present. and we can move on to questions for the prime minister. >> thank you. i had meetings with the colleagues and others. i will have further meetings today. >> our hearts go out to everyone who is devastated over the current flood. we agreed that it would be complacent and ignorant. change will lead to more sacrifice in the future. doing s high

winds as we speak in this house

today. whatever can be done to help will be done. >> last year my constituents and george williams was brutally murdered. at a subsequent trial it was revealed her attacker previously attacked another young girl five years earlier and unbelievably, that attacker got off with just a priest's caution, a written warning. will the prime minister join me in calling on the police to publish all relevant materials relating to that earlier case in order that any lessons that can be learned will be learned? >> he is absolutely right to take up his constituent's case in this way and he has written to me about the specific case and my sympathy goes to the family and friends of georgia williams. as he asked i understand the independent police complain commissioner are currently considering its response to a referral from the university police into than managing of this case and what needs to be

published. on the issue of conscience let me say we announced last year we are banning the use of simple conscience for all of the most serious offenses including manslaughter, rape and robbery as well as arrange another offenses the devastate lives and tear apart communities. this is a tragic case. we must get to the bottom of what went wrong. >> i join the prime minister in expressing my sympathy for the people affected by the floods have been driven from their homes and are facing disruption to their lives. i join him in paying tribute to all of those helping with relief efforts and extraordinary resilience we have seen the last few weeks of the people of our country. the people in affected communities are believed that the armed forces and emergency services have arrived but many feel they were sent in too late. with further flooding expected in coming hours and days, the prime minister's assurance that people will be getting help in time not after the event.

>> i can give that assurance. let me repeat it is important to praise our emergency services and volunteers and all those working for the environment agency who worked night and day round-the-clock to help our communities. they have done amazing work and we should thank them. in terms of engagement to the military this is important. it has always been possible for gold commanders in these emergency situations to call on military assets. a military liaison officer is supposed to sit with those gold commanders with what we have done in recent days is state clearly to all the local authorities that we contacted them individually. if you want military assistance don't think twice about it. think once, then ask and they will be there. we have thousands of military at a state of readiness to help out, a huge number of already been deployed and as we see the levels potentially rising again coming in to this weekend and we

should do everything we can to get extra help in to those communities that could be affected and make sure they are held. all military assistance required is there. people have to ask. >> i welcome that promise of proactive help from the prime minister. given the forecast of extreme weather and the levels rising one of the keys that concern people is not just their homes but continuing gas and electricity supplies. we learned from previous experience in 2007 that protecting electricity, responsible for power to hundreds of thousands of homes is particular importance. can he reassure the house about the steps being taken to protect these vital services? >> i can give him that assurance. my right hon. friend and minister for government policy carried out review to the resilience of our infrastructure. a lot of steps were taken following that. that has made a difference. in the cobra system we are monitoring every day those particular bits of infrastructure that could be under threat.

in recent days it has more been about water treatment works than electricity works. i spoke to the minister responsible for energy policy at this morning's cobra to make sure everything is done to contact the energy companies, to stand up for people that will be necessary if there further supply interruptions over coming days. the experience, there were problems after christmas, since then the energy companies and network companies have done a better job connecting people more quickly. >> i thank the prime minister for that answer. what reassurances he provided yesterday in an earlier answer was money was no object but this morning the transport secretary said it is not a blank check. tell the house exactly what areas of spending yesterday's promise covers? >> i was clear last night, money is no object in this relief effort. i want communities who are suffering and people who see more suffering at their doors to

know that when it comes to the military, sandbags, emergency services, restoring broken fled defenses, all those things money is no object and to be fair to the transportation this is what he said this morning. money is not the issue while we are in this relief job. he is absolutely right. >> absolutely right about the relief effort. we will spend whatever it takes to recover from this end to make sure we had a resilient country in the future. that me give an example in that context. yesterday he creates the environment agency stock. they are in the process this year of making 550 people dealing with flooding redundant. they put in place and maintain flood defenses and deal with clean up. if money is no object as he says, is he committed now to reconsider these redundancies? >> let me tell you what we're doing with the environment

agency and the flood defense budget. less spending $2.4 billion over the four year period from 2010-2014 and that compares to just 2.2 billion in the previous four year period. what i can say to the house, this is important. as the waters recede it will be important for the environment agency and local authorities all to look again at the flood patterns we have seen, the models they have, and work out what fresh flood defenses will be necessary. in addition to that i can tell the house that we will be introducing ground for all affected homeowners and businesses to build in better flood protection as they repair their properties. that will be up to 5,000 pounds per house and curb business. on top of that, we are announcing a 10 million fund to help farmers who have seen their land waterlogs day after day, week after week and i can also announced today we will be deferring the tax payments

