House of Commons
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat media spokeswoman Christine Jardine says the second stage of the Leveson inquiry would provide an opportunity to show the public that politicians "are listening" to concerns about press treatment.

Redundancies at newspapers are more down to changes in technology and money, rather than regulations from government, she says.

"The Fourth Estate is a fundamental pillar of a free and democratic society," she says, but adds that freedom of the press must not mean freedom to harass people or manufacture stories.

"I would appeal to you, please do not be found wanting," she adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell questions whether "digging up these issues by their roots" has any "real public benefit".

Arguing against the amendments, Mr Mitchell says it is the role of free media to "fearlessly" expose wrongdoing in public life and asserts that these steps could diminish their ability to do that.

He urges MPs to vote against the amendments.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Lib Dem Baroness Hamwee asks how many young asylum seekers have been required to cease studying as a condition of immigration bail, following the recent introduction of new provisions.

She asserts "it is widely believed there is a blanket ban" and wants to know why.

Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford responds that there is no blanket ban and study restrictions are "not designed to be used to prevent people from studying", but says officials will look at cases.

She specifies it is meant to apply to adult immigration offenders, those with post-appeals rights exhausted, and those being deported.

She acknowledges there "may be cases who've fallen foul of a study restriction" and this will be investigated.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative Lord Farmer asks about the policies recommended in the Manifesto to Strengthen Families, external, published by the Conservatives last year, and what steps the government plans to take in response to those recommendations.

He tells peers that conversations with ministers and civil servants have betrayed "frustration at a lack of clarity over who drives this vital agenda" and calls on the government to appoint a Cabinet-level "overlord".

Education Minister Lord Agnew of Oulton responds that it is "crucial we seek to ensure children grow up in stable nurturing families".

He says the government is "actively considering" the manifesto recommendations and the idea of a single minister with responsibility for this "deserves careful scrutiny".

House of Commons
Parliament

Former Justice Secretary Ken Clarke says he was "personally involved" in setting up the Leveson Inquiry and supports Lord Justice Leveson's "indignation" that ministers have "gone back on all previous commitments" about the completion of the inquiry.

It was always clear when the Leveson Inquiry was announced in 2011 "that there would have to be a second part", he says.

Read more: Sir Brian Leveson accused ministers of breaking their promise to phone hacking victims by axing his inquiry into media standards.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Former Labour leader Ed Miliband rises to his feet to make the case for his and Conservative MP Ken Clarke’s amendment which would require the government to establish another inquiry - with a mandate that echoes the original plan for Leveson part two while also expanding the scope to include social media companies.

This is for one overriding reason; to keep a promise to the victims of phone-hacking, he says.

Mr Miliband says he well remembers when he, David Cameron and Nick Clegg met the victims of press intrusion. “We said to them that this time it will be different, this time we won’t flinch, I promise you we will see this process through.”

In reminiscing, he says together they "painstakingly" designed a two-part Leveson process.

Mr Miliband furiously declares to MPs: "this is a matter of honour".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Former culture secretary and - before that - chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, John Whittingdale pays tribute to The Guardian and their investigative journalism surrounding the "revelations of phone hacking" in 2009.

Arguing against the need for media organisations to sign up to a government approved regulator, Mr Whittingdale says there is a now "different climate" within the press.

"I myself have suffered at the hands of the press" but the sanctions proposed would be "deeply damaging", he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow digital economy minister Liam Byrne says that it is "worth remembering" the "level of shock" felt by those in the House when it emerged that newspapers had been hacking the phones of crime victims.

It is not a case of a new inquiry, but letting the existing inquiry finish its work, he adds, agreeing with the Father of the House, Ken Clarke.

He says "we were all quite suprised" when it appeared that all criminal activity by newspapers just stopped on one day in 2010.

A former reporter for a newspaper has told Mr Byrne that Mr Hancock is "wrong," and that criminal acts are still going on, he says.

He says that the Commons should be supportive of a free press, but also a "clean press".

MPs will vote on an amendment to the bill which will attempt to implement the second stage of the Leveson inquiry into press standards.

The amendment, tabled by former Labour leader Ed Miliband, is understood to have enough support to potentially inflict a defeat on the government.

