(11 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)
1. What proposals her Department has to tackle tax avoidance by multinational companies operating in developing countries.
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)
2. What steps she is taking to help developing countries improve their tax systems.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
The UK Government are committed to ensuring that developing countries have the ability to collect the tax that they are owed. The UK is using our G8 presidency to promote tax transparency, tackle tax avoidance and ensure tax compliance.
Katy Clark
The Secretary of State will be aware that developing countries lose more than £160 billion each year through tax avoidance, more than one and a half times what they receive in aid. What is she doing to ensure that we get country-by-country reporting so that we see how much those multinationals are taking from developing countries?
Justine Greening
Addressing tax avoidance and encouraging tax compliance will be one of the key elements of the G8 agenda, and transparency sits alongside that. We will look at how we can obtain more transparency, including sectoral transparency through measures such as the extractive industries transparency initiative. All those measures together have the potential to ensure that we can help developing countries to collect the tax they are owed.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
Does my right hon. Friend agree that developing countries will be able to end their dependence on aid only if they can raise enough revenues through the tax system?
Justine Greening
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If we are to have sustainable development and developing countries are to have the tax revenues to fund and invest in their own public services, we need a thriving economy that creates those revenues. That is why economic development is such a key part of what my Department is now focusing on. Along with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, we are investing to ensure that developing countries have the tax expertise they need to collect the taxes that are due.
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)
I back the call from my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Katy Clark) for country-by-country reporting by all multinational companies. Can the Secretary of State guarantee that no money from DFID goes to any organisation or company that is not fully tax transparent?
Justine Greening
We are very clear that we want companies to behave responsibly across the board, including on tax, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that there is such due diligence. We cannot simply ignore those problems, and if we are to shape private sector investment in the developing world so that it can help drive development, as I think we should, we will have to engage with the private sector more in the future than we have in the past.
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
The Secretary of State will know that the OECD has been charged with coming up with a scheme to tackle base erosion and profit shifting and to consider corporate taxation. Last week in a meeting with the organisation it confirmed to me that it is working to a timetable of just two years. Does she agree with that timetable, or does she agree with me that it is an over optimistic timetable for trying to get a multilateral convention to replace 3,000 tax treaties?
Justine Greening
My right hon. Friend is right that the timetable is ambitious and that is why we need to put the political momentum behind it that the G8 meeting can bring. The work that the OECD is doing has been commissioned by the G20 and it shows that if we are to reach a sustainable solution, leading economies and world leaders must come together. That is precisely why we have put the subject on our G8 agenda.
Mr Ivan Lewis (Bury South) (Lab)
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have said that the main objective of this weekend’s summit on tax and transparency and next week’s G8 meeting is for G8 countries to put their houses in order. That would strengthen the moral authority of the G8 and send a strong message to the rest of the world that the time has come to get serious about tax dodging. Will the Secretary of State ask the Chancellor today to bolster the Prime Minister’s moral authority and undertake an urgent review of the changes he made to the UK’s controlled foreign company rules, which are estimated to have cost developing countries £4 billion in lost tax revenue?
Justine Greening
I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would ask me about the success of the G8 event on nutrition we held last Saturday, which saw huge progress on providing funding for that issue. Let me answer the question he has asked, however. I reassure him that we are taking a structured approach to the discussions at the G8. We are looking at addressing tax avoidance—in other words, dealing with the problem. We are looking at developing better approaches to tax evasion—in other words, once the problems happen we need to ensure that we can sort them out. We are also looking at how we can ensure that developing countries, once they have made progress, are in a position to collect tax. Our Government has put the question on the agenda and I think the hon. Gentleman should congratulate us on that.
Mr Lewis
I do not know about tax dodging but the Secretary of State is getting a reputation for question dodging—we will try this one, Mr Speaker. The Government have identified the public registration of beneficial company owners as one of their top priorities for the G8. There can be no excuse for this basic information about company directors being shrouded in secrecy. Does that remain the Government’s priority? Will she confirm that if they are unable to secure agreement, the UK will take unilateral steps on the issue of public registration?
Justine Greening
We have made beneficial ownership one of the key elements of our G8 agenda, and it is right to do so. I do not recall the hon. Gentleman’s Government particularly pushing on the issue during their 13 years in office. I can assure him that the best way to make a difference for developing countries is to get international agreement. That is what they want and that is why we are trying to get it.
Sir Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) (LD)
In the light of the Select Committee on International Development’s recent report, and following the election, will the Secretary of State engage with the Government of Pakistan to ensure that Ministers, MPs and the leaders of the community there pay their fair share of taxes to match the contribution that British development aid is making to Pakistan?
Justine Greening
We have a question on the Order Paper later about Pakistan, Mr Speaker. I have already spoken with Ministers in the Pakistani Government, and the Committee’s report was right to highlight this issue.
John Robertson (Glasgow North West) (Lab)
4. What recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Syria.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
The humanitarian situation in Syria has now reached catastrophic proportions. More than 80,000 people have been killed—that is nearly 1,000 a month—6.8 million are in need, including at least 4.25 million internally displaced persons, half of whom are children, and a further 1.6 million refugees are in the region, of whom 75% are women and children. UK support is providing food, health care, water and shelter for refugees, both inside and outside Syria.
