"washington journal, live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. the british prime minister david cameron taking questions from members on energy policy and green energy taxes. this questions to the prime minister. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house wished to join me in paying tribute to lance corporal james brinen who died in afghanistan. it is clear from the tributes that he was a highly talented and proferblal soldier. our thoughts are with his friends, families, and colleagues. he has made the ultimate sacrifice and we must never forget him. on a happier note i'm sure the whole house will join me on celebrating the christening of

babey prince george. in addition to my duties i shall have further meetings later today. >> mr. speaker, could i join my right honorable friend in his tribute to corporal brinen. our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family and also in his applause for the christening of prince george this morning. could i ask my honorable friend does he think is a good time from the apology for the police the troduced around also leader of the opposition? >> let me start by saying on behalf of the whole house and everyone in the house that we should put on record what an incredible job the police do on our behalf every day and i see that at very close hand. and the leader of the opposition and i saw that at the police bravery awards last week. but as i said last week, the

former chief gave a full explanation of what happened. the police in that meeting said that he gave no explanation. so it is now clear reading the report that the police do need to make an apology. now, the officers concerned and the chief are coming to the house today and i hope they will give a full accounted and a proper apology to the whole affairs select committee. and it is a moment for us to consider and i hope the leader will do the same thing. mr. speaker can i join the prime minister in paying tribute to the lance corporal who died on the second tour of duty in afghanistan. he was a brave professional soldier and i send our deepest condolences to his family and friends. i also join the prime minister in celebrating the christening of prince george later today.

mr. speaker, the prime minister said that anyone who wanted to intervene directly was living in a marxist universe. can he tell the house how does he feel now that the red peril has claimed for john major? we are intervening. i'm not surprised he wants to quote the last conservative prime minister and also forget the mess that the people in between made of our country. let me be absolutely clear. i do believe in intervening in the energy market. that is why we are legislating to put customers on the lowest terrace. now, where john major is absolutely right is that bills in this country have reached a completely unacceptable level and we need to take action on that. we need to help people to pay

their bills and we also need to help to get bills down. now, this is where we need a very frank conversation about what it is that is putting bills up. we're prepared to have that conversation. he is employed in cynical ploys and gimmicks. >> mr. speaker of course john major was a conservative who on a majority unlike this one. but mr. speaker i think the prime minister said something rather interesting. he obviously now does agree with john major that the energy price increases are unacceptable. well, if we agree they're unacceptable. the question is what are we going to do about it? the former prime minister says we should recoup that money. that's a quote from him. now, he wants to do it through

a windfall tax. i say we need a price freeze. what does the prime minister want to do to recoup that money for the consumer? >> let me answer that question directly. we need to roll back some of the green regulations and charges. we all know who put them in place. we all know who put them in place. >> order. very excited. i want to hear the answers. let's hear the prime minister. >> first of all, he talks about john major winning elections and he is right. he beat a weak and incredible labe -- lay bour leader. john major also said and he is absolutely right, the first thing he said was that labour's policy was unworkable and he is absolutely right. so what we need to do is recognize there are four bits

to an energy bill. there are the whole sale prices which are beyond our control. thrrs the cost of transmission and the grid which are difficult to change. there are the profits of the energy company. and there are the green regulations. and it is those last two that we need to get to grips with. so i can tell the house today that we will be having a proper competition test carried out over the next year to get to the bottom of whether this market can be more competitive. i want more companies, i want better regulation, i want better deals for consumers. but yes, we also need to roll back the green charges that he put in place as energy secretary. >> mr. speaker he really is changing his policy every day of the week. his energy secretary who is in his place says it is nothing to do with green taxes. 60% of the green taxes were introduced by him and who is

the man who said vote blue to go green? it was him. and i will tell you what weak, is not standing up to the energy companies. and that is this prime minister all over. >> it is who created the big six energy companies? when labour came to power there were 17. so i can help members opposite because i have the briefing, the back bench labor mps have begiven about their own energy policy. in case they haven't read the briefing they might want to hear it. question 7. what would stop the energy companies just increasing their prices beforehand? absolutely no answer. uestion 6. let me share your briefing with

you. how will you stop question 6. how will you stop companies just increasing their prices once the freeze ends? and here we have the great labour answer. the public would take a dim iew. let's have question 9. this says it all. labe labour's briefing. this is what it says. isn't he to blame for rising bills? and we all know the answer. yes, he is. >> i'll tell him what happened mr. speaker. when i was energy secretary energy bills went down. since he became prime minister they are up by 300 pounds. the prime minister says these price rises are unacceptable. he says he wants to act. now he is the prime minister. heaven help us but he is the

