House of Lords
Parliament

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Lord Privy Seal Baroness Evans of Bowes Park is asking peers to approve a resolution changing the peers' allowance for attendance from £300 to £305, or from £150 to £153 for the lower rate.

The resolution would also raise the allowance in future years according to the formula used by IPSA to adjust MPs’ salaries.

She says: "The time is right for a modest uprating."

Shadow Lords leader Baroness Smith of Basildon hails it as "a sensible approach".

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw says the debate is not about who won or lost the EU referendum but about the security of "our electoral system".

He urges everyone to watch the four hours of testimony given by Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower, Chris Wylie, to the culture committee this morning.

He calls it "absolutely shocking and astonishing" and says there is "clear evidence of serious lawbreaking by the Vote Leave campaign".

There was "collusion" by Vote Leave with other organisations, including the DUP, he says, and they all used Cambridge Analytica or Aggregate IQ.

He adds that 40 per cent of the Vote Leave budget was spent on Aggregate IQ and "we still don't know how they got that data".

House of Commons
Parliament

One of Mr Brake's Lib Dem colleagues, Vera Hobhouse isn't impressed by the attitude of Conservative MPs. She reckons they want to "get Brexit...even at the price of democracy".

Mr Brake suggests that it might not be the case for all Conservative MPs but thinks they are treating the debate "as a matter of hilarity".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour spokesman Lord Watson of Invergowrie asks when there will be a full impact assessment of changes to free school lunches, following the government's recent defeat on a motion to regret these regulations.

He says the government has shown "no respect" in not publishing a full impact assessment.

Education Minister Lord Agnew of Oulton points to the equalities impact statement, and says the government is committing to ensuring more children benefit from free school meals.

He stresses he listens carefully to concerns on this issue.

House of Commons
Parliament

Tom Brake says the Electoral Commission has confirmed that there is a live investigation under way but the organisation is "unable to confirm" what progress is being made.

What is under discussion, he says, are "new allegations" from three whistle-blowers at the heart of the Vote Leave and BeLeave campaign.

A Conservative Adam Holloway think the new evidence comes from "junior people" who are making different claims on different TV programmes.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Crossbencher Lord Dykes asks what response has been given to the most recent submissions from the European Council and Commission on the Brexit negotiations.

He asks how long it will take to renegotiate all the necessary trade agreements - "will 21 months be long enough?"

Brexit Minister Lord Callanan insists "significant progress" has been made particularly on the financial settlement and citizens' rights, and says he's "confident" trade deals can be made in time.

Then former Brexit minister Lord Bridges of Headley points out Theresa May said that we remain committed to the December agreement in its entirety, but added European Commission proposals for backstop are unacceptable.

He asks: "Do we accept the agreement in its entirety or do we not?"

Lord Callanan reiterates the commitment to no hard border and says the UK will find solutions to fit "unique circumstances" in Northern Ireland.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake was yesterday granted permission by the Speaker to hold a two hour emergency debate on Vote Leave spending and allegations made at the weekend by whistleblower, Shahmir Sanni in the Guardian and the Observer, external.

Opening his debate, Mr Brake says that Theresa May is "hiding behind what I think is an increasingly tatty and threadbare comfort blanket, and that is the will of the people".

He calls it "her soul justification for the disastrous act of self harm she is imposing on the country".

He continues that she has not been able to deploy any sound economic, diplomatic, cultural or security reasons why Brexit is good for the country, but "she has frequently referred to the will of the people".

Mr Brake says that BeLeave managed to raise £107 in its first six weeks but was then received £625,000 from Vote Leave.

He says that the organisation was shown such "confidence" by Vote Leave to spend the money "in a completely uncontrolled manner".

House of Commons
Parliament

Claims the Vote Leave campaign exceeded spending limits in the 2016 Brexit referendum are being debated by MPs.

Lib Dem Tom Brake, who secured the debate, has said the public had to be sure that elections are conducted within the rules.

Vote Leave has denied ex-volunteer Shahmir Sanni's claim it may have used a different pro-Brexit group, BeLeave, to get round strict spending controls.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Chair of the business committee Rachel Reeves says it is "too late for the Business Secretary to drive a harder bargain" because he waited until three days before the board was due to vote on the matter.

Mr Clark says that an assessment can only be made when "all facts are known of the implications for national security".

He states that it is welcome that commitments have been made by Melrose in the public domain.

House of Commons
Parliament

For the SNP Drew Hendry says Melrose "isn't known for its hesitation in stripping out what it sees as unimportant aims".

