24/02/2016 Prime Minister's Questions


24/02/2016

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case he raises with me but he is once do drop in, we can look into it

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fully. Questions to the Prime Minister. The house will be a

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further dreadful accident that happened at Didcot power station

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yesterday afternoon in which one died and three are missing.

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The family and friends of the victim.

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The house will be aware of the dreadful accident at Didcot

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power Station, one died and three are

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missing and the whole House will want to send

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The family and friends of the victim.

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And emergency services dealt with the incident with typical

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professionalism. The Health and Safety Executive will find out what

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led to the tragedy. This morning I had meetings with ministerial

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colleagues and others and I shall have further such meetings later

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today. I would like to associate myself and the people of Wiltshire

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with the Prime Minister's sentiments about Didcot. Wiltshire has

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successfully integrated a number of Syrian refugees including babies and

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children that would have otherwise frozen or starved to death in the

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camps. There has been delays in introducing more to the area. Can

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the Prime Minister say what more he can do and can he look into it and

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also outline what can we do to fulfil our moral duty to these

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desperate people? Let me first pay tribute to Wiltshire Council and

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many councils up and down the country who have done lives in job

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in integrating taking in Syrian refugees and their families, finding

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them homes and schools and I hope in time jobs too. If you look at what

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has happened across Europe in terms of the resettlement programme,

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actually Britain has done far better than any other country in terms of

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this sort of resettlement programme, we said 1000 by Christmas and we

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have delivered 1000 by Christmas. First of all I will make sure she

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can meet with the Home Office to talk about how we can make sure this

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system works well, we will continue to invest in the Syrian refugee

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camps, not least with the $11 billion we raised that the landmark

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London conference, and we will continue to do what we can to

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deliver 20,000 Syrian refugees we said we would take into our country.

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Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to echo the Prime Minister's tribute to

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all of the emergency services in dealing with the major incident in

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Didcot. Our thoughts are with the families of the person who died and

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those of the families who are missing and injured and we should

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always make sure the emergency services are there for all of us.

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The NHS staff survey shows that nine out of ten junior doctors already

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work extra hours beyond their normal contract, the survey also showed

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falling morale and among this vital group of staff. What does the Prime

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Minister think the Health Secretary's veto of a deal and

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imposition of a contract will do to their morale? The Health Secretary

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did not veto a deal. We have had for four years discussions about how

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important it is to have an NHS which works on a more seven-day basis. Let

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me pay tribute to the fact that so many in the NHS works so hard

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already at the weekends, but what matters is making sure we can have a

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genuine seven-day NHS and what I would say to junior doctors is that

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no junior doctor working legal hours will receive a pay cut and this will

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not impose longer hours and in fact has tougher safeguards to make sure

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it reduces the hours that worked. We are not seeking to save money from

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the new contract and nights and Saturday evenings and Sundays

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attract unsocial hours payments. This is a good deal from a

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government putting ?10 billion more into our NHS. This dispute with the

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junior doctors has been on the basis of misrepresented research about

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weekend mortality. I will read the Prime Minister what the research is

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themselves say, and I quote, it is not possible to ascertain the extent

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to which these excess deaths may be preventable, to issue and they are

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avoidable would be rash and misleading. Is the Prime Minister

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and his Health Secretary being rash and misleading with these figures?

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Let me agree with the right honourable gentleman about something

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which is that the dispute has been plagued by scaremongering and

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inaccurate statistics. The British Medical Association, in their first

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intervention said that this was a 30% pay cut, that was completely

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untrue. In fact, it was so untrue that they had to take their pay

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calculator off the website and they never put it back again. Let me

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answer directly the question about excess deaths, the 6000 figure of

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excess deaths was based on a question asked by the Health

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Secretary to Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of the NHS. Now we

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have had time to go into these figures in more detail, I can tell

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the house this, the Health Secretary was indeed guilty, he was guilty of

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an understatement. The true figure is why excess deaths at the weekend

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are 11000 and not 6000. So perhaps The Right Honourable gentleman will

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now withdraw his totally unjustified attack on the Health Secretary, will

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he withdraw it now Latinos the figures? -- now that he knows them.

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It is worth reflecting for one moment that there is no dispute with

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the junior doctors in Scotland or in Wales because their governments have

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had the sense to reach an agreement with the junior doctors. He must

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also be aware, that the vast majority of the public of England

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are on the side of the junior doctors, not the Secretary of State.

