House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative Lord Cormack says he doesn't doubt ministers were sincere in their desire to improve the benefits system but "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

He describes the stories of universal credit claimants about being sanctioned or getting into rent arrears as "a catalogue of human misery".

He calls on the chancellor to use the opportunity of next week's Budget to "set about the task of fixing it".

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Chris Bryant says the working party on a new grievance procedure is "heavily overloaded with MPs" - and senior MPs at that.

He adds that he doesn't believe there are any lesbian or gay members in the group.

"You have to have justice for both sides" rather than "trial by the newspapers", he argues.

Finally, he tells the House that a journalist from the Mail on Sunday told him in a Commons bar in 2003: "We're all taking bets on when you'll commit suicide. I hope it'll be before Christmas."

Andrea Leadsom expresses her sympathy to him, calling the alleged comments "truly appalling".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith points out MPs accused of misconduct have had the party whip suspended but are allowed to continue as MPs.

Following him, Labour's Stella Creasy asks whether the option to recall MPs, if an allegation against them is proved, and have them replaced in a by-election is being considered.

Andrea Leadsom says "it is early days" to reach conclusions on precise sanctions.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Jess Phillips says that the statement by the leader of the House "doesn't say the word 'sexual' harassment in it once".

She says there needs to be "a specialist sexual violence service" and argues that "mediation in cases of harassment is never appropriate".

Andrea Leadsom says the working party will "take away" what the Labour MP has said.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas backs up those points, saying there needs to be a specific sexual harassment policy and Parliament cannot "renose an existing bullying policy" which places an emphasis on mediation.

House of Commons
Parliament

Pete Wishart says the SNP supports "zero-tolerance of any abuse and inappropriate behaviour".

The party's Commons business spokesman argues that patriarchal and hierarchical cultures "have been allowed to develop... and have gone unchallenged in the past".

The new process must be "truly independent" and have the confidence of everybody, he says, adding that the SNP is also updating its own procedures.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Conservative Lord Farmer tells peers: "If we hadn't invented universal credit the ineffectiveness of the welfare system would have been a running sore in political debate and a dangerous faultline as we approach Brexit."

There would have been "urgent calls" for reform "as numbers of migrant numbers willing to do jobs left vacant by British workers decreases".

He complains the new system has been "unhelpfully politicised" and has become "a stick to beat the government with", as well as the subject of "shameful scaremongering".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin says he is concerned that adding "new bits onto existing systems" could lead to confusion.

Andrea Leadsom insists this is a new independent procedure, which uses existing procedures as "a reference".

House of Commons
Parliament

Andrea Leadsom says that "face to face counselling" will be available to people on the parliamentary estate from 22 November.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow leader of the House Valerie Vaz says the Labour Party is committed to working with the process.

She says the grievance procedure should be available to "everyone who works on the estate, including contractors" and students on university placements.

She adds that the Labour Party "will continue to look at our procedures" and has appointed "an independent legal expert".

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Baroness Hollis of Heigham is opening her debate to take note of the impact of universal credit on claimants.

She begins by saying that everyone wanted the system to work but it has become a story of "broken promises".

Universal credit uses the "whip of unbelievably harsh sanctions to get people into work that for too many people doesn't pay", she claims.

She goes on to say: "Many will never get out of the debt we have constructed for them," asking, "how can we defend this, even to ourselves?"

House of Commons
Parliament

Andrea Leadsom makes a statement on "an independent grievance procedure" following allegations of sexual assault and harassment at Westminster.

The Commons leader welcomes the consensus reached across political parties and says all have agreed that any procedure must have cross-party agreement, be available to both Houses of Parliament and be independent.

The services will be available to MPs' and peers' staff, "interns, volunteers, journalists and constituency staff", Ms Leadsom says.

She adds that an all-party working group, which includes trade union and staff association representatives, has met this week.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Peter Bone mentions a story in the Sun, external - in which he is quoted - about BBC staff sleeping at their desks during night shifts.

Mr Bone says he has not "cannot find that reported on the BBC" and calls for a statement or debate in Parliament.

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom says she is "slightly stumped" by Mr Bone's request, adding: "I sincerely regret if those reporters are so tired that they need to fall asleep on the job."

The BBC has rejected the story, external, a spokesperson saying: “This is a misleading story about people working a long night shift. When they take a break, whether they walk around the block, go for a cup of tea or just simply rest, that’s surely up to them.

“The BBC is hugely grateful to its journalists who work through the night to make sure the country has the best possible news service when it wakes up in the morning.”

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Labour Brexit spokesperson Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town asks Brexit Minister Lord Callanan to correct the record on an earlier reply given in the House, in which he suggested the Supreme Court had said that Article 50 could not be revoked, external.

Lord Callanan responds it is the government's "firm policy that Article 50 will not be withdrawn" and the Supreme Court decided it was not necessary to consider this matter further.

Crossbencher Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, often described as the author of Article 50 and a proponent of the view it can be withdrawn, says another peer, Lord Ridley, should also correct the record on this.

The minister replies: "The noble Lord has a widely expressed opinion on Article 50 but I think he'll find 17.4m of our fellow citizens also had an opinion."

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Anna McMorrin raises the influence of social media platforms on elections and calls for firms such as Facebook and Google to be regulated, arguing that they are media companies and "should be brought under UK law".

The leader of the House says the government is "working with industry" in an effort to ensure "low quality and fake news is not commercially incentivised".

She adds: "We haven't seen evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes."

A fellow Labour MP, Barry Sheerman, is not satisfied and wants action by the security and intelligence services or, as he puts it: "Bring the spooks in!"

House of Commons
Parliament

Peter Wishart, the SNP's Commons business spokesman, says "the government has a three-week period" to comply with the vote to release the Brexit impact statements.

He also notes that the three-week period began last week and asks whether MPs will "see them in full, without any redaction".

Andrea Leadsom argues that "there is a balance to be struck" between "the national interest and complying with the wishes of this House".

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Lib Dem Baroness Walmsley asks what action is proposed to reduce the number of young women who are self-harming.

She refers to a "shocking increase over the last decade" and calls on ministers to ensure there is a counsellor in every secondary school.

Health Minister Lord O'Shaughnessy highlights the cross-government suicide prevention strategy which he says has been extended to include self-harm.

He points to the government's ambition to ensure there is one teacher with mental health first aid training in all schools.

House of Commons
Parliament

Andrea Leadsom says she will continue to update the House about progress on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Turning to the Brexit impact studies, she says Brexit Secretary David Davis is working with the chairman of the Exiting the EU Committee, Hilary Benn, to "make sense of those impact statements in such a way that they will be useful" without hampering the UK's negotiations.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow leader of the House Valerie Vaz notes that next Tuesday's committee stage debate on the EU Withdrawal Bill will be "day three of eight".

She asks whether the bill will have cleared the Commons by Christmas and in the Lords in the new year, adding: "My friends in the other place are very keen to help out."

Ms Vaz says that, following the Panama Papers, "we now have the invisible papers" - the Brexit impact studies. MPs voted for their publication earlier this month.

"First they exist, then they don't exist, then they exist in a form that is only comprehensible to ministers," Ms Vaz says.

She asks "when they will be delivered".

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative Lord Sheikh asks what plans there are to promote bilateral trade between the UK and Sudan.

He says it could be a "valuable potential trading partner".

Government spokesman the Earl of Courtown welcomes the lifting of sanctions against Sudan but says it's a "challenging" environment and political reform is needed.