John Robertson
I thank the Secretary of State for her answer, and I am pleased to see that she is well up with what is happening. She will also be well up with what is being done by the UN commission of inquiry, which mentioned the killing of 13 children because of lack of food and medication. Will she confirm that the Government will press for an agreement at the G8 summit on improving humanitarian access for the estimated 4 million people who need it in Syria today?
Justine Greening
I am sure we will be raising those issues at the G8, as I did when I was at the UN a couple of weeks ago. It is simply unacceptable that the Syrian Government continue to refuse to allow humanitarian deliveries across the border from Turkey, and we need all sides in this conflict to agree to give unfettered access to humanitarian agencies and to do that free from violence.
Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)
The number of refugees coming across the border from Syria into Turkey is way beyond Turkey’s ability to provide for them. Has my right hon. Friend had any discussions with her counterparts in Turkey, the European Union or the wider international community on how these refugees might be catered for?
Justine Greening
My hon. Friend is right to recognise the impact that refugees are having on several countries in the region. Some 370,000-plus refugees have arrived in Turkey, and we have spoken with the Turkish Government about what we can do to provide support. They have played a leading role in providing humanitarian support to those refugees, and that should be acknowledged, too.
Mr Tom Clarke (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (Lab)
In addition to the information that the right hon. Lady has just given the House, is she aware that World Vision estimates that 1.5 million people are displaced? Does she agree that in the event of any removal of arms embargoes, there will be no less emphasis on the crucial need for humanitarian aid?
Justine Greening
I think I can absolutely reassure the right hon. Gentleman on that point. My Department is looking at what needs to happen in not only the immediate time frame, but the far longer term. We know that more than half the hospitals in Syria have been damaged, and that the water and sanitation systems are essentially no longer working. There needs to be not only a short-term plan to examine humanitarian needs in all circumstances—he is right about that—but a longer-term plan to examine what Syria’s needs will be afterwards.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
With the Council for European Palestinian Relations, I recently visited Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who had fled from Syria. Is the Secretary of State satisfied that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is doing all that it can to help those people, who are living in miserable conditions?
Justine Greening
I thank my hon. Friend for that question, because that important aspect of the crisis is often not recognised. We have provided £5 million to UNRWA particularly to support its work with Palestinian refugees. That will support more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, and will go on food parcels and other relief items.
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
I wish to declare an interest: I have just returned from a visit to Lebanon, courtesy of World Vision, on which I witnessed at first hand the impact of the heavy influx of Syrian refugees on that country. The number of refugees in Lebanon has reached half a million and is set to reach 1 million by Christmas. Last week, the UN appealed for £3.2 billion to deal with the humanitarian emergency. Will the Secretary of State tell the House how much the UK Government will contribute to this appeal?
Justine Greening
I thank the hon. Lady for that question. We are looking now at what we can do to continue playing a leading role in providing humanitarian support, but I think that all Members of the House would agree that we need to put pressure on other countries in the region, and the international community more broadly, to step up to the plate and provide support, and we need to make sure that they fulfil commitments that they have already made.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
5. When the Government plan to bring forward legislative proposals to enshrine in law their commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
This Government will be the first in the G8 to reach 0.7%, and we are doing so this year.
Stephen Doughty
The Minister wants us to believe the Government’s 0.7% aid promise, but first we find no Bill in the Queen’s Speech, and secondly we see a massive underspend in the Department in the last few months of last year. Who made the decisions to omit the Bill and to underspend? Was it the Secretary of State, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, or the Prime Minister?
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
Would the excellent Minister agree with me that we should not set targets for overseas aid? We should give what is required.
Mr Duncan
We are doing both, because as the United Nations’ objective of 0.7% established, the continuity that comes from countries meeting it ensures that aid is delivered in the best possible way, and that is why the objective is so important for the poorest people in the world, whom we are all trying to help.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
Now that we are the first of the G8 nations to reach 0.7%, perhaps the Prime Minister will make that declaration in the magnificent surroundings of County Fermanagh next week. When he has done that, will he ensure that we target that aid, that it is free from corruption, that people can see that there is a point behind the aid, and that it goes to those most in need?
Mr Duncan
I am confident that not only would the Prime Minister enjoy making such a commitment, but that he could do so truthfully and accurately, because my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and indeed all of us in the Department for International Development, ensures that the money that we spend on behalf of taxpayers goes to people in need, and not into the pockets of anyone who might be corrupt.
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)
May I invite the Minister and the Secretary of State to look at the Ministry of Defence’s stabilisation activities, such as mine clearance, police training in Afghanistan, and the replacement of the Kajaki dam turbine? Those activities are not claimed as going towards the ODA target of 0.7%; if they were, I believe that we would be exceeding it.
Mr Duncan
One of the great achievements of this Government is the great co-ordination between the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office and DFID, under the auspices of the National Security Council. When it comes to spending, we work very closely with those two Departments, but we must stick within the OECD rules that govern the definition of official development assistance.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
How much of that percentage will be made available to the people of Yemen? Only yesterday, Jamal Benomar, the UN special representative, said that 1 million children were dying from malnutrition there. How can we save those children?
