>> now, from london, prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. this week, ed miller band challenge prime minister david cameron on the government's proposed child benefits cuts: the plan unfair and unreasonable to the middle class. the prime minister also commented on the death of a british aid worker that may have been killed by an american grenade during a rescue operation in afghanistan last friday. questions for- the prime minister. >> i am sure that the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to those soldiers who have been killed in afghanistan in the past few weeks. they were sergeant andrew jones of the royal engineers and trooper andrew howarth of the queen's royal lancers, who died on 18 september; corporal matthew thomas from the royal electrical and mechanical engineers, who died on 25 september; rifleman suraj gurung from 1st battalion the royal gurkha rifles, who died on

2 october; and sergeant peter rayner from 2nd battalion the duke of lancaster's regiment, who died on 8 october. they were incredibly courageous and selfless individuals who gave their lives in the service of our country and for the safety of the british people, and we should send our deepest condolences to their families and to their loved ones. in the week since the house met, you can forces have completed the latest stage of restructuring. they are now over 8000 u.k. troops there and 20,000 american troops. we are predicting one-third of the home and population. that is the right proportion. i am sure the whole house would like to join me and bringing -- they have done an outstanding job. i am sure that the 60 air sold brigade will carry on that effort.

the house would also like to send our sincere condolences to the family linda hargrove. she was a dedicated professional, doing a job she loves, and a country that she loved. sorry for the long beginning. this morning, i had meetings in addition to my duties. i will have such further meetings late today. >> i would like to associate myself with my the prime minister's condolences. will my friends join me in congratulating members on their choice of leader even though he is not on the front page? because he did not win. [laughter] has the outcome of this election changed my right hon.

friends assessment of the effectiveness of the alternative vote system? >> i think it was good to see the alternative vote in practice. let's put it that way. of course, when it comes to the referendum, the trade unions will not have such a large involvement. [laughter] i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the one gentlemannera standing up for the opposition benches. i am sure there will be many times that we can work on national interest, such as afghanistan. i hope he will not mind me saying that i wish that he does the job for many years to come. >> ed miller banmilliband. >> i hope we can more

constructively, even on afghanistan. can i start by joining him in paying tribute to the troops who have died in afghanistan. each of them shared the highest dedication, commitment, and bravery. we honor their memory and offered the consultants -- deep condolences to the families. london nor grow died doing a simple job, try to make the lives of the people of afghanistan better, a necessary part of any political

settlement. she, too, showed immense bravery. we support the decision of the foreign secretary. the responsibility for her death lies solely and squarely on those who took her hostage. can i ask you to update your phone call with the president obama on the circumstances surrounding her death and the progress and to the inquiry? >> i'm grateful for the right hon. gentlemen and the way he says it. is about our troops and the tragic case of linda norgrove. i spoke with president obama that if it is extremely important. this is a joint investigation. i cannot give details about what happened that night. the " -- the picture is still unclear.

but the early information was likely wrong about how linda died. the investigation is underway. when there is new information to bring to the house, we will bring it to the house. it is important to keep the family informed at every stage. i will be speaking with general petraeus. it is an impossibly difficult decision to make on whether to launch a raid and try to free a hostage. in the end, it must be clear that the responsibility for linda's that lies with those cowardly riskless people who took her hostage in the first place. >> connector into the issue of benefits and say to him we will be working -- can i turn to the issue benefits and say to him we will be working on reforms the

need to be done. on child benefits, though, there are concerns. how many families, where one parent stays at home, will be affected by the changes that he has proposed? >> in terms of the number of families who will be affected, a high rate taxes paid by 15% of taxpayers. and the decisions we have taken is to say that child benefits should not be received by families where there is a higher tax debt. i know this is a difficult choice. i have answered the question how many. it is 15% of texters on high rate taxes. this is a difficult choice. as we deal with the deficit, we have to ask the better off people to bear their fair share of the burden. the fact is that, today, we spend a billion pounds giving

money through child benefits to relatively better off homes. we think that has to change. i have to ask him why he thinks that is not the case. >> i may be new to this game, but i think i ask the questions and he should answer them. [cheers and applause] [laughter] >> now i am afraid he did not provide an answer, mr. speaker, to the specific question i asked. by my reckoning, there are hundreds of thousands of families where one parent stays home -- there are hundreds of thousands of families and the question they are asking, mr. speaker, is this. why should a family on 45,000 pounds, where one person stays at home, lose their child benefit? but a family on 80,000 benefits,

where both partners in the couple are working, should keep their benefits in? it does not strike people as fair? it does not strike me as fair. does it strike the prime minister fair? >> let me try putting it to this way to the hon. gentleman. think about it like this. there are thousands of people in his constituency earning one sixth of what he earns. through their taxes, they will be paying for his child benefits. is that really fair? >> i am afraid these are not straight answers. you should provide straight answers for stirred questions. >> i am not defending the rich, mr. speaker.

