House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative Lord Framlingham asks what individual representations the government have received from other European Union member states about the present state of negotiations for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

Lord Callanan, Minister for Exiting the European Union, says the government has regular engagements with EU states and that member states have welcomed the white paper and share the government's ambitions for this deal.

"We will hold continuous negotiations with the EU to secure a good deal."

Labour's Lord Grocott says the government should focus on negotiating to get the best deal.

Lord Callanan says that negotiations are being focused on and notes that Michel Barnier said that he is confident that a deal will be reached.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Chris Bryant says it would be "wholey inappropriate" for the Commons to debate the Salisbury incident, as it would be breaking a fundamental rule of Parliament.

"We don't put people on trial in this chamber."

He requests that the planned debate be withdrawn.

"It will be wholly inappropriate if at the end of next week prosecuting authorities were to come to the conclusion that this House had decided that certain individuals were guilty," he says.

Ms Leadsom says there will not be any risk of that happening in a general debate on the issue.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Lord West of Spithead asks the defence minister whether the government still plans to have the first Type 31e frigate in Royal Naval service by 2023.

Minister Earl Howe says the five Type 31e frigates promised to enter the Royal Naval service by 2023 will be there by this time, and that work is ongoing through the modernising of the defence programme to ensure that the government has enough facilities to deal with any threats.

He says he still believes the industry can deliver these five frigates by this deadline for £1.25bn.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Seema Malhotra returns to the issue of Brexit legislation.

She asks how the government plans to schedule business so that all the suggested statutory instruments can be covered. She requests a statement on the issue.

Ms Leadsom says around half the SIs are required for "no-deal or all eventualities", and are subject to negotiation.

She says "it is not an extraordinary amount of legislation", and members should not be concerned about sitting times needing to be extended.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative David Jones asks if the role of HOLAC should be to invite people to apply for peerages.

Low Bew replies that is has become more "difficult" now that there are only two independent peerages per year.

He says that HOLAC will end up "wasting" people's time if it does but if the commission doesn't, it looks as though it doesn't "care where they come from".

Lord Bew admits he does not know the answer but says the "right balance" may be to seek out expertise when it is lost.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Peter Bone follows Valerie Vaz in asking about the delayed release of the Boundary Commission's review of constituency changes.

"Is the delay because the government think it will not have a majority on the proposal?" he asks.

"I for one will not be voting for it."

Ms Leadsom says the reports can only be laid before Parliament when both Houses are sitting, and that they will be available from Monday 10 September.

House of Commons
Parliament

Chair of the Backbench Business Committee Ian Mearns raises the House's attention to a debate next week in Westminster Hall.

He says the debate, which focuses on deaf children, will be signed in BSL. He adds that there is still not a GCSE in this that is available.

Ms Leadsom says it is a testament to the work of the backbench committee that such a debate is taking place.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HOc

SNP spokesperson Pete Wishart says the government seems "increasingly relaxed" about a no-deal situation, with EU negotiators "waltzing" around the UK, whilst UK "can only muster a cha-cha-cha"...he's obviously referencing the prime minister's recent efforts at dancing while visiting Africa during the summer recess.

Ms Leadsom takes issue with this: "I think the prime minister can dance."

He names a number of private members' bills awaiting money resolutions and asks for more sitting Fridays in order to address this. The Leader of the House says progress is being made, but they will be bringing more of these forward.

Mr Wishart adds he is struggling to meet with ministers - raising concerns that the ministerial code is being broken.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Kelvin Hopkins asks what makes a "good working" peer.

Lord Bew says it is not someone who only "turns up when the whip calls them" and who contributes with a "degree of expertise". He adds expertise is "unevenly distributed" and that the knowledge base should be wider.

He advocated for parties to give explanations for their appointment and how they can contribute.

Mr Hopkins says that political appointments happen because they have been given a "nod and a wink"

Lord Bew replies that "it is almost inevitable".

House of Commons
Parliament

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom gives the business statement, saying she is "delighted" the government will bring forward a debate on proxy voting next week.

She says there will a general debate on legislating for the withdrawal agreement on Monday, which she says is vital before the actual legislation comes before the House. There will also be a general debate on the Salisbury incident on Wednesday.

Shadow Leader of the House Valerie Vaz says she is surprised the business is so light, and refers to suggestions that Parliament may need to expand sitting time to handle Brexit legislation - she asks if recesses may be cancelled to handle this.

She asks about the report by the Boundary Commission on changes to constituencies, and asks when it will be published.

Ms Leadsom says there is no plan to cancel recesses, saying "we are very much on the front foot in organising legislation".

In response to Valerie Vaz's call for MPs to oppose the relocation of a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst from outside Parliament, she says that she understands the plans are being considered so that a larger statue can be place on Parliament Square.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour MP Sandy Martin asks what he would do to seek "high ethical standards" as chair of the committee.

