28/10/2015

:00:37. > :00:39.Morning folks - welcome to the Daily Politics.

:00:40. > :00:42.David Cameron's off to Iceland later today to meet with his

:00:43. > :00:48.He wants to talk about his renegotiation of Britain's

:00:49. > :00:52.And according to this morning's papers he wants to warn voters that

:00:53. > :00:57.life outside the EU is no land of milk and honey.

:00:58. > :01:03.But before he leaves there's just the small matter

:01:04. > :01:08.Jeremy Corbyn says he's not going to gloat over the Government's

:01:09. > :01:11.defeat on tax credits, but might he just be tempted to mention it?

:01:12. > :01:16.We'll bring you all the action live at noon.

:01:17. > :01:19.The Lib Dem leader's just been to see the migrant crisis first-hand,

:01:20. > :01:22.and Tim Farron's got his first question to the Prime Minister.

:01:23. > :01:30.And we'll be talking to the MPs who represent what are said

:01:31. > :01:38.to be the happiest place in the UK, and the most miserable.

:01:39. > :01:42.All that in the next hour, and with us for the whole of the

:01:43. > :01:45.programme today two MPs who are in the happiest place in Westminster.

:01:46. > :01:49.No not the bar in the House of Lords after a hard night's work defying

:01:50. > :01:53.I mean of course the Daily Politics studio, the Disneyland

:01:54. > :02:02.It's the housing minister Brandon Lewis and the shadow minister

:02:03. > :02:10.without portfolio, Jonathan Ashworth.

:02:11. > :02:14.They wanted to give him a job but they didn't think what he could do.

:02:15. > :02:16.First today let's talk about the Prime Minister, because

:02:17. > :02:18.after PMQs he's off to Iceland for an annual conference with

:02:19. > :02:25.And Downing Street says he's going to use

:02:26. > :02:29.the occasion to directly address the alternatives to Britain remaining

:02:30. > :02:32.in the EU ahead of the referendum on membership which is due to take

:02:33. > :02:40.The official position of Mr Cameron, who is leading the renegotiation

:02:41. > :02:44.with other EU members, is that he rules nothing out if fellow leaders

:02:45. > :02:49.But today the Telegraph reports that he will warn voters that life

:02:50. > :03:02.outside the EU would not be a "land of milk and honey".

:03:03. > :03:03.He claims exit could cost the country hundreds

:03:04. > :03:07.Number 10 has also released a series of statements including one

:03:08. > :03:10.from the Norweigan prime minister urging Britain to reject their style

:03:11. > :03:13.Norway is a member of the European Economic Area

:03:14. > :03:17.Well this message was apparently aimed at those campaigning

:03:18. > :03:19.for a British exit, so let's get some reaction now

:03:20. > :03:26.from the Conservative MP Steve Baker from the Vote Leave campaign.

:03:27. > :03:34.Steve Baker, the chairman or one of the members of your campaign group

:03:35. > :03:38.says number ten appear to have dropped any semblance of neutrality.

:03:39. > :03:42.Is that how you see it? I think the terms of debate are changing. As I

:03:43. > :03:47.Javid said, you need to be prepared to walk away from negotiation and is

:03:48. > :03:51.big coming less clear the prime in history 's ruling anything out. Is

:03:52. > :03:56.he in panic mode? I think they are worried but not panicking. The

:03:57. > :04:01.spokesman for the Vote Leave said Downing Street was in a panic. I

:04:02. > :04:05.think there are a range of views but as a Conservative MP are loyal to

:04:06. > :04:13.the Prime Minister at every possible subject I can be. I have a great

:04:14. > :04:17.deal of faith in David Cameron. Downing Street sources say leaving

:04:18. > :04:20.the EU, not necessarily a land of milk and honey. Would you prefer him

:04:21. > :04:25.to say that staying in might not be either? I think it might be a good

:04:26. > :04:29.idea if he said staying in might not be the land of milk and honey. I

:04:30. > :04:38.hope he will ask Iceland if they will join the European year of -- EU

:04:39. > :04:42.today. It is unlikely a country like Norway or Iceland would join the EU

:04:43. > :04:50.like it is today. But we believe with the UK having an economy four

:04:51. > :04:55.times as big as them, we can get a British option. Is he right to be

:04:56. > :05:00.warning against the virtue is of the UK following the Norwegian model?

:05:01. > :05:05.The Norwegian model has its downsides but not as bad as people

:05:06. > :05:09.suggest. Estimates vary but some say Norway only has to adopt 10% of

:05:10. > :05:14.European Union proposals. There is a conversation to be had about the

:05:15. > :05:18.status of Norway, but nobody in our campaign is campaigning we adopt

:05:19. > :05:21.that model or the Swiss one. We think, as our biggest exports of

:05:22. > :05:25.European Union, we are in a strong and powerful position to negotiate

:05:26. > :05:30.for a British deal. Even in Norway themselves they say it is not the

:05:31. > :05:34.ideal option at all. You pay for all the regulations and you have no

:05:35. > :05:37.says. They don't have no say. Think about the code that deals with

:05:38. > :05:42.fish, based in Norway and the Norwegians chair it. They produce

:05:43. > :05:46.the global rules which are handed down to the EU and the EU hands them

:05:47. > :05:51.onto the way. The reality is that Norway, if they are influencing

:05:52. > :05:54.those rules are a global level they have more instruments than if they

:05:55. > :05:58.were represented by the EU in the same body. For many of us we believe

:05:59. > :06:03.that Britain, the fifth largest economy in the world, is capable of

:06:04. > :06:07.retraining its influence and power in world affairs and regulations,

:06:08. > :06:13.leaving the European Union. Steve Baker, thank you.

:06:14. > :06:16.Brandon Lewis, the Prime Minister says he rules nothing out when it

:06:17. > :06:22.comes to Europe. So why is he ruling out the Norwegian option? I think he

:06:23. > :06:26.has also been very clear about the concerns around staying in Europe as

:06:27. > :06:29.it is. I think what David has said by the way through his consistent,

:06:30. > :06:33.we need a renegotiation in the best interests of the country. There was

:06:34. > :06:37.nothing in the briefing that came out of Downing Street warning of the

:06:38. > :06:40.dangers of staying in? What the Prime Minister had said on numerous

:06:41. > :06:44.occasions as we need to get that we negotiation. We don't want to be

:06:45. > :06:47.part of where Europe is going. Why is he ruling out the Norwegian

:06:48. > :06:51.model? I think he has had clearly all the way through we will look at

:06:52. > :06:58.all options. He is looking at what is going on across Europe. It is

:06:59. > :07:01.about getting the right deal, the right deal for Britain as Steve

:07:02. > :07:03.said. I think we need to to bring that renegotiation board. Nobody

:07:04. > :07:07.will consciously agree with the wrong deal, it may be the wrong deal

:07:08. > :07:11.but nobody will consciously agree with that. The Prime Minister is

:07:12. > :07:15.meant to be neutral until he doesn't renegotiation and then tells us we

:07:16. > :07:20.can all make up our minds. Why is he pre-empting the debates, is the

:07:21. > :07:23.beginning to panic? Not at all. The Prime Minister doesn't panic, he has

:07:24. > :07:26.always delivered the right thing for this country, in Europe and on the

:07:27. > :07:29.wider scale forced what we will see in the next few months as those

:07:30. > :07:32.renegotiation is going forward. When we get to next year we will have the

:07:33. > :07:37.opportunity to see exactly where we end up. And as you said, in 2017

:07:38. > :07:44.people will get a chance to have their say. What is wrong with a

:07:45. > :07:47.variation of the Norwegian model? We will see what comes through with the

:07:48. > :07:51.renegotiation is. What is wrong with that? We are being briefed by

:07:52. > :07:55.Downing Street is not right. I'm asking you what is wrong with it? It

:07:56. > :07:58.is about looking at what is the right deal for us. It might be we

:07:59. > :08:04.can get a renegotiation that gives us what we want a staying part of

:08:05. > :08:10.the European Union. Being part of the European Union is hugely

:08:11. > :08:13.important, for tourism and energy. But we need to have on the right

:08:14. > :08:17.terms. Let me try one more time, what would be wrong with a version

:08:18. > :08:23.of the Norwegian model if we voted to come out of the EU? I think we

:08:24. > :08:26.are a long way from voting to come out of the EU. The ultimate problem,

:08:27. > :08:31.we have to know exactly what we are voting on. Until the renegotiation

:08:32. > :08:35.is finished, we are in a hypothetical situation. I would

:08:36. > :08:38.rather wait and let the Prime Minister to those renegotiation,

:08:39. > :08:42.make a recommendation to the British public and we all have our say. When

:08:43. > :08:47.will Jeremy Corbyn start campaigning to keep us in? We have a Labour

:08:48. > :08:52.campaign to keep us in, led by Mr Johnson. When will Jeremy Corbyn get

:08:53. > :08:56.involved? We have not heard him say much since he became leader? He has

:08:57. > :09:00.endorsed Allan Johnson's campaign and said the Labour Party will be

:09:01. > :09:08.campaigning to stay in the EU. It's his heart in it? The last time I was

:09:09. > :09:13.on your programme I found out I was not even born in 1975. I wanted you

:09:14. > :09:18.to remind our viewers of that. Jeremy Corbyn said we will campaign

:09:19. > :09:23.as at the Labour Party to stay in the EU. Our campaign is led by Allan

:09:24. > :09:28.Johnson. Labour MPs on the whole will campaign to stay in the EU. We

:09:29. > :09:31.have a handful of MPs who are more sceptical, but the split in the

:09:32. > :09:36.Labour Party are not in the scale of those in the Tory party. I'm sure

:09:37. > :09:39.Jeremy will be campaigning alongside Mr Johnson and me and Hilary Benn

:09:40. > :09:43.and other members of the Labour Party. You are sure of that? I

:09:44. > :09:49.and other members of the Labour very, very confident of it. LAUGHTER

:09:50. > :09:53.Have you got your fingers crossed? Not at all. I will be campaigning

:09:54. > :09:58.with Jeremy on the streets. You can join us.

:09:59. > :10:01.with Jeremy on the streets. You can Prime Minister to rule out the

:10:02. > :10:04.Norwegian option? Because if he fails in the renegotiation. I know

:10:05. > :10:08.we are not even contemplating it, fails in the renegotiation. I know

:10:09. > :10:11.according to Tories, but he could fail in the renegotiation. If he

:10:12. > :10:17.does and he can't get any changes, the Norwegian option, version of,

:10:18. > :10:22.suited for Britain, would have to be on the table? I have to upfront say

:10:23. > :10:25.we are talking about a Prime Minister who has succeeded for his

:10:26. > :10:28.country in the negotiations he has done in Europe over the last few

:10:29. > :10:30.years in the previous Coalition Government as well. He has a track

:10:31. > :10:33.record that gives me confidence Government as well. He has a track

:10:34. > :10:37.he will deliver for our country. The decision will be for the British

:10:38. > :10:39.public not politicians. They will get a chance to have their say.

