>> tonight on c-span, david cameron answers questions about flood relief in southern england. lawsuitalks about his on the obama administration's privacy rights violations of american citizens. right toons and the vote. then, another look at you and day. from the british house of commons, this is half an hour. >> order. ell, we got through the lots and the principals of present and house is expectant and we can move on to questions to the prime minister. >> number one, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

this morning i had meetings with minister, colleagues and others and in addition i will have further such meetings later today. >> caroline lucas. >> thank you. our hearts go out to everyone's whose lives are being devastated by the current floods. i'm sure we welcome the prime minister's promise yesterday you will do everything he can both with the relief efforts and building more resilient country for the future. it will be both complacent and ignorant to flout the warnings of his office and adviser who warn climate change will lead to even more such events in the future. and can we confirm for the house d everyone in my write constituency doing everything he can will reverse cuts to the budget and proper funding for flood prevention. increasingly -- > prime minister -- maybe he

shouldn't reassure -- >> let me reassure the honorable lady i listen very carefully to my experts in the mets office and environment agency. every cobra meeting starts with a briefing from the mets office. i think it is clear we are seeing extreme weather events and i suspect we will see extreme weather events and need to do everything we can to improve the resilience of our country. let me repeat again when it comes to this relief effort, money is no object. we will spend what is necessary to help families, to help people, to people communities get through this very difficult time. i have to say things are likely to get worse before they get better because of the very high levels of rainfall we have seen and we have seen serious high winds as we speak here in this house today. but whatever can be done to help will be done. >> mark pritchard. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last year my swept georgia williams was brutally murdered. they subsequent trial it was revealed her attacker previously

attacked another young grl five years earlier and young unbelievably, that attacker got off with the earlier offense with just a police caution, a written warning. will the prime minister join me in calling for police to publish all relevant material relating to that earlier case in order that any lesson that's can be learned will be learned? >> first of all, he's absolutely right to take up his constituent's case in this way and has written to me about this specific case. my sympathy goes out to the family of friends of georgia williams. as he's cast, i understand the independent police complaints commission is considering the response to the referral of the handling of this case and what needs to be published on the cautions we announce last year we're banning the use of simple cautions for all but the most serious offenses including ran slaughter, rape and robbery as one of the range of other offense that's devastate lives and tear apart communities.

clearly this is a tragic case. we must get to the bottom of what went wrong. >> i join the prime minister in expressing my sympathy to the people affected by the floods, who have been driven out of their homes and facing disruption to their lives. i also join him in paying tribute to all of those helping with relief efforts and to the extraordinary resilience we have seen in the last few weeks of the people of our country. you will know the people in affected communities are relieved help in the armed forces and emergency services arrived but many people they were sent in too late. with further flooding expected in the coming hours and days, can the province provide an assurance that people will be getting help in team, not after the event? >> i can certainly give that assurance. let me repeat again it is important as he said to praise our emergency services, to praise volunteers, to praise all of those working for the environment agency who work night and day around the clock to help our communities. they really have done amazing work and we should thaveragee

them. in terms of the engagement of the military, i think it is important, it's always been possible for gold commanders in these emergency situations to call on military assets, indeed a military liaison officer is supposed to sit with those commanders and liaise with them. what we have done in recent days is say clearly to all of the local authorities concerned we have contacted them individually if you want military assistance, don't think twice about it, think once and then ask and they will be there. so we've got to now thousands of military as a state of readiness to help out, a huge number have already been deployed and yes, as we see the levels potentially rising on the thames again coming into this weekend, we should do everything we can now to get extra help into those communities that could be affected and make sure they are helped. all military assistance required is there. people only have to ask. >> mr. speaker, i welcome that promise of proactive help from the prime minister. given the forecast of extreme

weather and with the levels rising, one of the key issue that's will concern people is not just their homes but continuing gas and electricity supplies. we slerned from previous experience in 2007 that protecting electricity substations that can be responsible for power to hundreds of thousands of homes is of particular importance. can you reassure the house about the steps being entertain to protect these vital services? >> i can give you that assurance. my right officer from the policy carried out the review. and a lot scraff steps were taken following that and that made a difference. also in the cobra system were monitoring those particular bits of infrastructure that could be under threat. in recent days it's about water treatment works and electricity works. i also spoke to the minister responsible for energy policy at this morning's cobra to make sure that everything is done to contact the energy companies to send out the people necessary if

