>> now from london, the prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. >> this week, prime minister david cameron offered in a bid on the situation in libya been specifically, commenting on the issues of arming libyan rebels and the support of the region. increases in university tuition fees and cuts in emergency loans for the unemployed. tackling. >> order, questions to the prime minister. jackie doyle price. >> here, here. >> moving along, >> i am sure that the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to major matthew collins and lance sergeant mark burgan from 1st battalion the irish guards. they died in afghanistan last wednesday after their vehicle was caught in a blast from an improvised explosive device. they were both hugely respected, passionate and dedicated soldiers, and they will be greatly missed. our thoughts and deepest condolences should be with their families, friends and

colleagues. d, passionate, and dedicated soldiers and they will be greatly missed our thoughts and deepest condolences should be with their this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and further to my duties in this house i shall have further such meetings later today. >> i pay tribute to our fallen heroes, and i am sure that i speak for many in the house when i say that we have to remember the debts we owe our brave armed forces, particularly at this time. is the prime minister aware that 14 opposition members signed an early-day motion congratulating uk uncut, despite that organisation's refusal to condemn saturday's violence? will he join me in urging those members to withdraw their names? >> i thank my hon. friend for her question. first of all, we should be absolutely clear that the scenes in central london of property, shops, banks and livelihoods being destroyed were completely and utterly unacceptable. the police should have our full support for the way they policed the march and the action they

took. i think that it is important for people to understand that uk uncut refused to condemn this violence and opposition members should remove their names from the early-day motion. >> i join the prime minister in paying tribute to major matthew collins and lance sergeant mark burgan, who died in afghanistan. they showed enormous bravery and courage, and all our thoughts are with their family and friends. may i start by asking the prime minister about the ongoing situation in libya? in particular, will he tell the house what his policy is on arming the rebels? >> i thank the right hon. gentleman for his question. before starting, perhaps on behalf of everyone in the house, i congratulate him and justine on the happy news of their forthcoming wedding and, along with everyone, wish them a long and happy life together. i can report that the situation on the ground is extremely fluid. there is no doubt in anyone's mind that the ceasefire is still being breached, and it is absolutely right that we keep

up our pressure under un security council resolution 1973. i can confirm to the house that the coalition took action yesterday against regime forces harassing civilian vessels trying to get into misrata. yesterday and overnight the raf flew 24 sorties, and tornado aircraft destroyed artillery and an armoured fighting vehicle near sirte. the right hon. gentleman asks about arming the rebels. i have said before in this house that we must do everything to comply with both security council resolutions. as i told the house, the legal position is clear-the arms embargo applies to the whole territory of libya-but at the same time unscr 1973 allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas, and our view is that that would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances. as i have told the house before, we do not rule it out, but we have not taken the decision to do so.

>> i thank the prime minister for that reply and am sure that the matter will be explored further in the foreign secretary's statement at 12.30 pm. i also thank him, and indeed all members, for their kind wishes on my forthcoming wedding, which i am very much looking forward to. i might have to come to him in the next couple of months for advice, because i know that he knows how to organise memorable stag nights. let me turn to a different issue -- tuition fees. the prime minister said that universities will charge £9,000 in tuition fees only in exceptional circumstances. how many of the 23 universities that have announced their plans are planning to charge £9,000?

>> i am sure that there will be a free exchange of advice. when i was leader of the opposition, i would have done anything for a honeymoon, and the right hon. gentleman probably feels the same way. however, we wish him well. on tuition fees, the point about the £9,000 is well made. universities can charge £9,000 only if they go through a number of steps to prove that they really are improving access to universities. i do not have the figures available, but i am very happy to give them to him when i do. >> this is an important point, because when the prime minister was selling his tuition fees policy he reassured people that there would be a basic threshold of £6,000, but that "in exceptional circumstances" some universities would be allowed to charge £9,000. of the 23 universities that have announced their fees, 18-more than 80%-plan to charge £9,000. it is not the exception. it is the rule.

i am afraid-not for the first time-that this policy has not been implemented competently. the next problem he faces with this policy is that it will cost the treasury more money to fund the loans. will he guarantee that that money will not come from university budgets or through a reduction in student numbers? >> it is worth reminding the house that university tuition fees were first introduced by the labour party. there are two important points about this threshold. first, each university will have to spend £900 per place on access requirements. secondly, the office for fair access will decide whether universities can go to that £9,000 threshold. very tough rules have been published and placed in the house for people to see. on the additional money that will go into higher education, the right hon. gentleman is absolutely right, because of the system we are introducing, we will be spending more overall on universities.

however, the key thing is that because of the reductions in spending we are having to make elsewhere, this is the only way to guarantee that we have well- funded universities, well- stocked libraries, well-paid lecturers and good universities to take on the world. >> i asked a very simple question -- where will the money come from, given that the government have miscalculated the level of tuition fees? universities up and down the country are worried that the prime minister does not think that an 80% cut in the teaching budget is enough and that he will come back for more. policing is another area of public services that i do not think the government are getting quite right. the police minister was asked eight times on the radio this morning whether the number of front-line police officers would fall. may i ask the prime minister whether there will be fewer front-line police officers in the years ahead?

