Got a TV Licence?

You need one to watch live TV on any channel or device, and BBC programmes on iPlayer. It’s the law.

Find out more
I don’t have a TV Licence.

Live Reporting

Esther Webber, Claire Gould and Paul Seddon

All times stated are UK

Get involved

  1. PM and Parliament pays tribute to Westminster attack victims

    Commons

    Today, Theresa May delivered a statement to Parliament on yesterday's terror attack, telling MPs: "We will never waver in the face of terrorism."

    The prime minister paid tribute to the victims of the attack in Westminster, including Pc Keith Palmer, who died after being stabbed.

    "He was every inch a hero and his actions will never be forgotten," she said.

    Tributes were also paid in the House of Lords.

    You can read more about the statement to the Commons, and the response in the Lords, as well as MPs' and peers' responses here .

  2. House of Commons adjourns

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    And now the House of Commons adjourns for the day. 

    MPs will return tomorrow for private members' bills: the first on the agenda is Conservative Wendy Morton's Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) Bill.

    Take a look at parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy's blog for more information. 

    In the meantime, goodbye.

  3. House of Lords adjourns

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Peers have risen for the day. They are not sitting tomorrow, and will return on Monday. 

  4. Adjournment debate begins

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    It's now time for the adjournment debate in the Commons - Conservative MP Charles Walker is introducing the debate on Ratty's Lane Incinerator in his constituency.

  5. Minister: We don't underestimate Brexit challenge

    Brexit and the environment debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Gardiner

    Environment Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble assures peers the government "does not underestimate" the complexity of writing EU environmental protections into UK law after Brexit. 

    He says as the government proceeds with the Great Repeal Bill it will uphold the Conservative manifesto promise to "leave the environment in a better condition than that in which we found it". 

  6. Selective schools help social mobility - minister

    Social mobility debate

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    Nick Gibb

    Education Minister Nick Gibb responds to the debate and says he agrees with the importance of improving social mobility.

    He points to the pupil premium, the 30 hours of free childcare for the parents of working children, Teachfirst, and a £75m teaching innovation fund as evidence the government is tackling social mobility. He says the new T-levels will also help pupils.

    The government has pushed to raise educational standards, he says, and there is more to do. He says the government wants more choice for parents, and that includes lifting the ban on selective school places.

    "We know that selective schools are vehicles of social mobility," he says. 

    Thanks to the academy and free school programme, teachers have more freedom to tackle poor behaviour in the classroom, he says.

  7. Call from Labour to abandon grammar school policy

    Social mobility debate

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    Mike Kane

    Shadow education minister, Labour's Mike Kane, says the report into social mobility presents the government with proposals but "there's no evidence the government has listened".

    The Department for Education has made no indication it would adopt the policies outlined in the report, he says. What will the 30 hours of free childcare mean for low income families? he asks. He references Nick Clegg's reference to the importance of quality in childcare, not just quantity.

    And he turns to grammar schools, and the recommendation to "rethink" the proposal for grammar schools.

    He asks the government for the promised white paper, and for the policy on grammar schools to be based on evidence, not on dogma - "and to abandon this discredited policy," he says.

    Cuts to school budget will make it impossible to deliver on many of the recommendations in the report, Mr Kane says, and the £3bn cut from school budgets will not help. 

  8. Labour: Nobody made environmental case in the referendum campaign

    Brexit and the environment debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Labour spokesman Lord Grantchester winds up for the opposition, claiming that the environment played "little part" in the EU referendum campaign and "no one made the case" for the EU's role in protecting the natural environment. 

    He agrees with the EU Committee's general finding that the "challenges and potential pitfalls [of writing EU regulations into UK law] remain daunting". 

    The committee found upholding environmental standards after Brexit will be hard and an enforcement system similar to that provided by EU regulators and courts is needed to maintain existing protections.

  9. UK 'does not need EU help' to protect the environment

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Conservative the Earl of Caithness highlights steps taken by the UK to protect the natural environment without EU involvement, including the 1848 public health act, and the formation of the National Trust in 1907.

    "Yes, we can do it without the help of the EU," he argues. 

  10. Peer foresees environmental uncertainty after Brexit

    Brexit and the environment debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Trees

    Crossbencher and veterinarian Lord Trees tells peers he is worried about what he calls "a governance gap" when it comes to the environment. 

    He warns it's not clear what will happen "once custody [of the environment] is entrusted to a single government with a five-year horizon" rather than institutions able to take a longer view.

  11. Clegg: target resources to most deprived families

    Social mobility debate

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    Nick Clegg

    It's the turn of Nick Clegg, the former Lib Dem leader. He looks back to his time in government and efforts to promote social mobility. 

    When he came into government, he says, he was astonished to find paid interns who were employed on who they knew.

    He goes on to talk about the importance of intervention in the early years. Neuroscience and academic research by educationists has confirmed how crucial the early years are; and how much can be fostered by early years and pre-school support.

