[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> tonight on prime minister's questions, deputy prime minister nick clegg stands in former prime minister david cameron. engines questions on government loans and unemployment benefits. after that, we turn to u.s. politics and a new hampshire wrote republican senate primary debate. then, a discussion on the latest underemployment rates. on "q&a," an interview of nicholas von hoffman. >> monday, the u.s. senate impeachment trial hearing begins for the prosecution of u.s. district court judge thomas porteous. proceedings will last year out the week. watch live proceedings starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> monday, a discussion about ending world hunger with reverend david beckham, named a world food prize laureate in june. >> the bottom line is that we need our borders secured. we cannot afford illegal immigration. >> it does hurt us. it has heard arizonas economist -- economy severely. >> with the midterm elections about 50 days away, follow campaign 2010 online at the c- span video library with debates from key races across the country. it is easy to follow the candidates and issues any time, all free, on your computer. >> honestly, i am simply not going to take any lessons from a party that spent all this time in office backbiting anc's other through leaks and council leaks in the press -- a party of the dodgy dossier, of damien mcbride. havel little bit of consistency on this. -- have a little bit of consensus in on this -- consistency on this. >> now, the prime minister's questions. deputy prime minister nick clegg stood in for prime minister david cameron who was in france with his father, who died shortly after suffering a stroke. he faced heavy questioning from jack straw about the prime minister's communications chief who has been accused of tapping into celebrities voice mail. also, questions on aid to pakistan flood victims and unemployment benefits. >> questions to the prime minister. >> mr. speaker, i have been asked to reply to the house may be aware that my right honorable friend, the prime minister's father, was taken seriously ill last night. quite rightly, he is traveled to be with his father and his family. i'm sure i speak on behalf of everybody in the house when i say we wish him, his father, and their family all the best at this difficult time. mr. speaker, i would also like to start by paying tribute to the brave servicemen who lost their lives over the summer since we last sat. they were corporal matthew stenton, lance corporal steven monkhouse, mark smith from 36 engineer regiment, lance sergeant dale, marine adam -- dale mccallum, marine adam brown, john sanderson, rifleman raymond culong, darren foster from 21 engineer regiment, lance corporal bancroft. lance corporal joseph pool. captain andrew griffiths from second battalion. the duke of lancaster's regiment. mr. speaker, each of these men were heroic, selfless individuals who have given their lives for the safety of boss andnothing can ease the pain -- of us and the british people. nothing can ease the pain of the loved ones they have left behind, but their sacrifice will never be forgotten. >> hear, hear. >> we also remember dr. karen wu who was killed while providing aid to flood victims. -- to afghan civilians. we also remember a doctor who -- and devoted father of four and former police officer who died august 7 was mentoring police forces in helmand province. the bravery of our servicemen and women, risking their lives daily to help the people of afghanistan, is both inspiring and humbling. >> mark pritchard. >> yesterday, they announced the laying off of 300 personnel. does the deputy prime minister agree that if it were not for the financial mess left by the last government that many of these jobs and indeed thousands of other public-sector jobs across the country could have been saved? it is now left to the new coalition government to take the difficulty in sorting out the -- difficult decision to sort out the nation's finances. >> prime minister? >> mr. speaker, i certainly agree that the previous government has left us with an extraordinary legacy -- the largest deficit in our peacetime history. it was the previous government that took its eye off the ball and allow the banks to lend -- allowed the banks to lend money irresponsibly. it was the previous government to wrapped up these extraordinary -- who racked up these extraordinary deficits year there were irresponsible in government and they are now living in denial in opposition. a did not just inherited legacy of deficit, but of bureaucracy. the chief constabulary pointed out in july that there were 2600 pages of guidance issued to police officers last year alone. he told us if there were laid -- they were laid end to end, they would be three times higher than the eiffel tower. we need less bureaucracy and more police on the streets. >> hear, hear. >> first of all, we need much less noise. i remind the front benches to exchanges topithy enable as many back benches to participate as possible. mr. jack straw. >> mr. speaker, may i join the deputy prime minister in paying tribute to all those who have lost their lives serving their country in afghanistan since the house last met. we know that each one of those individuals left a family who are immensely proud, but consumed with grief for their loss. our thoughts and prayers with -- are with those families and their comrades and friends. -- and the comrades and friends of all those who have died. mr. speaker, i think all of us had hoped that part of the opening