mitt romney sits down in manchester. and another chance to see q and a with carol highsmith. >> >> rebekah brooks was arrested and questioned and the police commissioner resigned in connection with the case. the ongoing investigation was the topic of discussion. this is about 30 minutes. >> buying the silence of public

figures that would incriminate your business and publishing confidential medical details of a disabled child to happen to have a famous father. are any of these the action of a fit and proper person? >> my honorable friend makes an extremely powerful point. i think we have to be clear about what is happening. there is a firestorm that is engulfing parts of the media, parts of the police, and political system's ability to respond. what we must do in the coming days and weeks is to think of all of the victims who are watching this today and to make doubly sure that we get to the bottom of what happened and we prosecute those who are guilty.

>> about what happened to them, the hawking of the dr.'s found and be terrible treatment of "news of the world." does the prime minister agree with me that it is an insult to the family that rebekah brooks is still in her post at news international? >> i is married -- i have made very clear that the resignation should have been accepted. there is to be changed at this entire organization. it is now becoming increasingly clear that everybody wanted to separate what was happening at news international and what is happening that is simply not possible. what is happened to this company is disgraceful. it has to be addressed at every level. they should stop thinking about

mergers when they have to sort out the mess they have created. >> mr. speaker, i think the prime minister for that answer. he is right to take a position that rebekah brooks should go. with the abuses and the pattern of deceit that we have seen, does he agree that it would be quite wrong for them to expand their stake in the british media? desi further agree that if the house of commons speaks with one voice today, rupert murdoch should drop his bid to be -- should recognize the world has changed and should listen to this house of commons. >> i agree with what the gentleman said. i think it is good that the house of commons is going to speak with one voice. the government does have a job to do to act at all times within the law.

yes, as the honorable member at said, we should look at amending the laws. we should make sure that this is right. we should make sure the competition and enterprise act are right. i think it is perfectly acceptable to obey the law as a government and to send a message from this house of commons that this business has got to stop the business of mergers and get on with the business of cleaning its stables. >> i look for work to debating this issue with the leader of the house. >> mr. speaker, i know he is making a statement about the inquiry. can he confirm something that we agreed last night? we need to make sure that we get to the bottom, not just of what happens, but also about the relationships between politicians and the press. does he agree with me? does he agree with me that if we

expect editors and members of the press to give evidence under oath, so should current officials? >> on this issue of the debate, we are debating now, and that is right. we will have a statement from the house of commons and i will stand here and ask the questions. i think we should focus on this. we had an excellent meeting last night. we discussed the nature of the inquiry that need to take place. we discussed the terms of reference. i send the terms of reference to his office this morning. we have had some amendments and we are happy to accept those amendments. i want to hear what the family and others have to say said that we can move that i had in a way that takes the whole country with us. i also think that if we're going to say to the police, you must be more transparent and cut out corruption, if we're going to

say to the media, you must be transparent, the relationship between politicians and the media has changed and we must be more transparent. i will be setting out to proposals for that in a minute or two. >> i want to thank the prime minister for those answers. can i ask him to clear up one specific issue? his chief of staff and is director of strategy were given specific information before the general election by the guardian newspaper. the information showed that while he was editor of state -- he made payments to police on behalf of the "news of the world." can the prime minister tell us what happened to that specific

information that was given to his chief of staff? >> i do need to give a very full answer. first of all, all these questions relate to the fact that i hired a tabloid editor. i did so on the basis of assurances that he gave me that he did not know about the phone hacking and he was not involved in criminality. he gave those assurances to the police, to a select committee of this house and under oath to a court of law. if it turns out that he lied, it will be that he should be prosecuted. i do believe that we must stick to the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty. let me deal directly about the information given to my office. the information was not passed on to me. let me be clear. this was not some secret stash of information, almost all that was published in the guardian

in february 2010 at the same time our officials approach. it contained no allegations directly linking andy coulson to illegal behavior. it did not shed any further light on the issue of phone hacking. imad the editor of the guardian the very next month and he did not raise meat -- rates with me once. i'm at 10 a year later, and he did not raise that either. if this information is so significant, why have i not been asked one question about it? the reason why a, the reason why, the reason why, mr. speaker, it did not add anything to the assurances that i was given. if i was lied to, if the police relied too, it would be a matter of regret and a matter of criminal prosecution.

