responsible for delivering a safe and successful g8, and i thank everyone in northern ireland for giving everyone such a warm welcome. northern ireland put on its best face and the whole world could see what a great place it is. we set a clear agenda for this summit: to boost jobs and growth, with more open trade, fairer taxes and greater transparency --what i have called the three ts. i also added a fourth t -- combating terrorism. we reached important agreements, including on support to the libyan government and ending ransom payments for kidnap by terrorists. despite our fundamental differences, we also made good progress, agreeing a way forward on working together to help the syrian people achieve the change they want. let me take each of these points in turn. we started with the issues that matter most to our people -- jobs, growth and mending our economies. first, we agreed that each country needs to press on with sorting out its public finances. dealing with our debts and securing growth are not

alternatives. the former is an essential step in achieving the latter. in fact, the communique that we agreed unanimously reflects all three parts of the plan for growth that we have in britain not just fiscal sustainability, but active monetary policy to unlock the finance that businesses and families need, and structural reforms to increase our competitiveness so that our young people can get into work and succeed in the global race. the uk's g8 also launched a bold new pro-business agenda to drive a dramatic increase in trade and to get to grips with the problems of tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance and corporate secrecy. this was a distinctive british agenda to shape the way the world economy works for the benefit of everyone. we believe in free trade, private enterprise and low taxes as the best route to growth, but that is only sustainable if ambitious trade deals are agreed, the taxes owed are paid and companies play by the rules. this agenda has now, i believe, been written into the dna of g8 and g20 summits for many years to come. on trade, we started the summit with the launch of negotiations on the eu-us trade deal.

as has recently been said, this could add as much as 100 billion to the eu economy, 80 billion to the us and 85 billion for the rest of the world. we should be clear about what these numbers mean: more jobs, more choice and lower prices in our shops, and the biggest bilateral trade deal in history, launched at our g8. on tax, the lough erne declaration that leaders signed yesterday sets out simple, clear commitments: tax authorities around the world should automatically share information so that those who want to evade taxes will have nowhere to hide; companies should know who really owns them; and tax collectors and law enforcers should be able to obtain this information easily, for example through central registries, so that people cannot escape taxes by using complicated and fake structures. in a world where business has moved from the offline and the national to the online and the international but the tax system has not caught up, we are commissioning the oecd to develop a new international tax tool that will expose discrepancies between where multinationals earn their profits and where they pay their taxes.

the declaration also makes it clear that all that action has to help developing countries too, by sharing tax information and building their capability to collect taxes. crucially for developing countries, we agreed that oil, gas and mining companies should report what they pay to governments and that governments should publish what they receive so that natural resources are a blessing, not a curse. charities and other non- governmental organisations have rightly campaigned for years for action on these issues, and for the first time they have been raised to the top of the agenda and brought together in one document. the agreements on tax made at the summit are significant, but it is also worth noting what has happened on this front since i put the issue to the top of the agenda. on 1 january there was no single international standard for automatic exchange of information. now there is such a standard, and over 30 jurisdictions have already signed up, with more to follow. after years of delay, the

european union has agreed to progress the sharing of tax information between member states. the uk's overseas territories and crown dependencies have signed up to the multilateral convention on information exchange and agreed automatic exchange of information with the uk and action plans for beneficial ownership. taken together, all the actions agreed with the overseas territories and crown dependencies will provide over 1 billion in revenue to the exchequer, helping to keep taxes down for hard-working families here in britain. people around the world also wanted to know whether the g8 would take action to tackle malnutrition and ensure that there is enough food for everyone. the pledges at our nutrition and hunger summit earlier this month will save 20 million children from stunting by 2020. crucially, our g8 also took action on some of the causes of these problems. that is why the work we did on land, extractive industries, tax and transparency is so important. turing to the fourth t -- terrorism -- we agreed a tough, patient and intelligent approach: confronting the terrorists, defeating the poisonous ideology that sustains them and tackling the weak and

failing states in which they thrive. the g8 leaders reached a groundbreaking agreement on ransom payments for kidnap by terrorists. in the last three years alone ransom payments have given al- qaeda and its allies tens of millions of dollars. these payments have to stop and this g8 agreed that they will. we also discussed plans to begin direct talks with the taliban. britain has long supported a peace process in afghanistan to work alongside our tough security response, so we welcome this step forward. we also discussed support to libya. i believe that we should be proud of the role we played in ridding libya of colonel gaddafi, but we need to help that country secure its future. so we held a separate meeting with the libyan prime minister, which included president obama, and european nations have already offered to train 7,000 troops to help prime minister zeidan disarm and integrate the militias and bring security to

the whole country. more contributions will follow from others. let me be clear that the libyan government have asked for this and will pay for it. finally, let me turn to syria. it is no secret that there are very different views around the g8 table, but i was determined that we should use the opportunity of this summit to overcome some of these differences and agree a way forward to help the syrian people achieve the change that they want. this did not happen during just one night in lough erne; the talks between secretary kerry and foreign minister lavrov have been vital. in the weeks before the summit, i flew to sochi and washington, and i met again president putin and president obama in the hours before the summit began. these conversations were open, honest and frank, but we were all agreed on what must be the core principle of the international approach to this crisis. there is no military victory to be won and all our efforts must be focused on the ultimate goal of a political solution. together with our g8 partners, we agreed almost $1.5 billion of

new money for humanitarian support. this is an unprecedented commitment from lough erne for syria and her neighbours. we agreed to back a geneva ii process that delivers a transitional governing body with, crucially, full executive authority. so a core requirement for success that had been called into doubt in recent weeks has now been reasserted unanimously, with the full authority of the g8. we pledged to learn the lessons of iraq by making sure that the key institutions of the state are maintained throughout the transition and that there is no vacuum. this sends a clear message to those loyalists looking for an alternative to assad. the g8 also unequivocally condemned any use of chemical weapons and, following an extensive debate, we reached for the first time a united position, including russia, that the regime must immediately allow unrestricted access for un inspectors to establish the full facts on the use of chemical weapons by regime forces, or indeed by anyone else. all these agreements are

absolutely fundamental to saving lives and securing the political transition that we all want to see. let us be clear on what is happening in syria and what we are trying to achieve. we are faced with a dramatically escalating humanitarian disaster with more than 90,000 dead and almost 6 million people having had to flee their homes. there is a radicalisation of terrorists and extremists who will pose a direct threat to the security of the region and also the world. there is a growing risk to the peace and stability of syria's neighbours and the long-standing international prohibition on chemical weapons is being breached by a dictator who is brutalising his people. none of this constitutes an argument for plunging in recklessly. we will not do so, and we will not take any major actions without first coming to this house. but we cannot simply ignore this continuing slaughter. of course it is right to point

out that there are extremists among the opposition. there are, and i am clear: they pose a threat not just to syria but to all of us. the g8 agreed that they should be defeated and expelled from their havens in syria. i also understand those who fear that whatever we try to do could make things worse, not better. of course we must think carefully before any course of action, but we must not accept what president assad wants us to believe -- that the only alternative to his brutal action against syria is extremism and terrorism. there are millions of ordinary syrians who want to take control of their own future, a future without assad. that is why i made sure that the g8 agreed that the way through the crisis is to help syrians forge a new government who are neither sunni, nor alawite, nor shi'a. we are committed to using diplomacy to end this war with a political solution. this is not easy, but the essential first step must be to get agreement between the main international powers with influence on syria. that is what we have done at the g8 in lough erne.