Lord Bew replies despite a "raucous" press, the discussion of the House of Lords Appointment Commission is free of "selfish strategic agendas".

He says there are "other issues" including around diversity. He adds the East Midlands is losing out "dramatically".

Lord Bew admits he has "golden ageism" about the type of "public spirited peer" who would devote a lot of time to a "tedious bill". He says Lords were trained in processes.

He says the Commission has made the Lords more diverse.

He adds a smaller reformed House would mean more hereditary peers and less diversity but concludes that the fact the Lords is larger than the Commons "makes us look faintly absurd".

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Solicitor General Nick Thomas-Symonds raises the issue of international crime, and the registration of money in overseas territories in an attempt to tackle it.

He says the Attorney General previously expressed opposition to this in debate, saying "all it will mean is that money goes to where it is darkest". He asks if he still has this view.

Mr Cox says this isn't what he said, and what he did say was that the measures being proposed "offended the devolved settlement that had been given to the Cayman Islands".

He says he supports the use of registers.

Mr Thomas-Symonds says he's been through the Hansard and that he did say it. Mr Cox denies it again.

House of Commons
Parliament

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is asked about changes to criminal legal aid. He says this is not the responsibility of his department, but as the person responsible for lawyers he is interested in the issue and is pleased the the Justice Department has made funding available.

He says he's awaiting the results of the the Scottish government's review of legal aid, and adds that the government is carrying out it's own review.

Conservative Kemi Badenoch asks if there is a sufficient number of legal aid lawyers. Mr Cox says there are measures to ensure this is monitored, and he will be keeping a close eye on it.

House of Commons
Parliament

Focus moves to the Attorney General, as he and his ministerial team now take questions.

Labour MP Sarah Jones asks what is being done to improve prosecution rates for knife crime.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland says they're working with other ministers to tackle the issue. Ms Jones says the numbers of custodial sentences for knife crime is rising, but this is not reflected in a fall in offences. She asks if alternative approaches will be taken, especially in tackling the causes.

Mr Buckland says it's right the government takes a strong approach, but agrees with Ms Jones that tackling the causes is absolutely vital.

Conservative Bim Afolami asks what is being done to tackle the sale of knives online - Mr Buckland says the government is introducing legislation on this.

SNP spokesperson Gavin Newlands mentions the work being done in Scotland to tackle knife crime, which the minister says the government is closely looking at.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative Chair Sir Bernard Jenkin asks what motivated Lord Bew to apply for the role of chair of the House of Lords Appointment Commission.

Lord Bew says that he is "very interested" in the "legitimate" work of the House of Lords. He tell the committee that crossbenchers are the "one part of parliamentary life" where there is "organised independent evaluation" of legislation.

He adds that he would like to continue the "ongoing" discussion on public life after his time as chair of the Committee on Standards comes to an end

Select Committee
Parliament

The committee session is starting now. On the committee are:

• Sir Bernard Jenkin (Chair) - Conservative
• Ronnie Cowan - Scottish National Party
• Paul Flynn - Labour
• Mr Marcus Fysh - Conservative
• Dame Cheryl Gillan - Conservative
• Kelvin Hopkins - Independent
• Dr Rupa Huq - Labour
• Mr David Jones - Conservative
• Sandy Martin - Labour
• David Morris - Conservative
• Tulip Siddiq - Labour

You can find out more about the committee and its work here., external

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow DCMS secretary Tom Watson says 300 newspapers have closed in the past decade, adding that it isn't surprising when Facebook and Google control so much advertising revenue.

He asks whether this is healthy for democracy.

Jeremy Wright says this is something he is definitely concerned by and is looking at. He adds that it is something where cross-party discussions would be helpful.

Mr Watson argues that the government is unwilling to challenge big tech companies, raising Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

He calls for a "single powerful regulator" to be created to "tackle" the tech giants.

Mr Wright says he shares the concerns, and thinks that these companies should be providing more assistance to government.

He insists however that it's vital that "whatever actions this government and country takes are properly thought through".

Whatever decisions are made will be attacked, he says, but will also lead the world in how to respond to these concerns.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Gill Furniss asks about how changes to local authority funding will affect public libraries.

Libraries Minister Michael Ellis says it is up to local authorities how they spend money, but that the government is working to ensure needs are met - "libraries are the responsibility of local authorities".

Labour's Bambos Charalambous asks what effect government cuts have had on local libraries. Mr Ellis says authorities continue to invest in them across the country.

Dennis Skinner asks if Mr Ellis has been to Derbyshire, where a Tory controlled council has cut a number of libraries. "Get something done about it," he tells him.

"We support libraries," the minister repeats.