retaining the fees is an improvement on lord brown's report.ment threshold from 15 to 21,000 pounds is also an improvement on the current system. however, i did not believe that it would be fair for today's students to have to make payments from this essentially lower threshold of 15,000 pounds while the most recent graduates will be able to earn up to 21,000 pounds before beginning their contribution. i have made this very point to the universities minister on the floor of this house. i truly appreciate the move the government showed yesterday in announcing the annual repayments threshold to existing students and graduates, not just those starting their studies in 2012. this measure should not be underestimated. it cuts the contributions of 2.5 million graduates by hundreds of pounds each of the course of this parliament. i would wish that when the new system is in place, the gap between existing repayment threshold and the 21,000 pelch level could be closed entirely. at the very least, current and recent graduates under the existing system sh

earnings, the government's proposals are more progressive than the current system or that proposed by lord brownehe highest earning graduates would pay more on average than both the current system and that proposed by lord browne, while lower earning graduates would pay back less. i say to the opposition, including the honorable gentleman, if they want a progressive system for tuition fee reform, that is what we offer. in terms of dealing with the deficit, it is absolutely vital that we get on top of it. that is good for everyone in this country, his constituents included. >> will the prime minister ensure that primary care trusts, strategic health authorities and all nhs bureaucracies serve patients, not their own interests? will he further ensure that the secretary of state for health intervenes to stamp out any excessive failures caused by that unnecessary bureaucracy? >> i agree with my honorable friend, but the key is to try to get rid of so much of that bureaucracy. under the previous government, the number of managers went up faster than the number of nurses, and our aim is to reduce that

it undermines the independence of universities but most seriously of all, in the words of lord brown, it is simply unworkable. i am therefore surprised that the leader of the labor party, after all this experience and all this independent analysis has chosen to drive his party down the path of this political -- i will take the minister's intervention after just reading him a comment from what i would have thought would have been one of his political allies. the education editor commented on the current position. labor, he said, has been seduced. it is a sentimental slob rethinking that offends the interest of the affluent. to describe students as facing a lifelong bird and a crippling debt is simply bizarre, particularly for a labor leader who wants to replace the debt with a tax that the rich would avoid. >> on the issue of sloppy thinking, crucial to the government's case has been its advocacy of the national scholarship fund. isn't it the case that his plans are unraveling rather fast? the vice chancellor is criticizing left, right, and center and the institute of fiscal studies is

after the buyout of amoco, tony hayward's predecessor, lord john browne, ordered a 25% cost cut acrossthe company. the message was relayed down through the ranks. >> i don't know if they realized just how devastating the cost cutting ethos was when it actually played out in the field. when there is a whisper at the top of the company, it becomes like a shout at the bottom. >> you were starting to hear a little bit more about, "make due with what you got and try to make it more efficient." so you were taking older equipment and pushed it to a hilt. if something didn't blow up, it was a good day. >> narrator: in march 2004, there was a major fire. fortunately, it was in an unmanned part of the refinery. nobody was hurt, but problems continued. don parus, a safety conscious engineer, took over the refinery a few months later and was trying to turn things around. >> don was the refinery manager, or as locals liked to say, he was the second mayor of the town. the workforce tended to trust in him because, i think, for the first time, they were having a refinery manager who was harping a litt

earnings the government's proposals are more progressive than the current system or that proposed by lord browne. the highest earning graduates would be more on average than both the current system and that proposed by lord ground while lower earning graduates would pay back less. and i was a to the party opposite, including the honorable member come if you want a progressive system for tuition seek reform, this is what we offer. in terms of dealing with the deficit what is violate his wicket on top of it. that is good for everyone in this country. his constituents included. >> will the prime minister, the primary care trust, the strategic health authority and all the nhs bureaucracies serve the patients not their own interest? and what he is sure that the secretary of state for health stamp out any excessive failures caused by this unnecessary bureaucracy? >> i agree with the honorable lady, but the key is to try to get rid of so much of the bureaucracy. under the last, the numbers of managers went up faster than the number of nurses. are in is to reduce that bureaucracy, and the power in the h

successive requests of lord brown was to ask him to look at the alternative of graduate cuts. like many people coming fresh to this issue, i felt the graduate tax was potentially good and interesting idea and i wanted it to be properly explored. the conclusion he reached was the same conclusion that the report reached under the labor government. was the same conclusion that the current chancellor reached when he had responsibility. and the conclusion was that the graduate tax has many disadvantages or at least the pure graduate tax has many disadvantages. it's undermines the independence of the dusts, but most seriously of all it is in the words of lord brown simply unworkable. i'm therefore surprised that -- i will in a moment. i'm therefore surprised that the leader of the labor party after all this experience and all this independence analysis has chosen to drag his party down the path -- i'll take the minister's intervention after just reading him a comment from what i would have thought would have been one of his political allies. the education and statesman, normally ver