we must now work to turn these commitments into action, and i commend this statement to the house. >> i am grateful for the prime minister's statement. let me start by commending him on holding the summit in northern ireland. fifteen years ago, holding a g8 summit in enniskillen would have been unthinkable. peace has transformed enniskillen, and the location of this summit alone is testament to what can be achieved through politics and dialogue. it is a credit to all the people of northern ireland. let me take the g8 issues in turn. on hunger and nutrition, it is completely unacceptable that there is enough food in the world for everyone, yet 1 billion people still go hungry and 2.3 million children die every year from malnutrition. i therefore welcome the agreements and commitments made during the hunger summit. the task must now be to ensure that these commitments will be delivered. does the prime minister agree that we are right to stick by our pledge of 0.7% aid as a

proportion of national income and does he further agree with me that we should be using all the moral force that we gain from that position to urge others to follow suit? on trade, we welcome and support the launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between europe and the united states. will the prime minister confirm that he will tell all his colleagues, including the cabinet, that this is a timely reminder of the importance for jobs and prosperity of staying in the european union? on tax havens, the prime minister said that one of his goals was to make sure that there will be public registries of who owns companies and trusts. what blocked getting agreement on that at the g8? will he clarify whether the agreement reached by rich countries on information sharing, which he mentioned in his statement, will from the outset apply to developing countries? as the if campaign has said, "a summit focused on transparency can't justify keeping this

information secret" from poorer countries. let me turn to the devastating situation in syria. it was right for the prime minister to prioritize this crisis and make it the focus of this week's talks. we welcome the announcements of additional humanitarian relief, in particular the doubling of uk aid. however, as the prime minister has said, the answer to this humanitarian crisis is a political solution. all of us recognise the scale of the challenge of bringing together an international community that has been deeply divided on this issue, and there are no easy options. the prime minister said yesterday that it was "a strong and purposeful statement on syria." although we welcome the centerpiece of that statement being a commitment to the geneva ii conference, will the prime minister explain why there was no agreement on its starting date? it is being reported that the conference is now being pushed to july or even later in august. based on his discussions this week, could he now tell us when he expects the conference to take place? on the substance of geneva ii, the prime minister has spoken

today about the importance of the agreement in enniskillen on a transitional governing body with full executive authority, based on the maintenance of key institutions of the state and an inclusive political settlement. does he accept, however, that every one of those commitments featured in the geneva i communique back in june 2012? the prime minister spoke of this g8 providing a moment of clarity on syria, but will he set out how in concrete terms yesterday's statement moves us closer to a political settlement? on arming the rebels, the prime minister now says that it is not his policy to do so. given that the geneva conference has already been delayed, is he able to envisage any circumstances in which he would seek to arm the rebels before the conference takes place? given the limited nature or the progress achieved this week, does the prime minister still maintain that focusing so much time and effort in the days and weeks preceding the summit on lifting the eu arms embargo was the right way to spend political capital and energy? the reality is that we did not witness the long-hoped-for breakthrough on syria at the g8

summit, and we need to be candid about that. none of us should doubt the difficulties of the choices that confront this government and all governments around the world. the prime minister knows that, on the steps agreed this week to tackle terrorism and on the issues of afghanistan and, indeed, libya, i have given him my full support. may i urge him in the months ahead, however, to proceed with the greatest possible clarity on his strategy and purpose and to seek to build the greatest possible consensus across this house? >> first of all, i thank the right honorable gentleman for what he said about holding the conference in northern ireland. that was not without its difficulties and questions were asked, but not only was it a very successful and very well- managed and well-run conference -- i pay tribute to everyone who was involved in it -- but i think it was also one of the most peaceful g8s in terms of demonstrations. it was rumoured that one of the six tents in the place where all

the tents were going to be put up belonged to some dutch folk who happened to be on holiday. i also read this morning that one of the hopeful shopkeepers in enniskillen had stocked up on vegan meals only to find that the protesters did not turn up in large enough numbers, so he now has a large supply going spare. it is a remarkable part of our country and it was good to bring the g8 to county fermanagh. i thank the right honorable gentleman for what he said on the aid pledge. it is right that britain has made and kept its promises, and we use that to bring others up to the mark. of course, the g8 always publishes an accountability report. a lot of these communiques are impenetrable, but this is very simple and straightforward on who has promised what and whether they have kept that promise. we should go on publishing those reports. i say to any sceptics that for every pound they pay in tax, only 1p of it goes to overseas aid. i think that that is a good investment in the future of the world. i thank the right honorable

gentleman for what he said about the trade issue. it is good that we have made a start on eu-us trade and disappointing that we have not completed the canada negotiations. he mentioned the single market. of course, it is of benefit to britain that we are in the single market as a trading nation and able to take part in deals with other parts of the world. the right honorable gentleman raised the issue of public registries of beneficial ownership and asked why we had not achieved public registries everywhere. for many g8 governments and leaders, this is a new issue at the top of the agenda. i am absolutely convinced that central registries of ownership are vital if we are to cut out corruption and corrupt payments from developing countries, and if we are to get to the bottom of tax evasion. we put that on the agenda, and every g8 country has agreed to an action plan, and some have committed to immediate registries. we must keep pushing on that agenda because it is so vital. we will consult on whether our registry should be public -- i

look forward to the consultation getting going -- but no one should underestimate the importance of having a registry so that the tax authorities can get to grips with those problems. the right honorable gentleman talked about tax information change -- yes, it will be open to poorer countries, but we must help them to take part and carry on with the programmes we have to help poorer countries to collect their taxes. on syria, the date of a conference was discussed, but the decision was taken that the most important thing is to get the substance right on the role of the transitional authority, its powers and such like, rather than set too quick a date, which might set us up to fail. obviously, there is a real sense of urgency and we all want to see it happen in the weeks ahead. the right honorable gentleman asked about the differences between geneva i and the position we are now in. the russians were backing off the idea of a transitional authority with full executive powers, but have now fully reaffirmed it. that is important because no one wants to take part in negotiations that are for negotiations' sake -- they must

be about something -- and a transitional authority will not work unless it has full executive power, including over the armed forces. as i said in my statement, the language and approach on chemical weapons is new, as is the language on humanitarian aid. those new things were achieved at the g8. i appreciate the fact that the right honorable gentleman has tried to provide consensus on issues of foreign policy -- we should always try to do that, and i hope we can re-forge that consensus in the months ahead -- but the point i would make to him is this: i think that lifting the arms embargo in the eu was right. it sent a powerful signal that there is not a moral equivalence between assad on the one hand and the official opposition, who want a democratic syria, on the other. that has helped to add to the pressure. there is a huge danger that people will fall into the trap of believing assad's argument, which is that the only alternative to him is terrorism and extremism.

we should stand for something else in the house and in this country -- we should stand up for people who want democracy, freedom and the sorts of things we take for granted right here. >> i fully share my right honorable friend's horror at the situation in syria, a country which i first visited when i was 19, and have had a good friends, but may i urge him not to propagate the myth that progress can only be made by the killing or the removal in some , becauseesident assad this. presidency is something of a family business, and president assad has a number of extremely tough and ruthless individuals around him. they are probably tougher and more ruthless than he is.

if president assad is removed, one of them will instantly take over his position, and will be just as determined to prevent the alawites from being massacred by the sunni as is president assad. if geneva ii is to make any real progress, i strongly recommend that president assad should be invited to attend it, together with a representative of the new iranian government, who need to be brought back into the comity of nations. >> i have huge respect for my right honorable friend, but i do not agree with him that, somehow, president assad can continue. when a leader has used chemical weapons against his own people and presided over such an appalling slaughter, he cannot have a place in the government of his country. i agree with him that, clearly, the aim must be to bring forward a transitional government that includes sunni and alawite representatives, and representatives of the regime and opposition, because we need a government in whom everyone in syria can have confidence.

>> i welcome the prime minister's statement that there can be no military victory in syria. in his search for a political solution, may i caution him on his apparent insistence on a precondition? northern ireland shows that preconditions do not work. he and i share exactly the same view of assad's barbarism, but if he insists that assad cannot come to the conference or play any subsequent role, i caution him that the conference might never happen. >> we are insisting that a proper conference must include representatives of the regime and representatives of the opposition, and that it should lead to a transitional government. the uk government have a clear view that neither of those stages can involve president assad, for the reasons we have given, but that should not stand in the way of the transition that is necessary, and the transition that everyone in the g8, russians included, believes is right.

