Browse content similar to 25/04/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good morning and welcome to AMPM. One of our regular Westminster | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
happy hours for you today and all the news from the corridors of | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
power here in Cardiff Bay as well. I say happy hour, but the breaking | :00:30. | :00:33. | |
news this morning is that the UK is in recession for the second time in | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
three years. We'll be off to the Commons shortly for Welsh Questions | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
and that will be followed by Prime Minister's Questions. David Cameron | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
is expected to come under pressure over the future of the Culture | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. He's again defended himself against calls for | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
his resignation over contacts with Rupert Murdoch's media empire. And | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
news that the UK is in recession again will surely feature. Jeremy | :00:54. | :00:57. | |
Hunt may be the only man in the country happy about that, if it | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
deflects some attention away from him. All that to come, but before | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
we whisk off to Westminster, a quick chat with guests, Labour's | :01:03. | :01:13. | |
:01:13. | :01:14. | ||
Mark Drakeford and Angela Burns from the Welsh Conservatives. | :01:14. | :01:20. | |
Your party has experience of being in recession in Government. The | :01:20. | :01:24. | |
news this morning is a double-dip recession. What is your reaction? | :01:24. | :01:30. | |
Nobody wants to be in a recession. It is not in anybody's interests. | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
The Labour Party is not taking any pleasure out of it. It is bad news. | :01:35. | :01:42. | |
The economy is bumping along the bottom. Not many people predicted | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
we would be below the 0 % but if you look at the construction | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
industry which has been badly hit, the construction industry relies | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
heavily on public sector contracts and those have dried up completely. | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
But if you look at tax revenues, that is where I think the real clue | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
was. The Chancellor's tax revenues are way below what he was | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
predicting weeks ago. Thatcher's tells you there is simply no | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
economic activity going on out there and for me, this brings us | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
back to the fundamental point, you can't cut your way out of recession. | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
You have to have a real growth strategy and that is what this | :02:23. | :02:32. | |
Chancellor has failed to deliver. Quite a balanced interpretation. I | :02:32. | :02:42. | |
am sure you won't just blame Labour for this mess. We have been looking | :02:42. | :02:51. | |
at the upcoming elections in France. The markets were taking fright at | :02:51. | :02:58. | |
the prospect of a different President in France because the | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
economy that he is advocating is one of spending and France not | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
following the austerity measures that they have them and trying to | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
spend their way out. The markets don't feel that is right. It is | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
awful for our country to be in a double-dip recession but we have | :03:18. | :03:24. | |
retained our very important credit ratings. The markets still have | :03:24. | :03:33. | |
confidence. We are pretty much the last man standing. I would not be | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
too keen to knock the Chancellor's plans because they have held up | :03:37. | :03:47. | |
:03:47. | :03:49. | ||
very well for the UK. The markets have taken fright at the prospect | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
of a left-wing socialist victory in France because he was to spend his | :03:52. | :04:02. | |
way out but the alternative is that cutting your way out is not working. | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
The markets are frightened about uncertainty. With the prospect of a | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
new Government in France, that is what is worrying them. Just like | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
they are worried about the collapse of the Government in Holland. If | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
you want to see where things are working in the Western world, you | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
go to the United States of America which has had a good approach to | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
this way they have growth in jobs and growth in the economy. Although | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
they don't have a triple-A rating, there are still managing to run a | :04:34. | :04:42. | |
very successful recovery. We will head over to the Commons now. Our | :04:42. | :04:52. | |
:04:52. | :04:55. | ||
parliamentary correspondent, David Cornock, is there. Good morning. | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
Welsh questions will be under way in a moment. The first question | :05:00. | :05:06. | |
will be from Stuart Andrew who will ask a question about the | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
discussions Cheryl Gillan has had about marketing Wales as a | :05:11. | :05:21. | |
:05:21. | :05:28. | ||
destination for foreign business Just a little parliamentary | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
business still to be got through before the speaker can get on with | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
the main business of the day. Welsh questions followed by Prime | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
Minister's Questions followed by the statement from Jeremy Hunt. | :05:44. | :05:54. | |
:05:54. | :05:56. | ||
Labour is calling on Jeremy Hunt to resign. | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
I will answer questions 1 and 3 together. I have regular | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on marketing | :06:04. | :06:08. | |
Wales as a destination for foreign business investment. The recent | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
Welsh Affairs Committee report on inward investment in Wales | :06:10. | :06:15. | |
highlighted a number of important issues and we are committed to | :06:15. | :06:24. | |
joint working with the last Government. One of the best ways to | :06:24. | :06:27. | |
improve foreign investment into Wales is for the UK and Welsh | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
governments to work more closely together. Does my right honourable | :06:32. | :06:37. | |
friend regret the fact that the Welsh business Minister is | :06:37. | :06:47. | |
:06:47. | :06:47. | ||
reluctant to do that. Co-operation between both governments is | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
considered essential to marketing Wales. But as economic development | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
is devolved and led by the Labour Government, I share his | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
disappointment. I she his disappointment that the Business | :07:01. | :07:11. | |
Minister would not give evidence to the Select Committee. The projects | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
into Wales have diminished over the years and we need to get that back | :07:15. | :07:25. | |
:07:25. | :07:26. | ||
up to compete effectively. Does she agree with me that it is right to | :07:26. | :07:36. | |
:07:36. | :07:36. | ||
investigate opportunities in the emerging markets. The Prime | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
Minister himself has said he wants to link this country to the fastest | :07:41. | :07:51. | |
:07:51. | :07:56. | ||
growing parts of the world. That is why I am pleased that we have now | :07:56. | :08:02. | |
joined up with the last Government and the have offered at least one | :08:02. | :08:12. | |
:08:12. | :08:13. | ||
investment adviser to work in at the last Government offices. -- the | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
Welsh Government offices. I am sure we can get the two governments | :08:18. | :08:26. | |
working together in the interests of Wales. Could it transport links | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
-- could it transport links are essential. What discussions has she | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
had with the First Minister and the Welsh Government on improving links | :08:35. | :08:44. | |
with Cardiff airport? I have constant discussions with the First | :08:45. | :08:53. | |
Minister and the last Government. We have discussed the links and | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
there has been discussion about Cardiff airport. I have invited the | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
owners of Cardiff airport to meet with me shortly because I have been | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
concerned about some of the report I've heard in the press. We should | :09:06. | :09:16. | |
be trying to talk Cardiff airport up not talk it down. I welcome the | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
announcement by the Labour Welsh Government that the steel company | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
will be investing �800 million in Wales but their bosses have | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
repeatedly said that the prices they have to pay for energy in the | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
UK are simply not competitive when compared to what industry pays | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
elsewhere. What discussions has she had with the Energy Secretary and | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
energy companies to secure a better deal on energy prices for heavy | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
industry and to provide an incentive for companies to invest | :09:46. | :09:53. | |
in Wales. It was one of the first things I did when I pop -- 1 was | :09:53. | :10:01. | |
appointed, I took Vince Cable to discuss the energy prices and all | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
the departments have been focused on the industry's because we want | :10:04. | :10:12. | |
to make sure that there are good manufacturing jobs in the future. I | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
have read the press release from the Welsh Government and the First | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
Minister and he says he was told at a meeting in India that �800 | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
million has been approved over the next five years for investment and | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
I am looking forward to seeing the detail on that because it seems to | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
be one of those general announcements without too much | :10:33. | :10:43. | |
:10:43. | :10:47. | ||
detail attached to it. As a result of the budget, the Welsh Government | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
will benefit from an additional �11.7 billion over the spending | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