[scoffing] >> order. the leader of the opposition will be heard. if there are colleagues who wish to catch the eye of the chair, they are diluted. [laughter] >> i am defending the police inspector. i am just asking a simple question. the prime minister used to agree with me. he went before the election to bolton, in any event that was cameron direct -- [laughter] and he said this. i am not going to flannel you. i am going to give it to you straight. [laughter] i like child benefits. i would not change child benefits. i would not mean set this. i do not think that is a good idea.

i agree with the prime minister. why does not he? [laughter] >> the problem that the hon. gentlemen he has to face up to is that we have the biggest budget -- [scoffing] there is absolutely no proposal to deal with this. he opposes changing on benefits. yes? he opposes art changes on the benefits. >> order! just as the leader of the opposition must be heard, so must the prime mr.. >> he opposes are changes on the benefit cap, yes? and he opposes their changes on child benefits. let me quote him something back. we have to be frank with people and show our mettle.

in times of plenty, giving child benefits to high earners is a luxury that the country cannot afford. [scoff] that was alan millburn, someone who cares. he is gone. i landed. although labor politicians who are used to winning elections have been thrown out the window. the hon. gentleman has to face up to the truth. we have a big budget deficit. you have to ask the arab people to make a contribution. we say higher earners should not dead child benefits. their child benefits are being paid for by some of the poorest people in our country. >> i really want the prime minister to face-off to the scale of the changes he is proposing. i do say they should face up to the scale of the law.

take a family on 33,000 pounds after tax. if they have three kids, they will be losing 2,500 pounds as a result of these changes. that is the equivalent of 6 p on the basic rate of income tax. that is an enormous loss of the prime minister is inflicting on a particular group of the population. if you want to take people with him on deficit-reduction, he has to show that the changes are fair and reasonable. i come back to this point. i do not believe his changes are fair and reasonable. does he? >> i do not think it is fair -- [scoff] for the poorest to pay for his child benefits. that is what he wants them to do. let me ask you this. this is something he said in july.

whoever is the labor leader will, by the time of the spending review, have to show that they have an alternative plan. where is the alternative plan? this was a speech he made to an organization called left foot forward. can i suggest that he dispose of his left foot and shows where the plan is? >> order! people should stop shouting. the public hates it. it is bad for politics. it should not happen. >> the truth is, mr. speaker, that the prime minister has no defense of his policy. he cannot explain to families up and down the country why they will sustain this loss. let's be honest, the chancellor

says that this policy has been a shambles from day one. the rest of the camera didn't do nothing about it -- the rest of the cabinet knew nothing about bit. i bet the prime minister wishes the bbc block out -- [laughter] on child benefits, is it not time the prime tester had the grown-up sons to when it does? he got it wrong. he should tell middle-income families up and down britain he will think again. >> in the right hon. gentleman has suddenly discovered middle income families. we are now hearing about the squeeze the middle. who is it that squeeze the middle? who is it that it doubled the canceled tax? who tax the pensions?

and suddenly, having done this to middle-income earners, they want to stand up the middle income earners. it is a completely transparent political strategy to cover the inconvenient truths that he was put where he was by the trade union movements. it is short-term tactics and political positioning. it is not read. it is brown. >> as a qualified football referee, i am well aware that there are 50 days until of the momentous decision for the 18th world cup. will the prime minister john with me in supporting the bid, which is not just in the interest of football, but for the entire country? >> i am sure that the whole country and everyone in this

house will want to get behind the bis we have for the 2018 world cup. i think we can launch and run an incredible world cup. we have the best fans, the best teams, the best stadia. festival, we have the biggest enthusiasm for football in this country. i would also like to will humvee president of visa. i would like to assure him that the behavior in this house is always worse on the pitch or on the terraces. >> the house must now calm down. >> it is sometimes easy to forget how far northern ireland has come in recent years, but there is still immense challenges. i'm delighted about the discussions with the chancellor. can the prime minister confirm

today that he will stand by the formal guarantees given to the northern island executive at the time of the restoration of the people resolution, especially in terms of the financial package and capital investment scratching through 2015. these are critical matters. >> the hon. gentleman makes a very good points on how far northern ireland has come. everyone on all sides of this house wants to continue the process and make institutions work and amid the the piece that we have achieved in northern ireland. i pay tribute to my predecessors who worked so hard on that. the last prime minister made a series of promises, particularly on policing injustices in north ireland. on the issue of the presbyterian mitchell's aside, the group of people who did lose money in the financial -- presbyterian mutual society, the group of people who did lose money in the financial

crisis, we're trying to find an equitable solution. >> does the prime minster agree on the privatization of the royal mail? >> low-fat dishes that the royal mail is a business that has falling volumes -- the fact is that the world's oil is a business that has falling volumes of mail. -- the fact is that the royal mail is a business that has fallen volumes of mail. i hope that the party opposite will not turn its back on the future and actually back this sort of change rather than step back into its comfort zone. >> sir angus macmillan.