>> is my right honorable friend aware that there are persistent reports that, in the course of the discussions on syria, russia made it clear that it would no longer insist that any final settlement should include a role for president assad? if that is true, it represents a substantial step forward, if not a breakthrough, and merely emphasises the importance of continuing dialogue and discussion with russia, which has such an important part to play in the solution we all seek. >> i am grateful to my right honorable and learned friend for his question. obviously, it is important that the russians are allowed to speak for themselves about what they did and did not say, and what they agree and do not agree with. i found in the discussions that the reason we were able to go ahead with the seven points i laid out at the press conference yesterday was that the conversations were constructive

-- we did not dwell on the areas where we have this agreements -- disagreements. we dwelled on those areas where we can agree. i agree with what he says about engaging with president putin. that is why, in addition to inviting president putin here before the g8, i flew to sochi this year -- i was the first prime minister to visit russia for many years. >> i thank the prime minister for highlighting his commitment to ending world hunger as such a central part of the g8, and for highlighting many of the underlying causes, but he will be aware that a third of the most malnourished children in the world live in just four countries -- india, nigeria, pakistan and bangladesh -- so will he continue to use his best offices to ensure that those countries give their wholehearted commitment to ensuring that their children do not go to bed hungry every

night? on syria, two days after america has agreed to sit down with the taliban, surely it is better to bring everyone around the debating table. we do not want 12 more years of civil war in syria.in >> on the taliban, i have said many times that i welcome a political process. it is worth noting that the taliban said in their statement that they wanted an afghanistan that no longer caused instability, death or trouble in other countries. you will himificant. will him. on hunger, the honorable lady is absolutely right that it is not enough for us just to pass resolutions, or for this country alone to commit to aidprograms. we must engage other countries, which will do a lot of the heavy lifting in dealing with malnutrition. i am confident that, having held our summit at the olympics last year, with the sort of top-up this year and the brazilians co- chairing another summit at the olympic games there, we have achieved a lot in terms of getting other countries to

pledge action on this vital issue. >> i commend the prime minister and the g8 for addressing the key challenges of the day. on syria, the situation is becoming increasingly complex as the rebels become increasingly fragmented. does he agree that the solution lies in a negotiated settlement, but, that cannot be achieved without him firmly setting out where his red lines lie? >> my honorable friend is right. everyone wants a negotiated solution and a peace process. we must think about what things will make a peace process and peace settlement more likely. obviously, international agreement at the g8 is one of them, but we must also ensure that assad feels he is under some pressure and cannot achieve what he wants by military means alone. that is where there is such unity of purpose between president obama, president hollande, myself, angela merkel and stephen harper. this is an important point to

make to those who have concerns. they cannot think of president obama as someone sitting in the white house dreaming up ways to start a new engagement or war in the middle east. that is not what barack obama is about. he knows that we need a peace process, but he also knows we need to present a tough and united front to president assad in the process. >> the syrian government have brought their troubles on themselves. there is no doubt that they are iscorrupt and brutal regime. it not the position that while the prime minister was keen to lift the arms embargo, there was no enthusiasm in this house for doing so and very few members have stood up and said that they are in favor of sending arms to the syrian opposition. the sooner we have a debate on this subject, the better. >> we are debating it right now and we should go on debating it.

i would argue, as i said, we have not made a decision about arming the rebels. the fact that we are working with the opposition to help and advise them, along with the french, the americans and our gulf allies, is helpful in making sure that syria has a legitimate opposition who want democracy, freedom and a pluralistic syria. at the same time, we should have no hesitation in condemning extremism.and working with everyone to say that the extremists on all sides, including hezbollah, which is working for the regime, should be expelled from the country. >> i thank my right honorable friend for raising the case of my constituent, shaker aamer, with president obama during the g8. will he update the house on that discussion and on what progress has been made towards mr. aamer's release from guantanamo bay?

>> i pay tribute to my honorable friend costs efforts on behalf of her constituent and his family. i have received moving letters from them. i raised the case with president obama directly and will be writing to him about the specifics of the case and everything that we can do to expedite it. we need to show some understanding of the huge difficulties that america has faced over guantanamo bay. clearly, president obama wants to make progress on this issue and we should help him in every way that we can with respect to i will try toal. keep you and the house updated on progress. >> i am sure that the prime minister was honored to showcase to his fellow world leaders one of the most beautiful regions of the united kingdom, northern ireland and the lakelands of fermanagh, and to bask in the glory of one of the most peaceful g8 summits in history. can the prime minister

assure members of parliament from northern ireland that he will do everything in his power to build on that summit and bring economic prosperity to northern ireland? also ensure that all company taxes that are due to the uk coffers go to them, instead of to the irish republic? >> i thank the honorable gentleman for his question. each of the g8 leaders mentioned how pleased they were to be in northern ireland and how impressed they were by the progress of the peace process. the advertising or, as i put it yesterday, infomercial for iorthern ireland was priceless. also made sure they were sent off with a bottle of bushmills to enjoy when they got home. we discussed the tax issue. it is important to recognize that as well as the issues with the rate of corporation tax, there are issues with how tax authorities handle companies.and making sure they do not turn a blind eye to bad practices.

that is an important part of the debate. >> the prime minister was right to take a lead on the eu-us trade deal, which could increase car exports by a further 25%. would he agree that another very big prize, through the mutual recognition of regulations, would be the ability to set standards globally? >> yes, my right honorable friend is absolutely right.this highlights what a complicated and difficult deal it is. we sometimes think that trade deals are just about taking down tariff barriers and then letting the market decide. modern trade deals are much more about agreeing common standards and recognition of each other's standards, and opening up things like services and procurement. the deal will be difficult and complicated, but it has started with good will on all sides, which is the right way to kick >> on the provision of registers of beneficial

ownership appear to be no more than a wish list, since the communiqué says country should do this rather than well, what sanctions will be exerted against countries that refuse or fail to comply, given that that could unravel the whole objective? >> the right honorable gentleman has a long track record of campaigning on these issues. i urge him to read the lough erne declaration, because we tried to put down in simple terms something that everyone would understand about publishing information, about companies saying where they pay their taxes and about what extractive industries pay to ,eveloping countries.an agenda we all feel passionate about and i think getting those cleaners to decide their name -- those leaders to sign their name under that declaration means that it will become part of the g8 process. every time we meet, we will discuss what progress has been made and what fresh agreements

have been made. in the end, all countries are sovereign and make their own decisions, but it was remarkable how much progress was made so quickly at the g8 in getting countries to sign up to these things and do them. themselves. >> the prime minister is right discussing political sentiments but does he understand that by excluding iran from the forthcoming talks simply because we don't agree with them is an admission of political and diplomatic failure? it is precise because we don't agree with them that we should be talking with them. with the revisit this an approach is international partners in pes that we can get a change of you on this? >> i make two points to my honorable friend. first, iran never accepted the premises of geneva one so they haven't even crossed the threshold as it were into what a transition would look like. the second point which is tis, when you are trying to put together a group of individuals to negotiate a piece conference, those important thing is that you have a limited number of

people from the regime, a limited number of people from the opposition who represent the people of syria. and it's that i think we should focus more on than anything el else. >> can ask the prime minister about the fourth in his pilot comment and that isthe issue of counterterrorism? and welcome about what he said about money being agreed. the issue though is not just the discussion of the leaders but also follow a. what additional resources or powers way be given to the group that traditionally he follows up from g8 summit on the counterterrorism agenda? this is in the end of the most important part of the summer, what's going to happen after. could make sure there is a effective structure? >> the communicate dictated to the group and says it must have what is necessary to take actions so we canoordinate better after dreadful events like the one -- [inaudible].