Mr Duncan
Our focus on Yemen is acute, and I take charge of that personally. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Indeed, one of the comments at the nutrition event at the weekend, attended by Ministers from Yemen, was that more than half of their children under five are stunted. We have to focus on that need, and I assure the right hon. Gentleman and the House that through our programmes in Yemen, that is exactly what we are doing.
Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)
6. What her Department’s spending priorities are for 2012-13.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
In 2012-13, the Department focused its investment on poverty reduction through improving the lives of girls and women, boosting economic development and creating jobs, building open societies and institutions, combating climate change, responding to humanitarian emergencies, and building peaceful states and societies.
Alun Cairns
The Government have rightly prioritised money for some of the most deprived people around the globe, but can my right hon. Friend reassure me that the Government will also prioritise the ungoverned states in the conflict-affected areas around the world?
Justine Greening
I can; 30% of our bilateral aid by 2014-15 will be invested in precisely those states. When the multilateral investment is added, that comes to about half the Department’s budget.
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)
As the Secretary of State will be aware, the Nutrition for Growth event in London last weekend highlighted the importance of investing in nutrition. The Secretary of State will also know that in the countries with which DFID has a bilateral relationship, only about half have an investment in nutrition programme. Will the Department be expanding its commitment to invest in nutrition in developing countries?
Justine Greening
We made our own commitments, alongside those of many other countries last Saturday. In total that brought in $4.1 billion of investment between now and 2020, and we will be looking to work with developing countries to develop nutrition plans where there are none, but interestingly, last Saturday we saw many countries with existing plans in which they are already investing.
Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)
In the year when we will achieve the historic 0.7% target, does the Secretary of State agree that her Department can get more bang for its development bucks by also championing development right across Government—for instance, with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, on tackling the issue of modern-day slavery in the business supply chain?
Justine Greening
We need to make sure that all Departments are pulling in the same direction on this agenda, as I am trying to do. The hon. Gentleman is right. Modern-day slavery is a disgrace and my Department will look at what role we can play in relation to human trafficking.
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
7. What recent contact she has had with the Pakistani Government about UK aid.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
Following Pakistan’s historic elections on 11 May, I have spoken with incoming Government Ministers about their priorities, as have my officials. The federal and provincial governments made clear manifesto commitments to reform and now have a clear democratic mandate. The people of Pakistan have put their faith in democracy and they now want to see Governments delivering on those promises.
Andrew Selous
Tax collection is very weak in Pakistan, with apparently 70% of its MPs not even filing a tax return. Given that Pakistan promised back in 2008 to close its tax loopholes as a condition of an International Monetary Fund loan, why should we believe Pakistan on this occasion that it will be better at collecting the taxes due to it?
Justine Greening
My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue, as the International Development Committee did. The incoming Government have a clear-cut manifesto commitment to increase the proportion of GDP from tax collected. We support that, and we hope and expect that they will get on with it.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
There have been reports from Pakistan of Christian groups who say they have not had access to the aid coming from the United Kingdom Government. What steps have the Government taken to address that issue directly with the Pakistani Government to ensure that Christian groups get the aid that they should get?
Justine Greening
We intend to make sure that our aid reaches all the people who need it, irrespective of ethnic background or anything else. We raised all such issues with the Pakistani Government in the past and will continue to do so with the new Government, now that they are in place. I hope I can do that when I visit Pakistan in the coming weeks.
Mr David Ward (Bradford East) (LD)
8. What research her Department has undertaken into the humanitarian effects of the occupation of the west bank.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
We are deeply concerned by the impact of the occupation on the lives of Palestinians in the west bank. DFID assesses this constantly. Reports from the UN and others clearly document poverty, displacement, constrained growth and the demolition this year alone of 247 Palestinian structures.
Mr Ward
Those who have been to the west bank and to Gaza will be frustrated constantly to see international aid used to pay for buildings which are promptly knocked down by the Israeli regime. Is the Minister aware that according to figures in the United Nations “Humanitarian Monitor” monthly report for April, there was a 30% rise in the number of Palestinians displaced by house demolitions, with a total of 46 structures demolished by the Israeli army, which included five paid for by international donors?
Mr Speaker
We are grateful to the hon. Member, but we need to have time for the answer.
Mr Duncan
The Government share the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about the nature and scale of the demolitions. I am pleased to say, however, that we have contributed to the construction of a number of schools in Gaza, where we hope children will be educated without their premises ever being demolished.
Chris Evans (Islwyn) (Lab/Co-op)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
Since the last International Development questions, I have attended the high-level panel meeting in New York, met the CBI to discuss how DFID can work with business on development and attended the G8 social impact forum last Thursday. You, Mr Speaker, will recall the parliamentary reception we held last weekend in advance of the G8 Nutrition for Growth event, where we secured commitments of up to £2.7 billion to tackle under-nutrition between now and 2020.
Mr Speaker
Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place. The Secretary of State and Members are addressing extremely important matters, and they should be discussed in an air of respect and consideration.
Chris Evans
Last year the Secretary of State said that her top priority was women and girls. What steps is she taking to tackle violence against women and girls, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Justine Greening
My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State visited that region comparatively recently. We are looking at how we can scale up our work on tackling violence against women and girls. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we are also working hand in hand with the Foreign Office on tackling violence against women and girls in conflict.
Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
T2. In recognition of her achievement in securing the 0.7% of gross domestic product target, will the Secretary of State indicate just how many of her investments are leading to improved trade opportunities for the United Kingdom?
Justine Greening
We invest around £1 billion in wealth-creating projects, but I would like us to do more in the area of economic development. We need only look at the increase in our exports to China to see how other countries developing their economies will ultimately benefit us, too.
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
T9. Following the excellent WaterAid campaign on world water day earlier this year, what progress has the Secretary of State made on ensuring that access to clean water and sanitation remains a central part of the post-2015 development goals?
Justine Greening
The hon. Lady will have been as pleased as I was to see that sanitation and water feature strongly in the high-level panel’s report passed to the UN Secretary-General a couple of weeks ago. It is really important that we keep that proposed target, which is precisely what the Government will be pressing for.
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)
T3. May I commend the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister for last Saturday’s Nutrition for Growth summit, which showed that improving nutrition is not only about state aid, but about bringing the private sector and philanthropists together to solve the problem of over 1 billion people going hungry?
Justine Greening
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, because it shows that if we are to make a real difference, we need ultimately to see Governments working in partnership with business and encouraging responsible investment. If we can work together and bring in the best science, we will have a real chance of tackling under-nutrition.
Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)
T10. A member of my staff, Lee Butcher, recently visited Palestine. He was shocked and stunned to see how Palestinians are treated by the Israelis, for example having no water for weeks on end. What can the Government do to help those Palestinians who are suffering such pain?
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
We put as much pressure and argument as we can to improve the condition of Palestinians in Area C, and we very much hope that such issues will be addressed in the peace process, which we wish every success, as it continues over the next few weeks.
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)
T4. What discussions have been had with the Government of Pakistan to tackle the issues of population growth, lack of family planning and high maternity deaths?
Justine Greening
This Government have focused on family planning; indeed, we hosted a conference on it last year. As regards Pakistan, we have a successful programme in relation to health workers. Of course, the ultimate way to tackle the issues that my hon. Friend talks about is through education. If girls stay in school longer, they get married later and have fewer children and, indeed, healthier children.
Mr Michael McCann (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (Lab)
On a recent delegation to the west bank, we met President Abbas, who confirmed that the Palestinian Authority pays the families of convicted criminals a salary dependent on the length of time they spend in prison. Since DFID provides direct budget support which is indivisible from the Palestinian Authority’s funds, will the Minister explain and justify how British taxpayers’ money can be spent on paying criminals?
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
T5. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be possible to link our large aid presence in the British embassy in Jakarta more effectively with our trade presence in order to promote new energy solutions like the first biodiesel plant in the country from Gloucestershire’s Green Fuels?
Justine Greening
That sounds like a very sensible thought. We work closely with UK Trade & Investment in Whitehall, and I would like that to happen more on the ground in developing countries such as Indonesia.
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)
This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall have further such meetings later today.
Alex Cunningham
Because of this Government’s incompetent management of the NHS, 256,000 patients were forced to wait in the back of ambulances because accident and emergency departments could not admit them. Why does the Prime Minister think that the best way to deal with this is to fine hospitals £90 million for his Government’s failure?
The Prime Minister
This Government are putting £12.7 billion extra into the NHS—money that would be cut by Labour. Because of that extra money and because of the reforms, waiting times for in-patients and out-patients are both down, hospital-acquired infections are right down, and mixed-sex wards have almost been abolished in our NHS. That is a record we can be proud of.
Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
Surely the shadow Chancellor is right when he says that the Labour party will look ridiculous if it refuses to give the people a say on our future in Europe. Can my right hon. Friend confirm the Conservative party’s commitment to renegotiation and a referendum and can he explain why a Labour leader so weak that he can resist the shadow Chancellor on nothing else refuses to do what the shadow Chancellor says on the one occasion that he is right?
The Prime Minister
On behalf of the whole House, may I welcome my hon. Friend back to the House of Commons? It is good to see him making such a strong recovery and being in such strong voice as well. He makes a very important point. On this side of the House, within this party, we are committed to renegotiation and an in/out referendum before the end of 2017, but there has been a staggering silence from Labour Members. Apparently half the shadow Cabinet support a referendum and the other half do not. Well, they will have their chance on 5 July—they can turn up and vote for a referendum in the United Kingdom.
Edward Miliband (Doncaster North) (Lab)
On Syria, the Prime Minister has our support to use the G8 in the coming week to push all members to provide humanitarian assistance to alleviate the terrible crisis that is happening there. On the arms embargo and supplying weapons to the rebels, he said last week:
“If we help to tip the balance in that way, there is a greater chance of political transition succeeding.”—[Official Report, 3 June 2013; Vol. 563, c. 1239.]
Given that Russia seems ready to supply more weapons to Syria, does he think it is in any sense realistic for a strategy of tipping the balance to work?
The Prime Minister
First of all, I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. He is absolutely right. We should use the G8 to try to bring pressure on all sides to bring about what we all want in this House, which is a peace conference, a peace process, and the move towards a transitional Government in Syria. I am delighted to tell the House that, in advance of the G8, President Putin will be coming for meetings in Downing street on Sunday, when we can discuss this. Because we have recognised that the Syrian national opposition are legitimate spokespeople for the Syrian people, it is important that we help them, give them technical assistance, give them training, and give them advice and assistance. We are doing all those things, and I think, yes, that that does help to tip the balance to make sure that President Assad can see that he cannot win this by military means alone and that negotiations should take place for a transitional Government.
