>>Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East) (SNP): If he will list his official engagements

for Wednesday 1 July 2015

>>The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): I am sure the whole House will wish to join

me in congratulating the England women's football team on reaching the semi-finals

of the world cup in Canada and wishing them well for their match against Japan this evening.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and, in addition to

my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

>>Angela Crawley: The Prime Minister's plans for English votes for English laws will reduce

my rights and the rights of other Scottish MPs in this House—[Interruption.]

>>Mr Speaker: Order. The hon. Lady must and will be heard.

>>Angela Crawley: The Prime Minister's plans for English votes for English laws will reduce

my rights and the rights of other Scottish MPs in the House of Commons, but the real

issue is my ability to protect the interests of my constituents. Will the Prime Minister

guarantee today that, under his plans, a Bill that has a direct or indirect effect on Scotland's

budget will not be certifiable as England-only?

>>The Prime Minister: First, let me welcome the hon. Lady to her place. We will publish

our proposals shortly and Parliament will have plenty of time to consider and vote on

them, but let me be very clear: we are not creating a system of two tiers for MPs. All

MPs will still vote on all Bills, but what we are saying is that laws which apply only

in England should pass only if they are supported by a majority of English MPs. That seems to

me—in a devolved system where Members of the Scottish Parliament can determine their

own future on health, housing and an increasing number of subjects—to provide fairness across

our United Kingdom. >>Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness)

(Con): Yesterday the National Audit Office called for the introduction of a fairer schools

funding formula so that it is

“related more closely to their”—

that is, pupils'—

“needs and less affected by where they live.”

Can the Prime Minister confirm from the Dispatch Box that the additional and very welcome £390

million awarded last year as a first step towards a fairer funding system will be incorporated

into the baseline for future years?

>>The Prime Minister: I can say that we will implement the pledges in our manifesto on

this issue because we need to make funding fairer across the country. If we look at the

figures today, it is clearly unfair that a school in one part of the country can receive

over 50% more funding than an identical school in another part of the country. We have already

made some progress on this, but I want us to go further.

>>Ms Harriet Harman (Camberwell and Peckham) (Lab): I join the Prime Minister in his congratulations

to England's women's football team. With only a fraction of the resources that the

men get, they are showing the men how it is done.

Sadly, we now know that 22 British citizens have been confirmed dead in the Tunisia attack.

Our thoughts are with the bereaved and injured, and the help they and their families will

need. The bereaved and those who have experienced life-changing injuries and trauma will need

long-term practical and emotional support. The experience after 7/7 was that to really

help those affected families, there needs to be co-ordination across Departments and

agencies, so will the Prime Minister establish a dedicated taskforce reporting to a Minister

to support those who have suffered in that terrible attack?

>>The Prime Minister: Yes, I can give the right hon. and learned Lady that assurance.

Let me update the House, because I am sad to say that the confirmed number of British

citizens killed in this appalling attack is now 27 and, as we have said, we expect it

to rise still further. Today we are repatriating eight bodies from Tunisia on an RAF C-17 plane.

The plane is now in the air and will land at RAF Brize Norton this afternoon. Every

family of a victim now has a dedicated Foreign Office liaison officer, but—I can confirm

what she asked—I have asked the Cabinet Secretary for advice on creating a ministerial

committee to ensure that work is properly co-ordinated right across Government to provide

all the support that the victims of this appalling attack deserve and to ensure that, as a nation,

we mark and commemorate this event appropriately.

>>Ms Harman: That is a really important step that the Prime Minister has taken. We fully

support it and thank those who will be working in that respect. Reports over the past few

days have suggested that it was not just a lone gunman who perpetrated the attack, but

an organised cell. Following the Home Secretary's visit to Tunisia and the deployment of 50

police officers, will he update the House on the progress being made to help identify

the perpetrators and bring them to justice?

>>The Prime Minister: On that specific issue, there is still a lot of work to be done to

identify all the circumstances of this appalling attack and the support that the gunman received.

As we get that information and confirm it, I will ensure that the House is regularly

updated. I can confirm that the discussions between my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary

and the Tunisians went ahead and were successful. As I have said previously, that is looking

at everything, from the protective security in hotels and resorts to intelligence co-operation

at the highest levels between Britain and Tunisia, so that we can help with its capacity

to combat such appalling events. It will need a lot of long-term work between our two countries,

but the French, the Germans and the Americans are also willing to help, and we need to co-ordinate

between ourselves how best to support that country on its road to democracy.

>>Ms Harman: The Prime Minister has rightly said that this was an attack on our values

and everything we stand for, and there is radicalisation in this country, too. Last

November the Intelligence and Security Committee said that the Prevent programme had not been

given sufficient priority and that counter-radicalisation programmes are not working. Today a new statutory

duty to challenge radicalisation comes into effect. Will there be sufficient training

and support for those covered by the duty, and will he look again at the concern that

the Prevent programme has not focused sufficiently on engaging with the communities?

>>The Prime Minister: The right hon. and learned Lady raises very important issues. Let me

answer them as directly as I can. First, we have now put more money and resources into

the Prevent programme. Secondly, on her point about the statutory duty on public sector

bodies, I think that is very important, because we are saying to schools, universities, local

authorities and others that they have a duty to deal with radicalisation and to confront

extremism, because this effort is not just for the police and security services, or indeed

just for the Government, it is an effort for us all. On her specific question, which goes

back to whether it was right to split the Prevent work into work that is done to deal

with extremism under the aegis of the Home Office and the programmes to encourage integration,

which should be done by the Department for Communities and Local Government, I maintain

that that was the right decision. It followed a review in 2011 by Alex Carlile, who found

that

“there have been cases where groups whom we would now consider to support an extremist

ideology have received funding.”

