Summary

  • Peers looking at the Civil Partnerships Bill

  • Stalking Protection Bill debated as well

  1. Minister: 'Snowflake' Scots Guardsman gave 'specific permission' for recruitment campaignpublished at 15:36 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Alex SobelImage source, HoC

    Labour MP Alex Sobel asks for an apology to the Scots Guardman included in a MoD recruitment campaign and called a "snowflake" without his permission.

    He says Stephen McWhirter received "torrents of mocking messages" and has said on Facebook that he will resign from the guards.

    Defence Minister Mark Lancaster says what he says is "simply untrue", with the guardsman giving his "specific permission".

    Guardsman Stephen McWhirter reportedly threatened to resign after seeing his picture used in the campaignImage source, British Army
    Image caption,

    Guardsman Stephen McWhirter reportedly threatened to resign after seeing his picture used in the campaign.

  2. Peers begin debate on Brexit withdrawal agreementpublished at 15:32 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Lord King of BridgwaterImage source, HoL

    Peers now turn to the continuation of the Brexit debate.

    Conservative Lord King of Bridgwater says there are many conflicts currently threatening the traditional world order.

    He says that the outcome to the referendum "is a great tragedy" but adds that Europe has "moved on" since the UK voted to leave. He adds that there needs to be respect for the majority and minority decision.

    Former Labour Attorney General Lord Goldsmith says he doesn't "see them changing the legal position on the backstop".

    Unless there is a new political agreement, "the backstop will continue to be in place", he states.

    Former Liberal Democrat MEP Lord Teverson says that over 16m people voted to Remain and the government wrote these people "out of history". He adds that there have been "questionable appointments to the Foreign Office and DexEU".

    He says there has been "no plan whatsoever" and there were just "red lines that were written down" which "restricted" the UK in negotiations. "We have had two years of EU elite team, as seen on the world stage, versus a shambles of amateurs," he states.

  3. Labour MP brings up reports about plans to 'paintball' Spanish shipspublished at 15:30 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour MP Alex Cunningham asks about trends in the number of armed forces personnel.

    Mr Lancaster says it is kept "under constant review" and the government have set targets to improve the number of armed forces personnel.

    Mr Cunningham says the government needs a serious recruitment strategy, and suggests the recruitment of gamers "whose skills could be used to bombard the Spanish navy with paintballs".

    This comes after reports yesterday that Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has asked military chiefs to paintball Spanish ships trespassing in Gibraltar’s waters during an MoD meeting.

    Mr Lancaster says he is "grateful, but not the secretary of state".

    "We are always going to have people who want to join the military," he says, but, "equally we need to use the compassion of the so-called snowflakes" as the military "is more than just holding a bayonet".

  4. Mother of the House to raise pregnant MP's casepublished at 15:22 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Labour MP tweets

    Labour MP Tulip Sadiq has delayed her planned Caesarean section, external so that she can participate in the meaningful vote...

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  5. 'Cyber to be integrated with military operations' - Ministerpublished at 15:20 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative MP Matt Warman asks what steps the department is taking to develop offensive cyber-capabilities.

    Defence Minister Mark Lancaster says the MoD is developing capabilities through the National Offensive Cyber programme and "ensuring cyber is integrated with military operations".

    He adds that an enterprise approach is being applied as this is a new technology, which is why "the government is working closely with the cyber sector".

    SNP MP Alan Brown questions how the department will deal with the challenges of losing access to EU security frameworks.

    "We understand the challenges we face and that is why we are investing £1.9bn in this area in the coming years," Mr Lancaster says.

  6. Royal Navy 'simply providing support' over illegal Channel crossingspublished at 15:19 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Mark LancasterImage source, HoC

    Conservative MP Philip Hollobone asks what steps the Royal Navy is taking to support the Home Office in preventing illegal immigration across the English Channel.

    Defence Minister Mark Lancaster says the question is better directed to the Home Office, but that the Royal Navy is "simply providing support under normal rules".

    Mr Hollobone says the way to stop people traffickers and illegal immigration "is to return them to the ports from whence they came".

