20/01/2016

:00:35. > :00:49.Morning folks - welcome to the Daily Politics.

:00:50. > :00:51.He's outlawed raising income tax, national insurance or VAT

:00:52. > :00:54.but is the Chancellor about to raid your pension payments?

:00:55. > :00:57.The migration crisis brought over a million people to Europe last year

:00:58. > :01:00.- could changes to EU rules give more of them the right

:01:01. > :01:03.A quarter of the world used to be painted pink -

:01:04. > :01:06.is it time for Britain to relinquish the last vestiges of its Empire?

:01:07. > :01:09.And after Labour and the pollsters made their excuses for getting

:01:10. > :01:13.we countdown the best political excuses.

:01:14. > :01:16.I didn't do a great job this morning, I had a brain

:01:17. > :01:31.What I may need to do is face up to that and then move on.

:01:32. > :01:36.Brain fade is a regular occurrence on The Daily Politics!

:01:37. > :01:39.All that in the next 90 minutes and with us for the duration two

:01:40. > :01:43.politicians whose excuses weren't good enough to miss today's show,

:01:44. > :01:45.Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Owen Smith, and Treasury Minister,

:01:46. > :01:56.First this morning - are changes about to be made

:01:57. > :02:01.The Daily Mail splashes this morning with the claim that one and half

:02:02. > :02:03.million people could lose out on what its calling a "stealth tax

:02:04. > :02:06.raid to punish prudent savers" in the March Budget.

:02:07. > :02:10.And the i newspaper warns of a "Pension Pot Raid

:02:11. > :02:13.to Cut Back Deficit", with claims that the Chancellor

:02:14. > :02:16.is poised to reduce pension relief for higher rate tax payers

:02:17. > :02:20.Well - is there any truth in these stories?

:02:21. > :02:23.Who better to ask than a Treasury Minister?

:02:24. > :02:28.Should strive as and savers be rewarded rather than punished at the

:02:29. > :02:33.moment? The position is, as a government, is

:02:34. > :02:36.that we announced that we were going to review the application of

:02:37. > :02:40.pensions tax relief, we have made a number of changes over the last

:02:41. > :02:46.Parliament in terms of focusing it away from the very highest earners.

:02:47. > :02:50.It but in terms of what is going to be announced at the budget, I'm

:02:51. > :02:58.always interested to see lots of speculation in the press, but it is

:02:59. > :03:00.very clear... Is it speculation or briefing?

:03:01. > :03:03.It is speculation. We announced that we would look in the round at

:03:04. > :03:06.various radical options in respect of pensions tax relief and we are

:03:07. > :03:10.continuing to do that but no decisions have been made. If there

:03:11. > :03:15.is a decision that is made to change that that will be announced at the

:03:16. > :03:19.budget on March 16. There has not been much more that I can say other

:03:20. > :03:22.than that. You didn't answer the broad question, should strive as and

:03:23. > :03:28.savers be rewarded at the moment rather than punished? If you look at

:03:29. > :03:32.what we are doing at the moment as a government in terms of courage in

:03:33. > :03:36.saving and in terms of a new savers allowance, taking lots of savers out

:03:37. > :03:41.of income tax altogether, we've done a lot to help savers at a time when

:03:42. > :03:45.interest rates are low. That has not been helpful to a lot of savers. We

:03:46. > :03:52.have taken steps to help. Nobody wants to punish anybody, but it is,

:03:53. > :03:56.of course, right that we look in a very careful and consultative way at

:03:57. > :04:00.the way pensions tax relief works. It is a big part of our tax system

:04:01. > :04:05.and we need to insure that it is effective in terms of encouraging

:04:06. > :04:07.saving, and it is going in the right place.

:04:08. > :04:12.So you want to encourage saving, but you have said yourself just now that

:04:13. > :04:17.you're looking at proposals that perhaps might move away from higher

:04:18. > :04:20.rate taxpayers. You've had this consultation. Is introducing a flat

:04:21. > :04:22.rate of tax relief on pensions contributions one of the options on

:04:23. > :04:27.the table? It is one of the options set out in

:04:28. > :04:33.the consultation. You are considering it?

:04:34. > :04:37.That is no news, sorry not to give you and exclusive.

:04:38. > :04:41.Justice said it on the table. This was one of the options going

:04:42. > :04:44.back to the July budget in terms of looking at it so it is not a new

:04:45. > :04:48.thing. Higher rate taxpayers would lose

:04:49. > :04:53.out, wouldn't they? We are considering various options,

:04:54. > :04:56.but as I say, in terms of having an understanding of winners and losers

:04:57. > :04:59.we are looking at the options but it depends.

:05:00. > :05:03.Should it be on the table, should it even be there to raid the pension

:05:04. > :05:07.pots of higher income tax payers? I think it is always sensible when

:05:08. > :05:12.you have a large part of the tax system, and depending on how you

:05:13. > :05:15.measure it, pensions tax relief results in something like ?34

:05:16. > :05:20.billion of tax being foregone from the Exchequer.

:05:21. > :05:24.That is a lot of money, isn't it? To see if that is justified and see

:05:25. > :05:26.if it is working properly. Most of it goes to higher rate

:05:27. > :05:31.taxpayers. Yes, that is true and you would here

:05:32. > :05:33.argue much from the likes of the Institute of fiscal and, they are

:05:34. > :05:39.quite supportive of the current structure and make the argument that

:05:40. > :05:43.it should be at the marginal rate because those are the people who pay

:05:44. > :05:47.more tax -- fiscal studies. Then there is the counterargument that is

:05:48. > :05:52.made that it should be better targeted and that one should depart

:05:53. > :05:58.from that principle. Apologies for giving and on the one hand, on the

:05:59. > :06:01.other hand answer. Sure. These other type of things we are open and

:06:02. > :06:04.transparent about, but we're looking at them and we will then make a

:06:05. > :06:08.decision on the basis of the that results.

:06:09. > :06:12.Can you understand why already there are people on your own side who have

:06:13. > :06:17.claimed that that would be very unconservative? And they are worried

:06:18. > :06:19.about it. Even Mark Garnier on the Treasury Select Committee said it

:06:20. > :06:23.would be bad politics. Are they right?

:06:24. > :06:27.It depends. In a way it's an argument about an announcement of a

:06:28. > :06:34.policy that we haven't made. But what you have done...

:06:35. > :06:37.We have not set out the details, so it is a hypothetical question.

:06:38. > :06:40.You have two national newspapers who believe it is on the table and add

:06:41. > :06:44.me to delete they have not been sourced in terms of names, except

:06:45. > :06:47.for Mark Garnier. They obviously believe there is a strong sense this

:06:48. > :06:50.could happen and it would give the Treasury an awful lot of money that

:06:51. > :06:54.could be used to pay down the deficit. So you can understand why

:06:55. > :06:57.it is something that we are looking at, rightly or wrongly all stop

:06:58. > :07:04.you've imposed a lifetime allowance on pensions, again, hitting the

:07:05. > :07:07.aspirational again, you could say and cut the amount you can save each

:07:08. > :07:11.year into a pension so that would just be the next stage, to have a

:07:12. > :07:16.flat rate on tax contributions that would hit higher rate taxpayers.

:07:17. > :07:21.The point I would make is that it is right that this tax relief is

:07:22. > :07:26.reviewed. There are potentially some quite radical reforms that are out

:07:27. > :07:28.there. But we're not rushing into any particular decisions. Of course,

:07:29. > :07:33.we would want to have an understanding as to who would win

:07:34. > :07:38.and who would lose from that. It may well be that if you invite me back

:07:39. > :07:41.I'll be back here after the 16th of March.

:07:42. > :07:45.But then we will all know! What would be the point of that!

:07:46. > :07:49.To explaining saggy what we've done and why it is fair and right but we

:07:50. > :07:55.need to take the decision first. You say it is a radical proposal so

:07:56. > :07:59.to some extent you think it is controversial, or it would be for

:08:00. > :08:03.your own party and your own aside. At is it also notching, because by

:08:04. > :08:06.your own party and your own aside. legislating to stop raising income

:08:07. > :08:08.tax, National Insurance and VAT, you have straitjacketed yourself in the

:08:09. > :08:12.Treasury and don't have any other options to get money apart from

:08:13. > :08:16.stealth taxes like this? I don't think that is fair. What are the

:08:17. > :08:23.options? The OBR set up the fiscal statement

:08:24. > :08:28.in September. We are on course according to the OBR to have a

:08:29. > :08:36.budget surplus in 2019-20 of ?10 billion, which gives us a little bit

:08:37. > :08:41.of a buffer in terms of our target of making sure we have a surplus.

:08:42. > :08:44.But that is what the OBR is predicting. We are determined to

:08:45. > :08:48.deliver on that plan. Do you support the idea of a flat

:08:49. > :08:52.rate, it is redistributed in that sense?

:08:53. > :08:55.A rare moment of agreement between David and myself, I

:08:56. > :08:57.A rare moment of agreement between worth looking at. We need to look at

:08:58. > :09:00.what they are proposing. The stories in the papers are quite different,

:09:01. > :09:03.the Daily Mail stories about the stealthy way in which they have

:09:04. > :09:07.adduced the overall pension pots that you can hold, which I think is

:09:08. > :09:13.broadly a good progressive measure from the government -- they have

:09:14. > :09:19.reduced. Why is it stealthy? He announced it in the budget.

:09:20. > :09:22.He did it quietly, you could have ?100 million in the pension pot when

:09:23. > :09:29.Labour left off all stop it has gone down progressively. They didn't

:09:30. > :09:32.really trumpet it, so it was stealthy in that respect, it was not

:09:33. > :09:37.the headline of any budget. Alistair Darling didn't shout from

:09:38. > :09:40.the rooftops when he cut it. We described it as progressive but

:09:41. > :09:44.the current government have been a little bit more reticent about it.

:09:45. > :09:49.They have been open about it. It will affect higher rate taxpayers

:09:50. > :09:53.and cheese off the Daily Mail as we have seen this morning. We are much

:09:54. > :09:56.more comfortable with the notion that you do target pension tax

:09:57. > :10:02.relief for the wealthy in this country. It is only about 50,000 -

:10:03. > :10:05.60,000 battle the latest change affects. You didn't do injuring 13

:10:06. > :10:09.years in power. We should have done more.

:10:10. > :10:14.You still allowed people at the highest rate of tax to deduct that

:10:15. > :10:19.on their pension payments. I wasn't in parliament than.

:10:20. > :10:24.Know but it was your party. The bulk of the 34 million it cost the

:10:25. > :10:28.Exchequer to give this tax relief goes to the wealthier people of this

:10:29. > :10:33.country. Labour did nothing about that in 30 years.

