19/04/2017

:00:00. > :00:00.Good morning from Westminster, where, following Theresa May's

:00:07. > :00:09.stunning call for a snap poll, MPs are preparing to vote

:00:10. > :00:13.24 hours in, how is this election campaign shaping up

:00:14. > :00:25.and where will the battle lines be drawn?

:00:26. > :01:00.The parties are scrambling to write their manifestos.

:01:01. > :01:05.So this afternoon, MPs are likely to give Theresa May the go-ahead

:01:06. > :01:10.There's the economy, the NHS, but will this campaign really

:01:11. > :01:16.Jeremy Corbyn says he can win a snap election.

:01:17. > :01:19.But one of his own MPs said he could not countenance him

:01:20. > :01:22.as Prime Minister and called for him to stand down.

:01:23. > :01:26.So how do Labour MPs feel about their job prospects?

:01:27. > :01:29.It is the right time for a second referendum on Scottish independence,

:01:30. > :01:36.but not, according to Nicola Sturgeon, for a UK general election.

:01:37. > :01:39.Why are the SNP trying to block Theresa May's plans?

:01:40. > :01:41.And the Prime Minister says she won't debate

:01:42. > :01:44.Jeremy Corbyn in a TV studio - but she will today.

:01:45. > :01:53.We'll bring you one of the last PMQs before the election, live at midday.

:01:54. > :01:58.And with us for the duration today, two of the people who will be

:01:59. > :02:01.out of a job in two weeks' time if and when Parliament prorogues.

:02:02. > :02:04.But I think both of them will hope to get their job back

:02:05. > :02:08.If not, as Work and Pensions Secretary, Damian Green knows

:02:09. > :02:12.And John Healey should be able to keep a roof over his head -

:02:13. > :02:13.he's currently Shadow Housing Secretary.

:02:14. > :02:20.So MPs are expected to vote shortly for a general election on June 8th.

:02:21. > :02:23.In the old days, it was entirely down to the PM to call an election.

:02:24. > :02:26.But the last Coalition Government changed the rules, and you now need

:02:27. > :02:29.a 66% Commons vote to call a snap poll.

:02:30. > :02:33.But with just about everyone but the SNP on board,

:02:34. > :02:37.Battle lines are already being drawn in the coming contest.

:02:38. > :02:41.So what can we expect in the seven weeks until polling day?

:02:42. > :02:49.It's going to be busy, I can say that.

:02:50. > :02:52.This afternoon, after PMQs, the Government will put a motion

:02:53. > :02:54.before MPs asking them to authorise an early general election

:02:55. > :02:56.in exactly 50 days' time - on Thursday, June 8th.

:02:57. > :02:59.Because of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, ministers need to

:03:00. > :03:03.secure a two-thirds supermajority in the House of Commons.

:03:04. > :03:05.But, with the support of opposition parties,

:03:06. > :03:11.We'll then enter the so-called wash-up period.

:03:12. > :03:13.This is the time, just before an election,

:03:14. > :03:17.when the Government tries to pass outstanding legislation.

:03:18. > :03:20.It's thought that the top priority will be the Finance Bill,

:03:21. > :03:25.which sets out the Government's tax and spending policies.

:03:26. > :03:26.And there are several other outstanding bills

:03:27. > :03:29.on a wide range of issues, such as higher education,

:03:30. > :03:36.In each case, ministers will either have to rush the bills through

:03:37. > :03:40.or start the legislative process from scratch

:03:41. > :03:42.in the next Parliament - if they're re-elected.

:03:43. > :03:47.Meanwhile, on Saturday, April 29th, the leaders of all EU countries,

:03:48. > :03:50.apart from the UK, will meet to try and agree their Brexit

:03:51. > :03:56.Back in Westminster, the dissolution of Parliament

:03:57. > :04:03.This is when the election campaign begins in earnest.

:04:04. > :04:05.One day later, it's the local elections.

:04:06. > :04:08.This will see councils elected across England,

:04:09. > :04:12.Wales and Scotland, and mayoral elections in several cities.

:04:13. > :04:15.The Manchester Gorton by-election is currently scheduled to take place

:04:16. > :04:20.on this day, but it's now likely to be cancelled,

:04:21. > :04:29.In fact, we have just heard that it will be cancelled.

:04:30. > :04:31.And it's not just us going to the polls.

:04:32. > :04:33.On Sunday, May 7th, we'll know the identity

:04:34. > :04:37.And polling day here in the UK should be Thursday, June 8th,

:04:38. > :04:45.with the result announced in the early hours of Friday, June 9th.

:04:46. > :04:51.There we are. We are off to the races, the parties will be working

:04:52. > :04:55.on and releasing their manifestos very soon. See if we can get a

:04:56. > :05:01.flavour of what might be in them. Damian Green, will the Conservative

:05:02. > :05:07.manifesto commits to privatising the NHS? I am sure you will be trying to

:05:08. > :05:10.get me to release the manifesto, but I can guarantee that the

:05:11. > :05:18.Conservative Party has never been about and is not about privatising

:05:19. > :05:23.the NHS. OK, that's clear. What about imposing VAT on children's

:05:24. > :05:26.clothes? Well, as I say, I'm sure you are going to spend a lot of time

:05:27. > :05:32.trying to get the manifesto out of me... Is that a runner, do you

:05:33. > :05:38.think? You can come up with any number... You have brought out

:05:39. > :05:43.private in the NHS, so what about VAT on children's clothes of food,

:05:44. > :05:47.will you rule that out? I'm not going to go into what might be in

:05:48. > :05:50.the manifesto. If you are going to put a series of faintly ridiculous

:05:51. > :05:56.propositions to me, we could happily go through them. It's a bit silly.

:05:57. > :05:59.What have let's file both of these as under, using your words, faintly

:06:00. > :06:05.ridiculous. What about keeping the triple lock on pensions? I'm not

:06:06. > :06:10.going to go through the manifesto. But it's your area. The manifesto

:06:11. > :06:16.will be published in a few weeks and I'm sure you can contain your

:06:17. > :06:22.patience. But you are the pensions minister, aren't you? I am. But what

:06:23. > :06:28.is your view? You won the election in 2015 on the triple lock on

:06:29. > :06:32.pensions, whether it is inflation or average earnings or 2.5%, whichever

:06:33. > :06:37.is the higher. Would you like to continue with you will see what we

:06:38. > :06:42.are going to say on pensions and everything else when the manifesto

:06:43. > :06:46.is published. What are you arguing for in the manifesto? It is your

:06:47. > :06:49.area of ministerial irresponsibility. We have both been

:06:50. > :06:53.around long enough to know that my private views which I might be

:06:54. > :06:58.expressing in private in the run-up to the publication of a manifesto

:06:59. > :07:03.should and will remain private. Let me put it another way. What would be

:07:04. > :07:09.the logic of putting the triple lock into your manifesto in 2015 and not

:07:10. > :07:14.putting it in in 2017? You will have to wait see the manifesto. You can

:07:15. > :07:18.put it in a number of ingenious ways, but I'm not going to

:07:19. > :07:23.pre-release any part of our manifesto. Have you got any

:07:24. > :07:28.policies? You will see in the manifesto. Of course, there will be

:07:29. > :07:32.a full set of policies... Should you not have decided them before you

:07:33. > :07:36.decided to call an election? You will see the manifesto when it is

:07:37. > :07:41.published but I'm not going to give you the fun of partially releasing

:07:42. > :07:46.it. I'm trying to find out if you had actually made these decisions

:07:47. > :07:49.yet. You will see when it is done but these are private discussions

:07:50. > :07:53.that go on and they made public when should make them public, which is

:07:54. > :07:58.when the campaign has formally started, and I'm not proposing to go

:07:59. > :08:03.into either the process or any of the decisions that have been made.

:08:04. > :08:09.Is Labour committed to the triple lock? Yes. So that will be in your

:08:10. > :08:13.manifesto, to the best of your knowledge? Yes, there was a strong

:08:14. > :08:17.logic to this. These are people who have retired, they don't have the

:08:18. > :08:21.capacity to supplement or to earn additional income, and so therefore

:08:22. > :08:28.the triple lock makes sense. How much will it cost to maintain the

:08:29. > :08:32.triple lock between 2017 and 2022? Like with the Conservatives, the

:08:33. > :08:36.detail of the policy plans and the evidence to support that will be in

:08:37. > :08:41.the manifesto. So you have made a promise you haven't yet costed. This

:08:42. > :08:47.has been a promise from Labour for some time. Like a ?10 minimum wage,

:08:48. > :08:51.like free school meals for all primary kids, like a big boost to

:08:52. > :09:00.affordable house-building... And more money for the NHS and social

:09:01. > :09:03.care. Yes. Because some of this... It's always about the record as well

:09:04. > :09:07.but if people want to know about the NHS commitment from the Labour

:09:08. > :09:13.Party, look at what we did in 13 years. At you costed any of it? How

:09:14. > :09:18.much? This is not the detail I'm going to go in. Jeremy Corbyn

:09:19. > :09:22.promised to keep the triple lock last November, so this was a long

:09:23. > :09:29.time ago, but you are telling me that here, in April 2017, you still

:09:30. > :09:33.don't know the cost? We have made the commitment and it's part of our

:09:34. > :09:36.fiscal and spending plans. They will be set out in the manifesto. You

:09:37. > :09:40.will see the detail. What people need to know for the commitment of

:09:41. > :09:44.this campaign is that the triple lock stays, there is a commitment to

:09:45. > :09:48.the NHS and a boost to the adult social care fund, which we have

:09:49. > :09:54.costed at an immediate need... And tuition fees are going as well is to

:09:55. > :09:58.mock you have to see this in the round. Lets see it in the round trip

:09:59. > :10:01.because money does matter here. You have said you are going to keep the

:10:02. > :10:04.triple lock. At this current spending. You're going to spend more

:10:05. > :10:08.on the NHS, that is current spending. You are going to spend

:10:09. > :10:13.more on social care, that is current spending. There are a number of

:10:14. > :10:15.other current spending promises you have made, but John McDonnell, your

:10:16. > :10:21.Shadow Chancellor, has something called a fiscal credibility rule

:10:22. > :10:25.which says that he will balance current spending with revenues of

:10:26. > :10:31.helping you spend all that and balance the budget? Some of this is

:10:32. > :10:35.capital investment... Everything I mentioned is current spending. How

:10:36. > :10:39.can you balance the budget with all of that extra current spending? You

:10:40. > :10:43.and the public will see the detail in the manifesto and you will be

:10:44. > :10:48.able to make your judgments. In housing, I have shown 18 months ago

:10:49. > :10:52.how we can be building 100,000 affordable new homes by councils and

:10:53. > :10:56.housing associations each year and how we could pay. That this capital

:10:57. > :11:04.spending but crucially, savings on housing benefit bill, despite

:11:05. > :11:11.punitive cuts under the Tories. You are going to add about 2 million --

:11:12. > :11:15.?2 billion to ?3 billion per year to the NHS, another ?2 billion to

:11:16. > :11:19.social care, you are going to save on the triple lock and abolish

:11:20. > :11:22.tuition fees, which is also current spending. You are going to add

:11:23. > :11:27.billions and billions to current spending. They married -- they may

:11:28. > :11:32.well all be good causes in your view. How do you do that and balance

:11:33. > :11:37.current spending? You will see the detail and the planned in the

:11:38. > :11:41.manifesto. You don't know. My point is that any election is about a

:11:42. > :11:46.government's track record. When we look at the track record of the last

:11:47. > :11:49.seven years, Theresa May can't duck the decisions made by Conservative

:11:50. > :11:55.ministers and she has been at the heart of them. But you are unable to

:11:56. > :12:00.tell our viewers about Labour policy by simply attacking him. Is it true

:12:01. > :12:05.that Mrs May at officials in Downing Street looking at the feasibility of

:12:06. > :12:09.an election since last autumn? I don't think so. Gary Gibbon -- Gary

:12:10. > :12:15.Gibbon, Channel 4 News, excellent report. He said that Stephen

:12:16. > :12:19.Parkinson, a veteran of the Vote Leave campaign, was in charge of a

:12:20. > :12:24.secret Downing Street unit working from last autumn on the feasibility

:12:25. > :12:30.of an election. I haven't heard anything about that. It goes to the

:12:31. > :12:34.heart of trust, doesn't it? Mrs May has tried to build a brand of trust

:12:35. > :12:39.and her people like to compare her to Tony Blair or David Cameron. She

