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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Statistics on claimants dying after losing their benefits will be released, Cameron tells MPs - Politics live

A demonstration in 2013 against the work capability assessment, the test used to decide whether disabled claimants are deemed fit to work.
A demonstration in 2013 against the work capability assessment, the test used to decide whether disabled claimants are deemed fit to work. Photograph: Pete Riches/Pete Riches/Demotix/Corbis

Afternoon summary

There’s not enough accents on the frontbench. I’ve always had a strong sense that an accent holds you back. I felt that when I got to Cambridge, kind of that feeling of waiting for the tap on the shoulder, but it was true in Westminster as well . . . you’re not part of the in-crowd when you come from a different background ...

It does pain me to say this, but the Labour Party’s replicated that itself. Of all organisations in the country, the Labour Party has had the tendency to promote people with posher voices. And consequently, we have found ourselves looking quite remote from some people; they’ve looked at us and seen a party they can’t relate to.

The Labour party will not be like that under my leadership. It will look and feel different. There’ll be different voices - it will look like a change has been made.

  • The European Commission has set up a taskforce to address issues raised by David Cameron’s EU renegotiation and appointed a British official to lead it. As the Press Assocation reports, Jonathan Faull, has been appointed director-general of the new Brussels taskforce for strategic issues related to the UK seferendum. It will start work in September. Budget commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Faull would “lead our work as issue after issue comes to our attention, in terms of what the expectations of the UK are for reforms of the European Union, what is possible (and) how we can meet each other”. She added: “Our relations with the UK as it prepares for a referendum are very important.” Faull will report directly to the commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Jon Cruddas at the IPPR - Summary

Jon Cruddas’s declaration at his IPPR talk that Labour plans to set up an English party (see 2.36pm) seems to have caught Labour HQ by surprise. It is saying there are “no plans” for such a move, which normally just means ‘it will happen, but we can’t announce it yet’.

According to Twitter, there were some other good lines in Cruddas’s talk.

  • Cruddas, who was in charge of Labour’s policy review under Ed Miliband, said Labour’s plight could get worse.
  • He said the most original Labour thinking now came from leaders in local government.
  • He said Labour needed to champion a new approach to social democracy.
  • He said the Labour leadership candidate who best accepted the defeat and learnt from it deserved to win.
  • He welcomed Jeremy Corbyn’s inclusion in the contest.
Jon Cruddas
Jon Cruddas Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

In 2009, to signal his opposition to Heathrow expansion, David Cameron sponsored the planting of a tree near the airport. With the Davies Commission about to publish its report on whether to build a new runway at Heathrow or Gatwick, Bloomberg’s Thomas Penny has discovered that Cameron’s Heathrow tree is dead.

Many suspect that his commitment to blocking the third runway has similarly perished.

Tessa Jowell, the favourite in contest to be Labour’s candidate for London mayor, has produced a campaign video. It is very slick.

Lunchtime summary

  • David Cameron has told MPs that statistics showing how many people die while claiming out-of-work disability benefits will be published. As the Press Association reports, he said the data was being prepared for release after a Labour MP asked him to intervene and ensure the government complies with a ruling by the information commissioner. In April, the information commissioner asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to publish the number of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance claimants who have died since November 2011 until May 2014. It added this should be broken down to several categories, including the number of claimants found fit for work. Speaking during PMQs, Labour’s Marie Rimmer told Cameron:

You have repeatedly been reported as saying you want to create ‘a new era of transparency in government’. Given your desire, why is [Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary] refusing to release the statistics relating to the deaths of people who have been declared fit for work, as instructed to do so by the information commissioner? Will you intervene and get [Duncan Smith] to comply with the spirit of your desire and the request, the instruction of the information commissioner?

Cameron replied:

First of all let me reassure you this data will be published and is being prepared for publication as we speak. I think it is important we publish data and this government has published more data about public spending than any previous government.

Cameron was speaking two days after Duncan Smith refused to commit himself to publishing those figures at DWP questions in the Commons. Instead, Duncan Smith criticised Labour MPs for suggesting benefit sanctions were to blame for suicides. Previously the DWP said it was not releasing the data because it was appealing against the commissioner’s decision.

  • Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, has criticised David Cameron for proposing to cut tax credits when the families affected will have no hope of making up the money through higher earnings. Speaking at PMQs, she said:

The IFS have said cutting £5bn from tax credits would mean working families losing on average £1,400 a year ... To compensate for a loss of £1,400 a year, the minimum wage would have to go up overnight by 25% - that’s not going to happen, is it?

Cameron said that if Labour wanted to spend the next five years arguing against changes to welfare, it would end up with the same result at the next election.

  • Cameron has announced he is setting up a ministerial taskforce on child protection. It will be chaired by Nicky Morgan, the education secretary. Cameron said:

Through this work we will accelerate our current reforms to children’s social work, and will overhaul the way that police, social services and other agencies work together locally. This approach – dealing with the causes of stalled social mobility – will give children the best start in life; this is what I mean when I say ‘one nation’: extending opportunity to everyone in our country.

  • Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP in charge of the policy review under Ed Miliband, has told an event at the IPPR thinktank that Labour will set up an English party.

I will post more on this, and on the Cruddas event, later.

  • Alan Miliburn, the Labour former health secretary, has launched a withering attack on Ed Miliband’s record as party leader. (See 10.02am.)
  • Amal Clooney has attended PMQs. As the Press Association reports, she had a direct view of the exchanges from a gallery usually used by MPs. She was sitting alongside Tory MP Fiona Bruce and was reported to be in Parliament as part of a campaign on the Maldives.

Updated

Here’s a Guardian video with David Cameron talking about the situation at Calais.

David Cameron and Theresa May on Calais migrant problem - Summary

Here are the main points on the Calais situation from PMQs and from Theresa May’s response to the Labour urgent question.

  • David Cameron said that Britain was considering providing more personnel and sniffer dogs to help the authorities in France deal with the migrant problem at Calais.
  • He said that he wanted to make Britain “a less easy place for illegal migrants to come to and work in”.
  • He said Britain and France had a “strong partnership” and he refused to blame the French for the situation at Calais. “There’s no point either side trying to point the finger of blame,” he told MPs. In her statement, May also avoided recriminations and said that the British and French were cooperating well.
  • May said the British and French stopped “significant numbers” of migrants from entering the UK by climbing aboard lorries in Calais over the last two days. Although the closure of the Channel Tunnel and the port meant that lorries were held up, and that migrants had an easy target if they wanted to climb on board, she said that extra security measures were put in place to compensate. She told MPs:

The French and UK governments were well prepared for this event. Tried and tested contingency plans were quickly put into place. Despite the extra pressure caused by the French strikers, Border Force maintained border security by following plans to put additional staff in place to search freight vehicles passing through the affected ports during the industrial action and thereafter. All freight vehicles passing through the Calais ports undergo searching by both the French authorities and the UK’s Border Force before boarding a ferry or train. During the course of yesterday’s disruption and since, Border Force and the French authorities have successfully identified and intercepted a significant number of would-be migrants.

  • She said that, although border traffic was getting back to normal, Britain and France would maintain a “significant” security operation.
  • She said that 223 people had been prosecuted for people smuggling following British and French operations. She said:

UK and French law enforcement organisations have already had considerable success in dismantling criminal networks behind the people trafficking and smuggling on both sides of the Channel, resulting in the prosecution of 223 individuals.

A migrant under the trailer of a lorry at Calais
A migrant under the trailer of a lorry at Calais Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

Updated

May says many of the reports about Calais refer to those involved as refugees or asylum seekers.

But many of them are not, she says. Many of them are economic migrants.

Antoinette Sandbach, a Conservative, asks May to encourage the French to stop migrants getting into their country, so the problems do not focus on Calais.

May says this is a good point. She says there are “healthy discussions” within the EU about this.

Peter Bone, a Conservative, says only a fraction of the amount spend on targeting drug gangs is spent on tackling people trafficking gangs.

May says sometimes the same gangs are involved in both.

Labour’s Nia Griffith asks what help Britian is offering to the Italians.

May says Britian is working with Italy and others to break the link, and to stop migrants thinking that if they cross the Mediterranean they will be able to settle in the EU.

Mark Pritchard, a Conservative, says many of the people smugglers will have links to terrorism. The UN is not likely to approve military action against them. But has the EU considered joint action?

May says this has been discussed at an EU level. But any action would have to take place with the cooperation of the Libyans. She says Britain is investigating to see whether the UN would support action.

Damian Collins, a Conservative, asks if the French authorities have said they will do more to toughen security around the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.

May says she discussed this with her French opposite number. The French are considering this, as well as whether to make more police available.

Michael Fabricant, a Conservative, says Britain is seen as an “Eldorado” for migrants because of the high employment rates in this country.

May says David Cameron said at the weekend Britain would expand slightly the programme for taking refugees from Syria.

Damian Green, the Conservative former Home Office minister and MP for Ashford in Kent, says the security measures introduced yesterday caused massive disruption in Kent. Could alternative measures be considered?

May says she will discuss this with the transport secretary.

Here is another picture from the protest that took place earlier.

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, says Britain has a proud tradition of taking refugees. It should take its “fair share”, she says. Will the UK government discuss this with the Scottish government?

May says Cherry could encourage local authorities in Scotland to take more of the asylum seekers who are dispersed around the UK.

Kenneth Clarke, a Conservative, says EU countries cannot ship back migrants to countries like Somalia and Eritrea, where they would face death.

It is farcical to blame the French for what is happening at Calais, she says.

Is anyone thinking of setting up proper camps so these migrants can properly be processed.

May says many of the migrants would not be able to claim asylum. Many are coming from countries like Senegal and Nigeria. They can be returned home, she says. And she says centres are being set up in those countries where people can go to.

May is responding to Hanson.

She says he has admitted in the past that this is not a new problem.

On processing migrants, she says this is really a job for the Italian authorities. The British and French and encouraging the Italians to do this.

She says the government introduced the Modern Slavery Act. That will make it easier for the authorities to deal with people traffickers.

Around half of the £12m has already been spent.

David Hanson, a shadow home office minister, is responding.

What are the French doing to assess the migrants they catch?

How much of the £12m for new security measures has been spent?

Will those affected by the delays be able to claim compensation?

Will May commit to reporting regularly to MPs on how successful the new people trafficking taskforce is?

David Hanson
David Hanson Photograph: BBC News

May says Britain wants to stop Mediterranean migrants thinking they will be able to achieve settlement in Europe.

Traffic is now moving at Calais, she says.

Yesterday the law enforcement agencies, including Border Force and Kent police, responded very well.

Theresa May responds to urgent question about migrant situation at Calais

Theresa May, the home secretary, says strike action caused significant disruption at Calais yesterday. The port was shut for 13 hours, and train departures were cancelled.

Backlogs of traffic gave migrants the chance to try to enter slow-moving lorries.

But the French and British authorities were prepared. They had contingency plans, and they were put in place. Extra staff were deployed. Checks were carried out on lorries. A “significant number” of migrants were intercepted.

She says she spoke to her French opposite number last night, and thanked him for the French efforts.

France and Britain are working together to improve security at Calais. Last year the government allocated £12m for a new fence, as well as £3m for new search equipment.

Here’s another picture.

Here is some coverage from the Morning Star’s Joana Ramiro.

Here are some tweets about the protest.

Protest causes disruption at House of Commons

While PMQs has been going on some protesters have caused a disruption in central lobby, the public area in the House of Commons about 50 metres away from the Commons chamber.

According to the BBC, the campaigners were protesting about the abolition of the independent living fund.

House of Commons central lobby
House of Commons central lobby Photograph: BBC News

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, the SNP MP, says the cuts to onshore wind subsidies will harm Scotland. When will Cameron fight for Scottish interests.

Cameron says, if Scotland were independent, energy providers in Scotland would find it harder to sell energy to the rest of the UK.

Rishi Sunak, a Conservative, asks about broadband in his constituency.

Cameron says Sunak is following in the footsteps of William Hague, Sunak’s predecessor. Some of us have found that difficult, Cameron says.

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw asks for a ban on “killer lorries” on major roads in London at peak times. Too many cyclists are being killed, he says.

Cameron says he is happy to set up a meeting on this. He agrees that the situation is unacceptable.

Labour’s Teresa Pearce asks about problems with a drug prescribed for epilepsy. Problems were known about in the 1970s, but parents were not informed.

Cameron says he will fix a meeting for Pearce with the health secretary on this. He is not aware of the details, he says.

Kevin Hollinrake, a Conservative, asks what support Cameron will offer to improve superfast broadband coverage in Thirsk and Malton.

Cameron says the mobile infrastructure project is making a difference in this regard.

Andrea Jenkyns, a Conservative, says some Labour councils are increasing the fees they levy for schools wanting to become academies.

Cameron says Labour councils should back academies.

The SNP’s Angus Robertson asks why the Scotland bill does not deliver on the Smith Commission plans.

It does, says Cameron. If the SNP want full fiscal autonomy, Robertson should say so.

Roberston says the House of Commons library says the bill does not deliver on all the Smith Commission plans. And a Scottish parliament committee, including Conservatives, said the same in a unanimous report.

Cameron says the government addressed the points in that report. Why won’t the SNP talk about their policy. Full fiscal autonomy has now become FFS - full fiscal shambles.

Snap PMQs Verdict

Snap PMQs Verdict: Not flash, but highly effective - Harman clearly showed up the flaws in Cameron’s poverty strategy.

Harman says Cameron says he is attacking low pay. He is not. He is attacking the low paid.

Cameron says his party believes in work. According to Yvette Cooper, Labour is the anti-worker party. Greece shows what happens when you lose control of the economy. It is the same old Labour, and will lead to the same old failure.

Harman turns to tax credits. Won’t cutting tax credits make children worse off?

Cameron says there are 390,000 fewer children in households where no one works. That is is approach to helping children.

Harman says the IFS has said cutting £5bn from tax credits would lead to families losing £1,400 a year. Cameron does not have to budget, but others do. Lots of Tory jeer at this. Think about a lone parent, Harman says. To compensate, the minimum wage would have to rise by 25%. That is not going to happen, is it?

Cameron says the last government (he means the last Labour government) did not budget for the country. He wants to get people out of work into a job. For those in work, he wants higher pay and lower taxes. Harman wants low pay, high tax and high welfare.

Harman says you will not get higher pay by cutting tax credits. Cameron seems to think every employer will put up pay when tax credits go. For people to be compensated, rates of pay would have to go up overnight by twice as much as the OBR expects over a year.

Cameron says to defend welfare spending, taxes would have to go up, or other services would have to be cut. If Labour wants to defend welfare spending, let it. Look what happened at the election.

Harriet Harman also pays tribute to those in the armed services. And she mentions the families’ federations. They do great work supporting service families.

There are chaotic scenes at Calais. Lorry drivers are facing harassment and intimidation. How confident is Cameron that the French will take effective action? Will he put pressure on them, and raise it with the French at this week’s summit.

Cameron says the scenes are “totally unacceptable”. The strike made the situation worse. Of course migrants should be better documented and finger-printed. But some of that should happen in Italy. There should be better security at Calais. We need to tackle the factors that encourage people to come. And Britain needs to be made a less easy place for migrants to come to.

Harman asks what is being done to improve security at Calais.

Cameron says he has considered this. He says Britain is considering putting more personnel and sniffer dogs there. And there is case for securing the fence. But there is no point blaming the French. We need to work together, he says.

Martin Vickers, a Conservative, asks about job losses in his Cleethorpes constituency. Will the area get extra help?

Cameron says he will have a meeting about the job losses at Young’s Seafood. But the broader picture is more positive.

David Cameron starts by saying MPs will want to join him celebrating armed forces week.

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

The SNP have not done well in the ballot for questions.

Here is some comment from journalists on Alan Miliburn’s speech this morning.

From the Guardian’s John Harris

From CapX’s Iain Martin

From the Guardian’s Rafael Behr

From the BBC’s Chris Mason

I trust Mason took care typing that one on Twitter.

Theresa May, the home secretary, is answering an urgent question on the migrant situation at Calais straight after PMQs, at 12.30pm.

And Yvette Cooper has been campaigning in Wales, where she has backed calls for constitutional convention leading to a written constitution.