:10:34. > :10:37.You are right, it is 70-30, lower basic rate taxpayers get about 30%

:10:38. > :10:42.of the benefits, and yet they pay around 70% of the relief of the

:10:43. > :10:46.overall amount and we should have done more to address that.

:10:47. > :10:50.You didn't do anything. Let me be very clear, I wasn't in

:10:51. > :10:54.government at the time and I'm in a position now, I can answer if you

:10:55. > :10:58.want for previous Labour chancellors or I Kantele what I think we should

:10:59. > :11:05.do. I agree with David it is worth something worth looking at -- I can

:11:06. > :11:08.tell you. Whether we should use the money to try and have a surplus of

:11:09. > :11:12.10 billion at the end of the Parliament, I think there are

:11:13. > :11:17.smarter and more progressive ways they could use that money, they

:11:18. > :11:21.could use it to write some of the other iniquities in the pension

:11:22. > :11:27.system, the fact in the 50s are losing out. They could aggressive

:11:28. > :11:30.more clearly some of the losers out of the single state pension. In

:11:31. > :11:34.terms of the flat rate I think it is potentially an interesting idea if

:11:35. > :11:46.they can get properly progressive and if they can guarantee that the

:11:47. > :11:52.losers will not have a detrimental affect. You will get an announcement

:11:53. > :11:55.of where we are. It is perfectly possible we will decide not to go

:11:56. > :12:00.ahead with any significant reform in this area. You will hear an update.

:12:01. > :12:02.We need to move on. Yesterday the President

:12:03. > :12:04.of the European Council, Donald Tusk, confirmed that

:12:05. > :12:09.a proposal on Britain's reformed membership of the EU would be

:12:10. > :12:12.tabled at next month's But reports this morning

:12:13. > :12:19.that there are plans to change EU rules on refugees could make life

:12:20. > :12:21.more difficult for David Cameron as he attempts to make the case

:12:22. > :12:24.for Britain to stay in Europe. Under current rules -

:12:25. > :12:28.known as the Dublin Convention - refugees have to claim asylum

:12:29. > :12:30.in the first European country But the "first country of entry"

:12:31. > :12:36.principle is under pressure - with southern European countries

:12:37. > :12:40.such as Greece and Italy accused of failing to register the 1.1

:12:41. > :12:43.million migrants that have passed through on the way

:12:44. > :12:45.to northern Europe. European Council president

:12:46. > :12:49.Donald Tusk has warned that Europe faces "grave consequences" if it

:12:50. > :12:53.can't agree a new system by March. While Britain is currently signed up

:12:54. > :12:55.to the Dublin Convention it has an opt-out on justice and home

:12:56. > :13:02.affairs rule changes. But concerns that huge numbers

:13:03. > :13:05.of migrants who may have arrived - and are still arriving -

:13:06. > :13:15.in the EU could end up in Britain won't help David Cameron meet

:13:16. > :13:16.the Conservatives' manifesto commitment of reducing net migration

:13:17. > :13:19.to tens of thousands. Net migration currently

:13:20. > :13:26.stands at 336,000 - so what might any rule changes mean

:13:27. > :13:29.for the Prime Minister's attempts We're joined now by Kate Hoey

:13:30. > :13:34.co-Chair of Labour's campaign to Leave the EU - Labour Leave -

:13:35. > :13:43.which launches today. Labour Leave, it is called. Let me

:13:44. > :13:46.come to you first, David Gauke. With the government look kindly on

:13:47. > :13:49.changing the Dublin agreement? The principle behind the Dublin

:13:50. > :13:53.agreement, in other words that you claim asylum in your first country

:13:54. > :13:57.that is safe is the right one. You wouldn't change it?

:13:58. > :14:01.We need to look at the particular details and there are maybe aspects

:14:02. > :14:05.of the proposal that are... It is not a detail, it is a principal.

:14:06. > :14:10.What we are told is that the commission is going to propose that

:14:11. > :14:13.they end that principle that you are automatically have to seek asylum in

:14:14. > :14:18.the first country you arrive in. What would the Government's

:14:19. > :14:28.attitudes beta that kind of change? We have to look at the whole

:14:29. > :14:30.proposal -- attitude towards that kind of change. The principle

:14:31. > :14:39.behind, you claim asylum in your first safe country, is one that we

:14:40. > :14:42.think is sensible. It is better than otherwise. They would have to be

:14:43. > :14:45.something significant that is when the package for us to be enthusiast

:14:46. > :14:50.it about that. If you don't want to change it and others do do you have

:14:51. > :14:55.a veto to stop it? My understanding is that we would be able to opt out,

:14:56. > :15:01.or not opt in to those arrangements but we would have to see what the

:15:02. > :15:08.proposed the what the precise proposal was. We would not have a

:15:09. > :15:11.veto? It is important to remember we are not in Schengen, so there may be

:15:12. > :15:14.a different arrangement for those countries outside Schengen as

:15:15. > :15:20.opposed to those that are inside Schengen. How many asylum seekers

:15:21. > :15:24.have been sent back to the European country in which they landed under

:15:25. > :15:28.the Dublin agreement? I don't have that number. It is quite hard to get

:15:29. > :15:32.the figures, as is often the case in these matters, it looks like it is

:15:33. > :15:44.under 1000 year. So it is demeaning is. a fifth a fact. In fact that

:15:45. > :15:48.there is a principle here which exists. The point being that they

:15:49. > :15:52.may be people who, if you scrap the principle, and this is one thing we

:15:53. > :15:56.would need to look at, a rescue could be more people might travel to

:15:57. > :16:01.the UK on the assumption that they might be able to... But the Dublin

:16:02. > :16:04.agreement applies to everyone but the Germans are not implementing it.

:16:05. > :16:08.What we need to have an understanding of is there will be a

:16:09. > :16:14.behavioural change where people are more likely to come to the UK if

:16:15. > :16:19.that does not apply. Isn't it unfair given that it clearly government's

:16:20. > :16:23.policy to campaign to stay the European Union, that for purely

:16:24. > :16:27.geographical reasons, Greece and Italy have to bear the brunt of the

:16:28. > :16:34.million arrivals and we do nothing to share the load? Isn't there a

:16:35. > :16:40.case to change the rules? I think your point about the United Kingdom

:16:41. > :16:43.does make a big contribution towards for example humanitarian help. That

:16:44. > :16:52.is in Syria. We don't take many migrants. But the issues are linked.

:16:53. > :16:57.Our humanitarian contribution in Syria and Turkey for example, is

:16:58. > :17:03.enabling more people to stay. But it's not. There's never evidence of

:17:04. > :17:10.that. There's 2000 day arriving. What difference is the Syrian or

:17:11. > :17:14.Turkish aid meaning? Where not even aware the Turkish money has been

:17:15. > :17:20.spent. There's no sign of it on ground. There's 2000 arriving. What

:17:21. > :17:24.difference is it making? If we're not active and provide support in

:17:25. > :17:29.the region, the risk of there being more refugees coming to Europe is

:17:30. > :17:35.likely to increase. That is unquantifiable. There was 1 million

:17:36. > :17:44.last year. But they could be higher. Whatever the number, you're not

:17:45. > :17:53.taking any. Correct? In terms of fairness, we did take 5000 Syrian

:17:54. > :17:57.refugees... From Syria. At one of the wealthier members of the EU is

:17:58. > :18:00.to put more money in than any other member state in terms of that

:18:01. > :18:07.humanitarian support. We are making a fair contribution. How many Labour

:18:08. > :18:14.MPs do you think will support this? I won a bet. I thought that would be

:18:15. > :18:22.your first question. We are in a minority within the PLP. What we

:18:23. > :18:27.have discovered just from the short time since the launch today, we have

:18:28. > :18:31.huge support from members of grassroots and Labour supporters,

:18:32. > :18:38.more importantly. Let me come back to my question. How many Labour MPs?

:18:39. > :18:43.This referendum will not be one to leave the EU by MPs. I understand

:18:44. > :18:46.that. Since you correctly guess my question, it means you've had plenty

:18:47. > :18:52.of time to think about the answer. Roughly how many? We will have the

:18:53. > :18:58.same number as we had two voted and supported a referendum whether

:18:59. > :19:01.Labour leadership didn't want it and roundabout 25, 30. That is

:19:02. > :19:07.irrelevant, because the campaign will be one by ordinary members of

:19:08. > :19:12.the British public. That but I understand about referendum. It's

:19:13. > :19:18.not just MPs who get to vote. Even I understand that. You must be pleased

:19:19. > :19:24.John Mills, your biggest private donor, once Jeremy Corbyn to allow a

:19:25. > :19:28.free vote on EU. Do you think you'll get one? Of course, the

:19:29. > :19:33.Conservatives are given free vote and the idea Labour wouldn't would

:19:34. > :19:40.be nonsense. John Mills led the campaign in 1975 to leave the common

:19:41. > :19:47.market. He has been long-standing supporter. You think you will get a

:19:48. > :19:52.free vote? Absolutely. I hope not and I'm committed to staying in

:19:53. > :19:55.Europe. Therefore, I hope we decide, as a party and I'm confident we

:19:56. > :19:59.will, our position is clear and therefore we have a weapon vote.

:20:00. > :20:08.Why, when the Conservatives are in government? Because... MPs know

:20:09. > :20:14.their constituents and the vast majority, the majority of Labour

:20:15. > :20:18.supporters, many of whom went on voted for Ukip precisely because of

:20:19. > :20:22.this issue and we want to win them back, our party is about

:20:23. > :20:25.reconnecting with voters, the idea we didn't want a referendum and as

:20:26. > :20:29.soon as we are back in opposition be agreed to one, two days later, now

:20:30. > :20:34.we would say we were we want a whipped vote is democracy at the

:20:35. > :20:38.window. The reason the Tories are having a free vote is because they

:20:39. > :20:44.couldn't possibly whip their party because they are divided on this

:20:45. > :20:53.issue. The Labour Party is not. We have a handful, less than 10% of the

:20:54. > :20:56.PLP. At the moment. Therefore we are in a luxurious position of knowing

:20:57. > :21:04.what our party critical position is and are able to have a position.

:21:05. > :21:11.It's very interesting... It's mandate we both stood on. I did not.

:21:12. > :21:15.I want to a fundamental change. What I would say is Jeremy Corbyn, our

:21:16. > :21:20.leader, is perfectly relaxed about the Labour campaign and he and John

:21:21. > :21:28.McDonald spent loads of airtime in the same lobby as those of us... I'm

:21:29. > :21:34.relaxed about it, too. I still think we have a very clear position. Can I

:21:35. > :21:37.just clarify this. The government position is that there will be a

:21:38. > :21:42.government policy, almost certainly in favour of staying to remain.

