House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Maria Eagle is introducing a bill under the ten minute rule.

She has 10 minutes to make the case for her private members' bill to introduce limits on the age of tyres on buses and coaches.

The bill would make it illegal to operate a bus or coach with tyres more than 10 years old.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Carolyn Harris says gambling addicts "often put pressure on the benefits system because of their chaotic lives" and can suffer mental health problems preventing them from working.

She urges the government to consider the "social consequences of a dreadful addiction to these dreadful machines".

Minister Tracey Crouch agrees that there are "associated consequences" for the families and communities of problem gamblers.

However, Conservative MP Bob Stewart argues that gambling is "light fun" for the majority of gamblers.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Damian Collins tells Mr Hollingsworth that he finds it "depressing" that after he has been in his job for six years, that he cannot give an answer further than that a complaint would be referred upwards by the British Paralympic Association.

Mr Hollingsworth says that where his organisation has interaction with athletes, coaches, sports, "these issues were not made clear in the way that they are being made today at that time and to us".

Mr Collins has to quieten an angry Michael Breen sitting in the public gallery.

House of Commons
Parliament

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine calls on the government to address online gambling in its review.

She says that in online blackjack, for example, "thousands of pounds can be bet on one hand and lost".

Minister Tracey Crouch says the review will consider online gambling and also tells Ms Jardine: "We expect to see stricter protections in place as part of the licensing provisions on online gambling."

Select Committee
Parliament

Damian Collins asks how the British system operates alongside international bodies, if someone were to raise concerns at incorrect classification as a Paralympic Games meets.

"We don't have formal authorities around processes like classification," Mr Hollingsworth says.

Mr Hollingsworth says he could take it to the International Paralympic Committee. Mr Collins asks for clarification on how the complaint would be handled. Mr Hollingsworth says that the complaint would be dealt with by the relevant sport body.

House of Commons
Parliament

Tracey Crouch accuses the last Labour government of having rushed through a Gambling Act without giving proper consideration to fixed-odds betting terminals.

FOBTs "did not exist" before the last Labour government came to power, she says.

However, SNP culture spokesman Brendon O'Hara echoes the view of Labour's Tom Watson, suggesting that a consultation means the government is kicking the matter "into the long grass".

Mr O'Hara says the Scottish Parliament is willing to act and calls for the devolution of powers to allow it to do so.

Conservative MP Maria Caulfield backs up the minister, accusing Labour of hypocrisy.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Tim Hollingsworth, the Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association, is now speaking to the committee.

He commends the committee in looking into wider sports governance.

He says he doesn't believe that the classification process is not fit for purpose.

Responding to questions from Damian Collins, Mr Hollingsworth says that they are looking to improve the classification process and professionalise the system internationally.

He says the system needs to be improved "in tandem" with international bodies.

House of Commons
Parliament

Culture, Media and Sport Minister Tracey Crouch defends the government's 12-week consultation, external on fixed-odds betting terminals - known as FOBTs - and problem gambling.

She argues that the consultation is necessary to address the issue "thoroughly".

Shadow culture secretary Tom Watson, who has tabled this urgent question on the subject, accuses the government of "delay after delay" and says action is needed now.

"There's an old maxim that the bookies always win, and they've won again today," Mr Watson adds.

Select Committee
Parliament

"The number of conflicts of interest, I have always lost count of", Mr Breen says.

Labour's Ian Lucas asks if potential conflicts of interest within the International Paralympics Committee are driving the problems.

Conservative Giles Watling asks if there should be a narrowing of the classifications, or if medical oversight was necessary.

Mr Breen says that he highly doubts that anyone would see medical oversight as a backwards step. He says that T30 athletes currently have to compete with other athletes whose conditions may not exist on a particular day, due to medication.

The IPC has their full classification document available on their website, external.

House of Commons
Parliament

Justice Secretary David Lidington has reportedly prepared plans which would allow some prisoners to vote. Since 2005, the UK government has been in breach of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which said that a blanket ban breached the right to free and fair elections.

Conservative MP Phillip Davies accuses Mr Lidington of coming up with a "half-baked and unpopular policy to put before the electorate".

"No-one is taking voting away from prisoners," he says. "They take it away from themselves."

