c-span podcasts. >> c-span is a private nonprofit company created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service. tonight, prime minister david cameron and opposition leader ed miliband on egypt and the security of british nationals in the region. also, a couple of programs commemorating the 100th anniversary of president ronald reagan's prepared remarks from sarah palin followed by presidential historian. tomorrow, president obama delivers remarks on the u.s. economy and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure. watch live coverage from the u.s. chamber of commerce here on c-span at 11:30 a.m. eastern. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2011] >> you cannot watch the scenes in cairo without finding it incredibly moving. >> from london, "prime minister's questions," from me british house of commons. they addressed the unfolding events in british, including the security british nationals there. the prime minister recently visited the region and talks about a timetable for withdrawing british troops. >> order, questions to the prime minister. question one, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house would like to join me to pray tribute to martin bell for the -- he died a true hero, showing

exceptional bravery and selflessness as he went to the aid of an injured colleague. it is clear from the tributes paid that he was a well- liked soldier. our deepest and condolences should be with his family. this morning, in addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further meetings today. >> i think the premise to for the generous words about private felt. his battalion is based at the course of garrison. does the prime minister share my concern that some local authorities and some help trusts are using the conceived cuts as an excuse to make cuts, the undermining charities with a big

society complex? >> i absolutely sure the gentleman's concern. in the case of the department of health, there are cuts in the department of health budget. it is going up. but it is a very important that the department of health does what it can to try to protect the organization working in that government. there would be, frankly, whoever is -- i would urge local authorities to look first at their own costs. it is only when they can show that they are sharing chief executives and cutting up their own bureaucracies that they can ensure that they need to make reductions elsewhere. in some cases, they have not yet been convincing. >> first of all, can i call the prime minister in honoring the memory of martin bell.

he showed enormous and bravery and dedication. we send condolences to all of his family and friends. last weekend, but to myself about the bravery commitment of our troops and all those who are involved. i came away with an overwhelming sense of admiration and humility. i pray -- at a tribute to whoever is in afghanistan about the unfolding situation in egypt, i would ask the prime minister to a big house and the security of british nationals. can he inform us of the arrangements being made for those who want to return to the u.k.? >> first of all, can thank the gentleman for his tribute to our troops and for his visit to the afghanistan and a think it is important that we go ahead, in this difficult endeavor, on all across-party basis. the first concern should be for our own u.k. nationals and for the situation that they are in. there are 30,000 u.k. nationals

in the red sea area, which at the moment remains calm and stable. we have not changed tack -- change travel adviser to that part of the area. in terms of making sure those who want to return can and we have urged me to do so, there are very good commercial flights and we have added a flight commissioned by the british government in the last 48 hours and a thousand u.k. citizens have returned. the military logistics team -- we were the first country to set up a team at the cairo airport. i do not take any of this for granted. there has been absolutely no complacency. i think our ambassador has done in a -- done a terrific job and i presume. >> i thank you for that reply.

let me ask about the wider issues on egypt. i think everybody has been moved by the images we have seen on the screens in the last two days of hundreds of thousands of people against overwhelming odds demanding a more democratic future. following the president's statement last month, can i ask the prime minister if he agrees with president obama, that a stable and orderly transition to democracy must be meaningful, peaceful, and begin now? >> whee august -- we absolutely take that view. the transition must be rapid and credible and needs to start now. we should be clear. we stand with those in this country who want freedom, who want democracy and rights, the world over. that should always be argued. you can watch the scenes in cairo without finding it incredibly moving, but people wanting to have those aspirations in egypt as we have given our country. the government is very strong view that political reform is what is required, not repression. we have made that clear in all

of our calls made to president mubarak. the key question is have they done enough? president mubarak says he is going. we respect that. but it should be urgent, credible, and start now. the more they can do a timetable to convince people it is true, the sooner the country can settle down to a more stable and democratic future. >> i think the whole house will be pleased by the views he has expressed. is it not also clear that, far from the king's support for extremism, the people on the streets of egypt is a far from advocating support for extremism, the people on the streets of egypt -- is it not also clear that, far from support for extremism, the people on the streets of egypt are asking for democracy?

