announcer: thursday dr. anthony fauci and cdc director rochelle walensky testified on the biden's administration covid-19 response. watch live on c-span at 10:00 eastern or watch coverage on c-span now, our new video app. announcer: british prime minister boris johnson took questions from members of the house of commons. topics included violence against women, climate change, afghanistan, and the upcoming g20 summit. minister-- [inaudible] >> i had meetings with colleagues and others during which my honorable friend the chancellor updated the cabin and

on how the government plans for jobs is working with higher wages, higher skills and rising productivity. he will make a statement shortly in additions to my duties i shall have further such meetings later today. >> thank you mr. speaker. i welcome the 866 northern project. this 1 billion-pound investment will improve safety and congestion and help the level of our region supporting jobs and tourism, but we have to get the project right. will my right honorable friend asked the department to transport the minimum-- ministry of defense to work together pragmatically and recently with amendments to ensure local community are not left blighted.

>> mr. speaker, he is right that the development he refers to, infrastructure revolution, but he's also right that we should consider local feedback from stakeholders in the community when finalizing the design. >> the leader of the opposition is isolating so i'm calling into question-- [inaudible] thank you just like the old days >> i presume-- he's delaying it. >> one time only. >> mr. speaker we all need to

deliver next week because failing to limit global warming 5 degrees will have devastating consequences. that sentiment is shared across this house appeared does the prime minister agreed to keep that goal of 1.5 degrees alive we need to roughly shore up global omissions in this decisive decade cracks. >> i welcome the right automotive gentlemen and i think would extend our sympathies to the opposition. it is of course correct mr. speaker that is both unbelievably important for our planet, but also in the balance mr. speaker and he is right in what he says about the need to keep 1.5 degrees alive. that will be-- it does depend on what happens this decade and the commitments. i will same, mr. speaker, it's

substantial commitment from the uk presidency that has been achieved moving from early 30% of the global economy committed to net zero by the middle of the century to 80% and every day i talked to his national leaders we hear for the commitment to make those commitments the world will need. i'm afraid it's too early to say. >> i applaud the efforts of the president designate, but i want to direct the prime ministers attention to this decade. i will come to net zero targets in the middle of the century, but yesterday important report came out from the united nations noting the emissions cap. it warned we are only on course to reduce by about 7.5%. does the prime minister--

[inaudible] prime minister how far away we are from the action required in this 10 year period. >> prime minister-- mr. speaker indeed i do, but what should also be recognized is how far we have moved in a few years since the terrace of corporate some 112015 where i'm sure the right honorable gentlemen the world agreed to net zero by 2100 by the end of the century and agreed to try to restrain a global warming by warming by four degrees, we are going to try to keep alive the prospect of restricting that growth there 1.5 degrees every day countries are coming through with solid commitments on stopping the out but, reducing their use on internal combustion engines, and investing hundreds of billions of pounds.

whether they're going to be enough, i am afraid it is too early to say. >> i will just correct the prime minister on one point: it was the second half of the century that was set out in paris, not 2100 for net zero. here is the problem on the question of net zero targets for the middle of the century -- it is easy to make promises for 30 years' time. it is much more difficult to act now. australia recently announced a 2050 net zero target, but its 2030 target would head the world towards approximately 4° of global warming. can i our gym, he must not shift the goalpost when it comes to glascow. it is about the emergency we face this decade. it is about the ngc's this decade. please keep the focus on 2030, not 2050 and beyond. >> here, here. -- hear, hear. >> the focus is certainly on

2030. we have 122 nationally determined contributions already, and 17 out of 20 g20 countries have made ndcs. the commitments are coming through. we need to keep the pressure up. what you can do is go in advance of what is truly practicable for the world economy and for what people can do. this government will go as fast as we possibly can. labour's plans, which i think he endorsed, were condemned by the gmb union, their paymasters, --for meaning that it would be confiscating people's cars by 2030 and that families would be allowed only one aeroplane flight every five years. >> mr. speaker, let me tell him, what this summit needs is statesmanship, not partisanship, which is what we have just heard from the prime minister. he should not be trying to score party political points on such an important issue facing our country and our world.

