be discussed in the presidential debate. then, house editor look at the 2012 contestant races in the u.s. house and senate. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. >> he is forgetting what his old positions are. he bets that you will, too. he is changing up so much, backtracking, sidestepping, we have got to name this condition he is going through -- i think it is called romnesia. >> said this election will come down to a choice between an america where government makes

the rules, where government is larger and larger, it takes more and more from the american people, runs more of our business is an increasingly runs our lives. or an america where you can be sure the principles that made the nation the nation it is -- we bring back the principles of the declaration of independence, recognize that god gave us our right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- pursuit of happiness, to pursue happiness as we choose. >> monday, president obama and mitt romney meet in their final debate from both cover ton, florida. previews start at 7:00 -- boca raton, florida. pretty start at 7:00 p.m. eastern, fog the debate -- followed by the debate at 9:00 and your reaction. >> back from their annual party conferences, members of the british house of commons return for their weekly question time

with prime minister david cameron. the prime minister answer questions on the national health service, youth unemployment, and britain's relationship with the european union. members pay tribute to labor members -- labour members who died over the parliament break. >> questions for the prime minister -- mr. speaker? >> >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am sure the whole house wishes to join me in pain to be to the servicemen who have fallen since we last met. lance corporal of the first battalion grenadier guards, sargent and private of the third battalion, yorkshire regiment. sergeant of the royal electrical and mechanical engineers. captain of the royal engineers and captain of the royal marines. once again, we are reminded of the immense danger are operate

-- armed forces operate in to uphold our safety and security. their families and the whole country should be proud of their heroic service and we will always remember them. the house would also wish to pay tribute to the two who were brutally murdered in the line of duty on the 18th of september. the whole country has been deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of these two young dedicated exceptional officers. our thoughts are with their families and colleagues on what must be a difficult time. mr. speaker, i know the house would wish to join me in sending a heartfelt condolences to the family of malcolm wiggs, who passed away on the 29th of september. they will remember malcolm as a real gentleman, a man of great integrity and compassion, who put his constituents kirsten work across party lines. he was a thoroughly decent man. he served the house with great distinction for 20 years.

i know you'll be missed by all who knew him. we must also pay tribute to another of parliament's great characters -- it is hard to believe he is not sitting there in front of me, sir stewart bell. he was hugely popular and was honored for his services to parliament. we will always remember him as a passionate and dedicated member of the house, and his kindness transcended the political divide. we send city -- sincere sympathies to his wife and family. in addition to my duties in this house, i will have such meetings later today. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i associate all members with the prime ministers to be to the members of armed forces and police who died in the service of our company -- country and their families. how much we in this task will miss -- in this house will miss sir stewart bell and malcolm wicks. last week, the prime minister

promised work always pay, but this morning it was revealed that current plans for universal credit next year will mean that up to 116,000 disabled people could lose as much as 14 pounds a week. government and says everything about how this divisive prime minister always stands up for the wrong people when it is -- at the same time handing a huge tax cuts to people earning more than 1 million pounds a year. he is going to penalize the bravest in our country. >> the honorable gentleman raises an extremely serious issue. let me try to deal with it as fully as i can -- the money going into disability benefit will not go down under universal credit. it will go up. the overall amount of money will go from 1.3 5 billion pounds to

1.4 5 billion pounds in 2015. under the plan, no recipient will lose out unless there circumstances change. all current recipients are fully catch protected by transitional schemes. what we are doing, and this is important, this is a decision and a choice we have made, is that future recipients, we will increase the amount we give to the most severely disabled children, and there will be a new, lower amount for less disabled people. that is a choice we are making -- increasing the amount of money, focusing on the most disabled. that shows the right values. >> thank you, mr. speaker. may i congratulate the government on the bill -- farmers in developing countries desperately need protection from what is being described as the unbelievable tactics of

supermarket buyers. in view of that, could i ask how quickly, how quickly will it be before the government actually introduces this decisively important measure? >> we are making progress with introducing this measure. i think it is an important measure. i think it is very important that we stand up for farmers, that farmers get a fair deal from supermarkets. on all occasions, there have been unfair practices, retrospective discount that have been proposed. miliband. >> i pay tribute to the six servicemen who have died since the house last met. the lance corporal, sergeant of the third battalion, the yorkshire met -- regiment, of the royal mechanical and electric engineers, of the core

