This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pmqs-read-jeremy-corbyns-six-opening-questions--and-david-camerons-predictable-answers-10503638.html
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| PMQs: Read Jeremy Corbyn's six opening questions – and David Cameron's predictable answers | PMQs: Read Jeremy Corbyn's six opening questions – and David Cameron's predictable answers |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Jeremy Corbyn has survived his first Prime Minister's Questions as he introduced his new conversational style of politics to ask David Cameron a set of questions sent to him by members of the public. | Jeremy Corbyn has survived his first Prime Minister's Questions as he introduced his new conversational style of politics to ask David Cameron a set of questions sent to him by members of the public. |
| Dressed in a beige jacket and faded yellow tie, the new Labour leader looked surprisingly calm for a man that has not had the smoothest of starts to his new job. | Dressed in a beige jacket and faded yellow tie, the new Labour leader looked surprisingly calm for a man that has not had the smoothest of starts to his new job. |
| But urging Mr Cameron to engage with him to improve the behaviour of MPs and to scrap the "theatrical" style of Parliament, he won plaudits from his own backbenches, who viewed the session as his best half an hour as leader yet. | But urging Mr Cameron to engage with him to improve the behaviour of MPs and to scrap the "theatrical" style of Parliament, he won plaudits from his own backbenches, who viewed the session as his best half an hour as leader yet. |
| You can read the whole exchange between the two leaders here: | You can read the whole exchange between the two leaders here: |
| Jeremy Corbyn: Thank you Mr Speaker. I want to thank all those who took part in an enormous democratic enterprise in this country, which concluded with me being elected as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the opposition. I think we can be very proud of the number of people who engaged and took part in all those debates. | |
| I’ve taken part in a number of events around the country and had conversations with many people about what they thought about this place: our parliament, our democracy and our conduct within this place, and many told me that Prime Minister’s Questions was too theatrical, that parliament was out of touch and too theatrical, and they wanted things done differently. But above all, they wanted their voice heard in parliament. | |
| So I thought for my first Prime Minister’s Questions I’d do it in a different way, and I’m sure the Prime Minster is going to absolutely welcome this, just as he welcomed this idea in 2005 – but something seems to have happened to his memory during that period… | So I thought for my first Prime Minister’s Questions I’d do it in a different way, and I’m sure the Prime Minster is going to absolutely welcome this, just as he welcomed this idea in 2005 – but something seems to have happened to his memory during that period… |
| So I sent out an email to thousands of people and I asked them what questions they would like to put to the Prime Minster, and I got 40,000 replies. | So I sent out an email to thousands of people and I asked them what questions they would like to put to the Prime Minster, and I got 40,000 replies. |
| Now there isn’t time ask 40,000 questions today, and our rules limit us to six. | Now there isn’t time ask 40,000 questions today, and our rules limit us to six. |
| So I would like to start with the first one, which is about housing. | So I would like to start with the first one, which is about housing. |
| 2,500 people emailed me about the housing crisis in this country, and they ask one, from a woman called Marie, who says: “What does the Government intend to do about the chronic lack of affordable housing and the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords in this country? | 2,500 people emailed me about the housing crisis in this country, and they ask one, from a woman called Marie, who says: “What does the Government intend to do about the chronic lack of affordable housing and the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords in this country? |
| David Cameron faces Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions today David Cameron: First of all can I congratulate the honourable gentleman on his resounding victory in Labour leadership election and can I welcome him to the front bench and these exchanges. I know that we will have many strong disagreements I’m sure between us at these exchanges, but when we can work together for the nation’s interest we should do so, and I wish him well in his job. | David Cameron faces Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions today David Cameron: First of all can I congratulate the honourable gentleman on his resounding victory in Labour leadership election and can I welcome him to the front bench and these exchanges. I know that we will have many strong disagreements I’m sure between us at these exchanges, but when we can work together for the nation’s interest we should do so, and I wish him well in his job. |