they refer the supply interruptions over the coming days. i think the experience there, where there were problems in kent after christmas, since then, the energy companies on the network companies have done better job of reconnecting people more quickly. >> i thank the prime minister for that answer. one of the reassurances he provided yesterday as he said in an earlier answer was to say money is no object. but this morning the transport check is not a blank check. can you tell the house exactly what areas of spending yesterday's comments covers? >> i was clear last night and let me repeat again, as i said last night, money is no object in this relief effort. i want communities who are suffering and people who see water lapping at their doors to know when it comes to the military, when it comes to sandbags, when it comes to emergency services, when it comes to restoring broken flood defenses, all of those things, money is no object and to be fair to the transport secretary, this is what he sd this morning.

money is not the issue while we're in this relief job. that's what he said. he's absolutely right. >> he's absolutely right about the relief effort he also said we will spend whatever it takes to recover from this and to make sure we have a resilient country for the future. let me give you an example in that context. yesterday he praised the environment agency staff. they were in the process this year of making 550 people deal with flooding redundant. these are staff who helped put in play and maintain flood defenses and help deal with cleanup. if money is no object as he said, is he committing now to reconsider those redundancies? >> let me tell you exactly what we're doing with the environment agency and flood defense budget, we're spending $2.4 billion over the four-year period between 2010 and 2014 and that compares to just $2.2 billion in the previous four-year period. but what i can say to the house, and i think this is important,

as the waters recede, it will be important for the environment agency, for local authorities, all to look again at the flood patterns we have seen at the models that they have and workout what fresh defenses will be necessary. in addition to that, i can tell the house that we will be introducing a draft for all affect the homeowners and businesses for building better flood protection as they repair their properties. that will be up to 5,000 pounds per house and per business. on top of that, we're announcing a $10 million fund to help farmers who have seen their land waterlogged day after day, week after week and i request also announce today that we will be deferring the tax payments, the businesses have to pay and all of the businesses that had been affected by floods will get 100% business rate relief. >> mr. speaker, you said our welcome, we will be welcomed across the house.

i will be welcomed across the house but i'm afraid he didn't answer the specific question i asked, which is about the 550 people at the environment agency are planning to make redundant that work -- that work on flood defenses. they are people who are currently helping with the cleanup and put in place food defenses. similarly on these two spending on flood defense, committee on climate change said we're spending significantly less on flood defense than we should. so my question is a simple one, given yesterday's promise to make sure we have a resilient country for the future and spend whatever it takes, is he committing now to reconsider these redundancies and reconsider the amount of money we invest in flood defense? >> let me tell what you we're doing with the environment agent budget into the future. the environment agency budget in terms of capital spending we set out figures all the way up to 2020. we only made capital spending pledges in areas like transport

and in terms of flood defenses, pledges that no one else is able to match, particularly not if they're committed to zero-based budget review but promise is we are happy to make so people can see how much money will be spent on flood defenses 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. we're only able to make those pledges because we've managed our economies effectively and managed our budget. >> mr. speaker, i do thank the prime minister. he came along yesterday at this press conference and made what sounded like a very grand promise to spend whatever it takes to recover from this and make sure we have a resilient country for the future. and the simple point i'm making is that there are real doubts whether it comes to making members of the environment agency who deal with flooding redundant and lack of investment for the committee on climate change, the expert body charged

with this defense is not happening and he said it needs to reconsider those things. i would urge the prime minister in the coming days, the government needs to speak with one voice on this issue. the response needs to be speedier than it has been in the past and everyone affected needs to feel they're getting the help they need. if the government does this, they will have our full support. >> what i said last night is what i said today, when it comes to this relief effort, money will be no object. i don't want people to worry about penny pinching as they see the vital work that's needed to help them with their houses, to help them deal with the floods. that is what this company is doing. we're deploying the military when we have been asked for the military. deploying extra pumps when we were asked for pumps. raising the compensation to local government to 100% because that's what local community should have. i'm only sorry that he seems to divide the house when we should be coming together for the nation!

