Before listing my engagements, I am sure the whole House will wish to join me in expressing our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those killed on operations in Afghanistan over the last week. They were Corporal Dean John, Corporal Graeme Stiff and Lance Corporal Christopher Harkett. They, and all those who have lost their lives in conflict, deserve our profound gratitude for their service not just to our country, but to the peace of the world. Their courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.
Jim Sheridan: I am sure that everyone in the House will wish to associate themselves with the Prime Minister’s comments.
Today’s unemployment figures are extremely disappointing and, as a former shipyard worker who experienced the indignity of three years’ unemployment in the early 1980s, I can well understand the frustration and anger that unemployment brings. May I ask my right hon. Friend not to abandon the unemployed and to make sure that the Government continue to invest in the skills and training needed to help us through these difficult times?
The Prime Minister: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Any person who loses their job or is in fear of losing their job is a matter of personal regret for me and the whole Government. I do not regard unemployment as a statistic; I regard it as one person, a second person and a third person who needs our help. That is why we will do everything we can to help people get back into work: that is why we have announced more apprentices; that is why we have announced more help with training; that is why we have announced that from April there will be help for those who have been unemployed for six months; and that is why we have put ￡1.3 billion into the jobcentres—money that is necessary, so that we can help hundreds of thousands of people in the next few months get back into work.
Mr. David Cameron (Witney) (Con): I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to Corporal Dean John, Corporal Graeme Stiff and Lance Corporal Christopher Harkett. The fact that more than 150 of our servicemen and women have been killed in Afghanistan is a reminder, once again, of the huge sacrifices our armed forces are making on our behalf. We praise their bravery, we honour their memory and we must look after their families.
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Today, as has been said, unemployment has risen to more than 2 million people. The increase in the claimant count is the sharpest rise since records began. Does this not reveal that the claims repeatedly made by the Prime Minister that Britain is one of the best-placed countries in the world to withstand recession were simply nonsense?
The Prime Minister: I came into politics, and I stood for Parliament, because I wanted to help tackle unemployment and poverty, and that is why we are announcing the most comprehensive programme to help the unemployed. But I have to tell the right hon. Gentleman that unemployment is higher in France, in Germany, in Japan and in America. It is higher in most of the other countries we deal with, but we are taking urgent action to help those people in Britain who are unemployed. We are spending ￡1.3 billion helping our jobcentres and helping people into work. The Conservatives would not spend that money. I ask him why he would not help us deal with the problem of unemployment.
Mr. Cameron: I have to say to the Prime Minister that Members in every part of this House will contrast what he said with the fact that 144 of our further education colleges—the exact organisations we need to retrain people who are unemployed—are having their building projects halted. There is this enormous gulf between what he says every week and what his Government are actually doing. Let me return to the question. People will simply not understand why the Prime Minister is so incapable of ever admitting that he got anything wrong. It is not just the unemployment figures today; the International Monetary Fund has said that the recession will be deeper and longer in Britain than in many other countries, and that Britain will be the only major economy in the world that will be in recession next year. So let me ask him again: was it not wrong to claim that Britain was one of the best-placed countries in the world to withstand recession? Admit it.
The Prime Minister: No, because the fact is that America entered recession more than a year and three months ago and the euro area entered recession in April last year, whereas we entered recession in July. We stopped ourselves going into recession for months after what had happened in America, and the action that we are taking now is designed to get us through it as quickly as possible.
Let me correct the right hon. Gentleman on FE colleges—we are going to spend ￡110 million this year investing in them. Let me correct him on public expenditure— we are investing
