26th -- 22nd through the 26th. >> care is a look at programs on christmas day on the c-span networks. holiday festivities start at 10 p.m. eastern with the lighting of the national christmas tree, followed by the white house christmas decorations with his lady michelle obama. p.m., celebrity activists talk about their causes. former, samuel alito and florida governor jeb bush on the bill of rights and the founding fathers. eastern,2 at 10 a.m. venture into the art of good writing with steve pinker. then see the feminine side of a leporero as jill explores the history of wonder woman. on american history tv on c-span3 at 8:00 a.m. eastern, the fall of the berlin wall with footage of george bush and bob

dole and speeches from president john kennedy and ronald reagan. at noon, fashion experts on first ladies fashion choices. tom brokaw on his more than 50 years of reporting on world events. that is this christmas day on the c-span networks. for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org. minister david cameron taking questions of the house of commons. after that, the european parliament discusses the u.s. senate report on cia interrogation techniques. then farewell speeches for retiring senator mary landrieu. >> in the final question time of the year, david cameron answered questions from members on the economy, climate change policy,

and relations with russia. he also condemned the attacks in australia and pakistan. this is about 35 minutes. >> questions to the prime minister. minister? i am sure the whole house will join me in condemning the outrages that shocked the world in recent days. the siege of the cafe in sydney was accompanied by harry was typical of that great nation. and we all grieve with the australians today. what happened several thousand miles away in a school in pakistan is utterly heartbreaking -- a massacre of the innocents that has left the world numb. the world stands, head bowed, with pakistan today. words can comfort but words cannot defeat the men of violence, so let this be the moment when the whole of pakistan and when every nation

come together and says, "enough. we will act together to defeat this evil in our midst." i am sure the whole house will want to join me in sending our warmest christmas wishes to all our armed forces deployed across the world, in particular, to those in the middle east, afghanistan and west africa. we are for ever indebted for the sacrifices they make on our behalf. >> oliver colvile. >> may i associate myself with my right honorable friend's comments on the evil atrocities that took place in pakistan and in australia, and with the best wishes to our armed forces, who may be serving abroad? today's unemployment figures showed that in the last quarter, the southwest has the region with the largest increase in employment in the united kingdom. to continue to realize its full economic potential and to deliver the city deal, does my right honorable friend agree that plymouth needs a faster, better, and more resilient railway line, as laid out in the southwest rail taskforce's

three-point plan, which was the discussion last week with my honorable friend the member for south west devon? >> my honorable friend has campaigned over and over again for the important improvements in these rail links, and he knows what is being done to help the southwest in that regard. i received a presentation from the taskforce, and we are going to take forward each of the three points in its plan in the work we do in future, to make sure that there is real resilience and there are better services for people in the southwest. on the issue of unemployment, the figures in the west country are welcome. in his constituency, the claimant count has now fallen by 42% since the election. what these figures show nationally is employment up, unemployment down. and the claimant count falling for the 25th consecutive month. what is an important moment for our country is that unemployment is now below 2 million and wages are rising faster than inflation, something i am sure will be welcomed across the house.

>> edward miliband. i want to join the prime minister in paying tribute to those murdered in the appalling massacre in pakistan. even as we have become accustomed to tragic events, this slaughter of innocent children in their classrooms has shocked the world. we stand in solidarity with the grieving families and the people of pakistan, and in the fight against terrorism. i also join the prime minister in condemning the sickening terrorist attack in sydney, and our condolences go to the families of those who died and to the australian people. i also, like, the prime minister, pay tribute this christmas to all our troops serving around the world. they do our country proud and they show the utmost courage and bravery. the independent office of budget responsibility, established by the chancellor to give independent expert advice, claims that his plans take total public spending to its lowest share of national income in 80 years.

