House of Commons
Parliament

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A recent favourite of CMS questions is broadband and digital infrastructure, and today is no different.

Minister Matthew Hancock says 93.2% of premises have access to super-fast broadband, and the government is on course to deliver 95% by end of the year, adding that the universal service obligation aims to have all premises in the country connected by 2020.

New Labour MP Liz Twist says that "slow and poor quality broadband" is hampering a number of businesses in her Blaydon constituency.

Mr Hancock says he understands the frustration and says getting access up to 93% has been a "big and positive" task and says he wants high speed broadband for everyone.

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House of Commons
Parliament

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New minister John Glen is taking a plethora of questions on ensuring equitable regional funding for arts and culture.

Some MPs ask for EU regional support to be continued by central government, and others ask for the national lottery to publish the numbers of tickets bought in local areas.

Mr Glen responds by saying that the government sees value in collaboration of arts and culture funding, and pledges to do all he can with the Arts Council to see that the priories of the sector are met across the country.

He also pledges to meet Labour's Gloria De Piero who raise the issue of lottery tickets.

It's MPs' version of the lottery - the draw that decides who will get the chance to create new laws.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Toby Perkins says that professional tennis doesn't begin and end with Wimbledon, and tells the minister that the number of professional futures tournaments Britain has fallen from 23 in 2013 to just six.

The number of futures tournaments is crucial to support British players , Mr Perkins says.

Minister Tracey Crouch says that one of the most frustrating things about being a minister is that you don't get to make the decisions that people want you to make.

She goes on to say that her job is to ensure that we have the right money going into the grass roots to grow our talent.

You can read Stella Creasy's amendment on the order paper, external - it's amendment d. Here it is below:

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House of Commons
Parliament

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Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Karen Bradley responds to a question from Labour's Jim Cunningham about the future of free TV licences for over-75s, saying that the BBC has agreed to take on the full cost from April 2020 as well as the policy responsibility for the cost.

Mr Cunningham asks when the BBC became responsible for social policy.

Ms Bradley tells MPs that the BBC agreed to take on the over 75s licence fee as part of negotiations for the new charter.

Shadow culture, media and sport secretary Tom Watson rises to join the questioning on this topic - pointing out that the Conservative manifesto guaranteed the future of certain benefits including the free TV licence for over 75s.

Given that the parliament runs until 2022, and the minister has said the government hand responsibility of the policy to the BBC in 2020, Mr Watson asks if the manifesto policy was inserted against her wishes, or was "a cynical promise she knew she would make or just a typographical error".

Ms Bradley responds that she expects the BBC to continue with the concession.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage from the Houses of Parliament.

Culture, Media and Sports ministers take questions from MPs at 9.30am this morning, which will be followed by Attorney General questions at 10.10am.

From 10.30am will be the weekly business statement from the Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom, outlining the forthcoming agenda in the Commons. After that, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Karen Bradley will make a statement on the government's decision on Fox's Sky takeover bid.

The main business will be the final day's debate on the Queen's Speech - today's discussion focusing on the economy and jobs - which will end with votes on any and all amendments selected by the Speaker.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone will lead the day's adjournment debate on Kettering General Hospital.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers vote 172 to 104 to reject Lord Adonis' amendment regretting the decision not to seek continued single market membership.

The Lords then adjourns, to return at 11am on Thursday.

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Labour's Lord Adonis is not satisfied by the government's assurances and divides the House to vote on his amendment, which seeks to add the words:

House of Lords
Parliament

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Concluding today's debate for the government, Lord Keen of Elie tells the House that "we must respect the will of the British people" and proceed with leaving the EU.

He says the government has made it clear to other EU countries it understands "the four freedoms are indivisible - there can be no cherry-picking".

The legislation outlined in the Queen's Speech including the repeal bill is "extensive but it's also necessary" for a "smooth Brexit".

He denies the government is acting as though it holds all the cards, insisting it is seeking an "open and mutually beneficial negotiation".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour leader in the Lords Baroness Smith of Basildon tells peers that in the Queen's Speech, Brexit has eclipsed the "great challenges of our day - for the young it is housing and for older people social care".

It offers only "vagueness" on those questions, she claims.

She says she'll never understand why Theresa May called the election, arguing it gave the impression she sought a licence to act "whatever way she wanted" whereas "nothing could be more patriotic than to question, to scrutinise".

She adds that offering a unilateral guarantee on EU citizens' rights could have gone a long way to "changing that tone" and that can still be done.

House of Lords
Parliament

Winding up for the Lib Dems, Baroness Ludford tells peers that on Brexit, "there is no plan".

Instead, she says there's been "arrogance, triumphalism and hubris followed by an inevitable clash with reality".

She asks for "confirmation that the 'no deal' threat is now dead" and that the "cliff-edge will now be a gentle slope".

"We need a reset," she urges.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative Lord Dobbs warns against a "blancmange Brexit - something you can tap with a spoon and it wobbles".

He upbraids Remain supporters, saying: "Their moral high ground stands next to a cliff edge," which is the same cliff-edge Greece found itself on in the eurozone crisis.

But he says Leave backers "have stumbled" on immigration and are "bereft of balance - we can do better. There is a moral case for reducing immigration but we have to find a better language to express it".

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Responding to the vote on the Queen's Speech, which saw MPs reject Labour's amendment calling for the 1% public sector pay cap to be lifted, Jeremy Corbyn said: "Tonight, the Conservatives had an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, by ending cuts to our police and fire service and lifting the public sector pay cap.

"Although government ministers said they had learned the lessons of the general election and were listening to voters, it is clear that nothing has changed.

"They had the perfect opportunity to walk the walk, but instead they marched through the lobby to show Tory austerity is business as usual.

"While the money is there when the Conservatives need it to keep themselves in office, the rest of the country now face more devastating cuts to our emergency and other vital services."

The Huffington Post

Image source, Heidi Allen

Labour had appealed to Conservative MPs to back its amendment opposing the public sector pay cap - but one of them has told the Huffington Post, external why she could not vote for it.

Speaking to HuffPost UK after the vote, Tory MP Heidi Allen - who would like to see the cap lifted - said she was unable to back Labour’s amendment as it was "too partisan".

She also queried introducing a blanket pay rise for all public sector workers.

“'Public services includes the very highest paid chief executives, managers, Whitehall chiefs too' [she said].

“'I cannot support a blanket pay rise to all of those.

“'We need to focus on those public sector workers such as nurses, healthcare assistants and all those on the front line.'”

House of Lords
Parliament

Former ambassador and crossbencher Lord Jay of Ewelme says that the scenario in which "we walk away and leave without an agreement may have rhetorical value but doesn't show great confidence in negotiators to secure a deal in our interests".

"We will still need to trade and co-operate on security and defence," he points out, arguing we need to achieve the "closest frictionless relationship possible".

Ministers hint the 1% limit could be lifted as a Labour move to scrap it is defeated in Parliament.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative former minister Lord Robathan says although he's "not a fan of referendums, the people have spoken and we must listen".

He suggests that other speakers such as Lord Mandelson are "ignoring that we had a referendum" and "lacking confidence".

"Most of the rest of the world isn't in the single market - and I'll name two big ones, the USA and Hong Kong - they seem to be doing pretty well."