Edward Miliband
I thank the Prime Minister for that answer, but my question was specifically on the lifting of the arms embargo and the supply of weapons to the Syrian rebels.
Last week, the Prime Minister also told the House that
“there are clear safeguards to ensure that any such equipment would be supplied only for the protection of civilians”.—[Official Report, 3 June 2013; Vol. 563, c. 1234.]
Will he tell us what those safeguards are and how in Syria they would be enforced?
The Prime Minister
First, let me say again that the point about lifting the arms embargo, which applied originally to both the regime and the official Syrian opposition, is to send a very clear message about our intentions and our views to President Assad, but we have not made a decision to supply the Syrian opposition with weapons. As I have said, we are giving them assistance, advice and technical help.
To answer the right hon. Gentleman’s second question, we have systems in place—of course we do—to make sure that that sort of non-lethal equipment, such as transport, does not get into the wrong hands.
Edward Miliband
Two things: first, I think we all support the idea that we should focus on the peace conference, Geneva II, and on making it happen, but the problem is that the Government have put their energy into the lifting of the arms embargo, not the peace conference.
Secondly, I quoted the Prime Minister’s words not about non-lethal equipment, but about the supply of lethal equipment. He gave an assurance to this House that, in the circumstances of supplying lethal equipment, there would be end-use safeguards. My question was what those safeguards would be, but I did not hear an answer. Perhaps when he next gets up he will tell us.
When the Prime Minister replies, will he also confirm that if he takes a decision to arm the rebels in Syria, there will be a vote of this House on a substantive motion, in Government time, with a recall of Parliament from recess if necessary?
The Prime Minister
First, as I have said, we all want to see a peace conference come about. The question is: how are we most likely to put pressure on the parties to attend that peace conference? I have to say, going back to the very first thing that the right hon. Gentleman said about the Russian decision to arm the regime, the Russian regime has been arming it for decades and, frankly, it is naive to believe anything else. That is important.
On safeguards, we are not supplying the opposition with weapons. We are supplying them with technical assistance and non-lethal equipment. We have made no decision to supply the opposition with weapons, so that is the answer to that question.
On the issue of the House of Commons, as the Foreign Secretary and I have made clear, I have always believed in allowing the House of Commons a say on all these issues. I think that was right when it came to Iraq, it was right when we made the decision to help the opposition in Libya, and it would be right for it to happen in the future as well. Let me stress again, however, that we have made no decision to arm the rebels in Syria.
Sir Nick Harvey (North Devon) (LD)
On the Government plan to double the size of our reserve forces, has the Prime Minister considered the role that retired Ghurkhas might play? Now that they are allowed to settle here, many Ghurkhas have told me that they would welcome an ongoing connection with the British Army, but there is no real routine or tradition of recruiting them. I do not think there is any impediment, but it will not happen by magic. Will the Prime Minister authorise an initiative to recruit them?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes an excellent suggestion. One of the ways that we can best build up the fully funded and fully equipped larger reserve of 30,000 that we want to see is to make sure that there are better opportunities for those who have served in the regular Army to serve in the reserves. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary will look at my hon. Friend’s point about the Ghurkhas and see what can be done.
Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)
Q2. I do not know whether the Prime Minister watched the “Panorama” programme on Monday night, but I am sure he will be aware of the subject of blacklisting. The programme confirmed what many of us, particularly members of the Scottish Affairs Committee, already knew: that thousands of people in this country have been subjected to blacklisting. It has been compared to McCarthyism, but I think it is worse than that: it is secretive, behind closed doors and many people who are on a blacklist do not even know that they are on one. Will the Prime Minister call for an urgent inquiry into this practice, which I refer to not as McCarthyism, but as McAlpinism?
The Prime Minister
To answer the question very directly, I did not see “Panorama” on Monday night, but I will ask for a report on it. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Government do not support blacklisting and have taken action against it.
Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)
Q3. I thank the Prime Minister for his recent visit to Erewash to support the historic furniture making industry. Does he agree that we can best help the hard-working staff he met at Duresta in these tough times by protecting their pensions and capping benefits, rather than by protecting benefits and cutting pensions, as the Labour party would do?
The Prime Minister
I well remember my visit to my hon. Friend’s constituency. She is right that people in this country want to know that we will cap welfare and get on top of the welfare bill, but protect pensioners who have worked hard all their lives and saved for their retirement. I have done a little due diligence on the Opposition’s policy. Last week, they announced that they wanted a welfare cap. I thought, “That’s interesting. That’s progress.” However, when you look at it, would they cap the welfare bill for those in work? No they would not. Would they cap housing benefit? No they would not. The one thing that they want to cap, apparently, is pensions. So there we have it: protect welfare, punish hard workers and target pensioners—more of the same “something for nothing” culture that got this country into the mess in the first place.
Edward Miliband
Today’s fall in unemployment of 5,000 people is welcome, but will the Prime Minister explain why today’s figures also show that three years into his Government, living standards continue to fall?