why does he believe the obr has joined the bbc in a conspiracy against the conservative party? >> first, i welcome what the leader of the opposition said about the atrocities that have taken place. can i also welcome his welcome for the office of budget responsibility? we still remember the days of the fiddled forecasts, the fake figures and all that we had to put up with. if he is going to quote the obr he might want to read the complete quote. let me do that for the benefit of the house. it says about our spending plans that the closest equivalent of the national accounts implies that by 2019-2020, day-to-day spending on public services would be at its lowest level since 2002-2003 in real terms. now, 2002-2003, in my memory, was after five years of a labour government, when he was an adviser in the treasury. presumably he is now going to tell us that it was a time of

appalling poverty and deprivation, but i do not seem to remember that that was the message at the time. >> edward miliband. >> he has spent four years saying that we spent too much, now he is saying that we spent too little. the obr says that it takes total public spending to its lowest share of national income in 80 years. is he really saying that it is wrong about the proportion of national income? >> the percentage of national income will be roughly the same as it was in 1999 after two years of labour government. the fact is, after seven years of economic growth, we should have a surplus. we should fix the roof when the sun is shining. is the labour leader really saying that he does not think that we should run a surplus ever?

>> edward miliband. >> if he is just a little bit patient, in four months' time he will get to ask the questions and i will get to answer them. he knows what has happened. the mask slipped in the autumn statement. he has been revealed for who he really is. let us talk about the scale of the cuts to get to the 1930s vision. they are over £50 billion, more than the entire amount that we spend on schools, half of what we spend on the nhs, and significantly more than in this parliament. is he really pretending that cuts on this scale will not do massive damage to front-line services? >> of course we have to make difficult decisions. we have done so every day since taking over from the shambles that we inherited. everyone can now see that his pretense, which

lasted for about one week, of caring about the deficit is over. this is what the institute for fiscal studies says about his policy. under a labour government, there would be much more borrowing, and therefore more government debt. they've not learned a single thing from the last four years. more borrowing, more debt, more taxes -- all the things that got us into this mess in the first place. >> edward miliband. >> he is borrowing £207 billion more than he planned, and he has broken his promise. the difference is that we will cut the deficit every year. he wants to go back to the 1930s. if that was not bad enough, he has £7 billion of unfunded tax cuts on top. before the last election, he said that you can't talk about tax reduction unless you can show how it is paid for, the public aren't stupid. what is it going to be?

further cuts in public services or a rise in vat? >> what this government has shown is that, if you get on top of the national finances and if you grow the economy, you can cut taxes for 26 million people. it is interesting that, on this of all days, not a word from him about the fall in unemployment. that is the truth. remember the predictions. they told us that there would be no growth, then there was growth. they told us that there would be no jobs, then there were jobs. they told us that the jobs would not have pay ahead of inflation. now the jobs have pay ahead of inflation. they told us the deficit would go up. the deficit has come down. they have got absolutely nothing to say about the economy because they have been wrong on every single count. >> he is crowing that everything is fixed. it may be fixed for his christmas card list, but it is not fixed for far too many people in this country. he did not really answer the question on vat, did he?

this is what he said before the last election on april 5, 2010. we have no plans to put up vat. barely two months later, he put up vat from 17.5% to 20%. he has £7 billion of unfunded tax cuts, a deficit plan that he cannot meet, and we know that he has got form. will he now categorically rule out a rise in vat? >> we do not need to raise taxes because we have a plan for efficiencies in spending. it is the party opposite that does not have a plan. he asks what has changed for real people over the past year, and i will tell him. 588,000 people who did not have a job last year have one this year. long-term unemployment has fallen. youth unemployment has fallen. you might have thought that the labour party would welcome those things. it is christmas, so we should all enter into the christmas spirit. i have had my christmas present a little early, because i have

here the document being sent to every labour mp. in case they have not had time to read it, let me advise them that if they go to page 17 --be patient. it is there in black and white. on managing the economy, the conservatives have a 17-point lead. thank you. [applause] >> i hope that over christmas, he will get to reflect on his year. he has lost two members of parliament to ukip, he lost 26-2 in europe, and he brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "conviction politician" when andy coulson went to jail. the truth is that he has given up on compassionate conservatism. they have been exposed for who they really are. his plan for the 2020's is to go

back to the 1930's. it is not about balancing the books; it is about slashing the state. in just four months' time, that will be the election choice. >> what this has shown is that, on a day when it has been shown that unemployment has fallen, inflation is down and our economy is growing faster than any other major economy in the western world, he has absolutely nothing to say. i almost feel sorry for labour mps. they cannot talk about the deficit, because it has fallen. they cannot talk about growth, because it is rising. they cannot talk about jobs, because we are increasing them. they cannot talk about immigration, because they have been told not to. they cannot talk about their leader, because he is a complete waste of space. no wonder for labour mps this year it is a silent night. >> richard drax.

