House of Lords
Parliament

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Bringing the debate to an end for the government, Lord Keen of Elie echoes Baroness Chakrabarti in urging for the bill to be "taken forward effectively and speedily, and that we therefore keep it within the compass that has been set by the terms of the bill."

"If we seek to go arms and legs on this legislation, I fear it may come to grief."

He tries to address concerns about the scope of the bill:

• On those taking images for financial gain, he says it is recognised that that would be for someone's sexual gratification, "there's no potential financial gain otherwise...we consider that area covered."
• If an image was shared for someone else's sexual gratification, he says that would also be covered on those grounds.
• On the distribution of an image by someone who did not take it, "that raises certain particular issues of its own", he lists a number of existing pieces of legislation that may cover it.
• He adds that the Law Commission has been asked to consider the wider concerns about the distribution of images on a wider basis, "this is not the bill in which we should attempt to address the wider issues of distribution."
• There would be anonymity for a victim if someone was prosecuted under the terms of the bill, he says.
• For those taking photos, "for a laugh", he says "it is perfectly clear that...that is bound to cause distress, and is therefore again covered."

The bill then progresses, without division, to committee, where it will receive greater scrutiny.

Industry leaders say government plans for medicines supply are not enough and leaving EU could threaten supply chain.

Select Committee
Parliament

Chair Dr Sarah Wollaston closes the evidence session, thanking the Secretary of State for his time.

Join us tomorrow morning for more action from the select committee rooms.

The Civil Liability Bill proposes new tariff amounts for successful whiplash injury claims.

The Lord Chancellor would set these tariffs, but must consult the Lord Chief Justice before doing so.

According to the draft tariff regulations:

• Someone with a whiplash injury lasting between a few weeks and three months would receive £235 when the average payment for the same period of injury in 2015 was £1,750.
• Someone with a whiplash injury lasting between seven and nine months would receive £805, down from £2,600 in 2015.
• Someone with a whiplash injury lasting between a year and 15 months would receive £1,910, down from £3,500 in 2015.
• Someone with a whiplash injury lasting two years would receive £3,910, down from £4,500 in 2015.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti praises the campaigners behind the bill, "as someone who has spent most of my adult life resisting unnecessary criminal offences, I know a genuine and serious gap in the criminal statute book when I see it."

She echoes other peers in expressing concerns about motivations and distribution, adding that "this is a serious criminal offence that's being created, it is in the best traditions...for serious offences to have some kind of mental element".

Upskirting is "an urgent problem", she says, and adds: "It's very important that, not withstanding wider concerns about other matters, that we the speediest passage to this tightly crafted criminal offence."

She urges peers "to resist using this bill for our many numerous other concerns around misogyny and misogynist crimes", as was done in the Commons, "other matters ought to be dealt with in another vehicle."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Chair Sarah Wollaston says 8% of the social care workforce is made up of EU nationals and asks the health secretary what the extra cost of the visa arrangements that will need to be made for those staff, post-Brexit, will be.

Mr Hancock says the extra costs are yet to be decided as the immigration policy white paper has not been agreed but assures the committee he is working closely alongside the Home Office in formulating it.

The health secretary says the timescales for applying to come to the UK need to be made "shorter and easier", to limit the bureaucracy around social care staff acquiring visas.

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House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Jack Brereton says: "This bill at the moment is about insurance being fair, and at the moment it is not fair, as due to compensation culture, the number of fraudulent claims have grown in recent years."

Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch says that "these measures will reduce the cost of motor insurance premiums by an average of £35 a year".

She says tariffs are being imposed "to simplify the process for those who have been injured, while ensuring the compensation they receive is proportionate".

Due to this, Ms Badenoch says, "There is no need for this second amendment."

She notes that amendment introduced by Labour would also prevent a judge from reviewing the tariff level at a later date, which is "counterproductive".

"This bill will make things easier for genuine whiplash claimants," she says.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat spokesman Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames says he remains to be convinced that the bill will cover all future circumstances in which upskirting takes place.

He does not wish for a bill to be introduced that would offer "those who ought to be convicted a gratuitous and undeserved route to acquital by erecting articifical hurdles for the prosecution."

He fears that there "may incidents of upskirting where the perpetrator could argue that ... his interest was mere entertainment or banter with friends."

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw asks whether "emergency powers" will be used to change patients' drugs after Brexit, if there is a supply shortage.

Mr Hancock says the NHS constantly have a "shortage" of certain types of drugs or equipment and it is a "standard situation".

The response can be both to look for alternative supply lines or make a clinically based decision and says the same processes will be applied.

He assures the committee there is a lot of planning going on behind the scenes to prevent shortages.

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House of Lords
Parliament

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Former Lord Chief Justice and crossbench peer Lord Judge says the bill "is a good bill", but "there is a gap".

"The bill doesn't cover distribution - the purpose of the taker of the upskirt [picture] may be to distribute it, but it doesn't cover the consequences if he does distribute it and others distribute."

