>> now prime minister's questions, live from british parliament in london. each week while parliament is in session, prime minister gordon brown answers questions from members of the house of commons. this will be the last question time for the prime minister until parliamentary elections on may 6. >> they were shot down by her majesty's for not paying the bills on time. erlich the remaining solvent companies in scotland are being pushed towards liquidation because of the actions of h.r. mc. will they have a chance to go to solvent companies so they can continue to trade and pay their bills? >> mr. speaker, the inland revenue already has a business support package which we introduced last year to the agreement. over 18,000 scottish businesses have benefited.

it is important it is operationally independent and its job is to protect the interest of the u.k. taxpayer. >> order. questions to the prime minister. sandra? >> mr. speaker, i'm sure the whole house will join me in paying tribute to the two british servicemen who've lost their lives in afghanistan and the last week. from first battalion guard, michael sweeney and from third battalion the rifles rifleman mark turner. we owe them an image of old debt of gratitude. they were both engaged to be married, and our thoughts are with their loved ones and their families. mr. speaker, it is because of all our brave men and women in iraq and because of them are country and families is safer and more secure. i think at this time it is right to remember all who have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan, and all those who

serve in our armed forces. i spoke to president karzai and then president obama yesterday. our security forces will be increased by around 500 in afghan security forces, providing greater security for people in the region. and support to our troops. mr. speaker, we are reminded the of the sacrifice today made by our emergency services. we send our condolences to family and friends of the two brave firemen who died last night. we pay tribute demonstrate by all our emergency and public servants. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with others in addition to my duties in a house. i shall have further such meetings later today. >> stand on for? >> met at my condolences to all those who've lost their life for the service of this country. mr. speaker as he is reelected will the prime minister stand that he will not take a pound

out of the economy? >> mr. speaker, the big issue is whether we can secure, whether we can secure an usher the economic recovery to withdraw 6 billion pounds from the recovery now would put jobs at risk, but businesses at risk and put our address. we cannot cut our way to recovery, but we could cut our way to the double-digit recession. mr. speaker, in 2011 we will use the rise in national insurance to guarantee that we have our policing, guarantee we fund our schools, and to make sure that the health service guarantees of cancer care, these are guarantees that will be kept because of the decisions we made. >> david cameron. [shouting] >> thank you, thank you, mr. speaker. can i join the primers in paying tribute to guardsman michael sweeney and to rifleman mark turner who have been killed in

afghanistan in the last week. 280 bridge servicemen and women and m.o.d. civilians have lost their lives will serving in afghanistan. and as we prepare for the end of the parliament, we should remember the sacrifices they and their families have made and acknowledge the huge debt that we all owe to our armed forces for the bravery they show day after day. i also join the primers in paying tribute to the two firefighters killed while attacking a fire last night. as mr. speaker, this is the last prime minister's questions of this parliament it is the last chance for the prime minister to show that he is accountable for the decisions he has made. [shouting] >> will he start by admitting that when british forces were sent into helmand they did not have sufficient helicopters to protect themselves and get the job done? >> mr. speaker, i do not accept that in any operation in which we sent, to which we sent our

troops that are commanding officers gave wrong advice and told us that we -- and told us -- [shouting] >> they were not properly equipped. and every time in every operation we asked our commanding officers, are we able to do this operation, and are commanding officers have said yes, they can. so i have to say to him that we have done our best to equip our troops and we will continue to do so. it is right that i take full responsibility, but i think -- [shouting] >> but i think the advice of our commanding officers and advise of our commanding officers is very clear. >> david cameron? >> the answers sums it all up. take no responsibility and always blame somebody else. [shouting] >> why can't he just admit something that everybody knows to be true? there were not enough helicopters. let's listen to the colonel, former commander.

he said this, repeated demands for more helicopters fell on deaf ears. increase risks for my paratroopers. but as he put the decision-makers, yes, the ministers, they were the one driving into combat when they should have been flying into combat. the foreign office minister that he appointed said as late as last year and i quote, we definitely don't have enough helicopters. presumably the prime minister will tells all these people were just a seat. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, we have increase the number of helicopters in afghanistan. we've increased the flying time by more than 100% that i think he should recognize their adapters so they are now in afghanistan, he's also recognize, he should also recognize that the chinooks were also adapted so that they too could be in afghanistan. he should recognize that we have other helicopters in afghanistan that are working, and we are part of an international operation in afghanistan where

we shared equipment with our coalition partners. and i have to say to him, the amount of money spent in afghanistan now is 5 billion pounds a year. that is 1000 extra vehicles, that is twice the number of flying time hours per our helicopters. and i think he should accept that our troops, for the operations they are asked to undertake, have been given the equipment they need. that is the right position. >> david cameron. >> no answer. and i have to ask you this -- [laughter] [shouting] >> order. government backbenchers must calm down. mr. david cameron. >> and why should anyone believe this prime minister when he was of the first in history to go in front of a public inquiry and not give accurate information about defense spending? let me ask about another decision for which this prime minister all to be accountable. in the last 13 years, he has robbed pension funds of

