House of Commons
Parliament

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SNP's environment and rural affairs spokesperson Angus MacNeil says "fishing is a huge issue in Scotland and is integral in the lives that we lead and the people that we know".

Mr MacNeil says he has previously worked in fisheries and "it is vital that we get this Fisheries Bill right."

He says the Western Isles Fisherman Association have issued concerns with the bill which include field management, and says seals in the Western Isles are eating £75m of fish a year and that contraceptive darts might reduce their numbers.

Mr MacNeil says Scottish fishermen "have lost a lot of money this summer" due to the "lack of investment made in fishing by the government".

He says the £12m investment from the government in the fishing industry announced in the budget "won't necessarily go to the right places".

"The government have a great responsibility to take a different tack and reform fishing policy with this bill, and we'll be watching them with a beady eye for years to come," he concludes.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Sheryll Murray, a campaigner on fisheries issues who lost her husband in a fishing accident, says the industry is a "shadow of its former self".

Other EU vessels takes five times more in quantity from UK fishing waters, than UK takes from others, she says.

Praising the bill, Ms Murray asserts that British fish must "not be used to buy a trade deal with the EU".

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House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Lord Haskel asks the final question in the Lords today on protecting the UK's critical infrastructure from a cyber attack.

Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Lord Young of Cookham says "preventing the UK's critical infrastructure from any cyber attacks is at the heart of our 2018 cyber strategy".

He says the National Cyber Security Centre the government has established has "helped to more comprehensively understand the nature of cyber threat, and prompt more discussion on the matters," and says that managing cyber threat "is in the national interest".

Lord Haskel says the committee have defined the government's position as "short on delivery and lacking in expertise", and asks if a minister will be appointed specifically to address the "growing concerns in this area".

Lord Young says the joint committee on national security published "a comprehensive report" two days ago which gave 10 recommendations "which the government will respond to in due course".

Conservative peer Baroness Couttie asks what the impact of a no deal Brexit would be on cyber security.

Lord Young says: "The government has made it clear that we would like to maintain the strongest communication as possible with our EU partners, and to continue to share security information."

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord Lamont of Lerwick asks if the government have heard the tapes of Mr Khashoggi's murder and what they make of them, and if they will pursue the trials of the people involved in his murder after they have now been named by the Saudi Arabian government.

Baroness Goldie says "we do not comment on intelligence matters", however in relation to the court proceedings against 11 individuals, the government will monitor proceedings.

"The government are totally opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances," she adds.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Northover asks Baroness Goldie if she is "as sickened over President Trump's announcement this morning that he cannot hold Saudi Arabia to account through fear of losing jobs" as she is, and asks if there is similarities with the case of Matthew Hedges, a PHD student who has been jailed for life for allegedly spying in the United Arab Emirates, in that both "belittle human rights".

Baroness Goldie says "human rights must always be defended, and we are a leading global player in that respect."

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Lord Hoyle asks about talks the government has had with the government of Saudi Arabia on human rights in that country.

In response, Baroness Goldie says the government "regularly discusses" human rights with the government of Saudi Arabia.

She says Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt travelled to Saudia Arabia to discuss a range of issues including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

Lord Hoyle asks why the government "continue to pussyfoot about and dither with this regime" when they should be "imposing sanctions on them".

Baroness Goldie says "the United Kingdom has always regarded Saudi Arabi as an important ally," but says "the foreign secretary has not been afraid to make his concerns heard."

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Baroness Lister of Burtersett asks about Brexit's impact on poverty. She says the UN expert examining poverty in the UK suggests the impact is being treated "as an afterthought".

Lord Bates says the number of people in poverty has been steadily falling, whilst exports and jobs have been rising. Work is the best route out of poverty, he says.

Another Labour peer Lord Foulkes of Cumnock says the CBI and others are only now "cosying up to the deal" because they're scared of the threat of no deal. There's a momentum growing in favour of a second referendum, he says.

Lord Bates says "we had a people's vote", which was the referendum, followed by "another people's vote, which was the election". The UK is on the brink of an agreement, and that's why people are supporting it, he says.

Tory Lord Deben says a second vote shouldn't be ruled out, especially as the deal puts Britain into a significantly worse position than it currently is as a member of the EU.

"I don't accept that premise," Lord Bates says.

Conservative Lord McKay of Clashfern says a second referendum would be a waste of valuable time, and instead the government should just bid to stay in the EU if they're defeated when the deal is put to MPs.

House of Commons
Parliament

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SNP environment spokesperson Deidre Brock says the UK will be in the Common Fisheries Policy "even after we leave" the European Union.

The bill is a "conjurors trick and not a good one", she says, adding “well done you Brexiteers, you certainly landed a whopper there”.

The current plan is for a transition period of 21 months to smooth the path from Brexit to the UK and EU's future permanent relationship.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Describing the difficulties in tracking fish numbers in the sea, chair of the Environment Committee Neil Parish calls for a "proper collection" and monitoring of fishing data.

"Scientists tell you one thing and fishermen will tell you that you could walk to America on the back of a cod because there are so many in the sea," he says.

He states his enthusiasm to get out of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and calls for a "much better job" to be done in setting total allowable catches and who has access to fisheries after Brexit.

House of Lords
Parliament

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The next question concerns discussions with the Chambers of Commerce and Confederation of British Industry representatives about the economic effects of Brexit, and is asked by Labour's Baroness Quin.

Speaking for the government, Lord Bates says they continue to engage with business groups and remains committed to ensuring the views of business are reflected in the approach to Brexit.

He says business response to the proposed withdrawal agreement has been positive.

