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SNP MP Peter Grant says it is "disappointing" that the government will not increase payments automatically every year in line with inflation.

He calls for this to be imposed by next year at the latest.

3,000 people lose their lives to mesothelioma every year, he says, noting the former MP for his constituency, John McDougall, died of mesothelioma aged just 60.

Delays to compensation payments were caused by the fact that employers knew if they could keep a case going until the employee died, the payout would be reduced, he says.

"This is an insidious, vile way to treat people", he adds.

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Parliament

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Conservative MP Tracey Crouch says she welcomes the 2.4% increase to compensation payments proposed by the government.

She adds that whilst progress has been made relating to compensation payments, more funding needs to be invested in research surrounding the two illnesses.

More discussion also needs to take place about asbestos in schools, she adds, noting that a cross-party effort to tackle this problem "is needed promptly".

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Shadow employment minister Mike Amesbury says that people with Mesothelioma and Pneumoconiosis have been seeking justice "for some time".

It can take up to 40 years to develop symptoms of Mesothelioma, he says.

"For most victims, diagnosis brings with it the inevitability of death," he adds.

He says only five in a hundred people survive the cancer for more than five years.

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Work and Pensions Minister Sarah Newton says that these two motions will increase the level of pay for those who suffer from Mesothelioma and Pneumoconiosis.

She says that workers exposed to asbestos often cannot bring forward compensation claims as the symptoms of the diseases take too long to come out in the body.

The highest payments go to the youngest people with the diseases, she states.

In all, 3,680 people receive both of these payments, she adds.

She states that money can never compensate for losses from these diseases, she adds that those who suffer deserve payments.

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Parliament

MPs are now moving on to debate two social security motions.

The motions increase the compensation payments for people with Mesothelioma and Pneumoconiosis.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body's organs and is usually linked to asbestos exposure.

Pneumoconiosis is a disease of the lungs due to inhalation of dust.

House of Commons
Parliament

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DUP MP Gavin Robinson is now introducing his Armed Forces Covenant (Duty of Public Authorities) Bill.

The bill aims to ensure uniformity of approach from government departments in implementing the Armed Forces Covenant and ensuring it is delivered across the UK.

Mr Robinson believes the political ideology of some Northern Ireland ministers has led to a refusal to meet the commitments on public services for veterans.

Northern Ireland’s veterans must get the full benefit of the Armed Forces Covenant and receive equal treatment to their colleagues in the rest of the UK, he says, noting that the appointment of armed forces champions in Northern Ireland has been "simply tokenism".

The DUP's commitment to veterans led to the inclusion of an agreement to reach full implementation of the Covenant in the 'confidence and supply' agreement between my party and government last year, he says, noting that "Northern Ireland veterans must be supported".

He says that the full implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant in Northern Ireland is "necessary" and "the only answer" to ensure veterans have access to the services "they require, expect and should be provided".

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Parliament

Conservative Peter Bone asks how the Commons and government can complain about the comments by the EU Council President Donald Tusk on Brexit, (tweet below). He says that he doesn't remember a time when such "completely outrageous" comments were made.

John Bercow says that he was not aware that Mr Bone was so easily insulted, "deeply wounded" and "sensitive, in any sense a delicate flower".

The SNP's Joanna Cherry says that the full comments were on the lack of plans by the Brexiteers.

Mr Bercow says that he is not responsible for comments made by the President of the European Council.

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Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner says it has been widely reported that the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has told business representatives that he proposes to introduce measures in the event of a no-deal Brexit to reduce all import tariffs to zero.

He says the impact on the businesses in the manufacturing and farming industries would be "enormous" and would dampen the government's ambition to negotiate trade deals.

He asks the Speaker if he has been given any indication that a minister will be coming to the Commons to speak about this.

The Speaker John Bercow says "not as yet, but we live in hope".

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Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Vince Cable says that the government has stopped "naming and shaming companies" which do not pay the minimum wage. He says it stopped last summer due to Brexit work.

Mr Lidington says the government is further strengthening policies on the minimum wage and he will send Sir Vince a letter to confirm the current situation.

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Conservative John Baron says Brexit gives Britain the opportunity to remake the immigration system and asks if Mr Lidington can promise the "least bureaucratic possible" system.

David Lidington says he agrees and that the UK needs a "fair" system that "makes it easy for the brightest and best to come and live here" and "judges people not by the country they come from".

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Labour MP Stephen Kinnock says the prime minister is on record saying "she does not want a business as usual relationship with Russia".

He asks Mr Lidington to therefore explain why in the last year the Conservative Party has "trousered £1m in donations" from individuals with strong links to the Kremlin.

David Lidington says "party matters are not a subject of government responsibility" but that all donations to the Conservative Party have been properly declared and accounted for by the Electoral Commission.

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Conservative Victoria Prentis mentions the situation in Venezuela and asks "what more can we do as a government to help these people?"

David Lidington says the situation is "appalling" and that there has been a "suppression of democratic institutions and traditions" and that three million people have been "forced" to leave the country.

He says the EU and US have sanctioned Nicolas Maduro and people around him and are "looking at what further steps we can take".

He adds that it would "help if [Parliament] could speak with one voice" but can't because the Leader of the Opposition sees Maduro's Venezuela as a "role model".

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Thwack!

Brexiteer Mark Francois asks if the PM is abandoning her pledge to replace the Northern Ireland Backstop - an ominous warning rumble from the Conservative backbenches.

They believe they still have the votes to stop the PM’s Brexit deal a second time if necessary.

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Parliament

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Conservative Mark Francois says that MPs voted for the "Brady amendment", which requires the government to "replace" the backstop in the PM's withdrawal agreement.

He asks which part of "replace was not clear".

This follows reports yesterday that Theresa May is not intending to replace the backstop.

Mr Lidington says that the "talks are continuing with the so-called Malthouse group" and the PM laid out yesterday how she plans to carry out the work voted for in the Brady amendment.

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Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin says MPs have already had some indicative votes, and have already voted against May's deal "as it stands"; would prefer not to leave without a withdrawal agreement at all; "and the whole government voted to replace the backstop".

He questions what progress is being made on the 'Malthouse Compromise' "which would replace the backstop with a perfectly viable scheme to secure an open border in Northern Ireland under all circumstances".

He questions what is holding the solution up.

David Lidington says "there's no attempt to hold anything up" and the government is "determined that we need to make progress and leave the EU in an orderly manner".

He says talks between MPs behind the 'Malthouse Compromise' and the Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay "continue".

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The SNP's Peter Grant says that one of his constituents was diangosed with a debilitating illness and was given £55 a week under the Personal Indepdence Payments. He says that later she was diagnosed with a further serious illness and has now been assessed as healthy.

He asks how someone with two serious illnesses can be healthy, and criticises the company carrying out the tests for the Department for Work and Pensions

Mr Lidington says that he will speak to the relevant minister at the Department for Work and Pensions to look at this case "in-depth".

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Labour's Jim McMahon mentions a promise made by the prime minister a year ago to Labour MP Carolyn Harris.

She spoke about the death of her son in 1989 and how at the time she couldn't afford to pay for the funeral. The Prime Minister promised to start a Children's Funeral Fund, for parents to pay for funerals for their children.

David Lidington says "it isn't right" for bereaved parents to have to worry about paying for a funeral. He says that the government is committed to their promise that parents will no longer have to pay and neither will local authorities.

He says the government is working on the "most effective way" to implement the promise and ministers will bring an "update to Parliament as soon as possible".