the discussion we had at the g8 was to try to agree those ivers of terrorism extremism across north africa, and then what more the countries around the table could do to make sure that we don't duplicate efforts but we try and divide up, for instance, britain doing more perhaps to help nigeria. france doing more to help stabilize mali. the nazis worked with key partners in the region and so on and so forth. we cast our national security advisers to continue the work of working out how to adjudicate who should do more on what, and hewas very encouraging that president putin agreed that he should take up this work as well when it comes to attending the g8 next year. >> dr. julian lewis. >> does the prime minister agree the gravest threat to western safety would be al qaeda getting their hands on serious stocks of chemical weapons of mass destruction? and does he think that arming the rebels would make that

outcome morer less likely? >> i think my friend is right to point to the key dangers thereof, of extremists in sria with weapons, with intent to get hold of chemical weapons. the question with adams -- ask ourselves is how to get to this point. they already have the weapon. they already have this intend to the extremist element of the opposition has become too strong. o our aim should be to reduce their strength and that's why we agreed at the g8, actually part of the program is to expel extremists on all sides from syria. that is the absolute key. the only point i would make is that to those who see rightly dangerous in engaging in any effort to try to help syria is with god to the point where extremist have an intent, want to get hold of chemical weapons while there's been i would argue a deficit of engagement by

countries that wants you to take the right path rather than the one path but as i said we're not decided to on the rebels. we're working with the opposion in ways that i described. we are working with the americans and the french, but of being engaged, being positive about what britain can achieve with partners on sure is the right approach to reduce these dangers rather than increase them. >> [inaudle] develop new international tools. has been recognition -- [inaudible] on this transparency and unless they play part in developing these international standards and transparency we will not succeed. >> yes, i think the honorle lady is right. we will never solve this just by governments reaching agreements by the nationally or internationally. we need a debate by this in every bodroom and every business in the world, and we also need lawyers and accountants to think about the responsibilities as well as the

bottom line. and i don't think that's an unreasonable thing to be. there's also a very positive suggestion made with my support by the french and the americans that we ought to be asking accountants and lawyers to do more to help developing countries with the tax system otherwise there's an unequal struggle. one example is given every country where the entire budget of the department in with the company was far slower than army of lawyers sent to do with it. >> the g8 pledges on syria, can i particularly welcomed the prime minister's closing remarks at the summit that if britain were not in the european union you would not directly benefit to end eu-u.s. trade to the isn't right that your means jobs? >> the point i was making, and i hope you will quote me in full, is of course if brita was not

in the european union you could reach their own trade agreements with different parts of the world but i believe we do benefit from be part of the single market and part of the speaker negotiations where you have a huge amount of heft in terms of delivering these disparate and the eu career deal has been very positive. i think the eu candidate you will be very positive and i think would be complete ever shortly and the eu u.s. to has more potential than all the others put together. >> i've listened with interest a number of the premises answers on issues of tax. [inaudible] what assurances can you give about the campaign about when and how he will finish that business? >> i think that if campaign is an excellent job in raising the profile of this issue and all the other issues around how do i think the response to the

outcome yesterday, i think they made a number of fairpoint. wee made good progress. this issue is far of the candidates have been. loss of tax rooms have been made. lots of revenue has been recovered for this country. we've done a huge amount t to hp the poorest country in the. the african leaders said this is absolutely the agenda they want wanted to focus on but there is more to do. i'm happy to keep on that work. >> cannot congratulate my right honorable friend on progress on certain at the g8 summit who claims there's more to do. president putin reminded us all that amongst this in rebels are those of the same kind that murdered lay review. what more can we be doing in this country to stop young bushman from going to say and coming back radicalized? >> my friend is right. there is a danger of young people from britain goi and taking part in this conflict just as it has been in afghanistan, in somalia, and

mali, and elsewhere. we should doverything we can in the uk to try to crack down on these centers of radicalization. it's quite clear to me as i said at the prime ministers question, we need to do more to confront the radicalizers and hate preachers. we need to do more to throw those out of the country. this is a huge program that goes right across government and had to do everything we can to deliver it. >> the prime minister will no that constituents around the world will be very positive about monsters come out of g8. but your hardheaded and simple -- high in the sky. what assurance can you give me and my constituents the jobs and growth really are a priority and w do w know he's going to follow it through so it makes a real difference to a world that is looking for a new deal of employment and? >> i completely understand

people's senses about these gatherings because they to produce very long communicate and lots of talking. what did you actually agree? i do think on this occasion we've got one or two really concrete things we can point to come an agreement not to pay kidnap for terrorists grandson. that's good all the agreements in the run up to the g8 conference that delivered the next a billion pounds of revenue just from crown dependency and overseas territories they can help keep tax rates down. and then, of course, the lough erne declaration which is the close statement yet to come out of interest what about what needs to be done on tax, understand, unexpected industry which frankly is a guide for ngos to hold governments to account and to make progress on this vital agenda. >> i want to thank my right of a friendfor bringing the g8 to northern ireland and through that showing the world how much northern ireland has come from

the dark and dangerous place i remain in my childhood quit the prime minister a lived before the conference in a newspaper, his frustration with the diplomatic -- in any case. this one was a big step for. has a list of real and tangible declarations on tax interest that you. what more are going to do to get the actual list reproduced in full in today's telegraph to the british people? >> can i commend the belfast to the effect having joined the cynical and i said hold on this is an important breakthrough on these issues at the approach of a. will have to to do is kill all these countries to the commitment. so these action plans of beneficial ownership of guns that everybody delivers. so you can see who owns what company. we need to make sure that this international exchange of tax information can't involve every country in the orld. in that way we can get there taxes and health of the world at the same time. that's what is needed is follow up on all of these issues.

>> cannot prime minister assure us there will not be any unilater military intervention intervention, including the supply of weapons on other form arsenals and the rebels in syria, and that britain's role will be confined to an international piece plan? and, of course, i was pleased that the g8 came to northern ireland. >> i think the honorable lady for praising the decision for this told in order of but let me say how i think i will ought interested in making sure it went well. i'm sorry uc berkeley with the government -- we want an initial piece covers but we wanted transition government. we want a piece settlement but we do believe we should be lping the syrian national opposition. we have recognize, not just us but america, countriescross the european union that they are legitimate spokespeople for the same people. frankly, i hope the labour party and all its allies will decry a

son. it is a great tradition on, and continued to do so, and the use, and the use of chemical weapons. it can't be said often enough what a brutal dictator this man is. [shouting] >> thank you, mr. speaker. i warmly congratulate the prime minister on the achievements of the g8. g8. regarding tax transparent to, could he comment a little more on tha timetable that might be sitting in front of us from for making that happen speak with in terms of the uk domestic action, in terms of uk domestic action we will be publishing shortly our consultation on whether to make a register of ownership public. that we can get on rapidly. the international exchange of tax information. that is progressing all of the time throughout europe and the rest of the world and we need to keep pushing. >> thank you the prime minister is aware that 30 years ago the united states president andth

british conservative prime minister decided to arm afghanistan with consequences which e still with us today with the belated talks directly with the taliban. we al are aware, any mention mali, and i was there two weeks ago, the arms they came out of libya led to al qaeda and te -- almost taking power in that country. what guarantee can you give us that if he decides to arm elements of this are in opposition we won't begin with the same problems in ths country and the rest of the world in 30 years time? >> we haven't made the decision of let me just say about bya, i think it was right to work with others, including the french, and there was cross party agreement to do that, to get rid of gadhafi. of course, this work is never done but they shouldn't ever be arguments for never dog anything anywhere. if you take action as we didn't even have to do everything you

can to help the successor regime that is democratically elected to get weapons out of libya and that's what we're doing. these are all arguments for engament, for working with partners, not for putting our soldiers at risk or taking steps we're not capable of but working with others to try and get good outcome. >> thank you, mr. speaker. was there any progress made on international government issues in terms of trying to establish a land registry in africa and other developing countries which would be helpful in a different people to have security? >> this was discussed at the lunch that was held yesterday, specific untaxed transparency and trade. and the lough erne declaration does cover the important issue of transparency about land, the point was tha made that we not y now have these declarations, but with all the capabilities of satellite mapping and digital