:21:43. > :21:47.Those Cabinet ministers who don't agree with that can go their own way

:21:48. > :21:51.for the duration of the referendum. Will Shadow Cabinet members be

:21:52. > :21:57.allowed to do that if they don't agree with the party line? I'm not

:21:58. > :22:03.in charge of that, am I? My view is we should have a whipped vote. A

:22:04. > :22:07.settled Labour Party policy, pro-European, and I think we should

:22:08. > :22:11.have a clear position, unlike the Conservatives. So if shadow

:22:12. > :22:18.ministers disagree with the party line should not be allowed? That is

:22:19. > :22:21.my view. We did a clear pro-European position and deflect responsibility

:22:22. > :22:28.and stick together and vote for Europe. I kind of stitch up but in

:22:29. > :22:30.the establishment and Labour? Unfortunately, it'll be the public

:22:31. > :22:34.to decide and the last thing they want the moment is a stitch up

:22:35. > :22:39.between politicians cosy at Westminster out in the country the

:22:40. > :22:42.mood very very different. Kate, you about a moment ago when his people

:22:43. > :22:47.in the country would decide the referendum. Self-evidently right. It

:22:48. > :22:50.is our job, I think, to provide leadership. You are trying to do

:22:51. > :22:53.that by making a case for us leaving Europe and I'm being clear, the

:22:54. > :22:59.Labour Party which you're a member of come in a minority, is going to

:23:00. > :23:02.make a case to the country and say we should stay. And we are finding,

:23:03. > :23:08.across the country now, Parliamentary parties are wanting to

:23:09. > :23:13.have that debate, inviting people. We need to have that debate. We have

:23:14. > :23:19.never had that debate in the party really, since the end of the Neil

:23:20. > :23:23.Kinnock error. Is it your view, as I understand it, you had 200,000 new

:23:24. > :23:27.members since Jeremy Corbyn became leader, not since you lost the

:23:28. > :23:34.election but a lot after that, so are there any indications of what

:23:35. > :23:38.the attitudes towards Europe? We are finding genuinely that new people

:23:39. > :23:43.coming in at a very different attitude to this idea that the EU

:23:44. > :23:48.was all about workers rights. Social Europe is finished. The EU project

:23:49. > :23:52.is on its way out. What are you game planning for the timing of the

:23:53. > :23:57.referendum? We are still game planning for a July but it's more

:23:58. > :24:01.likely to be September. The Prime Minister wants a piece of white

:24:02. > :24:10.paper to be put through as quickly as possible. I think tuna. June

:24:11. > :24:18.would be too near. All right. -- I think tuna. We will see a lot

:24:19. > :24:23.between now and then. Any cabinet members which might come over to

:24:24. > :24:28.your side? One or two. Which ones? It's not my place to decide. Current

:24:29. > :24:35.Cabinet ministers would like to be able to campaign? Yes. We will think

:24:36. > :24:37.about that. You have to go and ask them.

:24:38. > :24:40.Now - the bookies now have Donald Trump as their firm favourite

:24:41. > :24:43.to win the Republican nomination and last night he got another boost

:24:44. > :24:45.- the endorsement of the former governor of Alaska

:24:46. > :24:47.and vice-presidential candidate - Sarah Palin.

:24:48. > :24:50.Are you ready for a Commander-in-Chief...

:24:51. > :24:54.You ready for a Commander-in-Chief

:24:55. > :24:59.who will let our warriors do their job and go kick ISIS' ass?

:25:00. > :25:05.Ready for someone who will secure our borders

:25:06. > :25:09.to secure our jobs and to secure our homes?

:25:10. > :25:16.I'm here to support the next President of the United States,

:25:17. > :25:25.Now - despite a petition with over half a million signatures calling

:25:26. > :25:27.for Donald Trump to be banned from the UK -

:25:28. > :25:29.and a parliamentary debate in which he was branded

:25:30. > :25:31."an attention seeker", a "fool", a "buffoon",

:25:32. > :25:36.a "demagogue" and a "wazzock" - Mr Trump will still be free to come

:25:37. > :25:46.That caused the new York times a few problems and NBC and CBS.

:25:47. > :25:49.But he won't be able to get hold of one of these.

:25:50. > :25:52.That's right, because if you look at the small print on our website

:25:53. > :25:56.carefully, you have to be a UK resident to qualify and be able

:25:57. > :26:19.MUSIC: C'mon Everybody by Led Zeppelin

:26:20. > :26:26.# I want your love, I want your love #

:26:27. > :26:29.I'm going to drive off in this little thing now.

:26:30. > :26:37.MUSIC: We Don't Talk Anymore by Cliff Richard

:26:38. > :26:41.# It's so funny how we don't talk anymore #

:26:42. > :26:42.Now, we exist to promote and to protect

:26:43. > :26:51.MUSIC: Can You Feel The Force by The Real Thing

:26:52. > :27:03.We bring them down if they don't keep this promise.

:27:04. > :27:07.MUSIC: Ain't No Stopping Us Now by McFadden and Whitehead

:27:08. > :27:12.# Ain't no stopping us now, we've got the groove

:27:13. > :27:17.# There's been so many things that's held us down

:27:18. > :27:27.# But now it looks like things are finally coming around. #

:27:28. > :27:30.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug,

:27:31. > :27:32.send your answer to our special quiz email address

:27:33. > :27:36.Entries must arrive by 12:30pm today, and you can see the full

:27:37. > :27:38.terms and conditions for Guess The Year on our website

:27:39. > :27:52.But you have to be resident in Britain. You do. I can feel a

:27:53. > :27:54.challenge coming on. It's coming up to midday here -

:27:55. > :28:02.just take a look at Big Ben - It's a glorious cold bright winter

:28:03. > :28:07.'s day here. Prime Minister's Questions are a few moments away.

:28:08. > :28:15.Laura is with us. We can't work out what Jeremy Corbyn is going to go on

:28:16. > :28:18.today? Today there were protests in Westminster and Jeremy Corbyn is no

:28:19. > :28:25.stranger to that and what many young people were protesting about today

:28:26. > :28:29.where the abolition of grants to loans,, the conversion which George

:28:30. > :28:32.Osborne brought in in the summer and it's likely Jeremy Corbyn will raise

:28:33. > :28:36.theirs. There was an opposition they debate in the house yesterday I

:28:37. > :28:40.believe we're Labour MPs raised the issue and, in a sense, it pushes

:28:41. > :28:45.lots and lots of buttons for him, and speaks to many of his concerns

:28:46. > :28:48.about generational fairness, it's something he has found, currency

:28:49. > :28:51.with young people in terms of a future for them and it's quite a

:28:52. > :28:57.difficult sell for the government, the sort of trick is for want of a

:28:58. > :29:00.better word, student at the bottom of the end of the income threshold

:29:01. > :29:06.and their family will get bigger loans. But they are already getting

:29:07. > :29:10.loans for their fees. I think the Scottish Government reined back on

:29:11. > :29:16.grants, as well. The problem there was the poorer students, though they

:29:17. > :29:19.got fees, that's a future payment they may, doesn't stop them going to

:29:20. > :29:22.university, but they need something to live on and it was the grant

:29:23. > :29:29.which allowed them to live. Indeed, it was one of the very carefully

:29:30. > :29:34.controversial packages of the coalition raising fees, but raising

:29:35. > :29:38.the amount of support people at the bottom got and the coalition would

:29:39. > :29:41.always trumpet what they see as a success as they raised fees but

:29:42. > :29:45.poorer students did not stay away from university. The concern now is

:29:46. > :29:49.those poor students who are still entitled to grants lose them all

:29:50. > :29:54.together, and we would inevitably see a gradual change where poor

:29:55. > :29:58.students started to stay away from university. It may well be Jeremy

:29:59. > :30:02.Corbyn is hard to predict, last week I said it would be incredible if you

:30:03. > :30:06.didn't raise the junior doctors strike and he didn't. He can hardly

:30:07. > :30:11.raise this week since there's been an abeyance while negotiations are

:30:12. > :30:17.going on. Indeed. I think it is watching you may pick up your

:30:18. > :30:23.advice. It brings a lot of bells for Mr Corbyn and gives the government

:30:24. > :30:26.some problems. If the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle over? I thought that was

:30:27. > :30:38.until yesterday, yet another name popped into my inbox. On days 16. Do

:30:39. > :30:43.you want to check your phone while we're chatting? What are they been

:30:44. > :30:50.saying the last 25 minutes before I sat down in the studio. Would you

:30:51. > :30:57.like to consider your position? Not yet. What name came in? Now you're

:30:58. > :31:00.asking me. The names are now completed with somebody who will not

:31:01. > :31:05.be the Shadow Cabinet, and additional appointment to the front

:31:06. > :31:12.bench. There you go, even the Tories know. The Prime Minister will... You

:31:13. > :31:16.are 50% right. The Prime Minister, whatever he is asked, will somehow I

:31:17. > :31:19.suggest work in the latest unemployment figures. It would be

:31:20. > :31:22.surprised if he didn't and which Prime Minister would not want to

:31:23. > :31:27.trumpet what our record employment figures and, in a sense, not only is

:31:28. > :31:30.it a record label want to boast about, but also something very

:31:31. > :31:35.difficult for the Labour Party. We know from yesterday's report about

:31:36. > :31:38.what went wrong into the election, one of the things Ed Miliband did

:31:39. > :31:43.not do was win back voters trust on the economy. These figures suggest,

:31:44. > :31:50.under this government, the economy is improving therefore making it

:31:51. > :31:55.harder for Labour to pull back its power and resonance on that issue.

:31:56. > :31:58.It's interesting, as the labour market tightens, average earnings

:31:59. > :32:05.are not showing much sign of life. It's going up by about 2%. It is OK,

:32:06. > :32:12.when inflation is effectively zero, but it's not huge, is it? Remember,

:32:13. > :32:15.when one of the gambles the government is taking is the private

:32:16. > :32:19.sector will pick up the slack in terms of wages. Let's see what's

:32:20. > :32:26.coming up and go straight to the Commons.

:32:27. > :32:34.I shall have further such meetings later today. Gareth Thomas. If you

:32:35. > :32:37.have worked hard for a company and helped it succeed, surely you should

:32:38. > :32:41.be allowed to benefit a little from the profits that that company makes.

:32:42. > :32:45.Does the Prime Minister think it is time for companies like Sports

:32:46. > :32:51.Direct to follow the example of the best businesses and give share a

:32:52. > :32:53.small percentage of the profits? We have encouraged companies to have

:32:54. > :32:57.profit-sharing arrangements and we took action in previous budgets to

:32:58. > :33:00.do that, but we are going further than that to make sure there is for

:33:01. > :33:05.the first time in our country a national minimum wage, which will

:33:06. > :33:10.come in in April this year. That means, for the lowest paid people in

:33:11. > :33:13.this country on the minimum wage it will be a 7.5% pay rise in April

:33:14. > :33:23.under a Conservative government. Mr Speaker, with mounting global

:33:24. > :33:27.economic uncertainty, it was comforting to see this morning's

:33:28. > :33:33.figures showing record UK employment. In this new age of kind.