:12:40. > :12:43.is more of a straight shooter. But, if she's looking at the feasibility

:12:44. > :12:48.of something, while telling the British people she wasn't going to

:12:49. > :12:52.have an election, that goes to the heart of trust. I have never heard

:12:53. > :12:56.that, and I think she has been completely upfront. She has said she

:12:57. > :13:00.has changed her mind. She reluctantly changed her mind because

:13:01. > :13:04.it became clear that, with these hugely important Brexit negotiations

:13:05. > :13:09.coming up, Tim Farron was saying he was going to grind parliament to a

:13:10. > :13:12.halt, more than 100 Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords were going to

:13:13. > :13:20.make it difficult... You have got everything through! Yes, but the

:13:21. > :13:26.negotiations are coming up. And 21% ahead in the polls is nothing to do

:13:27. > :13:29.with it?! Is in the interests of the British people that we get the best

:13:30. > :13:36.result in the strongest government. A Prime Minister with a new mandate

:13:37. > :13:38.will be able to negotiate better with the EU. And the Prime Minister

:13:39. > :13:42.accused the others claim political games. I don't say anything at this

:13:43. > :13:43.point! Now, the speculation has already

:13:44. > :13:46.begun as to which MPs might try There has also been backtracking

:13:47. > :13:50.from some who had previously said they'd stand down

:13:51. > :13:52.at the next election. So where are we with some

:13:53. > :13:56.of these personalities? We are still waiting for to hear

:13:57. > :13:58.from some Conservatives, like Ken Clarke, who had said he'd

:13:59. > :14:02.stand down at the next election. And could George Osborne bow out,

:14:03. > :14:05.now he has his new job After trying several times to get

:14:06. > :14:12.a seat in Westminster, could the time be right now

:14:13. > :14:14.for the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, and where

:14:15. > :14:17.would he choose to stand? The party's current leader,

:14:18. > :14:19.Paul Nuttall, has said Another battle to watch will be

:14:20. > :14:24.in Clacton, where Ukip's biggest financial backer,

:14:25. > :14:27.Arron Banks, has confirmed he will stand in

:14:28. > :14:31.former-Ukip-now-independent-MP He's refused to rule out rejoining

:14:32. > :14:37.the Conservatives again. Some of the big Lib Dem names have

:14:38. > :14:40.already confirmed they will return to stand again on an

:14:41. > :14:43.anti-Brexit platform. And Simon Hughes

:14:44. > :14:49.in Bermondsey Old Southwark. For Labour, the former

:14:50. > :14:51.Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said he will stand down after 20

:14:52. > :14:56.years in Parliament. And Tom Blenkinsop has said

:14:57. > :14:59.he will not stand again, citing "significant and irreconcilable

:15:00. > :15:04.differences" with Jeremy Corbyn. Another Labour MP, John Woodcock,

:15:05. > :15:08.has said he will stand but will not In a video message, he said,

:15:09. > :15:12."I will not countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn

:15:13. > :15:17.Britain's Prime Minister." And last night, one MP,

:15:18. > :15:20.on leaving the weekly gathering of Labour MPs,

:15:21. > :15:22.told reporters, "Go back to your constituencies and prepare

:15:23. > :15:38.for the Guardian jobs page". Not exactly a ringing endorsement,

:15:39. > :15:41.John Healey. How do you feel about your job prospects when the

:15:42. > :15:47.Conservatives, according to two poles, are 21 points ahead of you?

:15:48. > :15:52.You get these stories in Westminster, this kind of humour all

:15:53. > :15:57.the time. You know that as well as Damian and I. We are not strong in

:15:58. > :16:03.the polls, seven weeks of an election campaign, so a big

:16:04. > :16:07.challenge ahead of us. But I am confident, moving into the campaign,

:16:08. > :16:12.day two, and this will not be a narrow campaign about just Brexit,

:16:13. > :16:16.it will be which party has the best plan for Britain after Brexit. Who

:16:17. > :16:28.is going to rescue the NHS? Who is best for family living standards?

:16:29. > :16:31.Who will raise the standards in schools for all of our kids? Who is

:16:32. > :16:35.going to build the affordable homes to rent and buy that we badly need?

:16:36. > :16:42.Do some MPs think this is a chance to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn. Is it

:16:43. > :16:50.time for him to stand down? No, he was recently elected, he leads us

:16:51. > :16:52.through to June 8th. End of story. For all parties, the principal

:16:53. > :17:00.concern is to make sure the voters will support us in the election. And

:17:01. > :17:04.get the message across. But why should the voters support Labour if

:17:05. > :17:08.Labour MPs and candidates standing for election, in the case of John

:17:09. > :17:13.Woodcock, cannot actually say they want to see Jeremy Corbyn as the

:17:14. > :17:17.next Prime Minister? Because first and foremost, everybody votes for

:17:18. > :17:21.their local MP. Second, led by Jeremy Corbyn, and people like me

:17:22. > :17:24.from the Shadow Cabinet and the party, we will put forward an

:17:25. > :17:27.alternative to what we have seen in the last seven years of the

:17:28. > :17:32.Conservatives. This will be a choice. Do people want five more

:17:33. > :17:37.years of the same or a fresh start under Labour? That is the choice

:17:38. > :17:40.people will have, and Theresa May will find it is very difficult to

:17:41. > :17:44.keep seven weeks of attention just on Brexit. Politicians come onto

:17:45. > :17:49.programmes like this and say there is nothing worse than a divided

:17:50. > :17:53.party, in terms of the electorate. Is it acceptable that anyone seeking

:17:54. > :17:59.to become a Labour MP can stand on a platform and say, I will not

:18:00. > :18:05.countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn Britain's Prime

:18:06. > :18:09.Minister. Is that acceptable? Divided parties always struggle to

:18:10. > :18:14.win elections. That is why, from today onwards, we are into the

:18:15. > :18:18.campaign... John Woodcock has said that since the announcement of a

:18:19. > :18:23.general election. Should a party like Labour accept that sort of

:18:24. > :18:29.insubordination? Yes, because our concentration and our main focus

:18:30. > :18:33.now, the one concern must be winning over the public. These are internal

:18:34. > :18:38.arguments. We set those aside and the argument now is with the

:18:39. > :18:47.Conservatives, and to win support on June 8th. So I presume you can see

:18:48. > :18:50.him as Prime Minister? You will see Labour MPs devoting themselves over

:18:51. > :18:53.the next seven weeks to that. Of course I can see Jeremy Corbyn

:18:54. > :18:59.winning this election. Will his picture be all over your literature?

:19:00. > :19:02.Of course I can see Labour winning this election because we will set

:19:03. > :19:06.out a very different picture from the last seven years of the

:19:07. > :19:12.Conservatives, a plan to deal with the matter is that concern people

:19:13. > :19:17.every day. Will you put Jeremy Corbyn's picture on your election

:19:18. > :19:22.literature? I will do it the way I have done before, to get support

:19:23. > :19:26.from my local voters. That is not an answer. Well Jeremy Corbyn, elected

:19:27. > :19:33.twice as Labour or the Labour Party, feature on your election literature?

:19:34. > :19:39.I can't tell you yet. That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement. I

:19:40. > :19:46.haven't written it yet. This is day two of the election. Would you like

:19:47. > :19:50.some help? I could always do with a sharp word or two! Maybe I will come

:19:51. > :19:58.back to you. I thought you were going to offer... ! I just asked. If

:19:59. > :20:03.I offered, I would have to offer it to every party, as you know! Have

:20:04. > :20:08.you seen his drawing? If Labour loses the election, would you expect

:20:09. > :20:13.Jeremy Corbyn to stand down. I'm not going to go into that. We have seven

:20:14. > :20:17.weeks of an election campaign. It is wrong at the start to ask at Weston

:20:18. > :20:26.that might or might not be relevant at the end. -- to ask a question. We

:20:27. > :20:29.want day voice and an alternative, as a Labour government. That is our

:20:30. > :20:32.task and Jeremy Corbyn's task. Now, the SNP have said they will

:20:33. > :20:35.abstain in this afternoon's vote. Party leader and First Minister

:20:36. > :20:37.Nicola Sturgeon called it a "huge political miscalculation"

:20:38. > :20:50.and an "extraordinary U-turn" Let's talk to the SNP's John

:20:51. > :20:54.Swinney. He is the Deputy First Minister. He joins me from

:20:55. > :21:02.Edinburgh. The SNP say they are going to add stain. Why? -- to add

:21:03. > :21:06.stain. Because we are believers in the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. We

:21:07. > :21:09.have it in the Scottish Parliament and we supported the legislation for

:21:10. > :21:14.that in the House of Commons as well. It's very clear that the Prime

:21:15. > :21:20.Minister has decided to abandon the legislation is she supported for a

:21:21. > :21:24.Fixed-Term Parliaments Act to essentially seize the opportunity of

:21:25. > :21:28.the Labour Party's weakness and call a quick election. If you support the

:21:29. > :21:32.Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, why did the Scottish Nationalists attack

:21:33. > :21:37.Theresa may when she became Prime Minister, saying she had not been

:21:38. > :21:41.elected and she had no mandate? It is a statement of fact, she had not

:21:42. > :21:45.been selected, not even by the Conservative Party. But that is a

:21:46. > :21:49.consequence of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. It is a consequence

:21:50. > :21:53.of the fact that David Cameron got into such a political mess, a

:21:54. > :21:58.disastrous referendum with the European Union, which he managed to

:21:59. > :22:01.lose, that he had to leave office... So why can you attack somebody for

:22:02. > :22:07.having no mandate and then when that person seeks a mandate, you attack

:22:08. > :22:08.them? Quite simply because we are believers in the Fixed-Term

:22:09. > :22:15.Parliaments Act. We don't believe the Prime Minister should be able to

:22:16. > :22:19.play political games... So if you take that position, it does follow

:22:20. > :22:23.that whenever there is a change of Prime Minister, by definition, they

:22:24. > :22:29.have no mandate if they can't call another election and they haven't

:22:30. > :22:31.been elected. That is a feature of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act that

:22:32. > :22:36.you support. So it is surely an unfair criticism to have a go at

:22:37. > :22:41.somebody by saying the PM is not yet collected by anybody. Why would you

:22:42. > :22:44.make that criticism? Is a fair criticism because it is a statement

:22:45. > :22:49.of fact, based on the fact the Prime Minister has not been collected so

:22:50. > :22:54.far by anybody. She is obviously going to the country and we won't

:22:55. > :23:00.stand in the way... But you are against it. People will regard this

:23:01. > :23:03.as an absurd position you are in. Parliament decided there should be

:23:04. > :23:08.fixed Parliamentary terms and everyone thought that was a great

:23:09. > :23:11.idea. The reason we are departing from that in the vote today is

:23:12. > :23:16.because the Prime Minister sees a political opportunity, a lead in the

:23:17. > :23:31.opinion polls ahead of the Labour Party, to entrench long-term right

:23:32. > :23:39.winger Tory rule. But she is sticking to the act. It allows for

:23:40. > :23:42.the road to be called if 66% of the Commons votes for it. She is

:23:43. > :23:49.entirely compliant with the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. -- the

:23:50. > :23:54.vote. She is seizing on the weakness of the Labour Party and that will be

:23:55. > :23:57.exposed in the campaign. A political party seizing on the weakness of

:23:58. > :24:03.another political party... When did that last happen? The Prime Minister

:24:04. > :24:08.was very quick to come to Scotland and lecture us about politics not

:24:09. > :24:11.being a game. And what she is doing today is playing a political game,

:24:12. > :24:17.seizing the opportunity of the Labour Party's weakness to try to

:24:18. > :24:22.entrench long-term right wing Tory rule in the UK and the SNP would be

:24:23. > :24:27.a bulwark against that on behalf of Scotland by promoting Scottish

:24:28. > :24:31.interest. If Labour is so weak as you say in Scotland and England as

:24:32. > :24:35.well, Nicola Sturgeon has been talking about the possibility of a

:24:36. > :24:40.progressive alliance involving Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP in

:24:41. > :24:44.Westminster. Is that a road you would consider going down? We want

:24:45. > :24:49.to make sure we have a Parliament elected that will not be a pro

:24:50. > :24:54.austerity Parliament, that will not be a Parliament that is going to

:24:55. > :24:58.deliver a hard Brexit upon the citizens of the United Kingdom. So

:24:59. > :25:03.we will be arguing in this election campaign in Scotland to be the

:25:04. > :25:07.protection against... What about the progressive alliance point? We are

:25:08. > :25:13.certainly happy to co-operate with people of like minds if the electric

:25:14. > :25:17.gives an outcome that supports that proposition. The voters will have a

:25:18. > :25:21.chance to have their say on remember is Parliament and obviously the SNP

:25:22. > :25:23.will work very hard in every constituency in Scotland to win

:25:24. > :25:28.Parliamentary support and make sure we have enough MPs to protect

:25:29. > :25:32.Scottish interests and to be a bulwark against austerity. Thank

:25:33. > :25:38.you. Do you fancy a progressive alliance with the SNP? No, I see no

:25:39. > :25:41.circumstances at all of that sort of coalition. We are fighting to win

:25:42. > :25:46.this election as a Labour government. Coalitions over the last

:25:47. > :25:49.Parliament have got a bad name and going into any sort of arrangement

:25:50. > :25:54.with a party like the SNP, which is set to break up Britain as their

:25:55. > :25:58.sole purpose, and failing as a government in their own country in

:25:59. > :26:03.Scotland, is not for us. A clear enough answer. I may have been a bit

:26:04. > :26:09.hasty... The cancellation of the Manchester, Gorton by-election. They

:26:10. > :26:14.are actually seeking legal advice. We will have to wait.