>> thank you, mr speaker. >> order. the voice of south dorset must be heard. >> first, may i concur entirely with the prime minister's words about the appalling tragedies that have unfolded around the world? bearing in mind the continuing success of our long-term economic plan, can my right honorable friend please reassure the house that there will be no further cuts to our armed forces under a future tory or coalition government? >> i absolutely agree with my honorable friend that we can have a strong defense budget and strong defense forces only if we have a strong economy and a

clear long-term economic plan. our defense budget is the biggest in the eu and the second largest in nato, and we meet the guideline of 2% of gdp. i can tell him that, because of the success of our economic plan, we are able to commit to over £160 billion of investment in equipment and equipment support over the next 10 years. that is why we will see the aircraft carriers, the type 45 destroyers, the future frigates, the a400m's and the hunter-killer submarines. we are seeing incredible equipment rolling off the production lines in our country to help keep us safe. >> mr nigel dodds. >> the terrible slaughter of the innocents in pakistan yesterday shocked the world and is another example of the obscene atrocities being visited upon children in various parts of the world by these barbaric forces. another example was the attack on the 200 schoolchildren who were abducted in northeast nigeria in april of this year.

at the time, the government and other governments pledged their support to do what they could to assist in the hunt for those children. what reassurances can the prime minister provide on that and on the commitment that british experts will assist? >> in all these cases, we see what expertise and assets we can bring into play to help governments who are trying to combat these problems. in nigeria, for a period, we lent the expertise of our fighter jets, with their raptor pods, in order to provide imaging to try to help find the chibok girls, and we continue to work with the nigerian government in every way we can. with pakistan, again, we believe that the pakistan government must confront terrorism in all its forms, and they are taking steps to do that. i think today is the day when we should redouble our support and our efforts, and the whole world should do the same, to say that if the pakistan government want to continue to act to root out terror, and none of this can be justified, they have the support of the whole world, britain

included. >> neil carmichael. >> will the prime minister join me in thanking businesses, schools, my festomane team and the college for organizing the week-long festival of manufacturing and engineering in my constituency, which was opened by the prince of wales? does he agree that by focusing on innovation and productivity, this government will deliver more exports and higher standards of living? >> i certainly join my honorable friend. people might know that this is an annual week-long festival, championed by him, that showcases local manufacturing success stories. i remember that when i visited his constituency we watched a 3d bike being printed in metal. it was extremely impressive. we need to continue with the long-term plan, which is delivering a more balanced recovery, with manufacturing growing, as well as construction and services. our commitments to increasing the number of apprentices, to

helping companies with research and development and to keeping tax rates low are all delivering a very strong manufacturing success rate for britain. >> dame tessa jowell. >> millions of people will work extra hours this christmas in difficult and often low-paid jobs so that they can send money to relatives living abroad. their remittances to sub-saharan africa alone account for more than donor aid. but their money transfers will be hit by fees and charges, often as high as 15%. five years ago, the g8 committed to reducing this transfer tax to 5%. will the prime minister join me in calling on the transfer companies to cut their charges for christmas as a first step to meeting the g8 promise to

families in some of the poorest countries in the world? >> the right honorable lady is absolutely right to highlight the importance of remittances. the amount of money that goes from our country, in the form of remittances, to countries such as somalia and others in sub-saharan africa in desperate need actually outweighs significantly the aid we are able to give to those countries. so yes, we should look, and we are, at every way we can to help these remittances take place. there have been problems in the past with making sure that we apply measures on money laundering and other potential issues to them, but we looking hard at what we can do to keep the charges down. >> mark garnier. >> one of the characteristics of the decade leading up to the financial crisis was the £1 trillion increase in household debt. will my right honorable friend assure the house that no future long-term economic plan will be financed by a debt bubble inflated on the backs of hard-working households? >> my honorable friend is absolutely right. one of the changes we have made

since the crash is to put in place proper arrangements for the bank of england to call time on the level of indebtedness in the economy and to make sure that financial regulation, including regulation of the mortgage market, for instance, is properly put in place. that is one of the important lessons. i have to say to party opposite that one of the other important lessons is that when you have had a long period of economic growth you should be trying to pay down your debt and aiming for a surplus. that is what fixing the roof when the sun is shining is all about. >> mr nicholas brown. >> i welcome the fall in unemployment, but it is still too high in the northeast of england. will he tell the house, and my unemployed constituents, who are the principal candidates for working-age benefit cuts? >> let me join him in welcoming the fall in unemployment. it has fallen in every region of the country over the past year. in the northeast over the past year, unemployment is down by 11,000, and that is welcome.

