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.
The Prime Minister will know that economic inactivity in constituencies such as mine will only be successfully tackled with sustained investment in the creation of jobs, and the giving of skills and support to people. However, given the growing economic global uncertainty, will he meet me and colleagues who represent the valleys to look at the work already being successfully done by the Department for Work and Pensions and others to build our economic capacity? Will he assure me that any responses he makes to the global uncertainties that there may be in the economy will not be allowed to damage the sustainability of that investment?
Long-term unemployment in my hon. Friend’s constituency is down 72 per cent. since 1997. Since 1997, there have been 135,000 new jobs in Wales, and there are nearly 3 million new jobs in the country. I believe that as we face these uncertain global times, when there are difficulties that have started in America that affect the whole of the world economy, it is important to remember that what makes us well placed to face such difficulties is the low inflation and high levels of employment we have achieved in this country, and the low interest rates that stand us in good stead to face global uncertainties. Of course I will be happy to meet my hon. Friend and his colleagues to talk about those issues.
May I start be welcoming the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) to his post? [Interruption.] He is moving away from me already. He is the fourth Liberal Democrat leader that I have faced, and I wish him well—[Interruption.]—although not that well. I am simply relieved that it is no longer my party that has this habit of replacing its leader on quite such a regular basis.
A few months ago—[Interruption.]
I am on my second Labour Prime Minister as well.
A few months ago, a Home Office Minister said:
“It is the Government’s policy that ID cards should eventually be compulsory for everyone resident in the United Kingdom who is aged 16 or over.”—[Official Report, 20 March 2007; Vol. 458, c. 784W.]
Is that still the Government’s policy?
That is the policy, but it is a matter for Parliament to decide after we have looked at the voluntary system in place. All the evidence we have had over the past few months is that where information—[Interruption.]
Order. Allow the Prime Minister to answer the question.
The whole purpose of identity cards is to protect people’s identity and the way to do that is to use, in addition to the passport information that will be part of the identity card, biometrics so that use of the information cannot be triggered other than by the facial or fingerprint data that are part of the biometrics. That is the purpose of identity cards.
The right hon. Gentleman’s police adviser, Sir John Stevens, and Lady Neville-Jones, his security spokesman in the House of Lords, both support identity cards.
We have learned in the past few months that it is completely unsafe to trust the Government with any more of our identity information. If the Prime Minister wants to trade quotes, what about one from the Chancellor of the Exchequer? He said that identity cards were “not necessary”. He continued:
“I do not want my whole life to be reduced to a magnetic strip on a plastic card.”—[Official Report, 2 March 1992; Vol. 205, c. 70.]
Compared with being Chancellor in the Government, being a magnetic strip on a plastic card would probably be a welcome relief.
If it is the Government’s policy to press for compulsion, why did the Prime Minister say in The Observer on Sunday that,
“under our proposals, there is no compulsion for existing British citizens”?
Why did he give such a misleading answer?
Because there has to be a vote of Parliament. We have passed the original identity cards proposals. That is a voluntary system. I have to tell the right hon. Gentleman that not only do some members of his party support identity cards, but people recognise that the identity card will contain little more than the information that is now given for passports. I have to ask him: does he support identity cards for foreign nationals, which we are introducing this year?
Everybody in the House wants proper biometric visas for people visiting this country. The question for the Prime Minister is why he cannot give a straight answer on identity cards. Let me try it another way. What is his personal view? My personal view is that I am against compulsory identity cards. What is his view? Is he in favour—yes or no?
It is the Government’s policy to move ahead with this, but subject to a vote of Parliament, and depending on how the voluntary scheme works. I ask the right hon. Gentleman again: does he support ID cards for foreign nationals—yes or no? He says that he is against them; is he in favour of them for foreign nationals?
I just answered the Prime Minister’s question. Does he not recognise that part of his problem is that he cannot give a straight answer to a straight question?
Let us have a look at another vital decision, this time on the economy. It is only three months before the start of the financial year. Businesses throughout the country want to know the capital gains tax rate that they will face in April. Will the Chancellor go ahead with his 80 per cent. increase in capital gains tax rates, or are we set for another humiliating U-turn?