:26:15. > :26:17.It would be true to say that there is some excitement

:26:18. > :26:20.here in SW1 at the prospect of a general election.

:26:21. > :26:26.has become a tented media village overnight - a sort of Glastonbury

:26:27. > :26:37.But it has come to our attention that some might be

:26:38. > :26:40.less delighted at the prospect of what's at least the fourth

:26:41. > :26:44.opportunity to go to the polls in little more than two years.

:26:45. > :26:46.Brenda from Bristol, for example, has become a social media

:26:47. > :26:49.sensation after giving Theresa May a piece of her mind

:26:50. > :26:56.If you're watching, Brenda, don't let the election

:26:57. > :27:05.campaign wear you down - put the kettle on and enjoy

:27:06. > :27:07.a traditional British past-time, a nice cup of tea

:27:08. > :27:16.If you want a chance to win one, let us know when this happened.

:27:17. > :27:30.# And you cast your fears aside...#

:27:31. > :27:33.# Dreams can come true Look at me, babe, I'm with you

:27:34. > :27:39.# You know you've got to be strong... #

:27:40. > :28:01.# Take me up to a place So far away in your heavenly space

:28:02. > :28:04.# One night One night

:28:05. > :28:13.# In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep

:28:14. > :28:16.# Through the desert of truth...#

:28:17. > :28:18.With regret, I have accepted his resignation.

:28:19. > :28:24.# We all end in the ocean We all start in the streams

:28:25. > :28:29.# We're all carried along by the river of dreams

:28:30. > :28:40.# I go walking in the, in the middle of the...#

:28:41. > :28:43.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug,

:28:44. > :28:46.send your answer to our special quiz email address - dpquiz@bbc.co.uk

:28:47. > :28:49.Entries must arrive by 12.30pm today.

:28:50. > :28:52.You can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year

:28:53. > :28:58.on our website - bbc.co.uk/dailypolitics

:28:59. > :29:04.And they don't change in a general election! Thank goodness, because I

:29:05. > :29:06.would never cope reading them! BBC compliance will have heard that and

:29:07. > :29:19.think, we have to change it! You know it is a big day because

:29:20. > :29:25.there is a helicopter over Westminster. More than one! A lovely

:29:26. > :29:28.helicopter shot over the millennium wheel. Modern Britain and

:29:29. > :29:31.19th-century Britain together. A lovely shot.

:29:32. > :29:45.Prime Minister's Questions today, obviously it will be all election

:29:46. > :29:51.oriented. And probably another one next week, and then that's it? We

:29:52. > :29:56.think so. We expect dissolution on the third, that would mean the House

:29:57. > :30:02.would sit... Parliament would be gone by that Wednesday? Precisely.

:30:03. > :30:09.But this afternoon's packing up business has to be dealt with. The

:30:10. > :30:13.SNP will abstain. -- technical business has to be dealt with.

:30:14. > :30:18.Goodbye, Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. It didn't last long! It will still

:30:19. > :30:21.be on the statute books, but Theresa May will demonstrate today that as

:30:22. > :30:27.an idea, if a Prime Minister wants to get around it, you can do it.

:30:28. > :30:33.Because no opposition can really say no? Basically it wasn't worth the

:30:34. > :30:37.paper it was written on, some might say. At the time, it was very

:30:38. > :30:43.important for the stability of the coalition. Changing the constitution

:30:44. > :30:47.to keep the beautiful rose garden together, the Lib Dems and Tories

:30:48. > :30:50.both wanted the guarantee that the other would not flounce out when

:30:51. > :30:55.things got pretty. But when the polls look good, you can still do

:30:56. > :31:01.what you always did. Indeed. A few Labour MPs have been a bit nervous.

:31:02. > :31:07.They were already on record as saying they would be up for an

:31:08. > :31:11.election. Mrs May made a big deal of the need to get a bigger majority to

:31:12. > :31:17.get a mandate for her form of Brexit, to be able to push that

:31:18. > :31:22.through, and the Lord's, whatever. Those of us old enough to remember

:31:23. > :31:27.when Ted Heath called an election in February 1974 on who governs the

:31:28. > :31:32.country... Within a week, that had ceased to be the issue, and he went

:31:33. > :31:36.on to lose. Certainly echoes of that very direct call for an individual

:31:37. > :31:41.mandate, and that hasn't happened from a party leader for quite some

:31:42. > :31:45.time. In terms of how Parliament had been frustrated, it has been a bit

:31:46. > :31:49.tricky over Brexit, doing their job, but they have not been blocking

:31:50. > :31:58.things left, right and centre. So one of the things that actually

:31:59. > :32:02.changed was EU response to the exit letter. There was hope to have talks

:32:03. > :32:06.at the same time about the trade deals and the divorce, and the EU

:32:07. > :32:12.said not a bit of it. So guess what, this might be as difficult as the

:32:13. > :32:16.critics warned, and that is one of the factors that changed the balance

:32:17. > :32:20.of the decision, if you like. However your Western, unlike me to

:32:21. > :32:25.rattle on, was, will the campaign be about what Theresa May promised

:32:26. > :32:29.yesterday in Downing Street? Brexit is the context for this election.

:32:30. > :32:36.But campaigns take on lives of their own. Exactly. Even things you have

:32:37. > :32:38.never even thought about. Definitely things that might be very

:32:39. > :32:43.inconvenient for the Government. We are going to be in a strange

:32:44. > :32:46.situation, as your guests have already demonstrated. Both parties

:32:47. > :32:51.will go into this with pretty flimsy manifestoes. We have proved that

:32:52. > :32:56.this morning! I was being diplomatic! We will have a very

:32:57. > :33:10.strong manifesto, I can tell you that. Do you want a hand?

:33:11. > :33:16.Mr Speaker, I am sure that members across the house will wish to join

:33:17. > :33:22.me in offering our condolences to the families and friends of Andrea

:33:23. > :33:26.Christie, who died following the London attack, and Chris Bevington,

:33:27. > :33:29.who was among those killed in the terrorist attack in Sweden, and our

:33:30. > :33:36.thoughts are also with the Army and friends often -- of Hannah Bladon,

:33:37. > :33:42.murdered in Jerusalem last week. This week, I had meetings with

:33:43. > :33:45.colleagues and others. I shall have further such meetings later today. I

:33:46. > :33:52.would also like to join the Prime Minister in offering the condolences

:33:53. > :33:54.of the people of south C and myself to the individuals and their

:33:55. > :34:00.families. -- South Leicestershire. Strong countries need strong

:34:01. > :34:10.economies. Strong countries need strong defences. Strong countries

:34:11. > :34:17.need strong leaders. As the nation prepares to go to the polls, as the

:34:18. > :34:24.nation prepares to go to the polls, apart from my right honourable

:34:25. > :34:25.friend, who else in this house can provide the leadership that is

:34:26. > :34:41.needed at this time? My honourable friend is absolutely

:34:42. > :34:43.right. There are three things that a country needs, a strong economy,

:34:44. > :34:48.strong defence and strong, stable leadership. That is what our plans

:34:49. > :34:52.for Brexit and our plans for a stronger Britain will deliver, and

:34:53. > :34:58.that's what the Conservative Party will be offering at this election,

:34:59. > :35:02.and we will be out there, fighting for every vote. Whereas the right

:35:03. > :35:07.honourable gentleman opposite would bankrupt our economy, would weaken

:35:08. > :35:23.our defences and is simply not fit to lead. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

:35:24. > :35:27.Thank you, Mr Speaker. I concur with the condolences the Prime Minister

:35:28. > :35:29.just sent to the families of those three people who so sadly and

:35:30. > :35:35.needlessly died, and it's important we recognise that as a cross-party

:35:36. > :35:43.proposal today. I think the Prime Minister for that. We welcome the

:35:44. > :35:53.general election. But... But this... But this is a Prime Minister who

:35:54. > :35:59.promised there would be one. -- there would not be won. A Prime

:36:00. > :36:08.Minister cannot be trusted. She says it is about leadership, yet he is

:36:09. > :36:12.refusing to defend her record in television debates. -- yet she is

:36:13. > :36:22.refusing. And it's not hard to see why. The Prime Minister says we have

:36:23. > :36:28.a stronger economy. Yet... Yet she can't explain why people's wages are

:36:29. > :36:41.lower today than they were ten years ago, or why more households are in

:36:42. > :36:48.debt, 6 million people earning less than the living wage, child poverty

:36:49. > :36:56.is up, pensioner poverty is up, so why are so many people getting

:36:57. > :37:03.poorer? Well, I can assure the right honourable gentleman, first of all,

:37:04. > :37:08.I would point out to the honourable gentleman that I have been answering

:37:09. > :37:11.his questions and debating these answers -- debating these matters

:37:12. > :37:14.every Wednesday that Parliament has been sitting since I became Prime

:37:15. > :37:18.Minister, and I will be taking out to the country in this campaign a

:37:19. > :37:29.proud record of a Conservative government. A stronger, -- a

:37:30. > :37:34.stronger economy, and economy with the deficit down, 30 million people

:37:35. > :37:40.with a tax cut, 4 million people taking out an income tax altogether,

:37:41. > :37:48.record levels of employment and ?1250 more per year for pensioners.

:37:49. > :37:56.That's a record we can be proud of. Mr Speaker, if she is so proud of

:37:57. > :38:03.her record, why won't she debate it? Wages... Wages are falling. More

:38:04. > :38:10.children are in poverty but in the last Tory manifesto, page 28, it

:38:11. > :38:18.said, we will work to eliminate child poverty. They only eliminated

:38:19. > :38:24.the child poverty targets, not child poverty. In 2010, they promised to

:38:25. > :38:29.eradicate the deficit by 2015. In 2015, they promised to eradicate the

:38:30. > :38:34.deficit by 2020. Austerity has failed. So does the Prime Minister

:38:35. > :38:44.know which year the deficit will now be eradicated? The right honourable

:38:45. > :38:48.gentleman, I know that it's taken... I know that it's taken the right

:38:49. > :38:52.honourable gentleman a little time to get the hang of these Prime

:38:53. > :38:57.Minister's Questions, but I have to say to him that week in, week out,

:38:58. > :39:06.he stands up and asks me questions and I respond to those questions,

:39:07. > :39:09.and what... Order, order. The Leader of the Opposition must be heard and

:39:10. > :39:16.the Prime Minister must be heard. Prime Minister. A stronger economy

:39:17. > :39:20.with a deficit two thirds down, but people will have a real choice at

:39:21. > :39:22.this election. They will have a choice between a Conservative

:39:23. > :39:25.government that has shown we can build a stronger economy and a

:39:26. > :39:31.Labour Party whose economic policy would bankrupt this country but what

:39:32. > :39:37.voters know is that, under Labour, its ordinary working people who paid

:39:38. > :39:44.the price of the Labour Party. They hate it with their taxes, -- they

:39:45. > :39:52.pay it with their taxes, with their jobs and their children's futures.