prime minister so he can act. but i've got suggestions. he should implement labour's price freeze. we can amend the energy bill and we can bring in that price freeze right now. two parties working together. let's do it. >> mr. speaker, i think he has been following too his own advice. let's bring in this price freeze right now. he knows perfectly well it is not a price freeze. it is a price con. he admitted it was a price con the very next day because he

cannot control global gas prices. the truth is prices will go up beforehand he wouldn't keep his promise and priceless go up afterwards. it is a cynical ploy from the energy secretary who wrecked the energy market in the first place. >> mr. speaker, i will tell him what is a con. telling people last week that the answer was to switch supplies and that was called a broken energy market. what does he think of someone who took his advice last week to switch only to discover the empire was raising the prices by 10%? >> here's where people are looking you can save up to 250 pounds if you switch but we want a more competitive energy market. he left us a market with just six players. we have already seen seven new energy companies come into that market that we need an annual audit of competition to make this market more competitive, something he never did when in

office. and we need to roll back the costs that have been imposed on people's energies bills part of chefs responsible for. one of the first acts of this got was to take the 179 pounds that he was going to put on to energy bills because of his renewable legislate initiative. he put bills up. he is trying to con the public. we will deliver for hard-working people. >> mr. speaker john major said what we all know. we have a prime minister who stands up for the energy companies, not hard pressed families. many people make a choice this winter between heating and ating. these are the ordinary people of this country who this prime minister will never meet and whose lives they will never understand. >> john major is a good man. the right honorable gentleman is acting like a con man. that is what we are seeing. he is promising something he knows he can't deliver.

because he never delivered it when he was in office. >> mr. speaker, in the town of cone where i live, unemployment is down and small businesses are flourishing. however, serious traffic congestion is holding back the economic growth in the area. will the prime minister join with me in welcoming the start of a six-week consultation that will address this problem and boost job innovation? >> welcome what my friend said the need for building bye passes and roads in our country is why we are spending 3 billion pounds on major upgrades. i welcome the cone bypass and it comes as very good news on unemployment where we have 1 million more people at work in our country.

>> mr. speaker, on this day 20 ars ago, the provisional ira brutally murdered innocent men, women, and children in bell fast. will the prime minister join with me and my colleagues in sharing that no one is in a ivilized society will ever e quate innocent victims with guilty murderers? >> i join the honorable gentleman in commemorating the appalling act and we all remember that. what i can say to him is of course no one should ever glorify in any way terrorism or those who take part in terrorism. but what he knows and what i know is that everyone in northern ireland has to try to leave the past behind. >> rural post officers are violetly important but need more government work to survive. they have to continue to pay pensions and benefits and

provide banking and identity check facilities. but also act as the front office for government. will the prime minister encourage his ministers to give more government work to post offices? >> we will want to see the network survive. unlike the last government who saw nearly a third of the rural post office net work closed we have committed that no post office will close in this parliament. so i hear what he says, the current arrangements will remain if place at least until 2015 and the department for work and pensions in the post office are discussing the idea of an extension of 2017. >> mr. speaker, at 1.5 million are e in the u.k., addicted to drugs. i know of one individual who has been on these product force over 45 years, total life

ruined. they are victims of the system of repeat restrictions. what would prime minister advise the department of health to give some guidance to the clinical commissioning groups to introduce withdrawal programs in line with the dvice for professor of new castle university whose the expert in the field to give these people back their lives? >> first, can i pay tribute to the honorable member who has campaigned strongly on this issue and i join him in paying tribute to professor ashton. he is right this is a terrible affliction. people are not drug addicts but have become hooked on repeat prescriptions. the minister of public health is happy to discuss this issue with him and make sure that the relevant guidance can be issued. >> mr. speaker, thank you. i know the prime minister is very well aware of the concerns

that many of you are people have on rising energy prices. therefore we have to act to reduce the effects by cutting the redukes of carbon policy and relieving the burden on both consumer and businessmen. >> my honorable friend makes a good point and that's why we have to have an honest discussion about this because on our energy bills is 112 pounds of green taxes and green regulation and we need to work out what is necessary to encourage renewable energy, what is necessary to go on winning overseas investment into the u.k. but how we can bear down on people's bills. and it simply is the policy of the con man to pretend that you can freeze prices when you are not in control of global energy prices but the proper is to look at what is driving up bills and deal with it. >> i let it go the first time the word con man is frankly

unparliamentary. let me -- order. the prime minister is a man of great versatility in the use of language. it is a bit below the level. e'll leave it there. >> mr. speaker, yesterday the independent reported the government's failure to close the quoted year bond tax loophole which could be losing 500 million pounds a year, has the prime minister ever been lobbied on this loophole and will he now pledge to close it immediately sf >> to my memory i've never been lobbied on this particular issue i looked at it this morning the treasury has listened carefully and has made the decision force the reason that is she knows.

