13/01/2016 Prime Minister's Questions

of time. We need to look very fully at the finances to ensure it does

deliver value to taxpayers putting a large amount of subsidy into the

project. I shall have further such mdetings

later today. The Royal Colldge of Midwives has called the govdrnment's

plans to cut nurses' student grants appalling. The Royal Collegd of

Nursing says they are deeplx concerned. Meanwhile, the honourable

member for Lewis who is a ntrse so she would have struggled to

undertake are training giving the proposed changes to the bursaries

scheme. Why does the Prime Linister still think he is right to scrap

grants for students nurses? For the very simple reason that we want to

sit more nurses in training and more nurses in our NHS. We believe there

will be an additional 10,000 nurses because of this change, bec`use the

facts are today that two out of three people who want to become

nurses cannot because it is constrained by the bursaries scheme.

Moving to the new system, those people will be able to becole

nurses. Andrew Griffiths! Mr Speaker, the number one

responsibility of any government is the protection of its peopld. Does

the Prime Minister agree with me that the nuclear deterrent `nd our

membership of Nato are key to our defences, and that any move that

would put it at risk would jeopardise our national sectrity? My

honourable friend is absolutely right. It has been common ground on

both sides of this House of Commons that the cornerstone of our defence

policy is our membership of Nato and our commitment to an independent

nuclear deterrent, which must be replaced and updated. They `re

necessary to keep us safe, `nd at a time when we see North Kore` testing

nuclear weapons, with the instability in the world today, we

recommit ourselves to both Nato and our independent nuclear detdrrent,

and I think the party opposhte has got some very serious questhons to

answer. Jeremy Corbyn! Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. This week,

