House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Kevin Brennan says that without banks, the economy couldn't survive or operate properly.

There is a degree of trust that banks hold when they take money into their care, he states, but there has been a continuation of the idea from the 1980s Wall Street systems which said "greed is good".

He states that today, RBS have been fined $4.9bn by the US Treasury for bad mortgage mis-selling.

He says a constituent of his has been left with the only option of taking the bank through expensive litigation.

Banks are not doing enough to prevent people from being defrauded in telephone scams and do not do enough to tackle bank accounts held by criminals, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb says that he has "lost confidence in the FCA's ability to get to the bottom of this extreme wrongdoing from the banking sector".

He urges the minister to take on board feeling from "both sides of the House" and calls for a public inquiry.

He says he is "really concerned" about a double jeopardy for these victims, those who have lost their businesses, followed by the "leaking" of funds assigned for compensation from the settlement pot.

"I don't know the full facts of this case, but I absolutely know that it needs to be investigated," he states, he adds that confidence can only be restored in the banking system if the government has a full inquiry.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP William Wragg calls for a full public inquiry for the victims of banking misconduct.

Mr Wragg says a system needs to be put in place to deal with a "backlog of legacy cases" and ensure those who have been mistreated can have their "grievances heard and suitable redress awarded".

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House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP and vice-chair of the APPG on fair business banking Martin Whitfield opens the debate and moves the motion.

Mr Whitfield says local businesses around the UK are being "badly let down by the industry" due to local branch closures and complex loan fees.

"There clearly is a concern of transparency" around the UK's banking industry, he says and a "lack of redress" has undermined public confidence.

Mr Whitfield calls on the FCA to make it clear what the "parameters are" for the organisation to request additional powers to manage banking misconduct.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The Commons moves to the first of their two debates this afternoon on a motion for redress for victims of banking misconduct, tabled by Labour's Martin Whitfield.

The Global Restructuring Group was a division run by RBS between 2008 and 2014, which was tasked with helping businesses out of financial difficulty.

Accusations have since been levied against RBS that the GRG was in fact working against consumers' interests by offering complex loans or forcing companies into administration. The GRG is accused of letting businesses go bust so the bank could purchase their assets cheaply.

RBS has set up a £400m fund to help those who were mistreated by the GRG. A Financial Conduct Authority report found that 92% of businesses in their care were mistreated under the GRG.

The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator in the UK, and is charged with promoting competition, protecting consumers and the integrity of the financial markets.

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs move on to debate a select committee statement (from the Health and Social Care Committee and the Education Committee) on the government's plans for young people's mental health.

The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care published the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision green paper in December 2017., external

The report by the select committees concludes that the Government's Green Paper "lacks any ambition and fails to consider how to prevent child and adolescent mental ill health in the first place".

Labour MP Luciana Berger - addressing MPs on behalf of the both committees - says that mental health services in the UK are under "enormous strain" and that the green paper does not represent the "seismic shift" required in the sector.

Green papers are consultation documents produced by the government with the aim of allowing people inside and outside Parliament to give feedback on legislative proposals.

You can read the select committees report here. , external

The UK government has apologised to Libyan Abdul Hakim Belhaj and his wife, Fatima Boudchar, who say an MI6 tip-off led to their capture and his torture by Colonel Gaddafi's forces.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the settlement with the couple included a £500,000 payment to Ms Boudchar.

Mr Belhaj says MI6 helped the US kidnap him in Thailand in 2004 to return him and his wife to Libya.

UK actions had contributed to the couple's capture, Mr Wright said.

Mr Belhaj had not sought and would not receive financial compensation, Mr Wright added.

A leading opponent of the then Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Mr Belhaj says he was abducted in Bangkok - along with his wife, then five-months pregnant - while attempting to fly to London to claim asylum in the UK.

Now a politician in Libya, Mr Belhaj spent six years in prison upon his return to the country, while Moroccan-born Ms Boudchar was released shortly before giving birth.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael thanks Mr Wright for his role in bringing this case to a conclusion although, he adds, it should have been concluded "some years ago".

He says justice has only come about because of papers discovered in Colonel Gadaffi's palace after he was killed, and he says this is not an acceptable way for justice to be done.

Mr Wright says that "prevention is better than cure, and it has been difficult to cure this case".

It is better "to avoid these instances occurring in the first place", he adds.

Fergus Hewison
BBC Newcastle political reporter

Five Labour MPs in the North East are calling for a referendum on any Brexit deal.

They say people must be given the chance to decide if what's finally on offer should be accepted.

Writing in the Independent, external, Newcastle North's Catherine McKinnell along with Houghton and Sunderland South's Bridget Phillipson, Sedgefield's Phil Wilson, Redcar's Anna Turley and Stockton South's Paul Williams say as a successful exporting region the North East will be especially hard hit by Brexit.

They say: "The outcome of the negotiations will affect the north-east of England and the United Kingdom for decades to come. Because this is so important, we believe the British people should have their say on the final Brexit deal."

The call for a second referendum has annoyed Brexit supporters and sees the MPs defying their own party's official stance on the issue.

Berwick Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan says the Government needs to "crack on" and deliver Brexit.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP's justice and home affairs spokesperson Joanna Cherry says that this case is particularly shocking when the blood of so many British citizens was on the hands of Colonel Muammar Gadaffi.

She say the government's complicity in these events was grossly in breach of humanitarian law. She asks for assurances that this cannot happen again and that such information cannot be shared again.

