Victoria Derbyshire

Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell says John Bercow is "absolutely entitled" to express a view about Donald Trump addressing Parliament although he does not happen to agree with him.

Mr Bercow is a "very good, modern Speaker" and his views on Mr Trump's visit, while "contentious", are ones that many people will sympathise with, he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show.

The Tory MP says that the issue in question is not a party political one and therefore he does not believe - as some of his colleagues have argued - that Mr Bercow is in breach of the rules on political impartiality.

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The Scottish Parliament is expected to formally oppose the UK government starting the Brexit process when MSPs vote on the issue later.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that there was no legal need for Holyrood to give its consent to the triggering of Article 50.

But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would let MSPs have a say in what will be a largely symbolic vote.

The SNP tried to block the UK government's Brexit bill last week. Only one of Scotland's 59 MPs - Scottish Secretary David Mundell - supported the bill, but it ultimately passed its first parliamentary hurdle by 498 votes to 114.

The amount of UK government aid money going to some richer developing countries should be restricted, an independent watchdog has said.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) warned of "serious risks" about the effectiveness of a £1.3bn project to help developing countries.

The Prosperity Fund is "fragmented" and lacks transparency, a report said.

A government spokesman said the fund only supported programmes to reduce poverty and delivered value for money.

The Prosperity Fund was set up to reduce poverty and create overseas business opportunities for the UK, particularly in countries such as China, India, Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil. Read more

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England's housing market is "broken", ministers have admitted, as they unveil plans to build more affordable homes.

The new housing strategy for England includes forcing councils to plan for their local housing needs and giving them powers to pressure developers to start building on land they own.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said people want a decent home not a "false choice" between renting and owning.

Labour accused the government of "seven years of failure" on housing.

The government says at least 250,000 new homes are needed each year and local councils and developers need to "get real" to the scale of the challenge. Read more

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There has been criticism of John Bercow's decision to effectively stop Donald Trump from speaking in Parliament during his state visit but none quite as stinging as that from Nigel Farage, who accused him of "devaluing his office".

Speaking in Stoke-on-Trent last night, the former UKIP leader said the Speaker must be and be seen to be strictly neutral in such matters.

While Donald Trump was a controversial politician, Mr Farage - who appeared alongside Mr Trump during his campaign - said the US President loved the UK and the reality was that the US was key to the UK's post-Brexit future.

BBC Breakfast

On the issue of Donald Trump's state visit, Sajid Javid was asked earlier during an interview with BBC Breakfast about a retweet he posted on social media in December 2015 before Mr Trump took office, which said that whoever backed him was "certified insane".

"That's not something I've ever said...and what matters is that whoever sits in that office is someone we need to get on with. It is in our self interest to get on with the United States.."

He acknowledged that whoever speaks in Parliament is a decision for the Speaker and the Lords Speaker and that government cannot get involved. 

But it was clear we should be working with the US President. 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has said John Bercow was free to speak his mind but insisted he "does not speak for the government" and that US President Donald Trump is still welcome to come to Britain on a state visit.

He told Radio 4's Today the government was "very clear" about its view.

The World Tonight

As we've been reporting, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, says that President Trump has not "earned the honour" to speak to Parliament during his visit.

Does the Speaker of the House have the right to express his opinion? Or should he remain neutral? And should President Trump's state visit to the UK be postponed? Ritula Shah spoke to Labour MP Stella Creasy and Conservative MP Crispin Blunt.

Plans to build a nuclear power plant on Anglesey will face significant challenges if the UK leaves a European nuclear cooperation institution due to Brexit, according to a prominent expert.

The pair's relationship looks to have cooled after the rapper deleted tweets defending his meeting with the president.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

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Despite the anger of many - predominantly Conservative MPs - over Mr Bercow's decision, there seems little prospect of it being overturned.

Neither the Palace nor Downing Street have any power to challenge it. And in the Commons Mr Bercow's stance enjoys the enthusiastic backing of opposition party leaders and their MPs.

Indeed Commons sources say a number of MPs had previously privately approached Mr Bercow to urge him to take such a stand.

Downing Street meanwhile has sought not to get involved, despite the inevitable damage done to Mrs May's attempts to forge a closer relationship with the American president.

However, speaking on Today the Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi questioned whether Mr Bercow should remain as Speaker:

It is understood Mr Bercow has no plans to make any further statement to MPs about Mr Trump. However it seems inevitable he will be challenged in the Commons later today.

Meanwhile the Speaker in the House of Lords, Lord Fowler, will make his position clear to peers this afternoon.

In a terse statement last night a Lords spokesman said he had not been consulted - opening up the possibility of a potential rift between the Commos and Lords over how to respond to Donald Trump.

As tweeted by the BBC's Neil Henderson, the papers have got stuck into the Speaker's comments about the US president:

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Barry Sheerman calls a point of order and accuses Conservative Mark Harper of "filibustering" the debate. 

He's been speaking for more than 20 minutes, and managed over half an hour in the debate on the first set of amendments. 

There are three hours scheduled for debate on this set of amendments.

Deputy Speaker Natascha Engel says that Mark Harper's speech is entirely in order because there are "no time limits" on individual speeches at committee stage of a bill.

The PM says she and EU leaders want to "get on" with negotiations as MPs debate the Brexit bill.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs have voted to reject Labour's amendment 333 votes to 284.

There will be no more votes on this group of amendments.

MPs move on to debating amendments concerning the devolved administrations. 

A House of Lords spokeswoman says: “The Lord Speaker was not consulted by Mr Bercow on his statement. The Lord Speaker will make his own statement tomorrow to the Lords.”

House of Commons
Parliament

When the debate began, the Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing vacated the Speaker's chair.

She did this because MPs are currently in "a committee of the whole House".

Normally the committee stage takes place away from the main chamber; however, for those bills that are considered to be of ethical or constitutional importance debates take place in the main chamber.