House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Chuka Umunna says that Mrs May's broken promises have done "irreparable damage" to faith in politics. He asks if the UK gets to the March Council without any consensus in Parliament, then would she consider extending Article 50.

Mrs May says she won't.

House of Commons
Parliament

Green MP Caroline Lucas says Theresa May cannot say that a 'People's Vote' would be breaking faith with the public "when she has turned breaking faith into an art form".

"You cannot break faith with the British public by asking for their views," Ms Lucas says, adding that "a 'People's Vote' would be the first opportunity for the people to vote for the facts, not the fantasy."

Theresa May says: "17.4 million people would say that if the vote that took place in 2016 was gone against that would be breaking faith."

The Labour leader says Theresa May has "led us into a national crisis" with her handling of the Brexit vote and says she "achieved nothing" in her talks last week

The PM says the debate on the "meaningful vote" will start again in the week of 7 January with the vote in the following week.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Lib Dem Baroness Hussein-Ece says she was "dismayed at the tone and imbalance" in the previous debate, with respected members standing in support of Lord Lester because of their friendship. This was entirely inappropriate.

She says she spoke in support of the complainant and of her contribution to public life, as no one else was, and receive numerous responses from peers and others in support of her comments.

She says they regretted their absence and would have voted against returning the decision to return the investigation to the committee.

"This is about listening to women," she says.

The big gap in the procedure was actually the big gap in the support for the complainant, whereas Lord Lester was supported widely by well connected friends.

House of Commons
Parliament

Chair of the Treasury Committee Nicky Morgan says despite supporting the prime miniser's deal as "businesses want certainty which this deal offers", she is against the "deferral for several weeks" of the meaningful vote on the basis that further assurances can be agreed.

"Those further assurances are not likely to be given," she says, noting that businesses "will not understand why the House is going on holiday for two weeks" while there is still so much to be decided.

Theresa May says the UK has achieved "more assurances on the backstop's legal status from the EU than we have had before", and that she would like more assurances "to then put the deal before this House and a vote taken".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws says the role of independent commissioner was created because the risks of partisanship and friendship meant the Lords could not judge fairly on its own members.

Her own friendship with Lord Lester was why she did not vote in the debate, she says, but numerous Lords spoke for that reason.

"Who was there to make the case for the complainant?" she asks.

The debate was inappropriate, "ill judged" and "misconceived", she says, it was "presented to be about process...but it was not about justice".

To the older lawyers who sit in the Lords, who she suggests have not kept up with the times, she emphasises: "this is not a criminal process, this is a disciplinary process, talk of proof beyond reasonable doubt, rigorous cross-examination and the need for council is wholly inappropriate."

"We are here dealing with imbalance of power," she says. "Young women will not come forward with complaints about powerful men if they're going to be subjected to Old Bailey-style quizzing in the presence of the very Lord that they're complaining about."

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Sir Michael Fallon says given that the prime minister has listened and is working to improve the deal, "would the deal not be more palatable if the timetable for starting on and agreeing the terms for future trade was as firm and legally binding as the timetable for handing over all the billions?"

He is referring to the payment the UK is due to make to fulfil its obligations as it leaves the EU.

Ms May says Sir Michael makes "an important point" as "there has been further progress towards the EU starting the next stages of the negotiations" but "it is important for us to get that confirmation and certainty as to when those negotiations can start and end".

"I want that trade deal in place, and I want it in place by the end of December 2020."

Any "entirely new" proposal from the UK would lead to a delay to Brexit, says the Irish foreign minister.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Ben Bradshaw asks how much a no-deal Brexit would cost the NHS, and he asks if she is aware how much money and resources businesses are wasting on no-deal planning.

Mrs May says a responsible government would make such contingency arrangements.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes Park says she did not speak in the previous debate, but feels she should today.

She says she fully supports the committee's report and suggests that the commissioner did follow the code of conduct correctly.

"Our commissioner is both impartial and independent...the absence of cross examination does not mean that the process was unfair."

