House of Commons
Parliament

"With countless witness testimonies, this report highlights where improvements need to be made," says Labour MP Christina Rees.

She pays tribute to the "vitally important work" of the Youth Select Committee and to one of her local members of the Youth Parliament.

She says the Youth Parliament has "voted to campaign on mental health services as its priority campaign" which, she says, is indicative that services "fall far short" of what should be expected.

The committee said it gathered evidence, external from "young people, academics, ministers and health and education professionals" in the preparation of its report.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Baroness Morris of Yardley says it is good that there is now political agreement "across the spectrum" that the issue of social mobility needs to be addressed.

She is adamant that it is not just an issue for education and young people, but argues there should be focus on adults too.

"It's an issue of skills and re-skilling," she says, urging the government to give people opportunities throughout their lives to achieve their potential, rather than focusing solely on young people and the education system. 

European Parliament
Strasbourg

UKIP's Julie Reid says that Britain could be said to have "invented time itself" through the creation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). 

She says that the country should "take the lead again" by adhering to a system that would "absolutely maximise" the amount of daylight available to people. 

This, she adds, could might Europe might "follow our lead again" - adding that she also hopes other EU states also follow the UK's Brexit vote. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Holmes is opening this debate on the government's plans to promote social mobility.

In his opening statement, Lord Holmes says that unless peers can hold their hands on their hearts and say that anyone from any circumstances can achieve in modern Britain, "then what is the point of politics?"

He makes the point that focusing on younger school children will "enable young minds to be sparked" in primary school, rather than waiting for secondary school before engaging with children and young people.

Lord Holmes also highlights the need for better advice to young people leaving school, as he says that many people enter higher education when an apprenticeship or other vocational route would be better.

Esther Webber
BBC News

A source in the Lords tells the BBC that Lib Dem Shirley Williams, who retired from the House in February, appeared to regret her decision to leave, after the EU referendum result. 

She was "devastated" by the Brexit result, the source says, and phoned up her old team anxious to contribute to the Lib Dems' response. 

She was told that the (newish) rules under which she retired meant she had left the Lords permanently.

Speaking to the BBC today, Baroness Williams explains she knew she couldn't really rejoin the Lords but she did feel she had been "under-used" by the Remain campaign. 

Tim Farron, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 

The co-convenor of the Scottish Greens launches a scathing attack on the Scottish government over its support for a third runway at Heathrow.

Image source, Getty Images/AP/Warner Bros

Eleven questions aimed at working out how to end discrimination against women and girls have been launched by the Commons Women and Equalities Committee. 

It is looking at how the government will reach a UN development goal on women's equality by 2030. 

The UN requires all member states to achieve gender equality and empowerment for women and girls by 2030. 

The committee is taking submissions until 5 December, external. 

It wants to know how the goals can be met in the UK. 

The UN recently announced Wonder Woman, a fictional superhero, as its new honorary ambassador to promote women's empowerment and fight gender-based violence, prompting a backlash beginning with its own staff.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German Christian democrat Herbert Reul says the Parliament is not disputing that having different time zones would cause inconvenience. 

He says that any move to get rid of daylight saving would obviously need to be done in a harmonised way so as not to have a negative effect on the internal market. 

He adds that MEPs are asking for the Commission to justify why the current system is necessary, noting: "if our studies are false, you have to provide your own studies". 

He adds that the current regime of moving the clocks backwards and forwards at two points in the year has been shown to "have an impact on human health". 

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP MP Lisa Cameron says around half of young people who develop mental health problems do so before the age of 14, and 75% do so before the age of 18.

Mental health problems can "destroy educational potential" and damage relationships, as well as leading potentially to suicide and self-harm.

Dr Cameron, who trained as a clinical psychologist, adds that inpatient treatment should be "a very last resort" with children treated at home if possible.

House of Lords
Parliament

Government minister Baroness Mobarik rises to respond to the debate, and in a broad response to the many points made, promises that the department will "examine all options available to us".

Baroness Mobarik says that the government will work to avoid short-term disruption, but tells peers that the UK leaving the EU offers an opportunity for the UK to become a "champion for free trade".

The minister says that Brexit creates opportunities to positively influence developing countries, saying that "trade with the UK can be a force for good".

Image source, bbc

House of Commons
Parliament

"Illnesses are often supposed to be feared and ridiculed and that must change," says Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani.

