London Playbook: Rebel rebel — Yob crackdown — Succession, Scotland style

 

London Playbook: Rebel rebel — Yob crackdown — Succession, Scotland style

BY ROSA PRINCE

MARCH 27, 2023 8:14 AM CET

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/rebel-rebel-yob-crackdown-succession-scotland-style/

 

London Playbook

By ROSA PRINCE

 

DRIVING THE DAY

REBELS WITH A CAUSE: Rishi Sunak’s Illegal Migration Bill returns to the Commons today — aaand it’s in for a bumpy ride. The legislation is the cornerstone of the PM’s pledge to “stop the boats,” one of five priorities for his government he set out at the start of the year. But amid warnings that as many as 60 MPs could rebel on various measures, it’s perhaps no surprise the papers hear Sunak may be forced to compromise. Backbenchers backing some of the dozens of amendments which have been put forward are expected to meet him to make their case before MPs begin their work in the Commons around 3 p.m.

 

When is a rebellion not a rebellion? Perhaps when a minister leads the opposition to their own bill? The Times duo of Oliver Wright and Matt Dathan claim to have firmed up the extraordinary suggestion floating around Westminster that Home Secretary Suella Braverman is “secretly backing” a rebellion from the right. The ruse is said to be a bid to push No. 10 into toughening up the bill to stop the European Court of Human Rights blocking future deportation flights to Rwanda.

 

Sock puppet: The Times quotes “senior government sources” describing Braverman as a “sock puppet” for Tory hardliners opposed to the ECHR. “She wants to use it to spook us to offer concessions to get them to drop their amendments because a big rebellion would be embarrassing,” the Times quotes their insider as saying. Playbook’s Dan Bloom heard similar from a number of Tory MPs last week, although none said they knew so for certain.

 

Not so: “This is totally untrue … The people spreading scurrilous rumours like this about the home secretary should reconsider and refrain,” a “source close to the home secretary” insists to the paper. FWIW a spokesman for the rebels told Playbook they had been dealing with Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick rather than Braverman over the weekend. “Jenrick has been running point,” they grumbled. “We wish we had been dealing with Suella.”

 

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Safe and legal: Meanwhile, on Sunak’s other flank, a rebellion led by Tory MP Tim Loughton with the backing of Labour is said to have been successful in forcing the government to give way over “safe and legal” routes, by setting out pathways for refugees to seek asylum now, rather than waiting until the numbers of illegal arrivals on small boats has been shrunk, as the PM had desired.

 

Child refugees: A third rebellion which looks like it’s gaining traction seeks to bar juvenile asylum seekers from the government’s tough new regime.

 

Let’s take those rebellions in turn: Led by Danny Kruger and Jonathan Gullis, the amendments on the right seek to give ministers power to ignore the European Court of Human Rights, a position Braverman is said to be sympathetic to. With pressure from some on his backbenches to withdraw altogether from the European Convention on Human rights, the Sun and the FT both hear Sunak is ready to toughen up the bill rather than face a major rebellion.

 

What do they want? Kruger and co. are said to be seeking four concessions in return for withdrawing their amendment: a promise for an immediate ban on “rule 39” orders, which the Strasbourg court used last summer to block deportation flights to Rwanda; a ban on migrants returning after being ejected from the U.K.; a bar on judges halting deportations; and a reduction in the time frame in which migrants can appeal against a deportation order.

 

But, but, but: Sunak and Braverman may well face pushback. The Mail says not everyone at the top of government is prepared to compromise, with Attorney General Victoria Prentis and top government legal adviser James Eadie said to object on the grounds that such a move could put the U.K. in breach of international law.

 

Suspicious minds: A spokesman for the backbenchers confirmed to Playbook that the rebels were open to setting their amendments aside in return for a promise that the government would close what the Express in its splash describes as “loopholes” in the bill, but would wait to see a concrete promise. “This isn’t year one of the parliament any more, we’re all well aware of the normal whips tricks,” they said.

 

Rebel army: Separately, the Telegraph’s Camilla Turner hears ​​Braverman is open to budging on the “safe and legal” routes aspect of the bill, which could open the door to safe passage to 20,000 migrants a year on top of those welcomed under schemes to give asylum to migrants fleeing Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan. The move comes in response to an amendment to this effect from Tim Loughton, who told Playbook: “I would be very surprised if we did not get some concessions on this.” The Home Office was steering against the suggestions there would be concessions today on safe and legal routes, but did not rule out movement at a future date.

