House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons votes in favour of the government's programme motion for the bill.

Ayes: 321

Noes: 304

Majority: 17

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, Parliament.uk

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are voting on the programme motion for the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

The result is expected at around 1:15pm.

The programme motion is the government's plan for how MPs are to debate the bill over the next two days.

Debate on the bill will start once MPs have been through the voting lobbies and the result is announced...

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

In the final bit of business before the showdown over the EU Withdrawal Bill, Conservative Fiona Bruce is introducing her ten minute rule bill which would introduce minimum pricing on alcohol.

She says that cheap alcohol perpetuates health inequalities against the most deprived.

"Alcohol harm is estimated to cost the NHS £3.5bn a year," she says.

"Moderate drinkers will barely notice a difference" under her proposals, she adds.

It is not a tax, nor is it telling people how to live their lives, she states, adding that it would help heavy drinkers, the most vulnerable and their children.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Chuka Umunna raises a point of order over the Daily Express front page today which says "Ignore the will of the people at your peril".

He says that Conservative MP Dr Phillip Lee has already received threats since resigning from the government over their Brexit stance. He states that he is concerned that this is inciting violence against members of Parliament.

"Do as your conscience dictates," Mr Bercow replies.

"The freedom of speech that we enjoy in this place was hard won," he adds.

Conservative MP Anna Soubry also says that MPs have suffered threats.

The Speaker says that he hopes the debates on the EU Withdrawal Bill today and tomorrow will be conducted in an atmosphere of "mutual respect" - and Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom echoes his message, saying the government supports MPs doing what they think is right.

It's an incredibly busy day in Westminster.

Here's the full programme of Commons business., external

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Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Giles Watling turns the committee to what he calls "big scary Russia". He asks what the witnesses hoped for when they met the Russian ambassador.

Arron Banks says he was "hoping for a good lunch".

He says that in the second meeting with Alexander Yakovenko, held just days after Mr Banks, Andy Wigmore and Nigel Farage visited the then President-elect Donald Trump in Trump Tower, the "only thing we gave...was the telephone number of the [Trump] transition team".

Andy Wigmore says the ambassador told them that the Russians "didn't think he was going to win" and was "astonished".

Giles Watling says that "from the outside" it looks "extraordinary" that the pair met President-elect Trump and the Russian ambassador to the UK within days of each other in late 2016.

Andy Wigmore says the meeting with Mr Trump "wasn't planned" and happened because Kellyanne Conway asked if they "wanted to go and see the boss" when they were in Trump Tower. He goes on to claim he gave Trump transition team the phone number of Number 10 Downing Street.

Giles Watling asks if money was accepted from Russia by Leave.EU during the referendum.

Andy Wigmore answers "nyet".

Brexit campaigner Arron Banks hits back at claims he was involved in a conspiracy with Russian officials.

Select Committee
Parliament

Arron Banks dismisses as a "flat lie" claims made to the committee by Brittany Kaiser, formerly of Cambridge Analytica.

In her appearance she said she saw a Leave.EU phone bank at the HQ of Arron Banks' insurance businesses making campaign calls from a database owned by the insurance companies.

He says a number of other claims made by Ms Kaiser were not true.

Select Committee
Parliament

The committee has briefly touched on a meeting between Andy Wigmore and the Russian ambassador at a UKIP conference.

Andy Wigmore says he spoke with the ambassador about a "small banana farm" in Belize "that had got in trouble" because Belize was unable to sell bananas to big markets like the United States and the United Kingdom. "It wasn't anything to do with politics," he says.

Andy Wigmore has worked as a trade envoy for Belize, a small country in central America bordering Mexico and the Caribbean.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Dr Rupa Huq asks what the government is doing to encourage environmentally sustainable electricity generation.

Business Minister Claire Perry says that since 2010, £52bn has been invested in renewable deployment, in 2017 over half of the UK's energy came from low-carbon sources, she adds.

Dr Huq says that solar panel rooftop take up has fallen to a seven year low, she asks what will happen when the feed-in tariff scheme, external ends next year.