>> we should take the view that the long-term interests of britain, from a stable middle east and a stable arab world. we will not give us stability unless they make moves towards greater democracy. when we talk about a greater democracy, we do not just talk about the act of holding an election. we many building blocks of democracy. i want to see a partnership for open society where we encourage a strong civil society, stronger rights, a strong rule of law, a proper place for the army inside, a proper independent judiciary could these are the building blocks it can give us a stronger, more -- judiciary. these are the building blocks that can give us a stronger, more stable societe. >> i know he will give the -- will keep the house updated on the situation. can i say to the prime minister that we support the mission and we support the timetable he has set for the end of combat operations by british troops?

during my visit, the commanders on the ground told me that we're bringing real pressure to bear on the insurgency. can he provide the house with his latest assessment of the overall purpose of our mission in light of the timetable that has been set? >> i am grateful for that. we're making progress in helmand, but we should not focus on it, but look at the rest of afghanistan, too. the increase in the afghan national country is one of its genuine thousand soldiers by the end of this year and 134,000 police. i think the key to this is a better balance of forces that we now have. there has been surging number of trips and we need a balance between the u.s. and u.k. forces so that we're more thickly

concentrated in fewer areas and better able to do the job. we have set this timetable and said that we do not want u.s. forces to be in a -- two kit -- u.k. forces in combat by 2015. but we have to train the national afghan army and pursuing a national track to integrate those in the insurgency and make sure that the government of afghanistan improves in the way that i know he believes, too, is important. >> about the political track, i want to pursue that with the prime minister. does he agree with me that setting the time table makes it more important that we have a lasting political self -- a political settlement and one beyond the departure of british troops? does he further agree with me that an inclusive supplement must reach out to those of the insurgency, renounced violence, and respect the afghan constitution? >> those are the absolutely key conditions. for those who worry about the

timetable, setting a timetable encourages people in afghanistan themselves to recognize that they have to take the steps necessary to take control of their country again. we do need this political track. we need to work much harder at it. the key of separating the taliban from al qaeda, rejecting violence, and accepting the basic tenets of the afghan constitution, those are important and we need to push this extremely hard. >> i sense, mr. speaker, that people are not used to this kind of p and q's. [laughter] let me say to him that i will support him and all the efforts he makes with the united nations, the united states, and all our nato partners in this. can he tell me then what concrete steps he thinks he can take at the conference at the

end of the year to make this happen? >> first of all, i am sure that he is right. sometimes, it is sensible to have a serious conversation about issues that we face. i know he knows that, when you visit our troops in afghanistan, they want us to discuss what they're doing and get it right. in terms of encouraging the political track, i think it is very important that we engage not just with the afghan government, but also with the pakistan government. we will not create a stable afghanistan, which should be our aim, in afghanistan's civil not enough so that we can bring our troops home without a hotbed of terrorism. i think that is the absolute key to solving this problem. having a political track, so that those who have been opposed to us recognize that there is a democratic path, a peaceful path that they can fall, but they have to give up violence and al qaeda before that can happen. >> in october, there was the

announcement that the government has -- and the support of the prime minister was very much welcomed. will he now join with me and colleagues across the region in pressing for an early start scheme so that the economic benefits can be delivered as soon as possible? >> i think all of us who visited remember how important it is to the people in march. we have guaranteed the funding it -- the people in norwich. we have guaranteed the funding in the infrastructure of the next four years, work on the a- eleven is an important project. construction work will start in the current spending review period. >> of dillon is a 6-year-old