that is never the way i did pmqs. [laughter] now, let me ask him about the crucial issue of climate finance for developing countries. because the reason the paris summit succeeded was that there was a coalition of vulnerable countries and developed countries that put pressure on all the big emitters, including china, and india. but the problem is that the world has not delivered on the $100 billion of finance promised more than a decade ago in copenhagen. the plan is to deliver it maybe in 2023. but i want to ask him about his actions. hasn't it made it much harder to deliver on this promise that we are the only g7 country to cut the aid budget in the run-up to this crucial summit? pm johnson: i thought we were not going to have any partisan

points. [laughter] that did not last long. actually, one of the first things i did as prime minister was to go out to my first u.n. general assembly as prime minister and announce a huge £11.6 billion commitment from the u.k. to help the developed world to tackle climate change. and i will say to the right honorable gentleman, yes, of course, it is true that we have not cut back. we have not cut back, mr. speaker. we are keeping that investment. let me tell the right honorable gentleman that this country is working flat out to ensure that we do reach the £100 billion commitment from the whole of the world. we are seeing the money come in from the united states, from the italians, from the french and from the european union, and it is quite right that it should. we have a way to go, mr. speaker. whether we will get there or not, i cannot say, it's in the balance, but the challenge is there for the leaders of the

developed world. i quite agree with the right honorable gentleman that they need to rise to it. >> it is one thing for the prime minister not to know what is in the paris agreement, but another for him not to know what is in his own budget. he has cut that aid budget. of course he has cut the aid budget. he has abandoned the bipartisan belief in the aid budget across both these houses, but it is not just on aid where the government face both ways. they have a trade deal with australia where they have allowed the australians to drop their temperature commitments. they are telling others to power past coal while flirting with a new coal mine, and they are saying that we have to move beyond fossil fuels but open the new cambo oilfield. isn't the truth, mr. speaker, that the prime minister has undermined his own cop presidency by saying one thing and doing another? pm johnson: no, mr speaker. he is completely wrong. he is completely wrong -- and i think he should withdraw what he has just said about the £11.6 billion, because we remain

absolutely committed to the £11.6 billion that we are investing to tackle climate change around the world. and if is absolutely rocksolid. -- that is absolutely rocksolid. i talked to the prime minister of australia only recently, and australia has just, with great difficulty, made the commitment to get to net zero by 2050. it is a great thing. i talked yesterday to our indonesian friends. for instance, joko widodo, a good friend of this country, has agreed on coal to bring forward the abolition of coal use in indonesia to 2040-a fantastic effort by the indonesians. i talked to president putin, i i think they confirmed yesterday, and he confirmed his determination to get to net zero by the middle of the century. that is what the u.k. is doing. working with countries around the world to get the outcome we want. it is still too early to say

whether that will succeed. mr. speaker, it is in the balance. >> the thing the prime minister has underestimated in the last two years is cop26 is not a glorified social opportunity, it is a fragile and complex negotiation. and the problem is the prime minister's boosterism will not cut carbon emissions in half. photo opportunities will not cut carbon emissions in half. can i just say to the prime minister, in these final days before cop26, we need more than warm words. above all, glasgow has to be a summit of climate delivery, not climate delay. pm johnson: he talks about cutting co2 in half. well, that is virtually what this government has done, mr. speaker. since 1990, we have cut co2 by 44% and the economy has grown by 78%. that is our approach, mr. speaker, a sensible, pragmatic conservative approach that cuts

co2, that tackles climate change and that delivers high-wage, high-skilled jobs across this country. our net zero plan will deliver 440,000 jobs. that is what the people of this country want, and that's what they are seeing. they are seeing wages up, they are seeing growth up, they are seeing productivity up under this government. if we had left it to the leader of the opposition, who is sadly not in his place, we would still be in lockdown. that is a point that he might bring to his attention, wherever he is currently self-isolating. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister will know that both i and my honorable friend the member for wolverhampton south west, and i have both lobbied for funding for better training and skills provision for young people in wolverhampton. the youth unemployment rate was unacceptably high pre-pandemic, and now, sadly, it is the highest rate nationally.

will the prime minister look at how the government can level the opportunity so that young people in wolverhampton can get the skills and the confidence that they need to find work? pm johnson: my honorable friend is absolutely right about wolverhampton, that is why we are working flat out to ensure that young people in wolverhampton benefit from the kickstart scheme, and we are working with city of wolverhampton council to ensure that young people get bespoke support for their return to work. speaker: we now come to the leader of the snp. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i am sure the thoughts and prayers of the entire house will be with the family of walter smith, who sadly passed away yesterday, the legend of -- manchester united. we will never forget how he led us to victory over france. mr. speaker, naturally, most of today's focus and attention is

on the chancellor's budget. but before we turn to domestic matters, i think it is right and important to raise the dire humanitarian situation that is developing in afghanistan. the world food programme estimates that more than half the population-about 22.8 million people-face acute food insecurity. 3.2 million children under five could suffer acute malnutrition. given the history of the past 20 years, it should be obvious that we have a deep responsibility to this country and to its people. mr. speaker, they are dying, and they need our help. it is only two months since the allied forces relinquished control of the country, so can the prime minister update us on what exactly his government are -- is doing to end the famine in afghanistan? pm johnson: i thank the right honorable gentleman.

