Prime Minister's Questions
July 6, 2011
PMQ’s: Wednesday 6th July 2011
Ronnie Campbell: Is it right that yesterday we gave £10bn to bail out of banks in Greece, 7bn to bailout in Ireland, 100m for banks in this year for insurance purposes etc? Why does the PM not get on his bike and sack a few of them? DC: It is this Government that has put a levy on the banks. In terms of Greece we are not involved in the bailout. Ireland’s economy is so close to ours and it is right to help them.
David Burrowes: Droughts, conflict, and food crises are ravaging the Horn of Africa. What is this Government doing to help? DC: DFID is working quickly to help and demonstrate that we are right to increase our spending in this area.
EM: The country is appalled by phone hacking disclosures about Milly Dowler, the Soham victims, and 7/7 families. Will he support an independent public inquiry to take place as soon as possible? DC: We do need to have an inquiry or inquiries into this. It is disgusting what has taken place and all of us are revolted by the allegations. There is a major police investigation underway. It does not involve police officers involved in original investigation. But I do think we need public and independent inquiries. There are two issues. The original police inquiry and the behaviour of individual people and media organisations, and a wider look at media practices and ethics. We cannot have a public inquiry now for fear of damaging the on-going police inquiry.
EM: I am encouraged that he does now recognise the need for a full public inquiry. This can of course only be fully completed after the police investigation. That may take some years. But it is possible to start the process now. He should appoint a senior figure to chair the inquiry, make clear the power to call witnesses under oath, and establish the terms of reference. DC: Of the two issues, I don’t think it is possible to inquire into the original police investigation until the current investigation is completed. I do think it may be possible to make a start on other elements. We want to get decision right and will discuss with him before announcing anything.
EM: He is implying it can start moving now and it is important that it does so. The Gibson Inquiry has started with criminal investigation on going. What happens in the meantime? We have said the BSkyB bid should go to the Competition Commission. The public will react with disbelieve if this deal goes ahead at a time when News International is subject to a major criminal investigation. Does he agree it should go to the Competition Commission to give the decision breathing space? DC: The Gibson Inquiry has started but hasn’t managed to make much progress yet due to the outstanding cases. On BskyB, we have followed correct legal processes. The Secretary of State is in a quasi-judicial role. This is a separate issue as EM said yesterday and the proper processes must be followed.
EM: He is out of touch with millions of people. The public will not accept the idea that with this scandal on-going, the Government should be making a decision now for them to take control of BSkyB. I know it is difficult but he must send it to the proper authorities. DC: The decision making has been through the proper processes and we have acted legally in every way. They are separate issues.
EM: This is not the time for technicalities. We have consistently said that this bid should go to Competition Commission. It is the right way forward. He should speak for the country. We also know that these weren’t the actions of a rogue individual but part of a wider systematic pattern. No-one is taking responsibility for this yet no one is denying the Milly Dowler story and others. Will the PM join me in saying Rebekah Brooks should consider her position? DC: When dealing with law have to consider technicalities. Everyone at News International has to ask searching questions and all are subject to police investigation. Let police do their work and if they find people guilty, they should prosecute.
EM: Does he believe she should go or not? I think she should go. There has been a clear abuse of position and it is in the interests of all that it is sorted out. He is not showing leadership on BSkyB or News International. If the public is to have confidence in him, he has to admit to an error of judgement in bringing Andy Coulson into Downing Street. DC: I take full responsibility for all my employees and everything the Government does. We are making sure that there is a full police investigation with full powers, that we have inquiries, and why we need to enquire how we improve press ethics and morals.
Nicky Morgan: Year 9 pupils in constituency are working on the ‘Send my Sister to School’ campaign. Will he support the cause? DC: Delighted to welcome the campaign and her support for it. There are 39 million girls out of school across the world. We are securing schooling for 11m children by 2015. It is a good investment for the British people.