:10:40. > :10:46.But before they were in coalition Thank you.

:10:47. > :10:50.But before they were in coalition with the Conservatives the leader of

:10:51. > :10:53.the Lib Dems used to get to put a couple of questions to the Prime

:10:54. > :10:57.Minister every week at PMQ 's, not any more. Today will be the first

:10:58. > :11:01.opportunity Tim Farron has had to ask a question of David Cameron. The

:11:02. > :11:04.Lib Dem leader is just back from Lesbos in Greece where he has been

:11:05. > :11:08.viewing the migrant crisis first-hand. He intends

:11:09. > :11:11.viewing the migrant crisis question today to push the Prime

:11:12. > :11:15.Minister on a proposal to accept refugees from Syria. And we can

:11:16. > :11:20.speak to him now in the Central Lobby. Tim Farron, welcome to Daily

:11:21. > :11:24.Politics. You want the government to commit to taking 3000 Syrian child

:11:25. > :11:29.refugees. How did you get to that figure? The save the children

:11:30. > :11:33.recommend the UK Government take 3000 unaccompanied children, some of

:11:34. > :11:36.whom will be as young as six, who are currently refugees within

:11:37. > :11:39.Europe. That sounds a very reasonable request. There are other

:11:40. > :11:44.things I could ask the government to do, which I would love them to do to

:11:45. > :11:47.play a fuller and better part in a more humane and leading part in

:11:48. > :11:50.dealing with the refugee crisis. This is a manageable, clear figure

:11:51. > :11:55.that Save The Children have come up with. It is worth bearing in mind

:11:56. > :11:58.these are children who are incredibly fungible. 13,000

:11:59. > :12:04.unaccompanied children in Italy last. 400 of those we have no idea

:12:05. > :12:08.where they are now. The threat to those young people from exploitation

:12:09. > :12:13.and worse is extreme. The UK will be doing something of huge humanitarian

:12:14. > :12:19.benefit and playing its part in the European team, if you like, if he

:12:20. > :12:22.was to accept that Save The Children request. How many adult refugees do

:12:23. > :12:27.you think the UK should take as a result of this crisis? I think the

:12:28. > :12:31.figure on the table at the moment, the 20,000 the government under

:12:32. > :12:34.great pressure have taken from the camps is one we need to keep

:12:35. > :12:39.monitoring and check they are taking any or many so far. But I think one

:12:40. > :12:42.of the things most shameful from my experience yesterday, was not a

:12:43. > :12:45.single one of the families who I met yesterday, desperate but

:12:46. > :12:51.inspirational people, will be able to provide peace and stability and a

:12:52. > :12:58.home for them. You would like to take some from the mainland question

:12:59. > :13:05.mark 12,000 individuals from within Europe. Which would be the UK opting

:13:06. > :13:09.into the EU system. Every year? At the moment that is what we have on

:13:10. > :13:13.the table. It won't go away if we put our head in the sand. This is a

:13:14. > :13:17.growing problem. It is worth bearing in mind, we often hear phrases

:13:18. > :13:20.bandied about by Ukip and conservatives saying Britain is only

:13:21. > :13:25.a small island. Can I point out to them that Lesbos is about the same

:13:26. > :13:31.size as the Isle of Skye. It is a very small island. It is taking

:13:32. > :13:35.300,000 refugees, desperate people. 94% of those people are designated

:13:36. > :13:38.as refugees independently verified. This is not a case of migrants

:13:39. > :13:43.taking advantage of this system. This is people fleeing the war in

:13:44. > :13:46.Syria and persecution and threaten the lives of them and their children

:13:47. > :13:51.in other parts of the region. Britain is at the moment not being a

:13:52. > :13:54.team player, not being the leader in humanitarian aid it has in years

:13:55. > :13:58.past. It is about time we played up to our heritage as a country that

:13:59. > :14:09.plays its part when you have crises like this. When the pictures we have

:14:10. > :14:12.just seen were posted on your party's Facebook page, do you accept

:14:13. > :14:14.there was a fair amount of criticism? Someone on your page

:14:15. > :14:16.actually said they risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean and their

:14:17. > :14:19.first taste of European culture is a Lib Dem MP using their woe for a

:14:20. > :14:23.publicity stunt, is less a publicity stunt? That is nonsense. I was there

:14:24. > :14:27.yesterday stood with other people from Save The Children and other

:14:28. > :14:31.charities as one of the boats came in. I thought I could stand in my

:14:32. > :14:35.jeans on my shirt and watch all lend a hand. I went and went at hand.

:14:36. > :14:40.What about your reception today in the House of Commons? What you think

:14:41. > :14:46.it will be like? Goodness knows. If I get a question today, I know I am

:14:47. > :14:50.against 642 individuals who do not share my politics. I thought you

:14:51. > :14:55.were guaranteed a question today? I do not think there is any certainty.

:14:56. > :14:59.I am told I should get one today. The Liberal Democrats, it has with

:15:00. > :15:04.the case, our job is to be on the side of the outsiders. We are an

:15:05. > :15:07.outsider outside this place and inside this place. If I get a

:15:08. > :15:10.question today I will press the Prime Minister to step up to the

:15:11. > :15:13.mark and do the right thing by desperate people, doing the things

:15:14. > :15:17.we would do for our children if we were faced with similar

:15:18. > :15:20.circumstances. If I get the chance to ask, that is a kind of thing I

:15:21. > :15:22.will be going for. I think we have the idea, we will be looking out for

:15:23. > :15:24.you. According to the Daily Politics

:15:25. > :15:26.calendar it's now day three of the constitutional crisis

:15:27. > :15:29.following the Lords decision to vote down government plans to cut working

:15:30. > :15:31.tax credits. The skies haven't fallen in,

:15:32. > :15:33.although it has been raining rather But it has left the government

:15:34. > :15:37.threatening to clip the wings of the unelected upper chamber,

:15:38. > :15:41.and plenty of questions remain out how the handling of this flagship

:15:42. > :15:46.policy went quite so badly wrong. Well to remind us

:15:47. > :15:54.of the whole story, here's JoCo. In their election manifesto the

:15:55. > :16:02.Conservatives said they would find The Government didn't make it clear

:16:03. > :16:06.where they would find the savings, although appeared to rule

:16:07. > :16:09.our cuts to tax credits paid to In his summer Budget the Chancellor

:16:10. > :16:12.outlined ?4.5bn of cuts to Working Tax Credits -

:16:13. > :16:15.benefits paid to people in work. He said

:16:16. > :16:17.a new minimum wage increase and a higher tax allowance would mean most

:16:18. > :16:25.families would not be worse off. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies

:16:26. > :16:27.calculated that from next April 3 million families

:16:28. > :16:30.would lose ?1,300 a year. A majority of MPs voted in favour

:16:31. > :16:33.of the changes three times. But this week the House of Lords

:16:34. > :16:36.defeated the government in two separate motions

:16:37. > :16:39.and demanded a rethink. The Government accused peers

:16:40. > :16:41.of over-reaching, saying the defeat raises

:16:42. > :16:50."clear constitutional issues". But the Chancellor has now said

:16:51. > :16:52.there will be "transitional measures" to lessen the impact of

:16:53. > :16:55.the changes, with the detail set out Meanwhile, the Government has asked

:16:56. > :16:59.former cabinet minister Thomas Strathclyde to lead a review

:17:00. > :17:18.of House of Lords conventions. Thank you, JoCo. You were warned by

:17:19. > :17:21.every think-tank that knows about this, including Tory leaning think

:17:22. > :17:27.tank 's, you were warned by a number of your own backbenchers, either Sun

:17:28. > :17:31.newspaper, you were warned by the Mayor of London who was a

:17:32. > :17:35.Conservative not to proceed with the way the Chancellor was planning. Yet

:17:36. > :17:42.you did. You're now in a complete mess why? The reality is this two

:17:43. > :17:45.different issues going on, the change in the way the economy works,

:17:46. > :17:49.which is what House of Commons was voting on when we looked at tax

:17:50. > :17:54.credits, higher wages, lower welfare, but separately, the second

:17:55. > :17:58.issue is around an unelected chamber. I will come onto that. I

:17:59. > :18:02.will come onto that. I'm talking about the substance of the issue not

:18:03. > :18:07.the process or the constitution. That's what matters to people out

:18:08. > :18:11.there who consider tax credits going. They are not high earners in

:18:12. > :18:15.the first place. Why did you ignore all these warnings? We were very

:18:16. > :18:17.clear and the Chancellor made his position very clear that we are

:18:18. > :18:20.looking to move our economy to a new place which means we have to make

:18:21. > :18:24.difficult decisions in this period of time to make sure we get to the

:18:25. > :18:28.point where we have a higher wage economy, lower taxes. But you are

:18:29. > :18:33.taking the tax credits away before the higher wages come through. And

:18:34. > :18:42.even when they do, they do not compensate for the loss in the tax

:18:43. > :18:47.credits. Everybody point that out, it was clear from the beginning you

:18:48. > :18:51.were going to hit those at the lower end of the income scale. Let's take

:18:52. > :18:54.the Institute for Fiscal Studies outline as a good example. It does

:18:55. > :18:58.not look at the picture, does not account for not just the increase in

:18:59. > :19:02.salaries coming through, the reduction feel duty, a real-time

:19:03. > :19:08.reduction in council tax, but when you look at the entire economy,

:19:09. > :19:13.actually it's a much better place. I'm sorry, that is just not true.

:19:14. > :19:18.The House of Commons library research shows this, which takes

:19:19. > :19:21.into account the rise in tax thresholds and the rise in what you

:19:22. > :19:25.now called the National minimum wage. When you take that into

:19:26. > :19:34.account, poorer families on tax credits, working families, are outed

:19:35. > :19:39.by about ?1500 a year. For people like that, it is a tonne of money.

:19:40. > :19:41.That is a lot of money but it does not take into account some of the

:19:42. > :19:48.other changes in the economy in terms of the reduction of fuel,. You

:19:49. > :19:54.don't control that. No, but as the wider picture for the economy. Are

:19:55. > :20:02.you seriously telling me that poorer families... You don't control the

:20:03. > :20:07.world tax. Are you seriously telling me that families, when you include

:20:08. > :20:13.the tax credit changes, you include the rise in the minimum wage, in the

:20:14. > :20:18.tax threshold, there still ?1500 worse off. I knew telling me the

:20:19. > :20:23.fall in fuel prices will compensate for that? No, the figures you are

:20:24. > :20:28.quoting to not take account of the entire economy. The tax picture of

:20:29. > :20:33.what family or individual has in their life. At the moment, we're

:20:34. > :20:38.looking at fuel duty as one example, council tax reducing in

:20:39. > :20:44.real terms, people are seeing a different position to what some of

:20:45. > :20:49.those... You know none of that comes near compensating the

:20:50. > :20:52.those... You know none of that comes will lose most. Your own side is

:20:53. > :20:55.telling you that. Your own think tank is telling you that.