>> anybody might think it was an orchestrated noise that was taking place. order, the house will come to order. >> andy coulson had hired a man, and jailed for seven years, for criminal conspiracy to make payments to the police on behalf of "news of the world." this evidence cast serious doubt on his assurances as an isolated example of illegal activity.

the prime minister says the chief of staff is not pass on this very serious information. can he now tell us what information he proposes to take against the chief of staff? >> let me just say this. he can stand there and ask questions about andy coulson. i can stand here and ask questions. i can ask questions -- the know what, mr. speaker? i think the public and the victims of this appalling scandal want us to rise above this and deal with the problems of the country faces. >> mr. speaker, he does -- he just does not get it.

i say this to the prime minister. he was warned about the deputy chief prime minister about hiring andy coulson. he has not admitted in the house of commons today that his chief of staff was given complete evidence which contradicted andy coulson's previous account. the prime minister must now published the fullest account of all the information that was provided and what he did and why does warnings went unheeded. he should do -- he should apologize for the catastrophic error of judgment in hiring andy coulson. >> i am afraid, mr. speaker, the person who is not getting it is the leader of the opposition.

what the public wants us to do is to address this firestorm. they want us to sort out bad practices of the media. they want us to fix the corruption and the police. they want a proper public inquiry. wendy's problems went on for so long, -- when these problems went on for so long, what was it that happened in the last decade? what was its in the investigation that did not work? we now have a police investigation that will see a proper prosecution and i hope proper conviction and we will have a public inquiry run by a judge to get to the bottom of this issue. that is the leadership i am determined to provide. >> order. order. order! order. order. i say to the child -- i say to

the minister, tried to calm down and behave like an adult. if it is beyond you, leave the chamber. we will manage without you. >> thank you, mr. speaker. >> this is intolerable behavior as far as -- >> no, it is not funny. it is not funny. it is disgraceful. " >> a case of the pot calling the kettle black. if the prime minister aware that there are people who have been quoted without conviction 53,000 pounds to ensure -- these ridiculous premiums are being

driven by a insurance companies. what are we going to do? >> thank you, mr. speaker. my friend is making a good point about the problem of referral fees that are driving up the cost of insurance for many people. there was a report to the government calling for a referral fees to be bound. i am very sympathetic to this. we hope to make some progress. >> will the prime minister give evidence to the judge of the public inquiry that he is setting up today? >> of course. it will take its powers from the inquiries act. it will be able to call people from under us.

there is the issue of what happened in the media. there are questions for politesse -- politicians, past, present, and future. >> my constituents are increasingly concerned about the problems in the euro zone. will the prime minister reassure me that he is doing everything he can to keep us out of bed and to urge the euro zone to act? -- keep us out of it and to urge the euros and to act? >> it would take away the flexibility that we currently have. 40% of our exports go to euro zone countries. we should make suggestions and all in the private sector to make greece's debt burden more sustainable.

euro zone countries have to recognize that they have to do more to gather and faster, they have to get ahead of the market rather than responding to the next crisis. >> thank you, mr. speaker. he warned number attend the last year of the terrible damage that it would suffer if andy coulson was appointed. >> the decision to employ a tabloid editor of meant that there were a number of people who said this was not a good idea. particular when that ataturk had been at the -- particularly when back editor had been at "news of the world" when bad things were happening. if i was lied to, that would be a matter of the regrets. we must make sure that we judge people as innocent until proven

guilty. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this week, i received another e- mail regarding -- this time he told me of an elderly lady who had a fall and was unable to ring the alarm because the cables from the village. this is a growing problem across the country. the legislation related to this was in 1964. >> i have every sympathy with my honorable friend. i had a case in my own constituency of where the lead from the church roof was stolen. i need to make sure that these crimes are taken very seriously by the police. we have to make sure they are not seen as second quarter crimes. it is a level of crime that is growing.

>> the debate this afternoon shows the house of the united and its rebel yet -- troublesome. can i ask the prime minister to make urgent inquiries about the families of 9/11 were. -- or similarly targeted? if they were, will he raise it with these in the united states? >> i will certainly look at that. and the statement i'm about to make, i give some figures. how many they have contacted so far. i met with the metropolitan police commissioner last night to seek further reassurances about the scale of the police operation that is under way. it was a mixed appearances by police officer last night.