businesses have to pay and all of the businesses affected by floods will get 100% business rate relief. >> mr. speaker, these are welcome. they will be welcomed across the house. intent to the specific question i asked which is about a 550 people that the entire agency are planning to make redundant, work on flood defenses. they are people currently helping with the cleanup. similarity, spending and flood defenses the commission on climate change says we are spending less on flood defense than we should. my question is a simple one. given yesterday's promised to make sure we have a resilient country for the future and spend whatever it takes, is he committing to reconsider these redundancies and reconsider the amount of money we invest in

flood protection? >> let me tell you what we are doing with the flood agency into the future. the environment agency budget, capital spending, we set out the figures all the way up to 2020. we have only made capital spending in areas like transports and in terms of the lead defenses, no one else is able to match particularly not if the committee is to zero based budget review for pharmacies we are happy to make so people can see how much money we spend on flood defenses. 2019, 2020. we are only able to make those pledges because we manage our economy particularly and the budget. >> i do thank the prime minister, he came to this press conference and made what sound like a grand promise to spend whatever it takes and make sure we have a brazilian country for

the future. there are real doubts when it comes to making members of the environment agency to deal with flooding redundant and lack of investment for the committee on climate change, an expert body is charged with the investment flood defense which is not happening. needs to reconsider those things. in the coming days the government needs to speak with one voice on this issue. the response needs to be immediate than it has in the past and everyone affected needs to feel they are getting the help they need. >> that 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 final words needed to help with their houses, to help them deal with the floods. that is what this government is doing, deploying the military when we were asked for the

military, raising compensation to local government to 100% because that is what local communities should have. i am on lease are he seems to divide the house when we should be coming together for the nation. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i thank my right hon. friend for discussing our broken rail link? will he commit our government to finding long-term solutions to rail resilience? will he join me today in sending a clear signal to the rest of the country in spite of our current problems, devon and cornwall is open for business? >> my hon. friend is absolutely right. and message needs to go out loud and clear. businesses including them need to see customers and no, want people to know the peninsula of devon and cornwall are open for business. in terms of the specific question he asks we are finding

a 31 million pounds to fund 10 real resilience projects in the southwest to improve resilience for flooding. this will include work at county bridge junction, white wall tunnel and a number of other places. the rail link which i saw myself yesterday, the intense damage done to that track and of the few destruction that was rocked, that will take six weeks. they're working as hard as they can and i said any help they need they only need to ask. >> question 3, closed question to andy sorbert. >> to name and change employers which failed to pay the minimum wage the name of the first company was published in 2011, we revised the scheme to make publication easier, not satisfied that this has been going fast enough and the identity of those companies found to have broken the law will be made public very soon.

>> can i thank the prime minister and say to him, two agencies in my constituency have recently been found to have not paid the minimum wage to their workers and had to pay penalties but the government said they got to protect the confidentiality of these companies. my constituents think the government stand up for the wrong people, the rip-off agencies, not the workers. >> we will be publishing the names of these companies, something that never happens under the party opposite. we are taking action and when it comes to -- when it comes to penalties for not paying the minimum wage when we look at the penalties last year over 700 employers received penalties for failing to comply with minimum wage law and the value of those penalties was almost seven times higher than in the final year of the last labor government. we hear a lot of talk about enforcing minimum wage from the party opposite and you see a lot of action from the government

right here. stated roughly. >> thank you, mr. speaker. crime is down 10% and the police reforms are allowing offices to do more with less. will the prime minister immediately implement the reforms of the police federation so that police culture can be further improved? we are working with the police federation on this issue. >> the peace federation is clearly an organization in need of reform. to be fair the new head of the police federation recognizes it and wants to act and i think we should support him in sorting out his organization to better represent his members. >> two weeks ago the two secretaries of the treasury to rule out any further tax cuts for millionaires. last week he said that would be over his dead body.

can the prime minister calculate by ruling out any tax cuts for the top, with the secretary be looking to up the licensor? >> i saw this morning cobra looked alive and well side of thing she has any worries on that front. i said this is not our priority. our priority is to cut taxes for low and middle learners. that is what we have done. when it comes to people this year her constituents will be able to earn 10,000 pounds without paying any income tax at all. that is equivalent to a 10% increase in the minimum-wage. it means income-tax bill is down 2 thirds of this government. of the tax cuts we are interested in. >> could i thank the prime minister and deputy prime minister for their personal engagement with our issues. can i ask the prime minister a question which i don't think the secretary of state for local governments grasps 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 somerset level. that will require a revenue stream which comes through local government which means changes to the way that is administered. will the prime minister meet with me and others to ensure we have a sustainable future? >> i am happy to meet with him and others. i have been to visit twice myself to see for myself but the problem at the moment is simply the pumping capacity, taking 3 million pounds, 5 million pounds of water off of the summer some level. because there are 65 million pounds of water on the levels it is going to take time. what we need to do once the water level starts to come down is that the dredging going and work out a long-term program for making sure this man-made environment is properly looked after by man so it is sustainable for the future. i am happy to meet with him.

