Browse content similar to 26/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Morning, folks. Sorry seems to be the hardest word for Harriet Harman. | :00:36. | :00:43. | |
But should she be uttering it at all? She certainly doesn't think so | :00:44. | :00:46. | |
even though the Daily Mail is saying she should have done more to sever | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
links between a civil rights lobby she worked for in the 1970s and a | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
paedophile rights group. Everyone wants lower energy Bills, including | :00:55. | :01:01. | |
British industry. The former Chief Executive at Grangemouth will be | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
here with a possible solution. Will this German Chancellor manage to | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
appease Conservative Euro-sceptics? Angela Merkel's in town this week | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
and "Call me Dave" certainly hopes so. And it's PMQs at midday. But do | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
you love it? Or loathe it? We've carried out the most extensive | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
scientific research known to mankind. I love it! Why? No blows on | :01:21. | :01:37. | |
both side of the House. Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker! A man of taste and | :01:38. | :01:45. | |
distinction. Yes, all that and more coming up in the next 90 minutes of | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
public service broadcasting at its cheapest. And with me for the | :01:50. | :01:52. | |
duration, because I'm all on my lonesome today, we've hired for a | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
pittance, in fact for absolutely nothing at all, the Justice | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
Secretary, Chris Grayling and the Shadow Scottish Secretary, Margaret | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
Curran. They're worth every penny. Every penny we have not paid! | :02:06. | :02:13. | |
Charming! Welcome. Now, first today let's talk about two stories that | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
have dominated today's front pages. In a moment we'll be talking about | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
John Downey, a former IRA member who walked free from court yesterday. He | :02:20. | :02:26. | |
was a prime suspect for the murder of four soldiers by the IRA in 1982, | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
but was effectively given immunity from prosecution by police and | :02:30. | :02:32. | |
officials as part of the peace process. But first on the front page | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
of the Mail today - the death of 40-year-old Andrew Young, who was | :02:38. | :02:47. | |
punched in the street and died. His killer, yesterday, pleaded guilty to | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in prison. Chris | :02:51. | :02:58. | |
Grayling, is that a fair sentence? This is a repugnant crime, a | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
horrible situation, and my heart goes out to the family of Mr Young. | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
Most of the public will feel that justice has not been done. I always | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
ask people to be careful because none of us have sat through the | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
court hearing and heard the circumstances. It is quite a simple | :03:18. | :03:25. | |
case. This man sees a cyclist on the pavement. We are talking about | :03:26. | :03:32. | |
Bournemouth, not Glasgow! He says to this man, it is a bit dangerous to | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
ride your bike. A friend of the cyclist comes from nowhere and | :03:38. | :03:45. | |
punches him, he falls, he dies, and the man gets four years. You have to | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
be careful about forming a view of a case that we have not sat through. | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
In this particular case, I think it is right that the Attorney General | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
considers whether this sentence is too lenient. Let me clarify that. | :04:03. | :04:09. | |
The Attorney General is determining whether this case is too lenient? | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
Yes, that is correct. He is considering whether to launch a -- | :04:16. | :04:23. | |
an appeal. He can go back to the courts and appeal against the | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
sentence and seek a longer sentence. That was the case with Stewart Paul | :04:28. | :04:35. | |
-- Stewart Paul. He may choose to do that in this case. I cannot say what | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
he will do but I think it is right and proper that consideration is | :04:41. | :04:48. | |
given. You promised that, quote, under this government, offenders are | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
likely to go to jail for even longer. That is the case. Not here | :04:54. | :05:04. | |
it is not. If you can punch someone in the street so hard that you can | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
kill them and then end up, in effect, serving two years, I am | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
afraid that the quote does not stack up. What do you say to the mother of | :05:16. | :05:22. | |
Mr Young? She calls the sentence a joke. One of your backbenchers calls | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
it outrageously lean. Under this government, more people are going to | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
prison and going for longer. What I would say to his mother, apart from | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
how desperately sorry I am for the situation... She does not want your | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
pity or sorrow, she once justice. She does not think this is enough. | :05:44. | :05:53. | |
You have also said that, quote, we are all angered by dangerous | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
criminals. This man will be released halfway through his jail sentence. | :06:01. | :06:09. | |
Is that right? He falls under the legislation we have before | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
Parliament at the moment. We are legislating at the moment and my | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
natural instincts tell me that ten years should mean ten years. I | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
cannot move to that in one go and I do not want a situation where people | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
who are a danger to the public are released automatically halfway | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
through their sentence. We are currently legislating so people | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
cannot be released before the end of their sentence. That is unless the | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
parole board judges they are not a threat to the public. I'm aware of | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
the difficulties but I would suggest to you that this is where the | :06:50. | :06:56. | |
Westminster elite disconnects with ordinary people. I cannot speak for | :06:57. | :07:03. | |
Chris Grayling but this situation is astonishing. It is astonishing that | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
it could happen in our community. As I understand it there may be a | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
mental health situation in all of this. The mental health situation is | :07:18. | :07:26. | |
on the side of the... Victim. We do not understand societies sometimes. | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
It shows you that we have do understand public opinion and the | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
outrage that people will feel over this, and the huge injustice. That | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
should be the imperative thing. Chris Grayling, egg give me a brief | :07:42. | :08:04. | |
reaction to the John Downey case. -- can you give me a brief reaction? | :08:05. | :08:14. | |
Something has gone badly wrong. The family is furious and do not think | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
that the justice system works in their favour. What happened was | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
horrible and terrible, but Northern Ireland, thanks to the efforts of | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
politicians over the last 20 years, is a much better place. We have | :08:32. | :08:38. | |
achieved a degree of stability in Northern Ireland. It is a better | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
place than it was. Now to Harriet Harman who's been having a bit of a | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
rough ride this week. She, her husband jack Dromey, and former | :08:48. | :08:50. | |
Labour Minister, Patricia Hewitt have been, at least they would | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
argue, the victim of a smear campaign by the Daily Mail. The | :08:54. | :08:56. | |
paper says all three of them should have done more to sever the | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
affiliation between the National Council of Civil Liberties - which | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
they all worked for - and the Paedophile Information Exchange. | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
Harriet Harman had this to say yesterday. Nothing I have done in | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
secret, there is nothing hidden to be discovered about me. I have been | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
in public life for more than 30 years and all of those years have | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
been about protecting the vulnerable, protecting women and | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
children, and that is why I find it unfair and offensive that the Daily | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
Mail should put smear and innuendo on me, as it somehow I have | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
supported those people that I have fought against. I think they are | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
wrong to be doing that and that is why I am speaking out. Please do not | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
keep asking me to apologise. I stand by it and fought to protect the | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
vulnerable. It was a vile organisation and regret the fact | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
that it ever existed. I supported laws to protect children and stand | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
by what I have done. And we're joined now by the Daily Mail's | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
Andrew Pierce. What has she done wrong? She said that the Paedophile | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
Information Exchange was swept away and was not influential with the | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
National Council of Civil Liberties. That is not the case. In 1979, a | :10:20. | :10:29. | |
year after Harriet joined, the chairman of the Paedophile | :10:30. | :10:31. | |
Information Exchange was serving as a councillor on National Council of | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