review period. It will have received nearly �500 million in | :10:56. | :11:06. | |
:11:06. | :11:14. | ||
additional funding since the spending review of 2010. | :11:14. | :11:20. | |
caravan Tax has hit thousands of hard-working families in Wales. | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
Will he spate of the Chancellor and getting to scrap the caravan Tax | :11:23. | :11:33. | |
:11:33. | :11:33. | ||
and not sit on his hands? The right honourable gentleman should not be | :11:33. | :11:40. | |
get so I rated. The Government recognises the importance of the | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
holiday park sector to the tourism industry in Wales and the economy | :11:44. | :11:54. | |
:11:54. | :12:00. | ||
and was as a whole. -- the economy in Wales as a whole. Can you | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
confirm that although there are 14 Government departments over the | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
next four years that will see reductions in spending, spending in | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
Wales increases year-on-year despite the fact that the Welsh | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
Assembly Government and has spent �385 million last year whilst | :12:15. | :12:21. | |
cutting health spending in Wales. Absolutely. The reduction in the | :12:21. | :12:29. | |
Welsh health budget is a matter of shame for the Welsh Government. | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
There will have had an additional �500 million since the spending | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
review in 2010. Is it fair that Welsh churches, charities, | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
pensioners and almost everybody else pay more taxes so that | :12:44. | :12:51. | |
millionaires each day for �1,000 less? That is a strange rhetorical | :12:51. | :12:54. | |
question but he will know that the reduction in the top rate of tax | :12:54. | :13:02. | |
will not take effect until the end of the public spending freeze. The | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
last Government did not see it fit to increase the rate of tax until | :13:06. | :13:12. | |
weeks before the last budget. amazed he is not ashamed at the | :13:12. | :13:18. | |
impact on some of the most vulnerable in our society. Can we | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
in Wales apologised to the Secretary of State. We used to | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
think she was on her own at sea in the Cabinet but now they are all at | :13:26. | :13:34. | |
sea together. At least Wales has a Labour Government to give us some | :13:34. | :13:40. | |
protection from this incompetence. At least Wales can reject this | :13:40. | :13:42. | |
disastrous budget by voting Labour in the council elections next | :13:42. | :13:52. | |
:13:52. | :13:54. | ||
Thursday. I am still waiting for the question. Does the Minister | :13:54. | :13:59. | |
agree that with a new law making powers and a �15 million budget, | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
the Welsh Assembly Government has both the tools and the money to | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
make a real and lasting difference in Wales? Yes, indeed. It is | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
vitally important that the Welsh Assembly Government should work | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
closely with the Government here in Westminster for the good of the | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
people of Wales and I hope we will be seeing a far more joined-up | :14:20. | :14:30. | |
:14:30. | :14:37. | ||
approach from the Welsh Assembly Government in this regard. No. Four. | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
We are committed to looking at how we can provide these allowances | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
elsewhere but the Welsh Government must develop strong and robust | :14:45. | :14:55. | |
:14:55. | :14:58. | ||
business cases. Plans fall in motor industry complex are now at a | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
critical juncture. We need to know if capital allowances can be | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
delivered or if other tax treatments are a better prospect. | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
Can I press her for a meeting with developments so that we can thrash | :15:11. | :15:21. | |
:15:21. | :15:22. | ||
Can I just say that the honourable gentleman has worked tirelessly to | :15:22. | :15:26. | |
develop these proposals and I really do congratulate him on that. | :15:26. | :15:31. | |
We have met on other occasions and I have written to him again today. | :15:31. | :15:36. | |
I have said that I am very willing to try to secure a meeting with the | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Can I just also say to him that, | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
without a business case, the Treasury cannot make decisions on | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
further enhanced capital allowances and, therefore, I would encourage | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
and to discuss this with the Welsh government as well as with our | :15:52. | :16:00. | |
government. With permission, I will answer questions five and eight | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
together. My honourable friend continues to have regular | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
discussions with ministerial colleagues, Wells government | :16:10. | :16:12. | |
ministers and other interested parties on the funding of broadband | :16:13. | :16:20. | |
in Wales. May I congratulate him on his part in securing �57 million | :16:20. | :16:26. | |
for Wales and the broadband provision for Cardiff? Turning to | :16:26. | :16:29. | |
broadband in rural areas, does the Minister should have frustrations | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
of many of my constituents at the speed with which this is being | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
delivered in Wales when compared with authorities such as Cornwall, | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
which are really speeding ahead? my honourable friend says, the | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
Government has made a total of �56.9 million available to bring | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
faster broadband to Wales. The Welsh government is working on how | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
best to employ the funding but we are looking to the Welsh government | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
to make an announcement as to its contribution to speed the process. | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
I am sure that my honourable friend will be pleased that the | :17:07. | :17:13. | |
announcement by BT that some rural communities will have faster access | :17:13. | :17:19. | |
by this summer, including Aberystwyth. The South Wales | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
Chamber of Commerce has called for more ambitious targets for | :17:22. | :17:30. | |
broadband speeds for 2015 at 50 megabytes per second, from the | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
present targets of 30. What is the government doing here to achieve | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
such a target, which would clearly be beneficial for business? Indeed, | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
it would be beneficial, Mr Speaker, and I am sure that the honourable | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
gentleman will recall that in the Budget as some of �12 million was | :17:46. | :17:51. | |
made available to help transform Cardiff into a Super connected city, | :17:51. | :17:56. | |
which should result in speeds of between 60 megabytes and 100 | :17:56. | :18:03. | |
megabytes per second. Cardiff is not Wales, though some people might | :18:03. | :18:10. | |
be under that misapprehension. Countries such as Finland and | :18:10. | :18:15. | |
mortar have introduced a universal service obligation on Internet | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
coverage to ensure that everybody has equal access to the internet | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
and its advantages, irrespective of location. Will the government might | :18:23. | :18:28. | |
look into this and look into it in time for the next communication | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
bill. Perhaps it is something that the Welsh government can do under | :18:32. | :18:38. | |
the Welsh -- the government of Wales Act. He referred specifically | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
to the South Wales Chamber of Commerce. It is the ambition of | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
this Government to ensure that his super-fast broadband is rolled out | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
throughout the United Kingdom by the end of this Parliament. At the | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
moment, we are on track. Broadband suppliers have shown a marked | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
reluctance to invest in Wales. Does my honourable friend agree with me | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
that it is important that the people of Wales have the benefit of | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
new technology and that perhaps the Welsh Assembly might use some of | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
its vast underspend to invest in Wales so that everyone has the | :19:10. | :19:16. | |
benefit of broadband? Indeed. As I said in reply to the honourable | :19:16. | :19:26. | |
:19:26. | :19:27. | ||
member for Kennedy idiom, -- 4 Ceredigion, we are waiting for | :19:27. | :19:36. | |
their commitment in financial terms. Economic growth is a key priority | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
for this Government and I have regular discussions with | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
ministerial colleagues on ways to encourage economic growth in Wales. | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
Yesterday, I met with a business advisory group and herds directly | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
from members how this Government's growth policies are helping | :19:51. | :19:57. | |
businesses in Wales to face the current economic challenges. Does | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
the Secretary of State agree that the fact that the recent Budget is | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
taking 95,000 people out of tax altogether in Wales is a big boost | :20:07. | :20:16. | |
for business? I agree entirely with my honourable friend, and it must | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
be very good for those people that we have taken out of tax altogether | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
and the lower paid workers who will benefit from the changes, because, | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
indeed, it will put money directly back in their pockets rather better | :20:29. | :20:36. | |
than Welsh Labour done in Cardiff Bay, under whose auspices council | :20:36. | :20:46. | |
:20:46. | :20:48. | ||
tax has doubled in Wales. Considering there is a direct link | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
between money in people's pockets and spending, how will be pressing | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
pay in the public sector encourage economic growth in the poorest | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
parts of the UK? Mr Speaker, when it comes to local pay, our | :21:03. | :21:10. | |