| If we are able to change Prime Minister’s Question Time and make it a more genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions no one would be more delighted than me. I actually felt last week, where we discussed a substantial issue with substantial questions and proper answers, was good for our house, good for our democracy and so I welcome it. | If we are able to change Prime Minister’s Question Time and make it a more genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions no one would be more delighted than me. I actually felt last week, where we discussed a substantial issue with substantial questions and proper answers, was good for our house, good for our democracy and so I welcome it. |
| Let me answer very directly Marie’s question, because we do need to see more affordable housing in our country. We delivered 260,000 affordable housing units in the last parliament, we built more council houses in our country than in the previous 13 years had been managed, but I recognise much more needs to be done. That means carrying on with our reform of the planning system. It means encouraging the building industry to come up with innovative schemes like starter homes but above all it means continuing to support the aspiration of people to be able to afford to buy their own home, which is where Help to Buy and schemes like that come in. | Let me answer very directly Marie’s question, because we do need to see more affordable housing in our country. We delivered 260,000 affordable housing units in the last parliament, we built more council houses in our country than in the previous 13 years had been managed, but I recognise much more needs to be done. That means carrying on with our reform of the planning system. It means encouraging the building industry to come up with innovative schemes like starter homes but above all it means continuing to support the aspiration of people to be able to afford to buy their own home, which is where Help to Buy and schemes like that come in. |
| But I d say to the honourable gentleman: we won’t get Britain building unless we keep our economy going. | But I d say to the honourable gentleman: we won’t get Britain building unless we keep our economy going. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: I thank the Prime Minister for that answer and I thank him for his commitment that we are going to try and do Question Time in a more adult way than it was done in the past. | Jeremy Corbyn: I thank the Prime Minister for that answer and I thank him for his commitment that we are going to try and do Question Time in a more adult way than it was done in the past. |
| The effects of government policy on housing are obviously enormous: the decision made to cut one per cent of the rent levels in councils and housing as without thinking about the funding issues that those authorities face is a serious one. I’ve got a question from Steve who works for a housing association, who says that the cut in rents will mean that the company he works for will lose 150 jobs by next March because of the loss of funding of that housing association to carry on with the repairs. Down the line it will mean worse conditions, worse maintenance and fewer people working in it and a greater problem for those living in those properties. | The effects of government policy on housing are obviously enormous: the decision made to cut one per cent of the rent levels in councils and housing as without thinking about the funding issues that those authorities face is a serious one. I’ve got a question from Steve who works for a housing association, who says that the cut in rents will mean that the company he works for will lose 150 jobs by next March because of the loss of funding of that housing association to carry on with the repairs. Down the line it will mean worse conditions, worse maintenance and fewer people working in it and a greater problem for those living in those properties. |
| Does the Prime Minster not think that it’s time to reconsider the question of the funding of the administration of housing as well as of course the massive gap of 100,000 units a year between what is needed and what is being built? | Does the Prime Minster not think that it’s time to reconsider the question of the funding of the administration of housing as well as of course the massive gap of 100,000 units a year between what is needed and what is being built? |
| David Cameron: What I would say to Steven and all those working in housing associations and doing a good job is that for years in our country we had something of a merry-go-round where rents went up, housing benefits went up so taxes had to go up to pay for that. I think it was right in the budget to cut the rents that social tenants pay, not least because those people who are working and not on housing benefit will see a further increase in their take home pay, and be able to afford more things in life. | David Cameron: What I would say to Steven and all those working in housing associations and doing a good job is that for years in our country we had something of a merry-go-round where rents went up, housing benefits went up so taxes had to go up to pay for that. I think it was right in the budget to cut the rents that social tenants pay, not least because those people who are working and not on housing benefit will see a further increase in their take home pay, and be able to afford more things in life. |
