11/05/2016 Prime Minister's Questions

institutions? This act is good for Britain and

trade unions, it is good for future working relations.

This morning, I had meetings with ministers and colleagues and I will

have further meetings today. Even fantastically corrupt Nigeria

is asking Britain to clean up its act and introduce beneficial

ownership registers in the overseas territories. We'll be Prime Minister

achieve this tomorrow at the anti-corruption Summit? -- will be

Prime Minister? I want to check the microphone is on before speaking. I

thank him for his question. The answer is yes. We have asked three

things of the overseas territories and Crown dependencies - automatic

exchange of tax information, a common reporting standard for

multinational companies, and for central beneficial ownership

registry so that UK enforcement can know who owns companies based there.

They have delivered on the first two, and they will be following and

delivering on the third. That is what he asked for and what he is

getting. Mr Speaker, in my constituency there is unprecedented

housing growth. Does the Prime Minister agree that we must build

sufficient starter homes so that the dream of home ownership becomes

something that everybody really can aspire to? I want to thank my

constituency neighbour and honourable friend for raising that

question. The fact is, we are building more houses right across

England. We are building more affordable homes, and the

legislation going through this House and the other place will make sure

we deliver our pledge of 200,000 starter homes. Those are the ones we

want to see, affordable for people to buy. I hope that even at this

late stage, the Labour Party in the House of Lords. Blocking this bill.

Jeremy Corbyn. -- the Labour Party in the house of lords will stop

blocking this bill. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Since we

often celebrate great national event in this House, would be Prime

Minister join me in wishing Sir David Attenborough a very happy 90th

birthday and thank him for the way he has presented nature programmes

on television and awakened the ideas of so many people to the fragility

of our ecosystem and educated a whole generation? Mr Speaker, on

this side of the House, we are fully aware... I haven't asked the

question yet, it's OK! We are fully aware that the European Union has

strength the rights of workers in many ways. In March, while the Prime

Minister was trying to undermine workers' writes with his trade union

Bill, the European Commission put forward proposals to close loopholes

in the posting of workers directive which would stop employers

exploiting foreign workers and undercutting national rates of pay.