Ms Perry says the government will shortly publish a call for evidence on how best to replace the feed-in tariff scheme.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour MP Ian Lucas asks a question about Arron Banks' insurance company Southern Rock. He says regulators in Gibraltar thought the company traded while "technically insolvent" for three years.

Arron Banks strongly denies the claim and accuses Ian Lucas of using parliamentary privilege to make "false statements" which "he knows will be reported elsewhere and that's why he's doing it". Andy Wigmore asks what relevance the question has to fake news, the official subject of the session.

Mr Banks says he will no longer answer questions about his businesses or his financial affairs.

He then makes an accusation about an unnamed MP on the committee adding that "we can all sit here throwing bread rolls at each other".

Ian Lucas says Mr Banks' financial affairs are important because he is the "biggest financial donor in British political history".

House of Commons
Parliament

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In the Commons, Business questions begins and Conservative Julian Knight asks how the government is encouraging economic growth while tackling emissions.

Business Minister Claire Perry says since 1990 governments have decreased carbon emissions while encouraging economic growth.

Mr Knight says that in the short to medium term the UK must recognise the importance of clean diesel.

Ms Perry says that these vehicles are important, the long-term goal is a move to zero emission vehicles by 2040, she adds.

Select Committee
Parliament

After extended questioning about his businesses Arron Banks tells the committee "I think you're all Remainers". He gives MPs a chance to dissent but none do. He says the committee has a "vested interest" in raising questions about leave campaigners.

He raises George Osborne, who was chancellor during the referendum campaign and who now, as editor of the Evening Standard works for Evegeny Lebdev, who Mr Banks claims is "Putin's number two man in London".

Committee chair Damian Collins says they'd investigate similar claims about the Remain campaign but Mr Banks continues to accuse them of "double standards".

Select Committee
Parliament

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The committee is asking about Leave.EU's referendum campaign.

Arron Banks says the campaign aimed to be "provocateurs" as they were the "alternative" campaign.

The campaign officially designated by the Electoral Commission campaign was Vote Leave, led by Dominic Cummings and with Boris Johnson as the best known public face. Mr Banks dismisses Vote Leave as a Tory front.

Leave.EU was the campaign led publicly by UKIP's Nigel Farage, which Mr Banks says was working to connect with Labour voters concerned about immigration.

They say Leave.EU hired Goddard Gunster, a US consultancy firm that specialises in referendums. Andy Wigmore says hiring the group provided the insight that "referendums are not about facts, they're about emotion".

He says the Remain campaign lost because they didn't understand that.

House of Commons
Parliament

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A big day coming up in the Commons as the first of two days of consideration of Lords' amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill kicks off at 12:45pm.

Both days have six hours of debate scheduled. This is the first time the Commons has been able to debate this bill since December - it's been in the Lords for the past few months.

This morning, Justice Minister Philip Lee resigned from the government, external over disagreements with the government over its Brexit stance.

The day in the Commons will kick off with Business questions - but it's all eyes on the EU bill.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Arron Banks says there is a "lot of myth around" and many of the claims made about Cambridge Analytica and the uses of data in political campaigning are "demonstrable nonsense".

He goes on to attack the two whistleblowers who have appeared in front of the committee and spoken to reporters, Brittany Kaiser and Chris Wylie.

He says their credibility is "shot to pieces" and that they are "Walter Mitty type characters".

He says Leave.EU held meetings with Cambridge Analytica but their claims were "lot of sizzle, not a lot of substance". He dismisses the controversial data firm as "an ad agency".

Select Committee
Parliament

Andy Wigmore of the Leave.EU campaign begins by suggesting committee chair Damian Collins recuse himself from today's evidence session because he accepted hospitality from "Putin's number one man in the United Kingdom" and might be "conflicted".

Damian Collins records a trip to Chelsea Football Club, owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, on his register of member's interests.

He calls the suggestion a "nice try" adding "you might have better intelligence than me...I didn't know that Roman Abramobvich was Putin's number one man in London".

He says that "no inducements or offers, no shares in goldmines" came out of his visit to Chelsea v Crystal Palace.

"No honey traps?" asks Mr Wigmore.

"Chelsea won 2-1, that was the extent of the entertainment," says the chair.