House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds says he agrees with those that have praised Geoffrey Cox's honesty before MPs yesterday - offering the "unvarnished truth" - but the fact is that despite all of what was said, making a statement and taking questions does not fulfill the order passed by MPs.

"The government may not like the fact that this was passed by this House, but it can not simply wish it otherwise," he says.

Surely this is one area where the government must respect the will of Parliament, he adds.

The government as a whole is responsible for ignoring the binding effective motion, he adds, not one minister in particular.

It's not the duty or the job for a government minister to decide the national interest, he says, it is for the whole of Parliament to decide that, whilst the Attorney General himself said there was nothing to concern national security in the advice.

"What is there to hide?" he asks.

The government decided not to vote against the motion, he says, and it would set a dangerous precedent if by abstaining from a vote on a humble address a government could invalidate it.

He says elements of the advice have already been leaked to the media by cabinet members, so therefore MPs should be entitled to see it too.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP and Brexiteer Nadine Dorries says the present situation cannot be conflated with the issue of legal advice on the Iraq War which was "about the legality of the situation".

Ms Dorries adds that civil servants "serve us all with true independence" and says that all MPs "depend on the impartiality of the legal advice they give".

She says if this amendment passes today "no civil servant would want to provide advice to any government without a self preservation measure being in place."

Ms Dorries says to Sir Keir Starmer that "one day his words may come back to haunt him if he becomes the Attorney General" and that she hopes he is "never put in the same position as he has put our Attorney General in".

"If this amendment is passed, the honour, integrity and reputation of a good man will be tarnished, I hope it does not pass today for that reason."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

SNP spokesperson Peter Grant says that the House is about to begin a five day debate on "possibly the most important peace time decision this Parliament will ever take".

The only reason we can discuss these issues "without fear", he says, is because the power of the state of is tempered by a democratically elected Parliament.

"Not nearly tempered enough in my humble opinion," the MP adds.

Mr Grant says that "contempt of for this Parliament is a contempt for the people".

He accuses the government of taking "a dangerous step down the road from democracy towards dictatorship".

He tells the House that the debate has already been had.

"We have government who are behaving like a football team that doesn't turn up for friendlies if they think they are going to get beat and they discover they have missed a cup final."

He concludes that when Parliament instructs it does so on "behalf of the people" and the government must comply.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee, Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash says the legal advice given by the Attorney General yesterday "was extremely difficult to understand".

He says unless anyone knows the full legal advice the Attorney General has given to the Cabinet, it is difficult to know how much was given in the statement he made to the Commons yesterday, and how much was omitted.

"It is essential for us to know now whether the Attorney General gave advice on the issue of incompatibility between the repeal of the 1972 Act and the withdrawal agreement himself," he adds.

Sir Bill Cash says if MPs do not have the full disclosure of the opinions of the Attorney General "it is relevant to the question of whether or not the actual withdrawal agreement itself is invalid under the Vienna convention".

He adds that if there is a danger of invalidity of the withdrawal agreement "it is a matter of fundamental importance and requires the full disclosure of the Attorney General's opinion."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom rises to move the government amendment.

She says the use of the contempt motion is used "very rarely" in Parliament and urges the House to "exercise caution".

The information provided was a "very frank legal description", she adds.

Ms Leadsom says that the Attorney General couldn't have been "clearer".

The issue is the government's duty to protect law officers' advice which is in the public interest, says the Leader of the House.

The Father of the House Ken Clarke intervenes, calling for a meeting with the opposition under Privy Council terms as a "possible" reconciliation.

Sir Keir Starmer wants the information to be made public, she replies.

Andrea Leadsom contends that the humble address could release information with no method for the House to "review or access" that information before its release into the public domain.

That would "undermine vital conventions", she says.

The Leader of the House calls the humble address a "blunt instrument" of "arcane parliamentary procedure" that until recently was last used in the 19th century .

She tell the House that the "spirit and intent" of the motion of the 13th November has been complied with.

She concludes by appealing to MPs to refer the motion to the Privileges Committee.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Image source, HoC

What will today's Commons motion to hold "ministers" in contempt actually mean, if MPs approve it?

It is so long since such a thing has happened, that nobody really knows.

But anyone expecting to see Geoffrey Cox or David Lidington doing a perp walk in leg irons should not hold their breath.