:39:53. > :39:56.Only this year, the new Chancellor pledged to eradicate the deficit by

:39:57. > :40:04.2022. I do admire Tory consistency but it's always five years in the

:40:05. > :40:05.future. Another Tory broken promise. The Prime Minister leaves a

:40:06. > :40:12.government that has increased national debt by ?700 billion, more

:40:13. > :40:16.than every other Labour government in history put together. Debt has

:40:17. > :40:21.risen every year that they have been in office. We know that their

:40:22. > :40:27.economic plan was long-term. Does the Prime Minister want to tell us

:40:28. > :40:34.how far into the long term it will be before we get debt falling? The

:40:35. > :40:39.right honourable gentleman stand up and he talks about debt. This is a

:40:40. > :40:45.Labour Party that will be going into the election pledged to borrow an

:40:46. > :40:50.extra ?500 billion. And what does that mean for ordinary working

:40:51. > :40:53.people? Well, I'll tell the right honourable gentleman what it means

:40:54. > :40:56.that we know what Labour's lands would entail, because we've been

:40:57. > :41:04.told either former Labour Shadow Chancellor. -- Labour's plans. He

:41:05. > :41:07.said, if Labour were in power, you'd have to double income tax, you'd

:41:08. > :41:14.have to double national insurance, you'd have to double council tax and

:41:15. > :41:21.you'd have to double VAT as well that Labour's plan for the economy.

:41:22. > :41:24.All that her government has delivered, Mr Speaker, is more debt

:41:25. > :41:29.and less funding for schools and hospitals. Schools funding has been

:41:30. > :41:34.cut for the first time in a generation. The Prime Minister is

:41:35. > :41:38.cutting ?3 billion per year from school budgets by 2020 fourth she

:41:39. > :41:45.says they have created a stronger economy. So why are their tax

:41:46. > :41:50.giveaways to the richest corporations, while our children's

:41:51. > :41:56.schools are starved of resources that they need to educate our

:41:57. > :42:01.children for the future? He talks about levels of funding into schools

:42:02. > :42:05.and the NHS. There are record levels of funding going into schools and

:42:06. > :42:10.record levels of funding going into the NHS. But let's just talk about

:42:11. > :42:13.schools, because it's not just a question of funding, it's actually a

:42:14. > :42:21.question of the quality of education provided in the schools. 1.8 million

:42:22. > :42:25.more children are in good or outstanding schools under this

:42:26. > :42:28.Conservative government. That's 1.8 million more children with a better

:42:29. > :42:33.chance for their futures. What would Labour give us? He same old, one

:42:34. > :42:40.size fits all, authority run schools. No choice, good or bad,

:42:41. > :42:44.trust your luck. We don't trust to luck and we won't trust the Labour

:42:45. > :42:49.Party. We will provide a good school place for every child. Parents

:42:50. > :42:52.taking their children back to school for the summer term, many will

:42:53. > :42:57.receive a letter from the school begging for funds to buy books and

:42:58. > :43:01.to fund the school. The Conservative manifesto promised the amount of

:43:02. > :43:08.money following your child into school will be protected. It isn't.

:43:09. > :43:13.It's another Tory broken promise. For the first time in its history,

:43:14. > :43:17.NHS funding per pupil, per patient will fall this year. The NHS has

:43:18. > :43:24.been put into an all year round crisis by this government. Why are

:43:25. > :43:29.more people waiting in pain, and millions of elderly people not

:43:30. > :43:35.getting the care and the dignity that they deserve? I'm proud of the

:43:36. > :43:43.record we have on the NHS. We see more doctors, more nurses, more

:43:44. > :43:46.midwives, more GPs, more people being treated in our National Health

:43:47. > :43:51.Service last year than ever before, and record levels of funding going

:43:52. > :43:56.in the NHS. You only can do that with a strong economy. What do we

:43:57. > :44:03.know we'd get from the Labour Party? Bankruptcy and chaos. Mr Speaker,

:44:04. > :44:10.that's a very good reason why we should have a debate about it.

:44:11. > :44:17.Because that is another Tory broken promise, a broken promise of a Tory

:44:18. > :44:23.manifesto which said, they will continue to spend more on the NHS in

:44:24. > :44:27.real terms say that to those waiting in A departments, say that to

:44:28. > :44:32.those who can't leave hospital because social care is not

:44:33. > :44:37.available. Mr Speaker, isn't the truth that, over the last seven

:44:38. > :44:41.years, the Tories have broken every promise on living standards, the

:44:42. > :44:47.deficit, yet, the National Health Service and schools funding? --

:44:48. > :44:54.debt, the NHS and schools funding. Why should anyone believe a word

:44:55. > :44:57.they say over the next seven weeks? I can assure the right honourable

:44:58. > :45:04.gentleman that I will be out campaigning and taking to voters the

:45:05. > :45:06.message of the record of this Conservative government, but

:45:07. > :45:12.crucially, of our plans to make Brexit a success and to build a

:45:13. > :45:15.stronger Britain for the future, and every vote for the Conservatives

:45:16. > :45:21.will make it harder for those who want to stop me from getting the job

:45:22. > :45:25.done. Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger

:45:26. > :45:28.when I negotiate for Britain with the EU, and every vote for the

:45:29. > :45:33.Conservatives will mean that we can stick out plan for a stronger

:45:34. > :45:34.Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future

:45:35. > :45:45.for this country. Thank you, Mr Speaker. For years, I

:45:46. > :45:49.have been campaigning for fairer funding in Wiltshire schools. Will

:45:50. > :45:55.Prime Minister reaffirm her commitment to this? And to a review

:45:56. > :46:00.of pupil premium to encompass other forms of key disadvantage, such as

:46:01. > :46:03.being a health carer, mental health problems and other bereavement? This

:46:04. > :46:08.way, we can create a country that will work for everyone. My

:46:09. > :46:11.honourable friend raises an important point. I know she has

:46:12. > :46:16.campaigned long and hard in her constituency and worked hard on this

:46:17. > :46:19.and other issues. We want to ensure young people irrespective of

:46:20. > :46:23.background at the opportunity to make the most of their talents, and

:46:24. > :46:27.the point of our reforms is to end the postcode lottery in school

:46:28. > :46:33.funding and support our plans for a fairer society where success is

:46:34. > :46:38.based on merit not privilege. The pupil premium is worth ?2.5 billion

:46:39. > :46:42.per year. It is an important part of policy because it gives schools

:46:43. > :46:45.extra support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. But I

:46:46. > :46:49.think it is right that schools are best placed to prioritise the needs

:46:50. > :46:53.of their pupils and can use their funding to ensure they support any

:46:54. > :47:01.pupil facing disadvantage, financial or otherwise. May I join in the

:47:02. > :47:06.condolences extended by the Prime Minister and the leader of the

:47:07. > :47:11.Labour Party. Mr Speaker, the tone and content of Democratic debates,

:47:12. > :47:16.including a general election, is very important to all of us. Does

:47:17. > :47:20.the Prime Minister Trudeau political opponents are not saboteurs, and all

:47:21. > :47:24.electric mainstream parties and parliamentarians have a mandate, and

:47:25. > :47:30.that should be respected? -- elected mainstream parties. In this House

:47:31. > :47:34.and in this Parliament, it is right that we have proper debate and

:47:35. > :47:38.scrutiny of proposals put forward by the Government, and that arguments

:47:39. > :47:42.on both sides of the House are rightly challenged. And those

:47:43. > :47:46.discussions take place. But I said to the right honourable gentleman

:47:47. > :47:49.that what the British able, the people of the UK voted for last

:47:50. > :47:58.year, was for the UK to leave the European Union. -- the British

:47:59. > :48:01.people. There is no turning back. But it is clear from statements made

:48:02. > :48:06.by the Scottish Nationalists and others that they do want to use this

:48:07. > :48:09.House to try to frustrate that process. I will be asking the

:48:10. > :48:16.British people for a mandate to complete Brexit and to make a

:48:17. > :48:18.success of it. It's disappointing the Prime Minister didn't take the

:48:19. > :48:25.opportunity to condemn the intemperate language when describing

:48:26. > :48:29.either Democratic politicians. There is heckling from the other side and

:48:30. > :48:32.the Prime Minister should take the opportunity to underline something

:48:33. > :48:37.we should all agree on, that describing people in the way we have

:48:38. > :48:40.read in some daily newspapers by leading politicians is not

:48:41. > :48:45.acceptable. Most people know that the reason why we are having a

:48:46. > :48:50.general election is because of the woeful state of the Labour Party. If

:48:51. > :48:56.the Prime Minister is so confident that her hard Brexit pro austerity,

:48:57. > :49:00.anti-immigration case is right, she should debate it with opposition

:49:01. > :49:04.leaders during the campaign. We look forward to the straight fight

:49:05. > :49:08.between the SNP and the Tories, can the Prime Minister tell the people

:49:09. > :49:16.why she is running scared of a televised debate with Nicola

:49:17. > :49:20.Sturgeon? First of all, can I say to the right honourable gentleman, one

:49:21. > :49:23.of the crucial thing is we have in this country that underpins

:49:24. > :49:28.democracy is a free press. I believe that is important and that people in

:49:29. > :49:32.this chamber should stand up for the freedom of the press. As for the TV

:49:33. > :49:36.debates, I can assure the right honourable gentleman that I will be

:49:37. > :49:41.out there, campaigning in every part of the United Kingdom, taking our

:49:42. > :49:45.proud record of a Conservative government that has delivered for

:49:46. > :49:49.every part of the United Kingdom. And I might suggest to the Scottish

:49:50. > :49:57.Nationalists that actually now is the time for them to put aside...

:49:58. > :50:05.Wait for it. Now is the time for them to put aside their tunnel

:50:06. > :50:08.vision on independence. And actually explain to the Scottish people why,

:50:09. > :50:12.under the SNP, they are not putting as much money into the health

:50:13. > :50:16.service as they have been given from the UK. They are not exercising the

:50:17. > :50:19.powers they have been given, and Scottish education is getting worse.

:50:20. > :50:29.It's time they got back to their day job.

:50:30. > :50:35.Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also welcome the announcement from the

:50:36. > :50:38.Prime Minister yesterday and I look forward to the general election, and

:50:39. > :50:46.taking my positive message to my constituents. Over the last two

:50:47. > :50:50.years, I have pressed for first-class transport infrastructure

:50:51. > :50:53.in Cheadle, and this week I launched a transport survey so my

:50:54. > :50:56.constituents can have their say on what is needed to keep them moving

:50:57. > :51:01.and for us to be at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse. Does my right

:51:02. > :51:09.honourable friend agree that residents in Cheadle need to vote

:51:10. > :51:12.Conservative on June 8th to continue getting investment in transport and

:51:13. > :51:17.infrastructure, not only in Cheadle but across the Northwest? I

:51:18. > :51:22.absolutely agree with my honourable friend on that point. I know she has

:51:23. > :51:25.been working very hard for her constituents in Cheadle on this

:51:26. > :51:31.transport issue and others. It is under this government that we are

:51:32. > :51:35.investing ?290 million to improve transport links to Manchester

:51:36. > :51:37.Airport through Cheadle, and ?2.1 million committed to improving

:51:38. > :51:42.walking and cycling routes around the Cheadle Hume district centre.

:51:43. > :51:46.That is why the choice is clear. If you want to see that funding into

:51:47. > :51:53.infrastructure, we need a strong economy and only the Conservatives

:51:54. > :51:55.can deliver that strong economy. Because of the Prime

:51:56. > :52:00.Minister'schanges to education funding, every school in the country

:52:01. > :52:05.will face real terms cuts. Manchester is hit harder than

:52:06. > :52:12.anywhere outside London... With Chorlton high school and another in

:52:13. > :52:16.my constituency each losing the equivalent of over 30 teachers. So I

:52:17. > :52:20.asked the Prime Minister the same question a head teacher asked me.

:52:21. > :52:23.What would the Prime Minister cut to balance the books? What subjects

:52:24. > :52:30.which you choose to sack teachers from? As the honourable gentleman

:52:31. > :52:36.knows, there are record levels of funding going into our schools.

:52:37. > :52:42.Everybody across this House has recognised for many years that the

:52:43. > :52:46.current funding formula is not fair across the country. And it's

:52:47. > :52:51.necessary for us to look for a fairer funding formula. We have

:52:52. > :52:55.consulted on that and will be responding to that consultation. But

:52:56. > :52:59.I say to the honourable gentleman, as he faces up to the election, I

:53:00. > :53:03.note that last year he failed to back, he opposed the leader of his

:53:04. > :53:07.party... If he wasn't willing to support him as leader of his party,

:53:08. > :53:13.why should his voters support him as leader of the country?

