House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Ian Lavery says that between 2010 and 2016 David Cameron, who instigated plans to reduce the size of the House of Commons to keep costs down, appointed 261 peers at an estimated cost "somewhere in the region of £34m".

He says the Lords is now a "bloated" chamber, the only one bigger in the world is China's national assembly. 

In light of this, he asks, "where is the logic in reducing the democratically elected Commons?"

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Paddick withdraws his amendments and the House accepts government amendments in the group.

Debate now moves to another government amendment which would prevent intelligence services from retaining a "bulk personal dataset" under a warrant "if the head of the intelligence service considers that the bulk personal dataset consists of, or includes, protected data".

Protected data can include private information contained within a set of data.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Phillip Davies intervenes while Michael Ellis is talking about the reduction in size of the House of Commons, 

Mr Davies asks the minister if he "will he commit to reducing the size of government" by the same proportion as MPs. Not doing so, he says, will increase the grip of the government on the legislature.

Michael Ellis says that the number of ministers is "ultimately a matter for the prime minister" and that numbers "must reflect what the prime minister of the day feels he or she needs".

Fellow Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg jumps in to point out that the maximum number of ministers is "set by legislation".

House of Commons
Parliament

Michael Ellis, the deputy Leader of the House of Commons, is opening the debate for the government.

He says Pete Wishart's opening speech has done a "disservice" to peers who "work very hard" and are "devoted to public service". 

He says the House includes "leaders of industry and business", ex-cabinet ministers, chiefs of the defence staff and others with "considerable expertise" that is not available in the Commons, or in the upper houses of other countries.

He says that the government recognises the need to reduce the size of the chamber but "comprehensive reform of the House of Lords is not considered a priority" by the government.

House of Lords
Parliament

Minister Earl Howe says some alternatives to bulk equipment interference would be "more intrusive" as well as less efficient.

He says the government has accepted an amendment proposed by the Intelligence and Security Committee containing measures against "misuse" of the powers.

He insists the powers are subject to "world-leading safeguards".

Labour's governing body upholds complaints by MP Angela Eagle that she and her staff were subjected to homophobic abuse and intimidation.

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May clash on NHS funding during Prime Minister's Questions, as the PM also faces questions on Brexit and the child abuse inquiry.

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP MP Pete Wishart responds to Michael Gove's claim that he had got his facts wrong about the phrase "Mother of all Parliaments", by saying "I thought he didn't like experts".That was a reference to the former Conservative cabinet minister's claim that "people have had enough of experts" as he dismissed warnings during the referendum campaign about the impact of the UK leaving the EU.  

Highly skilled workers may be exempt from the government's planned immigration controls, Chancellor Philip Hammond says.

Tom Bateman
Political Correspondent, Millbank

Downing Street today said it would have been "completely inappropriate" for Theresa May to have acted on stories about tensions within the child sexual abuse inquiry.

Officials confirmed that Mrs May was aware of such “stories" while she was still Home Secretary but said that no formal complaints or evidence were put to her.

It comes after the Prime Minister told the Commons today that "there were stories around about the inquiry" but the home secretary could not intervene on the basis of "suspicion, rumour or hearsay".

Pressed on when Mrs May was aware of such stories, the Prime Minister's official spokeswoman said it was "some weeks before" the end of July, and included her time as Home Secretary.

Asked what Mrs May was referring to, the spokeswoman said: "I think the sense that there were tensions between the chair and the panel or some panel members.

"The key point is, was there a formal complaint or evidence on which to act?

"As I've been clear there was no formal complaint or convincing evidence."

The spokeswoman said she did not accept the claim that Mrs May could have done more to look into the tensions.

She said: "She set up an independent inquiry of which the independent nature of that inquiry is crucial to it.

"This is an inquiry that is being asked to look at child sexual abuse including potentially within political life and therefore it would be completely inappropriate for a politician to be intervening unless there was clear formal complaint, convincing evidence to do so.

"There is a statutory process set out for this."

She added: "First and foremost it is for panel members and the chair to resolve issues.

"The Home Secretary cannot act on the basis of suspicions or hearsay or rumours.

