Today in Parliament
Today in Parliament

You can listen to the highlights of an extraordinary day of drama in Parliament by tuning into Today in Parliament at 1130pm on BBC Radio 4.

There are reports on the BBC pay committee, the debate on renovating Parliament, PMQs and the Lords on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted, a former Liberal Democrat MEP, asks whether Parliament will have sufficient time to scrutinise the regulation of business, including financial services.

"At present, it is the EU which implements international standards," she says.

"Will this Parliament have any role?" she asks, or will it be delegated to international regulators.

She adds: "I'd like an opportunity to do one fraction here of what I did in the European Parliament."

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord McConnell, former First Minister of Scotland, is worried about how devolution is being managed.

"I can't believe the situation the government has got itself into," the Labour peer declares.

He urges ministers to enter into a "proper, open and transparent discussion" instead of springing devolution amendments on the House of Lords.

He stresses that where responsibilities were devolved in 1999 they should continue to be devolved after 2019.

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord Cavendish of Furness backs Brexit and thinks people voted to leave the EU on the grounds of national sovereignty and the rule of law.

He says no-one voted in the referendum to be poorer "and no-one will be".

In the UK it has long been "established we should be governed by consent and not by diktat", he tells the House.

The settlement has sometimes been challenged, he says, including "by families like my own, who from time to time got out of control and had to be reined in".

And he adds that British people "suffered and gave their lives to enjoy the golden benefits of the rule of law and breathe the sweet air of freedom".

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord Northbrook says he backs the bill but echoes concerns expressed by other peers, over both days of debate, over so-called "Henry VIII powers" - powers for ministers to make regulations without further parliamentary scrutiny.

He says the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, external has recommended that "ministers should not have an unfettered choice" over whether statutory instruments should be put before Parliament.

If a statutory instrument is subject to the negative procedure,, external it will automatically become law without debate unless there is an objection from either House.

If subject to the affirmative procedure,, external it requires the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

The committee proposed a "sifting" procedure, Lord Northbrook says, in which all regulations are published in draft form and a "parliamentary committee should have 10 sitting days" to consider whether they should be subject to the negative or the affirmative procedure.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer, Lord Alli argues that a referendum isn't "sacred and sacrosanct"

The public isn't stupid, he says, they understand that if events change they need to be consulted again.

"The question is: who decides what circumstances warrant it?" he asks.

He believes it's a decision for the Commons, not the Lords.

House of Lords
Parliament

The Conservative former Cabinet Minister, Lord Baker, voted Leave.

He doesn't think that decision will be changed and if there was to be a second referendum, he anticipates that the Leave vote would go up because of the EU's "humiliating" treatment of the UK during negotiations.

House of Lords
Parliament

Time to catch up with the House of Lords, which has been debating the EU Withdrawal Bill for the second day.

They kicked off at 10am and are now on speaker 169.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs vote 234 to 185 to add the amendment they've just passed - in favour of moving out of the Palace of Westminster - to the original government motion put down today.

The government motion allowed for a review of moving out of Parliament before it takes place, but this removes that wording.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs now vote on adding the amendment they've just passed - in favour of moving out of the Palace of Westminster - to the original government motion put down today.

The government motion allowed for a review of moving out of Parliament before it takes place.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs vote 236 to 220 to back an amendment in the name of Labour's Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, requiring MPs to move out of Parliament while restoration takes place.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs vote 410 to 47 against an amendment which calls for a detailed assessment of relocating Parliament while the repairs are carried out.

They move to a vote on an amendment in the name of Labour's Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, requiring MPs to move out of Parliament while restoration takes place.

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Rebecca Pow raises the case of a BBC sports reporter who says she's paid less than a male colleague, asking if Tony Hall will put a stop to this.

He replies that "it's difficult, it's hard, but we need to stick at it long-term".

He says that whoever said "we don't do equality at the BBC" got it "absolutely wrong".

After that the division bell sounds for a vote in the Commons and, after nearly five hours, the chair calls the session to a close.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Paul Farrelly asks the BBC's director general for his reaction to Carrie Gracie's opinion that BBC statements on her case do not conform to its values of telling the truth.

"It's not what I believe the BBC stands for and it's not what I stand for," Tony Hall says.

He says he is not "one for corporate speak" or for "corporate defensiveness".

House of Commons
Parliament

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs move to the first vote on the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.

They're voting on an amendment which calls for a detailed assessment of relocating Parliament while the repairs are carried out.

We can expect a result in around 15 minutes.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Liberal Democrat Tom Brake says "there has been much delay and procrastination on this issue" and that "the excuses have been multiple as to why we cannot proceed".

He agrees with the amendment tabled that the temporary Parliament should have electronic voting, and that "every member should have a seat".

He says that they have an opportunity to create "an exemplary" environmental building in terms of green credentials.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Paul Farrelly presses Tony Hall about the use of the word "talent" in discussions of on-screen staff.

A term used in entertainment has moved into news, he says, and asks whether Tony Hall agrees that pay has "got out of hand".

Lord Hall says "there's not the market there was" and some "historic salaries" need "managing down as they reflect the past, not the future".

Select Committee
Parliament

Fran Unsworth goes on to say the pay for China editor and that for North America editor should be "closer".

"Do I think they should be exactly the same? No, I don't."

Select Committee
Parliament

Following on from comments made earlier by Carrie Gracie, BBC director of news Fran Unsworth defends herself.

She tells the committee: "I would never have said she was part-time - I did her contract, I knew she wasn't."

She suggests her remarks to another colleague about this may have been misunderstood.

"I don't know exactly what I said... if I did give that impression, I apologise."