House of commons

Mr Juncker said he would like the UK to be able to reach an agreement in the coming hours and days that could be followed. "So far, we know what the British parliament says no to, but we don't know what it might say yes to," he said on Italian state TV yesterday. His comments come as Ireland is set to face increasing pressure this week over the issue of the Border in the case of a no-deal Brexit. Meanwhile, amid continuing turmoil in Westminster, British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party is said to be engaged in "sensible and pragmatic" preparations for a snap election. However, with more indicative votes to take place in the House of Commons as early as today, former UK prime minister John Major warned a general election would "solve nothing". He claimed the establishment of a cross-party government would be in the "national interest" and help resolve the Brexit crisis. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel … [Read more...] about Juncker warns British that EU’s patience is running out…as House Commons hold second round of indicative votes

BRUSSELS is stalling in Brexit talks because of the unelected House of Lords' attempt to wreck Theresa May’s flagship EU exit legislation, ministers have been warned. Front-line UK negotiators have reported back to Downing Street that their EU counterparts are stonewalling until they see how many of the peers' 15 changes that rip up the UK’s Brexit policy are supported by MPs. One minister told The Sun: “As we warned, the EU are now negotiating with Parliament not us and they are playing for time while they see what MPs say.” They added that talks with Brussels “have slowed down” since the Lords began changing the bill, adding Brussels bosses had “all but admitted it”. Our revelation comes as the EU Withdrawal Bill finally cleared its stormy path through the House of Lords with nearly 200 tweaks made to it — 15 forced by opposition vote wins. At the close of the third reading of the bill last night Lord Framlingham said his … [Read more...] about UK Brexit team warns Brussels is stalling talks so House of Lords can rip up EU-departure policy

JOHN Bercow was re-elected following the 2017 general election as the Speaker of the House of Commons and has been in the job for nine years. But he faces a police investigation amid allegations he bullied staff at the Houses of Parliament. Here's what we know... Who is John Bercow? John Bercow, 55, grew up in Finchley, North London, where his local MP was Margaret Thatcher. He was a youth tennis champion once ranked number one in Britain, but his asthma and short stature stopped him pursuing a professional career. As a student activist in the far-right Monday Club, Bercow was in favour of a program of "assisted repatriation" of immigrants. He has since distanced himself from the organisation and dismissed his views at the time as "bone headed". Bercow worked in banking and lobbying and ran a speaking and campaigning course that trained future Tory MPs. He was elected as a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth in 1986. Eleven years later he secured the safe Tory … [Read more...] about Who is John Bercow, what are the bullying and sexism claims and how long has he been Speaker of the House of Commons?

A popular House of Commons bar should not be viewed as a "den of iniquity", a former senior officer said. David Leakey, who left the Black Rod parliamentary post at the end of last year, described the Sports and Social Club as "really well-run" and a civilised place for a drink. He also said he does not believe allegations of sexual harassment in Westminster are "necessarily directly linked to a drinking culture" but are "isolated" incidents. The bar was temporarily closed after an altercation involving two members of parliamentary staff last month. The Sports and Social Club is one of the Palace of Westminster's busiest bars and is popular with parliamentary researchers, particularly on Thursday evenings when the Commons has either finished or is winding down its business for the week. It was announced in November that responsibility for the bar would be taken in-house in an effort to clamp down on drink-fuelled inappropriate behaviour.  Mr Leakey defended the bar, telling … [Read more...] about Former Black Rod defends Commons bar as a ‘civilised place to drink’

Photo: Depositphotos.comAhead of the March 21 local elections, we asked the main parties in the 10 Dutch cities with the biggest international populations to set out their position on three key issues: housing, integration and jobs.Here are their answers to the question: ‘Affordable housing is by far the main issue affecting the international community. How is your party planning to ensure there is enough affordable housing and that international residents are not ripped off by unscrupulous housing agencies?’GroenLinks HaarlemSo we are going to build affordable small, carbon neutral apartments. And we want to make local agreements with developers in our town concerning housing prices and keeping it affordable. We think its possible because of the attractiveness of our city. We are also learning from our big brother Amsterdam. A good example might be the AirBNB situation. Amsterdam didn’t control that which led to huge speculation and rising prices. We are trying to … [Read more...] about Local elections 2018: what the parties say about housing