intention is to create a more flexible labour market that is more | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
responsive to their challenging economic conditions that we face. | :21:13. | :21:21. | |
We want to encourage more private sector growth. The Secretary of | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
State things that this Government is interested in growth, if she | :21:26. | :21:34. | |
does, she is living in cloud- cuckoo-land. The Chancellor's | :21:34. | :21:39. | |
excessive intention of cutting too deep and too fast is taking us back | :21:39. | :21:44. | |
into recession. I think that a day's news is disappointing but not | :21:44. | :21:51. | |
totally unexpected. -- that today's news. Britain cannot be immune to | :21:51. | :21:57. | |
what is happening on our doorstep. Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Holland | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
and Portugal are already in recession. Since the Coalition took | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
office, over 630,000 private sector jobs have been created, more than | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
outstripping job losses in the public sector. Private sector | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
employment in Wales rose by 12,000 between the third quarter of 2010 | :22:18. | :22:27. | |
and the same quarter in 2011. Speaker, my right honourable friend | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
and I are working with the Secretary of State for Transport | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
and Welsh ministers on the business case for electrocute it -- | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
electrification of the South Wales valley Lines. We expect to make an | :22:38. | :22:48. | |
:22:48. | :22:52. | ||
announcement in the summer. travel on a route that sometimes | :22:52. | :22:57. | |
takes me through the constituency of the honourable member for the | :22:57. | :23:05. | |
Vale of Glamorgan. Many routes link as far west as Swansea. We are all | :23:05. | :23:11. | |
people from the valleys on connections from the valleys. Will | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
his definition of South Wales be my definition, the definition of the | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
people of the South Wales, because, when it comes to electrification, | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
we are all in this together? indeed, we do recognise the | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
importance of electrification of the South Wales valley Lines to the | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
economy of the Cardiff City region and wider. The Chancellor did, of | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
course,' electrification of those lines as a key infrastructure | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
priority in the Budget. I was delighted that de Prime Minister | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
confirmed his personal commitment when he visited Wales earlier this | :23:44. | :23:54. | |
:23:54. | :23:56. | ||
month. With permission, I will answer questions nine and 12 | :23:56. | :24:03. | |
together. Number 12 has been withdrawn. I am grateful to the | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
Minister. My right honourable friend has regular discussions with | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
the first minister about a range of transport issues that affect rails | :24:11. | :24:20. | |
-- Wales, most recently last week. Has the Welsh Office than an impact | :24:20. | :24:29. | |
study on the high-speed rail link on Wales. Has there been | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
investigation of the possibility of a high-speed Wales? Indeed, I share | :24:34. | :24:40. | |
the honourable gentleman's concerns about speeds on the line. These are | :24:40. | :24:45. | |
matters that we discuss regularly with the Department for Transport, | :24:45. | :24:52. | |
and will continue to do so. Can I ask the Minister what discussions | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
he has had with the European Parliament about trans-European | :24:56. | :25:04. | |
network funding to enhance the railways? Of we discuss what | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
methods we can adopt in order to improve the funding regime for | :25:08. | :25:15. | |
lines in Wales. We will be looking at funding that is available from | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
the European Community. As we know, economic growth is one of the ways | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
that we will improve the infrastructure of Wales. To improve | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
that infrastructure, we need a modern railway. That means | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
electrification as far as Swansea. Could the Minister tell me what | :25:33. | :25:39. | |
impact assessment has been made of the effect on the commuter and | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
holiday trade of rail electrification to Swansea? | :25:44. | :25:46. | |
commend the honourable lady for her interest in this matter on behalf | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
of a constituents to a man and I can assure her that we remain | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
interested in the litigation of the line and are working closely with | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
the Welsh Assembly Government to develop the business cases of far | :25:59. | :26:09. | |
:26:09. | :26:11. | ||
too many noisy private conversations are taking place. | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
the Government recognises that businesses, individuals and | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
families are struggling with the rising cost of fuel, particularly | :26:18. | :26:24. | |
in rural areas. We have eased the burden on motors by approximately | :26:24. | :26:26. | |
�4.5 billion by the abolition of the fuel duty escalator, the | :26:26. | :26:36. | |
introduction of that stabiliser and by cutting fuel duty. Whilst | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
welcoming the cut in fuel duty, the market price of oil Mack is too | :26:40. | :26:47. | |
high, partly because of speculation. The USA is bringing in tough | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
penalties for market manipulation. Will you put pressure on the big | :26:50. | :26:59. | |
oil firms to cut prices at the pumps? As I said, the Government | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
recognises the impact of the rising cost of fuel. However, it should be | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
remembered that the duty increase it -- expected to take place in | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
January has been deferred till August and we have cancelled the | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
inflation increase that was planned for August. This means there will | :27:15. | :27:22. | |
be just one inflationary increase this year. Could the Minister tell | :27:22. | :27:27. | |
us the price of a litre of fuel this time last year and a price | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
today? And would be increased be anything to do with the VAT rise | :27:32. | :27:39. | |
that he voted for? The price in my constituency is approximately �1.40. | :27:39. | :27:49. | |
:27:49. | :27:51. | ||
Last year, I would be happy to write him -- right to him. I have | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
regular discussions with ministerial colleagues and other | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
organisations on a range of issues, including the aerospace industry in | :27:58. | :28:07. | |
Wales. While the UK Government has taken a lead in establishing | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
enterprise zones, be honest is now on the Welsh government to make | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
sure -- the responsibility now lies with the Welsh government to make | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
sure that its enterprise zones are a success. I think my honourable | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
friend is absolutely right. As far as enterprise zones are concerned, | :28:26. | :28:34. | |
a great deal depends on what the Welsh Labour government will do. I | :28:34. | :28:39. | |
do say to him that I think it will be crucial to the UK securing work | :28:39. | :28:45. | |
on the next generation of aircraft, because there are some 27,000 large | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
aircraft worth three trillion dollars needed over the next 20 | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
years and around 7,000 new helicopters required within the | :28:52. | :28:57. | |
next decade, and a huge potential future market in unmanned at the | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
vehicles. I want to benefit from that demand in the aerospace | :29:00. | :29:07. | |
business in Wales. Is it not the case that the success of the UK | :29:07. | :29:12. | |
aerospace industry is because Government and Industry work | :29:12. | :29:18. | |
together? And is it not the case that is saying that business | :29:18. | :29:26. | |
succeed because Government gets out the the way is nonsense? Over this | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
noise, Mr Speaker, I think that the honourable gentleman was suggesting | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
that Government gets out of the way of business. Indeed, that is | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
exactly what this Government is doing in reducing the bureaucracy | :29:39. | :29:44. | |
that the last Labour government imposed on our industries and also | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
reducing the rate of corporation tax so that our environment can be | :29:47. | :29:57. | |
:29:57. | :29:58. | ||
one of the most competitive in the G20. This is about the Budget and | :29:58. | :30:07. | |
women. Hang on! Last night's budget was one of fairness and values, the | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
we had to make some difficult decisions. If we are committed to | :30:11. | :30:16. | |
ensuring that women all over the UK it play a full part in the economic | :30:16. | :30:26. | |
:30:26. | :30:30. | ||
In the last quarter, 4,000 women became unemployed. Can she tell me | :30:30. | :30:34. | |
how many women in Wales will benefit from the reduction in | :30:34. | :30:43. | |
taxation from 50 % to 45 %? Will that benefit women in Wales? | :30:43. | :30:47. | |
Despite the recession, the employment rate for women remains | :30:47. | :30:55. | |
historically high. 65.3 % now compared to 53 % in 1971. | :30:55. | :30:59. | |
Employment has fallen more sharply for men during the recession so | :30:59. | :31:05. | |
quite frankly, it will be expected to rise more quickly. This is the | :31:05. | :31:10. | |
4th consecutive set of figures to show employment and economic | :31:10. | :31:20. | |
:31:20. | :31:25. | ||
inactivity rising in Wales. Questions to the Prime Minister. | :31:25. | :31:34. | |
The whole House will join me in paying tribute to Sapper, Ray who | :31:34. | :31:41. | |
died on Wednesday 18th April. He was described by all who served | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
with him as his superb silver. His dedication and courage will never | :31:44. | :31:54. | |
:31:54. | :31:55. | ||
be forgotten. This morning, I had meetings with ministerial | :31:55. | :32:02. | |
colleagues and I shall have further such meetings later today. I would | :32:02. | :32:08. | |
like to associate myself with the Prime Minister's tribute. In doing | :32:08. | :32:17. | |