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But the Secretary of -- the situation actually gets worse. A

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Freedom of information request by the BBC today reveals that when

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asked for the source of the Health Secretary's statistics civil

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servants decided to, and I quote, offer up the most bland statement

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possible that would neither confirm nor contradict the Health

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Secretary's statements. Isn't it time that the Prime Minister and the

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Health Secretary actually apologised for what they have done and

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corrected these statements and while they are at it reach an honourable

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settlement with junior doctors? I think the best that can be said is

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that he wrote that question before he heard my answer. I have given the

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fullest possible description of how the 6000 figure was arrived at and

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now the true figure being 11,000. I know that there is no withdrawal of

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his accusation even after he gets the figures. He says there is no

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dispute in Scotland and Wales with junior doctors, the reason for that

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is that in Scotland and Wales they are not trying to create more of a

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seven-day NHS. The seven-day NHS was not only in our manifesto, because I

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want to make sure that hard-working people can access health services at

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an equal rate right through the week, because you don't just get ill

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in the weekdays, but also if he reads his own party's report into

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the election defeat, they admit that the concept of a seven-day NHS was a

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popular concept, and it is. What I would say to him is coming you can

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see in England we are putting ?10 billion more into the NHS, we have

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10,000 more doctors, 10,000 more nurses, we are treating more

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patients and we now have a settlement of the GP contract, a

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settlement of the junior doctors contract, we are building a strong

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NHS operations, and that's what this is about. We all want a strong and

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successful NHS. You don't achieve that by provoking industrial action,

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misrepresenting research, or failing to get a grip on the cost of agency

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staff in the NHS which now amounts to ?4 billion. Indeed, in the Prime

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Minister's own local NHS Trust, it has overspent on staffing costs by

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?11 million this year. Yet has spent ?30 million on agency staff. Will

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the chair of the Oxford anti-austerity campaign, writing

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another letter to himself, asking his local... On behalf of his

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constituents for the Health Secretary to intervene and support

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his local NHS? I am very proud of the NHS in Oxfordshire and everyone

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who works in it and having met recently with the head of the Oxford

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Radcliffe trust I know that he supports this move towards more

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seven-day services. That is vital. Ask your mother! My mother would

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look across the dispatch box and say, put on your suit, do up your

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tie, and sing the national anthem. If we are talking of motherly

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advice, my late mother would have said, stand up for the principle of

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a health service free at the point of use for everybody. Because that

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is what she dedicated her life to, as did many of her generation. We

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are three quarters of the way passed into this financial year, the NHS

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deficit is already ?2.26 billion. 53% of NHS Trust finance directors

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say that the quality of care in their area has worsened in this

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year. What will the deficit be by the end of next month? We will get

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deficits down because we are clamping down on the staffing

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agencies, an expensive management consultants, and introducing better

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public procurement. The honourable gentleman has to recognise that we

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said we would back the Stevens plan which means that at least 8 billion

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more into the NHS, although we put 10 billion more into the NHS. At the

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last election and subsequently Labour have refused to back that

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extra money and when you look at the NHS today, my mother is equally

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proud of the NHS as I am and I know she would be pleased to know 1.9

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million more people go to A, 1.6 million more operations, 10,000 more

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doctors, 11,800 more nurses. And if Nye Bevan was here today he would

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want a seven-day NHS because he knew the NHS was for patients up and down

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our country. Nye Bevan would be turning in his grave if he could

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hear the Prime Minister's attitude to the NHS. He was a man with

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vision, he was a man with vision who wanted a health service for the good

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of all. I tell you, our health service is run by brilliant people,

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brilliant doctors, brilliant nurses and staff. But I have got a question

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for the Prime Minister from one of those brilliant doctors, his name is

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Ashraf and he sent me a question saying this, as a doctor I know full

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well the stresses on the NHS and the shortcomings. We already have a

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seven-day emergency service. How does increasing elective work

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improve safety at the weekend? If a truly seven-day NHS is wanted we

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need more nurses, more admin staff, more porters, radiographers, physios

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and all of the other vital workers. Will the Prime Minister now today

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commit to publishing the Department of Health analysis of the real cost

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of introducing a seven-day NHS? And will he be prepared to pay for it

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rather than picking a fight with the junior doctors who want to deliver

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it? What is not clear is whether or not