Updated

Andy Burnham has been campaigning in Kent this morning. As his team briefed at the weekend, he used the event to say that Labour should be the party of home ownership and that, under his leadership, it would expand “rent-to-own” programmes.

And here are two tweets from Burnham.

Updated

Liz Kendall’s campaign has welcomed the findings of the Independent poll showing that she is second, behind Andy Burnham, in the list of leadership candidates viewed as best placed to boost Labour’s election chances. (See 9.03am.) This is from Toby Perkins, Kendall’s campaign chair.

The fact that Liz Kendall has already established herself amongst the leading two candidates so early into her campaign shows how much appetite there is for Labour to get back into a winning position.

Liz is the candidate whose support is broadest across different genders and geographies. Over the first few weeks of this campaign she has proven she offers a strategy for winning and that’s why so many are looking to her candidacy. Over the next few weeks as she expands on how she will deliver a Labour victory that puts the country first, we are confident that she will be seen as the fresh start the Labour party needs.

French economy minister tells Cameron UK should not get special treatment in the EU

David Cameron was given a reminder this morning of how difficult his EU renegotiation will be. In an interview with the BBC, Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, raised two objections to the British approach.

  • Macron said Britain should not expect special treatment because it would be wrong to create an EU “a la carte”. He said France might accept some changes to the rules about benefits paid to EU migrants, but that it would not abandon the principle of freedom of movement in the EU. That was “part of the European DNA”, he said. He went on:

I think we have to be extremely cautious not to create an EU a la carte, otherwise that’s the starting point of dismantling a mansion. Creating more flexibility and more simplicity for all member states is fine. But starting to create more simplicity for one member state is just a dismantling.

He also said other EU countries would object to Britain getting preferential treatment.

I don’t understand how it’s possible to say ‘we, the UK, want to have all the positive reasons to be part of the club of 28 and the European passport and a great financial place for all the EU members, if we don’t want to share any risk with the other member states’. It doesn’t fly. It’s a common responsibility.

  • He said France was opposed to treaty change. Cameron has said the changes he wants would require treaty change (although the government has hinted that it might be willing to put off treaty change until the future, as long as it gets a protocol saying that when treaty change does eventually take place, Britain will get the amendments it wants.) But Macron said:

If you speak about treaty change, the answer is no. It doesn’t make sense. Whatever the treaty change will be, we need first to convey a positive image of Europe to reconcile people, otherwise, whatever the question will be, the answer of our people will be ‘no’, just because it’s about Europe.

Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister
Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

Updated

David Cameron has been discussing another aspect of the migrant problem today. He has had a meeting about the situation at Calais.

This morning the government has announced details of a 90-strong taskforce it is setting up to disrupt the people smuggling gangs responsible for the Mediterranean migrant crisis. My colleague Alan Travis has all the details in his story here. On the Today programme James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, said the team would ensure Britain had “the best possible intelligence picture” about the people smugglers.

What they will be doing is tackling the flows of money, tackling the vessels that may have been used to transport people northwards. It’s identifying, taking those vessels out of use. That’s part of the programme, actually identifying where they may be vessels that may be being used, where there may be organised crime groups transferring people across Europe.

But the government has been criticised this morning, both for being too tax and for being too punitive. Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, told LBC that the government should adopt a harsher stance on asylum. He said:

The EU has got to completely rethink its asylum policy. It just can’t offer asylum to people on this scale. And secondly, the United Kingdom needs to send a clearer message about illegal immigrants because they know they can come to Britain and work in the black market. They are unlikely to get caught and if they are caught, they’re very unlikely to get sent back.

But Lisa Doyle, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said the government should be taking in more refugees. She said:

David Cameron appears wilfully ignorant that the world is in the grips of one of the gravest refugee crises ever. Refugees are running for their lives while their countries burn. Instead of building the walls of fortress Europe higher we should be offering refuge to as many people as possible. We could put the smugglers out of business tomorrow if people were offered alternative routes to safety.

A rubber boat loaded of migrants approaching a rescue vessel during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean
A rubber boat loaded of migrants approaching a rescue vessel during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP

Milburn's speech to the Centre for Social Justice - Summary

Alan Milburn didn’t hold back on Labour’s failings when he spoke to the Centre for Social Justice this morning. I haven’t seen the text of his comments, but there was reliable coverage on Twitter. Here are the key points.