:53:14. > :53:19.Thank you, Mr Speaker. The only way to fund crucial infrastructure is

:53:20. > :53:24.with a strong economy. To that end, does my right honourable friend

:53:25. > :53:28.agree that the St James link road in Northampton would help with traffic

:53:29. > :53:31.flow in the town and on the development in the enterprise zone,

:53:32. > :53:37.and will the next Conservative government continue to support me as

:53:38. > :53:40.the MP in backing the scheme? My honourable friend is absolutely

:53:41. > :53:45.right that you need to have a strong economy to be able to fund that

:53:46. > :53:48.crucial infrastructure. That's why, since 2015, we have increased annual

:53:49. > :53:55.investment in economic infrastructure by almost 60%, ?22

:53:56. > :53:59.billion by 2021, including ?2.6 billion for improvements in

:54:00. > :54:02.transport projects. I am happy to see the link road proposal being put

:54:03. > :54:06.forward by his local LEP, which I think will improve access to

:54:07. > :54:10.business and unlock development in the area. My honourable friend has

:54:11. > :54:13.worked hard to see this happen and I am sure he will continue to campaign

:54:14. > :54:21.on issues like that which matter so much to his constituents. Recent

:54:22. > :54:26.changes to housing benefit entitlement for 18-21 olds will

:54:27. > :54:31.affect 195 young people in Merthyr Tydfil. The Government is constantly

:54:32. > :54:35.challenging people to leave benefits for the world of work, but we are

:54:36. > :54:38.concerned these changes will be a major barrier to learning and

:54:39. > :54:41.training for youngsters who do not have a safe and secure environment

:54:42. > :54:46.at home. Does the Prime Minister agree we should do everything we can

:54:47. > :54:50.to help young people in the job market, including offering financial

:54:51. > :54:53.support for housing? And will she pledged to strengthen the guidelines

:54:54. > :54:57.so no more young people risk falling through the net and ending up on the

:54:58. > :55:00.streets? The principle behind what is being done in terms of the change

:55:01. > :55:08.in housing benefit is right, which is to say it's only fair that people

:55:09. > :55:12.who are not able to make decisions when they are on benefits, that they

:55:13. > :55:16.wouldn't be able to make when they are in work. But it is right that we

:55:17. > :55:21.ensure for those young people for whom staying at home, for whom there

:55:22. > :55:24.is a particular difficulty are supported through the system, so

:55:25. > :55:28.significant exceptions have taken place, and we recognise that need.

:55:29. > :55:38.Closed question, Mr Philip Hollobone. I would be happy to visit

:55:39. > :55:42.the Kettering constituency in future if my diary allows. I suspect in the

:55:43. > :55:49.next few weeks I will be visiting quite a few constituencies. Life for

:55:50. > :55:55.ordinary working families is harder than many people at Westminster

:55:56. > :55:58.realise. You have a job but not necessarily job security. You are

:55:59. > :56:02.just about managing but you are worried about the cost of living and

:56:03. > :56:06.getting your kids into a good school. You are doing your best and

:56:07. > :56:10.a Conservative government will do all it can to make sure you have

:56:11. > :56:13.more control over your life. Mr Speaker, these were the inspiring

:56:14. > :56:18.words of the Prime Minister when she took office last July. Will the

:56:19. > :56:24.Prime Minister come to Kettering, Britain's most average town, and

:56:25. > :56:28.repeat these, her core beliefs? Because if she does so, I know she

:56:29. > :56:30.will be warmly and widely acclaimed as the Prime Minister this country

:56:31. > :56:40.needs for the next five years. Well, my honourable friend is

:56:41. > :56:43.absolutely right to highlight ordinary working families who do

:56:44. > :56:47.rely on the Government to provide stability and certainty for them.

:56:48. > :56:51.And that's what this Conservative government has done. We have

:56:52. > :56:56.supported jobs through significant new investment in skills. We have

:56:57. > :57:00.invested in public services like childcare and the NHS. And we have

:57:01. > :57:04.enhanced consumer protections. I am happy to repeat the words I said

:57:05. > :57:09.outside Downing Street on July 13th last year, but it's Conservatives in

:57:10. > :57:12.government that have delivered strong and stable leadership and

:57:13. > :57:17.that is the message I will take to the country during this election.

:57:18. > :57:24.Does the Prime Minister support the people of Darlington when they

:57:25. > :57:28.oppose the downgrading of their A and maternity services? They want an

:57:29. > :57:35.answer they can trust, Prime Minister. Is it yes or no? The

:57:36. > :57:39.proposals for the configuration of health services in local areas is a

:57:40. > :57:46.matter that is being determined by local permissions in the best

:57:47. > :57:50.interests of services in the local area. But I am interested, the

:57:51. > :57:55.honourable lady refers to the views of her constituents in Darlington.

:57:56. > :57:59.She has said, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of her party,

:58:00. > :58:04.my constituents in Darlington have made it clear to me they cannot

:58:05. > :58:06.support the Labour Party under your leadership. How can they possibly

:58:07. > :58:12.support him as leader of the country?

:58:13. > :58:17.Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I welcome the fact that because the

:58:18. > :58:22.Conservatives have managed the economy so well, there is record

:58:23. > :58:25.funding... In East Sussex, for example, some of the best performing

:58:26. > :58:31.schools in the country, they are set to receive an increase of 3%.

:58:32. > :58:35.However in Lewes in my constituency, many small, normal primary schools

:58:36. > :58:39.are set to see a reduction. Could the Prime Minister look at the issue

:58:40. > :58:44.of rural primary school funding so we can even out fairer distribution

:58:45. > :58:47.of the money? She is absolute right to point out the record levels of

:58:48. > :58:52.funding going into schools. It is also the case, as I said earlier,

:58:53. > :58:55.that there has been over the years a general acceptance across this House

:58:56. > :58:59.that the current system of funding is not there in certain parts of the

:59:00. > :59:03.country. That is why we want to end the postcode lottery and look at a

:59:04. > :59:09.system that is fairer and more up-to-date. A system that will

:59:10. > :59:14.support our plan for a society where progress is based on merit, not

:59:15. > :59:16.privilege. I am happy to look at the concerns, I recognise small rural

:59:17. > :59:22.schools have particular issues and I am happy to look at those two ensure

:59:23. > :59:29.we get funding right and we can spread the money as fairly as

:59:30. > :59:35.possible. Every school in my area is facing a massive budget cut. Why is

:59:36. > :59:44.a child there worth less than a child in Tory heartlands in the

:59:45. > :59:49.South? We currently have a situation where there are significant sums of

:59:50. > :59:53.money going into children in certain schools, sometimes double the amount

:59:54. > :59:58.of money going to a child in another school. We need to find a fairer

:59:59. > :00:02.system. We have consulted on that system and we will be responding to

:00:03. > :00:07.that system. But I note from the honourable gentleman about what he

:00:08. > :00:13.has said about his leader, the leader of his party, the Leader of

:00:14. > :00:17.the Opposition. He said, he's not fit to rule. The public see this is

:00:18. > :00:20.a man who doesn't take responsibility serious lie. And he

:00:21. > :00:25.can't take the party forward other than in a divisive way. -- serious

:00:26. > :00:33.and dry. If we can't take the party forward, how can he hope to take

:00:34. > :00:39.Small businesses provide the lion's share of jobs in Cornwall and the

:00:40. > :00:42.Isles of Scilly. The difficulties of attracting credit, rising

:00:43. > :00:44.operational costs and red tape make running a small business

:00:45. > :00:50.increasingly difficult. What can the Prime Minister do to help these

:00:51. > :00:56.small businesses so that they can continue to be the engine of rural

:00:57. > :01:00.economies like west Cornwall's? My honourable friend is absolutely

:01:01. > :01:04.right that small businesses are the engine of the economy. I know he has

:01:05. > :01:09.been a champion for small businesses in his constituency, and he

:01:10. > :01:12.recognises that, if we are going to insure we can create those jobs, we

:01:13. > :01:19.want to encourage small businesses. That is why at the budget the

:01:20. > :01:22.Chancellor provided ?435 million to support businesses in England facing

:01:23. > :01:26.the steepest business rate increases. It is why we have cut

:01:27. > :01:31.business rates by nearly ?9 million, we will do over the next five years,

:01:32. > :01:36.and why we have listened to small businesses and given an extra year

:01:37. > :01:40.to prepare for making tax discs -- making tax digital for over 3

:01:41. > :01:43.million businesses. I recognised the importance of small businesses in

:01:44. > :01:46.Cornwall and I look forward to visiting Cornwall and being able to

:01:47. > :01:52.talk to him and others about the importance of small businesses in

:01:53. > :01:57.there. Can I join with the Prime Minister, with the expressions of

:01:58. > :02:04.condolence led by the Prime Minister early on? This election can change

:02:05. > :02:11.the direction of our country, from the consequences of potential hard

:02:12. > :02:14.Brexit outside the single market to the future of our NHS and social

:02:15. > :02:20.care. Our schools and our environment. The British public

:02:21. > :02:25.deserve to hear the party leaders set out their plans and debate them

:02:26. > :02:30.publicly, but the Prime Minister has refused to take part in televised

:02:31. > :02:36.leaders debates. The Prime Minister and I, back in 1992, debated

:02:37. > :02:45.publicly, forcibly and amicably when we were both candidates together.

:02:46. > :02:50.Indeed, Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister called out the then

:02:51. > :02:57.incumbent, who didn't show up for the debate. Why will she not debate

:02:58. > :03:04.those issues publicly now? What is she scared of? I can assure the

:03:05. > :03:07.honourable gentleman that I will be debating these issues publicly

:03:08. > :03:12.across the country, as well every single member of the Conservative

:03:13. > :03:14.team. We will be taking a proud record of the Conservative

:03:15. > :03:19.government but, more than that, we will be taking our plans for the

:03:20. > :03:23.future of this country, for making Brexit a success in delivering a

:03:24. > :03:27.stronger Britain. He talks about the possibility of changing the future

:03:28. > :03:30.of this country. What do we know that the leader of Labour, the Lib

:03:31. > :03:39.Dems and the Scottish Nationalists have in common? Corbynite, Farron

:03:40. > :03:45.and sturgeon. They want to unite together and divide our country and

:03:46. > :03:52.we will not let them do it. The government wishes to pursue a

:03:53. > :03:56.national industrial strategy. Cumbria has some specific strengths,

:03:57. > :04:01.such as tourism, agriculture, nuclear among others, but also some

:04:02. > :04:05.weaknesses. In the next parliament would the Prime Minister agree that

:04:06. > :04:07.any industrial strategy must take into account regional and

:04:08. > :04:14.subregional factors, and would she be receptive to a Cumbrian strategy

:04:15. > :04:17.that works within a national one? My honourable friend 's body to an

:04:18. > :04:22.important part of our plans for the future of Britain, the modern

:04:23. > :04:25.industrial strategy. We want an economy that works for everyone,

:04:26. > :04:30.that delivers good, high skilled, high-paid jobs and create conditions

:04:31. > :04:36.for a competitive, world leading business to prosper in the UK. But

:04:37. > :04:39.he is right, as we look at that industrial strategy, we need to look

:04:40. > :04:44.at the particular factors in parts of the country. He has long been a

:04:45. > :04:48.champion not just for Carlisle but for Cumbria, and I recognise the

:04:49. > :04:50.need, as does the business department, as we look at that

:04:51. > :04:58.industrial strategy to tailor it according to the needs of particular

:04:59. > :05:00.areas. The Prime Minister yesterday said she was calling a general

:05:01. > :05:07.election because Parliament was blocking Brexit but but three

:05:08. > :05:10.quarters of MPs and two thirds of the laws voted for Article 50, so

:05:11. > :05:17.that isn't true, is it? A month ago, she told her official spokesman to

:05:18. > :05:21.rule out an early general election, and that wasn't true either, was it?

:05:22. > :05:24.She wants us to believe that she is a woman of her word. Isn't the truth

:05:25. > :05:48.that we can't believe a single word? Order, order. The house is rather

:05:49. > :05:57.overexcited. The question has been heard. The answer will be heard.

