Summary

  • Brexit ministers face questions from MPs

  • It comes after government loses key Brexit vote last night

  • MPs hear statement on forthcoming business

  • Backbench business debates on hormone pregnancy tests and WASPI pensions

  • Peers question government ministers on probation service

  • Debates later on vulnerable children; and poverty

  1. Any deal done?published at 16:32 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

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  2. Define what it means to have a meaningful vote - MPpublished at 16:23 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Chris BryantImage source, HoC

    Labour's Chris Bryant tells the Commons that "every single government in the world has always used every power that it has got," referring to the powers granted to ministers under the bill.

    He tells the House that the current bill allows the government to change the Parliaments Act and the Representation of the People Act.

    He says the question today is to define what it means to have a meaningful vote at the end of the Brexit process.

    He says that Parliament should be able to send the government back to the negotiating table if the deal is not good enough.

  3. Significant rebelpublished at 16:19 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

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  4. Reporting back on the Data Protection Billpublished at 16:18 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Data Protection Bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    USB stickImage source, Press Association

    With the completion of oral questions, the House heads in to the second day of report stage, external on the Data Protection Bill.

    Lord Moynihan opens the debate by pressing his amendment which relates to the United Kingdom anti-doping authority.

    It gives the anti-doping authority full power and resource to conduct a full and stringent anti-doping regime.

    Lord Moynihan, a British Olympic coxswain, says that the current wording of the bill would cover scouting as a sport. He is concerned that the UK Anti-Doping Agency is not specifically mentioned on the face of the bill as the lead body for eliminating doping in sport.

  5. Clause 9 'reached its sell-by date'published at 16:07 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Ed VaizeyImage source, hoc

    Conservative MP Ed Vaizey says the debate between Sir Oliver Letwin, and Dominic Grieve was fascinating.

    He says Clause 9 was written before it became clear that the withdrawal agreement would need to be put into law - and so Clause nine and amendment 7 "have reached their sell-by date".

    Fellow Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg stands to agree - that perhaps Clause 9, which he has always been uncomfortable with, could be removed from the bill.

    Ken Clarke says those who support Dominic Grieve's amendment have been trying to get this compromise from the government.

    Continuing with the second half of his speech, Ed Vaizey says that amendent 300 has the largest number of signatures of any - although only four Conservatives have signed, which, he jokingly says, "shows my standing in my own party".

    Mr Vaizey's amendment is about the UK leaving Euratom, external. He says there is no mood among the population to leave Euratom, and there is "no plausible reason" to leave.

    When we leave Euratom, we have to have a Euratom-style arrangement, he says.

    "We need some clarity from ministers on a number of issues," he says. Among those, he numbers uclear co-operation agreements with the US, Canada and Japan, among others; a new safeguards regime and the free movement of nuclear workers.

  6. Rebel Tory: I'll stand up and be countedpublished at 15:59 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Theresa May insists she will give MPs a "meaningful vote" on Brexit deal as she faces possible defeat.

    Read More
  7. Concern over EU nationals expressedpublished at 15:54 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Philippa WhitfordImage source, hoc

    The SNP's Philippa Whitford talks about EU nationals in the NHS workforce and says that it's not good enough for the prime minister to come to the dispatch box with warm words about NHS staff when the experience of EU nationals on the ground is horrendous.

    Decisions cannot be taken with no discussion in Parliament or without consultation with the devolved parliaments, she says.

  8. A new National Economic Crime Centrepublished at 15:39 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Lords questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Pile of bank notes and financial statementImage source, BBC/Corbis Royalty Free

    The final question today comes from shadow attorney general, Baroness Chakrabarti. She's asking about government plans to host a new National Economic Crime Centre within the National Crime Agency, and further questions safeguarding the independence of the Serious Fraud Office.

    Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford says the Serious Fraud Office will remain independent and will undertake its own investigations and prosecutions.

    She says the new powers for the National Crime Agency will give them the power to task the Serious Fraud Office to open a specific investigation, but only with the agreement of the Attorney General and the home secretary.

    The Serious Fraud Office will become a key partner of the National Economic Crime Centre, she adds.

  9. 30-35% of student loans are expected to be repaid in fullpublished at 15:37 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Lord questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Student Loans Financial StatementImage source, Press Association

    Labour's Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, the shadow education spokesperson, wants to know the number and percentage of students who will pay back their student loans in full.

    Education Minister Lord Agnew of Oulton says that the government estimates that 30-35% of borrowers with education loans will repay them, while 40-45% of advanced learners will pay back their loans.

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath says that the poorest students end up with the biggest debt. He says the National Audit Office has said that student loans are poor value for money.

    Lord Agnew says the government believes the student loan system is working well, to scoffing from the opposition benches, but there is "always room for improvement".

    He says Universities Minister Jo Johnson has made it clear that all universities must provide good value for money.

  10. Wales second best in the world on recycling - peerpublished at 15:36 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Lords questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Baroness Jones of WhitchurchImage source, HoL

    Shadow environment, food and rural affairs minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch tells the Lords that in Wales, recycling rates are the second best in the world. She jokingly says that Lord Gardiner has been 'selectively' picking statistics on recycling. She says England rates 18th, behind South Korea and Slovenia.

