House of Lords
Parliament

Peers are now voting on amendment 40.

This is a Labour amendment which would give parliamentary oversight over verification guidance for exempted status through regulations, rather that purely through non-statutory means as currently in the bill.

Labour spokesperson Baroness Jones of Whitchurch said she would push for a decision after she wasn't satisfied the government had given their concerns proper consideration.

An amendment to it requires the secretary of state to provide guidance on the law regarding abortion and same-sex marriage.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers move onto amendments 37 and 39, which concern the registration of ivory items.

Amendment 37 is withdrawn by Lord Cormack, "I know when I'm beat, I don't think it would serve any purpose to press this amendment", he says, following the government minister's response.

Lord Carrington of Fulham says his concern is that if an item is not registered it cannot be sold, so it should not have any value. However, he says "tax inspectors view their job as maximising tax revenue", so HMRC may say that if it was registered it would have value.

He says his amendment 39 is "something to say to HMRC that...an ivory item that is not registered has no value...so the wonderful inspectors at HMRC keep their sticky fingers off it."

The amendment is added to the bill without division.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs vote on the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill at third reading.

The bill allows civil servants in Northern Ireland to make decisions in certain areas whilst the Executive remains suspended.

Ayes: 344

Noes: 26

Majority: 318

The bill passes by 344 votes to 26 and will now proceed to the House of Lords.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers have voted against Lord Inglewood's amendment 24.

Content: 18

Not content: 249

Peers now move onto the next group of amendments, which concern impact reports on the bill.

Labour's Baroness Quin moves amendment 27, which asks for a report on the impact of the bill on the hire and sale of musical instruments.

Lord Grantchester says amendment 78 includes a report on the implementation and impact of the ivory ban. The Labour peer says it is about government learning what can it do to ensure it is done properly. Lib Dem Baroness Jones of Nantwich then tables amendment 41.

Speaking for the government, Baroness Vere of Norbiton says the government "fully appreciates the sentiment" behind this group of amendments.

"I can reassure as a matter of course government will assess the impact and implementation over time, in particular its enforcement."

With this, the amendments are withdrawn.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs have backed the Labour MP Stella Creasy's amendment on abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland by a big majority of ninety.

The amendment to the Northern Ireland Bill wouldn't actually change the law there, but it would require the secretary of state to monitor and protect human rights there.

Voting was 207 to 117. MPs, including Conservatives, were given a free vote.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Government minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble tables the first of a group of government amendments, which require regulations to be considered when judging ivory items, rather than decisions being made based on guidance from the government.

The amendment is added to the bill without division.

Government spokesperson Baroness Vere of Norbiton then tables the second group, which are then also added without division.

Labour's Baroness Jones of Whitchurch withdraws amendment 13.

Peers move onto amendment 24, which "removes registration as a precondition of allowed sales of de minimis objects containing ivory".

Speaking in support of the amendment, Lord Inglewood says it would bring the UK in line with the rest of the world. "I do find it odd that we are being told that the right way to tackle this is rather different to the rest of the world." He says he will therefore push it to a vote.

House of Commons
Parliament

Stella Creasy and Conor McGinn's amendment is passed.

Ayes: 207

Noes: 117

Majority: 90

The amendment passes and will now become part of the bill.

MPs now move on to the third reading and prepare to vote on the Northern Ireland Bill.

House of Commons
Parliament

"We love who we love, we all want control over our bodies," Labour MP Stella Creasy says, as MPs divide to vote on her amendment.

The amendment would increase accountability of the secretary of state and senior officers of Northern Ireland departments for their role in ensuring human rights compliance in Northern Ireland, in the absence of Northern Ireland ministers.

It asks them to address incompatibilities between legislation applied in Northern Ireland and human rights obligations - focused on abortion and single sex marriage, where the law is different in Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.

House of Commons
Parliament

The DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly urges everybody not to support Stella Creasy's amendment as "this is a hugely controversial issue in Northern Ireland and this is the wrong way to do this".

"Abortion is very clearly a devolved issue," she says, "this is rightfully for the Northern Ireland Assembly."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Anna Soubry says Labour MP Stella Creasy's amendment is "meek and mild" and "should not be causing as much fuss as it is".

She says "it is a matter of conscience," and amendment 7 does not change the law, "it is about accountability by the secretary of state and guidance on human rights."

Anna Soubry says "the laws on abortion in Northern Ireland are barbaric," and urges MPs to vote for the amendment.

"Everyone should have these basic human rights, and this amendment is about maintaining the rights of our fellow citizens in the United Kingdom," she says.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare says "there is a cruelty in Stella Creasy's amendment as civil servants are not empowered to make new laws in the Northern Ireland Bill and this debate will raise a huge amount of hope but not deliver on it."

House of Commons
Parliament

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Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley sums up the committee stage of the Northern Ireland Bill.

She says "this is not about civil servants becoming law makers or senior policy deciders."

The Northern Ireland secretary says: "I want to remind people here that I don't want to be introducing this legislation, but it is unfortunately necessary."

She calls on the parties in Northern Ireland to form an Assembly, and says the bill is necessary "to deliver public services in Northern Ireland."

"Stella Creasy's amendment is flawed because the bill does not give civil servants power to change the law," she says.

Karen Bradley says she has "immense respect" for the campaigning of Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Conor McGinn and that she supports "change on abortion and same sex marriage in Northern Ireland", however "it’s a matter for the Assembly".