It has not been a happy debate for anyone involved, she says, but she hopes Lords will support the committee's report.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Yvette Cooper says the government has ruled out many options, and now this Christmas "many businesses are going to be spending billions of pounds preparing for a no deal".

Ms Cooper asks the prime minister whether she believes she has "a duty and a responsibility to them to rule out no-deal and to extend Article 50, and to have a discussion in Parliament to work out the way forwards?"

Theresa May says some of Ms Cooper's suggested alternatives would not end freedom of movement, and the decision as to whether we go forwards with a deal or not "will be one this Parliament takes".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Sir Nicholas Soames says that if the UK is to avoid leaving without a deal, then it is "critical that we build a consensus in this House" which protects British jobs and interests.

Mrs May says that the House must deliver on the vote of 2016. She says her deal delivers on protecting British jobs and interests.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Dominic Raab says that no deal planning is essential in case "EU intransigence continues". He asks if all the necessary steps are being taken for no deal.

Mrs May says the government are "making the plans" for contingency planning for no deal. The Cabinet is meeting tomorrow to discuss further plans.

House of Commons
Parliament

DUP's Westminster leader Nigel Dodds says EU Council conclusions and declarations are political statements, yet EU members have "ruled out renegotiation and re-opening the legal text".

Mr Dodds asks the prime minister to confirm what she has been asking for, "to deliver on the key concerns of the legally binding indefinite nature of the backstop, with no right for this country to exit it on its own terms."

Theresa May says she is asking to deal with the concerns that the House has raised about the issue of whether the backstop could be indefinite.

She adds that there are two ways to deal with this; by ensuring that there are more assurances that the backstop will never come into play, and to ensure that if it is triggered it is only done temporarily.

"It is further political and legal assurances in association to those things that I am seeking," she concludes.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Justine Greening says that on Thursday it will be 100 days until the UK leaves the EU.

At the moment, she says "we have no deal, and no plan B" and Parliament is not able to represent "our own communities". She says it is "pointless" for the prime minister to criticise members of the House coming up with other solutions.

"It was clear back in the summer that the prime minister's deal was not going to succeed," she says, and she accuses the PM of not allowing debate.

Mrs May says she has indicated when the agreement will be coming back to the House. She says she is "not trying to stop debate" to jeering from the Labour benches.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Crossbencher Lord Pannick, who moved the amendment supported by peers last month that the Commissioner for Standards had failed follow a process that was "fair and was not in accordance with natural justice", says he won't be tabling a similar amendment today as Lord Lester has resigned.

He says it's "regrettable" that the select committee did not agree with the view of the House, suggesting the Commissioner's report "would not withstand challenge in the court of law".

"I did not know who is telling the truth about this matter," he says. "I am not naive, I recognise that otherwise respectable men do very odd things in relation to sex.

"I have constantly argued that the only fair and effective way to determine who is telling the truth is to follow the procedures, which include cross examination, which are accepted in courts of law."

The process must be fair to both sides, he says, but all allegations must be addressed by a process that is effective and rigorous.

"I think the committee should take a hard look at our procedures for the future," he says. "The procedures are not designed to address a complaint of this nature", and "careful consideration" is needed to addressed this.

"We cannot carry on with a system in which the Privileges and Conduct Committee pass judgement on a member of this House - and this House debates the matter, and the committee and this House continue to debate the matter until the committee gets its way."

Select Committee
Parliament

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The Local Government Committee is holding a series of sessions on what the high street and town centres of Britain will look like in 2030. As part of this evidence session, the Committee are speaking to online retailers.

The committee will explore how online shopping can complement and support Britain’s existing high streets. They are examining how costs differ for retailers which have an online and retail presence vs just selling online. The inquiry will also consider the tax regimes for online retailers.

The inquiry will look at the future of leisure on the high street, as well as how easy it is to repurpose existing buildings.

In the first six months of 2018, there were 24,205 closures on Britain’s high streets. Pubs were among the hardest hit, with 6.5% closing over the period, as people drink more at home and young people drink less.

But it’s not just the high street experiencing bad news. This morning, major online player in the fashion space Asos issued a profit warning, to the surprise of many.