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Pat McFadden has said that Sir Keir Starmer's Government "does not always agree" with Donald Trump amid a rift between the Prime Minister and President over Greenland.Speaking to GB News, the Work & Pensions Secretary said President Trump "is who he is" and that the "task for every country" is to respond to the "more unpredictable" world.FULL STORY HERE.
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0:00
We start with the oil tanker business
0:02
I mean, I know John Healy's saying, you know, it all falls with international law
0:06
we're doing the right thing here. But when we tie it in with the bigger picture
0:10
how are we dealing with the United States and President Trump? We don't seem to be very clear on what we think about Venezuela
0:17
We're certainly against what he seems to be saying about Greenland. Are you stuck between a rock and a hard place
0:26
No, I just think this is the world that we're living in now. It's a more unpredictable world
0:31
President Trump, you know, he is who he is. And the task for every country, including us
0:38
is to respond to that world. And, you know, at the heart of that
0:44
is still a really important relationship between the UK and the United States
0:49
And it's one that keeps your viewers safe every day in the defence and intelligence sphere
0:55
It's a really important economic relationship too. So I think it is possible to say that, to really value this relationship, but it won't always mean that you agree with every single comment or that indeed you have to respond to every single comment
1:12
You know, this is the world we've been in for the past year. I think we have to get used to it
1:17
I think we have to understand why it's changed. And critically, I think we have to understand that in this world
1:25
you have to be able to exercise both hard power and soft power
1:30
And that's why it's right that the UK has stepped up by increasing our own defence expenditure
1:35
and trying to play a leading role in organising European countries in support of the defence of Ukraine This is the big picture of what been happening over the past year From the President Musting though
1:53
when they say the United States will always be there for NATO, even if they won't be there for us
1:59
But what happened yesterday was the US requested British support and British assistance is exactly what they got
2:07
Do you still think that we have this special relationship? Is the US a reliable ally for us
2:16
Yeah, I think they are a reliable ally. It's a very good relationship
2:21
I've seen it in my time in government, how important it is. You mentioned the example yesterday
2:27
This operation was carried out in part by United States assets, which had been temporarily located in the UK
2:37
It's done with UK support. UK military assets also playing their part
2:43
So, yes, the United States is a reliable ally. It's an important ally
2:48
And that relationship between the UK and the US is really, really important and valuable
2:54
And in the UK's national interest, I might add. And that's something that is really important to underline
3:01
Can we talk about the two-child benefit cap? Because Keir Starmer will today, we're told
3:08
will accuse the Conservatives and reform of plunging thousands of children into poverty
3:16
And that's because you're unveiling the legislation to scrap the two-child benefit cap
3:21
I mean, you're having a go at the Tories and reform for a policy you held up until a few short months ago
3:28
And indeed when some of your own MPs said they wanted to scrap the two benefit cap you suspended seven of them Well people were suspended for not taking the government whip on the King Speech
3:44
which is the most critical thing for the government, is its legislative programme
3:48
not for having an opinion about one particular policy. This is really important legislation today
3:55
It will lift 450,000 children out of poverty over the next few years
4:02
And it's not just a matter of cash distribution. This is an investment in children's future
4:08
because children who grow up in poverty are less likely to do well at school
4:13
They're more likely to develop mental health problems, which I can tell you as the Secretary of State for Working Pensions
4:19
is an increasing human and financial cost to the nation. So by doing this, we are trying to change these children's lives
4:29
as well as engaging in a cash distribution. So it's a really important piece of legislation
4:35
And the challenge will be for our opponents at the next election. Are they going to fight the next election, pledge to reverse this
4:42
and put more children back into poverty or not? The ball is now in their court
4:47
They're going to have to make that choice. Look, nobody wants to see children living in poverty
4:52
Of course they don't. But lifting the two-child benefit cap does not incentivise parents to go out to work
5:00
And surely the way to sustainably lift children and families out of poverty
5:06
is to have a good, stable income, to have good employment. And the unemployment rate under your government has soared to 5.1%
5:14
It hasn been that high since the pandemic since 2020 children These parents need good jobs and good stable incomes for their children Well 60 of the children who are affected by this child poverty
5:30
are in families where someone works. And we're trying to make work pay by increasing the minimum wage
5:37
by extending help for childcare for working parents. And another important part of this
5:43
in terms of this distinction that's sometimes drawn, and I think maybe you were trying to draw between working and non-working parents
5:50
is that half the children who will benefit from this are in households where the parents weren't on universal credit
5:59
when they had the children, and that's because lives can change. Someone can lose their job, a marriage can break up, a spouse can die
6:07
all sorts of circumstances can change. So it's not a static group of people who are just on benefits forever
6:14
This is a group of people where people are moving in and out of work all the time
6:19
And the importance of the policy is that we are saying that when your income has fallen
6:24
and remember, universal credit is both an in-work and an out-of-work benefit
6:29
that the state will be there to help you to make sure your children don't fall into poverty
6:34
and make sure that they can have a better life, better educational prospects, better health prospects
6:41
that's an investment worth making for the country. And we're only able to make it because we stabilised the public finances
6:49
because we're cracking down on fraud and error in the benefit system. We made changes to the Motability scheme
6:55
and we also made changes to online gambling taxation. So putting that all together is the way that we were able to afford
7:03
to have this policy. OK, Pat McFadden, always appreciate your time. Thanks very much indeed
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