Select Committee
Parliament

Tony Blair should not have suggested that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to obtain nuclear weapons within months, according to Sir John Chilcot.

"There was no evidence of an active programme" in the sense of installations in design and the manufacture of nuclear weapons, he said.

"There was a fear based on history in the intelligence community that, from the dismissal of weapons inspectors in 1998, there was something going on," he said.

"To assert there was a nuclear weapons programme in train went beyond any evidence that I've seen."

Sir John added that the evidence also did not suggest that Saddam Hussein "would have, if he could have" supplied weapons to terrorist organisations.

Select Committee
Parliament

Sir John Chilcot says the intelligence community thought they had sufficient evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction for use.

But he said there was insufficient evidence that he was going to use them on Britain.

House of Lords
Parliament

The second piece of legislation for debate today is the Policing and Crime Bill, which contains provisions on collaboration between the emergency services and the handling of police complaints.

Peers will consider the bill in detail and debate proposed amendments, in a committee of the whole House.

There will also be a short debate during the dinner break on projects supported by the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund.

The fund, established in 2015, provides more than £1bn per year for tackling conflict and instability overseas.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Sir John Chilcot says the evidence in front of Tony Blair did not support the conclusion that there was an imminent threat from Saddam Hussein.

"What seems to me clear from the evidence is any threat was in the future, not imminent, and not directly against the UK and its people and I think that's as far as the evidence takes you," he said.

The British government at the time made it clear that participating in war was a last resort measure and only after all other options had been exhausted, he said.

Sir John Chilcot says the government did not need to go to war with Iraq in March 2003.

He says "there was no imminent threat to British citizens or Britain itself" from Saddam Hussein's regime.

Sir John Chilcot is appearing before the Liaison Committee to give evidence on the Iraq Inquiry.

The Iraq War Inquiry outlined his findings on the UK's involvement in the 2003 Iraq War and lessons to be learned.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Oliver Dowden notes the pharmacies are often "excessively clustered" and believes there is the need for reform.

He argues that the reforms will save money to support frontline services. 

He challenges those opposed to the changes to say where they would find savings - "Diabetes services? Cancer wards?" he suggests.

"There is no magic money tree."

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Michael Dugher is the next speaker and he notes that Mr Burt has bucked the trend of ex-ministers by actually trying to be helpful to his successor, David Mowat.

On Alistair Burt's admission that he estimated 3,000 pharmacies would close "without properly thinking it through" Michael Dugher suggests the government is demonstrating "remarkable continuity".

"His successor also makes a number of assertions without properly thinking them through."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, BBc

Conservative MP and former health minister Alistair Burt explains that the cuts were the result of a deal  with the Treasury whereby the NHS would be given more funding.

As a minister he had estimated that 3,000 pharmacies would have to close due to cuts. He now says he regrets using that figure which he describes as "a top estimate".

He "does not believe for an instant" that pharmacy closures will be as "dramatic" as the opposition have argued.

He makes the argument that pharmacies are businesses and therefore will be able to adapt to the changes.

Image source, PA

An MP said the row over gymnast Louis Smith's alleged mocking of Islam had left him feeling like he "no longer understood the rules" in the UK.

Conservative Charles Walker said the team GB gymnast had been "hounded" by the media and received death threats.

Olympic medallist Smith was banned over a video allegedly mimicking Islamic prayer practices.

Speaking at PM's Questions Theresa May said there needs to be a "balance" but "we must value tolerance to others".

Read more

Here's a guide to the case so far.

House of Commons
Parliament

David Mowat keeps going despite what the Speaker calls "courteous haranguing".

He tells MPs that "every penny of efficiency savings" will be spent on "better care, better drugs and better GP access".

Lib Dem Norman Lamb intervenes. He acknowledges the importance of "getting more bang for your buck" but argues that the savings amount to "significant cuts to preventative services".

This, he asserts, is completely counter to what the government aims to do.

"Mrs May is the school mistress who sometimes feels obliged to try and jape with the class. But her heart's not in it and she does it out of necessity rather than desire. And when it goes wrong, she blames someone else." (The Mirror, external)

"A satisfyingly serious and grown-up exchange which did not really amount to a clear win for either Corbyn or May, but which did credit to them both." (The Guardian, external)

"All in all, not Parliament’s finest 40 minutes, but we did learn one thing. It seems when Theresa May cocks something up, her instinct is to immediately pass the buck." (The Sun, external)

Footballing bosses stopping England and Scotland players wearing armbands featuring poppies at a match on Armistice Day is "utterly outrageous" says Theresa May.

And the prime minister said to Fifa: "Before they start telling us what to do, they jolly well ought to sort their own house out."

She was responding to Labour MP Steve McCabe who said: "In this country, we decide when to wear poppies, and we will be wearing them at Wembley."

Fifa has reportedly turned down a request from England and Scotland for a game on 11 November, while Wales is waiting to hear about a game the next day, for players to mark those who have died in conflict.

House of Commons
Parliament

Health Minister David Mowat is speaking to introduce the government's amendment to Labour's motion and correct what he calls "alarmist scaremongering" from the Labour front bench.

He says the government plans to recruit 1,500 clinical pharmacists to work in GP practices by 2020. It is "a major investment", he says.

The amendment "welcomes" government proposals and "supports the need to reform the funding system to ensure better value for the taxpayer".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Robert Jenrick intervenes to tell the House that the town centre of his Newark constituency has "four pharmacies within a quarter of a mile". 

He asks Jon Ashworth to acknowledge that a system that gives a £25,000 "block grant to each of those pharmacies regardless of demand...is in need of review".

Jon Ashworth replies by wishing Robert Jenrick luck if he "wants to tell his constituents he's in favour of closing pharmacies".