Transcript of David Cameron interview

On Sunday 9th January Andrew Marr interviewed Prime Minister David Cameron.

Please note 'The Andrew Marr Show' must be credited if any part of this transcript is used.

ANDREW MARR:

Now if you've filled the car with fuel or bought a train ticket during the past week, you'll be well aware it's become more expensive. Anything liable to VAT is going to cost you more; and once the sales are over, inflation's likely to push up prices in the shops as well. 2011, the year when austerity really starts. But the Prime Minister says he hopes it will also be the year in which Britain gets back on its feet. Well David Cameron is with me now. Prime Minister, good morning.

DAVID CAMERON:

Good morning.

ANDREW MARR:

People are going to notice higher prices all over the place from this week on, all the people watching this programme. Let's start with petrol. During the by-election campaign, you returned to the issue of the so-called fair fuel escalator whereby the Treasury might hand back some of the rise in oil prices to help motorists out. Is this a serious proposal?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well it's something I've asked the Treasury to look at because when you're filling up the car and it's £1.30 a litre, it is incredibly painful for families up and down the country and I understand that. I mean obviously the last increase in fuel duty was one we actually inherited from the last government. It was part of their plans. And obviously the whole of the deficit has been so deep, we haven't been able to cancel many of their tax plans. We've had to go ahead with most of them. We obviously stopped the Labour jobs tax, which was madness, but we've had to go ahead with many of them. But I think it is worth looking at. It's not easy. Let me …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) It's something you've promised in your manifesto, isn't it?

DAVID CAMERON:

(over) I don't want to raise people's hopes too far because it is a difficult issue, but the concept that when the oil price rises - and it has risen - if that yields extra revenue to the Treasury, is there a way of sharing the burden between the Treasury and the motorists, that's the idea.

ANDREW MARR:

We had George Osborne talking about this actually on this show a year ago or more. It was in the manifesto, etcetera. Why is it only being looked at?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well it wasn't something that made it into the coalition agreement. It's something that, as you say, was in our manifesto. It's something that has now got worse as it were because of the rise in the oil price and so, therefore, the rise at the petrol pumps, and we're going to look at it and there's a budget coming up. I don't want to … There are difficulties.

ANDREW MARR:

(over) There's a rise in April due. I mean, for instance, there's a duty rise in April coming up. Is that going to go ahead? If I'm a motorist - sort of yes or no - can I expect to be paying that as well?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well we haven't been able … As I said, we haven't been able to cancel any of the other Labour tax plans that were put in place, so the taxes on things like alcohol and petrol. We did cancel the jobs tax, the national insurance increase. That was madness, putting up the cost of employing someone, when really the priority this year has got to be growth, jobs, getting the economy moving, getting businesses to employ people, and so the priority was to stop the tax that we felt was the most damaging, which was the tax on jobs. And actually look although it is going to be a tough and difficult year - I don't deny that for a second and we are trying to recover the economy from the vast pit of debt that we were left - but be clear, you know this year because of the budget last year, we are lifting 800,000 people out of income tax, we're raising income tax thresholds. That will help all people who are basic rate taxpayers. So yes of course it's going to be difficult, but we did things in that budget to help the economy, to help business, to make it cheaper to employ people. That's where we've got to put the priority this year - to get the economy moving.

ANDREW MARR:

You've mentioned jobs several times there. You must have had an estimate from your own Office of Budget Responsibility and others about the jobs effect of the VAT rise to 20%. Roughly speaking, how many people are going to lose their jobs because of that?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well, look, of course putting up VAT, putting up any tax has an impact on the economy. You have to ask yourself the question: what would be the impact of not dealing with the deficit? We wouldn't be sitting here talking about growth and jobs. We'd be sitting here talking about you're in a hole like Ireland, like Greece; you've got the IMF knocking at your door; you've got credit downgrades; your interest rates are piling up; confidence is sapping out of the economy.

ANDREW MARR:

Sure, all at some point.

DAVID CAMERON:

We'd be having … This is very important because of course any tax rise has an impact on economic growth. I can't for a minute deny that and all economic forecasts are now done independently by the Office of Budget Responsibility. But you have to ask the question: what if we weren't dealing with the deficit, which would be I think economic madness. And the second question you have to ask is: well if you didn't do VAT, what tax would you do? The first category there would probably be national insurance. That's what Labour have committed to. And putting up national insurance, as I've just said, when you're trying to get the economy growing and get jobs growing, would be a very, very perverse thing to do.

