Browse content similar to 18/11/2015. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Wednesday in Parliament and our look | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
at the best of the day in the Commons and the Lords. | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
As the Commons weighs up options in the light of the terror threat | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
from Isis, David Cameron makes clear he's not going to be influenced | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
My job, frankly, as Prime Minister, is not to read | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
a Survation opinion poll, but it's to do the right thing to | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
The Labour leader fears cuts in police numbers will make | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
Does the Prime Minister agree with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
Police, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, who said, and I quote, "I genuinely | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
worry about the safety of London if the cuts go through on this scale?" | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
And time for justice or time to forget? | :00:51. | :00:53. | |
Almost 44 years after Bloody Sunday, there's anger over the arrest | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
Does he agree with me that if we are to draw a line under past | :00:57. | :01:03. | |
events for the sake of peace, it should be drawn on both sides? | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
It was the first Prime Minister's Questions | :01:08. | :01:09. | |
since the terror attacks in Paris and subsequent security operations. | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
The brutal killings by Islamist terrorists on Friday night that left | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
more than 120 dead made for a more serious backdrop than normal | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
in the exchanges between the Prime Minister and Opposition leader. | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
On Tuesday, several Labour MPs appeared to be openly at odds with | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, over his initial criticism of a | :01:30. | :01:32. | |
shoot-to-kill strategy by police and the acceptance that terrorism can be | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
blamed on Western intervention in Iraq and Syria. The Commons | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
I want to start, Mr Speaker, by expressing the horror of all those | :01:40. | :01:57. | |
on this side of the House at the events in Paris on Friday evening. | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
And our continued solidarity with the victims | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
of all people affected by conflict and terrorism, whether they be | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
in Paris, Beirut, Ankara, Damascus or anywhere else in the world. | :02:09. | :02:10. | |
Nothing can justify the targeting of innocent civilians by anyone. | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
First of all, can I thank the Leader of the Opposition | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
for his remarks and say what a pleasure it was to be with him last | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
night at the England France football match when I thought there was | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
I'm sure they can sing La Marseillaise louder in the Stade de | :02:24. | :02:31. | |
but I think we did a pretty good job yesterday and I | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
The most important thing is for people to carry on with their lives. | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
It's very important that Eurostar continues to function, | :02:40. | :02:41. | |
that flights continue to go, that people continue to travel, to | :02:42. | :02:43. | |
enjoy London, to enjoy Paris and to continue going about our business. | :02:44. | :02:46. | |
As we do so, yes, we need enhanced security, and that is happening with | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
the way the police are acting here in the UK and elsewhere, but one | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
of the ways to defeat terrorism is to show them we will not be cowed. | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
The Labour leader said a key way to defeat Isil would be to | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
Can I press the Prime Minister to ensure that | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
our allies in the region, indeed all countries in the region, | :03:08. | :03:10. | |
are doing all they can to clamp down on individuals and institutions in | :03:11. | :03:13. | |
their countries who are providing Isil with vital infrastructure. | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
Will he, through the European Union, and other forums if necessary, | :03:19. | :03:21. | |
consider sanctions against those banks | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
and companies and, if necessary, countries who turn a blind eye to | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
financial dealings with Isil which assist them in their work? | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
What happened was that because we didn't have a government in Iraq | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
that effectively represented all of its people, and because in Syria you | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
have a leader who's butchering his own people, Isil was able to get | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
hold of oil, get hold of weapons, get hold of territory, | :03:47. | :03:54. | |
get hold of banks, and it's that that they've been | :03:55. | :03:56. | |
able to use those in order to fund their hatred and their violence. | :03:57. | :03:59. | |
Can the Prime Minister clarify something about the source | :04:00. | :04:01. | |
of the necessary extra funding to be set out for the security services, | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
Will it come at the expense of other areas, either within the | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
Home Office budget or within other areas of public spending, or from | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
Does he want me to go on longer so the Chancellor can explain | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
We will set out in full our decisions next week, | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
but we've already said we'll be funding an increase to security | :04:24. | :04:26. | |
We'll be safeguarding the counterterrorism budget. | :04:27. | :04:33. | |
And we will be seeing an increase in terms of aviation security. | :04:34. | :04:36. | |
All of this is part of an overall spending settlement. | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