| I think it’s vital though that we reform housing associations and make sure that they are more efficient. Frankly they are a part of the public sector that hasn’t been through efficiencies, haven’t improved their performance and I think it’s about time that they did. | I think it’s vital though that we reform housing associations and make sure that they are more efficient. Frankly they are a part of the public sector that hasn’t been through efficiencies, haven’t improved their performance and I think it’s about time that they did. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: Well I thank the Prime Minister for that, but it brings me neatly on to what happened yesterday in the house, when the house sadly voted through proposals which are going to cost £1300 per year to families affected by the change in tax credits. This is absolutely shameful. I had more than 1000 questions on this. Paul, for example, says this very heartfelt question: “Why is the government taking tax credits away from families? We need this money to survive so our children don’t suffer. Paying rent and council tax on a low income doesn’t leave you much. Tax credits play a vital role and more is needed to stop us becoming reliant on food banks to survive." | Jeremy Corbyn: Well I thank the Prime Minister for that, but it brings me neatly on to what happened yesterday in the house, when the house sadly voted through proposals which are going to cost £1300 per year to families affected by the change in tax credits. This is absolutely shameful. I had more than 1000 questions on this. Paul, for example, says this very heartfelt question: “Why is the government taking tax credits away from families? We need this money to survive so our children don’t suffer. Paying rent and council tax on a low income doesn’t leave you much. Tax credits play a vital role and more is needed to stop us becoming reliant on food banks to survive." |
| David Cameron: What we need is a country where work genuinely pays. And that’s why what our proposals do are reform welfare, but at the same time bring in national living wage which means that anyone on the lowest rate of pay will get a £20 a week pay rise per week, and that’s why the figures show that a family – I thought this was the new Question Time? I’m not sure the message has fully got home! – I don’t want to blind the house with statistics but I’ll just give you these two. One, a family with someone on minimum wage, after all our changes, will be £2,000 better off. Second statistic, and I think this is really important: if you look at what happened between 1998 and 2009, in-work poverty went up by 20 per cent at the same time as in-work benefits went from £6 billion to £28 billion. The old way of doing things didn’t work, and we shouldn’t go back to it. | David Cameron: What we need is a country where work genuinely pays. And that’s why what our proposals do are reform welfare, but at the same time bring in national living wage which means that anyone on the lowest rate of pay will get a £20 a week pay rise per week, and that’s why the figures show that a family – I thought this was the new Question Time? I’m not sure the message has fully got home! – I don’t want to blind the house with statistics but I’ll just give you these two. One, a family with someone on minimum wage, after all our changes, will be £2,000 better off. Second statistic, and I think this is really important: if you look at what happened between 1998 and 2009, in-work poverty went up by 20 per cent at the same time as in-work benefits went from £6 billion to £28 billion. The old way of doing things didn’t work, and we shouldn’t go back to it. |
| What we’ve got to do is tackle the causes of poverty. Get people back to work, improve our schools, improve childcare. Those are the ways we can create an economy where work pays and everyone is better off. | What we’ve got to do is tackle the causes of poverty. Get people back to work, improve our schools, improve childcare. Those are the ways we can create an economy where work pays and everyone is better off. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: The institute of fiscal studies says there are eight million people in paid work eligible for benefits or tax credits. They are on average being compensated by just 26 per cent of their losses by the so-called national living wage that the government has introduced. And so I ask a question from Claire, who says this: “How is changing the thresholds of entitlement for tax credits going to help hard working people or families? I work part time, my husband works full time earning £25,000. We have five children. This decrease in tax credits will see our income plummet.” | Jeremy Corbyn: The institute of fiscal studies says there are eight million people in paid work eligible for benefits or tax credits. They are on average being compensated by just 26 per cent of their losses by the so-called national living wage that the government has introduced. And so I ask a question from Claire, who says this: “How is changing the thresholds of entitlement for tax credits going to help hard working people or families? I work part time, my husband works full time earning £25,000. We have five children. This decrease in tax credits will see our income plummet.” |
| They ask a simple question: "How is this fair?" | They ask a simple question: "How is this fair?" |
