the feasibility of a government-funded national health insurance program. also washington times political editor will talk about the trump fornistration's request voter information and reaction from state officials nationwide. we sure to watch washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. east turn monday morning. join the discussion. this past week at the british house of commons, prime minister theresa may was asked about the uk's role in combating isis and pay increases for public sector employees. this question time is 45 minutes.

today marks the anniversary of nhs. i know members will want to join me in paying tribute to the dedicated men and women who work hard to improve lives day in and day out. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. in addition to my duties in his house, i will have further meetings later today. later this week, i will attend the meeting of the g20 where i will discuss the global economy, counterterrorism and sustainable settlements with my fellowleaders. >> thank you, mr.speaker. smashed with an ipad. her body beaten and forced to abort a baby girl. this is only some of the domestic abuse my constituent has faced by her estranged husband because she has refused the genital mutilation of her daughter.

she is educated, had a mortgage, and had a good job until the home office revoked her right to work. i have been writing to the home office since march and have got nowhere. what the prime minister intervene to stop this family being deported and this three-year-old girl being subject to female genital mutilation? pm may: i say to the honorable lady that the home secretary has heard the case that she has set out here today. the issue offemale genital mutilation is one that we are all agreed across this whole house, it is and have orange -- it is an abhorrent activity. it should not be taking place. great efforts have been made over the years on strengthening the law on female genital mutilation and getting information out about this issue and trying to support people in communities where there is a practice of fgm. i think the message has to go out today, we will not accept fgm in this country.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. in the last few days, iraqi security forces assisted by coalition airstrikes have made significant progress in eradicating isil fighters from mosul. this is a significant step forward in the military conflict iraq, but will the prime minister agree with me that the u.k. and united states and international allies need to work with the iraqi government to ensure reconstruction in places like mosul as well as working with the iraqi government to make sure that he -- it is sufficiently strong to withstand the poisonous ideology of isil as we seekto defeat it? pm may: my honorable friend is right. in order to keep written safe, we must continue to attack the in iraq and syria, and the u.k. is playing its part in one of the seven members of thecoalition. we have conducted over 1400 strikes.

there are over 500 british soldiers on the ground fighting. but my honorable friend makes the important that is not just point about the military action that takes place. it's about how we ensure their sustainable reconstruction andrebuilding afterwords. our troops have trained over 55,000 iraqi is. over 169.5iding billion pounds in humanitarian aid and a further 30 to iraq to help stabilize these liberated areas. we must work in iraq and internationally to ensure that these hateful ideologies are not able to poison the minds of people. speaker: jeremy corbyn. mr. corbyn: let me start by wishing everyone a very happy pride month, especially those taking part in the pride march this saturday and similar marches around the country. we should be aware, the survey taken by pride in london found that half of lgbt people in london have experienced hate crime in the past 12 months. i joined the prime minister in

wishing the nhs a very happy birthday. i was hoping she was going to say a bit more about nhs staff and their pay in her thursday briefing. after a week of flip-flopping and floundering, we thought we had got some clarity from downing street at last. announcement was that the public sector pay cap of 1% remains. in a rare moment of agreement between number 10 and number 11 was seen. yesterday, we had news that firefighters are going to be offered to present this year and 3% next year. can be prime minister confirm whether the public sector pay cut will remain for other public servants until 2020? pm may: i joined the right honorable gentleman in wishing everybody who is going to take part in pride london on saturday an excellent day. i'm sure it will be a very good occasion, as it always has been. can i also say that i and all members of this house value the work that is done, incredibly

important work done by public sector workers -- [shouting] pm may: including those in the national health service and others. i understand why people feel strongly about the issue of their pay. [shouting] perhaps i can just set out for the information of the house, what the current position is. we have had three pay review bodies in the public sector reported in march. that covered doctors and dentists, and a including nurses, and armed forces. the government accepted the recommendations in all three cases. the firefighters award is not a matter that is determined by government. it is determined by the employers. it is not subject to a pay review body. there are outstanding pay review body reports. teachers, prison officers, police officers, and senior salaried.

