highs of the early '90s. we will not forget that. >> mr. speaker, before listing my engagements, i'm sure that the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to the soldiers who have lost their lives in afghanistan since the house last met. they are from three engineer regiment explosive ordinance disposable. david watson, the duke of lancaster regiment captain simon and the royal and lance corporal tommy brown the rifles lance corporal christopher rooney, and aiden howe. hour thoughts are with the families and friends who can be rightly proud of the courage, the dedication, the bravery and the sacrifice that has been shown by these men and that sacrifice will never be

forgotten. we have been reminded once again since the house last met that there are those who seek to harm us with terrorist incidents. we must remain vigilant to all those serving in afghanistan and around the world working for the safety of the british people. mr. speaker, i know the house will also want me to join in sending our condolences to the wife and children of david taylor, who sadly died. he was a tremendous constituency member of parliament who thoroughly deserved the accolade of back-bencher of the year for his tireless work for the people of northwest area. he will be greatly missed and by his families who are here and by all his constituents. mr. speaker, i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and in addition to my other duties, i shall have

further meetings. >> thank you, mr. speaker, i will endorse all my right honorable friend says about those who have given their sacrifice of dying for their country in afghanistan. i would also like to say something about those who have died as a result of taking heroin in scotland all harvested in afghanistan. and also would want to pay tribute to the honorable friend, my honorable friend and comrade, david taylor, who served in this house assiduously and gave his all in the constituency as well. i turn to the question can my right honorable friend give an update on the situation regarding the terrorist incident that took place on the plane traveling between skiple and amsterdam and detroit? >> i think the whole house will echo what he says about the damage that is done in our country by drugs that come from afghanistan.

i'll be very happy to meet him to talk about these issues. now since the christmas incident in detroit, we have as a home secretary reported to this house yesterday taken a number of actions in key areas. aviation security, the first of a new generation of full body scanners will be in operation in heathrow across the united states and across the united kingdom. while the person involved in the detroit incident was refused a visa and was not on a watch list, and was on our watch list, we are reviewing and enhancing our watch list arrangements and given the changing security nature, i'll ask the cabinet security that any lessons learned from recent events should be considered and whether we can further and better coordinate and intergrate the work of the intelligence services and the service that is available to us from them. >> mr. david cameron. >> thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. can i join the prime minister in paying tribute to the seven british servicemen who lost their lives since the last prime

minister's questions. private robert hays, david watson, rifleman aiden howe, tommy brown, and christopher rooney and michael richard and michael holmby and we must look after their families. i also join the prime minister in paying tribute to david taylor and his contribution to public service. we too send our condolences to his wife and children. he was diligent, decent, and determined. as one obituary put it, a thought brilliantly he was that rare thing amongst politicians someone who was liked and admired equally by his constituents, his parliamentary colleagues and his political opponents. and he will be sadly missed. this year the government will have to borrow 178 billion pounds. yesterday one of the largest holders of government debt warned the british debt is likely to be downgraded. the oecd, the cbi and the bank

of england have all warned there is no proper plan to deal with this deficit. why does the prime minister think that all these people take that view? >> first of all, mr. speaker, let us put this in context. that the debt of every country has risen as a result of a global financial recession. and debt in britain is actually lower as a percentage of national income than america. it's lower than france and germany. it's lower than italy and japan. it's lower than the average for the euro area. so every country faces the difficulty of taking its country out of recession while at the same time having to develop a deficit reduction plan. i tell him first of all we will not stop the fiscal stimulus before we are out of recession. and we will not -- we will not take his advice and leave the economy without the support that is necessary. and if we had taken his advice,

many thousands more would be unemployed and many thousand businesses would be lost. but what we have published is a deficit-reduction plan. now, let me just -- yes. it includes raising the top rate of tax. i assume he now supports that. it raises national insurance so that we can fund our health and public services. i assume that he has got to consider that as well. it does not include raising inheritance tax and the 3,000 richest families in history. and cuts in the major departments but it includes the front line services of health and policing. for him to ask me questions about public spending this week, when he said it was the year of change, he changed his policy in the morning. he changed his policy in the morning and he changed his policy in the evening. >> the prime minister talks

about the context, the context is the biggest budget deficit of any advanced economy in the world. let us be clear about what these people say about the government's plans. the cbi says the government's plans are too little too late. the governor of the bank of england says there's no credible plan. the oecd said a more ambitious plan would strengthen the economy and the loss of the confidence of the government's ability to get the public finances back under control is the major risk facing this country. and he said that after the utterly feeble prebudget report. so he let me ask him again, why does he think all of these people think his plans are so feeble? >> mr. speaker, the government of the bank of england, the very significant policy actions taken in recent months will stimulate a recovery and demand output and employment. the imf, the u.k. has shown a