I see that the right hon. Gentleman’s incursion into identity cards did not last long. He cannot answer the central question of whether he supports ID cards for foreign nationals. He could not give me the answer on two occasions. I suggest that the whole country supports ID cards for foreign nationals, and that that is the best protection we have, and one of the best against illegal immigration. If he cannot answer that question, he is not fit to ask questions about other issues.
On capital gains tax, when we came to power it was 40 per cent. Now, under the Chancellor’s proposals, it is 18 per cent. The Chancellor has agreed to consult on its implementation and will report back to the House of Commons in due course. Why did the Conservatives have 18 years of not reducing the rate of capital gains tax?
I remember our cutting taxes and the right hon. Gentleman’s opposing every single tax cut we proposed. The Chancellor of the Exchequer promised the House of Commons that he would make a statement on capital gains tax by Christmas. Business needs to have the answer to that question.
Here is something else about the economy. Goldman Sachs, the Prime Minister’s advisers, state that
“the UK is slowing more than the rest of Europe, the ‘Northern Rock’ factor has badly dented the UK’s reputation… and the UK balance of payments…deficit is now bigger than that of the US”.
Those are the words of the Prime Minister’s advisers.
Let us consider another big economic decision that the right hon. Gentleman must take. At a time of financial turmoil the markets need clear leadership, not more dithering from the Prime Minister. Will he confirm, here and now, that he will recommend Mervyn King for another term as Governor of the Bank of England?
The choice of the Governor of the Bank of England will be made in the usual way and announced in the usual form. On capital gains tax, again the right hon. Gentleman does not return to the issue. He was principal adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer when capital gains tax was 40 per cent. He was also principal adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of Black Wednesday. The difference between our country then and now is that inflation at that time was 10 per cent. and the Conservatives could not reduce interest rates, whereas inflation at the moment is 2 per cent. and the Governor of the Bank of England was able to reduce interest rates. We face the global crisis with higher employment than ever before, and we face the global turbulence with low interest rates and low inflation. It is a record that they could never match.
More!
There is plenty more. I remember a shadow Chancellor who sat here and supported every aspect of being in the exchange rate mechanism and every single step that was taken. I seem to remember a politician who when he was in his 20s supported wholesale renationalisation and punitive tax rates, and wore his CND badge with pride. That was the Prime Minister. Is it not the case that his capital gains tax policy is in complete confusion, he cannot make up his mind about the Governor of the Bank of England, and his ID policy is in full retreat? All that is from a Prime Minister who has lost everyone’s identities, seen a run on a bank, and whose Ministers are rocked from one funding scandal to another. He can talk about long-termism all he likes, but everyone knows that it is just a smokescreen for the short-term mess that he has made. Is that not why his relaunch is utterly doomed to fail?
Once again, all these pre-rehearsed lines, all these lines rehearsed in front of the mirror—[Interruption.] They mean absolutely nothing. When it comes to the economy—[Interruption.] Oh yes, we get all these pre-rehearsed lines. People are asking the question: when will the right hon. Gentleman face up to the big challenges? Nobody knows what he thinks about the big challenges: not the country, not the party, and probably not even himself. He flits through all these issues today. When it comes to the economy, let us remember that there were 3 million unemployed under the Conservatives, and we have created 3 million more jobs. Under the Conservatives, 250,000 people lost their mortgages and were repossessed. There are 2 million more home owners under Labour. Interest rates went as high as 18 per cent. under the Conservatives; they have averaged 5 per cent. under Labour. We will return to his record as chief adviser to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, because he has no credibility when he talks about the economy.
More!
You are aware, Mr. Speaker, that the President of Somaliland and members of his Cabinet are visiting Parliament at present. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Somaliland on the way in which it has worked over the past 18 years, very quietly, through local government elections, parliamentary elections and presidential elections? When the people of the south have no real government and are still in a state of chaos, does not that record command respect from the international community?
I agree with my right hon. Friend, who is a friend of that country. I welcome the visitors to this country, and we will do everything that we can not only to help with international development for the countries with which we are associated, but to help to build the institutions of democracy.
Hooray! This is going to be an expensive year for the countless British families who face fuel bills of £1,000 or more for the first time. With as many as 4 million British families unable to afford their fuel bills, does the Prime Minister seriously think that a single letter from the Chancellor to the energy regulator is an adequate response?
