questions from the house of commons. ♪ >> this week on q&a, former secretary of education for virginia general robinson. he is currently a resident fellow at the american enterprise institute in washington dc and talks about his career and education policy in the united states. drive robinson, when you think back to when you were a fifth-grade teacher, went do you remember? gerald: i remember of the students that could think they

could do anything in the world. i never being a very idealist and if we impart knowledge at age 10 or 11, by the time they are adult they can do wonderful things. host: what did you teach them? geography andht history and math and science who are shared with another teacher. most of the subjects and had the students. host: where was this? gerald: it was that the and itori private school was located a few blocks away from where i attended elementary school. host: who is marcus garvey? he was a jamaican by birth and he simply believed he and they had to

believe in themselves and have a collective economic coach. if you look at what he was able to do in galvanizing millions of black people but also in the caribbean. it probably doesn't get too much attention. host: what was it like growing up in your family? gerald: my father was an entrepreneur. he owned a restaurant and he believed in an honest days work. involved withalso work. they instilled in me the importance of education. host: when did you move to los angeles? gerald: i was born in lake charles that then i went on a flight to los angeles were my parents already lived. what do you remember about your schooling there? you went to a community college

first step. i came of age in the 1970's in los angeles. it was the crenshaw district where they were mostly families who did plans. many of them were part of the post war boom. it was called the 10 highway west. i grew up with my stepdad as well. and hard-working people who thingsto see people do dramatically different. host: can you member the first time you actually started learning something? parents for the first ones who were my teachers. learning came into different phases. i had a great memory of my

and she ise teacher still alive. started agacy she scholarship at a school called st. mary's. she was an art teacher and she used it to change lives. my real learning. collegethe community level. i was a less than stellar student and at the age of 20 i got a graph -- grasp on how to read and write. collegeo community located where. 100 community colleges that we have in california. it was a great starting point to me. grades or the the

test score and did not have money. i spent three years at the el camino college ranging from elaine moore who was my counselor to raymond roney. they were the ones who said just because you arrived here does not mean that your life will have to be the same. it shows what it could play. host: why did you think you do not get good grades? i chased women, i drink ier, i smoked marijuana, avoided homework during football season. a number of my friends received academic scholarships but i was on the athletic track and it out was always that way. as long as they played football well. andenior year i was injured

i was two inches from being crippled for life. i thought wow there must be a different contact and my social contact had ended. host: how did you have the accident? gerald: a sophomore ran helmet first into my knee. i heard a crack by the time i opened my eyes and was given the bad news that while i was two inches from being crippled for life i would be able to walk again but my football career was over. host: how long did it take you to mend and to change your direction. gerald: it took me about three years. i was willing to go step-by-step.

then i moved towards advanced courses. you went to howard here in washington, when did you major in and why? howard andrrived to had an associate of arts degree in business. ibm andd to work for you know at that day it did not exist. after taking one course i decided to change my major. i was interested in how ideas mattered. it was a tool of social science. host: you are naming some of these teachers. what is good in a teacher? what they do? gerald: they actually spoke to the student on where i was at

that point. they excited me about learning and they had high expectations for me. they do not give up on me. you talk the fifth-grade, what techniques did you use? know i waset them glad to be there teacher and every day would would try and say something good at the end of the day of what we learned in class. whetherhad field trips it was to a museum or going to a conference. there were things inside and outside the classroom. one of my favorite students ryan lawrence. graduate and so i

was glad to see that was still in place. what year did you teach fifth grade? gerald: i taught 1991 to 1992. host: when did you go to harvard? in 1990 four and earned a masters degree with a focus on education policy. walking to figure out how to use public policy to close the achievement gap but also to open this opportunity. i enjoyed my time there. i am a resident fellow at the institute. they have been committed to freedom and opportunity and field market values in civilized -- society.

i get the chance to talk about education and entrepreneurship. host: what were the politics of your parents? gerald: they were both democrats and my realization of what it democrat was was in 1978 when voters passed proposition 13. taxes anded property how they were used to fund schools. i remember my parents saying wow, the republicans have passed proposition 13. they support rich people and democrats support poor and working people. host: did you start thinking the same thing? gerald: i did until i switched to the republican party. host: what was it that made you

switch? we have had the riots after the rodney king. upool was closed and i ended attending a number of meetings to figure out what we wanted to do. we would have to radically change on how we did the work force. rolee didn't see how the of entrepreneurship were going to play. i switched my affiliation and has been a republican since then. shocked.s were

fodder for good jokes but 20 years later. i voted for both john mccain and mitt romney. slack fromou get your friends? gerald: absolutely. and sheis a democrat had a shirt that said my mama is for obama. i wanted a shirt that said my day dad stands with mccain. what do you tell your children when you had an opportunity to vote for the first black president and you didn't.

when i have an opportunity to vote for the first black president, i would like to have someone that i think is all fight for the job and i think president obama is done a great job in many areas but i think mccain and romney would have done a better job. here is president obama using the phrase. let's watch this. giving allure we are of our children the best possible education. most importante factor in determining. will also determine whether we succeed. the key to opportunity if the civil rights issue of our time. host: do you agree? gerald: i agree that it has civil rights significance. in 2016, we are 62 years removed brown versusus --

board of education. we are a better nation than we were in 1954 but the challenge is when you make everything a it hasights issue remedies. it usually includes more bureaucracy and an influx of cash. big push to come on to -- compartmentalize. i don't know what the title was that the chief of education in the state of virginia. how did that happen? gerald: i received a phone call from governor mcdonnell who was looking for someone as a nontraditional candidate. experiencet had some and that believed public schools still mattered.

that would receive an education so i wanted to make sure why they worked. i interviewed for the job and i accepted. host: helen to do stay? theld: i was there for 2010-2011 legislative session. host: what was expected of you in the state? gerald: one was to implement the governor's agenda and to assign the law the top jobs and we had a commission for higher education of over 25 people on the commission. the goal was to see -- save another $100 million. awaits the to change delivery of education and so we had people in the public schools and when a fire historically and ourlleges

for-profit colleges that all contributed. k-12 level we strengthened our charter schools and expanded opportunities. one was a college laboratory school. it was a bill that allowed schools of education to partner with the local school system and actually introduce their andnering with buford actually introduced stem courses to middle school students. middle school fight had declining enrollment, today you see inclining enrollments. is wrongush is we have nation, then matters a lot. we cannot wait until high school to do that.

in middle school, that is something that our legislation was able to do. who invented that term? gerald: i don't know the person who invented it. hear presidents and mayors saying that it is important. i would also say that spin is important. it was kind of tough to do that work without having an artistic and creative approach. bush had this to say. >> education in america is no longer legally separate. quality education for everyone of every background remains one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our time. again, urgent civil rights issues of our time. no childhen he signed

left behind he referred to a soft bigotry of low expectations. when he speaks of civil rights he is speaking in that vein. education is an important civil rights and has an important history but when he made the big the he at least opened up door for the republicans in particular to see how we can actually use education and data and outcomes to make it better. you will hear me say it is but that because it is was an example of the right using civil rights and the way the left has it. --ofill have a number challenges. host: you mentioned no child left behind? gerald: it did a few things. if we're going to have a competitive nation that we need to make sure it is strong.

but they would have to test actuallyand they would hold it accountable. and for the first time we were going to the aggregate data to see how children were doing. for decades our school systems were able to hide how poorly our students were doing. weh no child left behind, got to see it both good bad and ugly. in 2004, make a speech here you are on video. let's see how much of this you still agree with. gerald: why do i look at school choice? -- teacher atark the marcus garvey school. when my favorite students walked up to me and said i have to leave because my parents can no

longer afford tuition. what we have is a petition and we would like to get enough signatures on a ballot so that push the voucher initiative so that we can get public money to children who can go to private schools. using the example that i had i said this is an option for some students and not all. it is an opportunity that some students would take advantage of. host: where is california on doctors? i was able to get parents to sign this. 70-30 and ined 2000 a similar vote took place. we have seen the same thing happen in michigan. that is from the california perspective. charter schools have grown but if you look at the voucher movement, it is starting to believe but surely take place.

host: why was it is 70-30 vote? gerald: it was voted as anti-public-school initiative. people don't want to hear that and it was going to quote on quote take money away from public education. people were still remembering those votes that happened with proposition 13. here is another example of us taking money away. california was part of a very public battle of finance. anti-public-school campaign, it's not hard to see where we lost. is hillary clinton in 2015. >> the truth is the quality and

opportunity and civil rights in america are still from far from where they need to be. segregated are still and they are more segregated than they were in the 1960's. host: is that true? gerald: no. i don't believe we have segregated schools. we have racially identifiable schools. to believe in 2016 that we have the same types of jim crow 7 -- segregation that weakness in her is a shame.part sas institute years later. -- now areber five-

their schools that we should try to work with? absolutely. at the same time you have reportst and one of his he actually is. racial integration in neighborhoods have gotten much but that is driven by a number of factors. i would not say we have segregated schools. but to believe we have jim crow today is ludicrous. host: people are worried about segregation in schools, why do we have 100 historically black colleges? gerald: that is to assume they are segregated. take a look at my alma mater howard university.

