tv British Prime Ministers Questions CSPAN April 17, 2016 11:58pm-12:36am EDT
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bechtel had no involvement in building the infrastructure for the vietnam war. the entire statement is posted on c-span's website for the q and a series. announcer: c-span's "washington journal" live every day. coming up monday morning, richard wolf previews today's supreme court oral argument in the case of united states v texas. in the endorse meissner, director and senior fellow migration policy institute u.s. policy program on immigration trends and deferred action programs. and we will be live outside the supreme court building talking with people as we wait to hear oral arguments.
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to watch "washington journal" live starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern monday. announcer: during this week's question time, prime minister the panamake about data breach and tax reform. statistics, he should welcoming the changes, not condemning them. >> order. questions to the prime minister. wendi morton. >> thank you, mr. speaker. thithis morning i had meetings h ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further such meetings later today. >> wendi morton. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last week i visited manufacturing. would my right honorable friend agree with me supporting small businesses and a further increase in personal caps and
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allows which came in this month -- we on this side of the house and parties enterprise desperation and believe in enabling hard-working people to keep more of which they earn? >> let me join her and congratulate the firm should mention. she's absolutely right that it is small and medium-sized businesses that the government will be providing the jobs are the future and we want people to keep more of their own money to spend as they choose. that's what historic move to an 11,000-pound personal allowance the people will have gained by 2018 they will be paying about 1000 pounds less per taxpayer and we would've taken 4 million of the lowest paid people out of tax altogether. that's the action of the progressive liberal government. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house will join me in mourning the death today of the dramatist arnold come one of the great
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playwrights of this country come one of those wonderful angry young men of the 1950s and like so many angry young people actually change the face of our country. yesterday, tried to the european commission announced new proposals on country by country tax reporting. so that companies must declare where they make their profits in the eu and in lackluster tax havens. conservative mep is spoke against the proposal, and against the blacklisting. can the prime minister measures conservative mep will support the new proposal? >> first of all that me join the right honorable gentleman in mourning the loss of the famous playwright and all the work you did. it's quite right to mention that. [shouting] let me, let me, let me welcome, let me welcome the country by country tax reporting proposal
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put forward by commission jonathan hill appointed by this government, united kingdom the commissioner. this is very much based on the work that we have been doing leaving the collaboration between countries of making sure we should tax information. as we discussed this has gone are faster and far further under this government than under any previous government. >> mr. speaker, if the proposal put forward by the british government, why do conservative mep is vote against them? a bit of a disconnect. the panama papers, mr. speaker, exposed a scandalous situation where wealthy individuals seem to believe that corporation tax and other taxes are something optional. indeed, as a member from elton inform it's only for low achievers apparently. so when the hmrc says that tax gap is 34 billion pounds, why
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then is he cutting hmrc staff by 20% and cutting down tax offices which loses the expertise of people to close the tax gap? >> i doubt he wants to get on our responsibility to pay taxes. that's very important. his tax return was a mess for labour policy the it was late, chaotic, inaccurate and un-costed. [laughter] turning to specific question, he is actually right. is absolutely right to identify the tax gap, and that is why we closed off loopholes in the last parliament equivalent of 12 billion pounds. we aim to close the loopholes in this parliament equivalent to 16 billion pounds so the h.r. mc is taken very strong action backed by this government,
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backed by the chancellor, legislative for by this house. i think i'm right in saying since 2010 we have put over 1 billion pounds into h.r. mc to increase its capabilities to collect the tax people should be paying. the difference i think between the sight of the house and right honorable gentleman is we believe in setting low tax rates at encouraging people to pay them. and its working. >> mr. speaker, i'm grateful for the prime minister for drawing attention to my own tax return. all my handwriting, all generous donation to hrmc. i paid more tax by some companies owned by people he might know quite well. [shouting] the prime minister isn't, mr. speaker, the prime minister isn't cutting tax that is biggies cutting down on tax collectors. the tax collected helps to fund our nhs and all the other
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services. last month the obr reported that hrmc doesn't have the necessary resources to tackle offshore tax disclosures. the government is committed to taking 400 million pounds out of h.r. indices budget by 2020. will he now commit to reversing that cut so that we can collect the tax that will help to pay for the services? >> i'm afraid his figures rather like his tax return his figures are not entirely accurate. at the summer budget 2015 we give an extra 800 million pounds to hrmc to fund additional work to tackle tax evasion and noncompliance between now and 20 to one. this will enable h.r. into to recover billion in tax over the next five years. we've brought in more than 2 billion from offshore tax evader since 2010. the point i would make i think we should try to bring some consensus to this issue.