ANDREW MARR:

And, nonetheless, it is a regressive tax. You yourself have said VAT is a regressive tax. Is it at 20% there for the long haul, there for good?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well we're dealing with a structural budget deficit. What that means is even when the economy grows, this deficit, this pile of debt isn't dealt with. So that's structural, that's not going to go away because of the growth, and so the changes we're making have to be pretty permanent too.

ANDREW MARR:

Because you could have made other changes. I mean you cut corporation tax, and if you hadn't cut corporation tax you wouldn't have had to raise VAT so much, so it is a choice …

DAVID CAMERON:

Of course, look we …

ANDREW MARR:

… and I just return, sorry, to my first question, which is what do you think the jobs impact of the VAT choice that you've made is going to be?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well, as I say, all those forecasts about the effect of every individual tax and every individual decision, they're all made and they're set out and people can see them by the Office of Budget Responsibility. I prefer to look at things in the round, look at the whole, because of course the VAT rise is part of a whole economic policy. And that economic policy, according to the Office of Budget Responsibility, is actually going to see a growth in the number of jobs and a growth in employment across this parliament. That I think is the way to try and judge what we're doing.

ANDREW MARR:

Does the same go for the 50p top rate of income tax? Is that also forever and a day?

DAVID CAMERON:

I hope not because you know we've obviously got to look at how much this thing is raising. We kept it in place. But I think everybody knows that high rates of marginal income tax discourage people from working, discourage people from living here, discourage people from getting on, so I don't think any party in this country wants it to be permanent. But clearly I think the first bit of work to do, having come into government, is well let's have a look at whether this thing is actually raising a lot of money, and I think that's a piece of work that needs to be done.

ANDREW MARR:

Because you know that your critics will say that if you reduce the rate of income tax, which is a progressive tax, and you keep the high rate of VAT which is a regressive tax, that's an unfair thing to do on people at the bottom of the heap.

DAVID CAMERON:

But of course, these are all things for the budget and I'm not going to …

ANDREW MARR:

Sure.

DAVID CAMERON:

… tell you about the budget today. But the question I think is a better question for me to ask is … sorry to ask myself is are the rich paying a fair share?

ANDREW MARR:

Yes.

DAVID CAMERON:

And you know one of the things … When the income tax rate was …

ANDREW MARR:

And are they?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well this is what we have to look at. But when the high rates of income tax were cut back in the 1980s, what we found was not only did the richest 10% pay more in tax. They actually paid a greater percentage of the tax. So that's I think the argument. Rather than just looking at static tax rates, you've got to ask yourself are people making a fair contribution? And we were determined as a coalition government in the budget and the spending round that the richest should pay the most not only in total cash terms, but also as a share of their income, and that's what the budget and the spending round achieved.

ANDREW MARR:

Well let's turn to one of the richest: a certain Mr Stephen Hester heading the Royal Bank of Scotland Group owned by yourself and myself and everybody else who's watching, who's going to be paid little short of £7 million next year with a huge £2.5 million bonus like many of the other bank bosses. Again and again, we've heard yourself and other politicians say we're going to crack down on bonuses. Again and again, nothing happens.

DAVID CAMERON:

Well I don't accept … frankly I don't accept any of that. I mean first of all on the Stephen Hester issue, this is pure speculation. No announcement's been made, no decision's been made, the level of bonus hasn't been set. So I mean you know that's the newspapers. It's just …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) So we can expect something less than that?

DAVID CAMERON:

We just leave that to one side.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay.

DAVID CAMERON:

I think if you ask the bigger question, which is what are we doing to deal with the issue of banks and bonuses, I think there's actually now quite a strong record you can see: one of the first governments in the world to introduce a bank levy - not a one off tax but a bank levy every year, £2.5 billion coming into the Treasury to help us pay down the debt to help pay for public spending programmes. That is hugely important. We've also set up the Banking Commission. So we are looking at the whole …

ANDREW MARR:

That doesn't affect … They don't affect the bonuses, those things.

