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| PMQs and Vince Cable statement on executive pay: Politics live blog | PMQs and Vince Cable statement on executive pay: Politics live blog |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.55am: The Department for Work and Pensions have sent out their gloss on the unemployment figures. It's not available on the web yet, and I won't post the whole thing because it's long (and in parts dull), but here are the main points. | |
| • The number of people employed in the private sector is up 205,000 on the quarter, more than offsetting a 39,000 fall in public sector employment. (This is important for ministers because the government claimed that the private sector would be able to take up the slack caused by public sector job cuts.) • Since May 2010 the total number of people claiming key out-of-work benefits has fallen by 80,000. | |
| • Unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds has fallen by 0.6%. | |
| • Although the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance (the so-called claimant count) is up, the number of people claiming incapacity benefit fell by 10,800 in the year to November 2011. Since then, provisional figures suggest it has fallen by another 50,000. | |
| And here's a statement from Chris Grayling (pictured), the employment minister. | |
Any fall in unemployment is very welcome but I remain cautious over the next few months given the continuing economic challenges we face ... These figures show that with the right support in place it is possible for the private sector to create jobs while the public sector employment is falling. | |
| 9.44am: Here is some more on the unemployment figures. These are excerpts from the ONS statistical bulletin (pdf). | |
| • Male unemployment is falling, but female unemployment isn't. | |
| The unemployment rate for the three months to April 2012 was 8.2 per cent of the economically active population, down 0.2 on the quarter. The total number of unemployed people fell by 51,000 over the quarter, but increased by 185,000 on the year, to reach 2.61 million. The quarterly fall in total unemployment was due to a fall of 99,000 in the number of people unemployed for up to six months to reach 1.21 million, while the number of people unemployed for more than six months increased by 49,000 to reach 1.41 million. The number of unemployed men fell by 49,000 on the quarter to reach 1.49 million while the number of unemployed women was little changed on the quarter at 1.12 million. | |
| • The claimant count is broadly flat. | |
In May 2012 there were 1.60 million people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). This was up 8,100 compared with April, but was 4,700 lower than the figure for March. The number of JSA claimants increased by 96,300 between May 2011 and May 2012 but has been broadly flat since October 2011. | |
| 9.33am: Here are the headline unemployment figures. | |
| • Unemployment fell by 51,000 between February and April to 2.61m. | |
| • The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance last month rose by 8,100 to 1.6m. • Average earnings increased by 1.4% in the year to April, up 0.5% on the previous month. | |
| The Office for National Statistics headlines are here. And the ONS statistical bulletin, with all the details, is here (pdf). | |
| 9.20am: On Monday the Financial Times carried an interview with the Lib Dem energy secretary, Ed Davey (subscription). The FT interpreted his comments as a rebuke to Tories who want to cut windfarm subsidies. Here's how their story started. | |
Ed Davey, energy secretary, has warned Conservative colleagues not to play "fast and loose" with investors in onshore wind farms, as a cabinet row looms over subsidy levels. | |
| Downing Street is putting pressure on the Liberal Democrat minister to scale back subsidies, amid calls from more than 100 Tory MPs to reduce support for wind farms, which they say produce expensive power and ruin the countryside. | |
| Mr Davey, in a Financial Times interview, said if politics prevailed over evidence it would send a damaging message to international investors in the energy market, removing the predictability they seek ... | |
| Decc, the energy department, plans to cut the subsidy 10 per cent between 2013-17. Mr Davey is reluctant to bow to Downing Street's desire for bigger cuts as that could jeopardise investment by energy companies. | |
| "If you were to make the mistake of increasing the political risk premium of investing in the UK by playing fast and loose like this there will be a very heavy price," he warned. | |
| But, on the Today programme this morning, Nick Clegg (pictured) delivered a very different matter. He said that he was not "fetishistic" about subsidies and that in an ideal world he would get rid of them altogether. Here's the key quote, which I've taken from PoliticsHome. | |
| My own view is that I don't think anyone should sort of be fetishistic about subsidies. If you can support industries like offshore, indeed onshore and offshore wind and other forms of energy without any start up subsidy, all the better. | |