Policing plays a vital role in community cohesion, gathering | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
intelligence on those who may be about to be a risk to all of us. | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
But this is surely undermined if we cut the number | :04:49. | :04:50. | |
Does the Prime Minister agree with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
Police, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, who said, and I quote, "I genuinely | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
worry about the safety of London if the cuts go through on this scale?" | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
I've said we are protecting the counterterrorism budget, | :05:06. | :05:08. | |
we've seen a 3,800 increase in neighbourhood police officers | :05:09. | :05:10. | |
At the same time as a 31% cut in crime. | :05:11. | :05:19. | |
His Shadow Home Secretary has said that a 10% efficiency target | :05:20. | :05:22. | |
Is the Leader of the Opposition saying he doesn't agree with | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
There does seem to be a little bit of disagreement on | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
I have a question from a taxpayer, actually. | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
And his name is John and he says, at a time... | :05:42. | :05:52. | |
And he says, Mr Speaker, at a time when we are experiencing the | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
greatest threats from terrorism ever faced, our police officer numbers | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
Will he be able to tell us whether or not this community | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
policing and other police budgets are protected or not | :06:10. | :06:11. | |
Let me tell him again, neighbourhood policing numbers have | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
In the capital city, we've seen a 500% increase | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
We've also, because we've cut bureaucracy, | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
put the equivalent of an extra 2,000 police on the streets. | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
But I'll tell the Leader of the Opposition something. | :06:34. | :06:35. | |
As well as wanting resources, the police want the appropriate powers. | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
Hasn't it come to something when the leader of | :06:41. | :06:43. | |
Her Majesty's Opposition thinks that the police, when confronted by a | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
Kalashnikov-waving terrorist, isn't sure what the reaction should be? | :06:48. | :06:53. | |
The French armed police, who stormed the Bataclan and killed those vile, | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
And so are the British armed police, who protect our public spaces | :06:59. | :07:07. | |
Will the Prime Minister send a note of unequivocal support today | :07:08. | :07:14. | |
to those officers on patrol and ensure that in the review next | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
week they have the resources they need to keep us safe? | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
I hope there can be consensus across the House, and I mean right | :07:22. | :07:24. | |
If we are confronted with a situation like this, the British | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
If you have a terrorist who is threatening to kill people, you can, | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
The Westminster leader of the SNP, Angus Robertson, raised the subject | :07:34. | :07:40. | |
of the recent Vienna peace talks held in an attempt to end the brutal | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
During the talks, the participating countries signed a communique | :07:45. | :07:51. | |
committing to make progress with the involvement of the United Nations. | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
Will the Prime Minister confirm that he | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
will support a UN Security Council resolution on this before seeking to | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
What matters most of all is that any action we would take would both be | :08:02. | :08:09. | |
legal and would help protect our country and our people right here. | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
The first survey of UK public opinion on Syrian intervention | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
since the Paris attacks by Survation has shown the following. | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
52% believe that the UK should engage with all | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
countries towards an appropriate response militarily or otherwise | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
backed by United Nations resolution, and only 15% believe the UK should | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
Will the Prime Minister give a commitment to secure a | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
UN Security Council resolution which the UK agreed to and Russia | :08:46. | :08:47. | |
agreed to a route through the United Nations as well? | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
I couldn't be clearer with the right honourable gentleman. | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
Of course, it is always preferable, in whatever action you're taking, | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
whether we are lifting people out of the Mediterranean, whether we | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
are flying Baltic air patrolling missions over countries that feel a | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
Russian threat, or if we're taking action in the Middle East against | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
Isil, it's always preferable to have a UN Security Council resolution. | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
But if they are vetoed or threatened with a veto over and over again, | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
my job, frankly, as Prime Minister, is not to read a Survation opinion | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
poll, it's to do the right thing to keep our country safe. | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
David Cameron getting strong vocal support there. | :09:28. | :09:35. | |
Domestic issues were also raised during PMQs. | :09:36. | :09:38. | |
A Labour MP raised problems in the National Health Service | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
and the Government's new contract of employment for doctors, | :09:42. | :09:44. | |
part of the Health Secretary's drive to create a seven-days-a-week NHS. | :09:45. | :09:50. | |
My constituent was a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan and is currently | :09:51. | :09:53. | |
He told me that with the proposed junior doctors | :09:54. | :09:59. | |
contracts, morale in the NHS is lower now than at any point | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