Mr Wright says that "the best that I can do" is to underline the changes in framework that have now taken place between the government and security services.

"It is vital that the British government and its agencies are able to recover the intelligence" that keeps the UK safe, so it is difficult to absolutely give the assurances that she seeks, he states.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Belhaj was born in 1966 in the Souq al-Jumaa area of Tripoli and studied at al-Fateh University, where press reports say he earned a civil engineering degree.

He became an opponent of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and commanded the now defunct Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which staged a low-level insurgency war and three times attempted to assassinate Col Gaddafi.

He fled the country in 2001 but was arrested three years later in Thailand and was returned to Libya by, he says, the CIA.

He then spent six years in prison where he says he was tortured regularly.

Mr Belhaj is now a politician in Libya.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Ken Clarke, the chairman of the all-party group on extraordinary rendition, says that he regrets the litigation has taken so long.

Three years ago, Mr Belhaj offered to settle for £3 and an apology, but he says this outcome is much more satisfactory. He asks for the government to disclose, as much as possible, information on how this was allowed to happen.

Mr Wright says he shares in the regret that the litigation has taken so long. He adds that it is welcome that the government has been able to resolve matters.

Mr Wright says that the way in which decisions like this are now taken is "fundamentally different" to how they were, which "gives us some reassurance".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow solicitor general Nick Thomas-Symonds says that the whole House will sympathise Mr Belhaj and his wife.

"I can only hope that the settlement of the legal case allows some closure to a terrible set of events," he states.

The security and intelligence services must be properly overseen, he adds, and the government should be able to provide recompense where necessary.

"We can and must do all we can to stop this happening again," he states.

He adds that the relationship between the intelligence and security services and the UK government are now managed under a different framework, and this is "welcome".

Mr Wright says that it correct that the two have closure, and that the framework for the future "is properly robust".

When it comes to detainees and the treatment of them, "there are clear expectations of the intelligence agencies," he states.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Attorney General Jeremy Wright says that in 2012 Mr Belhaj brought a claim against the UK government, Jack Straw and Sir Mark Allen, a former director at the Foreign Office.

His claim said that the UK government was complicit in his kidnapping in Thailand in 2004; his wife was pregnant at the time, he adds.

He states that on 3 May, the claims against Jack Straw and Sir Mark were withdrawn, but yesterday a settlement was reached with the government.

"This has been a long-running and hugely complex piece of litigation," he states.

Where the UK gets things wrong, he says, it is important that the government seeks to correct it.

The settlement has been agreed out of court, and no admissions of liability have been made, he adds.

The government has paid his wife £500,000, while Mr Belhaj did not seek and was not given any compensation.

The prime minister has written to both to apologise, he states.

House of Commons
Parliament

Attorney General Jeremy Wright is giving a statement on the settlement of a long-running rendition case between the UK and former Libyan dissident Abdul Hakim Belhaj.

Mr Belhaj has claimed that MI6 helped the US kidnap him when he was in Thailand in 2004. He says as a result of his return to Libya, he was tortured.

The settlement terms are unknown but Mr Belhaj had previously demanded an apology and a token £1 in damages.

Mr Belhaj was a leading opponent of the then Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. He is now a politician in Libya, after spending six years in prison upon his return to the country.

Mr Belhaj says he was tortured by his Libyan jailers and questioned by British intelligence officers during his detention. Then foreign secretary, Jack Straw, has denied he was aware of the rendition.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers begin committee-stage debate on the Civil Liability Bill, external, which aims to:

• reform the claims process for whiplash claims with injuries lasting up to two years as a result of road traffic accidents
• make changes to the way the personal injury discount rate, applied to lumps sums awarded for future loss of income, is set

Committee stage is when peers carry out detailed line-by-line scrutiny of legislation, but amendments are not normally forced to a vote – this happens at report stage.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative James Duddridge asks for a debate on what kind of Speaker the House of Commons wants, and who the Commons wants to replace John Bercow.

Ms Leadsom says that the Speaker has "served this House for a very good number of years and to the best way that [you] possibly can". She adds that a debate on this subject wouldn't be at all welcome.

Speaker John Bercow intervenes to add that after each general election, the prospect of the Speaker returning to the Chair is put to the House. He adds that his re-election as Speaker "was accepted unanimously".

"If the honourable gentleman wanted to oppose it, he could have done," he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP's Commons business spokesperson Pete Wishart says that the foreign secretary says that the customs union plans are "crazy" - and he asks for a statement on what ministers have to say in order to be sacked.

He further asks for a statement on language used in political life, referencing the use of the word "traitors" against the House of Lords by the Daily Mail.

Ms Leadsom says that he is seeing a "level of warmth" towards the Lords that she hasn't seen from him before. She says there is "concern" that the Lords will "undermine the will of this House" or of the British electorate.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow Leader of the House Valerie Vaz says "is it too much to hope" that the Commons will soon debate the amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill made in the Lords.

Ms Vaz raises voter ID pilots and cites evidence that suggests "millions of people could be left disenfranchised" if the plans are rolled-out around the country.

Ms Vaz asks for a debate on "racism in the Tory party" - referencing the reinstation of a councillor on Pendle council.

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom says the "government is looking closely" at the changes made to the EU Withdrawal Bill in the Lords but makes no commitment on timings.

Ms Leadsom says voter ID pilots were "successfully tested" in five local authorities. "Vital that we protect democracy from potential fraud", she adds.

In response to the case in Pendle, Ms Leadsom says she is "horrified by the story" and shares Ms Vaz's rejection of racism.