Civil Liberties. What has she done wrong? She was the legal adviser at | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
the time. She never made any attempt to sever the links between that body | :10:43. | :10:48. | |
and an organisation that was seeking to abolish the age of consent | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
altogether. I think it is extraordinary that she cannot admit | :10:55. | :11:01. | |
that it is wrong. I think she should apologise for it. She should feel | :11:02. | :11:03. | |
profoundly guilty that she was associated with it. They were taking | :11:04. | :11:10. | |
money from an organisation that was advocating sex with four-year-olds. | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
Are you saying that she should apologise for giving succour to | :11:16. | :11:25. | |
paedophiles? I am saying that the Paedophile Information Exchange, by | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
being affiliated to a respectable campaign organisation, helped to | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
promote a climate where paedophiles could flourish. Did she ever defend | :11:38. | :11:46. | |
it? I do not know. What she has ever done -- never done is called for the | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
links to be severed. Is there any evidence that the organisation | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
influenced what she stood for? Did she trials through -- did she try to | :11:59. | :12:06. | |
water down child pornography laws? I do not know. Everybody on the left | :12:07. | :12:14. | |
was looking for a more relaxed approach to pornography in the | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
1970s. Many people were. I am not sure that that meant that they | :12:20. | :12:22. | |
wanted a more relaxed approach to child pornography. Do you have any | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
evidence that Harriet Harman wanted a more relaxed approach to this? She | :12:28. | :12:36. | |
signed a document in 1970 which said there should be no prosecution | :12:37. | :12:44. | |
unless the child had been damaged. Is not every child damaged this? | :12:45. | :12:53. | |
This is... Look, the National Council of Civil Liberties, in | :12:54. | :13:01. | |
retrospect, she did not run its, and clearly, being associated with the | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
Paedophile Information Exchange was a stupid thing, but I am not sure | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
where Harriet Harman has do carry the blame for this. This is, surely, | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
just a tenuous smear campaign. We have asked Patricia Hewitt about | :13:17. | :13:28. | |
this. The police returned to Paedophile Information Exchange... | :13:29. | :13:36. | |
Who was the MP who were calling for the BBC to be more open question | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
what Harriet Harman. Sorry, I am desperate to get in. Can I say one | :13:42. | :13:51. | |
other thing? She now runs Liberty which succeeded National Council of | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
Civil Liberties. She said she was ashamed and disgusted by what the | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
National Council of Civil Liberties bid by being affiliated to a | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
paedophile organisation. I think what the Daily Mail has done is | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
outrageous. Harriet Harman has an outstanding record of 30 years' | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
work. Every member of the public would say that Harriet Harman stands | :14:16. | :14:26. | |
up women's' right. There is not a shred of evidence. Why did she not, | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
in her interview, simply say that it was clearly a mistake for Paedophile | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
Information Exchange to be allowed to affiliate with the National | :14:37. | :14:45. | |
Council of Civil Liberties? She was given so many chances and | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
opportunities to do so. At the time, Paedophile Information | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
Exchange were associated on the extreme margins... They had people | :14:58. | :15:08. | |
on the committees! There was a debate in the National Council of | :15:09. | :15:10. | |
Civil Liberties about freedom of speech. You can argue the mechanics | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
of that organisation, but they are saying, in them Mail, that there is | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
a link between Harriet Harman and the Paedophile Information Exchange. | :15:23. | :15:31. | |
you are saying that because of the mechanics of the structure of that | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
organisation there is complicity on Harriet Harman's Park. Are you | :15:36. | :15:45. | |
saying she was in any way complicit with PIE? I am saying that by not | :15:46. | :15:52. | |
disaffiliated from that organisation, they got rid of PIE a | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
year after Harriet Harman left, she showed as a campaigner for women's | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
rights... Let's accept they should never have let PIE affiliate in the | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
first place, let's accept they were too slow to get rid of them, but do | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
you have any evidence that she was complicit with anything that PIE | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
stood for? We have never suggested Harriet Harman supports paedophilia. | :16:24. | :16:31. | |
In any way complicit is the key question. Has she been in any way | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
complicit? Do you have any evidence? Anyone who was running the | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
organisation at the time in a sense was complicit for not disassociating | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
with that group which supports paedophilia. That could be regarded | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
as an error of judgement, but it does not mean complicity. For which | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
I think they should all apologise. For what? For an error of judgement. | :17:00. | :17:06. | |
It is an error of judgement to sit on a committee with a man who was | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
locked up for paedophilia. A year after she joined the organisation | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
the chairman of the Paedophile Information Exchange was locked up. | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
It is like saying you should not be with the BBC because Jimmy Savile | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
was at his most rampart when he was in the BBC. You should not be with | :17:27. | :17:36. | |
the Daily Mail because that supports Hitler. You have made the | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
charge that Harriet Harman is complicit by some degree with | :17:42. | :17:44. | |
paedophilia because she was part of an organisation, that some extreme, | :17:45. | :17:56. | |
vile, terrible people have said... I have never suggested that Harriet | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
Harman in any way supported paedophilia. I think you should | :18:00. | :18:08. | |
apologise for that. You talk about the sexual exploitation of children. | :18:09. | :18:16. | |
It is a photograph. I will take no lessons from you on moral outrage. | :18:17. | :18:23. | |
Harriet Harman has clearly got issues to address. I do not think it | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
is right for me to get into those. Quite clearly back at that time the | :18:28. | :18:36. | |
National Council for Civil Liberties was infiltrated and influenced by | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
somebody with views most of us would find utterly repugnant. There is a | :18:41. | :18:44. | |
real danger in this country in a world where there is a bit of a | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
pressure culture where it becomes easy for groups to be hijacked with | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
people with their own agendas. Politicians and the media should be | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
much more scrutinising about who these groups are, and what the | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
agendas of individuals in them are. These are not people who are whiter | :19:03. | :19:09. | |
than white. We have put in it there. Where is your editor? Why are you | :19:10. | :19:17. | |
doing these interviews? He is busy editing the newspaper. I always | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
appeared to defend what I put on the front page. I will tell him you | :19:21. | :19:30. | |
missed him. Now, how do you like your PMQs? Sombre and serious? In | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
bed with a cup of cocoa? Feisty, fun and ferocious at midday on the Daily | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
Politics? Perhaps with a pina colada and a sardine sandwich? Well, the | :19:39. | :19:41. | |
event of the Parliamentary week has been getting a lot of stick lately | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
and last week the speaker himself wrote to Messers Cameron, Clegg and | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
Milliband urging them to clamp down on "yobbery and public school | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
twittishness". Mr Bercow said the tone of debate was putting the | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
public off. So does he have a point? Who better to find out than Giles | :19:57. | :20:07. | |
with his balls. So, we have brought the mood box to East London where it | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
borders two constituencies, one Lib Dem and one Labour to find out if | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
they like PMQs and all that argy-bargy. Do they like it or | :20:19. | :20:24. | |
loathe it? You don't mind the shouting? It is not hurting anybody. | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
Shall I put a bowl in Love it? Love it. They are not talking about the | :20:32. | :20:43. | |
British people are tall. It is a nuisance. Are you put off because | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
they shout at each other? Not really, no. They can have a good | :20:50. | :20:58. | |
debate, but not on camera. Do you never watch it? It is a load of | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
rubbish. The same as him, a load of rubbish. Who does she mean? If it | :21:06. | :21:14. | |
gets to the point, it is fine, but if not, they are being pompous. How | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
often do they get to the point? Not very often. The sun is not shining | :21:21. | :21:27. | |
on Parliament or me today, it is raining on our parade. I love it, | :21:28. | :21:37. | |
but I hate it as well. Prime Minister's Questions, do you watch | :21:38. | :21:43. | |
it and like it or loathe it? I watch it every now and then, but it is all | :21:44. | :21:50. | |
about personalities so I loathe it. It is about even Stevens and the | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
rain is coming in. It is rubbish. They are rubbish. Do they just shout | :21:56. | :22:03. | |