    Mr Lancaster says migration is a matter for the Home Office and in this particular case there was a request from the Home Office for HMS Mersey to act as "a platform for border force officers to operate from".

  7. Peer questions length of time people kept in immigration centrespublished at 15:16 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Oral questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Yarls Wood immigration removal centre

    Liberal Democrat Lord Roberts of Llandudno asks how long the current longest-serving person in an immigration centre has been there for, and what the longest time of a detention has been since 2014.

    Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford says that unpublished management information shows that the longest person currently detained is three years, while the longest case since 2014 was six years and eight months. She says that in both cases these people were "serious offenders". She adds that she is confident that government reforms will lessen the need for long detentions.

    Lord Roberts says that only the UK and Ireland have "no maximum" time for detention in immigration centres.

    Baroness Williams says that a fixed time for detention would encourage people to "frustrate" the processes to try and reach time limits.

  8. No deal Brexit would 'shut out' UK from defence co-operation - Labourpublished at 15:16 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Nia GriffithsImage source, HoC

    Tory MP Phillip Dunne asks to explain whether there is any truth in suggestions that the defence and security clauses of the EU withdrawal document would "somehow cede control" of UK defence policy.

    Gavin Williamson says "that is not something that is going to happen", the UK's sovereign control of military and intelligence is "something that is always going to be protected".

    Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith says a no deal Brexit would mean being "permanently shut out" of the European Defence Agency, as well as vital research cooperation, as well as "crippling" tariffs hitting the defence industry.

    No deal would "catastrophic" for defence and security of the UK, she adds.

    Mr Williamson says he doesn't agree at all. "Our country can and will succeed with whatever it has to deal with and whatever it faces." Most defence cooperation is not done through the EU but on a bilateral basis, he says.

    Ms Griffith asks whether he agrees with his own defence minister Tobias Ellwood that no deal would be "an irresponsible act of self harm", urging the government to rule it out "once and for all".

    Mr Williamson says it is clear that the UK "always has, and always will, succeed, regardless" of whether or not it's in the EU. Asked about future cooperation projects, he says the UK will not be dragged into projects that are of "no interest and no value to this country".

  9. Will the government adopt an official definition of Islamaphobia?published at 15:06 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Oral questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Woman in niqabImage source, Press Association

    Conservative Baroness Finn asks what assessment the government has carried out of the impacts of adopting an official definition of Islamaphobia.

    Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth says that the government "remains deeply concerned" and that "bigotry and division" are not the values of the UK.

    Baroness Finn says that the definition of anti-Semitism is helpful, and adds that there needs to be an Islamaphobia definition so people can know where there are limits to free speech.

    Lord Bourne says that "we would need to proceed with great care", as there is hatred towards Muslims which "we must confront".

  10. More effort must be made to restore peace in Syria - Labourpublished at 14:58 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael asks what recent discussions the defence secretary has had with his US counterpart on the future deployment of coalition forces in Syria.

    Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson says the government are in continued discussions with the US about Syria.

    Shadow defence minister Fabian Hamilton asks the government to persuade Turkey to refrain from using its military might against the Kurds, and for more efforts to be made to restore peace in Syria.

    Mr Williamson says he agrees that the government must continue to work with neighbours and allies of Syria to ensure they are putting pressure on Daesh and to restore peace to Syria.

  11. Labour MP questions outsourcing by MoDpublished at 14:53 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour MP Karen Lee asks about the quality of service delivered through contracts outsourced by the Ministry of Defence.

    She says Capita have consistently missed their recruitment and savings targets in defence contracts, with the collapse of Carillion highlighting the "needless precarity" of such contracts for both defence staff and taxpayers.

    Minister Stuart Andrew says the government pays close attention to outsourced contracts and monitors performance. Since the Carillion collapse, there has been a cross-government review of outsourcing, he adds.

    He points out that outsourcing also happened under the previous Labour government.