lot of leadership -- the u.k. -- that is a the managing director of the imf. the u.k.'s authority policy has been bold and wide ranging. the aggressive action authorities have been successful in averting a system johnson county breakdown. -- a systemic breakdown. if we had take his advice, there would be no action and unemployment had risen faster. the 200,000 small businesses that had benefited would not have benefited. if we had taken to his advice we would be back to the mortgage miseries with repossession. every decision on recession and recovery, that party got wrong. >> the fact is -- the fact is -- the fact is this chancellor is now taking our advice. he said you can only get growth when you deal with the deficit.

the prime minister -- the prime minister tell us about his fiscal responsibility act. it is completely feeble. what is required is not an active parliament but an active parliament will. an act of courage. it was said about it, they are, he said, acts the fiscally irresponsible to con the public. isn't the reason for the lack of faith in the government's plans that the prime minister personally is so incapable of admitting what everyone knows is that there is a need for cuts. he said the public spending will rise by not .8% in real terms each year. given that everybody knows that cuts in departmental spending are necessary. wasn't that just completely disingenuous. >> mr. speaker, the person who was misleading the public was

the right honorable gentleman on monday about married couple allowances. he said one thing on monday morning something different and monday afternoon, something different and monday evening something different. the former leader of the conservative party said he had a private assurance of 4.9 billion being spent. if he wishes to reduce the deficit, presumably he doesn't want to spend 4.9 billion pounds on a married couple's allowance. if he wishes to reduce the deficit, presumably he will go ahead with the national insurance tax rise that we're proposing. if he's wishing to reduce the deficit he won't go ahead which is his only pledge. we are reducing the deficit with a plan of tax rising departmental cuts and protecting the front line services, the conservatives would be cutting education services. they'd be cutting police services. they'd be cutting the main services of the country. their policies are a change, a change back to the 1980s of economics.

>> order, can i just say to members on both sides, we're not on the house stings now. mr. david cameron. >> i wish we were. [laughter] >> i wish this prime minister had the courage to call the election and we could get on with it. i have to say, mr. speaker, what a lot of desperate rubbish. i thought he might mention marriage so let me say this to him. the difference between me and the prime minister is this. when i lean across and say, i love you, darling, i really mean it. [laughter] >> the only -- the only divorce that's taken place is between this prime minister and reality.

let's take his claim -- let's take his claim that spending is going up by not .8%. is the only way he's able to make that is to include -- is to exclude capital spending which he's actually cutting in half. isn't that completely disingenuous? >> for himw6 to talk about lov and marriage today, when he is a person who cannot give a straight answer on the marriage couple's allowance. whether you got to say i do or i don't when it comes to the marriage couple's allowance. and mr. speaker, as for other public -- as for the public, will he give us is straight answer now. is he deficit reduction plan including 4.9 billion to be spent on the married couple's allowance and a tax not going ahead with the national insurance rise, that's why everybody says there's a 34 billion gap in his proposals.

he cannot go around the country promising everything to everyone. he's got to face up to the fact, his policies are only fit for opposition, not for government. >> i have to say -- i have to say to the prime minister, if he wants to turn this around and make it prime minister's questions, get on and call the election. then there will be all the time in the world to kiss and make up. 'cause the fact is, this government is now deeply divided. everyone knows the chancellor wanted to reduce the deficit more quickly. everyone knows the business secretary goes around a the country privately attacking the pbr as a complete failure and perhaps the prime minister could name one back-bencher on the labour side who stood up and spoke for his bill last night? not a single one. doesn't he -- not one. doesn't he understand that a divided party without a proper plan is putting britain's recovery at risk? isn't that the height of irresponsibility? and why is he always incapable

of doing the right thing? >> mr. speaker, let me just give another example of the right honorable gentleman. last night -- last night he was asked, are you committed to educational maintenance allowances? what was his answer? let's just say i'm not uncommitted to it. he then said, well, we're in a state severe flux on this area so i can't give you a straight answer. now, is this an opposition party ready for government? they should go back to the drawing board and think again. >> the fact is, the appalling state of the okhe has had two years to demonstrate some leadership, and he has completely failed to do so. he cannot even convince his own chancellor. is it even wonder -- any wonder he ekes out his term as leader completely incapable of running

