House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP’s Deidre Brock asks what recent discussions have been had with Channel 4 about its potential relocation outside London.

Culture Secretary Matt Hancock says the government "warmly welcomes" the agreement of Channel 4 to relocate outside London. The decision is for Channel 4 and will be made later this year, he adds.

Ms Brock says that Glasgow is the "ideal place for Channel 4 to land" she asks how the devolved administrations can make representations on the relocation.

Mr Hancock says that Channel 4 has committed to spending 50% of their programming outside of London.

He adds that it has heard representations from the devolved administrations.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour’s Dr Paul Williams asks what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing safe standing areas at football grounds in the English Premier League and Championship.

Sport Minister Tracey Crouch says that the government currently believes that all seating is safest.

Dr Williams says that 94% of Teesside football fans would like the choice of sitting or standing during a football match.

Ms Crouch says that the government is looking at advances in technology which don't require legislative change.

Peers say it is "inconceivable" there will not be an impact on supplies, even with a trade deal with EU.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons starts at 9:30am today, with Culture questions, then, at 10.10am there will be Attorney General questions. There’s an urgent question at 10:30am on the use of money resolutions for private members' bills.

This will be followed by the Business Statement, after which the Commons will hear a ministerial statement on the case of Abdul Hakim Belhaj, a former Libyan dissident, who has now settled his long-running extradition case with the UK government.

This will be followed by two backbench business motions. The first is on financial misconduct and the Financial Conduct Authority. The second is on compensation for victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism.

The House is expected to adjourn at 5pm.

The government heads off a Commons defeat on re-launching the Leveson inquiry into press standards.

House of Commons
Parliament

In a statement, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told MPs the government regrets the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

The 2015 deal curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of UN, US and EU sanctions.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he will pull out, describing it as "defective at its core".

Labour accused the president of a "reckless, senseless and immoral act of diplomatic sabotage" but some Conservative MPs - including former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon - backed Mr Trump's stance.

Elsewhere, Labour attempts to amend the Data Protection Bill to introduce a digital bill of rights and to allow newcomers to the UK to see their data compiled by the Home Office failed. An amendment designed to allow "Leveson Two" brought in by former leader Ed Miliband also failed to get enough votes.

Labour's motion later in the evening on student support for nursing bursaries did not pass either.

The Commons will return at 9:30am tomorrow with culture questions.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons has voted against the Labour motion on nursing bursaries.

Ayes: 234

Noes: 295

Majority: 61

Of English MPs (this was an English votes for English laws motion):

Ayes: 199

Noes: 273

Majority: 74

With that, the House adjourns.

House of Commons
Parliament

With that, the Commons divides to vote on this motion from Labour.

It seeks to annul recent changes to nursing bursaries.

The result will come in around 8:30pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Maria Caulfield, a still practising nurse at the Royal Marsden in London, says that she has worked with associate nurses when in training, and they are enjoying their courses more because they are working while training.

They are part of the team rather than just students, she states, noting these associate nurses have given her support during her shifts.

"We do need to ramp up the apprentice and associate route because that is the way forward," she argues, adding that "the bursary system failed to achieve the number of students we actually needed" because there was a cap on the number of applicants.

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Labour's Karen Lee, a nurse until last June, says she "couldn't be any more in opposition to this amendment on nursing bursaries".

Overall, applications have fallen by 33% since 2016, she says, and this was due to the changes in bursaries.

She argues the EU referendum has also prevented EU nurses from wanting to apply to work in the NHS.

She adds that even though she was a beneficiary of the nursing bursary, she still had to take out bank loans in order to support her family as a single mother.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative chair of the Education Committee Robert Halfon says that there is a "real skills shortage" in many sectors.

Only 52% of graduates are getting jobs after their finish university, he specifies.

He says it is important that all those who wish to train as nurses have the opportunity to do so, adding he has "real worries" about the fact that only 30 people have applied for nursing apprenticeships.

"Thirty is just not enough, we need many thousands of people," he warns.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP's health spokesperson, Philippa Whitford, points out that Scotland has maintained its nursing bursary and "only in England, has the undergraduate bursary been removed and tuition fees increased".

She says that this will lead to a debt of £60,000, made up of two student loans, to train to become a nurse.

She claims only 30 people have taken up the offer of nursing apprenticeships, and it will take four years to complete their training.

She goes on to say that in Scotland they have seen an 8% increase in people signing up to nursing places, compared with England's drop of 3% in nursing applicants.

House of Commons
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Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Barclay says that there will be an increase in nurses and nursing places under the new rules and changes that have been enforced.

This is part of a "much wider package" on apprenticeships, he continues, which are important for those who do not want to go to university.

He says that 4,000 former nurses have since applied to come back to the profession.

He adds that the government have 13,100 more nurses on wards since 2010 and the changes will "empower" people to advance their careers in the NHS.

House of Commons
Parliament

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With that, the Data Protection Bill passes.

The final business today is on education and student support regulations which were enacted at the end of March. Labour wants to annul them.

English votes for English laws may well be enforced for this regulation, meaning that only English MPs may have a say on whether the statutory instrument may be annulled.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner says the government are "plowing ahead" with plans to scrap nursing bursaries "despite knowing the disastrous consequences that will follow".

She says that nursing applicants have dropped from 47,000 to 31,000 since the scrapping of the bursary.

The government have missed their nursing apprentice target by 97%, and are carrying on regardless, she says.

This measure doesn't make any sense financially, she says, arguing it costs less to provide nursing bursaries than it costs for the NHS to bring in agency nurses.

House of Commons
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The bill moves to third reading, and Culture Secretary Matt Hancock says it provides a "bespoke framework" to intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies.

He adds that the bill has received coverage around the world, in Australia and in the Philippines.

Shadow culture secretary Tom Watson says the proposals for a "data bill of rights were strong and had merits," and adds that the Home Office will now receive a "wide exemption" on newcomers' data.

"Given its recent record," he says, the Home Office shouldn't be given "new sweeping powers" over new arrivals' data.

He says that Leveson Two is "unfinished business" for the Labour Party.

"This bill is necessary, but there have been missed opportunities," he states.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons has voted to reject Amendment 15 to the Bill.

Ayes: 282

Noes: 310

Majority: 28

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons divides to vote on Amendment 15.

This was the amendment Yvette Cooper was earlier pleading with the government to accept. She says if the bill goes through unamended, it could lead to another Windrush situation.

The bill currently has provision to prevent subject access requests from being granted by the Home Office in immigration cases, meaning applicants would not have access to their own paperwork in their case.

The result will come through around 6:45pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons votes against the SNP amendment relating to automated decisions and human rights.

Ayes: 282

Noes: 310

Majority: 38

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons divides to vote again, this time on an SNP amendment relating to automated decisions which relate to human rights.

The amendment would ensure that where human rights are engaged by automated decisions, that these are human decisions, and clarifies what is an "automated" decision or a "human" one.

The result is expected around 6:30pm.