:05:58. > :06:03.Prime Minister. This house and this Parliament voted to trigger Article

:06:04. > :06:06.50, but the Labour Party made it clear that they were thinking of

:06:07. > :06:15.voting against the final deal. The Scottish Nationalists... The

:06:16. > :06:18.Scottish... The Scottish Nationalists... The Scottish

:06:19. > :06:21.Nationalists have said that they will vote against the legislation

:06:22. > :06:26.necessary to leave the European Union. The Liberal Democrats say

:06:27. > :06:29.they are going to grind government to a standstill, and the House of

:06:30. > :06:35.Lords have threatened to stop us every inch of the way I think is

:06:36. > :06:39.right now to ask the British people to put their trust in me and the

:06:40. > :06:42.Conservative Party to deliver on their vote last year, a Brexit plan

:06:43. > :06:49.that will make a successful this country and deliver a stronger,

:06:50. > :06:55.fairer global Britain in the future. Mr Speaker, I see rats and

:06:56. > :06:59.fly-tipping as a result of beans having not been emptied for up to

:07:00. > :07:08.three weeks across Lib Dem Ryan Sutton. -- Lib Dem run Sutton. That

:07:09. > :07:11.follows a shambolic change to refuse collections. Does my right

:07:12. > :07:17.honourable friend agree that accepting greater delegated powers,

:07:18. > :07:21.elected councillors must plan changes carefully and take full

:07:22. > :07:27.responsibility as accountable representatives when things go

:07:28. > :07:31.wrong? I don't know about the howling of derision coming from the

:07:32. > :07:34.opposition benches, because my honourable friend raises an

:07:35. > :07:38.important point on an issue that actually matters to people up and

:07:39. > :07:42.down the country, and it is our goal to dues littering in England to make

:07:43. > :07:47.sure that our high streets and villages, our parks and green

:07:48. > :07:49.places, that they are pleasant. We have published the first ever

:07:50. > :07:54.national litter strategy for England and we are supporting comprehensive

:07:55. > :08:00.and frequent bin collections, but from what he says, that the Liberal

:08:01. > :08:02.Democrats run Sutton council is doing, it shows that the Liberal

:08:03. > :08:09.Democrats charge the highest council taxes but, under the Lib Dems, you

:08:10. > :08:16.pay more and you get less. Will the Prime Minister join the Scottish

:08:17. > :08:21.Government, North Ayrshire Council and all Ayrshire local authorities

:08:22. > :08:26.and pledge today to support the Ayrshire growth deal, requiring ?250

:08:27. > :08:32.billion of investment targeted to regenerate Ayrshire and improve the

:08:33. > :08:36.lives and prospects of all the people of Ayrshire? -- ?250 million.

:08:37. > :08:39.Is the honourable lady will know, we have already shown our commitment to

:08:40. > :08:43.growth deals in Scotland from the deals that have been agreed. I

:08:44. > :08:46.understand the Secretary of State for Scotland has met with the

:08:47. > :08:49.Scottish Government to discuss the growth deal for Ayrshire she has

:08:50. > :08:53.referred to, and we are in discussion about it. We have already

:08:54. > :09:01.shown our commitment through the deals that have already been struck,

:09:02. > :09:04.for example, for Aberdeen. As part of Southend's celebrations as the

:09:05. > :09:10.alternative city of culture, on the morning of Monday the eighth --

:09:11. > :09:15.Monday the 1st of May, stilt walkers will book nonstop from Southend to

:09:16. > :09:21.number ten Downing St to raise money for the region -- the music meant

:09:22. > :09:24.project to help people with Downing -- people with learning difficulties

:09:25. > :09:26.and a charity for child refugees. Would my right honourable friend

:09:27. > :09:32.arranged on the morning of Tuesday the 2nd of May for somebody on her

:09:33. > :09:40.behalf to receive the stilt walkers and accept from Southend's town

:09:41. > :09:43.crier the proclamation that, in this, the 125th anniversary of the

:09:44. > :09:54.founding of the borough, Southend be declared a city? Can I say to my

:09:55. > :09:57.honourable friend that, when I first heard this issue of the stilt

:09:58. > :10:02.walkers, I thought it sounded a bit of a tall order myself. But I am

:10:03. > :10:05.sure they will be making great strides as they approach Downing

:10:06. > :10:10.Street, and we will look carefully at that. I am pleased to hear what

:10:11. > :10:13.he says about Southend's celebrations but also the efforts

:10:14. > :10:16.being made to raise money for important causes, and we will

:10:17. > :10:25.certainly look into what can be done in Downing Street when they arrive.

:10:26. > :10:33.Will the Prime Minister give a guarantee that no Tory MP who is

:10:34. > :10:38.under investigation by the police and the legal authorities over

:10:39. > :10:46.election expenses in the last general election be a candidate in

:10:47. > :10:51.this election because, if she won't accept that, this is the most

:10:52. > :11:02.squalid election campaign that has happened in my lifetime? I stand by

:11:03. > :11:08.all the Conservative MPs who are in this house and who will be out

:11:09. > :11:11.there, standing again, campaigning, campaigning for a Conservative

:11:12. > :11:23.government that will give a brighter and better future for this country.

:11:24. > :11:26.I am proud that my party in government has ensured that we

:11:27. > :11:31.fulfil in this country our commitment to Nato, to spend 2% on

:11:32. > :11:37.defence, and our commitment to the UN, to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas

:11:38. > :11:43.aid. Will my right honourable friend please omit a future Conservative

:11:44. > :11:48.government to do the same? -- please commit. My right honourable friend

:11:49. > :11:53.is correct. We have committed to meet our Nato pledge of 2% being

:11:54. > :11:58.spent on defence every year this decade. We are to bring on it. We

:11:59. > :12:03.have a 36 billion defence budget, rising to almost 40 billion by

:12:04. > :12:09.20-21, the biggest in Europe and the second-largest in Nato. We are

:12:10. > :12:13.meeting our commitment to spend 0.7% of GM eye on overseas development

:12:14. > :12:15.assistance, and I can assure my honourable friend that we remain

:12:16. > :12:21.committed as a Conservative Party to ensuring that we ensure for the

:12:22. > :12:32.defence and security of this country and work for a stronger world.

:12:33. > :12:37.Schools in Westchester already underfunding by ?400 per pupil on

:12:38. > :12:40.average before the new fair funding formula came in, and now every

:12:41. > :12:48.school in Chester is cutting staff and racing class sizes. That is the

:12:49. > :12:52.education budget. Can she explained the house why is it that the

:12:53. > :12:59.national fair funding formula provides neither fairness nor

:13:00. > :13:02.funding? As I have said in this chamber before, we need to look at

:13:03. > :13:06.the funding formula. We have published proposals and consulted on

:13:07. > :13:11.them and, in due course, the government will respond to those

:13:12. > :13:13.proposals for fair funding. I was interested to see the honourable

:13:14. > :13:18.gentleman being interviewed yesterday and being asked whether he

:13:19. > :13:22.would put a photograph of his leader on the election literature, and he

:13:23. > :13:25.said that the only photo he wanted on his literature was his own. He

:13:26. > :13:37.wasn't prepared to support the leader of his party.

:13:38. > :13:42.So Prime Minister's Questions comes to an end. House has some other

:13:43. > :13:46.business to get through but then we hope to go back to the House of

:13:47. > :13:50.Commons when Theresa May will move the motion to dissolve this

:13:51. > :13:58.Parliament and pave the way for a general election on the 8th of June.

:13:59. > :14:02.The Commons has to vote with a 66%, 66% of the Commons has to vote on to

:14:03. > :14:04.the fixed term Parliament act for an election to be called outside the

:14:05. > :14:10.fixed term of this Parliament, which was meant to run through till 2020

:14:11. > :14:14.until Mrs May surprised us yesterday. She could just call it,

:14:15. > :14:18.she had to say that she intended to call it once she got the support of

:14:19. > :14:22.the Commons. We had some breaking news while that was going on, George

:14:23. > :14:26.Osborne, the former Chancellor, has decided not to contest Tatham, his

:14:27. > :14:32.constituency in the north-west, in Cheshire. The only source we have

:14:33. > :14:37.for that if the Evening Standard, so we are going out on a limb! On the

:14:38. > :14:41.other hand, he is about to become the editor of the Evening Standard,

:14:42. > :14:44.so I assume he would give them an accurate scoop in that regard. But,

:14:45. > :14:53.you know, we always like to make sure. Laura is onto it. It is good

:14:54. > :15:02.to see the Standard getting a scoop from its editor to be. He did say

:15:03. > :15:06.the interesting words, "For now". Maybe he will go back into politics

:15:07. > :15:11.after he makes a success of the Standard, who knows. That was a bit

:15:12. > :15:18.of breaking news. PMQs, an interesting question from Dennis

:15:19. > :15:21.Skinner on the status of those Conservative MPs from constituencies

:15:22. > :15:28.currently under investigation, potentially maybe even charged,

:15:29. > :15:32.because of electoral misspending, overspending in the last election.

:15:33. > :15:36.We have covered that story many times, because a lot of the work

:15:37. > :15:39.that was done by Channel 4 News, but it was an interesting question and

:15:40. > :15:43.the Prime Minister didn't confront it. She said she supported full

:15:44. > :15:47.Conservative candidates, but I think that will come up again. The matter

:15:48. > :15:48.remains to be resolved, and the police have been talking about

:15:49. > :16:02.moving on this before the end of now all what did our viewers make of

:16:03. > :16:05.it? Paul said, Jeremy Corbyn outlined what is important to the

:16:06. > :16:09.vast majority. If Theresa May and the media think it is just going to

:16:10. > :16:15.be about Brexit, they are going to get a shock. An obvious win for

:16:16. > :16:19.Prime Minister May against Corbyn. But I suspect the Lib Dems will do

:16:20. > :16:23.much better than current polls. Martin says, no one ever won an

:16:24. > :16:27.election by telling a country how terrible things are. That is why

:16:28. > :16:31.things can only get better work test for Labour in the past. Seven weeks

:16:32. > :16:34.of running country down will not cut it and will drive most of the

:16:35. > :16:40.country completely doolally. And, if Theresa May think she will get away

:16:41. > :16:44.without TV debates, she is living in cloud cuckoo land. A lot of e-mails

:16:45. > :16:49.like that. If Jeremy Corbyn will make a useless Prime Minister and

:16:50. > :16:59.Bob bankrupt the country, why is Theresa May so terrified of engaging

:17:00. > :17:04.in a live TV debate with him? -- and will bankrupt. George Osborne hasn't

:17:05. > :17:09.quite got the hang of this journalism thing yet. He got the

:17:10. > :17:13.story online in the Standard but missed the deadline for the print

:17:14. > :17:17.edition, which is handed out on every street corner in London. Looks

:17:18. > :17:23.like he missed his own deadline there. These things happen. Laura,

:17:24. > :17:28.what would you like to talk about? It is very clear that Brexit has set

:17:29. > :17:32.the context for this election. Very cleared limbs is on both sides of

:17:33. > :17:39.what the leaders are going to try to push beyond Brexit. -- clear

:17:40. > :17:43.glimpses. Theresa May came back to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership every

:17:44. > :17:48.chance she had. Every Labour MP, she would make a scathing remark. And

:17:49. > :17:52.she said very strong words, that he was not fit to lead. On the other

:17:53. > :17:55.hand, Jeremy Corbyn, with some meandering questions, in his final

:17:56. > :18:02.question he did get to what seems to me to be a theme, which we will

:18:03. > :18:05.hear, that the Tories stand for broken promises. Whether it is

:18:06. > :18:11.Theresa May's first broken promise, that she wouldn't have an election,

:18:12. > :18:15.or promises on the NHS, schools funding... You could see he was

:18:16. > :18:19.building that case. That is the main takeaway for me. On one side,

:18:20. > :18:23.Theresa May will do everything she can to make it about his leadership.

:18:24. > :18:29.He will be trying to do everything he can to make it about the Tory

:18:30. > :18:34.record and policy. Labour knows that when people look at their policies,

:18:35. > :18:38.with their taken off, looking at them blind, rather than looking at

:18:39. > :18:46.Jeremy Corbyn, some of them have been quite popular. If they have

:18:47. > :18:53.their of Labour, they have a different result. -- their of

:18:54. > :18:59.labour. Theresa May will be pushing to keep it about Jeremy Corbyn's

:19:00. > :19:04.leadership. What is the argument for not having leadership debates? It is

:19:05. > :19:13.not the way the Prime Minister has ever done politics. She is slightly

:19:14. > :19:17.unusual, she likes engaging with people on a normal basis as it were.

