15/06/2011 am.pm

Good morning and welcome to the programme. Over the next 90 minutes,

we will bring you up to date with the political news from here in

Cardiff Bay and in Westminster. On the programme, new laws on school

standards, organ donation and cycle routes but Carwyn Jones says he

will not create legislation for the sake of it. We will be at Prime

Minister's Questions in a week where Ed Miliband's leadership is

being questioned. And I will be hearing from the Older People's

Commissioner as she calls for tougher legislation on protection

for the elderly. Joining me today are two new Assembly Members. Suzy

Davies and William Powell. Welcome to you both. Yesterday, the First

Minister outlined his legislative priorities for the next five-year

Assembly term. Those priorities include proposals for new laws on

school standards, the organ donation system and more cycling

routes. They will be published next month. Yesterday's announcement

came amid criticism that Labour has taken too long to reveal a

programme of Government. The Government benches do not have

the numbers to pass Government legislation without support of

other parties and I hope there will be many occasions where we can find

common ground to move forward together to pass legislation. It is

of course inevitable that the opposition will seek to hold this

Government to account but I welcome the positive comments from the

opposition leaders when they said they would seek to work together

and find consensus where possible. Members will have an opportunity to

judge the strength of our legislative programme well I

formally announce on 12th July. That was the First Minister

announcing his priorities. Let's see what our guests think about

that. It was not the actual programme for Government and there

was disappointment about that. It was quite a disappointing start

because in some ways, we have not hit the ground running and I don't

think that what we herd yesterday from Carwyn Jones actually is cave

much of an impetus about what we need to get on with. At there was a

feeling in our office that the whole thing was a bit flat. As new

members, we were expecting to have a detailed legislative programme to

get our teeth into but I was a bit disappointed with what I heard. --

disappointed. I came out of the Chamber thinking, what exactly are

we legislating? Less look at the subject that were mentioned. There

was something on cycle routes and social care and there will be

legislation on higher education and comprehensive education. Is that a

good thing? Those are important and I was pleased to hear that there

will be legislation on children and care for older people. But we heard

very little about the health service and we heard nothing about

the position of the Welsh language. When those two are combined, there

was just silence. Kirsty Williams suggested that the Government was

being a bit coy and that they had more information than they were

passing on. I thought that was very pertinent. Format years ago, --

four years ago, it Rhodri Morgan put forward legislation put

Government but we did not hear that yesterday. The Liberal Democrats

have been pushing for the localism agenda and the economy. What you

make of what was in their? -- what do you. It was very short on detail.

It is great for example that we are going to have action on local

growing and allotments and a lot of micro issues that I important to

communities across Wales. But there was not enough on the big issues.

Was there a suggestion that there are more important things than what

was mentioned yesterday? The key has to be on job creation. That is

something I brought up in my question to the First Minister. It

is really important that we have greater development of the powers

that we have got, particularly around getting greater borrowing

powers so that we can do something about driving forward the economy

and creating jobs. Let's find out what is happening in the Assembly.

Mark Hannaby is there for us. afternoon, we start off with

questions to ministers. Today it's the Education Minister Leighton

Andrews and local Government Minister Carl Sargeant. Then there

will be motions to elect a few committees. The petitions committee

deals with the general public's concerns and the statutory

instruments committee. Once that is done. -- ones that is done, they

will be a discussion on the treatment of old people in

hospitals. The Liberal Democrats wants to see more instruments used

to help the economy, in particular enterprise zones. Those are going

ahead in England and the Liberal Democrats wants to see them

considered in Wales as well. Plaid Cymru are going to use their debate

a call on the Government to set out a fully detailed five-year

programme of law-making. That will be interesting because the

Government has said it will not do that until July 12th. You can find

out even more about what is happening on an hour website. Just

go to bbc.co.uk/walespolitics. Let's find out what is happening in

Westminster with David Cornock. We have heard in the news about

strikes and there is a warning this morning that the PCAS union could

be striking at the end of the month. We are expecting the result later

today of a strike ballot called by the OPCS union. The employee around

300,000 members across the UK. The major teaching unions announced

yesterday they would be taking action over their pensions on June

30th. The date of any action by the PCAS union is as yet to be decided.

But it will be done to coincide with that teaching strike at the

end of the month. The Government is facing quite a challenge from a

public sector unions over changes to the conditions of their

employees, particularly changes and pensions that are happening across

the public cent -- sector. Ministers at the moment say they

will resist any action and stick firm to their policies. They say

things have changed because the current pensions system is an

affordable. At we have talked about job cuts and the public sector and

the unemployment figures out today. There has been a spite in the

number of those claiming benefits across the UK but it is a mixed

picture in Wales. A mixed picture everywhere. Across the UK generally,

the numbers of people out of work has fallen to 2.4 3 million. But

benefits have gone up because some have moved on to other benefits as

part of Government policy. In Wales, there are 115,000 people out of

work. The average rate is still higher than the rest of the UK. But

there has been a fall and what ministers here are looking at is a

fall of 10,000 people in terms of economic inactivity. Around 19,000

more people are in work now. Ministers you will see that as a

sign of economic recovery. That is what the Welsh Secretary Cheryl

Gillan has been saying this morning. The Chancellor is backing proposals

for banks to ring-fence retail from investment banking. The Liberal

Democrats are claiming the credit for the Government U-turn. In terms

of banks, the Chancellor is delivering his speech later tonight

to the city and he is going to be talking about the recommendations

of the Independent Banking Commission. That is to separate out

the two forms of banking that are carried out by the big banks. This

separate the retail bank from the other style of banking which is

investment banking. The idea is that in future, if a riskier to see

no element of banking, if that were to fail, it would be allowed to

fail and it would not be bailed out because it would be legally

separate from the retail banking that would actually be protected

and the idea is that such failure in future would not cost the

country and the taxpayers quite as much as it did when some of our

leading banks went belly up a couple of years ago. Thank you for

the time being. We will speak to you later. If you would like to

send us your comments about any of the issues in the programme today,

you can contact us at the address Wales needs to put aside the

traditional view of its past and recognise that heritage can play a

central role in regenerating modern day communities, according to the

new Heritage Minister, Huw Lewis. He says heritage is a more living

concept than what he calls the biscuit tin Bin -- a view that has

prevailed for so long. This punk band have an iconic place

in the culture of music but 20 years on, one member of the band is

focusing on Wales' past. The main question is how it integrates would

society and how people are involved and how people learn from it. It is

not just about visiting sites it is about the understanding and the

connection. In his first interview since being appointed Heritage

Minister, Huw Lewis has seen a change in emphasis from castles.

