Politics Live blog: PMQs
Andrew Sparrow covers all the day's political events, including prime minister's questions from the House of Commons
12.29pm: Labour's Jamie Reed says Cameron promised to fight against hospital closures. Can he promise there will be no hospital closures under this government?
Cameron says the hospital in Reed's constituency is expanding.
12.27pm: Harriett Baldwin, a Conservative, says when she worked in the private sector she benefited from maternity leave. What will the government do to extend this.
Some Labour MPs jeer when she mentions her private sector past. I think they are jeering because Baldwin sounded haughty, but Cameron says it is typical of Labour to jeer at the private sector. He says the government will make maternity leave more flexible.
12.26pm: Labour's Meg Hillier asks when the government's report on gang culture will be published. It was promised by the end of this month.
Cameron says it will be published when it's ready.
12.25pm: Edward Timpson, a Conservative, asks if the government will promote fostering.
Cameron says it is a "scandal" that there are so many children in the care system under the age of one. The government wants to encourage adoption and fostering.
12.24pm: Labour's Alison McGovern asks if the police will release all their papers relating to Hillsborough.
Cameron says he will look into this issue. All government papers are being released.
12.23pm: Mary MacLeod, a Conservative, asks what the government can to do get more women to set up businesses.
Cameron says he wants to change the culture in relation to business.
12.22pm: Labour's David Hanson asks if the government will scrap indeterminate sentences.
Cameron says an announcement will be made soon. The current system does not work. People do not understand it, he says.
12.21pm: Stephen Lloyd, a Lib Dem, says a! pprentic eships are working well in his constituency.
Cameron says apprenticeships are being created at the rate of 360,000 a year. It is a really important scheme, he says. It should not be seen as second best.
12.19pm: Nadine Dorries, a Conservative, asks about an incinerator planned for Bedfordshire.
Cameron says she is making an important joke. The government is making planning more accountable. (No jokes about Dorries being "frustrated" today.)
12.18pm: Labour's Gloria De Piero asks why women are more negative about the government than men.
Cameron says household budgets are under pressure. Clearly that impacts on women, he says. But most of the people benefiting from the increase in the income tax threshold are women.
12.17pm: Cameron says spending on education has been made "much more progressive".
12.16pm: Cameron says there are "some positive signs" of rebalancing in the UK autonomy. He mentions the BP investment in the North Sea and a new factory in Wales.
12.15pm: Duncan Hames, a Liberal Democrat, asks if the Citizens Advice Bureau service will be protected.
Cameron says all parties accept the need to reform legal aid. The CAB is very important. The government has found 20m to protect not-for-profit legal services, he says.
12.14pm: Labour's John McDonnell asks about suggestions that the bond market are trying to exploit the quantitative easing programme.
Camerons says there is no such thing as white collar crime. Crime is crime, he says.
12.13pm: Gavin Barwell, a Conservative, asks about drug driving.
Cameron says Barwell speaks for the whole House on this. Not enough has been done on this issue.
12.11pm: Snap verdict: One of Cameron's best performances for ages. There is a split between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems on Europe, and Cameron can't answer the "what powers and when?" repatriation qu! estion, but Miliband did not get through Cameron's defences when he tried to exploit this.
12.07pm: Miliband is still on Europe.
He says Clegg said the government would not launch a "smash-and-grab" raid on Europe. Who speaks for the government? Does the government want to get out of the social chapter?
Cameron says the split is between Miliband and reality. When Miliband was asked if he would join the euro, he said "it depends how long I'm prime minister for".
Miliband says Michael Gove said yesterday the government wanted to take back powers over employment laws. Clegg disagrees. Who's right?
Cameron says that if Miliband were at the summit, he would be handing out the begging bowl. Labour want to leave the IMF. It is not France they want to be like; it's Monaco.
Miliband says Cameron cannot speak for his government. He spent Monday pleading with his backbenchers, not dealing with Europe.
Cameron says Miliband has a problem today. If he were at the summit, he would be telling Berlusconi to keep spending.
12.03pm: Ed Miliband asks if Cameron agrees that today's EU summit needs to find a way of making countries in the EU, including Britain, grow.
Cameron says a wider growth strategy was discussed at the summit on Sunday. The commission's plans could have been written in London.
Miliband says Cameron's real focus has not been on the eurozone crisis. Cameron wants to repatriate powers. Which powers? And when?
Cameron says: "One serious question, then he's on to the politics." Going to the EU summit and saying Britain should add 100bn to the deficit (the Tory estimate of the cost of Labour's growth plan) would be "a joke". The government has already repatriated bail-out powers, he says.
Miliband says Nick Clegg dismissed the feasibility of repatriating powers yesterday.
Cameron says Clegg said there was a good case for rebalancing the EU. But when Miliband was asked if Brussels had too much power, he said no. He! 's a "co mplete mug".