DAVID CAMERON:

Well okay on the bonuses specifically, we now have the Financial Services Authority have set out a very tough set of rules on bonuses. Last year it applied to just 25 companies. This year it applies to 2,500 companies. And those are all rules about how much of bonuses have to be paid in shares, how much have to be deferred, guaranteed bonuses should be absolutely exceptional. So a lot of changes have been made. (Marr tries to interject) Now do we still need the banks to do more to demonstrate their social responsibility? Yes, we do. But should we I think as a government and as a country think we've got to get a settlement where we recognise that a successful banking sector is part of a successful market economy. And we want these banks to be lending - to be lending to businesses large and small.

ANDREW MARR:

That is their job. I mean that's what they're supposed to be doing.

DAVID CAMERON:

Absolutely, absolutely. And what I want to see is socially responsible banks behaving responsibly, lower bonus pools than last year's, responsible levels of remuneration, proper agreements on lending to businesses large and small and being good citizens in the community. That's what I want to see.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay, it's just …

DAVID CAMERON:

And I think we'll achieve that and I think that would be more meaningful than just a sort of weekly let's go on the Andrew Marr programme and bash the banks over the head.

ANDREW MARR:

You'd be very welcome, of course. But …

DAVID CAMERON:

So that's what we'd like to achieve.

ANDREW MARR:

Yuh. But one last go on this. When I pick up the papers and I read that lots and lots of banks are saying this year we are going to pay big bonuses again. We were restrained last year; it's back to business as usual. Question: will you as a government stop that happening or do you say well that is actually part of the free market working and there's nothing we can do about it? We can talk about lending, but not about the bonuses.

DAVID CAMERON:

First of all, on the general I want to see the bonus pool smaller than last year. On the specific, Royal Bank of Scotland, as you rightly say, is owned by the government. They should not be leading the way on bonuses. They should be a back marker. They should be the ones …

ANDREW MARR:

And you can do something about it. You can veto it?

DAVID CAMERON:

Absolutely, absolutely. And we are, as you say, the predominant shareholder in it. But as the predominant shareholder in it, let me just make one more point. I am determined as a Prime Minister and as a government that the taxpayer gets its money back from those banks, and that means they've got to be successful banks, they've got to be you know good performing banks, and I want to be able to sell them back into the private sector to pay the taxpayer back their hard earned money that they put into those banks. And we won't do that if we micro manage them on a daily basis according to whatever's in today …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) You understand the public anger at this?

DAVID CAMERON:

Of course I do. I mean I feel it because, frankly, you know the whole country has suffered from irresponsible lending practices, from irresponsible behaviour. We need to recognise though that there are a lot of people to blame for the mess that we're in and we shouldn't just think … It's an easy scapegoat to pick one industry. Governments made mistakes, regulators made mistakes, politicians made mistakes. Everyone was involved. Even oppositions made mistakes, dare I say it.

ANDREW MARR:

Indeed. Well let's turn to one other area where people are going to feel the pain this year pretty quickly, which is the way that a lot of local authorities are responding to the 20% cut that they're getting from central government, which is that they're going to be putting up the charges from everything from childcare to closing libraries and nurseries, car parking, burials - you name it. All up and down the country local authorities are looking at this and they're going to be passing on some pretty eye watering increases pretty quickly. Who is to blame for that?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well you know to coin a phrase, we are all in this together. We inherited a situation where we were borrowing 11% of our national output. Now people look at Greece and Ireland. At the time we came into office with that budget deficit, it was actually forecast to be more than Greece, more than Ireland. So …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) And they'll be saying it's not us, it's David Cameron who has done this.

DAVID CAMERON:

(over) Absolutely. Well the context of - whether it's reductions in spending by local government or by central government - the context of this is digging ourselves out of a complete mess we were left. And we have to do that. This is a recovery mission, this is a rescue mission. And what I would say though to local authorities as they take their part in this difficult process is you know look first at the costs that you can cut. My own local authority shares a chief executive with the local authority next door even though it's not in the same county. Now there is a lot of room for local authorities to share back office costs, to cut out bureaucracy, to stop waste, to stop doing some things that weren't adding value. All organisations have to do that. Dare I say it, even the BBC has to do it. You know one of the first things I did was cut all ministers' salaries. I think we should reduce the cost of politics. Everyone has to play their part here and obviously the last thing you do is cut frontline services.

