>> and now to london for prime minister's question time live from the british house of commons. every wednesday while parliament is in session, prime minister david cameron takes questions from members of the house of commons. prior to question time, the house is wrapping up other business. this is live coverage on c-span2. >> and perinatal problems and, of course, the central government compact already provides for multi a year funding wherever that is appropriate. obviously the local compact is a matter for local decision but i want a multi a year contract if at all possible. >> how many does the minister expect to be expecting from his

department next year and will he be making a mutual statement on the mutual pathfinder? >> mr. speaker, we expect -- we know that there's a growing enthusiasm for public sector workers to come together to form cooperatives to carry out and deliver public services. all the evidence that is these deliver huge increases in productivity, better public service at lower cost with greater productivity and we will give -- i hope she will give as full support -- >> mr. greg hands. >> to what extent does the minister expect any pcs strike action to have impact on our vital public services? >> well, mr. speaker, we wait to see the result of the ballot this afternoon but i hope civil servants who have -- are imbued with the ethos is what we're

expecting to succeed public sector pensions that are the very best available and because they are living longer they are expected to live longer and because there is not a fair balance between what they say and other taxpayers pays and others who have seen their pensions taking a hit we expect them to pay a bit more to them. >> margo james? >> question number 1, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this morning i had ministerial colleagues and others and in addition to my duties in this house i shall have further such meetings later today. >> thank you, mr. speaker. thousands of people in my constituency work hard for less than 26,000 pounds a year. does my right honorable friend that everybody who believes that capping benefits must vote for the welfare reform bill tonight? >> i think my honorable friend is entirely right.

i think we are right to reform welfare. welfare costs have got out of control in our country. we want to make sure that work always pays. we want to make sure that if people do the right thing we'll be on their side. and it cannot be right for some families to get over 26,000 pounds a year in benefits, that is paid for by people who are working hard and paying their taxes. and i would say that everyone in the house should support the welfare bill tonight. it is just a disappointment that labour talk about welfare but won't vote for welfare reform. >> dave miliband. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, when the prime minister signed off his welfare bill, deny that it would make 7,000 cancer patients worse off by as much as 94 pounds a week? >> well, that is simply not the case because we are using

exactly the same definition of people who are suffering and a terminally ill as the last government. we want to make sure those people are helped and protected. the point i would make to the honorable gentleman is that if you're in favor of welfare reform, you encourage others to do some. >> as usual mr. speaker he doesn't know what's in his own bill. listen to mcmillan cancer support. what do they assumed on the 13th of genuine, 2011, cancer patients to lose up to 94 pounds a week. and these are people who have worked hard all their lives. who have done the right thing. who have paid their taxes. and when they are in need, the prime minister is taking money away from them. i asked him again, how can it be right that people with cancer, 7,000 people with cancer are losing 94 pounds a week? >> we are using precisely the same test as the last government

supported. all we see -- all we see here is a labour party desperate not to support welfare reform. and trying to find an exclusive to get off supporting welfare reform. anyone who is terminally ill gets immediate access to the higher level of support and we will provide that to all people who are unable to work. that is the guarantee we make. but he's got to stop wriggling off his responsibilities and back the welfare reform he talks about. >> mr. speaker, he doesn't know the detail of his own bill. let me explain it to him. because the government -- because the government is stopping contributory employment support allowance after one year for those in work-related activity, cancer patients, 7,000 of them are losing 94 pounds a week. i ask him again, mr. speaker, how can that be right?

>> i have to tell him -- >> order. the question has been asked. order. order. the answer will be heard. prime minister? >> tell him he's wrong on the specific point. first of all, as i've said our definition of terminally ill is exactly the same one used as the last government. crucially, anyone out of work, will be given the extra support that can see with employment work assurance irrespective of a person's income or assets. that will last for 12 months. he's wrong. he's wrong and he should admit that he's wrong. and on a means-tested basis this additional support can last indefinitely. that is the truth. he should check his facts before he comes to the house and check out a welfare reform. >> dave miliband. >> so let's be clear about this, in the first answer he said his policy was the same as the last government. now, he has admitted that they are ending contributory-based

employment allowance after one year. let me tell him what mack millan cancer support says. many -- i think they should listen to what macmillan cancer support has to say. >> yeah. >> let me tell him -- i think it's a grace that conservative members are shouting when we're talking about people affected by cancer. >> here, here. >> this is what they say, this is what they say. many people will lose this benefit simply because they haven't recovered quickly enough. mr. speaker, i asked him the question again. will he now admit 7,000 cancer patients are losing up to 95 pounds a week. >> let me try to explain it again because i don't think he's got the point. >> order, order. i think -- order. order. i think it is a disgrace that members on both sides of the house are shouting their heads