    He says he is proud of the 15 hours entitlement to support for two-year-olds; and says he believes the government is going to have problems delivering the expanded hours it has promised - and wonders whether it is the best use of resources.

    He says he believes limited resources should be targeted earlier and to the most deprived families.

  12. Brexit could improve self-sufficiency, says peer

    Brexit and the environment debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    McIntosh

    Conservative Baroness McIntosh urges the government to work towards a 25-year plan to replace the Common Agricultural Policy to provide certainty to farmers. 

    This will help them plan what they produce, she says, adding: "Ideally eating more home-produced food could be one of the benefits that flow from Brexit."

    That in turn could help improve the UK's self-sufficiency and food security, she adds. 

  13. 'Social contract has broken down' - former education secretary

    Social mobility debate

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    Nicky MOrgan

    Former education secretary Nicky Morgan is now speaking in the social mobility debate.

    She says that "for some people" the social expectation that things will improve for people's children "has broken down".

    "Educational aspiration has ceased to exist" in some deprived communities, she says.

    "We should be honest" about the pressures on people's lives, which include job insecurity and the inability to afford housing, she says.

    She calls for the government to focus on areas of greatest social inequality to address the break down in the social contract.

  14. Grammar schools 'do nothing' for social mobility

    Social mobility debate

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    Lucy Powell

    Labour's Lucy Powell is speaking in the backbench business debate on the Social Mobility Commission report.

    She says the London Challenge and the Pupil Premium are examples of government schemes that "do work" to improve the chances of the most disadvantaged children in schools.

    She also welcomes the introduction of higher technical qualifications - T Levels -  to help ongoing learning after the age of 16.

    However, grammar schools "do nothing for social mobility", she says.

    "Poor, bright children are much less likely to attend grammar schools" than less able more well-off children, she says.

    She says standards in London have risen, following a comprehensive system.

    She says the evidence is that poorer "highly able" children do just as well in comprehensive schools, as they do in grammar schools, she says.

  15. Debate on social mobility begins in Commons

    House of Commons

    Parliament

    MPs have moved on to a debate on social mobility.

    The debate is focusing on the content and recommendations of the annual report from the Social Mobility Commission - and it's been by Labour's Lucy Powell, Conservative Nicky Morgan and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg.

    The motion calls for the government to improve social mobility, which they say has got worse in recent years.

    The motion also asks for the government to lead a renewed approach to improving social mobility from younger years. The report highlights that children from poorer backgrounds spent less time in education that wealthier counterparts, and that in the last decade, 500,000 poorer children were not school-ready by the age of five.

    The report said that those born in the 1980s are the first post-war group not to earn more than previous generation, and it said only one in 10 people on low pay are able to "escape" the salary trap. 

    Other findings from the report include: 

    • Only 4% of doctors, 6% of barristers and 11% of journalists are from working-class backgrounds
    • Rates of home ownership for under-44s have fallen by 17% in the last decade, the report says
    • The report also highlights a clear divide between those living in the north, Wales, Midlands and the south.
  16. 'High hopes' for Nigeria fading

    Syria and Nigeria debate

    Westminster Hall

    Pauline Latham

    Conservative Pauline Latham is now speaking on the International Development Committee's report on Nigeria.

    She says she is concerned on slow progress tackling corruption by the Nigerian government.

    "The people will not wait forever for change," she says.

    She asks the minister to respond on the UK government's relationship with the Nigerian government, given the long absence of President Buhari last year and ongoing rumours about his state of health.

    She asks if the minister can update MPs on the Chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, how many have been released and how many are still missing.

    She closes saying Nigeria "held out so much hope" when the committee visited, but that high hopes in the Nigerian government are beginning to fade due to a failure to make progress on corruption and development.

  17. Peer warns of Brexit impact on the environment

    Brexit and the environment debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Countryside

    Peers are now debating the report from the EU Committee,  Brexit: environment and climate change .  

    The committee highlighted the need to map out the EU’s environmental laws to assess where the Great Repeal Bill will not be able to preserve legislative and policy stability, and act accordingly to ensure that environmental protection does not diminish as a result of Brexit.  

    Lib Dem Lord Teverson, who sits on the committee, says there is a recognition among the public that the EU "had an important role" in environmental protection and it is something we should be "working together as nations" to achieve. 

    He expresses concern that recreating the regulations and directives relating to the environment after Brexit will be "extremely difficult". 

  18. Minister: UK will champion science after Brexit

    Brexit and science debate

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    Prior

    After some sustained criticism, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Lord Prior of Brampton tells the House the government will "support a healthier science and technology ecosystem than ever before".

    He says they are funding the biggest increase in research funding since 1979, have underwritten all successful bids for Horizon 2020 funding, and taken steps to "reassure" current students from the EU that their studies will not be affected.