We'll be Prime Minister confirm that his Government will protect workers

and will back these reforms to stop this undercutting and grotesque

exploitation of workers across this continent? First, I join the right

Honourable gentleman in wishing a very happy birthday to David

Attenborough. Many of us in this House feel that we grew up with him

as our teacher about the natural world and the environment. He is

remarkable. I am proud to say that the Royals survey ship, the Arctic

ship, will be named after David Attenborough. There was strong

support for Boaty McBoatface, and I think the submarine, or the life

raft, on the boat will be named that. On the workers directive, we

are looking closely, working with our partners. We see some merit in

what is being proposed. I can say that the yellow card procedure has

been invoked by national parliaments, demonstrating the

importance of these safeguards, much of which we reacted -- achieved in

my re-negotiation does not the best thing we can do for workers' writes

in this country is celebrate the national living wage introduced by

this Government. The national minimum wage was a Labour

introduction. The living wage proposed by the Chancellor is a

corruption of the very idea of it. It is not, in reality, a proper

living wage. But, Mr Speaker, my question was about the posting of

workers directive which would prevent the grotesque exploitation

by unscrupulous employers of workers being moved from one nation to

another in order to undercut the wages of the second nation. We'll be

Prime Minister be absolutely clear? Will be British Government support

this very important reform to stop this exploitation? As I said, we are

working with the Dutch presidency. We think there is merit in a lot of

the proposals, but we want to make sure we get the details right. Let

me pull them up on something - he has described the national living

wage as a corruption. It is ?7.20 per hour, a ?20 per week pay writers

of the poorest in our country. I really think he ought to get up and

say he supports the national living wage and thanks the Government for

introducing it. I support a wage rise, obviously does not the point I

am making is that it is not a living wage. It is not a living wage as is

generally understood. Mr Speaker, saying yes seems to be one of the

hardest word for the Prime Minister. For radar time, could he say whether

he does or does not support the posting of workers directive? He

might be aware that Patrick Minford, a former economic adviser to

Margaret Thatcher, has said that the European Union has a negative effect

on the City of London, and he would want the shackles European

regulation removed. Does the Prime Minister believed that membership

hurts the City of London, or does he believe that European Union

regulation of the finance sector in Britain and British- administered

tax havens would help the sort of bad practice exposed by the Panama

papers or underlined by my friend in his earlier question today? This is

an area where we basically agree about the European Union, so I will

try to identify a question and answer as positively as I can. On

Patrick Minford, I completely disagree with the Economist Patrick

Minford. He wants to see manufacturing industry in our

country obliterate it, and I think it would be disastrous to follow his

advice. In terms of the City of London, we need the right regulation

for the City of London to continue its massive rate of job creation and

wealth creation in our country, but we also need to remain members of

the single market because it is absolutely vital for this important

sector of our economy. I hope that on that, as on the national living

wage, we can find some agreement. The question I also put the Prime

Minister, which perhaps he wasn't listening to, was what he was going

to do... What I asked was what he's going to do about the UK-

administered tax havens which receive large sums of money from

dodgy sources which should and must be closed down, as should any tax

evasion in the City of London. We need a British Government that is

prepared to chase down this level of corruption. This Government has done

more than any previous Government to deal with this issue, making sure

that our overseas territories and Crown dependencies are not tax

behave -- tax havens but behave in a responsible way. We are now taking

part in the automatic exchange of tax information, which didn't happen

before. We have signed up to a common reporting standard for

multinational companies, which didn't happen before. And there will

be central registry so we can find out who owns the companies. All of

these things are real progress. Of course, we would like to go further

in her public registry is beneficial ownership, as we are introducing in

this country, not because of the Labour Government but because of a

decision by a Conservative Prime Minister, but where I would urge him

to be fair is that many of the Crown dependencies have gone much further

than many developed countries. Indeed, you actually get more

information now out of some of our Crown dependencies and overseas

territories than you would out of the United States in terms of

Delaware. Let's be fair on these, for which we have a responsibility,

we are making them improve their record and he should acknowledge it.

Mr Speaker, a month ago, the Prime Minister informed the House that he

welcomed the European Union proposals on country by country

taxed transparency reporting. We agreed with that. Yet, on the 26th

of April, Conservative MEPs voted against these proposals. Did they

not received the memo of what? People expect that people pay their

tax in this country. Tomorrow, the European Parliament will be voting

again on country by country reporting. Can he assure the House

that Conservative members of the European Parliament will support

these measures as he told us they would a month ago? The important

thing is that we support these measures. The Government supports

these measures. Indeed, these measures have only come forward

because it has been a Conservative Government in the United Kingdom

proposing them. The only area of disagreement, I would suspect,

between himself and myself is, I don't think we should set a minimum

tax rate for these countries. This has always been a position of Labour

Government and previous Conservative governments, that while we want to

make sure that these territories behave properly, we don't actually

make them set a minimum tax rate. That is the difference between us.

If he wants to swap voting records of Labour and Tory MEPs, let's have

a whole session, because I have plenty of material in here. That was

a very long answer... When he could have quite simply said whether or

not he supports these proposals, and if his Conservative MEPs will vote

for them. Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister will be very well aware of

the concern across the whole country about the question of unaccompanied

child refugees across Europe. They are in a desperate plight and a

dangerous situation. Everyone's heart reaches out to them, but we

have to do more than that and be practical in our help for them. I

got a letter this week from a voluntary worker with child refugees

called Hannah. She wrote about these children, some of whom have family

members in this country. Can the Prime Minister confirm that in

respect of the response to Lord dubs amendment, there will be no delay

whatsoever in accepting 3000 unaccompanied child refugees into

this country to give them the support they need and allow them to

enjoy the childhood they and all our children deserve? All I can say is

that we will follow his amendment. That is now the law the land. The

amendment says we have to consult very carefully with local

authorities to make sure that as we take these children in we are able

to house them, clothe them and feed them, make sure the properly looked

after. So we need to look at the capacity of our care system. If you

look at some councils, particularly in Kent and southern England, they

are already struggling because of the number unaccompanied children

who come in. Two figures, last year, 3000 unaccompanied children arrived

and claimed asylum in the UK even before the scheme that is being

introduced. Second, under Dublin, children with a connection to the UK

can already claim asylum in France or Italy then come to the UK. We

have accepted 30 such transfers since February. What I can say is,

there will be no delay, we will get on with it as fast as we can, but in

order to follow the law we have to talk to local authorities first.