he raises an issue that i know is on the mind of many people in this house and across the country. we are proud of what we have done to welcome people from afghanistan, but we must do everything we can also to mitigate the consequences, for the people of afghanistan, of the taliban takeover. what we did, as you will recall, is we doubled our aid commitment for this year to 286 million pounds. we are working with the un agencies and other ngos to do everything we can to help the people of afghanistan. what we cannot do at the moment is write a completely blank cheque to the taliban government or the taliban authorities. we need to ensure that that country does not slip back into being a haven for terrorism and a narco-state. >> mr. speaker, the fact is that there is a humanitarian crisis and people are in need today.

there was nothing there about tangible actions that the government is taking on the ground now. because the situation is getting worse by the day. in august, the allies ran away from their responsibilities in afghanistan, and now it very much feels as if this government is washing its hands of the legacy that they left behind. not only are the afghan people being failed on humanitarian aid, but promises made to them on resettlement are being broken, too. the afghan citizens resettlement scheme was announced on 18 august, which talked about resettling up to 20,000 over the coming years. two months on, we have heard nothing. the afghan people are being left with no updates and with vague targets. can the prime minister finally tell us when the resettlement scheme will open? can he guarantee that 20,000 afghans will be resettled? and when exactly is the deadline for that to happen?

>> mr. speaker, we made a commitment to resettle 20,000 afghans in addition to those whom we brought out under operation pitting, which i think most fair-minded people in this country would think was a pretty remarkable feat by u.k. armed services. many of those 15,000 are already being integrated into the u.k., into schools and into communities, and we will help them in any way we can. i am afraid he is completely wrong in his characterization of the stance that the u.k. has taken towards afghanistan and the changes there. we continue to engage. we engage with the taliban, this country was one of the first to reach out and begin a dialogue. what we are insisting on is safe passage, mr. speaker. just to his point, where he rather uncivilly calls out, what

we are insisting on is safe passage for those who wish to come and settle in this country, for people to whom we owe an obligation, and that is what we are doing. and i have answered the question. [shouting] the >> thank you. p.m. johnson: as the whole house will know, today is national cheese toastie day. [laughter] it is a fact. a massive 4.3 billion toasties were consumed last year. they are the nation's favourite snack, and glorious somerset is the home of cheddar cheese. so with the news of wyke farms, in my constituency, is now producing what i think is the world's first entirely carbon-neutral cheddar cheese. did my right honorable friend know that eating cheddar

from somerset can reduce one's cheese consumption carbon footprint by 55%? so will my right honorable friend support the industry by committing to enjoying a carbon-neutral cheese toastie today? mr. speaker, my only question is, why is it only national cheese toastie day? why is it not international cheese toastie day? i hope very much that among its many other achievements, the cop26 summit will bring the entire global community to a better understanding of the wyke farms carbon-neutral cheese toastie. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister will be aware of the harm that the northern ireland protocol is doing to the political and economic stability of northern ireland and the very delicate constitutional balance created by the belfast or good friday agreement. in the command paper published

by the government in july, they committed to addressing these issues and recognised that the protocol was simply not sustainable. does the prime minister accept that the conditions now exist to trigger article 16 of the protocol in the event that the current negotiations with the eu fail to arrive at an acceptable outcome? pm johnson: the right honorable gentleman is completely right, i'm sad to say, in what he says. we are working hard to secure an agreement by negotiation, but we need to see real progress, because, he knows the real life -- issues on the ground in northern ireland have not gone away. and if we can't see progress as , we have been saying for some months, if we cannot see progress, rapid progress, in the way that we spelt out in our command paper, i think it will be clear to everybody that the conditions for invoking article 16 have already been met.

speaker: robbie moore. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the airedale general hospital, in my constituency, is made predominantly from aerated concrete, which is known for its structural deficiencies, and is in desperate need of a rebuild. as the prime minister will be aware, the hospital recently submitted to the government its bid for a brand-new carbon-neutral hospital. it is fantastic news that this conservative government will deliver 48 new hospitals, but may i make an urgent plea to the prime minister that the airedale is one of them? pm johnson: my honorable friend, indeed the whole house, will be hearing more about the spending for health in just a few moments. i can tell him that we have received 120 applications for the biggest hospital building programme in a generation, and his application will certainly be amongst those that will receive our most urgent consideration.