ANDREW MARR:

How worried are you about inflation?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well I think if you look at the recent figures, they are concerning because they're well outside what the Bank of England is meant to deliver. I think it's right, as I think Fraser was saying on the sofa earlier, it's right that this is for the Bank of England to decide. We have an independently set monetary policy and by and large they've done a good job since they were given that job. The difficult thing and the technical thing is for them, they always have to work out what is actually a trend rise in inflation and what is a one off increase in the price level because of something that's happening extraneously. That's a difficult task that they have to make.

ANDREW MARR:

It's beginning to look like a trend rise in inflation though. I mean you know people are now talking about inflation being up to something like 5% before too long. The Monetary Policy Committee is meant to keep inflation at half that.

DAVID CAMERON:

Yuh.

ANDREW MARR:

Interest rates are at 0.5%. You know people are beginning to ask what's going on.

DAVID CAMERON:

Well that is what the Bank of England have to get right. It's an extremely difficult task. I worked in the Treasury when the Bank of England didn't have that responsibility and when ministers set interest rates, and I have to say I do not want to go back to those days. But I accept, I think they have a …

ANDREW MARR:

Are you happy with what Mervyn King's doing?

DAVID CAMERON:

I think Mervyn King is an excellent bank governor and I think he's done a very good job.

ANDREW MARR:

So …

DAVID CAMERON:

But this is obviously their responsibility, and as I say, there is a difference though between one-off increases in the price level and the rate of inflation and they've got to try and get that right. But I'm in no doubt the inflation is extremely harmful, it destroys people's savings. We don't want to go back to having an inflation problem as we had in the past.

ANDREW MARR:

Looking at the year ahead, obviously you've described it as a period of recovery and it's going to be very tough. It's going to get worse before it gets better?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well I think obviously if you're a family sitting round the kitchen table this morning, you've seen the VAT increase and you're filling up the car and also you're looking at the price of your weekly shop, which because of rises in prices … You know that is extremely difficult and I don't underestimate that for one second. And what I say to families in Britain you know thinking about that is this is going to be a difficult year, but if we stick to the course we've set out, if we deal with our debts and with our deficit, if we get our economy moving again and we make it easier for businesses to employ people, if we keep business tax down, if we link Britain up with the fastest growing economies in the world - if we stick to that course, we can be a great success story in this new decade. It is going to take a difficult year, but I find as I go round the country, of course some people don't like this particular policy or that particular policy, but actually people generally understand we were in a mess, we need to clear it up; and when we sort it out, actually there are brighter times ahead and this is still a fantastic country to live in, to work in, to do business in, and all the strengths and successes that we have. So I am still confident and optimistic about our future, but I fully accept a difficult year and a year in which I'm sure people will want from time to time to give their politicians a good hard kick.

ANDREW MARR:

Speaking of kick, a lot of trade unionists are talking about waves of strikes and so on hitting all sorts of public services in the spring. Is that something that you regard as probably inevitable given what's going on in the economy?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well nothing is inevitable.

ANDREW MARR:

Death and taxes.

DAVID CAMERON:

Apart from death and taxes, as you say. I had the trade union leaders in my office round the cabinet table. No beer and sandwiches, I hasten to add. A mince pie. There's no inevitability about strikes. I mean I hope that people don't go on strike because it never achieves anything. And I think, as I've just said, people working in the private sector, the public sector all understand the difficult circumstances we have, the fact that you do need to reduce public spending, you need to balance that with some increases in taxes to get our economy back on an even keel. People have to play their part in that. And we have to explain as a government why what we're doing is fair and right and balanced. (Marr tries to interject) But striking is not going to achieve anything and the trade unions need to know you know they're not going to be able to push anyone around by holding this strike or that strike or even a whole lot of strikes together. They can forget it. This government is a very strong government, it's got a strong majority. I believe the public is right behind the approach that we are taking and people need to know that we will not change course because one union or another union wants to kick off. We won't do that. We'll talk to them. We have a very reasonable … we're very reasonable people. All of the previous governments' mechanisms for talking to the unions about issues in the public sector, they're all there - ready to talk, ready to … - but if they think they can push us around on strikes, think again.

ANDREW MARR:

And do you have all the legislative tools and weapons you need in those circumstances, or do you need to go back to parliament?

