Eurosceptic Tory MPs meet the chief whip to air concerns about a "soft" Brexit.

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Parliament

The Commons has voted to reject Labour's New Clause 1 to the Ivory Bill, which would have expanded the definition of the ivory ban to narwhals, hippos, killer and sperm whales and walruses.

Ayes: 256

Noes: 305

Majority: 49

With that, the Commons divides to vote on New Clause 2.

The UK will have a greater share of catch when it controls access to its waters, Michael Gove says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman says she "strongly" welcomes the minister's commitment to opening up to a consultation on widening the definition of ivory in the bill.

She says the consultation could be quickly and efficiently, and it is important because it would prevent legal challenges against the law.

Labour move their New Clause 1, and the Commons divides to vote on it.

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Image source, HoC

Defra Minister David Rutley is responding to the debate. He thanks MPs for their contribution.

He explains that portrait miniatures have been excluded from the ban because their value is not derived from their ivory content.

He says there is evidence that there needs to be an initial focus on elephants, but it is important that the ivory trade does not shift to other species and that is why the government has included the provision to add other species to the bill in future.

He says we should not wait for species to become endangered before they are protected, citing the warthog, his "favourite animal".

He says the upcoming conference will see the government consider further ways to protect wildlife.

Westminster Hall

Home Office Minister, Victoria Atkins, says that the act of "buying and selling sex" is not illegal in England and Wales.

She says the accounts in this debate were "compelling and touched people" and the discussion of "loss of self" in prostitution was a particularly powerful point.

The minister says the government is to target those who "exploit" people for sex, saying that "we are currently evaluating all models" through research commissioned to the University of Bristol.

She says the research will take a year to obtain, and then the government can review all the evidence and analyse what action it will take.

The minister says the government is looking into whether prohibition of the sex trade is the best way to target those who exploit women.

Prostitution is a conflicting area, where there is lots of "contradictory evidence" from all sides of the debate, she says.

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"We have the same aims and aspirations," says the SNP's Lisa Cameron. She says the public strongly supports an ivory ban.

She says "unscrupulous" poachers "move from species to species to make their money" and so all ivory species must be protected.

She tells of a beached killer whale in Vancouver whose teeth were removed, and of the "near threatened" status of narwarls.

"We are in a race against time," she says. Dfid must work with affected communities, such as providing jobs and livelihoods, as poaching is often driven by poverty, she says.

"The SNP wants the strongest possible bill," she says. Survival of the "magnificent" elephant species must be the goal, she says.

The SNP welcomes Labour and the government's changes to the bill.

Westminster Hall

Labour's shadow women and equalities minister, Carolyn Harris, says that some women in back street brothels "sell their bodies for £5".

Carolyn Harris says the stigma of men buying prostitutes seems to have gone. She says some men go to brothels with their friends, before a night out.

She says the workers should be treated with respect, and helped with opportunities so they can have a way out.

Carolyn Harris says Britain must become a hostile place for buying sex. She says prostitution is violence against women and girls.

The MP says these women need help and support.

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Conservative Owen Paterson agrees with Ms Turley's call to protect the hippopotamus.

He says the bill's definition of ivory is "simply too narrow" and calls for more species to be listed on the bill, which he says currently only protects elephants.

He says that despite being in agreement with the opposition's new clause, he will be supporting the government's plan to use statutory instruments to add species to the bill as this will be more flexible.

Mr Goldsmith intervenes to thank Mr Paterson for "catapulting this issue to the top of the agenda" but asks him to ensure international co-operation on stopping the ivory trade.

Mr Paterson says there has been co-operation "across the board" but the UK can only go to an upcoming global conference on the issue - "and look people in the eye" - by passing this bill into law.

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Image source, HoC

Wearing a topical elephant-patterned dress, Labour's Anna Turley calls for the bill to protect hippopotamus teeth.

Zac Goldsmith intervenes to say the Conservatives and Labour agree on the desired outcome of the bill and asks Ms Turley to trust the government.

Ms Turley agrees but says the issue is timing; the government is delaying its commitment to consult on extending the ban, she says.

With opposition MPs calling on her to resign, Esther McVey apologises to Parliament for comments about Universal Credit.

House of Commons
Parliament

"Since before the days of Hannibal" elephants have been important, says Conservative Simon Hoare, and they should be protected. He says if he won the lottery he would take his children to see elephants but he is worried he will lose that opportunity if they became extinct.

He says he is glad that the bill will be law soon, but will not be supporting Labour's amendments.

He says the bill's provisions should not be limited to a list of protected animals decided by an international organisation.

He quotes the lyrics of a 'warthog song' and says it would be a shame if the warthog population were to fall if it was the only form of ivory that can be legally sold.

He says he agrees with his colleague Zac Goldsmith that a ban on trading mammoth ivory must be included in the bill. Allowing trade in ivory from extinct animals could provide an impetus to force elephants into extinction, he says.

Westminster Hall

Conservative MP Fiona Bruce says the demand for buying sex must end.

Women need genuine opportunities to help them leave the sex trade.

She says: "It's no use to just give them health checks; they need a way out."

The MP says only 11% of men have paid for sex in this country; however, this behavior fuels the demand.

Westminster Hall

Labour MP Sarah Champion says paying "someone to perform sex on you is abuse". She says it is a form of violence against women.

She says the law has to send a message that paying for sex is a criminal offence.

The MP says penalties for loitering should be removed, and the women should be helped out of this work. She says paying to access a women's body is a choice and that changing of laws is crucial to reduce sexual exploitation.

She says we should educate boys in schools in how to respect women's body.

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Image source, HoC

Shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman says "it is not every day that an Ivory Bill comes around" so it is unknown when there will be new protections afforded in the future for elephants.

This broadening for the definition of ivory is to stop the focus on banning just elephant ivory, which pushes poachers towards other forms of ivory, she says.

"There appears to have been a rush to push it through at any cost" before the wildlife conference in October, she states. She asks if this was the target for the government.

She says that Labour's New Clause 1 would allow for a consultation on the future of the ivory ban and for which other species should be included in the ban.

"We simply cannot tackle the global trade in illegal ivory on our own," she states.

Westminster Hall

Labour MP Sarah Champion says that there is a crisis in this country of sexual exploitation of an "industrial scale".

She says there are a minority of men who will pay to access a woman's body.

The parliamentary group on Prostitution and Global Sex Trade found that at the moment there are 212 active police cases involving sexual exploitation.

Ms Champion says sexual exploitation is driven by heterosexual men who are willing to pay for sex.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Chair of the International Development Committee Stephen Twigg is introducing his ten minute rule bill aimed at safeguarding vulnerable groups in the aid and development sector.

When abuse happens in this sector, it happens "to some of the most vulnerable people in the world".

It is "crucial" that the victims of these incidents are heard, he says, adding that allegations of sexual abuse in the aid sector "are not new" and have been investigated by the UN before.

He says on the back of the allegations made in The Times in February, his committee set up an inquiry which took 50 pieces of written evidence and has spoken to more than 20 witnesses.

Ideally, he states, this new system would be "comprehensive" and "global" on raising concerns in the aid sector.

Westminster Hall

MPs in Westminster Hall are holding a debate on tackling the demand for commercial sexual exploitation, called by Labour MP Sarah Champion.

An inquiry by the parliamentary group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade was published in May 2018.

The report found that there was an increase role of organised crime in the sexual exploitation of women.

The report recommends that the focus on criminal law should shift from the prostitute to the consumer. It suggests the shift could be attained by implementing a blanket ban on paying for sex.

The report also recommends that prostitution procurement websites should be held legally accountable.

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