House of Commons
Parliament

Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie picks up on the rejection yesterday by Scottish SNP ministers of a deal to settle the dispute over post-Brexit powers.

He says it is would be in the interests of Scottish businesses to do the same as the Welsh government, which has struck a deal.

Theresa May replies that the UK government has made "considerable changes" to the EU Withdrawal Bill in a bid to break the deadlock.

The Scottish government's decision to reject the deal was "disappointing", she adds.

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Parliament

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PMQs starts with congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their third child - and marks the anniversary of the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence.

DUP MP Gavin Robinson asks about a city deal for the city of Belfast.

The prime minister says the government has set out public commitments to work towards city deals and progress is being made.

House of Commons
Parliament

The PM is in the chamber on the front bench - not long now until PMQs gets under way...

House of Commons
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The SNP's Dr Philippa Whitford asks what recent discussions have been had with the prime minister on the effect of leaving the European Union on Scotland.

Mr Mundell says he has regular discussions with the PM, and is committed to securing a deal that works for all parts of the UK.

Dr Whitford says that the quota for Tier 2 visas has been filled for the past four months, she says because of this, salaries are now taken into account on this applications. This means that many Tier 2 visa applicants will now end up in London and high income areas, rather than Scotland.

Mr Mundell says Scotland does not need its own immigration system, but he will look into the issue.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

There’s a distinctly Caledonian feel to today’s PMQs, as the draw for questions has resulted in quite a few Scottish MPs getting their moment in the limelight….the SNP’s Neil Gray Alison Thewliss and Douglas Chapman are all on the list of questioners, along with Scottish Conservatives Andrew Bowie and John Lamont – and with concerns about the impact of Brexit on the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament, that subject will probably surface.

And with considerable fizz around the question of whether the UK will sign up to a customs union with the EU, post Brexit, someone is certain to raise that issue.

Brexiteers are clearly concerned that the government is wobbling on the CU, and may not have the votes to get its current position through the Commons.

So the Brexiteers will want to extract a prime time restatement of opposition from Theresa May – they don’t have an obvious standard bearer to put that point to her, so watch closely to see who is “bobbing” in their seats to catch Mr Speaker’s eye.

Meanwhile, Tory Remainers/soft Brexiteers may seek to put down markers of their own. And the PM will doubtless have a carefully honed form of words prepared for those eventualities.

Both parties have awkward controversies hanging over them; for the Tories the Windrush controversy remains live and dangerous, while Labour efforts to defuse the anti-Semitism issue have not pacified their critics.

The leaders may throw these at each other, and backbench attack dogs may attempt to join in. But with some crucial local elections only a week away, Jeremy Corbyn may decide to highlight local services.

The first MP on the list of questioners is the Northern Ireland DUP’s Gavin Robinson – who has regularly pressed ministers to get a “City Deal” for his home city of Belfast, to give greater powers to its local authority; he may seek to extract a promise from the PM, and given that his party is essential to her Commons majority, he will probably get a sympathetic response.

Also on the list is the chair of the Northern Ireland select committee, Dr Andrew Murrison – who could ask about anything from the hard border issue to the clean up after the Salisbury poisoning (he is a Wiltshire MP).

This is a high-stakes occasion with elections imminent and the political temperature rising. Neither leader can afford to fail.

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Parliament

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The SNP's constitution spokesperson Pete Wishart asks if no agreement is reached on the devolution settlement and Brexit, if the UK government will overrule the Scottish Parliament and go ahead.

Scotland Office Secretary David Mundell says that the government wants to see an agreement reached on the bill, and that his door "is always open".

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Scotland Office questions get underway as Conservative Luke Graham asks what steps are being taken to strengthen ties between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Scotland Office Secretary David Mundell says the government will always promote the integrity of the UK.

He says that "unlike the Welsh government, Nicola Sturgeon has been unable to agree our proposed amendments to Clause 11 of the Withdrawal Bill". He says the Welsh government say the proposals have required compromise on both sides.