Following a follow up question from Baroness Quin, he says the economic impact advice promised by the government on Monday will be published next week, providing there is agreement at the upcoming EU summit.

Lib Dem Baroness Kramer says businesses support a so-called "People's Vote" on the deal, to which Lord Bates disagrees, he says businesses want a deal "to get done". Tory Lord Cormack says another vote would only increase divisions over Brexit.

House of Lords
Parliament

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The House of Lords day begins with a question from Labour peer Baroness Donaghy on sustainability of funding for women’s refuges.

Minister Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth says since 2014 the government has invested £33.5m in domestic abuse services, with a further £22m for 2018-2020 announced earlier this month. They are also conducting a review of how services are commissioned and funded across England.

Lib Dem Baroness Burt of Solihull says funding for refuges is "a postcode lottery", with refuges spending an "inordinate amount of time" bidding for money they need to continue, instead of caring for for the women they admit.

60% of women had to be turned away in 2016-17, she says.

Lord Bourne repeats that a review is ongoing, adding that "we do fund quite a range of ways of providing refuges. It's not one size fits all."

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman says only a Labour government can secure a "thriving marine environment" but tells MPs they will not oppose the legislation, and will bring forward amendments at committee stage.

"We want to see more British fish, landed in British ports," she says.

MPs are currently debating the Fisheries Bill at second reading, which is the first opportunity to debate the main principles of the bill.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove repeatedly takes interventions from MPs across the chamber questioning the implications of the proposed withdrawal agreement on the fishing industry.

He says "there could be a £1bn fishing bonanza when we leave the EU".

"We will make sure that we put conservation first," he says. "We need to make sure that the network of marine conservation zones are used to regenerate fish stocks."

It is quite right to seek to restrict fishing that damages protected species, he says.

This bill allows the fishing industry to make decisions currently restricted by membership of the Common Fisheries Policy, he says, whilst there will be additional fishing quota that is "fair" and "sustainable".

In all, 83% of cod caught in the English channel is caught by French fishermen, he explains. compared to just 7% by English fishermen.

"We will have the opportunity to catch more fish in our own waters."

A group of MPs are told off by the Speaker for "displaying football skills" in the House of Commons.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Theresa May must have felt that she picked up today where she left off on Thursday, with another rolling interrogation on Brexit.

And she quickly defaulted into her weary but resolute mode.

Backbench Brexiteer Andrew Rosindell kicked off proceedings with a direct appeal for the PM to change course on Brexit, saying her plan is not the Brexit his Romford constituents voted for.

Then Jeremy Corbyn piled in with a well-targeted question picking up comments from ministers that “No Deal” is not an option, and asking if there were any circumstances where the UK would quit the EU without a deal – a question the prime minister didn’t really answer.

The confusion deepened a little later, when the PM confirmed to her ex-colleague Esther McVey that the UK would leave on the appointed date of 29 March – which at least implied that this was possible without a deal, and also seemed to pull back from previous warnings that failing to back her proposed Brexit deal risked “no Brexit at all".

DUP questions shows relations still cold

Another important moment came when the DUP Westminster Leader Nigel Dodds confirmed that his party’s relations with the government remain in the deep freeze, when he asked a hostile question about the disappearance of a government promise that the people of Northern Ireland would have the final say on any divergence from the UK’s single market.

You could hear the acid drip as he asked: “Did she press the delete button?”

No sign of kissing and making up there.

And that matters because it is hard to see how the PM’s deal gets through the Commons without Mr Dodds and his troops (now restored to full strength with the return from suspension of Ian Paisley Jr).

It was a noisy session but I was expecting it to be noisier still. Part of the reason may be that the the big-name Brexiteers who have been trying to unseat the PM did not intervene, which would surely have produced cheers and jeers aplenty (Jacob Rees Mogg was in the Chamber, but did not attempt to speak and left before the end of the session).

Another factor is that neither of the two main players was able to sound a clear trumpet note to their troops.

Jeremy Corbyn was in an excellent position to call for a second referendum, but clearly had no intention of doing so, and his mainly-remainer MPs were not, therefore, delighted; we already know that Theresa May’s deal has not exactly delighted Conservative MPs either (even the ones who support it) and a series of questions on the details (Bob Neill on Gibraltar, George Freeman on Northern Ireland, Neil Parish on agriculture) caught the wary mood on the Tory benches.

It seemed to me that the two leaders were both better at attacking each other than defending their own positions, which meant that a lot of time was taken up with accusations of “more muddled than thou”.

But the bottom line is that it is now close to impossible – in the absence of any overriding mega-event – to talk about anything but Brexit at PMQs.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Mr Gove pays tribute to the fishing industry as a "critical part" of this country's heritage and it is vital our coastal communities see a "renaissance" after Brexit.

"My father was a fish merchant. My family, for generations, have made their living from the sea", he says.

The environment secretary tells MPs that "one of the pleasures" in bringing forward the Fisheries Bill , externalis the "recognition "that the common fisheries policy did damage - environmental, economic and to coastal communities".

Following Brexit, the UK will no longer be part of the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

Mr Gove says it will become an "independent coastal state" and be fully responsible for managing fisheries in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 miles. This will include setting total allowable catches and determining who has access to fisheries.

House of Commons
Parliament

House of Commons
Parliament

Business now turns to the second reading of the Fisheries Bill.

This is the second big Brexit bill from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Like most Brexit bills it contains sweeping powers to implement an, as yet unmade, agreement with the EU. There are a great deal of concerns in fishing ports over the possibility of continued access by EU fishing boats to UK waters.

Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove is opening the debate.