so, I want to ask my right honourable friend if he will | :32:17. | :32:27. | |
:32:27. | :32:28. | ||
confirm that the actual case for withdrawal from Afghanistan should | :32:28. | :32:33. | |
be about protecting our own soldiers. By the end of 2014, we | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
won't have anything like the troop numbers we have now and they won't | :32:36. | :32:42. | |
be in a combat role. Posts 2014 we believe in having a training role | :32:42. | :32:52. | |
:32:52. | :32:52. | ||
with the Afghan army. The speed of the reductions between now and the | :32:52. | :32:54. | |
end of 2014 will be done in accordance with the conditions on | :32:54. | :32:58. | |
the ground and what is right in terms of transition from Allied | :32:58. | :33:04. | |
Control to Afghan control. Parliament el minds is the safety | :33:04. | :33:14. | |
:33:14. | :33:17. | ||
and security of our brave armed forces. Can I join the Prime | :33:17. | :33:24. | |
Minister in paying tribute. He carried out his duties with the | :33:24. | :33:31. | |
utmost courage and saved many lives. Our deepest condolences go to his | :33:31. | :33:35. | |
family and friends. Today we had a catastrophic news that Britain is | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
back in recession. I am sure the Prime Minister has spent the last | :33:40. | :33:49. | |
24 hours thinking of an excuse so what is his excuse this time? | :33:49. | :33:55. | |
are very disappointing figures. I don't seek to excuse them all try | :33:55. | :34:01. | |
to explain them away and let me be absolutely clear. There is no | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
complacency at: this Government in dealing with what is a very tough | :34:06. | :34:12. | |
situation that has just got tougher. It is very difficult of recovering | :34:12. | :34:18. | |
from the deepest recession in living memory a company as it was | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
by a debt crisis. Our banks had too much debt, our households had too | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
much debt and our Government had too much debt. We have to rebalance | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
our economy. We need a bigger private sector and more investment. | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
This is difficult work but we will stick with our plans and stick with | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
the lower interest rates and do everything we can to boost | :34:42. | :34:50. | |
competitiveness and jobs in our country. Typical of this arrogant | :34:50. | :34:57. | |
Prime Minister. The reality is, this is a recession made by him and | :34:57. | :35:04. | |
the Chancellor in Downing Street. Over the last 18 months, our | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
economy has shrunk. This is now we slow recovery from a recession than | :35:11. | :35:16. | |
the 1930s. The reality is that families and businesses are paying | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
the price for his arrogance and complacency. Why doesn't he admit | :35:21. | :35:28. | |
it? It is his catastrophic economic policy, cutting too far and too | :35:28. | :35:34. | |
fast, that has landed us back in recession. There is not a single | :35:34. | :35:39. | |
business organisation or international body that thinks | :35:39. | :35:44. | |
these problems emerged in the last 24 months. The debt crisis has been | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
long in the making. The failure to regulate our banks has been long in | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
the making. The Government of overspending has been long in the | :35:52. | :35:57. | |
making. This is a tough situation that the economy is in it but the | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
one thing we must not do is to abandon public spending and deficit | :36:01. | :36:05. | |
reduction plans because the solution to wait debt crisis cannot | :36:05. | :36:15. | |
:36:15. | :36:23. | ||
be more debt. -- to a debt crisis. No business organisation suggests | :36:23. | :36:31. | |
the follow that course. It is all bluster. His plan has failed. That | :36:31. | :36:36. | |
is the reality. They were the people who said that Britain was a | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
safe haven. The Chancellor said on Monday and we are back in recession. | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
He was the person who said we were out of the danger zone and this is | :36:45. | :36:53. | |
what has happened. The complacent, arrogant, posh boys just don't get | :36:53. | :37:02. | |
it. Let's turn from the economic disaster to the political disaster | :37:02. | :37:06. | |
that is the Culture Secretary. On the evidence published yesterday, | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
we know that throughout the time the culture secretary was supposed | :37:10. | :37:16. | |
to be acting in an impartial manner, there was a constant flow of | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
information to News Corporation about statements to be made in this | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
House in advance, his private discussion with the regulators and | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
his discussion with opposing parties. Having seen the one and 63 | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
pages published yesterday, is the Prime Minister trying to tell us | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
that the Secretary of State was acting as he should have done in a | :37:39. | :37:48. | |
:37:49. | :37:49. | ||
transparent, impartial and fair manner? Let me finish off on the | :37:49. | :37:59. | |
:37:59. | :38:00. | ||
economy... Order! We will not let anyone forget who got us into this | :38:00. | :38:10. | |
:38:10. | :38:11. | ||
mess in the first place. More spending, more borrowing, more debt, | :38:11. | :38:16. | |
that is what caused these problems. It cannot be the solution to these | :38:16. | :38:24. | |
problems. Now let me turn to the Leveson Inquiry. I set up the | :38:24. | :38:30. | |
Leveson Inquiry. The terms of reference were agreed by the leader | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
of the Liberal Democrat Party and the leader of the Labour Party. I | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
believe that to step in and try and prejudge that inquiry would be | :38:38. | :38:48. | |
:38:48. | :38:59. | ||
wrong. Let me be clear, Lord Justice Leveson has has made that | :38:59. | :39:09. | |
:39:09. | :39:11. | ||
precise point this morning. Let me read to the House what he has said. | :39:11. | :39:16. | |
Let's hear what the Prime Minister has to say. He said this this | :39:16. | :39:21. | |
morning. "it is very important to hear every side of the story before | :39:21. | :39:28. | |
drawing conclusions. Although I have seen requests for other | :39:28. | :39:32. | |
inquiries and investigations and of course I don't seek to her | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
constrained Parliament, but it seems to me that the better course | :39:35. | :39:45. | |
:39:45. | :39:47. | ||
is to allow this inquiry to proceed". He should listen to the | :39:47. | :39:51. | |
inquiry having set it up. Lord Justice Leveson is responsible for | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
a lot of things but he is not responsible for the integrity of | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
the Prime Minister's Government. In case he'd forgotten, that is his | :40:00. | :40:07. | |
responsibility. It beggars belief that the Prime Minister can defend | :40:07. | :40:12. | |
the Culture Secretary because he was not changing this, he was | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
helping the bid by News Corporation. Two days before the statement to | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
the House on 25th January, the Culture Secretary's office was not | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
only colluding with News Corporation to provide information | :40:24. | :40:30. | |
in advance, they were hatching a plan to ensure it would be game | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
over for the Opposition to the bid. Does the Prime Minister really | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
believe that is how a judge and his advisers are supposed to act? | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
Leader of the Opposition does not think what Lord Leveson says this | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
morning matters. Let me remind him what he said yesterday about the | :40:51. | :41:00. | |
Leveson Inquiry. He said, "I think it is right that the Leveson | :41:00. | :41:07. | |
Inquiry takes its course. The most important thing is that the Leveson | :41:07. | :41:12. | |
Inquiry gets to the bottom of what happened, of what Labour did, of | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
what the Conservatives did, and we reach a judgement." isn't it a | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
typical of the right honourable gentleman. In the morning, he sets | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
out his clear position but in the afternoon, he cannot resist the | :41:28. | :41:38. | |
:41:38. | :41:46. | ||
passing political bandwagon. Order. The Leader of the Opposition must | :41:46. | :41:56. | |
:41:56. | :41:58. | ||
be heard. Totally pathetic answers. He is the Prime Minister. If he | :41:58. | :42:02. | |
can't defend the conduct of his own ministers, they should be out the | :42:02. | :42:09. | |
door, he should fire them. He does not even tried to defend the | :42:09. | :42:16. | |
Secretary of State. The Secretary of State told this House on 3rd | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
March, "today, we are publishing all the concert -- consultation | :42:21. | :42:28. | |
documents, all of the exchanges between my department and News | :42:28. | :42:36. | |
Corporation." but he did not. The Prime Minister does not defend him | :42:36. | :42:39. | |
over giving confidential information to one party in the | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
case. He does not defend him over collusion. Is he really going to | :42:44. | :42:51. | |
defend him about not being straight with the House of Commons? | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
Culture Secretary has my full support for the excellent job he | :42:54. | :43:04. | |
has done. The Culture Secretary will be giving a full account of an | :43:04. | :43:08. | |
self in this House of Commons this afternoon and in front of the | :43:08. | :43:12. | |
Leveson Inquiry and he will give a good account of himself for this | :43:12. | :43:18. | |
reason. That in judging this important bid, the Culture | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
Secretary sought independent advice from independent regulators cost at | :43:22. | :43:29. | |
every stage, although he did not need to. The Culture Secretary took | :43:29. | :43:33. | |
that independent advice at every stage. The way the culture | :43:33. | :43:38. | |
secretary has dealt with this issue is in stark contrast to the | :43:38. | :43:45. | |
Government's to which she was a member. -- to which he was. While | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
his Culture Secretary remains in place, while he refuses to come | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
clean on his and the Chancellor's meetings with Rupert Murdoch, the | :43:53. | :44:02. | |
Shadow of sleaze will Hanover this Government. It is a pattern with | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
this Prime Minister. Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks. When is he going to | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
realise, it is time to stop putting his cronies before the interests of | :44:13. | :44:23. | |
:44:23. | :44:24. | ||
the country. He called for an independent judicial required a -- | :44:24. | :44:32. | |
inquiry. The fact is, the problem of closeness between politicians | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
and media proprietors had been going on fears and it is this | :44:36. | :44:43. | |
Government that is going to sort it out. -- going on for years. Whether | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
it is cleaning up our financial system, dealing with our debts, I | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
don't duck my responsibilities. What a pity he cannot live up to | :44:53. | :45:03. | |
:45:03. | :45:20. | ||
Is my right honourable friend aware of the very good to know news on | :45:20. | :45:27. | |
the manufacture ring sector in Lincoln where there has been an | :45:27. | :45:37. | |
:45:37. | :45:37. | ||
increase in turnover in local businesses? Would my right | :45:37. | :45:41. | |
honourable friend accept my personal invitation to visit | :45:41. | :45:47. | |
Lincoln and see for himself the excellent success it is enjoying? | :45:48. | :45:51. | |
am grateful for the invitation and I will try to take it up. As I said | :45:51. | :45:59. | |
earlier, what is happening in our economy, apart from the very | :45:59. | :46:03. | |
disappointing news today, is a rebalancing that is taking place, | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
which needs to take place, in terms of manufacturing investment, | :46:08. | :46:10. | |
exports and the Government might getting behind that with more | :46:11. | :46:20. | |
:46:21. | :46:24. | ||
investment in apprenticeships and technical hubs at our universities. | :46:24. | :46:31. | |
Mr Speaker, on Monday, the Prime Minister said that he was going on | :46:31. | :46:39. | |
and economic rescue mission -- an economic rescue mission as a is it | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
not the case that that has failed spectacularly? We saw a 7% | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
contraction of our GDP, to bigger even than what happened in America. | :46:48. | :46:53. | |
It is worth remembering that we had the biggest bang bail-out anywhere | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
in the world. Getting out of the recession, the financial crisis and | :46:57. | :47:04. | |
the debt crisis is difficult, painstaking work. But this | :47:04. | :47:10. | |
Government is committed to doing just that. Last week, I met at the | :47:10. | :47:12. | |
Chief Executive of the fourth largest manufacturing group in the | :47:13. | :47:19. | |
UK, who have a substantial factory in Burnley. He has been instructed | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
by his United States board to increase the turnover of his UK | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
operations so as to take advantage of the Government's industrial | :47:26. | :47:32. | |
strategy. He is concerned about the lack of skills. Can my right | :47:32. | :47:41. | |
honourable friend at assured me that investment -- investment in | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
apprenticeships will increase in the coming years? If any Member of | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
Parliament wants to talk about manufacturing success or business | :47:49. | :47:53. | |
success in their constituency, they are shouted down by the opposition. | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
All they wanted here is bad news adds to talk our economy down. We | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
are investing in skills, we are putting more money into | :48:01. | :48:05. | |
apprenticeship schemes, we are putting money into technical | :48:05. | :48:15. | |
:48:15. | :48:15. | ||
colleges. Her I was looking at growth plans in Airbus this week, | :48:15. | :48:22. | |
and it is good to hear his good news. The Chancellor said in 2008, | :48:22. | :48:27. | |
once you have a downturn -- downturn, you cannot cut public | :48:27. | :48:34. | |
expenditure. Will he go back on his policy of cutting too far and too | :48:34. | :48:43. | |
fast? Well-read! The truth is we inherited from the party opposite a | :48:43. | :48:48. | |
budget deficit of 11%. The budget deficit we inherited was bigger | :48:48. | :48:53. | |
than Greece, than Spain, than Portugal. If you do not deal with | :48:53. | :49:00. | |
your debt and your deficit, you will never keep interest rates low. | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
It is low interest rates that offer was the best prospect of getting | :49:04. | :49:14. | |
:49:14. | :49:23. | ||
out of the situation we are in. Order! Thank you, Mr Speaker. At | :49:23. | :49:30. | |
least 500,000 children died from malaria last year. May I thank the | :49:30. | :49:33. | |
Prime Minister for his personal commitment to combating this | :49:33. | :49:38. | |
disease and will he join me in recognising the international | :49:38. | :49:46. | |
leadership which British scientists, aid workers, and volunteers show in | :49:46. | :49:53. | |
combating malaria? I am very grateful to join the honourable | :49:53. | :50:01. | |
gentleman and to wish his constituents well. He is right to | :50:01. | :50:07. | |
raise the issue. 15,000 children die every week from what is a | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
preventable illness. That is why I am proud of the fact that Britain | :50:11. | :50:19. | |
is leading on this issue, is putting money into bed nets and the | :50:19. | :50:23. | |
scientific advances that he is talking about. I think we're right | :50:24. | :50:33. | |
to pursue it. Does this out of touch Prime Minister still believe | :50:33. | :50:38. | |
that the British economy is out of the dangers on? Look, one of the | :50:38. | :50:42. | |
biggest problems we faced on taking office was the danger that | :50:42. | :50:46. | |
financial markets would take a view of Britain at likely have taken of | :50:46. | :50:51. | |
Greece, Spain or Portugal, where interest rates were rising. The | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
fact that we have such an low interest rates in Britain | :50:54. | :50:59. | |
demonstrates that we have credibility. These are difficult | :50:59. | :51:02. | |
decisions to deal with public spending, but they are the right | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
decisions, not least because the Shadow Chancellor once said that | :51:06. | :51:10. | |
sad mark interest rates are the market economic credibility. | :51:10. | :51:18. | |
head teachers of high schools in Calder Valley both very much | :51:18. | :51:26. | |
welcome the Government's educational reforms. They did not | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
qualify for the BSF under the previous government because they | :51:29. | :51:38. | |
attained too highly. Can the Prime Minister tell us will when they can | :51:38. | :51:43. | |
expect an announcement on funding? Compared with the first two | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
parliaments of the party opposite, we are investing more in school | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
building than they did. I think the figure is something along the lines | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
of �17 billion during the Spending Review period. There are | :51:57. | :52:03. | |
opportunities for new classrooms and new buildings. I am sure that | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
the Secretary of State for Education will be in touch with him. | :52:06. | :52:14. | |
Does the Prime Minister agree with a member from Mid Bedfordshire when | :52:14. | :52:19. | |
she said that the Prime Minister and Chancellor... Order! Let's hear | :52:20. | :52:25. | |
the question. When she said they were posh boys showing no | :52:25. | :52:32. | |
compassion for the ways and under - - for the lives of others, and that | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
this is farther evidence that he is out of touch and why we are in a | :52:36. | :52:46. | |
:52:46. | :52:47. | ||
double-dip recession? I agree with him about many things. Over the | :52:47. | :52:53. | |
last two years, UK exports have grown by 23%, with faster growth to | :52:53. | :53:03. | |
:53:03. | :53:03. | ||
Brazil, Russia, India and China. Will he join with me on | :53:03. | :53:13. | |
congratulating the 150 winners of the award for business. I certainly | :53:13. | :53:22. | |
join him in that. When we look at some markets around the world, our | :53:22. | :53:28. | |
export performance combat compared with 2009, is up by as much as 60% | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
in some of those markets. We have to also remember our old friends | :53:33. | :53:38. | |
and that we export more to the Republic of Ireland than we do to | :53:38. | :53:42. | |
Brazil, Russia, India and China combine. We need to do much more | :53:42. | :53:48. | |
work to get into the fast-growing markets in the world. Recently, the | :53:48. | :53:52. | |
Prime Minister conceded that the Government had made an important | :53:52. | :53:58. | |
mistake in the handling of the fuel crisis. Can I ask him: Would it not | :53:58. | :54:03. | |
be a positive step in correcting that mistake if the Government were | :54:03. | :54:07. | |
to scrap -- scrap the 3p increase in August in order to help | :54:07. | :54:12. | |
motorists, haulage companies and hard-pressed families in the United | :54:12. | :54:18. | |
Kingdom? First of all, the Government has used around �4 | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
billion of budget money to keep petrol prices down. They are about | :54:23. | :54:26. | |
six pence lower than they would be under the plans of the party | :54:26. | :54:30. | |
opposite. Let me update the honourable gentleman, and indeed | :54:31. | :54:35. | |
the House, on the issue of the fuel strike. It now looks as if there is | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
a longer period of time before any potential strike could take place. | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
I am determined that we use that time to make sure there is every | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
piece of resilience in place. The plans we inherited would have | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
allowed the military to provide maybe 10% of our fuel needs. If we | :54:51. | :54:57. | |
have now managed to lift that is something like 60 or 70%. We are in | :54:57. | :55:00. | |
a better place now because of the proper emergency planning if that | :55:00. | :55:03. | |
this government has done, rather than the party opposite, he just | :55:03. | :55:08. | |
crossed their fingers and hope for the best from the trade unions. | :55:08. | :55:15. | |
Next Wednesday, my mother will celebrate her 100th birthday. | :55:15. | :55:21. | |
Living, as he does, five minutes from the Olympic Stadium, she has | :55:21. | :55:25. | |
agreed to be the pacemaker for Usain Bolt, in order to give the | :55:25. | :55:32. | |
other athletes a chance. Will my right honourable friend call on the | :55:32. | :55:34. | |
indomitable spirit of former land army girls like my mother and | :55:34. | :55:41. | |
encourage our Olympic athletes to go for gold? I will certainly do | :55:41. | :55:45. | |
that. I have written to her to congratulate her on this fantastic | :55:45. | :55:50. | |
milestone, and I am sure that, as she speeds past Usain Bolt, she | :55:50. | :55:56. | |
will turn round and reflect that, indeed, the only way is Essex. | :55:56. | :55:59. | |
delighted the Prime Minister has written to her. That makes two of | :55:59. | :56:08. | |
us. The Prime Minister has spent plenty of time getting close to | :56:08. | :56:18. | |
:56:18. | :56:18. | ||
NewsCorp in return for their support. I can wait! He is well | :56:18. | :56:24. | |
qualified to call off up -- to answer this question. When Alex | :56:24. | :56:30. | |
Salmond agreed to act as a lobbyist for NewsCorp, was he acting in self | :56:30. | :56:34. | |
interest or in the interests of Scotland? I think Alex Salmond can | :56:34. | :56:38. | |
answer for himself. I think that this is another issue that the | :56:38. | :56:46. | |
Leveson Inquiry, which will interview all the politicians, | :56:46. | :56:50. | |
including all sorts of people who got close to News International | :56:50. | :56:56. | |
over the years, and I think that on all sides of the House, there is an | :56:56. | :56:59. | |
needs to admit that we all got too close to Rupert Murdoch. On that | :56:59. | :57:04. | |
basis, I am sure that Lord Levison will make some important | :57:04. | :57:09. | |
recommendations. Has the Prime Minister seen the research | :57:09. | :57:18. | |
published today by the Taxpayers' Alliance which shows that there are | :57:18. | :57:24. | |
3097 town-hall employees earning more than �100,000.52 earning more | :57:24. | :57:29. | |
than �250,000? My constituents cannot understand such exorbitant | :57:29. | :57:36. | |
salaries. What can we do about it? I think my honourable friend is | :57:36. | :57:40. | |
entirely right to raise this issue. The important thing we have done is | :57:40. | :57:44. | |
make completely transparent the pay in our town halls and in local | :57:44. | :57:49. | |
government. Sadly, I believe there is still one local council, a | :57:49. | :57:52. | |
Labour-controlled council in Nottinghamshire, that is not making | :57:52. | :57:57. | |
this information available. Every council should be transparent about | :57:57. | :58:05. | |
how they spend council tax payers' money. Last year, the Prime | :58:05. | :58:09. | |
Minister said to people warning him of the risk of a double-dip | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
recession should apologise. Now that he has delivered one, should | :58:12. | :58:17. | |
he not apologise? The point I want to make is this: We faced a very | :58:17. | :58:22. | |
difficult situation with an 11% budget deficit. If we had listened | :58:22. | :58:28. | |
to the plans of the party opposite and spent more, borrowed more, that | :58:28. | :58:32. | |
would have dominate the debt crisis worse. How can the answer to such a | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
crisis be more borrowing? That is a question the party opposite can | :58:36. | :58:43. | |
never run so. After weeks of ducking and diving, Ken Livingstone | :58:43. | :58:53. | |
:58:53. | :58:56. | ||
has given a partial publication of his tax affairs. He has refused to | :58:56. | :58:59. | |
publish the accounts of the company he set up to a boy tax. Does he | :59:00. | :59:06. | |
agree with me that Ken Livingstone has become the artful Dodger? | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
think my honourable friend speaks for all of London when he makes | :59:09. | :59:14. | |
this point. Ken Livingstone hours some proper transparency about this | :59:15. | :59:24. | |
:59:25. | :59:34. | ||
company and his tax bill. -- owes. I hardly ever agree with Alan Sugar, | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
but I agree with him about Ken Livingstone. Now that the Prime | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
Minister has admitted that he has created the economic mess that the | :59:41. | :59:51. | |
country is in, can I be helpful to him and suggest that he drops his | :59:51. | :59:55. | |
ridiculous proposals for regional pay cuts and extends the capital | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
programme to schools in Coventry and the West Midlands? As I said, | :59:58. | :00:05. | |
we are spending more on schools than either of the first to back | :00:05. | :00:09. | |
Labour parliament. I am happy for ministers to look again at the case | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
in his constituency and see what can be done. If I also hope he will | :00:12. | :00:18. | |
be joining me in inviting people on the third of May to vote for a | :00:18. | :00:24. | |
mayor for Coventry. Every year, people donate millions to charities. | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
They do it because they want to help others worse off than | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
themselves. I would call these actions by members of the public or | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
honourable, kind and selfless. We have all heard recently that some, | :00:36. | :00:41. | |
not all, but some of our wealthy citizens what we want to donate to | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
charity if they can reduce their tax bill. Thus the Prime Minister | :00:46. | :00:55. | |
think their motors are honourable, I think we should support people | :00:56. | :01:05. | |
want to give to charity. There were a number of limits to reliefs in | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
the budget. We identified the potential problems for charities | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
and the Chancellor will consult widely about how we can make sure | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
we encourage charities and encourage what they do in our | :01:17. | :01:25. | |
country. The Prime Minister's dismissive response to the fact the | :01:25. | :01:35. | |
:01:35. | :01:37. | ||
UK is back in recession, sure he just not -- should he just sat his | :01:37. | :01:44. | |
Culture Secretary? -- sack. There is nothing dismissive about my | :01:44. | :01:49. | |
reply and the economy all what I think we need to do. We are in a | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
difficult economic situation in Britain. Recessions in Denmark, | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
Italy, Spain, that is what is happening across the Continent that | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
we trade with. What is essential is that we take every step we can to | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
help our economy out of recession. We need to invest in | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
apprenticeships, cutting business tax, prioritise investment in our | :02:14. | :02:24. | |
:02:24. | :02:26. | ||
infrastructure. We are doing all of these things. Far from being | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
dismissive, I think the Prime Minister acknowledged that the | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
figures were disappointing. But would he agree with me that getting | :02:33. | :02:43. | |
:02:43. | :02:44. | ||
out of a debt crisis, you don't spend more money. My right | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
honourable friend is right. No international body is making that | :02:50. | :02:56. | |
case and no business organisation is making that case. While these | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
figures are disappointing, we must not give up the low interest rates | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
because that would be the way to land our economy and the problems | :03:06. | :03:12. | |
they left it in. In just two years, the economy doesn't eat the session | :03:12. | :03:22. | |
:03:22. | :03:31. | ||
and the Government is the been sleaze. Same old Tories. Order. | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
That is the end of Prime Minister's Questions but we are now going to | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
here what David Cameron describes as a full account of himself from | :03:41. | :03:51. | |
:03:51. | :04:02. | ||
the culture secretary. The statement is from the Culture | :04:02. | :04:12. | |
:04:12. | :04:19. | ||
Secretary. With permission, I would like to make a statement following | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
yesterday's developments at the Leveson Inquiry. Although I intend | :04:22. | :04:28. | |
to respond fully to allegations about my conduct, that of my | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
apartment, when I present my evidence, I believe it is important | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
to update the House on actions that have been taken as a result of | :04:37. | :04:47. | |
:04:47. | :04:48. | ||
evidence released yesterday. We are 273 days into a process that's | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
first stage will last until October. This is not the time to jump on a | :04:53. | :05:03. | |
:05:03. | :05:09. | ||
political bandwagon. What the public want to hear is not my views | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
but the views of Lord Justice Leveson when he has considered all | :05:13. | :05:20. | |
the evidence. I do think it is right to set The Record state -- | :05:20. | :05:28. | |
straight on a number of issues. Specifically, the merger of News | :05:28. | :05:38. | |
:05:38. | :05:39. | ||
Corporation with BSkyB. I have a strictly followed due process. I | :05:39. | :05:45. | |
have seek the advice of independent regulators and after careful | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
consideration, I acted on their advice. I have published all advice | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
I have received together with correspondence between myself and | :05:56. | :06:04. | |
News Corporation. Including details of all meetings. As part of this | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
process, my officials and I have engaged with News Corporation as | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
well as other interested parties, both supporters and opponents of | :06:14. | :06:22. | |
the merger. Transcripts of conversations and texts publics | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
yesterday -- published yesterday, have been alleged to indicate there | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
was a back channel through which News Corporation were able to | :06:33. | :06:43. | |
:06:43. | :06:44. | ||
influence my decisions. This is categorically not the case. Order. | :06:44. | :06:54. | |
:06:54. | :06:54. | ||
The statement must be heard. There will be a full opportunity for | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
questions but it is right and proper that the statement should be | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
heard with courtesy. However, the volume and tone of those | :07:05. | :07:11. | |
communications were clearly not appropriate. Today, Adam Smith has | :07:11. | :07:21. | |
:07:21. | :07:23. | ||
resigned as my special adviser. Although Adam Smith accepts that he | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
overstepped the mark on this occasion, I want to set on record | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
that I believe he did so unintentionally and do not believe | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
that he was doing anything more than giving advice on process. I | :07:37. | :07:47. | |
:07:47. | :07:49. | ||
believe him to be somebody of integrity and decency. I only saw | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
the transcripts of these Communications yesterday. They did | :07:53. | :08:00. | |
not influence my decisions in any way at all. I insisted on hearing | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
the advice of independent regulators at every stage. I will | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
give my full record of events when I give evidence to Lord Justice | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
Leveson but I would like to resolve this issue as soon as possible | :08:12. | :08:19. | |
which is why I have returned to -- written to Lord Justice Levison | :08:20. | :08:29. | |
:08:30. | :08:31. | ||
asking for my evidence to be brought forward. | :08:31. | :08:37. | |
That was the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, trying to explain self. | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