>> we are all deeply saddened by the death of linda norgrove. it was will come that the prime minister took time to speak with her father. at a difficult time, i am grateful to the community at this time of grief. does the family needed any help at all, independent or otherwise? >> i thank the hon. gentleman for the question he put and the way he put it. the family must have all the help they need. i have said that anything we can

do to help them and any information we can get to them, we must have. there is nothing that can bring linda back. and that wonderful daughter and the incredible life that she led. i think we can help to get all the information and the knowledge about what happened. i hope we can give as much explanation on the background of why so that's best -- so that this family can find closure to this terrible episode. >> lord adonis said that a pure graduate pact would be unworkable and a catastrophe. would the prime minister take the place of the shuttle counselor who said, for goodness sake, do not pursue a graduate tax. >> she is absolutely right. we looked at this policy

carefully of the summer. i'm glad to see the shadow chancellor is laughing. we look at this in detail. the fact is that a pure graduate tax does not work. i recommend to the party opposite why not a pure graduate tax under the last government? there is no guarantee universities would receive the additional funding raised. there's no direct relationship between what the student pays and the value of their course. they would not break even until 2004 to one. it is a completely flawed policy, totally unworkable, and expensive at the same time. as his first choice of a policy to go out on, the graduate tax is a complete disaster. >> can the prime minister

confirm -- [scoffing] >> i am extremely sorry. i did not catch the hon. gentleman's question. i am very sorry. short questions are a very good thing, but i am afraid i missed it. would you like another go? >> will you retain the winter fuel lines without any changes to the criteria used? >> i made a very clear promise in the election and i stand by that. >> this year, four british scientists gained nobel prizes in world science.

the spending review gives an opportunity to identify areas investment, as well as reducing costs. would the prime minister agree that, with the u.s.a., germany, and france and other countries increasing expenditures on science, that it would do credit for britain to do likewise? >> is important that we invest in our science space. i cannot enhance the fact that we inherited a deficit. i know that they do not like hearing it, but it is the truth. it is a fact. we will do what we can to make sure, as we go through this process, that we help to keep science and scientists in this country.

>> your legislation does not contain that guarantee. will pensioners have their payment cut and receive this year just 8 pounds 50. >> there was never a guarantee about these schemes. we will look at it carefully. we will make our announcement in the spending review. we will wait for the prime minister and he will have an announcement. clarain died suddenly yesterday and her final words were a warning to the prime tester. if he screws up the in a chess, she will come back and haunt him. [laughter] with the enormity of the national crisis becoming ever clearer and the steer targets closer, can the prime minister

reassure the house that we will honor our commitments and improve outcomes to match the best in europe? >> i was brought up listening to dr. reyna on capitol radio. i would never want to do anything to upset her or her memory. [laughter] what the house will know is that we have protected the national health service and would invest in it, all might the party opposite that opposed -- a proposed to get it. >> to the prime minister is aware that many small people are in wits and corner. when do expect to have a conclusion? the government will not recognize the danger of a double-dip recession in northern hands next week.

>> i know the hon. gentleman knows how difficult this issue is in achieving a fair resolution. it is not easy. i believe that we will have it done by the night of the spending review on october 28. that is our goal. an announcement will be made and he will appeal to explain to his constituents what we will do. >> this past summer, people had to endure travelers trespassing on their land. would he consider bringing forth legislation on intentional trespassed so the people who go on private land without the owner's permission will face the proper order? >> we will look at this issue. the point here is the issue of fairness. if everyone else in the country has to obey planning laws, that should be the same for the traveler community as well. we should have one law that

everybody obeys. that is what we will aim for. we will look at the proposal he makes. when the prime minister -- >> when the prime minister made to the agreement with -- was it a traditional handshake? why did he think the deputy prime minister is likely to pledge -- to honor his pledge to him as he did to those students and families? >> what we fundamentally agree between us was that it would take two parties to dig the party the -- dig the country out of the mess that that party put it in. >> one of the shortsighted mistakes was to repeal all interest rates on commercial property. what can the prime minister do to give a boost to read generation to business in my

constituency? >> i am afraid i will have to disappoint my hon. friend a little bit. properties were being left empty, not because business people chose to do that, but because of the recession. this was a bad tax. but we do not have a position with this massive budget deficit where we're able to undo all the bad things done in one go. we have focused on getting a lower rate corporation tax, cutting and trends on new businesses, getting business relief. those are things that can help to get our economy going. as evidence of that, we can welcome growth in employment we have seen over the last three months. >> after years of falling as a result of labor policies, unemployment in my constituency rose 80% during the global recession. could the prime minister explain to me