House of Lords
Parliament

The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, uses his speech to talk about "planned obsolescence" - the policy of designing a product to become no longer functional after an artificially short period of time.

He tells peers the model is used "especially in the technology sector" where products need to be upgraded and replaced at regular intervals.

This approach is "so engrained that we barely even notice" but is "not sustainable either economically or environmentally", he complains.

"It is estimated there are 125m old mobile phones languishing in top draws of desks across the country, many of which contain metals that are increasingly scarce in the natural world.

"We need a model where upgrades can be done without replacing the product, but this can only come about with pressure from consumers."

German finance minister Wolfgang again insists he is "strongly in favour" of the UK staying in the EU. He says a vote to leave would bring "huge uncertainty" to Britain and negotiating new trade deals would result in "a lot of additional red tape".

From a self-interested perspective, he adds "I need allies to fight every day against additional red tape" - which is met with a smattering of applause.

George Osborne endorses his comments, saying an EU exit would mean businesses would face more regulation and rules "because you're not automatically complying with them already" as an EU member.

Chancellor George Osborne says he'd rather spend the next few years looking at improving trade relationships with countries such as the US and complete the single market in digital services, "rather than spend years on a costly and messy divorce". 

"It would consume the energies of the British government and the British Parliament" and lead to uncertainty for businesses, he adds.

George Osborne says the EU deal David Cameron negotiated with the leaders of the other 27 countries in the bloc is "a binding legal agreement", and stands by the reforms the PM secured.

He's been speaking alongside German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble at the BCC's annual conference.

Asked if the EU sustainable in its current form, Mr Schäuble says reform is an ongoing necessity. He says the UK has been very "successful and efficient" in this, and argues that it's important that Britain votes to retain its membership.

He thinks continental Europe would become "less stable and more volatile" if the UK left.

Mr Osborne says he's offering "real words of wisdom and experience".

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Stephen Kinnock calls for a "constitutional convention" to produce a written constitution setting out devolved powers for all parts of the United Kingdom.

House of Lords
Parliament

Crossbench peer Baroness Young of Hornsey argues the circular economy could have a huge impact in the clothing and textile industries.

She tells peers that "£140m of clothing goes into landfills in the UK alone and we send 700,000 tonnes worth of clothes to be recycled every year".

"Fashion can make a positive creative intervention," she tells peers, by "designing in longevity, designing clothes for leasing and building a system that recaptures materials that can be re-used".

Reality Check

Image source, AFP

French finance minister Emmanuel Macron told the FT today that, if the UK left the EU, “migrants will no longer be in Calais”.

Would Brexit mean that France would open its border with the UK and let thousands of migrants currently in Calais cross the Channel?

France and the UK are bound by the Le Touquet agreement, a deal they signed in 2003, which established the UK immigration checks on French territory. Le Touquet is not an EU agreement and, if the UK votes to leave the EU, the deal will not automatically be affected.

Under the agreement, passengers are checked before they embark on cross-Channel services. The checks have stopped irregular migrants from reaching the UK, but they have also led, in part, to the establishment of the “Jungle”, the migrant camp in Calais that French authorities are currently trying to dismantle.

The agreement can be terminated only by the UK or the French government, after giving six months notice.

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commons, Chancellor George Osborne is discussing the EU referendum, and making his case for why the UK should vote to stay in.

He says if Britain wanted to maintain access to single market in the event of an EU exit it would still "have to pay in to the EU budget" and accept the principle of the free movement of people.

"For me that would be the worst of all worlds" for Britain, he says, adding that EU membership brings "positive trade benefits".  

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, PA

MPs have moved on to a backbench business debate on Welsh affairs.

Labour's Stephen Kinnock focuses on the Welsh economy.

He says that leaving the European Union would inflict economic "uncertainty" on Wales. He describes being a member of the EU as a "pretty good deal".

He argues that "hundreds of thousands of jobs" in Wales are linked to the UK's membership of the EU.

Turning to the struggling steel sector, he says the government has failed to support the industry.

He says "if speedy action is not taken to prevent the dumping of Chinese steel, we will witness the beginning of the end of UK steel making".

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Baroness Jenkin of Kennington tells peers that the circular economy holds "great appeal for young entrepreneurs especially in the social enterprise space". 

But she complains few people know about it. 

Giving a few examples of profitable circular economy start ups, she encourages peers to "vigorously, embrace and communicate this agenda".

Pollsters have listed the most Europhile and Eurosceptic parts of the UK.

The biggest petition to Parliament calls for more children to get a meningitis B vaccine.

Image source, Pacemaker

The Assembly Standards Commissioner has dismissed all complaints of misconduct brought against the NI21 party leader and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea.

A new report has cleared Mr McCrea of claims of inappropriate behaviour and sexual misconduct towards his staff.

However, standards committee MLAs said the manner in which he occasionally treated his staff fell short of the standard they would encourage.

Mr McCrea claimed the allegations were a conspiracy to force him to resign.

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UK ministers were among the "ringleaders" blocking higher tariffs on Chinese steel, the body representing the UK steel industry has told AMs.

UK Steel policy chief Dominic King also accused the EU of saying to Chinese producers "please dump here".

In January, Tata announced it was cutting 750 steel jobs in Port Talbot, out of more than 1,000 going in the UK.

Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said the UK government would continue to do "all it can" to help the industry.

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The Treasury is resisting demands by MSPs to publish background documents which led to the fiscal framework deal over Holyrood's future funding.

Chief Secretary Greg Hands was quizzed on the details of the deal by MSPs on the devolution and finance committees.

He said publishing details of the early negotiations could compromise the "integrity of inter-governmental negotiations" and affect future talks.

MSP Duncan McNeil said this "embargo" on the papers was "not acceptable"

More here

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Does Tony Smith, former UK Border Force boss, think the French would axe the Le Touquet agreement, if Britain votes to leave the EU in the referendum on 23 June?

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Reuters

Commenting on a French minister's suggestion that his country could end UK border controls in Calais if Britain leaves the EU, Tony Smith, former director general of the UK Border Force, says it "would certainly be a problem" and have "big implications" for Britain.

He says if migrants claimed asylum on arrival in the UK it may not be possible, legally, to send them straight back.

He says one of the "great strengths"  of the current arrangements in Calais is that it enables UK Border Force to search and find people climbing into lorries and vehicles to try and enter the UK clandestinely. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Asked if he thinks Schengen will survive the migration crisis, Richard Corbett says he think it will. He says the rules allow, in certain circumstance, the temporary reintroduction of certain border controls. It's also an information-sharing system, he says, adding: