Browse content similar to 19/04/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good morning from Westminster, where, following Theresa May's | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
stunning call for a snap poll, MPs are preparing to vote | :00:07. | :00:09. | |
24 hours in, how is this election campaign shaping up | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
and where will the battle lines be drawn? | :00:14. | :00:25. | |
The parties are scrambling to write their manifestos. | :00:26. | :01:00. | |
So this afternoon, MPs are likely to give Theresa May the go-ahead | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
There's the economy, the NHS, but will this campaign really | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
Jeremy Corbyn says he can win a snap election. | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
But one of his own MPs said he could not countenance him | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
as Prime Minister and called for him to stand down. | :01:20. | :01:22. | |
So how do Labour MPs feel about their job prospects? | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
It is the right time for a second referendum on Scottish independence, | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
but not, according to Nicola Sturgeon, for a UK general election. | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
Why are the SNP trying to block Theresa May's plans? | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
And the Prime Minister says she won't debate | :01:40. | :01:41. | |
Jeremy Corbyn in a TV studio - but she will today. | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
We'll bring you one of the last PMQs before the election, live at midday. | :01:45. | :01:53. | |
And with us for the duration today, two of the people who will be | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
out of a job in two weeks' time if and when Parliament prorogues. | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
But I think both of them will hope to get their job back | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
If not, as Work and Pensions Secretary, Damian Green knows | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
And John Healey should be able to keep a roof over his head - | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
he's currently Shadow Housing Secretary. | :02:13. | :02:13. | |
So MPs are expected to vote shortly for a general election on June 8th. | :02:14. | :02:20. | |
In the old days, it was entirely down to the PM to call an election. | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
But the last Coalition Government changed the rules, and you now need | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
a 66% Commons vote to call a snap poll. | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
But with just about everyone but the SNP on board, | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
Battle lines are already being drawn in the coming contest. | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
So what can we expect in the seven weeks until polling day? | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
It's going to be busy, I can say that. | :02:42. | :02:49. | |
This afternoon, after PMQs, the Government will put a motion | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
before MPs asking them to authorise an early general election | :02:53. | :02:54. | |
in exactly 50 days' time - on Thursday, June 8th. | :02:55. | :02:56. | |
Because of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, ministers need to | :02:57. | :02:59. | |
secure a two-thirds supermajority in the House of Commons. | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
But, with the support of opposition parties, | :03:04. | :03:05. | |
We'll then enter the so-called wash-up period. | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
This is the time, just before an election, | :03:12. | :03:13. | |
when the Government tries to pass outstanding legislation. | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
It's thought that the top priority will be the Finance Bill, | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
which sets out the Government's tax and spending policies. | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
And there are several other outstanding bills | :03:26. | :03:26. | |
on a wide range of issues, such as higher education, | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
In each case, ministers will either have to rush the bills through | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
or start the legislative process from scratch | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
in the next Parliament - if they're re-elected. | :03:41. | :03:42. | |
Meanwhile, on Saturday, April 29th, the leaders of all EU countries, | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
apart from the UK, will meet to try and agree their Brexit | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
Back in Westminster, the dissolution of Parliament | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
This is when the election campaign begins in earnest. | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
One day later, it's the local elections. | :04:04. | :04:05. | |
This will see councils elected across England, | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
Wales and Scotland, and mayoral elections in several cities. | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
The Manchester Gorton by-election is currently scheduled to take place | :04:13. | :04:15. | |
on this day, but it's now likely to be cancelled, | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
In fact, we have just heard that it will be cancelled. | :04:21. | :04:29. | |
And it's not just us going to the polls. | :04:30. | :04:31. | |
On Sunday, May 7th, we'll know the identity | :04:32. | :04:33. | |
And polling day here in the UK should be Thursday, June 8th, | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
with the result announced in the early hours of Friday, June 9th. | :04:38. | :04:45. | |
There we are. We are off to the races, the parties will be working | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
on and releasing their manifestos very soon. See if we can get a | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
flavour of what might be in them. Damian Green, will the Conservative | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
manifesto commits to privatising the NHS? I am sure you will be trying to | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
get me to release the manifesto, but I can guarantee that the | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
Conservative Party has never been about and is not about privatising | :05:11. | :05:18. | |
the NHS. OK, that's clear. What about imposing VAT on children's | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
clothes? Well, as I say, I'm sure you are going to spend a lot of time | :05:24. | :05:26. | |
trying to get the manifesto out of me... Is that a runner, do you | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
think? You can come up with any number... You have brought out | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
private in the NHS, so what about VAT on children's clothes of food, | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
will you rule that out? I'm not going to go into what might be in | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
the manifesto. If you are going to put a series of faintly ridiculous | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
propositions to me, we could happily go through them. It's a bit silly. | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
What have let's file both of these as under, using your words, faintly | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
ridiculous. What about keeping the triple lock on pensions? I'm not | :06:00. | :06:05. | |
going to go through the manifesto. But it's your area. The manifesto | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
will be published in a few weeks and I'm sure you can contain your | :06:11. | :06:16. | |
patience. But you are the pensions minister, aren't you? I am. But what | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
is your view? You won the election in 2015 on the triple lock on | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
pensions, whether it is inflation or average earnings or 2.5%, whichever | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
is the higher. Would you like to continue with you will see what we | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
are going to say on pensions and everything else when the manifesto | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
is published. What are you arguing for in the manifesto? It is your | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
area of ministerial irresponsibility. We have both been | :06:47. | :06:49. | |
around long enough to know that my private views which I might be | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
expressing in private in the run-up to the publication of a manifesto | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
should and will remain private. Let me put it another way. What would be | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
the logic of putting the triple lock into your manifesto in 2015 and not | :07:04. | :07:09. | |
putting it in in 2017? You will have to wait see the manifesto. You can | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
put it in a number of ingenious ways, but I'm not going to | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
pre-release any part of our manifesto. Have you got any | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
policies? You will see in the manifesto. Of course, there will be | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
a full set of policies... Should you not have decided them before you | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
decided to call an election? You will see the manifesto when it is | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
published but I'm not going to give you the fun of partially releasing | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
it. I'm trying to find out if you had actually made these decisions | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
yet. You will see when it is done but these are private discussions | :07:47. | :07:49. | |
that go on and they made public when should make them public, which is | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
when the campaign has formally started, and I'm not proposing to go | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
into either the process or any of the decisions that have been made. | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
Is Labour committed to the triple lock? Yes. So that will be in your | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
manifesto, to the best of your knowledge? Yes, there was a strong | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
logic to this. These are people who have retired, they don't have the | :08:14. | :08:17. | |
capacity to supplement or to earn additional income, and so therefore | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
the triple lock makes sense. How much will it cost to maintain the | :08:22. | :08:28. | |
triple lock between 2017 and 2022? Like with the Conservatives, the | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
detail of the policy plans and the evidence to support that will be in | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
the manifesto. So you have made a promise you haven't yet costed. This | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
has been a promise from Labour for some time. Like a ?10 minimum wage, | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
like free school meals for all primary kids, like a big boost to | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
affordable house-building... And more money for the NHS and social | :08:52. | :09:00. | |
care. Yes. Because some of this... It's always about the record as well | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
but if people want to know about the NHS commitment from the Labour | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
Party, look at what we did in 13 years. At you costed any of it? How | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
much? This is not the detail I'm going to go in. Jeremy Corbyn | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
promised to keep the triple lock last November, so this was a long | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
time ago, but you are telling me that here, in April 2017, you still | :09:23. | :09:29. | |
don't know the cost? We have made the commitment and it's part of our | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
fiscal and spending plans. They will be set out in the manifesto. You | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
will see the detail. What people need to know for the commitment of | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
this campaign is that the triple lock stays, there is a commitment to | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
the NHS and a boost to the adult social care fund, which we have | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
costed at an immediate need... And tuition fees are going as well is to | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
mock you have to see this in the round. Lets see it in the round trip | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
because money does matter here. You have said you are going to keep the | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
triple lock. At this current spending. You're going to spend more | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
on the NHS, that is current spending. You are going to spend | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
more on social care, that is current spending. There are a number of | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
other current spending promises you have made, but John McDonnell, your | :10:14. | :10:15. | |
Shadow Chancellor, has something called a fiscal credibility rule | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
which says that he will balance current spending with revenues of | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
helping you spend all that and balance the budget? Some of this is | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
capital investment... Everything I mentioned is current spending. How | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
can you balance the budget with all of that extra current spending? You | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
and the public will see the detail in the manifesto and you will be | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
able to make your judgments. In housing, I have shown 18 months ago | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
how we can be building 100,000 affordable new homes by councils and | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
housing associations each year and how we could pay. That this capital | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
spending but crucially, savings on housing benefit bill, despite | :10:57. | :11:04. | |
punitive cuts under the Tories. You are going to add about 2 million -- | :11:05. | :11:11. | |
?2 billion to ?3 billion per year to the NHS, another ?2 billion to | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
social care, you are going to save on the triple lock and abolish | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
tuition fees, which is also current spending. You are going to add | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
billions and billions to current spending. They married -- they may | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
well all be good causes in your view. How do you do that and balance | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
current spending? You will see the detail and the planned in the | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
manifesto. You don't know. My point is that any election is about a | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
government's track record. When we look at the track record of the last | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
seven years, Theresa May can't duck the decisions made by Conservative | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
ministers and she has been at the heart of them. But you are unable to | :11:50. | :11:55. | |
tell our viewers about Labour policy by simply attacking him. Is it true | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
that Mrs May at officials in Downing Street looking at the feasibility of | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