do have a hangover in our mind and a traditional view of Wales of what

constitutes heritage. I would like to broaden up -- broaden that. A

great deal has been done. Every community in Wales has a story to

tell. Whether it is through medieval castles or industrial 19th

century heritage. They are both equally valuable in my mind. Either

town house here is an extension to a nearby hotel where people like

Charles Dickens and Oliver Cromwell once stayed. The town house was

built in the 16th century and owned by a local landowner. In recent

times, the place had fallen into rack and ruin. This 16th century

town house won an award in 2010. As well as improving the rather

scruffy corner on the High Street, it also improved the setting for be

minus castle which is of course the World Heritage site. But there were

difficulties in getting the project through. There are two issues. Can

do said the policy and the procedures but at local level it is

down to the conservation officer to interpret that and the difficulties

we have fun with this -- we have found with this is that it was down

to the planning department. then you Minister wants Wales's

heritage to be much more than static exhibits in a museum. Rather,

a means of enriching and in regenerating living communities in

Still to come on the programme we will go live to the House of

Commons for Prime Minister's Questions at midday.

As we said earlier, Cowell Wynne- Jones has outlined his priorities

for the next five-year term of the prior to. -- Carwyn Jones.

I am joint by it guest to explain what happened yesterday. What did

you make to the announcement and the Bill that he has promised.

I think it was a busy programme that he set up. 12 major pieces of

legislation. I am interested in the to education bills. Also, in

particular, the organ donation bill. Some of the assembly should make

progress on this. There were questions on whether the assembly

has the powers. That would make a huge difference to people across

Wales for a long time. We know we simply do not have enough organs

being donated so lives are needlessly being lost.

That is something the assembly as a whole have indicated a desire to do.

You must have been pleased. What did you make of the announcement?

am pleased with that particular element, but there was nothing new.

We still do not know what the programme of government is and

really it was a statement of inactivity. About what Carwyn Jones

is not going to do rather than what the governor was not going to do.

Scotland is up and running, they are now pressing Westminster to

allow things to happen. We have been left in the lurch. You can't

have it both ways. He made it clear it is not a full statement. It is

only a taster. Within that, what did you make of what was advanced,

in particular the Social Care Bill. That could be very significant.

That is something to overcome a postcode lottery which people

wanted for a long time. There is nothing new about that. It is not

the law. It is something discussed in the last government and

recognised on all-party basis to get rid of the postcode situation

in Wales. What we are looking for from Carwyn Jones is how we eat --

how he is going to put the Labour Party manifesto into action.

Not just Plaid Cymru, but all of the opposition parties were called

yesterday. They did point out there was not much about health,

education, planning. There was talk of an overhaul of planning, but no

details. It was banned on detail, wasn't it? You would not expect

that level of detail because we could only then talk about one bill.

12 major Bills implementing the most detailed manifesto that

actually puts the people of Wales, I would not say that his inactivity.

What about the key issues? There were two major education

announcements. Two major bills and putting Welsh education on to a

strategic bases. If you look at health, you cannot divorce that

front social care. That is about implementing one of our major

commitments in the manifesto. This is about getting on with

implementing the manifesto, but as you would expect, the first things

are the first priorities will legislation. Once those bills come

forward, people in the assembly chamber have a lot of work to do it

and we are ahead of Scotland. Scotland have not made this sort of

statement yet. The comparison with Scotland is not as clear. This is

about the government getting on with the business of government.

His government getting on with business or not? What do you think?

Has there been a period of in -- and surety? I think there is a

general recognition that Wales has done a lot over the last few weeks.

City ways in Scotland is much different, you cannot draw a direct

comparison, but you can see a level of activity in Scotland that is not

clear in Wales. Do you think the assembly has been quiet? Not really.

I think we have had plenty of announcements of what the

government will do. Yesterday was about what we will get on with for

the next five years. Thank you very much.

Now, attention will be focused on Ed Miliband at Prime Minister's

question shortly after he'd be hit back at criticism of his leadership.

The Labour leader said voters were more interested in the future of

Britain and the gossip and tittle- tattle of Westminster. Our

correspondent has been talking to Peter Hain.

It has been a challenging week for Ed Miliband and some disappointing

opinion poll ratings are Labour. Criticism from Labour MPs, reports

of a feud with his brother over leadership, one man who can explain

all of this to us, Peter Hain, shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

Why isn't Ed Miliband making the sort of impact with the dove --

with the public that you would expect? There is one view, the

Westminster village the year, here you are in the middle of it, there

is an excited frenzy of memos, six years ago, what does that matter?

And then tension between brothers, supposedly. That is one debate. The

other debate and the other reality is on the ground. What is happening,

65,000 new members for the Labour Party, including Wales, all other

parties are losing members. We are leading in opinion polls. In Labour

we have formed our own government and won a lot of support and also,

actually, we have been leading in the opinion polls. Ed Miliband has

been the leader when all of that happens. There was an opinion poll

on Sunday which suggested Labour supporters thing they have the

wrong leader. 54% of Labour elite supporters do not know what Ed

Miliband stands for. That has got to worry you. There is no question

that he is relatively unknown still. It is just one year since we got

our worst results in the general election under Gordon Brown than we

have had since universal suffrage. A really terrible result for Labour.