in terms of addressing the costs of welfare, i think we should be very frank about this, as i was discussing, calmly, earlier with the leader of the opposition. whoever is prime minister after the next election is going to have to make public spending reductions. we have a choice -- whether we leave the welfare bill as it is, or whether, like labour members, we vote this afternoon to add £2 billion to the welfare bill -- that is what they are talking about this afternoon. £2 billion on welfare, and then have to take that money out of the education department, or the health department, or policing. we think we should not do that. we think, yes, there are reductions in welfare that can be made. we will make them, and that will keep taxes down and make sure that we can have good public services. >> richard fuller. >> for people starting their careers, newly married couples or others, the prospect of owning their first home is a much desired but very difficult step. what is the government doing to help young people in my constituency make that positive

move? >> there are two vital steps that we can take. the first is to go on backing the help to buy scheme, which has helped thousands of people in our country, i think over 70,000 people now. it enables people who are working hard, who earn a decent salary and who can afford the mortgage payments to take out that mortgage and buy that home because they do not need such a big deposit. that is the first thing we should do, and we shall continue with that. the second, as i announced on monday, is that we want to build starter homes that are 20% below the market price. these should be homes not for rent, but that young people can buy. they will be reserved for people under the age of 40. again, this is for people who work hard, and who want to get on and do the right thing for themselves and their families. under a conservative government, they will have homes they can buy. >> i was contacted at the weekend by a constituent who told me that a fall left his 78-year-old mother bleeding on the kitchen floor and that it took almost an hour and a half

for the ambulance to attend. is that not indicative of the health service under this government? what is the prime minister going to do to ensure that pressures on ambulance services are eased? >> what is indicative of the nhs under this government is the fact that there are 1,700 more paramedics and 200 more ambulances than when we came to power. the reason for that is we did not listen to the party opposite, which said that it was irresponsible to increase health spending. instead, we put £12.7 billion into the nhs. where any ambulance trust falls down, that is a matter of serious regret and should be looked into very carefully. i will look into this case, as i would with any other. >> stephen metcalfe. >> does my right honorable friend agree that it is not unhelpful to discuss the concerns of voters in basildon and thurrock about border controls and immigration? anyone who thinks that is out of touch, and perhaps should be moved on.

>> my honorable friend is right. our job as elected politicians is to respond to people's concerns and to address them. this is why i fear for the christmases of labour mps. what are they going to talk about? this document says immigration. that is out of the question. they cannot talk about that. on the figures today, there is not much point talking about unemployment, because it is plummeting. they have got nothing to say about the deficit. i think they will want to skip over leadership issues quite quickly. it is going to be a very difficult time for them. >> nia griffith. >> i do not know whether the prime minister has received any christmas cards featuring husky dogs, but will he tell us whether he agrees with his right honorable friend the member for north shropshire, who has said that the uk's groundbreaking climate change act 2008 should be scrapped?

>> i have not checked all my christmas cards, but i do not think i have so far had the one she suggests. i spent an hour and three-quarters in front of the liaison committee yesterday discussing issues of climate change. under this government, we have seen the world's first green investment bank beating the rest of the world in doing that. and we have doubled the amount of investment going into renewable energy compared with the previous two parliaments. >> will the prime minister confirm that, owing to the long campaign led by my honorable friend the member for enfield north and, of course, the government's long-term economic plan, my constituents can have extended urgent care this winter, and can look forward to the rebuilding, at long last, of chase farm hospital in the new year? >> i know how hard my honorable friends have worked for this outcome. i am happy to say that enfield

clinical commissioning group has announced an extension to the opening hours of chase farm urgent care centre. this will be in place until the local urgent care review reports. further, i can confirm that the government have set aside £230 million for the redevelopment of the chase farm site. that is very good news for the people of his constituency and his borough in london. what we are doing, because we have a long-term economic plan, is investing in local health services. >> tom blenkinsop. >> today, there are 2,500 fewer nurses in our nhs than in may 2010. why? >> obviously he has not been studying either the documents he gets sent by his own party or the figures. today, actually, there are new figures out on the nhs, and i am delighted to give him the new figures. we were saying that there were 2,000 extra nurses under this government. that was wrong. there are 3,000 more nurses under this government.