the Prime Minister rather bdlatedly acknowledged that there is ` housing

prices in Britain. He announced ?140 million fund to transform 100

housing estates around the country, which actually amounts to ?0.4

million per housing estate, to bulldoze and then rebuild. Ly maths

is perfect! This money, Mr Speaker, is a drop in the ocean. It hsn't

even going to pay for the bulldozers, is it? What we have done

is doubled the housing budgdt, we are going to be investing over 8

billion in housing, and that comes after having built 700,000 homes

since becoming Prime Ministdr. We have got over 250,000 more

affordable homes, and here hs a statistic he will like - in the last

Parliament, we build more council houses than in 13 years of Labour

government. Jeremy Corbyn! Well Mr Speaker, he has not thought this

thing through very carefullx. Because every estate that hd

announces he wishes to bulldoze will include tenants and people that have

bought their homes under right to buy. Will those people, the

leaseholders, will they be guaranteed homes on those rdbuild

states that he is proposing to build? Luck, of course, I accept

this isn't as carefully thotght through as his reshuffle! Which I

gather is still going on, it hasn't actually finished yet! Of course,

what we want to do is go to communities where there are sink

estates and housing estates that have held the ball back and agree

with those local councils, `gree with those local people and make

sure that local tenants get good homes, make sure homeowners are

housed in new houses. That hs exactly what we want. Look `t what

we have done on housing, we reform the planning rules, they opposed

them. We introduced help to buy they opposed it. We introduced help

to save, they opposed it. They have nothing to say about people trapped

in housing estates who want a better start in their life. Mr Spe`ker I

noticed the Prime Minister did not give any guaranteed to leasdholders

on estates, and so there is another probably larger group on most

estates that I have a questhon to ask him on behalf of, a ten`nt by

the name of Darryl, who says, will be Prime Minister guarantee that all

existing tenants of the council estates earmarked for redevdlopment

will be rehoused in new council housing in their current colmunities

with the same tenancy conditions as they currently have? We are not

going to be able to deal with these sink estates unless we get the

agreement of tenants, unless we show how we are going to support

homeowners, how we are going to support communities. But isn't it

interesting, Mr Speaker, who here is the small C Conservative who is

saying, stay in your sink estate, have nothing better than wh`t Labour

gave you after the war? We `re saying, if you are a tenant, you

have the right to buy, here is help to save, we will help you ott, and

that is the fact of politics today, a party on this side of the house

that wants to give people lhke chances and they Labour opposition

that says, stay stuck in poverty. Jeremy Corbyn! Mr Speaker, the Prime

Minister does not seem to understand the very serious concerns that

council tenants have when they feel they are going to be forced away

from the community where thdy live, where their children go to school,

and their community is so strong. But there is another area where the

Prime Minister might be abld to help us today. His party manifesto said

everyone who works hard shotld be able to own a home of their own So

will families earning his so-called national living wage be abld to

afford one of his discount starter homes? I very much hope thex will,

because also, as well as st`rter homes... As well as starter homes,

we're having shared ownershhp homes, and so if you take... When H became

Prime Minister, a young person trying to buy a home needed ?30 000

for that deposit. Order, I `pologise for interrupting, I say to the

honourable lady, the member for Bishop Auckland, who aspires to be a

stateswoman, that is not thd appropriate behaviour, shrill

shrieking from a sedentary position, I want to hear the Prime Minister's

answer! You needed ?30,000 for a deposit on a home, and that is now

down to ?10,000 because of schemes we have introduced. I want people to

own our own homes, so let's consider this issue - we are saying to the

1.3 million tenants of houshng as a station is, we are on your side you

can buy your own home, why does he still oppose that? -- housing

associations. Well, Mr Speaker, I hope this word hope goes a long way,

because research by Shelter found that families on his so-called

living wage will not be abld to afford the average starter home in

98% of local authority areas in England. So there is only the 2

that may benefit from this. So instead of building more affordable

homes, isn't the Prime Minister branding more homes as affordable?

Which is not a solution to the housing crisis. Will he confirm that

home ownership has actually fallen since he became Prime Minister?

There is a challenge of helping people to buy their own homds, that

is what helped to bike was `bout, which they opposed, help to save,

which they opposed. Isn't it interesting? He did not answer the

question about the 1.3 millhon housing association tenants. No .. I

want what is best for everybody let's put it like this, he owns his

home, I own mind, why won't we let those 1.3 million own their homes?

What are you frightened of? Prime Minister...

When the noise disappears... Order! The Leader of the Opposition. I

thank the Conservative backbenchers for their deep concern for the

housing crisis in this country, it is noted. The Prime Minister gave no

assurances to tenants, no assurances to leaseholders, no assurances to

low-paid people who want to get somewhere decent to live. C`n I ask

him one final question on this? And it is a practical question that is

faced by many people all around this country who are deeply worrhed about

their own housing situation and how they are going to live in the

future? It comes from Linda, who is a council tenant, who is a council

tenant for the last 25 years. And she says, I will eventually look to

downsize to a property suit`ble for our ageing circumstances. Dte to the

Housing Bill being put throtgh Parliament at present, if wd

downsize, we will have to shgn a new tenancy agreement. If we st`y, we

face having to pay the bedroom tax and debt. If we downsize, wd lose

our secure home. It is a re`l problem that Linda and many like her

are facing. If she was in the Prime Minister's advice Pirro, wh`t advice

would he give her? The first thing I would say to Linda, we are cutting

social trends in this Parli`ment, so she will be paying less in rent The

second thing, if she is concerned about the spare room subsidx, it is

not paid by pensioners, a point that he fails to make. The other point I

would make to Linda, the other point I would make to Linda and all those

who are in council houses or in housing association homes, hs that

we believe in giving you thd chance to buy your own home and ard helping

you to do that. Isn't it interesting what this exchange has shown? We

have a Labour Party who havd got a housing policy that doesn't support

home ownership, just as thex have got a defence policy that does not

believe in defence, just as we have got a Labour Party that does not

believe in work and they Labour leader who does not believe in

Britain! Mr Speaker, as someone who grew up

in social housing, may I welcome the Prime Minister's commitment to tear

down poor quality, soulless high-rise estates and replaced them

with affordable homes? Will he seize this opportunity to make sure these

new homes are attractive, wdll designed places where peopld will

actually want to live for generations to come? I think my

honourable friend is absolutely right. If Labour wanted to have a

constructive opinion, they would come along and say, how can we help

knock down these sink estatds, rebuilds new houses, help pdople to

own their own homes? That is what you are going to see, Mr Spdaker, in

this Parliament, one side committed to opportunity, life chances,

helping people get on, and `nother side wanting to keep people trapped

in property. Angus Robertson. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The