| David Cameron: A country has to live within its means and we were left an unaffordable welfare system and a system where work didn’t pay. Now we see today the latest set of employment statistics, where the rate of employment in our country has reached, yet again, a record high. More people in work, more people in full time work, and also seeing unemployment fall in every region of the country except the south east – the sharpest falls are in the north west, the north east and the West Midlands. What we are doing is moving from an economy with low wages, high tax and high welfare to an economy with higher wages, lower taxes and less welfare. That is the right answer. An economy where work pays, an economy where people can get on. And let us not go back to the days of unlimited welfare. Labour’s position again today is to abolish the welfare cap. I say that a family that chooses not to work shouldn’t be better off than a family that chooses to work. | David Cameron: A country has to live within its means and we were left an unaffordable welfare system and a system where work didn’t pay. Now we see today the latest set of employment statistics, where the rate of employment in our country has reached, yet again, a record high. More people in work, more people in full time work, and also seeing unemployment fall in every region of the country except the south east – the sharpest falls are in the north west, the north east and the West Midlands. What we are doing is moving from an economy with low wages, high tax and high welfare to an economy with higher wages, lower taxes and less welfare. That is the right answer. An economy where work pays, an economy where people can get on. And let us not go back to the days of unlimited welfare. Labour’s position again today is to abolish the welfare cap. I say that a family that chooses not to work shouldn’t be better off than a family that chooses to work. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: Many people don’t have that choice. Many people live in a very difficult situation and rely on the welfare state to survive. Surely all of us have a responsibility to make sure people can live properly and decently in modern Britain. That is surely a decent civil thing to do. | Jeremy Corbyn: Many people don’t have that choice. Many people live in a very difficult situation and rely on the welfare state to survive. Surely all of us have a responsibility to make sure people can live properly and decently in modern Britain. That is surely a decent civil thing to do. |
| I received over 1,000 questions on the situation facing our mental health services and the people who suffer from mental health conditions. This s a very serious situation across the whole country, and I want to put to the Prime Minister a question that was put very simply by Gail: Do you think it is acceptable that the mental health services in this country are on their knees at the present time? | I received over 1,000 questions on the situation facing our mental health services and the people who suffer from mental health conditions. This s a very serious situation across the whole country, and I want to put to the Prime Minister a question that was put very simply by Gail: Do you think it is acceptable that the mental health services in this country are on their knees at the present time? |
| David Cameron: Well as I mentioned before the first question there will be areas where we can work together and I believe this is one of them: we do need to do more to increase mental health services in this country. We made some important steps forward in recent years: mental health and physical health now have parity in the NHS constitution; we’ve introduced for the first time waiting time targets for mental health services so they are not seen as a Cinderella service. And of course we’ve made the commitment – that I hope he will back undoing previous labour policy – to back the Stevens plan for an extra £8 billion into the NHS in this parliament which can help to fund better mental health services, amongst other things. | David Cameron: Well as I mentioned before the first question there will be areas where we can work together and I believe this is one of them: we do need to do more to increase mental health services in this country. We made some important steps forward in recent years: mental health and physical health now have parity in the NHS constitution; we’ve introduced for the first time waiting time targets for mental health services so they are not seen as a Cinderella service. And of course we’ve made the commitment – that I hope he will back undoing previous labour policy – to back the Stevens plan for an extra £8 billion into the NHS in this parliament which can help to fund better mental health services, amongst other things. |
| There are problems in some mental health services and its right we make that commitment. But I make this one point to him: we will not have a strong NHS unless we have a strong economy. And if the Labour Party is going to down the route of unlimited spending, unlimited borrowing, unlimited tax rates, printing money, they will wreck the econ security of this country and the family security of every family in our country. | There are problems in some mental health services and its right we make that commitment. But I make this one point to him: we will not have a strong NHS unless we have a strong economy. And if the Labour Party is going to down the route of unlimited spending, unlimited borrowing, unlimited tax rates, printing money, they will wreck the econ security of this country and the family security of every family in our country. |
