Commons Gallery: week beginning 15 January
4 min read
Sebastian Whale looks at what’s coming up in the chamber and Westminster Hall this week
Report for duty
The EU (Withdrawal) Bill returns to the Commons this week with its report stage and third reading on Tuesday and Wednesday. DExEU tabled a string of amendments to the bill last week to address concerns raised with the legislation. But promised changes on devolution were pushed back until the Withdrawal Bill reaches the House of Lords, with government sources indicating the departure of Damian Green – a key broker in the talks with the devolved administrations – has caused the delay.
Many amendments remain on the table, including three from backbench Labour MP Chris Leslie. New Clause 2 states that any deal signed in 2018 between the UK and the EU “must include the full details expected of a comprehensive trade agreement”. New Clause 3 is seeking to enshrine into law the agreement in phase one of the Brexit talks regarding the “full alignment of the UK with the rules of the EU Internal Market and Customs Union”. Leslie’s New Clause 6 wants to know what powers exist for MPs if they feel the Brexit deal struck “falls short”, including the possibility of revoking the PM’s Article 50 letter. Also worth watching out for are amendments from Tory MP Dominic Grieve and Labour’s on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Gavin and Philip
None of the (few) Cabinet ministers who shifted roles in the new year are on display in the Chamber this week. On Monday, we have the return of Gavin Williamson at Defence Questions, before his sparring partner Philip Hammond takes Treasury Questions on Tuesday. Penny Mordaunt has the 11.30 slot for DfID Questions on Wednesday, while Chris Grayling, the Tory party chairman that wasn’t, will take Transport Questions early doors on Thursday. Over on committee corridor, Sir Jeremy Heywood, head of the Civil Service, will face a grilling from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs committee at 3 on Monday – a must watch.
Xanax
On Monday, Labour MP Bambos Charalambous has an adjournment debate on abuse of the drug Xanax. The Enfield Southgate MP says Xanax is “being abused by young people across the country”, with some self-medicating to cope with anxiety, while others are “being groomed and exploited by drug-pushers taking advantage of the drug’s ‘zombie-like’ effects”. Charalambous hopes to “shine a light” on the abuse of Xanax. “The government needs to research its use, raise public awareness and put support in place for those who have become dependent,” he tells The House.
British Indian Ocean Territory
On Tuesday Tory MP Henry Smith will have a ten-minute rule motion introducing The British Indian Ocean Territory (Citizenship) Bill. The legislation calls for individuals born there to register as British citizens, in recognition of the fact that their parents were forcibly exiled from the Chagos Islands which comprises the UK Overseas Territory. Smith, whose Crawley constituency holds “perhaps the largest Chagossian community anywhere in the world,” says the bill is sponsored by MPs from six parties.“We cannot right the wrongs of Harold Wilson’s late 1960s administration to forcibly evict Chagos islanders from their homeland by Orders in Council, indeed by-passing Parliament,” he tells us. “However, what Parliament can do in 2018 is recognise the hardship suffered by Chagossian people as a result of this exile, and take action to ensure that anyone of Chagossian descent – defined as people who can prove that they have one family member in the ascending line born on what is the British Indian Ocean Territory – becomes eligible to register as a British Citizen.”
PMBs and Westminster Hall
It’s PMB Friday, and a slew of MPs are lining up to put forward their legislative ideas. Labour MP Karen Buck and Tory MP Sarah Wollaston have previewed their bills – on protections for tenants and victims of stalking – in these pages. Meanwhile in Westminster Hall, Tory MP Maggie Throup has a debate on the effect of junk food advertising on obesity in children. In a piece for The House, the backbencher has some strong words calling for the government to take action.
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