the government will consider those reports very carefully and will respond to them. while we do that, we will always recognize the need to ensure that we take those decisions against the need to live within our means. [shouting] pm may: the right honorable gentleman and i both value public-sector workers and our public services. the difference is, i know we have to pay for them. [shouting] speaker: jeremy corbyn. mr. corbyn: mr. speaker, the public-sector pay cap causes real shortages in nursing and teaching and many other professions, as well as real hardship. i had a letter last week from a teacher called david. it's all right, he is a teacher, he is doing a good job, all right? [shouting] mr. corbyn: he says, and i quote, "i have been teaching for 10 years. i have seen my workload increase. i have seen more people leave the profession then start. no form of pay increase in seven years.

the only thing holding the education system together is the dedication to struggle on for their students and staff." he says this dedication is starting to run out. what we are doing by this pay cut is recklessly exploiting the goodwell of public servants like david. they need a pay raise. [shouting] speaker: prime minister. pm may: the leader of the opposition referred to the number of nurses and teachers we have in the public sector. we now have more nurses --[shouting] pm may: then we had in 2010, more teachers in our schools. let me remind the right honorable gentleman of why it has been necessary for us to exercise restraint in public spending, including capping public sector pay. [shouting] pm may: it is because we inherited the biggest deficit -- [shouting]

speaker: order, order. you seem to be in a very hyper condition today. i would recommend you take some sort of soothing medicine or lie down for a while. prime minister. pm may: we have acted to bring the deficit down. it is now down by .75. at the same time, we have seen the economy grow and record levels of people in employment. our policy on public sector pay has always recognized that we need to balance the need to be fair to public-sector workers, to protect -- to protect jobs in the public sector, and to be fair to those who pay for it. that is the balance we need to strike, and we continue to assess that balance. mr. corbyn: we have had seven

years of tax cuts for the richest and tax breaks for the biggest corporations. speaker, last year, mr. speaker, there was a 1700 nurses and midwives to the nhs, and in the first two months of this year alone, 3264 have left the profession altogether. not a great birthday present for the nhs, is it? last week, the chancellor said we all value our public services and the people who provide them to us. and went on to lord his own economic record by saying that we had a fundamentally robust economy. the prime minister found one billion pounds to keep her own job, why can't she find the same amount of money to keep nurses and teachers in their job, who after all serve all of us? the right honorable

gentleman talks about the number of nurses. i think some of those figures he was talking about was the number of nurses who are registered in the united kingdom. there are about 600,000 nurses registered, about half of them work in the nhs in england. , werary to what he says have 13,000 more nurses working -- [shouting] pm may: i understand that it has been hard for people who have been working hard and making devices over the years have we 'sve been dealing with labour mismanagement of the economy. [shouting] pm may: let me just -- let me remind the right honorable gentleman of what happens when you don't deal with the deficit.

it is not a theoretical issue. let's look at those countries that failed to deal with it. in greece, where they haven't dealt with the deficit -- [shouting] see withhat did we failure to deal with the deficit? cutsing on health service by 36%. that doesn't help nurses or patients. [shouting] mr. corbyn: i hope the prime minister is proud of her record of controlling public-sector pay to the extent that hard-working nurses have to access food banks in order to buy -- [shouting] and the frozen wages of teaching assistants, paramedics, and counsel workers. speaker, it is not just in the public sector. across the economy, wages are rising by 2.1% while inflation

is nearly 3%. 6 million workers earn less than a living wage. what does the prime minister think that tells us about seven years of a conservative government and what it has done to the living standards of those to geton him we all rely our public services, our health services delivered to us? i will tell the right honorable gentleman what has happened over the last seven years. we've seen record numbers of people in employment. [shouting] pm may: nearly 3 million more people in work. we have seen the introduction of the national living wage, never done by labour, but by a conservative government. [shouting] seen 4 and we have million people taken out of paying income tax altogether and a cut in income tax and a change in the personal allowance, which