She confesses that she has been guilty of preconceptions, giving the example of a piece of casework she received as a new MP.

She heard about a teenager who was self-harming and suffering from an eating disorder.

"I just assumed it was a girl," Ms Ghani says. "When I met the parents, I discovered 'she' was a boy."

She goes on to discuss the high incidence of suicide amongst young men and says therapy needs to be "provided sooner".

UKIP backs Zac Goldsmith in the Richmond Park by-election and won't be fielding its own candidate.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour frontbencher Lord Mendelsohn says his party wants Britain to be seen as "a great place to do business" but that can't be about "rolling back" workers' rights.

He also wonders what the Department for International Trade is actually doing. He says he hopes the department is doing more than tweeting about "innovative British jam", as it did earlier this month.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lib Dem spokesperson Baroness Kramer poses a series of questions for the government. 

She asks if the government is worried about "non tariff barriers" to trade, if tariffs are going to be "something you live with" and what the government's view is on the tide turning against free trade around the world.

She calls herself "inherently a free-trader" and says her party has always been a free trade party. She says that is the reason that they supported the expansion of the European Union's single market and will be "sad to lose it".

Economic figures post-Brexit vote are positive, but the real test is to come, the Institute of Directors says. 

The 0.5% third quarter growth announced on Thursday showed greater resilience than expected but that was underpinned by the service sector, it said, while firms continued to adopt a wait-and-see approach to investment.

"The challenge to the government in the Autumn Statement will be to bolster the confidence necessary to trigger business spending and investment," it said.  

More than half of its members are "optimistic" about the UK's economic prospects, but a third worry an economic slowdown would hit their business. 

"The real test of this will be early next year when the currency impact will be more fully felt, feeding through into higher prices and causing inflation to rise towards target levels," it warned.

John McDonnell's claims Theresa May will protect bankers from Brexit but not small business are "exactly what is wrong with the Labour Party" the Lib Dems have said. 

Treasury spokeswoman Baroness Kramer said creating a fight between bankers and small business over Brexit was "totally unnecessary". 

"If we are going to protect our economy we must protect both," she said. 

"Theresa May's 'hard Brexit' will hit financial services just as hard as small businesses, and you don't need to be the bankers' best friend to know that will have a major impact on the prosperity of every person in our country.

"The financial services sector pays over £66bn in tax each year - that's billions for schools, hospitals and the public sector that we could lose to Brexit.

"While Labour may want to create scapegoats, Liberal Democrats will fight for every business and for every pound of our economy," she said. 

House of Commons
Parliament

North Durham MP Kevan Jones begins his contribution by saying that the more mental health issues are talked about helps to reduce the stigma surrounding the health issues. 

Mr Jones says that the core of the report talks about a lot of the issues that affect adult mental services, but acknowledges that young people today "face pressures that were never there when we were younger".

The Labour MP says that access and prevention are the two main issues for tackling mental health issues - arguing that self-referral should be prioritised over the "medical model" of getting a referral from a GP.

The UK Independence Party says it will not be putting up a candidate in the Richmond Park by-election on 1 December prompted by Conservative Zac Goldsmith's decision to resign over the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

A spokesman said: "Zac Goldsmith has resigned on a matter of principle and UKIP admire him for having the courage to do so. UKIP have always believed that Gatwick was a preferred option to Heathrow."

The party added:

Business Secretary Greg Clark would not be drawn on the detail of the "support and assurances" Nissan says it had from government before announcing its commitment to Sunderland. 

He had provided "assurances that the Government's industrial strategy is determined to make sure Britain remains the competitive and attractive place for investment and innovation that we have been for the 30 years that Nissan has been in this country". 

But he would not say if there would be compensation to the car-maker if EU tariffs were imposed on UK exports. 

And asked if taxpayers money was going to Nissan, he said: "If they expand their production facilities, often the local enterprise partnership  would make improvements to road junctions up in Sunderland. 

"I've led quite an investment programme in the area around Nissan to make it suitable for the supply chain. That is in the normal course of business and it extends to all of the different industries."

He said the government was determined "to make sure Britain not only stays competitive but is even more attractive for investment". 

"They were persuaded of the confidence that we have in our future. They have a long, successful association with this country and their decision means it not only continues in the future but has been upgraded."