House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Helen Whately says too many people are put off by the idea that it is not possible to be an MP and a parent, and "our democracy is poorer for it".

Ms Whately recalls how a male Conservative colleague wasn't 'paired' for the birth of his child, and the MP didn't know whether he would be able to be present at the birth, due to the unpredictability of the voting timetable.

Ms Whately tells MPs she has a daughter born in August because she planned her birth to fall within the parliamentary recess due of the "lack of maternity provision" in the Commons.

Image source, HoC

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Crossbench peer Lord Pannick, a member of the Jewish faith, says he is pleased the Jewish community are making trouble about the "surge of anti-Semitism".

He says there have always been anti-Semites, and there always will be, but what is worrying is that the leader of the Labour Party is "incubating anti-Semitism".

Lord Pannick says he regards Jeremy Corbyn's conduct as "shameful", and says it is not surprising that "his behavior encourages the release into the political atmosphere of a pollution that is poisoning our civil society".

He says Jeremy Corbyn is not fit for public office.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Labour's Lord Parekh says Jewish MPs and peers have been subjected to abuse in recent months on social media, which he condemns.

He says the Jewish community have been at the forefront of the struggle against racism, and that he cannot think of a single piece of race legislation passed in the last 40 years "which has not been the creation of a member of the Jewish community".

Lord Parekh notes he wants to speak as a member of the Labour Party as their benches are fairly empty, although stresses this does not suggest a sense of guilt.

He says the leadership's handling of this could have been "much more public and much more fair", and that Jeremy Corbyn should have made a speech to explain why he did not believe the IHRA anti-Semitism definition was suitable.

Lord Parekh says the Labour leader was right to express concern that the IHRA definition needs to be changed, but his flaw was that he did not explain why, which has led to calls of anti-Semitism.

He says as a Labour member he is worried about the polarisation between the Labour Party and the Jewish community. He says the time has come for both sides to deliver friendship and trust in the spirit of mutual understanding.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Conservative peer, Baroness Altmann, says her family fled to the UK from Nazi persecution, and is grateful to this country for welcoming them.

Baroness Altmann says she's never understood how European friends would want to turn on each other over faith "until the last couple of years".

She says all governments in power in her memory have been tolerant of Jews, and she's never felt any threat to her chosen religious beliefs.

Baroness Altmann says "this government has done so much to support the Jewish community", and the Conservative party have shown her tolerance and respect as a Jewish person.

She says the hate that has spread through political discourse recently is "truly frightening", and says that it is shocking that one of the UK's main parties is led by an anti-Semite.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Conservative peer Lord Pickles, UK leader to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, helped IHRA to define their definition of anti-Semitism.

He says anti-Semitism is growing right across Europe in all its forms, which has been accelerated by the growth of ultra-nationalism and its marriage to social media.

Lord Pickles says anti-Semitism is now hidden behind criticism of the state of Israel.

"The Jewish identity is a fundamental part of the British identity."

He says without a vibrant Jewish community, this country would be "a lesser place".

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Lord Sugar, who this morning accused Jeremy Corbyn of "not giving two hoots about Jewish people", says this question should be put to the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He says Jeremy Corbyn allowed the issue of alleged anti-Semitism to ramble on for months without intervening.

Lord Sugar says the obsession with Israel from the hard left "needs to be terminated", and refers to one of Mr Corbyn's allies, Peter Willsman, who criticised "Trump fanatics" in the Jewish community, calling him "a complete clown", saying that no Jewish person would support President Trump.

He says Jeremy Corbyn "simply does not care" about the issue of anti-Semitism, and says this is because the Jewish community make up few votes for the Labour Party, so are not significant enough of a group to care about.

Lord Sugar says "perhaps Jeremy Corbyn is taking a leaf out of President Trump's book by alluding to supporting issues which he believes a lot of the British population are also thinking".

He requests that the UK government extinguish the flame and use all resources to ensure that "Jeremy Corbyn does not become the leader of our country" as "that would be the day that Britain died".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson recalls her experience of having her 'pairing' agreement broken whilst she was on maternity leave in July.

"It was a shameful act" for the Chief Whip to ask another MP to break a pairing arrangement, "it is cheating plain and simple", she says.

Ms Swinson calls for somewhere in Parliament for mothers to express milk.

She says the debate is "too little, too late" as her two children have already arrived.

This simple change will allow new parents to "fulfil responsibilities to their child and their constituents", she argues.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Crossbench peer Lord Sacks, a former chief Rabbi, says he cannot keep silent and worries that many anti-Semites do not think of themselves as anti-Semites, and this is the core issue.

"Anti-Semitism is the hardest of all hate crimes to defeat, as it mutates."

Lord Sacks has previously said Jeremy Corbyn's comments that a group of British Zionists had "no sense of English irony" were "the most offensive statement" by a politician since Enoch Powell's.

Lord Sacks says he never thought he'd see the day where anti-Semitism had infiltrated the leadership of a major political party in his lifetime.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Labour's Lord Mendelsohn says he is "a proud Jewish member of this House", and asks how the UK has got to a stage where 40% of Jews in Britain feel so uncomfortable they're thinking of leaving the country, and close to 90% think the leader of the opposition is an anti-Semite.

"How is it that a party which has always stood up for liberty and progress is seen by many of the Jewish faith now as the wrong one to entrust their lives."