DAVID CAMERON:

I think that the rules that were set down largely in the 1980s are pretty good and robust. There are one or two areas where people have said to me you need to change this or change that. That's not a proposal we're making at the moment. We think the rules are there. You know I want us, the government, to roll up its sleeves, sort out the budget deficit. That was mainly last year's work. Now it's all about growth, growth, growth - getting this economy moving, getting jobs. You know tomorrow I've got a whole lot of businesses coming to Downing Street talking about how many extra people they're going to employ in the coming year. You know I think business has actually got some quite optimistic views about where we're going as a country. We've got to have that sense of confidence and optimism that there are tough decisions, but right decisions, and we're going to come through it.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay, a bit of raw politics. The Liberal Democrats down to 7%, possibly going to lose the coming by-election this coming week. Do you look at that with relish, thinking yes we're going to grind the Lib-Dems, our historic enemies, into the dust; this coalition is going to see them off?

DAVID CAMERON:

No, I don't … I don't see it like that. What I see is that you know, look, Nick Clegg and I and the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, we don't agree about lots of things and we have our arguments and disagreements, but we made a decision back in May, which I think was a good and right decision, to put aside those problems and differences and form a government together in the national interest to do the right thing for our country and to do that for five years. Not to decide it was all getting a bit difficult after seven months or a year or two years, but to see that through and deliver what I think can be a good, strong, reforming, strengthening government for Britain. Now there are going to be, there will be times along the way when the Lib-Dems will have a tough time or when the Conservatives will have a tough time. That I think is in the nature of coalition. No-one gave us a manual on how to run a coalition. We're having to decide ourselves.

ANDREW MARR:

So what do you say to those in your own party who talk about "purple plotters" and you know centrist Conservatives and Liberal Democrats coming together to create a kind of new elite, ignoring the Right Wing of the Conservative Party and the Left Wing of the Liberal Democrats?

DAVID CAMERON:

What I say to everyone is try and judge the government on the results and on the policies and on what we're doing. And I think to Conservatives who want to know you know what's this government doing in terms of the Conservative manifesto, I would say you know we are dealing with the deficit, we are introducing academy schools and free schools, we're reforming the NHS. We're making some radical changes to welfare to make it affordable and to get people into work. You know we are next week introducing legislation, so that any future government that tries to pass power from Westminster to Brussels has to hold a referendum. We are having a cap on immigration. So I mean I think this government is delivering for the …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) So those are things that those in the Right of the Conservative Party might be pleased about…

DAVID CAMERON:

But I just say you know I think this is …

ANDREW MARR:

Can I just ask you about one specific area, well two specific areas? First of all, an awful lot of your MPs would be relieved and pleased to hear you say that there are absolutely no circumstances which, come the next election, there will be coalition candidates; that the Conservative Party is going to fight the next election only as the Conservative Party and strive to win the next election as the Conservative Party by itself?

DAVID CAMERON:

Of course, that is … Absolutely.

ANDREW MARR:

Absolutely right.

DAVID CAMERON:

We're going to fight the election as a … You know we are an independent party. We're fighting this by-election as an independent party. We'll fight the General Election as independent parties.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay, well that's clear.

DAVID CAMERON:

Hopefully it's going to be a different sort of campaign because if this parliament runs for five years - and I believe that it will - and the government I hope will have a body of work behind it, you'll find Liberal Democrats and Conservatives defending a good government record. And that should make …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) And I bet you'll attack each other in the old way?

DAVID CAMERON:

(laughing) Well I'm sure we'll find new ways of disagreeing with each other.

ANDREW MARR:

Yeah.

DAVID CAMERON:

But I think it's a healthy thing for politics. We'll be a bit more positive, I hope, about each other.

ANDREW MARR:

The other area I was going to ask in the same way: Europe. You've got a big vote next week on the Europe Bill. A lot of your own MPs feel that sovereignty of parliament should be absolutely basic to the Conservative world view and that actually the way this bill is constructed means that you won't have to have a referendum. If Brussels nibbles away a few powers, it's entirely up to you and, frankly, it's a face saving exercise, not a real measure.

DAVID CAMERON:

Well I don't accept that. And William Hague and others have put a lot of work into this bill, so it basically does what it says on the tin, which is that if a government says we're passing power from Westminster to Brussels - if a government says that, it has to hold a referendum. And I think the bill …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) But you have to say that. You have to announce that for the referendum to happen?