speaker: anna mcmorrin. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this government is failing women and girls, from the lack of rape prosecutions and no victims bill, to letting criminals off the hook. and now, women and girls, including on my own children children-are being targeted with , a sinister form of spiking through injections. it is always women and girls who pay the heaviest price. today they are making a stand today and saying enough is enough. how many more women and girls will be hunted or excluded before the prime minister himself finally makes a stand? -- takes a stand? pm johnson: mr. speaker, the reports of spiking are extremely disturbing. it is a criminal offense. i know that my right honorable friend the home secretary has asked the police to update her on exactly what details they have and what is happening. she wants to give them the space for the time being to conduct their inquiries into what is

going on. but i would ask everybody with information about such incidents to come forward and contact their local police. speaker: david morris. >> with cop26 imminent, i would like to draw the prime minister's attention to the good work that is being done in morecambe on the eden project. wes johnson at morecambe and lancaster college has put forward a programme to teach youngsters in morecambe the international eden ethos, in order to, shall we say, propagate the goodwill around the world. i would like to invite the prime minister to come to the morecambe riviera to see the eden project site at his earliest convenience. pm johnson: mr. speaker, i am delighted to respond in the affirmative to my honorable friend, because the last time he asked me about this, it was to ensure that we got an eden project in morecambe. it sounds from what he is saying that we are making progress in that direction, and that is thrilling. speaker: ben bradshaw. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i am sure that the whole house will want to send my right

honorable friend the leader of the opposition our best wishes. also, it is good to see a few more conservative mps heeding the health secretary's plea to -- and wearing masks. given that we have had far -- four several weeks now, covid infections, hospitalisation and death rates than any other western european country for several weeks now, was it a mistake to abandon all those precautions back in july? if not, why are our figures so bad? pm johnson: mr. speaker, i thank the right honorable gentleman for his question, the reality is that, of course, we monitor all the data very carefully every day. but we see nothing to suggest that we need to deviate from the plan that we have set out, that began with a roadmap in february, and that we are sticking to it and that has given business and this country the ability to get on and achieve the unlockings that we

have seen and indeed the fastest economic growth in the g7. speaker: jane hunt. >> thank you, mr. speaker. my constituent sophia dady has composed a song about the positive action we can each take to combat climate change, which emphasizes the need to "clean, repair and protect". will the prime minister join me in encouraging all u.k. schools to follow the lead of fairfield prep school in loughborough and other schools across the world, from hawaii to norway, in raising awareness of this important issue through learning the song? pm johnson: mr. speaker, do i have to learn the song? i will do my best. i thank my honorable friend for raising the work of her constituents and her constituents' school. it is absolutely vital that we not only recycle where sensible, but above all we cut down on the use of plastics, mr. speaker. speaker: zarah sultana.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. this week, it was revealed that fossil-fuel companies, interest groups and climate denialists had donated £1.3 million to the conservative party and its mps since 2019. so, a simple question, no waffling or dodging the issue, on the eve of cop26, will the prime minister demonstrate that he is serious about tackling the climate emergency by paying back this money and pledging that his party will never again take money and donations from the fossil-fuel companies that are burning our planet? yes or no? pm johnson: mr. speaker, all of our directions are registered in the normal way. and let me just remind her that the the labour party's paymasters, the gmb, think that labour's policies mean that no families would be able to take more than one flight every five years, mr. speaker, and that -- have their cars confiscated.

speaker: martin vickers. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this week is u.k. wind week, and later this afternoon i will be welcoming some young people from my constituency who see their futures in the renewable energy sector which has done so much to level up the grimsby, cleethorpes and north-east lincolnshire area. will the prime minister give an assurance that the government will continue to invest in the skills and development of our young people in order to benefit the renewable energy sector? pm johnson: yes, mr. speaker, and i think the whole house should be proud of the fact that the u.k. now produces more offshore wind -- not hot air, mr. speaker, but energy for the people of this country. clean, green energy, produced of cleethorpes in the north sea, and we are going to be massively increasing the volume of that output, mr. speaker.

>> mr. speaker, a thriving steel industry is the foundation of a more productive and resilient britain, yet bickering between the chancellor and the businesses secretary is blocking the chance to tackle the sky-high energy prices that our steelmakers have been facing since long before the current price spikes. with the pathway to net zero dependent on steel firms using more electricity, not less, will he urged his colleagues around the cabinet table turn now put in place a wholesale energy price caps, along with long overdue reductions in network connection costs? mr. speaker, cop will not work without a cap. pm johnson: mr. speaker, he is making a very important point about the high energy costs for energy-intensive industries, and that is why we have abated them with about £2 billion since 2013. but the answer is to do what we are doing, which is to break up the long-term baseload needs of this economy by investing in nuclear, as i am afraid labour

failed to do in their 13 lost years, as well as in renewables. speaker: prime minister's questions. [chatter] >> a new boat mobile video app from c-span. download today. >> frances haugen testified before united kingdom joint committee about misinformation and extremism on the social media platform. and the harmful effects the profile -- platform snapchat can have on children. this is doing a half hours. >> t w