off when matters of the most serious concern are being debated. i repeat what i've said before. the public despise this sort of behavior. let's have a bit of order. prime minister. >> i'm very grateful for that. i want to try to explain to the honorable gentleman why he's it got why and what we're proposing is right. the definition of who is terminally ill -- these are horrible things we have to explain. it is. hold on a second. the definition is the same one which is as i say six months. now, anyone out of work who lives longer than that will be given the extra support that comes from employment support allowance. now, that is irrespective of a person's income or their assets and that will last for 12 months, not the 6 months that the leader of the opposition said. and on a means tested basis this additional support can last indefinitely. so as i say, it's the same test as the last government. it's put in place fairly. we've listened very carefully to

macmillan cancer support and we've also made sure that someone is reviewing all of the medical tests that take place under this system. now, i know that he wants to try and create a distraction from the fact that he won't support welfare reform but i've asked his question. he should now answer mine. why won't be back the bill? >> mr. speaker, in case he'd forgotten i asked he question and he failed to explain them. let me try to explain it to him. listen to professor jane maker. chief medical officer of max millan cancer support. in my experience, one year is simply not enough for many people to recover from cancer. the serious physical and psychological side effects can last for many months, even years after treatment is finished. it is crucial that patients are not forced to return to work before they're ready. mr. speaker, mack millan cancer

report talks about this. why doesn't the prime minister know about this argument. he should know about these arguments. i asked him again, mr. speaker, will he now admit that 7,000 cancer patients are losing up to 94 pounds a week? >> i've answered his question three times. >> with a full explanation. and the whole point about our benefit reforms is that there are proper medical tests so we support those who cannot work as a generous and tolerant and compassion country should, but we make sure that those who can work have to go out to work so that we don't reward bad behavior. that's what the bill is about. he's attempting to put up a smoke screen because he's been found out. he made a speech this week about the importance of welfare reform. but he can't take his divided party with him. that's what this is about. weak leadership of a divided

party. >> dave miliband. >> mr. speaker, what an absolute disgrace to describe talking about cancer patients in this country as a smoke screen. this is about people out in the country, cancer charities who are concerned on their behalf and he doesn't know his own people. it's not about the people who are terminally ill. it's about recovering from cancer who are losing the support of this government. now, mr. speaker, mr. speaker, we know he doesn't think his policies through. isn't this one occasion when if ever there was a case to pause, listen and reflect, this is it. why doesn't he do so? >> what we have seen this week is the right honorable gentleman get on the wrong side of every issue. with its cutting the deficit we now have the cbi, the iod, the imf, his brother, tony blair, all on our side and only he is

on his own. on welfare reform, we have everyone recognizing welfare needs to be reformed. apart from the right honorable gentleman and on the health service, yes, we now have the royal college of gp's, the royal college of nurses, the royal college of physicians, the former labour health minister and tony blair all on the side of reform and on his own the right honorable gentleman, a weak leader of a divided party. that's what we've learned this week. >> mr. raymond -- order! >> thank you, mr. speaker. prime minister, my constituent, a british national on the recent visit to india was kidnapped and then beheaded in the horrendous murder incident can i ask the british government to urge the indian authorities to carry out a full transparent, thoroughly roinvestigation and bring to

account those responsible for this horrendous murder so my constituent and his family can get some justice for their mother. >> i quite understand why my right honorable friend wants to raise this family. i fully understand and their wish for justice to be brought to bear on the perpetrators. now, the foreign office has been providing the family with counselor support as he knows and they will arrange to meet with my right honorable friend and the family to see what further assistance that we can give. however, i have to say to him, responsibility for investigating crime committed overseas has to rest with the police and the judicial authorities in that country. we cannot interfere in the processes but i take to heart the points that he makes. >> mr. speaker, we know that the deficit was the price paid to avoid a depression caused by the bankers. but in march, but in march, the

full cost for the budget deficit was increased by 46 billion pounds, 1,000 pound per person. will he now at last accept that cuts are choking growth, that is stokes inflation and both are increasing the deficit. he's going to too far too fast hindering, not helping the recovery. >> the deficit is the price paid for labour's progress in office. yes! tony blair in his memoirs -- i don't want to hear about tony blair today but finally he's a labour leader who used to win elections they might want to listen them. he said in 2007 spending is out of control. that's the point. we have to get on top of spending. we have to get on that to of the debt. we have to get on top of the deficit. i understand that the labour leader is trying to persuade the shadow chancellor of that. well, good luck to him.