Intervening, Stella Creasy asks the secretary of state to "recognise that she has an important role to play as a check and balance on women's rights in Northern Ireland".

Karen Bradley confirms that "on this side of the bench, MPs will have a free vote on the amendment" and the party whip will not be applied.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Peers are debating the next group of amendments to the Ivory Bill.

Conservative Lord De Mauley says that "as the bill stands, it would forbid the sale of the most outstanding and rarest examples of Art Deco design, whilst allowing the sale of ordinary upright pianos mass produced as recently as the 1950s."

He says the antiques trade supports the idea of items being checked by third parties and being granted exemption certificates, but he says concerns about problems identifying ivory are focused on "low priced, solid ivory", not on "culturally valuable works of art".

His amendments would prevent the "inevitable loss" of "many thousands of genuine antique objects", he says.

Following resistance by other peers, he withdraws his amendment, stating: "Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow Northern Ireland minister Karin Smyth says she is going to focus her attention on Stella Creasy's amendment as she sums up the committee stage of proceedings.

Ms Smyth says "it is our belief on the internationalism of women's rights, and women's reproductive rights are at the core of this."

"The issue at heart is how much greater suffering the government is willing to inflict on women from Northern Ireland," she says, noting "we cannot support human rights away from the UK but ignore human rights issues closer to home."

House of Commons
Parliament

Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee Andrew Murrison says he is going to "turn the temperature down" and talk about his amendments.

His first amendment would prevent the Secretary of State from extending the deadline for appointment of Northern Ireland Ministers without the approval of Parliament.

His second amendment highlights four key areas where guidance must be issued, including implementing the recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (The Hart Report) and decisions on planning for post Brexit policy.

"The guidance as it stands makes a great deal about the economy in Northern Ireland, but farming and growing should have their own strategy in Northern Ireland which should be encouraged under the secretary of state's guidance," he says.

Peers have vote against Amendment 2 as the Ivory Bill is considered at report stage.

Content: 20

Not content: 323

Majority: 303

The amendment would have removed restrictions on exports of ivory from the UK that are for sale or for hire.

Lord De Mauley is now tabling Amendment 3.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Responding to peers who have spoken to the amendment, Lord Gardiner says the government want to do "everything they can to protect elephants".

"The interest and importance of these animals must come before privately owned objects", he says.

Lord Cormack stands to respond and says "no elephant is going to be saved by the insistence on registering a chest of drawers".

Lord Cormack insists peers vote on the amendment that would remove restrictions on exports of ivory from the UK.

The result is expected at 18.05.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says "Labour MPs don't speak more for the people of my constituency than I do."

"Why don’t the Labour Party put themselves forward for election in Northern Ireland if they care so much," he says.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says Stella Creasy's amendment "interferes with devolution", and the 2016 Supreme Court judgement on abortion "does not mean the law in Northern Ireland has to change".

He reminds MPs that it was the House of Commons that decided to devolve the issues of abortion and marriage to Northern Ireland, and says that most people in Northern Ireland "don't want the law".

"The party that is preventing the executive from dealing with abortion is Sinn Fein," Mr Donaldson says.

In reference to the amendment calling for an election if ministerial offices are not filled in Northern Ireland by 26 March 2019, he says "there is no point in an election for the sake of an election."

"We're not running away from the issues, but they should be dealt with in the right place," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Fiona Bruce says there is "no need for this amendment in this emergency bill."

Fellow Tory MP Heidi Allen asks if there is "a bigger emergency than the rights of women in Northern Ireland right now".

Fiona Bruce says "guidance should not change the law" and asks the Northern Ireland secretary to reassure MPs that she will "guard against this happening".

"This issue rightly does need reconsideration, but in the right elective chamber where the elected people can be accountable to the people they represent," she says.

Fiona Bruce says the amendment "undermines devolution", to which fellow Tory MP Sarah Wollaston intervenes to say Ms Bruce is "arguing for a hard border in the Irish Sea when it comes to abortion".

Ms Bruce says "many people in Northern Ireland don't want to see changes to these issues and Parliament must respect that."

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Stella Creasy introduces her amendment which would ask Northern Ireland ministers to consider human rights legislation when debating issues including gay marriage and abortion.

She says the amendment is "incredibly reasonable for the people of Northern Ireland" as it "respects devolution, and addresses issues that cannot simply be left for longer".

"This bill recognises resolving functions in the Northern Ireland Assembly is a long way ahead of us, so it gives guidance powers to the secretary of state. This amendment uses those powers in a positive way," she says.

Stella Creasy informs MPs this would not make a new law on abortion, but recognises two key human rights issues being debated in Northern Ireland today - "the right of someone being able to marry who they love, and the right of women to not continue with an unwanted pregnancy."

She says the government "recognises in Northern Ireland that they have different rules", but it should not be the case that "if you are raped, become pregnant and seek an abortion, you could face a longer prison sentence than your attacker".

Ms Creasy says 28 women a week are travelling from Northern Ireland to England for abortions every week.

"As this doesn't make a new law, but doesn't shy away from these prominent issues, it is completely in line with the Good Friday Agreement," she says.

She calls for the opposition to "not use devolution as a decoy for ignoring people's human rights".

"If the secretary of state can't stand up for the rights of the people in Northern Ireland while there is no Assembly, who can?" she asks.