DAVID CAMERON:

But I think when people read the bill - and this argument will be had in parliament, quite rightly - I think they'll see that this is, you know this is a big change. Martin Howe, who's a very eurosceptic lawyer, actually wrote a very interesting piece the other day saying this is really quite a big change to the UK constitution. And I think a good change because we're sent to parliament to make the laws of the land. We're not sent to parliament to give away the power of the British people to choose their government. And so I think this is an important change and I think it will endure.

ANDREW MARR:

Alright. One other important change, which has been much discussed and you mentioned, was to the National Health Service where 80% of the budget's going to be passed down to GPs. Almost everybody seems to be uneasy about this change - the Royal College of GPs, the British Medical Association. All sorts of independent bodies have said this is a huge risk that you're taking at a time when in real terms the NHS budget is not going up because of inflation and so on. What's so important that you have to shake the NHS up - top bottom reform that you said you weren't going to do?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well I'd make two points. First of all, I want us to have a health service that is the equal of anywhere in the world in terms of what really matters to families watching this programme, which is if I get heart disease, what's my survival rate? If I get cancer, what are my chances? You know that's what really matters, is outcomes, and the current system doesn't focus on outcomes. That's the first point. That's the reason for change - is to improve the health of the nation and the outcomes. The second reason - this is perhaps a bit more political, but I think is important - I'm fairly convinced that there is no sort of quiet life option. If we just left the NHS and said I tell you what, we'll reform that later …

ANDREW MARR:

You could try pilot schemes. You don't have to go for the whole country…

DAVID CAMERON:

We are, we are. I just want to make this point. We are trying pilot schemes. But there isn't a quiet life option. There isn't an option of just saying let's leave it as it is. If you do that without the large increases in spending, which aren't available frankly now - we're going to be making small increases in spending - I think you would see some real problems in our health service. So actually the modernisation we're planning is necessary in order for it to go on improving. Now in terms of pilot schemes … (Marr tries to interject) I just want to make this point.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay.

DAVID CAMERON:

With the GP fund holding, general practitioners are holding the funds in the NHS and with their patients making choices about how they're treated. That is effectively being piloted because we asked for those that were most enthusiastic to come forward and to do that.

ANDREW MARR:

The first 25%.

DAVID CAMERON:

And you know I think, I very much believe that across this year you'll see the sort of improvements that's going to lead to.

ANDREW MARR:

The Primary Care Trusts who do this job at the moment who are as it were buying the care are going to be broken up and handed to groups of GPs who are going to have to find offices and all the rest of it and employ administrators and bureaucrats to do the same job. It's an enormously complicated change and a lot of people don't understand why it's really necessary. Can I just ask you whether you are completely confident this is the right thing to be doing?

DAVID CAMERON:

I really am confident and I've spent a lot of time with the health team and with a team of my ministers and officials as well you know really going through the difficult questions. Frankly I still do constituency surgeries, I have health professionals coming to see me asking these questions and I've been through all of these questions. I think it is right for the two reasons I gave: we've got to improve the outcomes for people in this country, and also just standing still is not an option. One last point …

ANDREW MARR:

(over) Alright, one last question because we're close to running out of time. Control orders.

DAVID CAMERON:

Yuh.

ANDREW MARR:

We know that there's going to be a change announced to parliament next week and that's been well trailed. Are we going to see something like the current system, however renamed and changed at the edges, or are control orders - as we understand them - going to go?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well you have to wait for the announcement, but what we will deliver is something which on the one hand will protect our security but also I think will you know make sure we maintain our liberty. I mean the reason why both …

ANDREW MARR:

But are we going to keep the main elements of control orders?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well no there's going to be, there's going to be some significant changes and I think that's right. We are replacing one system with another system. I think that's right. But it comes from a review that both the Conservative Party wanted to hold, the Liberal Democrats wanted to hold, and indeed actually Labour said … many of them have said this system needs to change because you've got to have something that yes keeps us safe but actually people can believe is in line with our view …

ANDREW MARR:

Okay.

DAVID CAMERON:

… of what is right and good for our liberties as well.

ANDREW MARR:

Prime Minister, a very interesting year ahead. Thank you very much indeed for coming in.

INTERVIEW ENDS