of prime minister's questions would be an opportunity for us to express congratulations to mrs. cameron and to the prime minister on the birth of their new baby. of course on behalf of the opposition, we certainly do. but that, sadly, is tinge wd with the dreadful news about the prime minister's father. may i say on behalf of the opposition that i am absolutely certain that he has made exactly the right decision to be where he knows he has to be, with his father and his family, at this difficult time. mr. speaker, the prime minister, in may, brought andy into 10 -- andy colson into 10 downing street. as well right honorable gentleman -- may i ask the right honorable gentleman, is he -- [laughter] is he entirely satisfied that once he was editor of the news of the world at no time was he aware of any use of unlawful hacking and telephones? -- of telephones? >> deputy prime minister. >> i am grateful for the words he said about the prime minister and the great news about the birth of their new baby daughter. i of course will pass those on. as for the issue of phone hacking, he knows, as we all do, that this is a very serious offense. it is an outrageous invasion of privacy. it is right that two individuals were convicted and imprisoned. he has made it very clear that he took responsibility for something which he had no knowledge of at the news of the world and he refutes all allegations that have been made to the contrary. that statement speaks for itself. it is now for the police and police alone to decide whether new evidence has come to light which needs to be investigated. >> straw. >> mr. speaker, that was not an answer to the question i put. the question was, is the right honorable gentleman entirely satisfied that, whilst he was editor of the new world, at no -- the news of the world, at no time was he aware of any use of unlawful phone hacking, yes or no? gap deputy prime minister. -- >> deputy prime minister. >> mr. speaker, he has made it quite clear that he had no knowledge. he refutes all of the allegations. while i, in a decidedly rushed manner was preparing for today, suspecting this issue might come up, when he resigned from the news of the world, the first person to call to commiserate was gordon brown. [laughter] he told him not to worry that he -- not to worry, that he had done the honorable thing, and that he knew he would go on to do a worthwhile job. >> jack straw. [laughter] order. members must calm themselves. i can imagine why there -- i cannot imagine why they are so excited. i want to get down the order paper. jack straw. >> in may of this year, his rival friend, the energy secretary said that, "mr. colson was either composite in criminal -- complicit in criminal activity or the most incompetent editor in fleet street." which is it? >> deputy prime minister. >> my right honorable friend and i are in complete agreement that if you e -- if new evidence has come to light, the police -- and this is what i want and expect -- the police will not actively -- now actively look to see whether that evidence is worthy of further investigation. that is what the police are there for and what they should be doing. it was under the labour government that no further action was taken. it is their former home secretary who is making all sorts of pious remarks who decided not to involve the hmic, the director of prosecutions. the crown prosecution service decided not to take further action. if the police not think that new -- now think that new evidence has come to light, let them decide. >> jack straw. >> mr. speaker, the media select committee chaired by your honorable friend, said, "the evidence we find makes it inconceivable that no one else at the news of the world, bar mr. goodman, was aware of the activity of phone hacking." what does the prime minister -- deputy prime minister know that the select committee does not know? >> the police now need to decide whether, in the light of the new allegations that have been made, there is new evidence which requires further investigation. that is what the police are there for. i want them to get on with appier that is what i expect they should do. honestly, i am not going to take any lessons from a party that spent all its time in office back fighting against each other through leaks in the press, a party of the dodgy dossier, of party of cash for bridges, of -- of a party of cash for peerages, of damien mcbride. let's have a little bit of consistency on this, shall we? >> jack straw. >> so, mr. speaker, when the police have uncovered 2978 mobile telephone numbers of potential victims, the new york times has named his own honorable friend as a potential victim, does the deputy prime minister expect us to believe that the only person who knew nothing about phone hacking at the news of the world was the editor, the very man who the prime minister was brought -- has brought into the heart of this government? >> deputy prime minister. >> what i expect he will believe is that it is now for the police to investigate whether these new charges and allegations have anything to them. that is what the police of their corporate does he want us to start second-guessing -- that is what the police are there for. does he want us to start second-guessing? let the police -- we have a war in afghanistan. we have a flood in pakistan. he is inviting this government to second-guessed the police. i would think he would know better. >> hear, hear. >> duncan hames. >> thank you, mr. speaker. yesterday, a serving police officer was jailed for an appalling assault committed in a police station in my