House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Grahame Morris starts the debate on pension equality for women by thanking the Backbench Business Committee for nominating the issue for debate, as well as women for raising the issue.

He tells the Commons that the issue of equality for women in pensions has been debated "29 or 30 times" in the Commons or Westminster Hall.

Mr Morris tells the House that he has received emails "daily" from women both in his constituency and further afield who have been adversely affected by changes in state pensions.

"There is an injustice that needs to be rectified" by the "party of government", urges Mr Morris.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lib Dem Lord Paddick refers to the issue of low-risk offenders becoming high-risk after being supervised by telephone only.

Ministry of Justice spokesman Lord Keen says offenders receive supervision "proportionate to the risk they present" but "best practice is face-to-face".

Crossbencher and former judge Baroness Butler-Sloss returns to this point, asking: "Can he really say he's satisfied with a telephone form of probation? Because I don't think anyone in this House is."

Lord Keen says he isn't satisfied with probation by telephone, but repeats "contact has to be proportionate".

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour spokesman Lord Beecham tells peers the performance of probation services are a legacy of the "unlamented tenure" of Chris Grayling as justice secretary, adding that the report found none of the government's aspirations for reform were met and the outcomes were "generally poor".

Lord Keen tells him: "This is not an issue of ideology," but the financial situation of provided is impacted by "a limited number of referrals" and the government will ask for improvement plans.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Crossbencher Lord Laming is asking the equivalent of an urgent question on the recent report of the Chief Inspector of Probation on the performance of the Probation Service.

He describes the report as "dispiriting" and the current structure of the Probation Service as "disjointed and incoherent despite the hard work of staff".

Ministry of Justice spokesman Lord Keen of Elie says the government recognises the concerns raised by the report.

He suggests the problems "stem from financial challenges providers are facing".

He says it's "reassuring" that providers of probation services for high-risk offenders were found to be doing a good job overall.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is presenting the committee's report on Myanmar and the Rohingya.

He says the committee has been clear that what has happened in Myanmar is classified as ethnic cleansing, and "may even constitute" crimes against humanity "and even genocide".

Listing the numbers of deaths in the region, he says that it raises the possibility of taking a case to the International Criminal Court.

Turning to Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr Tugendhat says "although she is clearly constrained by a lack of control over the military, and by strong domestic public opinion, to see a voice for freedom, for democracy and for the rule of law choose not to speak out in the face of such crimes does more than allow them to continue, it suggests acquiescence at some level, and a failure of leadership at every level".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour spokesman Lord Kennedy of Southwark asks about ensuring survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire do not spend Christmas and New Year in temporary accommodation.

He says, six months since the fire, "it's a very long time to be living in temporary accommodation and no way to spend Christmas".

The situation the "majority of families find themselves in is unacceptable", he adds.

Government spokesman Lord Young responds that the government is "supporting the council to rehouse survivors as quickly as possible" so they can move into settled homes.

He specifies 151 households lost in the fire and there are 210 households in total to be rehoused.

Accommodation has been found for 144 of those, with 111 presently in emergency accommodation and 66 are yet to accept an offer. The process will be complete by June, he says.

He stresses he's "acutely aware" of the need to rehouse survivors, and "services are being put on by voluntary groups over Christmas".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative John Lamont says some of his constituents have been producing scarves raising funds for Cancer Research UK. He asks if the Leader of the House agrees that it is a "very fetching tartan".

Jokingly, Andrea Leadsom says that "by sheer coincidence" this morning she decided to wear a pink jacket, she says she was "absolutely delighted to find that the chill in this chamber could be offset by something warm from Scotland". Having had family members who have suffered from cancer herself, the Leader of the House says we should celebrate the work of volunteers.

Speaker John Bercow says "if I had known of the intention of the honourable gentleman in advance, and of the sartorial plans of the Leader of the House, I would myself have worn a pink tie, of which I'm proud to say I have several".

He says the "great cause" has been "eloquently highlighted".

"That is what this place exists to do," he finishes.

House of Lords
Parliament

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The first question in the Lords today is from Lib Dem Lord Beith, asking about the impact of measures announced in the Budget on the north east of England.

He takes aim at the "half-baked devolution deal", which he says is inadequate compared with Manchester and Birmingham and includes "an expensive elected mayor nobody wanted".

Government spokesman Lord Young of Cookham says it will have a "positive" effect, pointing to the renewal of the Tyne and Wear Metro and a fund for local devolution.

He says that as plans for devolution were being drawn up, four local authorities withdrew - adding: "Those who know about the tribal politics of Tyneside may understand - but I don't."

House of Commons
Parliament

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom announces future business for the new year, and says the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Bill will have its second reading on Monday 8 January.

This is what has been known as the Customs Bill.

The report stage and third reading for the EU (Withdrawal) Bill will be on 16 and 17 January.

Assuming it passes, it will then be transferred to the House of Lords.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Speaker John Bercow makes a statement on contempt of Parliament in relation to the Brexit impact assessments, and he says he is responding to a number of members who have raised the issue.

"Ministers, could, with advantage, have been considerably clearer in their statements, particularly in challenging lines of questioning in select committees which were based upon a genuine misconception," he says of the impact assessments.

The Speaker says that on this occasion, by the rules in which he has been bound by the House, he does not believe that contempt of Parliament has been committed.

Secondly, he says in relation to how long it took the committee to receive the documents, on advice he has taken from the Brexit Committee, he is happy that contempt of Parliament has not been committed.

He says he will not take any further points of order on the matter.

Dominic Grieve proposed the amendment that led to Theresa May's first Brexit Commons defeat on Wednesday.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Speaker John Bercow says there was no contempt of Parliament in the case of the release of sectoral analyses by the Brexit Secretary David Davis.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative chair of the Health Committee Sarah Wollaston says she recently booked an appointment in the Reading Room to read the sector anaylses.

She expected to "be trapped in there for days" reading the sectoral analyses, she says.

"In fact, there are only nine pages on health and social care, and the entire documents relevant to my select committee took me less than an hour to read," she says.

She believes the documents are very straightforward, and should be in the public domain, she adds. She asks the secretary of state to publish them.

Minister Robin Walker says the analyses "contain a range of information including sector views, some of which would be of great interest to the other side in these negotiations," he finishes.

House of Commons
Parliament

We're hearing there's a Speaker's statement coming...keep watching with us for more.

House of Commons
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Liberal Democrat Layla Moran asks if the UK will have a second referendum on the exit deal.

David Davis says the British people voted with a "clear majority" to exit the EU. He says the Parliamentary process has been a long, democratic process. "There will not be a second referendum," he adds.

Ms Moran says that recent polls show there is a clear majority in favour of a referendum on the final deal.

Mr Davis says "he is tempted" to point out the polling results of the Liberal Democrats. He adds that there is no opinion poll which comes anywhere near the votes of 17.5 million people, a vote which the government "will respect".

House of Commons
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Labour's Joan Ryan asks what assessment has been made of the economic effects of not forming a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

Exiting the EU Minister Robin Walker says that in their assessments, the government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK, and by three objectives, ensuring UK/EU trade is as frictionless as possible, avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and establishing an independent trade policy.

Ms Ryan says she understands the minister said in an earlier answer that "some quantitative assessment" has been undertaken on leaving the customs union, but she says that last week David Davis said that no assessment had been undertaken.

"Why is it, Mr Speaker, every time we ask a question in relation to Brexit we get a different answer depending on the time, the day or the minister?" she asks.

Mr Walker says there is no formal assessment, but judgement is made on a range of evidence. The government has been doing a wide range of work on exit issues and will continue to do so, he finishes.