the first five graduates were white women. we graduated white's long before public institutions allowed a sin. a number of african-americans who were able to integrate professions. we helped create the black middle class. no more than military institutions are segregated because. host: when you went to howard that moster your mind of the students were black, was that your choice? gerald: absolutely. was a howardine student at the time. coming from los angeles and have

adifferent background, it was chance to have a real conversation about education. third, i then and now has a very strong track record. me, i was not investing in a segregated education, i was investing in education that integrated the world you would not hear otherwise. host: here is condoleezza rice with a short 22nd comment. we need to get parents greater choice particularly for are trappede kids in failing neighborhood schools. this is the civil rights issue of our day. why are inner-city schools failing?

dr. rice comes from a family where her mother was an educator. the schools.sthand from humble beginnings in stanford. there are a few reasons why they had challenges. more resources schools. you have more than you have with suburban schools. we don't have the best qualified teachers. sure wee need to make have engagement. there are a host of challenges but we often overlook the role

of families. there are ways we can overcome most poverty and education. districtlive here in a area. there is a lot of federal money and it still doesn't work. why? that was before we moved forward with vouchers and charter schools. d.c. had a few challenges. list ofne, there was a heavy-handed with congress trying to decide how it should govern schools. there was a federal and local debate that goes back for over a century. while there were high concentrations of poverty you still have pockets of success. high school which then and now are still producing students.

third, challenges that resources went to the right place. it wasn't because d.c. lacked a lot of money. there were a lot of school systems that they wish they had the kind of money. rate was higher in 2016 than it was five years ago. you look at this whole area, there is not a great difference between what teachers are paid in this whole area. there is a difference in what is spent per student. how muchxperience, does the money part of it matter? i believe money matters. where you invest money matters more.

there has been a debate on the money matter. going back to the james coleman report in 1966. youne side of the fence have marty west and dr. peterson at harvard who would say that money matters but if you look at the investments we have made while the increase in local you see a pretty flat test score. on the other side of the fence you have others who have said whenwhile that may be true you actually take a look at states with increased their spending for students in different states you have actually seen a gradual -- ander graduation rate students who will earn more in the workforce.

thiser schwartz mentioned in her report, you are going to see better results. host: if you are asked for advice if it means such what to remit the barriers to that first-generation students from a separate are able to get to school, there are two things i would recommend. allow students to matriculate if they had the requisite scores and course word to do well. -- coursework to go. we know that ct -- sat to criticality will do for driscoll coming without ridicule graduate. the body of administration that is clear that there are certain courses you should take, they should be in place if you inspect to be successful in college. to simply accept students who have not filled that curriculum, to let them into a school, is doing a great disservice to them and it is selling the effort for

reaction is. was 22 graduated from howard. the middle is eight and the younger is five. >> what have you learned from these three daughters about education? in thes fortunate to be state for one year. one thing that i learned is the role that technology has played an expanding what students are exposed to. what the older daughter, cell phones as we knew it. computers, if you take a look at the middle daughter. it years old now, she's able to manipulate my iphone and ipad in ways that some 30 euros cannot. some about watching what i was doing and me showing her how to use it. technology has changed what students are exposed to that

excited for that. >> a five-year-old? >> we put her in a coding camp at age four because we believe that coding is important for the same reason that i believe stem matters. having a four-year-old including classic training her brain -- class training her breakup to think and look at mathematical competition and different ways while being greeted in the process. we will have girls who believe that steem matters. >> when you were at the education secretary of virginia, you are part way to florida and he spent 15 months in florida and what was the title of your job? >> commissioner of education. pretty much the same role in plummeting the role and work of governor rick scott as well as my state board of education. >> what did you learn in florida? >> florida is a much larger

state. more poverty. over 54% of the students in florida one qualify for -- qualify for free and reduced lunch. while technically a poor state, the test scores in some ways outperform white middle-class students in different parts of the country. what i learned there is that we can invest in low income kids and others and get great results. also learned that in a state where we had approximately 72 school systems ecologist first of virginia with -- colleges versus virgin you which was a little more rural, difference that the politics. the national assessment of educational progress, it goes 60's.eally to the the department of education will have a database and we really

