Youth life style forum: Green Day in the House of Commons

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Green Day in the House of Commons - Mirror Politics morning newsletter

Morning,

Sir Philip Green has proved quite a sensitive soul since the collapse of BHS.
This week he claimed the last few months had been “horrible” for him and his family.
Though probably not quite as horrible as it has been for the thousands of BHS workers who lost their jobs and are fighting to keep their pensions.
Given his delicate disposition, Sir Philip may not wish to watch proceedings in the Commons today where MPs will debate his handling of a company which was once one of the giants of the British high street.
The Speaker is also expected to grant an amendment signed by more than 100 MPs calling for the billionaire to be stripped of his knighthood.
Although the vote will not be binding it will put pressure on the Honours Forfeiture committee to consider if he still deserves his gong.
Expect a lot of MPs to use Parliamentary privilege - the right to say what they like without being sued - to raise some of Sir Philip’s business practices.
Few will shed any tears for Green if this proves an uncomfortable experience for him.
In the past he has complained that the MPs were "prejudiced" against him. Others would argue they were simply doing their job.
At least he has his millions to fall back on while thousands of staff have only unemployment benefit of £73.10 a week.

Theresa May travels to Brussels today for a summit of EU leaders.
One of the items on the agenda is a move to curb imports of Chinese steel.
The EU commission wants to remove the lesser duty rule which limits the amount of tariffs that can be imposed on Chinese steel.
Britain’s steel firms say removing the rule would be a lifeline for the industry as it would stop China from dumping cheap goods on the market.
The UK government is resisting the move as it says it will harm other sectors reliant on imports.
Mrs May now has the first test of whether she meant what she said in her conference speech about being prepared to "step in" when free markets were not "working as they should.”

There are two by-elections taking place today.
The Tories should cling on to David Cameron’s former seat of Witney while Labour will hold Jo Cox’s seat of Batley and Spen.
As a mark of respect, the Lib Dems, Greens and Conservatives have not fielded a candidate in Batley.
Shamefully, the National Front and the National Front and British National Party Local People First are still standing.
The results in both seats are expected after 3am.

If you want to get in touch my email is jason.beattie@mirror.co.uk and you can follow us @mirrorpolitics on Twitter.