an election since last autumn? I don't think so. Gary Gibbon -- Gary | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
Gibbon, Channel 4 News, excellent report. He said that Stephen | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
Parkinson, a veteran of the Vote Leave campaign, was in charge of a | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
secret Downing Street unit working from last autumn on the feasibility | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
of an election. I haven't heard anything about that. It goes to the | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
heart of trust, doesn't it? Mrs May has tried to build a brand of trust | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
and her people like to compare her to Tony Blair or David Cameron. She | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
is more of a straight shooter. But, if she's looking at the feasibility | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
of something, while telling the British people she wasn't going to | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
have an election, that goes to the heart of trust. I have never heard | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
that, and I think she has been completely upfront. She has said she | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
has changed her mind. She reluctantly changed her mind because | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
it became clear that, with these hugely important Brexit negotiations | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
coming up, Tim Farron was saying he was going to grind parliament to a | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
halt, more than 100 Lib Dem peers in the House of Lords were going to | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
make it difficult... You have got everything through! Yes, but the | :13:13. | :13:20. | |
negotiations are coming up. And 21% ahead in the polls is nothing to do | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
with it?! Is in the interests of the British people that we get the best | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
result in the strongest government. A Prime Minister with a new mandate | :13:30. | :13:36. | |
will be able to negotiate better with the EU. And the Prime Minister | :13:37. | :13:38. | |
accused the others claim political games. I don't say anything at this | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
point! Now, the speculation has already | :13:43. | :13:43. | |
begun as to which MPs might try There has also been backtracking | :13:44. | :13:46. | |
from some who had previously said they'd stand down | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
at the next election. So where are we with some | :13:51. | :13:52. | |
of these personalities? We are still waiting for to hear | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
from some Conservatives, like Ken Clarke, who had said he'd | :13:57. | :13:58. | |
stand down at the next election. And could George Osborne bow out, | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
now he has his new job After trying several times to get | :14:03. | :14:05. | |
a seat in Westminster, could the time be right now | :14:06. | :14:12. | |
for the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, and where | :14:13. | :14:14. | |
would he choose to stand? The party's current leader, | :14:15. | :14:17. | |
Paul Nuttall, has said Another battle to watch will be | :14:18. | :14:19. | |
in Clacton, where Ukip's biggest financial backer, | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
Arron Banks, has confirmed he will stand in | :14:25. | :14:27. | |
former-Ukip-now-independent-MP He's refused to rule out rejoining | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
the Conservatives again. Some of the big Lib Dem names have | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
already confirmed they will return to stand again on an | :14:38. | :14:40. | |
anti-Brexit platform. And Simon Hughes | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
in Bermondsey Old Southwark. For Labour, the former | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said he will stand down after 20 | :14:50. | :14:51. | |
years in Parliament. And Tom Blenkinsop has said | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
he will not stand again, citing "significant and irreconcilable | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
differences" with Jeremy Corbyn. Another Labour MP, John Woodcock, | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
has said he will stand but will not In a video message, he said, | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
"I will not countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
Britain's Prime Minister." And last night, one MP, | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
on leaving the weekly gathering of Labour MPs, | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
told reporters, "Go back to your constituencies and prepare | :15:21. | :15:22. | |
for the Guardian jobs page". Not exactly a ringing endorsement, | :15:23. | :15:38. | |
John Healey. How do you feel about your job prospects when the | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
Conservatives, according to two poles, are 21 points ahead of you? | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
You get these stories in Westminster, this kind of humour all | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
the time. You know that as well as Damian and I. We are not strong in | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
the polls, seven weeks of an election campaign, so a big | :15:58. | :16:03. | |
challenge ahead of us. But I am confident, moving into the campaign, | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
day two, and this will not be a narrow campaign about just Brexit, | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
it will be which party has the best plan for Britain after Brexit. Who | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
is going to rescue the NHS? Who is best for family living standards? | :16:17. | :16:28. | |
Who will raise the standards in schools for all of our kids? Who is | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
going to build the affordable homes to rent and buy that we badly need? | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
Do some MPs think this is a chance to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn. Is it | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
time for him to stand down? No, he was recently elected, he leads us | :16:43. | :16:50. | |
through to June 8th. End of story. For all parties, the principal | :16:51. | :16:52. | |
concern is to make sure the voters will support us in the election. And | :16:53. | :17:00. | |
get the message across. But why should the voters support Labour if | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
Labour MPs and candidates standing for election, in the case of John | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
Woodcock, cannot actually say they want to see Jeremy Corbyn as the | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
next Prime Minister? Because first and foremost, everybody votes for | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
their local MP. Second, led by Jeremy Corbyn, and people like me | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
from the Shadow Cabinet and the party, we will put forward an | :17:22. | :17:24. | |
alternative to what we have seen in the last seven years of the | :17:25. | :17:27. | |
Conservatives. This will be a choice. Do people want five more | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
years of the same or a fresh start under Labour? That is the choice | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
people will have, and Theresa May will find it is very difficult to | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
keep seven weeks of attention just on Brexit. Politicians come onto | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
programmes like this and say there is nothing worse than a divided | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
party, in terms of the electorate. Is it acceptable that anyone seeking | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
to become a Labour MP can stand on a platform and say, I will not | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn Britain's Prime | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
Minister. Is that acceptable? Divided parties always struggle to | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
win elections. That is why, from today onwards, we are into the | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
campaign... John Woodcock has said that since the announcement of a | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
general election. Should a party like Labour accept that sort of | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
insubordination? Yes, because our concentration and our main focus | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
now, the one concern must be winning over the public. These are internal | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
arguments. We set those aside and the argument now is with the | :18:34. | :18:38. | |
Conservatives, and to win support on June 8th. So I presume you can see | :18:39. | :18:47. | |
him as Prime Minister? You will see Labour MPs devoting themselves over | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
the next seven weeks to that. Of course I can see Jeremy Corbyn | :18:51. | :18:53. | |
winning this election. Will his picture be all over your literature? | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
Of course I can see Labour winning this election because we will set | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
out a very different picture from the last seven years of the | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
Conservatives, a plan to deal with the matter is that concern people | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
every day. Will you put Jeremy Corbyn's picture on your election | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
literature? I will do it the way I have done before, to get support | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
from my local voters. That is not an answer. Well Jeremy Corbyn, elected | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
twice as Labour or the Labour Party, feature on your election literature? | :19:27. | :19:33. | |
I can't tell you yet. That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement. I | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
haven't written it yet. This is day two of the election. Would you like | :19:40. | :19:46. | |
some help? I could always do with a sharp word or two! Maybe I will come | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
back to you. I thought you were going to offer... ! I just asked. If | :19:51. | :19:58. | |
I offered, I would have to offer it to every party, as you know! Have | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
you seen his drawing? If Labour loses the election, would you expect | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
Jeremy Corbyn to stand down. I'm not going to go into that. We have seven | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
weeks of an election campaign. It is wrong at the start to ask at Weston | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
that might or might not be relevant at the end. -- to ask a question. We | :20:18. | :20:26. | |
want day voice and an alternative, as a Labour government. That is our | :20:27. | :20:29. | |
task and Jeremy Corbyn's task. Now, the SNP have said they will | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
abstain in this afternoon's vote. Party leader and First Minister | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
Nicola Sturgeon called it a "huge political miscalculation" | :20:36. | :20:37. | |
and an "extraordinary U-turn" Let's talk to the SNP's John | :20:38. | :20:50. | |
Swinney. He is the Deputy First Minister. He joins me from | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
Edinburgh. The SNP say they are going to add stain. Why? -- to add | :20:55. | :21:02. | |
stain. Because we are believers in the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. We | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
have it in the Scottish Parliament and we supported the legislation for | :21:07. | :21:09. | |
that in the House of Commons as well. It's very clear that the Prime | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
Minister has decided to abandon the legislation is she supported for a | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
Fixed-Term Parliaments Act to essentially seize the opportunity of | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
the Labour Party's weakness and call a quick election. If you support the | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, why did the Scottish Nationalists attack | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
Theresa may when she became Prime Minister, saying she had not been | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
elected and she had no mandate? It is a statement of fact, she had not | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
been selected, not even by the Conservative Party. But that is a | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
consequence of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. It is a consequence | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
of the fact that David Cameron got into such a political mess, a | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
disastrous referendum with the European Union, which he managed to | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
lose, that he had to leave office... So why can you attack somebody for | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
having no mandate and then when that person seeks a mandate, you attack | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
them? Quite simply because we are believers in the Fixed-Term | :22:08. | :22:08. | |
Parliaments Act. We don't believe the Prime Minister should be able to | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
play political games... So if you take that position, it does follow | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
that whenever there is a change of Prime Minister, by definition, they | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
have no mandate if they can't call another election and they haven't | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
been elected. That is a feature of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act that | :22:30. | :22:31. | |
you support. So it is surely an unfair criticism to have a go at | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
somebody by saying the PM is not yet collected by anybody. Why would you | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
make that criticism? Is a fair criticism because it is a statement | :22:42. | :22:44. | |
of fact, based on the fact the Prime Minister has not been collected so | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
far by anybody. She is obviously going to the country and we won't | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
stand in the way... But you are against it. People will regard this | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
as an absurd position you are in. Parliament decided there should be | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
fixed Parliamentary terms and everyone thought that was a great | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
idea. The reason we are departing from that in the vote today is | :23:09. | :23:11. | |
because the Prime Minister sees a political opportunity, a lead in the | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
opinion polls ahead of the Labour Party, to entrench long-term right | :23:17. | :23:31. | |
winger Tory rule. But she is sticking to the act. It allows for | :23:32. | :23:39. | |
the road to be called if 66% of the Commons votes for it. She is | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
entirely compliant with the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. -- the | :23:43. | :23:49. | |
vote. She is seizing on the weakness of the Labour Party and that will be | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
exposed in the campaign. A political party seizing on the weakness of | :23:55. | :23:57. | |
another political party... When did that last happen? The Prime Minister | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
was very quick to come to Scotland and lecture us about politics not | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
being a game. And what she is doing today is playing a political game, | :24:09. | :24:11. | |
seizing the opportunity of the Labour Party's weakness to try to | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
entrench long-term right wing Tory rule in the UK and the SNP would be | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
a bulwark against that on behalf of Scotland by promoting Scottish | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
interest. If Labour is so weak as you say in Scotland and England as | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
well, Nicola Sturgeon has been talking about the possibility of a | :24:32. | :24:35. | |
progressive alliance involving Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP in | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
Westminster. Is that a road you would consider going down? We want | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
to make sure we have a Parliament elected that will not be a pro | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
austerity Parliament, that will not be a Parliament that is going to | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
deliver a hard Brexit upon the citizens of the United Kingdom. So | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
we will be arguing in this election campaign in Scotland to be the | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
protection against... What about the progressive alliance point? We are | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
certainly happy to co-operate with people of like minds if the electric | :25:08. | :25:13. | |
gives an outcome that supports that proposition. The voters will have a | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
chance to have their say on remember is Parliament and obviously the SNP | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
will work very hard in every constituency in Scotland to win | :25:22. | :25:23. | |
Parliamentary support and make sure we have enough MPs to protect | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
Scottish interests and to be a bulwark against austerity. Thank | :25:29. | :25:32. | |
you. Do you fancy a progressive alliance with the SNP? No, I see no | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
circumstances at all of that sort of coalition. We are fighting to win | :25:39. | :25:41. | |
this election as a Labour government. Coalitions over the last | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
Parliament have got a bad name and going into any sort of arrangement | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
with a party like the SNP, which is set to break up Britain as their | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
sole purpose, and failing as a government in their own country in | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
Scotland, is not for us. A clear enough answer. I may have been a bit | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
hasty... The cancellation of the Manchester, Gorton by-election. They | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
are actually seeking legal advice. We will have to wait. | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
It would be true to say that there is some excitement | :26:15. | :26:17. | |
here in SW1 at the prospect of a general election. | :26:18. | :26:20. | |
has become a tented media village overnight - a sort of Glastonbury | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
But it has come to our attention that some might be | :26:27. | :26:37. | |
less delighted at the prospect of what's at least the fourth | :26:38. | :26:40. | |
opportunity to go to the polls in little more than two years. | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
Brenda from Bristol, for example, has become a social media | :26:45. | :26:46. | |
sensation after giving Theresa May a piece of her mind | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
If you're watching, Brenda, don't let the election | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
campaign wear you down - put the kettle on and enjoy | :26:57. | :27:05. | |
a traditional British past-time, a nice cup of tea | :27:06. | :27:07. | |
If you want a chance to win one, let us know when this happened. | :27:08. | :27:16. | |
# And you cast your fears aside...# | :27:17. | :27:30. | |
# Dreams can come true Look at me, babe, I'm with you | :27:31. | :27:33. | |
# You know you've got to be strong... # | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
# Take me up to a place So far away in your heavenly space | :27:40. | :28:01. | |
# One night One night | :28:02. | :28:04. | |
# In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep | :28:05. | :28:13. | |
# Through the desert of truth...# | :28:14. | :28:16. | |
With regret, I have accepted his resignation. | :28:17. | :28:18. | |
# We all end in the ocean We all start in the streams | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
# We're all carried along by the river of dreams | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
# I go walking in the, in the middle of the...# | :28:30. | :28:40. | |
To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug, | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
send your answer to our special quiz email address - [email protected] | :28:44. | :28:46. | |
Entries must arrive by 12.30pm today. | :28:47. | :28:49. | |
You can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year | :28:50. | :28:52. | |
on our website - bbc.co.uk/dailypolitics | :28:53. | :28:58. | |
And they don't change in a general election! Thank goodness, because I | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
would never cope reading them! BBC compliance will have heard that and | :29:05. | :29:06. | |
think, we have to change it! You know it is a big day because | :29:07. | :29:19. | |
there is a helicopter over Westminster. More than one! A lovely | :29:20. | :29:25. | |
helicopter shot over the millennium wheel. Modern Britain and | :29:26. | :29:28. | |
19th-century Britain together. A lovely shot. | :29:29. | :29:31. | |
Prime Minister's Questions today, obviously it will be all election | :29:32. | :29:45. | |
oriented. And probably another one next week, and then that's it? We | :29:46. | :29:51. | |
think so. We expect dissolution on the third, that would mean the House | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
would sit... Parliament would be gone by that Wednesday? Precisely. | :29:57. | :30:02. | |
But this afternoon's packing up business has to be dealt with. The | :30:03. | :30:09. | |
SNP will abstain. -- technical business has to be dealt with. | :30:10. | :30:13. | |
Goodbye, Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. It didn't last long! It will still | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
be on the statute books, but Theresa May will demonstrate today that as | :30:19. | :30:21. | |
an idea, if a Prime Minister wants to get around it, you can do it. | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
Because no opposition can really say no? Basically it wasn't worth the | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
paper it was written on, some might say. At the time, it was very | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
important for the stability of the coalition. Changing the constitution | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
to keep the beautiful rose garden together, the Lib Dems and Tories | :30:44. | :30:47. | |
both wanted the guarantee that the other would not flounce out when | :30:48. | :30:50. | |
things got pretty. But when the polls look good, you can still do | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
what you always did. Indeed. A few Labour MPs have been a bit nervous. | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
They were already on record as saying they would be up for an | :31:02. | :31:07. | |
election. Mrs May made a big deal of the need to get a bigger majority to | :31:08. | :31:11. | |
get a mandate for her form of Brexit, to be able to push that | :31:12. | :31:17. | |
through, and the Lord's, whatever. Those of us old enough to remember | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
when Ted Heath called an election in February 1974 on who governs the | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
country... Within a week, that had ceased to be the issue, and he went | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
on to lose. Certainly echoes of that very direct call for an individual | :31:33. | :31:36. | |
mandate, and that hasn't happened from a party leader for quite some | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
time. In terms of how Parliament had been frustrated, it has been a bit | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
tricky over Brexit, doing their job, but they have not been blocking | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
things left, right and centre. So one of the things that actually | :31:50. | :31:58. | |
changed was EU response to the exit letter. There was hope to have talks | :31:59. | :32:02. | |
at the same time about the trade deals and the divorce, and the EU | :32:03. | :32:06. | |
said not a bit of it. So guess what, this might be as difficult as the | :32:07. | :32:12. | |
critics warned, and that is one of the factors that changed the balance | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
of the decision, if you like. However your Western, unlike me to | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
rattle on, was, will the campaign be about what Theresa May promised | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
yesterday in Downing Street? Brexit is the context for this election. | :32:26. | :32:29. | |
But campaigns take on lives of their own. Exactly. Even things you have | :32:30. | :32:36. | |
never even thought about. Definitely things that might be very | :32:37. | :32:38. | |
inconvenient for the Government. We are going to be in a strange | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
situation, as your guests have already demonstrated. Both parties | :32:44. | :32:46. | |
will go into this with pretty flimsy manifestoes. We have proved that | :32:47. | :32:51. | |
this morning! I was being diplomatic! We will have a very | :32:52. | :32:56. | |
strong manifesto, I can tell you that. Do you want a hand? | :32:57. | :33:10. | |
Mr Speaker, I am sure that members across the house will wish to join | :33:11. | :33:16. | |
me in offering our condolences to the families and friends of Andrea | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
Christie, who died following the London attack, and Chris Bevington, | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
who was among those killed in the terrorist attack in Sweden, and our | :33:27. | :33:29. | |
thoughts are also with the Army and friends often -- of Hannah Bladon, | :33:30. | :33:36. | |
murdered in Jerusalem last week. This week, I had meetings with | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
colleagues and others. I shall have further such meetings later today. I | :33:43. | :33:45. | |
would also like to join the Prime Minister in offering the condolences | :33:46. | :33:52. | |
of the people of south C and myself to the individuals and their | :33:53. | :33:54. | |
families. -- South Leicestershire. Strong countries need strong | :33:55. | :34:00. | |
economies. Strong countries need strong defences. Strong countries | :34:01. | :34:10. | |
need strong leaders. As the nation prepares to go to the polls, as the | :34:11. | :34:17. | |
nation prepares to go to the polls, apart from my right honourable | :34:18. | :34:24. | |
friend, who else in this house can provide the leadership that is | :34:25. | :34:25. | |
needed at this time? My honourable friend is absolutely | :34:26. | :34:41. | |
right. There are three things that a country needs, a strong economy, | :34:42. | :34:43. | |
strong defence and strong, stable leadership. That is what our plans | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
for Brexit and our plans for a stronger Britain will deliver, and | :34:49. | :34:52. | |
that's what the Conservative Party will be offering at this election, | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
and we will be out there, fighting for every vote. Whereas the right | :34:59. | :35:02. | |
honourable gentleman opposite would bankrupt our economy, would weaken | :35:03. | :35:07. | |
our defences and is simply not fit to lead. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :35:08. | :35:23. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I concur with the condolences the Prime Minister | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
just sent to the families of those three people who so sadly and | :35:28. | :35:29. | |
needlessly died, and it's important we recognise that as a cross-party | :35:30. | :35:35. | |
proposal today. I think the Prime Minister for that. We welcome the | :35:36. | :35:43. | |
general election. But... But this... But this is a Prime Minister who | :35:44. | :35:53. | |
promised there would be one. -- there would not be won. A Prime | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
Minister cannot be trusted. She says it is about leadership, yet he is | :36:00. | :36:08. | |
refusing to defend her record in television debates. -- yet she is | :36:09. | :36:12. | |
refusing. And it's not hard to see why. The Prime Minister says we have | :36:13. | :36:22. | |
a stronger economy. Yet... Yet she can't explain why people's wages are | :36:23. | :36:28. | |
lower today than they were ten years ago, or why more households are in | :36:29. | :36:41. | |
debt, 6 million people earning less than the living wage, child poverty | :36:42. | :36:48. | |
is up, pensioner poverty is up, so why are so many people getting | :36:49. | :36:56. | |
poorer? Well, I can assure the right honourable gentleman, first of all, | :36:57. | :37:03. | |
I would point out to the honourable gentleman that I have been answering | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
his questions and debating these answers -- debating these matters | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
every Wednesday that Parliament has been sitting since I became Prime | :37:12. | :37:14. | |
Minister, and I will be taking out to the country in this campaign a | :37:15. | :37:18. | |
proud record of a Conservative government. A stronger, -- a | :37:19. | :37:29. | |
stronger economy, and economy with the deficit down, 30 million people | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
with a tax cut, 4 million people taking out an income tax altogether, | :37:35. | :37:40. | |
record levels of employment and ?1250 more per year for pensioners. | :37:41. | :37:48. | |
That's a record we can be proud of. Mr Speaker, if she is so proud of | :37:49. | :37:56. | |
her record, why won't she debate it? Wages... Wages are falling. More | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
children are in poverty but in the last Tory manifesto, page 28, it | :38:04. | :38:10. | |
said, we will work to eliminate child poverty. They only eliminated | :38:11. | :38:18. | |
the child poverty targets, not child poverty. In 2010, they promised to | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
eradicate the deficit by 2015. In 2015, they promised to eradicate the | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
deficit by 2020. Austerity has failed. So does the Prime Minister | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
know which year the deficit will now be eradicated? The right honourable | :38:35. | :38:44. | |
gentleman, I know that it's taken... I know that it's taken the right | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
honourable gentleman a little time to get the hang of these Prime | :38:49. | :38:52. | |
Minister's Questions, but I have to say to him that week in, week out, | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
he stands up and asks me questions and I respond to those questions, | :38:58. | :39:06. | |
and what... Order, order. The Leader of the Opposition must be heard and | :39:07. | :39:09. | |
the Prime Minister must be heard. Prime Minister. A stronger economy | :39:10. | :39:16. | |
with a deficit two thirds down, but people will have a real choice at | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
this election. They will have a choice between a Conservative | :39:21. | :39:22. | |
government that has shown we can build a stronger economy and a | :39:23. | :39:25. | |
Labour Party whose economic policy would bankrupt this country but what | :39:26. | :39:31. | |
voters know is that, under Labour, its ordinary working people who paid | :39:32. | :39:37. | |
the price of the Labour Party. They hate it with their taxes, -- they | :39:38. | :39:44. | |
pay it with their taxes, with their jobs and their children's futures. | :39:45. | :39:52. | |
Only this year, the new Chancellor pledged to eradicate the deficit by | :39:53. | :39:56. | |
2022. I do admire Tory consistency but it's always five years in the | :39:57. | :40:04. | |