:20:56. > :21:03.telling you that. Your own think supporting media are telling you

:21:04. > :21:10.that. And you will have to change, won't you? There are also people out

:21:11. > :21:14.there as well won't you? There are also people out

:21:15. > :21:18.rightly exactly as the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have

:21:19. > :21:19.done, that we need to change the economy. That is the third time you

:21:20. > :21:26.have said that. economy. That is the third time you

:21:27. > :21:31.also said clearly he will listen to what people say.

:21:32. > :21:33.also said clearly he will listen to that now. This week. He will come

:21:34. > :21:38.back in the Autumn Statement that now. This week. He will come

:21:39. > :21:41.deal with transitions because we do need to move to that position where

:21:42. > :21:45.deal with transitions because we do we have higher wages and lower

:21:46. > :21:51.taxes. OK, that is the fourth time. Labour is obviously against this.

:21:52. > :21:59.You are against it, voting against it, of course. Let me ask you. Does

:22:00. > :22:02.Labour have any policy for welfare reform? Our position at the moment

:22:03. > :22:07.if we are reform? Our position at the moment

:22:08. > :22:21.It is the start of a parliament. The reform? Our position at the moment

:22:22. > :22:23.canoe no policy? We do. We are opposing -- at the moment you have

:22:24. > :22:28.no policy? In the welfare bill, we opposing -- at the moment you have

:22:29. > :22:33.opposed for example the reduction in the benefit cap.

:22:34. > :22:36.opposed for example the reduction in what you are against but what are

:22:37. > :22:41.you in favour of bigger so favour that means you're against welfare

:22:42. > :22:45.reform as seen by the Tories. Is it possible to have Labour inclined

:22:46. > :22:48.welfare reforms and can you give is an indication of

:22:49. > :22:49.welfare reforms and can you give is be? We won't have a fully developed

:22:50. > :22:54.policy having just lost be? We won't have a fully developed

:22:55. > :22:59.in May where we got hammered and we have 4.5 years until the next

:23:00. > :23:05.election. Can you contribute to the debate with your idea? We will have

:23:06. > :23:11.to look at where we are in four years' time, with Universal Credit

:23:12. > :23:15.coming, the national living wage, which we do support. That would

:23:16. > :23:20.change the welfare landscape the 2019-20, so we will have to look of

:23:21. > :23:24.the impact of that. Let me come onto my second question. You are

:23:25. > :23:29.committed, as I understand it, to balance the current budget, not the

:23:30. > :23:33.overall budget, but the current budget. The cut in tax credits,

:23:34. > :23:39.right or wrong, it is designed to contribute to the balancing of the

:23:40. > :23:43.current budget, tax credits, the spending, not investment, if you are

:23:44. > :23:49.against this, ?4.5 billion, where would you find it to continue with

:23:50. > :23:54.the balancing of the current budget? We would have to make different

:23:55. > :23:58.choices and ask ourselves, should we be increasing the inheritance tax

:23:59. > :24:04.threshold to ?1 million. That is 1 billion. Yes, we have the lowest

:24:05. > :24:09.corporation tax, do we need to reduce it down to 18p or 20p? That's

:24:10. > :24:14.something we could look at. The last time I looked, you were in favour of

:24:15. > :24:18.that. No, no, no, we have asked question about whether we should

:24:19. > :24:25.reduce corporation tax down to 18p, so there are other options. . . It

:24:26. > :24:34.isn't a 4.5 billion. Over a Parliament? Over a year. You need to

:24:35. > :24:36.find it to balance it every, the current budget you're committed to

:24:37. > :24:41.balancing. You could probably find money by making different choices on

:24:42. > :24:46.what the Chancellor is making. I understand that. That's why I'm

:24:47. > :24:50.interested in what he would do. You could take away pension tax relief

:24:51. > :24:53.for those on higher rates. That's a possibility but not something we are

:24:54. > :24:57.currently looking at. I thought you were having a debate. I'm just

:24:58. > :25:05.trying to help you out. I'm throwing Latin. I've advised you to join the

:25:06. > :25:09.Shadow cabinet I'm helping you the debate. I hope you come to a

:25:10. > :25:12.National Forum and Parbat in. OK, I have got to stop it there.

:25:13. > :25:16.The fluky beneficiary of a drastic elevation.

:25:17. > :25:19.No, I'm not describing our two guests of the day.

:25:20. > :25:22.I'm not even talking about me and JoCo.

:25:23. > :25:25.No, these were the cruel words of the novelist Martin Amis,

:25:26. > :25:29.describing the leader of her majesty's opposition Jeremy Corbyn.

:25:30. > :25:33.In his not-at-all snobbish piece in a Sunday newspaper,

:25:34. > :25:39.Oxford-educated Mr Amis noted that Mr Corbyn secured only two E-grade

:25:40. > :25:49.A-levels before dropping out of his course at North London Polytechnic.

:25:50. > :25:55.You can almost hear the smears as he wrote these words.

:25:56. > :25:58.Well Jeremy, if you're watching as you wait to head into the

:25:59. > :26:01.Commons chamber, we can't help get you that first in PPE from Oxford.

:26:02. > :26:04.But we could help you prove you've got a sense of humour,

:26:05. > :26:07.and all you need to do is enter to win a Daily Politics mug.

:26:08. > :26:09.It's guaranteed to fend off criticism from New York-based

:26:10. > :26:23.There's enough people with that exam from Oxford, I'm sure.

:26:24. > :26:27.Yes, Jeremy we'll tell you how to enter in a minute, but first do you

:26:28. > :26:43.MUSIC: Je t'aime by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

:26:44. > :26:50.I, Charles, Prince of Wales, do become your liege man

:26:51. > :27:16.MUSIC: Something In The Air by Thunderclap Newman.

:27:17. > :27:25.MUSIC: Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

:27:26. > :27:55.MUSIC: In The Year 2525 by Zager Evans.

:27:56. > :27:58.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug, send your

:27:59. > :28:02.answer to our special quiz email address - that's dpquiz@bbc.co.uk.

:28:03. > :28:05.Entries must arrive by 12.30 today, and you can see the full terms

:28:06. > :28:08.and conditions for Guess The Year on our website -

:28:09. > :28:17.It's coming up to midday here - just take a look at Big Ben -

:28:18. > :28:29.It's still working but maybe not for long if you read the papers.

:28:30. > :28:30.Yes, Prime Minister's Questions is on its way.

:28:31. > :28:32.And that's not all - James Landale is here.

:28:33. > :28:37.What will Jeremy Corbyn, do you think, talk about in this PMQs? Al

:28:38. > :28:42.be amazed if he does not go on tax credits. It's an open goal, fruitful

:28:43. > :28:46.territory, and Labour thinks there's lots of questions to be asked. What

:28:47. > :28:50.the Chancellor has done no say, I'm not going to tell you anything until

:28:51. > :28:54.the Autumn Statement next month so there is one month where Labour can

:28:55. > :28:59.put pressure, ask questions, seek reassurances about how the decision

:29:00. > :29:04.will be made, what kind of accommodation to lessen the impact

:29:05. > :29:08.of these cuts, so that's the territory I imagine he will be. Our

:29:09. > :29:12.people speculating that David Cameron will talk about the

:29:13. > :29:18.Norwegian option today to get a story running that he is now party

:29:19. > :29:22.pre-in this referendum, already taking sides, ruling out things he

:29:23. > :29:27.said he would not rule out to try to get the flak away from tax credits?

:29:28. > :29:31.No, it's a broader position in the Government. It's a reflection of

:29:32. > :29:34.number ten's doubts about the efficacy of the in campaign up and

:29:35. > :29:40.want to get debates rolling. They are getting worried. Secondly, they

:29:41. > :29:46.want to get the out debate focused where they wanted, namely what if,

:29:47. > :29:50.what happens if the UK leaves the EU, what happens then? The doubt,

:29:51. > :29:54.risk, uncertainty. The Government will be happy to spend the next year

:29:55. > :29:59.and a half talking about Norway, Switzerland, any kind of complicated

:30:00. > :30:04.mixture of countries, as long as the debate is in that territory whereas

:30:05. > :30:09.the out campaign will be about cost and control, so that is what they

:30:10. > :30:14.are trying to do. It means the Prime Minister steps off the fence,

:30:15. > :30:18.doesn't it? Even before we have any idea what his renegotiation is going

:30:19. > :30:24.to achieve, he is arguing we should not take this option. It is the

:30:25. > :30:30.existing Prime Minister's position that he wants to remain in the EU

:30:31. > :30:33.that is reformed, so I think it's a recognition of not putting it eggs

:30:34. > :30:37.in one basket with renegotiation. You can't just say, we got to take

:30:38. > :30:42.the benefit rules, change language when it comes to the EU. He's got to

:30:43. > :30:46.make a broader argument about why he is in principle, from a broad point

:30:47. > :30:51.of view, need a positive reason to be a member of the youth. I take it

:30:52. > :30:58.they are worried the out campaign is gaining ground, the in campaign is

:30:59. > :31:02.kind of not taking off? Yes, the launch of the other day was not seen

:31:03. > :31:06.in Tory circles as being a great success. I think they feel they have

:31:07. > :31:10.to get out there and make that argument. There are members of the

:31:11. > :31:13.out campaign who have, shall we say, personal relations with number

:31:14. > :31:17.ten would have not always been favourable? And they get under the

:31:18. > :31:21.skin of some people at number ten said as a sense of pushing back

:31:22. > :31:25.until bit against the outcome. Who could you be talking about? Will

:31:26. > :31:34.Jeremy Corbyn continued to crowd sources questions? Who knows? Stop

:31:35. > :31:40.smiling. Last week, I think his office felt it worked effectively to

:31:41. > :31:44.use a punter question to reduce a subject and allow him to follow up

:31:45. > :31:49.depending on what Mr Cameron said. It was more effective than trying to

:31:50. > :31:54.bring the Prime Minister down. I think it's an effective tactic with

:31:55. > :31:58.PMQs because it is difficult for the Prime Minister to get nasty and lose

:31:59. > :32:01.his temper as he can do sometimes if he asks the question on behalf of

:32:02. > :32:07.someone affected by this tax credit cuts. If the follow-ups people want

:32:08. > :32:12.to hear, isn't it? Yes, and Jeremy followed up well. Lastly, the Prime

:32:13. > :32:15.Minister said he was delighted by the tax credit cuts. What an own

:32:16. > :32:19.goal on behalf of the Prime Minister. I bet he was kicking

:32:20. > :32:29.himself for that. Let's go to the House of Commons for PMQs.