    Lord Gardiner says he is delighted to congratulate anyone in the UK who does well with recycling.

    He says "we all know" this issue is "hugely important" and a target of 50% recycled by 2020 must be met.

  11. Household recycling questionedpublished at 15:35 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Lords questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Paper being recycled

    The second question today comes from Conservative Baroness Neville-Rolfe, who wants to know about progress made for establishing a national standard for household recycling.

    Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble says that England's recycling rate increased to 44.9% in 2016.

    Lord Gardiner tells the Lords that many councils are now collecting food waste, too.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe tells the Lords that recycling rules are very often misunderstood.

    Lord Gardiner replies that the government have published a report on a consistency framework for recycling.

  12. Amendment allows MPs to 'derail' Brexit - Letwinpublished at 15:19 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    LetwinImage source, HoC

    Conservative Sir Oliver Letwin says the debate has been "one-sided" so far, with nobody backing the government.

    He claims the logic of previous speakers is that they would like MPs to be able to reject either a deal it doesn't like or reject leaving without a deal.

    Addressing Hilary Benn, he says: "The question is he cannot evade is - is he or is he not hoping to tell government it cannot leave on terms Parliament it does not accept?"

    Sir Oliver says the amendment's supporters are effectively insisting that "this House should have the ability to derail the process".

  13. Questions from the Lords beginpublished at 15:12 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    Lords questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    House of LordsImage source, HoL

    Questions today begin from Liberal Democrat Lord Chidgey, who asks about a type of 'observer' status for non-Commonwealth countries potentially attending the 2018 Commonwealth Summit in London.

    Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon responds, saying only sovereign states can become member states of the Commonwealth. Establishing an observer status would require agreement from all 52 Commonwealth countries, he adds.

    Lord Ahmad tells the Lords that currently Gambia is going through the process to rejoin the Commonwealth.

  14. What's a meaningful vote?published at 15:10 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Hilary BennImage source, hoc

    The chair of the Brexit Committee, Hilary Benn, rises to discuss amendment 47. The amendment says that no regulations may be made under Clause 9 unless terms of withdrawal agreement have been approved by Parliament.

    Hilary Benn says he wants to know what the purpose of Clause 9 is.

    You can read the bill's explanatory documents here, external.

    We have 11 months to go to deal with a long list of issues, he says, and the difficult bit is "about to begin".

    Those who thought leaving the EU was about keeping the things they like are about to have a "rude awakening", he says, as trade offs must be made.

    If no deal were on the horizon and for Parliament to reject it and be left with no other resource, that "would not be a meaningful vote, would it?"

    Here Sammy Wilson, from the DUP intervenes, to say this is the nub of the issue.

    Mr Wilson asks: if a meaningful vote is to say 'we don't like the deal you've got, we're not accepting no deal, go back to the EU and negotiate another deal' - what chance is there of those not wanting us to leave in the first place [the EU] offering a deal which can be bought by MPs?

    Hilary Benn says it's important that prime ministers and ministers who are negotiating should be thinking, 'I'm never going to get this through my Parliament'.

    "That's the accountability I'm talking about," he says. "It's called democracy."

  15. Grieve confirms he'll vote against the governmentpublished at 15:09 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    GrieveImage source, HoC

    Conservative Dominic Grieve concludes his speech by saying he's only ever voted against the government once - on HS2 - but he will do so tonight.

    He confirms he'll vote for his Amendment 7, seeking a vote for MPs on the final Brexit deal in statute, and if that doesn't pass he'll vote against Clause 9 as a whole.

    He calls it "ironic" that he's being urged to back the government by Brexit-supporting MPs who've rebelled many times, and cites Churchill in saying it's his intention to be someone who "puts his party before his own interests, and his country before his party".

  16. Extraordinary scenes in Commonspublished at 14:53 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

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  17. 'Read it'published at 14:43 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

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  18. Dominic Grieve: We have run out of roadpublished at 14:36 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative former attorney general Dominic Grieve says his intention is to "improve difficult legislation" which he recognises the government has to carry out.

    He says earlier in the bill's passage the government brought forward some sensible compromises but in this case, "we have run out of road - and all rational discourse starts to evaporate".

    This has led to "confrontation" in which it is "suggested the underlying purpose is sabotage, followed by hurling of public abuse" including by his party colleagues, he tells the House.

    Legislation should not be the process of imposing the majority will but "the process by which we achieve consent", he adds.

  19. Labour attacks scope of ministers' powers on withdrawal agreementpublished at 14:16 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

    EU Withdrawal Bill

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    PennycookImage source, HoC

    Shadow Brexit minister Matthew Pennycook begins by focusing on Clause 9, which gives ministers a power to make secondary legislation to implement a withdrawal agreement concluded between the UK and the EU.

    He says it's "entirely unclear" why the government needs these powers if MPs are to get a meaningful vote on the final deal.

    Conservative Bernard Jenkin intervenes to argue the government might need to expedite the agreement via secondary legislation even as the House passes primary legislation.

    Mr Pennycook thinks this scenario would cause "serious confusion".

    He adds if Clause 9 is to remain in the bill it must be "highly circumscribed".

  20. Scenes on the Conservative benchespublished at 14:06 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2017

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