at each other? Exactly and they do nothing. I love it, trading blows on | :22:04. | :22:11. | |
both sides of the house, Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker. And the backbenchers. | :22:12. | :22:19. | |
You do not want it to be polite? No, just as it is, just as it is. I love | :22:20. | :22:28. | |
the headgear. Sometimes you have to listen to other people. That is the | :22:29. | :22:35. | |
verdict from the market. When it comes to PMQs more of them love it | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
and loathe it and the San Francisco out as well. And Nick Robinson has | :22:42. | :22:49. | |
come to the party early. Why has the Speaker decided to make this | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
intervention? I think he genuinely feels that PMQs has got out of | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
control. One day I ended up in my old seat sitting above the House of | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
Commons in the press gallery and even I was shocked. I could not | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
hear. Occasionally you will see members of Parliament leaning back. | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
In the press gallery you have to lean forward and I had to do this to | :23:19. | :23:22. | |
hear what people were saying because it was that noisy. There was a sense | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
before Christmas that it was out of control. This is not new territory | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
for John Bercow. He made the comparison with the Bighorn that | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
used to play in the World Cup and he said it was as loud as that. Plenty | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
of people in the House of Commons think it is his fault, that he does | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
not have the respect of people on both sides of the house, so people | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
do not respect him when he stands up to tell them to shut up. Does he | :23:53. | :23:59. | |
have support among backbenchers? Or do they like PMQs the way it is? | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
There have always been two different cultures. There are some people who | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
believe the bearpit atmosphere is something that other countries envy. | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
As you travel the world with any prime minister the people around | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
them often say, we never a got our guys to say what your guys have | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
said. I have heard it in France and Germany. Leaders around the world do | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
not get scrutinised. On the other hand, there are other members of | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
Parliament who will say it looks like a rowdy, boys' club and it is | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
off-putting to people who do not have the self-confidence to take | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
part. It is off-putting to women who are there and they are shouted at in | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
the way that is not a part of normal dialogue. Women can do a lot of | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
shouting as well. Every leader says they will change it. David Cameron | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
talk about a Punch and Judy show and he discovered if he did not play | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
Punch and Judy, his backbenchers felt let down and people in | :25:06. | :25:08. | |
television would often not put him on the TV. There is an awful lot of | :25:09. | :25:14. | |
the processes at Westminster which are measured, sensible, intelligent | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
debate the kind people would want to see happen in Parliament and it gets | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
zero coverage. The only time the cameras turn up is at PMQs. I will | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
challenge you on that and this is an John Bercow's favour. Because he has | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
dragged ministers into the house to do urgent questions, when the news | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
comes up he says they have to explain what goes on, we are putting | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
more of that sober stuff on television. The select committees | :25:46. | :25:54. | |
are alive now. I accept some of the criticism from Chris, but when and | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
if the House of Commons is discussing what the country is | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
talking about, it gets on the television. There is a growing | :26:06. | :26:08. | |
distinction between the natural kind of debate and the pressure debate at | :26:09. | :26:15. | |
PMQs and the organised operation that sometimes they have too much | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
shouting down. I think that is different. There is a bit where it | :26:22. | :26:27. | |
is high octane and people are under pressure and everybody likes that | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
excitement, but there is a difference when you get to the | :26:32. | :26:34. | |
orchestrated shouting down and you do not get to the debate and there | :26:35. | :26:41. | |
is a shift towards that. It is Wednesday and it is nearly 12 | :26:42. | :26:49. | |
o'clock and it is PMQs! No, it is Crackerjack. Crackerjack! Mr | :26:50. | :26:57. | |
Speaker, what on earth are you up to? | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
They have got some broomstick handles and they have got to get the | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
rings onto the handle, as many as possible at one time and put them on | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
the post at the end. There is John, Philip, Nicholas and Christian. | :27:12. | :27:20. | |
Ready, steady, go. Oh, you must work in a curtain shop. Look at him, that | :27:21. | :27:27. | |
is the quickest ever done. He has done it. There is a prize for you, | :27:28. | :27:36. | |
and for you and your prize is a Crackerjack pencil! Crackerjack! No | :27:37. | :27:47. | |
Crackerjack pencils. He was the small lad who we first saw on the | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
camera. He looked kind of cute. But if you want a Daily Politics mug, | :27:53. | :27:58. | |
you have to be in it to win it. Let's see if you can remember when | :27:59. | :28:13. | |
this happened. # Baby, give it up... You realise you are breaking | :28:14. | :28:22. | |
the law? Yes, I do, I better put it on. # Daddy is going to buy you a | :28:23. | :28:35. | |
dream to cling to... Modernise, work. # You were a war baby. This | :28:36. | :28:57. | |
means war, baby. You are watching the first edition of BBC | :28:58. | :29:14. | |
television's breakfast time. # I thought I heard your words... To be | :29:15. | :29:22. | |
in with a chance of winning, you can send your answers to our quiz e-mail | :29:23. | :29:29. | |
address. You can see the full terms and conditions on our website. It is | :29:30. | :29:43. | |
coming up to midday, there is Big Ben. It can only mean one thing, | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
Prime Minister's Questions is on its way. Would I be right in saying a | :29:50. | :29:57. | |
lot of people have turned anti-coalition this week? It is very | :29:58. | :30:01. | |
fashionable. The Daily Telegraph had a story that David Cameron might | :30:02. | :30:09. | |
rule out another coalition. But David Finkelstein said it was | :30:10. | :30:19. | |
lunacy. The story or the idea? But Ed McCluskey said Ed Miliband should | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
do the same. But it is not actually up to politicians what the election | :30:26. | :30:35. | |
result is. Should he ruled out a coalition? Our sole interest is on | :30:36. | :30:42. | |
winning an election and right. But should he rule it out? I do not | :30:43. | :30:49. | |
think that story is true. The only way this country gets what it once | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
is to win the election. You will not get from David Cameron or anyone | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
else except determination to win and you are not going to see a start a | :31:00. | :31:06. | |
debate about coalition. If you rule out coalition it is saying what you | :31:07. | :31:11. | |
have done for the last four years is the wrong thing. It is possible one | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
of these parties could come close and need the support of the | :31:16. | :31:20. | |
Democratic Unionists. There are all sorts of complicated setups that may | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
happen after an uncertain general election result. If you write down | :31:25. | :31:30. | |
no, never, will not do it, you are making life difficult. If Labour was | :31:31. | :31:37. | |
the largest party and a couple of votes shy of an overall majority | :31:38. | :31:41. | |
they would rather stick as a minority Government in the hope that | :31:42. | :31:47. | |
all the other smaller parties would rarely ganged up against a Labour | :31:48. | :31:55. | |
Government. I am fairly confident we will get a majority. What we will | :31:56. | :32:02. | |
not get is a German style grand coalition. Let's go over to PMQs. | :32:03. | :32:11. | |
I had meetings with colleagues and in addition to my duties in the | :32:12. | :32:18. | |
House, I will have further duties today. I rang the Prime Minister for | :32:19. | :32:25. | |
his answer but we should congratulate Team GB on their | :32:26. | :32:29. | |
success in the Winter Olympics. HSBC have announced that bonuses of ?2.3 | :32:30. | :32:38. | |
billion will be paid to the Chief Executive. When ordinary British | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
families face a cost of living crisis, is it not time for this | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
government to listen to Labour and tax bonuses to get the young people | :32:48. | :32:55. | |
back to work? Let me join the honourable gentleman in | :32:56. | :33:00. | |
congratulating Team GB for their best medal performance since 1924 at | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
a Winter Olympics. It was a huge honour to welcome them to Downing | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
Street to have an explanation of how skeleton and curling works. On the | :33:11. | :33:17. | |
issue of bank bonuses, they are well down from the appalling situation | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
that was left by the last Labour government. What we need to see is | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
the proper control of all form of pay. What I do not want to see and | :33:27. | :33:31. | |
what I think we will get from the party opposite is focusing only on | :33:32. | :33:41. | |
bonuses. You can claw-back bonuses but you cannot claw back pay. Does | :33:42. | :33:49. | |
the Prime Minister recognise that it is part of the job of church leaders | :33:50. | :33:53. | |
to challenge government about policy. Will he discuss with them | :33:54. | :34:05. | |
measures to get out of poverty? There is nothing particularly moral | :34:06. | :34:13. | |