"When this was raised formally, the Home Office acted."

The fortunes of the two opposing sides during the EU Referendum campaign have been reversed in the Commons as Hilary Benn defeated Kate Hoey in elections for the chair of the Exiting the EU Select Committee.

Labour MP Hilary Benn was elected after beating his party colleague Kate Hoey by 330 votes to 209.

Ms Hoey was a leading figure of the Labour Leave campaign during the run-up to the EU referendum, while Mr Benn campaigned strongly for the UK to remain a member of the EU. 

Image source, HoC

Former Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper was also elected chair of a select committee, beating former frontbenchers Caroline Flint and Chuka Umunna to become chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Labour MP Keith Vaz previously held the position. 

A former Conservative Welsh secretary challenges the prime minister to commit to funding for poorer parts of Wales after Brexit.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Bridget Phillipson notes that the troubled families programme took place against a backdrop of local authority cuts.

Louise Casey believes that, through working with other agencies, the programme allowed local authorities to make savings.

She says the initiative was embraced by local authorities because it allowed them to reshape how they worked. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord King of Bridgwater says Lord Paddick "only gives us about half the story".

The former Conservative cabinet minister says he does not recall the Lib Dem peer referring to terrorism reviewer David Anderson's reports in his argument against including internet records.

He adds that there was not "a single mention of the code of practice".

The following MPs have been elected to chair commons select committees:

International Trade Committee - Angus MacNeil

Culture Media and Sport Committee - Damian Collins

Exiting the European Union Committee - Hilary Benn

Home Affairs Committee - Yvette Cooper

Science and Technology Committee - Stephen Metcalfe

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

The chancellor has indicated that high skilled workers are likely to be exempt from the government's planned immigration controls.

Philip Hammond said he could not conceive of circumstances where the government would want to restrict companies from recruiting "high level, highly skilled" workers.

Mr Hammond told a committee of MPs said the public was not concerned about imposing controls on  "computer programmers, brain surgeons, bankers, senior managers, possibly students."

The chancellor said voters wanted to see controls on those migrants competing for "entry level jobs".

Mr Hammond did not dispel suggestions that he supported students being taken out of the government's target for reducing net migration.

Mr Hammond's comments will fuel growing speculation that the government is intent on introducing a work visa scheme targeted at low-skilled migrants.

Last night No 10 released details of the aims of the government's immigration sub committee which included the commitment to introduce a "targeted visa scheme".

Elsewhere, Mr Hammond appeared critical of some of his pro Brexit cabinet colleagues.

He said those seeking "hard decisions" risked undermining the Prime Minister's negotiations. And he criticised some of the briefing against him.

"It would be far more helpful," he said "if we could conduct negotiations privately without leaks to newspapers."

"Its no secret there are different views over how we should approach the negotiations."

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Paddick also encounters opposition from a former Liberal Democrat leader, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, who says he cannot vote with his party's front bench.

He tells the House that case studies by the current Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, David Anderson QC, have persuaded him the powers are needed.

"I defy anyone to read these case studies and not be persuaded," Lord Campbell says.

However, Lord Oates weighs into this internal Lib Dem row in agreement with Lord Paddick, arguing: "It's absurd to suggest that these powers are not on occasion abused."

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs have voted against the SNP's motion on the rights of EU nationals in the UK by 293 to 250.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile of Berriew does not agree with his party's position on the bill, arguing that the code of practice contains many safeguards.

The former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation claims the bill would give the government powers to do "no more than the state absolutely has to in order to protect its citizens".

Labour peer Lord Rooker sympathises, saying the bill's measures are "not draconian whatsoever" and is "a modest response" to the risks the UK faces.

He adds that he hopes Lord Paddick forces a vote on his amendment, because "I'd like it put on record that he has little or no support for it".

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are voting on the SNP's motion calling on the government to "ensure that all nationals from other countries in the EU who have made the UK their home retain their current rights".

Minister Robin Walker says that although they support the general sentiment behind the motion, because it doesn't call for the rights of UK citizens in the EU to be respected, the government will not be supporting it.