The Prime Minister
First, it is worth announcing to the House what today’s unemployment figures show. They show that employment—the number of people in work in this country—is going up, that unemployment is going down, and that—[Interruption.] I know that the Labour party does not want to hear good news, but I think it is important that we hear it. The claimant count—the number of people claiming unemployment benefit—has fallen for the seventh month in a row. It is interesting that over the past year, while we have lost 100,000 jobs in the public sector, we have gained five times that amount in private sector employment.
The figures show some increase in wages, but real wages have obviously been under huge pressure ever since the calamitous boom and bust over which the right hon. Gentleman presided. What is good for people is that this Government are cutting their income tax this year.
Edward Miliband
The right hon. Gentleman is into his fourth year as Prime Minister and his excuse for falling living standards is, “Don’t blame me, I’m only the Prime Minister.” It is simply not good enough. He does not understand that because of his failure to get growth in the economy, wages are falling for ordinary people. He wants to tell them that they are better off, but actually they are worse off. Will he confirm that today’s figures show that, after inflation, people’s wages have fallen since he came to power by more than £1,300 a year on average?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman might have noticed that the figures announced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies are from 2008, when he was sitting in the Cabinet. It is worth remembering that while he was Energy Secretary, sitting in the Cabinet, the economy got smaller—it shrank month after month after month. Under this Government, there are 1.25 million more private sector jobs and there has been good growth in private sector employment this year. That is what is happening. Of course living standards are under pressure. That is why we are freezing council tax. [Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor is shouting away, as ever. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There is excessive noise in the Chamber. Members must not shout at the Prime Minister any more than anyone should shout at the Leader of the Opposition. Let the answers be heard.
The Prime Minister
The answer is that there are 1.25 million more private sector jobs under this Government, and that is a good record.
Edward Miliband
There is no answer from the Prime Minister on the living standards crisis that is facing families up and down the country. It is no wonder what his side is saying about him. This is what the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) wrote about him at the weekend—[Interruption.] I know that Government Members do not want to hear it, but he said:
“It’s like being in an aeroplane. The pilot doesn’t know how to land it. We can either do something about it…or sit back, watch the in-flight movies and wait for the inevitable.”
I could not have put it better myself about this Prime Minister. The reality is that day in, day out, what people see—[Interruption.] Calm down, just calm down. The crimson tide is back. Day in, day out, people see prices rising and wages falling, while the Prime Minister tells them that they are better off. He claims that the economy is healing, but for ordinary families life is getting harder. They are worse off under the Tories.
The Prime Minister
Only someone who wants to talk down our economy could pick a day like today—more people in work, unemployment down, youth unemployment down, the claimant count down, yet not one word of respect for that good agenda on jobs. The right hon. Gentleman talks about aeroplanes. Never mind getting on aeroplanes, this is what the former Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett) said about his leadership:
“we are literally going nowhere”.
He has not even got on the aeroplane because he has not got a clue.
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)
Last December, the whole of Shropshire welcomed the Government’s support for a new direct rail link from Shropshire to London. This week, however, Network Rail has blocked Virgin’s bid. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that Network Rail should not get in the way of the will of the Shropshire people or economic progress?
The Prime Minister
We want to see more direct rail links such as the one my hon. Friend mentioned, and there is also a need for better links to Lancashire and Blackpool. One issue that the rail industry is battling with is the shortage of capacity, and High Speed 2 will help bring that freeing up of capacity to make more of those direct links possible. I was discussing that yesterday with the Transport Secretary, and we should be making some progress.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
Q4. Last week the Prime Minister could not confirm that taxpayers would not subsidise foreign buyers of property in the UK. Perhaps he can instead clarify whether his Help to Buy scheme will see taxpayers help fund purchases of second homes and holiday cottages.
The Prime Minister
Let me try to give the hon. Lady some satisfaction. First, this scheme is for people’s only home and it will have a mechanism in place to ensure that is the case. The second important thing is that in order to take part in the scheme, a person must have a credit record in this country. So no, the scheme will not do what she says it would.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
Q5. As a former pensions manager I was proud that this Government introduced a new triple lock formula—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. This is very discourteous. The hon. Gentleman, like every Member, should be treated with courtesy. Let us hear what he has to say.
Richard Graham
As a former pensions manager I was proud when this Government introduced a new triple lock formula on our state pension that increased by £234 in its first year for every pensioner in the land. Does the Prime Minister share my concern that under the shadow Chancellor’s plans to cut or cap pensions, all our pensioners will lose that increase and their standard of living will fall sharply?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This Government have put a cap on the welfare that families can receive, but we have been as generous as we can with pensioners who have worked hard during their lives and want to have dignity and security in old age. That is why we have the triple lock. Very interestingly, we now know that the Labour party wants to cut the pension because it is putting a cap on pensions but not on welfare. Just this morning the shadow Foreign Secretary was on television—the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) may not know this as he might not have been following it—and when challenged about the triple lock he said that it was Labour’s policy “at present”. Given all the U-turns we have had in the last week from the Labour party, I do not think “at present” will last very long.
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)
Q6. Will the Prime Minister congratulate Bolton Wanderers football club for doing the right thing by rejecting sponsorship from a payday loan firm, and will he also join in, do the right thing, and give local authorities the power to ban those predatory loan sharks from our high streets?
