The week in parliament. The government loses the brexit case in the Supreme Court, but seizes the initiative in parliament. I can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper, published to this house. Ministers produce a brexit bill mps complain about a lack of debating time. I was astonished at the amount of time that the leader of the house has given this parliament to debate it. And doubts over whether theresa may can stand up to donald trump. How confident is she of getting a good deal how confident is she of getting a good dealfor Global Britain from a president that wants to put america first, buy american and build a wall between his country and mexico . Its been a particularly fast moving week for brexit. On tuesday, the government lost a legal battle over who should authorise starting the formal process for leaving the European Union. The government argued that it could use the royal prerogative, a power left over from the days of medieval monarchs. But the Supreme Court thought otherwise. The president , lord neuberger, said it was a task for parliament. Today, by a majority of 8 3, the Supreme Court rules that the government cannot trigger article 50 without a parliament authorising it to do so. The government was quick to respond. A few hours later, the Secretary Of State for exiting the eu david davis promised to publish a bill seeking parliaments approval for triggering article 50. But some mps wanted to be clear about what they were voting for, and asked for a White Paper Setting out the governments strategy. David davis batted away their demands. Will the Secretary Of State now agree to accept the unanimous recommendation of the brexit select committee, and, in the process, agree with himself, before he got this job, and now publish a white paper on the governments objectives, so these can be considered, alongside the legislation he hasjust announced . I dont often dispute with myself, but let me say this to the right honourable gentleman, the speech given last week by the Prime Minister was the clearest exposition of a Negotiating Strategy that i have seen in modern times. It laid out very clearly what we judge the National Interest to be, how we intend to protect it, what we want to do, what we hope does not happen, and how were going to go about avoiding that, too. But on wednesday, at Prime Ministers questions, there was a surprise change of heart. I recognise there is an appetite in this house to see that direction set out in a white paper. I can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper published to this house. So, a lot of activity on brexit. This is how the Snps Pete Wishart saw it. What a week its going to be. First there was to be no vote, nows a vote. Then there was no bill, now there is going to be a bill. We should have chanced our arm and said we should definitely be staying in the European Union the timetable was laid out by david davis. Presentation of bill, mr secretary, david davis. Second reading, what day . Tomorrow. Cheering. Tomorrow. Heres a copy of the bill, and to discuss what it means for parliaments, a former clerk of the commons who advised mps on parliamentary procedure. And a Senior Researcher from the institute of the government. Youve seen many bills come and go in your time as a clerk in house of commons, what you make of this one . Its a very short bill, which the government will want to get through as quickly as possible. The opposition and very busy trying to find ways to amend this bill. Could you just explain to us how theyre going to go about this . How easy is it to get an amendment discussed in the commons . You cant have an amendment to negate the purpose of the bill, that would be out of order. There are two areas of amendment possible, one is to impose conditions before article 50 is triggered. And the area. When it is going to come into force. At the moment, there is no Commencement Provision in the bill. That means it will come into force when it has royal ascent, but it will be possible to put down amendments to delay that. The big question is then, what about selection of amendments . If this goes to the Committee Of The Whole house, it is the person selecting amendments is the chairman of ways and means. One area which is going to be really interesting is those who would like to have a post negotiation referendum on the deal eventually reached may do that by amendment to this bill. But its such a narrow bill, it may be decided that is outside the scope of the bill. This is notjust about procedure for many mps, this is about the substance of brexit. Weve been promised a white paper, would you think ought to be in that white paper to satisfy mps . The purpose of the white paper should be to give mps confidence that the government is ready to start negotiations. That it has thought through those Negotiating Principles and has not just, thought it through in another way. What we might see is an evidence base, showing the government weighed up the cost as well as opportunities of its different negotiating opportunities. For example, to leave the customs union, has it weighed up the costs and benefits of that . Other things you might expect to see in that white paper and that mps would want to see, might be an expiration of how they will be able to scrutinise negotiations as they proceed. We heard, for example, that the government wants meps and mps to have the same