we were saying until very recently that there were 7,000 more doctors under this government. i am ashamed to say that was wrong, too. the figure is 8,000 more doctors under this government. the nhs is performing well because we have put the money in and made the reforms. >> sir tony baldry. >> may i commend to my right honorable friend some advice from karl marx, who, as european correspondent of the new-york tribune, observed that there were vital interests which should render great britain the earnest and unyielding opponent of the russian projects of annexation and aggrandizement. he went on to say that in the arrest of the russian scheme of annexation, the interests of democracy and of england go hand in hand. does my right honorable friend

agree that for the united kingdom, europe, the west and indeed the whole world, one of our most important foreign policy priorities for 2015 should be to see that russia behaves, as one would expect a member of the security council to behave, in the interests of international law? >> i very much agree with my right honorable friend. i have not spent as much time studying karl marx as he has, or perhaps even as the leader of the opposition has. i do not know what goes on in camden these days. in this respect, karl marx was right that the interests of the united kingdom and democracy go together. we should stand up very firmly against the russian aggression that has taken place, and we led the way in europe in making sure that there were sanctions. what the combination of the lower oil price and the sanctions is showing is that it is not possible for russia to be part of the international financial system but try to opt

out of the rules-based international legal system. that is what is being demonstrated, and we should keep up the pressure. >> the levy control framework, the total cost added to energy bills and taxation by green targets, will rise from £2.3 billion in 2012 to £9.8 billion in 2020, at a time when many households are struggling to heat their homes. does my honorable friend think that is fair? >> the levy control framework has been fixed, and it sets the overall amount of investment that can go into renewable energy schemes, many of which are providing jobs for constituencies up and down the country, often particularly those on the east coast of our country, not least in hull, where an enormous amount of investment is going in. i welcome that investment, and i am not sure what his view is. >> will the prime minister confirm that, if he and the chancellor deliver their plans for the economy, they will take public spending back to the level that was being delivered

by a former labour chancellor, but only because he was bound by an election pledge to stick to my economic plan, which he inherited from a conservative government? >> my right honorable friend gives us a very important historical perspective. it comes back to the point that the party opposite now seem to be basing their entire economic policy on some throwaway remark on the bbc at about 10 past 6:00 on a monday morning. the truth is, what is envisaged is getting public spending back to the level where it was in 2002, when he was sitting in the treasury. i am afraid that his whole idea, like all his economic policies, has collapsed within five minutes. >> the most recent oecd report, number 163, on income

inequality, shows that the uk economy would be 20% bigger if tax policies had redistributed income to the bottom 40% of citizens. can the prime minister resist the temptation to waffle and consider seriously his policies and those of chancellor scrooge over his five years, by rewarding the rich with tax cuts and hammering middle and low-income people with rises in the cost of living, not only -- >> order. i call the prime minister. >> i was just about getting the hang of it. the problem with the labour party's attemptive narrative is that it simply is not true. they talk about poverty, but there are 600,000 fewer people in relative poverty than there were at the election. they talk about child poverty, but there are 300,000 fewer children in relative poverty

than at the election. this afternoon we will be talking about children, and there are 390,000 fewer children in households where no one works than there were in 2010. those are the facts. they may be inconvenient, but you ought to have a look at them. >> john glen. >> last week, my constituents, charity workers alex and becky ewing, faced a tax bill of more than £8,000 as they moved into their first home. as reported in the excellent salisbury journal, mr. ewing declared that he was blown away by the chancellor's statement and will be giving some of the £4,500 stamp duty that he unexpectedly saved to local charities. what message does last week's announcement send to first time buyers this christmas? >> i am grateful to my honorable friend.

