Economist Joseph Stiglitz on his role advising shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and the Labour Party.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Chuka Umunna opens a backbench business debate on gangs and serious youth violence. He notes several examples of people in his constituency being stabbed or shot in recent years.

He says that the "situation is serious and it is getting worse".

He adds that "a lot of this goes unreported", and says that staff in A&E departments will say that there is plenty of violence that does not go into the figures. 

He stresses that the violence in question is committed by a small minority of young people, and that it is important not to demonise all young people.

Mr Umunna argues that the term "gang" may be unhelpful, because it might "reinforce the notion" that the people involved are gangsters.

Adam Fleming
Reporter, Daily Politics

Labour is hosting a series of sold-out lectures by left-wing thinkers to broaden the economic debate in the UK. I've been finding out what it's like to go to one.

Yesterday the special guest was the Nobel Prize-winner and former Clinton advisor Professor Joseph Stiglitz - the fifth-most influential economist in the world, according to Wikipedia.

In a two-hour session in a basement lecture theatre at Birkbeck University in London, the professor suggested that the 1950s were the golden age of capitalism and that middle class incomes had not grown for four decades. 

The trickle-down economics of Thatcher and Reagan got the blame. And the solution is to totally rewrite the the rules of the economy, society and politics.

Professor Stiglitz is now advising the shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. I asked if that makes them the Butch and Sundance or the Holmes and Watson of left-wing thinking.

"We're trying to raise the level of debate from that," replied Mr McDonnell through slightly gritted teeth. 

The film will air on Thursday's Daily Politics after 12:00 GMT. You can watch the full programme on the Live Coverage tab above.  

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers now move to the day three of the marathon committee stage on the Housing and Planning Bill.

Parties have repeatedly clashed over the bill - which seeks to extend the right-to-buy to housing association tenants, require local authorities to dispose of vacant high value council properties to fund the right to buy extension and to introduce a register for brownfield land - and the Lords have been given seven days to scrutinise it at committee stage.

Today peers are expected to cover the provisions on social housing, implementing the right to buy on a voluntary basis, and vacant high-value local council housing.

House of Lords
Parliament

A hush to fall over the House of Lords as Labour peer Lord Roberts of Llandudno says the recent Chief Inspector of Prisons’ Report on the Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre, external "must cause us all tremendous disquiet".

The report found the accommodation was "dirty and rundown" with many toilets and showers in a "seriously insanitary condition" and many rooms were "overcrowded and poorly ventilated".

He asks what the government "plans to do to rectify this".

Home Office Minister Lord Bates says he argues the report was "serious and disappointing" and tells peers the government have already published a "service improvement plan" on how to implement  the report's recommendations.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Rupa Huq asks about the rules concerning television footage of the House of Commons, external.

She says "my constituent Charlie Brooker has raised" with her the rules prohibiting the use of the footage in certain types of programme, including satire.

Chris Grayling replies that he is not in favour of the footage being used in satire.

Charlie Brooker is the satirist behind the 'Screenwipe' programme for the BBC, and is married to Rupa Huq's sister.

The UK's long-term prospects could be "brighter" outside the EU, a business leader has said.

The number of self-harm incidents, assaults on inmates and deaths in prison all rose sharply last year, according to figures, external released by the Ministry of Justice.

There were a total of 257 prisoner deaths compared with 153 in 2006. Part of the rise is due to a steady increase in both suicides and killings behind bars; 89 of the deaths in 2015 were self-inflicted. 

A significant proportion of prison fatalities, however, were deaths due to natural causes among an ageing prison population.  

British Chambers of Commerce director general John Longworth says the British electorate face a "tough choice" on whether to stay or leave the European Union.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames calls on the government to "promise the resources" to the justice secretary to help him follow through on reforms to reduce incidence of deaths, serious assaults and incidents of self-harm in prison.

Lord Marks, who is a QC, tells peers that figures of suicide and self harm are on the rise due to "squalid conditions, overcrowding, under staffing and prisoners being stuck in their cells for far too long".

The justice minister denies these claims, saying the "causes of violence are multi factorial" and include the increased use of "psychoactive substances in prisons".

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord Holmes of Richmond raises a laugh asking the government to confirm that "if we vote to leave the EU smart meters [used to monitor water consumption in homes] will have to be renamed smart yards

Environment Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble replies that "metrification will continue" whatever the result of the referendum.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, EPA

Conservative Julian Lewis, the Chair of the Defence Select Committee, asks when the House will vote on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system.

He argues that it will be harder for pro-Trident Labour MPs to vote in favour if the vote is delayed until after the Labour Party conference.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn is a long-term opponent of nuclear weapons, and it has been suggested he will try to change the party's current pro-Trident policy at the conference.

Chris Grayling says he will make sure Mr Lewis's views are heard in the discussion about the timing of the vote.

House of Lords
Parliament

Several peers criticise the government for delaying the changes, which they say could be dealt with in a "simple one or two clause bill".

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park says "the government does understands the strength of feeling" but tells peers there has been a "high level of response to consultation" which the government has to work through before looking for "suitable vehicle to introduce the changes". 

Image source, BB

In 2014 the government began consulting, external on a new system of “Sharia-compliant” student loans to allow more Muslim students to go to university.

Around 115,000 Muslim students currently attend universities in the UK but it is claimed that many have been put off a degree by the Coalition’s new loans system – introduced in 2012 – that carry a real rate of interest above inflation. It coincided with a near tripling of the cap on tuition fees to almost £9,000.

Some Muslim students had complained that interest rate hike was the equivalent of usury - practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans - and therefore they cannot take advantage of the loan if they need assistance with paying their university fees.

Under the proposed system, students would apply for taxpayer-backed loans but repay them into a mutual-style fund that would be ring-fenced to provide future finance to other students with the same religious beliefs.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Sharkey gets business underway in the House of Lords, asking how Muslim students whose religious beliefs prevent them from taking interest-charging student loans are being helped.

Lord Sharkey argues that every year "without a solution thousand of Muslims students are disadvantaged".

Business Minister Baroness Evans of Bowes Park says the government is still consulting on how to address the issue, but cannot introduce change unilaterally and must bring it through "primary legislation".

Business Secretary Sajid Javid tells the British Chambers of Commerce conference that he did not take the decision to back staying in the EU for career reasons - insisting that he might have backed an exit if his career prospects had been his priority.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Christopher Chope asks if the House will be able to have a debate on the Scottish fiscal framework.

This is an agreement between the Scottish and UK governments over the financial rules the new devolved powers the Scottish government has gained will operate within. 

Chris Grayling replies that the Scotland Bill is still being debated in the House of Lords.

Labour has published , externalJeremy Corbyn's speech to the British Chambers of Commerce on its website. It does not include a pre-briefed, external criticism of "New Labour" over "light touch regulation" of the finance sector, instead attributing this to "the political consensus at that time".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Peter Bone says "some French minister" is claiming that the migrant camp at Calais would move to the UK if the country left the EU.

He adds that if he were French he would be "embarrassed" that his government could not deal with the camp.

Chris Grayling says the French government has "assured us" that the current arrangements would remain in place if Britain left the EU.