Select Committee
Parliament

DCI Paul Settle questions the legal grounds for the police's decision to interview Lord Brittan in relation to a rape allegation after he had concluded there was no evidence to suggest an offence had been committed. Pressed on the matter by Conservative MP David Burrowes, he suggests that the interview - which took place in May 2014 - was "unlawful" under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. 

The Commons Women and Equalities Committee holds its final hearing on transgender equality next Wednesday. Six ministers are due to give evidence to MPs:

• Public health minister Jane Ellison
• Karen Bradley, minister for preventing abuse and exploitation
• Culture minister Ed Vaizey
• Business minister Nick Boles
• Education Secretary Nicky Morgan
• Equalities minister Caroline Dinenage

The session is expected to look into gender identity services, hate crime, media regulation, workplace equality, government action plans and the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.

Paying tribute to the late Michael Meacher, former Labour leader Ed Miliband said he was a "principled, kind, thoughtful and deeply committed to a fairer, more just world".

Meanwhile, Green MP Caroline Lucas described the former environment minister as a "great politician, championing climate action", and said he would be "much missed".  

DCI Paul Settle tells MPs he reached a judgement in 2014 that pursuing any case against Lord Brittan regarding the allegation of rape against him would be "grossly disproportionate and would have no legal basis".

He says he based his judgement on the personal account of the complainant through which he says "the offence was not made out".

He says he sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service before deciding not to proceed with charges and informed the complainant. He says he regrets not having informed Lord Brittan at the time.

EDF has signed an agreement with a Chinese firm which paves the way for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has a busy afternoon ahead of it. It is questioning a number of senior police officers, prosecutors and Labour MP Tom Watson about their conduct in relation to abuse allegations relating to the former Conservative home secretary Lord Brittan. Read our full story

The first witness is Detective Chief Inspector Paul Settle, the head of the Metropolitan Police's paedophile unit and the former head of Operation Fairbank, an enquiry into alleged sexual abuse by establishment figures.

As the hearing starts, Labour MP Keith Vaz - the chair of the committee - says it will not discuss operational matters. 

The Daily Politics

Michael Meacher, who was an environment minister from 2001-2003, recalled the row over GM crops from his time in office.

He spoke to Daily Politics reporter David Thompson in a 2012 film looking back to protests in the 1990s over reports of super tomatoes, trampled fields, and a newspaper claim of the "prime monster".

Watch the 2012 film 

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Meacher, seen here with the now shadow chancellor John McDonnell, first ran for Parliament in Colchester in 1966. Four years later, he was elected in Oldham West.

In 1974 he was made an industry minister, and his front-bench career included a stint in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Tony Blair's government.

He returned to the government benches after Tony Blair's New Labour came to power in 1997 - holding the crown for being its most experienced minister, as a result of his 1970s roles.

The Daily Politics

The SNP’s Westminster leader raised the case of a 60-year-old disabled father who a coroner ruled had killed himself after being found fit for work after a work assessment, and warned of a risk of further deaths. 

Angus Robertson asked the prime minister to publish the findings into reports of 60 similar deaths. 

David Cameron said he could not comment on individual cases. 

Responding to a question about tax credits, he said social rents were falling as a result of Budget plans, and he spoke about expanded free childcare and increased personal income tax allowance as evidence of other government help. 

The prime minister said higher pay and lower taxes help would “better family finances and a stronger economy.”  

Some views on who came out top earlier:

Politicians are paying tribute to the veteran Labour MP on Twitter:

Michael Meacher, who has died aged 75, had been MP for Oldham West and Royton since 1970.

He retained the seat with a 14,738 majority at May's general election.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said , externalhe had "dedicated his life to Labour".

Veteran Labour MP Michael Meacher died yesterday following a short illness, the party has announced.

Read more

The Daily Politics

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Chris Bryant has said he knows “for a fact” that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would prefer judicial granting of warrants that would allow the security services to hack into smartphones and computers, rather than allowing the Home Secretary to issue such warrants – but Mr Bryant wasn’t clear about whether or not Mr Corbyn actually supported the principle of the new legislation.

Today’s Times reports powers to hack into smartphones and computers by security agencies will be codified in law when the draft investigatory powers bill is published next month.

Asked on the Daily Politics if it was conceivable that Jeremy Corbyn could support the new measures given his history of opposing any increase in powers for the intelligence services, Mr Bryant said: “You’ll have to ask Jeremy how he’s going to vote on this.” When pressed as to whether or not Mr Corbyn would be determining the policy of his own party, Mr Bryant said: “I think the whole of the shadow cabinet will determine our policy on this.”

Quizzed on the differences between his own voting record and Mr Corbyn’s on these matters, Mr Bryant continued: “I can give you a list of all the things that Jeremy and I disagree on… there is a difference, and – yes, it’s a big difference, and – but I think, on this point, on whether or not it should be judicial granting of warrants, I know for a fact that there is no difference between Jeremy and myself.” 

Saying that he had had a conversation with the Labour leader on this topic, Mr Bryant said Mr Corbyn would prefer judicial granting of warrants, rather  than allowing the Home Secretary to do so.

He refused to answer the hypothetical question as to whether or not this meant Mr Corbyn would actually support the new counter-extremism legislation when it comes to a vote.

Security Minister John Hayes reiterated Conservative criticism of Jeremy Corbyn by describing the Labour leader as “a threat to our national security”.

The Daily Politics

MPs John Hayes and Chris Bryant review the questions and answers at PMQs, where steel jobs, tax credits and welfare dominated the exchanges. 

They joined Andrew Neil, Jo Coburn and Laura Kuenssberg on the Daily Politics as they looked as how the leaders performed, and the issues they debated.