We will talk about the questions leucine in a moment but let's deal | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
with that statement. He was coming under great pressure to resign | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
yesterday. He said his special adviser has resigned. Does that | :08:51. | :09:01. | |
:09:01. | :09:01. | ||
Keegan and his job? I would think so. If he has committed | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
inappropriate behaviour, I think any Minister would then have to | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
look at their position. But listening to what he just said, it | :09:10. | :09:19. | |
does not appear so. You get into this difficult situation about how | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
responsible you are for the actions of other people. I think he should | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
be given his chance to speak to Lord Justice Leveson and put | :09:26. | :09:36. | |
:09:36. | :09:41. | ||
forward his views. You are a former special adviser. Jeremy Hunt's | :09:41. | :09:47. | |
special adviser has resign today. What you make of that news? Jeremy | :09:47. | :09:57. | |
:09:57. | :09:59. | ||
Hunt looks to me like a dead man walking. In my experience in the | :09:59. | :10:04. | |
last Government, in anything that had a quasi-judicial components to | :10:04. | :10:12. | |
it, special advisers would play no part in it at all. In this case, we | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
know very clearly that Jeremy Hunt's special adviser was up to it | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
-- in it up to his neck. I find it difficult to imagine that any | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
special adviser conducting those sorts of discussions would not be | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
doing it without making sure his Secretary of State knew what he was | :10:30. | :10:36. | |
up to in the first place. It seems unbelievable to me. Let's move on | :10:36. | :10:45. | |
to the questions. We got the announcement this morning about the | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
recession. David Cameron came out fighting. He pointed the blame at | :10:50. | :10:55. | |
Labour for the mess we are in. did come out fighting but can I | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
just say that the first thing was the sad news that up we, the Welsh | :11:00. | :11:10. | |
:11:10. | :11:10. | ||
people, have lost another person to the war in Afghanistan. It is | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
tragic for everybody but for the families involved, I just want to | :11:14. | :11:24. | |
:11:24. | :11:25. | ||
say that we recognise that. I thought Ed Miliband was on good | :11:25. | :11:32. | |
form. But I think David Cameron was very robust in his defence. We are | :11:32. | :11:40. | |
talking about the double-dip recession. We have been in a much | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
bigger recession under the previous administration. Times are tough. It | :11:45. | :11:52. | |
is about sticking to a plan and making it work. David Cameron | :11:52. | :11:58. | |
started the week off making some sort of a fight back saying his | :11:58. | :12:05. | |
Government had a difficult month but that has been extended. | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
Governments tend to get into these sort of patterns where one piece of | :12:09. | :12:16. | |
bad news generates another piece of bad news. The problem for David | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
Cameron in Prime Minister's Questions was this, here he is now, | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
Prime Minister for two years already and heading into the third | :12:25. | :12:29. | |
and it is harder and harder for him to rely on pointing the finger at | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
what he inherited to explain the position that he is in. He did not | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
stand in the last election, saying, vote for me and in two years' time | :12:40. | :12:50. | |
I will still be blaming the slot. It is a trip all politicians use. - | :12:50. | :12:59. | |
- trick. You can only use that line it so often. Any Prime Minister | :12:59. | :13:08. | |
would have been expected to be in a better position today than he's in. | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
I felt today that he stuck to that line because it was the best line | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
available to him. I felt it was pretty thin to start with and very | :13:16. | :13:24. | |
thin when a finish. Let's move on to Welsh questions. While we were | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
watching it, you were praising the Secretary of State for Wales for | :13:28. | :13:35. | |
her performance. She came under some heavy attack but I thought she | :13:35. | :13:43. | |
put up a good performance today. Very feisty. Very direct. I thought | :13:43. | :13:49. | |
she was very fair in pointing way she felt the relationship with the | :13:49. | :13:56. | |
Welsh Government needed to be. The good things and the bad things. | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
remarked that there were not many Welsh Conservatives asking | :14:00. | :14:10. | |
:14:10. | :14:15. | ||
questions. That is what surprised me most. As the half-hour wore on, | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
I was asking myself where is the Welsh Conservative Party? One | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
Conservative backbencher from Wales took part in questions today. The | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
Secretary of State was under heavy attack from the Labour side. I just | :14:29. | :14:39. | |
:14:39. | :14:39. | ||
wondered where her troops were. Looking ahead to the local | :14:39. | :14:49. | |
:14:49. | :14:52. | ||
elections, a quick word about what going to happen. Our people | :14:52. | :14:55. | |
interested in these elections? People are very concerned about the | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
local issues. I listened to the First Minister on Radio Wales this | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
morning saying that every door he was knocking on, people was -- | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
people were saying how dreadful things were in England and they | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
were grateful they were lent -- living in Wales and none of this | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
was happen fast -- happening. On my patch, people wanted to know if | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
Withybush Hospital is safe. They are worried about education and | :15:22. | :15:32. | |
:15:32. | :15:35. | ||
will sorts of things. Not one I am sure Mark will tell you. | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
things that people say to me are very much to do with what matters | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
to them in their own lives. They talk about traffic, parking, | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
rubbish, environment, the school their child goes to. All of these | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
things are part of what local government provides. It is | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
sometimes difficult to get people into that conversation, but once | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
you start it, it is easy for people to see why these elections really | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
matter. We will come back here before we depart this afternoon. We | :16:02. | :16:12. | |
:16:12. | :16:29. | ||
It is locked to look back at -- local election time. Earlier, Mark | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
spoke to the local government minister. | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
Everybody knows that the time is not ideal for you. How worried are | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
you about the impact of that on the Welsh election? It is always | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
difficult when you are in government, taking responsibility | :16:44. | :16:54. | |
:16:54. | :16:56. | ||
and taking difficult decisions. We have delivered new facilities and | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
cuts in council tax. Wherever the Lib Dems have been in power we have | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
delivered the best services for local people and kept the council | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
tax low. That is what we are focusing on and it is having a good | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
reception. If people do feel sick - - dissatisfied by the UK Government, | :17:12. | :17:18. | |
we hope that people will put that to one side and focus on what this | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
is as a -- what this is about - who will look after your local codes of | :17:22. | :17:27. | |
the next five years. You talk a lot about education, and that seems to | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
be the central point of your campaign this time, is that there? | :17:30. | :17:37. | |
Yes. We have the pupil premium, which we got after negotiating with | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
the Welsh government here. �450 for every disadvantaged people in Wales. | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
Where we are running the council or have an influence, we have invested | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
more on education and have helped to raise the standard of education. | :17:51. | :17:58. | |
I think it is a very good, strong suit for the bends, and it is one | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
where emphasising on the doorstep. What can you offer people on | :18:01. | :18:06. | |
council tax in particular? Cardiff and Wrexham have the two lowest | :18:06. | :18:14. | |
council tax rises of anywhere in Wales. We have frozen council tax | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
this year. I think if people want to keep their council tax down, and | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
the recognised people are struggling in these difficult times, | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
they need to vote for Wells Liberal Democrats because we have the best | :18:24. | :18:31. | |
record. Another issue which is always important to people is | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
housing, getting access to it. Does your heart -- does your party had | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
any particular ideas about how to make that? We are putting more | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
money into affordable housing and increasing the existing housing | :18:44. | :18:50. | |
stock -- stock. We're having to invest from our own resources in | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
houses in Cardiff and Wrexham. We are pitting �18 million into | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
Swansea over the next three years, and creating jobs as a result of | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
that. We intend to increase the number of affordable homes and to | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
tackle the huge shortage of housing which everybody is facing across | :19:09. | :19:15. | |
Wales. How will you stimulate business growth? Lib Dem councils | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
have been very favourable to businesses. In Cardiff, we have the | :19:19. | :19:28. | |
new business enterprise zone, in Swansea, we have improvement | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