:19:18. > :19:21.You saw the picture of her acting as a martial in a road race. That

:19:22. > :19:25.wasn't a gimmick done as Prime Minister. She has done that ever

:19:26. > :19:31.since she has been the MP there. She likes getting out and talking to

:19:32. > :19:35.people. TV debates are rather artificial. The other point, you

:19:36. > :19:40.have had e-mails from people, a select and wonderful group of people

:19:41. > :19:43.watching this programme, but nevertheless out their most people

:19:44. > :19:47.do not think the election will be about whether there is a TV debate

:19:48. > :19:53.or not. But it is interesting, because almost every major democracy

:19:54. > :19:58.in the world now has leadership debates -- leaders' debates. They

:19:59. > :20:05.ran incredibly highly. There was one night when the US Republican Party

:20:06. > :20:11.debate, that got higher ratings than the American Football League, the

:20:12. > :20:17.NFL. I have just come back from France, there were two big debates,

:20:18. > :20:22.three hours long by the way... Huge ratings. The Italians have debates.

:20:23. > :20:26.Even the Germans, which have more of a Parliamentary system, they have

:20:27. > :20:30.debates as well. If you want to reach a wide audience, broadcast TV

:20:31. > :20:34.is the medium of the modern democratic election. So what is the

:20:35. > :20:43.calculation that you wouldn't do it? Particularly since neither Mrs May

:20:44. > :20:46.or Mr Corbyn, neither of them have been in government before... Would

:20:47. > :20:52.it not be a good chance for the country to see them perform? I think

:20:53. > :20:56.the country will see them perform hugely over the next six weeks in

:20:57. > :21:02.all sorts of environments. As I say, the TV debates have become almost

:21:03. > :21:07.artificial mouth. The amount of preparation and rehearsal that goes

:21:08. > :21:12.into them. You are not seeing the person in a real environment. And in

:21:13. > :21:16.a sense I suspect they would have been more useful 50 years ago, when

:21:17. > :21:20.you just had two parties. How many parties would you have to have? We

:21:21. > :21:26.had debates in the last election with six or seven people, and

:21:27. > :21:34.everyone agreed they were less satisfactory. Hold on, the

:21:35. > :21:40.Republican -- hold on the Republican primary had 14 candidates. The

:21:41. > :21:44.French debate, 11 candidates... Of course the numbers are greater, but

:21:45. > :21:49.in the 21st century not everything is a binary choice any more.

:21:50. > :21:55.Absolutely. That is the difference. And the other interesting point, TV

:21:56. > :22:05.is in a sense passed its peak as a medium... Really? Social media has

:22:06. > :22:11.taken over hugely. But why were the ratings so big, so huge in France

:22:12. > :22:17.and the US? As you have alluded to, in France and the US, they have a

:22:18. > :22:21.presidential system. We have a Parliamentary system. So there is a

:22:22. > :22:24.huge mediation... But surely people want to see and hear from the

:22:25. > :22:29.politicians putting themselves up for election, to be potentially

:22:30. > :22:32.Prime Minister? This raises further questions about Theresa May, just

:22:33. > :22:39.like going back on her promise not to call the election. A desperate

:22:40. > :22:43.attempt to get that in! This is not a Prime Minister that thinks this

:22:44. > :22:48.election is a done deal. Seven weeks to go. If she is so confident of her

:22:49. > :22:52.position, if she is confident about the propositions she wants to put to

:22:53. > :22:55.the people, why would you turn down the medium that gives the public the

:22:56. > :23:01.best view of what she has got to say? I can guarantee the public will

:23:02. > :23:07.not feel... Will not feel that they are deprived of the views and the

:23:08. > :23:10.performance of the Prime Minister or Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, Nicola

:23:11. > :23:15.Sturgeon, anyone else over the next seven weeks. I suspect the real

:23:16. > :23:19.reason is why David Cameron turned down the head-to-head debates,

:23:20. > :23:23.choosing a studio audience format. The incumbent, the people out in

:23:24. > :23:27.front, have everything to lose by taking part in a debate. The

:23:28. > :23:32.underdogs have everything to gain. So on a simple calculation, last

:23:33. > :23:37.time around, Lynton Crosby, who will direct this campaign as in 2015,

:23:38. > :23:44.will think, what do we stand to gain? Not very much. What do we

:23:45. > :23:46.stand to lose? Potentially a lot. Let's not do it. He was the main

:23:47. > :23:53.voice against Mr Cameron appearing in 2015. Many people think the only

:23:54. > :23:58.reason they had to do a coalition in 2010 was because Nick Clegg was new

:23:59. > :24:03.to many members of the TV audience and he shone and David Cameron fell

:24:04. > :24:08.back. Although TV debates is only a small part of what is going to

:24:09. > :24:11.happen or not in the next seven weeks, in previous elections,

:24:12. > :24:15.particularly 2010, they are thought to have been a major contributor to

:24:16. > :24:19.the dynamics of the campaign that led to the eventual result. What

:24:20. > :24:25.does this say about the confidence and quality of her leadership? Tony

:24:26. > :24:30.Blair always turned it down too. Incumbents never want them. If she

:24:31. > :24:35.has the courage of her conviction and she has a plan for post-Brexit,

:24:36. > :24:39.which is what this election will be about, she should set that out. If

:24:40. > :24:43.you have confidence in your leader, will you put him on your election

:24:44. > :24:47.literature, if we are talking about confidence in leaders? You spend

:24:48. > :24:51.five minutes avoiding the question. Will you put Jeremy Corbyn on your

:24:52. > :24:57.election literature? Don't underestimate Jeremy Corbyn. I'm not

:24:58. > :25:02.going to put him on my election literature, that's not a secret.

:25:03. > :25:05.People will see his passion, his consistency, his commitment. They

:25:06. > :25:11.will see the way he is not ignoring the issues that face people

:25:12. > :25:17.day-to-day. ITV say they will hold a leaders debate, so it will be up to

:25:18. > :25:22.Number Ten to respond. Will they go ahead if the Prime Minister says she

:25:23. > :25:27.will not attend? It will be a stand-off. No doubt ITV will issue

:25:28. > :25:32.the invitation and see the response. Presumably Jeremy Corbyn will say

:25:33. > :25:37.yes. I am certain he will say yes, and Theresa May should say yes. It

:25:38. > :25:40.doesn't seem now like it will take centre stage but it could sour the

:25:41. > :25:45.mood depending on whether the opposition parties decide to act

:25:46. > :25:48.together, whether they somehow have a joint campaigning stance to

:25:49. > :25:53.embarrass Theresa May. We saw not just Labour asking this, but the SNP

:25:54. > :25:57.leader trying to push on this. First Minister versus potential Prime

:25:58. > :26:01.Minister... That is another completely different dynamic. I

:26:02. > :26:07.would expect that probably in the next couple of days, this will not

:26:08. > :26:12.take off, but it may well do. Is it just in the Westminster bubble we

:26:13. > :26:17.are worried about debates or is there a public appetite? It is hard

:26:18. > :26:21.to tell. The ratings are really high, and that is important. We say

:26:22. > :26:25.people don't care about politics, but they rated particularly well,

:26:26. > :26:32.particularly with the younger demographic as we understand it. In

:26:33. > :26:35.2010 and 2015, seeing leaders tested on TV against each other was a

:26:36. > :26:42.really big way that some people got involved. You say TV is past its

:26:43. > :26:45.peak, which I'm not sure is verifiable, but let's not go there.

:26:46. > :26:54.The point is that social media, which you think is overtake --

:26:55. > :27:06.overtaking, it feasts off the debates. All media these days is

:27:07. > :27:14.symbiotic with itself. Who is MP for that constituency? Ashford is a

:27:15. > :27:19.great place... Let me interrupt. We are going back to the House of

:27:20. > :27:20.Commons. Theresa May is moving the motion to dissolve Parliament and

:27:21. > :27:29.call a general election. Every member of this House has a

:27:30. > :27:32.clear and simple opportunity. The chance to vote for a general

:27:33. > :27:36.election battle secure a strong and stable leadership that the country

:27:37. > :27:39.needs to see us through exit and beyond. It invites each one of us to

:27:40. > :27:44.do the right thing for Britain and to vote for an election that is in

:27:45. > :27:50.our country's national interest. My priority when I became Prime

:27:51. > :27:52.Minister was to provide the country with economic certainty, a clear

:27:53. > :27:55.vision and strong leadership after the long and passionately fought

:27:56. > :28:06.referendum campaign. This government has delivered on those priorities.

:28:07. > :28:10.Despite... In the time-honoured fashion, my right honourable friend

:28:11. > :28:14.has called election in what she considers and I consider to be the

:28:15. > :28:18.national interest. It will be a brave man or woman who votes against

:28:19. > :28:21.this motion. And therefore, the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act is seen

:28:22. > :28:27.to be an emperor without clothes, it serves no purpose. Many of us have

:28:28. > :28:33.questioned it. Will the first part of our manifesto be to scrap it? My

:28:34. > :28:39.honourable friend is trying to tempt me down a road. What is clear is the

:28:40. > :28:42.Fixed-Term Parliaments Act gives us an opportunity, notwithstanding the

:28:43. > :28:46.Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, to have elections at another time. But it is

:28:47. > :28:50.of course for this House to vote for that election. I think it is very

:28:51. > :28:58.clear that every member of this House should be voting for this

:28:59. > :29:01.election. I will take one more... The Prime Minister pledged time and

:29:02. > :29:06.again not to call an early election. In her Easter message, she talked

:29:07. > :29:09.greatly for Christian values. Could the Prime Minister Trudeau why she

:29:10. > :29:17.has such a loser and complicated relationship with telling the truth?

:29:18. > :29:21.-- the Prime Minister explain. The Prime Minister is perfectly able to

:29:22. > :29:25.fend for herself, but in terms of order, what the honourable gentleman

:29:26. > :29:30.has said is a breach of it, and I must ask him... He is versatile in

:29:31. > :29:34.the use of language, and he used to write articles as a journalist.

:29:35. > :29:40.Withdraw and use some other formulation if you must. Withdraw. I

:29:41. > :29:43.am very happy to withdraw and reformulate. Why does the Prime

:29:44. > :29:48.Minister have such a complicated and whose relationship with giving the

:29:49. > :29:55.country a clear indication of her intentions? Just to say to the

:29:56. > :29:59.honourable gentleman, I think yesterday I gave the country a very

:30:00. > :30:03.clear indication of my intentions. If he has a little patience, he will

:30:04. > :30:08.hear the reasons why I have done that. The Government has delivered

:30:09. > :30:11.on the priorities I set out last year, despite predictions of

:30:12. > :30:15.immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have

:30:16. > :30:19.seen consumer confidence remaining high, record jobs and economic

:30:20. > :30:22.growth that has exceeded all expectations. At the same time, we

:30:23. > :30:26.have delivered on the mandate we were handed by the referendum

:30:27. > :30:30.result, by triggering Article 50 before the end of March, as we

:30:31. > :30:33.pledged to do. As a result, Britain is leaving the EU and there can be

:30:34. > :30:42.no turning back. Doesn't it takes some brass neck to

:30:43. > :30:48.call a general election when you are facing allegations of buying the

:30:49. > :30:56.last one? I have to say, that intervention was not worthy of the

:30:57. > :31:02.honourable gentleman. Can the Prime Minister clarify, does she support

:31:03. > :31:06.fixed term Parliaments? We have a fixed term Parliament act that

:31:07. > :31:10.enables us to have fixed term Parliaments. I believe that, at this

:31:11. > :31:14.point in time, it is right for us to have this debate and this vote in

:31:15. > :31:18.this house and I believe it is right for members of this house to vote,

:31:19. > :31:22.and I will explain why, to have a general election at this stage. No,

:31:23. > :31:26.I'm not going to take any further interventions for a while. This is a

:31:27. > :31:30.limited time debate and honourable members wish to make their

:31:31. > :31:35.contributions. Today, we face a new question. How best to secure the

:31:36. > :31:39.stability and certainty we need over the long term in order to get the

:31:40. > :31:42.right deal for Britain, in Brexit negotiations, and make the most of

:31:43. > :31:48.the opportunities ahead, and I have come to the conclusion that the

:31:49. > :31:52.answer to that question is to hold a general election now in this window

:31:53. > :31:56.of opportunity before the negotiations begin. I believe it is

:31:57. > :31:59.in Britain's national interest to hold a general election now. A

:32:00. > :32:02.general election is the best way to strengthen Britain's and in the

:32:03. > :32:07.negation is a because securing the right deal for Britain is my

:32:08. > :32:13.priority and I'm confident we have a plan to do it. We have set out our

:32:14. > :32:16.ambition, a deep and special partnership between a strong and

:32:17. > :32:20.successful European union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart

:32:21. > :32:24.its own way in the world. It means... Just a minute. It means we

