House of Lords
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat Baroness Miller respects those who have spoken in this debate and their "obvious passion for antique ivory" but says she does not support the amendment.

Baroness Miller says "any widening of the criteria, will increase the market for ivory objects" insisting that restrictions and exemptions on ivory are already very limited.

Peers are currently debating an amendment to the bill which would remove restrictions on exports of ivory from the UK that are for sale or for hire.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Nigel Mills introduces amendment 15 of the Northern Ireland Bill which he has tabled.

Amendment 15 would require elections in Northern Ireland to be called if ministerial offices are not filled by 26 March 2019.

Nigel Mills says "clarity in the law is needed to put pressure on those in Northern Ireland of the consequences if they have not reached an agreement by the end date."

"This would be a real line in the sand," he says, "and I would hope it would be of some assistance in the negotiations."

Mr Mills introduces his second amendment, amendment 16, which would require the more highly-paid public appointments to be subject to scrutiny by the Northern Ireland Affairs select committee of the House of Commons.

He says many government departments have scrutiny committees ahead of appointments already, "and this would merely be replicating that".

Nigel Mills suggests a highly-paid person is somebody earning over £100,000 and would "give the people in Northern Ireland some comfort that the right people are doing the jobs, and in a suitable manner".

"We cannot underestimate the trust and confidence of the public in these individuals," he says.

House of Lords
Parliament

Viscount Hailsham says he agrees with the main aim of the legislation which is to "prevent elephant poaching" but says there will be is a "flagrant interference" with private property and cause a "loss of artefacts" containing ivory.

Report stage gives all members of the Lords a further opportunity to examine and make amendments (changes) to a bill.

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House of Commons
Parliament

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Northern Ireland Minister Shailesh Vara says the Northern Ireland Bill is essential as it "will ensure we have space to get the Assembly up and running again".

He says the time limits posed in the bill are "necessary to get Northern Ireland back to normality as soon as possible".

"The government will take steps to extend legislation to Northern Ireland while no Assembly is in place on a case by case basis, balancing the need for these laws and our respect for devolution," the minister says.

Mr Vara says the government "would have preferred that the parties in Northern Ireland would have come to a resolution by now", but as they have not "action must be taken".

The bill passes its second reading without division.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow Northern Ireland minister Stephen Pound sums up the second reading debate, saying there has been "a thread of sadness" running through this debate "due to the fact that we got to this stage".

"It is impossible to continue in this present situation," the shadow minister says.

Mr Pound draws attention to the briefing list from the Commons Library which includes "page after page of outstanding issues in Northern Ireland".

"We're allowing the civil service to act but we're not resolving the problem," he says.

Mr Pound says "we cannot go back now, Northern Ireland deserves much better."

Select Committee
Parliament

Meg Hillier closes the evidence session and thanks the Department for Transport's officials for their time.

She asks that they write to the committee with the additional information they requested throughout the session.

House of Lords
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Former Conservative foreign secretary Lord Hague of Richmond opposes the amendment, "which I think would be very destructive of the objectives of the bill."

"Our ultimate objective" is to the "end the demand for new ivory", he says.

"The answer in the end is to end the demand for ivory," and he says other governments will only close their domestic markets for ivory if the UK does the same. They told him: "If you don't stop your exports, it's much harder for us."

Government minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble agrees that the amendment would be "contrary to the bill's purpose... by closing this market we want to ensure that the UK no longer drives the demand for ivory." He asks for the amendment to be withdrawn.

Lord Cormack says he may bring something back on third reading, to which the minister responds: "I have no option but to say that I will say exactly the same at third reading."

Select Committee
Parliament

Chair Meg Hillier asks about closures and roadworks on motorways after Brexit day.

Highways England should be talking to local partners in the Kent region to spot potential issues that could arise, in advance.

Ms Kelly says the Department for Transport has created a 'Kent Resilience forum' to facilitate these discussions.

You can read about the M20 and Operation Brock here.

House of Lords
Parliament

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After the Non-Domestic Rating (Nursery Grounds) Bill passes third reading without division, peers now move onto debating the Ivory Bill at report stage.

Conservative Lord Cormack has tabled an amendment to the bill that would remove restrictions on exports of ivory from the UK for sale or hire.

"If we're going to prevent people from realising their own legitimately acquired assets, surely we're not going to prevent them from selling them in a country where it is entirely legal," he says, "this is common justice as well as common sense."

House of Commons
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The DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly says "If Sinn Fein wants to boycott the Assembly, then allow those that want to work to work."

On the issue of abortion, she says the DUP "have listened to the incredibly difficult experiences of women".

She calls for Parliament to "let MLAs approach the situation with compassion and care in the Assembly where it rightly should be dealt with".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Vicky Ford says the peace now "is very precious and very fragile".

