Oral Answers to Questions

Anas Sarwar Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would certainly encourage all schools to look at academy status because of the extra freedom and responsibility it gives them. The evidence is now clear that academy schools, particularly those in less well-off areas, have transformed the results in those places. In the past nine months, as a coalition Government, we have managed to create as many academy schools as the previous Government did in the past seven years. We are making good progress with this, but we should keep up the pressure.

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

A ComRes poll for ITV News found that 48% of the British people feel that the Government have lost control of the economy, and the Chancellor himself has admitted that he has no plan B. Given that this Government have axed the future jobs fund, trebled tuition fees and scrapped the education maintenance allowance, the question that people up and down the country are asking is whether this Prime Minister even has a plan A for our young people.

[The Prime Minister]

What is clear is that only one side in this House has a plan at all. The Opposition have absolutely no plan apart from to deny the deficit, to say there was not a problem, and to pretend that somehow they handed on a golden inheritance when in fact we had the biggest budget deficit of advanced countries and an absolute pile of debt to deal with.