technology they should be easier to take these steps forward in the future. >> mr. speaker, the talks that the prime minister report on between the taliban and the rest of the west obviously welcome and one hopes to bring about long-term resolution and piece in afghanistan. can he not draw parallel from that and recognize that to bring about a political settlement in syria must involve iran as much as it must involve rush and all the other countries? can he turn his attention to political settlement, a date for the conference, wide registration and get off his populist but supplying arms to fuel the civil war within a civil war that it would bring about greater destruction to an already disastrous siation? >> let me say two points. the iranians haven't accepted what was discussed at geneva. they haen't accepd that as a basis. and i think it isn't right to say that somehow the british government has had a sort of

single fixation. after all, it was my decision to fly to lough erne have the discussion with vladimir putin to invite him back here to try and find common ground. when i sit down with vladimir putin the biggest grimace. i take a totally different view about a st, about the use of chemical weapons about vladimi putin. there isn't anyone hiding those things but it's also right to be engaged discussing where we can find common ground and that's exactly what we have done. >> could i congratulate my right honorable friend on his energy trying to resolve the threat of commensurate crisis and she? can i -- emphasizing together a crude but in the connection may i -- [inaudible] we ne to bring in all who have influence on the situation and if it really a good idea that we should be talking to the new iranian president? >> of course, look, we should be having dicussions as we are

with iranians over the nuclear issue and over those discussions can get a greater taste for the new iranian president went to remember why we don't have an embassy in tehran in that it was invaded and trashed by the iranians. so we should remember that. on this issue how wide to take these discussions, of course in the end you need to involve all partners, albeit everyone, the more we can get to by in the progress is better. i think we don't make that a substitute for the real actions that is needed which is to get the syrian regime, the syrian opposition with encouragement from the russians and americans to name the people need to sit around the table to hold those talk i think this is where the leaders need to apply the pressure to everybody because otherwise one can get into an endless process but a process of rather torturous without an end. >> thank you, mr. speaker. while it was refreshed with a

climate change was on the official g. agenda this week, the commuque did it was one of the foremost challenges we face. what is the prime minister doing to me this just and secure a new global private global change agreement? >> the issue was dealt with not just in the communique but actually in the vital preamble which is part that most people look at to see what the conference discussed. my judgment was it was right to talk with the g8 countries that were there about particularly the issues of trade, tax and has been because i thought that's what we could make the greatest progress. had we had a long conversation on climate change that would've been a stick agreement amongst most of the participants around the table to w already know each other's positions but if you don't have some of the developing countries there and some of the larger countries like china or india, it wouldn't be a vital agenda shifting discussion. so i chose the subjects we spent

the most time on, but it's an important reference to climate change as the honorable lady has said. >> were me commend untaken initiative on asian a tax transparency and justice in the developing world, for the first time in recent years. but is not to be the end but on the beginning of a process? can the prime minister take it again on to the european union, the commonwealth and the g20 group of countries so that transparent ownership of countries, for example, in making sure multinationals are seen to be paying tax in all the countries where they are working is something that can be delivered, hopefully, by the end of this parliament and by our government? >> i think mhonorable friend is right. the g8 is a very limited number of countries but it can play a leadership role. now we have this agenda, now have a very simple and straightforward declaration. we can run that through the g20, the commonwealth, the european

union has started to address this issue with a groundbreaking deal made on tax exchange between european union members. so yes, this is now something that it want to see the british government tries to all of its wealthy bodies. >> [inaudible] i heard firsthand from workers about the impact -- [inaudible] i very much welcome the prime minister -- [inaudible] they can ask him what he's going to do to ensure that companies that are involved are tackled on this matter? >> she's right. 4.7 of the declarations that land transaction should be tested declarations that land transactions you because to ensure respect for property rights local committees, that his comitment we now need to engage governments beyond the g8 and also with business as well to make sure this is put in place.

>> [inaudible] the speed of events on the ground using chemical weapons potentially falling into the hands of strong position groups and may move quicker than the parliamentary process. can i encourage the premise arer not be deterred from making immediate national security decisions if he needs to do some? >> i think my honorable friend makes an important point. clearly it is a concern because syria has very large stockpiles of chemical weapons. and i think we have to focus on both dangers, the danger that the regime could use them again, and we have said there has been a number of separate opportunities come 10 opportunities were believed to have been content occasion would have been used. we have to be aware of the danger. and president obama sent a very clear message and signaled about that. and the second is that these could fall into dangerous hands. both of those dangers have to be -- he's right to make the point that we make a bi commitment to

come to this house explain all the rest of it but governments have to reserve the ability to take action very swiftly on this or on other issues. >> [inaudible] the first loophole. will the prime minister -- [inaudible] and clos loopholes? >> where my honorable gentleman is right is no sooner had he made one change to the tax system than another loophole opened up and you have to attack it. prime minister harper in canada said that he taken something like 70 to tax avoidance measures in recent years because this is continuing work. so it never ends. as for the second half of the honorable ntleman's question, i believe that one.

>> can i commend my right eye within a position in cm1 of the lessons from iraq, libya entity from lebanon is some of these extremist groups thrive not only with the bomb and the bullet but also why distributing food aid and other ways of aiding those communities that they invade. what are we doing to the official syrian opposition in terms of doing that sort of work with the committees in the areas they control? >> i think my friend makes a very important point, and this was a huge issue in somalia where we've seen real progress in recent years. i think what matters is finding the humanity and agency through the best mechanisms we have, at the moment that is working a lot withhe ngos and with the u.n. to make sure they deliver what they can. but in terms of making sure it gets to parts of the country held by the searing opposition, he is absolutely right.

>> holding the g8 in lough erne was her practical way that i want to add my congratulations to prime minister achieving being there. this year weather is some concern that the libyan trimester wasn't in lough erne -- [inaudible] he wasn't able to meet them. he then went off and let the person who used to be in the i.r.a. >> first of all the honorable lady is right that libyan syntax played an appalling role in the violence and destruction in northern ireland and, indeed, for all we know leaving syntax may still be in the hands of dissidents republicans. so this is a serious and alive issue. ..

the world wide web to make sure they avoid paying their fair share of tax. may i congratulate on the agreement to look at that and to see what factors can be brought to bear to ensure providers are taxed where the transactions take place. could he let us know the timetable? is a simple principle, you should have a simple tool that can able a country to see how

much revenue and how much profit and taxes are coming in each jurisdiction. sometimes they have asked for full disclosure of every piece of information but boxes of information does not get you the high-level taxes you need to see andher you have a problem find an answer. i think this is the right approach for the reasons i have given. >> the prime minister has supported disclosure of the companies so why is he hesitating rather to commit the and aa public record register? a public record, register in its action plan? >> as i said, we are going to set up a central registry, and we're going to consult about whether it should be public.

i think there are strong arguments for it being public, but let me justake two points. first is the point at which you say your own registry will be public, you give up a lot of leverage over other countries you might want to encourage to do that at the same time. that is point one. think point to is it's important to take the business community who believe in responsible behavior with us on this journey of greater transparency and fairness. and actually the cbi, to be fair to them, have been very supportive of this agenda. so there's nothing to fear from a consultation. we're trying to take people with us on this important process. >> steven orien. >> may i welcome the clear commitments from the g8 led by my right honorable friend which i would characterize as growth for all citizens and responsibility for the most vulnerable, but none of it can happen without responsibility. so does he share my hope that the very signal ground breaking agreement about ransom payments will not be lost with these and

how this drives so much of the instability which we can now conquer by cutting it off at the source? >> well, i thank my honorable friend for what he says. look, there's no doubt these ransom payments paid to terrorists have been immensely damaging. tens of millions of dollars, and that sort of money in a country like mali or niger, that sort of money buys you a huge amount of arms and power. look, the countries have all signed this. what matters now is that we hold each other's feet to the fire and make sure we hold them accountable. >> mr. chris bryant. >> i hear the prime minister's -- fear the prime minister's strategy on syria is completely misguided. we shouldn't be naive about this because the motion picture association is one of the best funded lobbying organizations in the world. it's always campaigned against

any state subsidy for the making of movies in this country or anywhere else in europe. shouldn't ere, therefore, be an exemption r cultural services? >> well, what the honorable gentleman will see if he looks at it closely is that the european starting position is that there will be an exception for audiovisual services which is something that's been in place for all of the free tra agreements we've made as a european union with countries around the world. uniquely in this country, there is an opportunity if we want to to add it back in and personally i think that the british film industry, british television is immensely strong. i don't think that our tax credit system in any way is an unfair subsidy. i think we should be proud of the collaborations we have between britain and hollywood. but is was a subject much discussed including which member of the g8 liked which french film.