Ms Ford says she cannot support Stella Creasy's amendment which would see the secretary of state issuing guidance to Northern Ireland in relation to human rights and anti-abortion law as "it is not for us to decide as this is a localised issue".

"I will support this bill later today, but with a heavy heart as I wish we were not here," she says.

House of Commons
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Labour MP Owen Smith says "torpor, drift and lassitude" are defining characteristics of Northern Ireland politics at the moment.

"It is essential that we get the Assembly back, but if the Assembly cannot deal with it, ministers in the Northern Ireland Office must start speaking up on Brexit," he says.

"If they do not speak up, they are letting the people of Northern Ireland down," he says.

House of Lords
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Labour's Lord West of Spithead now asks a Private Notice Question - the equivalent in the Lords of an urgent question - about the government's assessment of the United States withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Responding, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon says the government is aware of the statements made by President Donald Trump threatening to withdraw, but points out that the US has not formally withdrawn from the treaty.

"Whilst the treaty remains in force the United Kingdom will continue to support it...We, of course, want the treaty to continue to stand, but that requires all parties to abide by it and at the moment one side is in violation.

"Russia needs to respect its obligations, as the treaty has made valuable contributions to European security for over 30 years."

Asked by Labour's Lord Collins of Highbury whether the US consulted with the UK or other European allies before making their announcement, Lord Ahmad says "the issue of Russia's non-compliance was not something new".

Pushed by crossbench Lord Hannay of Chiswick, Lord Ahmad repeats that the US has not yet withdrawn from the treaty but there was discussion at the recent Nato summit, "so it came as no surprise".

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asks if the Transport department has everything it needs from government to make adequate preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

Bernadette Kelly says the department has the authority it needs, but notes there are 66 statutory instruments it needs to seek approval for.

Statutory Instruments (SIs) are a form of legislation which allow the provisions of an Act of Parliament to be subsequently brought into force or altered without Parliament having to pass a new Act.

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House of Lords
Parliament

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Crossbencher Lord Luce asks what steps are being taken to protect the impartiality of the civil service following recent political criticisms of the Brexit process.

Government spokesman Lord Young of Cookham pays tribute to Sir Jeremy Heywood, who has announced he is standing down as head of the civil service, and says civil service impartiality is a "fundamental tenant of our system of government".

Lord Luce asks him to condemn criticism of civil servants involved with Brexit negotiations.

"Oliver Robbins [the PM's Europe Advisor] has the most difficult job in the civil service," Lord Young says, "it is quite wrong that he should be the lightening conductor for those unhappy with the Brexit negotiations and I deplore the anonymous allegation that he is following his own agenda against the wishes of ministers."

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning says "the bill is far from perfect, but the secretary of state is dancing on the head of a pin as the whole area around the Northern Ireland agreement is in a difficult situation."

"This is as close to direct rule as we're going to get without direct rule," he says.

Sir Mike Penning says Sinn Fein must "come out and say if they want an Assembly", and if they do want it to sit, "they must get in to the table and thrash it out like their predecessors did."

"I don't like the idea of abortion personally, but I believe in women having a choice," he says.

"I do not however think that this amendment should be in the bill, as while I think abortion should be legalized in Northern Ireland, this is not up to us here," he says.

Mr Penning says if Labour MP Stella Creasy's amendment is included in the bill, he cannot vote in favour of the legislation.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Chris Davies asks what the department's latest plans are for "checks on the borders" at Dover when Brexit is implemented.

Bernadette Kelly says there will not be checks on the UK side of the border, but we "cannot know" how the French will decide to operate on their side of the port.

It is important that "traffic will continue to flow", she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The DUP's Gavin Robinson says in the absence of an Assembly, "sensible legislation that has been agreed on in Parliament should extend to Northern Ireland".

He cites the Civil Liability Bill which passed yesterday and seeks to reform the process for whiplash claims as an example.

"We come here to discuss issues that we'd like to be extended to Northern Ireland too, but are told they're devolved issues so they can't," Mr Robinson says.

"This bill doesn't take the opportunity to allow civil servants to ask MLAs about policy issues," he says.

House of Lords
Parliament

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In a follow up to a question from Conservative peer Baroness Anelay of St Johns about plans to promote freedom of religion or belief, Liberal Democrat Baroness Northover asks Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon to recognise the 40% rise in religious hate crimes in the United Kingdom between 2017-18.

"In this context, does he feel it's appropriate that Tommy Robinson was entertained in the Lords by a member here?" she asks.

Lord Ahmad says "I don't think it's right...we need to take a long hard look at ourselves in this House."

"He is someone who, the views that he expresses, are not just appalling against the community he targets, but we are all rightly appalled. It's important to review our procedures to ensure individuals such as Tommy Robinson do not enter the heart of democracy."

He says Lords stand united against rising religious hate crime.