House of Lords
Parliament

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Education Minister Lord Nash is repeating an answer to an urgent question asked earlier in the Commons on school funding.

He tells peers the government is "committed to fairer funding for schools".

The government will give a full response to the first stage of consultations - which he says "have been overwhelmingly positive" - and set out proposals once Parliament returns in the autumn.

Schools will "no longer be held back by a funding system that is arbitrary, out of date and unfair".

Education Committee chair Neil Carmichael asked the urgent question on the government's decision to continue with the national funding formula.

The formula, which was proposed by former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, aims to address wide gaps in school funding between different geographical areas, from the 2017/18 academic year.

There have been warnings that some schools will lose out, particularly in inner London.   

Jo Coburn
Daily Politics presenter

Newsnight

Adam Fleming
Daily and Sunday Politics reporter

There are 4,163 pieces in a Lego model of the home of the UK's MPs and peers, and Daily Politics reporter Adam Fleming spent several hours putting one together.

It may have been a big job for one man - but the real House of Commons is crumbling, and will need far more than one BBC reporter to fix. 

An independent committee has suggested that a 'rolling' restoration, which would allow the building to continue to function as a seat of government while being repaired, would cost £5.7bn and take 32 years.

Jeremy Corbyn has launched his official campaign to remain as Labour leader, after he faced a challenge from Owen Smith, who had served in his shadow cabinet.Mr Corbyn spoke about Labour's success in elections since he took over last year, the re-selection of all candidates after a review of boundaries, Labour's record of welfare, and he talked of a "kinder, gentler politics".  

Shadow cabinet member Rebecca Long Bailey says mandatory reselection of MPs would have to be considered by "the party as a whole" not just decided by the leader.

She adds that the boundary review will lead to some seats changing, which "forces a selection process whether we like it or not".

In addition, MPs have to ask their local party every five years if they want them to stand again, she adds - a process known as a "trigger ballot".

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Rebecca Long Bailey says she believes that Labour MPs "will have to comply with the wishes of the membership" and support whoever is elected as the party's leader.

She tells the BBC she has spoken to many MPs and believes "they will galvanise and they will unify behind whoever the leader is".

No-one in the Labour movement wants a split to happen, she adds.

She predicts "a heavy majority" for Mr Corbyn among party members and the new registered supporters.

BBC News Channel

Francois Hollande, in Dublin for talks with Irish PM Enda Kenny, says France understands the Republic of Ireland's concerns about the land border with the UK and the continuation of the Good Friday agreement.

BBC News Channel

French president Francois Hollande addresses the media in Dublin, where he is holding talks with taoiseach Enda Kenny.

He says he is keen for the UK to begin the Brexit process without discussions "dragging on" beforehand.

"We have to open the negotiations, the sooner the better," he says.

Mr Hollande adds that "access to the single market cannot be guaranteed" unless the UK respects freedom of movement.

The BBC's Political Research Unit notes that Jeremy Corbyn's policy to require firms with more than 21 staff to publish equality pay audits bears more than a passing resemblance to one in the Labour election manifesto of 2015.

The manifesto said: "The next Labour government will go further in reducing discrimination against women, requiring large companies to publish their gender pay gap and strengthening the law against maternity discrimination. Where there is evidence more progress is needed, we will enforce the relevant provisions within the Equality Act."

BBC News Channel

Norman Smith, who has a signal outside the building, tells the BBC News Channel that Jeremy Corbyn delivered a "very bullish, defiant, confident speech".

Norman thinks that Mr Corbyn privately believes he is on course to win the leadership contest.

And the Labour leader indicated to the parliamentary party that, once the contest is over, he is "not going to tolerate continued sniping and discontent".

He was "laying down the law there to his MPs", Norman adds.

Jeremy Corbyn is asked whether Labour MPs will face mandatory reselection. This has been a controversial issue with suggestions that many Labour MPs may find themselves axed as election candidates by local parties whose membership has become more in tune with Jeremy Corbyn's agenda than the majority of the parliamentary party. 

The Labour leader says that once the outcome of a review of constituency boundaries is known, "there will be a full and open selection process for every constituency Labour Party".

Which sounds like a yes.

And he calls on the Boundary Commission, which will redraw constituency boundaries to reflect population changes, "to reflect very carefully before they come up with their new proposals".

Jeremy Corbyn says he hopes Owen Smith will "fully agree with me" that the NHS should be free at the point of use and publicly owned with staff publicly employed, rather than employed by private firms.

And, in a nod to Mr Smith's previous career with Pfizer, Mr Corbyn says private pharmaceutical companies should not be "over-dominant" and should not have control over medical research.

Jeremy Corbyn is asked what happens if he wins and Labour MPs still don't support him.

Mr Corbyn says he "tried to appoint a very broad shadow cabinet" on becoming leader last year.

He says his message to Labour MPs is that they are "part of, though not the entirety" of the Labour movement and wants to "hold out the hand of friendship to them all".

Once the leadership contest is over it will be the "duty" of Labour MPs to take their arguments to the Tories, he adds.

He also says he has the ability to forget things, and predicts he will be able to "forget some of the unpleasant things that are said".