What's happening in Parliament this week?

Barring an emergency recall (and the Lib Dems will be a little miffed that Nigel Farage seems to have muscled in on their traditional role of firing in the first demand of the summer for a recall of Parliament), MPs have departed Westminster for their summer recess.

They won't be back until 4 September - but peers have a further two days to debate a potpourri of issues ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence.

Among other things this means the new arrivals from the three by-elections held on 21 July - Conservative Steve Tuckwell (Uxbridge and South Ruislip), Lib Dem Sarah Dyke (Somerton and Frome) and Labour's Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) - will not be able to start drawing their salaries as MPs until the Commons returns and they can be sworn in.

Meanwhile there are a couple of interesting sagas developing: Defence Select Committee Chair Tobias Ellwood appears to be in deep trouble with his senior committee members and faces a cross-party no-confidence motion which would remove him from the chair.

His tweeted video describing Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a "country transformed" has provoked a real backlash, with ex-defence ministers Mark Francois (Conservative) and Kevan Jones (Lab) fronting a motion against him.

This may not be the first time that a no-confidence motion has been mooted against the chair of a select committee, but normally the mere threat is enough to force a resignation.

This is the first time such a motion has made it on to the order paper. It can't be debated for ten sitting days, which takes us to 14 September, at which point it goes before the committee, and if a majority there support it, Mr Ellwood would be removed, and an election of all MPs would choose a Conservative to replace him (Committee chairs are allocated between the parties according to their numbers in the Commons).

Tobias Ellwood has chaired the defence committee since 2020

Mr Ellwood, you'll recall, is the MP who attempted to save the life PC Keith Palmer during the 2017 terrorist attack on Parliament, and he has also served as a defence and a Foreign Office minister. He has recently called for the UK re-join the EU single market - the only Conservative MP to make that case, at least in public.

I'm told he had several previous run-ins with committee members over statements he made as chair, and the Afghan video was the final straw for his critics. It provoked a crisis meeting and an urgent call to tell him to take the video down. But by the time he did act, patience had run out.

A second row emerged when Conservative backbenchers staged a furious protest at a Delegated Legislation Committee. These are normally rather low-profile affairs where orders and regulations are rubber stamped, usually without much ado.

This one was considering a measure on postal rules, to implement the government's Windsor Framework agreement over trade with Northern Ireland.

The measure is bitterly opposed by the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionists, and five Brexiteer Tories including ex-minister Sir James Duddridge found themselves removed from the DL Committee, for fear that they might vote against the measure, alongside the DUP.

They felt this broke the normal conventions of the House and anger boiled over, with Mark Francois (him again) saying the government's conduct was "bent." He later voted against the measure when it came before the full Commons.

The rumour is that there could be ten more pieces of secondary legislation to implement the Windsor Framework, and Mr Francois said he hoped "lessons have been learned," so no repeat performance would be needed.

One other thought; with the Lords the only show in town, I wonder if peers will take more than their usual notice of the news agenda, and bombard ministers with urgent questions on topical issues? There does seem to be a touch more showpersonship on the red benches these days.

Monday 24 July

Lords: (14:30) Proceedings open with the introduction of two new Conservative peers, ennobled in Boris Johnson's resignation honours; Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge, Charlotte Owen, a special adviser in both Boris Johnson's and Liz Truss's Downing Street Policy Unit; and Lord Houchen of High Leven, Ben Houchen, the elected Mayor of Tees Valley since 2017.

Questions to ministers range across replenishing weapons stocks donated to Ukraine and best clinical practice in stroke care in the NHS.

That is followed by a series of debates on subjects chosen by crossbench peers, starting with Lord Ravensdale on the risks of developing advanced artificial intelligence.

There's a short debate on the government's plans to deal with the housing crisis in rural and coastal communities, led by the Lord Bishop of Exeter. the Rt Rev Robert Atwell.

Finally, there's a debate on government preparations for the impacts climate change will have on health, the economy, food security and the environment, led by the zoologist and ecologist, Lord Krebs.

Tuesday 25 July

Lords: (11:00) Questions to ministers cover the impact of the government's visa and immigration policies on the creative sector, and whether the government plans to run a vaccination programme against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV. This usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

Main debate: It is on a report from the Land Use in England Committee, "Making the most out of England's land". The committee, chaired by the crossbencher, Lord Cameron of Dillington, says that land use is changing rapidly and proposes the creation of a commission to advise on how to optimise the way it's used. The report concludes that the country needs "to get much better at deciding how to use land sustainably, making sure that we are doing the right thing, in the right place and at the appropriate scale".

Committees: Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (10:30) hears from Claire Waxman, the Victims' Commissioner for London at the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and from Dame Vera Baird, the former Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales.

The Lords Economic Affairs Committee (15:00) quizzes former member of US Federal Reserve Board Kevin Warsh in its continuing inquiry into how Bank of England independence is working.