No 10 is defending its decision to give former MP Zac Goldsmith a peerage to allow him to keep his ministerial job.

The call came under criticism, with Mr Goldsmith having lost his seat in last week's election, and it got even more attention when a tweet resurfaced that he posted in 2012, appearing to call peerages "seedy lists of party apparatchiks appointed by power hungry party leaders".

The PM's official spokesman declined to comment on the tweet, but said: "Zac Goldsmith was doing an excellent and committed job in cabinet dealing with really important issues and he will now be able to get on with that work and carry on delivering."

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The Democratic Unionist Party's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson puts the Northern Irish party's view across in the Commons.

He says: "We supported Brexit and we want Brexit to happen, and recognise the government has won the mandate.

"But there is a major contradiction at the heart that causes us great concern."

Sir Jeffrey says the deal up for debate does talk about "unfettered access" for Northern Ireland when it comes to trade in the UK.

However, it also has customs arrangements "that inhibit our ability".

He says: "That is our major concern and one we hope the government can address."

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The message appears to have gone out to Conservative MPs to stop calling people "Leavers and Remainers".

Damian Green - a Remainer - has just echoed Boris Johnson's earlier call to move beyond that divide and begin a "healing" process.

Image source, Getty Images

Outside of the Commons, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is hitting the headlines after saying the military will have to "cut its cloth to meet its ambitions".

He told the BBC's Political Thinking with Nick Robinson's podcast there was a shortfall of funding in the Ministry of Defence's budget.

And he confirmed that he had had a meeting with Boris Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings about improving the way the MoD spends its money.

The MoD was given £2.2bn, a rise of 2.6%, in September's spending review.

In February, the Public Accounts Committee, the House of Commons' spending watchdog, reported that the MoD faced a £7bn black hole in its 10-year-plan to equip the armed forces.

Read more of the story here.

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Conservative MP Maria Miller says today's debate and the start of a new Parliament offers "an opportunity to introduce a kinder politics here in our country, which will also help reduce the amount of abuse members have had to endure".

She adds: "I voted to stay in the EU, but I am a democrat and I will support this bill... as I have supported every single opportunity to take forward our departure from the EU."

Ms Miller says politics "isn't about constructing ivory towers" and "putting our ideology on the table at every opportunity".

Instead, she says, it is about "finding solutions to very difficult problems".

She adds: "The withdrawal agreement is the start to the solution to what i believe has been one of the most difficult problems faced by this Parliament in a generation.

"I urge members to reflect on that, regardless of what your leaders say, before you cast your vote.

"The voice of the nation spoke last Thursday and we have to listen."

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A little bit more on Jeremy Corbyn's earlier criticism of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

Mr Corbyn said Mr Johnson's claims that there will be no checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain are "simply not true".

The Labour leader added that checks and customs declarations in the Irish Sea will have "a huge impact on Northern Ireland businesses and society" and will also have "implications for the rest of Britain's economy and manufacturing industry".

He continued: "When it comes to our future relationship with the European Union and the rest of the world, we cannot let this government act in an undemocratic and secretive way.

"Trade deals with the EU and the United States, and anybody else for that matter, must be done transparently."

He concluded: "As we leave a 40-year economic partnership for an unknown future under the terms of the withdrawal deal we need, Mr Speaker, an approach that puts jobs and living standards first and builds the strongest co-operation with our European neighbours based on openness, solidarity and internationalism.

"And that, Mr Speaker, is the approach that will bring an end to the Brexit crisis and bring our country together."

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Ian Blackford attacks claims from Brexiteers during the general campaign as "deceit".

"Is it any wonder the people with Scotland, armed with the facts... came out in huge numbers last week to vote for the SNP?"

Mr Blackford returns to the issue of Scottish independence, however, after the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote to Boris Johnson asking for the power to hold another referendum.

"The Scottish government has a clear democratic mandate," he says.

"Last week, we won that mandate again. Scotland must consent to its own future."

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Jeremy Corbyn accuses the government of "abandoning" refugee children after sections of the Bill relating to offering sanctuary to orphans and unaccompanied children were removed.

He says the government's removal of the protections is "nothing short of an absolute disgrace and a piece of dishonesty toward those people who, at the moment, are clearly very, very concerned."

Lord Dubs, a Labour peer and former refugee who spearheaded the original laws, "has worked tirelessly to ensure children affected by the worst aspects of global injustice can be given sanctuary in this country", Mr Corbyn adds.

"Now this government in its first week in office has ripped up those very hard-won commitments."

He adds: "I simply say this: coming to up to Christmas shame on this government for abandoning children in this way."

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The SNP's leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, is next to respond to Boris Johnson's opening statement.

He says the "harsh reality" of the PM banning any extension to the deadline to negotiate a deal with the EU within this bill is "that risk of a no-deal Brexit that we all fear is back on the table again".

Mr Blackford adds: "Scotland could not have been clearer last week. We did not vote for Brexit... and Scotland still totally and utterly rejects Brexit.

"Yet the prime minister is blindly hurtling towards a cliff edge.

"This legislation will hit our economy, cost thousands of jobs in Scotland, sell out our food and drink sector and harm livelihoods.

"The SNP will not vote for this flawed legislation."

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Former international trade secretary and leading Brexiteer Liam Fox says today's debate is "the beginning of a promise fulfilled to the people of this country".

He says: "When we embarked on the Brexit process, we offered the decision to the British people... and said Parliament will respect that decision.

"We have had three years of the betrayal of that pact with the people."

He also attacks Jeremy Corbyn as the "soon-to-be-forgotten" Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn insists Mr Johnson's Brexit deal will not bring "certainty" for communities, business or the workforce.

In fact, he says, it "hardwires" the risk of a no-deal Brexit next year.

This is why, he says, Labour will not back the bill, as it believes "there is a better and fairer way for this country to leave the European Union", which would not risk "ripping communities apart" and "selling out" public services, or losing many jobs.

He says the deal is a "road map of the reckless direction" in which the government and Mr Johnson are "determined to take our country."

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Jeremy Corbyn says Labour warned before the general election that Mr Johnson's Brexit deal was "terrible" for the country, and it still holds this belief.

He adds that it "will not protect or strengthen our rights", support manufacturing industry, or help "vital trading relationships".

And it will not address society's "deep inequalities" or help ease the climate crisis, says the Labour leader.

He accuses the Conservatives of using the deal as a "battering ram to drive us down the path of yet more deregulation" and towards a "toxic deal with [US President] Donald Trump" that will "sell out the NHS."

Boris Johnson shakes his head on the government benches opposite.

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As well as the vote on the second reading, the government will also put forward its plan for the rest of the stages of Boris Johnson's Brexit bill.

It wants to:

• Debate and vote on any amendments to the bill on 7 and 8 January, taking 16 hours overall.
• Finish the House of Commons stages of the bill on 9 January

The so-called programme motion will need to be approved by MPs - but, as we have repeatedly said, there is little doubt of that with an 80-strong majority.