:33:34. > :33:37.Consensual politics does my Right Honourable friend agree that every

:33:38. > :33:40.member of this house should welcome the news that from North Yorkshire

:33:41. > :33:44.to North London Britain is back in work?

:33:45. > :33:53.My honourable friend is absolutely right. Over the last year, we've

:33:54. > :33:58.actually seen more people in work in every region in our country. That is

:33:59. > :34:01.something that is welcome. The unemployment figures this morning,

:34:02. > :34:07.which the House might not have had time to see, are very welcome. The

:34:08. > :34:11.unemployment rate is now the lowest rate in nearly a decade at 5.1%. The

:34:12. > :34:15.unemployment rate is now lower than it was at the start of the

:34:16. > :34:20.recession. The latest figures show unemployment falling by another

:34:21. > :34:24.99,000. And we have today in our country the record number of people

:34:25. > :34:29.in work ever in our history and a record number of women in work.

:34:30. > :34:32.Since I've become Prime Minister 2.3 million more people in work, and I'm

:34:33. > :34:41.sure that is something the whole house can welcome. Jeremy Corbyn.

:34:42. > :34:53.Thank you, Mr Speaker, it's nice to get such a warm welcome.

:34:54. > :34:58.HECKERLING. If you will allow me for one moment.

:34:59. > :35:02.Can the Prime Minister tell the House where in his election

:35:03. > :35:11.manifesto he put his plan to abolish maintenance grants for students?

:35:12. > :35:15.First of all, people will recognise no welcome for the thousands of

:35:16. > :35:20.people who found work in our country, what a depressing

:35:21. > :35:24.spectacle. In our manifesto we said we would cut the deficit and we

:35:25. > :35:29.would uncap student numbers, and we've done both.

:35:30. > :35:37.Jeremy Corbyn. There is not such joy in Port

:35:38. > :35:42.Tolbert and other places that have lost steel jobs and they want their

:35:43. > :35:45.government is their industries. The Prime Minister has form in terms of

:35:46. > :35:55.student maintenance grants because the Conservative manifesto there was

:35:56. > :36:07.no mention either... Are you done? Let me very gently say to the

:36:08. > :36:16.dedicated Prime Minister's parliamentary private secretary...

:36:17. > :36:22.Compose yourself, man. Being a statesman does not include

:36:23. > :36:27.chuntering. Jeremy Corbyn. Thank you, Mr Speaker forced up as I was

:36:28. > :36:31.saying, the Prime Minister has form here because there was no mention of

:36:32. > :36:38.tax credit cuts in the manifesto either. This proposal will affect

:36:39. > :36:41.500,000 students, not in his manifesto. I have a question from a

:36:42. > :36:45.student by the name of Liam, who says: I'm training to be a

:36:46. > :36:51.mathematics teacher and will now come out at the end of my course to

:36:52. > :36:56.debts in excess of ?50,000, which is roughly twice as much as what his

:36:57. > :37:02.annual income would be. Why is Liam being put into such debt?

:37:03. > :37:05.What I would say to Liam is he is now in a country where the

:37:06. > :37:10.university system has more people going to university than ever

:37:11. > :37:13.before, and more people from low-income backgrounds going to

:37:14. > :37:17.university than ever before. In addition, what I'd say to me, and I

:37:18. > :37:24.wish him well, is he will not pay back a penny of his loan until he's

:37:25. > :37:29.earning ?21,000. He will not start paying back in full until he's

:37:30. > :37:32.earning ?35,000. And our policy is actually going to put more money in

:37:33. > :37:37.the hands of students likely, which is why we are doing it. By contrast,

:37:38. > :37:42.the Labour policy, which is to scrap the loans and scrap the fees, which

:37:43. > :37:47.would cost ?10 billion, would mean going back to a situation where

:37:48. > :37:51.people went out, worked hard, pay their taxes for the elite to go to

:37:52. > :37:57.university. We are on capping aspiration and he wants to put a cap

:37:58. > :38:02.on it. Jeremy Corbyn.

:38:03. > :38:04.I'm pleased to say Liam is trying to be a maths teacher which might be

:38:05. > :38:10.able to help the Prime Minister because he did say he was earning

:38:11. > :38:18.?25,000, which is more than ?21,000, if that is a help. In 2010 his

:38:19. > :38:23.government, in 2010, Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister's government troubled

:38:24. > :38:29.tuition fees to ?9,000, defending it by saying they would be increasing

:38:30. > :38:34.maintenance grants for students from less well-off backgrounds. They are

:38:35. > :38:41.now scrapping those very same grants they used to boast about being

:38:42. > :38:44.increased. Where is the sense in doing this? Why are they abolishing

:38:45. > :38:49.those maintenance grants? The sense in doing this is we want

:38:50. > :38:55.to uncap university places, so as many young people in our country who

:38:56. > :38:59.want to go to university can go to university. And that's what we are

:39:00. > :39:04.doing. Before too much shouting from the party opposite, when they were

:39:05. > :39:12.in government it was Labour that introduced the fees and loans

:39:13. > :39:18.system. Given this is the week we are meant to be learning the lessons

:39:19. > :39:22.of the last election, let me read a lesson from someone, frankly, I

:39:23. > :39:26.rather miss, Mr Ed Balls, who wrote this this week in the Times higher

:39:27. > :39:31.education supplement. He said this: we clearly didn't find a sustainable

:39:32. > :39:34.way forward for the financing of higher education. If the electorate

:39:35. > :39:38.think they have the answers for the future they will support you --

:39:39. > :39:43.think you have the answers. When they were in government they

:39:44. > :39:47.supported fees and loans, when we were in opposition we made the

:39:48. > :39:51.mistake that they did. If you want to be on the side of aspiration, if

:39:52. > :39:54.you want to be on the side of more university students and help people

:39:55. > :39:58.make the most of their lives, the system we've got is one that is

:39:59. > :40:03.working and the numbers prove it. Jeremy Corbyn.

:40:04. > :40:07.Mr Speaker, that is from the very same Prime Minister who is taking

:40:08. > :40:11.away the grants that are designed to help the poorest with our society

:40:12. > :40:17.and give them access to higher education. I want to ask him about

:40:18. > :40:22.one particular group that are being targeted by this government, student

:40:23. > :40:26.nurses, not mentioned in the manifesto, the repayments that

:40:27. > :40:32.student nurses will have to pay when they qualify amount to an effective

:40:33. > :40:37.pay cut of ?900 for each nurse. Why is he punishing them when we need

:40:38. > :40:41.these nurses within the NHS? First of all there are 6700 more nurses

:40:42. > :40:46.than when I became Prime Minister, but the facts are these: the Labour

:40:47. > :40:50.Party does not want to base up to difficult decisions but let me give

:40:51. > :40:54.him this one statistic. Today, two out of three people who want to

:40:55. > :40:58.become a nurse can't become a nurse because of the bursary system. So,

:40:59. > :41:04.by introducing the loans nurses will get more money, we will train more

:41:05. > :41:09.nurses and bring in fewer from overseas. It's good for nurses, it's

:41:10. > :41:12.good for the NHS and good for our country, and it's only a Labour

:41:13. > :41:14.Party that is so short-sighted and anti-aspirational that it can't see

:41:15. > :41:19.it. Jeremy Corbyn!

:41:20. > :41:23.The Prime Minister and I would probably agree that we need to be

:41:24. > :41:27.spending more and directing more resources in dealing with the mental

:41:28. > :41:30.health crisis in this country. I've got a question from somebody who

:41:31. > :41:36.wants to help us get through this crisis by becoming a mental health

:41:37. > :41:40.nurse. It's a woman called Vicky from York, and she has a very real

:41:41. > :41:44.problem. I wouldn't have been able to or chosen to study to be a mental

:41:45. > :41:48.health nurse without a bursary for the following reasons: I'm a single

:41:49. > :41:52.month I need support for childcare costs and have debts from a previous

:41:53. > :41:56.degree, I'm a mature student of 33 and wouldn't take on further debts

:41:57. > :42:00.which would be impossible for me to pay back and be fair on my daughter.

:42:01. > :42:06.She is somebody who we need in our NHS. We need her as a mental health

:42:07. > :42:13.nurse. We are losing her skill, her dedication, her aspiration to help

:42:14. > :42:19.the Anne Tyler community. Two out of three Vickys who turn up

:42:20. > :42:22.who want to be nurses are turned away by the current system, so we

:42:23. > :42:27.are bringing people in from Bulgaria or Romania, or the other side of the

:42:28. > :42:32.world, to do nursing jobs we should be training British people to do.

:42:33. > :42:36.The British people want to train as nurses, the NHS wants those nurses,

:42:37. > :42:39.this Government will fund those nurses, so help let's them train and

:42:40. > :42:44.improve our health service. Jeremy Corbyn!

:42:45. > :42:49.The problem is, you are expecting Vicky and others like her to fund

:42:50. > :42:54.themselves by paying back a debt, or paying back from their wages in the

:42:55. > :42:58.future. I don't think she has been very reassured by the Prime

:42:59. > :43:02.Minister's answers today, unconvincing to her. However, he

:43:03. > :43:13.wasn't very good at convincing the honourable member for Lewes, nurse

:43:14. > :43:17.herself, I would have struggled to undertake my training given the

:43:18. > :43:21.changes to the bursary scheme. Nine out of ten hospitals currently have

:43:22. > :43:24.a nurse shortage. Isn't what he is proposing for the nurse bursary

:43:25. > :43:30.scheme going to exacerbate the crisis make it worse for everybody

:43:31. > :43:36.and our NHS less effective than more effective? What is his answer to

:43:37. > :43:40.that point? I will give him a direct answer, which is we're going to see

:43:41. > :43:43.10,000 extra nurse degree places because of this policy. Because we

:43:44. > :43:48.are effectively on capping the numbers that can go into nursing. I

:43:49. > :43:52.have to say, Mr Speaker, this week has all been of a piece, a retreat

:43:53. > :43:57.of the Labour Party into the past. We've seen it with wanting to bring

:43:58. > :44:00.back secondary picketing, wanting to bring back flying pickets, we've

:44:01. > :44:04.seen it with the idea of wanting to stop businesses paying dividends and

:44:05. > :44:09.with the absurd idea that nucleus of rings should go to sea without their

:44:10. > :44:14.missiles. Anyone watching this Labour Party, and is not the leader,

:44:15. > :44:18.it's the whole party, they are a risk to national security, a risk to

:44:19. > :44:22.economic security, a risk to our health service and to the security

:44:23. > :44:31.of every family in our country. CHEERING

:44:32. > :44:34.SPEAKER: Edward Aga. Yelena Gloucestershire and the East

:44:35. > :44:39.Midlands continue to be a powerhouse of jobs and growth attracting

:44:40. > :44:47.investment from the UK and beyond and we are rightly proud of the

:44:48. > :44:50.success of our local businesses in Charnwood. Does the continued

:44:51. > :44:59.ability to attract foreign investment help -- be helped or

:45:00. > :45:02.hindered if secondary picketing were reintroduced? The East Midlands is a

:45:03. > :45:07.powerhouse of our economy and we've seen employment in the East Midlands

:45:08. > :45:11.go up by 17,000. When businesses look at whether to invest in

:45:12. > :45:13.Britain, whether their overseas businesses, or indeed British

:45:14. > :45:18.businesses, they want to know we are going to have good labour relations

:45:19. > :45:22.and not a return to the 1970s of secondary strikes and flying

:45:23. > :45:27.pickets. It is extraordinary for a party that spent so long trying to

:45:28. > :45:29.cast off that image of being in favour of these appalling industrial

:45:30. > :45:33.practices has now elected a leader and is backing a leader who would

:45:34. > :45:38.take us right back to the 1970s will stop

:45:39. > :45:43.SPEAKER: Angus Robertson. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

:45:44. > :45:51.World attention on the conflict in the Middle East is focused on Syria

:45:52. > :45:54.and Iraq, and much less so on the catastrophe in Yemen causing

:45:55. > :45:58.thousands of people to lose their lives and millions of people to lose

:45:59. > :46:00.their homes. Can the prime Minster tell the House what the UK

:46:01. > :46:07.Government is doing to support peace in Yemen?