Even the most, absolutely magical Labour leader could not have

bounced back to be crashing everybody before them. There is

still a lot for Labour to do and Ed is absolutely the first to say so.

To win back trust and win back support, but we are making big

progress. He, yesterday, he on Monday showed in that speech when

he criticised both irresponsibility at the top of bankers bonuses and

so on, and also those on benefits who are deliberately not working

and drawing benefit as opposed to those who have to be on benefits,

what he is saying his unique responsibility to go with both ends

of the spectrum. He also said that Labour had become too identified

with voters with those people who want to take something out of

society and not contribute. That is the problem for you, isn't it?

is one issue identified. What I think is important about Ed's

leadership and why I think he is the right person for the job, is

that he has got the strength and the humility to recognise we did

not get everything right in government. There was some running

for the Labour leadership last year and he seemed to think we should

carry on as before. Even though we had lost badly. What he is saying

is we will put forward a new vision for the country, we are the party

that is saying we should not dump Mussett tuition fees on students,

we should not be privatising their NHS, we should not be slapping VAT

-- VAT on the economy, all that were done without any mandate.

do we get this vision that you say Ed Miliband will deliver? You got a

bit of it on Monday. You also got it in terms of his vision for a

Britain where the promise of Britain, where every new generation

actually has the chance to do better than its predecessor, that

is not happening any more under a Tory, Liberal Democrat law. The

people in the middle who are not rich or on benefit but working

really hard in difficult circumstances to cling on to a job,

pay tuition fees, give a chance to their children to get onto the

housing ladder, they are being hit in all directions. And also to say

that we need to start rolling strong communities again. You are

beginning to see a bit of the Ed Miliband vision filled in. Of

course there are a lot of attacks and the Tory media are loving it,

but actually he is winning support on the ground. There has been a lot

in Labour-supporting media as well. You have someone like Liam Byrne in

the shadow cabinet -- cabinet saying he has another seven Munster

prove himself. I listen to that interview.

I listen to that interview and he said Ed will want to be in a

position, as I agree, where he is being seen to take the party

forward. People have a better idea of who he is and what his vision is.

And, you know, you cannot do this overnight. He has always understood

that this is a long haul, but we are getting there. 800 new

councillors in their English council elections. Victory in Wales

and we are getting there and we will pull ourselves back from a

dreadful position last year and they Ed and he will move forward.

Thank you very much. That was Peter Hain talking to our

Correspondent. Before we go back to David, a quick chat with our guests.

Before we look ahead to Prime Minister's Questions, both of you

wanted to talk about heritage. An emphasis from Huw Lewis that he

wants to change in focus from castles to other things throughout

the country. We got a hint of it, is that a good idea? Yes. I think

that should be welcomed. He was talking about more focus on built

heritage and -- on Allah industrial past and understanding word that

fits into our identity. That sort of sense of creating an identity

and understanding of our past is not that the fall. On the other

hand we need to look ahead at selling Wales as a tourism

destination. With a unique past, we have to capitalise on that. In

particularly people looking at their own routes across the world.

One thing I have a bit of a problem with is that it sounds like we

might be excluding rural heritage. I think that will be a mistake

because that is just as much a part of our national identity as the

built heritage. Do you agree? I welcome what Huw Lewis had to say

on that. We have come full circle from 50 years ago when there was

exclusion from the National Park because there was no inclusion of

their special qualities. It is important that we take the whole of

Wales including the rural parts to develop that sense of place, links

with local three tourism and the kind of thing that will drive our

economy forward. I was just going to say we were talking about

emissions from thick speech yesterday and one thing not talked

about in detail was energy and the environment. The link between our

rural heritage and potential plans for energy and how the countryside

will be used in future and needs to be considered. One concedes the

success of the other. Let's look ahead to Prime

Minister's Questions. Last week was dominated by U-turns on sentencing.

Some might say there has been a U- turn on health policy this week how

has been controversial from the beginning. Radical change is needed

to the system and we are not looking for the same sorts of

changes in Wales, but what has been valuable is the breathing space and

general results from the listening exercise. It has produced results

which are to be welcomed if it means the policy can proceed.

Proceed and benefit of the English health system. You say it has

produced results, you heard on the news, reports of Nick Clegg waving

pieces of paper in the air claiming success for 11 of the 13 changes.

This cannot be seen as anything other than a victory for the

Liberal Democrats. Our spring conference was clear that there was

a strong message that had to go back through Nick and the Cabinet

ministers that we needed changes here. I welcome the fact that

Andrew Lansley has listened on this occasion. Listening to a broader

range, not just GPs, but people at all levels. Nurses and surgeons so

we have a broader input into the way reforms are going forward. I

really think we have some of the excesses of the original draft put

to bed. Let's see what everybody is going to be talking about in Prime

We expect that there is a growing enthusiasm for public sector

workers to come together to form co-operatives or employee lead

organisations to carry out public services. These deliver huge

increases in productivity and I hope she will give us full support.

To what extent does the Minister expect any PCAS strike action to

have impact on our vital public services? We're wait to see the

result of the ballot this afternoon but I hope that civil servants will

recognise that what we are seeking to achieve is a public sector

pensions which continued to be the best among the very best available.

But people are living longer and they will be asked to work longer.

Other tax payers have seen their pensions take a hit. Questions to

the Prime Minister. This morning, I had meetings with ministerial

colleagues and others and I shall have further such meetings later.

Thousands of people in my constituency work hard for less

than �26,000 here. Does my friend back agree with me that everybody

who believes in the necessity of capping benefits must vote for the

Welfare Reform Bill tonight? right honourable friend is entirely

right. We are right to reform welfare. Welfare costs are out of

control country. We want to make sure that work always pays. If

people do the right thing, we will be on this side. It cannot be right

for some families to get over �26,000 a year in benefits that is

paid for by people who are working hard and paying their taxes.

Everyone in the House should support the welfare bill tonight.

Ed Miliband. When the Prime Minister signed off his welfare

bill, did he know that it would make 7,000 cancer patients worse

off by up to �94 a week. That is simply not the case. We are using

exactly the same definition of people who are suffering and that

terminally ill as the last Government. We were to be sure

those people are protected. If you are in favour of welfare reform,

you encourage people to do the right thing. It is no good talking

about it, you have to vote for it. As usual, he does not know what is

in his own bill. Listen to Macmillan Cancer Support. On 13th

June the said cancer patients would lose up to �94 a week. These are

people who have worked hard all their lives and have done the right

thing and have paid their taxes and when they are indeed, the Prime

Minister is taking money away from them. I ask him again, how can it

be right that people with cancer are losing a �94 a week? We are

using precisely the same test as the last Government support it. All

we see here is a Labour Party desperate not to support welfare

reform and trying to find an excuse. Anyone who is terminally ill gets

immediate access to the high level of support and we will provide that

to all people who are unable to work. That is the guarantee we make.

He does not know the detail of his own bill. Let me explain it to them.

Because the Government is stopping contributory employment support

allowance after one year for those in work-related activity, cancer

patients, 7,000 of them, are losing �94 a week. I ask him again, how

can that be right? Order. The question has been asked. The answer

will be heard. He is wrong on the specific point. First of all, our

definition of terminally ill is exactly the same one used by the

last Government. Anyone out of work will be given the extra support

that comes from employment support allowance. That will last for 12

months. He is wrong and he should admit that he is wrong. On a means-

tested basis, this additional support can last indefinitely. He

should check his facts before becomes to the House and chickens

out of welfare report. In the first dancer he said his policy was the

same as the last Government but now he has admitted that he is ending

the support of the one-year. Let me tell him what it will a cancer

support said. -- Macmillan Cancer Support. This is what they are

saying. It is a disgrace that Conservative members are shouting

when we are talking about people fighting cancer. This is what they

are saying. Many people will lose this benefit simply because they

have not recovered quickly enough. I ask him the question again. Will

he had met that 7,000 cancer patients are losing up to �94 a

week? -- will he admitted. Order. It is a disgrace that members on

both sides of the House are shouting their heads off when it

matters of the most serious concern are being debated. The public

despise this sort of behaviour. This is important and I want to

explain to the right honourable Gentleman why he is wrong. The

definition is the same one which is six months. Anyone out of work pool

lives longer than that will be given the extra support that comes

from employment support allowance. That is irrespective of a person's

income all their assets and that will last for 12 months, not the

six months that the Leader of the Opposition said. This additional

support can last indefinitely. It is the same test as the last

Government and it is put in place fairly. We have listened carefully

to Macmillan Cancer Support and we are reviewing all the medical tests

that take place under this system. Why won't you back the Bill?

Because I ask the questions and he fails to answer them. The Chief

Medical Officer of Macmillan Cancer Support says, in my experience, one

year is not long enough for many people to recover from cancer. The

serious side effects can last for many months and even years after

treatment has finished. It is crucial that patients are not

forced to return to work before they're ready. Macmillan Cancer

Support has been making this argument for months. I am amazed

that the Prime Minister does not know about these arguments. The

House of Commons is voting on this bill tonight! I ask him again, will

he now admits that 7,000 cancer patients are losing up to �94 a

week? I have answered his question three times. The whole point about

our benefit reform is that there are proper medical tests so we

support those who cannot work as a compassionate country should. But

we make sure that those who can work go out to work so we don't

reward bad behaviour. He is attempting to put up a smokescreen

because he has been found out. He made a speech this week about the

importance of welfare reform but he can't take his divided party with

them. This is about weak leadership of a divided party. What an

absolute disgrace. This is about a people in the country and a chance

to cavities who are concerned on their behalf and he does not know

his own policy. It is about people recovering from cancer. We know he

does not think his policies through. If ever there was a case to pause

and listen and reflects, this is it. Why doesn't he do so? What we have

seen this week is the right honourable Gentleman get on the

wrong side of every issue. On welfare reform, everybody

recognises that will for a needs to be reformed apart from the right

honourable Gentleman. Order. Prime Minister, one of my constituents

was kidnapped and be headed on a recent visit to India. Can you urge

the a Vanities to carry out a thorough investigation and bring to

account those responsible for this horrendous murder so that my

constituents and his family can get some justice for their mother.

fully understand and support their wish for justice. The Foreign

Office has been providing support and they will arrange to meet with

my right honourable friend and the family to see what further

assistance we can give. But the responsibility for investigating

crime overseas has to rest with the affinities in that country. We

cannot interfere in the processes. We know that the deficit... In

March, the forecast for the budget deficit was increased by �46

billion, �1,000 per person. Will he accept that the cuts are choking

growth? He is going too far too fast. The deficit is the price paid

for Labour's time in office. Tony Blair in his memoirs said that

spending was out of control by 2007. We have to get on top of debt and

spending and the deficit. I understand the Labour leader is

trying to persuade the Shadow Chancellor that. Good luck to him!