:32:25. > :32:29.will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own

:32:30. > :32:31.borders, and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends

:32:32. > :32:37.and new partners all around the world. I am grateful to the Prime

:32:38. > :32:39.Minister for giving way, and I can understand she wants to give the

:32:40. > :32:44.house the opportunity to determine there should be an election but, if

:32:45. > :32:48.the house determines now is not the time, why is it that the Prime

:32:49. > :32:52.Minister stands in the face of the Scottish parliament and the Scottish

:32:53. > :32:55.Government, that have voted for a referendum on Scotland's future? If

:32:56. > :32:58.it is right that the people here have a voice and a vote on the

:32:59. > :33:04.future this country, why shouldn't the Scottish people be given a vote

:33:05. > :33:07.as well? Now is the time for a general election because it will

:33:08. > :33:13.strengthen our hand in the negotiations on Brexit. Now is not

:33:14. > :33:16.the time for a second Scottish independence referendum, because it

:33:17. > :33:22.will weaken our hand on negotiations on Brexit. Strength and unity with

:33:23. > :33:26.and seven seats, division with the Scottish Nationalists. National

:33:27. > :33:30.strength and unity with the Conservatives. I believe this

:33:31. > :33:33.delivers on the will of the British people but it is the right approach

:33:34. > :33:37.for Britain and it will deliver a more secure future or our country

:33:38. > :33:41.and a better deal for all our people, but it is clear, Mr Speaker,

:33:42. > :33:45.that other parties in this house have a different view about the

:33:46. > :33:49.right future for our country, while members of the other place have

:33:50. > :33:55.vowed to fight the government every step of the way. The people of

:33:56. > :33:58.Rossendale and Darwin in the referendum gave her and her

:33:59. > :34:04.government a mandate to exercise Article 50. She has done that. We

:34:05. > :34:07.are grateful to have the opportunity to strengthen the Prime Minister's

:34:08. > :34:11.and so she can go out there and get the best possible deal for the

:34:12. > :34:16.people who live in Rossendale and Darwin, our manufacturers and every

:34:17. > :34:22.family there. We should be united in this Parliament in wanting to get

:34:23. > :34:25.that best possible deal, not just for the country as a whole but for

:34:26. > :34:31.everybody across the whole of the country, and I commend my honourable

:34:32. > :34:34.friend for the work he has done in Rossendale and Darwin in supporting

:34:35. > :34:38.his constituents on this. I will give way to the right honourable

:34:39. > :34:43.gentleman and then I will make progress. I can see how it suits the

:34:44. > :34:48.Prime Minister's purpose is to make this election all about but can she

:34:49. > :34:52.accept the possibility it may just become a referendum on hope model

:34:53. > :34:55.cuts, which have left older people that care, schools sending begging

:34:56. > :35:02.letters to parents and a record number of homeless people on the

:35:03. > :35:06.streets of greater register? -- Greater Manchester. Of course, the

:35:07. > :35:10.general election, when we come into the campaign, people will look at a

:35:11. > :35:14.wide range of issues. They will look at the fact that pensioners are

:35:15. > :35:17.?1250 per year better off because of the Conservatives, they will look at

:35:18. > :35:22.the fact that we have 1.8 million more children in good or outstanding

:35:23. > :35:26.schools, but if the right honourable gentleman wants to talk about impact

:35:27. > :35:30.on the economy I suggest he searches in his memory for the time that he

:35:31. > :35:33.spent as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when Labour were trashing

:35:34. > :35:39.the economy of this country and leading us to virtual bankruptcy.

:35:40. > :35:44.I'm going to make some progress. I have set out the divisions that have

:35:45. > :35:48.become clear on this issue. They can and will be used against us,

:35:49. > :35:52.weakening our hand in the negotiations to come, and we must

:35:53. > :35:57.not let that happen. I believe that, at this moment of enormous national

:35:58. > :36:00.significance, there should be unity here in Westminster, not division,

:36:01. > :36:07.and that is why it is the right and responsible thing here for all of us

:36:08. > :36:11.today to vote for general election, to make our respective cases to the

:36:12. > :36:15.country, to respect the result of the mandated provides to give

:36:16. > :36:22.Britain and the strongest possible hand in the negotiations to come.

:36:23. > :36:25.The mandate it provides. In the last election, the Conservatives gave a

:36:26. > :36:28.manifesto commitment to stay in the single market. Will she be

:36:29. > :36:34.withdrawing that commitment from the new one investor and, if she does,

:36:35. > :36:39.will that not weaken her negotiation position as well as removing two

:36:40. > :36:42.months from the negotiating window? We gave a commitment in the last

:36:43. > :36:47.manifesto to provide the people of the UK with a vote on whether or not

:36:48. > :36:51.to leave the EU. That was supported by Parliament. We gave them that

:36:52. > :36:54.vote and they gave a clear message that they want the UK to leave the

:36:55. > :37:03.EU. That is exactly what we are going to do. I fully support the

:37:04. > :37:06.fact that the Prime Minister needs a stronger hand going into the

:37:07. > :37:09.negotiations, as we leave the EU. Does she not think it perverse that

:37:10. > :37:13.some people who didn't want a referendum in the first place now

:37:14. > :37:19.want a second referendum at the very end of the procedure, just in case

:37:20. > :37:23.the British patent doesn't get a good deal from Brussels? Doesn't she

:37:24. > :37:27.believe that, if we were to have a second referendum, it would deeply

:37:28. > :37:31.weaken the position of the Prime Minister in the negotiations that

:37:32. > :37:33.she has with the EU? My right honourable friend is absolutely

:37:34. > :37:40.right in his description of what would happen. For those who say they

:37:41. > :37:44.want a second referendum, actually, that is denying the will of the

:37:45. > :37:48.people, because people voted for us to leave the European Union and we

:37:49. > :37:51.are going to go out there and get the best possible deal. Waiting to

:37:52. > :37:56.held the next election in 2020 would mean that the next negotiations with

:37:57. > :38:01.which their most difficult and sensitive stage at an election was

:38:02. > :38:04.looming. A general election will provide a country with five years of

:38:05. > :38:08.strong and stable leadership to see us through negotiations and to

:38:09. > :38:13.ensure we are able to go on and make a success as a result, and that is

:38:14. > :38:18.crucial. That is the test. It is not solely about how we leave the EU but

:38:19. > :38:23.what we do with the opportunity that Brexit provides that counts. Leaving

:38:24. > :38:31.offers us a unique, once in a generation opportunity to shape a

:38:32. > :38:35.brighter future for Britain. We need a strong and stable and to seize it,

:38:36. > :38:38.a government with a plan for a stronger Britain, a government with

:38:39. > :38:42.the determination to see it through, and one that will take the right

:38:43. > :38:46.long-term decisions to deliver a more secure future for Britain. The

:38:47. > :38:53.Conservative Party that I lead is determined to be that government. Is

:38:54. > :38:58.the Prime Minister at all concerned that, having tried her best to build

:38:59. > :39:01.up a reputation for political integrity, both as Home Secretary

:39:02. > :39:08.and Prime Minister, she is now seen, after all the denials that there

:39:09. > :39:14.will be a snap election, simply a political opportunist? I have not

:39:15. > :39:19.denied the fact that, when I came into this role as Prime Minister, I

:39:20. > :39:22.was clear that the country needed stability, and they need a

:39:23. > :39:25.government that was going to show it would deliver on the vote taken in

:39:26. > :39:30.the referendum on leaving the EU. We have provided that over the last

:39:31. > :39:34.nine months. Now it is clear to me that, if we are going to have the

:39:35. > :39:39.strongest possible hand in the negotiation, we should have an

:39:40. > :39:42.election now. Leaving the election until 2020 would mean we would be

:39:43. > :39:47.coming to the most sensitive and critical part of the negotiations in

:39:48. > :39:51.the run-up to an election, and that would be a nobody's interest. I said

:39:52. > :39:54.that the Conservative Party that I lead is determined to be that

:39:55. > :39:58.government that has the determination to see through its

:39:59. > :40:01.plans a stronger Britain. We are determined to provide leadership, to

:40:02. > :40:05.bring stability to the UK for the long term, and that is what this

:40:06. > :40:13.election will be leadership and stability. I thank the Prime

:40:14. > :40:18.Minister for giving way. Does she, like me, appreciates decisiveness,

:40:19. > :40:21.and does she agree that voting yes in this motion signifies strength,

:40:22. > :40:29.whereas abstaining is a symbol of weakness? I think absolutely that

:40:30. > :40:34.voting yes is a sign of strength. I would say a little more about

:40:35. > :40:37.abstaining, but I think anybody that abstains and thinks we should have a

:40:38. > :40:42.general election presumably is endorsing the record of the

:40:43. > :40:49.Conservative government. Would the Prime Minister agree with Lord Hill,

:40:50. > :40:52.who was commissioned in Europe, when asked in front of the Foreign

:40:53. > :40:55.Affairs Committee what the best strategy for negotiation is, is

:40:56. > :40:59.response was, we have to come together because our interlocutors

:41:00. > :41:07.would be watching this place and they were absolutely exploit any

:41:08. > :41:10.weakness in our political system? My honourable friend is absolutely

:41:11. > :41:13.right, and I'm grateful to him for reminding us what Lord Hill, with

:41:14. > :41:18.his experience, said in relation to this. It is important that we come

:41:19. > :41:22.together, that we don't show the divisions that have been suggested

:41:23. > :41:26.in the past, and that we are able to show a strong mandate for a plan for

:41:27. > :41:29.Brexit and making a success of that. We are determined to bring stability

:41:30. > :41:34.to the UK for the long-term, and that is what this election will be

:41:35. > :41:37.about, leadership and stability, and the decision facing the country will

:41:38. > :41:43.be clear. I will be campaigning strong and stable leadership in the

:41:44. > :41:47.national interest, with me as Prime Minister. And I will be asking for

:41:48. > :41:51.the public's support to continue to deliver my plan for a stronger

:41:52. > :41:54.Britain, to lead the country through the next five years and to give a

:41:55. > :42:01.complete the certainty and stability that we need. I thank the Prime

:42:02. > :42:06.Minister for giving way. On the timetable before yesterday, but I

:42:07. > :42:13.Minister would have concluded her negotiation by 2019. We would have

:42:14. > :42:15.gone into the general election in 2020, a year later, talking about

:42:16. > :42:19.the Prime Minister's deal. That would have given the country and

:42:20. > :42:23.outlook as to what they would be voting for. The Prime Minister is

:42:24. > :42:27.asking the country to strengthen her hand. What she is doing, does she

:42:28. > :42:35.not agree, is asking the country to vote for a blank cheque? I am not

:42:36. > :42:39.asking the country to vote for a blank cheque. We have been clear

:42:40. > :42:43.about what we intend in terms of the outcome of the negotiations. I set

:42:44. > :42:46.out in January, it has been set out in the White Paper and in the

:42:47. > :42:50.Article 50 letter when we triggered Article 50 and submitted that to the

:42:51. > :42:56.president of the European council. I say to the house that the choice

:42:57. > :43:00.before us today is clear. I have made my choice. It is to do

:43:01. > :43:05.something that runs through the veins of my party more than any

:43:06. > :43:11.other, a choice to trust the people, so let us vote to do that today. Let

:43:12. > :43:15.us lay out our plans for Brexit. Let us put for our plans for the future

:43:16. > :43:16.of this great country. Let us put our fate in the hands of the people,

:43:17. > :43:26.and then let the people decide. We overran a bit today to bring you

:43:27. > :43:30.a flavour of the debate going on in the Commons, opened by the Prime

:43:31. > :43:35.Minister to get a boat to dissolve the current Parliament and for a

:43:36. > :43:40.general election on the 8th of June. If you want to watch more of that,

:43:41. > :43:44.it is live on BBC Parliament. We have one more thing before you get

:43:45. > :43:45.to the snooker. That is coming up in a few minutes. Apologies for that

:43:46. > :43:47.for you. There's just time to put

:43:48. > :43:49.you out of your misery, and give you the answer

:43:50. > :43:52.to Guess The Year. You get to press the red button.

:43:53. > :44:07.It's an honour and a privilege. Sam Warburton in Nottingham won. You

:44:08. > :44:13.have won the mark. The one o'clock news has already started on BBC One.

:44:14. > :44:17.Snooker is coming up on BBC Two. We will be back tomorrow. I will be

:44:18. > :44:20.back. With all of the big political stories of the day and maybe a bit

:44:21. > :44:22.more about the election. Bye-bye.