:32:30. > :32:36.I know the whole house will wish to join me and paid tribute to Michael

:32:37. > :32:40.Meacher. He died suddenly last week and we send our condolences to his

:32:41. > :32:45.family and friends. Michael dedicated his life to public

:32:46. > :32:48.service, diligently representing his constituents for a staggering 45

:32:49. > :32:51.years. He was a passionate advocate of the causes he believed in,

:32:52. > :32:58.including the environment, and he was able to put these into practice

:32:59. > :33:01.as a minister between 97-2003. This house and our politics are poorer

:33:02. > :33:04.place without him and I know colleagues from all sides of this

:33:05. > :33:09.chamber will remember him with affection and miss him greatly. Mr

:33:10. > :33:14.Speaker, this morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and

:33:15. > :33:18.others, and in addition to my duties in this house to have further

:33:19. > :33:25.meetings today. Can I associate myself with the sympathies expressed

:33:26. > :33:28.by the Prime Minister. Will my right honourable friend join me in

:33:29. > :33:38.celebrating that one in ten of the world's tractors are built in

:33:39. > :33:46.Basildon? Yanuyanutawa not an Airbus A380 flies without a part built in

:33:47. > :33:48.Basildon. And it is attracting investment from well renowned

:33:49. > :33:53.organisations such as the Royal Opera house. All of this is leading

:33:54. > :33:58.to job creation and opportunity. Will he therefore do all he can to

:33:59. > :34:00.ensure that Britain remains a great place to do business and prosper in

:34:01. > :34:10.the? -- prosper in. Basildon has place to do business and prosper in

:34:11. > :34:13.special place in my heart. I didn't know all those statistics, but it

:34:14. > :34:22.now has an even more special place. I can to him that the long-term use

:34:23. > :34:25.claimants is down by 24% of the last year. He spoke about what a great

:34:26. > :34:30.place Britain is to do business. We are now six in the rankings in the

:34:31. > :34:35.world for the best place to setup and to run a business. I know the

:34:36. > :34:37.Leader of the Opposition, not least because his new spokesman is

:34:38. > :34:40.apparently a great admirer of the Soviet Union, will be pleased to

:34:41. > :34:50.start the day with tractor statistics.

:34:51. > :34:54.Thank you, Mr by associating

:34:55. > :34:56.Thank you, Mr remarks the Prime Minister made

:34:57. > :35:02.about Michael Meacher? On behalf of the Labour Party, his constituents

:35:03. > :35:04.and the much wider community, our condolences to his family. I spoke

:35:05. > :35:11.to them last night and asked how condolences to his family. I spoke

:35:12. > :35:15.and sent me a very nice message, which if I may, I will read out.

:35:16. > :35:20.Quite brief but very poignant. They said, when I was young one of the

:35:21. > :35:24.things he frequently said to me was that people went into politics

:35:25. > :35:27.because their principles and they wanted to change things to make

:35:28. > :35:30.things better, but in order to get into power they would often

:35:31. > :35:34.compromise on their principles and that this could happen again and

:35:35. > :35:36.again until, if they eventually did get into power,

:35:37. > :35:43.again until, if they eventually did become so compromise that they would

:35:44. > :35:48.do nothing with it. Michael was a decent, hard-working, passionate and

:35:49. > :35:52.profound man. He represented he his constituency with diligence for 45

:35:53. > :35:56.years. He was a brilliant environment minister, as the Prime

:35:57. > :36:01.Minister pointed out. He was totally committed to parliamentary democracy

:36:02. > :36:05.and this Parliament, holding government or governments to account

:36:06. > :36:10.and he was a lifelong campaigner against injustice and poverty. We've

:36:11. > :36:12.remember Michael for all those things, we express our condolences

:36:13. > :36:16.and express are some these to his family at this very difficult time.

:36:17. > :36:22.His will be a hard act to follow, but we will do our best.

:36:23. > :36:26.Mr Speaker, following the events on Monday evening, and the belated

:36:27. > :36:31.acceptance from the Prime Minister of the result there, can he now

:36:32. > :36:35.guaranteed to The House and wider country that nobody will be worse

:36:36. > :36:41.off next year as a result of cuts to working tax credits?

:36:42. > :36:47.What I can guarantee is we remain committed to the vision of a higher

:36:48. > :36:52.pay, low tax, lower welfare economy. We believe the way to make

:36:53. > :36:57.sure that everyone is better off is to keep growing our economy, keep

:36:58. > :37:00.inflation low, keep cutting peoples taxes and introduce the national

:37:01. > :37:06.living wage. As for changes, the Chancellor will set them out in the

:37:07. > :37:10.Autumn Statement. I thank the Prime Minister for that, but the question

:37:11. > :37:18.I was asking was quite simply this. Will he confirm, right now, that tax

:37:19. > :37:24.credit cuts will not make anyone worse off in April next year?

:37:25. > :37:28.What we want is for people to be better off because we are cutting

:37:29. > :37:31.their taxes and increasing their paid, that he is going to have to be

:37:32. > :37:37.a little patient, because although these changes passed the House of

:37:38. > :37:41.Commons five times, with ever enlarging majorities, we will set

:37:42. > :37:44.out our new proposals in the Autumn Statement and you will be able to

:37:45. > :37:50.study them. Jeremy Corbyn.

:37:51. > :37:52.Mr Speaker, this is the time when we asked questions of the Prime

:37:53. > :38:12.Minister on behalf of the people of this country. Thank you.

:38:13. > :38:22.Mr Speaker, if I may continue. People are very worried about what

:38:23. > :38:27.is going to happen to them next April. So what exactly does the

:38:28. > :38:31.Prime Minister mean, is considering it, there is an Autumn Statement

:38:32. > :38:36.coming up? We thought he was committed to not cutting tax

:38:37. > :38:41.credits. Is he going to cut tax credits or not, are people going to

:38:42. > :38:46.be worse for next in April next year? You must know the answer.

:38:47. > :38:49.First of all we set out in our election manifesto that we would

:38:50. > :38:58.find ?12 billion of savings on welfare. Order, there is too much

:38:59. > :39:03.noise in the chamber. Order! A bit of calm. The questions must be

:39:04. > :39:07.heard, and the answers must be heard. The Prime Minister.

:39:08. > :39:10.Thank you Mr Speaker. It is an important point because every penny

:39:11. > :39:15.we don't save on welfare is savings we have to find in the education

:39:16. > :39:19.budget or in the policing budgets, or in the health budget. The second

:39:20. > :39:22.point I would make is the cause of what has happened on the other

:39:23. > :39:27.place, of course we should have a debate about how to reform welfare

:39:28. > :39:30.and how to reduce the cost of welfare. I am happy to have that

:39:31. > :39:34.debate, but of course it is difficult to have that debate with

:39:35. > :39:38.the honourable gentleman, because he has opposed everything all welfare

:39:39. > :39:42.change that was made. He doesn't support the welfare cap. He doesn't

:39:43. > :39:46.support the cap on housing benefit. He doesn't think that any change to

:39:47. > :39:50.welfare is worthwhile. I have to say, if we want a strong economy and

:39:51. > :39:54.we want growth, we want to get rid of our deficit, we want to secure

:39:55. > :40:01.our country, we need to reform welfare.

:40:02. > :40:05.What we are talking about our tax credits for people in work. The

:40:06. > :40:08.Prime Minister knows that, he understands that. He has lost the

:40:09. > :40:12.support of many people in this country that are actually quite

:40:13. > :40:16.synthetic to his political project. Some of the papers who supported him

:40:17. > :40:20.have come against on this. He did commit to ?12 billion worth of cuts

:40:21. > :40:23.in the welfare budget repeatedly refused to say if tax credits would

:40:24. > :40:28.be part of this. In fact he said they want. Can he now give us the

:40:29. > :40:34.answer we are trying to get today? Answer the question.

:40:35. > :40:37.The answer will be set out in the Autumn Statement when we set out our

:40:38. > :40:43.proposals. I have to say to him, it has come to quite a strange set of

:40:44. > :40:48.events when you have the House of Commons voting for something five

:40:49. > :40:52.times, when there is absolutely no rebellion among conservative members

:40:53. > :40:56.of parliament, or indeed amongst Conservative peers and the Labour

:40:57. > :41:02.Party is left offending and depending on unelected peers in the

:41:03. > :41:05.House of Lords. We British politics a new alliance. The unelected and

:41:06. > :41:23.the unelectable. SHOUTING. Mr Speaker, it is very

:41:24. > :41:28.interesting the Prime Minister still refuses to answer the fundamental

:41:29. > :41:33.question. This is not a constitutional crisis, this is a

:41:34. > :41:38.crisis for 3 million families in this country, for 3 million families

:41:39. > :41:42.in this country who are very worried about what is going to happen next

:41:43. > :41:47.April. Just before the last election, the former Chief Whip, now

:41:48. > :41:52.Justice Secretary, said in answer to a question on the BBC world at one,

:41:53. > :41:59.are you going to cut tax credits? The answer was, we are not going to

:42:00. > :42:04.cut them. Why did he say that? What I said in the election is that

:42:05. > :42:10.the basic level of child tax credits would stay the same. At ?2700 per

:42:11. > :42:14.child it stays exactly the same. The point is this, if we want to get our

:42:15. > :42:18.deficit down, if we want to secure our, me, if we want to keep on with

:42:19. > :42:26.secure growth, we need to make savings on welfare. Even with his

:42:27. > :42:30.deficit denying, borrow forever plan, presumably he has to make some

:42:31. > :42:36.savings in public spending? If you don't save any money on welfare, you

:42:37. > :42:41.end up cutting the NHS, you end up cutting even more deeply police

:42:42. > :42:45.budgets. Those are the troops. One is he going to stop deficit denial,

:42:46. > :42:57.get off the fence and tell us what he would do?

:42:58. > :43:01.Mr Speaker... A moment ago, the answer is a need to be heard, the

:43:02. > :43:06.questions need to be heard. The man is going to ask his question and it

:43:07. > :43:12.will be heard. If it takes longer, so be it.

:43:13. > :43:18.Thank you Mr Speaker. I've five times asked the Prime Minister today

:43:19. > :43:21.whether or not people will be worse off if they receive working tax

:43:22. > :43:26.credits next April? He still hasn't been able to answer me or indeed

:43:27. > :43:36.many others. Can I put him a question I was sent... CHEERING

:43:37. > :43:52.Mr Speaker, it might be very amusing to members said, but...