>> according to home office statistics, if all forces achieve the current best average for visibility and vailability, it would increase the number of officers available by 8,000. >> i do not think that people will understand what that answer was supposed to mean. the prime minister should listen to the chief inspector of lancashire police -- "we cannot leave the front line untouched." that is because of the scale of the cuts. two thousand police officers are being forced out under the a19 rules. sergeant dave hewitt -- "'i will be walking away from the force, unfortunately not through choice. as far as i'm concerned i'm still young and i wanted to continue being a neighbourhood sergeant." that sounds like a front-line police officer to me. may i ask the prime minister the same question? does he expect there to be fewer front-line police officers in the years ahead? yes or no? >> there is no reason for there

to be fewer front-line officers. both parties agree that the police budget has to be cut. i heard the shadow chancellor on the marr programme say that "we would have made cuts to policing." the labour party would have cut policing, and we have to do so, so the question is -- how do we make those cuts? we say that we have to freeze police pay for two years, reform police allowances and cut their paperwork. they labour party opposes all those things, so it would have to make deeper cuts in police numbers. that is the case. >> it is very simple -- we proposed 12% cuts in the policing budget. the prime minister is proposing 20% cuts. her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary said that if we go beyond 12%, that is likely to lead to cuts in front-line officers, which is exactly what is happening up and down this country. the truth is that he used to claim that the conservatives were the party of law and order, but now he is cutting the number of police officers up and down

the country. it is the wrong choice for the police, the wrong choice for communities and the wrong choice for the country as well. >> not for the first time, the right hon. gentleman is completely wrong. the difference between a 12% reduction and what we are proposing is the freeze in police pay and the reform of police allowances, which he refuses to support. has anyone seen a more ridiculous spectacle than the right hon. gentleman marching against the cuts that his government caused? i know martin luther king said he had a dream-i think it is time the right hon. gentleman woke up. >> from his visits to cornwall, the prime minister will appreciate the high regard for the coastguard service there and around the uk.

i am reassured that the under- secretary of state for transport, my hon. friend the member for hemel hempstead, mike penning, has said that the current modernisation proposals are not a done deal. does the prime minister agree that it is very important to get the plans right? >> i absolutely agree with my hon. friend. she is a cornish mp, and i am sure that she and the whole of the house would want me to say how much we feel for our colleague, my hon. friend the member for south east cornwall (sheryll murray), who lost her husband in a tragic fishing accident. that demonstrates the extraordinary risks that people in coastal communities take, and our hearts should go out to her and her family. we want to make changes only if they improve the coastguard support that people in fishing communities and elsewhere get. that is what the reform is about: trying to ensure that the real impetus is on the front line. if that is not the case, we will obviously have to reconsider the reforms, and that is why they are being reviewed. what i would say to everyone who cares about this issue is: work with us to make sure we get the maximum amount in those lifeboats and other ways of helping our fishing and other communities.

and sport alliance which would be available to those who would diagnosed with guarantee or undergoing or awaiting treatment? >> we will look very carefully as the government medical advisor is about dls and its interaction with people that have cancer but i think everyone on all sides of the house should recognize that dla does need

>> does the prime minister acknowledge the serious concerns that have been raised about did verse applications and complications for cancer patients under the proposals in the welfare reform bill of replacing disability living allowance with personal independence payments? will he therefore investigate with ministers the case for creating a straightforward cancer care and support allowance, which would be available to those who have been diagnosed with cancer and are either undergoing or awaiting treatment? >> the hon. lady asked an important question. we will look carefully, as the government -- as the government medical advisor is, at dla and its interaction with people with cancer. however, i think that everyone, in all parts of the house,

should recognize that dla does need reform. the fact is that there are 130,000 people on dla who have not had a claim revised at all since the benefit was introduced in 1992. there are 750,000 people who have had the same claim for 10 years and no contact from the department. there 21,000 people working it getting dla because they one drink of because it -- because they're on drink or drugs, so reform really is necessary. but making sure that we assess people with cancer properly is definitely part of that reform. >> may i congratulate the prime minister on what appears to have been a successful london conference on libya? what measures are being taken to ensure that we can expand the coalition of countries taking part in action to include regional players such as qatar and others?