>> thank you very much. hank you, mr. speaker. i would like to discuss our broken rail link. would he commit our government to finding long-term solutions to rail solutions in the far southwest but would he join me today in sending a clear signal to the rest of the country despite our current problem, dev on season caldwell is currently open for business? >> that message needs to go out loud and clear. businesses including tourist businesses in caldwell and devon want people to know that the peninsula are very much open for business. in terms of the specific question he asks, yes, we are finding 31 million pounds to fund 10 resilience projects in the southwest to improve resilience for flooding. this will work at himpingsly, white ball tunnel and a couple of other places.

clearly most important thing is that rail chg i saw for myself yesterday, the intense damage done to that track and huge destruction that was brought by the waves. that will take up to six weeks. i know network rail are working as hard as they can and i have said any help they need, they only need to ask. question three, closed question, mr. andy sofford. >> good evening, mr. speaker. >> we're the first government to name and shame employers who fail to pay minimum wage. the name of the first company published in 2011. we revised the keep to make publication easier. i'm not satisfied this is fast enough and identity of those companies found to be breaking the law will be made public very, very soon. >> can i thank the prime minister for that response and say to him two employment agencies in my constituency have recently been found not paying minimum wage to their workers and had to pay penalty but government said they have to

protect confidentiality. my constituency want to protect the wronged people. >> we will be publishing the names, something that never happened under the party opposite. we are taking action. when it comes to penalties for not paying the minimum wage, if we look at the penalties last year, over 700 employers receive penalties for failing to comply with minimum wage law and the value of those penalties was almost seven times higher than in the time year of the last labor government. so we hear a lot of talk about enforcing the minimum wage for the party opposite and you see a lot of action from the government right here. >> thank you, mr. speaker. crime is down 10% and our excellent home secretary police report are allowing good less.rs to do more with

but will the prime minister immediately implement the reforms of the police federation so police culture can be further improved? >> we are working with the police federation on this issue. police federation is clearly an organization in need of reform to be referred to head of the new police federation who i met with recognizes this and wants to act and i think we should support him in sorting out this organization to better represent its members. >> kathy jamison. >> thank you, mr. speaker. two weeks ago the chief secretary to the treasury moved to rule out any further tax cuts for millionaires. last week he said that would be over his dead body. can the prime minister help him out today by ruling out any rther tax cuts for the top level? or should they be looking to opt their weight in -- >> i saw him this morning at cobra and looked alive and well so i don't think she has worries

on that front. this is not our priority. our priority is cut taxes for low and middle earners. that's what we have done. when it comes to april this year, her constituents will be able to earn 10,000 pounds without paying any income tax at all. that's equivalent to 10% increase in the minimum wage. it means their income tax bill would have gone down by two-thirds under this government. those are the tax cuts we're interested in. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i think the prime minister deputy for that personal engagement on the sommerset levels. can i ask the prime minister a question which i don't think the secretary of state communities and local government grasp osmond, which is this -- when the emergency, the crisis phase of this problem is over we have to have sustainable plans to protect people on the sommerset level. that will require a revenue stream which will come through local government and that means changing to the way that is

administered. when we have those detailed plans, will the prime minister et with me and others from sommerset to assure we have a sustainable future. >> i would be happy to meet with and have therein about twice to see myself. the problem we have is the pumping capacity taking now 3 million tons, now 5 million tons of water off the sommerset levels but thaws there's 65 million tons of water or more, it's going to take time. once we need to do once that water level comes down is get dredging going and work out long-term program for making sure this manmade environment is properly looked after by man so it is sustainable for the future. i'm very happy to meet with him and discuss that. >> thank you, mr. speaker. conditions outside of drake fall, emergency service individuals have been amazing but people are angry. in the southwest, my region are angry because of excessive costs

they have seen when we have the whole of the west country not overseen by the network. and money today is welcome but not enough. can we commit in the medium term to support growth and -- but the n the region strategic transport network. it's not there at the moment and it should be. >> three very quick points i totally understand her concern and concern of her constituents. first, don't want anyone to be under the misapprehension hs2 will be built at the expense of the west country. it isn't. in the next parliament we will spend three times more on our road and rail schemes as we will spend on hs2 and some of those schemes will directly benefit people in the west country. second point, while we're working as fast as we can to restore the link, we need to look at longer-term alternatives

and i have discussed this with network rail and first grade western to see what more can be done. third point in the meantime world order is as it is would need to go on boosting air services to the peninsula, which is why i met with fly b and they doubled the number of flights and taken five pounds off the cost of each of those flights but we need to make sure replacement bus services are as good as they can be. if we do all of those services, lessen the impact for tragedy of the west country. > mr. speaker, with footing in hampton for residents and businesses in wood chester are more risk my association associated with the risk warnings for the sevenestry. does the prime minister agree with me the action taken so far by various agencies and councils has been helpful and can he reassure my swepts the government will continue to incest in fluid defenses? >> certainly give him that assurance. he's right to mention difficulties on the river seven because the riv area seven,