about pouring borrowed money into systems that can trap people in | :34:14. | :34:22. | |
poverty. I think my right honourable friend, who was a church man | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
himself, talks perfect sense. There is nothing immoral about running up | :34:27. | :34:31. | |
deficits, out-of-control welfare Bills, and if we do not deal with | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
the problems, the whole country will be poorer. We should listen to the | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, who said that the | :34:40. | :34:46. | |
church should be wary of the dangers. I think serious politicians | :34:47. | :34:54. | |
have to engage in this and this should go for everybody. Mr Speaker, | :34:55. | :35:02. | |
I joined my honourable friend and the Prime Minister in congratulating | :35:03. | :35:04. | |
Team GB on their brilliant performance. As the threat of floods | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
passes, there are still thousands out of their homes, the Somerset | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
Levels are underwater, and farms are struggling to recover. The committee | :35:16. | :35:23. | |
on climate change has said that the government investment in flood | :35:24. | :35:26. | |
defences has fallen. In light of this, does the Prime Minister think | :35:27. | :35:32. | |
it is right to revisit the plans for investment in flood defences? We | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
will look carefully at this. We set out spending figures all the way out | :35:37. | :35:42. | |
to 2020, which are major investments in flood defences. As the waters | :35:43. | :35:49. | |
reside, and as the Environment Agency look at what happened, we can | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
review it and see what new measures are necessary. Let me repeat the | :35:54. | :35:58. | |
point. In this four-year period, overall float spending has gone up. | :35:59. | :36:14. | |
-- flood spending. This is what the UK Statistics Authority has said: | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
Government funding for flood defences was lower in real terms | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
during the current spending period than the last. The only way you | :36:25. | :36:30. | |
claim otherwise is by ignoring inflation and by claiming credit for | :36:31. | :36:33. | |
the money that other organisations spend. Why does the Prime Minister | :36:34. | :36:40. | |
not admit it? They have cut flood spending and he has been caught out! | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
If you take the period 2010 to 2014, the spending has been 2.4 billion | :36:47. | :36:52. | |
more than the 2.2 billion in the previous four years. If you take the | :36:53. | :37:02. | |
five-year period of this Parliament that the spending has been higher | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
than the previous five years. I think having this debate is slightly | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
pointless. The whole country should be coming together to deal with | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
flood defences. The fact is that from the moment he turned up in a | :37:16. | :37:19. | |
flooded village with a Labour candidate beside him, he has missed | :37:20. | :37:24. | |
judged the mood of the country. -- misjudged. First of all, if it is a | :37:25. | :37:37. | |
simple choice between the UK Statistics Authority, people will | :37:38. | :37:44. | |
believe the Statistics Authority. The question of how much to invest | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
in flood defence depends on the assessment of risks posed by | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
man-made climate change. He said this: It is easy to do the softer | :37:53. | :37:59. | |
things like riding your bike, visiting glaciers, and rebuilding | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
your House to make it green. It is only clear you mean it when you do | :38:05. | :38:08. | |
the tough things as well, like telling the truth about climate | :38:09. | :38:12. | |
change. What is the truth about climate change? The truth is that | :38:13. | :38:19. | |
this government has eight programme to reduce carbon right across the | :38:20. | :38:23. | |
economy. -- a programme to reduce carbon. We have started! Compared to | :38:24. | :38:32. | |
the government he left, the carbon emissions are down 14%. Let me | :38:33. | :38:38. | |
return to this issue of floods defence spending. The people of this | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
country will want to know this. He is committed to a 0% Spending | :38:43. | :39:00. | |
Review. That means a a 0% well not match the spending in 2016, 2017 or | :39:01. | :39:14. | |
all the way to 2018! What total nonsense and he knows it! It is very | :39:15. | :39:23. | |
interesting because someone who is in opposition wanted to talk as much | :39:24. | :39:27. | |
as he could about climate change is now wanting to get off the subject! | :39:28. | :39:34. | |
Will he just set out, for his party and the country, his views about | :39:35. | :39:40. | |
man-made climate change? I believe man-made climate change is one of | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
the most serious threats that this country and the world faces. That is | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
why we have the world's first green investment bank here in Britain. | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
That is why we are building the first nuclear power station for 30 | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
years in this country. That is why we have cut carbon emissions by 40% | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
since we came to office. That is why we set out carbon budgets in this | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
country. They talk a good game about it, but it takes people to come in, | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
govern effectively and deal with it! Excellent. We are getting somewhere. | :40:17. | :40:21. | |
I agree with what he's said about the importance of climate change. | :40:22. | :40:28. | |
The reason this matters is because there are people in the most | :40:29. | :40:30. | |
important positions in his government, going around, | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
questioning climate change. This is what the Environment Secretary said: | :40:37. | :40:40. | |
People get very emotional about this. People should accept that the | :40:41. | :40:44. | |
climate has been changing for centuries. The energy minister, when | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
asked about climate change, said this: You are not going to draw me | :40:52. | :40:57. | |
on that. I have not had time to get into the climate change debate. He | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
is the energy minister, Mr Speaker! Will the Prime Minister clarify, is | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
he happy to have climate change deniers in his government? You come | :41:09. | :41:15. | |
to the House of Commons and praise the Prime Minister for his | :41:16. | :41:23. | |
commitment to climate change! I like the new style. This is refreshing. | :41:24. | :41:28. | |
This government has a solid track record of cutting carbon, investing | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
in nuclear, having the biggest renewable energy programme in this | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
country, and for the first time in a long time we are on track to meet | :41:39. | :41:49. | |
our renewable targets. The whole country will have heard that he | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
cannot answer the question about whether you need to believe in | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
man-made climate change to be part of his government. He has gone from | :42:01. | :42:07. | |
thinking it is a basic part of his policy to a matter of individual | :42:08. | :42:12. | |
conscience. He would say it was his passion above all else. Order! The | :42:13. | :42:21. | |
questions and the answers will be heard however long it takes. Those | :42:22. | :42:26. | |
who are exercising their vocal chords should calm down. There was a | :42:27. | :42:35. | |
long way to go. If we are going to protect the people against the | :42:36. | :42:39. | |
dangers they face, we cannot have doubt and confusion in his | :42:40. | :42:46. | |
government. They need to rediscover their past convictions and get real | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
on climate change! You can measure the courage of convictions by the | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
act in government. There is the investment in renewables, there is | :42:59. | :43:01. | |
the investment in nuclear. He talks a good game but did not achieve | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
anything when he was in office. Mr Speaker, the most serious form of | :43:06. | :43:19. | |
denial, is the denial of renewables. What is the plan for long-term | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
investment? That is the requirement for climate change. Nuclear power. | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
Long-term investment like fixing our economy. That is what this | :43:31. | :43:34. | |
government is doing. All he does is get up and deliver a lot of hot air. | :43:35. | :43:42. | |
Can I ask my right honourable friend 's if he can return to public | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
concern at work? Can he get advice on the whistle-blowing report, and | :43:49. | :43:56. | |
see whether he can bring people together in government and look at | :43:57. | :44:00. | |
their recommendations and stop people being persecuted before the | :44:01. | :44:12. | |
Baby P case? The public interest the closure act 1988 protects most | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
workers from being unfairly dismissed when they report a matter | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
of concern. We have strengthened this in 2013 and we will always | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
backed whistle-blowers when reporting poor standards in large | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
organisations. We are happy to make sure that he discusses with the | :44:32. | :44:35. | |
relevant ministers any further step we need to take in this direction. | :44:36. | :44:42. | |
Does the Prime Minister understand the depth of the hurt among Vic | :44:43. | :44:48. | |
Tims' families and the deep sense of public outrage across the country as | :44:49. | :44:51. | |
a result of the outcome of the John Downey case? He needs to understand | :44:52. | :44:59. | |
that for a official letter to trump shoe protest process is deeply | :45:00. | :45:09. | |
offensive to the public in this country. Willy now scrap these get | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
out of jail free letters immediately, and will he do | :45:15. | :45:17. | |
everything in his power to reverse the despicable decision in the John | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
Downey case so that justice can be done for the family of the breed? -- | :45:23. | :45:35. | |
First of all, I understand the deep feelings of the families feel and | :45:36. | :45:41. | |
the fact that the person responsible is not going to be tried. Our first | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
thought should be with those 11 soldiers and their families and | :45:48. | :45:51. | |