:43:53. > :43:57.I was sent this question by Karen: Why is the Prime Minister punishing

:43:58. > :44:01.working families? I work full time and earn their living wage within

:44:02. > :44:04.the public sector. The tax credit cuts will push me

:44:05. > :44:10.the public sector. The tax credit hardship. Can he give a cast-iron

:44:11. > :44:14.guarantee to Karen and all the other families who are very worried what

:44:15. > :44:15.guarantee to Karen and all the other is going to happen next April to

:44:16. > :44:19.therein come, is going to happen next April to

:44:20. > :44:24.make ends meet, could give them the answer today, I hope you will. I ask

:44:25. > :44:26.him, for the sixth time, please give us an answer to a very

:44:27. > :44:31.straightforward, very simple question.

:44:32. > :44:35.What I would say to Karen is this, if she is on the living wage,

:44:36. > :44:40.working in the public sector, next year in April she will benefit from

:44:41. > :44:46.being able to earn ?11,000 before she pays any income tax at all. It

:44:47. > :44:50.was around ?6,000 when I became Prime Minister forced up if she has

:44:51. > :44:55.children, she will benefit from 30 hours of childcare every week. That

:44:56. > :44:58.is something that has happened under this government. But above all, she

:44:59. > :45:02.will benefit because we have a growing economy, because we have

:45:03. > :45:07.zero inflation, because we have two million more people in work, because

:45:08. > :45:11.we will train 3 million apprentices in this Parliament, and that is the

:45:12. > :45:16.fact. The reason the Labour Party lost the last election is they were

:45:17. > :45:22.completely un-trusted on the deficit, on debt and on a stable

:45:23. > :45:25.economy. And since then the deficit deniers have taken over the Labour

:45:26. > :45:30.Party. That is what happened. When you look at their plans, borrowing

:45:31. > :45:32.for ever, printing money, hiking up taxes, it is working people like

:45:33. > :45:45.Karen that will pay the price. taxes, it is working people like

:45:46. > :45:47.2010. And this taxes, it is working people like

:45:48. > :45:55.delivered the M6 taxes, it is working people like

:45:56. > :45:58.in my area when it's completed. Does the Prime Minister agree with me

:45:59. > :46:04.that the Conservatives are insuring Morecambe is back open for

:46:05. > :46:07.business? I remember visiting his constituency and looking at the very

:46:08. > :46:10.important roadworks that were being put in place which will up the port,

:46:11. > :46:16.help when we bring in nuclear power station and the other

:46:17. > :46:19.steps he wants to see, I can tell him the long-term youth claimant

:46:20. > :46:22.count in him the long-term youth claimant

:46:23. > :46:28.by 30% in the last year, him the long-term youth claimant

:46:29. > :46:35.from our growing economy. Angus Robertson. We associate ourselves

:46:36. > :46:36.with the condolences expressed by the and the Leader of the Opposition

:46:37. > :46:44.about Michael. Last week I asked Prime Minister Erdogan tragic

:46:45. > :46:45.circumstances of Mike O'Sullivan, from north London, a disabled man

:46:46. > :46:49.who took from north London, a disabled man

:46:50. > :46:52.assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions. We know 60

:46:53. > :46:56.investigations had taken place into suicide

:46:57. > :47:00.investigations had taken place into of benefits, but the

:47:01. > :47:00.investigations had taken place into not been published. The Prime

:47:01. > :47:04.Minister said to me last not been published. The Prime

:47:05. > :47:08.he would look very carefully at the specific question about publication.

:47:09. > :47:13.Will he confirm when these findings will be published? I will write to

:47:14. > :47:18.him about this but my memory from looking into this afterward is there

:47:19. > :47:23.are very good reasons why we can't publish the specific report he talks

:47:24. > :47:27.about because it has personal and medical data in it which would not

:47:28. > :47:31.be appropriate for publication. If I got that wrong, I will write to him

:47:32. > :47:36.but that's my clear memory of looking into his question after last

:47:37. > :47:41.week. Tim Salter from Stourbridge in the West Midlands was 53 when he

:47:42. > :47:49.took his life. The coroner ruled a major factor in his death was

:47:50. > :47:52.greatly reduced living almost destitute. His sister said if of

:47:53. > :47:56.honourable people who will be affected the worst. The DWP need to

:47:57. > :48:02.publish these reviews. The Prime Minister says he is concerned about

:48:03. > :48:06.the views of the families involved. The families say the findings should

:48:07. > :48:11.be published. Really publish them? 3 million families will have their

:48:12. > :48:18.child tax credit is cancelled. We knew the answer to these questions.

:48:19. > :48:22.Let me correct on its last point. Under the proposals we put forward,

:48:23. > :48:25.those people on the lowest levels of pay where protected because of a

:48:26. > :48:29.national living wage and those people on the lowest incomes where

:48:30. > :48:37.protected because we were protecting the basic award of a child tax

:48:38. > :48:41.credit in 2007 and ?80. The other part of the question is a bit I've

:48:42. > :48:45.already answered but I'll send them a letter if I got it wrong, they

:48:46. > :48:49.were too many personal and medical details for that to be published. I

:48:50. > :48:56.think they is an important consideration that in deciding

:48:57. > :49:03.whether to publish something. I'd like to ask the Prime Minister about

:49:04. > :49:06.Ruby, one of my youngest constituents, just one-month-old.

:49:07. > :49:11.Why should she faced the prospect of spending their entire working life

:49:12. > :49:19.paying off the debt would have been built up by this generation? I think

:49:20. > :49:23.Ruby is right, when we became the Government, one in ?4 spent by the

:49:24. > :49:25.Government was borrowed money. We had one of the biggest budget

:49:26. > :49:31.deficit anywhere in the world and it's always easy for people to say

:49:32. > :49:36.put off the difficult decisions, don't make any spending reductions,

:49:37. > :49:41.but what they are doing is burdening future generations with debt. What I

:49:42. > :49:56.would say to the Labour front bench, that is not generosity, that is

:49:57. > :50:02.actually selfishness. I think the lady must have misheard but Mrs

:50:03. > :50:07.Sharon Hodgson. We know about the broken promise about tax credits but

:50:08. > :50:10.for the final nail in the coffin of compassionate Conservative there's

:50:11. > :50:14.be hammered home everywhere to scrap universal infant free school meals

:50:15. > :50:20.in the spending review, taking hot meals out of the mouths of innocent

:50:21. > :50:25.name with infant children? Will he guarantee now not to scrap universal

:50:26. > :50:35.infant pre-school meals slowly does not go down in history as David the

:50:36. > :50:40.Denis Thatcher? I'm immensely proud it was part of the Government would

:50:41. > :50:44.introduce this policy 13 years of a Labour Government and did they ever

:50:45. > :50:50.do that? -- dinner snatcher. Do you remember the infant free school

:50:51. > :50:52.meals, Labour Party? I'm proud of what we have done and we will be

:50:53. > :51:03.keeping it. CHEERING

:51:04. > :51:06.Thank you. Mr Speaker, my right honourable friend has demonstrated

:51:07. > :51:11.considerable leadership in ensuring Britain is the second-largest donor

:51:12. > :51:16.of aid in Syria. There is another crisis going on which the world is

:51:17. > :51:20.largely forgetting. In Yemen is an ongoing war, 1.4 million people

:51:21. > :51:24.forced to flee their homes, 3 million face starvation, half a

:51:25. > :51:28.million children are at risk from malnutrition and the president of

:51:29. > :51:32.the International Red Cross has said in Yemen, after five months, we're

:51:33. > :51:38.in the same position as we are in Syria after five years. Please can

:51:39. > :51:41.we do more? He's absolutely right to raise this and we have been involved

:51:42. > :51:47.in trying to help the situation right from the start, as in Syria, a

:51:48. > :51:50.major contributor in terms of humanitarian aid. We've made it

:51:51. > :51:55.clear all parties should engage without conditions and in good faith

:51:56. > :51:58.in peace talks to allow Yemen to move towards a sustainable peace and

:51:59. > :52:03.that needs to be a piece based on the fact that all people in Yemen

:52:04. > :52:06.needs proper representation by their Government. There are similarities

:52:07. > :52:09.with Syria, which is having a Government on behalf of one part of

:52:10. > :52:19.the country, never a sustainable solution. How dare anyone in this

:52:20. > :52:24.House earning ?74,000 a year tell families their combined income of

:52:25. > :52:29.?25,000 is too much and they need to give something back to balance the

:52:30. > :52:31.economy? Did the Prime Minister accused the listener 's manifesto

:52:32. > :52:39.because he knew he wouldn't be elected? -- refused to put this in

:52:40. > :52:43.his manifesto. When I became Prime Minister, nine out of ten families

:52:44. > :52:49.were getting tax credits, including MPs. That's how crazy the system we

:52:50. > :52:55.inherited was. We would use that during the last Parliament, opposed

:52:56. > :52:59.of course by Labour and the SNP, 26 out of ten families. Our proposals

:53:00. > :53:02.would take that down to five out of ten families but these are not

:53:03. > :53:07.proposals on their own but accompanied by a national living

:53:08. > :53:11.wage, for first time. By allowing people to air and ?11,000 before

:53:12. > :53:14.paying tax, for the first time, those sorts of measures will help

:53:15. > :53:25.the thought of family she talks about. The Prime Minister spoke

:53:26. > :53:31.about conference about the plight of young people in the care system. Can

:53:32. > :53:34.he answer what the garment will do to improve the chances of these

:53:35. > :53:40.young disadvantaged children and give them opportunities as they move

:53:41. > :53:45.forward in their lives? The most important thing we can do is to

:53:46. > :53:49.speed up the adoption system so more children get adopted. What we have

:53:50. > :53:54.seen since I've been Prime Minister is an increase in adoptions but,

:53:55. > :53:58.because of one or two judgments, it slipped backwards a bit and need to

:53:59. > :54:01.work very hard to make sure more children get adopted. For those who

:54:02. > :54:04.can't be adopted, we need to make sure our residential care homes are

:54:05. > :54:08.doing the best possible job they can and that's why today I can announce

:54:09. > :54:13.I've asked the former chief executive of Barnardos, an excellent

:54:14. > :54:17.public servant, who I worked with at the Home Office, to conduct an

:54:18. > :54:20.independent review of children's residential care reporting to the

:54:21. > :54:27.Education Secretary at myself so we can take every step to give these

:54:28. > :54:34.children the best start in life. Redundant steelworkers such as those

:54:35. > :54:39.in Wrexham pay national insurance contributions and played by the

:54:40. > :54:44.rules. Why then is this Government limiting mortgage interest support

:54:45. > :54:50.for them in the future and making them pay twice, once through

:54:51. > :54:56.national insurance and once through paying back a loan? Isn't that type

:54:57. > :55:00.of action and irresponsible Government like his should not be

:55:01. > :55:10.pursuing and isn't it an example of compassionate conservatism dying? He

:55:11. > :55:13.refers to a temporary recession measure on mortgage payments which

