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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Swinson and Wright quiz Cameron
March 19, 2011 4:41 PM
• [Mar 16] Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat): I WELCOME the UK's strong leadership at the UN on Libya. Can the Prime Minister tell me what message he thinks it will send to every tyrannical dictator if, against the urgent desire of the Libyan people, against the wishes of the Arab League and against the UN principle of the responsibility to protect, the international community fails to stop Gaddafi crushing the spirit, the hopes and the lives of the Libyan people?
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David Cameron (Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative): The hon. Lady makes a very important point. Every world leader has said that Gaddafi should go and that his regime is illegitimate. If at the end of this he is left in place, that will send a terrible message-not only to people in Libya, but, as she says, to others across the region who want to see greater democracy and greater openness in their societies. That is why it is right for Britain to play this leading role at the UN and elsewhere. I am not arguing that a no-fly zone is a simple solution to this problem-of course it is not-but I do think that it is one of the steps we need to take to isolate and pressurise that regime, and to say that we stand with people in Libya, who want to have greater democracy and greater freedom, such as we take for granted in this country.
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• Simon Wright (Norwich South, Liberal Democrat): A report published today by the End Child Poverty campaign shows that when Labour left office, it left 30% of Norwich's children living in poverty-the worst figure in the east of England. Does the Prime Minister agree that such a complex problem demands a cross-Government response to tackle the causes of poverty and deliver greater social mobility?
David Cameron: The hon. Gentleman is entirely right, and if we think of combating child poverty simply in terms of moving people a little bit above or below the line we will never deal with the underlying causes of child poverty, which are worklessness, family breakdown, and other problems linked to it. I am determined that we will try our hardest, with expertise from across the House of Commons-Mr Allen is involved in this work, as is Mr Field-making sure that we really look at life chances, as well as poverty itself.
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