Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Kate Hoey asks Will Straw if he agrees with the argument that the issue of EU membership was of too great a "magnitude" to have been put to a referendum.

"No, we certainly respect the will of the people," the former executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe replies.

Did the public know enough? the Leave supporter then asks.

"I can't claim to speak on behalf of the whole of the public," Mr Straw says, but adds that he feels many people were "very engaged".

Select Committee
Parliament

The next witnesses are Will Straw and Paul Comer, formerly of the pro-EU Britain Stronger in Europe campaign.

Mr Straw says he felt the administration of the referendum "worked well" and the campaign had "a good relationship with the Electoral Commission".

However, he adds that he would have preferred "greater clarity" on the rules covering groups campaigning on the same side working together.

Mr Comer says the rules on referendums were "adapted" from the rules covering elections and suggests that should be looked at again to ensure rules are "fully appropriate for a referendum".

House of Commons
Parliament

At 11:30am, MPs will ask questions to the Secretary of State for Justice Liz Truss and her team of ministers on subjects ranging from prison safety to the Human Rights Act.

Afterwards, there's an urgent question on yesterday's decision not to hold an inquiry into the 'Battle of Orgreave' from Labour's ex-shadow home secretary Andy Burnham. The Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, will then make a statement entitled "press matters".

The main business of the day is consideration of amendments made in the House of Lords to the Investigatory Powers Bill.

Select Committee
Parliament

"The media were skewed towards Leave overall," says UCL's Alan Renwick, adding: "There's a lot of evidence that people were unhappy with the role that government played."

This might have been counter-productive for the government, he suggests, as "people may have resented the fact" that it campaigned for Remain.

He notes that in the Scottish independence referendum campaign of 2014, there were two governments campaigning: the Scottish government for independence and the UK government for the Union.

"In most referendums that not the case and in referendums governments should remain impartial," he argues.

Newsnight

The UK's financial contribution to the EU was one of the most contentious issues in the EU referendum campaign. Vote Leave pledged to repatriate £350m a week - its estimate of the UK's gross weekly contributions to the EU if the UK left.

But since the Brexit vote, Prime Minister Theresa May has been noticeably silent on the subject. 

Could that be because we won't be getting that money back anytime soon? Newsnight's political editor Nicholas Watt has the story.

Select Committee
Parliament

Alan Renwick from UCL's Constitution Unit alleges there was "misinformation from both sides" during the campaign and "insufficient mechanisms to call that out".

In some countries there is "provision for impartial, balanced information" during referendum campaigns, he tells MPs.

He also says the UK is "almost unique" in the level of ease with which constitutional change can be made with just a 50% referendum threshold.

Dr Renwick adds that many countries would find that "bizarre".

Select Committee
Parliament

Committee member Paul Flynn claims that the EU referendum was won by the side "who told the most convincing lie". He identifies the Vote Leave claim that the NHS could receive £350m a week, which the campaign claimed was the amount the UK gave to the EU.

And the Labour MP for Newport West, who recently suggested the Brexit referendum result should be treated in a similar way to the vote to name a UK polar research vessel Boaty McBoatface, adds:

The Lib Dem defence spokesperson Judith Jolly has responded to government plans to invest £1.9 billion in improving cybersecurity.

Ms Jolly said: “It is crucial that more is done to increase our cyber security in a world where attacks on computer systems are growing ever more common. 

"But the weakening of the pound in the wake of the European Referendum result means the government must go further and bring forward a new strategic defence and security review that considers how we properly fund all of our defence services with a weakened economy.”

Scottish Labour's Westminster spokesman Ian Murray submitted an Early Day Motion in the commons to allow the symbol of remembrance to be worn by players during a match between Scotland and England on 11 November. 

Mr Murray said: “FIFA must allow the national teams of both England and Scotland to commemorate those that gave the ultimate sacrifice by wearing the poppy in the World Cup qualifying match on Armistice day.

He continued: “For football fans in the stadium and watching on TV, there is no better way to remember those who gave their lives than during a high-profile World Cup qualifying match, where supporters will no doubt be the relatives of those who were killed or injured serving their country."

FIFA prohibits players from wearing political, religious or commercial messages on shirts.

Select Committee
Parliament

Simon Usherwood from UK in a Changing Europe says "there wasn't good sight of the consequences of either choice" when the public voted in the EU referendum.

"Isn't that a rather patronising view of the public?" asks Labour MP Kate Hoey, who campaigned for Leave.

Dr Usherwood insists his comment is "a recognition" that the issue was "complicated".

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan asks if referendums can undermine or "distort" the system of representative democracy.

She says a majority of her constituents in Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire voted Remain, though she backed Leave. Afterwards people wrote to her insisting that "I must represent their views", she adds.

Simon Usherwood says that, as a constituency MP, "you represent people who didn't vote for you".

He suggests to Mrs Gillan that disagreement on that issue doesn't mean that she doesn't represent your constituents on other matters. He adds that they can reject her at the next election if they choose to.

Select Committee
Parliament

Alan Renwick says there is "a relatively limited role for referendums on constitutional matters".

Labour MP Paul Flynn asks whether there was sufficient public understanding of the issues involved in the referendum on the alternative vote (AV), held in 2011 under the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

Dr Renwick thinks this was en example of a referendum in which there was "not sufficient public interest".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

MPs from the Home Affairs Select Committee start their inquiry into Sharia Councils today. Labour MP Naz Shah told the Today programme that Sharia law was a complementary "code of conduct" but there is only one rule of law, that of the British courts. She shares concerns that Sharia councils can be "run for men". 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Huffington Post

Launching his party's campaign in the Richmond Park by-election, former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said being endorsed by UKIP tainted the image of ex-Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith.

Mr Clegg said Mr Goldsmith no longer carried the appeal of a "hip, faintly glamorous minor royal."

The Lib Dems hope to capitalise on their party's pro-EU stance in the by-election.

69% of voters in the constituency voted strongly to remain in the EU.

Read more: Zac Goldsmith A ‘Hip, Faintly Glamorous, Minor Royal’ Who Should Lose His Seat, Says Nick Clegg, external

Select Committee
Parliament

The committee session opens with witnesses Alan Renwick, from University College London's Constitution Unit, and Simon Usherwood, of the University of Surrey.

Dr Renwick says it is "clearly possible to have referendums in a democracy that is predominantly a representative democracy".

There is "no evidence" to suggest they "undermine the broader democratic process", he argues.

Dr Usherwood, who is also a fellow at the research body UK in a Changing Europe, adds: "It's the manner in which the referendums are run that's the key question here."

Select Committee
Parliament

Good morning.

Our coverage from Westminster today begins with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee's inquiry into the EU referendum.

The committee will take evidence from senior figures in the Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave campaigns, as well as academics.

The inquiry is examining the role of referendums in UK politics and the conduct of government during the campaign.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4