 

Child refugees: Meanwhile Labour and some One Nation Tories feel reasonably confident they will be able to combine forces to push through an amendment exempting child refugees from the zero-tolerance plans.

 

Dehumanizing: The i, which splashes on the bill, has a letter from 24 unions including those representing border force staff claiming that the government’s “dehumanizing” language about refugees is “emboldening” the far right.

 

Not in my backyard: Talk over the weekend of housing migrants in ferries seems to have faded, amid suggestions ministers will instead push on with plans to use disused airbases as they seek alternatives to housing asylum seekers in hotels. The Guardian’s Diane Taylor hears that at a public meeting Sunday afternoon, Braintree district council confirmed it was taking legal action to try to prevent the Home Office moving 1,500 asylum seekers on to Wethersfield airfield in north Essex. Local MP, one (checks notes) Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, has voiced his opposition to the plans on his Facebook page.

 

Back in the Commons: Report stage of the bill is scheduled to run until 10 p.m. tonight and then returns for more line-by-line scrutiny Tuesday.

 

YOBS OUT

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Rishi Sunak launches his big crackdown on anti-social behavior with an early-morning visit to Essex, where he will take part in a PM Connect event. The broadcast is being pooled and we are promised a “short opportunity” for media questions at the end. Unveiling his Anti-Social Behavior Action Plan, the PM will pledge to deliver “swift and visible justice” for victims, with a zero-tolerance approach to the kind of stuff that blights communities, giving the police and local authorities tools to tackle the problem.

 

Safe spaces: The PM will say: “Anti-social behavior undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home. The public have rightly had enough, which is why I am determined to restore people’s confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished.” The Telegraph splashes the plans.

 

No laughing matter: Nitrous oxide — laughing gas — will be banned in a bid to protect young people and prevent canisters littering parks and playgrounds. The Guardian recalls that the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs described a ban as “disproportionate” when delivering its assessment a month ago. But ministers say that with laughing gas now the third most common form of drug used by young people, they need to nip this one in the bud.

 

What else? The plan sets out a number of pilot schemes around the country, in which perpetrators will be forced to make amends by, for example, washing police cars or picking up litter while wearing high-vis jumpsuits within 48 hours of being caught. New “hotspot policing” will also be trialed in six areas, with uniformed police and other authority figures such as park wardens posted to places suffering high levels of anti-social behavior. All 16 areas taking part in the schemes will receive additional funding.

 

There’s more: Victims and communities will get a say over what punishments perpetrators should receive. The Telegraph says “nuisance begging” will be barred, with vagrants moved on by police if they cause “public distress” by, for example, asking for money outside ATMs. Landlords will be given fresh powers to evict problem tenants. Penalties for fly tipping, littering and graffiti will be stiffened, and council league tables published for the former.

 

And more: Local authorities will be given the power to take over and sell empty shops. It will become an offence for gangs to organize begging networks. And digital “one-stop shops” will be set up where residents can report anti-social behavior.

 

Awks: The Mail splashes not on the crackdown but on figures showing that more than 1,000 sex offenders have been spared punishment after apologizing to victims in the last two years, through the use of so-called “community resolutions.”

 

To be fair: The paper gives the anti-social-behavior crackdown a full double-page spread inside under the headline: “Rishi’s war on the fly tippers,” and hosts an op-ed by the PM. Sunak writes of his crackdown: “I want people to feel safe and proud in the places where they live. I want us to build stronger communities places where businesses want to invest, people have the opportunities they need to thrive, and where everyone can look towards a better future. This is a plan to help us deliver just that.”

 

Call the cops: Labour accused the government of pinching its ideas, after leader Keir Starmer unveiled his own plans to tackle anti-social behavior earlier this month. Dan Bloom hears Starmer is due to launch Labour’s local elections campaign this Thursday, meaning both main parties are certain to talk a lot more about how tough on crime they’ll be between now and May 4.

 

Key battleground: More in Common’s Luke Tryl predicts that crime and anti-social behavior will be at the forefront of the next general election as well. He says: “Both Labour and the Conservatives have recognised that a plan to tackle crime and anti social behaviour [is] central to winning the next election. The test now is which of the government or opposition’s policies seem most credible.”