:46:08. > :46:10.We can with all the people taking part in this conflict to encourage

:46:11. > :46:16.them to get round a negotiating table, as they have done recently in

:46:17. > :46:19.order to bring about what business is Aryan Yemen, a government that

:46:20. > :46:24.can represent all of the people. You've got to make sure that both

:46:25. > :46:28.Sunni and Shia are properly represented in their country and

:46:29. > :46:30.that's the only way we can meet our national interest to back a

:46:31. > :46:36.government in Yemen that will drive the terrorists, including Al-Qaeda

:46:37. > :46:39.meet Arabian Peninsular, AQAP, out of Yemen, because they have been and

:46:40. > :46:45.they are a direct threat to the British citizens of Britain.

:46:46. > :46:52.Angus Robertson. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Yemen

:46:53. > :46:55.including a large number by the Saudi air force using British built

:46:56. > :47:00.planes with pilots trained by British instructors dropping British

:47:01. > :47:06.made bombs and co-ordinated by the Saudis in the presence of British

:47:07. > :47:10.military advisers. Isn't it time for the Prime Minister to admit that

:47:11. > :47:16.Britain is effectively taking part in a war in Yemen that is costing

:47:17. > :47:17.thousands of civilian lives, and he has not sought Parliamentary

:47:18. > :47:27.approval to do this? I think the right honourable

:47:28. > :47:32.gentleman started in a serious place but then seriously wandered off. It

:47:33. > :47:38.is in our interests that we back the legitimate Government of Yemen and

:47:39. > :47:41.it's right to do that. We have some of the most stringent arms measures

:47:42. > :47:45.controlled in the country anywhere in the world but to be absolutely

:47:46. > :47:51.clear, we are not a member of the Saudi led coalition. Additional two

:47:52. > :47:54.personnel are not directly involved in the coalition operations,

:47:55. > :47:58.personnel are not carrying out strikes, directing or conducting

:47:59. > :48:02.operations in Yemen or selecting targets and not involved in the

:48:03. > :48:05.Saudi targeting decision making process but, yes, do we provide

:48:06. > :48:11.training and advice and help in order to make sure countries do obey

:48:12. > :48:19.the dorms of humanitarian law? Yes, we do. Thank you. The recent floods

:48:20. > :48:23.in the North of England have caused untold misery to people,

:48:24. > :48:31.householders, farmers, livestock and also what we need is a long-term

:48:32. > :48:34.strategy for floods, and I know the Prime Minister has done a lot of

:48:35. > :48:38.work across the country, some rivers need to be dredged, some need to be

:48:39. > :48:42.slowed down and we need to manage the floodwaters in a better way.

:48:43. > :48:46.Along with our long-term economic plan, can have a long-term plan on

:48:47. > :48:54.floods? We absolutely can do and that's exactly what the environment

:48:55. > :48:58.and agriculture secretary is doing. We have an unprecedented six-year

:48:59. > :49:03.commitment of ?2.3 billion but as important as the money, is making

:49:04. > :49:06.sure we have a joined up approach to dredging in some places, building

:49:07. > :49:12.flood barriers in others, managing the water in landscapes, including

:49:13. > :49:17.farming practices in a holistic way to use all the resources we had to

:49:18. > :49:23.reduce the likelihood of floods. There is concern on all sides about

:49:24. > :49:26.the recent rather patchwork approach to constitutional reform. We need a

:49:27. > :49:32.new act of union, one which sets out the rules and responsibilities so

:49:33. > :49:37.that the process of devolution by consent will be both fairer and more

:49:38. > :49:42.comprehensive. Really meet with me and other members of the

:49:43. > :49:45.constitutional reform group to discuss the new union? We come from

:49:46. > :49:52.all the parties including experts such as Lord Lisvane, the former

:49:53. > :49:57.clerk Robert Rogers. I'm very happy to meet with the honourable lady.

:49:58. > :50:02.She has great expertise in this area. What I believe, I think there

:50:03. > :50:06.would be common interest in what we're trying to do with the

:50:07. > :50:11.Government is find a devolution settlement that works for all of the

:50:12. > :50:15.devolved nations of the UK. Including importantly for England as

:50:16. > :50:18.well. I think we've made some very good progress with a further

:50:19. > :50:22.devolution measures we've had in Scotland and in Wales, the

:50:23. > :50:25.maintenance of a devolved assembly in Northern Ireland, if a further

:50:26. > :50:31.mother measures we can take I'm happy to see them. I don't believe

:50:32. > :50:38.simply writing things down in one place will solve the problem but I'm

:50:39. > :50:43.happy to meet with her. Does he agree with me that our nuclear

:50:44. > :50:46.deterrent only works against our nation 's enemies if our nuclear

:50:47. > :50:54.submarines are equipped with nuclear missiles? And those who do not

:50:55. > :51:00.believe that have a defence policy inspired by the Beatles's yellow

:51:01. > :51:07.submarine and while they may twist and shout, their current leader

:51:08. > :51:11.certainly needs help. I congratulate my honourable friend on his

:51:12. > :51:19.ingenious question. There is a comic element to sending submarines to see

:51:20. > :51:23.without missiles in but it is absolutely serious because the

:51:24. > :51:30.deterrent has been on a cross-party basis, a key part of our defence and

:51:31. > :51:33.making sure we have got the ultimate insurance policy which we support on

:51:34. > :51:37.this side and should vote on in this House and all I can say, when it

:51:38. > :51:40.comes to the Beatles, I suspect the Leader of the Opposition prefers

:51:41. > :51:50.back in the USSR. CHEERING

:51:51. > :51:59.. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just under two weeks ago, a 16-year-old boy was

:52:00. > :52:04.murdered in a knife attack in my constituency. I'm sure the whole

:52:05. > :52:07.House will want to join me in sending our deepest condolences to

:52:08. > :52:10.Charlie 's friends and families. Given that knife crime in London

:52:11. > :52:15.rose last year and the number of teenage deaths peaked to its highest

:52:16. > :52:19.level in seven years, what action will be taken to make sure we don't

:52:20. > :52:24.return to the days when knife crime in London are affecting young people

:52:25. > :52:29.is merely a fact of life? He speaks for the whole House and I'm sure the

:52:30. > :52:33.whole House will want to be with in spirit, the family and friends of

:52:34. > :52:37.Charlie who lost his life in this attack for that there's nothing

:52:38. > :52:40.anyone can say that will give them the comfort that they seek. What I

:52:41. > :52:46.would say is we have toughened the law in terms of knife crime offences

:52:47. > :52:50.and the level of custodial sentences people are getting for those crimes.

:52:51. > :52:56.The police have done a huge amount to try and crack down on knife crime

:52:57. > :53:00.and that's why it has fallen by 17% since 2010 but there's still more in

:53:01. > :53:06.terms of educating children and young people about the dangers of

:53:07. > :53:10.carrying a knife. The carrier of this crime ends up the victim of the

:53:11. > :53:17.attack often so we also need better education. Does the Prime Minister

:53:18. > :53:24.agree with me that encoding people in this country to learn the English

:53:25. > :53:29.language has a unifying effect? It AIDS integration and helps to create

:53:30. > :53:35.national identity and social cohesion and therefore should be

:53:36. > :53:39.promoted. He is absolutely right. I think the most important thing in

:53:40. > :53:43.our country is to make sure that everybody can take advantages of the

:53:44. > :53:47.opportunities in our country to work, get training, go to

:53:48. > :53:50.university. This is an opportunity country but there's no opportunity

:53:51. > :53:55.for people if you don't speak the language. That's why we are

:53:56. > :53:59.targeting money at those people very often women who have been stuck at

:54:00. > :54:03.home sometimes by the men in the House and make sure they can get

:54:04. > :54:08.their English language skills they need. Let me make one other point

:54:09. > :54:12.because this is so important. When I sat in a mosque in Leeds this week,

:54:13. > :54:17.a young person said how important it is that in mammas speak English

:54:18. > :54:22.speakers if you have young people, sometimes it's big English

:54:23. > :54:25.themselves but not Arabic, they need someone to guide them away from ices

:54:26. > :54:34.and their poisonous rhetoric so speaking English is important for

:54:35. > :54:37.Avril and, in mammas included. Young people in Southampton have seen

:54:38. > :54:43.themselves frozen out of the living wage and housing benefits and face

:54:44. > :54:46.the downgrading or closure of the colleges and sixth form colleges

:54:47. > :54:50.many of them get their qualification from and now we see the ending of

:54:51. > :54:56.maintenance grants for those young people who want a good university.