Yesterday was the anniversary of the liberation of the Balkan

violence. -- islands. Will you remind President Obama when he next

sees him that the negotiations over the Falkland Islands with Argentina

will never be acceptable to Her My Honourable Friend makes an

excellent point and I'm sure everyone will want to remember the

anniversary of the successful retaking of the Falkland Islands

and the Super bravery of all our armed forces who took part in that

action. We should also remember those that fell in terms of taking

back the Falklands. The point is a good one. As long as the Falkland

Islands want to be sovereign British territory, they should

remain so. End of story. This week we have seen the

government changed its mind on the NHS, on sentencing, student visas

and been collection. Will the Prime Minister tell us whether he will

change his mind over government plans to force more than 300,000

women to wait up to two years longer before they qualified for

state pension? All parties supported the

equalisation of the pension age between men and women. That needed

to happen. It also needs to happen that we raise pension ages to make

sure the system is affordable. The point I would make is that because

we have done that, we can reading the pension to earnings and as a

result, pensioners of �15,000 better off than they would have

been under Labour. I think that is the right thing to do. If anyone

opposite wants to be serious about pension reform and dealing with the

deficit, they should back these changes.

I agree with the Government's timetable for increasing the men's

state pension age to 66 because it happens gradually, however I would

as the Prime Minister to think again about women's state pension

age. The planned timetable has women's planned state pension age

going up too quickly and leaves women of my age without enough time

to plan for what could be two years extra work. Will the government

blaze look at this again. I understand the concern about this.

The point I'm making is that over 80% of those effected are only

going to see their pension age come in a year later. It is actually a

very small number. The key thing here is making sure our pension

system is sustainable so we can pay out higher pensions. I have to say

there is a similar argument that a house as having had the previous

questions about the sustainability of public sector pensions. We have

to take is difficult decisions and they actually mean a better pension

system for those retiring. Does the Prime Minister agree with

the Institute for Fiscal Studies that with inflation at 4.5%, more

than twice the target, it is hitting pensioners and low income

families the hardest? The point about pensions is there

is a triple guarantee that they will go up by earnings or prices,

whichever is higher. Clearly we want to see inflation come down.

There is a shared agreement across the house, it is right for the Bank

of England to have that responsibility, but I notice he

does not raise the welcome news that we have seen the biggest fall

in unemployment in one month figures then we have seen in any

time in a decade. It is time the party opposite start welcoming good

news. There is increasing concern within

this house and across the country about the hidden suffering of

trafficked children. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is essential

that a co-ordinated multi-agency approach across the country from

borders to local authorities, local police forces and including

charitable organisations is promoted urgently?

I think she makes an extremely good point. I know how hard the all-

party group works on this. One thing that is changing that I hope

will make a difference, is the formation of the National crime

agency. That will bring organisation to crimes like this.

The SNP won a landslide in the recent elections on the Monday to

improve the powers of Scottish parliament. Will the Prime Minister

respect the Scottish electorate and respect the six proposed

improvements in the Scottish bill by the Scottish government?

We listen very carefully to what everyone says. We respect the fact

that the SNP won a mandate and we are responding positively. The

Scotland Bill before the house is a massive extension of devolution. He

shakes his head, but it is an extra �12 billion of spending power and

we will be going ahead with that am looking at all the proposals that

first minister Salmon has. I take the proposal very seriously. It is

a two-way street. I I respect the Scottish people, but we are still

part -- we are all still part of the United Kingdom.

Last week was the 9th anniversary of the Legion. Can we tell them all,

will the Prime Minister repeat his assurance that the armed forces

government will now be written into law?

I can give that assurance and I am delighted that the Royal British

Legion has agreed the approach that we will take in the Armed forces

Bill. That is now being passed through the house. I am glad that

the House of Commons will be welcoming those soldiers as the

rest of our armed forces, the bravest of the brave, the best of

the best, there isn't too much we can do for those people. That is

why the armed forces government matters. That is why we kept our

promise to double the allowance to his soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Millions of our constituents are facing big increases in gas and

electricity bills. Many will find it difficult to make ends meet.

What action is the government going to make to help them?

We are taking a range of actions. The fact that you have or will now

costing $115 per barrel and gas prices have gone up by 50% over the

last year, that as an impact. We are putting �250 million into the

warm home discount. We are funding the targeted warm front scheme that

will benefit families this year. We are legislating said that social

tariffs have to offer the best prices available. We are keeping a

promising that Post Office card account holders will get a discount.

We are keeping the winter fuel payment and the permanently

increase the cold weather payments. We did not just allow it to be

increased in the election year, we are keeping those payments.

Thank you. Last week my Honourable Friend and I visited a special

school near Stafford. In our meetings, parents express gratitude

for excellent teaching, but also anxiety over provision for their

children over 19. Knowing my Right Honourable friend's concern, what

encouragement can you give? A win the support special schools.

The pendulum swung too far in favour of inclusion and it is

important we give parents and carers proper choices. He raises a

very important point which is that many parents of disabled children,

when they become young adults, one them to go on studying. Yet

currently, the role seemed to suggest that once they've finished

a course that is it. Parents ask what to do. We have to find a

better answer for parents who are finding their much-loved children

living for much longer and 1 then to have a purposeful life.

In the face of what are propelling energy price rises, driving

pensioners in vulnerable families into fuel poverty every day and a

this coalition, could I ask him is he struggling with his energy bill

or any of the other 21 millionairess in his cabinet

struggling with the energy bill and when is he going to take personally

a grip of this situation? The people who seem to be coining

it are the ones are working for the last government, but there we are.

Clearly feel prices have gone up because of what happened to world

oil and gas prices, but this government takes responsibility

seriously about trying to help families. That is why he we have

frozen council tax. That is why we have taken a set of measures to

help with energy bills that I just described. We have also managed to

cut petrol tax this year, paid for by the additional tax on the North

Sea oil industry. I notice that while the party opposite wants to

support the petrol price tax, they don't support their increase in the

North Sea oil tax. Absolutely typical of her totally

opportunistic opposition. The Prime Minister would be aware

that this week is National diabetes Week and the theme this year is,

let us talk diabetes to encourage people with the condition to speak

out and not feel stigmatised or worried about being discriminated

against or joke against in school or in the workplace. Would the

Prime Minister police support this campaign?