is the equivalent of 1000 pounds a year year to basic rate taxpayers, including nurses. that's a record of good management of the economy. you only get it with a conservative. [shouting] speaker: jeremy corbyn. mr. corbyn: mr. speaker, mr. speaker, the prime minister simply doesn't get it. [shouting] mr. corbyn: there is, mr. speaker -- speaker: we have got plenty of time, i happy to run on for some considerable period of time. people who are making excessive noise should try to calm themselves and perhaps just give a moments thought to whether they would like to be viewed by their can chew and shrieking their heads off. it is very downmarket. jeremy corbyn. mr. corbyn: mr. speaker, there

is a low pay epidemic in this country, and it has a terrible effect on young people. those in their 20's will learn 12,500 pounds a year less than the generation that went before them. the first generation to be worse off than the last. they are less likely to be able to buy their own home, more likely to be saddled with debt, more likely to be insecure, low-paid work. except for more misery, what does the prime minister and the government actually offer for the young people of this country? [shouting] mr. corbyn: -- speaker: prime minister. pm may: to echo the words of my colleague, what we offer young people is more jobs -- colleagues what we offer young anday: more homes opportunity to own their own homes. let me just tell the right honorable gentleman what isn't fair. it isn't fair to refuse to take

tough decisions and to loads debt on our children and grandchildren. [shouting] pm may: it isn't fair to bankrupt our economy, because that leads to people losing their jobs and losing their homes. and it isn't fair to go out and tell people that they can have all the public spending they want without paying for it. labour's way leads to fewer jobs, higher prices, more taxes, and labour's way means everyone pays the price of labor. speaker: jeremy corbyn. mr. corbyn: mr. speaker, when tories talk of tough choices, we know who suffers -- it's the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. [shouting] young people, mr. speaker, employed on zero hours contract, are more likely to have worse mental and physical health.

students who have worked hard at university graduating with 57,000 pounds worth of debt that will stay with them till they retire. mr. speaker, let me spell it out to the prime minister. this is the only country in which wages have not recovered since the global financial crash. more people are using food banks. 4 million children living in poverty. record in work poverty, young people who see no prospect of owning their own home, and 6 million earning less than the living wage. the low pay epidemic is a threat to our economic stability. can she take some tough choices and instead of offering platitudes, offer some real help and real support for those in work, young people, who deserve better and deserve to be given more optimism, rather than greater inequality?

[shouting] speaker: prime minister. pm may: we actually now see that the proportion of people in absolute poverty is at record lows. he asked for help for those who are low-paid. i will tell him to help we have given -- i will reiterate the help we have given to people who are low-paid. we introduce the mandatory national living wage. the lowest earners passed its pay raise in 20 years. we have cut taxes, taken people out of paying income tax, that cut taxes for those who are on basic rate taxpayers. we are doing what is important for this country, which is ensuring there are jobs and an economy providing those jobs for people, because the best route out of poverty is being in work. and i know that the right honorable gentleman has taken to calling himself a government in waiting. [laughter] pm may: well, we all know what that means -- waiting to put up

taxes, waiting to destroy jobs, waiting to bankrupt our country. we will never let this happen. [shouting] speaker: order. [shouting] speaker: i understand the house is excited about hearing the right honorable member, nicky morgan. >> mr. speaker, thank you very much indeed. i know the prime minister and her ministers and many other members of the house are committed to better mental health care for everyone. i am founder of a well-being project. i recently visited the eating disorder service in meister. as a result of this, one .4 billion more is going to mental health services. how can the prime minister ensure that money is getting to frontline nhs services consistently? speaker: prime minister. pm may: first, let me commend my

right honorable friend in the work she has done in setting up and i ambeing project, happy to join her in paying tribute to the work of the eating disorders service. as she says, they do incredibly important work, and we must do more to transform the mental health services we provide for young people, but also mental health generally. that is why we are putting more money into mental health and our spending on mental health will reach a record 11.6 billion. reached that last year. that funding, we need to make sure it gets through to frontline services. one example is the work we are doing to ensure that teachers and staff in schools are trained to better identify and better deal with mental health problems when they are present with children. i saw that when i visited orchard school in bristol last week, ask let being done, really improving the quality of services for young people with mental health. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as we meet here today, the