friends. It may have happened 32 years ago, but anyone who has lost | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
someone in a situation like that will mourn them today as they did | :45:57. | :46:02. | |
all those years ago. It was a dreadful mistake and a mistake we | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
need to have a review of to make sure this cannot happen again. | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
Whatever happens, we have to stick to the principle that we are a | :46:13. | :46:15. | |
country and a Government under the rule of law. My right honourable | :46:16. | :46:24. | |
friend has taken swift action to help communities and I welcome the | :46:25. | :46:28. | |
?10 million flood relief fund for farmers. But some are at risk from | :46:29. | :46:36. | |
Environment Agency scaremongering to reduce land drainage and reduce | :46:37. | :46:42. | |
pumping stations. Can my right honourable friend ensure it the | :46:43. | :46:48. | |
growers in my constituency that the necessary protections will be given | :46:49. | :46:54. | |
to their land and in order to react properly, this Government is | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
planning for the long-term security of this industry. I am glad she is | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
advertising to have farm is the availability of the ?10 million fund | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
that will be available to those who have lost the use of productive | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
land. The point about farmers and landowners being nervous about | :47:13. | :47:18. | |
dredging their land because of rules is a good one. The pendulum swung | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
too far against dredging and that will change. It is not the whole | :47:24. | :47:27. | |
answer to the problems she discusses, but it has a proper part | :47:28. | :47:32. | |
in properly managing the landscape. Mr Speaker, the tragic death on a | :47:33. | :47:40. | |
Birmingham Street of Sarah Childs devastated her family and shocked | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
the community, a much loved sister and daughter. She was killed and her | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
sister Claire, who was pregnant, was severely injured by a speeding | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
driver doing 64 miles an hour who got four years in prison. Does the | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
Prime Minister agreed the time has come to look again at the sentencing | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
of those who kill with a car? First of all, my heart goes out to his | :48:07. | :48:12. | |
constituents and the family of the constituent who was tragically | :48:13. | :48:16. | |
killed. I think it is right to look again at motoring offences and the | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
penalties that are given. I have discussed with the Secretary of | :48:22. | :48:25. | |
State and I am sure he will be listening carefully to what the | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
honourable gentleman has said. The response of NHS Wales to Sir Bruce | :48:32. | :48:43. | |
Keogh's e-mail about a video response. Is the Prime Minister is | :48:44. | :48:48. | |
astounded as I am that NHS Wales thinks the cheap medical director of | :48:49. | :48:53. | |
England and the Royal College of surgeons' views are not legitimate? | :48:54. | :48:57. | |
Will he worked with the leader of the opposition to try to get his | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
party in Wales to reverse this decision? It could save lives. The | :49:04. | :49:08. | |
honourable lady makes a very important point. Sir Bruce Keogh's | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
views should be respected and listened to by the NHS in Wales. The | :49:14. | :49:19. | |
Royal College of surgeons are saying there are people on NHS waiting | :49:20. | :49:23. | |
lists who are dying in Wales because the waiting lists are too long | :49:24. | :49:28. | |
because the NHS is not being properly managed and funded and | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
reformed in Wales. That is a matter for the Welsh assembly Government. | :49:33. | :49:41. | |
Will the Prime Minister accept the overwhelming humanitarian case for | :49:42. | :49:48. | |
guaranteeing long-term support to victims and survivors of terrorism? | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
If so, will he agreed to meet with me, Colin Parry and survivors of the | :49:53. | :50:00. | |
7/7 London bombings who have benefited from the services of | :50:01. | :50:08. | |
survivors for peace programme which is now faced with imminent closure? | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
In doing so, will he remember his pledge that survivors of I am very | :50:15. | :50:52. | |
It is a unique charity and it does an extraordinary job. We want to | :50:53. | :51:00. | |
make sure that all these institutions can continue their | :51:01. | :51:02. | |
excellent work and I am happy to hold this discussion with her. We | :51:03. | :51:08. | |
all want to see a more balanced economy. Does the Prime Minister | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
agree that today's stonking upward rise in business investment, over | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
9%, shows that British entrepreneurs are rising to this challenge? My | :51:20. | :51:26. | |
honourable friend makes an important point. Right across this house, and | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
many experts have been saying what we need is a balanced recovery, one | :51:32. | :51:37. | |
that sees increases in exports as well as consumption, one that sees | :51:38. | :51:41. | |
increases in investment from business and the upgrading of the | :51:42. | :51:46. | |
GDP figures showing an increase in exports and a very large increase in | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
business investment is hugely welcome for our country. Given | :51:51. | :51:58. | |
yesterday's court revelations of a secret scheme, does the Prime | :51:59. | :52:02. | |
Minister believed that as well as the parties in Northern Ireland | :52:03. | :52:09. | |
progressing the elements following the hardest talks that there is a | :52:10. | :52:14. | |
need for transparency regarding the confused and shabby ways that the | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
past was dealt with, and remembering that Downing Street was involved in | :52:21. | :52:27. | |
this matter. The talks made good progress and they were trying to | :52:28. | :52:32. | |
deal with difficult issues in Northern Ireland in terms of flags | :52:33. | :52:34. | |
and parades and the most difficult issue of all, the past. She wanted | :52:35. | :52:43. | |
to point the finger apparently at Downing Street. I would argue that | :52:44. | :52:47. | |
when it comes to dealing with things like the bloody Sunday inquiry, that | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
Downing Street is very happy to play its role in helping to bring parties | :52:52. | :52:56. | |
together and make sure that we continue with peace in Northern | :52:57. | :53:01. | |
Ireland. Given what the Prime Minister has called the leader of | :53:02. | :53:05. | |
the opposition's new approach and Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit | :53:06. | :53:08. | |
tomorrow, does he think there is something we can learn from her | :53:09. | :53:12. | |
about an even broader base approach to coalition that would unite the | :53:13. | :53:19. | |
whole country? In circumstances he would have to give red meat to them | :53:20. | :53:23. | |
and read meat to us, it would mean we could leave the Liberal Democrats | :53:24. | :53:33. | |
where they belong. My admiration for Angela Merkel is enormous. There are | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
many things she has achieved that I would like to copy, not getting | :53:39. | :53:44. | |
re-elected. But the one thing I do not want to copy is I think the idea | :53:45. | :53:49. | |
of a grand coalition is a bit too much for me. What steps will the | :53:50. | :53:56. | |
Prime Minister and Government take to insist the National Crime Agency | :53:57. | :54:11. | |
assist the people trafficking police? The National Crime Agency do | :54:12. | :54:15. | |
not have free rein in Northern Ireland. The honourable gentleman | :54:16. | :54:21. | |
makes an important point. I have been impressed by the work the | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
National Crime Agency is doing. It has got real strength and numbers in | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
terms of being able to tackle organised crime. It is bad for | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
Northern Ireland that it is not able to properly operate there. I hope | :54:36. | :54:40. | |
that over time it will be possible to make progress and it would be | :54:41. | :54:44. | |
good for Northern Ireland and good for our fight against organised | :54:45. | :54:50. | |
crime. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your new role | :54:51. | :54:56. | |
as Chancellor of Bedford University? In the last three | :54:57. | :55:06. | |
years... In the last three years, 99 brave soldiers have given their life | :55:07. | :55:11. | |
for this country in Afghanistan. In the same period of time 264 British | :55:12. | :55:18. | |
women have been murdered at the hands of men and over three quarters | :55:19. | :55:22. | |
of those women were stalked before they were murdered. Will the Prime | :55:23. | :55:27. | |
Minister give a guaranteed that this Government will introduce | :55:28. | :55:30. | |
legislation to protect women from that fate in the future, | :55:31. | :55:34. | |
particularly given the ease that stock was have to begin their | :55:35. | :55:39. | |
stopping activity by social media and the Internet? I am grateful for | :55:40. | :55:45. | |
what might honourable friend says. Stocking is an appalling crime and | :55:46. | :55:48. | |
it can destroy lives and we have to crack down on it. We have introduced | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
a new offence to make absolutely clear the view we take of it. The | :55:54. | :55:59. | |
new laws are equally applicable to online cyber stalking and | :56:00. | :56:02. | |
harassment. And the CPS has published guidelines regarding | :56:03. | :56:09. | |
information sent by social media. I am happy to write to her with the | :56:10. | :56:13. | |
detail of all the things we are doing and to see if there are | :56:14. | :56:18. | |
further steps we can take. When the Prime Minister was asked about the | :56:19. | :56:22. | |
bedroom tax last March he said, what we have done is to exempt disabled | :56:23. | :56:27. | |
people who need an extra room. Now that we know that people with | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
terminal illness who cannot share a room, those who have to store | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
equipment, such as dialysis machines, and families with severely | :56:36. | :56:38. | |
disabled children who need occasional respite are all subject | :56:39. | :56:44. | |
to this pernicious tax, would he like to revise that answer and to | :56:45. | :56:48. | |
apologise to the disabled people to whom he gave false hope? This is a | :56:49. | :56:55. | |
basic issue of fairness, that people who are renting in the private | :56:56. | :56:58. | |
sector do not get additional money for rooms they do not use, so it is | :56:59. | :57:04. | |