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for use in this country labour government and conservative governments have an attitude to the overseas territories that their tax affairs were a matter for them and their compliance affairs were a matter for them and transparent he was a matter for them. this government has changed that. we've got the overseas territories, the crown dependencies around the table. we such a god of registers of ownership. you've got to elaborate with the uk government. you've got to make sure people don't hide their taxes. and it's happening. so when he gets to his feet he should welcome the fact that huge progress has been made. raising taxes, closing the tax gap, getting businesses to pay more, getting international leadership to the cell issue. all things that never happened under labour. >> mr. speaker, i thank the prime minister for the edge. the only problem with it is the redbook states hrmc spending will fall from 3.3 billion to
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2.9 billion light 2020. and in regard to uk crown dependencies and oversee territory only two days ago the prime minister said that he had agreed they would provide uk law enforcement attacks agencies with full access to information on the beneficial ownership of companies. it seems to be some confusion because the chief minister of jersey said this is his response without delay, where terrorist activities are involved. is jersey and all the other dependencies actually going to provide beneficial ownership information or not speak with the short answer to that is yes, they are. that is what such a big break -- breakthrough. they are not going as far as us because we are publishing a register beneficial ownership that will happen in june will be one of the only countries in the world to do so. i think norway and spain are the
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others. what the overseas territories and crown dependencies are doing is making sure that we have full access to register beneficial ownership to make sure that people are not evading or avoiding their taxes. in the interest of giving full answers to his questions, let me give them the figures for full-time equivalents in hmrc in terms of compliance. the numbers above from 25,000 in 2010 to 26,007 and 98 and 2015. it's not how much money you spend on an organization. it's how many people you can have out there collecting the taxes and making sure the forms are properly filled in. >> the prime minister is quite right to the number of people out there collecting taxes is important. therefore, what have you laid off so many staff from hmrc that therefore cannot collect those taxes? in 2013, mr. speaker, the prime minister demanded the overseas
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territories with the site the cloak of secrecy by creating a public register of beneficial ownership of information. will he now make it clear that the beneficial ownership register will be an absolutely public document transparent for all to see who really own these companies and whether they're paying the taxes or not? >> let me be absolutely clear. for the united kingdom we've taken the unprecedented step never done by labour never done by conservatives, all open beneficial ownership register. with the crown dependencies and oversee territories, 50 give full access to the registers of beneficial ownership. we did not choose the option of forcing them to a a public register because we believed if that was the case week at the situation he spoke about his some of them might walk away from this cooperation altogether. that's the point of the question
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is are we going to get access the information, yes? can we pursue tax invaders? yes. get any things happen under a labour government? no. >> the prime minister does [talking over each other] adequate of that. it's not a public register is offering. is only offering us a private register that some people can see. it's quite interesting the premier and the cayman islands is today celebrating his victory over the prime minister because using the information certainly will not be available publicly or available directly by any uk or non-cayman island agency. the prime minister is supposed to be chasing down tax evasion and tax avoidance. he is supposed to be bringing it all into the open. if you cannot even persuade the premier of the cayman islands or jersey to open up their books, where is the tough talk bringing
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the information we need to collect the taxes that should pay for the services that people need? >> let me, i think yo you are misunderstanding. in terms of uk is an absolute first in terms of a register beneficial ownership that is public or he keeps saying it is not public. the british one will be public or further to that anything this is important because this ghostly question asked by the right honorable member, we are also sent to foreign companies that use with britain that they have to declare their properties in the properties they own which will remove the huge avail of secrecy over the ownership for instance, of london property. i am not saying we completed all this work but we have more tax x information exchange can more registers of beneficial ownership, more chasing down tax evasion and avoidance, more money recover from businesses and individuals. at all of these things are things that have happened under this government. the truth is he's running to catch a biggest labour did nothing in 13 years.