the message that the autumn statement sends is that we are on the side of people who work hard, want to get on, and who want to own their own flat or home. we have cut stamp duty for those families so that they can afford those houses. what a contrast with the party opposite, which wants a new homes tax. >> sheila gilmore. >> my constituent, who is paying £12 a week out of an income of £72 a week on the bedroom tax, was less than impressed to find out that annual spending on housing benefit is now £4 billion higher than it was in 2010. when will this prime minister tackle the real causes of the increase in spending on housing benefit, which are low wages and high rents? >> the point is that the labour party has opposed every single change to welfare and housing

benefit, and this afternoon, they will vote in this house for an extra £2 billion of welfare spending, all that in the week when they are meant to be telling us how much they care about the deficit. it is completely incoherent, and that is why the british public will never trust the labour party with the economy again. >> the recent announcement about the building of the glossop spur and the consultation to extend the bypass around tintwistle has been widely welcomed across my constituency. there is, however, some scepticism about it actually happening, given that the previous labour government shelved their scheme in 2009. will my right honorable friend reassure me and my constituents that a future conservative government can be relied on to deliver that scheme? >> i can certainly give my honorable friend that assurance. i know that he has campaigned tirelessly to improve roads in his high peak constituency, and the trans-pennine routes are

vital. we can give that assurance because we have a long-term economic plan that is delivering the economic growth that we need and seeing our deficit come down. because we have made that success, we can commit to these road schemes. >> liz mcinnes. >> the government is using a range of measures, including cold weather payments, the warm home discount, and an increase in pensions. we will improve the warmth of 1 million homes by march 2015. that provides real help to older people by taking money off their bills and insulating their homes to ensure that they are able to keep warm this winter. >> that is an interesting response, but my constituent william sullivan has written to me to say how appalled he is that last year, over 18,000 people in england and wales died simply because of the cold. what guarantee can the prime minister give me that no more of

my constituents will suffer in the cold this winter for want of a properly insulated home? >> every excess winter death is a tragedy, and 18,200 deaths last year was too many. however, that is half the level of excess winter deaths in 2008-2009, when the leader of her party was the energy secretary. we will continue with the long-term patient work of the warm home discount, keeping the winter fuel and cold weather payments, and schemes to insulate people's homes. >> will the prime minister confirm that nhs spending under the coalition government has risen by 4% in real terms? that has been passed on to scotland, where spending has in fact been cut by 1%. is he also aware that grampian has a £70 million two-year shortfall in funding? consequently, the responsibility for the crisis in the health service in the northeast of scotland lies firmly with the scottish government, led until a

few weeks ago by alex salmond, the msp for aberdeenshire east. >> my right honorable friend is absolutely right. we have increased spending by £12.7 billion. that translates into a real-terms increase. so scotland and wales have had the extra money to spend, but labour in wales chose to cut the nhs rather than to invest in it, and in scotland the snp government have not translated the full amount of money. that is why, when we look at figures for such things as accident and emergency, yes, we need to do better in england, but our performance is still well better than it is in wales, scotland, or, indeed, in northern ireland. the moral of this story is that you need a long-term economic plan and a conservative-led government to deliver these advances. >> you have been watching prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. returns wednesday, january 7, 2015.

you can watch anytime at www.c-span.org, where you can find video of past prime ministers questions and other british affairs programs. this month's the 10th anniversary of our sunday primetime program, q and day. we are cheering and on the presentation of one q&a from each year, highlighting authors, historians, journalists, and public policy figures. kenneth feinberg interview from the victims compensation fund. from 2006, lonnie bunch on the of the african-american experience u.s. history. from 2007, robert novak. the new couture on the value of higher education and america. q&a at 10. a decade of compelling conversations. december 22 through december 26 on c-span. >> next, the european parliament

discussing the u.s. senate report on cia interrogation techniques. then farewell speeches entry before retiring senator mary landrieu. on wednesday, members of the european parliament debated a release on cia interrogations. some members argued that you should take further action and press charges against those involved. this is a one-hour portion of the debate from strasburg. you, president. are anted states important partner in fighting terrorism for the european union. but certain serious concerns and differences having sick -- existed and respect to certain aspects of the u.s. counterterrorism policy.

