The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Lord Strathclyde says the government's relationship with the House of Lords is now based on 'trust', as his reform plans are shelved.

Labour peer Lord Taylor of Blackburn is seriously injured crossing a road outside the House of Lords on his mobility scooter.

Should the UK's foreign secretary be given a big project to run alongside the Brexit negotiations?

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, PA

Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is a benefit provided to those who have a disability or health condition preventing them from working. 

Currently people who are deemed too ill to work are put into two groups. People who are considered permanently unable to work are placed in a "support group" and receive £109 per week.

The second group is for those who cannot currently work but will be capable of working at some point in the future. Claimants in this group receive £102 per week. 

These claimants do not have to look for work but are expected to participate in activities that will improve their chances of working in the future.  

From April 2017, new claimants in this group ("the work-related activity group") will see their payments reduced by £29.05 per week.

The government said the changes, which are expected to save £640m a year, were introduced to “remove the financial incentives that could otherwise discourage claimants from taking steps back to work”.

Food critic Jay Rayner writes in The Guardian that last month's row over Marmite "managed to leave a nasty taste in the mouth for even those of us who like it".

"Unilever’s attempt to increase the price, allegedly in response to rising costs as a result of a Brexit-inspired falling pound, was fought off by plucky old Tesco," he said.

"Critics pointed out that Unilever had also benefited from the falling pound because it exported so many of its products. The company backed down and Tesco won the day."

But he does not think it was then right to claim that the prophets of doom were wrong... Read the full article, external

An expert in European law says the UK leaving the European customs union would not create an "iron curtain" at the Irish border.

BBC Dublin correspondent examines nuances of Norway's border with its EU neighbour.

The Daily Politics

The UK has "a unique opportunity" to deal with Donald Trump - "somebody who feels really good about our country", says Conservative MP Nigel Evans.

He argued that over 60 millon people in America voted for Mr Trump because "he resonated and saw that people left behind are exactly the people who voted for Brexit".

He added: "There's a lot of common interest there."

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Peter Aldous commends government for taking on the challenge "to reform the system" and not piling it in the "too difficult tray". 

However he tells the House that Universal Credit has been rolled out in his constituency - "it's not going well".

He says that his office is spending most of its day trying to help people who have been left "with nothing to live on".

Although the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is "being helpful", Mr Aldous suggests that further changes should not be made while major practical problems persist.

Former Conservative deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has said votes for Brexit and Donald Trump happened because people are "fed up" with "frozen living standards". 

The peer spoke at a University of Liverpool conference about the future of cities, universities and businesses after the EU referendum. 

He said: 

He added: "The western world has gone through as prolonged a period of frozen living standards as in contemporary times.

"People are fed up - so any attempt made to test their opinion becomes a test about their own self prosperity, or lack of it. 

"That is happening all over Europe, it has happened now with Mr Trump in America, and if you throw into the mix the most obvious irritant, let's be frank, immigration, then you have got a toxic mix in appealing to public opinion." 

The Guardian

According to The Guardian, external, pro-remain Liberal Democrat peers believe they could insert extra clauses into even the most tightly worded Brexit bill to force Theresa May to tell Parliament more about her negotiating plans before she triggers Article 50.

With the Supreme Court judgment on whether the government must consult parliament before invoking Article 50 – the formal process for leaving the EU - not expected until the New Year, the government is thought to be quietly drafting a basic bill that its lawyers believe would be hard to amend.

But constitutional experts have told the Lib Dems there is no obstacle to adding extra clauses to such legislation, which could force the government to publish a white paper detailing how it plans to approach talks with the other EU member-states – and even offer voters a second referendum.

Read more, external

House of Lords
Parliament

The debate on the Strathclyde Review statement comes to an end and Conservative peer Baroness McIntosh of Pickering is now leading a debate on the impact on the economy and investment of fluctuations in the level of the pound sterling.

She says that fluctuations in the level of the pound are not unusual but calls the recent collapse in the value of the pound in October "remarkable".

Baroness McIntosh says that fluctuations in the pound have particularly affected rural areas.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Ian Murray intervenes on Neil Gray to say that Conservative backbench rebellion "is not going to happen".

He urges the Scottish government to use its devolved welfare powers to replace the ESA as they have done with the bedroom tax.

Neil Gray replies that ESA is not devolved and therefore the Scottish government has no power over the issue.

Ministers shelve plans to curb the House of Lords' power - but warn peers to show "discipline".

The Daily Politics

UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn says he's "certainly worried" about Donald Trump's attitude towards Nato.

However, Mr O'Flynn conceded that the US president-elect had "toned down" his rhetoric and was now concentrating on the importance of Nato's target for members to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

The MEP told BBC2's Daily Politics that the countries of Europe "need to get serious about investing in their own defence".

Asked if he wanted to see a break-up of the EU, he said this was up to the nation states, adding that he wanted to see Britain "restored as a self-governing democracy".