not fair to have a different set of rules in the social sector. But we | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
have a large discretionary payment system in order to help families | :57:10. | :57:17. | |
like the ones she mentions. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
the increase in jobs, or stopping increase in jobs, in the private | :57:22. | :57:27. | |
sector is leading the UK's economic recovery and helped by the range of | :57:28. | :57:33. | |
engineers, manufacturers and retailers who are employing people | :57:34. | :57:35. | |
and sending their exports around the world? My honourable friend is | :57:36. | :57:43. | |
absolutely right. We have now got 1.6 million new private sector jobs | :57:44. | :57:48. | |
and there are 1.34 million people employed in our country. We have | :57:49. | :57:54. | |
seen a growth in employment in every region in the country. Some are | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
growing faster than others. But one of the indicators of economic | :58:01. | :58:03. | |
success is weak in, week out, the leader of the Labour Party comes to | :58:04. | :58:09. | |
the House of Commons and cannot talk about the economy or jobs and | :58:10. | :58:13. | |
investment and growth, because all the things he said would never | :58:14. | :58:20. | |
happen are happening in our economy. Could the Prime Minister focus on | :58:21. | :58:27. | |
the fact that the company doing the work capability test was to give up | :58:28. | :58:32. | |
and could it not be changed back to the medical evidence of the | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
consultants of those who are applying? It costs money for | :58:37. | :58:48. | |
appeals. The contract was awarded by the last Labour Government. Of | :58:49. | :58:53. | |
course we are now discussing and debating with the company had this | :58:54. | :58:58. | |
should be taken forward. But we need in this country a way of determining | :58:59. | :59:03. | |
whether people are fit for work or not. When it comes to the issue of | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
sanctions in our benefit system, it is right people who are offered a | :59:09. | :59:13. | |
job and do not take a job face a sanction. That will be the toys at | :59:14. | :59:19. | |
the next election. One party in favour of hard working people and | :59:20. | :59:23. | |
another party obsessed by bigger and bigger benefits. Britain's Armed | :59:24. | :59:29. | |
Forces are the best and as we are witnessing taking essential action | :59:30. | :59:36. | |
in flooded areas. Prime Minister, please recognised the folly of | :59:37. | :59:41. | |
reducing the size of the Armed Forces and stop sucking full-time | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
service men and women. This gives me the opportunity of praising the | :59:47. | :59:49. | |
extraordinary role that armed services personnel have played | :59:50. | :59:55. | |
during the floods in our country over the last week. What we have | :59:56. | :00:00. | |
done is removed the ?38 billion black hole that we were left. That | :00:01. | :00:06. | |
meant taking difficult decisions over the size of the Army, navy and | :00:07. | :00:13. | |
air force. We now have a top-flight defence budget in terms of spending | :00:14. | :00:16. | |
anywhere in the world and we are coming to the end of all the | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
redundancy schemes so we can point loudly to the extraordinary | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
investment we can be making a new aircraft carriers, in hunter killer | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
submarines, in aircraft, in the best equipment that any Armed Forces | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
could have anywhere in the world. I met a man called really, who is 24 | :00:38. | :00:44. | |
years old. He lost his job a year ago and had to resort to going | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
through supermarket skips to find out of date food so he could eat. -- | :00:50. | :00:59. | |
belief. -- belief. Why will the government not offer him a job? What | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
we are doing for Billy and thousands like him is offering jobs and hope. | :01:05. | :01:12. | |
Honourable members opposite come here week after week to try and say | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
that this country is poorer or worse off under this government. Let me | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
remind hope what it was like in 2009. There were a million more | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
people in poverty, 500,000 more children in poverty, 150,000 more | :01:27. | :01:33. | |
unemployed people, and 750,000 more people claiming benefits. Yes, there | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
is more to do but we have a proud record of giving people jobs and | :01:40. | :01:54. | |
hope. Just over a week ago, I joined school pupils and asked them what | :01:55. | :02:02. | |
they would like to ask the Prime Minister, and one of them wanted to | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
know why the government keeps on making so many new laws. Could the | :02:07. | :02:14. | |
Prime Minister tell my young constituent what he is doing to | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
reduce the burden of legislation? I think he has a promising future in | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
this place, that is the attitude we need. This is going to be the first | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
government since the war that leaves office, at the end of its term, with | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
fewer regulations in place than at the beginning. That is because of | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
the excellent work by the business department who has done a brilliant | :02:40. | :02:46. | |
job of taking legislation of business. There has not been an oral | :02:47. | :02:54. | |
statement to the House about the future of Stafford Hospital, given | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
that it is expected that the University Hospital of North | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
Staffordshire will take on the running of the site. Will he accept | :03:02. | :03:10. | |
that there was a funding gap of ?39 million capital costs, ?4 million | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
revenue cost, and make sure that there will be the opportunity to | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
question the government and that these changes will not go through at | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
the expense of the health of the people of North Staffordshire? A | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
statement is being made today about the future of the hospital. It has | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
been a difficult issue to deal with, the appalling situation that we were | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
left with. I am sure there will be opportunities to debate within the | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
House, but I think she will see that there are good steps being made, and | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
hard work will be put into make sure it is possible to continue with | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
consultant led maternity services so people can have their babies | :03:55. | :03:57. | |
delivered in Stafford Hospital. That is what I want to see and the Health | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
Secretary will set out the proposals later. There will be opportunities | :04:03. | :04:09. | |
to debate this and the failures of Stapp -- Stafford Hospital. Millions | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
of Londoners were inconvenienced earlier this month by the | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
underground strike which was only supported by 30% of the union | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
members. Will my right honourable friend agreed to conduct a review to | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
increase the threshold so pointless strikes are outlawed? My honourable | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
friend makes a good point. When you see how many people rely on these | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
essential services, the time has come to look at what changes we can | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
make. One of the problems we have seen is that despite requests, the | :04:46. | :04:57. | |
party opposite have not condemned the strike. We were told, Mr | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
Speaker, that they were heading for divorce, but I think they are going | :05:04. | :05:10. | |
to renew their vows! That brings us to the end of Prime Minister's | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
Questions. While it was taking place, we have learned that the | :05:16. | :05:22. | |
president of the Russian Federation has put his forces on alert. He did | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
this act 2pm Russian time. That is according to the Russian defence | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
minister. We understand that Vladimir Putin has ensured the | :05:35. | :05:42. | |
combat readiness of his forces in Russia. This is different to the | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
full-scale mobilisation that it could lead to that. -- but it could | :05:49. | :05:57. | |
lead to that. This is obviously due to events in Ukraine. Nick, I want | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
to come back to why this was not raised in PMQs, but what do you know | :06:05. | :06:14. | |
is happening in Russia? This announcement was made by the defence | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
Minister. According to Reuters, it is not the first time this has | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
happened. There have been a number of these. When you hear it | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
initially, people think, my goodness, but it could be sabre | :06:31. | :06:31. | |
rattling. The Government's National Security | :06:32. | :06:51. | |
Council met and was discussing the issue of Ukraine. On the one hand | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
you have got the European countries worry about funding for example and | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
have to try and get the democratic process back on step, led largely by | :07:00. | :07:07. | |
the Germans. On the other hand, I am told, the Government ministers were | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
at that stage discussing Russia's options. One option they discussed | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
was the possibility Russia would send in troops to protect Russian | :07:17. | :07:24. | |
speakers. There are a large number of Russian speakers in the Crimea. | :07:25. | :07:32. | |
He also has a port there. Also they could pull the plug on the financing | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
of the Ukraine. They have frozen the 15 billion. Does it not strike you | :07:39. | :07:51. | |
that it is a parochial nature that Ukraine was not raised once during | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
Prime Minister's Questions? I appreciate that this news broke | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
