Select Committee
Parliament

After some final questions on preparedness for no deal on the EU side, stockpiling medicines like insulin and of civil service work on Brexit, the committee finishes.

MPs are now heading over to the main Commons chamber for PMQs at midday...

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Parliament

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Shadow international development minister Preet Kaur Gill asks what is being done to ensure humanitarian aid reaches those that need it in Yemen and is not restricted by "warring parties".

Minister Alistair Burt says: "It is a conflict, it is a tragedy that blockages are used in that conflict... Only getting the negotiated solution through can end the conflict and end the humanitarian efforts. We are bending every effort to ensure that."

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Brexit and feeble jokes about dancing will be the order of the day as the gladiators take their places for the post conference resumption of PMQs…

And maybe the conference line that Labour will pick up will not be Theresa May’s “dancing queen” jive, but her proclamation of the “end of austerity".

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn regard this as an open goal, allowing Labour to raise problems like homelessness or police funding. Indeed, the recent figures on homelessness may attract questions from both sides of the chamber.

Today’s list of questioners is heavy on opposition MPs (just five out of 15 questioners are Conservatives) meaning that the Speaker will have to balance things up by calling other Tories as PMQs unfolds – and that opens up the prospect of Brexiteers taking the opportunity to press the PM to drop her existing plans (the “Chequers Deal”, which maintains close ties with the EU) and switch to their preferred “Canada, plus, plus plus” model, which would give more flexibility to strike new global trade deals.

The list of questioners on the order paper does throw up some intriguing names - in particular, watch out for Stephen Hammond, the ex-minister who’s one of the leading figures on the soft Brexit/Remain wing of the Tories.

There will be more Brexit-related questions from the SNP’s Joanna Cherry – who has a constituency case involving an EU national, and the Lib Dem former Scottish Secretary, Alistair Carmichael, who will ask about fisheries.

Elsewhere, expect questions on tightening up the law on Modern Slavery (from Labour’s Jim MacMahon), Caroline Flint, the Labour ex-minister, is expected to ask about Universal Credit. one on encouraging the performing arts outside London (Conservative Pauline Latham) and possibly about the centenary of the U-boat sinking of the RMS Leinster, at the very end of the First World War – which led to the largest loss of life in the Irish Sea.

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Parliament

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Labour MP Lynn Brown asks the first of today's International Development questions, requesting an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Minister Alistair Burt says 22.2 million Yemenis need humanitarian assistance, but the response to this is "complicated".

Ms Brown suggests the UN has said "we are losing our fight" to help Yemen, and asks what people in the UK can do. Mr Burt says ensuring the conflict is bought to an end is vital for the Yemeni people.

"If the wound is to be fully closed, every effort must be on the political track to end the conflict... we are doing everything we can to seek the solution."

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Labour's Stephen Kinnock asks the panel for their view that there will be no agreement unless there is agreement on frictionless trade.

Mr Jessop says that the economy has continued to grow at a "fairly healthy pace" although investment has fallen. The economy seems to be continuing "pretty much as normal".

Ms Rutter says that additional friction will be introduced in any scenario that is not the EU single market and customs union. She says she will be surprised if the prime minister can secure a deal which is truly frictionless as it currently is.

Sir Simon replies that these statements on frictionless trade are largely "for a domestic audience" and the "platitudes" are deliberately vague on the matter.

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Stephen Crabb asks if there is a feeling that the EU wants a second referendum to reverse the decision that was made.

Sir Simon says that those in the EU "regret but respect the decision," but that the majority of leaders would welcome a reversal from the UK.

House of Commons
Parliament

There are no ministerial statements or urgent questions today, so MPs proceed with business as is listed on the order paper:

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Business kicks off at 11.30am with questions to International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt and her team of ministers, before questions to the prime minister.

It's the first time Theresa May has faced MPs since the Salzburg summit, so there's plenty to ask about and could be spicy.

Conservative Theresa Villiers then presents her Criminal Records (Childhood Offences) Bill as a ten minute rule motion, before MPs turn their attention to the second reading of the Agriculture Bill, which makes provision for agriculture after Brexit. It's the first agriculture bill since 1947.

Finally, MPs look at the role of youth services in tackling youth violence in the adjournment debate, led by Tory Vicky Foxcroft.

Parliamentary politics in chaos and yawning divides across the parties.....

Is this the new normal at Westminster?

BBC parliamentary correspondents Sean Curran and Mark D'Arcy look ahead to what's happening in Parliament on Wednesday.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The DUP's Sammy Wilson asks how prepared the EU is for a no deal.