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labours aboard a seven-day NHS or not. We do support a seven-day NHS

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and that is why we are putting in the ?10 billion, why we are put in

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10,000 more doctors, putting in thousands more nurses and crucially,

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yes, that is why we are looking up the contracts in the NHS to make

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sure it can work on a more seven-day basis. The truth is this. You can go

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to hospitals today in our country, like the Salford in the north-west

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of England, where they are already operating on a seven-day basis of

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the existing budgets. This is good because they are using all their

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recruitment on a seven-day basis, carrying out consultations seven

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days of the week, carrying out some operations seven days a week. That

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is good for the hospital, good for the staff working on it and above

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all good for patients. We don't just get ill Monday to Friday. I want a

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world class NHS. We are funding a world-class NHS. We've got

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world-class people working in our NHS and together we are going to

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build that seven-day NHS. Chris Davies. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

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With such a large number of schools facing the prospect of closure in my

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constituency, what can the Prime Minister doodling on to the Welsh

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Assembly to convert state schools into Free Schools economies in order

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that my constituents can benefit from the improvements to education

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that English pupils are staying web of seeing and hopefully save his

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excellent schools from closure? The issue of education is to in Wales.

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But I would urge them to focus on a good education, which depends not

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only on a finance, which is there, because of the way the Barnett

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formula works and because of the decisions we taken about funding in

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England, it is also about high standards of the publication of

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league tables so people can see how their children are doing, and it

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requires the structural reforms. Free Schools, academies, introducing

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some diversity, some competition and getting organisations that are

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passionate about education to provide state education. We want all

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the best organisations in their providing the best education for our

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children. Thank you very much. May I begin by associating the Scottish

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National Party with the comments of the Prime Minister and the leader of

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the Labour Party in relation to the tragedy in Didcot. Our thoughts are

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with all of those who have been affected. Will the Prime Minister

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congratulate the Scottish Government and his own colleagues who secured a

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deal on financial arrangements for the next phase of Scottish

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devolution? The Treasury position initially endangered ?7 billion of

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public funding in Scotland. At the beginning of this week, that was

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reduced to ?3 billion. Yesterday morning, it was ?2.5 billion. What

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changed the mind of the Treasury and help them agree to a deal that will

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make Scotland no worse off? Well, let me agree with the Right

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honourable gentleman, this is an excellent deal. It is an excellent

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deal for Scotland but it is also an excellent deal for the UK. For those

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of us who want to keep the UK together, what we've just

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demonstrated is that you can have full on devolution with a powerhouse

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parliament, with a fair fiscal settlement, inside the UK and I

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think that is something to be celebrated. Now we are going to move

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to a situation where the Scottish Government and the Scottish

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Parliament will have to start talking about policies and decisions

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rather than processes. But I'm happy that the negotiations went as they

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did. I'm happy we have a good outcome and I'm happy that Lord

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Smith, who was responsible for so much of this work, without a

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statement saying this delivers Smith and the principles in full. So no

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more grievance, no more fussing about process, no more arguments

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about the arrangements. Now it is time to get on and govern. We're

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indebted to Scotland's finance secretary, John Swinney, and to

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Nicola Sturgeon for securing a no detriment deal for Scotland. The

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Prime Minister is right that all parties will have to lay out their

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plans in advance of the May election so could he answer this question -

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is it actually true that in this time of austerity, his party, the

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Conservative Party, is planning tax cuts for high earners in Scotland?

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It will be Ruth Davidson, who is the only proper opposition figure in

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Scotland, who will be setting out the plans. If you are worried in

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Scotland about having a bit of a 1-party state and a lack of

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accountability, if you think that the Labour Party in Scotland has

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lost its way, there is only one choice and that is rude. But I will

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say this. I think there are opportunities to cut taxes, there

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are opportunities to sharpen incentives, there are opportunities

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to attract businesses and people into Scotland and I'm sure that

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route will be making those arguments and as she does, whatever she

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decides, she'll have my full and unequivocal support. A recent survey

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undertaken by a District Council showed that 96% of the 1000 100

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residents survey were satisfied with my counsel's services. Would my

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right honourable friend join me in paying tribute to the leader of the

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council, Conservative leader Terry Richardson, his councillor

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colleagues and all the officers in that District Council who, whilst

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making savings that are necessary, are continuing to deliver a first

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class service to the residents of South Leicestershire? I'm happy to

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join my honourable friend in doing that but he does make, I think, an

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important point which is, yes, we had to make difficult spending

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decisions, not least over the last five years, but satisfaction with

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local governments overseas actually went up and I think this proves a

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larger point, which is you can reduce spending levels, find

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efficiencies and provide better services at the same time. My

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constituent Frank is a long-term -- is on long-term sick leave due to

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depression but he is no longer entitled to sick pay, was turned

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down for ESA and cannot claim ASA due to his job being kept open for

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him. He cannot leave his highly skilled job as a chef due to the

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threat of punitive sanctions, leaving him with no income. Will the

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Prime Minister look at this case specifically but also the wider

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issue of people with mental health issues who are unable to work being

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expected to live on fresh air? I'm very happy to look at the individual

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case because the way our benefit system should work is clear, that if

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you are unable to work but, with help, could work you should go on to

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employment and support allowance on the work-related activity group and

:20:40.:20:43.

get that help. If you are unable to work, you go onto the support group,

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you get a higher amount of money. It's not means tested or

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time-limited. For people who have mental health issues and

:20:52.:20:54.

difficulties you have got the new personal independence payment

:20:55.:20:56.

system, which can address some of those. So quite rightly for a

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generous and compassionate country, we have a benefit system that

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supports those who cannot work while making sure that those who can work

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are encouraged to do so. Thank you, Mr Speaker. It was fantastic news

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that unemployment in my constituency has fallen by 62%. However, I'm

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committed to helping even more residents back into work as we work

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towards our target of full employment. That is why on March the

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18th I will be holding a community and jobs fair, being together

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employers and the voluntary sector, for residents to find out the many

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ways they can get suitable employment and support from

:21:38.:21:40.

charities. I would like to invite the Prime Minister to come along to

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this event and see for himself the resourcefulness of the residents of

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error wash. Let me thank my honourable friend and I'm sure I'll

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be doing a lot of touring the country in the weeks to come and

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perhaps a visit to the constituency would be worthwhile. I've visited

:21:56.:22:01.

before. We have now are much lower employment -- unemployment rate, our

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rate of just above 5% is one of the lowest in Europe but even at that

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rate, there is still much more to be done to match the jobs that are

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being created to the people that want to work and job says and

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apprenticeships and training programmes are absolutely essential

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so that we deliver on what we promised, which is full employment.

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The Prime Minister likes to go on about the importance of returning

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sovereignty to this house. Can I remind the Prime Minister that on

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the 7th of January, we debated the issue of women's state pension and

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the fact that women are being discriminated by the state pension

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increase? The house decided by 158 votes to zero and asked the

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government to mitigate the effects of this. Why has the government not

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respected the sovereignty of the vote of this Parliament? I would

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argue very strongly we are not discriminating against women. What

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we are making sure is that there is an equal age of retirement and

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that's right and two women who have been discriminated against in the

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pension system in the past, the single tier pension means many more

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will be retiring with a full pension and as they do so, they have the

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triple lock of knowing pensions will always go up by wages, prices or

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2.5%, is highest. That's why pensioner poverty is at a record low

:23:18.:23:21.

and that's why pensioners know they can live in security and dignity in

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our country. South Thanet lags behind much of the south-east across

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very many indices. I've launched a new body locally, the Ramsgate

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regeneration Alliance, that brings together businesses and community

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groups. Can I invite my right honourable friend and the coastal

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communities minister to this gem on our doorstep to seek themselves what

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it could and, indeed, should be? I'm very happy to put Ramsgate on my to

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a list for the coming months and we all run of the historic battle that

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he fought in that constituency. We have set up the coastal communities

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fund. We have a dedicated minister in the government to try to help

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coastal communities and I will make sure that officials from his

:24:10.:24:12.

department meet with this new alliance and look at the Ramsgate

:24:13.:24:15.

coastal community team and what they can do to help. For tee years my

:24:16.:24:21.

constituents and I campaigned against development of a luxury

:24:22.:24:26.

skyscraper. The local council has listened and rejected the plans but

:24:27.:24:30.

then the Conservative minister for local government called in the

:24:31.:24:35.

decision and overturned the wishes of the community, showing utter

:24:36.:24:41.

disrespect for local democracy. The Prime Minister preaches localism but

:24:42.:24:44.