Let me welcome the hon. Gentleman to the leadership of the Liberal party. I look forward to working with him on many of the issues facing the country. I have said to him in our private conversations that there is an open door for him, and we are ready to discuss the major issues that affect the country where there is common ground.
As far as fuel prices are concerned, it is regrettable that utility prices have to rise, which is as a result of a 60 to 80 per cent. rise in the cost of coal, gas and electricity. That, in turn, is the result of factors that are hitting every economy in the world. What we have done in Britain over the last few years is devote £12 billion to fuel poverty issues. We have had the winter allowance, which I believe the hon. Gentleman’s party did not support, and other allowances to help with energy bills. Only in the last few days, companies have announced that those amounts will rise from £40 million to £56 million in order to protect energy users. We will do everything in our power to avoid fuel poverty in this country.
With 25,000 people predicted to die from the cold in this winter alone, we need a more specific commitment from the Prime Minister. Will he agree today to take action to stop the energy companies from hitting the poorest families with higher bills on prepayment meters so that we can end the scandal of the poorest families paying the most for their energy needs?
We have asked the fuel companies to look further into prepayment energy meters and it is very important to do so. I hope that the hon. Gentleman shares our common interest in avoiding loss of lives as well as suffering and illness as a result of fuel poverty and the cold winter weather. I thus hope that he will support us in asking the energy companies to provide extra money to subsidise the fuel bills of people who are lower paid, and that his party will continue to support us in all the measures, including the winter fuel allowance, that we have taken to deal with fuel poverty.
We face a major decision about the future of energy in this country. Tomorrow, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will make a statement on energy and on nuclear power. I hope that we can take a decision that will protect the long-term interests of the country. Without taking such a decision on this matter and on renewable fuels, we will become more dependent on foreign sources of supply. It is therefore a shock to me that other parties are looking in different directions on this issue. I know that the Leader of the Opposition wants to be consistent in what he says. However, he said to the CBI that he wanted to make it easier for people to build fuel stations, while also saying to the readers of Green Futures magazine that
“if…we have to keep the lights on, then nuclear might come into the picture”.
Nuclear as a last resort—that is not the proper way to plan for the energy needs of our country.
Will the Prime Minister take the opportunity to pay tribute once again to the gallant service of the security forces of Northern Ireland in the fight against terrorism and crime over many decades of violence? Will he also take the opportunity to rubbish any attempt by the commission on the past in Northern Ireland to validate or vindicate terrorists and criminals in their sordid terrorist war by describing it as a war? Will he utterly rule out any suggestion of an amnesty for terrorists and criminals?
Yes, and it is important to say two things. First, our respect for the security services, the police and the armed forces for the difficult job they did over many years and for the loss of life suffered as a result of their difficult work is clear. Secondly, it is important to move forward with reconciliation. The efforts made by a number of bodies, including the one to which the hon. Gentleman referred, are an important element of building for the future. What we want is a safe, secure, peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland.
I think it is true that, as my hon. Friend suggests, disabled people are twice as likely to be in poverty as people who are not with disabilities, but it is also true that disabled people should be helped into work when that is possible. That is why about 900,000 disabled people have found jobs over the last 10 years, why our pathways to work programme is so important for the future—it has already put 32,000 people into work—and why, in my view, it would be a mistake to abolish the new deal, which does so much to help people back into work.
Members in all parts of the House have expressed concern about the conditions in Guantanamo Bay, and most people are glad to see that it is at last winding down, but can the Prime Minister explain why he has just offered places in Britain to five people from Guantanamo Bay not one of whom is a British citizen, although two of them are wanted in connection with the most serious terrorist charges in Spain?
When people are wanted for arrest in Britain, they will be arrested. When people have to be returned to other countries, we will expedite the process if at all possible. I think the whole House agrees with the hon. Gentleman that Guantanamo Bay should be closed as soon as possible, but when people have moved to our country we will deal with them if there are offences for which they are to be prosecuted.
The future of the national health service means that patients will have more power over the decisions that affect their lives: decisions about where they have their treatment, the times at which they have their treatment, and with whom they have their treatment. That is an important element of the next stage of the development of the health service. However, it is also important for patients to have information about what is happening in their local hospitals and health areas. One of the next stages of reform—and Professor Darzi is looking into exactly this—is how more information can be made available to patients, and how more patients can become foundation trust members, and how the flow of information can empower patients in a way that gives them more control over their health and their health care. That is the right direction for the 21st century health service.