>> over 300,000 new businesses have been registered in the united kingdom over the last 3 years, a record figure. the key priority in supporting these businesses over the difficult first two years of trading is to make sure that we bear down on regulations. much has been done through the red tape challenge. what more can the government to do to support these risk takers at this difficult time? >> i'm grateful for my honorable friend for his question. we now have the largest number of companies in our country that have ever existed and over the last 3 combreers we now see 400,000 companies become established. what we have to do is help them in every way we can. we are cutting the national insurances that they will have to pay by 2,000 pounds starting next year. that will be a real boost to small businesses but also the red tape that they are currently throttled with we're dealing with at every level,

i've organized a meeting for our businesses to explain their proposals for cutting red tape to fellow european leaders from finland, italy, germany and elsewhere. it is an agenda right across the board to help small businesses grow our economy. >> new research shows that his government is trapping low earning parents on benefits. his benefit cap is hitting vulnerable children, stopping parents working and costing the taxpayer. isn't it time for a rethink? >> of course we know labour is against the benefit cap. they want unlimited benefits for families. they are the welfare party. and it is very clear from the question that is they ask. we think it is right to cap benefits. so that no family can earn more out of work than in work. and the evidence is showing that this is encouraging people to look for work. for a party that believes in hard-working family that's good

news. presumably for the welfare party that's bad news. >> the prime minister will be aware of the business model of welsh water duke company which is not for profit and responsible to the people and not shareholders. does the prime minister agree that they will introduce real competition? >> we want more competition, whether it comes from private, cooperative or charitable enterprises. we want an open energy market. and the fact is what we were left was the big six. the six left to us. we are also left an off gem appointed five of the nine people. the reason it isn't working properly is at his door. >> we believe it will take approximately 7 years to rehow's the 1400 tenants who

wish to downsize because they can't afford to pay the bedroom tax. would the prime minister advice to move to private accommodation increasing the housing benefit bill or should they try to save money by turning off the heat or wearing ? jumper >> the private sector canceled sector rented accommodation is that sort of fairness we want to see in our country. they have opposed every single welfare reduction that we have proposed. 85 billion pounds they would have to find proposing every single thing that we've done to help get this country back on track. the construction in my constituency this year with increaseed turnover and a very mirrored creased --

in the country not just in my constituency. will the prime minister undertake not to be diverted from the long hard slog of righting the public finances and reducing the burdens so at plan a can continue >> that is very worldwide. can i take this opportunity to may tribute to him and be standing up for people and businesses and knowing that what they need is what the country needs, which is to stand up for hard working people more businesses more jobs more investment turning our country around? betting on the machines allows to use the 100 pounds every 20 seconds for up

to 13 hours a day. they have transformed the local bookies from places where you can have a flutter on the horses into high street digital casinos. will the prime minister consider banning these addicted machines that has recently happened in ireland? >> this is an issue that i have been repeatedly lobbied on by people across this house and i do think it is worth having a proper look at this issue to see what we can do to make sure that yes we want to have book makers that are not overregulated but on the other hand a fair approach and a decent approach that prevents problem gambling. >> last year parents, teachers and staff were very disappointed when their preschool applications failed. monitored by the federation which is now under investigation. will the prime minister please use his good offices to ensure

that the same application is incorporated into this inquiry? >> very grateful to look at my honorable friend's suggestion. obviously we need to have a proper policy of making sure that proposals for preschools are ready to go ahead before they go ahead. but it is worth making the point that when you look at the preschools in our country two thirds of them have been judged to be good or outstanding, which is a higher proportion in schools within the state sector so i think it is worth not just continuing this policy but putting rocket boosters on it so we see many more in our country. >> question 9 closed question mr. george howard. > liverpool early this year to launch business, i discussed the prospect for the city in terms of overseas investment and the importance of the international festival. i also met with families and i am sure i will visit again

soon. >> i'm grateful for that answer. two things the prime minister accept that government support to local governments should be related to need? if so, how does he explain that the households in our region have lost 40 pounds over the last two years where yazz the household in his own constituency have gained 6? >> give the right honnable gentleman the figures. if you look at spending power for dwelling, which is the combination of grants plus canceled tax the spending per welling in his area is 3,122 pounds where as, it's 1,872 poubds. i fully expect the need is greater but i would argue that is a relatively fair balance between the two. >> mr. speaker, following decades of underinvestment and hollow promises from previous goths the coalition's earlier

decision to deal is driving investor confidence. i urge the prime minister to continue to look and back the opportunities available to invest. >> he is absolutely right to stand up for norge and for their economy. the 100 million pounds we're investing is an important part of that. this is going to be completed in 2014. this will cut congestion on the root between, for once he said something i agree with because he wants to watch the can airies and we'll be able to get him there quicker. >> mr. speaker, two weeks ailing the head of the security service warned about the extremism and this week two individuals have been charged with serious terrorist avenses. what is the prime minister

