dispatch box this morning. he is in belfast where negotiations over north island power sharing coalition and the democratic union party, northern ireland's two biggest political parties have been talking about the transfer of policing and justice hours. the leader of the house will fill in this morning for prime minister gordon brown as we join the house they are wrapping up previous business. live coverage here on glenn theobald. >> i would commend my friends -- in working with encouraging young people to engage -- absolutely right. this does route employment that people gain. >> beautiful. >> a moment ago of a government

is doing charities in the sector. >> i recently visited a mental health charity getting its funding from 27 different sources. twenty-seven audits every year. having to employ at least one full time person just to do the paperwork. we can streamline that system. >> one thing we can do is look at having one kind of system because of migration. somebody is funding the organization that will be dependent on funds with a looking so much at the have sector. >> questions for the prime minister. >> number one, mr. speaker. >> i have been asked to reply.

my hon. friend the prime minister is in northern ireland where talks are ongoing to secure agreement on the evolution of police and justice hours. the prime minister will make a written statement later and place it in the library of those how those. i am sure the house will wish to join me in paying tribute to riflemen peter aldridge from fort battalion rifles serving as part of three rifles battle group and corporal daniel cooper who served battalion rifles who died in afghanistan. they were heroes who displayed extraordinary courage and absolute commitment to the task before them and their colleagues along with their families and friends who will remember them with great pride. >> can i join the leader of the house in paying tribute to those who lost their lives in service to their country. the compensation paid by the

ministry of defense to the families of those killed in action does not take into account when calculating benefit assessments with the result that some families receive no compensation at all and others left worse off. you look at this as a matter of urgency to see what can be done. >> the ministry of defence has been concerned to ensure that we support those who have been injured in the line of service. as the secretary of defense produced a commend paper which particularly addressed the issue. there has been a big upgrade in the compensation scheme and a further review of the compensation scheme is underway and the secretary of defense has been working closely with the secretary of state and the department of work and pensions on it. >> our economy will rely increasingly on export

manufacturing industry. toyota, whirls release, and others employed a third of the work force in my area in manufacturing. what did the government do to will improve the performance of our export oriented manufacturing sector to make it more successful in the future for the benefit of the soldier? >> we recognize the importance of manufacturing where between them the aerospace automotive and railway sectors in the area directly employed 32,000 people and account for 10.3 billion pounds of economic output. this support manufacturing and we have an advanced manufacturing package for support, skill and manufacturing advisory service and we look forward to strong growth in this sector ahead. >> william a..

>> we wish the prime minister well in his endeavor in northern ireland because we want to see the evolution of police and justice complete and progress in northern ireland continue and i join the leader of the house in passing tribute to daniel cooper and riflemen peter aldridge who have joined the lengthening list we have read out in this house of members of the armed forces who have died serving this country. on which subject we welcome the appointment of a new nato civilian representative in afghanistan and it is the current british ambassador to afghanistan who we all hold in very high regard. is the government concerned that his work will be quote a big -- coordinated with the u.s. and work so that military gains will have to affect every construction? >> i thank you for your commendation of that distinguished diplomat that precisely to support that work, the conference is going to be

held in london which will look at taking forward issues in relation to afghanistan. there are 70 countries attending including the secretary general of the un. >> looking ahead to that conference is a big issue. the last afghan conference in london in 2006 had several ambitious objectives most of which have never been met. most agree the conference should focus on realistic goals that can be delivered focusing on improve governance and reinvigorating former taliban members. will the government have regular reviews of the progress made including the conference proposed in a few months time. >> of course we are looking to ensure how we can play our part to make sure in afghanistan we have the right military action to tackle terrorism but we

support -- the armed forces and have economic development and political development but i would have thought he would have taken the opportunity to support the work that is going on tomorrow to support that. [talking over each other] >> immediately after this question on my right, i will visit president cause i -- hamid karzai. there is no need to make political points. afghanistan will no doubt be addressed by president obama in his state of the union address tonight but he is also expected to talk about reforms for the regulation of the banking system and no country was left more exposed to the failure of the banking system than the united kingdom.