will he finally admit that his government only believes in the

:24:45.:24:50.

devolution of blame for cuts, not the devolution of actual power for

:24:51.:24:55.

local communities? We have a long-standing system for local

:24:56.:24:58.

planning but also being able to call in decisions and that operated all

:24:59.:25:01.

the time under the last Labour government. If anything, our local

:25:02.:25:06.

planning system is actually putting more power in the hands of local

:25:07.:25:09.

people because once they've completed their local plan, it is

:25:10.:25:13.

then much easier to say yes to developments that are within that

:25:14.:25:16.

plan and no to develop Mensah that are outside it. -- developments that

:25:17.:25:24.

are outside it. Last Friday I made separate visits to three families,

:25:25.:25:27.

all of whom have a child suffering from acute mental health

:25:28.:25:30.

difficulties, which the families felt had not been adequately

:25:31.:25:34.

assessed at the early stages. Colleagues from across the chamber

:25:35.:25:37.

will be all too familiar with such visits. I welcome the Prime

:25:38.:25:41.

Minister's recent commitment to reform mental health provision for

:25:42.:25:44.

young people. Can I ask him to consider reviewing the provision of

:25:45.:25:48.

initial stage treatment and asked that he continues to be the champion

:25:49.:25:52.

for these vulnerable and brave children? Let me thank my honourable

:25:53.:25:58.

friend for his question. He is right that children and young people's

:25:59.:26:01.

mental health is a priority for this government. We can all agree across

:26:02.:26:04.

this has this is not an area that has had adequate attention or

:26:05.:26:09.

investment the many years. I would highlight particularly the problems

:26:10.:26:12.

of psychosis, sometimes caused by drug use, I would also raise the

:26:13.:26:18.

huge problem of eating disorders, where we see a rapid increase in the

:26:19.:26:22.

number of people suffering. We have come a long way in increasing the

:26:23.:26:25.

number of talking therapies, something like 740,000 more people

:26:26.:26:29.

are accessing those therapies than when this government came to office

:26:30.:26:32.

but we recognise there is more to be done and that's why we are investing

:26:33.:26:37.

1.4 billion in systemwide transformation across children and

:26:38.:26:44.

adolescent mental health. Last week, ScottishPower refused to attend and

:26:45.:26:48.

evidence session with the cashback APPG where crucial evidence was

:26:49.:26:53.

uncovered. As a former litigator I am mightily convinced that over 2000

:26:54.:26:57.

by constituents and over half a million people in the UK are

:26:58.:27:00.

cashback from ScottishPower. Given this is a scandal of potentially

:27:01.:27:04.

huge proportions, will the Prime Minister agreed to meet with me and

:27:05.:27:08.

the cross-party APPG to discuss how we can ensure these ordinary,

:27:09.:27:10.

hard-working people perceive the cash that they were promised by

:27:11.:27:14.

ScottishPower? I'm glad the honourable gentleman has raised this

:27:15.:27:16.

because it has been raised on previous occasions by the honourable

:27:17.:27:21.

member for Aberconwy and I know the cross-party group has done some very

:27:22.:27:26.

useful work. Any alleged wrongdoing should be fully investigated. Ofgem

:27:27.:27:30.

can impose fines if they find companies have breached their

:27:31.:27:33.

licence and I'm very happy to arrange for a meeting between him

:27:34.:27:35.

and other members of the all-party group with relevant ministers so we

:27:36.:27:44.

can try and get this fixed. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Does my

:27:45.:27:47.

right honourable friend agree with me that with the Nato summit in

:27:48.:27:51.

Warsaw pending, with the threat of expansionism from put-in's Russia

:27:52.:27:57.

and the threat from Daesh, we are right in this government to support

:27:58.:28:02.

to % of our GDP towards defence? Isn't too shocked at the failure of

:28:03.:28:07.

the party opposite to do likewise? Ayr isn't he shocked. He makes an

:28:08.:28:13.

important point which is that we do face an insecure and unstable world,

:28:14.:28:17.

particularly with what Putin has done in the Ukraine, particularly

:28:18.:28:21.

with what we see in Syria and that's why I think to % spending on defence

:28:22.:28:24.

and making sure we renew our nuclear deterrent is the right answer. To be

:28:25.:28:28.

fair to the Labour Party, they have got an answer. They are not going to

:28:29.:28:32.

spend to %, they are not going to renew our Trident submarines but

:28:33.:28:34.

they've come up with a brilliant answer. They are bringing back as

:28:35.:28:38.

their spokesman and spin doctor Damian McBride. Six months after

:28:39.:28:46.

saying - and this is the Leader of the Opposition - we could win in

:28:47.:28:49.