future. Another Tory broken promise. The Prime Minister leaves a | :40:05. | :40:05. | |
government that has increased national debt by ?700 billion, more | :40:06. | :40:12. | |
than every other Labour government in history put together. Debt has | :40:13. | :40:16. | |
risen every year that they have been in office. We know that their | :40:17. | :40:21. | |
economic plan was long-term. Does the Prime Minister want to tell us | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
how far into the long term it will be before we get debt falling? The | :40:28. | :40:34. | |
right honourable gentleman stand up and he talks about debt. This is a | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
Labour Party that will be going into the election pledged to borrow an | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
extra ?500 billion. And what does that mean for ordinary working | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
people? Well, I'll tell the right honourable gentleman what it means | :40:51. | :40:53. | |
that we know what Labour's lands would entail, because we've been | :40:54. | :40:56. | |
told either former Labour Shadow Chancellor. -- Labour's plans. He | :40:57. | :41:04. | |
said, if Labour were in power, you'd have to double income tax, you'd | :41:05. | :41:07. | |
have to double national insurance, you'd have to double council tax and | :41:08. | :41:14. | |
you'd have to double VAT as well that Labour's plan for the economy. | :41:15. | :41:21. | |
All that her government has delivered, Mr Speaker, is more debt | :41:22. | :41:24. | |
and less funding for schools and hospitals. Schools funding has been | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
cut for the first time in a generation. The Prime Minister is | :41:30. | :41:34. | |
cutting ?3 billion per year from school budgets by 2020 fourth she | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
says they have created a stronger economy. So why are their tax | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
giveaways to the richest corporations, while our children's | :41:46. | :41:50. | |
schools are starved of resources that they need to educate our | :41:51. | :41:56. | |
children for the future? He talks about levels of funding into schools | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
and the NHS. There are record levels of funding going into schools and | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
record levels of funding going into the NHS. But let's just talk about | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
schools, because it's not just a question of funding, it's actually a | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
question of the quality of education provided in the schools. 1.8 million | :42:14. | :42:21. | |
more children are in good or outstanding schools under this | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
Conservative government. That's 1.8 million more children with a better | :42:26. | :42:28. | |
chance for their futures. What would Labour give us? He same old, one | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
size fits all, authority run schools. No choice, good or bad, | :42:34. | :42:40. | |
trust your luck. We don't trust to luck and we won't trust the Labour | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
Party. We will provide a good school place for every child. Parents | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
taking their children back to school for the summer term, many will | :42:50. | :42:52. | |
receive a letter from the school begging for funds to buy books and | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
to fund the school. The Conservative manifesto promised the amount of | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
money following your child into school will be protected. It isn't. | :43:02. | :43:08. | |
It's another Tory broken promise. For the first time in its history, | :43:09. | :43:13. | |
NHS funding per pupil, per patient will fall this year. The NHS has | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
been put into an all year round crisis by this government. Why are | :43:18. | :43:24. | |
more people waiting in pain, and millions of elderly people not | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
getting the care and the dignity that they deserve? I'm proud of the | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
record we have on the NHS. We see more doctors, more nurses, more | :43:36. | :43:43. | |
midwives, more GPs, more people being treated in our National Health | :43:44. | :43:46. | |
Service last year than ever before, and record levels of funding going | :43:47. | :43:51. | |
in the NHS. You only can do that with a strong economy. What do we | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
know we'd get from the Labour Party? Bankruptcy and chaos. Mr Speaker, | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
that's a very good reason why we should have a debate about it. | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
Because that is another Tory broken promise, a broken promise of a Tory | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
manifesto which said, they will continue to spend more on the NHS in | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
real terms say that to those waiting in A departments, say that to | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
those who can't leave hospital because social care is not | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
available. Mr Speaker, isn't the truth that, over the last seven | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
years, the Tories have broken every promise on living standards, the | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
deficit, yet, the National Health Service and schools funding? -- | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
debt, the NHS and schools funding. Why should anyone believe a word | :44:48. | :44:54. | |
they say over the next seven weeks? I can assure the right honourable | :44:55. | :44:57. | |
gentleman that I will be out campaigning and taking to voters the | :44:58. | :45:04. | |
message of the record of this Conservative government, but | :45:05. | :45:06. | |
crucially, of our plans to make Brexit a success and to build a | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
stronger Britain for the future, and every vote for the Conservatives | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
will make it harder for those who want to stop me from getting the job | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
done. Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
when I negotiate for Britain with the EU, and every vote for the | :45:26. | :45:28. | |
Conservatives will mean that we can stick out plan for a stronger | :45:29. | :45:33. | |
Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future | :45:34. | :45:34. | |
for this country. Thank you, Mr Speaker. For years, I | :45:35. | :45:45. | |
have been campaigning for fairer funding in Wiltshire schools. Will | :45:46. | :45:49. | |
Prime Minister reaffirm her commitment to this? And to a review | :45:50. | :45:55. | |
of pupil premium to encompass other forms of key disadvantage, such as | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
being a health carer, mental health problems and other bereavement? This | :46:01. | :46:03. | |
way, we can create a country that will work for everyone. My | :46:04. | :46:08. | |
honourable friend raises an important point. I know she has | :46:09. | :46:11. | |
campaigned long and hard in her constituency and worked hard on this | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
and other issues. We want to ensure young people irrespective of | :46:17. | :46:19. | |
background at the opportunity to make the most of their talents, and | :46:20. | :46:23. | |
the point of our reforms is to end the postcode lottery in school | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
funding and support our plans for a fairer society where success is | :46:28. | :46:33. | |
based on merit not privilege. The pupil premium is worth ?2.5 billion | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
per year. It is an important part of policy because it gives schools | :46:39. | :46:42. | |
extra support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. But I | :46:43. | :46:45. | |
think it is right that schools are best placed to prioritise the needs | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
of their pupils and can use their funding to ensure they support any | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
pupil facing disadvantage, financial or otherwise. May I join in the | :46:54. | :47:01. | |
condolences extended by the Prime Minister and the leader of the | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
Labour Party. Mr Speaker, the tone and content of Democratic debates, | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
including a general election, is very important to all of us. Does | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
the Prime Minister Trudeau political opponents are not saboteurs, and all | :47:17. | :47:20. | |
electric mainstream parties and parliamentarians have a mandate, and | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
that should be respected? -- elected mainstream parties. In this House | :47:25. | :47:30. | |
and in this Parliament, it is right that we have proper debate and | :47:31. | :47:34. | |
scrutiny of proposals put forward by the Government, and that arguments | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
on both sides of the House are rightly challenged. And those | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
discussions take place. But I said to the right honourable gentleman | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
that what the British able, the people of the UK voted for last | :47:47. | :47:49. | |
year, was for the UK to leave the European Union. -- the British | :47:50. | :47:58. | |
people. There is no turning back. But it is clear from statements made | :47:59. | :48:01. | |
by the Scottish Nationalists and others that they do want to use this | :48:02. | :48:06. | |
House to try to frustrate that process. I will be asking the | :48:07. | :48:09. | |
British people for a mandate to complete Brexit and to make a | :48:10. | :48:16. | |
success of it. It's disappointing the Prime Minister didn't take the | :48:17. | :48:18. | |
opportunity to condemn the intemperate language when describing | :48:19. | :48:25. | |
either Democratic politicians. There is heckling from the other side and | :48:26. | :48:29. | |
the Prime Minister should take the opportunity to underline something | :48:30. | :48:32. | |
we should all agree on, that describing people in the way we have | :48:33. | :48:37. | |
read in some daily newspapers by leading politicians is not | :48:38. | :48:40. | |
acceptable. Most people know that the reason why we are having a | :48:41. | :48:45. | |
general election is because of the woeful state of the Labour Party. If | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
the Prime Minister is so confident that her hard Brexit pro austerity, | :48:51. | :48:56. | |
anti-immigration case is right, she should debate it with opposition | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
leaders during the campaign. We look forward to the straight fight | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
between the SNP and the Tories, can the Prime Minister tell the people | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
why she is running scared of a televised debate with Nicola | :49:09. | :49:16. | |
Sturgeon? First of all, can I say to the right honourable gentleman, one | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
of the crucial thing is we have in this country that underpins | :49:21. | :49:23. | |
democracy is a free press. I believe that is important and that people in | :49:24. | :49:28. | |
this chamber should stand up for the freedom of the press. As for the TV | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
debates, I can assure the right honourable gentleman that I will be | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
out there, campaigning in every part of the United Kingdom, taking our | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
proud record of a Conservative government that has delivered for | :49:42. | :49:45. | |
every part of the United Kingdom. And I might suggest to the Scottish | :49:46. | :49:49. | |
Nationalists that actually now is the time for them to put aside... | :49:50. | :49:57. | |
Wait for it. Now is the time for them to put aside their tunnel | :49:58. | :50:05. | |
vision on independence. And actually explain to the Scottish people why, | :50:06. | :50:08. | |
under the SNP, they are not putting as much money into the health | :50:09. | :50:12. | |
service as they have been given from the UK. They are not exercising the | :50:13. | :50:16. | |
powers they have been given, and Scottish education is getting worse. | :50:17. | :50:19. | |
It's time they got back to their day job. | :50:20. | :50:29. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also welcome the announcement from the | :50:30. | :50:35. | |
Prime Minister yesterday and I look forward to the general election, and | :50:36. | :50:38. | |
taking my positive message to my constituents. Over the last two | :50:39. | :50:46. | |
years, I have pressed for first-class transport infrastructure | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
in Cheadle, and this week I launched a transport survey so my | :50:51. | :50:53. | |
constituents can have their say on what is needed to keep them moving | :50:54. | :50:56. | |
and for us to be at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse. Does my right | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
honourable friend agree that residents in Cheadle need to vote | :51:02. | :51:09. | |
Conservative on June 8th to continue getting investment in transport and | :51:10. | :51:12. | |
infrastructure, not only in Cheadle but across the Northwest? I | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
absolutely agree with my honourable friend on that point. I know she has | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
been working very hard for her constituents in Cheadle on this | :51:23. | :51:25. | |
transport issue and others. It is under this government that we are | :51:26. | :51:31. | |
investing ?290 million to improve transport links to Manchester | :51:32. | :51:35. | |
Airport through Cheadle, and ?2.1 million committed to improving | :51:36. | :51:37. | |
walking and cycling routes around the Cheadle Hume district centre. | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
That is why the choice is clear. If you want to see that funding into | :51:43. | :51:46. | |
infrastructure, we need a strong economy and only the Conservatives | :51:47. | :51:53. | |
can deliver that strong economy. Because of the Prime | :51:54. | :51:55. | |
Minister'schanges to education funding, every school in the country | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
will face real terms cuts. Manchester is hit harder than | :52:01. | :52:05. | |
anywhere outside London... With Chorlton high school and another in | :52:06. | :52:12. | |
my constituency each losing the equivalent of over 30 teachers. So I | :52:13. | :52:16. | |
asked the Prime Minister the same question a head teacher asked me. | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
What would the Prime Minister cut to balance the books? What subjects | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
which you choose to sack teachers from? As the honourable gentleman | :52:24. | :52:30. | |
knows, there are record levels of funding going into our schools. | :52:31. | :52:36. | |
Everybody across this House has recognised for many years that the | :52:37. | :52:42. | |
current funding formula is not fair across the country. And it's | :52:43. | :52:46. | |
necessary for us to look for a fairer funding formula. We have | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
consulted on that and will be responding to that consultation. But | :52:52. | :52:55. | |
I say to the honourable gentleman, as he faces up to the election, I | :52:56. | :52:59. | |
note that last year he failed to back, he opposed the leader of his | :53:00. | :53:03. | |
party... If he wasn't willing to support him as leader of his party, | :53:04. | :53:07. | |
why should his voters support him as leader of the country? | :53:08. | :53:13. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The only way to fund crucial infrastructure is | :53:14. | :53:19. | |
with a strong economy. To that end, does my right honourable friend | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
agree that the St James link road in Northampton would help with traffic | :53:25. | :53:28. | |
flow in the town and on the development in the enterprise zone, | :53:29. | :53:31. | |
