House of Commons
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"Ahh, a sisterly contest" says Speaker Bercow before picking Maria Eagle ahead of her twin sister Angela to speak.

"Don't call it a contest, it's not helpful!" jokes Maria, who goes on to ask if the minister understands that Brexit puts the Ellesmere Port plant at "even greater risk" of being closed.

Claire Perry says that Maria Eagle "shouldn't listen" to rumours coming out of the cabinet and that "we will get a deal".

House of Commons
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Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey says Labour warned of potential job losses when the plant was taken over. She asks if PSA, the plant's owner, has sought "Nissan style" assurances about Brexit, and if so what they were. And if not, she asks, why is the government supporting Nissan but not Vauxhall?

Rebecca Long Bailey asks if the "shambolic" Brexit negotiations are undermining British manufacturing and asks the government for a "clear signal" that business is being supported during Brexit.

Minister Claire Perry says that the company made a commitment to keeping the plant open and reiterates that the govt is speaking to the plant owners and the unions.

She goes on to say that the government is offering "certainty" to business throughout the Brexit process.

House of Commons
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Conservative Sir Desmond Swayne says the UK successfully exports cars to the US with a 1% tariff, asking: "How much better would we do with free trade?"

The business minister agrees with him about the strength of UK exports.

House of Commons
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The SNP's business spokesman Drew Hendry says Vauxhall employees and their families "need more from the government than warm words".

He complains of a "lack of visibility" of a future trading arrangement between the UK and the EU.

The minister says: "I don't think anyone wants us to rerun the Brexit debate."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Mr Grayling expresses his condolences for all Monarch staff and says he is confident all who lost their jobs will "find another berth" within the aviation industry.

"This is a very unhappy state of affairs" for all passengers and staff and "I feel desperately sorry for them", he says.

Select Committee
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A reminder of the details around the collapse of Monarch. The airline went into administration in the early hours of Monday 2nd October - leading to nearly 1,900 job losses and the cancellation of all its flights and holidays.

The airline employed about 2,100 people and reported a £291m loss last year.

Monarch’s chief executive Andrew Swaffield blamed its demise on "terrorism and the closure of some markets like Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt", which in turn led to more competition on routes to Spain and Portugal.

The collapse of the 50-year-old company is the largest ever for a UK airline.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The hearing is now underway and chair, Labour's Lilian Greenwood asks about the collapse of Monarch Airlines.

She asks the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling about government efforts to come up with a rescue package for the organisation.

Mr Grayling tells the committee that Monarch approached the government on the Tuesday before it went into administration about the possibility of a bridging loan.

The transport secretary says the airline never produced a "formal request" for such a loan probably because it realised it "wasn't a viable option".

House of Commons
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Labour's Justin Madders says the announcement by PSA - which owns the Vauxhall plant in his Ellesmere Port constituency - is "deeply concerning".

He says the sector is "crying out for clarity" and "business won't wait around while ministers argue amongst themselves".

Business minister Claire Perry insists there is consensus among ministers on their approach to industrial strategy.

House of Commons
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Image source, Vauxhall

MPs now move on to today's second urgent question - from Labour MP for Ellesmere Port Justin Madders, on the future of the Vauxhall factory in his constituency.

The plant's French owners, PSA Group, has announced 400 job losses due to falling sales.

Business minister Claire Perry tells MPs the news is "disappointing" and "the government is standing by to do all it can to support those affected".

She says she has spoken to local authority and union representatives and no final decisions will be taken until the consultation period is over.

A redundancy action support plan will be put in place, she adds.

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As the exchanges on the nuclear deal with Iran draw to a close there's a reflective contribution from a Conservative Simon Hoare, who suggests that Ministers should remind Donald Trump of "an old dictum - that we campaign in poetry but we govern in prose".

Mr Hoare adds that President Trump should be reminded that being leader of the free world "requires more skills than being a game show host or a contestant on the X-factor".

Select Committee
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This is the first public evidence session of the newly-formed transport committee, following June's general election.

The members of the committee are:

• Lilian Greenwood (Lab) – chair
• Ronnie Cowan (SNP)
• Steve Double (Con)
• Paul Girvan (DUP)
• Huw Merriman (Con)
• Luke Pollard (Lab)
• Laura Smith (Lab)
• Iain Stewart (Con)
• Graham Stringer (Lab)
• Martin Vickers (Con)
• Daniel Zeichner (Lab)

New committee chair, Lilian Greenwood, was once Labour’s shadow transport secretary.

Select Committee
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Shortly, the transport committee will start quizzing Chris Grayling on the work of his Department and its policy priorities.

Transport issues have recently made headlines - so MPs certainly won’t be short of questions.

Topics likely to be raised include the recent collapse of Monarch Airlines, the scrapping of rail electrification projects, Network Rail’s budget and HS2.

The committee will get underway at 4:45pm.

House of Commons
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Labour's Hilary Benn says the Iran deal is "widely supported across the house" and that scrapping it will "undermine confidence in international agreements of all sorts".

He asks the minister if scrapping the deal would embolden less moderate factions in the Iranian government.

Minister Alistair Burt says that Hilary Benn is right that there are "different voices to be listened to" in Tehran.

He goes on to say that "what we should focus on is...what is being said by the other parties to the agreement". The UK, Germany, France, Russia and China are all signatories to the deal, as well as the United States. The other signatories continue to be supportive of the deal.

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Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson asks if the minister thinks multilateral agreements have been made easier or more difficult by the actions of President Trump.

Alistair Burt observes: "He did make certain things clear before he was elected and he has followed through on them."

House of Commons
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Conservative chair of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat urges Iran to stand by the deal irrespective of the White House's actions.

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt agrees that it is "so important and needs to be adhered to".

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Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt says the UK government "disagrees with the assessment that President Trump has made" of the Iran deal.

He adds that Iranian activities in the region are "outside the agreement" but putting the deal to one side will not help the "wider situation".

He says the UK will "continue to work with the US and Iranian governments" and he hopes the deal can be used as a "springboard" to better relations with Iran.

Image source, HoC

House of Commons
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Conservative Sir Nicholas Soames calls Trump's decision to decertify the Iran deal "bovine, even by his standards".

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt says the government has made it clear it disagrees with the president's stance.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry is putting an urgent question to the government on the joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran.

The 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and six world powers - the US, UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany - lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for limitations to the country's controversial nuclear energy programme.

But Barack Obama's close association with the deal put it in the crosshairs of his successor, Donald Trump, who has announced that he will not recertify it.

Ms Thornberry says "the deal is working" and for Mr Trump to "jeopardise" it is "reckless and downright dangerous".

She says it's "high time we had a government capable of standing up to him".

House of Commons
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Labour's Rupa Huq asks if further public space protection orders will be considered outside abortion clinics.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd responds it's "imperative to have access to safe abortion" and says she'll be "watching with interest" the situation at Ealing Marie Stopes clinic, ready to give more support.