 

Missing bobbies: Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said spiraling bad behavior is the result of a lack of bobbies on the beat, and predicted the government would fail in its target of recruiting 20,000 officers by the end of the month. She said: “In too many towns and neighbourhoods nothing is being done about nightmare anti-social behavior and crime because there just aren’t any police. All we get from Tory ministers is empty rhetoric — if they won’t put the police back on the beat then it doesn’t matter what they say, anti-social behavior will keep getting worse.”

 

CROWNING THE SNP

DECISION DAY: It’s the big reveal in the SNP leadership contest this afternoon, when we finally learn the identity of the person who will succeed Nicola Sturgeon as party leader and Scotland’s first minister (although the formal bit of that won’t happen until later in the week). The contest has proven somewhat bruising, with the three competitors variously characterized, (not least by each other) as an establishment failure (Humza Yousaf), religious zealot (Kate Forbes) and anti-trans outsider (Ash Regan). In fact, in terms of boosting the SNP’s electoral appeal, probably the only good thing to be said about the contest is that it’s finally over.

 

How it will play out: The ballot closes until noon. My POLITICO colleague and Scotland expert Andrew McDonald has this to say about how the day will play out after that: The contenders will gather at a Murrayfield function room where National Secretary Lorna Finn will get the result from the party’s Mi-Voice software just after 2 p.m. She’ll share the news privately with the candidates, before they walk out and take their seats in the front row of the audience. Finn will then go to the podium, where she will read out the total number of votes cast, share of the vote at each stage and finally the identity of the winner.

 

Who’s it going to be? Andrew continues: Everyone I’ve spoken to says it’s too close to call and basically 50/50 between Yousaf and Forbes. The AV voting system is a hugely important factor: Yousaf is likely to be ahead, but Forbes is expected to get all the second preferences from Ash Regan. So Yousaf is aiming for (and will need to get close to) 50 percent to make sure he wins.

 

Quiet Kates: One former SNP adviser told Andrew they had anecdotally detected lots of “quiet Kates” — think “shy Tories” in Westminster elections — within the membership, referring to people discreetly plumping for the finance secretary over Humza Yousaf.

 

First minister-designate: Sturgeon is expected to tender her resignation as first minister to the king on Tuesday, when a parliamentary vote will take place in Holyrood to formally nominate the new SNP leader as her successor. They will be officially be sworn in at the Court of Session on Wednesday, after which their new Cabinet will be unveiled.

 

The commentariat: Plenty of comment on what the race means for the Westminster parties. Chris Deerin argues in his New Statesman article that the real winner will be Labour no matter who is elected, while Katy Balls reckons the Tories are hoping for a Yousaf victory.

 

Lovin’ it: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar tells a special edition of the Chopper’s Politics that Nicola Sturgeon’s departure clears the way for Labour and spikes the perennial Tory attack line that the party would be “in the pocket” of the SNP in the event of a hung parliament. With none of the candidates to replace Sturgeon are in her league, he says there is no need to make a deal with the SNP: “I dare Kate Forbes or Humza Yousaf to vote in a Tory government and we can see how Scotland reacts.”

 

Reminder of what’s at stake: Labour holds only one seat in Scotland, but has the muscle memory of its domination north of the border as recently as 2010 to see the SNP’s current travails as opening the door to snatching as many as 20 by the time of the next election. If the bid pays off — and the alacrity with which Keir Starmer headed there to campaign after Sturgeon’s shock resignation suggests he thinks there’s a decent shot — Labour would need a swing of just 9 percent in England to form a government, compared to 15 percent if it doesn’t.

 

How to watch: The result will be broadcast in a BBC One news special from 1.45 p.m. — hosted by Martin Geissler, while Sky will go live from 2 p.m.

 

THEY WHO WOULD BE KING: Just over a month after Sturgeon announced her departure, how much have we learnt about the candidates and their vision for office? Playbook reporter Noah Keate provides a run-down …

 

Humza Yousaf: Announced his candidacy on February 18 as the frontrunner. An MSP since 2011, served as a minister since 2012 and been in the Scottish Cabinet since 2018. Regarded as the candidate closest to Sturgeon ideologically, he picked up the backing of many of her supporters and joked he would have the outgoing first minister “on speed dial.” Faced criticism for his time in government from the other candidates, including a scathing attack from Forbes. A core aspect of Yousaf’s campaign was challenging the U.K. government’s decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR), though signs emerged of him backtracking. If he wins, will be the first Muslim first minister.

