Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen, including Michael Gove giving evidence to the Commons justice committee and David Cameron and Harriet Harman at PMQs 12.10pm BST Harman turns to the budget. The rise in unemployment is worrying. George Osborne said his changes would make working people better off. But they won’t. The IFS said it was “arithmetically impossible” for the poor to benefit. Will Cameron confirm that?Cameron says it is disappointing that the claimant count has gone up. But youth unemployment is down, and long-term unemployment is down. Wages are up by 3.2%, compared with inflation, which is zero. Cameron says Harman told him that he would have to increase minimum wages by a quarter; in fact, he is increasing them by a third. 12.05pm BST Harriet Harman says it is important a deal has been reached on Greece. The deal should be implemented in a way that is fair to Greece. The IMF says it is unsustainable. Has the chancellor discussed this with the head of the IMF?Cameron says Harman is right to raise this. The principle that there must be debt relief is right. It is in the UK’s interest for the eurozone to resolve how it conducts itself. They need to resolve these issues, and quite fast. Continue reading...
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