has started anion dialogue on these issues quite some time ago. today, we are debating a senate report on a preceding u.s. program, which was formerly concluded almost six years ago. we share the view expressed by president obama, according to which these techniques run counter to our value and are not helpful in combating terrorism. it is important that we guarantee this does not happen again. that is why we favorably welcome the publication of the report and also the following public debate. it shows transparency and openness in learning lessons from errors committed in the past. on several occasions, the council has stated that the struggle against terrorism has to happen in full respect of international law, including the

question of human rights, humanitarian law, and the rights of refugees. lawespect to international is a crucial aspect of the counterterrorism strategy followed by the european union. when the need for the existence of the secret cia centers was expressed in 2006, the council said that the european union was committed to fully banning cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. in the senate report, it says helpede legal reasons authorize various techniques which are mentioned there and. onward, the european union has been in dialogue with representatives from the united states.

that dialogue has allowed us to put a series of questions and concerns to the united states. togave us the opportunity stress how important it was to respect human rights and international law. it is important to stress that president obama formerly ,oncluded that the cia program just a few days into his mandate , president obama also banned any form of torture or and the so-called in hand interrogation techniques or secret detention. he asked the cia should no longer run the detention centers and ban the use of these interrogation techniques. statement madent in june 2009, the eu and the united states welcomed, and i quote, the in-depth re-examination of the u.s.

policy on detention, transfer, and interrogation processes in combating terrorism in greater transparency. about the practices followed in the past on this policy. well as illumination of secret detention centers. only be combated if we have faith in our own fundamental values. violation of human rights is a violation of the rights of law. people to have recourse to terrorism, and there can be no justification, however, for that kind of behavior. these policies are intended to combat terrorism, but they can create sedition. eu has not only triggered a dialogue, it has taken six steps

in order to promote changes to u.s. policy. in 2009, the european union established a framework which is a located welcoming in eu member states. former wartime ott knee's in support of president obama's policy to close guantanamo. of review framework of counterterrorism in the united states, and in compliance with international law, steps have been taken in a waiting pending political problems being solved. areas, afghanistan and syria, the eu has adopted an approach based on criminal justice. prosecutedshould be and ruled against according to the rules of law.

normal courts have long experience in dealing with cases connected to terrorism. it is crucial to carry out an inquiry in order to get information about terrorism networks and check plans are correct. courts,, the ordinary they have put hundreds of terrorists behind bars. the treaty of the european union stipulates the security of each member state means that intelligence agencies in member states and their work outside of the scope of european union institutions and the inquiry into presumed involvement in cia competence of the members faith in the european union. the eu member states are bound by the european convention on human rights.

and the charter of fundamental rights. steps taken to combat terrorism are monitored by the european court of human rights in strasbourg. , it ishe lisbon treaty competent to re-examine eu legislation on internal security matters. robustovides a legislative context which provides guarantees within the framework of which we can and the scourge of terrorism. thank you for your attention to --. >> thank you very much for your statement. on behalf of the european , commissioner laputa's. >> thank you. president of the council, honorable members of the european parliament, the

commission i represent here today for this matter is appalled by the findings of the senate select committee on intelligence study of the cia detention and interrogation program. part of which was released on the ninth of december. as you know, most of the inquiry remains classified. this report raises important questions in regard to serious violations of fundamental rights by the u.s. authorities and by other persons at the service of to cia between late 2001 january 2009. as president obama said this actions taken under the cia program were contrary to u.s. values.

recognizing that one of the most effective tools to fight terrorism is to stay true to the ideals the united states stands for. this is what led him, in the year 2009, to unequivocally ban torture. that we applauded. they did all this because this is the real point about torture. it is just wrong. totally wrong. it is a crime. a criminal act. it should never be used. while shopping, the senate committee findings are not a complete surprise. the existence of secret detention facilities, rendition flights, and the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners under cia custody in

the context of the fight against terrorism by the united states have been a concern since they became public some 30 years ago. several united nations human rights bodies, as well as the council and the european court of human rights, have been unequivocal in condemning the practices in the senate committee study. engaging onas been this case since the start. with the decision to set up a inquiry ofn initiative report in 2007 and 2012, condemning the practices in question and voicing the need to promote and protect fundamental rights.