[laughter] >> mr. duncan hayes. >> i congratulate the prime minister on securing agreement on land in the declaration which he cited earlier this aftnoon. will he, therefore, support measures to increase the transparency of land deals done around the world by companies baseed in the united kingdom, thereby getting our own house in order? >> well, i'm grateful to my honorable friend for his question. clearly, the registry of beneficial ownership will help because companies will have to declare who owns them, so this will be one way in which tax authorities, for instance, in developing countries will be able to make sure that bribes aren't paid and all the rest of it. that's part of the point of the registry. >> jonathan edwards. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister said that the tax evasion provisions in the g8 agreement would raise one billion per annum for the exchequer, so what about the other 29 billion lost each year? >> well, i think if you look at all of the things this government has done, the swiss

deal, i think that raised multibillion pounds because of the agreement with that country. the current dependencies on overseas territories i've mentioned. the more countries sign up to these multilateral exchanges and also the automatic exchange of information, the more of that money we'll be able to recover. >> mr. damian hines. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i, too, commend the prime minister for his leadership towards an e.u./u.s. trade deal. can he help to put that in context in terms of his value to this country relative to other trade deals? >> well, the figures i gave are 85 billion pounds benefit to the u.s. and 100 billion as a whole to the e.u. i think if the u.k. being 13, 14% of the e.u., you can, as it were, do the math. um, i think, though, britain particularly benefits from freeing up services and

particularly financial serves. so if we can get good agreements in those chapters of the deal, perhaps there'll be a parcular benefit for britain. >> mr. andrew love. >> i listened very carefuy to the prime minister's response to the honorable member -- [inaudible] and other parliamentary friends in relation to tax transparency. but isn't one of the weaknesses of the declaration that there is no means of holding countries to account and that the danger will be the nightmare scenario will be we're back next year, the next year, the next year with little progress made on this? >> well, i wouldn't be so depressed about it. i mean, i think one of the good things about the g8 is the accountability report is very simple and straightforward, and it's always been about aid volumes and aid promises. future accountability reports will be able to address some of these issues in the declaration as we. if we do that and we hold leaders' feet to the fire,

there's no reason why we shouldn't make real progress on this agenda. >> mr. neil carmichael. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. in giving a strong welcome to the e.u./u.s. trade negotiations launching the g8, the protest itself could be a catalyst towards creating a more open and modern europe. and that's entirely consistent with his ambitions for europe, and it also demonstrates britain's influence in europe is gog to be a positive thing for the future. >> well, i thank my honorable friend for that point. i do think the process going through chapter by chapter trying to open up areas to greater trade and competition will be good for europe as a whole. there are always those countries that fear this process. we tend to be very much in the vanguard of thinking it's a good thing, so i hope this engagement will have the effect that he says. >> steve mckay. >> were the reports before the summit that the prime minister had committed his government to making public registries of beneficial ownership wrong, and

is his commitment only to holding a consultation? >> our commitment is what we said it is which is to have a central register of beneficial ownership and to have a consultation about whether or not that should be public. as i said, i think there are strong arguments for public registers and beneficial ownership all over the world. the end point weought to arrive at is every country having a register of beneficial ownership. that is the goal. the question is how can you accelerate progress towards it. i think we really put the foot on the gas with this declaration, and now we need to workut how to use our next steps to increase the leverage at this -- >> the moment has arrived for mr. steven williams. [laughter] >> thank you very much. you've pulled all my colleagues, i thought i was going to be left out. mr. speaker, when i used to read double tax treaties, they were written in a bygone age mentioning forestry and the

signature that story -- signatorypowers. will the prime minister use britain's positionn the, to ecd to make sure these treaties are brought up up-to-date and e-commerce where so much tax avoidance is done? >> very important point. i think we must also try and make them less impenetrable, but e-commerce because so much business has gone online, this is a real challenge for the tax authorities. >> paul flynn. >> can i congratulate the prime minister on proving once again the remarkable persuasive powers of parliamentary questions. as recently as 28th of february on the crown dependencies, his business minister told me that the government has no plans to require disclosure of the beneficial ownership p of u.k. property. now he has. will he further prove his flexibility in this area by persuading his honorable friend, lord -- [inaudible] to end his work as a lobbyist for the cayman islands?

>> well, let me take the opportunity not only to pay tribute to members of the house who put pressure on the cwn dependencies and overseas territories, but we should pay tribute to them. they came willingly to london to sit round the cabinet tablend to commit to a series of steps that some of them had committed to before but not all of them had committed to. and we should say, we should now and up for them and say, you know, what they have done now other jurisdictions that don't have this sort of transparency need to do. so i think it is important we pay tribute to the work they've done. as for the other part of the question, i've not sided on it, so i'll have to have a look at it. >> mr. bob stewart. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as we went into afghanistan as a directesult of a threat to our own country and our own peopl could i ask my right honorable friend in honor of all those soldiers, sailors and airmen that have died or been hurt in

afghanistan to insure that the negotiationers with the taliban -- negotiators with the taliban somehow or other get an agreement from them that they will never ever make a threat against our country or encourage those people, other people to make a threat against our country, and thus we give honor to those people who have given their lives in support of our country. >> i think my honorable friend is absolutely right to speak as he does a speaks with great authority about this. if you cast your mind back to 2001, one of the reasons we went into afghanistan is that the then-taliban regime refused to give up and condemn al-qaeda. so the whole point behind the action was to get al-qaeda out of afghanistan and to stop them launching attacks from there on our soil. and we should pay tribute to the more than 400 of our service

personnel who have given their lives and the many more who have been wounded. we should pay tribute to the incredible work that they've done. but they have helped to bring us to a point where afghanistan is now taking responsibility for its own security, highly capable afghan national security forces, and the taliban have stated in their statement that they don't want to see afghanistan effectively as a base for attacks on other countries. >> mr. jim shannon. >> thank the prime minister for his statement there as well. and for the welcome, the very distinctive british agenda that you referred to for the g8 summit and for the province and also for the two -- [inaudible] looking forward to that, of course. but, prime minister, you also referred to talks with the taliban. what will this start talks and discussions with them? the cessation of violence or a ceasefire priority? starting the process? >> as the honorable gentleman say, the sunshine for two dys

was a bonus and not one i was totally expecting. [laughter] the point about the discussions with the taliban is they are taking place to a background of a statement by the taliban that they don't want to see, a i'm paraphrasing, afghanistan used as a base of attacks on other countries. think that is the right basis for them to start. but, clearly, in this process the whole aim is to give people who thought they could achieve their goals through the bomb or the bullet the opportunity to achieve goals through political means. that is, i suppose, the parallel with the very painful process that was gone through in northern ireland. >> mr. david nettle. >> can i congratulate my right honorable friend on hosting such a successful meeting of the g8. given the's special relationship with the united states -- the u.k.'s special relationship with the united states of america, does my right honorable friend not think we could have made more progress on negotiating a free trade deal with america had we not left the matter up to the e.u. for the last 40 years?

