House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Victoria Atkins says that when children are offered a home in the UK then the government must ensure "that they receive the highest levels of care".

She cites recent reports, external that Vietnamese children taken into care are going missing within hours or days due to organised crime in the UK. Some are taken physically, others are tempted back into the world of crime, she says.

She says we cannot and must not allow that to happen, "when people come to our country, we need to look after them properly".

She says that expanding the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, external from Syria to all nationalities is "a good thing".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Environment Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble winds up for the government, stressing that agricultural questions are of the "utmost importance to the UK".

He says that British farmers "produce the best" and "we will continue to champion these high standards" after Brexit.

He tells peers that the government supports the use of geographical indications and will prioritise this in post-Brexit legislation.

House of Commons
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Liberal Democrat Tim Farron says he has visited the "jungle" migrant camp in 2015 and found the experience both "eye opening and heart breaking."

He says it was amazing to see the "grit of the people living there" despite the "unimaginable situation that they found themselves in".

"If you have made that kind of journey, crossed seas, taken those risks, let's be blunt, you are not one of life's spongers," he says.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour spokesperson Baroness Jones of Whitchurch responds to this afternoon's debate on agriculture, noting there are "huge challenges in securing tariff-free access" to the EU for British produce.

But she goes on to say she will focus on new opportunities, mentioning the role of new technology in helping farming and fishing to take a more environmentally friendly and less wasteful approach.

She speaks of the need for new ways to attract young people into careers in agriculture, especially as the UK leaves the EU.

House of Commons
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Conservative Adam Holloway is telling the chamber about his experience visiting a migrant camp shortly before the general election.

"We should be doing everything we can for the many, not the relative few," he says.

"We cannot settle them all in the UK, we must do what we can for the many."

He says the UK is spending "vast amounts of money" which could be better spent in the Middle East region.

A profile of the Conservative MP and new Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Lyn Brown is attacking the government over the case of a man in the UK whose son is still in Europe.

The son had an appointment made, but an interpreter was not booked for the appointment, meaning that discussions were unable to go ahead.

She states the case of another young woman who is so afraid of staying in her refugee reception centre that she has recently tried to run away.

She asks for the government to replicate existing EU structures after Brexit "so we can bring these children home."

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Amanda Milling says there are refugee crises across the world, "it is a truly global challenge," she says.

She says that in 2016, the UK resettled more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU state.

Directing aid straight to Syria would tackle the root cause of the crisis, she adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, says she has met a Syrian teenager who has come to the UK and has since restarted his education at a British university.

She attacks the government for a failure of co-ordinated action across Europe, and "allowing numbers to build up in Calais again".

"Why is the government still failing to publish and refusing to publish the number of unaccompanied children and teenagers coming to the UK under the Dublin Scheme, external?" she asks.

The longer the UK fails to have a Dubs and Dublin scheme, the longer we see children putting their lives at risk, she says.

Westminster Hall

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This general debate has been tabled by the SNP’s Stuart C. McDonald, external, as the government signs a leasing agreement for 20 years at the New Waverly development in Edinburgh.

Critics have accused the government of replacing HMRC regional offices without due consultation.

SNP Livingston MP, Hannah Bardell, has previously said that the decision to site the new centre in Edinburgh city centre caused real problems for the 1,100 HMRC staff currently based in her constituency. These problems have been echoed further in Scotland.

The closures don’t just affect Scotland, the BBC has published a list of the planned changes.

Westminster Hall

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MPs in Westminster Hall are debating HMRC closures.

In November 2015, the government announced changes to the organisational structure of HMRC. As part of the shake up, there could be 2,000 jobs lost in Scotland.

More than 8,000 people are currently employed by HMRC in Scotland. The plans would reduce the current 17 centres to two offices, one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow.

The first closures are scheduled for next year, River House in Inverness and Caledonian House in Dundee.

In April this year, the Public Accounts Committee published a report, external stating concern that the government “has not thought through all the negative costs”.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Stella Creasy pays tribute to Heidi Allen for her work on this issue.

She names a list of people working in her constituency to help the refugee children still stranded in Calais.

"When you don't have safe passage it doesn't stop people coming, it means that the only passage available is through the traffickers," she says.

"Britain is still falling short on what it can do for these children, and it is nine-year-olds sleeping in bushes in Calais, sleeping without shelters in Greece, in Italy, that are paying the price."

House of Lords
Parliament

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A little earlier, Conservative the Earl of Lindsay opened this afternoon's debate on new opportunities in agriculture.

He said the possibilities opened up by leaving the EU are "significant" as it is a chance to "take control of our destiny".

In particular, he called for a new register of protected food names to be set up after Brexit which would be recognised by the EU, so that products such as Stilton cheese, Cornish pasties and Scottish smoked salmon can still be traded as such.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The Backbench Business debate on Calais and unaccompanied child refugees in Europe is being opened by Conservative MP Heidi Allen.

"Despite the tremendous efforts of the British government at the time, there are still refugee children in the Calais region, and also in Greece, and also in Italy," she says.

"Many in this chamber were bitterly disappointed that the Dubs amendment did not manifest itself in a more generous number of children," she adds.

She says that the 480 children accepted under the scheme is half a percent of the total number of refugee children who have arrived in Europe.

House of Commons
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"Giving the vote to any prisoners is idiotic, unjustifiable and about as popular with the general public as finding a rattlesnake in a lucky dip," says Conservative backbencher Philip Davies.

He alleges that the European Court went beyond the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights in making its judgement.

Mr Davies thinks the matter should be subject to a vote in Parliament - but the justice secretary says the government "is not proposing a change in the law".

Another Tory, Philip Hollobone, says that former PM David Cameron "said it made him physically sick to think about giving prisoners the right to vote, and many of us on these benches feel the same nausea and many of our constituents as well".

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Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan welcomes the fact that the UK will "leave the company of... Armenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary and Russia" which have a blanket ban on prisoners voting.

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve says the UK is "sending out a clear signal of our willingness to adhere to an international legal obligation" and the matter could "form part of a wider debate" on the rehabilitation of prisoners.

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"This is a difficult issue," says SNP spokeswoman Joanna Cherry, welcoming the government's attempt to "grasp the nettle" and address this.

David Lidington has said that abiding by judgements of the European Court of Human Rights was a reserved matter for the UK government.

However, Ms Cherry says that MSPs are looking at "whether devolved powers could be used to address this issue" as regards elections to the Scottish Parliament.

She calls for "cross-party agreement" on the way forward.

House of Commons
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Shadow justice secretary Richard Burdon says the House will agree that preventing prisoners serving life sentences from voting is "very sensible".

He says the UK is proud to uphold the rule of law and to abide by its commitments, adding: "If we are signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights than we are bound by its judgements."

Parliament must now debate how it is to abide by the judgement, he adds.

House of Commons
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Justice Secretary David Lidington makes a statement on voting rights for prisoners, in response to a verdict by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Court has ruled repeatedly that the rights of UK prisoners were breached when they were prevented from voting in elections.

Mr Lidington refers to "the Hirst judgement" in 2005 - a case brought by British national John Hirst,, external who was serving a life sentence.

The justice secretary says UK governments of all parties have believed that the law should not change and the current government "will maintain the bar on convicted prisoners" voting.

Mr Lidington says convicted offenders will be told on sentencing that they will lose the right to vote while in prison.

Currently, offenders released on licence with an electronic tag can vote but those released on temporary licence cannot. Mr Lidington says the government intends to allow such prisoners to vote, as part of their assimilation back into society.

This will affect "about 100 offenders at any one time", he adds.