districts in the city centre which helps businesses to lower their | :19:33. | :19:38. | |
costs and attract new custom. We're investing in the city centre of | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
Cardiff and Swansea. Wrexham has turned round its town-centre and it | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
is unrecognisable from when the Lib Dems took over. Clearly, some of | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
your own members have been disaffected by what has happened on | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
a UK level, will that undermine your campaign? It is a separate | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
issue. We have to concentrate more on the seats that we hold and put | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
all our efforts into that. Yes, it has been difficult because we are | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
in government and we have lost some members because of that, but we are | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
focusing on the quality of candidates that we are putting | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
forward and we are delivering, hopefully, a better service to | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
people. We hope to maintain and retain a large number of the | :20:21. | :20:27. | |
councils that we have. Thank you for now. | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
As we heard earlier, my two guests have been on the election trail. | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
But let us talk about Turner. Last time it was about 44% around the | :20:38. | :20:41. | |
councils in Wales. It compares favourably to the assembly | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
elections, doesn't it? It is not as good as we would like it to be but | :20:46. | :20:53. | |
people are already voting. Postal voters already have their ballot | :20:53. | :20:56. | |
papers. We will work hard to make sure as many people as possible | :20:56. | :21:03. | |
vote in the election stop for all political parties are handicapped | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
that we try to run our elections on a system that has barely changed | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
since the 19th century. We really need to update the way that we | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
conduct elections to make it easier for people to cast their votes in | :21:15. | :21:23. | |
modern conditions. I guess you are hinting at use of the Web and | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
people's telephones. What do you think about? It is important | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
because I think we need to capture younger voters. Younger people just | :21:33. | :21:39. | |
communicate by totally different means. It is just part and parcel | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
of their everyday lives. And will it make a big difference to turn | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
out? It will. I think turnout is quite highly in local elections | :21:48. | :21:53. | |
because, as Marx said earlier, it deals with the issues that matter | :21:53. | :22:03. | |
to people on a day-to-day basis. will get to the ordeal mower to | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
talk to Mark Hannaby. He will be talking to Plaid Cymru about the | :22:07. | :22:13. | |
local elections. Yes. At the core of your manifesto | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
this time is the issue of saving vital services. What is a vital | :22:18. | :22:24. | |
service? And which services will you let go? Or services are vital | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
but we're talking about direct services to people. I have been | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
involved in campaigns to try and keep day centres opened, | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
residential homes opened, those kind of services that are | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
essentially two people in our communities. What do you think are | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
the things that we have to let go of? It is direct choices because | :22:43. | :22:50. | |
the money is not there to do everything. He can look at savings. | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
Some councils have looked at middle management and areas where they can | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
operate more efficiently. It can be done within budget but you have to | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
prioritise. We are saying that the priorities are the services to the | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
people, and especially those people who are dependent on those services. | :23:08. | :23:14. | |
You have been in power in Caerphilly, can you give us an | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
example of things you have achieved that might persuade people to vote | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
for you, wherever they live in Wales? In terms of local economy, | :23:21. | :23:31. | |
:23:31. | :23:31. | ||
in Gwyneth there has been there has been a scheme which has saved 350 | :23:31. | :23:41. | |
jobs. -- in Gwynedd. In terms of the economy, we have already done | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
their jobs in areas where we have been in control. Another one of the | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
planks of that manifesto was the idea of buying local food. It | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
strikes me that most councils would aspire to do that. There are all | :23:54. | :23:57. | |
kinds of laws about competition and best value that sometimes prevent | :23:57. | :24:03. | |
them. Why d'you think you can achieve that? Some councils do it | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
better than others. You have to look at best practice and ensure | :24:08. | :24:12. | |
that that happens more often. We are talking about �7.2 million | :24:12. | :24:16. | |
worth of procurement. If that can be sourced locally it will be | :24:16. | :24:24. | |
beneficial to the local economy. It also then means that local people | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
are benefiting from that. We have to make the most of that | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
opportunity. You have made a commitment to try to provide paid a | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
Kentish -- apprenticeships. We are not so used to hearing about that | :24:35. | :24:41. | |
at council level - is the money there to do that kind of thing? | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
did it in Caerphilly. There is no reason why we cannot do it in other | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
local authorities. We have to look at the situation facing us where | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
local authorities in Wales will be facing an additional �23.4 million | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
tax from the Welsh government because of the fact that they are | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
not prepared to fund the shortfall in terms of tax benefits. The SNP | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
in Scotland have done so, but local authorities in Wales will have to | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
find that money because the government here is refusing to do | :25:08. | :25:14. | |
it. I liked the idea of buying local food. You have also talked | :25:14. | :25:19. | |
about public sector contracts coming from Wales. Is it | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
achievable? Yes. But you have to look at the way that you set out | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
those contracts and that this blaze. There are regulations where you can | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
do that the study have to be imaginative, but it can be done. | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
Your leader recently spoke about a united Welsh alternative - is that | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
really what you candidates needs when they are going out fighting | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
Labour on the stump? We are saying that we have to work together to | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
help safeguard the people of Wales from the cuts in Westminster. If | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
parties want to work with us we will work with them on initiatives | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
that will safeguard the people of Wales. At the moment, they're not | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
doing it. Thank you. You can find more information on | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
the local elections, including how the seats currently stack up in | :26:08. | :26:17. | |
your council, by going to the BBC news website. Before we go, a quick | :26:17. | :26:20. | |
chat with our guess about what is coming up this afternoon in the | :26:20. | :26:24. | |
assembly. There is a short debate on the role of the media, is that | :26:24. | :26:29. | |
right? Are you saying positive things about us here on AM-PM? | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
course, I will say positive things about all of you lovely reporters! | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
The main focus is about why we need a strong leader in Wales. -- a | :26:39. | :26:48. | |
strong media in Wales. Our media are not as strong as they could be. | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
I think it is important because it helps to inform and shake the | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
politics here. I do not want to be knocking on doors in 2016, seeking | :26:57. | :27:06. | |
re-election, and people still ask me what the assembly does and who | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
does the NHS and who does education. We need a strong media. It will | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
help us improve our game, it improves the scrutiny of the | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
government. It is a symbiotic relationship and I am worried that | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
it is out of kilter at present. will watch that later. Apart from | :27:21. | :27:28. | |
that debate, what other highlights for you? It will be an important | :27:28. | :27:35. | |
debate because a lively medium is essential. I think we will get off | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
to a lively start because we will have questions to the health | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
minister, which is always a lively occasion. With elections coming up, | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
it will probably be more lively than ever. I am looking forward to | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
this afternoon's session getting off to a good start. A quick answer | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
on what Marx suggests about the health minister having a positive | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
story to tell? There are always good and bad things with everything. | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
The real issue is about the shape and direction of the health service | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
over the next five to ten years. I think that is an issue that taxes | :28:13. | :28:18. | |
people at a local level a lot. Briefly, after you finish your work | :28:18. | :28:23. | |
in Cardiff Bay, you are out campaigning again, are you? In the | :28:23. | :28:33. | |
:28:33. | :28:33. |