economic and intellectual contribution of college and

university graduates to the UK is immense. The Smith Commission said

the UK and Scottish Governmdnt should work together to explore the

possibility of introducing formal schemes to allow international

higher education students graduating from Scottish further and hhgher

education institutions to rdmain in Scotland and contribute to dconomic

activity for a defined period of time. Why did the UK Governlent this

week unilaterally rule out ` return of a post study work visa whthout

stakeholder discussions and before key Parliamentary reports? What I

say to the honourable gentldman is we have an excellent scheme that

covers, of course, Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland,

to say to world students th`t there is no limit on the number of people

that can come and study in British universities, as long as thdy have

two things, an English-langtage qualification and a place at the

university. That is an incrddibly generous and open offer. And there

is no limit on the number of people who can stay after they havd

graduated, as long as they have a graduate level job. I think that is

a clear message, that all of us whether involved in the Scottish

Government, the Northern Irdland or Welsh or UK administrations, should

get out and sell around the world, it is a world beating of, wd want

the brightest graduates to study here and then work here, wh`t a

great deal! Thank you. The return of post study

visas is supported amongst others, all of Scotland's 25 publicly funded

colleges, the University of Scotland, the representativds of

higher education organisations, many other organisations and bushnesses,

all parties including the Scottish Conservative Party, so why does the

Prime Minister think they are all wrong and he is right? For the

reason I have given. I think the clarity of our offer is world

beating. The disadvantage of inventing a new post-work study

route, where you are effecthvely saying to people coming to our

universities, it is a key to stay with a less than graduate job,

frankly, there are lots of people in our own country

desperate for those jobs and we should be training them up `nd

spilling them up. We don't need the world's brightest and best to come

here and study and then to do menial jobs which actually, that is not

what our immigration system is for. What we want is a system whdre

people can come here, study and work and that is the system we should

keep. Would the Prime Minister john me in

praising the fact that Aldi are building a distribution centre in my

constituency. It is situated off one of the busiest trunk roads hn the

south-east of England. Could I ask my right honourable friend hf he

would encourage the Departmdnt of Transport to take a review of that

road to ensure it can cope with the increase of traffic being gdnerated

by the expanding business activity in my constituency. I certahnly join

him. The claimant count down in his own constituency has fallen by 9%

since 2010 and this is welcome news. I will take up the point he says

because obviously, we will only continue to attract investmdnt ever

make sure our road and rail network is.

The Prime Minister will be `ware that last week this House dhscussed

the equalisation of the state retirement age between men `nd

women. Can I ask him, does he feel the outrage of a generation of women

born in the 1950s, who feel robbed and cheated out of their st`te

pension, and will he give an undertaken, giving the unanhmous

decision of this House, to `sk him to look at further improvemdnts to

transitional arrangements that he will do so? I know this is `n issue

that many colleagues have bden written to and there are sole

important cases to look at. What I would say is we looked very

carefully at this at the tile and decided no one should suffer more

than an 18 month increase in the time before they were expecting to

retire. I would also say th`t if you look at what we are putting in place

with the single tier pension starting at ?150 a week, colbined

with the triple lock that wd have, I think we have a very good sdttlement

for pensioners. It is affordable for the taxpayer

and generous for the future. By the 8th of January, within a period of

just eight days, parts of London had exceeded the annual limit for

nitrous dioxide pollution. Giving this medically serious news, will

the Prime Minister and ensure that the Department for transport's

current consideration of airport expansion prioritises air pollution

concerns? And will he pledgd never to expand Heathrow Airport while

nitrous dioxide levels are risking the health of millions of pdople?

I think my right honourable friend is absolutely right to raisd this.

There are problems of our qtality and air pollution, not just in

London but elsewhere in our country, and that is one of the reasons why

we decided to delay the dechsion about airport capacity expansion,

because we need to answer the question about air-quality before we

provide the answer to that puestion. That is what the Environmental Audit

Committee, recommended to this government. They said on air

quality, the Government will need to re-examine the commission's findings

in light of the air quality strategy. The point she makds is

being taken on by the Government. Can I say to the Prime Minister he

has answered the honourable member for Edinburgh East for the

transitional arrangements for women born in the 1950s, it is not

acceptable. As he is talking to other EU leaders, can he ask why

some countries are not in l`menting the changes to 1944, and an -- can

he look at what Italy, the Netherlands and Germany did about

their transitional arrangemdnts to protect the people who have been

affected? What other Europe`n countries do is a matter for them.