| We won’t be able to afford a strong NHS without a strong economy. | We won’t be able to afford a strong NHS without a strong economy. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: If I could take the Prime Minister back to the situation of mental health in this country. It is very serious, I agree with him absolutely on parity of service. I hope the spending commitments are brought forward rather than delayed to the end of this parliament because the crisis is a very serious one. We know this from our constituents; we know this from people we meet. We know this from the devastation that many face. And indeed some have taken their own lives because of the devastation they face. | Jeremy Corbyn: If I could take the Prime Minister back to the situation of mental health in this country. It is very serious, I agree with him absolutely on parity of service. I hope the spending commitments are brought forward rather than delayed to the end of this parliament because the crisis is a very serious one. We know this from our constituents; we know this from people we meet. We know this from the devastation that many face. And indeed some have taken their own lives because of the devastation they face. |
| I ask this question from Angela, who is a mental health professional so she knows exactly what she’s talking about – and she quotes this: “Beds are unobtainable, with the result that people suffering serious mental health crises are either left without adequate care or, alternatively, are admitted to facilities many miles away from their homes, relatives and family support systems. The situation is simply unacceptable.” | I ask this question from Angela, who is a mental health professional so she knows exactly what she’s talking about – and she quotes this: “Beds are unobtainable, with the result that people suffering serious mental health crises are either left without adequate care or, alternatively, are admitted to facilities many miles away from their homes, relatives and family support systems. The situation is simply unacceptable.” |
| What does the Prime Minister say to Angela? To people like her who work so hard in the mental health service, or people going through a mental health crisis who may well be watching us today on Prime Minister’s Question Time and want to know that we take seriously their conditions? We take seriously their need for emergency beds to be near to their support system and that we as a society take seriously their plight and are going to help them and care for them? What does the Prime Minister say to Angela? | What does the Prime Minister say to Angela? To people like her who work so hard in the mental health service, or people going through a mental health crisis who may well be watching us today on Prime Minister’s Question Time and want to know that we take seriously their conditions? We take seriously their need for emergency beds to be near to their support system and that we as a society take seriously their plight and are going to help them and care for them? What does the Prime Minister say to Angela? |
| David Cameron: What I would say to Angela and all those working in mental health or indeed those suffering from mental health conditions is that we need to do more as a country to tackle mental health. And that’s obviously money into the health service which we will deliver, but it’s also changing the way that the health service helps those with mental health conditions. The honourable gentleman rightly talks about mental health beds and they’re important, but frankly so is important the service that people get when they visit their GP. Many people going to our GP surgeries have mental health conditions but actually aren’t treated for those conditions and don’t get access to, for instance, the cognitive behavioural therapies that are increasingly being made available. | David Cameron: What I would say to Angela and all those working in mental health or indeed those suffering from mental health conditions is that we need to do more as a country to tackle mental health. And that’s obviously money into the health service which we will deliver, but it’s also changing the way that the health service helps those with mental health conditions. The honourable gentleman rightly talks about mental health beds and they’re important, but frankly so is important the service that people get when they visit their GP. Many people going to our GP surgeries have mental health conditions but actually aren’t treated for those conditions and don’t get access to, for instance, the cognitive behavioural therapies that are increasingly being made available. |
| So my argument is: yes, put in the resources, change the way the NHS works, change public attitudes to mental health because that is vital. But I say it again, we won’t be able to do any of these things without the strong economy that we’ve built these last five years. | So my argument is: yes, put in the resources, change the way the NHS works, change public attitudes to mental health because that is vital. But I say it again, we won’t be able to do any of these things without the strong economy that we’ve built these last five years. |
Previous version
1
Next version