House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Antoinette Sandbach says "many parents want to see some good to come out of their loss". 

She tells MPs: "The more open the NHS can be, the more chance we have of finding out what went wrong." 

She points out her research suggests 25% of NHS hospitals do not have a dedicated bereavement room, but officials are committed to addressing this. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Andrews opens her debate on the government's proposals to allow new grammar schools to be opened. She calls grammar schools a "controversial policy, a failed policy" that was "abandoned by all major political parties" until now.

She says that people of her generation "know from bitter experience" what the grammar school system was like, especially people "packed off to secondary moderns".

She says that evidence is against grammar schools. She says that in Kent, which still has a grammar school system, 27% of pupils on free school meals attain five good GCSEs, compared to a national average of 35%.

She finishes her speech by saying that bringing back grammar schools will signal that Britain is "a country that has lost its way" which "rejects evidence" and which "may well work for no-one".

Can an unusual shop just for Unilever staff at the company's London headquarters help to explain the row between the supplier and supermarket giant Tesco?

Appearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted that Brexit would prove beneficial to the UK.

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative Lord Holmes of Richmond says there's "no realistic prospect" of the Premier League achieving its wheelchair accessibility target by the start of next season, and that the "best estimate" is that a more than a third of clubs will fail. 

He says that "despite its riches" the Premier League is "morally bankrupt".  

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The third question of the morning is about the Premier League’s commitment to make all stadiums fully accessible by August 2017, the start of the 2017/18 football season.

Last month the league promised to meet the guidelines following a deeply critical government report. Only two Premier League clubs, Swansea City and champions Leicester City currently offer the recommended number of wheelchair spaces in their stadiums.

Labour's Lord Blencathra asks why the government doesn't threaten clubs with losing their licences to operate their stadiums if they can't provide the required number of wheelchair spaces by next season.

For the government, Lord Ashton of Hyde says that the "statutory basis for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority did not cover" disability access. But he promises that the government will "wait and see" if the Premier League follows through with it's promise.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach is opening the first of today's two backbench business debates, which is on baby loss. 

It's the first substantive debate on the issue in the Commons chamber.

Ms Sandbach, who lost her five-day old son in 2009, has described baby loss as an issue that has too often been "brushed under the carpet".

Ministers are aiming for a 20% reduction in stillbirths by 2020.

Each year about 3,500 babies in the UK are stillborn, defined as being born with no signs of life after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy - one in every 200 babies.

Parents who have experienced second trimester loss, stillbirth or neonatal death have backed calls by two MPs for higher standards of care across the NHS and to encourage people to be more open about baby loss.

It comes as two Conservative MPs raise the issue in Parliament, as part of Baby Loss Awareness week, external.

Here are some of their stories.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, AP

Crossbench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool asks if the government is reassessing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in light of the conflict in Yemen.

Last Saturday, over 140 people were killed in an air strike on a funeral in Sanaa, Yemen, by the Saudi-led coalition. The UK sells bombs, guns and fighter jets to the Saudis.

Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns says the government is "deeply concerned" about events in Yemen, and that the situation over arms sales is under "careful and continued review".

BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner has written about the UK's "delicate balancing act" over Saudi Arabia and the Yemen conflict here.

Asked about Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's call for a second independence referendum, the prime minister's Official Spokesman says the UK government's position has not changed. She adds that "we should focus on working together within the United Kingdom to get the best deal as we leave the EU".

A consultation gets under way next week on plans for a second Scottish independence referendum, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

She told the party's Glasgow conference that an independence referendum bill would be published next week.

It marks the first step in holding a second vote.

The first, which took place on 18 September, 2014, resulted in a "no" to independence.

Keep up with the developing story.

House of Lords
Parliament

The tweet below was published by the Syrian presidency on its official account, during the visit on 4 September.

Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns notes that Crossbench peers Baroness Cox and Lord Hylton visited Syria "against Foreign Office advice".

The peers, and former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, had an audience with Syrian President Bashar Assad during their trip.

Vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Syria John Woodcock MP criticised the delegation, saying that despite their "good intentions" their presence could "only strengthen" his "campaign of terror".

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, AP

Crossbencher Baroness Cox asks the government about recent developments in Syria.

This week has seen much criticism of Russia's role in Syria from the international community, including French president Francois Hollande and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. 

President Hollande said Russian air strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo may amount to war crimes.

For the Foreign Office, Baroness Anelay of St Johns condemns what she calls "brutal assaults" by Russia and says the UK is "urgently working with international partners" on what can be done to reduce the violence and improve humanitarian access. 

She says the government rejects the "spurious argument" of the Assad regime that they can protect minorities, blames him for 400,000 deaths and says he's "incapable of controlling his country".

Paul Rowley
BBC Political Correspondent

Image source, AP

The government is refusing to intervene in the crisis over Marmite.

Tesco has stopped selling the yeasty spread on its website - along with other products such as Persil and PG Tips - because it is in dispute with the manufacturer.

Some of its stores are also running low on stocks after Unilever tried to impose a 10% increase in wholesale prices.

The company blames higher costs because of the fall in sterling after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

The Leader of the Commons David Lidington told MPs that "probably it is not for the government to intervene in what seems to be a dispute between two commercial companies".

He pointed out that "the ingredients of Marmite are not imported into the UK but are manufactured and supplied here".

BBC Radio 5 live

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour’s Baroness Warwick asks the first question of the day, on how the government intends to increase the level of supported housing in England.

Supported housing enables vulnerable people to live more independent lives than they otherwise could.

Minister Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth says the government "values the important role" that supported housing plays and says they are "committed to encouraging future development", including 14,000 new supported homes over the course of this Parliament.

Nicola Sturgeon vows that SNP MPs will vote against Theresa May's bill to take the UK out of the EU.