He says it is a revelation no longer worthy of questioning that he too believes the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has been a perpetrator of anti-Semitism.

Lord Mendelsohn says it is hard to be positive about solving this issue.

House of Commons
Parliament

Chair of the Procedure Committee Charles Walker says the House will have to decide in what instances proxy voting will be used and that it should be the MP who decides what they want to do.

The Procedure Committee published a report in May 2018, external setting out proposals for the House to consider, should it wish to establish a system of proxy voting for MPs who are new parents.

Mr Walker says the 'pairing' system should not be cast aside, as if an MP was ill you would have to declare your reasons, removing the cloak of anonymity.

Image source, HoC

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Conservative peer Lord Popat asks what actions the government are taking to reassure the Jewish community over the impact of anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom.

Last week, the Labour Party's ruling body agreed to adopt in full an international definition of anti-Semitism, after months of rows.

Lord Popat says: "Anti-Semitism concerns everyone, the notion that it is only important to Jewish people is as dangerous as it is wrong."

He says anti-Semitism is an issue that goes beyond party politics and "Jewish people are an example of what immigrants can achieve, whilst at the same time integrating into society".

Lord Popat says his Jewish friends say they fear their for their children's safety, and don't want to openly out themselves as members of the Jewish faith.

"Whether is it coming from the far left or the far right, the word 'zionist' today is a code for Jews."

He says eight years ago, he could never have imagined having to talk to the House about the extreme mistreatment of Jews. He says he will not be one to "go down having done nothing about this issue which eats away at our social and moral fabric".

Minister Baroness Goldie announces that a further debate on anti-Semitism will be held in government time later this year.

This afternoon, MPs are debating proxy voting in the House of Commons.

Voting by proxy has been called for to ensure MPs who cannot attend the Commons - such as new mothers on maternity leave - are still able to cast a vote.

In an article for the The Times today, Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom said: “Everyone should be able to spend time with their newborn babies - even, dare I say it, MPs."

Ms Leadsom has previously suggested she supports a change.

Currently, MPs must physically walk through the division lobbies in order to cast their vote, unless they are partaking in the so-called 'pairing' system.

The issue came to the fore in July when the ‘pairing’ system - whereby individual MPs agree not to vote when an opponent is absent - dramatically broke down.

This is just a general debate on the issue and a vote on legislation to change the system is expected later down the line.

Image source, PA

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow Leader of the House, Valerie Vaz, remarks that children will have been born, go to school and leave university before the government sees through changes to proxy voting.

Ms Vaz suggests there should be transparency in the process, as many MPs have received "torrid abuse" for missing votes.

Ms Vaz suggests the names of the MPs who want to exercise proxy voting should be presented to clerks in voting lobbies, for an agreed period of time.

Alternatively, the Speaker could read out a list of those choosing to vote by proxy when declaring the tellers for votes in the House of Commons, she says.

"Babies wait for no-one, we must put them first," says Ms Vaz as she calls for action not "endless debate".

House of Commons
Parliament

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom opens the general debate on proxy voting for MPs.

She says proxy voting will be a "profound change" in procedure and all of the options and their unintended consequences must be explored.

Ms Leadsom said she would welcome views from MPs on the following issues:

• Should proxy voting be limited to new parents?
• Are we giving to correct support to parents following the death of a child?
• Should a proxy vote be allowed for matters of national security?
• Should MPs have to declare the reasons why they are absent?

Any change in procedures need to recognise the "unique employment status" of MPs, as nobody can replace them when voting on legislation, she says.

The Leader of the House confirms a "substantive motion" will be brought forward, to be debated and voted on "as soon as possible".

Image source, HoC

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP David Morris raises a point of order about claims that an aide to Jeremy Corbyn is working in the Commons without security clearance.

Mr Morris says this breach of security policy is "deeply concerning" for everybody that works within Parliament.

Speaker Bercow responds by telling MPs that his understanding is that "the issue has now been resolved".

Iram Awan, the Labour leader's private secretary, was reported by the Huffington Post , externalto be routinely working in Parliament on a visitor pass.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Mother of the House Harriet Harman raises the experience of Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was abused by anarchist protesters yesterday with his children.

"Every single member across the house is dismayed and appalled... targeting a member through their children is not free speech, it is not the right to protest, it is actually intimidation and harassment, and it is undermining of our democracy."

She says "none of us wanted to be featherbed-ed or protected from the public", but asks for Ms Leadsom to consider whether there could be a Speaker's conference on the issue.

"We should be able to know what should be expected and what our families should expect, and what crosses the line."

Conservative MP Peter Bone adds that at one point he was informed by police that there was a social media post claiming to show "the execution" of his son. He says that "things have got worse and worse".

The Leader of the House says the action yesterday was "utterly appaling" and "absolutely unacceptable", and that she's sympathetic to Ms Harman's suggestion. She says the government is working to address the issue more generally. She says she is "disgusted" by Mr Bone's experience.

Speaker John Bercow adds that the behaviour "simply cannot persist".

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP spokesman Pete Wishart asks for the PM to come to the House and "concede that her Chequers plans are dead".

He expresses his disapproval that Parliament breaks again for a recess so soon after Summer so political parties can have a conference.

Ms Leadsom criticises Mr Wishart's approach, suggesting that he be more positive and stop "running down the United Kingdom".