Read more of BBC Parliamentary Correspondent Mark D'Arcy's blog here.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Standing to move the motion, Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer says "the issue is: has the government complied with the binding order of the House to release the Attorney General’s legal advice to Cabinet?"

Sir Keir Starmer says this was not an opinion of the House, but the will of the House and "what we received yesterday was simply an explainer and showed the government willfully refusing to comply with an order of the House."

He adds that the Attorney General used "a plea of mitigation" that revealing his full legal advice was not in the public interest, stating that this "is not a defence".

Sir Keir says the actions of the government "were simply not good enough" and "the truth is that the decision not to oppose the order was a political decision taken by the government because it feared it would lost the vote".

He adds that the government's amendment put forward by the Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom asking for a referral is "the government simply playing for time until the crucial vote is long gone - there is nothing to refer."

"This motion is extremely important and the issue is simple: this House passed an order, this government is refusing to comply with that order, and that is clearly contempt," he concludes.

The government's chief legal adviser, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, published an overview, external of his legal advice to the Cabinet about the EU withdrawal agreement on Monday.

Opposition parties say that by limiting the information released, ministers ignored a binding Commons vote demanding they release the full advice.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, said: "It's about parliamentary democracy and guaranteeing that MPs have the information they need to know - precisely what the government has negotiated with the European Union."

Sir Keir signed a motion demanding immediate publication of the full and final advice, along with senior MPs from the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.

Commons Speaker John Bercow said late on Monday there was an "arguable case" that a contempt of Parliament had been committed.

However, the government then tabled an amendment to have the issue referred to MPs on the Privileges Committee to investigate whether its response fulfils all its obligations, taking into account any relevant past cases.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are now considering a privilege motion submitted by the opposition parties following the government's publication of an explainer of legal advice given by the Attorney General on the EU withdrawal agreement, rather than the full legal advice in its entirety.

Labour spokesman Sir Keir Starmer is opening the motion.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Peter Heaton-Jones asks what steps the government is taking to protect the rights and freedoms of journalists throughout the world.

The foreign secretary says he can announce that next summer there will be a "major conference on protecting media freedom" held in London.

Mr Heaton-Jones asks the foreign secretary to assure MPs that the UK government "will continue to press other countries to protect the freedoms, rights and securities of journalists, however inconvenient their presence".

Jeremy Hunt says he can give this assurance, and it is "worrying" that 65 journalists were killed last year, yet "no one was brought to justice".

"It seems to be a trend which is increasing," he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry asks - for what she says is the third time - whether the draft UN resolution previously shown to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman included a call for independent investigations of war crimes.

Jeremy Hunt says he did not show a draft to the Crown Prince. Both the draft and the resolution itself refer to international law, he adds, but compromises have had to be made to on both sides. He says that's why the talks are happening.

Ms Thornberry requests that the draft be published for MPs.

She says the US senate will soon vote on whether to continue their support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen in the form of arms sales, and asks when MPs will be asked the same question.

Mr Hunt says the government is following previous Labour administrations who have continued arms deals with the Saudi Arabia, and obey the same strict guidelines.

DUP MP Jim Shannon is famous among MPs for taking part in adjournment debates.

(As things stand, we're unlikely to be here until 3am - that's an estimate if ALL the time allocated is used.)

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Leo Docherty asks what steps the government is taking to support a peace process in Yemen.

Jeremy Hunt says peace talks will start tomorrow.

"Before now both parties have thought a military success was achievable, but this is significant as it is the first time in two years that all parties have come together around the table," he adds.

"We have a relationship with Saudi Arabia where we're doing everything possible to get them around to table to discuss peace."

SNP MP Gavin Newlands calls for a stronger line to be taken with regards to the UK's arm sales to Saudi Arabia.

Jeremy Hunt says he "understands the urgency", but that the significance of the peace talks which begin tomorrow "is large".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour MP Debbie Abrahams asks what the government is through the UN and other international organisations to tackle the refugee crisis.

Minister Harriett Baldwin says the UK is working with the UN to agree a global compact on refugees, which allows for a comprehensive framework that allows a more long-term approach to be taken.

Lib Dem Christine Jardine asks what is being done to help NGOs performing search and rescue roles in the Mediterranean, who have been victims of various political attacks. Ms Baldwin says UK naval assets have rescued more than 30,000 people in the area.