funeral is taking place at st. peter's church in dundee for the former leader of the scottish national party and member of parliament of dundee east from 1974-1987. i am sure the house would like to join with me to commemorate the life and contributions to politics of the late, dearly missed friend and colleague gordon wilson. >> here, here. >> mr. speaker, the uk government has not announced any measures to address rising inflation and slowing wage hasth, which the ifs described as dreadful. as workers face more than a decade of lost wage growth and endure the worst pay in seven years, can the prime minister think she is looking out for the just about managing? pm may: can i first of all say to the honorable gentleman, as i did last week, that i'm sure all members of this house is to offer our condolences to the friends, family, and colleagues of the late gordon wilson, and also recognize the role he

played in the politics of the united kingdom. i say to the honorable gentleman , as i have said to the leader of the opposition, what is important is that we ensure that we have an economy which is increasing the number of jobs, because the best route out of poverty is revealed to be in work. that is what -- poverty is for people to be in work. we have seen 3 million jobs created over recent years. we also help people, for example, by cutting taxes. that is what we have done for people who are lower paid. introducing the national living wage. these are measures giving people real help. >> it is the rise in and work poverty that should concern us. the increase of young people in poverty over the lifetime of this parliament. mr. speaker, since the 2010 general election, the ftse 100 has risen by 39.6%. leastry policy, not quantitative easing, has helped

drive up financial assets while workers have paid the price. workers will learn no more by 2021 than they did in 2008. will the prime minister give workers a pay raise? pm may: i would have thought, particularly with his background , the honorable gentleman would recognize the role that monetary policy, including quantitative easing, has done ensuring we are able to see those jobs and the economy that are so important for people. can my right honorable friend tell me what steps the government is taking to drive value for money and efficiency in the 80 budget to ensure taxpayers' money is used to promote global peace and security in the national interest? pm may: i am proud of the government is committed to honoring our international commitments on aid. i think that is important for this country. this money is saving lives,

building a stable and prosperous world. not only in our u.k. national interest, but we need to make sure the money we are spending is being spent properly and efficiently. my right honorable friend the international development secretary is driving value for money and efficiency in a budget, focusing on greater transparency, boosting payment by results, and driving value for money from suppliers as well. we did set up in 2011 an independent aid watchdog with systems and controls. it is important we are committed to this money, but also important we make sure it is been well -- spent well. >> my constituent data 300 pound reservation fee to an estate agent, which they won't refund after their landlord withdrew from the contract because she refused to take 12 months advance rent. she has paid nonrefundable fees of 650 pounds to secure a different property. when will the prime minister put an end to these ripoff these and

stop these landlords capitalizing on young people and others? pm may: the gentleman should look at the queen's speech. we made reference to what we're doing in this area. he says when, but he will recognize in this house that we need to ensure that anything we bring forward, we get right, so it is actually going to work. we recognize the problem. we are going to do something about it. >> in 2008, i brought forward an amendment to the animal welfare act that would have extended the sentences for cruelty to animals from weeks two years. will my right honorable friend look and see what can be done to ensure that people who are deliberately cruel to animals are punished for more severely? i am grateful to my honorable friend for raising this issue. we all share high regard for animal welfare, the importance of having signals in place to

ensure we deal with people properly you are not looking after animals. anyone who is cruel to an animal or doesn't provide for its needs may be banned from owning animals, given an unlimited fine, were sent to prison. he is right that sentencing is an issue. that is why we are in discussion with the ministry of justice regularly in relation to the sentencing policy for offenders in relation to animal welfare. >> with the civil service reportedly having to explain in crayon to the cabinet that there is no have your cake and eat it brexit option, will she come clean and admit she's prioritizing her own absolutist redlines, not people's jobs and wages? pm may: i'm afraid i have to say to the honorable gentleman that he will have heard the answer before. what we want to do is negotiate the best possible deal for the united kingdom that ensures we have a comprehensive free-trade agreement, that we continue to

