House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Andy Burnham calls the 'Battle of Orgreave' "one of the most divisive events in British social history". He says in light of "evidence of unlawful conduct by police" it's "staggering" that an inquiry has not been called. 

He also says it's "revealing" that Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, hasn't come to the House today. He asks some direct questions, including whether South Yorkshire Police files were reviewed, whether new testimony from police officers was considered and whether Cabinet meeting minutes between Margaret Thatcher and then-home secretary Leon Brittan were considered. 

He says that if none of these things were considered, the decision making process was "incomplete".

He also asks if the minister agrees that it was "utterly cruel" to brief to The Times that there would be an inquiry, before deciding not to hold one.

Junior minister Brandon Lewis says the home secretary "reviewed a wide range of documents", and met and spoke with campaigners, both before and after making a decision. 

Mr Lewis says that he and Labour members may have a "disagreement on this" but it "doesn't mean that the home secretary's decision is wrong".

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins, who campaigned to leave the EU, says he wants to "disassociate myself from the nonsense being spoken by my friend Paul Flynn".

He believes the UK could spend "at least £10bn" extra on the NHS once it leaves the EU.

He adds: "We've actually seen our economy bounce since the referendum."

"I would completely agree with that," Vote Leave's Matthew Elliott says.

The Vote Leave campaigners are the final set of witnesses and the committee adjourns as questions to them end.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

Former Vote Leave finance director Antonia Flockton denies Paul Flynn's claim that people were misled by Vote Leave's bus, suggesting that £350m might be spent on the NHS if the UK stopped paying into the EU budget.

She insists that people "did understand" how the figure was arrived at.

Former chief executive Matthew Elliott says the Brexit process will continue to be debated and "I hope a big part of that debate will be: how do we spend the Brexit dividend?"

Ronnie Cowan says his party, the SNP, produced a Scottish government white paper ahead of the independence referendum in 2014.

"What you did was write a poster on the side of a bus," he says to the Vote Leave campaigners, arguing this is "maybe not the best way to engage" with the electorate.

Mr Elliott says the Scottish referendum was called by the Scottish government, who would have been in power if there had been a "Yes" vote and negotiating with the UK government on independence.

As the campaign would not have been in Brussels negotiating with the EU, "it wasn’t up to us as Vote Leave to come up with a plan", he argues.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's Andy Burnham has tabled an urgent question on the Home Secretary's decision yesterday not to hold an inquiry into clashes between police and miners at the Orgreave coking plant during the 1984 miners' strike. 

Campaigners accused police of orchestrating the violence, and mass-manufacturing statements from police officers who were there.

Mr Burnham wants to know what the process of making the decision was, and what documents were consulted.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said policing had changed since Orgreave so there was little to be learned, and said that there had been no deaths or wrongful convictions that stemmed from the incident.

Campaigners have said they will seek a judicial review into the decision.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, Iain Erskine/RSPB Scotland

Conservative backbencher Sir Desmond Swayne asks how deliveries of contraband into prisons by drone can be stopped.

Minister Sam Gyimah says drones are a "new problem" for prisons but he's "keeping a close eye on what's happening in Holland, where they're using eagles to stop drones".

As we've been reporting, Chancellor Philip Hammond has been delivering a speech setting out the UK's cyber security strategy. 

Here's the written statement to Parliament by cabinet office minister Ben Gummer setting out the full cyber security strategy, external.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, PA

Labour's Paul Flynn asks Vote Leave's Matthew Elliott for his view of UKIP's "breaking point" anti-EU poster showing a long queue of migrants.

"I thought it was a disgraceful poster," Mr Elliott tells the committee, adding that it had nothing to with Vote Leave.

He adds that the Vote Leave campaign was set up so they "wouldn't be campaigning alongside UKIP".

Mr Flynn goes on to suggest that many Leave voters feel they were lied to and might vote differently now - but Mr Elliott thinks that if the vote was run again, the Leave vote would be higher.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Ulster Unionist Party's Tom Elliott asks if the UK government has had any discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive over pardons for gay men convicted of offences that have since been abolished. An amendment to do so in England and Wales has been added to the Policing and Crime Bill by the Liberal Democrats. This has been called the "Turing Law" after World War II code breaker Alan Turing.

Minister Sam Gyimah says that "Northern Ireland has powers over matters relating to justice and policing, this is a devolved matter". 

He adds that the legislation could be extended to Northern Ireland but "a legislative consent motion would, by convention, be required".