:55:14. > :55:17.was continued for five years but he does give me the opportunity to say,

:55:18. > :55:22.as I promised I would last night, to update the House on what we're doing

:55:23. > :55:27.to help the steel industry which is important to his constituency and,

:55:28. > :55:31.on energy costs, we will refund the energy intensive industries for the

:55:32. > :55:36.full amount of the policy costs they face as soon as we get the state

:55:37. > :55:41.aided judgment from Brussels. I can confirm that payment will be made

:55:42. > :55:44.immediately and throughout this Parliament, far more generous than

:55:45. > :55:55.what has been proposed by the party opposite. Graham Evans. I have had

:55:56. > :55:57.hundreds of e-mails from constituents regarding the Northern

:55:58. > :56:04.Powerhouse and I have just chose one. John e-mailed me to say, not to

:56:05. > :56:06.listen to lead of the opposition with his strategy of higher

:56:07. > :56:12.spending, higher borrowing, debt, but instead to stick to the

:56:13. > :56:19.long-term debt, but instead to stick to the

:56:20. > :56:27.that does the Prime Minister agree debt, but instead to stick to the

:56:28. > :56:31.with John? I do agree. He has demonstrated more sense in his

:56:32. > :56:36.Melbourne leader the opposition did in his six questions. Not only have

:56:37. > :56:40.we seen an economy growing, 2 million more people in work,

:56:41. > :56:48.inflation that is low, living standards are rising, but actually,

:56:49. > :56:51.680,000 fewer work less household and 480,000 fewer children in

:56:52. > :56:55.workless households. If you want to measure the real difference is the

:56:56. > :57:01.growth in the economy is making, think of those children and

:57:02. > :57:06.households and the dignity of work. Last weekend was the first

:57:07. > :57:14.anniversary of the death from cervical cancer of the girl aged 23.

:57:15. > :57:21.In June 2013, she was concerned to ask for an early smear test was

:57:22. > :57:24.refused because she was under 25. As has been highlighted, her family

:57:25. > :57:30.have now written an open letter to the Prime Minister. Can I ask him

:57:31. > :57:35.not to offer here a reflex repeat of the rationale for current screening

:57:36. > :57:38.age policy, but to reflect on the questions raised about how this

:57:39. > :57:45.translates into refusing smear tests to young women like this and to

:57:46. > :57:50.consider the age related level since it was increased in 2004? He raises

:57:51. > :57:54.an absolutely tragic case and our thoughts go to her family and

:57:55. > :57:58.friends. He raises an important case because the UK National screening

:57:59. > :58:01.committee set the age of 25 and my understanding is the reason for that

:58:02. > :58:07.is not a resource is based decision, but because of the potential adverse

:58:08. > :58:11.medical consequences of carrying out screening routinely below that age

:58:12. > :58:13.that there would be a number potentially false positives because

:58:14. > :58:17.of actually anatomical changes were to go on at that age full that

:58:18. > :58:20.of actually anatomical changes were reason, not of resources decision.

:58:21. > :58:24.It who fear they have a family history

:58:25. > :58:35.and ask for a him on that specific issue.

:58:36. > :58:39.Yesterday the EU said we can no longer have filters on the Internet

:58:40. > :58:43.to protect our children from indecent images. I want to know what

:58:44. > :58:50.the Prime Minister is going to do to make sure our children remain

:58:51. > :58:55.protected. I think it's absolutely vitally important we enable parents

:58:56. > :58:57.to have that protection for their children from this

:58:58. > :59:01.to have that protection for their Internet. Like her, when I read my

:59:02. > :59:02.daily main was morning, I spotted over

:59:03. > :59:09.daily main was morning, I spotted so hard to put in place these

:59:10. > :59:13.filters but I can reassure her because we actually secured an opt

:59:14. > :59:18.out yesterday so we can keep our family friendly filters to protect

:59:19. > :59:21.children and I can tell our House we will legislate to put our agreement

:59:22. > :59:29.with Internet companies on this issue into the law of the land so

:59:30. > :59:32.our children will be protected. Tim Farron. Mr Speaker, can I associate

:59:33. > :59:38.myself with the Prime Minister 's early remarks about the late Michael

:59:39. > :59:41.Meacher, a decent man, a good MP, and an extremely effective

:59:42. > :59:46.Environment Secretary. Yesterday I visited the refugee camps on Lesbos

:59:47. > :59:51.and there I met families that were inspirational, and desperate run

:59:52. > :59:56.alongside at a charity workers I found there. I am ashamed we will

:59:57. > :59:59.not offer at home to a single one of those averaging families. My ask the

:00:00. > :00:02.Prime Minister this question? Will not offer at home to a single one of

:00:03. > :00:04.those averaging families. My ask the Prime Minister this question? With

:00:05. > :00:06.the aggrieved with the save the children plea that we take as a

:00:07. > :00:12.country 3000 vulnerable and accompanied children some as young

:00:13. > :00:15.as six? Let me again welcome him to his place for them it's good to see

:00:16. > :00:23.such a high turnout of his MPs. LAUGHTER

:00:24. > :00:28.. Let me answer him directly. We have taken a decision as a country

:00:29. > :00:32.to take 20,000 refugees and we think it is better to take them from the

:00:33. > :00:38.camps instead of taking them from inside Europe. I repeat again today

:00:39. > :00:44.that we believe we will achieve 1000 refugees brought to Britain and

:00:45. > :00:47.housed and clothes and fed before Christmas, specifically on his

:00:48. > :00:51.question, though, about 3000 children and the proposal made by

:00:52. > :00:55.save the children, I have looked at this very carefully and there are

:00:56. > :00:58.other experts to point to the real danger of separating children from

:00:59. > :01:10.their broader families and that's why to date we have not taken that

:01:11. > :01:14.decision. As he begins his negotiations on our reformed

:01:15. > :01:18.relationship with the European Union, in earnest, will my right

:01:19. > :01:24.honourable friend confirmed to our partners and the British people that

:01:25. > :01:28.no option is off the table, all British options will be considered,

:01:29. > :01:33.including the option of a relationship such as that of Norway

:01:34. > :01:38.if it's negotiable and within our interests? I can certainly confirm

:01:39. > :01:42.to my honourable friend that no options are off the table and, as I

:01:43. > :01:47.have been clear, if we don't get what we need in our green

:01:48. > :01:51.negotiation, I will absolutely rule nothing out but important, as we

:01:52. > :01:54.have this debate as a nation, we are very clear about the facts and

:01:55. > :01:59.figures and the alternatives, because some people are arguing for

:02:00. > :02:03.Britain to leave the EU, not all people, and have pointed to the

:02:04. > :02:07.position of Norway saying it's a good outcome. I would guide very

:02:08. > :02:13.strongly against that, Norway actually pays as much per head to

:02:14. > :02:18.the EU as we do and take twice as many per head migrants as we do in

:02:19. > :02:22.this country, but they have no seat at the table, no ability to

:02:23. > :02:26.negotiate. I'm not arguing all those who want to leave the EU say they

:02:27. > :02:30.want to follow the Norwegian pass, but some do, and I think it's

:02:31. > :02:32.important in this debate we are absolutely clear about the

:02:33. > :02:42.consequences of these different actions. Willa Prime Minister

:02:43. > :02:48.congratulate my 17-year-old constituent on her 3800 named in

:02:49. > :02:53.addition to get the exam board for the first time to accept women

:02:54. > :02:59.composers on the syllabus. Will he tell us is he a feminist? If

:03:00. > :03:04.feminism means that we should treat people equally, then, yes,

:03:05. > :03:09.absolutely. And I'm proud of the fact I have got sitting around the

:03:10. > :03:14.Cabinet table, a third of women on something we promised and something

:03:15. > :03:23.we delivered. Can I congratulate her, above all, for her achievement

:03:24. > :03:25.in terms of this eve petition. It sounds thoroughly worthwhile and her

:03:26. > :03:39.constituent and have done a good job. Andrew Turner. The NHS England

:03:40. > :03:44.knows that the Isle of Wight's clinical commissioning group is a

:03:45. > :03:48.significant outlier in relation to its allocation targets. Can my right

:03:49. > :03:54.honourable friend confirm that progress is being made to identify

:03:55. > :04:03.the factors affecting the island? Really benefit from amendments to

:04:04. > :04:08.the new CCG formula? What I can say to my honourable friend is its right

:04:09. > :04:12.that assistance on allocations are made independent of Government and

:04:13. > :04:16.not by Government and so that is how the formula is reached. I can also

:04:17. > :04:18.tell him is an independent review of the funding formula underway and we

:04:19. > :04:22.expect to see its recommendations later this year but these things

:04:23. > :04:28.should be done in a fair and transparent way. The Prime Minister

:04:29. > :04:34.will remember meeting my constituents, Neal Shepherd and

:04:35. > :04:41.Sharon Wood, nine years ago this week. Neil took their children on

:04:42. > :04:46.holiday to Corfu and the children tragically died of carbon monoxide

:04:47. > :04:49.poisoning. The family's dearest wish is no other family suffers this

:04:50. > :04:54.heartbreaking tragedy they have endured. Tomorrow in the EU

:04:55. > :04:58.Parliament there will be a vote on a recommendation that the commissioner

:04:59. > :05:02.brings forward legislation to improve carbon monoxide safety and

:05:03. > :05:08.fire safety for tourism premises in the EU. Can I ask the Prime Minister

:05:09. > :05:11.that is MPs supported and if that motion falls, will he instigate

:05:12. > :05:17.legislation nationally in this country? First of all, I do remember

:05:18. > :05:21.the meeting we had and the great bravery of the parents after their

:05:22. > :05:25.terrible loss. Wanting to go on and campaign to make sure others did not

:05:26. > :05:29.use children in the way they had. I will look carefully at what you said

:05:30. > :05:34.about the European Parliament as for legislation in this country, we have

:05:35. > :05:37.strict regulation on particular things about fire resistant

:05:38. > :05:47.materials but I will look carefully at that too. Question 14, closed

:05:48. > :05:49.questions. Prime Minister,... We said at a long-term plan for the

:05:50. > :05:54.Midlands making its future engine for growth for the whole of the UK

:05:55. > :05:56.and across Government we are working with business leaders and local

:05:57. > :06:03.authorities to progress this ambition. I thank him for his

:06:04. > :06:08.answer. The Northern Powerhouse will help millions but it's the West

:06:09. > :06:13.Midlands which is the only region in the UK which has a trade balance

:06:14. > :06:19.surplus with China and its Greater Birmingham which is the fastest rate

:06:20. > :06:25.of private-sector job creation in the UK since 2010. So will the Prime

:06:26. > :06:28.Minister now ensure, in the national interest, but the West Midlands

:06:29. > :06:34.secures the best devolution deal possible? I think we have huge

:06:35. > :06:38.potential here to secure massive devolution to the West Midlands

:06:39. > :06:42.first ball I would say to everyone concerned they will be left out by

:06:43. > :06:46.the Northern Powerhouse, I think the West Midlands is in a perfect place

:06:47. > :06:49.to benefit both from the success and growth of London and of course a

:06:50. > :06:52.rebalancing of our economy towards the North of England. In terms of

:06:53. > :06:57.the West Midlands, we look forward to the West Midlands combined

:06:58. > :07:02.authority coming forward with its plans and what I would say to these

:07:03. > :07:05.areas contemplating devolution and devolution deals, the more you can

:07:06. > :07:10.put on the table, the builder you can be with your vision, the bolder

:07:11. > :07:16.response you would get Government. Can I tell a the Chancellor the

:07:17. > :07:20.strong support of the parties, businesses across the West Midlands,

:07:21. > :07:24.for a properly funded and significant devolution deal to

:07:25. > :07:28.strengthen the economy, boost productivity and get the brown site

:07:29. > :07:32.redeveloped to tackle congestion so we can transform the West Midlands

:07:33. > :07:37.with more jobs, better skills, quick transport links and new homes? I'm

:07:38. > :07:40.glad to hear from the honourable gentleman what an opportunity there

:07:41. > :07:44.is in the West Midlands to work across party to get the very best

:07:45. > :07:47.deal across all these authorities because, as I said, the more we can

:07:48. > :07:52.get the local authorities to come together and work together, and put

:07:53. > :07:55.their ambition and vision on the table, the better response they will

:07:56. > :08:03.get from the Government. Simon Burns.

