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EU Council/Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to our servicemen Marine Damian Davies, Sergeant John Manuel, Corporal Marc Birch and Lance-Corporal Jamie Fellows, who were all killed in Afghanistan, and Corporal Lee Churcher, who was killed in Basra. It is particularly poignant talking about their families' tragic loss at this time of year, but it should remind us of the bravery our troops show every day of the year. Let me deal with the Prime Minister's visits first. On Afghanistan, one of the lessons of Iraq was that the Government must give clear and frank assessments of what is happening on the ground. Does he agree that there are real causes for concern? The Taliban are operating closer and closer to Kabul, the road network is increasingly unsafe, and the number of Taliban and their armaments appear to be growing rather than shrinking. Does he agree that as well as a realistic assessment of conditions, we need a realistic mission? Should it not focus predominantly on security and rooting out terrorist training, not on an unrealistic objective of completely transforming a society thousands of miles away? Clearly, our servicemen and women are doing a great job, but what about the others who are key to success? Can the Prime Minister tell us more about the representations he made to President Karzai, not just about fraud in his Government, but about drug dealing by those associated with it, and corruption by public officials? On troop numbers, the Petraeus review is vital and it would be helpful if the Prime Minister could tell us about our contribution to that review, but surely we should send more troops only if there is a proper political strategy to help to deliver security, if there is more effective burden sharing with our NATO allies and if there is a corresponding increase in vital equipment, especially Chinook helicopters and armoured vehicles. Just as important is progress in Pakistan. Does the Prime Minister agree that the British public will not understand why we are making sacrifices to prevent terrorist training camps from being established in Afghanistan if they are still operating across the border in Pakistan? He said that he received assurances from President Zardari about taking action, but what is the Prime Minister's assessment of the ability of the Pakistan army, and the Pakistan intelligence services, to deliver on the commitments that he was given? Did he raise those matters directly with the Pakistan chief of general staff, General Kayani? Turning to Mumbai, I know that the Prime Minister agrees that we must strengthen our relationship with India. Can he tell us more about the close co-operation we need between our security services? Clearly, this style of attack on a major city in an open society is a new tactic. Can the Prime Minister tell the House what the Government will do to address that threat here? Turning to the European Council, on climate change we support the so-called 20/20/20 package, but will the Prime Minister confirm that the UK target for renewables is actually lower than 20 per cent., at 15 per cent. of total energy consumption by 2020? Would he accept that this environmental agreement shows that it is possible for Europe to take important decisions on important issues without new treaties and without new constitutions? The Lisbon treaty, by the way, has just seven words on the environment; that is all that it has on the subject. On the Lisbon treaty—[Interruption.] Yes, I read it, actually—Europe's leaders had to make a big decision: do they respect the wishes of the people? The answer was a resounding ““no””. Just what is it with this Prime Minister and elections? An unelected Prime Minister wants to force the Irish people to vote twice because he did not like the result the first time, and he refuses to allow the British people to vote once because he is afraid that he would not like the result of that, either. Does he agree that one of the advantages of an early election here in Britain would be that the Lisbon treaty could be put to the people in a referendum, and we could let them decide? Turning to the economic package, the Prime Minister makes three claims. First, he says that Britain is well prepared. If that is true, can he tell us why the pound has fallen to another record low? Is he aware that this lunchtime, his Olympics Minister said that Britain is"““facing a recession deeper than any that we have known, almost certainly””?" So is it not clear that we are not well prepared? Secondly, the Prime Minister says that those in the EU all agreed with him that every country should take part in the same sort of fiscal stimulus, regardless of their situation. So why does the European Commission statement for the Council state:"““It is clear that not all Member States are in the same position.""Those that took advantage of the good times to achieve more sustainable public finance positions… have more room for manoeuvre now.””" The Prime Minister did not read that out. It continues:"““For those Member States, in particular those outside the euro area, which are facing significant imbalances, budgetary policy should essentially aim at correcting such imbalances.””" In other words, ““If you're in a hole like the one the Prime Minister has put us into, stop digging.”” Thirdly, the Prime Minister said that he is setting the agenda with his particular measures—he is leafing through his papers to try to find them. Let us take VAT. The French Finance Minister said:"““As far as we're concerned…we're not certain that when prices go down, a VAT reduction is that effective.””" The German Social Democrat budget spokesman said that the cut in VAT was counter-productive. That brings me to the Germans. I note that the Prime Minister did not really mention them—or perhaps he did once, but he thinks he got away with it. Is not it true that the German Finance Minister—another Social Democrat, by the way—has completely blown the Prime Minister's credibility out of the water? He described his approach as ““crass”” and mistaken. He criticised Britain's debt, which he believes will"““take a whole generation to work off.””" In response, the Prime Minister claims that Germany's fiscal expansion backs up his own plans. However, Germany went into the downturn with a budget surplus; it fixed the roof when the sun was shining. In contrast, the Prime Minister led Britain into the downturn with the largest budget deficit in the industrialised world. Next, he claimed that this was all to do with internal German politics, but has not that claim been shattered, too? The Christian Democrats' budget spokesman said that the German Finance Minister's comments"““have nothing whatsoever to do with internal German politics… the tremendous amount of debt being offered by Britain shows a complete failure of Labour policy””." The Prime Minister is always telling us that he wants a consensus. He certainly got one in Germany: they all think that he has got it wrong. With the EU Council in mind, will the Prime Minister act to deal with what the Governor of the Bank of England says is the most pressing challenge: getting banks lending again? Will he adopt our proposal for a national loan guarantee scheme? I have the draft Bill here. Will he support it, so that we can get business trading and Britain out of the recession? Instead of dreaming about saving the world, when will the Prime Minister start saving businesses here in Britain?