He says there's no "distribution for fun" in the bill, and says it ought to also be an offence for someone to share an upskirt image, even if they didn't take it.

There needs to be "a specific offence for those who choose to distribute the results of somebody else's foul work", he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Alex Chalk says: "This debate is not about access to justice, it is far more restricted, calibrated and proportionate."

Mr Chalk clarifies that if a person suffers injuries lasting over two years "the tariffs will not be imposed".

Labour MP Andrew Slaughter says "it is the level of the tariff which cannot in any way compensate for what in many cases are real injuries."

Mr Chalk says the tariff rates are "fair, proportionate and sensible".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative peer Baroness Barran reflects on the "fragmented nature of the legislation in this area, which in some ways mirrors that in the field of domestic abuse".

She says it's been argued that much of upskirting is already covered by existing legislation, but warns that "we know from domestic abuse that where the legislation is very fragmented, it often means it is poorly understood and inconsistently implemented."

"It would be very helpful if we could bring the offences together in one place."

She says the bill is "definitely a helpful step forward" but adds that "there is still much to do beyond this to prevent violence against women".

Select Committee
Parliament

Committee Chair Dr Sarah Wollaston welcomes Health Secretary Matt Hancock and asks: "Could you give us a picture of where we are now?"

"I do not see a no-deal Brexit as the most likely outcome, and I remain optimistic that we will be able to get a good deal," Mr Hancock says.

Mr Hancock says the government will do what is necessary to "support the flow of medicines" in the event of a no-deal and says it is the responsibility of the pharmaceutical industries to deliver on the contracts they have.

"As long as everyone does what they need to do, we will have an unhindered supply of medicines," he says.

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Select Committee
Parliament

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SNP MP Lisa Cameron asks about the maintenance of NHS service delivery in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Saffron Cordery of NHS Providers cites the workforce as a "massively challenging area" for a long time, and says the 2016 EU referendum result has "compounded" that challenge.

She says the NHS is looking at recruiting staff from "beyond the European Economic Area", but this is not simple as many different roles are required to be filled.

Ms Cordery suggests the use of agency workers as an option but notes that the NHS has been "trying very hard to cut down" on such staff.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Burt of Solihull says the possible motivations covered in the bill "seem a little thin" and the question remains whether the bill would allow "sneaky defence barristers" to prevent prosecution for upskirting.

"The legislation, as I understand it, criminalises the taking of an image, not the further distribution," she says. "If we fail to criminalise distribution, we fail to recognise the further distress and humiliation that victims will suffer."

MPs demand action after finding women face 'relentless' harassment on the streets across the UK.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Huw Merriman says it is "completely illogical" for Labour MPs to "deny that something fishy is going on with whiplash insurance claims".

He says he is "surprised by the attitudes" of Labour MPs as "this is a bill which helps the many genuine claimants, and not the few fraudulent ones".

Mr Merriman says young people in his rural constituency of Bexhill and Battle are being "priced out of driving by insurance costs", and that this legislation "will help to bring costs down".

"Insurance companies must pass this payment down to customers," he says.

Mr Merriman says "the intention of this amendment is good, but it would have the backfiring effect of going against the premise of this bill in reducing the number of fraudulent whiplash claims."

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Baroness Gale welcomes the bill, but says the welcome is "not entirely without criticism".

She asks for the minister to look again at including restrictions on the sharing of images in the bill when it reaches committee. She adds that focus on the perpetrator's motives should be removed to ensure that all victims of upskirting are treated consistently.

"It is well known that the victim of sexual offences can be reluctant to come forward, hopefully this will go some way to helping them."

The Health and Social Care Committee is hearing from academics and representatives from the NHS and the life science sectors, as well as from the secretary of state on the likely impact of a no-deal Brexit on the health and social care sector, along with the key risks to patients, health and care services and companies.

The committee will also hear evidence on the effectiveness of planning by the government and stakeholders for a no-deal scenario.

In August, the group representing hospitals and ambulance services in England warned of a lack of "contingency planning" to deal with the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the health service.

You can read more about their warnings here.

The UK is set to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 and the two sides are currently negotiating the terms of its exit and its future relations in a whole range of issues.

Image source, Getty Images

House of Lords
Parliament

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The Voyeurism (Offences) (No.2) Bill is now receiving its second reading in the House of Lords. The bill, often referred to as the "upskirting bill", aims to prevent the taking of photos beneath a person's clothing to observe their genitalia or buttocks, whether covered or uncovered.

Opening the debate, Justice Minister Lord Keen of Elie says the bill "addresses a small but important gap in the current law, which means that not all circumstances in which upskirting occurs can be prosecuted."

"It is of course important that we keep that we continue to keep the law under review," he says, explaining that the government has committed to a review in two years time.

He says the bill passed through the Commons without any amendments, after concerns about the sharing of images and the purposes for why an image was taken were addressed in committee. He hopes the bill with pass through the Lords in the same way.