Select Committee
Parliament

Chris Bryant leaves the witness chair, to be replaced by Commons Leader, Chris Grayling.

The government is in the "last chance saloon" over private members' bills, chair Charles Walker tells Mr Grayling.

Select Committee
Parliament

Is there any argument for reducing the number of private members' bills going forward from the ballot, asks Labour's Nic Dakin.

I think if you were able to show 200 MPs had something they wished to support, a government would have difficulty saying "bog off", says Chris Bryant.

"I'm not sure that's parliamentary," he adds.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Randerson calls for rail companies with poor records on punctuality to lose their franchises early and be required to automatically "compensate all affected passengers on a more generous policy."

She argues "punctuality and reliability are more likely to improve" if these changes are brought in place.

Transport Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon replies that the "government are very determined to hold those operating franchises to account".

Select Committee
Parliament

What do you think about a strict limit being imposed on private members' bills on a Friday, asks SNP MP Patricia Gibson.

I don't think there's any reason why we shouldn't, Chris Bryant tells her.

"I think it should be for the Speaker to decide if it is necessary."

"I've known government ministers talk things out without answering a single question about what is proposed in the first place," he says.

House of Lords
Parliament

The government has announced a funding cut for community pharmacy in England of 6%, to take effect from October 2016.

The Department of Health is seeking to reduce funding from £2.8bn to £2.63bn from October 2016 and introduce a range of other efficiency measures.

Details were revealed, external in a letter to Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) chief executive Sue Sharpe on 17 December 2015.

The letter insists pharmacy “has to play its part” in delivering savings required by the government’s spending review and the NHS Five Year Forward View.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Tristram Hunt says a "decent science policy" would ensure the state would help create a high wage "knowledge economy".

He describes the business secretary as a small state "zealot", and argues that the government is not doing enough to encourage new industries.

Image source, House of Commons

Lord Rose and Will Straw, senior figures in the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign group, are answering questions from the Treasury Select Committee about their case for staying in the EU. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, has had to apologise to the duo for the somewhat crepuscular light in the committee room, pointing out that the room's "blinds don't work properly". 

Image source, House of Commons

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Baroness Walmsley gets business under way in the House of Lords asking how the government plans to ensure every community has a local pharmacy after an "arbitrary" cut to pharmacy funding, scheduled for October, external.

Baroness Walmsley tells peers the cuts lead to the closure of "up to 3,000 pharmacies" as the government "waits for the survival of the economic fittest". 

Health Minister Lord Prior of Brampton replies that "community pharmacies are a vital part of the NHS" and argues that "efficiencies can be made without any loss of service". 

Image source, PA

Unite says a Lords committee report published earlier sends a very strong signal to the government to rethink its approach to trade union funding changes. The union's general secretary Len McCluskey maintains trade union political funds are an "important contributor to a healthy democracy", giving unions the resources to campaign and hold the government to account. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Stephen Metcalfe says; "Britain is a great place to do science."

He argues that decisions on "what to spend research funds on must be made by researchers, not politicians".

He adds that the UK should aim to spend 0.7% of GDP on research and development by 2020. The figure is currently 0.5%.

Select Committee
Parliament

The evidence session begins with shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant.

"You would move private members bills to Tuesdays and Wednesdays?" says chair Charles Walker.

"I would," he replies.

"Now that we have the Backbench Business Committee, there's no reason that some of that backbench time shouldn't be allocated to legislative moves such as private members' bills."

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Iain Wright, chair of the Business Committee, says the select committee agrees with the government on the need to raise productivity.

He says the government should not be cutting the budget of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Select Committee
Parliament

Committee members are taking evidence from Chris Grayling, the Leader of the House, and Chris Bryant, Labour's shadow leader.

MPs are currently conducting an inquiry into the private members' bills process.

Image source, Thinkstock

Few politicians have so far been willing to venture into the debate about whether tackling in school rugby games should be banned. Not so Nathan Gill, who leads UKIP in Wales, who has said he is "astonished" by the idea - which has been proposed by a group of doctors and academics. Mr Gill, a candidate in May's Assembly elections, says protecting children from injury is important but tackling is a "fundamental" part of the game. 

Image source, Reuters

The culture secretary has vowed to end the iPlayer "loophole" soon, so those watching catch-up TV do not get "a free ride".

John Whittingdale said the licence fee would be extended so it no longer just applied to live television viewers.

He told the Oxford Media Convention he would bring forward the legislation "as soon as practicable", later adding it could be in this parliamentary session.

The BBC said it was "happy to have reached an agreement" on the issue.

In his speech, Mr Whittingdale also launched a new drive to tackle ad-blocking, saying it poses a similar threat to websites that illegal file-sharing did to music and film a decade ago. Read more. 

House of Lords
Parliament

The House of Lords is due to begin soon and it’s an EU-heavy day for the peers.

From around 4pm until the estimated rising time of 10pm peers will take part in a double-headed debate covering the motion to set the referendum date and the government's policy paper "The best of both worlds: the United Kingdom's special status in a reformed European Union, external".

Before that Work and Pensions Minister Baroness Altmann will repeat the answer to this afternoon’s urgent question in the House of Commons in the Lords on the state pension age. 

And, as usual, oral questions will start the day at 3pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs now move on to a debate on the science budget, opened by the chair of the Science and Technology Committee, Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood.

"We produce 16% of the world's most cited patents, we've produced 80 Nobel laureates and we attract more inward investment for research than anywhere in Europe.

"As a committee, we welcome the chancellor's statement that the science budget would be protected in real terms," Ms Blackwood says.

She continues by expressing concerns that the "commercialisation" of research, although improving, remains "sub-optimal" at a time when international competitors are increasing their research and development.

Wales would still receive economic aid for its poorest areas even if Britain votes to leave the European Union, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies says.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The “unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants” is “testing our union to the limits”, European Council President Donald Tusk has said.

Speaking after a meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Oreškovic, he said: “It is a crisis that is provoking tensions between the member states and neighbouring countries."

Several EU countries in the borderless Schengen area have put in place temporary border controls in response to the crisis. But Mr Tusk warned: