.Eric Pickles up. You don't really want him in charge of a flood

:26:49. > :26:52.disaster. He has taken control himself now so he is coming back but

:26:53. > :26:54.he has been forced to go of a flood disaster. He has taken control

:26:55. > :26:57.himself now so he is coming back but he has been forced to go bit further

:26:58. > :27:02.than he wanted to by saying, money is no object, which he will come to

:27:03. > :27:07.regret. It is a crazy thing to say but another Prime Minister is

:27:08. > :27:10.saying, it is not a blank cheque. And you can imagine the Treasury

:27:11. > :27:15.pulling their hair out with the Prime Minister saying, money is no

:27:16. > :27:19.object! We have had conflicting signals from the Government. Some

:27:20. > :27:24.say Cameron was slow to get into this and there is still the question

:27:25. > :27:27.of what they mean by money. But people do not want to see

:27:28. > :27:33.politicians give conflicting messages. They don't fully want to

:27:34. > :27:36.see politicians, to be honest. It is a very important point because we

:27:37. > :27:43.used to debate this the whole time and DEFRA, but if you go too soon,

:27:44. > :27:50.you are in the way, if you go too late, you are behind the curve, but

:27:51. > :27:54.you have to go. As a junior minister, that timing... But did

:27:55. > :28:03.they have to put their Wellington boots on and go? They have to go?

:28:04. > :28:08.Did Gordon Brown go? Yes. And bringing in the troops is always a

:28:09. > :28:12.good idea. But one thing you have to run the is, and I think you

:28:13. > :28:18.mentioned it earlier, that this is only affecting a small part of

:28:19. > :28:25.southern England. The whole of the North and Scotland, they will be

:28:26. > :28:35.saying, oh! Well, we have to hold you there, because this is what the

:28:36. > :28:41.answer was. You have won a mild! Thanks to all of our guests, and in

:28:42. > :28:49.particular, Emily and Richard. The one o'clock News is starting over on

:28:50. > :28:51.BBC One now. We will be joined by Scotland's Deputy First Minister,

:28:52. > :28:57.Nicola Sturgeon. Until then, goodbye.