and will the next Conservative government continue to support me as | :53:32. | :53:37. | |
the MP in backing the scheme? My honourable friend is absolutely | :53:38. | :53:40. | |
right that you need to have a strong economy to be able to fund that | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
crucial infrastructure. That's why, since 2015, we have increased annual | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
investment in economic infrastructure by almost 60%, ?22 | :53:49. | :53:55. | |
billion by 2021, including ?2.6 billion for improvements in | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
transport projects. I am happy to see the link road proposal being put | :54:00. | :54:02. | |
forward by his local LEP, which I think will improve access to | :54:03. | :54:06. | |
business and unlock development in the area. My honourable friend has | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
worked hard to see this happen and I am sure he will continue to campaign | :54:11. | :54:13. | |
on issues like that which matter so much to his constituents. Recent | :54:14. | :54:21. | |
changes to housing benefit entitlement for 18-21 olds will | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
affect 195 young people in Merthyr Tydfil. The Government is constantly | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
challenging people to leave benefits for the world of work, but we are | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
concerned these changes will be a major barrier to learning and | :54:36. | :54:38. | |
training for youngsters who do not have a safe and secure environment | :54:39. | :54:41. | |
at home. Does the Prime Minister agree we should do everything we can | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
to help young people in the job market, including offering financial | :54:47. | :54:50. | |
support for housing? And will she pledged to strengthen the guidelines | :54:51. | :54:53. | |
so no more young people risk falling through the net and ending up on the | :54:54. | :54:57. | |
streets? The principle behind what is being done in terms of the change | :54:58. | :55:00. | |
in housing benefit is right, which is to say it's only fair that people | :55:01. | :55:08. | |
who are not able to make decisions when they are on benefits, that they | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
wouldn't be able to make when they are in work. But it is right that we | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
ensure for those young people for whom staying at home, for whom there | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
is a particular difficulty are supported through the system, so | :55:22. | :55:24. | |
significant exceptions have taken place, and we recognise that need. | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
Closed question, Mr Philip Hollobone. I would be happy to visit | :55:29. | :55:38. | |
the Kettering constituency in future if my diary allows. I suspect in the | :55:39. | :55:42. | |
next few weeks I will be visiting quite a few constituencies. Life for | :55:43. | :55:49. | |
ordinary working families is harder than many people at Westminster | :55:50. | :55:55. | |
realise. You have a job but not necessarily job security. You are | :55:56. | :55:58. | |
just about managing but you are worried about the cost of living and | :55:59. | :56:02. | |
getting your kids into a good school. You are doing your best and | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
a Conservative government will do all it can to make sure you have | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
more control over your life. Mr Speaker, these were the inspiring | :56:11. | :56:13. | |
words of the Prime Minister when she took office last July. Will the | :56:14. | :56:18. | |
Prime Minister come to Kettering, Britain's most average town, and | :56:19. | :56:24. | |
repeat these, her core beliefs? Because if she does so, I know she | :56:25. | :56:28. | |
will be warmly and widely acclaimed as the Prime Minister this country | :56:29. | :56:30. | |
needs for the next five years. Well, my honourable friend is | :56:31. | :56:40. | |
absolutely right to highlight ordinary working families who do | :56:41. | :56:43. | |
rely on the Government to provide stability and certainty for them. | :56:44. | :56:47. | |
And that's what this Conservative government has done. We have | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
supported jobs through significant new investment in skills. We have | :56:52. | :56:56. | |
invested in public services like childcare and the NHS. And we have | :56:57. | :57:00. | |
enhanced consumer protections. I am happy to repeat the words I said | :57:01. | :57:04. | |
outside Downing Street on July 13th last year, but it's Conservatives in | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
government that have delivered strong and stable leadership and | :57:10. | :57:12. | |
that is the message I will take to the country during this election. | :57:13. | :57:17. | |
Does the Prime Minister support the people of Darlington when they | :57:18. | :57:24. | |
oppose the downgrading of their A and maternity services? They want an | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
answer they can trust, Prime Minister. Is it yes or no? The | :57:29. | :57:35. | |
proposals for the configuration of health services in local areas is a | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
matter that is being determined by local permissions in the best | :57:40. | :57:46. | |
interests of services in the local area. But I am interested, the | :57:47. | :57:50. | |
honourable lady refers to the views of her constituents in Darlington. | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
She has said, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of her party, | :57:56. | :57:59. | |
my constituents in Darlington have made it clear to me they cannot | :58:00. | :58:04. | |
support the Labour Party under your leadership. How can they possibly | :58:05. | :58:06. | |
support him as leader of the country? | :58:07. | :58:12. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I welcome the fact that because the | :58:13. | :58:17. | |
Conservatives have managed the economy so well, there is record | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
funding... In East Sussex, for example, some of the best performing | :58:23. | :58:25. | |
schools in the country, they are set to receive an increase of 3%. | :58:26. | :58:31. | |
However in Lewes in my constituency, many small, normal primary schools | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
are set to see a reduction. Could the Prime Minister look at the issue | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
of rural primary school funding so we can even out fairer distribution | :58:40. | :58:44. | |
of the money? She is absolute right to point out the record levels of | :58:45. | :58:47. | |
funding going into schools. It is also the case, as I said earlier, | :58:48. | :58:52. | |
that there has been over the years a general acceptance across this House | :58:53. | :58:55. | |
that the current system of funding is not there in certain parts of the | :58:56. | :58:59. | |
country. That is why we want to end the postcode lottery and look at a | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
system that is fairer and more up-to-date. A system that will | :59:04. | :59:09. | |
support our plan for a society where progress is based on merit, not | :59:10. | :59:14. | |
privilege. I am happy to look at the concerns, I recognise small rural | :59:15. | :59:16. | |
schools have particular issues and I am happy to look at those two ensure | :59:17. | :59:22. | |
we get funding right and we can spread the money as fairly as | :59:23. | :59:29. | |
possible. Every school in my area is facing a massive budget cut. Why is | :59:30. | :59:35. | |
a child there worth less than a child in Tory heartlands in the | :59:36. | :59:44. | |
South? We currently have a situation where there are significant sums of | :59:45. | :59:49. | |
money going into children in certain schools, sometimes double the amount | :59:50. | :59:53. | |
of money going to a child in another school. We need to find a fairer | :59:54. | :59:58. | |
system. We have consulted on that system and we will be responding to | :59:59. | :00:02. | |
that system. But I note from the honourable gentleman about what he | :00:03. | :00:07. | |
has said about his leader, the leader of his party, the Leader of | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
the Opposition. He said, he's not fit to rule. The public see this is | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
a man who doesn't take responsibility serious lie. And he | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
can't take the party forward other than in a divisive way. -- serious | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
and dry. If we can't take the party forward, how can he hope to take | :00:26. | :00:33. | |
Small businesses provide the lion's share of jobs in Cornwall and the | :00:34. | :00:39. | |
Isles of Scilly. The difficulties of attracting credit, rising | :00:40. | :00:42. | |
operational costs and red tape make running a small business | :00:43. | :00:44. | |
increasingly difficult. What can the Prime Minister do to help these | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
small businesses so that they can continue to be the engine of rural | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
economies like west Cornwall's? My honourable friend is absolutely | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
right that small businesses are the engine of the economy. I know he has | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
been a champion for small businesses in his constituency, and he | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
recognises that, if we are going to insure we can create those jobs, we | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
want to encourage small businesses. That is why at the budget the | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
Chancellor provided ?435 million to support businesses in England facing | :01:20. | :01:22. | |
the steepest business rate increases. It is why we have cut | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
business rates by nearly ?9 million, we will do over the next five years, | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
and why we have listened to small businesses and given an extra year | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
to prepare for making tax discs -- making tax digital for over 3 | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
million businesses. I recognised the importance of small businesses in | :01:41. | :01:43. | |
Cornwall and I look forward to visiting Cornwall and being able to | :01:44. | :01:46. | |
talk to him and others about the importance of small businesses in | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
there. Can I join with the Prime Minister, with the expressions of | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
condolence led by the Prime Minister early on? This election can change | :01:58. | :02:04. | |
the direction of our country, from the consequences of potential hard | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
Brexit outside the single market to the future of our NHS and social | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
care. Our schools and our environment. The British public | :02:15. | :02:20. | |
deserve to hear the party leaders set out their plans and debate them | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
publicly, but the Prime Minister has refused to take part in televised | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
leaders debates. The Prime Minister and I, back in 1992, debated | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
publicly, forcibly and amicably when we were both candidates together. | :02:37. | :02:45. | |
Indeed, Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister called out the then | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
incumbent, who didn't show up for the debate. Why will she not debate | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
those issues publicly now? What is she scared of? I can assure the | :02:58. | :03:04. | |
honourable gentleman that I will be debating these issues publicly | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
across the country, as well every single member of the Conservative | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
team. We will be taking a proud record of the Conservative | :03:13. | :03:14. | |
government but, more than that, we will be taking our plans for the | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
future of this country, for making Brexit a success in delivering a | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
stronger Britain. He talks about the possibility of changing the future | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
of this country. What do we know that the leader of Labour, the Lib | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
Dems and the Scottish Nationalists have in common? Corbynite, Farron | :03:31. | :03:39. | |
and sturgeon. They want to unite together and divide our country and | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
we will not let them do it. The government wishes to pursue a | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
national industrial strategy. Cumbria has some specific strengths, | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
such as tourism, agriculture, nuclear among others, but also some | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
weaknesses. In the next parliament would the Prime Minister agree that | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
any industrial strategy must take into account regional and | :04:06. | :04:07. | |
subregional factors, and would she be receptive to a Cumbrian strategy | :04:08. | :04:14. | |
that works within a national one? My honourable friend 's body to an | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
important part of our plans for the future of Britain, the modern | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
industrial strategy. We want an economy that works for everyone, | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
that delivers good, high skilled, high-paid jobs and create conditions | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
for a competitive, world leading business to prosper in the UK. But | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
he is right, as we look at that industrial strategy, we need to look | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
at the particular factors in parts of the country. He has long been a | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
champion not just for Carlisle but for Cumbria, and I recognise the | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
need, as does the business department, as we look at that | :04:49. | :04:50. | |
industrial strategy to tailor it according to the needs of particular | :04:51. | :04:58. | |
areas. The Prime Minister yesterday said she was calling a general | :04:59. | :05:00. | |
election because Parliament was blocking Brexit but but three | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
quarters of MPs and two thirds of the laws voted for Article 50, so | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
that isn't true, is it? A month ago, she told her official spokesman to | :05:11. | :05:17. | |
rule out an early general election, and that wasn't true either, was it? | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
She wants us to believe that she is a woman of her word. Isn't the truth | :05:22. | :05:24. | |
that we can't believe a single word? Order, order. The house is rather | :05:25. | :05:48. | |
overexcited. The question has been heard. The answer will be heard. | :05:49. | :05:57. | |
Prime Minister. This house and this Parliament voted to trigger Article | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
50, but the Labour Party made it clear that they were thinking of | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
voting against the final deal. The Scottish Nationalists... The | :06:07. | :06:15. | |
Scottish... The Scottish Nationalists... The Scottish | :06:16. | :06:18. | |
Nationalists have said that they will vote against the legislation | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
necessary to leave the European Union. The Liberal Democrats say | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
they are going to grind government to a standstill, and the House of | :06:27. | :06:29. | |
Lords have threatened to stop us every inch of the way I think is | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
right now to ask the British people to put their trust in me and the | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
