House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Foreign Office minister Catherine West, summing up the debate for Labour, notes the "long and proud history" of the FCO.

"Last year, the UK was ranked number one in the world in terms of soft power," she tells MPs.

"While I welcome and support the announcement that the FCO budget will be protected in real terms, this comes after five years of cuts that have reduced the workforce to an all-time low."

Ms West tells MPs she hopes that the minister can provide a "clear outline of spending estimates" to "repair the damage inflicted on his department".

Image source, Thinkstock

Home Secretary Theresa May has published the final version of the Investigatory Powers Bill - which she hopes will become law by the end of this year.

It's a vast piece of legislation, running to 246 pages - and comes with a code of practice , externalsetting out the rules of engagement for Britain's cyber-spies for the first time.

The headline policy is the requirement of broadband providers to store everyone's web browsing habits for 12 months. But it also includes a lot of laws governing activities that until recently were secret, such as the scooping up of internet traffic by GCHQ.

The draft was version of the bill was picked apart by three separate select committees, who criticised it for being too vague and not doing enough to protect individual privacy.  

Mrs May says the revised legislation addresses those concerns but critics have accused her of rushing the legislation through and effectively mandating mass surveillance, something she strenuously denies.

Read more here 

The Daily Politics

Speaking to the Daily Politics, David Anderson QC, the  official reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the government's Prevent strategy - aimed at tackling radicalisation and extremism - has become "a lightning conductor for a lot of dissatisfaction".

He said "one of the reasons for that is a lot of Muslims in this country do not feel engaged with", and suggested the scheme should have its own independent reviewer.

House of Lords
Parliament

The Earl Cathcart is introducing a group of amendments which would alter the legal responsibilities of landlords and tenants.

They would allow landlords to communicate information about deposits by email rather than by post.

They would also make it easier for a landlord to claim costs from custodial deposits when a tenant is impossible to contact.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers have moved on to debate the Housing and Planning Bill at committee stage.

This bill will legislate for the Conservative manifesto policy of giving Housing Association tenants the right-to-buy.

It also introduces the requirement for local authorities to dispose of vacant high value council properties to fund right to buy extension and to build more affordable homes.

A further controversial government amendment was added during committee stage in the Commons, which will end secure tenancies for most new council tenants.

Brian Last seems to have two great passions in life: Arsenal Football Club and the European Union.

At an expat bar in Benalmadena, on the Costa del Sol, Brian was watching his club play a Champions League match on television. And the animation he displayed whenever his team got the ball was matched by his passion for the EU.

"I've got really good Spanish friends. Obviously, I feel English and British first, then I feel European," he says.

What worries Brian is that Britain might now vote to leave the European Union.

More here.

Ex-Labour minister Lord Mandelson has defended Jeremy Corbyn's role so far in the EU referendum campaign. The Labour grandee, who has been critical of Mr Corbyn's leadership in the past, said it was "not true" the Labour leader was failing to take part in the campaign to stay in the EU, adding:

Lord Mandelson is on the board of the Britain Stronger In campaign, which is campaigning for the UK to vote to stay in the EU.  

David Anderson reveals how he was approached to take on the government job of independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

He told Jo Coburn on the Daily Politics that he was "tapped on the shoulder by three very secret men in raincoats" as she compared that to a Cold War-era style appointment.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat Baroness Sheenhan asks what the government has said to the French government about the bulldozing of the south section of the Calais “Jungle” camp. 

Home Office Minister Lord Bates says the management of the camp is the responsibility of the French government, but the UK has pledged financial aid to help them deal with the situation.

He adds that "no one needs to be in those camps" and that refugees should claim asylum when they reach France.

Clashes broke out as demolition teams dismantled huts in part of a migrant camp known as the Jungle in the French port of Calais yesterday. 

Read more here. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Lib Dem Tom Brake speaks next, recalling the unsuccessful vote on taking military action in Syria, back in 2013.

"What we know about the situation in Syria, is since the UK Parliament decided not take action, 750,000 people have died, over four million have become refugees in neighboring countries, and seven million people or more have become refugees in Syria.