2020 but only we spent the next five years building this movement and

:28:50.:28:54.

putting forward a vision for the kind of politics, honest, kind and

:28:55.:28:58.

more caring. Six months on, Damian McBride is back. That says it all.

:28:59.:29:24.

Colleagues are calling for more. There will be more. Imran Hussain.

:29:25.:29:35.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Last week I visited Palestine along with several

:29:36.:29:38.

of my honourable friends, where we visited the home of Nora and her

:29:39.:29:43.

family, who have lived in the old city of East Jerusalem since 1953.

:29:44.:29:51.

However, Israeli settlers are now trying to force Nora from her home

:29:52.:29:54.

of over 60 years and there are many other cases. Does the Prime Minister

:29:55.:30:00.

agree with me that illegal settlements and constructions are a

:30:01.:30:07.

major roadblock that hinder peaceful negotiations and what is this

:30:08.:30:14.

government doing to help prevent the infringement into Palestinian lives

:30:15.:30:20.

and land? Let me say, I think the question the honourable gentleman

:30:21.:30:23.

raises is incredibly important. I am well known as being a strong friend

:30:24.:30:27.

of Israel but I have to say, the first time I visited Jerusalem and

:30:28.:30:32.

had a proper tour around that wonderful city and saw what has

:30:33.:30:34.

happened with the affected encirclement of East Jerusalem, it

:30:35.:30:41.

is genuinely shocking. What this government has consistently done is

:30:42.:30:44.

saying we are supporters of Israel but we do not support illegal

:30:45.:30:48.

settlements, do not support what is happening in East Jerusalem and it

:30:49.:30:52.

is very important that this capital city is maintained in the way it was

:30:53.:31:03.

in the past. One of my constituents, Alex Bagnall, is fighting to have

:31:04.:31:06.

his son brought back to the UK after he was taken to Poland by the mother

:31:07.:31:16.

illegally, as per the Hague treaty. What representations, government

:31:17.:31:19.

make to EU and Polish authorities with regard to the Hague convention

:31:20.:31:23.

in order to help British families with the safe return of the abducted

:31:24.:31:27.

children, to offer hope to devastated families like my

:31:28.:31:32.

constituents, the Bagnall is? My honourable friend is actually right

:31:33.:31:35.

to raise a case like this and sadly there are far too many of them in

:31:36.:31:39.

our country. The straight answer is that the return decision is for the

:31:40.:31:44.

Polish court and governments can't interfere in the decisions processes

:31:45.:31:47.

of another country's justice system but we do have the international

:31:48.:31:50.

child abduction and contact unit at the Ministry of Justice. They've

:31:51.:31:54.

been in constant touch with Mr Bagnall, they are processing his

:31:55.:31:58.

paperwork, tracing their counterparts in Poland for

:31:59.:32:00.

information and I will make sure the Foreign Secretary is aware of this

:32:01.:32:04.

case and does everything he can to help her and hope the constituent.

:32:05.:32:10.

Oil and gas has contributed over ?300 billion to Treasury coffers.

:32:11.:32:14.

The Scottish Government, trade unions and oil and gas UK are

:32:15.:32:17.

calling for reductions to the headline rate of tax to support the

:32:18.:32:21.

industry in its hour of need yet instead of the so-called broad

:32:22.:32:24.

shoulders of the UK, what we see sloping shoulders of the Prime

:32:25.:32:28.

Minister repeatedly dodging his responsibilities. Will he commit to

:32:29.:32:33.

reduce the tax level of oil and gas and support this vital industry?

:32:34.:32:38.

What I would say to the honourable gentleman is, first of all, in the

:32:39.:32:41.

budget last year we reduced the burden of tax on oil and gas,

:32:42.:32:45.

something we were able to do because of the broad shoulders of the UK.

:32:46.:32:51.

And now let us to stick some in what has happened since that time. Oil

:32:52.:32:57.

and gas revenues are down 94%. If there weren't the broad shoulders of

:32:58.:33:02.

the UK Government, if instead this was a genuinely fiscally independent

:33:03.:33:06.