union, whichropean has raised issues with the united states on several occasions, including in letters by the presidency of the council and regular titles on counterterrorism and human rights. the senate committee study is a positive step in confronting publicly and critically the way in which the cia's responsibilities were discharged in relation to torture and ill-treatment against suspects. commission believes that full clarity should be brought to bear on those practices in accordance with international standards, including as regards the individual responsibilities for those parties. condemns all forms of

torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances and works towards the prevention and eradication of all forms of torture and ill-treatment within the european union and worldwide as a priority of its human rights policy. as the commission has repeatedly underlined, efforts to combat terrorism should be conducted in a manner that conforms with the rule of law, respect our common complies with our respective obligations under international law. in particular, international human rights law. refugee law. and humanitarian law. the commission has consistently stressed since the beginning that all concerned member states

should conduct in-depth, independent impartial investigations with regards to cia activities. publishedd have responsibilities and enable victims to obtain compensation for damages. this was recalled in a june letter sent to all member states in 2013 by then vice president reading and commissioner marston. we know that the authorities of several member states have undertaken investigations in the prosecution of persons including cia agents involved in the abduction, rendition, illegal detention, torture, and ill-treatment of subjects under the cia detention and interrogation program. on the same day that the senate

committees study was released, that thed in the press u.s. military program detention center in afghanistan had been closed. prisoners had been turned over to afghan authorities and were under u.s. custody since 2002, including several years in cia detention without trial. detainees still remain in the guantanamo detention facility, including the detainees will not be brought to trial nor have yet been cleared for release. will keepan union monitoring the situation and keep raising the human rights -related aspects of the fight against terrorism with united states. thank you. >> thank you very much. we will now hear from the

speakers on behalf of political groups. we want to take two minutes. michael ohlmeyer on behalf of bpp. commissioner, i would like to welcome the council presidency colleagues. this report, which was published by the senate committee of the united states, is a terribly shocking report. , and the president images worldwide was tarnished. i can only agree with that statement. the core issue is how can we support ideals if we travel on them at the same time? my own personal viewpoint,

i can only say we cannot trample on these core ideals. the fundamental rights of people are sacred and cannot be violated. of course, security is one of those rights. but to use methods, including torture and brutal interrogation techniques in order to guarantee security is not something that can be defended. publicly thatid the u.s. locked away people for waterboarding. when it comes to these crimes, also can be condemned,

applied to the cia when they use those techniques. we welcome the fact that the report was made public at all. not havethis would been possible, not all states would have exposed themselves to this level of criticism and scrutiny.e -- i hope the united states will see this process through and draw the necessary conclusions. >> thank you. president.u, i hope the debate we are about to have will serve his purpose. i apologize for being direct. what do the following cases remind you of? ands were left hanging, detainees died because of sun or cold. andher detainee was hung up

had a probe penetrate his innocent or vagina. torture using water was very popular. if this reminds you of the dark ages, you are right. these are the things we learned in school. detainees died because of hypothermia, chained naked to concrete floors. >> speak a bit more slowly please. >> i will do my best. >> this also reminds you of the middle ages, you are wrong. are the so-called enhanced interrogation methods used by the cia. these are the things happening today. there is another difference. century, many conventions were written down and ceremoniously signed, in addition to charters. practically all countries around

the world, the united states has signed a convention against torture which explicitly prohibits tortures in a state of emergency. adeliberately made such brutal introduction and i use the plural because we are all to blame, since the european parliament adopted a report on cia activities in europe. more than seven years has gone by. still, the european union countries are hiding the truth. practically nothing has happened. no one was held accountable. andwar against terrorism the respect for human rights are not mutually excluding notions. victims of war against terror also deserve justice. torture is illegal, immoral, unacceptable. participation of europe in any form or any type of illegal activities used by the cia is shameful. it is unworthy of democracy.

therefore, we demand a whole investigation to please. clear adviceand from member states. impunity is unacceptable. we demand that measures are adopted that will guarantee effective demographic -- democratic supervision of intelligence agencies. we demand protective measures are taken that will in sure nothing like this happens in europe ever again. sometimes it is difficult to accept the truth, but we deserve to know it. we are also obliged to make it known to our citizens. we have to face it. how can we otherwise present that we are the ones that are put on a torture device tomorrow? thank you very much. >> thank you very much. group -- of our colleagues, as you

will be aware, the parliament -- placed great importance in to the question of the cia policy and also the question of the transport by the cia of prisoners. we had six resolutions voted on this question. the american congress has also said that certain eu member states were involved as well. poland, for example. and the americans and their practices have been questioned. now, clearly, i think that we need to have a look at what the european union has been doing. the european union says it defends the owner, to -- honor, the values of human rights.