House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow transport minister Richard Burden notes that the bill was originally intended to be called the Modern Transport Bill.

However, he says, it had to be changed because the term "modern" was not considered to be a parliamentary term. 

"Make of that what you will," he adds.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers vote 200 to 189 for Labour peer Baroness Royall's amendment which would enable students to opt in to be added to the electoral register through the process of enrolling at university.   

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP MP Carol Monaghan asks if increasing the use of electric cars could lead to "simply switching dirty fuel in our cars to dirty fuel in our power stations".

Fellow SNP MP Drew Hendry argues that renewable energy could be the way forward but accuses the government of "stifling" renewable energy.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Royall of Blaisdon does not accept the government's assurances and forces a vote on her amendment which would enable students to opt in to be added to the electoral register through the process of enrolling at university.   

House of Lords
Parliament

Responding for the government, Lord Young says ministers agree with the aim of registering more students to vote but this amendment is "the wrong vehicle". 

Lord Young says registering through universities is too much of a "one-size-fits-all" approach. 

He offers a concession in the form of getting the Office for Students to publish a link to the electoral registration process on its website.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The House of Commons Library has produced a briefing note, external explaining the policy background and contents of the bill.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Lib Dem John Pugh expresses scepticism about electric vehicles.

He wonders if the electricity generated to power the cars will be produced in an environmentally friendly way.

He also suggests that making more electric cars will use up the rare elements that go into producing batteries.

Conservative Tom Tugendhat congratulates the MP on making "a fine speech from a Luddite perspective".

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Royall of Blaisdon is introducing an amendment which would enable students to opt in to be added to the electoral register through the process of enrolling at university. 

She says the results of a trial in Sheffield along those lines were "staggering" and it would help "embed good practice". 

The Lib Dems also express support for the amendment. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MPs Iain Stewart and Neil Parish both raise concerns over how the electricity grid will cope when "everyone comes home at 6pm and puts their cars on to charge," as Mr Stewart puts it. 

Mr Parish says that while the current usage of electric cars in the UK is at 2%, in Norway it is at 25%. He thinks that we are close to the tipping point for electric cars in the UK. 

Mr Stewart believes that "range anxiety", the concern shared by many electric car owners that their car may not make it to the next charging point, is mainly holding back the technology at this point. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers have returned to report-stage consideration of the Higher Education and Research Bill. 

Taking to the dispatch box, Lord Young of Cookham declares himself a "fresher" when it comes to this bill. 

He's introducing a set of government amendments which would allow Parliament to introduce higher caps for fees on accelerated courses.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour spokesman Lord Mendelsohn pays tribute to workers at Vauxhall-Opel and asks what can be done to ensure they have a "secure future". 

He argues the government needs to do more to develop the UK supply chain, branding the current strategy "inadequate". 

For the Lib Dems, Lord Foster of Bath says Brexit "could place our plants at a real disadvantage".

But Business Minister Lord Prior responds that Brexit is an opportunity to make the UK "a sterling player". 

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, Vauxhall

Business Minister Lord Prior of Brampton is repeating an answer to an urgent question given earlier in the Commons on the sale of Vauxhall-Opel to the PSA group.

The French company that owns Peugeot and Citroen has struck a 2.2bn euro (£1.9bn) deal to buy General Motors' European unit, including Vauxhall.

GM Europe has not made a profit since 1999 and the deal has raised fears about job losses at Vauxhall.

The UK factories at Ellesmere Port and Luton employ about 4,500 people.

House of Lords
Parliament

Crossbencher and former BBC Director General Lord Birt says it's important to remember the financial pressures facing news organisations and asks if that will be considered.

Government spokesman Lord Keen of Elie says "clearly this will play a part" but ultimately it is a matter for Ofcom.

House of Commons
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Image source, HoC

Drew Hendry, the transport spokesperson for the SNP, says that the bill is welcome, but doesn't go far enough.

He expresses concern at the use of autonomous vehicles in rural areas and wants to see consultations with disabled people in these areas. He says that the four testing areas launched in 2015 by the government for self-driving cars did not cover anything other than cities. He argues that Scotland should therefore be included in the next round of trials. 

He says there is still confusion surrounding what happens in the event of a drunk driver getting into an autonomous vehicle. 

He adds that there is not enough in the bill to allow police to take action against people who use laser points against drivers of cars and pilots of aeroplanes. 

House of Lords
Parliament

Government spokesman Lord Keen of Elie is repeating a statement on the proposed merger between Sky and 21st Century Fox.

Earlier Culture Secretary Karen Bradley told the Commons that she has not yet taken a final decision on intervention.

She said a final decision would be taken within 10 working days from 3 March - the date she received notification of the takeover bid.

Competition concerns and broadcasting standards were among the issues of concern, she said.

Both Sky and Fox are controlled by businessman Rupert Murdoch, who also owns the Times and the Sun newspapers.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers vote 263 to 211 in favour of crossbencher Lord Kerslake's amendment, which would prevent universities from varying fees based on whether they are rated gold, silver or bronze. 

Plans to rank universities in England to be gold, silver or bronze depending on their teaching quality come into force this year.

House of Lords
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Crossbencher Lord Kerslake is not satisfied with the government's response and pushes his amendment to a vote. 

His amendment says the system of gold, silver and bronze universities must not be used to rank English higher education providers as to the regulated course fees they charge.

House of Commons
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Image source, HoC

Labour is "broadly supportive" of the bill, says shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald.

He says it marks the beginning of "an exciting new era" in transport. 

He welcomes measures to tackle the "dangers of lasers" but suggest that the government should look at the availability of such lasers.

He also adds that Labour will, at a later stage, table amendments to regulate the use of drones.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Lord Kerslake is raising his concerns about the proposed new grading system for universities. 

The bill allows student fees to rise in line with inflation, but also allows for new grading systems of bronze, silver and gold to dictate, to a certain extent, how much universities can charge. 

The bill allows for universities with silver and gold ratings to raise their fees, while bronze-rated universities will not be permitted to. He expresses his confusion at this situation when the government says that bronze-accredited universities will still be classified as good educational institutions. 

Lib Dem Baroness Garden adds to Lord Kerslake's speech by saying this could deter international students from such establishments. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling tells MPs that the bill paves the way for a "revolution in the emergence" of autonomous vehicles.

He describes the production of such cars as one of the most exciting developments "for a very long time".

Our lives will change for the better, he says and "we want this country to be at the forefront" of the technology.