100 billion pounds. his own welfare minister said this, when labour came to office we had one of the strongest pension provisions in your. and now to prevent some of the week is. presumably he was deceived as well. were the prime minister finally admit that robbing the pension funds was the wrong decision for britain? [shouting] >> when he said there was no answer to the last question, it is him that is never given an answer on any single policy. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as far as -- as far as pension funds are concerned we debated in this house two years ago and the shadow chancellor put up the case that the dividend tax credit had, i showed at that time that during the period before the stock market crashed what had ask a happen with the resources of the pension funds had doubled. he lost his case when he put it to the house of commons. there is no use trying to put it again. what we have done -- [shouting] >> what we have done over the

last 12 years, the pensioners winter allows opposed by the conservative party. what we are saying we will do is link pensions to earnings, taken away i a conservative government. what we have done is taken 2 million pensioners with a pension tax credit and giving them dignity in retirement, again a post by the conservative government. and what we now have is a nationally concessionary fare scheme which gives pensioners a chance to travel the country at risk under a conservative government. >> david cameron. >> that, mr. speaker, is the sort of reception we're going to rebut in this election campaign. [shouting] >> and he must be, he must be the only person in britain who thinks robbing pension funds was a good idea. this is what his own adviser who sat in number 10 downing street said, this prime minister will go down in history as the one who destroyed our pension

system. he just ignores what he doesn't want to hear, and he tried to cover up the consequences. people are finally starting to rumble gordon brown, and it serves them right. [shouting] >> presumably she was deceived as well. let's take another decision which the prime minister needs to be held accountable. [shouting] >> order. honorable and right honorable members are shouted themselves hoarse before we even got to the castings. >> they were shutting out about national insurance contributions and this is a question about national insurance contributions. the prime minister has made the decision to introduce a jobs tax which will kill the recovery. this morning on gmtv he said that business leaders who opposed this decision have been easy. is the prime minister really telling us that he knows more about job creation that business leaders who employs almost one many people in this country?

>> mr. speaker, once again i have to tell him about what happened during this recession. and what we have to do to take this country out of recession. we had to nationalize northern iraq and they opposed. we had to restructure the banks. business support us but they opposed. we had to take action to secure help for the unemployed. businesses support the future jobs fund. they opposed it. we had to take action to help homeowners. business supported it. they opposed it. and we had to take action to help small businesses. and they opposed the funds that were necessary. as far as national insurance is concerned there is a choice. there is a clear choice. we can put the national insurance up, and therefore protect our schools, our hospitals and our -- or we can do with the conservatives traditionally do, and that's put our hospitals, police and our health service at risk. [shouting] >> the choice, the choice is to go on wasting money and put up

tax on every job in the country. [shouting] >> this is what they said. cutting government waste won't endanger the recovery, but putting up national insurance will. let me ask him again, does he believe that these business leaders including members of his own advisory council, does he believe they were deseeded? >> mr. speaker, we cannot cut our way to recovery and that's why to withdraw 6 billion pounds from economy now is the wrong thing to do. let us be clear the conservative policies would put jobs at risk in neatly, with put businesses at risk immediately and would put growth at risk immediately. as far as 2011 is concerned, we've got to make a decision. do we want to maintain the improvement in our policing, our public services, our health service guarantees, and maintain investment in the schools? we say that will cost that xmi our national interest. they say no.

public must make up to my. to the want the public services to be maintained or do they want the traditional tory policy of putting our public services at risk? >> this morning the prime minister said these business leaders have been the seat. since then another 30 business leaders have come again and -- [shouting] >> let me just read the prime minister, paul walsh on the prime minister's business council, not a tory, one of his advisers. [shouting] >> yes, yes. he's probably a tory now. so is half the country. [shouting] >> let's hear what he had to say. and if it is not to decline businesses have been the seat, national insurance is a tax on jobs. let's hear from john egan, former head, how can there be a deception? national insurance is a tax on

jobs, pure and simple. isn't the truth is, this prime minister would wreck the recovery by putting a tax on every job on everyone earning over 20,000, a tax on aspiration, a tax in every business on the country? this government would wreck the recovery. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, it's the same old conservative party. >> order, order. order, order. order. members must calm themselves. there are several weeks to go. the leader of the opposition was heard in the prime minister will now be heard. prime minister? >> once again he said nothing about the future. it's the same old tory. mr. speaker, to think he was the future wants. [laughter] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, the shortest ever -- mr. speaker,