He seeks assurances from the Business Secretary that he will intervene if his concerns remain unanswered.

Mr Clark repeats that he has suggested that commitments made by Melrose should be "legally binding".

He says the Ministry of Defence and other agencies will make an assessment and advise him as to whether there are grounds for intervention on the grounds of national security.

"I will take that advice seriously and meticulously," he promises.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Business Secretary Greg Clark says that everyone agrees that GKN is "an important company" and it is important that "over and above" his statutory powers to ask the bidder to set out much more clearly its intentions with the GKN business.

He contrasts it to the takeover by Kraft of Cadbury, where no legal assurances were sought, he says, and the Cadbury plant in the UK subsequently closed "forever".

He says that the decision as to whether there a national security concern is a quasi-judicial one.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey says that the letter sent by the government yesterday and the subsequent response from Melrose have not allayed concerns.

She says the situation has been ongoing for months, but it took the Secretary of State until the 26th of March to respond. She wonders why it took so long.

She asks the government what powers it has to enforce any of the "empty promises" given by Melrose.

Finally, she asks why the government did not ask for a post-offer undertaking to increase employment at GKN over a ten year period.

She also states that it is unclear why Melrose did not offer a tax residency in the UK as part of their post-offer undertaking.

House of Commons
Parliament

Business Secretary Greg Clark is making a statement about the proposed takeover of GKN by Melrose.

Melrose is a " turnaround specialist" and has offered a "hostile" £8bn bid.

Mr Clark says he is "concerned to ensure" that significant takeover bids do not "act against" the interests of the economy, employees and the broader set of stakeholders.

He says company directors must "have regard" to employees, customers and the impact on the community.

"We expect interests broader than just shareholder value," he states.

He calls GKN a "valued employer" which has government contracts and a pension scheme that depends on GKN's "wellbeing".

Mr Clark wants Melrose to "set out more clearly its intention" and make a commitment in a "legally binding firm".

Specifically, he wants Melrose to exclude the option of a short term sale without the government's consent.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Northamptonshire MP Philip Hollobone says that this is a "sad day" for Northamptonshire.

He asks the government to look at the "disgraceful" closure of 21 libraries in the county and to transfer the fire service as quickly as possible out of the council's control before cuts are made.

Mr Javid says his department is in contact with DCMS on the planned closure of libraries in Northamptonshire and he promises to contact the Home Office about the fire and rescue services.

House of Commons
Parliament

A Northamptonshire Conservative Peter Bone says it is now important to "look to the future", adding that any new structure must be driven locally.

He also wonders whether the cabinet and committee system was one cause of the council's problems.

Mr Javid agrees that any reorganisation must be "locally led". As for the cabinet system, he says it is an issue that any review will examine carefully.

House of Commons
Parliament

Sajid Javid accuses Labour of not listening to his statement and wanting to play "political football".

"If he'd read the report he'd see it's crystal clear there is not an issue of lack of funds," he says.

He specifies that if commissioners are sent in it will be by the end of April, and he does not intend to give more resources to Northamptonshire as this would be "rewarding mismanagement".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow housing, communities and local government secretary Andrew Gwynne says the council inspection report makes for "very sorry reading" and is an "indictment" of mismanagement locally and eight years of austerity nationally.

he recalls that in 2015, the Local Government Association said that spending reserves to provide services was not the right thing to do.

He says the council was cutting the ribbon on a new £53m office building as it was preparing to announce itself bankrupt.

Mr Gwynne says the National Audit Office has said that one in 10 councils with social care obligations will have exhausted their reserves in the next three years.

He asks what contingency plans the government has for other councils in danger of facing the same problems.

He adds that redrawing the boundaries of the council area, as proposed, would not solve the underlying issues the council faces.

"Northamptonshire is the first, but will not be the last," he states.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid says that the situation in Northamptonshire is "concerning".

Auditors at the council had previously signalled that the authority was not managing its services effectively, he states. And these concerns prompted him to act, he adds.

Mr Javid commissioned a report on January 9th and the final report was submitted on 15th March.

Mr Javid says that the inspector has identified "multiple apparent failures" in complying with their "best value" duties.

He says the inspection concludes it is "not down to a lack of funding" but identifies difficulties wiht oversight and "blurred" accountability.

The council did not respond well to either external or internal criticism, Mr Javid says, he adds that the "hardworking staff" at the council are not at fault.

The problems are "so deep and ingrained" that it would not be feasible to try and fix them, he states.

He is "minded" to take control over the council to "stabilise" the authority.