I will certainly support this campaign. I think my Honourable

Friend makes a good point which is that many people with diabetes find

it an embarrassing illness and something they do not want to talk

about, yet it is affecting more people. We have to find a way of

encouraging people to come forward and say there is nothing wrong with

this. We need to help people manage diabetes particularly because we

want to see them have control over health care and spend less time in

hospitals so I fully support the campaign. I also think we have to

look at the long-term cost of people getting diabetes and

recognise it as a health agenda that we need to get hold of.

The Prime Minister will know that this is the first opportunity I

have had to ask him a question. I stand here, I stand here fresh and

full of hope so I am going to give the Prime Minister one more chance

to answer the question. People in my constituency up and down the

country face enormous increases in energy bills announced by Scottish

Power. They need help now. When is the Prime Minister going to keep

his promise made in opposition to take tough action on excessive

energy pricing? As I said in answer some moments

ago, we are taking action. There is only a certain amount you can do

when you see fuel prices go up by as much as they have over the last

year. 50% in the oil and gas. We do have the warm home discount, the

warm front scheme, the fact we are making sure that where there are

special tariffs, companies have to offer them to users. Also the point

about the Post Office card account holders who do not currently get

people who pay by direct debit, we are making sure they get those

discounts. She shakes her head, but in one year that is a lot more than

the last government did in 13 years. Would my Right Honourable friend

congratulate the Ilka Sten who made part of the lace on the Duchess of

Cambridge dress. This is the last traditional lace factory and our

town centres have declined over recent years as a result of their

loss. Would my Right Honourable Friend therefore agree with me that

the review by Mary Portas into revitalising our town centres has

come at a perfect time and invite the Prime Minister and Mary Portas

to the launch. I would be delighted to come to my

Right Honourable friend's constituency. I did not know her

constituents were responsible for the lace on the Duchess's

incredible dress. I feel I will leave today session enriched with

that knowledge. We do want to see a growth in manufacturing and

production in Britain. What we are seeing in our economy a growth of

things that are made in Britain. Whether that is cars, vans or

indeed lace for dresses. The United States Secretary of

State, Robert Gates, has said, Secretary of Defence, has said that

the NATO operation in Libya has exposed serious capability gaps.

The First Sea Lord, the First Sea Lord... The First Sea Lord, Admiral

marks Stanhope has said that the operations in Libya cannot be

sustained for longer than three months without serious cuts

elsewhere. Given those problems... Order! A quick sentence. Isn't it

time the Prime Minister reopened the defence review and did yet

another U-turn on his failing policies?

He is called Marx than hope, if that helps. I had a meeting with a

First Sea Lord yesterday and he agreed that we can sustain the

mission as long as we need to. Those are the exact words used

yesterday because we are doing the right thing. I want one simple

message to go out from every part of this government and indeed every

part of this house of -- Commons, that is that time is on our side.

We have right on our side, the pressure is building and time is

running out for Gaddafi. On issue of defence review, I would say this,

for 10 years, they did not have a defence review and now they want to

in a rare! At the end of this review we had the 4th highest

defence budget for any country in this world. We have superb armed

forces doing a great job in the By the time Prime Minister's

Questions finished, many children will have died from preventable

diseases. Increasing Britain's aid budget is very much the right thing

to do and will save millions of lives across the globe. I very much

welcome the support from the right honourable Gentleman. We are

keeping a promise to the poorest people in the poorest countries of

the world and we are saving lives. Of course things are difficult at

home but I think we should keep that promise. The second point is

about making sure our aid budget is spent specifically on things like

vaccinations for children that will save lives. The money we have

announced will mean a life saved every two minutes. Anyone who has

doubts about this issue, I really think that as well as a saving

lives it is about Britain standing up for something in the world and

the importance of having a strong aid budgets a saving lives. N this

carers week when we celebrate the contribution of care assistants and

the families will have after their loved ones, will the Prime Minister

join with me in condemning Birmingham City Council for cutting

care to 4,100 of the most vulnerable in our city. Can I ask

the Prime Minister what he intends to do to ensure that never again

does Birmingham City Council fail the elderly and the disabled?