talk about math and science and it will assess students based -- elementary school in high school. we also have it for urban school systems. , bc is a member of d.c. is aof the -- member of the trial. we assessed students over time. it is called the nation's report card because while we don't have is thenal exam, naep closest we have a mckendrick's from ford and virginia to the kid from california and nebraska. >> let me read from an article after he resigned from florida and it is a lot of numbers. i want to break this down. education tenure as commissioner was marked by controversy over florida's test based school accountable he

system and failing scores on the florida comprehensive assessment test. in may, school officials had to pass an emergency rule to lower the passing score for the states after realizing 73% of fourth graders and 57% of eighth graders failed this year's fcat. changing the passing grade to a 3.0 from a 4.0 on a scale of 611 80% of fourth graders to pass on par with 2011's results compared with the previous 27%. i don't expert anyone to remember those numbers. ofs gets to the business whether it is no child up behind or whatever it is of changing the numbers so that you can qualify for more money. >> when jeb bush was the governor of florida, he decided to make education one of his top priorities. the whole goal was to say was we go to test students to assess where they are and to invest in

places we need to. fast-forward to the store here, we i -- story here, we identified on florida's reading writing, a number of students fail. it is not as if stud students became illiterate and were able to write in a of 30 days. something happen. what we identified is that we raised standards and the assessment model for students. we committed this to our school systems but in the communication process, we dropped the ball along the way and as a result, tests were graded one way and students were assessed another way. it became a major challenge. call our board and their -- when there are over 700 people on a phone call, you know be quite interesting. what we decided to do was to bring in and outside person to

do internal assessment. we identified that i as commissioner was in no way involved with academic malpractice. we had to divide there was missed communication from the state and local system. we identified that our testing company as well as the group in nebraska who put together the assessment did nothing wrong. we calculated a new score, introduced the test, the test went forward again in better shape and students did well. >> i want to show you a speech back in june of 19 52. 1952. what he said about what the nation was facing 64 years ago. by the central government of

functions of babylon to local communities. skyrocketing cost of bills. experts and self perpetuation and ceaseless expansion. [applause] profit -- to no profit enters of a national welfare. democracy, help delete alternations to secure prosperity. >> you have been in and out of government. what do you think about he said about self perpetuation? >> there is a need for bureaucracy because there has to be something in place for administrators and the policies at the state and local level. there are challenges as well. another president, ronald reagan mentioned that bureaucracy was the problem. hates been a love

relationship since the 1800s when recruiting a new nation. there is a need for it. i have seen some great things. articulately in the department of education. people hate department of education. they see them as unusable. kentucky they do to great things. they serve as a central agency to articulate that will policies and goals of the administrative .lass i it serves as a conduit between superintendents and school boards and the state. i can tell you supers instead and -- superintendents have a tough enough job dealing with funding, testing mandates and student achievement. think of them do that by themselves. in 1979, speaking of school boards and department of

education, president carter signed legislation he had proposed to create the department of education. it became a department in the year 1980. at the beginning, it had a $12 billion budget. it now has a $70 billion budget. what have we gained from this? >> the department of education is a great case history on what we can expect from bureaucracy. even though the department of education gained executive level status in 1980, the department of education as we know it had its origins going back to march of 1867. shortly after the civil war. the push was to do two things. had the department of education collect national information in order to figure out what is going on within the state and second, to implement policies, ideas and funds where they could.

it went through an number of changes. at one point it was in the department of the interior, another point it was the federal security agency. in theen found a home department of housing, education and welfare. then it became the department as we see here in the 1980's. so, this case study on how it has multiple lives even though today, we still say there is no federal role for education 2016. similar things and 68. have 17,000ded to people work. today it is about 5000. republicans have been almost entirely imposed to this. why. ? >> they see the department of education as the only a tool to implement policies at the federal level combat think it should be at the state level. they also see it as meddling and local issues, particularly with curriculum.