trade with our european partners , that we have the deep and special partnership with european union, and that we ensure we are growing our economy, not just about our relationship with the european union. it is about trade deals with countries around the rest of the world and it is about ensuring sound management from a conservative government. it has been highlighted to me the valuable contributions that retired police sergeants and now special constable ross hall has made to maritime policing. does my right honorable friend believe that joint working with other agencies is essential and can make a positive contribution to beating crime in our small harbors and help protect our borders? pm may: can i join my honorable friend in recognizing the contribution that special constable ralph hall has made in her constituency. she makes a very important point.

when i was home secretary, i brought various agencies together to look at just this issue of how we deal with protecting our borders. that joined up working can make a very real and positive contribution. as she will know, of course, what matters is not just how we do that, but ensuring we are having an impact. crime has fallen by a third since 2010, record low. >> thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you for advising me about my blood pressure. [laughing] when i go to the hospital on monday to see my consultant, i am sure he will give me the same advice. my blood pressure is rising when i go to see the nurses in the hospital who are overstretched, overworked, underpaid, and having to use food banks. that is when my blood pressure rises, when she pays lip service to them. -- note now take a plea listening to the leader of the opposition but listening to the plea of the nurses -- and do

something about the private sector -- and do something about the pay cap? pm may: i sent this out to the leader of the opposition when he spoke earlier. realize that for nurses, there is the overall public sector pay increase, but also many nurses receive increments or progression pay on top of that. nurse willand five be receiving 3.8% over and above the 1%. mr. corbyn: thank you, mr. speaker. it is a strong economy that powers this government's investment in the nhs and a strong economy that is allowing this government to create 1500 new medical school places and new medical schools. does the prime minister agree with me that lincolnshire's unique sparsity makes a compelling case for a new medical school in this great county? pm may: the honorable friend makes a very important point,

which is we can only pay for public services if we have a strong economy. as you said, we are going to train 1500 more doctors every year to ensure the nhs has enough doctors to continue providing safe, compassionate care that we all want to see. the doh is currently looking at the question of how to allocate those places and will publish their consultation response shortly. there are also looking at the possibility of new and aspiring medical schools, and i am sure that as my honorable friend has always been a champion for his constituents, he will continue to make a case for

>> on saturday the shadow chancellor and i joint staff from picturesque cinemas outside the ritzy in brixton floor strike because of an poor refused to pay the london living wage andas outrageously sacked their trade union representative. will the prime minister join me in calling on picture house cinemas who made a profit last year of more than 80 million pounds come to pay the staff the london living wage and to reinstatetheir local reps immediately? >> this is about a relationship between employers and their employees. all i would say to her overall is the importance ofgovernment taking the right decision to ensure -- excuse me. taking the right decision to ensure that growing the economy of providing those jets of people in the first place. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to thank the prime minister to come up and camping in my district. i think we did rather well. i would like to ask if you agrees it utterly shameful the

scottish government have for the second year in a row had to completing the european commission for extension to the farm payment deadline? if further proof were needed, the snp are failing rural scotland? >> order. we are fascinated to the answer but i should just say that although i'm very interested to the edge and will come theprime minister is not responsible for the scottish government. the prime minister. >> can i first of all welcome my honorable friend to his place in this house? i very much enjoyed my visit during the election campaign. what he says is absolutely right. because time and again in this chamber, mr. speaker, we hear the scottish nationalist demanding more powers for scotland. yet what do we see they are failing to deliver on the scottish people on thepowers they already have. yet again scottish schools

are outperforming every category by schools in england, northern ireland, estonia and poland. powers i captain edinboro rather than being developed to local people, yet again we see farmers waiting months for the subsidy payments. the principal fact is the policies are not in the best interest of the people of scotland. >> order, order. i say to the honorable gentleman from glasgow south who persist in gesticulating in an extremely eccentric man facing a little discombobulated from the world he inhabits. which is a very unhappy state of affairs that cannot long continue. >> the southern rail dispute is gotten real damage to the economy of eastbourne in the southeast.