:54:57. > :55:00.-- Imams. Whatever primers they got it into young people trying to make

:55:01. > :55:03.their way in life? We have record numbers going to university, record

:55:04. > :55:09.numbers taking on apprenticeships, record numbers in work for that

:55:10. > :55:14.today the unemployment figures show a record low in the unemployment

:55:15. > :55:19.rate amongst those people who have left school and I would say one of

:55:20. > :55:23.the reasons why a Labour MP in this south of England is as rare as hen

:55:24. > :55:30.'s teeth as big as they talked down our country and opportunity in it. I

:55:31. > :55:34.would like to thank the Prime Minister for launching the delivery

:55:35. > :55:39.board on Monday evening at number ten, men and women experts in their

:55:40. > :55:42.sectors coming together to deliver the 3 million apprenticeships by

:55:43. > :55:46.2020. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that it will be a great

:55:47. > :55:51.thing if, when students across our country log onto the website, they

:55:52. > :55:59.are informed about the opportunities of degrees as well as the more

:56:00. > :56:04.traditional agrees? That's Mac degrees. One reason is if you become

:56:05. > :56:08.an apprentice, that is not locking out a chance of doing a degree later

:56:09. > :56:12.in your career. The opportunities for learning and learning are

:56:13. > :56:16.getting great. The second reason it's so important, in schools,

:56:17. > :56:18.teachers are very well equipped to tell people about degree

:56:19. > :56:23.opportunities because that's the route that they've taken, A-levels

:56:24. > :56:27.and suchlike. But we need to improve the information in schools so people

:56:28. > :56:34.can see the opportunities for apprenticeships, in some cases, then

:56:35. > :56:42.leading onto degrees. My 24-year-old constituents Loria is in need of

:56:43. > :56:45.stem cell donor. The campaign is attracting global support and on

:56:46. > :56:50.Saturday, the O2 Centre in Manchester will run a drive to get

:56:51. > :56:55.as many people as possible on the bone marrow register. When the Prime

:56:56. > :56:59.Minister join me at this event on Saturday and send a message of

:57:00. > :57:05.support to those working to keep her alive? I certainly will join the

:57:06. > :57:10.honourable lady in supporting this campaign. It had meetings with the

:57:11. > :57:14.bone marrow organisations in number ten Downing St to support the

:57:15. > :57:18.matching campaign and I'm sure, by her raising it in this way, many

:57:19. > :57:24.others will want to come to this event and support it in the way she

:57:25. > :57:28.suggests. The Prime Minister is aware that a number of colleagues

:57:29. > :57:34.and I await his response to our request made in November for a

:57:35. > :57:38.meeting regarding his Ewood negotiations to discuss the

:57:39. > :57:42.importance of this Parliament being able to stop any unwanted taxes

:57:43. > :57:46.regulations or directives which goes to the core of the issue like the

:57:47. > :57:53.Borders control, business regulation. Will he meet with us

:57:54. > :57:59.prior to the next meeting? I'm having a range of meetings with

:58:00. > :58:02.colleagues about the European issue. I'm sure that I will be covering of

:58:03. > :58:06.many in our Parliamentary party as possible. I've always felt he has

:58:07. > :58:12.slightly made up his mind already and wants to leave the EU whatever

:58:13. > :58:13.the result. I don't want to take up any more of this time than is

:58:14. > :58:19.necessary. LAUGHTER

:58:20. > :58:23.Mr Jonathan Edwards. The UK Government is a cheerleader for

:58:24. > :58:28.China to be awarded market economy status because it wants the City of

:58:29. > :58:32.London to become a major trading centre for the Chinese currency. It

:58:33. > :58:37.would be nigh on impossible to impose tariffs on Chinese deals

:58:38. > :58:41.despite their strategy. If there's not a classic case of once again the

:58:42. > :58:44.Westminster Government putting the bankers of London before

:58:45. > :58:51.manufacturing workers in Wales and the rest of the UK? I think the

:58:52. > :58:55.honourable gentleman is wrong both on content and approach. The two

:58:56. > :58:59.issues are separate. There are market economies that Europe still

:59:00. > :59:02.puts dumping tariffs on, we did that recently with America and we've done

:59:03. > :59:07.in the past with Russia, so we should take these issues separately

:59:08. > :59:11.and continued to pursue robust action against China, exactly what

:59:12. > :59:15.we are doing, based on the merits but in terms of a close ablation

:59:16. > :59:20.ship, trading relationship with China, I want to help the Welsh

:59:21. > :59:23.businesses including companies like air bus to break into Chinese

:59:24. > :59:28.markets and make sure we get the best of British jobs, manufacturing,

:59:29. > :59:35.exports. That's what we want in our relationship with China. Speaking of

:59:36. > :59:39.Airbus, the Mersey region which straddles the England Wales border,

:59:40. > :59:44.is one of the most dynamic industrial areas of the country.

:59:45. > :59:48.Will my right honourable friend welcomed the establishment of the

:59:49. > :59:52.all-party Mersey group which has been formed to promote the economic

:59:53. > :59:55.success of the region and really urge his ministerial colleagues and

:59:56. > :00:02.the Welsh Government to cooperate with the group and its work? First

:00:03. > :00:06.of all, let me join my honourable friend in welcoming this new group.

:00:07. > :00:09.I think is important, when you look at the development of the Welsh

:00:10. > :00:13.economy, to think about how the North Wales can benefit from growth

:00:14. > :00:17.in the north-west of our country and the links between the North West and

:00:18. > :00:22.Wales, which this group will examine. HS2 and what happens crew

:00:23. > :00:28.will be of vital part of that process but I'm happy to talk

:00:29. > :00:35.further with him. Will the Prime Minister operate and speak for the

:00:36. > :00:38.whole of the House, the unconditional unequivocal support of

:00:39. > :00:51.the British people for the people of the Falklands Islands to their

:00:52. > :00:55.rights, their British right, to self-determination and that will not

:00:56. > :00:58.be undermined in any way by some kind of accommodation or

:00:59. > :01:04.negotiations in which the people of the Falkland Islands may have an

:01:05. > :01:06.enormous say and have no veto. They should have a right to determine

:01:07. > :01:10.their own future. CHEERING

:01:11. > :01:15.The honourable gentleman has put better than I could. The people of

:01:16. > :01:20.the Falkland Islands have spoken in-out referendum and will maintain

:01:21. > :01:25.the status quo and as long as they want that, they have a guarantee

:01:26. > :01:29.from me and I find it quite extraordinary that the Labour Party

:01:30. > :01:34.now want to look at trying to change the status and giveaway something

:01:35. > :01:37.people absolutely considered to be their right and that will never

:01:38. > :01:49.happen as long as I'm in Downing Street. Thank you. As a former Cub

:01:50. > :01:55.Scout leader, I'm pleased to say that Scouting is thriving in Harrow.

:01:56. > :01:59.This year marks the centenary of the formation and founding of Cub

:02:00. > :02:03.Scouting across the UK. Will my right honourable friend join me in

:02:04. > :02:10.congratulating the 150,000 young people who participate in Cub

:02:11. > :02:13.Scouting every week in the UK, congratulate and thank the leaders

:02:14. > :02:20.who give up their time voluntarily to enable young people to have

:02:21. > :02:23.adventures in a safe environment and call on more people to volunteer as

:02:24. > :02:30.leaders as part of the big society movement? I absolutely agree with my

:02:31. > :02:34.honourable friend, the Scouts are a great part of the big society and we

:02:35. > :02:38.provided them and other uniformed youth groups with over ?10 million

:02:39. > :02:42.of funding since I've been Prime Minister to help them do the

:02:43. > :02:46.excellent work they do. I had a letter recently from their grills,

:02:47. > :02:52.the chief scout himself, looking at what we can do the welcome has

:02:53. > :02:59.centenary and give this fantastic organisation a big centenary boost.

:03:00. > :03:04.-- Bear Grylls. The Prime Minister should be aware that Sheffield

:03:05. > :03:10.Masters announced this morning and last of 100 jobs in this crisis hit

:03:11. > :03:16.industry. Many of those jobs will be in my constituency. We have had lots

:03:17. > :03:19.of words, hand wringing and crocodile tears from the Prime

:03:20. > :03:27.Minister and the ministers in this chamber. About the job losses across

:03:28. > :03:32.the steel industry. Can you tell me when he's actually going to do

:03:33. > :03:39.something to support world-class companies like Sheffield 40 Masters?

:03:40. > :03:46.First of all, we have taken action including the action on energy bills

:03:47. > :03:49.which will save these industries ?400 million in this Parliament. The

:03:50. > :03:54.honourable gentleman chose to inject a bit of politics into this, let me

:03:55. > :03:58.inject some back. When the Labour Party were in power, what happened

:03:59. > :04:04.to employment in the steel industry? It was cut by 34,000, cut in half.

:04:05. > :04:08.Where were the carve outs from the energy bills them? Where were these

:04:09. > :04:12.special arrangements for taking votes in Europe we put in place?

:04:13. > :04:19.Where were the rules for making sure that we buy which steel here when it

:04:20. > :04:23.comes to public procurement as we will for HS2, the carrier programme

:04:24. > :04:27.and also if he is interested in Sheffield 40 Masters, he might want

:04:28. > :04:28.to have a word with his leader about something called a Trident

:04:29. > :04:39.submarine. CHEERING

:04:40. > :04:42.Mr Speaker. We don't yet know who will headline Glastonbury the summer

:04:43. > :04:46.but we do know that, as things stand, they will not have anywhere

:04:47. > :04:49.to do their banking as this world-famous town is to lose all

:04:50. > :04:54.three of its remaining banks within 12 weeks of each other. Will he join

:04:55. > :04:58.me in encouraging those banks to think again and otherwise to make

:04:59. > :05:02.sure that they need their responsibilities under the banking

:05:03. > :05:08.protocols? I will certainly make sure that happens and arrange a

:05:09. > :05:12.meeting with the Treasury minister to discuss this issue. We have huge

:05:13. > :05:17.challenges because of the growth of Internet banking but important in

:05:18. > :05:24.towns, market towns I represent, we have a physical presence on the high

:05:25. > :05:28.Street. The Prime Minister may be aware about Julie Pearson, young

:05:29. > :05:32.Scottish woman who died in November and was allegedly beaten and raped

:05:33. > :05:36.before her death. I've met the family recently and I hope the House

:05:37. > :05:43.will offer condolences. They are struggling to get authorities to get

:05:44. > :05:46.the autopsy report. Will he look at this case to put pressure on the

:05:47. > :05:54.Israeli Government and authorities and the family than can move on and

:05:55. > :05:58.get justice for Julie? I'm not aware directly of this case, but I will

:05:59. > :06:01.certainly take it up on her behalf with the Israeli authorities because

:06:02. > :06:05.important our constituents get answers on this matter. Perhaps I

:06:06. > :06:09.could have a meeting with Foreign Office minister so they can discuss

:06:10. > :06:11.it but we have good relations with Israel and use them to make sure

:06:12. > :06:19.when people need answers, they get them. Order.

:06:20. > :06:28.It is 12:36pm, Prime Minister's Questions over run as a usually does

:06:29. > :06:32.these days. It has come to an end. Jeremy Corbyn, as Laura accurately

:06:33. > :06:35.predicted, went first of all on student grants, the change of

:06:36. > :06:39.student grants into loans, we will talk about that in a minute, and

:06:40. > :06:44.moved onto bursaries for nurses, both issues are linked and used all

:06:45. > :06:47.six questions on these two issues. I will come back to that and get

:06:48. > :06:52.reaction from our panel when we have heard what you thought of it.