Does the Prime Minister agree with me that low morale amongst | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
our junior doctors and nurses is a threat to patient safety? | :10:11. | :10:17. | |
What I say to the honourable lady's constituency, | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
and indeed to all junior doctors, is please look very carefully | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
at what the Government is offering before you decide to go on strike. | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
Because what is on offer is not an increase | :10:29. | :10:31. | |
in hours, indeed for many doctors it will mean less long hours. | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
It's not a cut in the pay bill for junior doctors. | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
It's actually an 11% basic pay increase. | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
It will mean a better rostering of doctors, including at weekends, | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
I'd say to her constituent, as I'd say to others, go on the Department | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
of Health website, look at the pay calculator and see how you will be | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
affected because we've given a guarantee that anyone working legal | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
hours will not be worse off under this contract. This is | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
good for the NHS, good for doctors, good for patients, and even at this | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
late hour, I hope the BMA will call off their damaging strike. | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
Now, another day, another debate on lowering the voting age. | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
This time peers have discussed that a referendum on Britain's EU | :11:18. | :11:20. | |
membership should extend the voting franchise to cover | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
But 16 and 17-year-olds did take part in last year's Scottish | :11:24. | :11:34. | |
On Tuesday, the Commons decided against lowering | :11:35. | :11:37. | |
So would peers lower it for the EU referendum? | :11:38. | :11:45. | |
One of the key lessons of the Scottish referendum was | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
indeed that the 16 and 17-year-old age group registered, well over | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
100,000, and voted in larger numbers than those aged 18 to 24. | :11:55. | :12:01. | |
If we change the voting age based on maturity, I suspect all behavioural | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
experts would give the vote to girls aged ten and boys aged 25. | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
So trying to make a judgment on who is mature enough to vote is | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
much more subjective than picking an arbitrary age. | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
But there's a huge advantage here, and the advantage is that we know | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
exactly where these young people are. | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
They are in schools and most schools have their own data | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
controls and the Government could easily request that electoral | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
registration officials should be given access to this information. | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
Does the noble lady believe that 16-year-olds should be allowed | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
I'm not getting into this debate now, OK? | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
I think the whole situation of what 16 to 18-year-olds are allowed to do | :12:49. | :12:57. | |
The fact you can have sex but can't watch sex is completely ridiculous. | :12:58. | :13:07. | |
So, you know, obviously we need a broader debate on these issues. | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
I don't think this is the place to have that. | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
I ought to explain to the House that I'm a convert to the idea of 16 and | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
At least many of them, not as many as I would wish, but many | :13:20. | :13:29. | |
of them will have benefited from citizenship, education in school | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
which is more than can be said for the vast majority of the population. | :13:33. | :13:37. | |
We should not underestimate the gravity of voting. | :13:38. | :13:40. | |
One can say, well, it's all great fun, we can join in, | :13:41. | :13:43. | |
It's a momentous moment that every individual undertakes. | :13:44. | :13:54. | |
And, of course, a 16-year-old, given the chance to vote, will and | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
But we have to ask ourselves whether in our desire to enthuse 16 | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
and 17-year-olds we may be in danger of placing too great | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
There are only four countries in the world | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
Austria, Nicaragua, Brazil, where it's voluntary | :14:13. | :14:27. | |
for 16-year-olds, it's compulsory for older voters, and Cuba. | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
Now, I don't think that Castro, although with | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
the current leadership of the Labour Party I can see the attraction, | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
Just tell me how you're going to explain it when you're up there with | :14:43. | :14:51. | |
I'm not sure they are going to be taken with the arguments you've just | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
given us at length over the last ten minutes. | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
Because they've voted and they've voted willingly and | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
in numbers and I think they're going to take a dim view. | :15:05. | :15:07. | |
So just try the argument you're going to use on the 16-year-olds. | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
Not the ones we've heard because I don't think they will cut a lot | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
I've often had some difficulty in Scotland getting people to | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
And it's not just limited to 16-year-olds. | :15:20. | :15:28. | |
And, at the end of that debate, peers voted to lower | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
You're watching our round-up of the day and the Commons and the Lords. | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
Another call for the Chancellor to abandon | :15:36. | :15:38. | |