Sir Simon says that it is clear that the EU does not want the UK to leave, but they still believe that a deal can be done, although they are concerned about British political acceptance of a deal.

Mr Jessop says the EU did produce its preparedness notices for no deal, but they were more on legal aspects. He adds that it is "factually correct" that airlines will not be able to fly to the EU and that British parts and supply chains will not work if there is no agreement reached.

Ms Rutter says that 19 of the 67 no deal notices are still reliant on some "side deal" from the EU. There haven't been "technical talks" to mitigate risks of cars backing up at ports, for example.

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The SNP's Joanna Cherry asks Ms Rutter if her previous advice, when Theresa May came to office, that the Department for Exiting the EU should not carry out negotiations, still stands.

Ms Rutter says that it was always inevitable that the Cabinet Office would end up taking over negotiations.

She adds that DexEU is "performing some important functions" such as implementation of legislation.

Select Committee
Parliament

Hilary Benn asks what the likelihood is of reaching a deal by the end of December 2020.

Sir Simon says it is his view that the extended negotiation period will have to be extended again after December 2020, or else the UK will still face a cliff-edge.

Ms Rutter adds that most of next summer "is a write off" because of commitments the EU has.

Mr Jessop says that December 2020 "should be enough" as the UK is already "largely converged" with the EU's regulations currently.

He adds that "continually kicking the can down the road" reduces the pressure for negotiators to complete a deal. He says he believes the "default" in 2020 should be to revert to WTO rules even if no agreement is reached.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Chair, Hilary Benn, continues his questioning on no-deal to the new panel.

Jill Rutter, of the Institute for Government, says that it is not just about government being ready, but also business.

Businesses are assuming the EU to be amicable, but this may not be the case if the no deal is acrimonious, she adds.

Julian Jessop, of the Institute for Economic Affairs, says that the "degree of uncertainty" is "very high". He says there has been a "lack of cohesion" in government over different approaches to take.

Sir Simon Fraser, of Chatham House, says the withdrawal agreement seems to be going quite well between the professional negotiators. He says the final deal is "a long way off" because the UK doesn't have clarity on what it is trying to achieve.

He adds that preparation for no deal "is not going particularly well" on either side.

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Parliament

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The Chair, Hilary Benn, says that if the UK leaves the EU at the end of December 2020 with no significant progress on Brexit then that will be as bad as a cliff-edge in March 2019.

He asks if it is better to continue no deal planning even if a cliff-edge Brexit is avoided.

Sir Amyas says "that is true".

With that, the session moves on to the next witnesses.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The SNP's Peter Grant asks about the use of non-disclosure agreements by the government over Brexit.

Sir Amyas says he does not regard the use of these as "unsatisfactory" because it is standard practice by some governments to speak to business under NDAs about issues on the horizon.

He says it is different when, for example, the NHS is using gagging orders against their staff.

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Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse asks about the risks of leaving the EU.

Sir Amyas says that no government would normally agree to take on the amount of risk that this one has in such a short amount of time in preparing for Brexit.

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Conservative Stephen Crabb asks if there is any evidence that the civil service are trying to work against Brexit.

Sir Amyas says that civil servants are "far too professional" and are putting so much work into Brexit that this is not the case.

Select Committee
Parliament

WTO is not "laissez-faire" says Sir Amyas, it is "quite a detailed and heavy rule book" on how to do trade.

"It is not a simple easy solution to everything," he finishes.

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Parliament

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Conservative Peter Bone says there must time for Parliamentary Counsel to get the SIs "correct". He asks if Sir Amyas has looked at the "possibility of a problem there".

Sir Amyas says there is a possibility for people with constitutional law expertise to come in and provide extra help to the already capable staff in Parliament.

Mr Bone says the future trade agreement "will be WTO rules", and he says it is "inconceivable" that aeroplanes would not be able to fly after Brexit.

Sir Amyas says this is not "implausible" and would be likely to happen "by mistake" rather than deliberately.

"If we don't continue to be members of the chemical industry body in Europe" then all the UK's exports in this sector, which largely go to Europe, "will just stop" if agreement is not reached, he says.

Select Committee
Parliament

Sir Amyas tells Seema Malhotra that there are civil servants who are finding out about the government's preparedness for Brexit from National Audit Office reports.

He says that he is "thrilled" about the wider readership of his reports, but he isn't sure this is a good state of affairs.

He adds that the secrecy over the UK's preparedness has been "taken a bit too far, frankly".