will be having a reception tonight to celebrate carers week. What this

Government is doing is putting in �400 million to give carers war

breaks and specifically putting in �800 million to make sure that

those looking after disabled children get regular breaks. Last

night on Channel 4, there was a documentary called the killing

fields showing the atrocity -- atrocities committed by the Sri

Lankan Government. Will the Prime Minister join me in calling for

justice? I did not see the documentary but I understand it was

an extremely powerful programme. What the Government has said is

that the Sri Lankan Government does need to be investigated and the

United Nations needs to be investigated and we need to get to

the bottom of what happened. Does he agree that standards of

corporate governance in the city of London is critical? It is an

important point. We want companies to come to London to access capital

and we are an open global economy. But those companies have to

understand that we do have rules of corporate governance and they are

there for a reason. They need to obey those rules. I'm sure the

Chancellor will address that in his speech tonight. Does the Prime

Alastair agree with me that if the coalition Government had not

adopted the current economic policy, mortgage interest rates could be 5%

higher than what they are now? this country today, tragically we

still have free levels of Government debt that we have German

interest rates. That is an enormous boost to our economy and we should

all welcome the cut in unemployment today. If we had not taken action

on the deficit we would be straight back in the mess that that lot left

us in. Order. That is the end of Question Time. It was dominated by

exchanges between David Cameron and Ed Miliband over welfare. Back to

the studio in Cardiff. I am joined by Suzy Davies and

William Powell. There were exchanges between Ed Miliband and

the Prime Minister. We talked about Ed Miliband before the session and

David Cameron said twice that he was a weak leader of a divided

party. I don't think Ed Miliband did a lot today to to prove that

wrong. How did you feel about Ed Miliband's performance? It was a

strong message from David Cameron and I am sure that Labour

supporters would want to have seen a strong Ed Miliband. He did not

really attack him on the NHS. attacked him on one topic and David

Cameron had one answer. Instead of going for weaker points, he

continued on the same road. David Cornock suggested that MPs will be

voting on the welfare bill tonight and capping it at �26,000. What do

you think about those proposals? think they offer a useful step in

terms of addressing the need to reform welfare. We have to go with

those. The figure of �26,000 is interesting. In the last election,

people were saying why Our next door neighbours getting more

benefits than we are. The coalition Government in London wants to be

fair and we have to be fair to the people who do their best. Having

said that, some people may struggle on �26,000. But there are other

means of looking after those people. Fuel poverty was often mentioned.

You represent the rural constituency. Is fuel poverty see

this issue? It is a really serious issue. The Liberal Democrats are

very strong on promoting greater energy efficiency and that is a

critical message as well to address that important point. Also, we need

to see more progress on issues around fairness on fuel prices as

well. That is another issue that is very important in west Wales.

Davies, you were suggesting that you would meet the criteria for

fuel poverty. It gives the indication of how seriously this

particular problem affects the whole of Britain. The difficulty

for the Government is that most of the levers that caused the rise in

fuel prices are not believers over which they have any control. But

there is a very critical report that is still out there and I hope

the Government in London looks very closely at it because there are

suggestions that the crisis need not be as high as they are.

need to be active in shopping around to punish companies that are

taking liberties. A coming up on the programme, Lord Barnett on the

Barnett formula and the way in which Wales is funded from

Westminster. The last Government has a new chief lead adviser. --

the Welsh Government. Some Assembly Members have raised concerns that

he has not had much experience in public law but when he met our

political editor earlier this week, he brushed that aside. I did not

think that much about it in advance when the question was raised. I

take the view that if you are a lawyer, you why a lawyer. You need

to be flexible and I feel quite happy they can do that. I have been

a Government panel council adviser for a long time in various forms. I

have not spent the last two years dealing with the workings of

Government. That could be an advantage. Absolutely. If one

compares the position, I understand the role I am being asked to fill

is that of law officer. It has traditionally been the role of the

Attorney-General. If I look at the examples of people who have taken

that role, very rarely have they come from the ranks of specialist

public liars. Very often, they come from common-law background. Family

lawyers and people who deal with what life is about on the ground.

One hopes experience of that kind is useful applied across all fields

of the law and legislation that the Government has to deal with. Simon

Thomas said your appointment smelt of old boy a Labour network. Are

you a member of the Labour Party? How do you lay that accusation to

rest? By saying that I have never been involved with or in the

Government of Wales or the internal workings of the Welsh Labour Party.

It is of no surprise to me that the Government wanted somebody who is

sympathetic to the position the Government might take on things.

But if they is an old boy network in Welsh Labour, I am not part of

it. But you politics is neutral. am very much appointed to be the

independent adviser to the Government. If it is necessary to

tell the Government it has done something that is not lawful, I am

going to tell them. So you're politics does not sway your views?

It will not sway my view. As for being mutual, who is neutral? My

advice will be neutral but if you say I am not entirely neutral as a

member of the Labour Party, I have rarely met people who are

completely neutral. Politically. Is this the first of many interviews

or is it the case of goodbye and get on with your work? I am always

open and transparent. It will depend on how interesting you and

your colleagues find the work of the Council general as time goes on.

And if they come knocking and fear is an important question to ask?

The Plaid Cymru AM, Jocelyn Davies, is calling on the big government to

look at the pressures on younger people in Wales.

I am joined with Jocelyn Davies, you raise the issue of the

sexualisation of children, the fact they are grown old before their

time. What does that cover? And lot of things. One thing I wanted to

raise was the pressure on young people are certainly in terms of

drugs and alcohol. You are quite right, the issue of becoming adults

before their time. I feel they are being robbed of their childhood. I

feel this is something we should be concerned about. I am not sure

young people are as concerned as adults, but there has recently been

the baby review by the UK government which looked at this

issue about their sexualisation of young people and made a number of

recommendations. I know that members yesterday were concerned to

hear about the clothes that are marketed under services and that

sort of thing. Really, the inappropriateness. In the past they

might have been more scope for parents to resist that kind of

thing on behalf of their children. Now with the internet and mobile

phones, it is more difficult for parents to police what they

youngsters up to. I suppose it is, but certainly with some of the

examples we heard yesterday, it would seem as if parents are part

of it. You can buy a baby's bib with future porn star written on it.