>> commissioner skop outside, the military sector, emergency services, individuals have been amazing that people and businesses are angry. in the southwest my region because of excessive cost base going through where we have the west country without overseeing the network and the money we announced today is not enough. the medium term to insuring support, growth, in the region. a transport network and it should be. >> three quick points and i totally understand her concern and the concern of her as the issuance. i don't 21 and to be under the misapprehension that age as 2 is built at the expense of the west country. isn't. in the next parliament we will spend three times more on other

road and rail schemes as we spend on h s 2 and some of those will benefit people in the west country. second point while we are working as fast as we can to restore repealing, we need to look at logger term alternatives and i discussed this with network rail and first great western to see what can be done. third point in the meantime wild boar nash is as if is we need to boost the air services to the peninsula where i met in new key and a double the flight and would five pounds of of the cost of those but we need to make sure replacement the services are as good as they can. >> for businesses in westchester, more to my constituency associated with the risk warnings, to agree with me.

and counsel has been helpful and can he reassure my constituents that that will continue to invest defenses? >> given that assurance he is right to mention the difficulties on the river's 7 because the river's 7 and the river why are expected to respond to recent rainfall and levels are likely to go up. in terms of the thames i should tell the house a second peek is expected on sunday and monday and that could put 800 properties at risk but we will go on doing whatever we can, getting people to communities before they are flooded but it is worth making the point and the point to be fair to the last government as well as this one that if you take the 2007 floods, 55,000 homes are flooded. since that time if you look all the schemes that have been built they are protecting over a million properties that would have been flooded this time around were at not for the important work that has been

done. >> thank you, mr. speaker. house prices have been rising faster than wages in most parts of the country. does the prime minister not agree the lack of affordable housing is making cost-of-living crisis worse for millions of people across our country. let me confirm this government presided over the number of new homes built since the 1920s? >> up from the dreadful situation from the last government and we are now investing huge amounts in affordable housing but i make no policy to deal with the demand side of housing as well as the supply side. builders building.

>> the house and the council and a volunteer level. what they are doing, i welcome the team, the individuals and the details of this team everyone is effective and make uses. >> it is an important point and i know he is working to bring people together in his own constituency. they are concerned about the rise and publish details, and the major banks going forward. and close to financial support which will mean repayment

holidays, reduce waive fees, and released flexibility of terms, and the ploy on the ground. and farmers desperately need health. and insurance companies and banks to demonstrate social responsibility and they're beginning to do that and encourage them to do so. >> after months with energy companies, and people across this country that the energy secretary -- secretary at letter to the editor was too little too late. and what we have announced, and rolling back the cost of the green levees, rather than promising a freeze that means fighting will go. >> the successful coalition

policies. in order to get sustained growth we need businesses to invest more. will he do all he can to support my right hon. friend the secretary, more first -- more business investment. >> the next stage of the recovery and increase in business investment that we need to see. there are positive signs to the last gdp numbers. they're being more jobs than forecast, it is worth remembering the leader of the opposition told the cbi in october of 2010 they have a program that will lead to the disappearance of 1 million jobs. we have seen 1.6 million new private-sector jobs and 1.3 million more people, more forecasts. >> thank you, mr. speaker. with a million young people

unemployed and work programs underperforming will the prime minister think again and introduce the guarantee? >> the work program, an excellent job getting people into work. if you look at the job creation record under this government as i just said, 1.3 million poor people in work, a reduction in youth unemployment, reduction in long-term unemployment, more people in our work force than ever before, more to do to get young people in to work. the best schemes we had our schemes like the work experience scheme that seem to be providing real open jobs for our young people. >> mr. speaker, can i thank my right hon. friend for coming on monday to see for himself how hard first grade westerners are working to get trains back on track. one thing would be incredibly helpful, make sure we actually have a timetable for these actions so we can deliver a brazilian railway line as well.

