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Morning,
We saw the best and worst of the House of Commons yesterday.
In the main chamber there was a serious and at times heart-wrenching debate on Syria.
At the same time the provisional wing of the Monster Raving Loony Party, sometimes called the Conservatives, were debating whether the Royal Yacht should be brought back into service to help boost post-Brexit trade.
That this should be a priority for some Tory MPs would be amusing were they not so serious in their intent.
Their demand for the recommissioning of the Britannia, the most emblematic way of reinforcing our Ruritarian status, coincided not just with the debate on the atrocities in Aleppo but as the pound continued its freefall towards copper coinage.
Labour will today hold a debate on the Government’s plans for exiting the European Union.
Some would say this a bold move given the party’s own position on key issues, notably free movement, is unresolved.
To set the scene Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer have issued a joint letter to Theresa May listing 170 questions about Brexit.
They include, if you are interested, the future of trade, immigration and regional funding; agriculture and fisheries; Northern Ireland; employment rights; the environment and climate change; law enforcement and security; foreign and defence policy; financial services and accounting; business and consumer interests; human rights; education, health and disability; culture; transport; and parliamentary accountability.
The country is now embarking on the debate about the consequences of Brexit which it should have had during the referendum campaign.
Theresa May has also discovered that her attempt to close down the argument by insisting there would be ‘no running commentary’ will not wash.
The government last night executed what Labour called a “hell of a climb down” by agreeing to allow Parliament to examine her strategy for leaving the EU before she invokes Article 50 next year. We have the first Prime Minister’s Questions today since the break for the party conferences.
As usual we will be running a live blog of the exchanges from shortly before midday with our snap verdict and sketch.
Jeremy Corbyn is also appearing before the Women and Equalities committee this morning alongside Tim Farron, the SNP’s Angus Robertson and Tory chairman Patrick McLoughlin to discuss female representation in Parliament.
The 459 male MPs currently sitting in the Commons is higher than the total number of female MPs elected since 1918. If you want to get in touch my email is jason.beattie@mirror.co.uk and you can follow us @mirrorpolitics on Twitter.
Thanks,
Mirror Politics |
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