| So I don't think subsidies are something which are sort of chiseled in stone. We all accept that over time you want to move to an environment where lots of different ways of producing energy in a clean non-carbon way do not rely on taxpayer subsidies. But equally, it's obvious it seems to me that in the early stages of these technologies a bit of support from the taxpayer goes a long way, and let's remember there's a lot of people's jobs at stake. | |
| I'm not addicted to the subsidy. Far from it. If we can somehow promote a diverse, clean energy mix without asking taxpayers to subsidise it on a temporary basis then all the better. But all the evidence shows that if you want to get these renewable technologies going, they need a little bit of support in their early years and that's what this was always designed to do. | |
| Clegg was being interviewed about the Rio+20 summit which he is attending. He writes about that in an article for the Guardian today in which he also announces that the government will force large companies to publish information about their carbon emissions. | |
| 9.11am: Some 160,000 people in England live in park homes (fixed caravans on park home sites). According to the Commons communities committee, many of them have to deal with particularly unpleasant and unscrupulous landlords. The committee has published a report on the issue. Clive Betts, the committee chairman, says the legislation covering this area needs to be updated. | 9.11am: Some 160,000 people in England live in park homes (fixed caravans on park home sites). According to the Commons communities committee, many of them have to deal with particularly unpleasant and unscrupulous landlords. The committee has published a report on the issue. Clive Betts, the committee chairman, says the legislation covering this area needs to be updated. |
| We received an exceptionally large body of evidence showing the park homes industry has been infiltrated by a rogue element and our recommendations are designed to drive these operators out of the sector. | We received an exceptionally large body of evidence showing the park homes industry has been infiltrated by a rogue element and our recommendations are designed to drive these operators out of the sector. |
| While we recognise that there are some good site operators, the vast majority of the evidence we received suggests that malpractice is widespread across the sector: Complaints from residents about unfair fees, poor maintenance and site owners making it difficult for residents to sell their homes are common. | While we recognise that there are some good site operators, the vast majority of the evidence we received suggests that malpractice is widespread across the sector: Complaints from residents about unfair fees, poor maintenance and site owners making it difficult for residents to sell their homes are common. |
| The committee found that a quarter of park home residents had experienced problems with maintenance, security or safety standards; that nearly a fifth of residents had experienced problems with the written contracts they had with site owners; and that residents had experienced intimidation by site owners or managers at a significant number of sites in the UK. | The committee found that a quarter of park home residents had experienced problems with maintenance, security or safety standards; that nearly a fifth of residents had experienced problems with the written contracts they had with site owners; and that residents had experienced intimidation by site owners or managers at a significant number of sites in the UK. |
| 9.02am: As the Guardian reports, Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has said that the spending squeeze in the health service has left the NHS looking like "a super-tanker heading for an iceberg". | 9.02am: As the Guardian reports, Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has said that the spending squeeze in the health service has left the NHS looking like "a super-tanker heading for an iceberg". |
| In interviews this morning, Simon Burns, the health minister, has been rejecting this charge. According to PoliticsHome, this is what he told Radio 5 Live. | In interviews this morning, Simon Burns, the health minister, has been rejecting this charge. According to PoliticsHome, this is what he told Radio 5 Live. |
I don't agree with that and I'll tell you why I don't. Firstly what we are seeing is that waiting times are low and stable, we are seeing that hospital-acquired infections are at their lowest level, and when you look patient experience survey, which is 70,000 patients who have actually used the NHS in recent months, it shows an overwhelming majority - 92% - said that their experience of the NHS was good, very good or excellent. | I don't agree with that and I'll tell you why I don't. Firstly what we are seeing is that waiting times are low and stable, we are seeing that hospital-acquired infections are at their lowest level, and when you look patient experience survey, which is 70,000 patients who have actually used the NHS in recent months, it shows an overwhelming majority - 92% - said that their experience of the NHS was good, very good or excellent. |