level of information about negotiations. We know that european parliamentarians tend to get quite a high level of information, they sometimes have access to private copies of provisional agreements or private briefings with negotiators. Could that happen for mps . Could there be access to private documents . Secret documents . There may be for example Reading Rooms put an place in the Palace Of Westminster to allow certain mps to draft agreements as theyre being developed. What is your assessment of how this will go in the commons . It will all depend on the numbers. The government will want to proceed quickly. In the explanatory notes to this bill, they said they are going to fast track it, that means, essentially, amendments can be tabled before the second reading debate. Thereafter, its a matter of how quickly they want to push on with it. It may be a sensible to programme it quite generously. Timetabling . Yes, theres timetabling in the commons, but that isnt in the lords. A generous programme would allow a wide expression of views. That might draw some of the difficulty out of the commons. You are a member of the House Of Lords, there is no time limit, they can talk about any amendment for as long as they like. Do you think the government will have much more difficulty in the House Of Lords . It may be that the government has to work a little harder presenting its case, because there are so many ramifications of this, even though the bill is so short. It is interesting how many members said the lords must not be silly about this, because the commons is the elected house. The lords can ask the commons to think again, but it would be difficult, after a lengthy consideration in the commons to identify areas where it would be reasonable to ask the commons to think again. So, you believe the lords will not be silly . I very much hope they will not be. Are you confident. It has been said this is a great opportunity for parliament . It is heartening to see that parliament will be involved in the very beginning, but also having a vote at the end. The other thing to say about parliament is its notjust an opportunity for mps to have their voices heard, the public, third sector, businesses, to use parliament as a channel to have their voices heard in the negotiations. Are we going to see some golden years in parliament now . I agree with everything robyn said, but it hangs on uncertainty. If things are being decided in the two chambers, and you cant predict whats happening, and people will not be able to predict what is happening over the next two years. If parliament can position itself that it is taking a central part in that process, it will be a very good time for parliament. Thank you very much. The government has announced the timetable for debating the brexit bill. Therell be two days for the second reading and three days for detailed scrutiny called the Committee Stage when amendments can be made. Some labour mps dont think thats enough. I was astonished at the amount of time that the leader of the house has given this parliament to get debate it. Has given this parliament to debate it. And he is being very coy about whether the white paper will be published before the Committee Stage of the bill. Can he give us more time and tell us hes going to publish the white paper before next week . I think, if you consider that this is a two clause bill, in which the second clause is only dealing with the extent of the bill to the United Kingdom, there is plenty of time, including two full days at second reading for all opinions to be fully expressed. As we discussed earlier, the government could find things rather more challenging in the House Of Lords. Heres a taste of whats to come. We will, therefore, be seeking to amend the bill to provide for a referendum to be held which the government has been able to negotiate. The government may have a mandate to start brexit negotiations, it certainly does not have a mandate to impose harsh brexit terms on the country. Does my noble friend accept that if parliament accepted the advice and treated the referendum as advisory and decided this country should not leave the eu, there would be no option for those of us who were in the majority and voted to leave, other than to take to the streets and probably start breaking things . All i can say is that i very much hope this does not happen. I thank the lordships for the constructive positions made through this process that we will avoid that. The Prime Minister, theresa may, is one of the first foreign leaders to meet donald trump. In a speech during her trip to the United States, she said the uk and us could not return to what she called failed military interventions, to remake the world in our own image. But she also said they should not stand idly by when the threat is real. Donald trump has made a series of controversial Policy Statements during his first week as president , including saying that waterboarding a form of torture absolutely works. Before her visit, theresa may insisted that she, too, would speak her mind. Im pleased that i am able to meet president cant so early in his administration. That is a sign of the strength of the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of america. A Special Relationship on which he and i intend to build. Can i also say to the leader of the opposition, i am not afraid to use the frankly to a president of the