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

Matthew Elliott blames incompetence for the voter registration website crashing due to the level of demand to vote in the referendum, leading to the original registration deadline being extended.

To "have a website that couldn't take the bandwidth... was pretty incompetent", the Vote Leave chief executive says, adding that he was "disappointed that they extended the deadline".

This could "set a bad precedent", he argues, as in future a group or individual could "crash websites with denial of service attacks" and obtain a deadline extension.

The SNP's Ronnie Cowan is unconvinced: "I worked in IT for 35 years. Websites crash. Let's not get all uppity about: 'There's a plot out there'."

Mr Cowan says it was a "poorly designed" and implemented website.

"That's what I said," Mr Elliott replies.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Philip Davies says that men in prison have to wear a uniform, but women in prison don't. He asks if the minister agrees with the policy and, if not, "what does the word equality mean to him?"

"My honourable friend has a rich track record in this area," says Justice Minister Phillip Lee. 

He adds that women in prison are more likely to have been abused as children, more likely to have mental health issues and more likely to have an addiction to class A drugs. 

He says he believes that it's "important to have a gender specific approach" to prison "and if that involves different uniforms, so be it".

Press Association

The outgoing UKIP leader Nigel Farage has insisted he is not about to appear in the latest series of I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! 

Asked about speculation that he had been offered up to £750,000 to take part in the ITV series Mr Farage told the Press Association: "No. I'm not going into anything. It's a very successful show. I'm actually quite busy at the moment."

Select Committee
Parliament

While Stronger In campaigner Will Straw had no problem with the government campaigning for Remain, Vote Leave's Matthew Elliott does not see things the same way.

He compares the use of the "machinery of government" in the EU referendum campaign to a general election.

"Imagine if the government used taxpayers' money to send out a leaflet to every household saying how terrible it would be if the opposition got elected."

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Steven Paterson asks minister Sir Oliver Heald about the timetable for the government's consultation on replacing the Human Rights Act.

In reply, the minister says that "the government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK's human rights framework" and is working to do so. He adds that the UK has a "proud tradition of respect for human rights".

Select Committee
Parliament

"There was a clear spending disparity in this referendum," says former Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott. He says more political parties spent money on the Remain side, while the government also campaigned for Remain.

He also refers to the decision by the Electoral Commission to designate the official lead campaigns as late as April, when the referendum was in June.

The commission decided between Vote Leave and another group, Leave.EU, which meant Vote Leave did not know whether it would be allowed to spend £7m or £700,000, Mr Elliott points out.

The decision "has an impact on your campaign planning" adds former finance director Antonia Flockton, who says the Remain side was "fully funded from the outset".

However, she thinks no-one could have foreseen "such an acrimonious split in the Leave side" between two groups, while Mr Elliott thinks the late designation worked in the government's favour.

Conservative MP Nicky Morgan says the Government should take "control of the situation" and set out exactly what was discussed with Nissan ahead of the Japanese firm's decision to boost its investment in the UK.

The former Education Secretary, who had campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU, argues that it would serve the country and Parliament "better" if ministers explained how they intend to approach Brexit negotiations by spelling out "this is where we want to end up and this is where we’re going to start our negotiations."

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are starting the day with questions to the justice secretary.

Labour frontbencher Yasmin Quereshi raises a series of recent violent incidents in prisons, including an inmate who was stabbed to death at London's Pentonville Prison. She says the message from the Prison Governors Association is clear, they need more staff. She asks if the justice secretary will listen.

Liz Truss says "we do have a serious issue with violence and levels of suicide" in prisons and she's "absolutely determined to address it". 

"It is going to take time to turn the situation round, it takes months to train up new prison officers," she says.

Select Committee
Parliament

Next in line for a grilling from MPs are former Vote Leave campaigners William Norton, Antonia Flockton and Matthew Elliott.

Mr Norton intrdoduces himself, saying: "I am not now, and have never been, a Commander of the British Empire."

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Paul Flynn turns to the award of a CBE - or Commander of the British Empire - to Will Straw following the referendum.

"How fares the Empire under your command?" Mr Flynn asks, going on to suggest that the "losing side" was rewarded.

"I don't know why I was given the award," Mr Straw says, "but when I was offered it I wasn't going to turn it down."

Select Committee
Parliament

SNP MP Ronnie Cowan asks how appropriate the Remain campaigners think the government's role in the campaign was.

Will Straw thinks "the government had an important role to play" as it "had a position" on the referendum.

He argues it had "every right to use the machinery of government and civil service" to make its case.