 

Kate Forbes: Last to declare her candidacy, on February 20. An MSP since 2016, became Scotland’s finance secretary in February 2020 after her predecessor resigned in disgrace. Forced to deliver a budget with a few hours’ preparation, Forbes impressed and became one to watch. On maternity leave when Sturgeon resigned, Forbes’ campaign almost imploded at the outset when she faced widespread criticism for her socially conservative views, including opposing same-sex marriage, gender self-ID and sex outside marriage. This led numerous MSPs to withdraw support. Fought back with strong performances in debates and hustings. Victory would make Forbes Scotland’s second female first minister and the youngest, aged just 32.

 

Ash Regan: Declared candidacy the same day as Yousaf; regarded as the outsider from the get go. Entering the Scottish parliament at the same time as Forbes, she was largely unknown until resigning as minister for community safety in October 2022 to oppose GRR. On independence, Regan advocated treating every election as a vote on independence. This meant she would negotiate with the U.K. government the next time political parties which support independence received more than half the votes.

 

Over to Playbook PM: For all the latest from the new leader this afternoon.

 

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DONKEY STING

MORE FOLLOWS: Dripping out your scoops is all the rage these days (Cf the Telegraph’s Lockdown files) and the Led By Donkeys campaign is making the most of its “MPs for Hire” sting which has reignited the debate around MPs’ second jobs. The Observer had the day one tale of MPs including Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng being duped by a fake South Korean company, in a gotcha which saw them take part in Zoom calls to apparently discuss working for a daily rate of as much as £10,000 to represent the firm. More videos are due to be released today and in coming days.

 

He’s a great guy: The Mirror splashes on the suggestion by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng that he could potentially secure an introduction to Boris Johnson. Saying a meeting was not guaranteed, he added: “He’s someone I know, he’s a great guy.” (Johnson’s spokesman said the former PM had not been contacted, while Kwarteng did not respond to the Observer or Mirror.)

 

Bunking off: Inside, the Mirror says another video shows Graham Brady, outgoing chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, telling representatives of the fake company he was confident he could be excused from parliamentary business to travel on its behalf. In response to the video’s disclosure, Brady said: “I made it clear that any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that whilst a member of parliament, I would only act within the terms of the code of conduct.”

 

The response: Labour is calling for the whip to be removed from Tories caught up in the sting, with Angela Rayner telling the Sun the party would ban second jobs (with all that means for David Lammy’s bank balance). Michael Gove wasn’t exactly full-blooded in his defense of the MPs, telling Sky News that “inevitably” people will reflect on the incident and the “first duty” of an MP is to their constituents.

 

Not falling for it: Fair to say, not all of the approached MPs were caught out. Gavin Williamson is said to have terminated a call after smelling a rat. Which, as Ros Urwin points out, is a tad embarrassing for those who did fall for it.

 

Disclaimer: The MPs caught up in the sting are all said to have complied with parliamentary rules and raised their obligation to their constituents during the calls.

 

LABOUR LAND

BUSY BEES: With not one, not two, but three big-hitter Labour interviews around this morning, plus a keynote speech, the party really is spoiling us. First up, leader Keir Starmer, who has given an in-depth interview to the High Performance Podcast. Lines follow:

 

Starmer on parliament: Like virtually every LOTO and PM before him, it turns out Starmer’s not a fan of PMQs. Indeed, sounds like he generally doesn’t love being in the Commons chamber: “The moment you stand up at the dispatch box, almost every friendly face is now behind you, and you’ve got a wall of faces that are going to vehemently disagree with what you are saying, and it’s a very tribal divided way of doing things. I don’t find it at all comfortable, I don’t think it achieves very much. The best part of the week for me is when the Prime Minister’s Questions is over and I can get out of parliament, across the country.”

 

On mental health: “You got lots of people saying pretty negative stuff about what you’re trying to do and somehow you have to shut it all out. I do this by focusing on what I’m going to achieve and push the rest of it out. It’s really, really hard to do … When you’re being subject to that kind of criticism, it feels very personal.”

 

On his father’s death: “I don’t regret very much in life, but the last time I saw my dad, he was in hospital. And I walked away, and I knew he was going to die. Just knew it. I knew I wouldn’t see him again and I didn’t turn around to go back.”

 

On the job: “Being leader of the opposition is a bit like being the England manager where everybody can do your job better than you. Everybody’s got an opinion on your job.”

