. >> i call sir alan beith. order. order.i know that the house wishes to hear sir alan beith. >> may i associate my right honorable and honorable friends with the tributes that the prime minister paid to those who have lost their lives in afghanistan and in the dreadful events in cumbria? what means does the prime minister hope to use to achieve his stated and very necessary objective of allowing the private sector to expand in th ose parts of the country, such as the northeast, that depend heavily on public sector jobs? >> the right honorable gentleman raises an extremely important issue, because we will have to take difficult decisions about public spending. everybody knows that. let me be clear -- no region of the country should be singled out, but he is right to say that some parts of the country have a very high dependence on public sector jobs. in the budget on 22 june we will need to bring forward ideas that will fire up the private sector -- for instance, the idea that any new firm established does not have to pay nat

. >> sir alan beith. >> will the prime minister respond positively to the uplands inquiry by the commission for rural communities -- which reveals the great value and potential of magnificent hill areas such as ours in northumberland -- by stressing the need to ensure that hill farmers have an adequate income, and that there are rented homes, apprenticeships, and services such as broadband to enable young people to stay in those areas? >> i will certainly look at the report carefully. i have every sympathy wwth what the right honorable gentleman has said. upland landscape is as beautiful as it is because it has been farmed for centuries, and we need to recognize the connection between beautiful landscape and active farming. we want our countryside to be a living, working countryside, not a museum. so i will look at that point carefully. one extra point is, i think, in terms of housing. we must also recognize that the top-down target system was not working. our plans in the coalition agreement to let communities decide more, including villages, if they want to put in extra homes. that is a g