>> mr. andrew rosendale. >> the prime minister will be aware that yesterday was the anniversary of the liberation of the falkland islands. by the forces -- by the forces of the crown. will he remind president obama when he next sees the united states president, the negotiations with the fact land islands with the falkland islands and if the special relationship means anything. it does mean that they defend british sovereignty over our own territories. >> yeah! >> my honorable friend makes an excellent point and i'm sure everyone right across the house will want to remember the anniversary of the successful retaking of the falkland islands and the superb bravery skills and counselor of all our armed forces who took part in that action and we should also remember those that fell in terms of taking back the falklands. the point that he makes is a

good one. all i'd say is this. as long as the falkland islands want to be so often british territory, they should be sovereign british territory. >> this week we have seen the government change its mind on the nhs, on sentencing, on student visas and on bin collection. so will the prime minister tell us now whether he will change his mind over government plans to force more than 300,000 women to wait up to two years later before they qualify for their state pensions? >> all parties supported the equalization of the pension age between men and women. that needed to happen. it also needs to happen that we raise mention ages to make sure our pension system is affordable and the point i would make is because we've done that, we've been able to relink the pension back to earnings and as a result pensioners are 15,000 pounds better off on their retirement than they would have been under labour. that is a good deal and the

right thing to do. if the party opposite wants to be serious about pension reform and dealing with the deficit, they should back these changes. >> allen reed. >> mr. speaker, i agree with the government's timetable for increasing the men's state pension age to 66 because it happens gradually. however, i would ask the prime minister to think again about women's state pension age. applying a timetable has women's planned state pension age going up far too quickly and leaves women of my age -- i was born in 1954 without enough time to plan for what could be two years extra work. will the government please look at this again? >> i understand the concern about this. but the point i'd make as i said in the house last week that over 80% of those affected are only going to see their pension age come in a year later. so it is actually a very relatively small number. but the key thing here is making sure our pension system is

sustainable so we can pay out high pensions. and i have to say there's a similar argument that the house was having at the previous set of questions about the sustainability of public sector pensions. we have to take these difficult decisions. they're right for the long term, and they actually mean a better pension system for those who are retiring. >> mr. gordon banks. >> thank you, mr. speaker, does the prime minister disagree with the institute of fiscal studies that with inflation 4.5% more than half his government's target it's hitting pensioners and low-incomed families the hardest. >> the thing into pensions there's a triple guarantee of earnings or prices or 2.5% whichever is higher so it's not going to affect them in a way. clearly we want to see inflation come down. i think there's a shared agreement across the house. it's right for the bank of the england to have that responsibility but i know what he doesn't raise today the very welcomed news we've seep the fall in unemployment that we've seen in any time we've seen in the decade.

i think it's time the party opposite begin welcoming good news. >> there is increasing concern in this house and across the country about the hidden suffering hidden trafficked children. does the prime minister agree that a coordinated multiagency approach right across the country from borders then to local authorities local police forces and including the charitable organizations involved in this work is promoted urgently? >> i think my honorable friend makes an extremely good point and i know how the party group works on this issue and i'm careful on hearing what they have to say and i think what will make difference is the national crime agency. and i think it will make attention to this to vital issues like this. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. the snp won a landslide in the recent elections and the mandate to improve the powers of the scottish parliament so will the prime minister respect the

scottish electorate and accept the 6 proposals for improvement in the scotland bill by the scottish government? >> we listened very carefully to what people have to say and, of course, we respect the fact that the snp won a mandate in scotland and we're responding extremely importantly. the first point i would make the scotland bill currently before the house is a massive devolution and he shakes his head and we will be going ahead with that and look at all the proposals that first minister salmon has had. i take the agenda very seriously i respect the views and wishes of the scottish people and they have to risch we are part and i believe always remain part of the united kingdom. >> mr. speaker, last friday was the ninth anniversary of the legion monday coming is the armed forces day and on tuesday 120 soldiers from 16 air assault will march into parliament to welcome them back from afghanistan. can we tell them all -- will the

prime minister repeat his assurance that the armed forces covenant will now be written for the first time in history will now be written into law? >> yes, i can give that assurance and i'm delighted that the government and the royal british legion have agreed the approach we are going to take in the armed forces bill and that is now being passed through this house and i'm very glad that the house of commons will be welcoming those soldiers from 60 air assault brigade. the bravest of the brave, the best of the best. there isn't too much we can do for those people and that's why we also kept our promise to double the operational allowance to soldiers serving in afghanistan and other theaters. >> millions of our constituents are once more facing big increases in their gas and electricity bills. many will find it very difficult to make end's meet. what action is the government going to take to help them? >> we are taking a range of actions. when obviously the fact is you have oil now costing $115 a barrel and gas prices have gone