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>> thank you, mr. speaker. my constituents whose daughter was tragically murdered i her ex-partner whilst he was out on bail campaign to save nine women's refugees which occurred at threat because labour run counts are proposing all of their funding. does the prime minister a greek with the family and me that the council should prioritize the victims of domestic violence? >> first of all, my honorable friend does move a very, does raise a very moving case and i know the whole house will wish to join instantly our sincere condolences to the family. intensification we stop violence against women and girls know what should be living in fear of these crimes. that is why we committed 18 million pounds to tackle violence against women and girls and this includes funding and
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securing the future for refugees and other accommodations based services that it help if local councils make the right decisions as well. >> the kingdom and its offshore territories and defenses collectively sits at the top of the financial secrecy index of the tax justice network. centiliter panama papers, france has put panama on the blacklist of uncooperative tax havens and offices have been raided by the police in panama city. what have british authorities and specifically in relation to this end with animals and delete of the panama papers? >> first of all in terms of who is at the top of the pair made up tax secrecy, i think it is not unfair to say that about our crowded defenses and oversee territories because they're going to cooperate with the three things that we asked them
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to do in terms of the reporting standard, the exchange of tax information and access to register of beneficial ownership. frankly, that is more the we get out of some states in america like a delaware. i think in this house we should be tough on all those and facilitate lack of transparency but we should be accurate in the way we do it. he ask about what we're doing about the panama papers. we have a 10 million pounds review to get to the bottom of all the information you it would hugely be help if the newspapers and other investigative journalist now share this information with the tax inspector so we can get to the bottom of it. and his final question on black lists, we were happy to support blacklist but we don't think you should draw up a blacklist on the basis of a territory raising a low tax rate. we don't think that is the right approach. that's the approach the french have sometimes taken. in terms of tax havens come this government has done more than
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any previous one. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 3250 staff have been specifically investigating benefit fraud whilst only 300 hmrc staff have been systematically investigating tax evasion. surely we should get equally about equal abuse in the tax system and those abusing the benefit system. why has this government had 10 times more staff dealing often with the poorest in society of abusing benefits and with the super rich a fading their tax is? >> i will look carefully at the statistics but they sound to me entirely bogus. for this reason. the jobs, the predominant job of the dwp is to make sure that people receive their benefits. the predominant job at a gym or see is people pay their taxes.
