Fiona Woolf tells the Home Affairs Committee that when the inquiry into historic sexual abuse gets under way she "we will be asking very awkward questions".

If she is unable to get the files she requires for her inquiry Mrs Woolf tells the Committee she will ask the home secretary for further powers.

In response to a further line of questioning from Labour MP Paul Flynn on whether she counts as a "member of the establishment" Fiona Woolf tells the committee that she has never been a member of any body that has been linked to the covering up of child sex abuse.

If she had "there would be no question" of her chairing the inquiry, Mrs Woolf adds.

Being a corporate lawyer in private practice does not qualify her as a "member of the establishment" she argues, and those that consider her to be one possibly do not "understand the role of the Lord Mayor", she suggests.

Home Affairs Committee member Ian Austin, a Labour MP, points to Fiona Woolf's work as a corporate lawyer and Lord Mayor of London as evidence that she is part of "the establishment" and asks whether she thinks the inquiry into historical sexual abuse should be chaired by someone "who isn't a member of that establishment" given that "there is evidence of an establishment cover up" in the Rotherham child abuse scandal.

Mrs Woolf however disagrees and responds by saying she "is not a member of the establishment".

Veteran Conservative MP David Davis admits that 10 years ago he probably would have opposed a recall bill, but adds that the chasm between the political classes and the voters has become "too wide" and is now at "crisis point".

But Mr Davis, whose Commons career has spanned more than 25 years, says the legislation being proposed by the government is not a recall bill as it stands, it is a "parliamentary expulsion bill" - and endorses Zac Goldsmith's plan to amend it to enable MPs to be recalled if 5% of voters in a constituency sign a "notice of intent to recall" and 20% then sign a "recall petition".

Labour Home Affairs Committee member David Winnick asks Fiona Woolf whether her "limited background" as a corporate lawyer and Lord Mayor of London meant that she wasn't "aware of the lives of ordinary people".

Mrs Woolf responds by saying as Lord Mayor she is responsible for many "ordinary people" already, as it is a very "people-focussed role".

Douglas Carswell supports Zac Goldsmith's amendments to put the recall process in the hands of an MP's constituents.

He draws an analogy with the judicial system, and says that if 12 lay people on a jury are trusted to pass a judgement in court then so too voters should be trusted to "exercise good judgement". He insists the amendments would not allow "lynch mob justice".

He says he will support the bill at second reading; with a view to seeking further amendments to the bill as it progresses.

Fiona Woolf tells the Home Affairs Committee that "as a grandmother" every time a case of child sexual abuse makes the news it "hits a raw nerve" with her.

This, she says, makes her "determined to make this inquiry the inquiry that makes a difference".

Lord Freud tells peers that the government have "accepted" the findings of the the Oakley review on Jobseeker's Allowance sanctions, but are going even further in their reforms

The review recommended all letters sent to claimants should be reviewed to improve claimant understanding.

The government are now "reviewing and improving all our claimants and sanctions communications across every benefit" he says.

Douglas Carswell, the UK Independence Party's first elected MP, declares that he is so in favour of recall, he recalled himself and triggered a by-election after defecting from the Conservatives.

Attacking the government's bill, he says it does not include a real recall mechanism, and argues that it should be for local people to decide. The Clacton MP claims the bill would strengthen the power of party whips "who will sit in judgement of MPs" rather than voters.

BBC's Robin Brant tweets: woolf reveals she last attended a dinner party with former home sec lord brittan 2 1/2 years ago. last one at her house was in 2009.

Before answering the question from Baroness Lister on implementing the Oakley Report on Jobseeker's Allowance sanctions, Lord Freud takes the opportunity to repeat his "unreserved" apology after suggesting people with disabilities could be paid less than the minimum wage.

This is his first appearance in the House of Lords after a recording of him emerged saying some disabled people are "not worth the full wage".

Former Labour minister Chris Bryant claims the Commons has become "a gene pool for government", and that its primary role is no longer to hold the executive to account.

He says the public thinks politicians are "engaged in a freemasonic activity by protecting each other", and argues that the initial threshold of allowing MPs involvement in the recall process will not be good enough.

Mr Bryant is of the view that the public should be trusted with the power to initiate a recall of an MP as long as the threshold is high enough to avoid vexatious petitions and "big money can't determine the outcome".

He says it is an important next stage in the democratic process "because the Leviathan is groaning, we need to change".

Matthew Oakley was appointed in September 2013 to carry out an independent review of Jobseeker's Allowance sanctions. He has investigated the clarity of information given to claimants who have had their benefits reduced.

The review recommended all letters sent to claimants should be reviewed to improve claimant understanding. It also recommended working with experts to test if varying the style of letters could boost claimants' responses.

The government has said that accepts all of Matthew Oakley's recommendations

SNP MP Pete Wishart tweets:, external Westminster MPs can sound really pompous when they're talking about Westminster MPs. #recall

Andrew Cooper, the Conservatives' former Director of Political Strategy, now with the opinion pollster Populus, has joined the House of Lords as Lord Cooper of Windrush.

MPs have begun to question Fiona Woolf, beginning with chairman Keith Vaz.

Baroness Smith of Newnham - a councillor in Cambridge - has just been sworn in as a Liberal Democrat peer in the House of Lords

The inquiry will consider whether, and to what extent, public bodies and other institutions fulfilled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. Its purpose, according to the Home Office, is to address public concern over successive child abuse scandals.

So far 68 MPs from all parties, including prominent Conservatives and Labour backbenchers as well as UKIP MP Douglas Carswell and Green MP Caroline Lucas, have backed Zac Goldsmith's version of recall.

David Cameron has described the powers in the government's bill as the "minimum acceptable" and promised to look carefully at any amendments.

The Home Affairs Committee is about to begin its evidence session with the chair of the independent inquiry into historic sex abuse, Fiona Woolf.

Mrs Woolf was appointed after the home secretary's original choice for the role, Baroness Butler-Sloss, stepped down after victims' families expressed concerns about her independence, given that her late brother Lord Havers was attorney general at the time the allegations were made.