up by 50% over the last year, that does have an impact but we're putting 250 million pounds into the warm home discount. we're putting -- funding a more warm front scheme that will help families this year. we're legislating so social tariffs offer the best price available and we made a promise that card account holders should get a discount and, of course, we permanently increased the cold weather payments. we didn't just allow it to be increased in an election year. we're keeping those higher payments that are very valuable to many of his payments. >> jeremy la-froi. >> i special a school in stafford. in our meetings parents discussed their gratitude for their teaching and their anxiety for their children after the age of 19. what encouragement committee give him? >> well, i think first of all we

must support special schools. i think the pendulum against special education a swung too far in favor of inclusion and i think it's very important we give parents proper choose and they can choose between mainstream and special education. he raised a very important people that parents of disabled children when they become young adults want them to go studying in fe colleges and elsewhere and currently the rules seem to suggest once they finish a course, that's it and parents say, well, what are we going to do now? well, we got to find a better offer for parents. we're finding there's enough children living for much longer and want them to have a purposeful and full life. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in the face of what are energy prices, mr. speaker, driving people -- pensioners and vulnerable families into fuel poverty by the thousands every day under this coalition. could i ask him, is he struggling with his energy bill or any of the other 21

millionaires struggling with the energy bill and when is he going to take personally a group of this situation. >> the people who seem to be counseling it are the ones who worked for the last government. the point i make is this. look, clearly fuel prices have gone up because what's happened to world oil and gas prices but this government takes its responsibilities seriously about trying to help family and that's why we'd frozen the tax and that's why we've taken the set of measures to try to help with energy bills that i've described. we've also managed to cut petro tax this year. and i noticed while the party opposite wants to support the petro price tax they don't support the increase in the north sea oil tax absolutely critical of an opportunistic oil

situation. >> mr. adrian saunders. >> this week is national diabetes this week and the theme this year is let's talk diabetes to encourage people the condition to speak out and not feel stigmatized or worried about being discriminated against or joked against in the workplace or in school. would the prime minister support this campaign? >> i will certainly support this campaign and i think my honorable friend makes an extremely good point which is that many people with diabetes find it an embarrassing illness and difficult to talk to and it's affecting more people and say there's nothing abnormal about this we have to help people manage their diabetes particularly because we want to see them to have control over their health care and spend less time in hospitals so i fully support the campaign and also think we have to look at the long-term losts of people getting diabetes and recognize there's a big public health

agenda particularly about exercise and things we need to get a hold off. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister will know that this is the first opportunity i've had to ask him a question. i stand here -- i stand here fresh and full of hope so i'm going to give the prime minister one more chance to answer the question. people in my constituency up and down the country face enormous increases in their energy bills announced by scottish power. they need help now. when is the prime minister going to keep his promise made in opposition to take tough action on excessive energy prices? >> well, as i said in answer some moments ago, we are taking action. there's only a certain amount you can do when you see fuel prices go up by as much as they have, over the last year, a 50% increase of oil and gas but we do have the warm home discount, we do have the warm front scheme. the fact that we're making sure

that where there are special tariffs, companies to have offer them to their users and that makes a difference and also there's the point about the post office card account holders who don't currently yet make sure they're getting their discounts available and she shakes her head and in the last year that's more than this government did in 1 13. >> would my right honorable congratulate queen lace in oakland who made part of the lace on the duchess of cambridge's wedding dress. this is the last traditional lace factory and our town centers have declined over recent years as a result of their loss. would my right honorable friend agree with me that the review into revitalized our town centers has come at a perfect time. i'd invite the prime minister to attend this. >> well, i'd be delighted to

come to my right honorable friend constituency and i didn't know her constituents is responsible for the lace on the duchess's incredible dress but i feel i leave today's session enriched by this knowledge. we do want to see a growth in manufacturing and production in britain and i think what we're seeing in our economy, difficult as the months ahead inevitably will be, but a growth of things that are made in britain. whether that is cars or vans or indeed lace for people's dresses. >> mr. speaker, the united states secretary of state robert gates has said the secretary of defense robert gates has said that the nato nation libya has exposed serious capability gaps. the first sea lord admiral -- the first -- the first sea lord -- the first sea lord

admiral mark stanhope has said that the operations in libya cannot be sustained for longer than three months without serious cuts elsewhere? given -- given those problems -- >> order! order! >> quick sentence. >> isn't it time -- isn't it time the prime minister re-open the defense review and did yet another u-turn on his failed policies? >> what he's called mark stannoff is his name. i had a meeting with him yesterday and he agreed we can sustain this mission as long as we want to and that's exactly what the chief of the defense staff used yesterday because we are doing the right thing and i want one simple message to go out from every part of this government and indeed every part of this house of commons and that ime