Now, it was one of the most controversial days in | :15:39. | :15:46. | |
the history of Northern Ireland on what became known as Bloody Sunday. | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
14 civilians died when the army opened fire on a civil | :15:51. | :15:53. | |
The fatal shootings were the subject of a 12 year long public | :15:54. | :16:00. | |
David Cameron made a public apology to the families | :16:01. | :16:04. | |
Two years later, the Police Service of Northern Ireland started | :16:05. | :16:12. | |
an investigation and last week a former member of the Parachute | :16:13. | :16:14. | |
Regiment was arrested by police, he was later released on bail. | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
The arrest led to an urgent question being asked in the Commons by an MP | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
whose consistency is a former home of the Parachute Regiment. | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
The Saville report costs ?195 million | :16:27. | :16:28. | |
But our servicemen based in Aldershot and some of whom remain | :16:29. | :16:35. | |
my constituents had to make snap decisions, the consequences of | :16:36. | :16:37. | |
which have hung over them for the whole of their adult lives. | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
What happened that day was a tragedy, | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
particularly for the families of those who lost their lives. | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
However, they are not the only bereaved. | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
What about the families of the 1441 British soldiers who | :16:52. | :16:53. | |
died in Northern Ireland in the service of their country? | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
I submit that it is immoral for the state to seek nearly half a century | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
after the event, to put these men on trial whilst others who deploy their | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
bombs and bullets in the shadows are now in Government or have received | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
royal pardons an act of Government not of the courts. | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
I urge my honourable friend to exercise the Royal prerogative | :17:16. | :17:18. | |
I can't comment on these individual cases. | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
These are obviously a matter for an ongoing police enquiry. | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
It is a long way from following a line of enquiry to | :17:29. | :17:30. | |
I know what it is like to make those decisions under pressure. | :17:31. | :17:41. | |
We shouldn't forget that the British Army is not | :17:42. | :17:43. | |
It is the difference between us and the terrorists. | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
It is what makes us a professional army around the world | :17:50. | :17:56. | |
admired by many and sets us apart from some of those more tinpot Armed | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
I think his response is exactly what we expect from our service people | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
and we do expect more from them and that is why it is right and | :18:06. | :18:08. | |
proper that, if the rule was being followed, that the people concerned | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
get the chance to clear their name if that is possible. | :18:12. | :18:14. | |
We have to remember, at the end of the day, | :18:15. | :18:17. | |
there were 13 people left dead on the streets of Derry 43 years | :18:18. | :18:20. | |
If people did not act properly, then it is right and proper that | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
I entirely understand why any decisions about prosecutions must be | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
independent and why he cannot comment on this particular case | :18:31. | :18:38. | |
but, without prejudging in anyway, any particular case, does he | :18:39. | :18:41. | |
understand that we also have a need to uphold justice and that it | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
will be offending the natural sense of justice of many in this country | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
that the behaviour of how the army behaved on a certain day 40 years | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
ago is being reopened while so many on the IRA side who killed | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
Does he agree with me that if we are to draw a line under past | :18:55. | :19:00. | |
events for the sake of peace, they should be drawn on both sides? | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
Five years ago at the Dispatch Box, the Prime Minister stood to his | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
feet to try and bring closure to the ?200 million Saville report across | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
the House and in many sections of society people expressed the view | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
I made the prediction from this place, at that time, that that would | :19:15. | :19:23. | |
not be the end of the matter and unfortunately so it has proved. | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
But there is a real anger there amongst veterans. | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
Will the Minister take steps to ensure that the current inequality | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
that allows for those in the armed services to be pursued with greater | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
vigour and effort than the terrorists themselves ends and that | :19:43. | :19:45. | |
we move towards some level playing field in the future? We also believe | :19:46. | :19:48. | |
in accountability and sensitivity for all victims. | :19:49. | :19:50. | |
Irrespective of where they came from. | :19:51. | :19:57. | |
But could I ask the Minister to ensure and to redouble efforts that | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
the whole issue to do with the legacy of the past is fully | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
pursued and that we obtain a final resolution that sticks on board | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
national security considerations, so that truth | :20:14. | :20:15. | |
Margaret Ritchie. Taxpayers are still spending too much | :20:16. | :20:25. | |
on advice from external accountants and lawyers, that's the verdict | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
of Mark Russell, the chief executive of the shareholder executive | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
He was speaking to the Public Accounts Committee, | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
which is investigating the sale of the Government's stake | :20:38. | :20:39. | |
Over ?500,000 was paid to the commercial law firm Freshfields | :20:40. | :20:45. | |