It proposes launching a new, judge-led inquiry into alleged data protection breaches by national newspapers and other media companies, within three months of the bill becoming law later this year.

A second amendment to the bill would see the introduction of a measure requiring all publishers not signed up to a state-backed regulator to pay their own and their opponent's legal costs in relation to alleged data breaches.

The requirement to pay costs - which was tabled by Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson - would stand even if the publisher won.

Guardian News and Media, owners of the Guardian and the Observer newspapers, said this would "further erode press freedom and have a severe chilling effect for the news environment in the UK".

This afternoon, the Public Accounts Committee will hear evidence on the state of finances within local authorities.

Those giving evidence at 2.30pm are:

• Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive, Local Government Association
• Duncan Whitfield, President, Association of Local Authority Treasurers
• Martin Reeves, Spokesman for Local Government Finance, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives
• Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive, CIPFA
• Melanie Dawes, Permanent Secretary
• Jo Farrar, Director General, Local Government, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

A recent National Audit Office report, external found that financial pressure on local authorities has increased substantially since 2010-11, with a 49.1% real-terms funding reduction.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insists he is in step with government policy on the post-Brexit customs deal... because the policy is yet to be decided.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Culture Secretary Matt Hancock is opening the debate on the Data Protection Bill, and he's speaking about New Clause 19 from the government, which would set out new provisions for cost implications for complaints made against the press.

NC19 empowers the Information Commissioner's Office to give advice on how complainants can seek redress against a media organisation where they fail to comply with data protection legislation.

Mr Hancock says that the current suggestions on amendments from the Opposition would make it "impossible" for local media organisations to cover controversial topics.

He adds that 200 local newspapers have closed since 2005, and says the amendment would accelerate the rates of closure.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The Commons moves on tothe Data Protection Bill, which is now in its remaining stages.

The bill makes specific provisions on how to process data relating to individuals, makes powers for the functions of the Information Commissioner's Office and makes provision for a direct marketing code of conduct.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Gareth Thomas is introducing his European Union Withdrawal Agreement (Public Vote) Bill under the ten minute rule.

"There should be a democratic public vote on whether to accept the deal the government achieves to leave the European Union," he says.

He adds that he has "always respected that decision" in the EU referendum, but the terms on which the UK would leave or the future relationship with the EU were never clear to the electorate at the time.

He says that the NHS will not get £350m a week, and negotiators will now give £40bn to leave the EU with a much worse relationship.

It is likely that the UK will be presented with a poor deal, he adds, while the economy is growing slower, the pound is stagnant and wages are not rising.

The government's own analysis shows that the UK will be worse off under every deal, he states.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

President Donald Trump wasn't always so dead against the Iran deal and it's not a big issue for voters, so why is he pulling out now?

BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher has a terrific analysis piece on the move, the bare bones of which are outlined below:

Shredding the Obama legacy: Since his inauguration, Mr Trump has taken aim at practically every one of his predecessor's signature achievements.

A pivot to Netanyahu: His shift to a more vehemently anti-deal view tracks closely with Mr Trump's full-throated support of Benjamin Netanyahu and the hard-line Israeli side of Middle East peace negotiations

Mr Trump's team:Where once the president may have been counselled to be cautious in abandoning US commitments to Iran, this time his instincts - an innate distrust of multilateralism in general and Iran in particular - appear to have been enthusiastically supported.

Read the analysis in full here.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Joan Ryan says that the deal had flaws: it allowed Iran to threaten Israel with "annihilation", there was a lack of a clear plan at the end of the deal and the weak inspection regime.

She urges the government to stick to the agreement, but also push to mend it.

Mr Johnson says there is no agreement on Iran's wider actions.

The United States thinks differently, he says, and has an idea of working to deal with all issues in the Middle East through one agreement.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says the Iranian nuclear deal is "not dead" despite US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw.

The 2015 agreement curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed by the UN, US and EU.

But Mr Trump argued that the deal was "defective at its core", saying he would pull out and reimpose sanctions.

Other signatories to the nuclear accord say they remain committed to it.

The deal was agreed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, UK, France, China and Russia - plus Germany. It was struck under Mr Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

Read more here.