president obama has called for retail banks to be prevented from getting involved in large-scale proprietary trading. what is the government not supporting the president's proposal enthusiastically and working to bring these about? >> we are working closely internationally including one with president obama. they have different structures and different problems in the banking system which they are seeking to address and we are seeking problems in our banking system but it is important to work together internationally to be sure we can deal with the problems that have so affected all of our economies. >> it is important to work together internationally but the prime minister says he did not envy the divide in future between retail and corporate deposit taking and investment trading conducted at the international level. that is the prime minister's

position which is different from the president's position and the prime minister who is wrong. let me ask about something else president obama has called for. there's a clear case for a levee to compensate tax payers what happened in the past and what may happen in the future. is it time to work with the president on the kind of levy he is proposing and drop the prime minister's act on transaction which is rejected across the world and ridiculed yesterday by the governor of the bank of england himself. >> we never argued there should be a one size fits all solution with every single country taking the same action. what we have always agreed is all countries should work together whether it is the g 20 or the eu that we should all work together to tackle the global economic crisis and one thing we agree with president

obama on and just about every other country in the world is we need a fiscal stimulus to support the economy out of recovery. the only people who seem to disagree with that is the official opposition. >> president obama just announced a freeze on spending in the united states and the government raised the rates which is how fiscal stimulus in the united kingdom -- the governor of the bank of england said president obama's proposal is much more serious than the prime minister's. he couldn't think of anyone internationally who was enthusiastic about the prime minister's ideas. the third aspect of banking reform, a growing content that the only sensible banks have the ability and know-how to maintain proper supervision of the banks. the prime minister took that power from the bank of england in 1997 and created a system

that failed. given countries like the united states and germany who want their banks to have more responsibility for banking supervision will the government change that policy and adopt that approach as well? >> what america has been doing is dealing with a very fragmented situation of regulation which has no fewer than eight regulators. we have rationalized the system of regulation. the organizations have the right powers within the right framework and that is what the financial services bill and other measures to determine to in short. we want less regulation, it is good to hear that they are supporting firm action to tackle irresponsibility in the market. >> as prime minister in 2007 who trumped his record of the

regulation and said we could look forward to a golden age. isn't it clear the prime minister was wrong, is wrong now on the financial supervision, is wrong on the tobin tax and wrong to build an economy based on that, is wrong not to back the united states on banking reform and these failures are another part of a miserable record in which we have the biggest budget deficit in peacetime history, largest bank bailout in the world, the deepest recession since the 1930s, the weakest recovery in the g 20 and backing some of the proposals of the united states and banks in the future. >> we helped the economy through the recession. we supported the recovery and when he was in government, when

he was in government, when he was in the cabinet, there was double the number of repossessions. when he was in government there were three times as many bankruptcies. when he was in government in recession there were four times as many job losses. i have to say that his reversing is even worse than mine. we are building up britain and they are trying to talk it down. thank you, mr. speaker. let's discuss with our colleagues in the treasury to ensure we get the decisions on the high-speed railing. this side of the general election and when we get that decision to ensure that they get the link they deserve. >> we are strongly supporting investments in our rail system which is part of our economic infrastructure and we will make sure those decisions come

forward to support manufacturing and the economy as soon as possible. >> my condolences on aldridge. i congratulate the leader of the house for her foresight in establishing the national equality panel which reported today. it helpfully reminds us that after 18 years of conservative government inequality is widened and reach the level described in the report as shocking. explain why now after 12 years of liberal government they are the same, still shocking, wealth inequalities and shares and property are worse and as we discovered on monday it agreed to a property is growing. >> i'd join with him in thinking professor john hill and his panel for the important report of the national equality panel. he is right to say that the

report says under the conservatives inequality -- under the conservative -- inequality widened and as a result of the effect of this government's policy most particularly tax and benefits growing inequality has been stemmed. we also tackle poverty particularly child poverty and pension poverty but we think inequality, massive for the individual and opportunities in the economy and a more peaceful society. we are determined to do more to tackle inequality on what can be handed down the generations. >> the government may be determined but the brutal truth is economic equality -- inequality is getting worse. the heart of the problem is the failure to reform the unfairness of the taxes. you will understand why

conservative governments might wish to give top priority to rewarding the wealthy. but why has a labour government given overriding priority to cutting the tax rates from wealthy people paid on their capital gains at a lower rate than taxes paid by working people in their earnings and why is the left fully and reformed, a property-tax system under which families paid the same amount of taxes on a modest family house and billionaires pay on their multimillion pounds -- >> he is simply wrong on what he said about the report's findings. the findings say over the 13 years we have been in government the affect of our tax policies combined with our benefit policies have been too narrow inequality and we have capital poverty, pension poverty and child poverty and one thing that

would not help our love modest incomes, the savage cuts proposed by his party. >> the threat of the -- all low compensation's have been introduced which would protect the homes of some residents, some residents are excluded from this scheme. it does not cover the local shopkeepers and those who live above the proceeds who will lose their homes and livelihoods. i asked the minister to precipitate the meeting and discuss what compensation can be provided to these people. >> i would be happy to suggest the secretary of state meet with my hon. friends and other members to address these important issues. >> thousands of people dead and region destabilized.

