Summary

  • Prime Minister's Questions

  • Leaders clash over public sector pay

  • Corbyn says Tories 'floundering'

  • May says Labour would 'bankrupt UK'

  1. Today in Parliamentpublished at 11:07 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

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  2. 'Manchester mayor demands bigger Brexit role for English regions'published at 11:07 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    Politico Europe

    Andy BurnhamImage source, PA

    According to Politico Europe, Greater Manchester mayor and former Labour minister Andy Burnham will say England’s regions must be granted “a permanent seat at the Brexit table" - and accuses the UK government of a failure to listen to regional concerns.

    Mr Burnham will demand local and regional leaders are granted “equal footing” with those of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the UK’s overseas territories, according to extracts from a speech to the Local Government Association released to the media in advance.

    Politico Europe reports that Mr Burnham will criticise the disproportionate influence afforded to tiny overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands, which is part of a group that meets formally with the government.

    English regions such as Greater Manchester currently have no regular, formal arrangement for discussing Britain’s Brexit strategy with Theresa May’s government.

    Brexit Secretary David Davis pledged to hold a meeting for regional leaders in York after mayoral elections in May. However, in a letter to Mr Davis on Tuesday, Mr Burnham said that, two months on, no such meeting had been called.

  3. Tory MP: Brexit and hope are the tools we need to crush Jeremy Corbynpublished at 11:07 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    The Daily Telegraph

    Michael Fabricant

    According to Conservative veteran Michael Fabricant, writing in the Daily Telegraph, external, the political narrative has been turned on its head over the last month.

    He said: "At the first Prime Minister’s Questions since the election there was an air of despair hovering over many Conservative MPs. Some had even likened the election to when Major’s government saw the pound fall out of the ERM, and the party slid inevitably down to its defeat at the hands of Tony Blair in 1997.

    "Demographics and the ongoing Brexit divide do indeed present a perilous threat to my party. However, portents of an existential crisis are overblown if the Conservative Party snaps out of its moroseness.

    "The Labour ship is even more unhappy. I hear Ian Lavery, the party chairman, has told all Labour MPs they must now go through a compulsory reselection process. Every Labour MP who does not fully embrace the ideals of the dear leader Corbyn must feel the gulag beckoning."

  4. Minimum wage for the self-employed, suggests think tankpublished at 11:06 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    DeliverooImage source, Getty Images

    Some of the self-employed should be entitled to the national minimum wage, a think tank has urged.

    The Resolution Foundation says that about half of the 4.8 million people classified as self-employed are low-paid and earn less than £310 a week.

    As they have no chance to set their own wages they should be classified instead as workers, with wage protection.

    The idea received endorsement from the former head of the Low Pay Commission and CBI, Lord Adair Turner.

    Read more

  5. 'Families living in wealthiest parts of country must accept new homes'published at 11:06 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    The Daily Telegraph

    According to the Daily Telegraph, external, families living in some of the most sought-after parts of the country will be forced to accept more homes being built near them to tackle the housing crisis, external.

    Sajid Javid , externalsaid he wants communities which have benefited from soaring property prices to play their part in solving the housing crisis.

    New rules to force councils to increase their housing targets will be published in the next three weeks.

    The communities secretary's comments could be seen as a new assault on homeowners with a Nimby" - “Not In My Back Yard” - attitude towards new development, the Telegraph reports.

    It could also prove controversial with grassroots Tory voters, many of whom live in affluent areas.

    Read more, external

  6. Student debt rising to more than £50,000, says IFSpublished at 11:06 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    Students

    Students in England are going to graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates are raised on student loans to 6.1%, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

    Those from the poorest backgrounds, with more loans available to support them, will graduate with debts of over £57,000 says the think tank.

    Interest charges are levied as soon as courses begin and the IFS says students on average will have accrued £5,800 in interest charges by the time they have graduated from university.

    Report author Chris Belfield describes the interest as "very high", but the Department for Education declined to comment on the increase in charges.

    Universities Minister Jo Johnson says that more disadvantaged students than ever are going to university.

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  7. Reaction to Saudi Arabia reportpublished at 11:05 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

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  8. 'Minister says he will refuse to deal with colleagues who fail to wear a tie 'published at 11:05 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    The Daily Telegraph

    Tom BrakeImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Lib Dem Tom Brake was pictured tie-less last week

    According to the Daily Telegraph, ministers are defying John Bercow and refusing to take any questions in the House of Commons from MPs who are not properly dressed with a tie

    The House of Commons Speaker has prompted a backlash from Conservative traditionalists by allowing MPs to make appear and make speeches without wearing ties., external

    However, the Telegraph reports that John Hayes, a transport minister, is fighting back by saying that he will not accept interventions during speeches by male MPs who are not wearing a tie.

    Read more, external

  9. Cameron says fiscal discipline not 'selfish' amid austerity debatepublished at 11:05 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    David CameronImage source, EPA

    David Cameron has said opponents of fiscal discipline are "selfish" not "compassionate", as the debate within the Tories over austerity continues.

    The ex-prime minister, who introduced the public sector pay cap, said those who believed in "sound finances" were wrongly being painted as "uncaring".

    "The exact reverse is true," he said at an event in South Korea. "Giving up sound finances isn't being generous."

    Chancellor Philip Hammond has urged ministers to "hold their nerve".

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  10. Saudi Arabia has 'clear link' to UK extremism, report sayspublished at 11:04 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    Saudi ArabiaImage source, Reuters

    Saudi Arabia is the chief foreign promoter of Islamist extremism in the UK, a new report has claimed.

    The Henry Jackson Society said there was a "clear and growing link" between Islamist organisations in receipt of overseas funds, hate preachers and Jihadist groups promoting violence.

    The foreign affairs think tank called for a public inquiry into the role of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.

    The UK's Saudi Arabian embassy says the claims are "categorically false".

    Ministers are under pressure to publish a report on UK-based Islamist groups.

    Read more

  11. Stormont talks: Brokenshire to 'reflect' amid ongoing deadlockpublished at 11:04 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    StormontImage source, EPA

    The Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire, has said he will "reflect" on his next move after talks failed to restore a power-sharing executive.

    Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill said the deadlock was a "consequence" of the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) support for the Tory government.

    The failure to reach a power-sharing deal was a "monumental failure" by Theresa May, she said.

    DUP leader Arlene Foster said her party will "keep working over the summer".

    Read more

  12. Welcome to Wednesday's Politics Livepublished at 11:04 British Summer Time 5 July 2017

    Good morning and welcome to our our coverage of Prime Minister's Questions, which kicks off at 12:00 BST, with austerity and public sector pay likely to be among hot topics raised by MPs.

    The Commons exchanges come as former PM David Cameron waded into the austerity debate by claiming at an event in South Korea that opponents of fiscal discipline are "selfish" not "compassionate".

    Meanwhile, there is still no movement on power-sharing in Northern Ireland, with Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill claiming the deadlock is a "consequence" of the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) support for the Tory government. DUP leader Arlene Foster says her party will "keep working over the summer".