Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Alex Chalk asks whether the problem is an issue of "culture, not resources".

"I don't have any experience of any officer... who wants their case to be vulnerable to appeal," says Joanna Hardy

She says lack of resources is the problem, with officers carrying out work "in the middle of their nightshifts".

Select Committee
Parliament

"The high profile cases we've seen are firework cases... everyone looks because they are loud," says Joanna Hardy, a barrister with Red Lion Chambers.

She warns that a lack of resources and funding is causing "these cracks, which are starting to show".

Ms Hardy warns that, particularly with mobile phone evidence, proper funding is needed to ensure information that is needed can be downloaded from devices.

Select Committee
Parliament

Members of the Justice Committee are taking evidence on the disclosure of evidence in criminal cases.

Committee members are expecting to cover a number of issues, including:

• Perspectives from the legal profession on recent issues around disclosure of evidence in criminal cases
• The performance of the Police, CPS and defence practitioners with regard to disclosure
• Factors which might have contributed to recent disclosure issues.

We join the action in Westminster this morning with a trip to committee corridor and a session with the Justice Committee.

Peers attempt to give Parliament the final say on the deal that is agreed between the UK and the EU.

We'll be back tomorrow for more coverage of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Thanks for joining us.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers vote 205 to 181 for the amendment obliging ministers to retain specified parts of the the EU Dublin Regulation, which allow for those seeking asylum, including unaccompanied minors, adults and children, to join a family member, sibling or relative in the UK.

That's where we leave our live coverage of the Lords on a day which saw three government defeats: on conditions for a meaningful vote on a Brexit deal, on parliamentary approval for the government's negotiating mandate, and on child asylum seekers.

House of Commons
Parliament

It was a day in the Commons for two newly appointed secretaries of state today. The first test was for new Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire during departmental questions at 2:30pm. The session was dominated by questions from opposition benches on whether or not local authorities have enough money to function.

There were two urgent questions: the first on the proposed Sainsbury's and Asda merger, which the government confirmed was being sent for a Phase 2 investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The second question was on Windrush, answered by new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid. He said the Home Office has a special line for the Windrush generation, and has so far created 500 appointments to help people with their documentation. A hundred people now have the documents they need, he said.

Labour called for an end to the "hostile environment" policy, which is being blamed for the current situation. Conservative backbenchers said it was important that the government worked to continue removing illegal immigrants.

There was a ministerial statement from the International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, on Syria. It was an update for members of the House on how chemical weapons inspectors have been granted access to Douma, and the work the government is doing in the area for the humanitarian effort. Opposition MPs called for the government to expand its reuniting families scheme, saying the government has only taken 4% of the refugees Germany has.

The two pieces of legislation from today, on energy price caps and laser misuse, passed without a hitch for the government - a Labour amendment to the energy price caps bill, to form a differential from the secretary of state on the highest and lowest tariffs from each supplier, failed when put to a vote.

We'll be back in the morning for more coverage. The day starts with Business questions at 11:30am and will include the remaining stages of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Dubs refuses to withdraw and forces a vote on his amendment obliging ministers to retain specified parts of the the EU Dublin Regulation which allow for those seeking asylum, including unaccompanied minors, adults and children, to join a family member, sibling or relative in the UK.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Government spokesman Lord Duncan of Springbank assures peers that the government wants a "close and effective relationship" with EU countries on migration and asylum matters.

He says in negotiations ministers will seek to agree measures to allow family reunification, but it will require agreement of individual member states.

He goes on to say the Dublin Regulation is not fit for purpose and using it as a benchmark does a "disservice" to those it is intended to help.

Sajid Javid says as a second generation migrant he is "angry" at the treatment of the Windrush generation.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Labour's Lord Dubs is introducing an amendment obliging ministers to retain specified parts of the the EU Dublin Regulation which allow for those seeking asylum, including unaccompanied minors, adults and children, to join a family member, sibling or relative in the UK.

"I've never argued we should take them all, but that we should take our share," he says, adding that to do otherwise would "fly in the face of public opinion".

He alludes to the Windrush scandal, noting a humanitarian policy from the Home Office "wouldn't go amiss right now".

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Massey's amendment is withdrawn without a vote and Plaid Cymru's Lord Wigley introduces an amendment which would mean, if Parliament does not approve the terms of withdrawal or there is no deal, Article 50 notification would be revoked.

He says the courts have not ruled on revocability and therefore the amendment is "valid and necessary".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow transport minister Rachael Maskell says the penalty "will attract unlimited fines, or a prison sentence, or both" which will help act as a deterrence.

She says that lasers can lead to four different stages of seriousness for pilots, "distraction, disruption, disorientation and even incapacitation".

She says that the bill will make sure that those operating a vehicle, and others using transport, can do so safely.

She says she herself was the victim of a laser attack when campaigning in York last year, and was temporarily blinded by a laser being shone at her.

This bill shows what can happen when Parliament remains "laser focused" on a particular issue, she says, with a smile.

With that, the bill is approved by the Commons.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani says that safety must be the government's top priority for people driving vehicles.

"This bill is now in a better shape than it was when it was introduced," she says.

In many cases, neither children nor the parents know the risks involved in playing with lasers, she says.

The Civil Aviation Authority will continue to give "advice and guidance" for those affected by laser pointer attacks, she says.

"This issue is not politically charged or partisan."

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons are debating the Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Bill, external at committee stage and remaining stages in the Commons.

The bill would make it an offence to shine or direct a laser beam near a vehicle. People convicted of this new offence could face up to five years in prison.

The police say that shining a laser beam at a driver could cause "catastrophic consequences".

Under existing legislation, only pilots of aircraft are covered, and the maximum penalty is a £2,000 fine.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

The SNP's Europe spokesperson, Peter Grant, says that striking trade deals is still unlikely to cover the loss to the economy from Brexit.

He says that Brexit "has already had an effect on the economy" and the government's determination for a hard Brexit is having an effect.

He says that leaving the EU is likely to end up costing the UK, and therefore the NHS, £350m per week instead.

Foodbank use is continuing to increase, he says, and his local council had reported a "big increase" in rent arrears in their social rented sector.

The government's promise to see the end of the budget deficit will not happen "as soon as possible" and will now take "another 10 years" he says.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers are now discussing an amendment from Labour's Baroness Massey of Darwen which would prevent ministers making any provision under the bill without giving consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It also requires an audit setting out how children’s rights will continue to be protected across the UK after Brexit.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow chief economic secretary to the Treasury Peter Dowd says "meanwhile, back down on Planet Earth", "the government is rudderless, collapsing under its own weight", and exhibiting "economic ineptitude".

He states that growth in the UK economy is the slowest among the G7 last year and growth is lower in every year than in the forecast from March 2017.

"The government has presided over the slowest economic recovery since the 1970s," he adds. "Productivity forecasts have been revised down every year."

"Since coming to power, the Conservative government has added over £700m to the national debt," he states. The UK has a higher debt to GDP ratio than 20 of the other EU countries, eight years after the government's "economic miracle," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

With approval from all sides of the House, the Domestic Gas and Energy (Tariff Cap) Bill moves to the Lords.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss says it is important that the government does not abandon its fiscal discipline. She says that when the government came to power in 2010 the economy was "on its knees".

Real wages are increasing, she says, while reforming welfare and education systems. The government has reduced corporation tax and made it easier for UK businesses to hire staff.

"Every one of these measures has been opposed by the party opposite," she says, adding that the Opposition want to introduce "punishing" levels of red tape.

The UK spends more per pupil than major competitors on education, she says, to turn on the "spending taps" now would be "premature".