12.03pm: Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative, asks about EU treaty renegotiation. He quotes from a pamphlet Nick Clegg wrote 10 years ago.
Cameron says it was a good pamphlet.
12.01pm: Labour's Luciana Berger asks the first question about Hillsborough, and some insensitive remarks made about the tragedy.
David Cameron says he is making the Hillsborough papers available.
11.59am: PMQs is about to start. I'll be surprised if Ed Miliband does not ask about the eurozone crisis and the Adam Beecroft report. (See 9.15am.)
11.53am: Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky that David Cameron needs to fight Britain's case at today's EU summit.
It's because the ramifications for Britain are going to be so colossal if Greece is allowed to fail, if the problems spill over to other eurozone countries, as we're already seeing, that it's absolutely crucial that our prime minister is there in Brussels today, because we may not be in the eurozone, but that doesn't make us immune from the problems in the eurozone. As the biggest trading partner oif Eurpoe, it's really important that he is there fighting for Britain's case and fighting, I believe, for a plan for jobs and growth.
11.25am: Vince Cable has issued this statement about his unpaid VAT. (See 11.09am.)
I have not avoided paying tax. I paid in full, all that was owed. The tax accountant has made a statement making this clear.
I approached HMRC unprompted, as soon as I realised I was liable for VAT on my earnings for 2009-10. The tax was paid in full and the matter closed within four weeks. HMRC waived 50% of the fixed penalty for late notification in reco! gnition of the fact that I did approach them unprompted and my oversight was in good faith. I made no attempt to avoid tax in fact I made every effort to pay what was outstanding as soon as it became clear I was liable for VAT.
It's a bit embarrassing that this wasn't spotted earlier. None of this will stop me talking out against tax avoidance.
Downing Street have also expressed their support. A Number 10 spokeswoman said "the case is closed" in relation to this issue. "From time to time, we all make minor mistakes," she added.
11.16am: For the record, here are the latest YouGov GB polling figures.
Labour: 40% (up 10 points since the general election)
Conservatives: 36% (down 1)
Lib Dems: 9% (down 15)
Labour lead: 4 points
Government approval: -31
As you can see from the YouGov tracker figures (pdf), that's the lowest government approval figure since the general election.
11.09am: You can read all today's Guardian politics stories here. And all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today's paper, are here.
As for the rest of the papers, I've already mentioned the Daily Telegraph scoop on the Adrian Beecroft report. (See 9.15am.) here are three stories that are particularly interesting.
The scathing 205-page report, commissioned for discussion at the meeting of Commonwealth heads of government this weekend in Perth, suggests that because of the failure to tackle abuses by! member states, the Commonwealth is developing a reputation as "hypocritical or indifferent".
The report uses such strong wording about the failure to tackle legal and human rights abuses in member countries that some of the 54 members, including Sri Lanka, ordered it be kept confidential.
The authors, including Sir Malcolm Rifkind, found that the Commonwealth, of which the British monarch has formally been head since 1949, is no longer the standard-bearer of human rights, a reputation it enjoyed in the 1980s when it "led the world struggle" to achieve the rule of law, respect for human rights and the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Dr Fox outraged senior Army officials by defying protocol and offering the role of "military assistant" to Lieutenant-Colonel Graham Livesey, an officer whom he had met and liked during a trip to Afghanistan.
In one of his first decisions after taking over as Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond has moved Colonel Livesey to the HQ for the British Army's land forces in Andover, Hampshire. It is a sign that Mr Hammond is keen to signal a fresh start at the Ministry of Defence.
Tom Newton Dunn in the Sun says Vince Cable has been fined for failing to pay VAT. Last year Cable said he was at war with Rupert Murdoch. Judging from the way the story has been written up in the Sun, Murdoch is fighting back.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has been fined by the taxman for failing to pay up to 25,000 in VAT, The Sun can reveal.Dr Cable, who has constantly led Government and Lib Dem attacks on tax evasion, was hit with a 500 penalty by He! r Majest y's Revenue and Customs.
The minister, 68, failed to register huge income from media and book deals as VAT liable and did not pay the duty on it.
Dr Cable's fine made a mockery of his reputation as a scourge of tax evaders last night.
10.58am: PMQs is celebrating its 50th birthday this week. I don't think anyone is planning to bring in a cake, but Simon Hoggart wrote an article about this for the Guardian last week (which, arguably, is just as good).
And today we've launched a PMQs 50th birthday quizz. Do try it - it includes some wonderful quotes.
10.42am: Downing Street might not be commenting on the Adrian Beecroft report (see 10.40am), but the Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb has just attacked it on BBC News.
To throw away employment protection for everyone would be madness.
Lamb isn't just an MP. He's a member of the government (he's a whip) and chief parliamentary and political adviser to Nick Clegg.