going to do in january where as a result of his government's legislation some of those have pose the greatest threat to our security a relief of the terrorist prevention order? >> we have put in place some of the toughest controls within a democratic government that you can possibly have of which obviously the are one part. we have repeated meetings meeting again yesterday setting out a whole series of steps that we are going to do countering the narltive, blocking sites on line. and when i have the opportunity let me praise the fact that facebook reversed the decision they took yesterday to show beheading videos on line. we will take all these steps and many more to keep our country safe. >> mr. speaker, following the guardian's reckless handling of the snowden leaks, will the prime minister join me in paying tribute to the women and men of our intelligence services who have no voice but who do so much to keep this country safe?

>> i think my honorable friend is absolutely right. it is one of the greatest privileges of this job to work with our intelligence and security services and to meet some of the people who work for him. they don't get thanked publicly enough because of the jobs that they do but i'm convinced the work they do on behalf of our country helps to keep us safe. we have seen that again this week with the arrests that have taken place. once again brilliant policing work, brilliant intelligence work helping to keep our country safe. and we cannot praise these people too highly. >> mr. speaker, the realities of work for millions of people, low pay, short time, zero hours, agency exploitation, would exposed on channel 4 this week. did the prime minister see it? if not lrks he catch up so he can watch it and then wake up to real life in britain. >> everyone in our country wants to see living standards

increased, more people in work and people to keep more take-home pay. that is why we have cut taxes by 705 pounds when you look at what will come in place by next year. let me make the point about 0 hours contracts, which is this. the proportion of people in employment on 0 hours in 2012 was the same it was in the year 2000. the number of people increased by 75% between 2004 and 2009. that is when that law were in government. >> mr. speaker, businesses are creating hundreds of new jobs leading to unemployment falling 2.7% last month. does my right honorable friend eye gree with me that the way to raise living standards is to increase and continue the policies of economic growth rather than to discredit the policies of this? >> absolutely right. what we see in our country is

business confidence rising, consumer confidence rising, imports are increasing, construction is up, good growth in terms of employment. 1 million more people employed. but clearly we want to do more to help people feel better by reducing the taxes which is exactly what we're doing. all of this will be put at risk if we -- this will be put at risk if we gave up on reducing the deficit. that is what the party opposite would give us. a double whammy of higher mortgage rates and higher taxes. just what britain's hard-working families don't need. >> does the prime minister think it is fair that a woman will now have to pay 1200 pounds to take a maternity discrimination case? >> it is important people have access to employment tribunals. the one thing we have done is make sure that people don't earn those rights until they have worked for a business for two years. i think that is the right

approach. chancellor'sthe economic policies, unemployment fell by 10% last month. it is now at its lowest level since september 2008. many of those jobs were created in small businesses who now have the confidence to invest. will the prime minister commit to supporting those small businesses to help grow the economy? >> efrin is quite right. fell but my honorable friend doesn't just talk about helping people back into jobs. he set of a jobs club in his constituency. that is the sort of social action on the side of the house we believe in. not just talking about it but helping. involvement of lesbian public health matters. sby on public health

matters. prime minister, i have served in this house under for previous prime ministers who replied -- >> order. this question will be heard with some courtesy as i expect of all questions. it is very simple and very straightforward. >> i have served in the for previous. i will certainly reply. let me give them the reply right now. public-health responsibility is a matter for the department of health. lyndon crosby's job is the destruction of the labour party. he is doing a pretty good one. >> order. >> david cameron answers questions from members of the house of commons live on wednesday morning on the c-span2 . airing this week at a special time, one hour later because of

the u.k.'s daylight savings time change. you can watch this wednesday at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. >> before congress returns to work, we talk with her reporter about what is had on capitol hill.

>> both the house and senate gavel back in on monday. the house returned at noon eastern and begins the week with suspension does. votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. eastern. >> senator joe manchin. democrat of west virginia. you are a true native. >> absolutely. >> where were you born? >> the hospital closest to my home town of farmington. that was where i was raised and grew up. >> how many brothers and sisters? >> two brothers and two sisters. there are five of us. i have about 20 cousins. and my grandparents were called momma kay and poppa. >> what were your parents like and did you talk politics?

>> we talked about it. it was a part of life. my uncle was a flamboyant politician. in 1947 or 1948, he was elected. he was 20 years old. you had to be at least 21 to serve. he turned 21 when he was serving. he was one of the famous civil rights before it was even thought about. he was defeated on that issue. he did not think there should be two sets of books, one for black children and one for white children. they defeated him on that. that's back in 1950. he served with robert byrd. family was always important. we had to start working.