while it was going on, but we are taking a major forum policy | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
position, and we are being asked to step up to the plate and provide a | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
lot of money. -- foreign policy. Why would not a single MP raise this as | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
an issue in Parliament? It goes back to the discussion we were having | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
about the nature of PMQs. It is increasingly backbenchers playing a | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
party game so that everybody things they are on the side of their party | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
leader to try and get over that day's partisan points. People stop | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
thinking for themselves. There was, to be fair, a big statement by the | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
Foreign Secretary on Ukraine. This is PMQs, live on network | :08:46. | :08:59. | |
television. That is right. Surely on that, the first thing to say is that | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
we had a long statement on Monday in front of a full House. You are | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
talking about serious issues. The Leader of the Opposition, the man | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
who wants to be Prime Minister, surely the question to be asked is | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
why was he having a bizarre conversation about climate change | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
when, actually, there are bigger issues to discuss? There was a major | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
international issue that confronts Europe and it is an issue that | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
involves our foreign policy, the European foreign policy, and because | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
we contribute to the IMF and the EU, which is money is being asked for | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
through these institutions. That is right. Just because it was not | :09:47. | :09:55. | |
raised at PMQs, I do not think people do not understand the gravity | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
of the situation. Flooding should dominate PMQs as well. We can say | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
for sure that flooding has been pretty well covered. This is not an | :10:07. | :10:15. | |
either or argument. No, I do not want to do that. I am sure they will | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
come back to it in another statement. I do think that the UK | :10:20. | :10:27. | |
Parliament has looked at the issue and will continue to do so. I think | :10:28. | :10:35. | |
we need to be careful. Do we have a view? Do the MPs have of view? Do we | :10:36. | :10:44. | |
have a view under what conditions we should lend Ukraine money and what | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
assets we should demand as security? They are talking about 30 | :10:49. | :11:03. | |
billion or so. I would not read into the fact that it did not come up | :11:04. | :11:10. | |
today. There was some discussion around George Osborne's | :11:11. | :11:17. | |
discussions. The economic interest of Ukraine, we must intervene in | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
that to protect the interests of the country and look at the geopolitical | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
balance that is now emerging as one of the big issues. Events are moving | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
so we have to be temperate in how we deal with matters. You agree with | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
the Prime Minister? Climate change is one of the most serious threats | :11:40. | :11:46. | |
facing mankind. The truth is that what Ed Miliband was trying to do | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
today was drive wedges between those who believe strongly in climate | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
change and those who are unsure. I asked you if you are in agreement | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
with the Prime Minister that climate change is one of the most serious | :12:01. | :12:06. | |
threats? It is clearly an issue for us. Is it one of the most serious | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
rates for mankind? Around the world, it is having a major impact on | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
different societies, and therefore, investment on things like flood | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
defences... But do you believe that man-made climate change is one of | :12:24. | :12:33. | |
the most serious threats facing mankind? It is an issue. The price | :12:34. | :12:42. | |
of bread is an issue! Why does he think that anybody cares outside the | :12:43. | :13:01. | |
Westminster Circle? John Hayes. He uses these toxic phrases like, | :13:02. | :13:11. | |
denier. What is a denier? Somebody that does not recognise that climate | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
change is one of the most significant challenges we face as a | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
country, and that governments have to take action now to protect us. If | :13:20. | :13:31. | |
the government was to say that there is no question that the climate is | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
changing and man is contributing to that change, would that be a denial? | :13:37. | :13:45. | |
Somebody who denies that it is a global challenge... That is not what | :13:46. | :13:51. | |
I said but would it be a denial but Mark if you are sceptical about | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
man's involvement in this, is that a denial? Yes, that is a denial. If | :13:56. | :14:10. | |
you say, I am in no doubt that the Prime Minister is warming -- on the | :14:11. | :14:17. | |
planet is warming up, that I am not sure by how much it is warming up, | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
and the predictions may be alarmist, is that a denial? Yes. The key point | :14:22. | :14:29. | |
that Ed Miliband was making and one that is relevant is the fact that | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
the environment will not take a briefing on climate change experts | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
in his own department. He will not receive official briefing. We know | :14:38. | :14:50. | |
already that there is no scientific do not think that the scientific | :14:51. | :14:57. | |
Minister... Do not think he should take a meeting from his officials? I | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
think it is relevant. Your final thought? One thing that is important | :15:04. | :15:11. | |
is the court case that the Prime Minister was asked about to do with | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
the bombing. The two representatives of the Democratic party said there | :15:17. | :15:21. | |
should be no more of these. He did say he understood their anger and | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
thought it was a mistake but when he was asked to say that they should | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
not happen in the future, he clearly did not say it. He took a tougher | :15:29. | :15:37. | |
line on strikes and implied there may be a change in the law on the | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
number of people who vote in essential services. The cost of gas | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
and electricity has been a big political issue ever since Ed | :15:48. | :15:49. | |
Miliband said he would help consumers with their bills by | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
capping prices. But it is also a problem for industry, particularly | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
energy heavily intensive industry. Tom Crotty from INEOS, which owns | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
Grangemouth, says the high prices are damaging the industrial sector. | :16:09. | :16:19. | |
This is his soapbox. Welcome to Grangemouth, one of the biggest | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
industrial sites in the UK. The plant uses more energy than | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen combined. This piece of kit, the | :16:29. | :16:39. | |
cracker, is at the heart of the site and it produces basic raw | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
materials. These chemicals are the basic building blocks of everyday | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
products. But industry like this is threatened. The UK has some of the | :16:49. | :17:00. | |
most expensive energy in the world, not helped by Government taxes. It | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
is making Grangemouth uncompetitive. Heavy industry in the | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
UK spends much more on energy costs and our counterparts in Europe. | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
Paying more for our energy than our rivals is simply not sustainable | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
long term. In Germany, industrial energy costs are capped. 20 years | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
ago in the UK and Germany, manufacturing accounted for 23% of | :17:28. | :17:33. | |
GDP. In Germany it is the same, but in the UK it has fallen to 11% and | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
much of this is accounted for by our uncompetitive energy costs. There is | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
one other possibility for lower energy prices in the UK and that is | :17:45. | :17:50. | |
shale gas. It is cheaper than other energy sources and it is driving a | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
manufacturing boom in the United States. There are over 1 million | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
Shell gas wells and the USA will be self-sufficient in energy by 2020. | :18:01. | :18:07. | |
The UK has got to embrace shale gas. We at INEOS will be the first | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
company to import shale gas from the United States and this area will be | :18:13. | :18:20. | |
filled with shale gas from the US. But it is not enough. We need to be | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
able to produce shale gas and we have huge reserves of it. If we do | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
not address the heavy costs for industry, we will not have industry. | :18:31. | :18:38. | |
Tom Crotty is with us. Let me put your point to these politicians. You | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
are always talking, both of you, all parties, we need to rebalance the | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
economy and go back to manufacturing and look after heavy industry. What | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
do you say? That was an interesting film, but in principle we need to be | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
careful about shale gas. I would not rule it out. We need to look at the | :19:03. | :19:08. | |
regulation of it. He is making the general point that because of | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
policies both of your parties have pursued, including the Lib Dems, | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
which have forced energy prices up ever since the 2008 climate change | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