| And frankly what is most important is knowing what patients who actually go into hospital or are treated by the NHS at out-patients, think of their treatment, and they are pleased with the way in which the NHS has responded in what I fully accept are difficult times. | And frankly what is most important is knowing what patients who actually go into hospital or are treated by the NHS at out-patients, think of their treatment, and they are pleased with the way in which the NHS has responded in what I fully accept are difficult times. |
| 8.50am: The G20 summit is over but David Cameron and Ed Miliband are sharply divided over whether it achieved anything. Speaking in Mexico, and referring to the news that Germany is willing to allow the eurozone bailout fund to buy Spanish and Italian debt, Cameron struck a positive note. | 8.50am: The G20 summit is over but David Cameron and Ed Miliband are sharply divided over whether it achieved anything. Speaking in Mexico, and referring to the news that Germany is willing to allow the eurozone bailout fund to buy Spanish and Italian debt, Cameron struck a positive note. |
| What I have sensed at this summit is that there is a fresh impetus with the eurozone members in terms of using all the mechanisms, institutions and firepower that they have to stand up and support their currency. | What I have sensed at this summit is that there is a fresh impetus with the eurozone members in terms of using all the mechanisms, institutions and firepower that they have to stand up and support their currency. |
| But Ed Miliband believes that "no progress" was made at the summit. His aides have released an extract from a short speech he's giving later today describing it as a "summit of inaction". | But Ed Miliband believes that "no progress" was made at the summit. His aides have released an extract from a short speech he's giving later today describing it as a "summit of inaction". |
| This G20 summit should have marked a decisive shift towards jobs and growth, which is vital if we are to get deficits down. Unfortunately this has not happened because too many governments, our own included, seem to think more of the same is the answer. The result is a summit that appears to offer no progress for Europe and no global plan for jobs and growth. It is a summit of division when the world needs unity. And a summit of inaction when people, in Britain and across the world, are crying out for action. | This G20 summit should have marked a decisive shift towards jobs and growth, which is vital if we are to get deficits down. Unfortunately this has not happened because too many governments, our own included, seem to think more of the same is the answer. The result is a summit that appears to offer no progress for Europe and no global plan for jobs and growth. It is a summit of division when the world needs unity. And a summit of inaction when people, in Britain and across the world, are crying out for action. |
| On a normal Wednesday Cameron and Miliband would be in action at PMQs. But Cameron is still in Mexico - he's visiting Mexico City on a trade mission today - and Nick Clegg is at the Rio+20 conference, and so William Hague will be at the despatch box instead. He will be up against Harriet Harman. | On a normal Wednesday Cameron and Miliband would be in action at PMQs. But Cameron is still in Mexico - he's visiting Mexico City on a trade mission today - and Nick Clegg is at the Rio+20 conference, and so William Hague will be at the despatch box instead. He will be up against Harriet Harman. |
| After PMQs we've got Vince Cable's statement on executive pay. Here's the full diary for the day. | After PMQs we've got Vince Cable's statement on executive pay. Here's the full diary for the day. |
| 9.30am: Unemployment figures are published. | 9.30am: Unemployment figures are published. |
| 10am: Tim Loughton, the children's minister, speaks at the Assisted Boarding Network conference. Lord Adonis, the Labour former education minster, is also speaking. | 10am: Tim Loughton, the children's minister, speaks at the Assisted Boarding Network conference. Lord Adonis, the Labour former education minster, is also speaking. |
| 10.30am: Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, holds a press conference to present Labour's NHS Check report. It's the first of what will be a monthly snapshot describing what is happening to NHS services on the ground. | 10.30am: Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, holds a press conference to present Labour's NHS Check report. It's the first of what will be a monthly snapshot describing what is happening to NHS services on the ground. |
| 12pm: William Hague and Harriet Harman clash at PMQs. | 12pm: William Hague and Harriet Harman clash at PMQs. |
| 12.30pm: Vince Cable, the business secretary, makes a statement in the Commons on executive pay. He will say shareholders have to have a binding vote on executive pay every three years. | 12.30pm: Vince Cable, the business secretary, makes a statement in the Commons on executive pay. He will say shareholders have to have a binding vote on executive pay every three years. |
| 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. | 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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