the country? >> he is going to have to do better than that. he is going to have to answer some questions on policy some time. he got it wrong and the nationalization of northern rock. xdhe got it wrong on helping the unemployed. he got it wrong on homeowners, small businesses. he got every issue of the recession wrong. nobody will trust him on the economy at all. >> order. >> mr. speaker, a year of devastating conflict that left 400 palestinians dead, and the siege continues. the area lies shattered. although there were undoubtedly more crimes on both sides, as my right hon. friend agree what is now happening is a collective

punishing of a million people, and will he make urgent recommendation to proceed in gauze on a step towards a peace settlement? >> my rightful friend is -- proceed in gaza on a step towards a peace settlement? >> my right hon. friend is exactly right. we are pressing the israeli government to do more to get more aid in, and i will look at exactly the points she has made and see what more we can do in this new year. in the end, this will require a political settlement between israel and the palestinian state, which gives israeli security and palestine a viable state it can manage, but in the meantime, we must avoid unnecessary suffering. >> i would like to add my profound condolences to the family and friends of the brave british soldiers who lost their lives serving afghanistan. captain simon horn bay --

hornby, tommy brown, david watson, and others. i would like to pay my own tribute to david taylor, who said they died during christmas. pay my own taylor a david taylor. i was once of the meps in his area and he had a reputation and always had as an outstanding constituency as someone who always always spoke his own mind. my heart goes out to his wife pam and his four daughters. mr. speaker, last weekend the prime minister said he was all in favor of aspiration. could he explain to us exactly what his aspiration about a tax system which he has created where the poorest 20% pay more in -- for may income in tax than the richest 20%? >> it's because of all these things that we introduced the

tax credit system. the tax credit system is the means by which we take people out of poverty. we reward work for people who are in work. and for people who pay income tax, it removes their liability by giving them tax credits instead. it is the means by which we bring greater justice, take people out of poverty and make work pay. and i hope he would continue to support the tax credit system which is an essential part of our tax and benefit system in this country. >> he balks justice. he talks about justice. it's his rules -- it's his rules which allows a citibanker to pay less tax on their capital gangs than a cleaner does on their wages. he's about to hit millions of average earners with higher national insurance bills. what is the fairness? where is the -- where is the aspiration in any of that? >> the aspiration is helping people into jobs. giving people the chance to earn a decent living. and making sure that the tax

system is fair. so presumably he will now support our 50% tax on bonuses in the banks. he will support raising the top rate of tax to 50%. he will support removing the pension tax relieves that we are doing a as part of the deficit reduction plan. what we have tried to do is to say in these different times as we make changes, then the burden has got to be shared fairly and that means those with the broadest shoulders have to pay more. i hope he would agree with that. >> i have my personal tributes to david taylor, mr. speaker. can i bring to the attention of my right honorable friend about apprentices aged over 26 in front education college who are in urgent talks to secure the funding they need to continue their training. in the light of the national, will he do all he can through his best offices to make sure that the learning is still successful.

the business innovation in the skills department and the regional development agency in dwp will work closely to find an urgent solution so all apprentices can get all funding. >> it's our intention even in these difficult times when companies may not be in a position to keep on apprentices that we will find alternative sources of employment for them and make sure that the colleges continue to train they mean. i will live look precisely at the very issue that you raised. as far as the coalfield regeneration program is concerned, the national audit office recommendations have been acted on. funding from coal fields regeneration program has already been allocated. they have received 3 million pounds and over half a million of that have been committed to projects that will train in individuals. so i hope that she will find that some of the answer is found in the decisions that have already been made but i will specifically look at the apprentices question. look, there were 7,000 apprentices in 1997. there are a quarter of million.

no government has done to revive the apprenticeship and we are not going to let apprenticeships fall during this recession. there my be compensaty steps what the jobs might be? >> i understand it. obviously, what we are looking at is how we can reallocate some jobs out of the southeast in a way that will both save money and spread employment across the country. the review suggested 20,000 jobs be relocated. that has already happened and we're looking at more we can do. but i think he will also understand that the work of the london development agency and the work that is done in london is a means by which we ensure that there is creation of jobs in london and we are always looking at what we can do to create more jobs in this capital

city. >> tell my right honorable friend cancer treats have been eliminated during to nhs doctors and nurses receiving support. because of excellent use of surviving cancer they are more prone to health problems. any practicalsley what can my right honorable friend can ensure to get this advice in health? >> the mcmillan work is something that is very special in our country and very much appreciated. i believe that the advances that we are making in cancer care particularly if people are detected early and particularly if people are able to go through the screening process it means lots of lives that would have been lost will be saved. there is after-care and there is considerable after-care necessary even after a many years and i'm determined that we continue to support it. i would have to say, though, the best way that we can help deal with the cancer problems in our