Conservative Party to deliver on their vote last year, a Brexit plan | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
that will make a successful this country and deliver a stronger, | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
fairer global Britain in the future. Mr Speaker, I see rats and | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
fly-tipping as a result of beans having not been emptied for up to | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
three weeks across Lib Dem Ryan Sutton. -- Lib Dem run Sutton. That | :07:00. | :07:08. | |
follows a shambolic change to refuse collections. Does my right | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
honourable friend agree that accepting greater delegated powers, | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
elected councillors must plan changes carefully and take full | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
responsibility as accountable representatives when things go | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
wrong? I don't know about the howling of derision coming from the | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
opposition benches, because my honourable friend raises an | :07:32. | :07:34. | |
important point on an issue that actually matters to people up and | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
down the country, and it is our goal to dues littering in England to make | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
sure that our high streets and villages, our parks and green | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
places, that they are pleasant. We have published the first ever | :07:48. | :07:49. | |
national litter strategy for England and we are supporting comprehensive | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
and frequent bin collections, but from what he says, that the Liberal | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
Democrats run Sutton council is doing, it shows that the Liberal | :08:01. | :08:02. | |
Democrats charge the highest council taxes but, under the Lib Dems, you | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
pay more and you get less. Will the Prime Minister join the Scottish | :08:10. | :08:16. | |
Government, North Ayrshire Council and all Ayrshire local authorities | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
and pledge today to support the Ayrshire growth deal, requiring ?250 | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
billion of investment targeted to regenerate Ayrshire and improve the | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
lives and prospects of all the people of Ayrshire? -- ?250 million. | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
Is the honourable lady will know, we have already shown our commitment to | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
growth deals in Scotland from the deals that have been agreed. I | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
understand the Secretary of State for Scotland has met with the | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
Scottish Government to discuss the growth deal for Ayrshire she has | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
referred to, and we are in discussion about it. We have already | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
shown our commitment through the deals that have already been struck, | :08:54. | :09:01. | |
for example, for Aberdeen. As part of Southend's celebrations as the | :09:02. | :09:04. | |
alternative city of culture, on the morning of Monday the eighth -- | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
Monday the 1st of May, stilt walkers will book nonstop from Southend to | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
number ten Downing St to raise money for the region -- the music meant | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
project to help people with Downing -- people with learning difficulties | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
and a charity for child refugees. Would my right honourable friend | :09:25. | :09:26. | |
arranged on the morning of Tuesday the 2nd of May for somebody on her | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
behalf to receive the stilt walkers and accept from Southend's town | :09:33. | :09:40. | |
crier the proclamation that, in this, the 125th anniversary of the | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
founding of the borough, Southend be declared a city? Can I say to my | :09:44. | :09:54. | |
honourable friend that, when I first heard this issue of the stilt | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
walkers, I thought it sounded a bit of a tall order myself. But I am | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
sure they will be making great strides as they approach Downing | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
Street, and we will look carefully at that. I am pleased to hear what | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
he says about Southend's celebrations but also the efforts | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
being made to raise money for important causes, and we will | :10:14. | :10:16. | |
certainly look into what can be done in Downing Street when they arrive. | :10:17. | :10:25. | |
Will the Prime Minister give a guarantee that no Tory MP who is | :10:26. | :10:33. | |
under investigation by the police and the legal authorities over | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
election expenses in the last general election be a candidate in | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
this election because, if she won't accept that, this is the most | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
squalid election campaign that has happened in my lifetime? I stand by | :10:52. | :11:02. | |
all the Conservative MPs who are in this house and who will be out | :11:03. | :11:08. | |
there, standing again, campaigning, campaigning for a Conservative | :11:09. | :11:11. | |
government that will give a brighter and better future for this country. | :11:12. | :11:23. | |
I am proud that my party in government has ensured that we | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
fulfil in this country our commitment to Nato, to spend 2% on | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
defence, and our commitment to the UN, to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
aid. Will my right honourable friend please omit a future Conservative | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
government to do the same? -- please commit. My right honourable friend | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
is correct. We have committed to meet our Nato pledge of 2% being | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
spent on defence every year this decade. We are to bring on it. We | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
have a 36 billion defence budget, rising to almost 40 billion by | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
20-21, the biggest in Europe and the second-largest in Nato. We are | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
meeting our commitment to spend 0.7% of GM eye on overseas development | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
assistance, and I can assure my honourable friend that we remain | :12:14. | :12:15. | |
committed as a Conservative Party to ensuring that we ensure for the | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
defence and security of this country and work for a stronger world. | :12:22. | :12:32. | |
Schools in Westchester already underfunding by ?400 per pupil on | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
average before the new fair funding formula came in, and now every | :12:38. | :12:40. | |
school in Chester is cutting staff and racing class sizes. That is the | :12:41. | :12:48. | |
education budget. Can she explained the house why is it that the | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
national fair funding formula provides neither fairness nor | :12:53. | :12:59. | |
funding? As I have said in this chamber before, we need to look at | :13:00. | :13:02. | |
the funding formula. We have published proposals and consulted on | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
them and, in due course, the government will respond to those | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
proposals for fair funding. I was interested to see the honourable | :13:12. | :13:13. | |
gentleman being interviewed yesterday and being asked whether he | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
would put a photograph of his leader on the election literature, and he | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
said that the only photo he wanted on his literature was his own. He | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
wasn't prepared to support the leader of his party. | :13:26. | :13:37. | |
So Prime Minister's Questions comes to an end. House has some other | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
business to get through but then we hope to go back to the House of | :13:43. | :13:46. | |
Commons when Theresa May will move the motion to dissolve this | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
Parliament and pave the way for a general election on the 8th of June. | :13:51. | :13:58. | |
The Commons has to vote with a 66%, 66% of the Commons has to vote on to | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
the fixed term Parliament act for an election to be called outside the | :14:03. | :14:04. | |
fixed term of this Parliament, which was meant to run through till 2020 | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
until Mrs May surprised us yesterday. She could just call it, | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
she had to say that she intended to call it once she got the support of | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
the Commons. We had some breaking news while that was going on, George | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
Osborne, the former Chancellor, has decided not to contest Tatham, his | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
constituency in the north-west, in Cheshire. The only source we have | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
for that if the Evening Standard, so we are going out on a limb! On the | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
other hand, he is about to become the editor of the Evening Standard, | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
so I assume he would give them an accurate scoop in that regard. But, | :14:42. | :14:44. | |
you know, we always like to make sure. Laura is onto it. It is good | :14:45. | :14:53. | |
to see the Standard getting a scoop from its editor to be. He did say | :14:54. | :15:02. | |
the interesting words, "For now". Maybe he will go back into politics | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
after he makes a success of the Standard, who knows. That was a bit | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
of breaking news. PMQs, an interesting question from Dennis | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
Skinner on the status of those Conservative MPs from constituencies | :15:19. | :15:21. | |
currently under investigation, potentially maybe even charged, | :15:22. | :15:28. | |
because of electoral misspending, overspending in the last election. | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
We have covered that story many times, because a lot of the work | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
that was done by Channel 4 News, but it was an interesting question and | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
the Prime Minister didn't confront it. She said she supported full | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
Conservative candidates, but I think that will come up again. The matter | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
remains to be resolved, and the police have been talking about | :15:48. | :15:48. | |
moving on this before the end of now all what did our viewers make of | :15:49. | :16:02. | |
it? Paul said, Jeremy Corbyn outlined what is important to the | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
vast majority. If Theresa May and the media think it is just going to | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
be about Brexit, they are going to get a shock. An obvious win for | :16:10. | :16:15. | |
Prime Minister May against Corbyn. But I suspect the Lib Dems will do | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
much better than current polls. Martin says, no one ever won an | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
election by telling a country how terrible things are. That is why | :16:24. | :16:27. | |
things can only get better work test for Labour in the past. Seven weeks | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
of running country down will not cut it and will drive most of the | :16:32. | :16:34. | |
country completely doolally. And, if Theresa May think she will get away | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
without TV debates, she is living in cloud cuckoo land. A lot of e-mails | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
like that. If Jeremy Corbyn will make a useless Prime Minister and | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
Bob bankrupt the country, why is Theresa May so terrified of engaging | :16:50. | :16:59. | |
in a live TV debate with him? -- and will bankrupt. George Osborne hasn't | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
quite got the hang of this journalism thing yet. He got the | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
story online in the Standard but missed the deadline for the print | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
edition, which is handed out on every street corner in London. Looks | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
like he missed his own deadline there. These things happen. Laura, | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
what would you like to talk about? It is very clear that Brexit has set | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
the context for this election. Very cleared limbs is on both sides of | :17:29. | :17:32. | |
what the leaders are going to try to push beyond Brexit. -- clear | :17:33. | :17:39. | |
glimpses. Theresa May came back to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership every | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
chance she had. Every Labour MP, she would make a scathing remark. And | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
she said very strong words, that he was not fit to lead. On the other | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
hand, Jeremy Corbyn, with some meandering questions, in his final | :17:53. | :17:55. | |
question he did get to what seems to me to be a theme, which we will | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
hear, that the Tories stand for broken promises. Whether it is | :18:03. | :18:05. | |
Theresa May's first broken promise, that she wouldn't have an election, | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
or promises on the NHS, schools funding... You could see he was | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
building that case. That is the main takeaway for me. On one side, | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
Theresa May will do everything she can to make it about his leadership. | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
He will be trying to do everything he can to make it about the Tory | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
record and policy. Labour knows that when people look at their policies, | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
with their taken off, looking at them blind, rather than looking at | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
Jeremy Corbyn, some of them have been quite popular. If they have | :18:39. | :18:46. | |
their of Labour, they have a different result. -- their of | :18:47. | :18:53. | |
labour. Theresa May will be pushing to keep it about Jeremy Corbyn's | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
leadership. What is the argument for not having leadership debates? It is | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
not the way the Prime Minister has ever done politics. She is slightly | :19:05. | :19:13. | |
unusual, she likes engaging with people on a normal basis as it were. | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
You saw the picture of her acting as a martial in a road race. That | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
wasn't a gimmick done as Prime Minister. She has done that ever | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
since she has been the MP there. She likes getting out and talking to | :19:26. | :19:31. | |
people. TV debates are rather artificial. The other point, you | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