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the 26,000 people i spoke about earlier, all of them are making sure that people pay their taxes. .com the clue is in the title. >> thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. will until davis and others are still awaiting their 2015 payments from the rural payments agency. nearly four months after they were too. this follows the failure of the website last year but it is causing great personal and financial distress and threatens the future of our business. will the prime minister agreed to meet with farmers, will the press the rpa jamaica's famous by the end of this month and does he share my view that at the very least farmers should repeat interest on the amount overdue? >> first of all i have met with both the image and the welsh image and continued meetings with farming or positions including my own constituency. i noted in problems with the
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payment system to be given the rates, the latest figures aren't 70% of all claims have been paid and i believe the figures are in line with the national average. we had a financial hardship process. we are working with security. we've made hardship payments amounting to over 70 pounds but we do need to make sure the lessons of how to make the system work better in future years are properly learned. >> if the british people vote to leave the european union, will the prime minister remain in office? >> yes. [shouting] >> again on europe, mr. speaker, does the prime minister a greek european union is not just the world's biggest single market but it is also an ample source of foreign direct investment to rising 50% of investment we
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received a also an excellent platform for supply chains to thrive in prospect, beating the ability get the skills they need and the innovation they need, and my constituency -- and a whole lot of other high-tech companies thrive and prosper as they did in the united kingdom? >> i well remember my visit with my honorable friend where they touch the i think the world first in a bicycle that was printed on a 3-d printer. i didn't get on and give it a try but look like i they would even carry some of my weight. he's right because single market is 500 million people and that is a great market for our businesses, for our services and increasingly the market and the supply chain is getting more and more integrated and that is why we should think carefully for more separating ourselves from it. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the biggest cancer killer of
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children and people under 40 them but despite this research into the received less than 1% or just over 1% of the uk's national paint on cancer research. this is a subject of debate next monday in westminster hall. with the prime minister -- my honorable friend sector she's a state for health so the minister answering that debate might be able to bring with him over some long overdue good news of changes? >> i was very happy to do exactly as he says that it is an important issue. we invest something like 1.7 billion a year in health research but there is always this question when it comes to cancer research, the spending has gone up by a third to nearly 135 billion pounds but is a question about whether that is fairly distributed between all the different types of cancer and i will make sure the minister can give them a very full reply. >> thank you, mr. speaker.
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-- concerns raised about the future of our steel industry and more, energy intensive manufacturing north of england has manufactured but it's been held back by green taxes, high energy costs and emissions targets. what more can you do to energy intensive industries? >> i thank my friend raise an important point and the changes we're and the changes would make it will save the steel industry over 400 million pounds by the end of this parliament and that is a good example of the steps we can take. there was an excellent debate yesterday about this issue. we need to work and everything we can do, make sure we're taking action in the eu against dumping come and we are. we need to make sure we reduce the energy cost where we can come and we stand by to work with any potential purchaser of the works which will safeguard steel jobs in other parts of the country to see a we can help on a commercial basis. i'm satisfied with doing everything we possibly can.
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we cannot totally block the global trend of this massive overcapacity of steel and massive decline in prices but those are the key areas in terms of power, plant, procurement. all areas where we can help. >> research shows turning schools into academies doesn't message of improve them. thousands of acts of primary schools, parents wanted to continue to be maintained by the local authority. why our ministers plan to overrule parents and force all those the schools into academies? >> i think all the evidence shows the academies work as part of our education reform. let me give the house of commons, to give the house the evidence. if you look at those schools that converted into academies, 88% are either outstanding work of schools. a few look at the sponsored academies can often failing schools -- hold on.
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if you listen, if you listen, if you look with the schools that are often failing but are now sponsored by academies, using an average of 10% improvement over the first two years of all the evidence is the results are better, the freedoms the lead to improvement and also with our problems intervention happens far faster with academies. we have got 1.4 million more children in good or oust any schools and i say let's finish the job. >> thank you, mr. speaker. would you like to overcome that the mission by join me for the upcoming british asparagus festival which starts on saint george's day and to support? >> well, i'm happy to say that
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my honorable friend's constituency is only one constituency a way. we share the same railway line so there's an operative for great british asparagus, i would be very happy to join him. >> thank you, mr. speaker. can i take the prime minister back to his respond to the honorable mention -- member. it was a truly dreadful case it women to refugees, mr. speaker, are facing absolute crisis. that changes the government proposes to make do housing benefits will force the closure of the women's refugees. he needs urgently to look again at these changes because alessi makes refugees exempt, they will be closing up and down the country. will he do it? >> what i would say it is what we did in the last parliament with rape crisis centers we are doing the same type of thing with these refugees and that's why the 80 million pounds of