 

On family: “I don’t want to be that bloke in 10 years who says, I wish I’d spent more time with my children.”

 

NEXT OUT OF THE TRAPS, RACHEL REEVES: The shadow chancellor has given an interview to the Independent’s Kate Devlin in which she says “Britain should be embarrassed” it hasn’t had a female chancellor. “There’s been a chancellor of the Exchequer now for just over 800 years, and they’ve always been men … There’s never been a woman chancellor, there’s never been a woman governor of the Bank of England, there’s never been a woman permanent secretary of the Treasury, and I want to be the person who changes that.”

 

Liam Burns: Asked about the infamous note left for the incoming coalition government by Treasury Minister Liam Byrne in 2010 reading “I’m afraid there is no money,” Reeves said an outgoing Tory minister should leave one reading: “We’ve made people poorer, and what have we got to show for it? Public services on their knees.”

 

CRASHING CHILDCARE: The Mirror’s Lizzie Buchan traveled to Cork to interview Bridget Phillipson as she checked out how the Irish manage their childcare. The shadow education secretary warned that the government’s childcare reforms, unveiled in this month’s budget, could lead to the Conservatives “crashing the childcare market like they crashed the economy,” by promising an expansion of nursery cover which the industry lacks the capacity and resources to deliver.

 

Key battleground: It was Phillipson’s first interview since Chancellor Jeremy Hunt pulled out his childcare “rabbit” during the budget. The topic looks like forming another key battleground at the next election. Playbook spoke to a Tory adviser who felt the offering to extend free care to toddlers had spiked Labour’s guns in this area — Phillipson and her team clearly disagree.

 

TRADING FLOOR TRAILBLAZERS: Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds will address the London Stock Exchange in a speech timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the first woman on the trading floor. Starting at 8.25 a.m., she’ll pay tribute to “trading floor trailblazers” and women leading the way in the industry today.

 

Still a way to go: Dodds will say that while progress has been made, the pay gap in the industry will take 18 years to close at current rates, and outline Labour’s plans to support women in their 40s, 50s and 60s to stay in or return to the workplace.

 

NOT JUST TECH BASHING: POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson has delved into what Labour’s tech policy might look like, and finds it won’t be all about bashing Big Tech. Shadow ministers, officials and think tankers are currently working on a paper, due to be published in May, which will lay the foundations of the party’s approach to tech and the wider digital economy. Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell tells Annabelle she is a “tech optimist.” Regulation is coming in “various forms around the world,” she says, but should not be a “means to just stop everything, and stop the world happening.”

 

Read it first: The free trial period for POLITICO’s ace new Morning Tech UK newsletter has ended, which means you now need to be a Pro subscriber to keep reading all our in-depth U.K. tech coverage. You can find out about some of the benefits of membership and request a demo here.

 

HEALTH OF THE NATION

DOCTOR DISASTER: The Guardian’s Denis Campbell has seen a leaked draft of the latest NHS plan — and it’s sobering reading. On current trends, and without a massive injection of home-grown doctors, nurses, dentists and other staff, the NHS in England faces a shortfall in head count of an eye-watering 570,000.

 

More please: The 107-page blueprint says rising demand fueled by a growing and aging population means the NHS cannot keep up with demand without an increase in staff levels of more than 50 percent. A senior NHS leader tells the paper that while Health Secretary Steve Barclay is sympathetic to the need to boost numbers, Jeremy Hunt is unwilling to provide the funds.

 

What the department says: A spokesman for the DoH said: “We’re growing the health care workforce — recruiting 50,000 more nurses — and we have almost hit our target of delivering 26,000 additional primary care staff.”

 

GHOST CHILDREN: Iain Duncan Smith has an op-ed in the Telegraph in which he calls for a “national campaign” to seek out “ghost children” who failed to return to school following the pandemic.

 

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TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

CROWN COURT CRISIS: Charity Rape Crisis England & Wales releases a new report revealing crown courts have a record backlog of 7,859 sexual offence cases and 1,851 adult rape cases. The number of vacated and ineffective rape cases more than doubled from 2019/20 to 2021/22, according to an FOI request obtained by the group.

 

It gets worse: The same FOI request found the number of trials postponed at least once increased by 133 percent, while the number of trials with three or more previous trial dates almost doubled. There were five times as many trials which had been rescheduled six or more times.