  • Milburn said that the Labour defeat was epic, that the party had suffered from self-delusion for eight years and that it went into the election with the wrong leader and the wrong strategy.
  • He said Labour had nothing to offer middle-income voters.
  • He said people did not know what Labour stood for.
  • He said the party needed to adopt the New Labour approach and reach out to voters in the centre ground.
  • He said Labour should embrace radical public service reform.
  • He said Labour should be fiscally conservative.
  • He said things started to go wrong for Labour under Gordon Brown.
  • He said the new leader should not worry too much about policy at this point, because other factors were more important.
  • He said Labour had to get over its reservations about Tony Blair.

(Jonathan Freedland made exactly this argument in a very good column last month.)

  • Milburn said he was backing Liz Kendall for the Labour leadership - although he acknowledged that his endorsement might not help.
  • He suggested Andy Burnham was delusional. This was one of two criticisms he levelled against Burnham, the favourite to win the Labour leadership. Milburn criticised the party’s performance on health (where Burnham was and is the shadow health secretary.)

Milburn also criticised those defending the Labour manifesto, in what seems to be a clear reference to Burnham’s decision to describe it as the best he had ever stood on.

  • Milburn said that Labour should not blame the voters for its defeat.

Jim Murphy, another leading Labour Blairite, said exactly the same last week.

Updated

Back at the CSJ event, Alan Milburn has said he is supporting Liz Kendall for the Labour leadership.

Mike Smithson, who runs the Political Betting website, says what is remarkable about the Independent poll is how well Kendall is doing.

This chart presents the Independent poll figures very clearly.

According to the Independent poll, Andy Burnham enjoys more support from men (39%) than women (33%). Liz Kendall’s support is equally divided between the sexes, but Yvette Cooper is more popular with women (22%) than men (19%).

The poll also suggests that Jeremy Corbyn would do most harm to Labour’s prospects, and Kendall least harm.

When people were asked which of the four runners would do most harm to Labour’s election prospects, Mr Corbyn was chosen by 33 per cent of those polled, Ms Cooper by 26 per cent, Mr Burnham by 22 per cent and Ms Kendall by 19 per cent.

Burnham best placed to improve Labour's election chances, poll suggests

The Labour party still has quite a long way to go before it arrives at a settled view as to what went wrong at the election, but today two of the party’s most interesting and outspoken figures are contributing their thoughts. As I write, Alan Milburn, the former health secretary, is speaking out at a Centre for Social Justice breakfast event. Milburn is an unrepentant Blairite (a dying breed in Labour, it sometimes seems), and it is no great surprise that he thinks Ed Miliband was at fault, but even by his standards he’s being unusually blunt. Here’s a flavour of his case.

I’ll post more on this soon.

And later Jon Cruddas, the MP in charge of Labour’s policy review, will be doing a similar event with the IPPR. I’ll be covering that too.

On the Labour front, there is good news for Andy Burnham today. A poll for the Independent suggests that, of all the four leadership candidates, he is seen as the one most likely to improve the party’s chances at the next election.

The shadow Health Secretary was cited by 36 per cent when people were asked, irrespective of which party they would support, to say which of the four Labour candidates would most enhance the party’s prospects at the 2020 election.

Liz Kendall, the shadow Care Minister who is seen as the Blairite candidate, came second on 25 per cent, with Yvette Cooper, the shadow Home Secretary, on 20 per cent and Jeremy Corbyn, a left-wing backbencher, on 18 per cent.

I’ll post more on the Labour leadership contest today too.

Here is the agenda for the day.

8.30am: Alan Milburn speaks at the Centre for Social Justice.

12pm: David Cameron faces Harriet Harman at PMQs.

1pm: Jon Cruddas is interviewed by the Telegraph journalist Mary Riddell at an IPPR event.

3pm: Stephen Crabb, the Welsh secretary, gives a speech to the Welsh assembly. As Nicholas Watt reports, he will outline plans for the most far-reaching reforms to the Welsh devolution settlement since the referendum in 1997.

As usual I will be covering the breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow

Updated

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