The Prime Minister
I hear what the hon. Gentleman says and I wish Bolton Wanderers well for the future. We must give more support to credit unions in our country, which I think is one of the best ways of addressing the whole problem of payday loans and payday lending. I also hope the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that over the past year unemployment has fallen fastest in the north west of our country.
Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)
Q7. This is national carers week. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. If the session has to be extended to accommodate the democratic rights of Members, it will be extended. The hon. Gentleman will—I repeat will—be heard.
Dr Huppert
This is national carers week, so will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to the huge commitment that thousands of carers make day in, day out, caring for ill, frail and disabled family members, friends and partners, often unrecognised and without financial assistance? Will he sign up to the carers week recommendations in “Prepared to Care?”
The Prime Minister
On this one, the hon. Gentleman speaks for the whole House and the whole country in praising Britain’s carers. They do an amazing job. If they stopped caring, the cost to the taxpayer would be phenomenal, so we should do what we can to support our carers, and to ensure they get the proper respite breaks from caring that they need to be able to go on doing the wonderful work they do.
Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)
Q8. Why has the number of supply teachers in secondary schools in the past year increased by a staggering 17%?
The Prime Minister
I do not have the figures for that, but we have protected the amount of money that goes into schools per pupil so that schools have the money to employ the teachers they need.
Mary Macleod (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)
Since 2010, unemployment in Brentford and Isleworth has fallen by 6.9% and youth unemployment has fallen by 19%. I will do my part as an organiser—I held my jobs and apprenticeships fair in Isleworth recently—but does that not show that our economic plan is working?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We see today a growth in employment, a fall in the claimant count and a fall in youth unemployment. As I have said, we are losing jobs in the public sector because we had to make cuts to it, but, most importantly of all, while we lost more than 100,000 jobs in the public sector in the past year, we gained five times as many in the private sector—[Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor, as ever, wants to give a running commentary, but let me remind the House what he has said, because this is one of the most important quotations in the past 10 years of British politics. He said:
“Do I think the last Labour government spent too much, was profligate, had too”
much
“national debt? No, I don’t think there’s any evidence for that.”
That phrase will be hung around his neck for ever.
Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)
Q9. Five hundred homes in my constituency were flooded in November. Residents in my constituency are terrified that their homes and businesses are now worthless because this Government have failed to replace the flood insurance scheme. They have also cut more than £200 million from flood defence works. Why has the Prime Minister sold my constituency down the river?
The Prime Minister
I can give the hon. Gentleman welcome news. We had to extend the period of the scheme so that we could continue negotiations, but I am confident that we will put in place a proper successor to it. An announcement will be made quite soon.
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)
Mathmos makes lava lamps in my constituency—it has been making them for 50 years. It has very large exports to Germany, but has run into a problem with the reclassification of the product. May I send the information to the Prime Minister and enlist his support for this innovative company operating so well within our country?
The Prime Minister
I am happy to receive the information from my hon. Friend. It is important that we get Britain’s exports up. If we moved from one in five of our small and medium-sized enterprises exporting to one in four, we would wipe out our export deficit altogether, so I am happy to get my office to look at the information she has.
Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
Q10. The accident and emergency department at Ealing hospital is one of four that the Prime Minister is closing in north-west London. I welcome the Health Secretary’s review, but with waiting times at a nine-year high, ambulances being diverted and the risk of unnecessary deaths, will the Prime Minister acknowledge that the closures are not a serious option if the NHS is safe in his hands?
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Health Secretary has asked the Independent Reconfiguration Panel to conduct a full review of the proposals, and it will submit its advice to him no later than mid-September. Let us be absolutely clear: whatever decision is reached, the proposals will not be due to lack of central Government funding. North-west London will receive £3.6 billion, which is £100 million more than the previous year. Of course, if we had listened to the Labour party, which said that more NHS spending was “irresponsible”, his hospitals would be receiving £100 million less.
Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)
Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating the China-Britain Business Council, which, under its inspirational vice-chairman, Mr Peter Batey, organised a seminar on exporting to China that was attended by more than 60 businesses in Watford last Friday? I think it should be congratulated on that initiative.
The Prime Minister
I am very happy to extend my praise to the China-Britain Business Council. If we look at the evidence of the past few years, we see there is now a significant increase in British exports to China, and a big increase in Chinese direct investment into the UK. All of that is welcome and we need to see it grow even further.
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
Q11. Will the Prime Minister confirm that he understands the importance of the creative industries to the economy of this country, and that they need to be buttressed by adequate intellectual property rights? Is he also aware, however, that his intellectual property Minister, that horny-handed son of toil, the fifth Viscount Younger of Leckie, recently told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, in relation to Google, that “I am very aware of their power…I am also very aware…that they have access, for whatever reason, to higher levels than me in No. 10”.Is that not a disgraceful comment on the way this Government—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman’s question, which refers to a distinguished constituent of mine, suffered from the disadvantage of being too long.