During President Obama's recent visit, was the Prime Minister able

to talk to him about the Chinese dumping of steel and the robust

action he has taken in the United States to address it, including

increasing tariffs to 288%? Will he increased the tariffs and tell the

Chinese to go to the back of the line? I did discuss this with

President Obama and both the European Union and the US have taken

action against Chinese dumping. The excess steel capacity in China is 25

times higher than the UK's entire production. The anti-dumping tariffs

we have produced in the EU have been very effective and in some areas

have reduced Chinese exports to as much as 98%. EU action does work and

if we were outside the EU, we might be subject to those tariffs

ourselves. The Prime Minister's government was elected with 37% of

the vote, so I am sure he would acknowledge the success of Nicola

Sturgeon and the SNP in being returned victoriously for a third

time with 46%, the highest of any political party in national

elections anywhere currently in Western Europe. Mr Speaker, on the

anti-corruption Summit, has the Prime Minister read the appeals from

Nigerian campaigners who say, our efforts are sadly undermined if

countries such as your own are welcoming our corrupt to hide their

ill gotten gains in your luxury homes, department stores, car

dealerships and private schools and anywhere else that will accept their

cash with no questions asked? The role of London's property as vessels

to hide this money, what is the Prime Minister going to do about

this? I am delighted to congratulate Nicola Sturgeon on her victory, as I

want to congratulate Ruth Davidson on Harris. We have something in

common, the SNP have gone from a majority to a minority, while the

Conservatives have gone from coalition to a majority. Next week

he can get on with asking me how we are getting on with ordering some

more pandas for Edinburgh zoo. The question he asks about the

corruption Summit is right. The whole point about holding this

summit is to say that the action is necessary by developed countries as

well as developing countries. One of the steps we are making is that

foreign companies have to declare with the beneficial owner is to make

sure that plundered money from African countries cannot be hidden

in London. It would be helpful if he could confirm that that list would

be publicly available and not just accessible to the police. Seeing as

the Prime Minister is prepared to lecture other countries on

corruption, could he explain why seven police forces in the UK have

launched criminal investigations into Conservative MPs for potential

electoral fraud? Mr Speaker, it is very serious, so how is it that a

Conservative crime and policing commissioner can serve in such a

role when being under police investigation? First of all, let's

be clear about this anti-corruption Summit. Nobody is lecturing anybody.

One of the reasons this issue does not get addressed is because

countries and politicians are too worried about addressing it, knowing

that no country is perfect, nor is any politician. It is right for

Britain to take this lead, not least because we meet our contribution on

aid, but we are entitled to raise this issue. As for the electoral

commission, the whole point is it is independent and when it comes to

operation on decisions by a police force they are independent as well.

That is the hallmark of a non-corrupt country. I know my right

honourable friend will want to join with me in congratulating Katie born

who was re-elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner, topping the poll

in Crawley, significantly for her work in helping victims. In that

respect, will the Prime Minister introduce a British bill of rights

as soon as possible? I am happy to make that commitment and let me join

him in congratulating all the candidates who were successful. In a

minute. What we saw in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections was

a very large increase in turnout, sometimes as much as 25% point

increase in turnout. This new role in our country is bedding in well. I

am happy to congratulate Carwyn Jones, Arlene Foster, who will be

First Minister of Northern Ireland. I spoke to her and the Deputy First

Minister yesterday. I also congratulate Sadiq Khan who won a

victory in London and we look forward to working with him for the

benefit of Londoners. When Hall was left out of the government's plans

for rail electrification for the North, whole business got together

and produce a privately financed scheme to do the work for the City

of Culture, 2017. It has been with the Department for Transport for two

years. Does the Prime Minister think their attitude shows incompetence or

indifference to the scheme that has been put forward with private money?

