nick clegg. >> i'd obviously like to add my own expressions of sympathy and condolence to the family and friends of acting sergeant john amer of the first battalion who lost his life in afghanistan on monday. mr. speaker, president obama's speech last week on his new strategy in afghanistan is immensely important. he has set a very tight timetable. he has set a very tight timetable indeed for this new military strategy and surge to have an effect. given this tight timetable does the prime minister agree it's all the more important not to overrely on president karzai. president obama said last night the best way forward is to get tough on karzai but given karzai's previous record, given that two of his vice presidents are ex-warlords, does the prime minister not think that it'd be better to have a strategy working around president karzai relying -- relying on local and regional and political leadership instead? >> mr. speaker, president obama will be grateful for his endorsement. [laughter] >> he is absolutely right -- he is absolutely right that we have to both weaken the taliban and

nick clegg. >> i'd obviously like to add my own expressions of sympathy and condolence to the family and friends of acting sergeant john amer of the first battalion who lost his life in afghanistan on monday. mr. speaker, president obama's mr. speaker, president obama's speech lakt$4 he has set a very tight timetable indeed for the strategy to have an effect. given this tight timetable, does the prime minister agree that we are not to over rely on president karzai. president obama said last night that the best way forward is to get tough on karzai. given the two former vice presidents are exports, does the prime minister not think it is better to work around president karzai to rely on the local and regional political leadership instead? >> mr. speaker, president obama will be grateful for his endorsement. >> he is absolutely right -- he is absolutely right that we have to both weaken the taliban and strengthen the afghan state. the action we are taking with troops to deal with the insurgency are important. but as he rightly recognizes, so too is building up the strength of the afgha

nick clegg. >> here is a list that they do not like to hear. child poverty is going up again. inequality is going up. last winter more people died of the cold than they did a decade ago, and if you were a child born today in the poorest part of this country, you will die a full 14 years before a child born somewhere else. that has not changed in 10 years. will the prime minister now be honest? he has failed on fairness. >> we have taken action over the 10 years. i know that he does not like me reading lists of what we have done, but the problem is that he cannot read any lists of what he has done. what we have done is taken hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, protected children and families against the costs of energy bills, given thousands of children sure start opportunities that they never would have had and doubled the child tax credit for nought to one-year-olds to help avoid infant poverty. he wants to abolish the child trust fund, and we are giving young children the chance for the first time to have a trust fund of their own. we are the party that will gi

. >> nick clegg? >> will the prime minister confirm at the london conference he just referred to whether the powers around afghanistan, russia, china and, yes, even iran might be involved? without regional backing it will be difficult to create stability within afghanistan. president obama was critical in his speech last night. will the prime minister tell us whether this is being taken forward and perhaps give us a feel for what steps have been taken to involve those other countries in the region. >> as he recognizes the military surge has got to be matched by a political and diplomatic surge and it will be no use for the future of afghanistan if there is no security around afghanistan with the neighbors of hassling that's why they have an important role in afghanistan's affairs and building up the links that are necessary for afghan trade and industry and afghan's commerce to flourish and stop the weapons into afghanistan. we will invite international powers. >> will the prime minister join with me

nick clegg? >> here's a list. child poverty is going up again. inequality is going a.ast week more people died of the cold than a a decade ago. if you were a child born today in the poorest part of this country, you will die a full 14 years before a child somewhere else and that hasn't changed in 10 years. now will he now be honest. he has failed on fairness. >> mr. speaker, we have taken action over the 10 years that i know he doesn't like me reading list of what we have done. the problem is he can't read any list of what he has done. what we have done, what we have done is take hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. what we've done is protected children and families against the cost of energy bills but what we don't also is given thousands of children sure start opportunity they never would have had. we have doubled the child tax credit for not one-year-olds to help avoid in the poverty. i had to say to him, he wants to abolish the child trust fund and we have given for the first time young children the chance to have a trust fund of their own. we are the

nick clegg. >> i'd obviously like to add my own expressions of sympathy and condolence to the familyand friends of acting sergeant john amer of the first battalion who lost his life in afghanistan on monday. mr. speaker, president obama's speech last week on his new strategy in afghanistan is immensely important. he has set a very tight timetable. he has set a very tight timetable indeed for this new military strategy and surge to have an effect. given this tight timetable does the prime minister agree it's all the more important not to overrely on president karzai. president obama said last night the best way forward is to get tough on karzai but given karzai's previous record, given that two of his vice presidents are ex-warlords, does the prime minister not think that it'd be better to have a strategy working around president karzai relying -- relying on local and regional and political leadership instead? >> mr. speaker, president obama will be grateful for his endorsement. [laughter] >> he is absolutely right -- he is absolutely right that we have to both weaken the taliban and

i think this is nick clegg's seed here. we have the nationalists to sit here and people from northern ireland. and most of this aisle is-- and in this road here we have got what is called the-- [inaudible] i hope you will hugely enjoy it. enjoy it and don't be nervous. we are going to leave you now to get on with the debate. you have got the press and the press gallery. so, enjoy this very historic occasion in your very welcome. [applause] >> harriet thanks indeed for that. thank you david for joining us. this-- thank you bridget. this is going to be a great day and make sure you enjoy it, giving your best. we respect you and look forward to your participation and it should be tremendous fun. their two small but important things i want to make it the outset before we get underway. first to say that members who wish to speak should stand in their place, or if you are in a wheelchair raise your hand and indicate that you do wish to speak in the debate. the second thing is, members should always say their name and their region