Mr Lidington says "the government is preparing its position" ahead of a meeting of the Council of Europe and will bring any proposals before Parliament, before another Tory, Dominic Grieve, takes the opposite view to Mr Davies.

"It's about time we remedied something that places us in a very small category of countries," the former attorney general says, arguing that the move would aid the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Rebecca Pow is asking the questions on classifications now.

"I think it's all too easy for governing bodies to commission a medical report which, shall we say, convinces the two classifiers that they ought to give a classification," says Mr Breen.

He calls for a "root and branch" review of the classification process, and that "doctors need to be brought back in".

Select Committee
Parliament

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Responding to questions from Labour's Jo Stevens, Mr Breen says that the threat of deselection is very real for athletes.

He alleges that his daughter has been used as an example for other athletes to not speak out about the classification process.

He says that shortly before the Rio Paralympics, where Olivia was due to take part in the relay, at the last minute, she was removed from the relay team and was replaced by an athlete who had not been training to take part.

House of Commons
Parliament

Dan Carden, Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, raises a question about "the effect of overcrowding and staff numbers on recent serious disturbances in prisons".

Minister Sam Gyimah says every incident is unique and his department's job is "to minimise the risk and manage those incidents when they happen".

However, Mr Carden says the chief inspector of prisons has expressed a view that a shortage of prison officers contributes to safety problems. He calls on the department to "take some responsibility for the incidents that have occurred".

Rioting broke out at Walton prison, external in September.

Mr Gyimah tells him that "the staff complement [at Walton] is exactly as it should be".

Select Committee
Parliament

Mr Breen has raised another case of an incorrect classification of an athlete.

He discusses his concerns about the fact that the International Paralympic Committee has no grievance or whistleblowing procedure.

He says he finds the lack of a right of protest "bizarre".

Mr Breen says that the introduction of a UK independent body with the ability to investigate independently is "vital".

Select Committee
Parliament

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The father of Paralympian, Olivia Breen, is now speaking to the committee.

Damian Collins tells him the committee's principle line of questioning will be abuses of classification which Mr Breen has experienced.

Mr Breen tells the committee that he has been trying to raise concerns with the relevant sporting bodies since mid-2013.

He says he first became aware of the problem when an athlete had been classified as having cerebral palsy, rather than having learning difficulties.

Mr Breen alleges that nothing was done after his concerns were raised. He says he was told there is no whistleblowing or grievance procedure, before then being told there is a whistleblowing procedure for employees only.

Select Committee
Parliament

Damian Collins is asking questions on classification around the world.

There are checks and balances at the individual sporting venues, but Tanni Grey-Thompson says there is scope for standards to be applied differently in different countries.

Mr Collins says this could clearly by used by some athletes to "game the system", and Baroness Grey-Thompson agrees.

With that, the committee moves on to their next witness, Michael Breen, father of Paralympian Olivia Breen.

House of Commons
Parliament

Liberal Democrat Tom Brake kicks off justice questions by asking about continued participation in the European Arrest Warrant after the UK leaves the EU.

He asks whether the minister will "put crime-fighting first", even if it means remaining under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice - which Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab replies that giving the UK Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction does not constitute "an arbitrary red line", as Mr Brake suggests.

Conservative Bob Neill, chair of the Commons Justice Committee, asks about future extradition arrangements, while Labour's Helen Jones says it took Iceland and Norway 13 years to reach extradition arrangements with the EU.

Mr Raab says the UK is not in the same position: "We start from the position of the European Arrest Warrant - strong, intensive co-operation on extradition."

Select Committee
Parliament

"I don't think integrity has too high a cost", Baroness Grey-Thompson replies.

She is responding to questions from Labour's Ian Lucas on whether money should be spent on a review on the current situation, to see how it can be improved.

Responding to questions about whistleblowing and athletes coming forward from Conservative MP, Simon Hart, she says that some anonymous submissions to her review wouldn't come in to Parliament, and instead she had to meet them in coffee shops to get their input.

The final round of questions come from Chair Damian Collins. She says that the classification system is open to abuse and is being abused.

"We should be gold standard," she says.

Parliamentary staff lack a "collective voice" and need greater protection, Labour's Tom Watson says.