of royal engineers, and the royal marines. they all died heroically serving our country. they showed the utmost bravery and sacrifice, and our condolences go to their families and friends. i join him in paying tribute to others. they remind us of the dangerous work that our police officers do day in and day out in the line of duty. their death is a great loss to the greater manchester police, the communities they serve, and most of all, of course, to their families. i want to thank the prime minister for his generous comments about the two labour colleagues we have lost since we last met. stuart bell longstanding member of this house, and was passionate about european issues and served with distinction. his death was incredibly sad and -- his illness dagestan -- matter of days before he died. the condolences -- and of the

whole house goes to his family. malcolm wicks was one of the deepest interest in this house. he was a brilliant minister. from my time is energy secretary, i know what a brilliant energy minister he was. he was somebody who faced his illness with the utmost bravery. he knew what was going to happen to him, but he carried on writing, thinking, talking, and engaging with the work of this house. my last conversation of -- with him was last before our conference, when he talks passionately about politics. our condolences go to his whole family. mr. speaker, unemployment figures today are -- the youth and for unemployment. i am sure we all agree there are too many people looking for work. the number of people out of work for a long period has remained high. can the prime minister tell us why he believes the fall this quarter in unemployment is not that -- yet matched by figures for long-term unemployment? >> first of all, let me thank

the gentleman for his generous remarks about those who have fallen, the brave police officers, and the colleagues who lost from this house. in terms of the unemployment figures, i think this is a good piece of news that should be properly welcomed and looked at. basically, a number of different things are happening. unemployment is up by 212,000 this quarter. unemployment -- unemployment is down by 50,000. the claims have fallen by 4000. since the election, 170,000 fewer people are on out of work benefits. what is quite remarkable about these figures is that they actually show there are more women in work than at any time in our history. the overall level of employment is now about where it was before the crash in a 2008. we still have huge economic challenges to meet. we are in a global race. we do need to make a whole set of reforms in our country,

education, welfare, to grow the private sector, but this is positive news. in terms of long-term unemployment, it is still too high, partly because of the big increase in unemployment that the place of the time of the crash, but we need to do more to deal with long-term unemployment. that is why the work program has helped 693,000 people already. we are prepared to spend up to 14,000 pounds on one individual long-term unemployed person to get them back into work. i think we have the measures in place to track -- tackle this scourged. >> ed miliband. >> not with and -- notwithstanding that, youth and long-term unemployment are higher than when you came into office. on the particular issue about long-term youth unemployment, i do not think you can contribute that to the crash. implement has been steadily rising. -- implement has been steadily rising. it remains a big concern. the number of people out of work

for more than a year is continuing to rise. does he agree with me that the longer young people remain out of work, the greater the damage, not just now, but to the long- term prospects and the greater damage to our economy? >> of course he is right. the lumber people are out of work, the worse for our economy. that is what we have a huge contract. that is what we have the work programs, the biggest since the war, and he mentions the problem of long-term unemployment. i would remind you that in the last two years, long-term unemployment -- of the previous government, long-term unemployment almost doubled. in terms of helping young people, it is noticeable that under this government 900,000 people are back in. we are reforming our school and welfare system so it pays for people to get those jobs. we face enormous challenges. we have to rebalance our economy be because the private sector

was too small and the state sector was too big. what happens is that 1 million new private-sector jobs -- we have a huge amount more to do. reform welfare, reform our schools, boosting private- sector, and britain can be a winner in the global rate -- race. >> i would say, there are more people out of work for longer than at any time in two decades. that is happening on his watch. i want to talk about one group who are losing their jobs directly as a result of the government policy. a year ago he told me, "there is no reason for there to be fewer front line police officers." can he now tell the house how many front-line police officers have lost their jobs since the election? >> the percentage of officers on front-line duty has gone up. that is the key. frankly, whoever won the last

election was going to have to reduce police budgets. they were committed to reducing police budgets. we had to release -- reduce police budgets. the reason we have been able to increase the percentage is because we have cut the paperwork, taken difficult decisions about pay. what is remarkable is that while the percentage of officers on the front line is up, crime is down. >> i really hope that just for once we would get a straight answer. all the prime minister needs to do, all the prime minister needs to do is take a look at the police ministers book. on monday, he told the house the truth. he said there are 6778 fewer front-line police officers than when he came into power. why not just -- i do not think you can help him, mr. speaker.