United States. I am able to do that because we have that Special Relationship. A Special Relationship that he would never have with the United States. Mr speaker, we would never allow britain to be sold on the cheap. How confident is she of getting a good deal for Global Britain from a president who wants put america first, buy American American and build a wall between his country and mexico . The foreign secretary, borisjohnson, was also quizzed by a Lords Committee on the uks relationship with the United States. Boris johnson chose his words carefully. Do you think its acceptable on the International Relations shared by the uk and us to have a ban on refugees from certain middle east countries . I dont want to disappoint the committee by retreating too much into this formula, but we havent yet seen the legislation brought forward. Rather than get into some sort of hypothetical dispute, lets see exactly what the proposals are. President trump has been very clear that he wants to eliminate radical islamic militancy from the face of the earth and he has been clear that he is prepared to have a new approach to prioritise the defeat of isis, would you support a change of us uk direction in that. To support those goals, possibly even joining forces figuratively and militarily with russia to do so . We are already with, the United States, engaged in Attacking Daesh in iraq. The committee will already know of what is sought, we are are you prepared to see are you prepared to see an alliance of forces, including russia, to attack daesh . To switch sides, to come in on the side of assad and the russians and would be seen as, i think, a great betrayal of the people of syria who have opposed assad and it would be seen would be seen as a betrayal of the Moderately Armed Opposition that we have supported and it would be a. It would have grave repercussions in the area. This week sees the centenary of a report which helped pave the way for votes for women. At a speakers conference in 1917, the issue was debated and resolutions were sent to the Prime Minister, lloyd george. As an exhibition in parliament reveals, the key vote proved to be a close one. Heres ros ball. Britain during the first world war. With men sent to the front, women did the jobs they left behind. An exhibition in Parliament Shows how, as the war dragged on, their contribution showed mps and peers electoral reform. Of course, here were men in the middle of the war fighting and dying All Over The World and it was politically acceptable and it wasnt politically acceptable to have a next General Election on the basis. They had to give the vote to more men and because women had been playing such a great part in the war effort, they had to discuss whether to give the vote to some women as well. Mps and peers debated the issue injanuary 1917 in a conference. It was Andy Dickinson who came up with this, as his granddaughter recalls. The final one, as you can see, this is where he made his proposition that women of a certain age, which only won by nine votes to eight. This accent into giving the vote to women with a property obligation. Having more women in parliament, because were not very good at it in the country, and particularly bad in the conservative party, its wonderful for me to have this extraordinary heritage through my grandmother and her father, sir willoughby. And you can see more of the vote 100 exhibition online at the parliament. Uk website. Now for a quick round up of a few other stories in westminster. There was an unusual moment at the Brexit Committee after the Chief Minister of gibraltar made some impassioned remarks about the historic links between the people of gibraltar and the uk. We are born british. That rock is red, White And Blue for us. There is nothing that we have known. The make up of my understanding of the world is british. How can i suddenly now do Something Else . I can seek fluent conversational spanish but not professional or political spanish in a way i might be expected to, should i have to navigate the waters of the spanish system. Look at the spanish system today, it doesnt have much to commend it to the people of the world. We criticise ourselves in the british system so constantly and constructively that we it stronger. Thats the system we believe in. Thats the rule of law we believe in. My blood is red, but im red, White And Blue inside out and so is that rock. We will never ever counternance changing that. Applause. That was a most passionate argument. Gordon brown the former Prime Minister was back in parliament to talk about his role as the uns global envoy for education. I was in a village just outside duba and there was this project, the Bangladesh Group who do the small huts in schools. There are places in that school for only about 20 kids and i remember being in that hut. In there, there were 100 kids who were unable to get the education they wanted. One mother said she had to choose between twins, both eight years old, which one went to school. And the wales bill came to the end after a rather turbulent journey through parliament. The former welsh secretary, the conservative stephen crabb, was a Driving Force behind the legislation. The original objectives, madam deputy speaker, that we sought to set out right at the start have not changed. What we wanted to do was create a stronger Devolution Settlement for wales. A clearer Devolution Settlement