Mr Graham says he shares the "disappointment and surprise" that the SNP government haven't been able to reach an agreement. He says the conversation needs to be moved on "for our constituents".

Mr Mundell says he agrees with Mr Graham, and that the Welsh government shared the same concerns as the Scottish government.

Paul Seddon
European Parliament reporter, Parliament Online

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Whilst MPs have been hearing from David Davis, over in Brussels the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator has been updating MEPs on the negotiations.

Guy Verhofstadt told the assembly’s constitutional affairs committee that further progress was still needed to secure a deal over the future of the Irish border.

“It’s clear that the ball is now on the side of the UK to come forward with a satisfactory solution. Until today, that is not the case," he told MEPs.

He added that the European Parliament would not ratify any Brexit agreement without a "100% assurance" that a hard border will be avoided.

He also gave some details of a closed-door meeting held yesterday between MEPs and officials from the Home Office over the registration system for EU citizens living in the UK.

He said it was clear the Home Office is “working hard” to set up a user-friendly system but MEPs still have a number of concerns about the new scheme.

These include how vulnerable groups will be able to apply, how data in the new system will be protected and the proportionality of criminal background checks, he said.

He also repeated his call for the process to be cost-free – telling MEPs that the UK government intends to charge £72.50 for “settled status” applications.

"It's not the fault of the EU citizens that there is a Brexit. It's not their fault they need to ask for a new settled status," he said.

House of Commons
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The day kicks off at 11:30am in the Commons with Scotland Office questions. Then, the House will fill up for the weekly meeting of Westminster leaders in PMQs at 12pm.

There are no ministerial statements or urgent questions today.

There are two Opposition Day debates tabled in the Commons by Labour, one on school funding and the second on social care.

Finally, the day will wrap up with a debate on Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993.

Section 5 of the Act requires the government to come to Parliament and report on expenditure on the social, economic and environmental goals set out in the Article 3 of the Treaty on the European Union.

Select Committee
Parliament

Hilary Benn thanks David Davis for coming today but notes that "there are others who wanted to ask questions".

"It's not satisfactory... then to be told that there's a time constraint.

"As you are busy negotiating, we will want to be busy questioning you."

Mr Davis says that he hopes that it has been a satisfactory session for people to ask questions, and the hearing ends.

Select Committee
Parliament

In response to a question from Labour's Emma Reynolds, David Davis says that he does not see full alignment as harmonisation.

"We already have some degree of mutual recognition between North and South [Ireland]," he says.

He continues by mentioning that the biggest current area of regulation between north and south trade is agriculture.

"We may well see changes, over time, slowly, in agriculture regulation. But at no point are we going to see a reduction in animal welfare standards."

He promises that alignment will be "as good as" what happens now.

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Richard Graham asks David Davis whether he agrees that that only issue when Parliament won't have complete clarity before the vote in October will be on Northern Ireland - "given that we hope to find the solution through the comprehensive free trade agreement".

Mr Davis says that the government "already has work on this" and doesn't think that Parliament will have "major doubts in any of these areas".

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Andrea Jenkyns asks what the most "notable result" from the UK's perspective, from the negotiations that led to the transition period being agreed.

"The one big economic upside... is improving our access to non-European global markets," replies David Davis.

"Releasing Liam [Fox] effectively to go off and sign the deals is incredibly important. We can't do that at the moment, so that is an enormously important outcome."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour's Stephen Kinnock asks whether David Davis "appreciates the risk of us heading towards a constitutional crisis".

"The first responsibility of the government is to promote and defend the national interest," replies Mr Davis.

He says that he's "not going to give advice" on circumstances that might affect the government's negotiating position.

"I'm not going to speculate what the government would do in response to an amendment that has not been laid, let alone passed by the House."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg asks David Davis whether its his "hope and expectation" that the first trade deals will come into force the day after the transition period ends.

"That's my hope. I can't tell you whether its an expectation because we're not far enough down the line," replies Mr Davis.