autistic boy in my constituency. he has had speech and language therapy support to take away at his school. what does the prime minister think i should say to his mother who is absolutely outraged at which the support for that ought to stick boy has been taken away? >> like anyone in this house, the gentleman will work as hard as he can to help the family to get the therapies that they need. what that means is going to the county council and arguing the case as many of us have had to do, not only with constituents, but also with our own children as well. we will also be producing a paper on special education leave which will try to reform the ways that these things are done and make it less confrontational. i know incredibly how tough it is. but sometimes it is what your family needs. >> i want to thank the prime minister and the prime ministers

who have been so helpful in the past 24 hours with regards to the pfizer closure in my constituency. i want the prime minister to assure me and my hon. colleagues that the government will do everything it can to secure the high skilled employees and the local economy. lady isink the hon. leade right. it is depressing news and sad news. my office has been in contact with them. i spoke with them again this morning. there is no doubt that the decision is being made in, but not because of some u.k.-based dishes, but because the company has decided to exit some old -- u.k.-based decision, but because the company has decided to exit some old endeavors. the fact is that it is a state of the art site.

it has billion employees doing great work and the government will do everything it can, coordinated by david willett and bayh head of the office of life sciences, to make sure we do the best -- and the head of the office of life sciences, to make sure we do the best you can. >> can the prime minister talk about a report that's just the that council be given the power to raise their own fuel g d? and does he agree with them? >> we speak to each other on a frequent basis. we want to see well resourced local councils who have greater powers, the greater evil ocean, policy like weown revolutio did in the previous administration. >> 24 pairs councils, we will

provide a very warm welcome for the member of the ipc will be coming to make a decision as to whether or not they grant commission for the incinerator in my constituency. if you're the party of localism, will the prime minister give his assurance that he will provide a statement that will be amended in order to give the decision to local people if they do not want it. >> we will go further than that. in her own case, the ipc will be taking representations' from local people. we have committed to abolish the at pc. that is too much of a top-down bureaucratic mess said. -- bureaucratic method. >> does the prime minister share

my dismay at the fact that, despite seeing 86% publicly- owned, the rts bank is still dishing out huge bonuses? bs bank is still dishing out huge bonuses? these should never be considered for any honors in the future. >> first of all, can i congratulate the right hon. gentleman for his new position. [laughter] that probably ended his career. i am sorry for that. we are in discussions with rbs on this issue. we are bound by contract signed by the previous government. what we want to see by the banks is a lower bonus pool. we want to see more lending. we want to see them contributing more in taxes to the exchequer.

i am quite sure we will see all of these things from the discussions we are having. >> -- 9 >> i can certainly give him that assurance. my friend, the health secretary, has put in strong arrangements to make sure that local people are listened to when there are these conditions taking place. no changes will be allowed unless they focused in

patienbetter patient outcomes. >> wage freezes, pension cuts, tens of thousands of public workers sacked, unemployment -- how can the prime minister justify building a $50 billion war chest? >> all of the things that the hon. gentleman and says about the test decisions yet to make about pensions and welfare, they're all and everyone the consequence of the government that was in 13 years before me. >> this week, i was with a

gathering of students. the unfortunate, sadly, in kingsley, to many children stop school and do not -- start school and do not speak english. >> i agree with my hon. friend. into many cases, this is not happening. the last government did make some progress to make sure that people learned english when it came to our country. i think we need to go further. if you look at the figures for people who are coming over as husbands and wives, particularly in the indian subcontinent, we should be putting in place tougher rules to make sure that they do learn english so that, when they come, if they come, they can be more integrated into our country. >> there are 51 disabled workers in a factory in my constituency.