:06:53. > :06:55.Clear division, Andrew. Mark Bradley says yet again the Prime Minister

:06:56. > :06:58.didn't answer Jeremy Corbyn's questions but because of the lack of

:06:59. > :07:03.leadership and teeth from Jeremy Corbyn the prime Minster walked over

:07:04. > :07:07.the Labour leader. Richard Stanley said, finally a week where Jeremy

:07:08. > :07:10.Corbyn has scored some good blows against David Cameron. Bigging the

:07:11. > :07:15.Prime Minister into a hole on details around student fees and NHS

:07:16. > :07:19.nurses worked well, and let the Prime Minister struggling with

:07:20. > :07:23.prescriptive dancers. David Kidd said Jeremy Corbyn stumbles over his

:07:24. > :07:29.questions and is no match for David Cameron when it comes to debating on

:07:30. > :07:36.his feet -- scripted answers. Totally and ineffective. Katherine

:07:37. > :07:39.Jenkins says the prime and is the's declarations appear callous even

:07:40. > :07:42.when trying to appeal to normal people, while Jeremy Corbyn appears

:07:43. > :07:46.ever more confident appearing the strongest and fairest leader

:07:47. > :07:50.challenging the government and speaking up for the public.

:07:51. > :07:55.Thank you. Is to Corbynista still using his crowdfunding technique.

:07:56. > :08:00.Today was Lee and Vicky, he's not using it all the time, he's got rid

:08:01. > :08:03.of the idea of going through all of Prime Minister's Questions with

:08:04. > :08:09.questions source from the public but it is clearly a useful device and

:08:10. > :08:15.humanises the issues. It is useful he is using it. Today we saw these

:08:16. > :08:18.are good strong issues for Jeremy Corbyn and have cut through with

:08:19. > :08:23.lots of people around the country, changes happening to people's lives,

:08:24. > :08:27.no question. Is one of the e-mails suggested, the Prime Minister was

:08:28. > :08:31.not really put under very much pressure by Mr Corbyn and the manner

:08:32. > :08:36.in which he asked the questions. Again something we have discussed

:08:37. > :08:39.before, he's not really very much into the follow-up, the art of the

:08:40. > :08:44.follow-up. The AdLib follow-up. There was a

:08:45. > :08:47.good question, why wasn't this in the manifesto, the Government wants

:08:48. > :08:51.to make a change affecting thousands of students and it wasn't in the

:08:52. > :08:55.manifesto but he sort of let it go in a sense. One final thought,

:08:56. > :08:59.interestingly, we are seeing the Tories coalescing and sticking to

:09:00. > :09:03.and carving out this attack line we are going to hear again and again

:09:04. > :09:05.and again, different to how they approached Jeremy Corbyn before

:09:06. > :09:10.Christmas about the idea of going back to the past, Labour not just

:09:11. > :09:14.looking inside itself but looking back to the bad old days of the 70s

:09:15. > :09:18.and 80s, and you heard it with planted questions on nuclear weapons

:09:19. > :09:22.and secondary picketing, and Nigel Dodds from the DUP raising the issue

:09:23. > :09:27.of the Falklands. Indeed. David Gauke, the Prime

:09:28. > :09:32.Minister said in 2010 we must always look after poorer students. That's

:09:33. > :09:37.why we are keeping bursaries. What has changed? The position is that we

:09:38. > :09:43.think that in order to ensure we can properly fund record numbers of

:09:44. > :09:46.people going into higher education, that the best value for money

:09:47. > :09:53.approach of doing this is moving towards a loan system that we think

:09:54. > :09:58.this still ensures that people have got access to the funds they need

:09:59. > :10:03.whilst going through university, and in terms of the balance between the

:10:04. > :10:08.taxpayer and the student, or more to the point, someone who has had the

:10:09. > :10:11.benefit of higher education, we are clear that there needs to be that

:10:12. > :10:15.shift. When did you change your mind?

:10:16. > :10:20.Well, this is an issue we have always looked at.

:10:21. > :10:23.You have always been in favour of bursaries, and indeed you justified,

:10:24. > :10:27.by you I mean your party and ministers at the time, justified the

:10:28. > :10:34.trebling in tuition fees by an increase in student grants to help

:10:35. > :10:37.poorer students live through their time at university. So, what's

:10:38. > :10:41.changed and when did you change it? We were clear when we fought the

:10:42. > :10:43.last General Election that we needed to find further savings in public

:10:44. > :10:50.spending. You didn't mention this one.

:10:51. > :10:53.We are looking at the budget for the Department for business, innovation

:10:54. > :10:56.and skills, this is a substantial part of that budget.

:10:57. > :11:02.Why didn't you put it in the manifesto? Once we had won the

:11:03. > :11:06.General Election we looked at all of the areas of public spending to see

:11:07. > :11:09.where we felt there were as savings and here we felt there was a

:11:10. > :11:12.significant saving that could be made that enables us still to do

:11:13. > :11:16.something very important, which is take the cap on the number of

:11:17. > :11:20.students away. Let's get this right, we went into

:11:21. > :11:24.the selection with all previous statements from Conservative

:11:25. > :11:30.ministers extolling the virtues of bursaries and saying how important

:11:31. > :11:37.it was, even with rising fees, that bursaries help put students to go to

:11:38. > :11:42.university. In that election campaign you never mentioned that

:11:43. > :11:46.you were thinking of going from bursaries to loans, it wasn't in the

:11:47. > :11:50.manifesto, so how were we to know this is what you would do?

:11:51. > :11:56.We were very clear about the principles behind it. ...

:11:57. > :12:00.You were not very clear. We were very clear we would find

:12:01. > :12:04.savings in public expenditure. We gave those numbers and we talked

:12:05. > :12:07.about departmental spending, that we were going to find ?13 billion from

:12:08. > :12:10.that. You didn't tell us beforehand, did

:12:11. > :12:13.you? We didn't make that decision until

:12:14. > :12:16.subsequently. If it is such a good idea why

:12:17. > :12:20.haven't you put it through a committee? This is a big change for

:12:21. > :12:23.lots of poorer students. Why haven't you even had a debate in the House

:12:24. > :12:29.of Commons about it? It's perfectly reasonable to do this

:12:30. > :12:33.through a statutory instrument. It absolutely isn't. You have been

:12:34. > :12:40.doing it repeatedly with issue after issue. Tax credits. The power that

:12:41. > :12:45.we used to take this through on a statutory instrument was a power

:12:46. > :12:49.given to the Government in an act of Parliament passed by a Labour

:12:50. > :12:54.government in 1998. This is a complete red herring, we never used

:12:55. > :13:00.it as widely as you have done to bring through major changes.

:13:01. > :13:03.Can I just make the point, David Gauke, that it wasn't in the

:13:04. > :13:11.manifesto, you gave no inkling that this was a potential change, that if

:13:12. > :13:15.you were elected you would do. And yet you still wouldn't debate it in

:13:16. > :13:18.the House of Commons. It is surely worth more than a statutory

:13:19. > :13:22.instrument that you can show through in a committee.

:13:23. > :13:28.There was a vote in the House of Commons on this, as we can have an

:13:29. > :13:32.opposition Day debate. Only thanks to us. The idea that somehow this is

:13:33. > :13:38.concealed... I come back to the point. The very power that we were

:13:39. > :13:44.using, it was announced in the budget, there is no concealment

:13:45. > :13:47.here. The power to take this through by a statutory instrument is a power

:13:48. > :13:53.that a Labour act of Parliament gave us. Why does that make it right? I'm

:13:54. > :13:56.making the point that if Owen is going to criticise that it's

:13:57. > :14:01.outrageous that we used a statutory instrument for this Labour gave us

:14:02. > :14:04.the powerful stop we didn't use this for financial measures like this,

:14:05. > :14:09.that's the truth, we didn't use it for anything as substantial. We are

:14:10. > :14:13.talking about a bit of process now and I'd like to get back to the

:14:14. > :14:16.substance. This is a big policy change that will affect lots of

:14:17. > :14:19.people's lives when they go into higher education in the years to

:14:20. > :14:22.come and it's interesting and worth knowing that this plan was on the

:14:23. > :14:26.shelf and discussed and considered by Vince Cable and David Willis

:14:27. > :14:30.under the coalition and they shied away from doing it at that time. I

:14:31. > :14:34.understand Nick Clegg was nervous about going that far because of

:14:35. > :14:37.everything around tuition fees. In a sense it was something that was on

:14:38. > :14:42.the shelf that the Conservatives knew about, that when they got back

:14:43. > :14:44.in everybody was scaring about savings and they could take this

:14:45. > :14:48.back of the shelf and get savings pretty much that were easily

:14:49. > :14:54.deliverable monopoly Dibley easy, but easily deliverable. Even so just

:14:55. > :14:57.after the election there was a tussle in the business department

:14:58. > :15:03.about whether this was the right way to go but it did make its way into

:15:04. > :15:11.the budget. -- but not politically easy. I want to talk about the issue

:15:12. > :15:14.we have been discussing. I don't, because we've already done it and

:15:15. > :15:17.David Gauke has had a number of difficult questions. I don't think

:15:18. > :15:23.anyone can say we have not grilled him. It would be nice to comment on

:15:24. > :15:27.big Government's policies. You have been and I'm asking about Labour's

:15:28. > :15:32.policies. The policy was cutting tuition fees from 9000 down to 6000

:15:33. > :15:36.and the policy in Wales is we believe in lower tuition fees, we

:15:37. > :15:40.have a 3000 feet in Wales and we have maintained it under the Welsh

:15:41. > :15:44.government educational grants including the Educational

:15:45. > :15:48.Maintenance Allowance for 16-19 new role is. The crucial issue we have

:15:49. > :15:52.got to address is the fact that 500,000 students, the poorest ones

:15:53. > :16:00.who benefit presently from ?3500 grants each year, are going to be

:16:01. > :16:04.not ?40,000 in debt at the end of their university but ?53,000 and the

:16:05. > :16:08.Government is going to save money on the back of the poorest. Their own

:16:09. > :16:12.impact assessment concedes, Andrew, that it is going to diminish female

:16:13. > :16:16.participation in higher education, diminish what is a patient from

:16:17. > :16:19.black and ethnic minorities and diminish participation by the

:16:20. > :16:22.disabled, that is his Government's assessment.