[laughter] >> my honorable friend makes an important point. look, of course, as i've said, if britain wanted to leave the european union, we could, and then we could make trade deals with every country in the world. and, obviously, that is a path open to us. the argument i would make is that as part of the european union, as part o the world's largest single market, i think you do have the opportunity to drive some quite good deals. clearly, you have to sometimes make compromises with partners in the european union with whom you might not agree, but on balance i would argue membership of the single market clearly brings its benefits, and the negotiating heft you have has its benefits as well. this is the whole point. we're going to debate and discuss this not least in the runup to the referendum by the end of 2017. >> mark during keep. >> the prime minister will understand some of us are still seeking assurance that the outcome to the g8 will be as thoroughly welcome and significant as it's arrival. in northern ireland.

the declaration that he referred to has ten points which includes 13 shoulds and not a single shall. then the g8 plans to prevent legal arrangements provide eight prinples expressed with 17 shoulds and 1 could. no shall. and, of course, they are only going to be subject to a process of self-reporting against individual action plans. and then the u.k. individual action plan, helpfully published yesterday, sets out ten points offering standards most of which should or could have been reached under existing laws and financial action task force requirements. so what confidence can we have that he is going to insure that the commitments that were made yesterday are going to go the distance? >> well, look, you know, this is a journey. and the question is how far down the road are we, and i would argue we've taken some serious steps down the road by setting out so clearly on beneficial

ownership, on automatic exchange of information, on international tax standards what needs to be done. and i think if you look at what britain itself has done with the crown dependencies and overseas territories, for instance, you can see real progress. is there a lot more to do? yes. do we need international reporting on it? yes. but has the g8 lifts this issue? frankly, beneficial ownership, these were quite academic issues discussed in lofty academic circles. they're now kitchen table issues and being discussed by the g8 with leaders who have pledged to take action on it. >> the chair is minded to take all remaining colleagues on these extremely important matters. the prime ministers helpfully providing pithy replies which, of course, now need to be matched by pithy questions. >> i congratulate the prime minister for his commitment to come to this house before taking major action in syria. could he also confirm that that would include the opportunity for this house to vote before

any arms were sent to syria? >> well, i made clear that we made no decision to arm the rebels. and as has been said, these things should be discussed, debated and, indeed, voted on in this house, thgh with the proviso of the answer i gave to the honorable member for the -- [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> the agreements on tax transparency are welcome and pay credit to the prime minister for what was achieved. but he will know that tax transparency is only part of the issue because of excesses. there will still be tax havens which people can make recourse. so would he agree the next step is now to try and insure that companies pay tax in the countries that actually own their income, individuals also pay tax, will he make that a priority of his administration leading up to next g8?

>> i'm grateful to the honorable gentleman. that is the point of the high-level international tax tool i've been seeking for a better descrtion of this thing than the one i've just begin. nonetheless, that is what we want to -- the oecd to provide to countries so you can see at a glance for a company what does it earn, what is its profits, what is its tax paid so if you can see where there is a problem. and then, obviously, the register of beneficial ownership helps because if different companies under different nominee ownership is being used, it will help you to hunt down the true owners of these companies. so these things all go together, and i think they can work. >> andrew stephenson. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we're delighted to hear my ght honorable friend used them as an example of a great exporter ahead of the g8 summit. i warmly welcome what the prime minister saided the about the focus on jobs and growth. could he say more about the positive impact decisions taken at the g8 will have on manufacturers like hope technology?

>> well, i w't forget my visit to hope technologies because it was really impressive to see a manufacturing business making cycle accessories, parts and, indeed, bicycles here in the u.k. when so often people think, well, all of this sort of manufacturing has gone offshore. no, it hasn't. some of the highest quality production is right here. obviously, these trade deals make a difference for manufacturing industries. but also we need to do everything else including keeping our own tax rates low which is what ts government's doing. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, madam deputy speaker. now that the prime minister has had some time to reflect on his earlier remarks about the labour party and the assad regime, will he consider withdrawing his remarks and apologizing? the everyone in this house is united in being opposed to the assad regime and the brutal killings of thousands of people. but we have genuine questions about his stance on arming the syrian rebels. the first question is can he

give -- sorry. can he give a guarantee that humanitarian access isn't going to get worse, and can he explain -- sorry. >> prime minister? >> well, as i've said many time, we've made no decision to arm the rebels. the point i was making was simply that whenever we talk about these issues, we should put out there front and center how much we abhor this form of dictatorship, this form of brutalization. th form of use of chemical weapons, and it can't be said often enough, but it needs to be said by everybody all the time. that is the point i was making. i certainly won't withdraw it. >> sarah newton. >> madam deputy speaker, i warmly welcome the significant progress that the prime minister has made on issues that really matter to my constituents, and i'm sure the length of the country. could my right honorable friend confirm to the forthcoming geneva two talks a limited number of representatives of civil society and the refugees that have been displaced in neighboring countries will be

involved? >> well, i think what matters is that the regime anthe oppositionominate a limited number of people to discuss how you put together a transitional government that can represent all of the syrian people. i don't want to put too many strictures on it because i think that speed and simplicity are of the essence. >> william payne. >> thank you, madam deputy speaker. companies engaged in secret mining deals and salting profits away in tax havens are taking food off the table for the poor in africa. what specific commitments have the g8 made to insure mandatory country-by-country reporting of what companies pay in tax? >> well, this issue is, which i applaud kofi ann's work on, is covered in the declaration, that companies should report wt they pay and that governments should report what they receive because often there's been a discrepancy between the two. obviously, the more countries that join the eiti and several promised during the course of the g8 -- the italians, the

french, ourselves before the g8. so t more that do that, the higher the international standards will be. >> raymond -- [inaudible] >> thank you, madam deputy speaker. on syria can i refer the ime minister to pagraph 87 of the communique which deals with chemical weapons but also deals with a united nations mission going to syria to inspect if there's any chemical weapons there? clarification on that, prime minister, russia having been party to this now accept the findings of that mission, and following from that, won't russia accept any action which the united nations proposed be taken if there are any specific findings on those matters? >> well, obviously,y honorable friend's second two questions are really matters for the russians, that they will have to answer for. i am clear about the information i've been given about the use of chemical weapons and, clearly, there's a disagreement between what i believe and what president putin believes. but what matters about paragraph 87 is that this is saying that

the u.n. should be allowed in unhindered and that the regime must allow that to happen, and i think it is significant tt the russians agreed this. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, deputy speaker. i welcome the statement by the prime minister and, indeed, the quote distinctly british agenda agenda -- [inaudible] and i'm very happy that the dreary -- [inaudible] have given way to a new dawn. i congratulate the government. look forward to other g8s coming back there in the future when the british government's back in charge. could i return to his statement where he has said we will not take any major actions without first coming to this house on syria? can he confirm that that includes arming the rebels? >> yes, i can. and as i've said that very clearly. let me be clear, there is -- although i know the saying, there was nothing dreary. the sun was shining, and the

countryside looked magnificent. >> margo james. >> the announcement on the talks between the e.u. and u.s. on trade are very welcome for economic growth covering, as it will, 50% of global trade. can my right honorable friend use his influence to insure those tasked with negotiations on the e.u. side maintain relentless energy on the removal of nontariff barriers such that services trade should bros. some? -- blossom? >> my honorable friend is absolutely right to raise this, and i think it's not just that officials have to be relentless and engage on this, but also when there are blockages and problems, it needs to be elevated to politicians and ministers so that we can try and drive forward the agenda on this, otherwise these trade talks get bogged down. >> jonathan ash worth. >> everybody in the labour party abhors the assad regime. but on the question of iran,