another promise broken. not just breaking their promises -- it is their conduct as well. [shouting] this is what the mayor of london said -- it will take longer. >> those who wish to participate instead of screaming, we will have to extend the session. the leader of the opposition will be heard and the prime minister will be heard. that is the end of it. >> the mayor of london, his new estimate -- [laughter] he said last year, i reckon we need to make it clear that if people swear at the police they must expect to be arrested. he said from a secondary

position -- maybe he will tell us what he did say. according to the official police report, "a man claiming to be the towhip told the police -- chief whip told the police they should know their place and used other abusive language." did the chief whip use those words? >> but the chief whip did and said were wrong. i am absolutely clear about that. that is what is most important -- that the chief whip apologized. that has been accepted -- order. >> the leader of the opposition must be heard. the same goes for the prime minister. >> what the chief whip did and said is wrong. that is why it is important that he apologized and apologized properly. that has been accepted by the officer concerned and the head

of the metropolitan police. that is why this government will get on with the big issues of helping britain to compete and succeed in the world. >> ed miliband. >> no straight answer on police numbers and no straight answer on the chief whip. he said it is a real issue -- i think it is a real issue, accusing police officers. [shouting] just because a police officer has better manners then beat chief whip is not mean he should keep his jobs. if a yob in the city center on saturday night at used a police officer, the chances are to be arrested and placed in the back of a police van, and rightly so. the prime minister would be the first in line to say he was right. so a night in a cell i for the yob, but a night in the club for the chief whip. is that not the clearest case

there can be of a double standard? this h>> it has been accepted by the police, accepted by the head of the police, it will clearly not be accepted by the head of the opposition because he does not have anything to talk about four are planned. he does not want to talk about how to build on record employment because he has no plan. he does not have to -- want to talk about reforming welfare. he wants to discuss these issues because he has nothing serious to say about the country. [shouting] >> here is the most extraordinary thing -- they say i practice class war and go around calling people plebs. can you believe it? i will say, it is good to see the cabinet in public -- what are they saying in private? he is completely undermined. in other words, he is toast. that is the reality.

here is the truth about this government -- while everybody else loses their jobs, the chief whip keeps his. if you are a millionaire, you get a tax cut, if you or anybody else, you get a tax rise. [shouting] >> order, order. i am very worried about your health for shouting in a bizarre manner --, yourself. >> they are totally out of touch. it is the one rule for those at the top, another rule for everybody else. >> he wrote those questions yesterday before unemployment fell. he obviously was not listening earlier -- let me remind him. employment is up 212,000.

claimants are down 4000. that is a success. typical -- he comes to this house, has written at his clever political questions, does not care what is really happening in this economy. [shouting] >> order. mr. davis. >> over two weeks ago, april jones, a 5-year-old little girl was abducted when playing with her friends in my constituency, a well-behaved town. will my honorable friend the prime minister john be in pain to be to the truly amazing way in which the people, the deputy police, the rescue teams, have come together and committed to the ongoing search? >> i will certainly try my honorable friend in doing that. i think the whole country has not only been shocked by these

appalling events, but also the whole country frankly has been lifted and incredibly impressed by the response of this community and everything it has done, everything everybody has done to help the police and emergency services, seeing a whole community come together, not just increased -- grief, but in action. i think it is a credit to everybody involved. >> mr. speaker, at the energy summit last year, the prime minister said its faithfully he would take action to help it reduce energy bills. can he tell us how it is going? >> we encouraged people to switch, one of the best ways to get your energy bills down. we will be legislating so that energy companies have to give the lowest tariff to their customers, something labour did not do in 13 years even though the leader of the party could have done it. >> dr. julian lewis?

>> i know my honorable friend will be delighted to know the answer is yes, we are committed to retaining an independent nuclear deterrent based on the trident missile system. that is why we continue with the program to replace the vanguard submarines, including placing initial contracts. >> dr. julian lewis? >> that is an excellent dancer. given tha-- answer. given that a part-time nuclear deterrent would be dangerously destabilizing, would the prime minister consider that the british tried and successor submarine must and will operate on the basis of continuance at- seeded terrance? >> i think my friend is right to raise this issue. one of the key elements of the credibility about deterrence has been that it is continuously at sea, something we can take pride

in delivering over some years. having delivered secret -- visited the crews and submarines, it is incredible what they do. i pay tribute to them for what they provide -- continuous at sea is a key part of our deterrent. >> in the answer to my friend yesterday, the government said, "we remain very concerned by continuing reports of support for the m-23 rebels who are killing, maiming, and raping in east condo." did they offer 16 million pounds of british taxpayer money to rwanda on the last day of international development secretary? >> i would like to -- the point is, i am sorry i was not