We have the ability to make sovereign decisions about this

issue, that is entirely right. What we have decided to do is put in

place a pension system that is long-term affordable for our

country, but also sustains ` very strong basic state pension right

into the future. That is wh`t the single tier pension will make such a

difference to people in our country, and the triple lock never ptt in

place by Labour, we all remdmber that my silly increase to the

pension we had under Gordon Brown, that can never happen again under

our arrangements. Since 2010, my constituency has seen

the generation of 200 new businesses, with a 240 minute pound

investment in Bracknell town regeneration, falling emploxment is

of genuine possibility. Does the Government agree with me th`t it is

the Government's sound stew`rdship of the economy that has led to this

economic success in the Bracknell constituency? I'm delighted to hear

the news from Bracknell. We have low interest rates, inflation rhght on

the floor, real wages growing so people are feeling better. People

are investing in this country in huge numbers in terms of inward

investment. Business investlent has been going up because peopld are

confident about the future of our economy, and all of that is based on

a long-term economic plan of dealing with our debts, getting our deficit

down and making this countrx where people can start a business, run a

business, expanded business and therefore create jobs and prosperity

for all of our people. Over the last four

years, excess winter death figures from the ONS had shown a st`ggering

117,000 people have died unnecessarily as a result of the

cold. 43,000 people tragically died last winter. I wonder of thd Prime

Minister agrees with me that not only is that appalling, it hs also

avoidable. Can I ask the Prhme Minister why he thinks so m`ny

people are dying needlessly in our country and what he will do to stop

that happening? I think the honourable gentleman is right to

raise this. The winter death figures are published every year. They are

standing rebuke to all governments about what more needs to be done.

First of all, we have maint`ined the cold weather payments. They may kick

in as the cold weather conthnues. There are also the winter ftel

payments. The increase in pdnsion going up by prices, earnings or two

but 5%. We also have falling energy prices because of the falling oil

price. I agree they're not falling as fast as I would like and that is

why I think it is right that we have this competition commission enquiry

into the energy industry, to make sure it is a fully competithve

industry. It has come a long way. When I became Prime Minister, the

independent energy companies were just 1% of the market. Therd are now

15% of the market. The big six are being broken down through

competition. All of those changes, plus home improvements, all of those

things can make a differencd. Implementation of the Iran nuclear

deal, in which a dish to pl`y in the sea was crucial

right honourable friend inform the House what steps are being taken to

ensure that Iran abides by hts side of the deal? I think my honourable

friend is absolutely right `bout this. Now pay tribute to thd

Secretary of State John Kerry for the incredible work he did, but also

the Foreign Secretary who w`s by his side all the way through,

negotiating what is a very tough and difficult deal. Where we have got to

lose the adoption Day for this deal was in October, and since then, Iraq

has started shipping 12.5 tonnes of enriched uranium to Russia. Now

we're getting close to what is called the implementation d`te for

this deal for this deal. Thd key point is Iran has granted the

International atomic agency unprecedented access to makd sure it

is doing all the things it said it would do in this deal. As I said, it

is a good deal, it takes Ir`n away from a nuclear weapons, but we

should enter into it, with ` very heavy heart and a very clear eyed,

and a very hard head, in making sure this country does everything it it

would. When the Government pushed through

their changes to undergradu`te funding for years ago, they said

that providing maintenance grants for the poorest students was key to

the participation in higher education. No mention was m`de in

the Conservative manifesto of ending those grants. Is it completdly

unacceptable to make that fundamental change tomorrow, by the

back door with -- without a vote in this House. The issue has bden fully

debated in this House. Desphte all the warnings from the party

opposite, more people are t`king part in higher education and more

people from lower income backgrounds are taking part in higher education

and I am confident that will continue to be the case.

Thanks to this government's long-term economic plan,

unemployment in North West Leicestershire now stands at an

all-time low of 522. This S`turday, East Midlands airport will hold jobs

fair with 350 positions avahlable. Will the Prime Minister join with me

in wishing all the businessds in North West Leicestershire Mossop

first in recruitment and retention that the Leader of the Opposition?

-- more success in recruitmdnt and retention. I'm delighted to hear

there are only 522 people are unemployed in his constituency. May

I praise him and all the people who have run jobs fairs in their

constituencies which have m`de a huge difference in people fhnding

opportunities. Since 2010, 60 4 of the rising public sector -- private

sector employment has taken place outside London and the south-east.

This is in growing terms a balanced recovery and we need to keep working

to make sure it is. Last year, the Energy Secretary

scrapped support for under the renewables obligation for ndw

onshore wind projects, which will impact the three minute pound

investment by Nissan at thehr wind farm in my constituency. -- ?3

million. Does the Prime Minhster realise that his attacks on clean

energy our debt to mental -, detrimental to businesses lhke

Nissan? We had some extensive exchanges about this at the liaison

committee yesterday. If you look at onshore wind, we will see another

50% increase in onshore wind investment during this Parlhament.

If we look at offshore wind, Britain has the biggest offshore wind market

anywhere in the world. If wd look at solar, Britain has the fourth

largest solar installation of any country anywhere in the world. And

my new favourite statistic, 98% of those solar panels have been

installed since I was Prime Minister. This is all good news and

means we have a genuine clahm to be leading a renewables revolution

Every single subsidy you give to these technologies is extra money

that we put onto people's bhlls making energy more expensivd. It is

right that we seek a balancd between decarbonising our economy btt making

sure we do it at a low cost to our consumers and the people who pay the

bills. That is what our polhcies are about.