country is to make sure we do not lose the two-week guarantee that you can receive a specialist immediately and move to a one-week guarantee that you will be given a money and determination and i hope no policy seeks to apolish. >> giving technology is vital and allowing to us stay one step ahead of the terrorist threat why has the government cut spending by 2% over the last three years. isn't it grasping in a couple of scanners is a little too little too late? >> mr. speaker, we have increased spending on security from a billion in 2001 to more than 3 billion. and we've increased counterterrorism capability massively in this country as a result of making the right decisions. we have doubled the number of security staff. we have doubled the number have police that are negotiated with counterterrorism work.

we are introducing the eborder network to catch those people who are coming into this country. i don't think any government has done more to increase the counterterrorism capability in this country and it's right because our first duty is the security of our systems. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. given the somewhat disappointing finish to the copenhagen conference, what action can my right honorable friend tell us he'll be taking in order to keep the momentum up on this absolutely vital task of tackling climate change? >> mr. speaker, for the first time the world was able to agree that we should not have a climate change policy that didn't address the problems of rising temperatures. and the 2% limit was agreed by all countries. we also have agreement that countries will notify us what they will do by 2020 and what they will do by january 1st. we are obviously pressing for countries to be in a position where they can reduce the number of gigatons in carbon and greenhouse emissions from the

mid-50s to the mid-40s but we have not yet got the international treaty that we need and we have not yet got the announcement from all countries that they support the 50% reduction by 2050. that is what is the work to still be done and i agree with her we must all talk to those countries that were reluctant to come in to these talks with the view of getting a treaty to persuade them that a treaty is necessary. i think she will see further announcements in the next few days about what we're going to do. >> mr. speaker, bearing in mind the failure of copenhagen and the current whether cycle which clearly indicates a cooling trend -- [laughter] >> will the prime minister -- will the -- >> order, the more noise, the less progress we make. i want to reach other

back-benchers. >> will the prime minister reconsider the proposed wasteful expenditure of 100 billion pounds off offshore wind farms which will be incapable of delivering sufficient energy but will result in excessive large charges for electricity users. >> mr. speaker, the idea the conservative body could take a lead on climate change when they can't even convince their own back-benchers of what is necessary. mr. speaker, they can't make up their mind about nuclear. now on offshore wind we are the leading power in the world for offshore wind. we will soon be making announcements that will make it clear that massive numbers of jobs will come as a result of offshore wind. it is the right policy. i cannot understand where the conservative energy policy comes from if they take out nuclear and they take out offshore wind and every conservative local authority is opposing offshore

wind as well. they have no policy, whatsoever. >> david anderson. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it's been 27 months since people suffered. can i ask the prime minister what work is being done across the whole of government to redress this and when can we expect some progress? >> as he knows, there was a meeting of advisors and i'm meeting some mp's and he's part of it next week and a very dreadful disease and what we can do with it and the problem that arises from it. >> michael spicer. >> now we face stagflation. what's he going to do about it? >> mr. speaker, if he is suggesting -- if he's suggesting that we're going to have the levels of inflation that we had in the conservative years, he's completely wrong. inflation -- inflation is low in this country. we have kept it low for the last 12 years.

the idea that the conservative party are now going to run a campaign saying that inflation is going to be the highest in the world is something quite ridiculous. >> thank you, mr. speaker. given the cold weather yesterday's announcement, particularly welcome the field in my constituency and customers who are in the cutting edge of this technology, can my right honorable friend guarantee he will not promote this scheme but retrofitting like companies can do and do well to reduce our carbon footprint? >> mr. speaker, she's absolutely right. the scheme will help 125,000 households and is already showing that it is popular and will cut carbon emissions. the retrofitting measures such as insulation will play an increasingly important role and i would draw people's attention cold weather payments are being made to those people who are affected by the cold weather right across the country in many areas including london from

january the fourth and 6.9 million payments have already been made of 25 pounds a week. we are doing our best to help people through the difficult winter weather and we will continue to do what we can to ensure that elderly people in particular will turn up their heating and not allow themselves to suffer from the cold. >> with the severe weather that's predicted to continue for the next five days which has hit my constituency so badly, what action is the government taking now to make sure that supplies of salt and >> she is absolutelyç right. i think the whole house wants to be assured that in this difficult time when some areas are being hit more than others, that those areas that need it will of the salt necessary and all the support of their community is not so affected can give them, and i can assure you salt supplies have been built up