have had e-mails from people, a select and wonderful group of people | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
watching this programme, but nevertheless out their most people | :19:41. | :19:43. | |
do not think the election will be about whether there is a TV debate | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
or not. But it is interesting, because almost every major democracy | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
in the world now has leadership debates -- leaders' debates. They | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
ran incredibly highly. There was one night when the US Republican Party | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
debate, that got higher ratings than the American Football League, the | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
NFL. I have just come back from France, there were two big debates, | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
three hours long by the way... Huge ratings. The Italians have debates. | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
Even the Germans, which have more of a Parliamentary system, they have | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
debates as well. If you want to reach a wide audience, broadcast TV | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
is the medium of the modern democratic election. So what is the | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
calculation that you wouldn't do it? Particularly since neither Mrs May | :20:35. | :20:43. | |
or Mr Corbyn, neither of them have been in government before... Would | :20:44. | :20:46. | |
it not be a good chance for the country to see them perform? I think | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
the country will see them perform hugely over the next six weeks in | :20:53. | :20:56. | |
all sorts of environments. As I say, the TV debates have become almost | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
artificial mouth. The amount of preparation and rehearsal that goes | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
into them. You are not seeing the person in a real environment. And in | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
a sense I suspect they would have been more useful 50 years ago, when | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
you just had two parties. How many parties would you have to have? We | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
had debates in the last election with six or seven people, and | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
everyone agreed they were less satisfactory. Hold on, the | :21:27. | :21:34. | |
Republican -- hold on the Republican primary had 14 candidates. The | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
French debate, 11 candidates... Of course the numbers are greater, but | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
in the 21st century not everything is a binary choice any more. | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
Absolutely. That is the difference. And the other interesting point, TV | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
is in a sense passed its peak as a medium... Really? Social media has | :21:56. | :22:05. | |
taken over hugely. But why were the ratings so big, so huge in France | :22:06. | :22:11. | |
and the US? As you have alluded to, in France and the US, they have a | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
presidential system. We have a Parliamentary system. So there is a | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
huge mediation... But surely people want to see and hear from the | :22:22. | :22:24. | |
politicians putting themselves up for election, to be potentially | :22:25. | :22:29. | |
Prime Minister? This raises further questions about Theresa May, just | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
like going back on her promise not to call the election. A desperate | :22:33. | :22:39. | |
attempt to get that in! This is not a Prime Minister that thinks this | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
election is a done deal. Seven weeks to go. If she is so confident of her | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
position, if she is confident about the propositions she wants to put to | :22:49. | :22:52. | |
the people, why would you turn down the medium that gives the public the | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
best view of what she has got to say? I can guarantee the public will | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
not feel... Will not feel that they are deprived of the views and the | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
performance of the Prime Minister or Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, Nicola | :23:08. | :23:10. | |
Sturgeon, anyone else over the next seven weeks. I suspect the real | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
reason is why David Cameron turned down the head-to-head debates, | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
choosing a studio audience format. The incumbent, the people out in | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
front, have everything to lose by taking part in a debate. The | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
underdogs have everything to gain. So on a simple calculation, last | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
time around, Lynton Crosby, who will direct this campaign as in 2015, | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
will think, what do we stand to gain? Not very much. What do we | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
stand to lose? Potentially a lot. Let's not do it. He was the main | :23:45. | :23:46. | |
voice against Mr Cameron appearing in 2015. Many people think the only | :23:47. | :23:53. | |
reason they had to do a coalition in 2010 was because Nick Clegg was new | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
to many members of the TV audience and he shone and David Cameron fell | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
back. Although TV debates is only a small part of what is going to | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
happen or not in the next seven weeks, in previous elections, | :24:09. | :24:11. | |
particularly 2010, they are thought to have been a major contributor to | :24:12. | :24:15. | |
the dynamics of the campaign that led to the eventual result. What | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
does this say about the confidence and quality of her leadership? Tony | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
Blair always turned it down too. Incumbents never want them. If she | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
has the courage of her conviction and she has a plan for post-Brexit, | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
which is what this election will be about, she should set that out. If | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
you have confidence in your leader, will you put him on your election | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
literature, if we are talking about confidence in leaders? You spend | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
five minutes avoiding the question. Will you put Jeremy Corbyn on your | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
election literature? Don't underestimate Jeremy Corbyn. I'm not | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
going to put him on my election literature, that's not a secret. | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
People will see his passion, his consistency, his commitment. They | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
will see the way he is not ignoring the issues that face people | :25:06. | :25:11. | |
day-to-day. ITV say they will hold a leaders debate, so it will be up to | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
Number Ten to respond. Will they go ahead if the Prime Minister says she | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
will not attend? It will be a stand-off. No doubt ITV will issue | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
the invitation and see the response. Presumably Jeremy Corbyn will say | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
yes. I am certain he will say yes, and Theresa May should say yes. It | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
doesn't seem now like it will take centre stage but it could sour the | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
mood depending on whether the opposition parties decide to act | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
together, whether they somehow have a joint campaigning stance to | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
embarrass Theresa May. We saw not just Labour asking this, but the SNP | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
leader trying to push on this. First Minister versus potential Prime | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
Minister... That is another completely different dynamic. I | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
would expect that probably in the next couple of days, this will not | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
take off, but it may well do. Is it just in the Westminster bubble we | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
are worried about debates or is there a public appetite? It is hard | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
to tell. The ratings are really high, and that is important. We say | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
people don't care about politics, but they rated particularly well, | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
particularly with the younger demographic as we understand it. In | :26:26. | :26:32. | |
2010 and 2015, seeing leaders tested on TV against each other was a | :26:33. | :26:35. | |
really big way that some people got involved. You say TV is past its | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
peak, which I'm not sure is verifiable, but let's not go there. | :26:43. | :26:45. | |
The point is that social media, which you think is overtake -- | :26:46. | :26:54. | |
overtaking, it feasts off the debates. All media these days is | :26:55. | :27:06. | |
symbiotic with itself. Who is MP for that constituency? Ashford is a | :27:07. | :27:14. | |
great place... Let me interrupt. We are going back to the House of | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
Commons. Theresa May is moving the motion to dissolve Parliament and | :27:20. | :27:20. | |
call a general election. Every member of this House has a | :27:21. | :27:29. | |
clear and simple opportunity. The chance to vote for a general | :27:30. | :27:32. | |
election battle secure a strong and stable leadership that the country | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
needs to see us through exit and beyond. It invites each one of us to | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
do the right thing for Britain and to vote for an election that is in | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
our country's national interest. My priority when I became Prime | :27:45. | :27:50. | |
Minister was to provide the country with economic certainty, a clear | :27:51. | :27:52. | |
vision and strong leadership after the long and passionately fought | :27:53. | :27:55. | |
referendum campaign. This government has delivered on those priorities. | :27:56. | :28:06. | |
Despite... In the time-honoured fashion, my right honourable friend | :28:07. | :28:10. | |
has called election in what she considers and I consider to be the | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
national interest. It will be a brave man or woman who votes against | :28:15. | :28:18. | |
this motion. And therefore, the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act is seen | :28:19. | :28:21. | |
to be an emperor without clothes, it serves no purpose. Many of us have | :28:22. | :28:27. | |
questioned it. Will the first part of our manifesto be to scrap it? My | :28:28. | :28:33. | |
honourable friend is trying to tempt me down a road. What is clear is the | :28:34. | :28:39. | |
Fixed-Term Parliaments Act gives us an opportunity, notwithstanding the | :28:40. | :28:42. | |
Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, to have elections at another time. But it is | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
of course for this House to vote for that election. I think it is very | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
clear that every member of this House should be voting for this | :28:51. | :28:58. | |
election. I will take one more... The Prime Minister pledged time and | :28:59. | :29:01. | |
again not to call an early election. In her Easter message, she talked | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
greatly for Christian values. Could the Prime Minister Trudeau why she | :29:07. | :29:09. | |
has such a loser and complicated relationship with telling the truth? | :29:10. | :29:17. | |
-- the Prime Minister explain. The Prime Minister is perfectly able to | :29:18. | :29:21. | |
fend for herself, but in terms of order, what the honourable gentleman | :29:22. | :29:25. | |
has said is a breach of it, and I must ask him... He is versatile in | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
the use of language, and he used to write articles as a journalist. | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
Withdraw and use some other formulation if you must. Withdraw. I | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
am very happy to withdraw and reformulate. Why does the Prime | :29:41. | :29:43. | |
Minister have such a complicated and whose relationship with giving the | :29:44. | :29:48. | |
country a clear indication of her intentions? Just to say to the | :29:49. | :29:55. | |
honourable gentleman, I think yesterday I gave the country a very | :29:56. | :29:59. | |
clear indication of my intentions. If he has a little patience, he will | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
hear the reasons why I have done that. The Government has delivered | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
on the priorities I set out last year, despite predictions of | :30:09. | :30:11. | |
immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
seen consumer confidence remaining high, record jobs and economic | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
growth that has exceeded all expectations. At the same time, we | :30:20. | :30:22. | |
have delivered on the mandate we were handed by the referendum | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
result, by triggering Article 50 before the end of March, as we | :30:27. | :30:30. | |
pledged to do. As a result, Britain is leaving the EU and there can be | :30:31. | :30:33. | |
no turning back. Doesn't it takes some brass neck to | :30:34. | :30:42. | |
call a general election when you are facing allegations of buying the | :30:43. | :30:48. | |
last one? I have to say, that intervention was not worthy of the | :30:49. | :30:56. | |
honourable gentleman. Can the Prime Minister clarify, does she support | :30:57. | :31:02. | |
fixed term Parliaments? We have a fixed term Parliament act that | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
enables us to have fixed term Parliaments. I believe that, at this | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
point in time, it is right for us to have this debate and this vote in | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
this house and I believe it is right for members of this house to vote, | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
and I will explain why, to have a general election at this stage. No, | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
I'm not going to take any further interventions for a while. This is a | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
limited time debate and honourable members wish to make their | :31:27. | :31:30. | |
contributions. Today, we face a new question. How best to secure the | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
stability and certainty we need over the long term in order to get the | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
right deal for Britain, in Brexit negotiations, and make the most of | :31:40. | :31:42. | |
the opportunities ahead, and I have come to the conclusion that the | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
answer to that question is to hold a general election now in this window | :31:49. | :31:52. | |
of opportunity before the negotiations begin. I believe it is | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
in Britain's national interest to hold a general election now. A | :31:57. | :31:59. | |
general election is the best way to strengthen Britain's and in the | :32:00. | :32:02. | |
negation is a because securing the right deal for Britain is my | :32:03. | :32:07. | |
