Select Committee
Parliament

Chair Yvette Cooper opens the evidence session and welcomes the first set of witnesses.

She says police statistics show a 29% increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation over the last 12 months and asks what the causes of this are.

Nick Antjoule, Hate Crime Manager of LGBT anti-violence charity Galop said that following the EU referendum vote, people felt they were "openly able" to abuse people because of the "rhetoric" during the campaign. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott welcomes the "very important" Lords amendments and suggest that the public will be "puzzled" at the government's "continued resistance" to them. 

She says promises made to the victims about implementing Leveson promises "should be honoured".

Instead, she argues, the government is using that "hoary old doctrine of unripe time" 

It is, she says, a little desperate.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Baroness Pitkeathley asks the government about a Care Quality Commission report, external that claims adult social care is approaching "tipping point".

Health Minister Lord Prior of Brampton responds that the government welcomes the report and acknowledges "serious pressures" in the social care system. 

He tells peers that the government is making £3.5bn available in new support for local authorities by 2019/20.

Baroness Pitkeathley says the money is "too little, too late", adding that there have "never been so many challenges in the social care system". 

She also says that there has never been so much consensus about what needs to be done: "more money and more money now".

Lord Prior says he realises how serious the issues are in social care, and repeats that this is why the government is putting in more money. 

"Everyone agrees that health and social care need to work even more closely together" he says.

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House of Commons
Parliament

Solicitor General Robert Buckland says the Lords amendments are "out of place".

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg is in agreement, and argues that a bill on national security is "precisely the wrong place" for amendments that "restrict the press".

Robert Buckland adds that the amendments also "preempt"  the consultation the government is currently running on whether the second part of the Leveson Inquiry should go ahead.

A second phase of the Leveson inquiry would look at the extent of unlawful conduct in media groups and the police and how allegations were investigated. 

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs now consider Lords amendments to the Investigatory Powers Bill. The Solicitor General Robert Buckland proposes a motion to disagree with the amendments proposed by the House of Lords. 

The Commons and the Lords have been engaged in "ping-pong" over this bill, and an amendment that would bring into force a recommendation of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.

Ping-pong refers to the process whereby an amended bill goes to and fro between the lower and upper Houses until they agreement is reached.

Opponents have said that the recommendations, which are currently in law elsewhere in statute but not in effect, could lead to publications being sued and having to pay their opponents' costs, even if they win.

Crossbencher Baroness Hollins, who tabled the amendment, said it would "ensure that cost protections will apply to new claims alleging illegal phone or email hacking by newspapers".

Select Committee
Parliament

This afternoon the Home Affairs committee is hearing evidence from community organisations and researchers on hate crime and its consequences. 

Two sets of witnesses will be appearing:

At 2.45pm:

• Nick Antjoule, Hate Crime Manager, Galop
• Shane Gorman, Disability Hate Crime Advisor, Leonard Cheshire Disability
•  Nick Lowles, Director, Hope Not Hate

At 3.30pm:

• Dr Pete Burnap, Director, Social Data Science Lab at Cardiff University
• Carl Miller, Research Director, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos

House of Commons
Parliament

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has promised to, "work constructively" with junior doctors  to "address their concerns" after last week's decision by the British Medical Association to drop the threat of further strikes .

Mr Hunt told the Commons  he hadn't been sure that he would ever be able to announce that the BMA had called off its industrial action.

The health secretary said the BMA had committed to work with the government on the implementation of new contracts for junior doctors. He said this would make a significant contribution "to our commitment to a safer seven day NHS".

Mr Hunt said junior doctors were a "vital and valued part of our NHS".

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers return from their mini-recess today at 2.30pm, with the usual half hour session of oral questions to government ministers.

After this there will be repeats of today's urgent question on prison officer protests and ministerial statement on HS2 made earlier in the Commons. 

The main business of the day is Committee Stage consideration of the Wales Bill.

There will be a short debate later this evening on the recognition and future security of museums such as the People's History Museum. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Maria Caulfield tells MPs that twelve young people this week will die from a cardiac arrest.

She adds that 28,000 people will die this year. She says that these are lives that could be saved by passing her bill.

The bill is agreed to without a vote and will move on to its next stage on 27th January. 

House of Commons
Parliament

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The HS2 statement has finished, and Conservative MP Maria Caulfield now introduces her ten minute rule motion on defibrillators.

The bill would require defibrillators to be provided in education establishments, leisure centres and other public facilities.

It would also require funding to be made available for the acquisition, installation and maintenance of such defibrillators.

A defibrillator gives a high energy electric shock to the heart and can be used to save the life of someone who is having a cardiac arrest. 

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Mike Kane asks the "avid Manchester United fan what first attracted him to extending the high speed line from his home in the south-east to his beloved old Trafford."

Chris Grayling notes that it has been said that most Man Utd fans live in Surrey.

However he believes they "might struggle" to get the passenger numbers to "justify a direct high-speed route" to the stadium. 

Image source, Reuters

House of Commons
Parliament

Another Conservative MP, Craig Tracey, says his his constituents have suffered from a lack of engagement on HS2.

They were, he says, "alarmed" to find out that the route had moved 150 metres closer to the village of Oxley in his constituency.

He says this directly contradicts information given to the council recently and seeks assurances that communication with local residents will improve.

Chris Grayling says he "wasn't aware of the situation" and agrees to talk to him about the problem.

The government's "shambolic" approach to Brexit is risking the UK economy, Labour's John McDonnell says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Anna Soubry says HS2 has "widespread support" in her Nottinghamshire constituency of Broxtowe.

But she has an additional request, asking: "Can we have a tunnel at Strelley Village please". 

Chris Grayling replies that HS2 will trigger "great regeneration" in her constituency. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The Conservative MP and former Leave campaigner Dominic Raab says that a leaked memo suggesting the UK government doesn't have a plan for Brexit is "a pretty masterful piece of self-publicity". 

The public "may feel a bit duped here," he added, saying that the memo was "deceptive" and "made-up".  

House of Commons
Parliament

SNP MP Drew Hendy notes that the transport secretary's seven-page statement names 34 places but fails to mention Scotland.

"There are no options for Edinburgh or Glasgow", he says.

The SNP, he tells MPs, supports high speed rail "but not just for Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester".

Chris Grayling insists that "connectivity to Scotland is a priority". 

Image source, PA

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Ex-Cabinet minister Ken Clarke says the leaked Brexit memo sounds accurate because even supporters of leaving the EU are divided about what to do next. 

Mr Clarke, a prominent Remain campaigner, said he did not know who had written the memo but he argued it was obvious a proper policy was now needed.  

You can read our full news story here