As I understand it, the Secretary of State for Wales was visiting a company in Wales, and praising the work that it had done in creating jobs in Wales.
The education and business communities are working hard in Crawley to attract a university campus. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is the best way to improve aspiration and get our young people into higher education in their own towns and cities, so that they may strive to make this a better country?
In the last 10 years, there have been more than 300,000 more people in higher and further education. We want to create more institutions of higher education—including universities—in areas that do not have that facility, and my hon. Friend has put the case eloquently for new facilities in a range of areas in her constituency. I think it right to say that we want to increase the number of universities, further education colleges and colleges generally in cities and towns that do not already have them, and that will be a big feature of future education in this country.
Over the last 10 years, we have increased spending on home insulation dramatically. We have encouraged people to insulate their homes and have encouraged draught-proofing, and will continue to do so. As for the winter allowance, I remind the hon. Gentleman that it started at £20, was raised to £50, and for the over-80s is now £300.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend because he raises an important question about the disparity in life chances and the disparity in the ages to which people live in different parts of the country, partly as a result of poverty and partly as a result of information about health. It is important to recognise that, as we expand preventive medicine and as more and more people can have check-ups, whether for breast cancer, heart disease or stroke, the people who will benefit most are the people who are most susceptible to those diseases, who will get quicker treatment, will have their illnesses diagnosed earlier and will then be able to lead healthier lives. That will have a major effect on health inequalities in our country.
Our commitment to lifelong learning is, first, that those people who have no qualifications whatever should get better chances than they have had in the past to enable them to get both qualifications and in many cases degrees. If the hon. Gentleman has read the report that was done by Lord Leitch, he will know that he says that by 2020 we will need 40 per cent. of the country with degree-level qualifications. Therefore, the first priority for money—that is why there has been that transfer of money—is first degrees and qualifications for those who do not have them at the moment. There is no cut in the overall budget. There is more money going to education than ever happened under the Conservative Government. The difference is between cuts under the Conservatives and expansion under Labour.
The Paul McCartney concert is not the only major event in Liverpool during the year of culture. People not only in Liverpool but all over the country are looking forward to a great success for Liverpool in this year of culture. It is already one of the greatest cities in the world for music, sport and the arts. More people go to museums and art galleries in Liverpool than in any other city, so we wish it well as the city of culture.
When I arrived at the Treasury, I was told that, because inflation was rising and as a result of the failure of the previous Conservative Government to increase interest rates, interest rates had to rise. That was the first statement made to me at the Treasury. That is why we made the Bank of England independent, a more opposed by the Conservative party, and that is why, as a result of our actions, interest rates are half what they were under the Conservative Government on average, inflation is half what it was, and employment is at a record level. We are proud of our record as a Labour Government.
The right policy for getting people back to work is to work with employers who will help people to find the jobs. That is why the local employment partnerships now have 200 companies signed up to them, and it will be 300 very soon. The right way to get people back to work is not to abolish the new deal, as the Conservative party would do, but to place a duty on people to have skills for the future. That is why we will move forward with our plans to create jobs.
A consultation is taking place at the moment. I understand that it goes through to the end of February. The proposal is for a third passenger runway at Heathrow. I believe that many people think that that is in the national interest, but I also believe that local views must be taken into account and that is why the consultation is taking place.
Will my right hon. Friend join me in sending the deepest condolences to the family, friends and fellow students of my 16-year-old constituent, Bradley Whitfield, who was killed in the early hours of new year’s day, and will he reassure them that he and the Government will do everything possible—that we will redouble our efforts—to work with the police, schools and community groups to try to protect young people from such appalling acts of violence?
I agree. The whole country was shocked by what my right hon. Friend refers to, and my sympathies go to the family—I believe that the whole House will join her in wanting to pay tribute to the family. We are determined to do everything in our power to deal with these crimes of violence. That is why the Home Secretary will be announcing new measures very soon. That is why we will step up all the actions we are taking against gangs and knives, and against guns as well. We are determined that in those areas where there is the greatest violence, we have the greatest surveillance as well, and we will also take action against the hot spots. My sympathies go to the family of my right hon. Friend’s constituent.