>> what was passed, the national education system was fort and the american federation of teachers was against it. today, the unions, they are about the biggest unions in the country. >> they are the largest combined teacher unions in the country. mentionteresting you nea. they're not been for the creation of the department of education. the organization, one of the few nonprofits who still hold onto their original mission. one of the things they did in the carter campaign was to endorse a precedent for the white house. -- president for the white house. theill endorse you if department of education can be moved to an executive cabinet position. >> more on what we have been talking about. here is john lewis. education is a right.

it is a civil rights. stand up for it. but for it. speak up for it. >> comment. >> i agree with thomas. what better person to talk about the importance of civil rights and him as a congressman, but his ears bent as a member of snake. physically having his head bashed in for his rights. i agree with him. from johner side boehner, who used to be speaker of the house. to be the civil right of the 21st education. finding a way to empower parents and their children to have a better shot at an education i believe from the core of who i am. >> civil rights, of the century. where did republicans and democrats do for the most? they all say the same thing. >> depends on the area.

john boehner supported the d.c. opportunity scholarship program which would come at the current administration supported and whoever supports it is elected will support it. on the school choice side of the fence, as it relates to public schools, many democrats support charter schools as well as republicans. or you find a lot of demarcation is private school case. you find republicans more often than not supporting vouchers with the d.c. or milwaukee or louisiana. but he also have democrats who have done that. if you look at louisiana after program today, which is statewide, when it began in new orleans, it was to democrats. -- two democrats. he said it matter for her hometown. you look at milwaukee, you have some unlikely williams who was a democrat and was campaigning finance person for jesse jackson . she said vouchers are important.

, theyok at washington dc were democrats who said vouchers matter. it is more nuanced than that. if you had to dry line, charger and voucher republicans, charg ter mostly democrats. >> you wrote a piece. he said this report in 1964, the former senator from new york, labor department at the time, the report was not the first federal inquiry into the tosses a black light. its findings shocked the nation. what was most striking was the culprit who he identified, the weak family structure in buck mckeon. you go on to give a lot of statistics and you say that in 1940, the birth rate to unwed mothers of all ages and races was 3.8%.

by 2013, it was 44.3%. i want to put up on the screen some of the statistics. what happened? >> there were two things that happened. the number of children growing up in single-parent homes has doubled. sinker blacks and hispanics and whites. on one level that is a challenge. in the midst of that, while you still have many children growing up and sickle. homes, at the same time using an increase in the number of students who graduated from high school in a number of those coming from single-parent homes. the number of students completing college in six years, not as great as he would like, and number of the students, many

first-generation are coming from single-parent homes. while there is one challenge that we would like to see from economic standpoint, children two current homes -- in paired homes, minimizes chances of poverty. my colleague is a deal. we can't assume that poverty is a proxy for destiny nor can we assume it is also true for growing up in a home with just one parent. we have seen things change for the better. my goal in life is to be a good public servant whether that is as a schoolteacher, as a scholar regularr just as a average joe. >> do you have a bucket list of things you want to do specifically? is oneing on education area. it is more nuanced. for example, spent some time

recently focused on prison reform. particularly the role of reentering citizens, those who hate their dues to society who are now coming back into the community. over 600,000 a year. are they academically prepared also have a particular focus on try to make sure we strengthen the military academically. when you have generals who published a report and have identified nearly three or four americans between the ages of 18 and 24, which would be prime military age are unable to qualify for the military because of health challenges, academic challenges. that is a national security issue. now i'm writing about that as well. also when you were can on the role of civil society. to expectalistic public schools and private schools to safely do jobs by themselves. it will take faith-based

communities, corporations, nonprofit organizations and others to wrap their arms around teachers and schools to make our society better. >> i would assure you a couple more visible public figures talking about education. is arne duncan. we will put that are to back -- back-to-back with newt gingrich. >> the fight for educational opportunity and the fight for civil rights always have been and always will be an extremely linked. -- inextricably linked. >> i agree to work with reverend sharpton because i thought he came up with the most important big breakthrough and that is that learning has to be the number one civil rights of the 21st century. >> another civil rights education.

ifs president clinton -- president clinton or president trump called you to be able office and said give me three or four things we can do right away that will improve the education of people in the poverty community, what would you say? >> make sure we invested our money into teachers and programs that work and we have researched that shows how to do that. particularly focusing funds on teachers and on support staff and heart to serve classroom. number two, i would expand public and private choice to include both chargers, doctors, tax credit scholarship and education savings accounts and to expand the opportunity. third i would say as later -- leader of the 19th you should raise participative civil rights education and surely the idea that knowledge and ideas matter should equally be part of >>

your equation. donald trump -- >> user with donald trump? >> as a public servant i would consider it. >> a democrat that served in the george herbert walker bush administration and she has been on two different sides of these issues. diane ravitch, what she has to say. nobody even knew who was on the committee to write it. very few people were aware it was being written. no participation. no effort to bring in people who are specialists in early childhood education. no one who was a specialist in special education. there were no teachers on the writing committee. people mostly, out of 27 who wrote the common core standards, almost half of them came from the testing industry. the problem with common core at as aasis, the same problem

