House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Amendment 21 is defeated by the Commons.

Ayes: 295

Noes: 313

Majority: 18

With that, the bill moves to third reading.

House of Commons
Parliament

New Clause 13 is defeated in the Commons.

Ayes: 298

Noes: 313

Majority: 15

The Commons divides to vote again on the Labour's Amendment 21, which curbs the powers of ministers seeking to act under Henry VIII powers.

The result will be expected around 6.45pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's New Clause 8 fails to get Commons approval.

Ayes: 296

Noes: 314

Majority: 18

With that, New Clause 13 gets a vote.

New Clause 13 demands that when a company is formed in the UK, that formation services must identify the beneficial owners of a company. It will also ensure that Companies House data is accurate.

New Clause 13 was tabled by the Labour front bench.

Select Committee
Parliament

The hearing winds up quickly, with thanks to David Davis from committee chair Lord Boswell.

Mr Davis has to dash off now, for another vote in the Commons.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons divides to vote on New Clause 8.

This amendment has been tabled by Labour's front bench, and would create a public register of beneficial ownership of overseas entities.

The register would include any companies with property or which buy property in the UK, and those which bid for UK government contracts.

The register would be created within 12 months.

We can expect the result around 6:15pm.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Lord Liddle says what is agreed by March "isn't really relevant to parliamentary approval of Brexit".

He says this means there is a "risk" that all kinds of political compromise language can be included "that means different things to different people".

David Davis says that he doesn't think that there is a "material" risk.

"The House has a fairly long time to deliberate on this, before we get to the conclusion of it."

Select Committee
Parliament

Lord Whitty asks how much detail will be known of the future agreement by October and how David Davis intends to to secure parliamentary support for it.

"By getting a good deal," Mr Davis replies.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who has signed a number of amendments this evening, says that there have been many cases of arms companies in the past ten years which have sold weapons to shady regimes.

"If we wanted to conduct criminal investigations into these companies" then the police cannot bring in people for questioning or raid offices, he says.

He says his amendments allow for a decision to be reversed if a wrong decision is made, and allows for compensation in the event of a wrong accusation levied against a company.

He says the current level of criminality before action can be taken has the bar "far too high".

"They need to be struck off so they cannot use the Brand of Britain" with their company, he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson says she supports the amendments that have been tabled.

She believes that ministers have given themselves too much power in this bill, so wants to see the powers curbed.

She supports the idea that beneficial ownership of Trusts should be published. She adds that she is sensitive to the need for secrecy for some Trusts, but if that is the case, then there should be specific exemptions from the register.

She believes that the move of Companies House to online has been positive, and she wants to see it remain "simple, straightforward and low cost" to register a company.

But she says the fact that Companies House is online allows for easy and low-cost checks on those registering companies.

There need to be changes in the system that can be done "in a cost effective way", she adds.

TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gave evidence to MPs on how to tackle the epidemic.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Armstrong says that Northern Ireland "is symptomatic of the problems" faced by Brexit.

She says that "virtually everyone" the committee met on their recent visit to the border didn't know how things would work without the UK remaining in a customs union.

"How are you actually going to demonstrate that we understand this and are on top of this?" she asks.

He says that a lack of a Northern Ireland Executive makes things more difficult.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

The SNP's Treasury spokesperson Alison Thewliss says that tightening up rules around Companies House would help enormously.

She says that HMRC, the DVLA and other government agencies all need to confirm people they are dealing with, but you can submit anything to Companies House.

She says there are 20 people policing 40 million firms at Companies House.

"Companies House needs more resource," she states. 40% of incorporations are performed under Companies House, but do not fall under anti-money laundering legislation, she adds.

Select Committee
Parliament

Select Committee
Parliament

Crossbencher Lord Jay of Ewelme says that the committee has recently visited the Irish border, and says that members found that the closer they got, the more anxiety they felt from people there.

He asks whether David Davis found the same during his recent visit.

"There's undoubtedly nervousness... of course that concern is there. That's one of the things we need to deal with," replies the Brexit secretary.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow Treasury minister Anneliese Dodds says that some of the powers invested in ministers from this bill will be "excessive".

She adds that issues on these matters can be "highly contentious" and therefore need to go through Parliament to be debated fully.

The EU Scrutiny Committee will "not be operating in the same form" and EU sanctions will not apply to the UK in the same way, she adds.

She says there are 80,000 properties in the UK owned by "secrecy jurisdictions", and these types of properties are often obtained "illicitly".

People often continue to use these properties to shield business practices, and then also rent them out to provide further profit, she adds.

She complains that the register is going to take too long to be published, and points out that Conservative members of the House of Lords have said that publication of these registers should take place faster.

Select Committee
Parliament

Crossbencher Lord Cromwell notes that the Lords has passed an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill calling on the government to negotiate a customs union. He also points out a similar non-binding backbench motion was passed in the Commons last week.

He asks whether David Davis thinks Parliament and government are in disagreement and how this can be resolved.

"We are going to have to resolve this matter in the Commons and the Lords as well," replies the Brexit secretary

He adds that the government's view of leaving the EU involves leaving the customs union and single market at the same time.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

A slew of government amendments are made to the bill, alongside Margaret Hodge's amendment on registers of beneficial ownership.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, says that the register will be completed by 2021, and will be the first such beneficial ownership register of its kind.

Banks are now required to have a manager who is responsible for ensuring rules on sanctions and money laundering are adhered to, he adds.

The government has made further amendments to allow powers for taking action against ships in international waters, where cases relate to sanctions, he says.

Select Committee
Parliament

Lib Dem peer Lord Teverson says that he doesn't understand why David Davis agreed to the 21 month Commission proposal on transition, rather than the government's original 24 month proposal.

"We didn't commit to 24 months," replies Mr Davis, adding that the government originally asked for "around two years".