House of Commons
Parliament

A Labour MP Mike Gapes recalls an occasion in 1994 when he informed the party chief whip that he intended to be present at the birth of his child.

He was told that it was "all right" as long as he made it back to Westminster for Monday night to vote on Maastricht issues.

He adds: "The dilemma applies to men as well as women."

House of Commons
Parliament

Harriet Harman jokes that Erskine May, the parliamentary rule book first published in 1884, has nothing to say about what should happen when an MP has a baby.

She puts this down to the fact that, at the time, a high proportion of MPs were men and caring for babies was the preserve of women.

"Now, things have changed," she states.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Harriet Harman opens the debate into baby leave for MPs.

She says 52 members from across the House have supported her motion, particularly members of the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats, as well as "many" MPs on the Tory benches.

She says the motion asks for an "in principle" agreement for leave when an MP adopts a child or has a baby.

She adds that no-one in the House wants to be given "better conditions" than those "on the outside," as that would set a bad example, but she wants to raise the Commons to the same standard as other employers.

Image source, HoC

The Commons is starting a debate on whether MPs - male and female - should be entitled to baby leave.

Under the current system, MPs are not considered employees and are therefore not given formal maternity or paternity leave and cannot vote if they choose to stay at home.

Harriet Harman has been campaigning for formal baby leave.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Darren Jones raises a restaurant in Bristol which, he says, is imposing a "tax" on work by charging waiters and waitresses a percentage of the food cost for each meal served, regardless of tips received.

He says this "tax" on working is being used to pay their wages. He's been told that the practice is legal.

Commons leader Andrea Leadsom says this sounds "extraordinary" and encourages him to take up the legality of the practice with the Home Office.

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Parliament

Labour MP Chris Bryant is one of the leading lights in the campaign for MPs to move out of Parliament when restoration work takes place.

He points out that "thousands of people" will be required to work on the restoration project..

He sees opportunities for "every single constituency" in the land to have apprencticeships working at Westminster.

The Commons leader Andrea Leadsom congratulates Mr Bryant on his tenancy, agreeing that it is a "huge opportunity" and she'll be ensuring there will be opportunities for "young, UK people".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Sir Edward Leigh asks if just MPs and peers will be allowed to vote on the organisation that oversees the restoration of Parliament.

Last night, the vote on the restoration did not go Sir Edward's way as he wanted MPs to remain in Parliament while repairs are carried out.

Ms Leadsom says that MPs and peers will be in the majority on the sponsor body, and that she sympathises with his wishes to remain.

Lord Bates' dramatic resignation at the dispatch box yesterday, which has now been withdrawn, has made headlines across the world.

The story has been covered by the Washington Post, the Hindustan Times and 9News Australia, among others.

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Parliament

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Questions are under way in the Lords with Labour's Lord West of Spithead asking whether the government will halt its plan to pay off Royal Navy warships.

He says that "the threat is greater and more diverse than ever before" and calls the government's proposals "rather foolhardy".

He asks ministers to consider "holding them in reserve" instead.

Defence Minister Earl Howe tells him that they have no plans to do so, as "putting any equipment into mothballs carries a cost" and "the aim is to make defence across the piece sustainable".

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Parliament

Image source, HoL

The House of Lords has spent the last two days debating the EU Withdrawal Bill, with many peers expressing their opposition to Brexit and the legislation.

The SNP opposes the House of Lords so today party spokesperson Pete Wishart finds it "delicious" watching Conservative Brexiteers rage about the "unelected House of Lords".

"People who have no second thought about donning ermine," he says, are now starting to rail against "these unelected lords".

"You couldn't make it up," he concludes.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs voted last night to move out of the Palace of Westminster to make way for the major restoration work that needs to be done.

The Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom calls it a "historic decision" and congratulate MPs for their contributions in yesterday's debate. She promises that she will now be "taking forward" the Commons' decision.

Continuing the spirit of cross-party cooperation, Labour's Valerie Vaz also thanks MPs, remarking that the debate was "well tempered".

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Parliament

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Lib Dem Leader Vince Cable says that yesterday the chief executive of Capita called his own organisation too complex. He asks whether, given that the company is "so complex" the government can monitor it?

The minister Mr Dowden replies that the company is being restructured because of its complexity.

He says a third of the contracts with Capita were agreed when Sir Vince Cable was business secretary in the coalition government.

He adds that the protections the government had in place then are the same as they are now, including looking at the published results of companies and engaging with them to make sure public services can be delivered.

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Parliament

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The SNP's Deidre Brock says that for the second time in two weeks, the Commons is debating a private sector outsourcing concern. She asks if public sector employees should now be providing public sectors.

The Minister Oliver Dowden replies that successive governments of all political persuasions have chosen private sector providers, meaning savings for the taxpayer.

Such efficiency savings, he said, can be spent on hospitals and schools.

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Parliament

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Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett says that he warned a few weeks ago that outsourcing for the government risked "falling like dominoes".

He says Capita was given 154 government contracts last year and, last week, was being given Carillion contracts that had fallen through.

The company is in serious trouble, Mr Trickett adds, and the government is "blinded to the corporate greed" of such companies.

Mr Dowden says the government's job is to ensure the continued delivery of public services - so that dinner ladies keep getting paid and railway building works proceed.

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Parliament

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Labour's Rachel Reeves draws similarities between Capita and Carillion, saying they are acquiring companies in order to provide a healthy balance sheet. She wonders if people saving for pensions with Capita can still rely on them and how long the government has been aware of problems at Capita.

She suggests the government should review the "cosy relationship" between large accountancy firms and the companies they are supposed to be auditing.

Minister Dowden says that "Capita is facing up to its problems" in contrast to Carillion.

He adds that Capita will not be issuing dividends as a result of the latest profit warning, meaning that money can go back into protecting the services they provide.

He says that one third of contracts with Capita were struck during the last Labour government, one third during the coalition government and another third under the current government.

House of Commons
Parliament

Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden says that Capita is in "a very different situation" to Carillion, and was more of "a balance sheet exercise" rather than a "profit warning".

He says that Capita has bigger cash reserves than held by Carillion. He says the government frequently carries out analysis of the strength of their contractors.

It would not be appropriate for the government to comment on contingency plans as they are commercially sensitive, he says, to groans from the Labour benches.

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Parliament

Image source, Press Association

Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, Labour's Rachel Reeves, is asking an urgent question on financial problems at the outsourcing giant, Capita.

The reports come after Carillion, the UK's second largest construction firm, collapsed earlier this month.

Capita provides outsourcing services not just for the public sector, but private companies too, including O2, M&S, John Lewis, the Army, Department for Work and Pensions as well as local councils across the country.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg says that he heard from Charles Grant that officials in the Treasury had deliberately developed a report to show that all options but staying in the Customs Union were bad. He asks if this undermines the independence of the Civil Service.

Minister Steven Baker says that it is "unfortunate" that he too has heard this allegation, but it "would be quite extraordinary if it turned out that such a thing had happened".