invited. it is a very important point that he races. rwanda has been and continues to be a success story, a country that has come from genocide and disaster to being a world model for development in africa. we are proud of the fact is less government and this have continued to invest in that success. we should be very frank and firm with the president and the rwandan regime that we do not accept that they should be supporting militias in the congo or elsewhere. i have raised this issue personally with the president, but i continue to believe that investing in rwanda's success as one of the countries in africa showing that you can break the cycle of poverty is something we have to do. >> mr. speaker, thank you. unemployment figures show a reduction of 62,000 in the number of 16-224 year-old out of

work. it is now the highest level since records began in 1971. i am sure the prime minister will want to wreck -- come and the policies of this government to the whole -- commends the policies of this whole house. >> my friend makes an honorable point -- what we need is a rebalancing of the economy. we need growth in our private sector. we have a million new private- sector jobs since the last election. that has more than made up for the job losses in the public sector. there is more we need to do to tackle youth unemployment, long- term unemployment, but the figures today are something that should be welcome. >> thank you, mr. speaker. my constituent lost his leg in afghanistan. he lost his disability living allowance. the prime minister promised to look after ex-servicemen and women. what happened? >> i insisted on a certain car

about 4 limbless servicemen who will be separately looked after. >> thank you, mr. speaker -- it demeans politics when negative campaigning is designed to scare or will people is used. a campaign to save our hospital when a hospital is not closing is possibly the worst example of that i have ever seen. >> my friend agrees with me that this campaign is an absolute disgrace. my honorable friend is entirely right. p after labour mp is claiming this hospital is not say. they know this is not true. the local newspaper is affirming that is being invested. the party opposite -- he will stay like that -- there for a

very long time. [shouting] the reason you are going to stay there is the reason, because of the borrowing and spending and debt that you deliver. your answer is more borrowing, spending, and debt. so get yourself [comfortableyourselfshouting] comfortable. [shouting] >> why won't the prime minister publish all of the e-mail's and other forms of correspondence between himself and his office and rebekah brooks and enws international. is it because they are too salacious and embarrassing to the prime minister, or is it, i would not smile, when the truth

comes out, the prime minister would not be smiling? >> before answering this question, i would like everybody to recall that the honorable members stood up and read out a whole lot of levinson information that was under embargo that he was not supposed to read. he has never apologized. until he apologizes, i will not answer his question. [shouting] >> i help the house will have the restraint and courtesy to hear -- oymentmployment -- emplkoyme

levels in whales have increased by 40,000, not just because of self-employment. >> i will join my honorable friend. this is an important announcement. the new enterprise announcement gives people who become unemployed the chance to set up their own business, their own enterprise. under current rules they have to wait three months before accessing that program, but under a plan that will be able to get that from day one of becoming unemployed. i would see many more new businesses started up in our country to build on the record of last year, when more businesses were established in britain than in any year in recent history. >> thank you, mr. speaker. all too often, when questions are put to ministers, the answer is pretty much meant as a shrug of the shoulders. there is a serious accountability problem

throughout your system. can the prime minister tell us which one of his ministers will take responsibility for the fiasco of the west coast mainline? >> the transport secretary came to this house and a full statement and gave a full apology for what has happened. can we ever remember a minister of the party opposite ever apologize and? anyone? none. >> order. >> mr. speaker, returning to the trident issue, has the prime minister looked at severe cost pressures facing the defense sector? airplanes, frigates, unmanned aircraft, vehicles -- a on the pain for at the same time. -- they all lead paint for at the same time. would the prime minister keep an open mind and how exactly to replace and nuclear submarines?