river thames and y are all expected to respond treent rainfalls and levels likely to go up. in terms of the thames i should tell the house a second peak is expected sunday and monday and that could potentially put 800 properties at risk. but we will go on doing whatever we can to get people to communities before they're flooded but it is worth making the point and this is a point to be fair to the last government as well as this one, if you take the 2007 floods, then 55,000 homes were flooded since that time, if you look at all of the schemes that have been built, they are actually protecting now well over a million properties that would have been flooded this time around were it not for the important work that's been one. >> this week house prices have been rising faster than wages in most parts of the country. does the prime minister not agree lack of affordable housing is making cost of living crisis worse for millions of people

across our country? and will he confirm this government has presided over the fewest number of new homes built since 1920's. >> housing starts are up from the dreadful situation we were left from the last government and we are now investing huge amounts into affordable house 0ing. but i make no apology for the fact it is right to deal with the demand side on housing as well as the supply side. things like help divide are helping bidders build. builders will not build unless they believe buyers are able to buy. we're fixing this problem and ouse building is rising. >> the volunteer floodwaters permanently for work they're

doing in my constituency. i welcome the schemes the prime minister talked about had hing these individuals and businesses but will he ensure the details of these teams are made available to everyone so they can make use of them? >> i think this is an important point and i know he's working hard to bring people together in his own constituency to make sure everything can be done in reading is done and obviously they will be concerned about the rise in the thames. we will publish details about all of these announcements and we will add into that the fact major banks aring forward with over 750 pounds of financial support, which will mean repayment holidays, reduced or waived fees, loan extensions and support teams deployed on the ground for businesses and farmers who desperately need help. it is a tomb for our insurance companies and our banks to demonstrate real social responsibility. i believe they are beginning to do that and we should encourage them to do so.

>> would you agree after months of letting energy companies get away with increasing profits on the backs of hard working people across this country the energy secretary left us this week too little, too late. i think he was right to -- >> i think he was right, because they are part of this competitive, competitive review which we have an edge but on this side of the house we delivered 50-pound off bills by rolling back the cost of the green levies. that's the right approach 0, rather than promising a freeze that only means prices will go up. >> does the prime minister agree with me that the success of coalition policies in helping to create more jobs than forecast is very encouraging but would he also agree that in order to get sustained growth, we need businesses to invest more. so will he do all he can to support my right, honorable friend the secretary in

encouraging more business investments? >> in the next stage of the recovery, it is an increase in business investment we need to see. i think there are positive signs from the last g.d.p. numbers. she talks about their being more jobs than forecasted. it is worth remembering that the leader of the opposition told the c.b.i. in october 2010 they have a program that will lead to the disappearance of a million jobs. since they made that statement, we have seen 1.6 million new private sector jobs and 1.3 million more people in work. more forecasts like that, please. >> thank you, mr. speaker. with almost a million young people unemployed and work program in the chancellor's own words underperforming, will the prime minister think again and introduce labor's youth job guarantee? >> the work program has done an excellent job at getting people into work f you look at the job

creation record under this government as i just said, 1.3 million more people in work, reduction in youth unemployment, reduction in long-term unemployment, more people in our workforce could ever report. there's always more to do to get young people into work. i think best schemes we have had are schemes like the work experience scheme, that seem to be providing real hope and jobs for our young people. >> mr. speaker, can i thank my friend for coming on monday to see for himself how hard first grade western is working to get trains back on track. but one of the thing that's will be incredibly helpful will be make sure we have a timetable for these actions so we can deliver a resilient railway line as well. thank you. >> i completely understand his concern. obviously, the gap in the rare provision created by the disaster is going to take time to deal with and above and beyond that i know what he wants and what people in plymouth want

is timetable of getting to a stoffs plymouth and see more trains arriving early in the morning. we have longer-term problem. i'm looking at rail alternative at the same time as restoring the dornish line. >> mr. speaker, can that with growth delayed three years after the election, we have been left we more young people -- have been left with more young people out of work long term but at any time for 20 years. surely we must do more so we don't waste the potential for a generation. >> i can only think the honorable gentleman is suffering from a form of memory loss. he was a treasury minister when we lost 7% of our g.d.p.! when youth unemployment doubled. when people were being thrown out of work. what happened under this government, the economy is growing. 1.3 million more people work,

