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Cameron: people who register today 'will have a vote in EU referendum' - live
Cameron: people who register today 'will have a vote in EU referendum' - live
(35 minutes later)
12.29pm BST
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Labour’s Matthew Pennycook asks why the government has watered down efforts to tackle air pollution.
No10 reveals 214,000 people tried register for #euref btwn 9-10pm last night. Compared to 74k before similar deadline for GE2015
Cameron rejects this. He says the government is tackling this.
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David Cameron on voter registration
Liam Fox, a Conservative, asks Cameron to accept that the referendum is not advisory, but an instruction to the government. Any attempt to ignore it would be a democratic outrage, he says.
This is what David Cameron said about the government ensuring people who register today will be able to vote.
Cameron says he agrees. He says many people would like him to be more nuanced. He says he very strongly believes we would be better off if we stay in.
It’s extremely welcome that so many people want to take part in this massive democratic exercise. Last night there was record demand on the Gov.uk website ... This caused an overload on the system. I’m very clear that people should continue to register today. The Electoral Commission made a statement today urging the government to consider options including extending the deadline ... We’re working urgently with them to do just that and to make sure those who registered today and who registered last night will be able to vote in the EU referendum.
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Stephen Gethins, an SNP MP, says the delay to building the new frigates in Glasgow is causing real problems.
Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP, says he has heard there have been problems with processing ballot papers sent from abroad.
Cameron says this country has not run out of money or ambition when it comes to ship building. There is only one way to threaten shipbuilding on the Clyde; that would be for Scotland to leave the EU.
Hancock says the government is addressing these problems. It is “pulling out all the stops”, he says.
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Neil Carmichael, a Conservative, says Britain should lead in the EU to help young people.
The Conservative MP Damian Green says, if the government announces a new deadline, there could be another surge.
Cameron says universities have been pretty much unanimous in saying Britain should remain in the EU. Universities would lose research funding if we left, he says.
Hancock says the government is putting more capacity in the system to ensure the computer system can cope.
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Labour’s Helen Goodman says the Brexit economist Patrick Minford says British manufacturing would be mostly eliminated under his plans for trade.
Labour’s Dennis Skinner says, if Labour gives up half of day of its time in the Commons for the legislation, the government should promise to ensure Labour will get another half day.
Cameron says Goodman is making a good point. Firms invest in the UK because we are in the single market. He says what the head of Hitachi said this week was very important. In his view, jobs come first, he says.
Hancock says if the government legislates tomorrow, it could ensure that people registering today have their applications accepted.
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Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative, asks about a business centre in his South Thanet constituency.
Hancock says any extension to the deadline would require legislation.
Cameron says David Willetts as science minister did a good job getting businesses to locate in South Thanet.
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Hancock says the fact that so many people wanted to register to vote shows how successful the voter awareness campaign was.
Cameron says the buses bill is a devolved matter, but he will look at what it can do to help disabled people.
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Hancock says extension to the voter registration deadline will only apply for a 'short period'
Cameron says the European budget has been fixed for seven years, until 2020. The budget is going down. That cannot be changed. There is a veto over changing it. And there is a veto over the rebate too. The only person who can give it up is the British prime minister. As long as he is prime minister, he will not give it up.
Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative MP and chair of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, says it would be acceptable to extend the deadline by a few hours. But going beyond that would make this country look like a joke.
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Hancock says he agrees. Any extension should be for a “short period”. Any proposals will have an extension for a “short period” in mind.
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PMQs - Snap verdict:
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PMQs - Snap verdict: Corbyn has until now avoided tackling Cameron over the EU referendum, and we can see why. He tried to taunt Cameron over comments made by pro-Brexit ministers, but it was like watching someone try to barge through an open door, because Cameron was able to deftly deal with this by saying that he did not agree with Patel, Gove etc either. Angela Eagle managed extract some political capital from this topic last week, through mockery, but today it was hard to see what Corbyn was trying to achieve. His question about Sports Direct was good, but Cameron had a reasonable answer to it. And Corbyn did not really achieve a hit either on Tory MEPs and tax avoidance, although he had a good line about how nice it would be if they actually voted to tackle tax avoidance too. Overall, though, it was a breeze for Cameron.
