Summary

  • MPs debating support for people with autism in the UK

  • Earlier: minister announces legal funds for contaminated blood victims

  • 'Reasonable expenses' for preparing for public inquiry will be met

  • International Development Secretary: Islamic State group 'all but destroyed'

  • Commons leader announces future parliamentary business

  • House of Lords sits from 11am

  1. The Irish borderpublished at 12:46 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    ClarkImage source, HoC

    Ken Clarke asks the prime minister to confirm that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and that the government will seek frictionless trade with the EU. He advocated a customs union along the line of the existing relationship.

    Theresa May says the government is working to ensure both that there will be no hard border and that Northern Ireland will be able to trade freely with the rest of the UK.

    She says the government is working to get the best trade deal with the EU.

  2. Green MP: 'something rotten' with UK democracypublished at 12:43 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    The Green Party's Caroline Lucas says recent allegations about Cambridge Analytica, Facebook and the US presidential election and the Brexit vote the prove there's "something rotten in the state of our democracy" and that "current electoral law is woefully inadequate" for dealing with "big money and big data".

    She asks for "cross party talks" to ensure we have regulation that is up to dealing with the digital age.

    Theresa May says the revelations are "concerning...people should be able to have confidence in how their personal data is being used".

    She says she wants to urge Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to "cooperate fully" with the Information Commissioner's Office investigation. She adds that the government is working on legislation to increase data protection to ensure that the UK is a "safe place to be online".

  3. SNP raises Vote Leave data claimspublished at 12:41 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    The SNP's Alan Brown says Vote Leave director Dominic Cummings has written on the website of the Canadian data firm Aggregate IQ that Vote Leave owes a "great deal" of its success to the firm.

    He asks the prime minister how she feels about some of her cabinet ministers being involved in a campaign "caught red-handed using immoral data mining techniques".

    In reply Theresa May says she doesn't recognise the claims Mr Brown has made in his intervention.

    She adds that the result of the referendum should not be rejected because of "these sorts of claims".

  4. Dentistry in Ramsgate facing an uncertain futurepublished at 12:40 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Craig MackinlayImage source, HoC

    Conservative Craig Mackinlay says that people in Ramsgate are facing an uncertain future in their dental care. The contract which is currently in use is due to come to an end this Saturday, with no replacement currently in place. He asks if Mrs May would encourage the commissioners to find an urgent solution.

    Mrs May says that she understands that when that dental practice closes, the NHS Trust has done some work to ensure that patients will be seen elsewhere in the area.

    She says Mr Mackinlay's work will be welcomed by the local community.

  5. PM must 'stop hiding behind the DUP' on gay marriage in Northern Irelandpublished at 12:38 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour's Ged Killen says LGBT rights in Northern Ireland are "in limbo" despite "overwhelming support" for gay marriage there. He asks if the prime minister will "stop hiding behind the DUP" and support gay marriage in the province.

    Theresa May says she hopes Mr Killen will "recognise the record this government has in relation to LGBT rights" and says it's Labour's fault that it's a devolved matter.

    She says she hopes "that there will be a devolved assembly in place" to deal with the issue.

    Later today Labour's Conor McGinn is putting forward a ten minute rule bill to legalise gay marriage in Northern Ireland in the absence of an assembly there. Currently only civil partnerships are available and attempts to extend them have previously failed due to opposition from Northern Ireland's biggest party, the DUP.

  6. Childhood traumapublished at 12:37 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Michelle Donelan asks for a national review to help save the lives of adults who have mental health issues due to childhood trauma.

    Theresa May says the extension of child mental health services, including the training of teachers, will help to tackle the issue.

  7. What can the government do to support persecuted Christians?published at 12:35 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Jim ShannonImage source, HoC

    The DUP's Jim Shannon says that Iraqi Christians are one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world. He asks, this Easter, what the government is doing to support persecuted Christians around the world.

    Mrs May says Mr Shannon is right about the "very real" persecution that Christians face around the world.

    She says she recently met Father Daniel from Idlib, who said his congregations were suffering. He presented her with a bible that had been burnt and rescued after a church had been set on fire, which is now in Downing Street. The government stands with persecuted Christians and is seeing what more it can do to support them, she adds.

  8. 10 minute rule bill to follow...published at 12:33 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Mark D'Arcy
    Parliamentary Correspondent

    Conor McGinn’s 10-minute rule bill on gay marriage in Northern Ireland follows after the statements and urgent questions today.

  9. PM welcomes NHS investment in Telfordpublished at 12:31 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative MP Lucy Allan welcomes the "fantastic news" that the government will be investing £312m in hospital services in her constituency of Telford.

    The money will improve the lives of "every single one" of her constituents, she says.

    Theresa May says she also welcomes the news.

    Contrary to the picture painted by Labour, she says, there is "more money going into the NHS".