which is vital if we are to maintain regional support? >> i think my hon. friend for his question. it was a successful conference yesterday, and my right hon. friend the foreign secretary will make a statement about it later. there were more than 40 delegations, widespread representation from the islamic world and a common message from everyone at the conference about broadening and deepening the alliance, and enforcing u.n. secretary council resolution 1973. there was also new support, with equipment, including from the swedes, who are making eight aircraft available. we are on track and there is very strong support for what is being done. but we need to keep up the support, particularly in the arab world. >> families who have lost their jobs have been able to apply for emergency loans to tide them over. so why, when unemployment is at a 17-year high and is predicted to get worse, does information leaked to me show that the

government plan to cut the fund tomorrow and why, just like last week's cuts to winter fuel payments, was this not announced in the budget? >> we're putting in place the budget and boldest -- the biggest and boldest programs since the great depression to help unemployed people. that is what the work program is all about, and the hon. gentleman should work with us to make sure that it can help everyone, including those in his constituency. >> taking into account the high levels of deprivation in lowestoft in my constituency and in great yarmouth, coupled with the nerve -- coupled with the unrivaled potential of the east anglian closed for creating jobs in the offshore energy sector, does the prime minister agree that those prospects would be significantly boosted by the creation of an enterprise zone? >> my hon. friend exterior to the case for an enterprise zone. i am delighted that we have introduced 21st enterprise -- 21

enterprise zones and clearly there is a case that colleagues can make for more. there are real strength in his area in terms of green-tech jobs, which i know he supports. i am sure that the chancellor will have heard his message. >> dozens of families in my constituency were put out of their homes overnight and remain out of their homes as a result of terrorist activity. the latest in a long line of such incidents in north ireland recently. will the prime minister join me in condemning that terrorist activity? as well as supporting the police and the army with resources, does he agree that, as we approach to the assembly elections in a few weeks' time and mark the full -- mark the first full term of uninterrupted, stable devolution in northern ireland for generations, the best answer that we can give to such people is to reject them, reject their policies, reject their wanted to drag us back to the past and to

keep northern ireland living for? but the right hon. gentleman speaks with support from all parts of the house for what he says. both points that he makes. first, we have to be eternally vigilant against terrorists in northern island and elsewhere. we should do that and he knows that the british government will give every support that they can to the northern ireland executive. secondly, the best proof of success and that there is a non- violent path is to show the success of our democratic institutions, which he, his colleagues, and all parties in northern ireland are doing. >>-a, -- >> yesterday, counselors on the yorkshire and the humber joint health overview unscrew the committee were told by senior doctors that, if leads loses its children's heart surgery unit, and allows

transfers will be unsafe and could be fatal. given that the report into the review of children's heart units, commissioned by the previous government, of course, contains factual errors and given that there is a question over the impartiality of the board that made the final recommendations, will the prime minister now agree to halt the process? if not, does he think that the only option is judicial review? >> the hon. gentleman is absolutely right to speak up for his constituency, which could be affected by that review, as indeed could mine. there are many times however, when rather bogus arguments are put forward for specialization in the nhl, but, in a real complicated case such as child surgery, there are cases for specialization and, as passionately as we all want to defend our own hospitals, we have to think about clinical safety and what is best for children. he is absolutely right to speak

up for his hospital, as i am for the one that serves for my constituency, but we have to have some understanding about the complexity of what we're dealing with. >> does the prime minister understand that unilaterally setting minimum price for carbon in britain will drive out in which investors such as top castile in swansea -- tata steel in swansea? carbon trading by its very nature requires a common price, not a unilateral one, so will he suspended the price and sent his chancellor into the european union to negotiate common price and ensure that we have a level playing field for inward investment? >> i respect the hon. gentleman's views, but i do not agree with him. i think the steps taken in the budget are right. we should judge companies such as tata by the investments that

they make. i have been hugely heartened by the fact that it is putting more investment into the uk. its red car plant closed under the previous government, but it is going to reopen in part because of the investment that it mate -- that it is making. i will course listen to the hon. gentleman, but i think that ratan tata knows a bit more about his business than he does. >> my constituent jeff jacobs is in parliament for the prostate cancer charities action de to remind us that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and. with only three weeks -- with only three of 10 men being aware of the prostate-specific antigen blood test, and with 10,000 men each year dying of the disease, does the prime minister have a dream of better outcomes for the increasing investment in the in a test? >> my hon. friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. he is right that it is a dream we can have, but the fact that

prostate cancers such a massive killer is a nightmare for many families and many people in this country. we really do need to do something about it. that means better early diagnosis, better testing, and better access to drugs. all those things are contained in our plans for the na chasse. >> the prime minister will be aware of the large number of women across the country, including a number in my constituency, who are in their and all lower incomes. he will be aware that speeding up the equalization of the state pension age will affect some 2.9 million of them with many having to wait two years and, as a result, lose up to 10,000 pounds. these are usually people in low incomes and are usually people -- and in marginalized economies. does the prime minister intend to put in place any measures to cushion the severe effects on these people on low incomes and