given the iranians' traditional influence over the syrian regime and given the election results, is the prime minister absotely sure that we haven't now got a window of opportunity to try and engage iran in helping us find thepolitical solution in syria that we all want to see? >> prime minister. >> well, i think we shou certainly engage with the fact that iran has elected for, elected a relative moderate. i think that is a positive sign, and we should look for opportunities. but as i said, really if we're going to put so much weight on the geneva process and the geneva principles, it's important that everybody -- iran included -- signs up to them. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, madam deputy speaker. the prime minister's attempts on the world trade agreement will be very warmly welcomed by many and rightly so, but does he agree the prize could be even bigger if we could genuinely open up the e. single market to services because particularly with 71% of e.u. gdp is in

services, only 3.2% is intra-e.u. companies, and much more could be done to help our company. >> my honorable friend is absolutely right, and this requires action by governments and countries right across the board including traditionally quite free trade countries like germany that have sometimes had quite a lot of restrictions around particular professions. so we need to do that within the e.u., and then we need do it between the e.u. and the u.s. in order to capture the full benefits of these changes. >> -- [inaudible] davis. >> on the tax sharing, sharing of tax information, was there agreement in principle the multi-nationals should pay their tax where they make their profit, and if so, when will this happen given that there'll be winners and losers with different countries resisting is? >> prime minister. >> the key point in the declaration is that we should op companies from trying to

artificially shift profits from one jurisdiction to another. look, i believe in fair tax competition. i'm a low tax conservative. i think it's right to have a low tax and then to ask companies to pay that tax. i think what is unacceptable is when processes and procedures are gone into not to shift the activity. that's a company's right. but to shift where you're trying to take the profits. that's the point. >> jason mccollum. >> thank you, madam deputy speaker. having served on the effective no-fly zone over iraq in the 19 t 0s, can i ask whether there were discussions at the g8 over a no-fly zone in syria? >> there weren't specific discussions at the g8, but, obviously, i had serious conversations with barack obama about all the things that we should be doing to put pressure on the, on president assad. but we don't have any plans to take those steps. >> deborah abrahams. >> can the prime minister confirm that the u.s. is exempt

from the e.u./u.s. trade negotiations? >> i'm not aware of the specific exemption for any particular area, but i think the health services will be treated in the same way for e.u./u.s. negotiations as it is for e.u. rules. but if that is in any way inaccurate, i'll write to the honorable lady and put it right. >> chris hopkins. >> mr. speaker, yesterday my right honorable friend commented on the possible route to a political solution in afghanistan following the opening of talks between the u.s. and taliban. can i encourage the prime minister to offer our resources and share our experience of peace talks in these islands to those who are beginning to tread this very dficult path? >> prime minister. >> i think my honorable friend makes an important point, and we do do that. it is a tangible example when you see the first minister and deputy first minister of nohern ireland working together. i think we do have experience, and we should certainly share it, and we do that.

>> >> [inaudible] gilmore. >> thank you, deputy speaker. i'd like to press the prime minister on the precise words of his statement where he says we will not take any major actions without first coming to this house. could he offer a definition of "major"? >> i think what i'd say is repeat what i said in my statement about major action but put in the proviso i gave to the honorable member, because if you remember in the case with libya or could be th case of other action it is sometimes necessary to act very swiftly in defense of the national interest or in the case of could be terrorist kidnap or in terms of not providing information to those that you are engaged with. it's sometimes necessary to ta very swift action but, obviously, one would come to the house very swiftly after that as i did in the se of libya and explain. i think these are well known approaches, and i don't think

there's anything to be surprised about. >> james morris. >> can i congratulate the prime minister on his approach to syria at the summit, particularly towards an international peace conference. but could i urge him to be very cautious on calls for iran to be involved in that peace conference? because, after all, the iranian regime has been funding its proxy, hezbollah, in syria and has been responsible and complicit with a lot of the atrocities that have been committed by the assad regime. >> i think my honorable friend make an important point, but the most important point, of course, is that, you know, for countries to be engaged in any way, they have to sign up for the geneva process. >> [inaudible] >> the g8 tax agreement opens the way to an international tax settlement that is simpler, more transparent, and doesy right honorable friend, the prime minister, agree that it potentially benefits those countries that have dropped their corporation tax such as the u.k.? >> well, the point i would make and i think my honorable friend

would agree is low tax rates are good for business, and there's nothing wrong with healthy tax competition. but it's important particularly when you set a low tax rate to say to businesses, we have a low tax rate, you now need to pay it, and i think this g8 agenda will help us with that. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, madam speaker. people in the northeast will marley welcome the dialogue on tax dodging. could the prime minister expand what effect this will have on future government tax receipts and the war on poverty? >> prime minister. >> are i think my honorable friend is actually right. if we can deal more effectively with tax evasion which as i've said many times raises serious moral issues, if we deal with both of those and garner more revenue, that can help us to keep taxes down on hard working people who do the rightthing. that is what should drive us in this whole agenda, and we've recovered a lot of money from some of these territories and bank aounts. we should continue to do so. >> steven metcalf. >> thank you, madam deputy

speaker. can i thank my right honorable friend for his recent speech at the london gateway port in my constituency and agree with me that such investment will stimulate world economic growth, encourage free trade but above all, demonstrate that under this government britain is a great place to do business? >> let me commend my honorable friend for standing up so vigorously for his constituency and for this extraordinary investment. i would encourage colleagues who haven't seen this giant port being built on the thames estuary, when when you're there, you think surely this must be happening in shanghai or in rio or is somewhere. actually, it's happening right here in the u.k. a massive investment that will cut costs, that will cut costs for consumers and really benefit our country. and they may bechucing and, you kw, they don't care about the important things that are happening in our country. [laughter] >> [inaudible]

>> thank you, madam deputy speaker. can i congratulate the prime minister on the progress made at the g8 and particularly the leadership in signing up to the eiti in advance of the summit. >> can i thank him for this questi. the eiti is important, and i think it's right that countries like britain should sign it as well as asking developing countries to sign it, and we should also go on and try to help developing countries to meet it because it does put obligations on them which they can't always fulfill. and i think it is a good sep forward that so many advanced countries have signed this. >> david -- [inaudible] >> i welcome the prime minister's -- [inaudible] pressing for stronger relationships between the e.u. and u.s. vitally important. but does he not agree it's absolutely critical that we pressing if around unrelenting focus -- for an unrelenting focus on growth markets such as china, india and russia in the years ahead? >> my honorable friend is

absolutely right about the need to win in this globalrace, and that's why the announcement i made at the beginning of prime minister's questions about ian living son who's run bt so effectively for the lastive years joining the government as trade minister at the end of the year. i think to have secured, first, the someone who secured the services of such a successful business here in the u.k. but also as a presence in about 78 >> next, a u.s. house hearing on the future of medicare. after that, the future of the presidential election in iran. then the consumer financial protection bureau budget. >> we have always been focused on what's important in the

business. in 1996, as an example in more recent times, when the telecom act of 1996 went in effect. in 1997 we were rolling out digital video, we were rolling out broad band services, residential commercial services, commercial services, and we were the first m.s.o. in the country to start bundling products together. for that our customers responded positively. we had a high penetration of products, and we were able to get into new businesses others didn't dream about because we got in there early and we were rewarded for that. >> everyone understands that sports and live sports right now is a sweet spot of media. it is almost the only thing that you have to watch live. so that has increased its value. i think everybody is seeing that now. whether they be social media sites that are partnering with us to be tweeting about sports

or to show sports as we have, show a lot of sports on facebook. other networks, other cable networks. i think everybody understands that sports rights are quite valuable. >> more of what's happening in this year's cable industry from this year's cable show. "the communicators" monday night at 8:00 eastern. >> on tuesday, two of the social security and medicare trustees discussed options to make medicare fiscally sustainable. there was testimony pf the house ways and means subcommittee on health. this is an hour.

>> author george r.r. martin wrote, most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it. i worry that when it comes to medicare, that's too true for many in washington today. if medicare is just fine, as some claim, why the funding warning for the seventh straight year? if there is no problem that needs action now, then why have the assets in the trust fund shrunk by 15% from the projections made just five ye