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funding is so important and that is why my right honorable friend has written to local authorities to explain that this money is available to make sure that refugees are there. >> mr. speaker, as part of world autism awareness last week the national autistic society launched its biggest ever awareness campaign called too much information and young alex was here announced and met many on monday this week. their research shows some 50% of autistic people and their families don't sometimes even go out to public because they are afraid of what people think as the public reaction to the. will the prime minister meet with me and others to show how the government can support this campaign and how we can help tackle the socialized nation so many families through this campaign through government assistance to? >> first of all let me bid to become a right honorable friend who has been campaigning and legislating on this issue for many, many years including the landmark legislation that went
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through in the last parliament. we have been working closely and invested in 325,000 pounds since 2014 but she's right it is more than its be done in terms of helping families with autistic children and raising the profile and understanding of what having an autistic child or being autistic is all about. i think she's right to do that. let me put in a plug for the strange incident of the dog in the night which i think is still available. i think it's of the whitehall theatre. it's actually. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. authorities in peru, san salvador and panama have raided offices seeking documents and computer equipment but no one has knocked on the door of the law firm frontier in the uk. recognizing the independence of our enforcement agencies does the prime minister share my concern that as we speak
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will the prime minister join me in supporting the change in the law to opt out organ donation throughout the united kingdom? david cameron: i happy to look at this again. we debated this in the last parliament. making opt in much easier. there are very different records in terms of how well they do. i personal position is that is something we should support and continue to drive. people vote from time to time on this issue as to whether we want to go down the other track rather than the one we are on. personally i say make opt in work better. friendight honorable will be aware that our colleague has just started a 2000 mile walk from buenos aires to rio de foriro to raise awareness
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the money for refugee children. will my right honorable friend join me in wishing him well on his journey. the values and principles of the olympic truce? cameron: i heard he written to him to wish him well on this long walk. a bit of a hole in the house of lords where he's been doing fantastic work for home office on security issues. we wish them a good walk in a speedy return. >> at the ealing hospital we need widely experienced doctors. they are dismayed that the government's own policy assessment of their new contract discriminates against women. as the prime minister is a self-confessed feminist, leading a progressive governments will reverse this latest injustice
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which has no place in 2016? david cameron: i think the lady for the question. this contract is actually very pro-women. it actually involves a 13% basic pay increase because it restricts the currently horrendous hours that some junior doctors are working that are unsafe. because it gives greater guarantees about levels of pay and the amount of money the doctors will get i actually think as people start to work on it and work with it they will see it is very pro-woman. jacob rees malik. s-mogg: the propaganda sheet sent out to the british people said we can't can control of our borders. had we control the free movement of people or is that she'd simply untrue.
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david cameron: economic migrants that come to the european union do not have the right to come to the united kingdom. they're not european nationals. there are nationals of pakistan or morocco or turkey. none of those people have the right. this is very important. we dos why the important is send information to households so they can see the truth about what is being proposed. what might right honorable friend has just put forward is classic example of the scare story. britain will keep its borders. >> university has been rocked by an international doping scandal. a band for major sports and competition. the paymaster agrees that in this olympic year the
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anti-doping agency needs for the support and can you tell me what further action can be taken. david cameron: i think he is right to raise this issue. they've made advances in recent years about the relevance hereto are anticorruption summit on the 12th. we will be looking at corruption in sport and looking at new modes of practice that we would hope others in other countries would adopt. there's also the question of whether doping should be made a specific criminal defense which we should be debating in this house. >> what progress has been made in implementing the 10 clinical standards published in december 2013? that are absolutely essential for ironing out the seven-day nhs waiting. ? what is good is that others within the nhs support this position on the seven-day waiting. of course we should pay tribute to all those doctors and nurses
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who work weekends already. what we are to move toward is an nhs where the individual has 70ess to their family doctor days a week. and where hospitals work on the seven-day basis because that will save lives. catherine west: the governors play a key role in local schools supporting the children's education and performance of an important civic duty. is the prime minister aware of the sadness and anger that it resulted from the force academy's announcement that the duty for each school to have governors will be removed. will the prime minister urgently review this attack on parents? cameron: i actually delighted the honorable lady asked this question. we support. governors. governors have a great role to play. bu
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