young people are getting back to work while countries elsewhere are struggling, our economy is growing and that is partly because we took tough and difficult decisions to get the budget deficit, which he and his enchmen left us under control. >> thank you, mr. speaker. unfortunately, some tourist concerns in my sweptsy reported lost bookings, partly as a result of oversensationalizing the crisis that we have. when the crisis is over, will the prime minister talk to the treasury about allocating a sum of money to market the far southwest to potential businesses and businesses to get the message across we really are open for business? >> this was a point made to me by a number of businesses that i visited in corn wall and devon over the past couple days, all wanting to see more advertising and publicity about how devon and cornwall are open for business. i will take every opportunity i

have to help with that issue. i think when the dornish line is restored, that will be a big moment to mark in the benefits of devinon and cornwall, where i have been on holiday myself. >> can i invite the prime minister to recall the day that he asked the country to imagine torre government -- tori government that would be most family friendly in europe? and when he reflects on that day would he consider the more recent report that shows that the cost of raising a child and getting that child through university is has risen by 5,000 pounds for one year. does he think for those families, money is no object/ >> many families faced a very tough time in this country not at least because of the appalling recession that we had under the party opposite! for what this government is

introducing, yes, we have taken steps to encourage working and tax-free childcare and supported more childcare for more families than the last government did helping 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. we have the new rules on shared potential leave and above all there are many families who have someone in work because economy is moving, business are employing people and 1.3 million extra jobs is 1.3 million extra families with security and peace of mind of regular paycheck coming in and that's the best ay to help our families. >> threw, mr. speaker. to you can i remind the prime minister in 1998 they suffered serious floods, killed sadly two people and impacted upon 2,000 houses. since that time i noticed that we have not bothered to build the flood plains. will the prime minister after the fact said it's dealt with in

time perhaps more easily readily available ensure we don't build on flood plains so people shouldn't be inconvenienced in this way? >> i looked very carefully at what my honorable friend says. i think figure suggests in terms of applications for properties being built on flood plains, the official advice and that includes the advice of the environment agency is followed in 99% of occasions. it is worth remembering, of course, that areas like london are part of a flood plain so i don't think it's possible to say no house can ever be built on a glad plain. what we need to be-to-do is listen to the rules, listen to experts and build where we can protect. >> labor and scottish par loment, scotts may soon be free of the bedroom tax. will he today give an assurance to the house and to the scottish people that he will work with the scottish government to help

bring this about, or better still, scrub this hated tax for everyone in britain? if he won't, we will! >> obviously, under our system different parts of the united kingdom can make different systems to spend money as they choose. in my view it's not fair to say to someone in private rented ack accommodations you don't get money for extra bedroom when's you say to someone in social accommodation that you do. i think it's basic issue of fairness and why it has overwhelming public support. >> it took 1 1/2 hour walk organized by guide talks for the blind to experience firsthand the real difficulties that blind and partially sighted people experience as pedestrians. it was very tricky. so will my right, honorable friend look very carefully at the recommendations of that organization for shared street

surfaces? >> i will look carefully at what my honorable friend says. i think everyone has noticed how a huge amount of improvements have been made to the way that streets and traffic lights and pavements and everything are arranged for particularly this purpose. but i'm very happy to look at what he says and see what more needs to be done. >> thank you, mr. speaker. if we are to believe flood defense is so important, why when he came to office and cut the budget? >> as explain, we will be spending $2.4 billion in this four-year period, that compares labor. billion under i think you will find 2.4 is more than 2.2. and stepping out figures all the way to 2020 he should ask the chancellor back in the just tick lation game if he's going to have zero-based budget review, doesn't he have to admit to his colleagues he cannot guarantee to match any of the spending

that we have announced? > silence! >> mr. john barron! >> the prime minister is aware of cross party group of some 80 m.p.'s campaigning for ecognition of our nuclear test sectors. given the u.k. compares poorly to how other countries treat their veterans and very high incidence of ill health suffered by desendants, would the prime minister meet with us given we hit a brick wall with the n.o.d. and given this government's good track record at recognizing past wrongs? >> i know my honorable friend has consistently campaigned on this issue and i have discussed it with him before. i wrote to him a month ago setting out the government's view about this. this in previous governments frequently stated the position there was no published peer review evidence of access, illness for mortality but it is right to go on looking at this issu i