constituency. whilst i believe that we can draw confidence from the brave officer who blew the whistle, does the deputy agree that the -- it cannot be right that the offending officer continued on full pay for more than two years after the attack? sides of the house were deeply deeply shocked to see >> we are deeply shocked to see the pictures of the offense which was perpetrated by the police officer. i'm sure i share people's dismay that action was not taken more speedily. however stressful the conditions are under which police officers were, it is absolutely essential -- work, it is absolutely essential that they uphold the very high standards of their own conduct in whatever situation. that clearly was not the case here. i'm glad that action has finally been taken. i wish it could have been taken earlier. >> gregg mcclymont. >> the business secretary reaffirmed his commitment to the separation of high street banking from casino banking. does the deputy prime minister a greater separation is essential to ensuring jobs and should never again -- [shouting] >> deputy prime minister? >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as he knows, as he knows there is a lively debate about the relationship between retail banking and investment banking. the former chancellor has made his own views very clear from the his party that he doesn't think there is a case of separation. we have believed in opposition it whenever, there should be a separation. there's a debate going on within government. what we have now as is mr. john vickers should chair an independent commission looking at this. that is a commission which will look at how we can ensure that their safety and stability in our banking system for goods. not with action not taken by the previous government, we'll look at the recommendations and then decided. >> john redwood. >> thank you, mr. speaker. given in the last year they spent 10,000 answer every man, woman and child in the country on current public spending, and given that it's going to go up to 11,500 ahead over the five years of this government under the government plan, does not show the coalition government can get through without any damaging cuts to support public spending? >> deputy prime minister? >> mr. speaker, as he very well knows the challenge of balancing the budget filling a huge black hole left to us by labor is indeed a very, very difficult, difficult challenge. one of course has been recognized by tony blair in his recent book where he has said if government doesn't tackle deficit -- >> order, order. i haven't read the book yet. i want to hear what mr. blair has to say. spent i believe mr. speaker wants to do what the book says. this then increases the risk of prolonged slump that if we fail to offer a convincing path out of debt that will plunge us into stagnation. i agree. >> 54,000 children who live in households that already at the poverty line would lose to benefits. i want to know what his own document reveals, is this what he meant when he said his budget was tougher this year? >> mr. speaker, the legacy we inherited -- [shouting] -- i know -- [shouting] -- i know members of opposite don't want to do this but it is worth reminding people in the country at large that after 13 years of labor the united kingdom has the highest -- >> order. spent the deputy prime minister will be heard. there is far too much noise. members must restrain themselves and give the deputy prime minister a proper and fair hearing. >> the united kingdom now after 13 years of labor government has the highest number of children in households in your. that is a shameless legacy. one of things this government is going to do is to create incentives to get off and work. that is the surest way out of poverty and the shows will look after those children were abandoned and not looked after by the previous labour >> mr. arbuthnot. >> after the chinook crash on the mull of kintyre, every during has found it impossible to attribute negligence to the pilots who died in the crash. may i thank the government for honoring the pledge made before the election to hold a review and ask our the independence of that review will be assured. >> deputy prime minister? >> i am acutely aware of his considerable expertise on defense matters and his longstanding interest in this tragic disaster and the circumstances around it. tragic disaster of circumstances surrounding it. and i'm pleased to be able to confirm today that we will be holding an independent review of the evidence on that disaster and i hope to review will be welcomed by the families of those who died in this tragic accident to ensure its complete independence, the review will become -- conducted by a respected lawyer and who is not present expressed the view on the disaster. the review and the precise will be announced soon. >> mr. braley campbell? >> last month they released a report on the bombing in 1972 were nine innocent people were murdered. the ombudsman concluded that the secretary of state at the time, a senior police officer and roman catholic cardinal code blue to ensure that a chief suspect in the bombing was transferred to the irish republic rather than be brought to justice. what with the deputy prime minister join with me and calling for the catholic church to apologize for their part in this, including the deputy first minister that i understand they confirmed that he visited the suspect as he lay on his deathbed 30 years ago to declare all that he knew about one of the worst atrocities in northern ireland's troubled past. >> deputy prime minister? >> mr. speaker, as