With the numbers of workless households in the UK at an `ll-time

low, and with 1.4 million children being taught in schools ranked good

or outstanding since 2010, does my right honourable friend agrde with

me that the marker for one nation government is not the amount of

money we spend on benefits, but is what we do to tackle the root causes

of poverty? My honourable friend is absolutely

right. As far as I can see, Labour's only answer to every single problem

is to spend more money. It dnds up with more borrowing, more spending,

more debt, all the things which got us into this problem in the first

place. Our approach is to look at all the causes of poverty, `ll the

things holding people back. Let s fix the sink estates, let's reform

the failing schools, yet give people more childcare, let's deal with the

addiction and mental health problems people have, and that way wd will

demonstrate that this is thd Government and party helping people

with their life chances where Labour just want to stick people where they

are! The draft Wales Bill contains

provisions which reverses the 2 11 settlement which was overwhdlmingly

endorsed in the last Welsh referendum. Unless amended, the will

be an upper -- opposition sparking a crisis. Why is this governmdnt

treating Wales like a second-class nation? What this government has

done is first of all hold a referendum, so the Welsh Assembly

has those lawmaking powers. Secondly, the first governmdnt in

history to make sure there hs a floor under the Welsh level of

spending, never done by a L`bour government. And now in the Wales

Bill, we want to make sure we give Wales those extra powers. Wd are

still listening to the suggdstions made by him and the Welsh Assembly

Government, but this governlent has a proud record, not only of

devolution for Wales but in delivery for Wales.

$30 oil is great for petrol prices, but it is potentially catastrophic

in other respects. If it gods on like this, we risk seeing rdgimes

under pressure, dramatic corporate failures and financial defatlt,

enormous financial transfers out of our markets to pay for other

country's deficits, a possible collapse in share prices and

dividends for pensions, and a liquidity problem in our banking

sector. May I invite the Prhme Minister to initiate an urgdnt

review across Whitehall, to assess the effects of continuing low oil

prices on our economy and bdyond, and in particular, work out how we

can avoid the destruction of our own oil industry in the North Sda? My

right honourable friend makds an important point, which is this very

big move in the oil price. Ht has a highly beneficial effect for all our

constituents are able to fill up their cars for less than a pound a

litre, and that is a very bhg increase in people's dispos`ble

income and Holywell come. A low oil price is good for the British

economy which is a substanthal manufacturing and production economy

-- wholly welcome. We need to look carefully at how we can help our own

oil and gas industry. He did mention one other calamity which is it has

led to a complete and utter collapse of the SNP's policy.

Recent press reports suggest... Recent press reports suggest that

although some on the Governlent s backbenchers would agree with me,

despite the fact that my background would be what the Prime Minhster

would consider to be menial, important to have a reduction on the

?100 fixed odds betting terlinals. This government refuses to bring

this industry under scrutinx. Can the Prime Minister ensure that his

government will take a revidw of this dangerous, addictive and

ever-growing problem? We have looked at this problem and this industry

and we did make a series of changes including planning changes, but we

keep this important situation under review.

Whilst the floods over Christmas word bad for many areas in the North

of England and Scotland, cold Valley residents were hit the harddst.

?2100 and 3000 businesses flooded, Bridges lost, schools flooddd and a

tip of asbestos which has ldd keeping 20 families out of their

homes -- the colder Valley. Will the Prime Minister meet with me to

discuss how we can help to discuss the damage, the shortfall in future

flood schemes and the rebuilding of Todmorden high school as well? My

honourable friend and I havd discussed Todmorden high school but

I think we should meet again and discuss it again. First of `ll may I

say mice of these and the sxmpathies of the whole house go out to those

people and businesses which are flooded. Many people in his

constituency and that that picking a time of year. We will do evdrything

we can to help people get b`ck on their feet. There is a largd flood

investment programme and thd maintenance investment programme

which has been protected in real terms but there are number of other

infrastructure pieces of work that needs to be done. I would commend

the highways agency which h`ve been quick to examine roads and hn some

cases have taken over repairs to local authority roads because they

have the capacity to act and act quickly. As I said last week, the

army was in faster, the mondy was distributed faster, the EA worked

faster and round-the-clock but there are always more lessons to learn to

demonstrate we want to get these communities back on their fdet as

soon as possible.