Absolutely ridiculous. What I wanted to say is that all of these

pressures exist, we cannot turn the clock back to the days perhaps a

long time ago when I was a child, but I remember very idyllic

childhood way you played outside all day and climb trees. Those days

are probably gone, there are pressures on youngsters and what I

would like to do is have some investigation in Wales about this

issue to see whether there are things that we can do to equip

young people to resist advertising and marketing so that they can have

their child would for as long as possible. The education? Do schools

and education. I would like us to get involved with the children's

commissioner. Although there is a lot of research being done in Wales,

a lot of women want to see what the links are between early

sexualisation and domestic abuse later on. The things you are

subject to as a child he will carry through to adult life. A lot of

work to be done. It is good to see that people are attending to this

issue. And sure many of us are happy that that is the case. Thank

you very much. Now, a week does not go by when

someone does not mention reforming the Barnett formula which we love

talking about here. The formula is the way in which Wales is funded

from Westminster. The issue is being raised in the Lords today by

Lord Barnett he came up with a plan in the 1970s. He has been talking

to our Correspondent. Regular viewers will be well aware

of what the Barnett formula is, it is a formula that the UK government

uses to allocate money to different parts of the UK based on population

size. The man who devised that Formula back in the seventies now

wants to change it to a more needs based system. He has a short debate

this evening. I am pleased to say he joins me now. Lord Barnett, why

have you know changed your mind? changed my mind some time ago

because it was quite of the us on the figures that it was unfair all

round. Not just because of the annual changes, but the base as a

select committee on the House of Lords found, the basis, even if

changing it every ewe was fair, it would not be fair because the base

is wrong. They are suggesting and I am suggesting this evening that it

should be changed to one based on need, not just on the annual

changes. You have to get the base right. I believe if it is based on

need, Wales will do slightly better than now. Scotland would do much

worse. Is it perhaps the problem with the needs based formula that

it might be too complicated and prohibitively so? That has all

always been that argument not to do anything. The Chief Secretary when

the select committee was set up express that view that it was too

complicated to do anything about it. The select committee of the House

of Lords chaired by a Welshman, he unanimously, that they decided that

it should be an independent commission that would annually,

first of all look at the base and then add up the changes. Based on

need they felt that could be done. He would be aware that the

Commission two years ago said that through the Barnett formula Wells

was underfunded to the tune of �300 million per year. The UK has

accepted that, but say at the moment the important thing is

getting to grips with the economy and this has been kicked into the

long grass, perhaps. How urgent is the need to reform the formula?

As far as Scotland is concerned, it is very urgent because it is

grossly unfair. They get much more than Wales and England and

certainly parts of England in the north-west would do much better

based on need and so would the north-east of England. So I believe

it is vital that the changes made. The instant thing is, when you

talked about the committee report, I put a question a year or so ago

to the Treasury of Minister of the House of Lords and asked whether

they would change to the basis of need. He said, as you have

mentioned, the priority must be getting the balance of the Budget

right. I would suggest, therefore, that it starts in 2015 and I will

be moving in due course to the Scotland Bill which will effect

Wales, of course. It should be changed from 2015. The government

cannot argue that in 2015 the priorities would not have been met

because that is their whole policy. I don't agree with it, but their

economic policy is intended to bring the balance right and bring

the deficit in land by 2015, so they cannot argue that face and --

argue that case and I don't think they have any other.

The older people's commissioner, Ruth marks, is calling for greater

protection for the elderly. She is with Mark in Oriel.

As older people's commissioner, Elder abuse must be a great concern.

It has a special international Day to mark awareness of that today.

What does it involve? In must involve a number of different

concerns. That is right. Wild elder abuse awareness Day marked on their

15th June across the-world is in its 6th year. It is important to

raise awareness and also highlight the various tours around to

challenge elder abuse. Fundamentally elder abuse -- abuse

is rooted in the fact that there is age discrimination in society.

Because we do not value elders in the way that we should, Elder abuse

can take many different forms. mean it is -- I realise it is

multi-faceted, but is it to look at infringements of different rights?

Quite often people who are opposing these rights think they are doing

the older person a favour. You have made a good point, but Elder abuse

can take many forms and can be very complicated. At his most extreme,

it includes physical attack, sexual abuse, financial scams and neglect.

Often people who are living and working with older people believe

that they might be doing the best for them, but perhaps not the most

appropriate. That is why it is important to have the right adult

protection legislation imposed. have all seen that. People who are

very well-intentioned, Gobi on patronising an older person into

denying them a voice. Taking care of them and saying they will do

everything for them. It is denying them freedom. Most older people are

perfectly capable of protecting themselves. They have a voice and

know how to use it and also voiced any concerns if they have spent,

but some all the people are incredibly vulnerable and it is

vulnerable older people that we need to make sure our legislation

is there to protect and to make sure that their rights are complete

the safeguarded. You have a guide that has been

published today on this issue, is that aimed at people working in

care homes with older people? it is a practical guide for people

working directly with older people in social services setting than

hospitals because they find the current legislation too complicated.

This is a user-friendly guide to be used on a daily basis and we hope

it will go some way towards enabling people to recognise elder

abuse. Thank you very much indeed. That is all from mark in the Oriel

today. We have a few minutes here in this studio. We will talk about

Lord Barnett if we could. Even he thinks his formula should be

reformed. All parties feel that here, but your party in the UK

government don't seem to want to do anything.

I don't know if that is strictly fair. At the moment. It is this

coalition that has promised to look at the Barnett formula situation

and I'm sure that will happen. It should not be a surprise to anyone

that the government has to concentrate on the debt at the

moment. I am confident that we will hear from someone at some point.

was made clear by Nick Clegg at the Welsh party conference in March

that there would be some kind of commission similar to the

Commission in Scotland who set up by the government, but when?

need progress on this soon. It was really good to hear the author of

the whole thing coming on board. The Liberal Democrats were one of

the first on the pitch on this issue. We really need movement soon.

The idea of parking it for the medium term because of deficit

reduction is not really going to be adequate and we within the Welsh

Liberal Democrats are pushing our colleagues in London hard on this

one. Could there be a suggestion that it has been kicked into the

long grass for another reason, that Scottish independence is on the

radar, on the agenda. Joel Barnett suggested there that Scotland gets

too much so no government would want to take that away from

Scotland ahead of a referendum. don't think that would be a basis

argument for the London government to consider. It is an interesting

situation with Scotland, isn't it? It is certainly overpaid under the

current system and I can imagine Scotland will not want to lose

money. On the other hand, they have tax-varying powers. If that is

taken away I wonder whether the SNP government would have the guts to

use those powers. We will see whether responsibilities life.

We talked about tax-raising powers, they something that you and your

party would like to see here? the first instance we would really

like to see the right for the Welsh government to be able to borrow

more flexibly to invest in major regeneration projects on future

business rate income. I think that should come before we start