House of Commons
Parliament

MPs now move to the Backbench Business debate on parliamentary sovereignty and the recent EU negotiations.

Opening the debate, Conservative John Baron tells MPs there "can be no greater issue for the parliament to debate and defend than parliamentary sovereignty".

But, he argues, as the EU renegotiations proceed "little effort is being made to restore parliamentary sovereignty". Instead the government is "simply tinkering at the edges" of the UK's relation with the EU.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Philip Hollobone asks about the two ministers who signed off on the controversial, last-minute, £3m grant to the charity, Matthew Hancock and Oliver Letwin. They did so against the advice of senior officials. 

He asks if we can expect a "ministerial apology" from the two and if the money is likely to be recovered.

Bernard Jenkin says he "hopes very much" that the government will give a "full and clear explanation" but he's "never doubted the integrity of the two ministers".

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David Miliband, chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, says that the UK pledging £1.2bn more aid to Syrian refugees is "necessary" and "a smart thing to do".

The plight of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle could be the subject of a debate in the House of Commons - if an MP championing hedgehogs can get enough support for his petition.

Conservative Oliver Colvile says he wants the prickly creatures to be named a protected species.

He asked Commons Leader Chris Grayling if the issue could be debated by MPs if his petition receives over 100,000 signatures.

Mr Grayling commented:

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Parliament

The Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Bernard Jenkin, is making a statement on his committee's report into the collapse of the charity Kids Company.

Kids Company was a charity that provided support to inner city children in South London, London and Bristol. It collapsed in the summer of 2015 amidst claims of financial mismanagement. One week before the charity closed, the government gave it a £3m grant.

More: Kids Company closure: What went wrong?

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Parliament

Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox makes a personal statement "regretting" that he failed to comply with rules that Members need to log all outside earnings. He hopes members will accept his "wholehearted apology".

It has been reported that he failed to declare £400,000 he earned as a QC.

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London Mayoral candidate George Galloway confirmed that he would be campaigning to leave the European Union at an Evening Standard debate last night.

Respect Party member Mr Galloway was a Labour MP until his suspension in 2003 in the wake of his outspoken comments on the Iraq war.

According to its website, Respect is a pro-Europe party, but not of the EU in its present form.

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Parliament

The SNP's Pete Wishart makes reference to today's Daily Mail front page, asking "who will speak for England?" and says he has "no ambitions in that department" suggests the leader of the House as the man the Mail is looking for.

He asks for "a conversation" on the use of urgent questions on sitting Fridays, saying they put great demands on members from outside London who may lose a day they could otherwise spend in their constituency.

He also suggests that MP4, "the world's only Parliamentary rock band, external", be considered for the UK's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.

Chris Grayling says he doesn't agree with much Pete Wishart says, but will "happily champion the cause of MP4".

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MPs should be able to take part in Eurovision, according to SNP Commons Business spokesman Pete Wishart.

Claiming that entering the annual song contest is "something we could possibly all agree on", he said:

Shadow Commons Leader Chris Grayling said he thought this was "a great idea", adding that he "would happily champion the cause of MP for Eurovision"

He added that it might help "turn around the nil points we have had in the past".

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Parliament

Leader of the House Chris Grayling says "once again we heard nothing of this week's events in the Labour Party" from Chris Bryant. 

He says the opposition has a shadow chancellor who "wants to get rid of borders", and the party has been seized by a "madcap ideology".

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Parliament

Shadow leader of the House Chris Bryant is talking about splits within the groups campaigning to leave the EU and asks which organisation Leader of the House Chris Grayling will sign up to, suggesting the People's Front of Judea or the Judean People's Front as an alternative if none of them are to his liking.

He asks if the mysterious "second reading of a bill" announced for a week on Tuesday is the "putting children up chimneys bill" or the "Chris Grayling abolition bill".

He says the government's promise of a whole new section of the Enterprise Bill to liberalise Sunday trading laws shows "startling hubris" on the part of the government.

House of Commons
Parliament

The leader of the House Chris Grayling is telling the House the business for next week.

These include motions on Monday on benefits and the state pension, and on Tuesday an opposition day debate on the EU by the DUP, and one on housing by the Lib Dems.

Commons Leader Chris Grayling refused to be drawn when he was challenged to say which Eurosceptic group he backs.

Shadow leader of the House Chris Bryant claimed "the only people that Leave.EU hate more than the EU are Vote Leave and Grassroots Out - and Better Off Out", which he said he thought "was a gay organisation, but isn't".

He added:

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A UN panel has ruled Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been "unlawfully detained", the BBC understands.

Mr Assange claimed asylum in London's Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex assault claims, which he denies.

Read more here.

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David Cameron has told a conference on Syrian aid:

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Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond held talks on Syria with US Secretary of State John Kerry, along with foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, the UAE, Qatar and Turkey, over breakfast at Lancaster House in London.

Mr Hammond said they had discussed "the stabilisation and reconstruction of Syria once Assad has gone and the new Syria [that] can be built" as well as efforts to get the suspended peace talks in Geneva back on track.

"We are all very keen to keep momentum in that dialogue and we've been discussing this morning ways in which we as a group of like-minded countries can support the parties to that dialogue, to enable them to keep talking in what are very difficult circumstances," he said.

"We recognise that it's difficult for the regime to be at the table talking to the opposition, it's difficult for the opposition to talk to the regime when their people at home are being killed through bombing and other forms of attack.

"But we have to continue with this process because it is the only way to get a solution to the disaster which is engulfing Syria."

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Germany will spend €2.3bn (£1.75bn) by 2018 to aid Syrian refugees, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a donor conference in London on Thursday.

"I hope this will be a good day for people who live in such suffering," she said.