Labour’s Dawn Butler was one of the few to battle for the rights of the individual over the state.
Another backbench Conservative presses the Government to clarify the exit plan from the latest restrictions and how it will get there.
There were moments when the PM made everyone from the Speaker down laugh, and most of his listeners were grateful for light relief from the crisis.
The Treasury has been welded at the top to Number Ten. Now there’s a push to do more of the same to the Office.
We’ll continue to update this as the Prime Minister fills out the lower ranks of his government.
The new Solicitor General and FCO/DfID minister are both sensible choices, which might say more about the Prime Minister’s position than her judgement.
The Speaker is unlikely to select backbench amendments designed to help her, so her least bad option is a Government one.
Strangely but truly, the best way of helping the Prime Minister is to send her back to Brussels to win concessions on the backstop.
That said, there was more backing for her from her party than some of today’s headlines suggest.
Also: Scottish Tory MPs break ranks for clean Brexit; Welsh Conservatives demand Jones publishes leak inquiry; Smith attacks Murrison over loyalist’s invitation; and more.
Defence Questions came around again yesterday. Conservative members dominated the session and exhibited excellent technical knowledge. James Arbuthnot (MP for North-East Hampshire) chairs the Defence Select Committee. He asked about Pakistan: "Does the Secretary of State accept that the events in Lahore today show that instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan extends far beyond the border […]
Dr Andrew Murrison is MP for Westbury, a Shadow Defence Minister and a former Surgeon Commander in the Royal Navy. He has drawn attention to the issue of the mental health of armed forces personnel through a written question: "Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide psychological screening […]