Hancock is replying to De Piero.
Updated
He says the goverment is looking at legislative options. It needs to be sure it gets emergency legislation right. He says he is glad Labour has offered to support the government.
at 12.19pm BST
People need to register now. The government will then ensure how those applications can be made valid.
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He says the government did stress-test this system. It stress-tested it beyond the pre-election peak. But there were even more applications than people expected.
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Corbyn says there is anger all over the world about tax avoidance. MEPs have not been supporting country by country tax transparency. When will they back closing down tax loopholes?
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Cameron says no government has done more nationally or internationally to address this. He says his MEPs do support country by country reporting.
Gloria De Piero says she is glad the government is saying people who register today will have their applications accepted.
Corbyn says he is pleased by that. He just hopes they will vote for it too. That would certainly help. He is concerned tackling tax avoidance is not a priority for Tories. Tories like Gove and Patel and Boris Johnson are trying to destroy protections for workers. If they do not speak for the government, why are they still in it.
But she says the government needs to explain how it is going to ensure this is the case.
Cameron says he had hoped to maintain consensus. But he could mention that Gisela Stuart was spinning for Nigel Farage yesterday. He says extending county by country reporting could make a real difference.
What is the new deadline?
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What will happen about postal votes? The deadline for applying is today. But you can only apply if you are registered, she says.
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Corbyn says, if the government is compassionate, why does it have an employment minister who wants to make work less secure. And Michael Gove says he cannot guarantee that people would keep their jobs if the UK leaves the EU. Can Cameron do something about that?
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Cameron says we are having a referendum. Ministers are campaigning on the other side in a personal capacity. He says he does not agree with Patel and Gove. He says he and Corbyn agree. And other parties, like the Lib Dems and the Greens, agree too.
Urgent question on voter registration
Corbyn says he celebrates the work done by trade unions throughout Europe. Two weeks ago he asked about the posting of workers directive. Will Cameron now confirm that he will support closing the loophole in it that allow exploitation to go on.
Labour’s Gloria De Piero asks for a statement on the voter registration situation.
Cameron says the government supports the current draft. It is good, and the government is backing it.
Matthew Hancock, the Cabinet Office minister, is replying.
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He says the EU referendum is a very important moment.
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In the last week alone over 1m people applied to vote.
Jeremy Corbyn pays tribute to Muhammad Ali.
Yesterday 525,000 applied to register to vote.
He asks Cameron to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts.
He says anyone eligible should be able to register to vote.
Cameron agrees with Corbyn about Ali.
But, because of the unprecedented demand, the system crashed at 10.15am.
On Sports Direct, he says he abhors companies not paying the minimum wage. He says the government is doing more to enforce it than any previous government. More firms are paying penalties.
Before the general election the system was handling 74,000 applications an hour at the peak period. Yesterday it was 214,000 applications per hour at the peak moment.
He says the government legislated in the last parliament to ban exclusive zero-hours contract. But the review did not recommend going further, because some workers want them.
He says the government is looking at what it can do to ensure that people can register. The site is still open today, he says.
Corbyn pays tribute to Unite for exposing the Sports Direct abuses. He says Priti Patel, the employment minister, says leaving the EU would reduce the regulatory burdens on firms. Does she speak for the government?
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Cameron says the government is in favour of staying in the EU. And the Commons has repeatedly chosen to go beyond the rights guaranteed by the EU. This modern, compassionate Conservative government has an excellent record on these things.
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Updated
PMQs is over. Today it lasted for 40 minutes. It is only supposed to run for half an hour.
at 12.10pm BST
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Cameron suggests government will extend registration deadline
Mims Davies, a Conservative, says Emily Davison died on the 8 June 1913. Will David Cameron update MPs on what he is doing to ensure everyone can vote in the referendum.
Cameron says it is welcome so many people want to vote. Last night there was record demand on the website. There was an overload. He says people should continue to register today. The Electoral Commission wants the government to consider legislating to extend the deadline. The government is discussing that, he says.
“We are working urgently to make sure people who register today and who registered last night will be able to vote in the EU referendum,” he said.