As we discussing in the House on Monday, it is very important that that does not happen.

Yes we should work with community groups, but not those that encourage an extremist

narrative.

>>Ms Harman: It is important that the Prime Minister does not just defend the decisions

he has made, but continues to reflect on this and really tries to make absolutely sure that

he gets it right. If he does that and gets the right outcomes, we will strongly support

him on that.

Let me turn to another issue. With all-party support, the Prime Minister commissioned the

Davies report to look at the question of airport capacity. Now that the commission has recommended

a third runway at Heathrow, does he agree with us that, subject to key environmental

tests being met, there should be no further delay and that it should go ahead? Will he

now take that forward?

>>The Prime Minister: First, let us all thank Howard Davies and the team for the very thorough

piece of work they have done. I think that there is a lot of common ground across almost

all parts of the House that there is the need for additional airport capacity in the south-east

of England, not least to maintain this country's competitiveness, but it is important that

we now study this very detailed report. I am very clear about the legal position; if

we say anything now before studying the report, we could actually endanger whatever decision

is made. The guarantee that I can give the right hon. and learned Lady is that a decision

will be made by the end of the year.

>>Ms Harman: The Prime Minister says there is common ground, and there is common ground

across the House; the worry is the lack of common ground on his side of the House. He

gives the impression that there is going to be a proper process, but something very is

different coming out of No. 10, because it is briefing that it is not going to happen.

It looks like the Prime Minister has been overruled by the hon. Member for Uxbridge

and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson); he should tell him that he is not the leader of the

Tory party yet. Will the Prime Minister stand up for Britain's interests or will he just

be bullied by Boris?

>>The Prime Minister: I would have thought that with all her years of experience, the

right hon. and learned Lady would know not to believe everything that she reads in her

morning newspapers. It would probably be good for her blood pressure, as well as for mine,

if she did not. Let me give the mildest warnings about jumping to a conclusion before seeing

the results, because we had a classic example of that last week when the shadow Health Secretary

warned the Government that the poverty figures would make us all hang our heads in shame.

That was of course before the poverty figures were published, showing that relative poverty

was at its lowest level since the 1980s.

>>Ms Harman: The Prime Minister seems to be keen to get off the issue of airports. It

seems like he is in a holding pattern above Heathrow and Boris will not let him land.

Our economic infrastructure is essential for future jobs, for growth, and for our productivity,

but this week the Government have pulled the plug on electrification of the railways and

seriously undermined the renewable energy sector, and now they are backing off over

airports and risking losing the opportunity for Britain to be at the heart of the global

economy. If the Prime Minister makes a swift decision on the Davies Report, we will support

him and there will be a majority in the House, so will he put Britain's national interest

first?

>>The Prime Minister: It is an interesting day when the leader of the Conservative party

wants to talk about child poverty and the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about

an airport report that none of us has yet had time to read. I seem to remember that

the last leader of the Labour party—although we have been churning through a few recently—had

a totally different position on airports to the one that the right hon. and learned Lady

is now putting forward. What I can say to her is that we will all read this report and

a decision will be made by the end of the year.

>>Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con): My constituents in rural North Dorset look increasingly to

superfast broadband to help in education, agriculture and business. Will the Prime Minister

commit the Government to do all that they can, with sufficient energy and resources,

to ensure that the 5% black hole is filled as quickly as possible?

The Prime Minister: First, let me welcome my hon. Friend to his place. Before coming

here, he was a very successful district councillor in an area I am familiar with, where he helped

to achieve the second lowest council tax in the country. I am sure that he will bring

that sense of good housekeeping to this place. He is absolutely right to raise the issue

of superfast broadband and how we fill in the last 5% to 10% of homes, particularly

in rural areas. We are providing extra funding and we are looking at all the different sorts

of technology that can help to deliver this.

>>Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP): I associate myself and the Scottish National party with

all the tributes and condolences to the families and friends of everybody caught up in the

tragedy in Tunisia.

Because of the way the United Kingdom is structured, decisions on health, education and much English

legislation have an impact on the Scottish budget. Will the Prime Minister confirm that

he plans to exclude Scottish MPs from parts of the democratic process at Westminster that

will have an impact on Scotland?

>>The Prime Minister: The point I would make to the hon. Gentleman is that English MPs

are entirely excluded from any discussion of Scottish health, Scottish housing or Scottish

education. What we are proposing is actually a very measured and sensible step which says

that when there is a Bill that only affects, for instance, England, the Committee stage

should be composed of English MPs, but then the whole House will vote on Report and, indeed,

on Third Reading. What this will introduce, as it were, is a system for making sure that

the wishes of English MPs cannot be overruled. That, I think, is only fair in a system where

the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament and, indeed, the Northern Irish Parliament

have increased powers.

>>Angus Robertson: On overruling MPs, it is very interesting that 58 of 59 Scottish MPs

have voted for the Scottish Bill to be strengthened, but they have been outvoted by English MPs.

Not content with outvoting Scottish MPs elected on a mandate to strengthen the Scotland Bill,

the Prime Minister is now going to introduce second-class status for MPs elected from Scotland

on issues that can have an impact on the Scottish budget. He is even planning to make the membership