weapons of mass destruction and this week dubious and questionable legality into this war. in a quieter moment in her heart of hearts that her government led this disastrous and immoral war and the biggest deceit ever in political history. >> these were debated and decided on in this house of commons are now the subject of the inquiry, accusing the evidence that they bring before them that they require to be examined, they are independent and i suggest we await their report and thank them for their report. >> mr. speaker, last week, a high school in my constituency was named as one of the country's top performing schools for sustained improvement. this follows eight million pounds of investments in the

facilities. the other schools are awaiting that capital investment. will my friend tells the house what will be the effect on school standards if the government's only policy was to cut the deficit further and faster than ever before. >> i would agree with him that education is important not only for every individual to achieve their potential but also to ensure we have a dynamic economy. i am delighted they have seen such a big rise in results not just last year but over the last three years and i would like to join with him in congratulating them. that is due to the hard work and dedication of the teachers and people but also the extra investment that we put in and we will continue to sustain support and investment in education. >> the secretary once famously remarks labor were intensely relaxed about people getting

filthy rich. has the right hon. lady is equally relaxed about the way the prime minister's predecessor decided to go about. >> what we have addressed in the national equality panel is how we make sure we help social mobility. >> order! quarter! i want to hear the answer! >> we are determined to ensure social mobility. one of the important findings of

the national equality panel report is more unequal societies have led social mobility which is why we determined with our government action to continue to support policies which spread fairness and equality. >> thank you, mr. speaker. will my friend join with me in congratulating the regeneration trust for actually rebuilding mining communities that were devastated and broken by the tory closure program. is she aware that the renewal program is actually the renewal program in my community has been done by creating 90,000 places in education and trading and rebuilding 2,200 facilities in the communities?

will she urged -- will she urged her colleagues at the department of communities and local government -- >> order! >> i will support his urging to my colleagues--he has worked with constituencies to make sure there is significantly generation in these areas. particularly after the devastation of the tory years. >> it will be worth waiting for.

perhaps not. the government is in contact with other countries of the realm where they take updating the rules of succession. >> she was right the second time. bear and the catholic and anti woman provision that the center of the constitution have no place in a modern society and the prime minister was ready to consult the commonwealth. can she suggested he write to them if he is too busy to consult so he can get on with this reform? >> as the prime minister has said people recognize the need for change that change can only be brought out by the prime

minister working with 16 other countries. the discussions are continuing. we can't speak for those other countries but progress will be made. [talking over each other] >> before the prime minister goes, the solution of this house will government come before the house to give a statement so people can't expect fair and reasonable settlement? the issues of the policyholders who locked out as a result of mismanagement goes back into the 1980s, concern on all sides of the house, she knows very well there has been a report on this, we have apologized for those

failures. we set up a system to establish the payments. john chadwick will be making his entrance findings in the spring. >> may i put it to my friend that one of the causes of growth and inequality has been the extension of outsourcing so that the class of working people who have grown up to no longer qualify for pensions and sick pay and redundancy pay and the other things that we associate with civilization. is it not time that the government started to discourage that? >> the transfer of undertaking

regulation was designed to protect the situation where work was transferred out from the public sector to the private sector. the equal opportunity commission has certainly documented evidence which shows that this has been the pressure on women's wages and income and that is something we are determined to ensure not only that people in public services are able to give a good service to the public but are fairly treated in employment. >> this week's sentence was three years in an institution, the minister referred to the grateful sentenced to the attorney general and investigate his parents and communities to find out how this young man with complete disregard women's rights. >> the attorney-general will have drawn her attention to the

point he has raised that will give her the opportunity to consider whether or not she wants to defer to the courts. >> today is holocaust memorial day. 65 years after the liberation of the auschwitz death camp. the evil of the holocaust is unique, its lessons must be applied to the racism and anti-semitism of today. so that a better society can be enjoyed by everyone. >> i support what my hon. friend has said. we regard the question of holocaust memorial day which is a very important day. there will be a debate in the

house, a book of remembrance can be signed and the education work, the education trust which is very important but we must also bear in mind the lessons that come out on prejudice and discrimination and anti-semitism and we must fight that wherever it rears its head in this country. >> we reveal the company in my constituency has been selling arms detectors to the iraqi government. if the government knew about this why did it wait until the bbc report last friday? if it didn't why would government agencies so curiously incurious about $85 million worth of security equipment to be sent from the united kingdom to a war zone? >> i will ask the secretary of state of business to contact him and respond to him in detail on

that important issue. >> be aware that royal mail and communication work includes progress on modernization and industrial relations problem that has bedeviled the industry. can she now say when the government is going to sort out the deficit that needs to be delivered? >> like my hon. friend the government is a strong supporter of the royal mail and wants it to have a secure and prosperous future at the time of big change. we are committed to universal service six days a week and we are committed to changing the regulation to allow the ability to compete and we want to make sure the pension liability is secure as well. >> each year