their strict financial circumstances? >> the hon. gentleman makes an important point. of course, the position of the pension age does as people to work for longer in their lives and it is a big change. i think that because people living longer, it is right that we make this change to make sure we can have a good, strong and affordable pension system. the biggest thing we're doing is linking the pension to earnings rather than prices, which means that someone retiring today will be getting 15,000 pounds more over the next. then they would have done under the old plans. so one is partly to pay for the other. >> the less government left us with one in five young people unemployed. does my right hon. friend agree that the new university technical colleges will help to transform the lives of young people and are a matter of social justice as well as economic efficiency? will the support lord baker in support -- in supporting the

strong bid of harlow college to harlow duty see so that parlo -- >> order. we get the gist of it. >> my hon. friend is absolutely right to speak up for harlow and to speak up for university technical colleges, which i think are going to be a great innovation in our country. i pay tribute to lord baker for the work he is doing and to my right hon. friend the education secretary and to the chancellor, who put extra money in the budget so that 21 of these colleges can open in our country, including, i hope, in harlow. >> the coalition agreement promised that the in a chess budget would increase in real terms in each year. since the spending review, inflation has a spot -- has are of very high and we now face a real terms cut of 1 billion pounds for the and it is. what is the prime minister what to do about that? >> burress said that in it

spending would increase the real terms each year and it will. >> as we approach good friday, we might reflect on the role of point his pilot. with that in mind, will my right hon. friend reassure the house that he would never addressed crowds on hyde park corner protesting about reductions in spending if he had been responsible for the economic mess that was the cause of the reductions in the first bus? >> i hon. friend puts it extremely well. far from standing on the shoulders of the suffragettes, or whatever not since we heard at the weekend, the fact is that the leader of the opposition is sitting in a great big pool of debt that was his creation, and he has got all absolutely no idea what to do about it. >> in 2009, the prime minister promised families with a disability -- with disabled children, in his own words, "a crack team of medical experts, doctors, nurses, fazio to act as

one stop shop to assess families and get them to help -- and the help they need." kenny tildon house how many of these teams have been set up? >> what i can tell the hon. lady is that it was very much something based on my own experience of having repeated assessments when you are trying to get help, benefits, and social work, and in the special educational needs, green paper that precise idea is rapidly becoming government policy. >> despite summoned help local party political mischief making, about the future of our valuable sure start services, will the prime minister join me in welcoming hampshire county council's proposals to protect front line sure start services while sitting public money by cutting back office costs? >> by hon. friend is absolutely right. the key thing is that the head of the sure start services as herself said that there is money available in the budget to keep

sure start open. that money is not being reduced. >> on march 24 last year, six weeks before the general election, the derby telegraph reporter that the primary booster had accused me of disturbing inaccurate information about conservative plans for the winter fuel payment. it turns out that i was right and he was wrong. so, unless he is going to overrule his chancellor, will he take this opportunity to apologize to the millions of pensioners who really -- who rely on the winter fuel allowance and to me for his unfair center? >> i cannot believe that i accuse the hon. gentleman of anything because i had absolutely no idea what he was. all -- while we are added, we promised that we would keep the winter fuel payments and we have kept the winter fuel payments. we promised that we would keep the cold weather payments and we have kept them. we promised to upgrade to the

pension in line with earnings and we increase them. we said we would keep the bus passes and the tv licenses and we did all those things. yes, he did mislead his electors at the election. >> queen's award winning no more torque, rally-winning pro drive and global will award winning crompton technology group are all manufacturing businesses based in danbury. they're all doing so well that they went to move into larger premises, but they also have immediate skill vacancies that they need to fill. what collectively can we do to try to ensure that people who are unemployed elsewhere in the country and to have skills now of the skills they -- >> order. i am grateful to the hon. gentleman, but we do have other members to accommodate. >> hon. friend is right to raise

this issue and the reaction of the opposition shows that they're not interested in manufacturing, skills, technology, and ensuring that we expand those things. we will have to under 50,000 apprenticeships sobered this parliament the university technical colleges will make a difference and it will be -- and it is very good news to hear about the expansion of manufacturing in his constituency. >> the welfare reform bill proposes to introduce 50 pounds civil penalty for claimants to make a mistake in completing the application form. at the same time, advice to agencies have stated that they are facing a perfect storm of funding cuts and many fear that they will not be in existence to help the vulnerable in completing the course. does the prime minister think that this is fair? >> i would make two points to the hon. lady. first, it is fair to say that the government are not cutting the money that we put into citizens advice bureaus, for exactly the reason she