In other words, the Lib Dems have just said they will veto this.
However, Lamb also said Lib Dems in the government did want make it easier for employers to get rid of employees who were not performing. He mentioned a proposal to allow employers to have "protected conversations" with workers; this would mean they could raise concerns without having to worry about those conversations being used as evidence in an employment tribunal. This is how Nick Clegg described the proposal yesterday.
Employers tell us they're afraid to have frank discussions with staff...for fear of those exchanges being used against them unfairly, should a dispute end up at tribunal.
We ! want to give them the confidence to be open about performance, about retirement with their employees. If you speak to many employers, they value older workers massively. I don't think there is some sort of in-built prejudice against older workers at all.
There are more details in the Evening Standard story about Clegg's comments.
10.40am: Here's what Downing Street are saying about the leaked Adrian Beecroft report. (See 9.15am.)
We are not going to comment on leaked reports. The Government is committed to reforming employment law, supporting business, encouraging growth, while at the same time ensuring that we do not weaken the employment rights of workers up and down the country.
10.33am: Do read Nicholas Watt's piece in today's Guardian about David Cameron's relations with his backbenchers. It includes this wonderful quote from an unnamed Tory frontbencher who describes what Cameron needs to do improve relations with his MPs.
"The advice of Tristan Garel-Jones to Margaret Thatcher is as valid as ever," the frontbencher said. "You've got to start smiling at the fuckers and pretend you like them."
10.26am: The Ministry of Defence has clawed money back from the account of a dead soldier because his pay covered the period after his death, it emerged today. Here's an extract from the Press Association story.
The family of Lance Corporal Jordan Bancroft was told that 433 had been overpaid into his account because he died on August 21 2010 and had been paid for the month in advance.
It was taken from a payment of 1,493.04! refunde d for holiday time off not taken.
Newspapers reported his father, Tony Bancroft, from Earby, near Burnley, saying: "When I read the letter, it felt like I'd been poked in the eye with a sharp stick.
"I think it's undignified and very petty to be sent a bureaucratic letter like this."
An Ministry of Defence spokesman said today: "We regret any distress that this has caused for the family. We never ask families of those killed in service to pay money back. If there is an overpayment of salary and further payments are due to an estate, adjustments are made to ensure families receive what they are owed.
"A recent improvement means that families of those killed in service receive payment for leave due, but of course overpayments need to be taken into account at the same time.
"Every case involving death in action must be handled with particular care and to achieve this we strive to have clear rules to ensure the system operates fairly for all."
10.22am: David Cameron is set to snub next year's Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil, the Guardian reports, even though the Commons environmental audit committee has today published a report saying he should go.
10.12am: The Ministry of Justice has this morning sent out details of amendments it is making to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill. The bill will get its report stage in the Commons next week and the amendments will:
Make squatting an offence.
Remove the 5,000 cap on fines that can be imposed by magistrates.
Clarify the law on self-defence.
Ban referral fees.
In a statement, Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, said this about referral fees.
Until now, middle-men have been able to profit from selling personal injury claims on to solicitors for a fee. So of course they encouraged people to sue as a first, rather! than la st option. We all ended up paying through higher prices and insurance premiums. Our ban on referral fees together with our changes to no win no fee arrangements will reduce legal costs and speculative suing, so that businesses, schools and individuals can be less fearful of unnecessary claims encouraged by those looking for profit rather than justice.
9.54am: Here's some more reaction to the Adrian Beecroft report for Downing Street saying that workers should be banned from claiming unfair dismissal. (See 9.15am.)
From John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
I think actually what we're hearing on this issue is largely based on prejudice rather than any evidence - ideological prejudice in favour of removing employee rights. I think if you look at the evidence on unfair dismissal, there isn't actually anything to suggest that watering down those rights would create any more jobs. And indeed the job insecurity it would create would actually be bad for the economy and businesses.
From Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary
It can't be any coincidence that this sop to the right wing of the Tory party comes just 24 hours after the prime minister faced a massive revolt by his backbenchers demanding a referendum on Europe.It is despicable that this government seeks to appease its voracious right wing by promising to crush any powers to defend themselves that workers in this country may have left.
UK workers are already the cheapest and easiest to sack in the European Union. Now David Cameron plans to take the nation further back to the dark days of 'hire-and-fire.' That is not in any way a plan for growth it's a pathway to workplace misery and a demoralised and less productive workforce.
This is almost certain to come up at PMQs.
!9.36am: Lord Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, has had some interesting things to say on Radio 5 Live this morning. Yesterday, in an article in the Times, he said that he agreed with the Tories "up to a point" about the need to repatriate powers from Brussels. According to PoliticsHome, he told Radio 5 Live that Nick Clegg agreed with him about this.
Here's the key quote.