  12. What is the current assessment of the situation in Yemen?published at 14:52 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Oral questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Boys play football near Yemen's Hodeidah PortImage source, Reuters

    Non-affiliated Peer Lord Ahmed asks what assessment the government have made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

    International Development Minister Lord Bates says that the situation in Yemen "remains the worst in the world". Any military escalation must be avoided, he states, and he says that aid and supply routes "must be kept open".

    Lord Ahmed says that 10m people "are about to starve in Yemen". He asks for UK diplomats to make sure warn Iran and Saudi Arabia to not have a "proxy war in Yemen".

    Lord Bates says this is a "crisis" and there are 10m people "one step away from famine". "It remains an immensely fragile situation," he states, adding that the UK will do "everything it can to support peace efforts".

  13. Shadow defence minister: Drone chaos at Gatwick 'embarrassing'published at 14:51 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Gerald JonesImage source, Hoc

    Conservative MP Henry Smith asks what steps the government is taking to support civilian authorities to tackle illegal drone use at and around UK airports.

    Defence Minister Stuart Andrew says the government supported Sussex Police and the Met Police and continue to do so, and Gatwick has implemented a new security system.

    Labour MP Barry Sheerman accuses the government of not taking illegal drone activity seriously, and questions why no defence minister visited Gatwick during the time of disruption.

    Mr Andrew says he has visited the new system at Gatwick and can report "it is in working order".

    Shadow defence minister Gerald Jones says the events at Gatwick were "embarrassing... and more importantly it presented a security risk". He asks why it is taking the government so long to bring forward a wider exclusion zone for drones.

    Defence Minister Stuart Andrew says the MoD is providing advice to ensure that the proper legislation which will be effective is in place.

  14. Brexit's impact on agriculture questionedpublished at 14:42 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Oral questions

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Field of wheat

    Before the start of business, Speaker, Lord Fowler says Crossbench Peer Viscount Slim has died, and that Crossbench Peer Lord Mogg has retired from the chamber.

    Plaid Cymru's Lord Wigley asks what representations have been received by the government from farming unions on the impact of Brexit on agriculture.

    Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble says that Dedra ministers and officials are "fully engaged" with the farming unions. The government "shares" the priorities with the farming unions.

    Lord Wigley asks if the minister accepts that a no-deal Brexit would be a "disaster" for Welsh farmers. A majority of Welsh lamb is exported to the EU, he states.

    Lord Gardiner says that it is right that the UK is working with the EU on tariff-free trade. "A no-deal scenario will cause turbulence in the short term" for farmers, he adds.

  15. Whip resigns over Brexit dealpublished at 14:40 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

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  16. Commons business beginspublished at 14:34 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Defence Questions

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Over the in Commons, MPs have began the day, asking questions of defence ministers.

  17. What's on today in the Lords?published at 14:25 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Coming up...

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    EU flagsImage source, AFP/Getty Images

    The Lords are hosting the final day of debates on the PM's agreed Brexit deal with the EU.

    They're starting at 2:30pm with oral questions, on topics from Brexit to immigration centres.

    At just after 3pm, the Lords will resume their considerations on Brexit.

    There are 135 planned speeches this afternoon, with the debate expected to finish around 10pm.

  18. Coming up in the Commonspublished at 14:25 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Another busy week for MPs begins with an especially busy Monday, with business beginning at 2.30pm.

    Defence questions kicks the day off, before shadow work and pensions secretary Margaret Greenwood will ask an urgent question from the government regarding Universal Credit, the two-child limit and the social security freeze.

    Prime Minister Theresa May follows, giving a statement updating the Commons on Brexit, and from there MPs will begin eight hours of a protected debate on the withdrawal agreement ahead of the meaningful vote tomorrow.

    It’s likely to be a late one for MPs, with Labour MP Paul Sweeney’s adjournment debate on the closure of St Rollox railway works wrapping up the day in the early hours of the morning.

  19. Good afternoonpublished at 14:07 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2019

    Welcome to our coverage of a historic week in Westminster.

    The Commons and Lords will get going soon, but in the meantime, catch up with the week ahead with our blog from parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy.

    Thanks for joining us.