Scotland, there would be a massive black hole in your budget. You would

:33:07.:33:11.

be cutting welfare, you would be cutting spending, you would be

:33:12.:33:14.

putting up taxes, you would be facing a financial catastrophe.

:33:15.:33:25.

Every week, two women are killed in England and Wales by current or

:33:26.:33:32.

former partners. The perpetrator is the problem. The question is not why

:33:33.:33:37.

doesn't she leave but why doesn't he stop. The Sussex Police and crime

:33:38.:33:42.

commission is piloting a programme called kart Drive, which aims to

:33:43.:33:47.

change the behaviour of offenders. It is part of his new strategy to

:33:48.:33:51.

tackle violence against women and girls. Will the Prime Minister join

:33:52.:33:55.

me in congratulating Katie born the tackling domestic violence? My

:33:56.:33:59.

honourable friend is right to raise this. We have got better at tackling

:34:00.:34:05.

it but there is still so much more to do. I think Katie born, who I

:34:06.:34:11.

know, does an excellent job as the Police and Crime Commissioner. I

:34:12.:34:14.

think this is a good example of the sort of thing that Police and Crime

:34:15.:34:17.

Commissioners, with their higher profile than police authorities ever

:34:18.:34:20.

had, can give a real lead on and I would urge others around the country

:34:21.:34:24.

to do exactly that. We need to make sure we are policing these incidents

:34:25.:34:27.

properly. We need today is the culture. But I think PCC is can help

:34:28.:34:35.

lead the way. As the Prime Minister knows, resources were ring fenced

:34:36.:34:38.

in November to help Northern Ireland in November to help Northern Ireland

:34:39.:34:42.

deal with legacy cases. Will he consider releasing some of the

:34:43.:34:48.

money, as has been hinted at by the secretary of state, to help the

:34:49.:34:50.

Police Service of Northern Ireland as they face increasing pressures in

:34:51.:34:53.

front-line policing and will he take the opportunity to reaffirm that

:34:54.:34:58.

there will be no rewriting of the past in Northern Ireland to let it

:34:59.:35:03.

rise -- legitimised terrorism or to promote a pernicious narrative? What

:35:04.:35:11.

I say is that the fresh start agreement was a good agreement and

:35:12.:35:15.

an important part of it was dealing with these legacy cases and making

:35:16.:35:18.

sure they were dealt with more quickly. To me, it's always been

:35:19.:35:21.

about trying to heal the hurt of the legacy cases, rather than trying to

:35:22.:35:26.

write new narratives. I'll look carefully at what he says about

:35:27.:35:30.

resources because we need to make sure that the policing of Northern

:35:31.:35:33.

Ireland continues to be properly resourced, not least because we

:35:34.:35:40.

still face a terrorist threat today. The United Kingdom endorses the code

:35:41.:35:44.

of good practice on referendums, published by the European Commission

:35:45.:35:50.

for democracy through law. It says equality of opportunity must be

:35:51.:35:53.

guaranteed for the supporters and opponents of the proposal being

:35:54.:35:57.

voted on and equality must be ensured in terms of public subsidies

:35:58.:36:04.

and other forms of backing. Yesterday, Sir Jeremy Hayward sent a

:36:05.:36:08.

letter around the department preventing ministers from having

:36:09.:36:12.

access to civil service briefings. Can the Prime Minister check that

:36:13.:36:16.

that letter was compatible with the guidelines on neutrality? I'm very

:36:17.:36:21.

happy with the letter that was sent out for this reason, which is that

:36:22.:36:24.

the government has a position on this issue. The government's

:36:25.:36:28.

position is that we would be better off in a reformed European Union.

:36:29.:36:33.

Ministers are able to depart from that position and campaign in a

:36:34.:36:38.

personal capacity. That is very important statement. It is right in

:36:39.:36:41.

terms of how we go about it but it does not mean the government is

:36:42.:36:44.

neutral. It doesn't mean the civil service is neutral. The government

:36:45.:36:48.

has a policy, from which people can depart. As for the funding of the

:36:49.:36:52.

referendum campaign, we now have very clear laws in place and rules

:36:53.:36:55.

in place and the Electoral Commission to make sure that both

:36:56.:36:59.

campaigns are funded properly and I think that is good for our

:37:00.:37:00.

democracy.

:37:01.:37:03.

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