"What we can see in very concrete terms is the failure to take action," he tells MPs.

The government says it will make it harder for European Union nationals who attend universities in England to get financial support for their living costs.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour’s Lord Kennedy of Southwark asks what action is being taken to help people on the living wage in London to own their own homes. 

Local Government Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford says the government is working to increase the supply of housing in the capital and is encouraging shared ownership schemes.

In the last Budget, the government announced a new compulsory National Living Wage that will come into force from April 2016. It will be paid to workers aged 25 and above. It will initially be set at £7.20 an hour and is intended to exceed £9 an hour by 2020. 

Tony Blair set up the role of a London mayor, and two people have taken the role so far.

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative Lord Naseby asks if international humanitarian law takes precedent over the European Convention on Human Rights when determining whether British troops have committed war crimes. 

Justice Minister Lord Faulks says British troops can be charged with war crimes under international humanitarian law and domestic criminal law.

He adds that the forthcoming Bill of Rights will clarify this area.

International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict, and is set out in the United Nations Charter. Read more here, external. 

The European Court of Human Rights aims to apply and to protect the civil and political rights of the continent's citizens. These principles are set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, a landmark treaty that was drawn up in the aftermath of World War II. Read more here. 

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh opens by telling MPs that cutting funding for the Foreign Office is "directly contrary" to the UK's strategic interests.

"We need to equip the FCO, not only to meet the challenges of today, but to be able to rise to meet the unknown challenges of tomorrow.

"There must be a renewed focus on aid and diplomacy in all that the FCO does," she says.

Eleanor Garnier
Political Correspondent

The Electoral Commission has extended the scope of its investigation into Conservative Party spending returns for hotel bills for three by-elections in 2014.

It comes after Channel 4 News  alleged that the party's candidate spending returns for by-elections in Newark, Clacton and Rochester & Strood were incomplete.

The Commission does not have the power to investigate candidate spending offences. That is up to the police to look into (under the Representation of the Peoples Act 1983).

However the Commission has discovered that it can look into whether the hotel bills were submitted as part of the Conservatives' national spending returns for the "regulated period" of the 2014 European Parliament elections and the 2015 general election.

The Commission will now look at whether the party included the hotel bills in its national spending returns for the relevant elections and if it did not, why not.

If the party did include the hotel bills in its national spending returns it would be up to the police to investigate whether the party should have instead included the bills in the candidate spending returns.

The Commission can sanction a breach of the rules with a fine of up to £20,000.

Tony Blair set up the role of a London mayor, and two people have taken the role so far.

Reporter Ellie Price looks into the archive into the past contests which saw Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson take the role, with a third person to hold the title after the May election.

The Daily Politics

During his earlier hour-long Daily Politics stint, Ken Livingstone criticised the EU and PM David Cameron's reform deal, but said he nonetheless wanted the UK to remain in the bloc, saying:

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

"We would have plenty of money to afford a national agricultural policy" if the UK were to leave the European Union, Farming Minister George Eustice told World at One earlier. 

The government  "would still be able to support farmers, but we might support them differently",  he continued. 

"We would have a Brexit dividend of around £18bn a year," said Mr Eustice. He disagrees with his boss the Environment Secretary Liz Truss, who backs the UK remaining in the EU.

Mr Eustice said that leaving the EU would also give the UK the opportunity to fulfill its manifesto commitments on animal welfare: "It would give us the opportunity... to start to recognise animal welfare, for instance, in an agricultural policy,  where It's a manifesto commitment but we're not able to do it at the moment." 

The idea the UK could face a trade embargo if it leaves the EU was "ludicrous" and it would be "very easy" to negotiate a trade deal, he added. 

The Daily Politics

Image source, Get

Ken Livngstone also defended the rebellious record of himself, Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell, saying: "Go back and look at our rebellions, it's turned out we were right."

He said Mr Corbyn had been subjected to "six months of lies and distortion by the media", saying he had been branded a "threat to national security" and a "terrorist sympathiser".

But he said the Labour leader was "not going to change his policies because of the Tory media, and gradually will win the public support behind him".