The honourable lady is being unfair on the department, not least because

passengers will benefit from 500 brand-new carriages and the removal

of outdated trains. ?1.4 million of investment is going into the station

to be delivered before it becomes the UK City of Culture. The

Department for Transport is considering the case to complete

electrification between Selby and how. We make these investments

because we are investing in our infrastructure and have a strong

economy. I recently visited Silent Night, will the Prime Minister join

me in congratulating them on the success of this scheme which has

allowed them to award all of their 1000 employees with a ?250 thank you

bonus? I am happy to join my honourable friend in congratulating

them. I remember visiting them in 2014. They employed 800 people.

They're now employ 1100 people and that is a good example of a business

expanding under this government. They are big backers of

apprenticeships and our target is 3 million apprenticeships under this

Parliament. Already in 2016, at least 46 women have been murdered in

the UK. This number would be much higher if not for specialist

refuges. I am standing to bake the Prime Minister to exempt refuge

accommodation from the changes to housing benefit. This will certainly

close services. I do not want to hear a stock answer about the 40

million over the next few years. He knows that that will not stop

refuges setting. Will he choose to save lives? Please. The honourable

lady raises an important point and that is why we delayed the

introduction of this change so we could look at all of the possible

consequences and make sure we get it right so that we can help vulnerable

people. HIV infection rates in the UK are on the rise. My right

honourable friend will be aware that NHS England have refused to fund

pre-exposure prophylactic treatment. Will my right honourable friend meet

with me and leading aids charities so that we can review this

unacceptable decision? My understanding is that NHS England

are considering their commissioning responsibility. I want them to reach

a decision on this quickly this month if possible. There is a rising

rate of infection that these treatments can help and make a

difference too. We are planning trial sites. They are already under

way and we are investing ?2 million to support this. I will make sure he

gets the meetings he needs to make progress with this. In my first year

as an MP every person in my constituency advice surgery has been

an anxious council tenant, usually mother, father and two children

living in a one-bedroom flat and they are often in tears. They cannot

afford to rent in the private market and they cannot afford to buy their

council flat and they cannot afford a starter home. With the Prime

Minister explain that I can read to them from Hansard White in his view

the Housing Bill will not make their intolerable situation worse I see

Mark what I would say is there are a series of things that will help

them. First of all, making sure the right to buy is therefore a housing

association tenants as well as council tenants with the full

discount makes a difference. Because you have got help to buy, which

means people need a smaller amount of equity to buy their house, that

helps as well. Starter homes will make a difference because they will

be more affordable. Added to that, shared accommodation homes means

that where you previously needed a deposit of ?30,000, you may be able

to buy a house for just a few thousand pounds deposit. All of

those things make a difference and for those in estate that need

regeneration we are backing the regeneration that never happened

under a Labour government. I am proud this government has delivered

a record low unemployment levels in my constituency of 6%. This

government delivered the Cardiff city deal, and investment into

infrastructure. Does the Prime Minister share my eagerness to see

electrification of the city and Valley lines delivered in Wales? My

honourable friend is right to raise these issues because the money is

there and now, frankly, with a new Welsh government in place we need

the action, particularly on the M4. We have given the Welsh government

500 million increased borrowing powers, the delay in upgrading the

motorway is damaging business in South Wales and it is high time the

Welsh government got on with it. Mr Speaker, a report claims it is money

rather than religious fervour that attracts recruitment to Isis, while

the Syrian army pays less money and Isis can pay more money due to its

funding and sophistication. Does the Prime Minister need much more needs

to be done to offer alternative economic avenues for Syrians and to

undermine the brains behind Isis? I agree with what he says about

development and aid and that is why we have a serious aid budget. Right

now in Syria it is difficult to get aid and benefit through. If we truly

see this as them recruiting people because they are paying them, we

would miss the point. The cancer of Islamist extremist violence is

damaging our world and our country and not just in Syria and we have to

understand the nature of that extremism if we are to defeat it. A

business park in my constituency will create 300,000 new jobs. Will

the Prime Minister join me in congratulating its first new talent,

Fat Face? I think the claimant count in his constituency has fallen by a

staggering 52% since 2010, and we need to keep on with this by making

sure we are expanding the training and the apprentice that make sure

that young people get the jobs. The Prime Minister said that the UK was

becoming a surveillance state and he promised to sweep the whole edifice

away. That he has made a U-turn and his investigative Powers Bill

proposes to retain a record of everybody in the UK. Why is he

championing ineffective mass surveillance in government? I

disagree with the honourable gentleman and I hope he will follow

and listen to the debates that take place on this vital bill. The fact

is if you want to make sure that we can keep our country safe, just as

we have been able to see the Communications data when two people

talk to each other on a mobile phone or a fixed phone, so if that

conversation is taking place on an Internet site, is he happy for plots

to be hatched, terrorism to be planned,

murderers to be arranged, because people are using an Internet site

rather than a telephone? My answer is no. We have to modernise our

capabilities to keep our country safe and that is what this bill is

about. My right honourable friend said in 2015 that access to the

Internet should not be a luxury, but right. The press release said that

every home and business would have access to fast broadband by the hand

this Parliament. With my right honourable friend say today that

this commitment will be honoured? My right honourable friend will have to

wait for the Queen's speech when we set out how we are going to make

this access available to our citizens. Will the Prime Minister

give me a personal commitment to work with the Scottish Government to

blood delivery of funding for the Tay area, Dundee and the surrounding

area? I am very happy to give that commitment. I think city deals are

working. They are working in Scotland and I was proud to be there

for the Aberdeen city deal. City deals can only work if we are all

part of one happy United Kingdom. Respected journalist Laura

Kuenssberg has been subjected to an online hate campaign which appears

to be a sexist witchhunt to silence her. Increasingly this is a tool

used against people in public life by those who take an opposing view.

Will my right honourable friend condemned this kind of harassment

and will he work with media and social media platforms to reserve

the right to speak freely without intimidation or hate? We must be

able to speak freely and we must have a robust and lively democracy,

but some of the things people say on twitter, knowing that they are in

some way anonymous, are frankly appalling and people should be

ashamed of the sort of sexist bullying that often takes place.

Last week London elected the new Mayor... With an overwhelming

mandate to tackle London's housing crisis, a crisis many of us fear the

Housing Bill will make worse. Last April the Prime Minister launched a

manifesto promising to replace council houses with affordable homes

in the same area. Why is he proposing an amendment to the

Housing Bill this afternoon which implements last year's manifesto

commitments? Let me again congratulate Sadiq Khan for his

victory and we look forward to working with him on issues that

matter to Londoners. I would put the question back to the honourable

lady. Our Housing Bill means that every high-value properties sold

will mean two new affordable homes in London. Why is it the Labour

Party and the other plays are opposing what will mean more houses,

more affordable housing and more home ownership? They talk a good

game, but at the end of the day they are the enemies of aspiration.