he knows my right honorable friend made a full apology on the 24th of august on behalf of the government. the government is profoundly, profoundly sorry that father chesney was not properly investigated with his inspected involvement in this hideous crime at the time. the victim and their families have quite simply been denied justice. but i do also want to reason that although after the attack the government was wrong and not insisting to properly investigate father chesney. it was terrorists who were responsible for this despicable and evil attack which took innocent lives including that of an eight year old girl. and my right honorable friend has made clear that a public inquiry isn't being considered on the grounds that just simply isn't like to be any further evidence to be considered. we have cooperated further with the investigations making all papers available, and in the interest of transparency the government has published the only document it holds. i'm referring to discussions about father chesney. >> does my right honorable friend agree with me that it is vital that the government on its pledge to policyholders and uphold the finding of the parliamentary? >> deputy prime minister? >> mr. speaker, i certainly agree, i certainly agree with my honorable friend. we are absolutely committed to bringing justice to the equitable life policyholders, people who were frankly shamelessly, shamefully portrayed year after year by the previous government. [shouting] >> we have published a bill on this. we have taken the recommendations from mr. john chadwick will we will consider and will trade independent mechanism by which justice is finally provided to the policyholders who were so shamefully overlooked by the previous government. >> does deputy prime minister have any qualms at all about coalition government 2010 budget which took 2000 front-line workers off jobs in applause? and given the fact that in june of this year there were less people than june a year ago. will he make sure that the comprehensive spending review, does the front line job center plus around the country that we need to get people off and back into work like he just had? >> deputy prime minister? >> i certainly agree, of course, the most important objective is to increase incentives to work. that's what in that same budget we increased the personal allowance by 1000 pounds taking close to 900,000 people out of paying any income tax altogether. we did take measures to protect the vulnerable and the elderly. we dramatically increased child tax credits. we provided a triple guarantee to pensioners so pensions will increase iq .5% by and. and, of course, it is easy and oppositions to die in responsibility for the mess we're in in the first place, but i simply, i simply asked her and her colleagues, does she have any qualms about the fact that her party and her government and now 44 billion pounds worth of cuts but never had the decency or is he to tell the british people where those cuts were for? [shouting] >> thank you, mr. speaker. given the number of disturbing cases such as that of my constituents, a 21 year old young man who was extradited to greece well over a year ago under the european arrest warrant who have spent over 10 months india and still does not face the prospect of a trial date as of yet, which he agreed with me to let the government reviewed is worrisome legislation and we agreed to a meeting with the parents? >> of course i would more than welcome that meeting. either myself or the prime minister. of course, we are all aware of the concerns about the way in which the european arrest warrant works. i understand they were met with his parents and four and commonwealth office would be willing to do so. again, and, of course, this is in the context of even wider about our extradition arrangements, not only with the european union but with the united states as well. that is why my right honorable friend, the home secretary has announced today that we will be reviewing the uk's extradition arrangements in the round, and the review will focus on the operation of the european arrest warrant, and whether the united states in the 19 of extradition treaty is on balance or not and whether requesting states should be required to provide prima facie evidence. >> is deputy prime minister aware that today is -- [inaudible] [shouting] >> and if i tell him how to pay for, which he agreed to get me a present of a couple of their class? [laughter] spent another foreign rubbish. [shouting] >> i want british ones and i don't want the house to cheer them with some french book. monday to wednesday's, we share weekends. we hope to get the support of the agency ever hope to make any change in that. all of this could be paid by cutting out funds to the european union. will he agree? [shouting] >> mr. speaker, i of course want to congratulate him on his birthday. and i'm delighted to see his enthusiasm for things european hasn't mellowed with age. [laughter] >> i am very happy to give him a gift. whether it is a gift quite in the size and shape that he is requested, i'm afraid i can't oblige to that. >> cheryl murray? >> thank you, mr. speaker. some people into the country and receive testing this but don't pay their bills. does he apply for another visa to come back again, is this fair and with the government stop at? >> mr. speaker, my honorable friend of course is right. when it comes to dhs, in fairness one of the founding principles of dna just and we must retain that principle. and where there are p
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