What we could ask, and I don't want to get to hung up | :20:46. | :20:56. | |
on this ?500,000, is why you went to a magic-circle firm. | :20:57. | :21:00. | |
Freshfields, super job, no doubt and Rolls-Royce, | :21:01. | :21:03. | |
?1000 an hour for a partner, did you put it out to tender? | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
The original tender for the Eurostar transaction was put out under the | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
Department for Transport a while before this transfer took place. | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
We tended it in exactly the same way as a financial adviser | :21:15. | :21:17. | |
Freshfields came up with the best bid. | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
I think, as Government, we do a reasonably good job trying | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
to negotiate fees with financial and legal advisers. | :21:25. | :21:27. | |
I have no doubts that the job Freshfields did was first rate. | :21:28. | :21:30. | |
I have no doubt either. I've worked with them as well. | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
One of the things I think we should recognise is | :21:35. | :21:37. | |
the transaction itself was probably one of the cleanest I've ever seen. | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
Are you paying too much for external advice, because you don't have the | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
comfort of the relevant expertise within the profession at the moment? | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
I think there's a general answer, yes, we are still paying, | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
as a Government, too much for advisers but I don't think... | :21:55. | :21:56. | |
Do I think it's better than it was? Yes, I do. | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
And do I think one of the key jobs that people like us | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
As most of us, of course, have been on the other side of the fence. | :22:06. | :22:11. | |
The shareholder executive employs people on secondment from law | :22:12. | :22:13. | |
Meg Hillier wondered how it worked. | :22:14. | :22:15. | |
If you are a corporate finance person in the private sector and you | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
are being on secondment on Bis civil servants' rates, I'm sure Bis civil | :22:20. | :22:26. | |
servants are paid jolly well but probably not as well-paid as people | :22:27. | :22:29. | |
in corporate finance and the private sector. Are you | :22:30. | :22:31. | |
saying they take a pay cut or does their firm pay the difference? | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
The latter. Sorry? The latter. The latter, OK. | :22:36. | :22:36. | |
And then they go back to their firm and then | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
they bid to run business advice for the shareholder executive? | :22:40. | :22:41. | |
Could you just explain for taxpayers' benefits, for our | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
benefit, how you ensure the right safeguards to make sure they're not | :22:47. | :22:49. | |
using their internal knowledge to go through a revolving door and go out | :22:50. | :22:52. | |
again to make money for their firm on the basis... Typically, clearly | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
they will go back to their firms and organisations with knowledge | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
of Government and I wouldn't necessarily see that as a bad thing. | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
No. Typically when those firms | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
you won't generally find secondees being on those pitch teams. | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
Labour has called on the Chancellor to abandon his plans to cut working | :23:18. | :23:20. | |
tax credits and instead to boost investment in the UK economy. | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
In a short debate, ahead of next week's spending | :23:25. | :23:27. | |
review, the Government rejected the demand, insisting | :23:28. | :23:28. | |
George Osborne has said he wants to cut Whitehall budgets | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
by up to 40% to achieve a budget surplus by the year 2020. | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
The Chancellor intends to make swingeing, potentially devastating | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
cuts to Government departments on welfare spending. | :23:44. | :23:46. | |
Let me make it clear, austerity is a political choice, | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
The record of this Government shows that the political choices | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
the Chancellor is making are having a devastating impact on people | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
In many cases, his cuts are falling on the heads | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
Does he seriously preach about making the right choices | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
when his party was responsible for the highest level | :24:10. | :24:11. | |
Is that the choice that he is recommending here? | :24:12. | :24:19. | |
More borrowing, more burden on British men and women, just to | :24:20. | :24:21. | |
Let me say that, next week, what many in our economy, | :24:22. | :24:28. | |
who work in our economy, want to hear from our Chancellor. | :24:29. | :24:31. | |
Firstly and most importantly, he must reverse in full and fairly, | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
This should be his absolute priority. | :24:35. | :24:37. | |
Reality for my constituents is the ?1300 | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
If it goes ahead in April next year, it will mean ?58 million taken out | :24:41. | :24:48. | |
of our local economy for the poorest people | :24:49. | :24:50. | |
in my constituency, three quarters of whom are actually at work. | :24:51. | :24:53. | |
And will she commit to review that's today? | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
Thanks to the hard work of the British people, | :24:58. | :24:59. | |
We have more growth, more jobs, higher wages. | :25:00. | :25:08. | |
We know there is still much more to do but, Mr Speaker, | :25:09. | :25:11. | |
there is no economic security, there is a national security and there is | :25:12. | :25:14. | |
no opportunity when you lose control of your public finances. | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
To cut 40 billion more than is necessary to run a balanced current | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
budget, almost all of it paid for by punishing the poorest and | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
stripping the capital budget of ?5 billion is our policy we reject, it | :25:30. | :25:33. | |
is one we have seen already fail and it is most certainly not one | :25:34. | :25:39. | |
Do join me for our next daily round-up. | :25:40. | :25:47. |