. ♪ the lord is here >> brown: and we listen to the sound, the style, and the spirit of a gospel musicontest. >> most genres got their start in gospel music. you take some of the greatest r and b celebrities. the first thing they'll tell you is we started in a gospel choir. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: president obama spent the day on the road, and back at the white house, lobbying for a tax cut deal that may be winning republican support, but has angered members of his own party. >> ifill: as democrats and republicans neared agreement on extending tax cuts for the middle class and the wealthy, president obama today urged compromise. he spoke in winston salem north carolina. >> we've got to make sure we're coming up with a solution even if it's not 100% of what i want or what th

in the words of lord brown, it is unworkable. i am surprised that the leader of the labor party, after all this experience and all of this independence has chosen to drive his party down the cul-de-sac of this- -- i will take the minister's intervention after reading him a comment from what i would have thought was one of this political allies. he is normally favorable to the labor party. i will read it. labor, he said, has been seduced into sentimental, sloppy thinking that defends the entrance of the affluent and not the fluid. -- not the fluent. to subscribe students to a life of a crippling debt is not understandable. >> crucial to the government plus a case has been the advocacy of the national scholarship -- government's case is the advocacy of the national scholarship fund. the chancellor is still criticizing the left, right, and center. the institute of fiscal study told us it provides a financial incentive for universities to turn away students. how is he going to fix that? >> the scholarship system is still open to cons

lord brown, what is the standard? thank you. [applause] >> i am looking for a speaker from your shire and -- yorkshire and humbershire. the young woman with blond hair. yes. >> i am from leeds. in 2008 i actually headed in the house of lords for abolishing university tuition fees. two years on it, i still agree with the statements. i think it is ridiculous now two years now where we are. what we want it then was to lower it, to not have it existed so everybody got the education they deserve. it is not working that way. i understand universities need the funding, but can't we find funding from somewhere else? maybe a little, but not to this paired -- instead i sat on the computer at this blank screen and all i could think about was the debt, the money, and how much i wanted to go and how much i knew that i can't. if there is nothing more than i want to go to university. i always wanted to go. something i always wanted to do and now i am doubting whether i can. thank you. >> can we have a speaker from northern ireland, please? >>

lords? >> there is no real restraint. you would be very much criticized if you put too many in as mr. brown and mr. blair are criticized today. but there is no legal constraint. if they can have the nerve to do it they can do it. >> and how much is your appointment as a lord? >> for life. there's no -- the two categories of people in the house of lords that in my time have been on a limited tenure have been the church leaders, the bishops, they have to give up when they cease to be bishops, and the judges because our supreme court was part of the house of lords up until about two years ago and they have now moved out and no longer sit as members of the house of lords. >> how is the supreme court justice here appointed? >> we have an independent appointment board the lord chancellor has a bit of influence over and they are appointed by an advisory committee of people of which the senior judges have a pretty good say. >> is there any way that the public can get rid of a judge by impeaching like they do in the united states? >> i've never heard of it. i'm -- technically, i can't tell you. i'm sure ther

lords? >> there is no real restraint. you would be very much criticized if you put too many interests mr. brown and mr. blair are criticized today. there is no legal constraint. if they have the nerve to do it, they can do it. >> how long is the appointment as a lord? >> for life. the two categories of people in the house of lords that in my time had been on a limited tenure have been the church leaders, the bishops. they have to give up when they cease to be bishops. and the judges because our supreme court was part of the house of lords up until two years ago and they have moved out now and they no longer sit as members of the house of lords themds. >> we have an independent appointments board. they are appointed by an advisory committee of people which of the senior judges have a good say. >> is there any way a -- the public can get rid of a judge by impeachment and united states? >> i've never heard of it. technically, i can't tell you. i am sure there must be a way that it has never happened in my lifetime. the lord chancellor or the head of the judiciary, the senior judge in the supreme court whos

lords? >> there is no real restraint. you would be very much criticized if you put too many in as mr. brown and blair are criticized today but there is no legal constraint. >> how long is the appointment as a lord? >> for life. two categories this that in my time have been on a limited tenure have been the bishops. they have to give up when they cease to be bishops. and the judges. they no longer sit as members of the house of lords. >> how is the sprout justice here appointed? >> we have an independent appointments word -- burden. they are appointed by an advisory committee of people, which the senior judges have a good say at it. >> is there any way that the public can get rid of a judge like they do in the united states? >> i never heard of it. i can't tell you. i am sure that there must be a way but it has never happened in my lifetime. but i think the lord chancellor or head of the judiciary, the senior judge in the supreme court would who schedules the appearances would make sure he did not get any work to do. >> what about the cabinet positions for the prime minister? what if people

lords? >> there is no real restraint. you would be very much criticized if you put too many in. mr. brown and mr. blair are criticized today. if they can have the nerve to do it, they can do it. >> how long is your appointment as a lord? >> it is for life. the two categories of people in the house of lords in my time had been on a limited tenure had been the church leaders. the bishops have to give up when they cease to be bishops. the judges -- are supreme court was part of the house of lords up to about two years ago. they have moved out and no longer sit as members of the house of lords. >> al is a supreme court justice -- hal is a supreme court justice appointed? >> they are appointed by and advisory committee of people. the senior judges have a pretty good site. >> is there a way the public can get rid of a judge? >> i have never heard of it. i cannot tell you. i am short there must be a way. it has never happened in my lifetime. i think the lord chancellor or the head of the judiciary would make sure he did not get any work to do. >> what about the cabinet positions for prime minister? what

lords? >> there is no real restraint. you would be very much criticized if you put too many and, as mr. brown and mr. blair are criticized today. but there are no legal constraints. they can have -- if they have the nerve to do it, they can do it. >> how long is your assignment as a lord? >> for life. >> the two categories of the people in the house of lords in my time have been on a limited tenure, the church leaders. the bishops have to give up when they cease to be bishops. the judges as well. our supreme court was a part of the house of lords of to -- house of lords up to two years ago. >> how is the supreme court justice appointed? " we have an independent appointments board -- >> we have an independent appointments board. they are appointed by an advisory committee of people, of which the senior judges have a pretty good say. >> is there any good with that the public can get rid of a judge by impeaching, like here in the united states? >> i have never heard of it. i cannot tell you. i am sure there must be away. but it has never happened in my lifetime. i think the lord chancellor or the head o