priority and I'm confident we have a plan to do it. We have set out our | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
ambition, a deep and special partnership between a strong and | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
successful European union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
its own way in the world. It means... Just a minute. It means we | :32:21. | :32:24. | |
will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
borders, and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends | :32:30. | :32:31. | |
and new partners all around the world. I am grateful to the Prime | :32:32. | :32:37. | |
Minister for giving way, and I can understand she wants to give the | :32:38. | :32:39. | |
house the opportunity to determine there should be an election but, if | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
the house determines now is not the time, why is it that the Prime | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
Minister stands in the face of the Scottish parliament and the Scottish | :32:49. | :32:52. | |
Government, that have voted for a referendum on Scotland's future? If | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
it is right that the people here have a voice and a vote on the | :32:56. | :32:58. | |
future this country, why shouldn't the Scottish people be given a vote | :32:59. | :33:04. | |
as well? Now is the time for a general election because it will | :33:05. | :33:07. | |
strengthen our hand in the negotiations on Brexit. Now is not | :33:08. | :33:13. | |
the time for a second Scottish independence referendum, because it | :33:14. | :33:16. | |
will weaken our hand on negotiations on Brexit. Strength and unity with | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
and seven seats, division with the Scottish Nationalists. National | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
strength and unity with the Conservatives. I believe this | :33:27. | :33:30. | |
delivers on the will of the British people but it is the right approach | :33:31. | :33:33. | |
for Britain and it will deliver a more secure future or our country | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
and a better deal for all our people, but it is clear, Mr Speaker, | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
that other parties in this house have a different view about the | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
right future for our country, while members of the other place have | :33:46. | :33:49. | |
vowed to fight the government every step of the way. The people of | :33:50. | :33:55. | |
Rossendale and Darwin in the referendum gave her and her | :33:56. | :33:58. | |
government a mandate to exercise Article 50. She has done that. We | :33:59. | :34:04. | |
are grateful to have the opportunity to strengthen the Prime Minister's | :34:05. | :34:07. | |
and so she can go out there and get the best possible deal for the | :34:08. | :34:11. | |
people who live in Rossendale and Darwin, our manufacturers and every | :34:12. | :34:16. | |
family there. We should be united in this Parliament in wanting to get | :34:17. | :34:22. | |
that best possible deal, not just for the country as a whole but for | :34:23. | :34:25. | |
everybody across the whole of the country, and I commend my honourable | :34:26. | :34:31. | |
friend for the work he has done in Rossendale and Darwin in supporting | :34:32. | :34:34. | |
his constituents on this. I will give way to the right honourable | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
gentleman and then I will make progress. I can see how it suits the | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
Prime Minister's purpose is to make this election all about but can she | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
accept the possibility it may just become a referendum on hope model | :34:49. | :34:52. | |
cuts, which have left older people that care, schools sending begging | :34:53. | :34:55. | |
letters to parents and a record number of homeless people on the | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
streets of greater register? -- Greater Manchester. Of course, the | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
general election, when we come into the campaign, people will look at a | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
wide range of issues. They will look at the fact that pensioners are | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
?1250 per year better off because of the Conservatives, they will look at | :35:15. | :35:17. | |
the fact that we have 1.8 million more children in good or outstanding | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
schools, but if the right honourable gentleman wants to talk about impact | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
on the economy I suggest he searches in his memory for the time that he | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
spent as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when Labour were trashing | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
the economy of this country and leading us to virtual bankruptcy. | :35:34. | :35:39. | |
I'm going to make some progress. I have set out the divisions that have | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
become clear on this issue. They can and will be used against us, | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
weakening our hand in the negotiations to come, and we must | :35:49. | :35:52. | |
not let that happen. I believe that, at this moment of enormous national | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
significance, there should be unity here in Westminster, not division, | :35:58. | :36:00. | |
and that is why it is the right and responsible thing here for all of us | :36:01. | :36:07. | |
today to vote for general election, to make our respective cases to the | :36:08. | :36:11. | |
country, to respect the result of the mandated provides to give | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
Britain and the strongest possible hand in the negotiations to come. | :36:16. | :36:22. | |
The mandate it provides. In the last election, the Conservatives gave a | :36:23. | :36:25. | |
manifesto commitment to stay in the single market. Will she be | :36:26. | :36:28. | |
withdrawing that commitment from the new one investor and, if she does, | :36:29. | :36:34. | |
will that not weaken her negotiation position as well as removing two | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
months from the negotiating window? We gave a commitment in the last | :36:40. | :36:42. | |
manifesto to provide the people of the UK with a vote on whether or not | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
to leave the EU. That was supported by Parliament. We gave them that | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
vote and they gave a clear message that they want the UK to leave the | :36:52. | :36:54. | |
EU. That is exactly what we are going to do. I fully support the | :36:55. | :37:03. | |
fact that the Prime Minister needs a stronger hand going into the | :37:04. | :37:06. | |
negotiations, as we leave the EU. Does she not think it perverse that | :37:07. | :37:09. | |
some people who didn't want a referendum in the first place now | :37:10. | :37:13. | |
want a second referendum at the very end of the procedure, just in case | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
the British patent doesn't get a good deal from Brussels? Doesn't she | :37:20. | :37:23. | |
believe that, if we were to have a second referendum, it would deeply | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
weaken the position of the Prime Minister in the negotiations that | :37:28. | :37:31. | |
she has with the EU? My right honourable friend is absolutely | :37:32. | :37:33. | |
right in his description of what would happen. For those who say they | :37:34. | :37:40. | |
want a second referendum, actually, that is denying the will of the | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
people, because people voted for us to leave the European Union and we | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
are going to go out there and get the best possible deal. Waiting to | :37:49. | :37:51. | |
held the next election in 2020 would mean that the next negotiations with | :37:52. | :37:56. | |
which their most difficult and sensitive stage at an election was | :37:57. | :38:01. | |
looming. A general election will provide a country with five years of | :38:02. | :38:04. | |
strong and stable leadership to see us through negotiations and to | :38:05. | :38:08. | |
ensure we are able to go on and make a success as a result, and that is | :38:09. | :38:13. | |
crucial. That is the test. It is not solely about how we leave the EU but | :38:14. | :38:18. | |
what we do with the opportunity that Brexit provides that counts. Leaving | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
offers us a unique, once in a generation opportunity to shape a | :38:24. | :38:31. | |
brighter future for Britain. We need a strong and stable and to seize it, | :38:32. | :38:35. | |
a government with a plan for a stronger Britain, a government with | :38:36. | :38:38. | |
the determination to see it through, and one that will take the right | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
long-term decisions to deliver a more secure future for Britain. The | :38:43. | :38:46. | |
Conservative Party that I lead is determined to be that government. Is | :38:47. | :38:53. | |
the Prime Minister at all concerned that, having tried her best to build | :38:54. | :38:58. | |
up a reputation for political integrity, both as Home Secretary | :38:59. | :39:01. | |
and Prime Minister, she is now seen, after all the denials that there | :39:02. | :39:08. | |
will be a snap election, simply a political opportunist? I have not | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
denied the fact that, when I came into this role as Prime Minister, I | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
was clear that the country needed stability, and they need a | :39:20. | :39:22. | |
government that was going to show it would deliver on the vote taken in | :39:23. | :39:25. | |
the referendum on leaving the EU. We have provided that over the last | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
nine months. Now it is clear to me that, if we are going to have the | :39:31. | :39:34. | |
strongest possible hand in the negotiation, we should have an | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
election now. Leaving the election until 2020 would mean we would be | :39:40. | :39:42. | |
coming to the most sensitive and critical part of the negotiations in | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
the run-up to an election, and that would be a nobody's interest. I said | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
that the Conservative Party that I lead is determined to be that | :39:52. | :39:54. | |
government that has the determination to see through its | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
plans a stronger Britain. We are determined to provide leadership, to | :39:59. | :40:01. | |
bring stability to the UK for the long term, and that is what this | :40:02. | :40:05. | |
election will be leadership and stability. I thank the Prime | :40:06. | :40:13. | |
Minister for giving way. Does she, like me, appreciates decisiveness, | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
and does she agree that voting yes in this motion signifies strength, | :40:19. | :40:21. | |
whereas abstaining is a symbol of weakness? I think absolutely that | :40:22. | :40:29. | |
voting yes is a sign of strength. I would say a little more about | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
abstaining, but I think anybody that abstains and thinks we should have a | :40:35. | :40:37. | |
general election presumably is endorsing the record of the | :40:38. | :40:42. | |
Conservative government. Would the Prime Minister agree with Lord Hill, | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
who was commissioned in Europe, when asked in front of the Foreign | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
Affairs Committee what the best strategy for negotiation is, is | :40:53. | :40:55. | |
response was, we have to come together because our interlocutors | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
would be watching this place and they were absolutely exploit any | :41:00. | :41:07. | |
weakness in our political system? My honourable friend is absolutely | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
right, and I'm grateful to him for reminding us what Lord Hill, with | :41:11. | :41:13. | |
his experience, said in relation to this. It is important that we come | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
together, that we don't show the divisions that have been suggested | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
in the past, and that we are able to show a strong mandate for a plan for | :41:23. | :41:26. | |
Brexit and making a success of that. We are determined to bring stability | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
to the UK for the long-term, and that is what this election will be | :41:30. | :41:34. | |
about, leadership and stability, and the decision facing the country will | :41:35. | :41:37. | |
be clear. I will be campaigning strong and stable leadership in the | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
national interest, with me as Prime Minister. And I will be asking for | :41:44. | :41:47. | |
the public's support to continue to deliver my plan for a stronger | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
Britain, to lead the country through the next five years and to give a | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
complete the certainty and stability that we need. I thank the Prime | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
Minister for giving way. On the timetable before yesterday, but I | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
Minister would have concluded her negotiation by 2019. We would have | :42:07. | :42:13. | |
gone into the general election in 2020, a year later, talking about | :42:14. | :42:15. | |
the Prime Minister's deal. That would have given the country and | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
outlook as to what they would be voting for. The Prime Minister is | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
asking the country to strengthen her hand. What she is doing, does she | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
not agree, is asking the country to vote for a blank cheque? I am not | :42:28. | :42:35. | |
asking the country to vote for a blank cheque. We have been clear | :42:36. | :42:39. | |
about what we intend in terms of the outcome of the negotiations. I set | :42:40. | :42:43. | |
out in January, it has been set out in the White Paper and in the | :42:44. | :42:46. | |
Article 50 letter when we triggered Article 50 and submitted that to the | :42:47. | :42:50. | |
president of the European council. I say to the house that the choice | :42:51. | :42:56. | |
before us today is clear. I have made my choice. It is to do | :42:57. | :43:00. | |
something that runs through the veins of my party more than any | :43:01. | :43:05. | |
other, a choice to trust the people, so let us vote to do that today. Let | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
us lay out our plans for Brexit. Let us put for our plans for the future | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
of this great country. Let us put our fate in the hands of the people, | :43:16. | :43:16. | |
and then let the people decide. We overran a bit today to bring you | :43:17. | :43:26. | |
a flavour of the debate going on in the Commons, opened by the Prime | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
Minister to get a boat to dissolve the current Parliament and for a | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
general election on the 8th of June. If you want to watch more of that, | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
it is live on BBC Parliament. We have one more thing before you get | :43:41. | :43:44. | |
to the snooker. That is coming up in a few minutes. Apologies for that | :43:45. | :43:45. | |
for you. There's just time to put | :43:46. | :43:47. | |
you out of your misery, and give you the answer | :43:48. | :43:49. | |
to Guess The Year. You get to press the red button. | :43:50. | :43:52. | |
It's an honour and a privilege. Sam Warburton in Nottingham won. You | :43:53. | :44:07. | |
have won the mark. The one o'clock news has already started on BBC One. | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
Snooker is coming up on BBC Two. We will be back tomorrow. I will be | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
back. With all of the big political stories of the day and maybe a bit | :44:18. | :44:20. | |
more about the election. Bye-bye. | :44:21. | :44:22. |