:08:04. > :08:10.Does my right honourable friend agree with me that bullying in the

:08:11. > :08:15.workplace is reprehensible? Can he tell me whether the Government is

:08:16. > :08:23.planning any review of the legislation with a view to extending

:08:24. > :08:28.it to this chamber? Given that my right honourable friend has been

:08:29. > :08:32.called for a primaries as questions at 12:38pm, I would have thought any

:08:33. > :08:35.hint of bullying was clearly overemphasise in every conceivable

:08:36. > :08:40.way. He suffers no disadvantage and that's a good thing but bullying in

:08:41. > :08:43.the workplace is a problem and we do need to make sure it is stamped out

:08:44. > :08:47.and dealt with and that should apply in Parliament as elsewhere. Urgent

:08:48. > :09:06.question. It started late today, PMQ 's. It

:09:07. > :09:16.lasted almost 38 minutes, 37 minutes. Jeremy Corbyn today with

:09:17. > :09:21.his strongest performance yet. Many thought it was his best outings so

:09:22. > :09:28.far. He got away from crowd sourcing his questions until the last one.

:09:29. > :09:29.The other five were on tax credits and particular on the issues, will

:09:30. > :09:36.anybody lose out and particular on the issues, will

:09:37. > :09:38.changes. That is the question he asked the Prime Minister again and

:09:39. > :09:48.again. Quite clear the Prime

:09:49. > :09:55.only ask generally, not specifically about

:09:56. > :09:56.only ask generally, not specifically have ruled they are not

:09:57. > :09:59.only ask generally, not specifically welfare and then

:10:00. > :10:07.only ask generally, not specifically to commit suicide. Then we saw Tim

:10:08. > :10:12.Farron asking questions about migrants after his trip to one of

:10:13. > :10:17.the Greek islands. We will find out what our panel thought in a minute,

:10:18. > :10:21.but firstly, what did you think? One viewer said however passionate

:10:22. > :10:24.Jeremy Corbyn may feel about tax credits, does it show a singular

:10:25. > :10:27.lack of imagination to credits, does it show a singular

:10:28. > :10:32.question six times? Another says Jeremy Corbyn saying he was using

:10:33. > :10:36.the same effective tactic Michael Howard did, making the Prime

:10:37. > :10:37.the same effective tactic Michael Minister looking dodgy when he

:10:38. > :10:44.avoids answering a straightforward and simple question especially when

:10:45. > :10:50.ceremony are affected. Another said he is very good at ranting and

:10:51. > :10:52.propaganda but unable to answer a civil question on tax credits.

:10:53. > :10:59.Another says, politically this is the most important and exciting time

:11:00. > :11:05.in a generation. Didn't feel that reflected. The EU, the House of

:11:06. > :11:07.Lords and tax reform. As for tax credits, I hope some day would make

:11:08. > :11:10.the argument it credits, I hope some day would make

:11:11. > :11:15.behaviour rather than play the system.

:11:16. > :11:19.behaviour rather than play the Thank you. We have got in the last

:11:20. > :11:19.Wednesday of November not just the Autumn Statement but the

:11:20. > :11:23.comprehensive spending Autumn Statement but the

:11:24. > :11:28.lays out the plans of government spending over the next three

:11:29. > :11:32.financial years to stop there must be great danger for George Osborne

:11:33. > :11:35.now that this substantial statement, as important as the budget in many

:11:36. > :11:40.ways, will be hijacked for his need to change tax credits? He will do

:11:41. > :11:43.everything possible to make sure it's not, but clearly

:11:44. > :11:47.everything possible to make sure be the dominant theme running up

:11:48. > :11:50.until that moment. The problem may have is there is now a gap for

:11:51. > :11:55.Labour to say what they are going to say, which we saw from the Leader of

:11:56. > :12:01.the Opposition this morning. Clearly learning as he does all these Prime

:12:02. > :12:07.Minister's Questions, asking the same question six times, sticking

:12:08. > :12:10.with one issue, allowing himself a little bit of freedom to make his

:12:11. > :12:14.own point. What I thought was interesting from the Prime Minister

:12:15. > :12:19.is he is trying to develop a bit of a defence, which is not just wrap it

:12:20. > :12:24.in the headlights, that saying, if these are choices, if you don't make

:12:25. > :12:27.these cuts to welfare, if you stick to the spending plans as is, you

:12:28. > :12:32.have to find the money from elsewhere, health, education and so

:12:33. > :12:36.on. That is something the Tories and government want to develop as much

:12:37. > :12:41.as they can, so they can say it is a choice. This is not just a free hit,

:12:42. > :12:46.do you want to hurt working people not question that there are broader

:12:47. > :12:53.implications. Is the chance left only with the option to tweak, take

:12:54. > :12:55.away some of the rough edges? Or does he have time to do something

:12:56. > :13:02.more radical restaurant there has been a lot of talk from the Adam

:13:03. > :13:13.Smith Institute, to the Institute of economic affairs, about moving to a

:13:14. > :13:17.negative income tax? That it would be simpler, fairer and concentrate

:13:18. > :13:21.the money on the working poor. Is it too late for a fundamental change

:13:22. > :13:24.like that? I would be surprised if it went down that route. People I

:13:25. > :13:29.speak to, they are pretty sure they are know what they are going to do

:13:30. > :13:33.but not telling us yet. I think there is enough flexibility already

:13:34. > :13:37.built in the system to reduce the surplus target, extend the surplus

:13:38. > :13:43.target, come up with another form of mitigation elsewhere, in terms of

:13:44. > :13:50.May be looking at the National, the mixed thresholds. That is expensive

:13:51. > :13:54.for the yes, very offensive, none of these things are cheap. That is the

:13:55. > :13:58.point they will make. What I find interesting is, the point you

:13:59. > :14:01.make... We're not just talking about tax credits, we're talking about an

:14:02. > :14:06.extraordinary spending review that is coming up. I'm curious to see how

:14:07. > :14:10.the government goes into that, making the broader argument for

:14:11. > :14:13.saying look, they've done five years of low hanging fruit. The spending

:14:14. > :14:18.cuts that are coming now are going to be tough, they are going to bite.

:14:19. > :14:21.How do they get into that argument, making that defence of Saint from

:14:22. > :14:25.the conservative viewpoint you have to make those cuts to secure the

:14:26. > :14:28.economic future? At the moment there is still a certain amount of

:14:29. > :14:33.uncertainty about whether to go for that argument in a full throated way

:14:34. > :14:36.or if you should make an argument then the cuts are not as bad because

:14:37. > :14:43.we will compensate for this, that and so on? The Prime Minister was

:14:44. > :14:47.asked six times if anybody would lose out from the tax credit

:14:48. > :14:52.changes. Six times he didn't answer that specific question. Why not?

:14:53. > :14:58.I think it comes back to the conversation we had prior to

:14:59. > :15:00.questions itself, which it is not a simple and straightforward

:15:01. > :15:04.situation. You have to look at the wider picture, there are choices to

:15:05. > :15:09.be made and it is how we change that. It is not straightforward

:15:10. > :15:12.situation. We have to deal with that conjugated, difficult situation of

:15:13. > :15:20.changing the economy. And looking how we look at welfare. That gets us

:15:21. > :15:24.into a much stronger economic position in the medium term and long

:15:25. > :15:30.term. The e-mail that was read out about the hey Rob will --

:15:31. > :15:33.behavioural change, is there something in that? If you look at

:15:34. > :15:39.those figures where people would lose out, if they worked... Quite

:15:40. > :15:49.often affects part-time workers. If they worked a couple of extra ours

:15:50. > :15:54.on the new wage, that would compensate for the withdrawal of tax

:15:55. > :15:58.credits. Is there something in that? The problem is it depends on your

:15:59. > :16:03.individual circumstances. If you are a single earner on 15,000, if you

:16:04. > :16:07.get a few extra hours, for every extra ?1 you earn you are losing

:16:08. > :16:12.about 70p in your tax credits, so actually it doesn't... It is not

:16:13. > :16:17.compensating for the hit. You are still losing out. If you are a

:16:18. > :16:21.parent you would get more hours of free childcare. These are the

:16:22. > :16:26.arguments put forward. That is a fair point, but my understanding

:16:27. > :16:29.from the analysis is only 10% of tax credit recipients will benefit from

:16:30. > :16:33.this expansion in childcare. The problem is, a bit like the question

:16:34. > :16:37.you put to be very reasonably... George Osborne now has a problem. In

:16:38. > :16:43.law, because of his fiscal charter, he has to hit a surplus in 2019. He

:16:44. > :16:46.also has to find about seven - ten billions worth of tax cuts which the

:16:47. > :16:51.Tories promised that the last election, which has not been scored

:16:52. > :16:55.into the budget, the recent Redbook and he has to make a decision, is he

:16:56. > :17:00.gone compensate everybody who is losing out? That is a loss of 4.5

:17:01. > :17:04.billion, or is he going to phase it in? I don't think he does know what

:17:05. > :17:08.he is going to do. I don't think he can give a guarantee there will be

:17:09. > :17:13.the losers. Whatever, people will lose out, I think. The truth is a

:17:14. > :17:19.Prime Minister didn't answer the question because people are going to

:17:20. > :17:24.decide? -- going to lose out, we're not sure how many, but there will be

:17:25. > :17:28.losers. It seems to me that Chancellor is paying a longer game.