Gareth Thomas: Is the cost of NHS reforms partly responsible for the funding squeeze on services in Harrow? DC: We have seen 2000 more doctors and 4000 fewer managers. We are cutting bureaucracy. Labour wanted to cut spending and doctors would be going down.
Mike Freer: The PM will be aware of news that Portugal debt has been downgraded to junk status. This is a warning to other members of this house. DC: Plan B stands for bankruptcy. We can all see what happens if we don’t get grip on debt.
Karl Turner: The maximum sentence for dangerous driving does not reflect harm done to victims. Will he support me in increasing sentence to 7 years? DC: I know he has great personal knowledge. There is a problem with causing death by dangerous driving having a high sentence, but just 2 years for dangerous driving. We are looking at this in the current sentencing bill.
David Morris: If we are not in the IMF, we are not a global player. The IMF bailed out Labour Government in the 1970’s. DC: I Agree. Labour are now opposing our role in the IMF. We are a global economy.
David Simpson: Does the PM agree that details of weapons decommissioned in NI should be made public and will he have negotiations to make it happen? DC: The Independent Commission on Decommissioning did not provide an inventory. That is their decision. We don’t want to discourage future decommission. Difficult but we have to make such decisions to end conflict.
Adrian Sanders: The public have little confidence in MPS over News International. Will he have a full judicial inquiry into the MPS/News International link. DC: it is an important issue. Theresa May spoke to Sir Paul Stephenson this morning. Let me reassure that the police are doing their job properly. This is an investigation separate from previous one.
Theresa Pierce: Victims of knife crime have gone up 8% in the last three months. Last Friday, a 16yo constituent was stabbed to death. What will he do to make Boris get a grip on the issue? DC: That is a tragic case and there are still too many victims. We are creating a new offence with a mandatory prison sentence to send a clear message.
Christopher Chope: Does he agree that those who pay student loans back early are doing the right thing. How does that fit with the policy of penalising early repayment? DC: I will look at the detail. We want a progressive system and we have this in place now. We are proposing that people who pay back more are not discouraged.
Toby Perkins: Why hasn’t he banned Hitz b’ut Tahrir? DC: We have banned other groups but as Lord Chancellor will testify, it is endlessly frustrating to be subject to the many legal requirements we are.
Robert Halfon: Given the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee next year, is he aware that the Common Area Travel Channel lets people into country without passport checks? Will he close this loophole? DC: Passport free travel with crown dependencies and the Republic of Ireland is good and we are working to avoid abuse of the system.
Mary Glindon: The Communities Secretary and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions both said that employing British workers should be apriority for British businesses, so will he stop the DWP offshoring jobs to Bangalore? DC: I will look closely at the case but we have to make sure our welfare reforms get people out to work.
Andrew Bingham: Will the PM agree that Birthing Centres are important? DC: We want to see a maternity network to give mums a choice of where to give birth.
Margaret Beckett: The Bombardier announcement yesterday including a promise to establish a new academy to guide design of next generation of cars. Will he look into this with care and make substantial his commitment to British manufacturing? DC: I will look at this carefully. We want manufacturing jobs to go up. On Bombardier, the bidding process was designed by Labour and we are bound by their criteria. Separately we are asking what more we can do to boost manufacturing in the UK.
Bob Blackman: Twelve days ago a young constituent was victim of a knife attack. Will he join me in condemning the upsurge in violence and confirm that a new offence with a custodial sentence is imminent. DC: As just said, it is important we send a clear message, and we have created new offence with a mandatory sentence. We also have to ask why gangs are rising and families aren’t doing more to stop this?
Ben Bradshaw: It is simply not the case that the Government has followed the normal process on the BSkyB takeover. Why are their assurances over this any more credible than their phone hacking assurances? DC: We have followed the correct processes and would be judicially reviewed if we hadn’t.
Ian Swales: Recently visited a school in his constituency which is 17th most deprived in country. Will he congratulate it on turning a demolished housing site into a playing field? DC: I congratulate him on his support for the school. The pupil premium will pump millions into the sector for the poorest students to benefit.
