What's happening in Parliament this week?
- Published
The "engage and persuade" approach taken by the prime minister towards his internal party critics seems to have defused any sense of crisis around the week's big legislative event, the detailed consideration of the Illegal Migration Bill.
Both small boats hawks and supporters of safe and legal migration pathways on the Tory benches are now hoping to get most of what they want in Wednesday's report stage consideration. But the real trouble was always going to come when the bill hits the Lords - and there are already preliminary rumblings about "unelected peers" defying ministers.
Elsewhere, Parliament is ticking over in the run-up to the coronation of King Charles, but there is more than a trace of blood in the water after the resignation of Dominic Raab, so watch out for opposition attempts to switch attention to other ministers and otherwise make merry.
The ramifications of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's earlier rejig of government departments reach the committee corridor, with elections to chair the new Energy Security and Net Zero Committee.
Nominations close on Monday and so far the candidates (who all have to come from the SNP benches) are Angus Brendan McNeil (former chairman of the now-disbanded International Trade Committee), Kirsty Blackman and Stewart Malcolm McDonald.
Once upon a time SNP candidates were decided behind closed doors and only one nomination emerged; times have changed. MPs will vote on the rivals on Wednesday, with the result expected by late afternoon.
More Lords gridlock news - there are talks to try and limit the ever-extending committee-stage consideration of mega-bills like Levelling Up and Online Safety.
No one is going to revisit the coalition-era dabbling with a Commons-style guillotine, which remains an absolute taboo in the Lords, but there are murmurs of a move to curtail the summer recess, so peers would find themselves doing detailed debate in late August - a kind of "scrutinise till you drop" strategy.
Another sign of the growing congestion in the Upper House is that the final committee day on the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill was scheduled as dinner break business for Tuesday - implying it could be polished off in an hour or so. The bill remains pretty controversial and concerned peers were not amused and the wheeze has now been dropped.
In other Lords news the new convenor of the crossbenchers is the Earl of Kinnoull, the Eton-educated former commanding officer of the Atholl Highlanders, who takes over the role as shepherd of independent peers from Lord Judge, who has stepped down for health reasons.
Monday 24 April
Commons: (14:30) Work and Pensions Questions, with any urgent questions or government statements following at 15:30. There are rumours of a UQ on the nefarious activities of Russian ships off northern Scotland.
Main debate: Second reading of the Non-Domestic Rating Bill, which aims to modernise the business rates system, incentivise property improvements and support more frequent revaluations. Interestingly, detailed scrutiny will be through a three-hour session of committee of the whole house at a later date.
Westminster Hall: (16:30) MPs debate e-petition 628226, calling for a public inquiry on the impact that Brexit, arguing that the promised benefits have not been delivered. The petition attracted 142,015 signatures.
Committees: Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (16:00) questions Housing Minister Rachel Maclean on the government's national planning policy, including the target of building 300,000 new homes a year.
The super committee of MPs and peers scrutinising the government's National Security Strategy (16:15) hears from the former FBI chief of staff John P Carlin, the former US ransomware taskforce convenor, in its inquiry into the threat of the multi-billion dollar cybercrime wave using ransomware to threaten vital IT systems.
Lords: (14:30) Day 11 of the ever-expanding committee consideration of the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill (there is now a day 12 on 3 May).
Tuesday 25 April
Commons: (11:30) Health Questions
Ten Minute Rule Bill: The SNP's Brendan O'Hara wants to empower the UK courts to try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, regardless of the nationality or residence of the defendant.
Main debate: A Labour opposition day, on motions to be announced.
Westminster Hall: Health Committee chairman Steve Brine leads a debate on free school meals for infants (11:00).
Committees: Justice (14:40) looks at the work of immigration tribunals, which rule on people's right to remain in the UK.
Home Affairs (09:45) questions the Minister for Crime, Chris Philp, in its inquiry into policing priorities.
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (10:00) starts a new inquiry on gambling regulation with experts on problem gambling and gambling-related harms.
Lords: (14:30) Peers switch to their other marathon committee stage, with day two of 10 on the Online Safety Bill. There is also a short debate led by Green Party peer Baroness Jones on the strength of parliamentary democracy, in which she will argue that democracy is being distorted as money buys access and influence over policy.
Wednesday 26 April
Commons: (11:30) Women and Equalities Questions, followed, at noon, by Prime Minister's Question Time.
Ten Minute Rule Bill: Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan wants to require the health secretary to publish and implement a care workers employment strategy, to improve recruitment and retention of staff in the sector.
Main debate: Report and third reading of the Illegal Migration Bill - with new amendments to toughen up the bill and prevent judges, whether British or European, from preventing deportations. They have been introduced following pressure from the backbench Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs, and there may be pressure from former ministers like Robert Buckland and Tim Loughton, who have their own amendments to create "safe and legal" routes for migrants. Watch out for an interesting amendment from former Prime Minister Theresa May and former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith to exempt victims of modern slavery from the removal provisions of the bill.
Labour frontbench amendments include creating a new duty to consult local councils where asylum seeker accommodation is located, setting up fast-track asylum procedures from specified counties, holding annual investigations of border security effectiveness and providing safe and legal routes for unaccompanied children with close family members in the UK.
Westminster Hall: Labour MP Mick Whitley leads a debate on artificial intelligence and the labour market (14:30).
Committees: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (14:30) examines the pros and cons of reintroducing extinct animal and plant species, for example bring back beavers, with Environment Minister Trudy Harrison.
Home Affairs (09:30) continues its policing priorities inquiry with the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley.
Lords: (15:00) Peers vote on Commons amendments to the Public Order Bill, before moving on to the report stage of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.
Thursday 27 April
Commons: (09:30) Culture, Media and Sport Questions, followed by mini question times for the MPs who speak for the church commissioners, the House of Commons Commission, the Public Accounts Commission, the Restoration and Renewal Client Board and the Electoral Commission, plus by the weekly update on the forthcoming Commons agenda from the leader of the House.
Main debate: Backbench debates on NHS dentistry and plastic pollution in the oceans.
Westminster Hall: Justice Committee chairman Sir Bob Neill leads a debate (13:30) on his committee's report on Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). This now-abolished sentence was introduced in 2003 to detain people in prison who posed a significant risk of harm to the public. But there are still 2,926 IPP prisoners, and the committee has been critical of the Ministry of Justice's efforts to reduce that figure.
Committees: Public Accounts (10:00) question officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency on dangerous breaches of air quality, sewage discharges and the protection of rivers.
Lords: (11:00) Online Safety Bill - Committee (day three of 10)
Friday 28 April
Neither House is due to sit.
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