During military operations in Afghanistan, British forces were

reliant on local interpreters who constantly put themselvess in harm's

way. I saw with my own eyes how brave these interpreters work. Does

he agree it is a stain on our honoured that we have abandoned a

large number of them to be threatened by the Taliban. Some have

been murdered and others have had to flee in fear of their lives. We owe

them a huge debt of gratitude and honour and we must provide safety

and sanctuary for them here. We debated and discussed around the

National Security Council table in the Coalition Government and

announced in the House of commons a scheme to make sure that those

people who had helped our forces in terms of translation and other

services were given the opportunity of coming here. We set up one scheme

to encourage that and another generous scheme to try and encourage

those who wanted to stay, or who had not been translated for a long

period, to stay in Afghanistan and help rebuild that country. It is

important to have both schemes in place, rather than to say that

everyone can come to the UK. Let's back Afghans to rebuild their own

country. The Prime Minister has confirmed to me that should we leave

the EU, then the European funding for the very poorest parts of Wales

will cease. Will he confirm that in such a case the UK Government would

make up such a difference? The point I would make to the honourable

gentleman, as I would to anyone asking what would happen if we were

to leave, is I do not think we could give a guarantee. I want to go on

making sure that poor regions and part of our country are properly

supported. If, as I think it is the case, that we would find our economy

hit by leaving and our tax receipts, that will impact the amount of

funding we can put into agriculture, research and poor are part of our

country. The right option is boat to remain in. Can I support the Prime

Minister in his comments about Nigeria and Afghanistan? I want to

ask him if he will stop pouring hundreds of millions of pounds of

taxpayers' money into those countries until they have cleaned up

their act. Can he tell us where he has the European Union in his leak

of corruption? I thank my honourable friend for his help and support and

his tips on diplomacy as well. They are useful. Countries like Nigeria

and Afghanistan, their leaders are battling hard against very corrupt

systems and countries. In both cases they have made remarkable steps

forward and I am keen to welcome them to the anti-corruption

conference in London. But I do not think it would be right to withdraw

the aid that we give because the problems in those countries come

back and haunt us here, whether it is problems of migration or

terrorism and all the rest of it. We are a country involved in a

dangerous, global world and I our aid budget, 0.7%, alongside our

defence budget, 2%, a way of keeping us safe in a dangerous world as well

as fulfilling our moral responsibilities. The noise makes it

necessary to outdo the Barclays Premier League matches in terms of

injury time. It is a pleasure to recall Jill Furniss. 22 years ago we

saw in the country's biggest sporting disaster. It is true we

will not have the truth. Will the Prime Minister initiate an enquiry?

The Home Secretary has met with that group and is considering the point

is that they have put forward and they will come to their conclusions

in the right time. Business leaders in Cornwall and up and down the

country are awaiting news on airport expansion in the South East.

Following this morning's announcement by Heathrow airport

that they are accepting all the recommendations, and can the Prime

Minister update the House and does he agree that the third runway at

Heathrow offers the best for prosperity for our country? With my

many unforced errors in the last 24 hours, can I apologise to the

honourable lady because I should have welcomed her to the House of

commons and congratulated her on her by-election victory. She has already

lost no time in speaking up for her constituents in a very powerful way.

As we announced earlier this year, there are issues of air quality that

need to be resolved. We are on our way to working out how to resolve

them and when we do we welcome back to the House and announce happens

next. My constituent's mother was killed in 1981 and at the time it

was covered up as a suicide pact. But 18 years later it was discovered

she was murdered by her father and his mistress. No one can imagine

that the pain and suffering that her and her family have had to endure.

But they now have had to relive this pain because ITV are dramatising

their whole ordeal completely against their wishes, using not only

their real names, but also her own. I have raised this with ITV and

Ofcom and no rules have been broken, but does the Prime Minister not

agree that victims' voices should have a far greater role? Will he

meet with me and my constituent to discuss what more could have been

done in this situation and how we can strengthen the regulation in

future to protect victims? I was not aware of the case the honourable

lady rightly raises. I remember my time working in the TV industry when

there are times when these decisions are made that can cause a huge

amount of hurt and upset to families. I will discuss this case

to the culture Secretary and bring it to his attention and see if there

is anything else that can be done. Yesterday the local lord prior... I

am happy to look at this issue closely. It is necessary to

differentiate between smoking and e-cigarette because they have very

different health effects. That is what is being achieved, but I will

look carefully into this. Mr Tim Farron. Order! Order! However

irritating the honourable gentleman... May be to government

backbenchers, he has a right to be heard and he will be heard. Mr Tim

Farron. I am grateful to you Mr Speaker. I heard the Prime Minister

on two occasions this afternoon congratulate the new Mayor of

London, Sadiq Khan, and I would like to repeat that myself. He did not

apologise for the disgraceful racist campaign the Party chose to run in

that campaign. Will he apologise for deliberately dividing communities in

order to win cheap votes? It is a great way to end the session,

getting a lesson in clean campaigning from the Liberal

Democrats!