The Prime Minister
First, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that our creative industries are incredibly important for Britain’s future. The music industry has had a record year in terms of sales. One in every four albums sold in Europe is made here in the UK, which is something we can be very proud of. We have to get the intellectual property regime right, which is why we are legislating on it. We have already taken action to extend the life of copyright protection to 75 years, which has been welcomed across the music industry. I simply do not accept what he says about my Ministers. Indeed, the Minister with most responsibility for this matter is the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), and I think his father was ennobled by Harold Wilson, so that does not really fit.
Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
Q12. Will the Prime Minister join me in praising the hard work of the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes) and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for ensuring that planning decisions taken at local level concerning wind turbines remain local? However, many of my constituents in South East Cornwall are becoming increasingly concerned that our green fields are becoming solar fields. Should decisions on solar fields be subject to the same planning rules as wind turbines?
The Prime Minister
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in praising the excellent work done by the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings, which has been carried on by the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon). They have both done a very good job at bringing some sanity to the situation concerning onshore wind. On solar panels, the Government of course substantially reduced the feed-in tariffs to ensure that this industry was not over-subsidised, because all subsidies end up on consumers’ bills and we should think very carefully about that.
Liz Kendall (Leicester West) (Lab)
Glenfield hospital has the second best survival rates from children’s heart surgery in the country. Will the Prime Minister ensure that the quality of care—including survival rates, which are what matter most to parents—is central to any decision on the future of these services?
The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary will make an announcement shortly about Safe and Sustainable and children’s heart operations. We have to be frank with people: we cannot expect really technical surgery, such as children’s heart operations, to be carried out at every hospital in the country. As the parent of a desperately ill child wanting the best care for that child, you need to know that you are getting something that is world best when it comes to really technical operations, but you cannot have that everywhere. Clearly, however, the conclusion is that this process, which started in 2008, has not been carried out properly, so we need to make a restart.
Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)
Q13. Is the Prime Minister aware that last year Britain became a net exporter of cars for the first time since 1976? If this trend continues, the UK will produce an all-time record of 2 million cars in 2017. Is this not a really good example of a high added-value sector upskilling and putting the “great” back into British manufacturing and exports?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that this is a good example of a British industry that is succeeding. If we look at Honda, Nissan, Toyota or Jaguar Land Rover, we see really good news in our automotive sector. We now need to get behind it and encourage it to have as much of its supply chain onshore as possible. That is beginning to happen in these industries, and I hope for further progress in the months ahead.
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
Q14. This week, Newcastle city council has revealed that rent arrears have increased by more than £550,000 since the bedroom tax was introduced in April. Furthermore, 60% of affected households are falling into arrears. When will the Prime Minister admit that this devastating policy risks costing more than it saves?
The Prime Minister
We ended the spare room subsidy because we did not think it was fair to give to people in council houses a subsidy that those in private rented accommodation did not have. There is now a question for the Labour party: if it is to have this welfare cap, will it now tell us whether it will reverse this change? Will you? [Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor is shaking his head. Is that a no? That is right. After all the talk of the last few weeks—the iron discipline we were going to hear about, the welfare cap they were telling us about—they have failed the first test.
Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)
Q15. Tax avoidance is rightly at the heart of the G8 agenda. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister tell the House what advice he might have received on this issue from either the leader of the Labour party or the international, pizza and expensive curry-loving shadow Chancellor?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is this Government who are putting aggressive tax avoidance at the heart of the G8 agenda, and what do we hear this week from the Labour party? It gives tax avoidance advice to its donors. That is what it has been doing: £700,000 of tax has been avoided because of what Labour advised its donor to do.
The Prime Minister
The shadow Chancellor asks me to calm down. Frankly, I cannot calm down because this is money that ought to be going into our health service, education and training young people. Let me challenge the Opposition: will you give the money back? Yes or no? It is very simple. On 2 April, the Labour leader said—according to The Guardian, so it must be true—that
“tax avoidance is a terrible thing”.
He has also said:
“If everyone approaches their tax affairs as some of these companies have approached their tax affairs we wouldn't have a health service, we wouldn't have an education system.”
That is the shameful state of the Labour party today.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
This week is carers week. Will the Prime Minister show support for the 7 million unpaid carers across the country and invest £1.2 billion from last year’s NHS under-spend in social care, as we have pledged to do, so averting the Government-made crisis in accident and emergency and social care?
The Prime Minister
We could start with the money from Labour’s tax avoiding. That is money that should be going into the care system and the NHS. The Government have put £12.7 billion extra into our NHS. That is how we are supporting carers and hospitals, but the hon. Lady can have a word with the shadow Chancellor and her leader and say, “Pay the taxes you owe.”
Sir Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) (LD)
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, will the Prime Minister join me in recognising the challenges we face in continuing to bring oil and gas ashore from the North sea, the skills and dedication of those who do it and the paramount importance of safety in ensuring that we can continue to exploit these resources?
The Prime Minister
I certainly join my right hon. Friend in praising the North sea oil and gas industry. It is a real jewel in the crown of the United Kingdom economy. What is encouraging is that this year we are seeing a growth in production, as a number of new fields and projects come on stream, but he is absolutely right to say that at all times safety and security are absolutely paramount.
Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman is a very experienced Member of the House. Points of order come after statements. I feel sure that he will be just as keen at that point and will spring up from his seat to favour the House with his thoughts.
We shall now have a statement from the Secretary of State for Health, who is at this moment beetling towards the Dispatch Box.