2.5 million more jobs and striking 97, a sure start in every community in our country come more people staying on a school at ever, more students going on to university, more pensioners out of poverty. more dignity and security in retirement, and we are the government that has plan for the future. they have nothing to offer, on a labor government. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, is my right honorable friend oh where that on the weekends the bbc has claimed it as the hungriest place on earth. given my right honorable friend's outstanding record on international development, will he use his influence with the international community to ensure that the helpless people of that region are recognized

for the suffering that they now endure? >> mr. speaker, as long as there are children suffering and as long as there are mothers die in childbirth, and as long as there are people who are young people not getting education in schools, we have a duty as the country to act. i think my right honorable friend has done a great you to push this forward them that we as the government have doubled expenditure in real terms for overseas aid from the -- to 9.5 to today, and that is a doubling of our investment in overseas aid that is unparalleled in the last 20 years in any country. and i have to say, i would hope there would be all party consensus that spending on overseas aid can continue. >> mr. nick clegg. [shouting] >> i would like to add my own expressions of sympathy and condolence to the family and friends of rifleman mark turner

and third battalion the rifles, and guardsman michael sweeney, first battalion guards. having served so selflessly and bravely in afghanistan, have lost their lives there this week. we owe them and everyone who has been killed and energy in afghanistan into a huge debt of gratitude. i would also like to join in paying tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the two firefighters who lost their lives in southampton last night. mr. speaker, today he and he are trying to fool people -- [shouting] >> by trying to fool people with her theory about political reform. last week, yet last week we had yet more troops, this is not true, the minute -- here in black and the labour party protecting their trade union paymasters them the conservatives protecting their paymaster. [shouting] >> who do they think they're getting?

after sabotaging this deal, after sabotaging this deal, why should anyone trust a single word they have to say on police or reform? [shouting] >> mr. speaker, there is one person that prevent the liberal and labor proposal getting a great by the conservative party. they withdrew from the talks. the reason is one name, lord ashcroft. that was the reason. [shouting] >> order, order. the house must calm down. member -- order. members should say their voices for the conversation they will need to have with their constituents in the coming weeks. mr. nick clegg. order. mr. nick clegg must be heard. mr. nick clegg. >> mr. speaker, their answer was ridiculous that the two parties are colluding together to block reform. just last night they colluded to block the most minimal reform our electoral system. just by the way they came together to block our proposal to give people the right.

they came together to block our proposal to clean up lobbying. mr. speaker, we all remember back in 1997, the house of this new government, look at them now. look at them now. you fail. is over. it's time to go. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, it seems like a speech instead of a question. mr. speaker, he cannot deny the fact that when we discussed a lack world funding and political reform the labour party and the liberal party of greed on the means to reform the political funding system. there was an agreement between our two parties. the conservative party got out of the agreement and they pulled out of the recommendation of one person, the person who finds the conservative party, the person who has given 109 pounds to the conservative party, the person who has been offshore for many years, and that is lord ashcroft. [shouting] >> linda gilroy.

>> the first new medical hospital for 25 years. what plans does the prime minister have to protect the progress that has been made the way in which waiting list have plummeted? >> mr. speaker, we have given every patient a guarantee that they will receive treatment within 18 weeks of seeing the doctor. that is a guarantee that we give personally to every patient, and in the next parliament they can enforce it and go private or go to another health authority if it is not meant. the opposition party which used to back that guarantee. we have given a guarantee to cancer patients they will see a specialist within two weeks. and in the next apartment they will be able to other diagnostic test within one week. that is a guarantee we have given.

the opposite party will not support that guarantee, even to cancer patients. we have given a guarantee to general practitioners that they must be people in the weekends or in the evenings as well as during ordinary working hours. as a guarantee that we're giving, but the opposite party refuses to support a. people will make up their minds in whose hands is the health service save. it's in the labour party's hands. >> the prime minister opened his election campaign yesterday by promising to campaign amongst real people. but he spent the whole day visiting the homes of staunch labour supporters. [laughter] >> does he intend to spend the whole campaign visiting and moving from state house two state house. [laughter] >> by the time i met them all, they were all staunch labour supporters. as a result of the message we put him. i had to say yesterday, yesterday i visited a number of places and i asked, and i asked people, i asked people what the major issue affecting them is. and they said they wanted to secure the recovery. and i have to tell people that