:17:29. > :17:31.He knows there will be losers, they have done the sums, but because he

:17:32. > :17:36.hopes of what will be favourable changes, with people working more,

:17:37. > :17:40.doing more hours, they will get the national living wage, they will come

:17:41. > :17:44.off an element of tax credits, that by 2020 it will be all over and we

:17:45. > :17:47.won't be arguing about this by then, even though there were short-term

:17:48. > :17:51.losers. That is clearly his strategy. Some people in the

:17:52. > :17:54.government think they have the short-term tactics wrong, the timing

:17:55. > :18:00.is wrong within that five-year period. What has happened is some of

:18:01. > :18:04.the cuts are front-loaded and some of the compensatory elements come

:18:05. > :18:07.into far down the line. It is very hard to argue when someone's tax

:18:08. > :18:11.credits are going to be removed next April, to say there will be a ripple

:18:12. > :18:15.effect. It is a very hard argument to make. I think that is where I

:18:16. > :18:20.think people say the government should change the timing, but stick

:18:21. > :18:21.to the argument. That is where the nerves are coming in? Yes. Thank

:18:22. > :18:30.you, James. What should you do if you make a

:18:31. > :18:33.mistake was mugged on up, move on and try not to do it again. That has

:18:34. > :18:45.or has been mine and Andrew's approach. Although we never make

:18:46. > :18:46.mistakes? That means they are not learning from their mistakes. Here

:18:47. > :18:56.is the soapbox. The Comet was

:18:57. > :19:07.the world's first jet airliner. But British pride soon turned to

:19:08. > :19:10.horror when two De Haviland jets An extensive investigation showed

:19:11. > :19:16.that the accident was a result of metal fatigue caused by the repeated

:19:17. > :19:21.pressurisation of the cabin. This information was shared with

:19:22. > :19:23.De Haviland's rivals Boeing In aviation,

:19:24. > :19:33.lessons are learned all the time. Each aircraft is equipped with two

:19:34. > :19:35.indestructible black boxes If there is an accident,

:19:36. > :19:41.the boxes are excavated, the data analysed, and the system,

:19:42. > :19:46.crucially, is adapted. And that means the same

:19:47. > :19:49.mistakes don't happen again. Last year, the accident rate

:19:50. > :19:55.for major airlines was one crash But compare this with healthcare,

:19:56. > :20:14.where clinicians often spin and conceal mistakes because

:20:15. > :20:17.of the fear of litigation And that's why preventable medical

:20:18. > :20:45.error is one Failure is inevitable

:20:46. > :20:48.in a complex world. Politicians, businessmen,

:20:49. > :20:51.even scientists are going to get things wrong, but what are we going

:20:52. > :20:55.to do with these mistakes? Do we spin them, do we shun them or

:20:56. > :20:58.do we harness them After all, if we don't know where

:20:59. > :21:28.we're going wrong, Is it really can parable, machines

:21:29. > :21:30.and people, when you use your planes analogy with health care?

:21:31. > :21:32.and people, when you use your planes I think is universal, you learning

:21:33. > :21:36.from mistakes, fundamental I think is universal, you learning

:21:37. > :21:40.beings learn and institutions learn. A good metaphor is marginal days,

:21:41. > :21:47.which is how we credit so much success in our Olympians, winning by

:21:48. > :21:50.crate into its component parts, and improving on various components 1%.

:21:51. > :21:53.crate into its component parts, and Aerodynamics, the design of

:21:54. > :21:53.crate into its component parts, and bike. Using antibacterial hand

:21:54. > :22:00.gels, things sound small but Achaemenid

:22:01. > :22:02.affect and equipment of continual improvement which can only happen if

:22:03. > :22:05.you look improvement which can only happen if

:22:06. > :22:09.assumptions rather than trying to defend yourself, that can be

:22:10. > :22:15.revolutionary. I'd love to see it in hospitals, schools, and in politics.

:22:16. > :22:17.revolutionary. I'd love to see it in Everyone has to agree what the

:22:18. > :22:22.mistake is and whether it was a mistake. Isn't that the problem in

:22:23. > :22:26.politics? And hospitals, because doctors try to spin the mistakes,

:22:27. > :22:27.and say, instead of we have confessed to killing somebody

:22:28. > :22:31.because our procedure was wrong, they blame it on the unusual

:22:32. > :22:37.symptoms of the patient, complications. You don't think those

:22:38. > :22:41.are valid sometimes, those arguments? No, because the

:22:42. > :22:47.information is pushed a deep underground. One hospital in Seattle

:22:48. > :22:49.adopted the marginal gains approach and are open and honest about their

:22:50. > :22:53.mistakes. Somebody came in and are open and honest about their

:22:54. > :22:59.not resuscitate wristband because the nurse was colour-blind, so they

:23:00. > :23:03.added text to the wristband and change the ergonomics of the

:23:04. > :23:07.equipment. The system adapted and there was a 74% reduction in

:23:08. > :23:10.insurance liability premiums. there was a 74% reduction in

:23:11. > :23:17.is a method which requires intellectual honesty and a

:23:18. > :23:19.is a method which requires Those are quite clear examples in

:23:20. > :23:23.aviation and health care but if we look at the umbrella over the top

:23:24. > :23:27.which is politics, the political system we exist and are at the

:23:28. > :23:32.moment, there will always be a difference of opinion as to what is

:23:33. > :23:38.a mistake and what is an alternative way of doing things. So let's change

:23:39. > :23:40.the idea of a mistake to a suboptimal outcome, all political

:23:41. > :23:44.outcomes are sub optimal unless we have a confession which we don't.

:23:45. > :23:48.International developer and, often decisions are made on how to help

:23:49. > :23:53.the poorest in the world on the basis of narrative, glossy

:23:54. > :23:59.magazines, great websites. So there was a scheme to improve education in

:24:00. > :24:01.rural Kenya and they sent a lot of English-language textbooks which

:24:02. > :24:07.sounded great, the material looked wonderful but a group of economists

:24:08. > :24:10.went in and tested it and found the kids didn't speak in dish well

:24:11. > :24:15.enough, so they tried something else. That outcome is an opportunity

:24:16. > :24:22.to reimagine how you can improve those outcomes so they tried

:24:23. > :24:28.deworming medication and the results were stellar. It improved

:24:29. > :24:33.everything. Unless you become some after we can't improve. When have

:24:34. > :24:39.politicians not learned from their mistakes? I wonder if George Osborne

:24:40. > :24:47.has been sub optimal. What would your suggestion be it to improve

:24:48. > :24:54.that outcome? I think there's a lot in this, you have got to fall down

:24:55. > :24:58.in order to learn to get back up. There is something there. There's a

:24:59. > :25:02.difference between what we privately will look at to make sure we have

:25:03. > :25:09.the best outcomes and changing them compared to what you will publicly

:25:10. > :25:13.be passing on and disagreeing on. A lot of the biggest arguments between

:25:14. > :25:16.Jonathan and I will be whether somebody's made a mistake in the

:25:17. > :25:20.first place. I think that's right but also politicians have got to

:25:21. > :25:24.admit when they've made a mistake and part of our culture is jumping

:25:25. > :25:34.on gas, you said something different. That prevents the culture

:25:35. > :25:37.where you can be honest. Nick Clegg said he was sorry. John McDonnell

:25:38. > :25:43.changed his mind. Those good things to do politically? A good analogy

:25:44. > :25:48.here is economic sway economists, even the best in the world, that

:25:49. > :25:52.they have to learn from the data which helps them to adapt and yet

:25:53. > :25:57.it's the highest reputation economist measured by how often TV

:25:58. > :26:01.studios make the worst predictions because when there is a predictive

:26:02. > :26:04.error they use their creative and intellectual energy to spin that

:26:05. > :26:07.data to defend their prior assumptions and that's why they

:26:08. > :26:15.don't learn from their mistakes. That's what we need in politics,

:26:16. > :26:18.people to adapt. Politicians always defending their assumptions. They

:26:19. > :26:24.spin the sub optimal outcome and that a tragedy. Whoop about the next

:26:25. > :26:28.economist which comes onto the programme. Who is that? Thank you.

:26:29. > :26:31.Of course you are, you've been watching the Daily

:26:32. > :26:35.But how satisfied you are with your life may also depend

:26:36. > :26:37.on where you live, according to a report by a think-tank called

:26:38. > :26:42.It found that the happiest place to live in the UK

:26:43. > :26:44.was the Outer Hebrides, where residents have high levels

:26:45. > :26:47.of life satisfaction despite having among the lowest average incomes.

:26:48. > :26:53.The most miserable place was said to be the city of Wolverhamton

:26:54. > :26:56.The most miserable place was said to be the city of Wolverhampton

:26:57. > :26:59.in the West Midlands, where a lack of opportunity is said

:27:00. > :27:04.Well we're joined now by two MPs who represent those areas, and I assume

:27:05. > :27:06.are therefore the happiest and the unhappiest people in the Commons

:27:07. > :27:19.Angus, why is your constituency part of the happiest place in Britain? I

:27:20. > :27:25.think the scenery, the beautiful beaches, the way people get on with

:27:26. > :27:28.each other. The general clubs, church groups, choirs, a number of

:27:29. > :27:34.things. There's a high value on knowing each and having a laugh with

:27:35. > :27:40.people. Why come to London, I will see 10,000 people and not know any

:27:41. > :27:44.of them in a day. On the island I will know everybody and have a chat

:27:45. > :27:48.and a laugh. It's generally very friendly. Emma, why is your place

:27:49. > :27:55.the unhappiest? I totally reject the findings. You won't be surprised to

:27:56. > :27:58.hear me say that. I'm not in the least bit miserable. Nor are the

:27:59. > :28:03.people of Wolverhampton who tend to be very open, very friendly, very

:28:04. > :28:07.welcoming to people who are visiting Wolverhampton full submit a great

:28:08. > :28:10.thing is gunning for us. We've had a massive investment by Jaguar Land

:28:11. > :28:14.Rover and a big factory on the outskirts of my constituency.

:28:15. > :28:19.There's lots going on in Wolverhampton, for example, one of

:28:20. > :28:27.the best civic halls, and dolled up OK, I will take your word for it. We

:28:28. > :28:33.got to cut this short. PMQs overrun. My suggestion is you should twin the

:28:34. > :28:36.two places. We have an SNP Government in the Hebrides which

:28:37. > :28:38.makes a huge difference. OK we will have to go.

:28:39. > :28:41.There's just time to put you out of your misery and give you

:28:42. > :28:56.I'll be here at noon tomorrow with all the big

:28:57. > :28:59.Jo's off gallivanting on the continent.