i have confidence that the police will get to the bottom of this. >> with ambitions of being the greenest county, we are already committed to a low carbon world. he is always welcome to visit our county, but will you give it back into our ambition to have skills training? >> the honorable lady makes a good point and i congratulate her. there is a good opportunity. in terms of a green jobs and renewable energy and nuclear. one of the vital things to encourage the investment is to demonstrate that we will build up our skills base and that is where a local enterprise partnerships can play such a valuable role. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can the prime minister tell the

house whether he has any conversations about phone hacking with andy coulson at the time of his resignation? >> as i said, before she wrote her question, of course, i saw assurances with andy coulson. those were assurances that were given. not just given at the time to me, but also given subsequently to the committee and to a criminal case under oath. these were repeatedly given. if these assurances turned out not to be true, that is not just that he should not have worked in government, it is that he should face the full force of law. >> the home secretary has a

legal process to follow. he feels that his life is coming on a thread. >> i do recognize the seriousness of this case. the deputy prime minister and i raised it with president obama when he visited. it is not so much about the alleged offense. it is a very serious offense and you can understand why the americans feel so strongly about it. the case is in front of the home secretary. you have to consider reports about his well-being. >> mr. speaker, the decimation of the police service, can i ask

the prime minister to justify the following expenditure? a serviceman from northern ireland passed for a non urgent pair of boots, 45 pounds. they were dispatched by private courier at the cost of 714 pounds. is it time he got -- >> i know that maybe i need to see the order of every pair of boots in the military. i recognize the point that you are making. one of the things they're trying to do is recognize there is a huge amount of caused in terms of logistics. we want to make that more efficient so we can spend money on the front line. the example he gives is a good one and i will check it out to see if we can save some money.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. county prime minister assure the house that all the legal press activity will be investigated -- all of the illegal price activity will be investigated now? >> the point about the inquiry, which we are surely going to discuss, is it will look at the relationship between politicians and media groups. i think this is extremely important. this inquiry will have the ability to call politicians, the previous prime ministers, to get to the bottom of what happened. that is what needs to happen. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on monday, the prime minister

himself -- the auditor is considered the is essential to assess whether the decisions by the aircraft carrier in the defense review represent value for money. that refusal is unprecedented. in the interest of full transparency and accountability to parliament, will the prime minister agree to immediately release the information? >> the short answer is that we were following precedent. a long answer is that if she wants me to come to her committee and explain what an appalling set of division the last government made on aircraft carriers, but let alone by the government she worked for added 1.6 billion to the cost of the

aircraft carrier. if she wants me to turn ought and discussed in cabinet the detail of the waste her government was responsible for, name the day. >> thank you, mr. speaker. following the questions from me, 3.5 years ago, his predecessors set up pilot schemes to provide sign language to death parents -- deaf parents and their children. will he meet with a delegation to discuss how this sign language support can be extended to all children and their parents across the united kingdom? >> my honorable friend makes a very good point. we do a lot to support different languages across the united kingdom. they have been successful and i looked at what the last prime minister said when he asked this question.

i will arrange a meeting for and with the department of education to see how we can take this forward. >> my question for the prime minister concerns the contract is of great concern. with 20,000 manufacturing jobs at risk, can the prime minister confirm that no contract has been signed? and no contract can be signed until the funding package itself is determined? this is the heart of the question. given bad -- given that the funding package -- given that the 20,000 jobs or at risk, [unintelligible]

>> what i would say -- i know he cares deeply about this issue. it is a great company and it has a great future in our country and we want to see it succeed. in this case, the procurement process was initiated by the previous government. we were bound by the criteria that they said and we have to continue with the decision that has been made according to that criteria. we are looking at all the rules to see if we can change and make better for the future issues like this. >> will the prime minister join me in calling for -- it will provide the major boost to people and chester and north wales? >> i am well aware of this campaign. i remember spending a lot of time at the station during the last parliament.

it is not in the current program, but we know that we want to see more railroad lines -- railway lines in our country. >> university tuition fees would average 7,500 pounds. they averaged 8400. how can you open the talks. to such bait -- how can you open -- >> there are 58 universities that will not charge 9000 for any of their courses. 108 out of 124 will charge less than 6000 for all of their courses. universities degrees have not suddenly started costing seven, eight, or 9,000 pounds. they always costed out.

the want the graduates to pay -- do you ask the garage which to pay or do you ask the taxpayers to pay? the party has to come up with its answer. >> mr. speaker, amid the turmoil of the european economy caused by the euro, is it not essential that this country should continue to take steps to reduce its debt and steer clear of paying for any future bailout? >> it is not only if the restrictions of the euro. it is also the building up of unsustainable levels of debt. although we are out of the euro, it does not mean that we do not have to deal with are you that. we do have the opportunity to be a safe haven for people. you can see our market interest rates come down because of the action this government is taking. we have to keep that up. we have to keep that up.