the conservative party taking 6 billion out of the economy would put the recovery at risk. the issue is very clear. jobs with labor, unemployment under the conservatives. >> mr. speaker, will my right honorable friend heed the warning of the former bank of england member, that if you follow the advise of the right honorable members lord whitney and patent and took persistent action to cut the deficit, it was late out onto unemployment unemployment but the rising poverty, social disorder? >> mr. speaker, this is the central issue of this you. will be secure the recovery? the conservative party says take 6 billion out of the economy and it doesn't matter. in fact, take six-point out of the economy now and there is more on deployment, more businesses go under and there is less growth. i believe when you look at what people are saying in an doing in every other country, they are saying we got to secure the

recovery before we take any further action. only the conservative party is think a money out of the economy now. they have made a historic mistake. >> will the prime minister confirm the whole truth about helicopters? as confirmed by parliamentary officers from the ministry of defense. that he has already cut helicopter numbers from 522 to below 500 over the last 18 months. and under his plans, by 2020 there will be only 303 helicopters, a cut of 42%? >> mr. speaker, i'm sorry that he takes this to because we have ordered -- [shouting] >> it does we have ordered more helicopters for the future. we have reconditioned to be in afghanistan. we have repaired the chinooks in such a way they cannot be used in afghanistan. and we have increased the number

of helicopter hours that are being flown by our troops. now that is the answer to those who say that not enough is being done. more helicopters, more helicopter hours in afghanistan, in afghanistan now. >> has my right honorable friend had a chance to read in yesterday's financial times most of which speaking for the change of government britain will find itself dangerously isolated in europe? [laughter] >> does he agree, does you further agree that we must work with chancellor and other leaders and not get into bed and breakfast with extremist politicians, the holocaust, that are not acceptable in our democracy? >> mr. speaker, if the conservative party had really changed the would've changed its position on euro. but it's the same old conservative party moving further and further to the extreme of europe. can't form an alliance with

chancellor merkel or with president sarkozy or with the right democrat parties in your. so they have to go into alliance with the most extreme comments of europe, and alleged thing they did was vote against the transfer of information to do with the problem of tax havens, exactly the sort of policy lord ashcroft would want him to support. >> what did the chancellor mean when he said that the job losses resulting from the national insurance hike would be manageable? how many is manageable? >> i will tell the conservative party about jobs. jobs is helping young people. jobs is helping young people to get into work. and 200,000 jobs created by the future jobs fund now and over the next few months. jobs is also helping young people stay on work with getting working in education. the summer school we are care in teen. and jobs is helping small businesses through this difficult time with the time to become with a reduction of

business rates and with the help we're getting them now. take 6 billion out of the economy now and you put the recovery at risk. take 6 billion out of the economy, and that means that thousands of jobs would then go. >> d. in court a? >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister is aware of the effects of the retrospective introduction of business rates on company operations around the country including my own constituency. five years after th the invitatn evaluation of his agency has many companies. one went out of business after being summoned for a rate increase which was reduced on appeal. with the prime minister me with the chance and the department and get a fair and equitable solution to keep jobs in our port is a? >> i am grateful to him that he has been a persistent advocate of the port and the jobs that are created as a result of that.

i have to say to him i'm happy to meet with him to talk about this issue and to talk about what we have done, which is equal interest repayments in installments paid over an unprecedented eight years. i am happy to talk to him about what more we can do. >> has my right honorable friend authorities said, a member of the prime minister's own management committee, this advisory committee, has said i don't feel -- [shouting] >> it's my firm do that the proposed national insurance increase is a tax on jobs. so why does the prime minister think he's got it wrong. >> mr. speaker, i said the country has to make a choice. the conservative party have made their choice but i say to the country, if we want to maintain and improve our schools, if we want to maintain and improve our policing, record numbers of

policing in this country, neighborhood policing, and if we want to ensure they can to guarantee, a gp guarantee another guarantees of our national health service, and that has to be paid for. i believe the country will make the choice in favor of maintaining and improving our public services. i think once again the conservative party are exposed as the party that opposed public service improvements in our country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. over the years there's been a continual drift away from the imposition of the direct taxes to indirect taxes. as the prime minister knows, these bear most of only on those who can afford least. and i wonder if the prime minister will agree with me, it's becoming time that we went back to the traditional labour party policy on taxation, and that is to redistribute wealth in favor of poor people.

and i would like to see in this general election say that he's going to see that there will be direct taxes imposed on the billionaire rich and we should be paying the real bear of taxation in this country. >> mr. speaker, there is one point on which i would agree with him, and that is the importance of tax credits that have helped -- that have helped lower income and middle income people get out of poverty and secure their livelihood. the conservatives are not interested in tax credits. 6 million families in this country received tax credits. 20 million children and mothers and fathers benefit from tax credit. one of the cuts the conservatives propose for this year is to cut child tax credits for middle income families. now that we do more to push people into lower income groups thanth