:16:23. > :16:25.That is why David Gauke was asked some tough questions, can I get

:16:26. > :16:30.clarification from you now you have had your say, is it Labour policy to

:16:31. > :16:33.abolish tuition fees and if not what level would you set them at? Jeremy

:16:34. > :16:40.Corbyn has said it is his omission to abolish tuition fees and we are

:16:41. > :16:44.considering how to do that and when we put forward the manifesto for the

:16:45. > :16:47.next election that will be a consideration for stop didn't you

:16:48. > :16:52.tell me you were not abolishing tuition fees and you kept them in

:16:53. > :16:56.Wales? My previous answer was that at the last election Labour's posy

:16:57. > :17:00.was to cut from 9000 down to 6000 and the leader says he wants to open

:17:01. > :17:03.access to higher education and he believes that means Labour needs to

:17:04. > :17:08.look at tuition fees and abolish tuition fees, and we've got to

:17:09. > :17:10.consider seriously how we move towards making higher education

:17:11. > :17:20.accessible to more young people, in particular from the lowest income

:17:21. > :17:25.households. I'm afraid we are away over... We are going to stop. We

:17:26. > :17:40.have other things to do, that's it, stop! Start! The bell has rung. Very

:17:41. > :17:50.brave, Andrew! Go! Christine Ariza, the MP for Neath, after my appalling

:17:51. > :17:52.memory lapse earlier summer minister for legal aid, cease and desist.

:17:53. > :17:54.Thanks very much! Now - we used to boast an Empire

:17:55. > :17:58.on which the sun never set - now just a few "overseas

:17:59. > :17:59.territories" remain. But is it time to relinquish

:18:00. > :18:03.control of these? Journalist Richard Norton-Taylor

:18:04. > :18:05.thinks that the Union flag should be lowered on the Falkland

:18:06. > :18:07.Islands and Gibraltar - Approaching the planet for the first

:18:08. > :18:21.time, aliens may wonder what on earth the Union Jack

:18:22. > :18:25.is doing flying on an island 3,000 miles away from Britain,

:18:26. > :18:28.and also on a large limestone rock Successive British governments have

:18:29. > :18:46.claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands

:18:47. > :18:53.but the claims are far from solid. And shortly before the invasion

:18:54. > :18:55.of the Falklands by the Argentinians in 1982, the Thatcher government

:18:56. > :18:58.offered an arrangement whereby Argentina would get sovereignty over

:18:59. > :19:00.the islands and Britain would lease And the islanders would be promised

:19:01. > :19:04.uninterrupted enjoyment And then, even after the invasion

:19:05. > :19:11.in 1982, the Thatcher government was prepared to do a deal,

:19:12. > :19:24.negotiate over the islands. In strict treaty terms,

:19:25. > :19:30.Britain's claims to Gibraltar, the Rock of Gibraltar,

:19:31. > :19:34.are stronger because the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht ceded the rock

:19:35. > :19:37.to Britain in perpetuity, Even so, despite this,

:19:38. > :19:44.the British governments in the past have been prepared to discuss

:19:45. > :19:47.sovereignty arrangements, joint sovereignty,

:19:48. > :19:48.for example, with Spain. It cannot be beyond the wit

:19:49. > :20:01.and imagination of democratic governments to abandon

:20:02. > :20:07.an anachronistic notion of false The Rock of Gibraltar

:20:08. > :20:12.and the Falkland Islands have no It is time, indeed it is well

:20:13. > :20:17.beyond time, to negotiate in the name of territorial

:20:18. > :20:27.integrity and common sense. And Richard Norton

:20:28. > :20:39.Taylor joins us now. Welcome. You agree with Jeremy

:20:40. > :20:42.Corbyn in terms of discussions on both of those? He said something for

:20:43. > :20:48.the first time last Sunday I've been talking about this quite a long

:20:49. > :20:52.time. Do you agree with him the Falkland Islands have a right to

:20:53. > :21:00.self-determination? Yes. On the basis of that, the one to stay as

:21:01. > :21:07.is. Self-determination is not same as giving up the British colonial

:21:08. > :21:13.status. It happened in many other countries. Minorities who have

:21:14. > :21:19.self-government, certainly, and it guarantees they can preserve their

:21:20. > :21:22.way of life which has been suggested in the Gibraltar context too,

:21:23. > :21:31.actually. Part of any agreement, one should have, talks first with

:21:32. > :21:35.Argentina and the Spanish government over Gibraltar, is to have some

:21:36. > :21:40.agreement whereby the Argentina 's would have to look after their own

:21:41. > :21:46.indigenous population not on the mainland, not just the islanders.

:21:47. > :21:51.That can be part of a deal in the interests of the minorities in

:21:52. > :21:58.Argentina and indeed Spain, as well as in Gibraltar and the folder. Is

:21:59. > :22:06.it time we negotiated with Argentina the Falklands? No, it's very clear

:22:07. > :22:11.that there is an established printable self-determination. I

:22:12. > :22:17.think this is a peripheral issues and... Jeremy Corbyn talked about

:22:18. > :22:22.it. He was asked a question about it and did not raise it. Universal

:22:23. > :22:27.Credit, cuts to bursaries, all of those are much more important

:22:28. > :22:30.subjects for the country. I think, our opinion as Labour about the

:22:31. > :22:35.Falklands, it is self-determination, it's for the people of the Falklands

:22:36. > :22:41.to stay part of Britain and if they want to, they should do. They should

:22:42. > :22:47.be reasonable accommodation with Argentina, Jeremy Corbyn said. Is he

:22:48. > :22:53.right? I think our position is clear. It should remain part of

:22:54. > :22:56.Britain. What does he mean by reasonable accommodation? He was

:22:57. > :22:59.simply saying at the Falklands is raised once more by the Argentinian

:23:00. > :23:03.government, we should reasonably engage in discussions with them and

:23:04. > :23:07.of course that's right, however, our principal position has to be it for

:23:08. > :23:12.the people of the Falklands to determine whether they want to be

:23:13. > :23:16.part of or Argentina or independent. Their view is clear they want a part

:23:17. > :23:24.of the UK and therefore they should remain part of the UK. He was asked

:23:25. > :23:28.about it counted as a veto and he wasn't clear about that. In fact,

:23:29. > :23:34.today Nigel Dodds wanted clarification. I think they should

:23:35. > :23:37.have a veto. It's for them to determine whether they want to

:23:38. > :23:42.remain part of the UK but I genuinely do think, and I know why

:23:43. > :23:50.the Tories want to talk about this, going back to the past, the 1970s

:23:51. > :23:54.etc, but it is peripheral. Jeremy answered the question honestly,

:23:55. > :24:00.however, it's not the main topic of conversation. It's a peripheral

:24:01. > :24:04.issue? It's not as urgent as other issues like the economy or Trident

:24:05. > :24:09.or whatever but it's an important issue and there will be negotiations

:24:10. > :24:14.on time. Maybe when I'm past retirement, even more past

:24:15. > :24:20.retirement age, but it's going to happen sooner. Should David Cameron

:24:21. > :24:23.we willing to negotiate? No, I agree with what Owen has said in terms of

:24:24. > :24:28.respecting the self-determination of the islanders, but where it is

:24:29. > :24:34.important is it does reveal something about Jeremy Corbyn. Owen

:24:35. > :24:37.Smith is normally done that for you. The big dispute between the UK and

:24:38. > :24:41.any other part of the world, Jeremy Corbyn seems to be on the side of

:24:42. > :24:43.the other part of the world. He was asked the question did not bring it

:24:44. > :24:47.up, though. Thank very much. So yesterday they

:24:48. > :24:48.made their excuses. The Labour Party tried to explain

:24:49. > :24:51.why it lost the General Election and Pollsters tried to explain why

:24:52. > :24:53.they were predicting might Ed Miliband might

:24:54. > :24:55.become Prime Minister. But how do those compare

:24:56. > :24:57.with the great political excuses At five, it's Natalie Bennett

:24:58. > :25:09.with her mental brain fade. Er, we're looking at a total

:25:10. > :25:20.spend of 2.7 billion... Having a brain fade is arguably

:25:21. > :25:27.the most honest excuse of today's top five and she did

:25:28. > :25:29.have a massive cold. In at number four, it's the UKIP

:25:30. > :25:35.front man Nigel Farage with a novel excuse for being late

:25:36. > :25:38.to a meeting in Wales. More creative than to blame

:25:39. > :25:40.the traffic, he had an excuse It took me six hours and 15

:25:41. > :25:45.minutes to get here. What it does have to do

:25:46. > :25:48.with is a country with a population going through the roof chiefly

:25:49. > :25:52.because of open door immigration and the fact the A4 is not

:25:53. > :25:57.as navigatable as it used to be. Down to three, it's Gordon Brown

:25:58. > :26:01.with that 2010 classic. JEREMY VINE: Someone

:26:02. > :26:03.has handed me the tape. Let's play it and see

:26:04. > :26:05.if we can hear it. GORDON BROWN: 'She's

:26:06. > :26:08.just a bigoted woman'. He said sorry and had

:26:09. > :26:10.an excuse up his sleeve. This was me being helpful

:26:11. > :26:15.to the broadcasters with my microphone on, rushing into the car,

:26:16. > :26:18.because I had to get At two, it's Aston Villa's number

:26:19. > :26:25.one fan David Cameron. He said, well, he forgot which team

:26:26. > :26:33.he supports which may well be true because a few months later he also

:26:34. > :26:36.forgot his daughter after Sunday He remembered to take

:26:37. > :26:43.the President Xi, though. And at number one, the then

:26:44. > :26:46.Environment Secretary Owen Paterson with the irrefutable excuse

:26:47. > :26:49.as to why the badger cull targets The badgers have

:26:50. > :27:13.moved the goalposts. Those pesky little badgers always

:27:14. > :27:16.interfering with the goalposts. What's the most embarrassing excuse

:27:17. > :27:24.you've had to make? I've never had to make an embarrassing excuse. You

:27:25. > :27:28.haven't? I once left an event because I wanted to go and watch

:27:29. > :27:32.England play football and I said I had to look at Stirling matters

:27:33. > :27:38.because Raheem Sterling was a star player at the time. Can you do

:27:39. > :27:45.better than that, please? Similar to David Cameron, my mother once left

:27:46. > :27:49.knee in a pram outside the butchers and got on the bus and went home

:27:50. > :27:57.before she realised. How could you do that, say that about your own

:27:58. > :28:00.mother? What is your excuse for Labour spending ?600 on chicken

:28:01. > :28:07.suits during the election campaign? Money well spent. We should have

:28:08. > :28:18.spent more. What was the year? Guess which year it was. It was... 1979.

:28:19. > :28:27.The winner is Nick from Hertfordshire. Well done. On the

:28:28. > :28:33.Falklands, Michael Foot was very robust. Yes, he was. In that famous

:28:34. > :28:40.speech, he did better than Margaret Thatcher. On a Saturday morning. No

:28:41. > :28:43.time to talk about Gibraltar properly. Sorry about that.

:28:44. > :28:46.The One O'Clock News is starting over on BBC One now.

:28:47. > :28:49.We'll be here at noon tomorrow with all the big political stories