>> when i say to my honorable friend is that the list of things that he goes through are all programs that are fully funded and are going to be invested in properly because this government has sorted out, as he well knows, has sorted out the defense budget. what i would say to him about the nuclear deterrent, and i have looked at this issue, i do not believe we would save money by adopting some alternative nuclear deterrent posture. if you are going to have a nuclear deterrent, it makes sense to make sure you have something that is credible and believable. otherwise there is no point in having one at all. >> there are record levels of support for the british union, and a recent poll, 7%, only 7% of the populace of northern ireland want a united ireland. that would only rise to 32% in 20 years' time.

does the prime minister agree that the agreement he signed off to this week's to insure that there is a single, decisive question asked on the scottish and british question -- is it up to him to maintain, sustained, and support the union and keep them forever? [shouting] >> i am delighted to answer those -- in the most positive way to his question. we have reached an agreement with the scottish government that a single, simple question in a referendum that must be held before the end of 2014 so we can conclude beyond doubt the future of the united kingdom. i hope everyone will vote to keep big u.k. together. i know this will have cross- party support. politicians of all parties would agree to share platforms.

i have always wanted to share a platform with ian paisley. perhaps i will get my chance. >> recently, my constituency's were granted a license -- they learned it does not matter if it is a incinerator or a peaceful market town. the wishes of local people have absolutely no weight whatsoever in planning the law. would the prime minister agree with me to amend planning lot to strip the complications, which stressed into a great degree? that fairview's should be heard? >> i think my honorable friend speaks for many people with the frustration the planning system can sometimes create. i have made two points. first, we have changed licensing laws to give planners greater power. i believe that can apply to the

sorts of promises she refers to. second, under our plans, people can write neighborhood plans to give far greater control to residents about the shape of their community. i would encourage you to take up the specific issue with the department of local government to see if there is more we can do. >> thank you, mr. speaker. could i -- i would like to repeat the tribute. on the theme of police and, -- policing, nearly 7000 frontline police have disappeared from our system. the prime minister promised that would not be the case -- the prime minister, in what will be my last question to him this house, will she give a commitment that there will be no more cuts, what ever happens, to policing in england and wales? >> nobody wants to prejudge the wisdom of the manchester

electra, but i wish the gentleman well if he is successful. the point that would make is the point that i hope the chief constable will make -- when the chief constable of greater manchester said this, the effectiveness of policing cannot be measured by the number of officers but by the reduction of crime. that is what he said. crime in greater manchester is down 12%. we need to recognize that there are difficult positions, and the labor party was committed to even greater cuts and we have delivered. the key is can the crack down on paperwork? can we get the police out on the beat? can we help and do the job they do at that crime? the answer in this case is, yes we can gary >. >> can i join in paying tribute to malcolm wicks. he was outstanding, a decent man, and a good friend. is there one way which we can honor his memory -- to continue

to improve the national health service so more people beat cancer and do not have their lives tragically cut short. >> my honorable friend speaks to the whole house. i understand he often used to drive moroccan home to croyden after the boat -- malcolm to croyden home. i think it is a good arrangement. one of the greatest things we can do to remember malcolm is continue the success of the cancer drugs fund which has helped over 20,000 people, and make sure people get the urgent treatments and urgent drugs. >> if there were a referendum on burton's continued membership in the eu, one minister said they would vote to leave. a third of the cabinet agree with him. how would the prime minister both? >> i do not want and in-out

referendum because i am not happy with us leaving the european union, but am not happy with the status quo either. the vast majority of the country wants a new settlement with europe. that is what will be going in our manifesto. i think it will get a ringing endorsement from the british people. sir tony bondrey. >> does my friend agree there was no structural deficit at the top of the boom, as claimed by the shadow chancellor? >> my friend makes an important point. in the imf report out this week, it showed that the structural deficit in 2007, at the height of a boom, was 5% of our gdp, 73 billion pounds. the shadow chancellor said there was no structural deficit. i think this really demonstrates just how little they have learned. we talk about our plans for the british economy -- how we will help them compete and succeed.

we know their plans for this weekend -- to go on a giant march with their trade union paymasters. that is how the leader of the opposition will spend his weekend -- the most lucrative sponsored walk in history. [shouting] >> order,. . >> you have been watching prime minister's questions on the british house of commons. question time airs live on c- span every wednesday at 7:00 a.m. eastern when the house of commons is in session, and again on sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. eastern and -- pacific on c- span. what any time at c-span.org. you can find a video of past prime minister's questions and other british public affairs programming.

see the presidential debate, tomorrow night, live on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. watch and engage. next, joe biden -- jill biden, wife of the vice president, campaigning in minneapolis. after that, senator rand paul campaigns for mitt romney in new hampshire. then, former senator george mcgovern, who died today at the age of 90, receives the 2009 freedom award from the u.s. capitol historical society. >> the fairness argument and level playing field is so important -- we would expect a lot of stores in california to see growing sales as customers flocked into their stores instead of buying on-line. do not hold your breath. that is not likely to be the case. case. people buy onlnie