 

Poor attendance: A lack of prosecution lawyers helped propel the number of ineffective trials with, in the year to June 20 2022, 1,925 cases called off due to the prosecutor failing to attend, an increase of 1,722 in two years. On average, 839 days passed between the report of an offence and its completion in court for those who suffered serious sexual offences.

 

The solution is: The report recommends priority listing for rape and serious sexual offences cases to ensure they have a guaranteed fixed trial date. Specialist sexual offence courts including the option of pre-recording witness evidence and the right to independent legal representation should be standard. Where trials are the least timely and the backlog volume is high, the report says judge-only trials should be piloted.

 

GRIM POLICE NEWS: As trailed in the Sunday Times, Children’s Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza publishes a new report showing Black children are disproportionately more likely to be subjected to strip searches by police officers in England and Wales than white children.

 

Data breakdown: Black boys accounted for more than a third (37 percent) of strip searches carried out on children under stop and search powers between 2018 and mid-2022, with the findings suggesting Black children were six times more likely to be strip searched. More than half the searches took place without an appropriate adult present.

 

NOT IN WESTMINSTER BUT: Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen is on a visit to the U.S., where he will seek to sell the U.K. as an emerging science and technology superpower and promote Britain to tech bosses as one of the best places in the world to invest. The five-day trip will see him take in New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco — in the latter he will attend a reception as part of the government’s GREAT campaign, which renames the U.K. the “Unicorn Kingdom” (see what they did there?). The Great campaign is a government drive to encourage both investment and visitors.

 

Trillion-dollar tech: During his American adventure, Glen will say Britain has more unicorns (start-ups valued at more than a billion dollars) than France, Germany and Sweden combined, and a “unique combination of world-class talent, agile regulation and a focus on global expansion,” a Treasury official said.

 

GREAT BRITISH IFTAR: Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Investment Minister Dominic Johnson will host “A Great British Iftar” at Lancaster House from 6.30 p.m. Iftar is the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan and will be DBT’s first, with Badenoch giving a speech about the contribution U.K. businesses make to the economy.

 

Top notch guest list: Attendees will include senior ambassadors from Muslim-majority countries, CEOs of major British businesses and founders of new British firms, as well as celebrities and influencers. The menu is by celebrity chef Suleman Raza and DJ Naughty Boy (Shahid Khan) — they will serve up a fusion of cuisines inspired by nations including Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. Perhaps the main treat of the night will be Naughty Boy’s personal twist on a British classic: lamb keema shepherd’s pie.

 

VACCINATIONS OF THE FUTURE: Policy Exchange hosts a panel event exploring the future of vaccines policy featuring former health sec Sajid Javid and U.K. Health Security Agency chief exec Jenny Harries, in-person and online from 6 p.m.

 

OLD BAILEY: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey delivers a keynote speech at the London School of Economics, also at 6 p.m.

 

HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 2.30 p.m. with leveling-up, housing and communities questions before the first day of the Illegal Migration Bill facing consideration in committee. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt will then raise various motions related to the speaker’s absence, standing orders, select committees and their chairs and the Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission. The SNP’s Patricia Gibson has the adjournment debate on HMS Dasher.

 

WESTMINSTER HALL: Debates e-petitions from 4.30 p.m., relating to home education (led by Tory MP Nick Fletcher).

 

On committee corridor: Iceland and Norway’s ambassadors to the U.K. speak to the Scottish affairs committee about defense in Scotland (3 p.m.) … The Lords’ integration of primary and community care committee hears from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (3.05 p.m.) … The public accounts committee hears from Home Office perm sec Matthew Rycroft about the Emergency Services Network (4 p.m.) … and leveling-up sec Michael Gove gives evidence to the leveling-up, housing and communities committee, which is joined by MPs from the Northern Ireland, Scottish affairs and Welsh affairs committees, to discuss intergovernmental relations (4.15 p.m.).

 

Go for growth: The BEIS committee — chaired by Labour’s Darren Jones — hosts an economic growth conference looking at how ministers can boost post-pandemic growth. Speakers include UCL economist Mariana Mazzucato and the TUC’s Paul Nowak.

 

HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 2.30 p.m. with oral questions on securing peace in Palestine, reducing dependence on charities for providing food and reconsidering the refusal of citizenship to Shamima Begum. The main business is then the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill at committee stage and the eighth day of the Leveling-Up and Regeneration Bill at committee stage.