my constituents have a dreadful time with the shocking service or not provided over the last 18 months. this sadly cannot go on. will the prime minister enlighten me, my constituents and the house to why the department of transport and the train operator will not meet with the unions at the same time in the same room together to negotiate a deal? >> i recognize the problem that a been experienced by tax andsome terrific as amount that is been raised by number of my colleagues in the house including my honorable friend the member for lewis the race and lastly i'm very disappointed that aslef and the rmt have called for more than a short action. all it will do is cause more disruption and frustration for passengers. the recent independent give report said the main cause of widespread disruption on southern has been union action. i would urge the unions to call off the strikes can workwith the operators and deliver the

services that passengers need. >> businesses across my constituency will be -- to hear the calls for broadband are being answered by the digital infrastructure investment fund which will unlock about 1 billion pounds forfull fiber service and help them create jobs, particularly in rural areas. will the prime minister agree with me that is exactly the infrastructure spend we need to get our country brexit-ready? >> my honorable friend makes an important point and we're already additional related and we're committed to making sure this country remains so. we already have seen nancy present uk accessing superfast broadband i will attract which 95% by theend of end of the above want to see more commercial investment in the gold standard connectivity and that's why we launched the digital infrastructure investment fund. companies around uk including in brentwood will be able to apply for match funny for projects

which was he fiber delivered right to the doorstep. yesterday we announced when oedipus and business rate relief for those businesses rolling out new fiber. this is important and we want to continue to be a world leader and actions the government are taking to make sure we will be. >> police officer numbers and wales have dropped by 10% since her party came to power. if policing were devolved as it is in order and in scotland, welsh police forces would have extra funding worth 25 million at their disposal which would more than replace those lost officers. what justification is there for refusing to devolve policing? >> we've been on this discussion before i i can address the central issue what the honorable lady is talking about which is about police budget and the number of police officers. we are protecting police budget since 2015.

that i believe is acknowledged across the house. we've not just protecting the police budget, we are ensuring that the police have the capabilities they need to deal with new types of crime, creating a national cybercrime unit, creating a national crime agency. these are important steps to ensure the police can do their job of cutting crime, and crime is at a record low. >> and i think the prime minister trudeau using the trade, agriculture and fisheries brexit those in the queen's speech which we welcome broad cross the west country group were facing some significant challenges which are role also network and the transition of some the post office branches run community branches to committee village stores and committee buildings. some of his notes have been smooth and some of them have not. can ask her to take a look at it and see if there's anything more the government can do to help my constituents? >> my friend makes an important

point and it's right we should recognize the role that is played in communities like rural post offices and rural post offices in places like camel third is a constituency but in the constituencies of other members as over we had invested 2 billion pounds up to 22. the number of post offices is action at its most stable for decades. he's right, i would urge the post office to help make it as easy as possible our shops to want to take over postal service is to be able to do so. >> mr. speaker, 2400 people have died as result of the nhs contaminated blood scandal, more than hillsboro and all the other disasters over the previous two decades put together. with the compelling evidence that the former right honorable member for lee presented to parliament on april 25 of a criminal cover-up of an industrial scale, will the prime minister now do the right thing

and order a public inquiry for the whole united kingdom? >> will the honorable lady raises an important issue and in no the thoughts of members of house will be with all of those have been affected by this terrible tragedy in relation to contaminated blood. serious allegations have been made and i would say information has been brought forward to the house will be looked at by ministers of the department of health. if any member has any further information or evidence they believe will be important that should go to ministers so that they can properly investigate it. we are providing more compensationthan any previous government and committed 125 million extra funding of those affected for the contaminated blood tragedy last july. but the department of health will look at any new evidence that is brought forward. >> mr. speaker, rather than celebrating the nhs, the party opposite rather shamelessly have tried weaponizing the nhs as a mere tool for political campaigning. will the prime minister assure

me that services like the 999 service will be decided upon based on clinical decisions not those of politicians that are trying weaponized our public services? >> my friend is right. relation to the services provided by the nhs it is so important that decisions are taken on a clinical basis by those who understand the needs and requirements of people and in different areas. and that's why we have set up nhs england which has a plan for developing services in the nhs over a five-year period. it's important that politicians allow clinicians and others in nhs to make the decisions they need to. >> i know the house will be thinking of my constituents conjugates and chris gard and charlie at this incredibly difficult time.

