House of Commons
Parliament

Referring to Edward Leigh, SNP MP Tommy Sheppard says he is surprised by the "passionate and eloquent exposition from the Conservative back benches of a position on which I agree". Although he wonders if there is "an element of mischief" in his mind.

Edward Leigh rises to tell him he is sincere and that he believes the "case for full fiscal autonomy is unanswerable in logic."

Tommy Sheppard says "I am pleased to hear it" and that he hopes Mr Leigh will vote for the SNP amendment.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Kennedy of Southwark  is opening today's short debate in the House of Lords for the opposition. He begins by telling the House that law governing elections is "complex, fragmented and not easy to understand"

He says he hopes legislation will come forward on the matter because it "needs urgent review and reform to bring it up to date and make it fit for purpose to regulate elections in 2015 and beyond". 

House of Commons
Parliament

Pete Wishart rises to cheers from the SNP benches to move his amendments. 

He counts his "luck" for the support from MPs from across the floor and the "helpful amendment" proposed by Edward Leigh, but expresses concerns that the debate is veering off topic as English devolution "finds its way into a debate on Scotland".

He agrees that "progress of further constitutional development" is a matter for the whole United Kingdom, but "what we are debating tonight is a Scotland Bill. Tonight is Scotland Bill night".

House of Commons
Parliament

"The last two and a half hours have been fascinating," says Christchurch MP Christopher Chope, and shows what "this House is all about."

He rises in support of new clause 3, which, in the words of the text, would "entirely remove the remaining reservations over financial and economic matters".

New clause 3 "has great clarity" and "leapfrogs" the debate, says Mr Chope. 

His constituents are "worried about a mix-and-match" approach to devolution and warns that "shared responsibility is a recipe for conflict". He says. "parts of the union are being played off against the other" due to the "share being ill defined" which he says ends up leaving all disputes and debates on legislating to the courts.

He declares the clause will "bring the United Kingdom back together again".

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Maude is on his feet summing up for the government in the debate on trade and investment.

On the popular topic of overseas trade he says, "we have a well developed network of overseas missions... and every single one should be really focussed on looking for business opportunities" on behalf of British businesses. 

House of Commons
Parliament

A phone rings interrupting Kevan Jones mid-flow. 

Debate chair David Amess calls the house to order in the "hope the honourable members will adjust it".

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Mendelsohn is summing up for the opposition in the debate on trade in the House of Lords. He says he hopes the government will bring forward a new trade and investment strategy to follow. 

Lord Mendelsohn says he foresees a "huge problem" with foreign direct investment and that it has reached a "tipping point". Lord Mendelsohn says that deals on the high end of property are a "growing concern" and that levels of foreign ownership are starting to affect the productivity of investment itself.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Kevan Jones rises next to speak.

He says, "I never thought I'd witness" the SNP in a "love-in with the honourable member for Gainsborough (Edward Leigh) and the honourable member for Wokingham (John Redwood)". Both Conservative MPs have voiced their support for further fiscal devolution to Scotland...as well as to the other nations in the Union.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Kramer says companies who are looking to make further investments in the UK are hanging back on decision-making, due to the coming referendum on Europe. 

She says "we cannot be certain their next investment will be in the UK if we make the decision to exclude ourselves from one of the largest and the wealthiest markets on the planet".

House of Commons
Parliament

Stewart Hosie claims that during today's committee stage debate, MPs have "not had a single opposition to full fiscal autonomy in Scotland". What objections they've heard, have been "odd and almost entirely without principle."

"I want maximum power for Scotland, I want it as quickly as possible," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

The detailed examination of a new bill at committee stage usually takes place in a committee room of 16 to 50 MPs away from the main chamber.

But major ones that affect the constitution - like this Scotland Bill - and need to pass quickly are debated by all MPs within the chamber in a committee of the whole House.

(Saying that, however, less controversial legislation can also be debated here)

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Pearson of Rannoch welcomes new Trade Minister Lord Maude to his place, and says he thinks "the noble lord may have sometimes regarded my views on the EU as coming from a rather unruly boy at the bottom of the lower fourth. So it is a privilege to be allowed to join the grown ups today and I promise to be on my best behaviour in his honour."

However, he goes on to say that he must pick on the government policy on free trade with the EU being best secured from within the single market and that jobs and trade would be in danger if the UK left. He says "jobs will be created if we leave the EU and if we get rid of the unnecessary EU regulation that comes with that membership."

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP Stewart Hosie leads the charge in moving the SNP's amendment seeking to provide full fiscal autonomy to the Scottish Parliament over Scotland.

House of Commons
Parliament

DUP MP Ian Paisley makes a point of order asking for a ruling that "there's no such thing as a British parliament but there's a parliament of the United Kingdom".

Acting as speaker for this debate, Sir David Amess dismisses it as a "point of argument not a point of order".

House of Commons
Parliament

"I think devolution is so good it should apply to everyone in the union," declares Graham Allen to the House.

The "liberation of our localities and our communities" is something "which all of us want, whichever part of the union" we come from.

He warns MPs that "it is an easy mistake of this place to give too little too late".

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Graham Allen rises to speak on his alternative clauses NC6, NC7 and NC8 to the Scotland Bill.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, he calls for the Scotland Bill 1998 to be renamed as "the Written Constitution of Scotland" and to further entrench devolved Scotland's constitution into law. 

He also calls for the operation of the bill to be constantly reviewed within the context of the union. "I see devolution as part of this process," he says, and this process will "end in a place that is better for everybody".

House of Lords
Parliament

Crossbench peer Lord Bilimoria tells peers: "It's often said that Mrs Thatcher destroyed manufacturing in the UK. The reality is we produced more in 1990, when she left office, than in 1979."

He says visiting the British pavilion at EXPO in Milan recently it was the most innovative and creative "by miles". He tells peers the UK is the "epicentre" of trading and that the UK should have pride "in our abilities".

House of Commons
Parliament

John Redwood continues on the hot topic of the day - full fiscal autonomy for Scotland. This topic will be returned to again and again as the SNP is pushing to give the Scottish Parliament control over taxes raised in Scotland - and have put forward an amendment on the matter.

Arguing for a greater English say on devolution, Mr Redwood says: "I'm not trying to make political points and not trying to wind up the SNP" but to "talk about this financial settlement which matters to England and to Scotland" and "to know what the borrowing settlement was".