they take great pride in the product they make. two years ago, the deputy prime minister pledged his support to the employee workers. >> we inherited a plan that was actually phasing out support for the employed workers. that is? what we inherited. i will get back to the lady of that is not correct. we will help support and help -- we will support and help people who are disabled. >> would my right hon. friend described the biggest structural deficit in the g-7 as a golden economic inheritance? [laughter] >> i certainly would not been he makes an extremely good point. the shadow chancellor stated baldly that there was no structural deficit when they

left office. even as the institute for professional studies could not be more clear that we have one of the biggest structural deficits of anywhere in the dance world. if you start in opposition of a complete deficit of denial, you will never be taken seriously again. >> mr. speaker, with youth unemployment at the highest levels since records began, will the prime minister reconsider the decisions of strapped future trust funds? >> i'm glad to see the hon. gentleman back and well and in his place. as i said last week, this is a problem that got worse during the boom years under the last government and then got even worse during a recession. and is still a very big problem today. i do not believe the future jobs fund is the right to job. it is five times more expensive

than the other schemes. in places like birmingham, only 3% of the jobs are in the private-sector. it is not a good scheme. it needs a better scheme. everyone in this house needs to work together on how we tackle youth unemployment, a scourge that has gotten worse over the past 13 years. >> will the prime minister commit to making continued support of the common fisheries policy absolutely conditional upon the end of the appalling fish discard? >> i will spec for -- i was before many in this house when i say that the current regime of discarded fish that are perfectly healthy is not acceptable and needs to change. we have an opportunity to try to work to that end. >> dr. william mccray. >> prime minister, before the election, you came to the podium and entered into a context to the people of northern ireland to bring change to our economy. that caused the people to read

the contract, stick it on your friend, use it to hold us in kind. we have lost 4 billion pounds with rising unemployment. can you give us any progress to radically reduce the tax given that we are in competition with the irish republic? >> one of the things we said is that we would sort out the presbytery neutral society. i am proud to say that we have done that and deliver that important pledge to the people of northern ireland. everyone in northern ireland knows that we need to rebalance the economy. the public sector is too big. the private sector is too small. we're looking at all of the potential for things like enterprises, a different tax rates, to try to help bring that about. that is exactly what we are committed to appeared >> -- committed to. >> how was told that apprenticeships was the number one priority with strong ongoing

local schemes in the area. will the prime minister back be skills for work campaign? >> my hon. friend is right to raise this. we have a difficult decision in this spinning around. we have increased the funding for produce ships so that we will likely be funding 75,000 more apprenticeships than what was planned under the party opposite. we think it is absolutely vital for helping young people, not just in to work in the short term, but to make sure that that good and worthwhile careers in our rebels the economy. -- read balanced economy. -- rebalanced economy. >> it will cost 50 jobs.

they are cheaper and they're better. it will lead to export as well. >> did the hon. gentleman makes a passionate plea for a business in his constituency and he is right to do that. i'm sure that the ministry of defense will hear what he says. i want every opportunity for british defense manufacturers to compete and succeed. we're doing everything we can to help them. we have been talking about apprentice ships. -- apprenticeships. >> and john glenn. >> according to the report i addressing how to prevent poor children from becoming poor adults, what action does the prime minister intend to take to address the sixth recommendation of the report that promise should be given to the earliest

years in public policy? >> the gentleman is quite right. it is good that this report has been produced about how we try to help children out of poverty. the two most important steps we're taking is funding a two- year-old industry education. the second thing is a pupil-free meal for all children so that the money follows them into schools. they shake their heads. they had 13 years to do it. they never did. >> there were 4000 storm bursts in the u.k. last year. will the prime minister give the guarantee there will be no cut in the funding in the causes of silver? >> there is no cut in the national health service. we're putting extra into the

national health service. that is against the allies, including those among his own front bench. i will get back to him on the specific research he talks about but i know we have met constituents who have this situation and how heartbreaking .t can be paire >> jackie doyle prius. >> the school in my constituency last month celebrated becoming an academy. they are delighted with the freedoms given them. could he give some encouraging words to other schools looking to take these important steps? >> i would encourage all schools looking for academy status because of the extra freedom that it gives you, the extras -- extra responsibility, and the evidence is now clear that academies will, particularly those in less-well- off areas have transformed in those places. those places.