act, you are making life difficult for heavy industry that employs over | :19:26. | :19:31. | |
800,000 people in this country. I could provide a list of the savings | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
that could be given to Scottish and British business as a result of the | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
energy freeze. Give as an example? I have not got that in my hand, I do | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
not have that recall, but they would save as much energy as household | :19:51. | :19:59. | |
would. He is just freezing it. If the costs increase, he will save | :20:00. | :20:06. | |
something. What do you say? Wii I am a strong supporter of lower tax, and | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
I want to see tax cuts for businesses. He will know the scale | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
of the challenge we are dealing with. The solution to this is what | :20:14. | :20:26. | |
he has described. I want us to move ahead with shale gas. It has | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
transformed the situation in the United States. We have got huge | :20:32. | :20:37. | |
reserves, it is inexpensive for industry and the public and it will | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
take pressure of businesses and pensioners struggling with their gas | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
bills. What do you say to them about the existing tax and the Green taxes | :20:46. | :20:52. | |
and the extra costs, the closing down of cheap coal stations, what do | :20:53. | :20:59. | |
you say to them? Where we are is as a result of a lack of industrial and | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
energy policy over a long period of time. In Germany they had through | :21:05. | :21:11. | |
the last 25-30 years that it would protect its heavy industry come what | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
may. But at the cost of households. The cost of electricity is going | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
through the roof, Germans say it is a luxury good. They know how | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
important heavy industry is, but ordinary Germans are paying through | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
the nose. During winter 300,000 of them get cut off. There are | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
undoubtedly trade office. Germany has chosen to say what we need is an | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
industry that supports our economy and through that we can support our | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
people and those people can afford to live. Do you think Shell gas | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
avoids that trade-off? Let's come to shale gas. It can give you a | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
security of supply because it is under our own ground, but unlike | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
America where the gas market is a separate, hermetically sealed market | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
where they can set their own prices, we are part of a world | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
market and our gas would be at world prices, it would not be cheaper. I | :22:16. | :22:22. | |
agree entirely. This is not about suddenly we get cheap gas. This is | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
about having abundant supplies. We cannot get the gas we need today. | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
The North Sea does not have the right sort of gas we need to make | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
chemicals. For the chemical industry this is transformational. The US | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
industry is currently investing $71 billion in new plant and that is the | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
sort of transformation it could bring about. You have got to have | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
chemicals and steel and aluminium. Thank you for that. They are rolling | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
out the red carpet for Angela Merkel tomorrow. She is going to address | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
both Houses of Parliament and have tea with the Queen. That will | :23:02. | :23:09. | |
probably be in German as well. Compare that to the pie and a pint | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
given to the French president Francois Hollande last month. We | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
have seen the difference. Chancellor Merkel is being treated as a VIP | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
because David Cameron sees her as his best chance to renegotiate the | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
European Union treaty. Mrs Merkel does want reform although in part | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
she wants closer integration to protect the euro zone from any | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
future financial crisis. It has been reported, however, that she is | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
willing to give Mr Cameron some concessions. There could be limited | :23:39. | :23:41. | |
opt outs on certain EU regulations like the Working Time Directive and | :23:42. | :23:44. | |
the treaty could be revised to ensure those countries like Britain | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
who do not have the euro are protected in the single market. | :23:49. | :23:53. | |
Finally, EU regulations could be implemented in a less prescriptive | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
and intrusive way, although that all may not be enough for some. Earlier | :23:57. | :24:03. | |
this week Mrs Merkel's chief spokesman was quoted as saying, "The | :24:04. | :24:06. | |
expectations in the press are clearly too high." And he meant the | :24:07. | :24:17. | |
British press. With me now is John Jungclaussen from the German | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
newspaper Die Zeit. That quote is right, isn't it? She may want to | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
help Mr Cameron, but she can fulfil the Eurosceptic expectations? That | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
is absolutely true. The problem one -- is one of timing and diplomacy. | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
Remember when Gordon Brown arrived late for the signing of the Lisbon | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
Treaty... Intentionally. Intentionally. Now the Brits cannot | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
get out of the treaty quick enough. For someone in the club who wants to | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
rewrite the rules, they may have support, but to do it within a time | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
frame they have set that is unlike any time frame the EU would ever | :25:02. | :25:10. | |
met... 1917, sorry 2017, 1917 was a while ago! 2017 is the problem. It | :25:11. | :25:23. | |
cannot be done in that time. The last thing Mr Cameron wants is | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
another referendum in the same year as an election. The other problem is | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
her new Foreign Secretary, who, when he saw William Hague, made it very | :25:35. | :25:41. | |
clear he was essentially a more committed European than Angela | :25:42. | :25:43. | |
Merkel and less likely to pave the way for an agreement. Having a grand | :25:44. | :25:50. | |
coalition with the social Democrats is a constraint on Mrs Merkel as | :25:51. | :25:57. | |
well. Absolutely. But Angela Merkel has some challenges in the old | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
Franco German alliance which was at the core of Europe since the Treaty | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
of Rome is fraying at the edges. There is a big question over whether | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
the French economy stays with Northern Europe or drifts of and | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
becomes a Club Med economy leaving Mrs Merkel with Northern Europe. She | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
would like Britain to be there. Absolutely. Increasing | :26:24. | :26:30. | |
competitiveness, essentially German and Britain followed the same model | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
and Britain is recognised as an important partner. But if you | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
approach the table and sit down in a grumpy mood and say, we have to | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
change now and very quickly, then that is not seen as being very | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
helpful. We are being told the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter | :26:52. | :26:58. | |
Robinson, will resign because of the judicial review case over the IRA | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
bomber. Francois Hollande does not want to give you anything and Mrs | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
Merkel will not be able to give you as much as she would like because | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
she is in coalition with the German Labour Party. This is the start of a | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
process. The reality is the European Union is changing. As a result of | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
the Europe presses, the European states are going to have to take | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
significant steps toward integration in order to deal with the crisis. | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
Britain is not part of that and we are not part of that process, but we | :27:33. | :27:41. | |
are in the EU. But it cannot all be done by 2017. If we are in power | :27:42. | :27:46. | |
there will be a referendum in 2017 and if we have not got to a position | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
where there is a new relationship, the British public will have the | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
freedom to vote to leave. The choice will be for our European partners | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
who they want to accept the nature of the changes that are taking place | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
and find a way for Britain to coexist with a euro zone area that | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
is becoming more integrated? Or do they want to leave it to our | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
electorate to decide? I am confident we have to win the election first | :28:15. | :28:20. | |
and we then can make good progress. We have made progress because we | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
have run out of time. I had so much to say. Time to put you out of your | :28:25. | :28:32. | |
misery for Guess The Year. It was 1983, the year of the election. | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
Margaret, you get to press the button. The winner: Thank you for | :28:38. | :28:52. | |
joining us. Thank you to our guests. The one o'clock News is on BBC One | :28:53. | :28:59. | |
and we will be back tomorrow night and tomorrow also with the Daily | :29:00. | :29:01. | |
Politics. Goodbye. | :29:02. | :29:05. |