  10. WATCH: parity of esteem for mental healthpublished at 12:30 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

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  11. PM: no-one on free school meals will lose outpublished at 12:29 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour's Ruth George asks how the PM expects families earning just £145 a week to find £10 a week for each of their children to "eat a nutritious meal" at school while MPs get "subsidised catering" at Parliament.

    Theresa May says she hopes "she was not implying...that anybody in receipt of a free school meal will have that taken away from them because they will not".

    She says that the Tories are additionally delivering raises in the state pension and the minimum wage.

  12. Has the Labour party had a data breach?published at 12:27 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    David MorrisImage source, HoC

    Conservative David Morris says that an investigative reporter has uncovered serious data breaches by Labour headquarters. He asks if the Information Commissioner's Office will do a thorough investigation of the case.

    Mrs May says it is important that people have confidence in how their personal data is used.

    In the Data Protection Bill, the government plans to make the ICO tougher, she states.

    She says that at the heart of the government's digital charter is the concept that personal data should be used appropriately.

  13. MP flags industrial heritage reportpublished at 12:26 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour's Nick Thomas-Symonds asks whether the prime minister will read a forthcoming report from an all-parliamentary group on the UK's industrial heritage.

    The report will set out how the past can be used to create jobs in the future.

    Theresa May says she's happy to look at the report.

  14. SNP: investigate 'shady business' in EU referendum campaignpublished at 12:26 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    For his second question Ian Blackford asks about the claims of "shady business" made in a select committee yesterday about coordination between the EU referendum campaign groups Vote Leave, BeLeave and Veterans for Britain and the DUP's pro-Brexit campaign.

    Theresa May says allegations against Vote Leave have been "investigated twice by the Electoral Commission" and that they "will continue to do so when allegations are brought to its attention".

  15. PM's straight batpublished at 12:25 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Mark D'Arcy
    Parliamentary Correspondent

    A straight bat answer from the PM when the SNP’s Ian Blackford raises allegations of spending violations in the EU Referendum. He pursued this issue last week – and doesn’t look minded to drop the subject.

  16. Campaign spendingpublished at 12:25 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    BlackfordImage source, HoC

    Ian Blackford, the SNP's leader in Westminster, asks the prime minister whether transparency in political campaign spending is critical to public trust in elections. He asks whether allegations against Vote Leave will be investigated.

    Theresa May says the allegations have already been looked into but that she agrees on the importance of the issue.

  17. Ringfence mental health funding - Labourpublished at 12:21 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Mr Corbyn says that he hopes that Mrs May will support Labour's Digital Bill which will ensure young people are safeguarded online.

    He says this week a young woman wrote to him to say that she has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and is potentially suicidal. She has been told to wait for three months for an appointment, which has just been cancelled and is now a further three months away.

    He asks the prime minister to ringfence NHS funding for mental health funding.

    Mrs May says that the government is giving extra funding for the NHS and mental health funds. She says the Chancellor has announced an extra £10bn for the NHS in the coming years.

    She states the government is able to increase funding for the NHS while keeping taxes down. She says that ordinary working people would pay the price of Labour's spending plans.

  18. Well-chosen line of attack by Corbynpublished at 12:19 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Mark D'Arcy
    Parliamentary Correspondent

    In Autism Awareness Week Jeremy Corbyn presses an attack on failings in mental health services. This is one of his most effective performances. Theresa May is well-briefed in response, mentioning her own initiatives as Home Secretary and the issue of social media. But this is a well-chosen line of attack – Mr Corbyn deploys a series of different lines of attack, rather than repeating the same one, as he sometimes does.

    The PM looks scornful as Mr Corbyn mentions Labour’s Digital Bill [of Rights] – perhaps the wrong moment to look partisan?

  19. PM highlights social media 'bullying'published at 12:17 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Jeremy Corbyn says that half of mental health conditions manifest themselves before the age of 14.

    He says spending on mental health services for children and adolescents should be a priority but the number of child-specialist psychologists has fallen.

    Theresa May says she agrees more should be done at an earlier stage of people's lives.

    She adds that the government is "doing more" in schools, including providing more training to teachers.

    She calls on Jeremy Corbyn to join her in calling for "bullying and harassment" on social media to be dealt with.

  20. Corbyn: mental health budget 'insufficient'published at 12:15 British Summer Time 28 March 2018

    Prime Minister's Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Jeremy Corbyn says that "far too often" people undergoing a mental health crisis are dealt with by "police, neighbours or other members of the community".

    He says it's "quite clear that the mental health budget is insufficient" and asks why only 6% of the overall mental health budget is spent on young people.

    Theresa May says the government is "increasing the services that are available to children and young people", including expanding access to "high quality" NHS mental health care by 2020/21. She says there will be 70,000 more places for young people by then.

    She also says that they're working hard on the issue of police dealing with mental health crises. She says there's been a "dramatic reduction" in the number of people being taken to a police cell and ensured that no young people will ever be taken to one as a place of safety.