it's clear that if charlie remains in uk there is no for the treatment available and on life support will be switched off. there are differing views about the chances of thenucleoside bypass therapy which other children albeit with less severe forms of charlie's condition benefit from. i understand the chances of improvement for chart although by the doctors were built to say within three months whether charlie is his responding and whether that change is clinically beneficial. if there's any room for this question -- discretion to allow charlie to leave and to transfer his care to doctors at columbia university, and he is officially stable to receive treatment, would the prime minister do all she can to bring the appropriate people together to try and make this happen? >> can i first of all say to the

honorable lady that she is right to raise the concerns of her constituents in relation to this matter and enter the thoughts of all members of the house are with the family and charlie at this exceptionally difficult time. it's an unimaginable position or anybody to be in and i fully understand and appreciate that any parent in these circumstances would want to do everything possible and explore every option for the seriously ill child. i also know that no doctor of the once to be placed in the terrible position to make such hard breaking decisions. she referred to the fact we have that court process. i'm confident that the hospital a nose will consider any offers or new information that have come forward with consideration of the well-being of a

desperately ill child. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when the prime minister and i left our comprehensive schools to go to university, we entered into a privileged elite. can my right honorable friend confirm that as a result of tuition fees, introduced by labour, improved by the coalition, there are now more young people from working-class and poor backgrounds going to university than ever before? because some people say there are fewer. are they right or are they wrong? >> i'm very happy to join my honorable friend in relation to this issue in recognizing that she and i left comprehensive schools in which universities at a time when the number of people going to university was significantly lower than it is today. i'm also grateful to her for reminding the house that actually it was the labour party that said they would not introduce tuition fees and then when they got into government, introduce tuitionfees. what we are seeing under the current system, what we'reseeing under the current -- what we're seeing under the current system is more young people than ever going to university and crucially, to address the points you raise, disadvantaged 18

year olds are 40% more likely to go to university now than they were in 2009. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister herself commission bishop james jones to report on the experience of the hillsboro families. given the painful evidence before us that parts of thestate -- the state still don't know how to treat bereaved families are the survivors of catastrophe, will she not give me the date whenshe will publish bishop jones' report? >> i haven't myself yet seen the full report and am unable to give a date when i will publish it but she raises a very important point. the reason why i asked bishop james jones undertake this work

was precise because i was concerned about the way which the bereaved families at hillsboro happen treated over far too many years, and obviously we have seen the result of the crown prosecution service decision last week or this is why we are committed in the green speech to introduce an independent outlook -- to act on behalf of bereaved families in cases of public disaster because i think it is important that they are able to have the support alongside the because too many families just have come as was seen in hillsboro, have to over many years fight to get justice. i want to ensure that they have help and support in doing that. >> thank you, mr. speaker. given the governments record in freezing fuel duty, will she resist recent foreign call to raise the fuel feed because they are the lowest paid the most and also giving possible to make sure when the international oil price falls, that this price of properly reflected at the pumps so that we can have a britain that works for every motorist? >> can i first of all command my honorable friend he was been championing this issue for all the years that he has been in the house?

the work that he is done as a great campaigner on this entity of issues has been recognized by the government in changes to government has made it as he knows i'm pleased webeen able to do what we've done in relation to holding downthe issue on fuel duty. i think he is trying to tempt me down the path which i will not go down because as he knows decisions on these matters are taken at the time of fiscal events. >> order. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] watching prime minister's questions at the house of commons. it like every wednesday at 7:00 eastern on c-span2 and heirs sunday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span. it can much anytime online at c-span.org. >> defense secretary james mattis invited his british counterpart for the mea.