child behind. hundred deception that the answer lies to the problem is higher standards and more test. the problem is that almost 20% of the kids in this country living in poverty. i want to lick her point to a couple videos you showed, one with the speaker and one with secretary duncan. what the content. -- what secretary duncan left off. i think what he did in taking on his own party, the democratic party in taking on a very strong push for teacher evaluations and professional element. i want to commend him for that. , speaker gingrich is one of the brightest smart as forward thinking politicians we have today. i remember years ago he would decided that only to support the idea of school choice, but i believe he stood in front of the

home of frederick douglass to make a point that the push was not only for black empowerment, but the idea that we can list all people from educational slavery. not something into the united states. something we have put forth many years. kate ravitch, a great historian. worked both sides of the pets. -- fence. she makes valid points. we should have an honest conversation about tensing. i think we will get rid of tents -- tests will not happen in the next 20-30 years. >> if a young person says i admire what you do, but what should i do as a student? read widely. that includes books you traditionally would not read. i would not say that after completing high school that you have to go to a four-year institution or else you are failure. we accreted in our culture a big

push to go to enter college. i believe college matters. graduate.ege the push that you have to do for years overlooks the fact that many students can pursue a number of post secondary options. i would say consider a trade school instead of going to a community college was to earn an associate degree or certificate or licensure or something else. secondly, maybe take time off. get a job. if you have it up if any and decide you want to improve your skills, you can view some of the things currently online. i would say look at post secondary education not as a four year institution but as a life endeavor. make sure at least once a month you go and see something that is like a play or musical, dance recital, opera or debate or something. >> name someone that was the most important person of your life beside parents?

ming. the dean wil groceries, the knowledge that he had to meet in the library a few times and invited me to stop by his office to talk. i do not take interstate. i walked past him and he said hello and give him a bad handshake if you squeeze my head in said i said hello. i said hi. come to my office. let's talk. for the next two years, at least once a month, we would talk in his office. the return type contemplated dropping out of college. 40 hours a week job. making decent money. could have made a great many -- living there. he said just because this is where you began his army were you and. it was him. i also have to add a link more

-- elaine moore. a tremendous role in helping me particularly -- but circulate at howard university. >> 4o hours a week bagging groceries. >> i was a cashier. i cleaned me to rooms with a -- ms, unloaded trucks. did everything you need to do. i also remember, i was a member of the union. >> why did you think that gentleman solute and said come talk? >> someone did the same thing for him. he grew up in tilde for. decided to go to college. he had to work his way through college and he decided to get an education, particularly library

scientist because he also believed in ideas and books matter. >> have you done this to anyone else? >> absolutely. students i've taught, elevators go, high school, college. the same thing for students who work at aei. >> our guest has been gerard robinson. resident fellow at the american enterprise institute. >> they give her having me on. >-- thank you for having me on. >> thank you. >> for free transcripts or to give us your comments, visit us at q&a.org. they are also available at c-span podcasts.

if you like this program with drug dropping to come here are some others you might enjoy. michelle easton talks about the organization she works with and the efforts to advance conservative women in leadership roles. dr. wayne frederick on the state of higher education and the challenges facing historically black colleges. and a film maker shares her story behind her documentary which depicts the process that inner-city children go through to participate in charter schools. you can find those interviews and others online at c-span.org. during question time this past week, but the premise or david cameron was asked about the uk's economic plan in light of the brexit but. he also spoke about a newly

released report that was the result of a seven-year inquiry on the country's role in the iraq war. >> answered by the ministers he is now time for prime minister's questions. questions to the prime minister. [shouting] >> thank you, mr. speaker. they'll also want to join me in wishing whales this evening. they have played superbly and we wish them all the best. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and in addition to my duties i shall have her there such meetings today. >> chloe smith. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, it's not where you're coming from. it is where you're going. my right honorable friend agree? does my right honorable friend

agree that no matter what your background, it is what we want for britain. [shouting] >> i absolutely agree with my honorable friend come and making sure all of our citizens have chances to make the most of their talent should be the driving mission for the rest of the parliament. yesterday's cabinet we were discussing the importance of boosting national citizen service which will play a key role in giving out people the confidence and the lengths goes to make the most of the talent they undoubtedly have. >> jeremy corbin. [shouting] thank you, mr. speaker. today would it be appropriate if we talk for a moment to think of those who lost their lives in the bombing in baghdad in recent days. the people who suffered and their families at the end of ramadan must be terrible at doing for them. we should send sympathy and solidarity. i join with the prime minister