>> i understand his concern. the gap in the real provision created by the born-disaster is going to take time to deal with. above and beyond that, what people in plymouth want is a time table getting to a service to plymouth to see more trains arriving earlier in the morning. we have a longer-term program and looking at rail at the same time as restoring the borderline. >> with economic growth delayed for three years after the election, we are blessed with more young people. blessed with more young people out of work long term than at any time in 20 years. surely we must do more so we don't waste the potential of a generation. >> i think the hon. gentleman is suffering from a form of memory

loss. of the treasury minister when we lost 7% of our gdp. when you unemployment doubled. when people were being thrown out of work. what happened under this government the economy is growing, 1.3 million poor people in work, young people getting back to work while countries elsewhere are struggling our economy is growing and that is partly because we took difficult decisions to get the budget deficit which he and his henchman left us under control. >> adrian sanders. unfortunately concerns from my constituency 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 advocating on the sum of money to mark hensby far southwest to potential visitors and businesses to get the message across the we are open to business?

>> this was a point made by number of businesses 5 visited in cornwall and devon over the last couple days all wanting to see much more advertising and publicity about how they're open for business. i take every opportunity to help with that issue, when the door-line is restored that will be a big moment where i have the honor myself. >> recall the day that he asked the country to imagine the tory government in a place that would be the most family friendly in europe. whether you reflect on that they will reconsider the more recent report from economic and business research which shows that the cost of getting a child

through university is written by 5,000 pounds in one year. does he think for most families, money is no object. >> many families faced a tough time in this country, not least because of the appalling recession we had under the party opposite would the government introduced is we have taken steps to encourage flexible working. we are introducing tax free child care, we supported more child care than the last government did helping 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and above all we have many families that now have someone at work. the economy is losing, businesses are employing people and 1.3 extra jobs, 1.3 extra families, security and peace of mind and regular paycheck coming in and that is the best way to help our families. >> mr. speaker, can i remind the prime minister in 1998, there

were serious floods killing two people and 2,000 houses. since that time i noticed we haven't bothered. will the prime minister ask about any time that is more easily available and to ensure, to continue in this way? >> what my hon. friend says, this suggests in terms of applications for properties being built on floodplains the official advice that includes advice from the environment agency in 99% of occasions it is worth remembering that areas like london are part of a flood plain so i don't think it is possible to say no house can ever be built on a flood plain, what we need to do is look at the rules, listen to the experts and make sure we only build where we can protect.

>> thanks to labor and the scottish parliament scotts may soon be free of the -- will he today give an assurance to the house and the scottish people that he will work with the scottish government to help bring this about, or better still, strap it for everyone in dresden. if he won't, we will. >> different parts of the united kingdom can make different decisions to spend money as they choose. my view is it is not fair to say to someone in private accommodations that you don't get money for extra bedrooms when you taste -- say to someone in social accommodation that you do. it is the basic issue of fairness and has overwhelming public support. >> it took a 1-1/2 hour walk organized by guide dogs for the

blind to experience firsthand the real difficulties that blind them to people's experience as pedestrians. it was very tricky. will my right hon. friend look carefully at the recommendations of that organization, the shared street surfaces? >> i will look carefully at what my hon. friend says. everyone has noticed how a huge amount of improvements have been made to the way streets and traffic lights and pavements are arranged for particularly -- i am happy to look at what he says and see what needs to be done. >> thank you. the prime minister believes what the defense is so important to cut the budget. >> spending 2.4 billion in this four year period compared to 2.2 billion under labor. i think you'll find 2.4 is more than 2.2 and also by stepping

out the spending figures all the way up in 2020, the shadow chancellor is back in the gesticulations game. if he is going to have a zero based budget review doesn't he have to admit to his colleagues that he cannot guarantee to match any of the spending we have announced? >> silence. >> prime minister is aware of a cross party group, some 80 m ps campaigning for the tax benefits. given that the u.k. has called into how other countries treat their veterans and high incidents of el health suffered by their defendants, will the prime minister meet with those given we hit a brick wall and given this government have good track record recognizing wrongs? >> i know my hon. friend has consistently campaigned on this issue and i have discussed it

with him before and i wrote him a month ago setting out the government's view of this. they frequently stated the position there is no published, peer reviewed evidence of mortality but it is right to go on looking at this issu >> you've been watching prime minister's questions in the sense.h house of common it airs live on c-span 2 every wednesday 7:00 a.m. eastern and sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. the british house of common sense will be out of session for a short week long recess. prime minister's questions returns wednesday, february 26 live on c-span 2 and you can video of past prime inister questions and other british public affairs programs on our website, c-span.org.