I don't think Europe needs to be as intrusive as it is and so does Nick Clegg. What we're talking about here is Europe having a greater say in the world because you work more closely together on defence, on security, on foreign affairs, on trade, where our future safety and jobs lie in a very inhospitable world, and at the same time, we allow greater variation of nations to be able to govern their affairs on all those issues that touch on the citizen, then I think that's a more sensible balance.
But where Nick is right in saying is you can't do this by unilateral grab you can't do that because the others will say 'thank you very much no'. I agree with Nick.
Ashdown also said that he did not think the eurozone would survive in its present form.
My guess is [at today's EU summit] they will pull some kind of rabbit out of the hat at the end of the day they nearly always do. But the markets will look at it, decide it's a pretty mangy, sickly beast and won't be impressed.
And my guess also the one thing you shouldn't do in politics is make any predictions, but I'm a retired old has-been now so perhaps I can risk one they may be able to patch this up for a bit, but I think such are the internal economic divergences now, and the political differences which are crucial to this, I don't think this can sustain for very long.
Maybe very long is weeks, maybe it's months, maybe it's even ye! ars, but I don't think the eurozone, the euro itself, maybe even Europe can ever be the same.
9.15am: I'll post a round-up of what's in the papers later, but a lot of reaction is already coming in to the Daily Telegraph splash. The Telegraph has got hold a leaked copy of a report that Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist, saying that workers should be banned from claiming unfair dismissal. Here's an extract.
Britain's "terrible" employment laws are undermining economic growth and should be overhauled, according to the confidential report obtained by The Daily Telegraph.
It says that British workers should be banned from claiming unfair dismissal so that firms and public sector bodies can find more capable replacements.
Under current regulations, workers are allowed to "coast along" and employers are left fearful of expanding because new staff may prove "unknown quantities" who are impossible to sack, the report says ...
A final draft of the Beecroft report, dated Oct 12 2011, says the first major issue for British enterprise is "the terrible impact of the current unfair dismissal rules on the efficiency and hence competitiveness of our businesses, and on the effectiveness and cost of our public services."
The report continues: "The rules both make it difficult to prove that someone deserves to be dismissed, and demand a process for doing so which is so lengthy and complex that it is hard to implement.
This makes it too easy for employees to claim they have been unfairly treated and to gain significant compensation."
Union leaders have attacked the proposal strongly.
Here's a statement from Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary.
Scrapping protection against unfair dismissal, even for people who have given years of loyal ! service, will do absolutely nothing to boost the economy. Indeed, if people are constantly in fear of losing their jobs, it will lead consumers to spend even less.
But while this proposal does nothing for growth, it does show the kind of economy those close to the prime minister want to create - one in which nasty bosses are given full licence to undermine those trying to maintain decent standards.
The clue is in the name. Employers already have plenty of powers to make fair dismissals. Giving them the right to act unfairly may go down well on the back benches, but will horrify employees.
And this is from Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary.
That a well-heeled Tory venture capitalist should want the Tories to make it easier for workers to be sacked without comeback does not surprise GMB after what the private equity owners did at AA. There they were brutal in sacking 4,000 of the 10,000 AA workers without mercy when they took over.
This report shows the true face of the nasty Tory Party who are, in fact, the political wing of the rich and the elite. That is why Tories have yet to make any move to curb the greed of bankers and financiers who had to be bailed out with billions of pounds of public funds.
9.01am: To be honest, Westminster is not at the centre of events today. We've got PMQs and serious speeches from the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, the business secretary, Vince Cable and the energy secretary, Chris Huhne.
There's also a fun story about Cable being fined 500 for failing to pay VAT on his non-parliamentary earnings.
On any normal day, there would be enough here to dominate the news. But of course none of this is as important as the European debt crisis, which we're covering on a separate live blog.
David Cameron will be going to Brussels for the emergency EU summit, but that won't start until this evening. As I write, the BBC has just said Silvio Berlusconi has announced that he will stand down at the end of the year.
Here's the Westminster agenda for the day:
9.15am: Anne Milton, the health minister, gives evidence to the Commons science committee on sensible drinking limits.
9.45am: The Office for National Statistics issues national population figures.
10.30am: Teachers stage a protest at Westminster over government plans to cut the value of their pensions.
11am: Lansley gives a speech to the Reform conference. As Allegra Stratton reports in the Guardian today, he will announce a tightening of the inspection regime, with 700 new unannounced inspections of hospitals and care homes.
12pm: David Cameron and Ed Miliband clash at prime minister's questions.
12.30pm: MPs start debating a Labour motion claiming that Cameron has broken promises on the NHS.
1.30pm: Cable gives a speech on the economy.
We've also got a speech from Huhne at some point. He is going to use it to attack "climate sceptics and armchair engineers" for criticising renewables.
As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a lunchtime summary at around 1pm and another at about 4pm.
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