Labour's Jeremy Corbyn has accused ministers of an "unprecedented attempt to rig Parliament".

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Peers begin the questioning on the subject of student loans.

Conservative Lord Lamont notes that the amount expected in student loan repayments fell by £5bn due to modelling changes.

He asks if uncertainty in student loan repayments is "a matter of concern" for the Treasury,

Philip Hammond says the figure of £5bn is "relatively small" compared to the overall value of repayments.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HOC

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman also rises to speak on the EU Withdrawal Bill. She says the government plans to take the UK out of the customs union and there is no plan to deal with that.

Looking back to the Budget in March, and the Finance Bill and general election that followed she says: "We've ended up with this which is a bodged together bill on the remains of what was put forwards back in March."

It is eight months since the Budget which created this finance bill "and that's an incredible length of time", she says.

She says the government has not recognised the financial impact of Brexit on household incomes and jobs.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Peers are now taking part in a debate on a government motion to take note of its position papers and future partnership papers on the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the European Union.

Brexit Minister Baroness Anelay of St Johns tells peers the papers show the UK's "constructive engagement" and "detailed work" in this area, which she believes has achieved "concrete progress".

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

... and it starts with an announcement described by the Chancellor as "hot off the press news".

He tells peers that the next budget will take place on 22nd November.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Government spokesman Lord Keen responds that "we've clearly progressed a long way since Leveson" and there have been "significant changes to press regulation".

He says the matter is under consultation and a response will be announced in due course.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will shortly take evidence from the Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The members of the committee are

• Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Chairman) Conservative
• Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted, Liberal Democrat
• Lord Burns, Crossbench
• Lord Darling of Roulanish, Labour
• Baroness Harding of Winscombe, Conservative
• Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, Crossbench
• Baroness Kingsmill, Labour
• Lord Lamont of Lerwick, Conservative
• Lord Layard, Labour
• Lord Livermore, Labour
• Lord Sharkey, Liberal Democrat
• Lord Tugendhat, Conservative
• Lord Turnbull, Crossbench

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour spokesman Lord Collins of Highbury cautions that the Murdochs "have a long history of regulatory non-compliance" and while the culture secretary has "done her job", this is an opportunity for "full and comprehensive look at corporate governance".

To that end, he asks the government to commence part 2 of the Leveson inquiry.

Lib Dem spokesman Lord McNally says there is "a risk from predatory attack" to our media in the context of the falling pound, and joins calls for Leveson 2.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Government spokesman Lord Keen of Elie is repeating a statement on the proposed Fox-Sky merger process.

The culture secretary earlier told MPs she will refer 21st Century Fox's bid to buy Sky to competition regulators.

Karen Bradley said the £11.7bn deal would face a six-month investigation due to concerns over both media plurality and broadcasting standards.

Fox owns 39% of Sky but wants to assume total control of the broadcaster.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Lib Dem Lord Clement-Jones asks what progress has been made with the government's Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures.

He says it's time for the government to "end its internal debate" on and act on "dangerous" gaming machines.

Labour spokesman Lord Collins says action on gaming machines is "long overdue".

Culture Minister Lord Ashton of Hyde tells peers there'll be no announcement until October at the earliest.

He points out: "These things have to be done on an evidence-based approach."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HOC

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Peter Dowd says the minister has provided "wall to wall complacency".

Before he gets to the substance of the bill, there's a fair bit of discussion about last night's vote on the EU Withdrawal Bill. There are interventions from Conservatives Anna Soubry and Philip Davies - about Labour MPs' votes.

And there's a point of order from former Conservative chief whip Mark Harper asking whether Mr Dowd "had noticed" that he was talking about last night's bill rather than the Finance Bill.

The Finance Bill, says Eleanor Laing to laughter from the green benches, is "quite wide and varied" - and here she flips through a huge tome - a copy of the Finance Bill.

The Finance Bill, Mr Dowd goes on to say, is being slipped through while everyone's attention is elsewhere.

"The economy we have today is creating neither prosperity nor justice," he says - telling MPs he is quoting the IPPR.

House of Lords
Parliament

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The first question is from Labour's Baroness Donaghy on ensuring that victims of domestic violence have access to safe and secure accommodation in both the short and long term.

She accuses the government of "relying on cash-strapped local authorities" and raises concerns that according to Women's Aid "one in four will be turned away" from shelters.

Communities and Local Government Minister Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth points out the government has directed £100m to this end and is bringing forward legislation on "these deep-seated issues".

House of Commons
Parliament

Mel Stride now talks about making the tax administration digital.

Currently, mistakes cost £9bn - that's more than running the HMRC and Treasury combined, he says.

Many stakeholders had concerns about whether businesses would be ready for the change. In response to those concerns he says, the timetable has been amended, and it will now be a requirement for businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold - that's small businesses, in other words.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Financial Secretary Mel Stride is opening the debate.

He has taken interventions from MPs on his own benches asking where Labour MPs are.

The bill will make the tax system fairer, he says, and will tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

In response to interventions, he says the Conservative government has had successes in clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

MPs now begin a debate of the Finance Bill at second reading.

Due to the general election, the government's spring budget Finance Bill had a significant number of clauses removed.

This bill implements those clauses that were dropped before the dissolution of Parliament.

The bill includes

• new penalties for those who enable use of tax avoidance schemes that are later defeated by HMRC
• update of rules around company interest expenses to prevent use of excessive interest payments to reduce tax
• introduces changes to prevent individuals using artificial schemes to avoid paying tax on earnings
• abolish permanent non-dom status

The SNP has tabled an amendment to the bill declining to give it a second reading on the grounds that it continues the policy of austerity.

However the amendment has not been selected by the Speaker and will therefore not be debated.

House of Lords
Parliament

The Lords get started at 2.30pm with questions on:

• access to safe and secure accommodation for victims of domestic violence
• ensuring mental and physical health conditions in the health insurance market are treated equally
• the government's review of gaming machines and social responsibility
• capping university vice-chancellors' pay.

Then peers will hear the repeat of a statement made earlier in the Commons on the proposed Fox-Sky merger.

That's followed by a debate on position papers and future partnership papers published by the government on the UK's future relationship with the EU, and another on a Labour motion which submits that there has been "a lack of progress towards agreement on issues relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU".

Finally, peers will hear an update from the Foreign Office on Hurricane Irma.