Government loses Sunday trading vote by majority of 31 - Politics live
Rolling coverage of all the day's political developments as they happen, including David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and the Commons debate and vote on Sunday trading
- More than 800,000 workers now on zero-hours contracts, ONS says
- My snap PMQs verdict
- My PMQs verdict
- Lunchtime summary
6.14pm GMT
There were 26 Tory rebels, according to the Labour whips.
Looks like 26 Tory rebels against the government and @George_Osborne's Sunday Trading Law Changes #KeepSundaySpecial
6.13pm GMT
Jeremy Corbyn has welcomed the government defeat.
MPs were voting for a cross-party amendment opposing Sunday trading tabled by a Conservative MP, David Burrowes, but the government lost because Labour, the SNP, Tory rebels and some minor party MPs united behind it.
Government defeated as Labour stands up for working people #KeepSundaySpecial https://t.co/jhaEZfZvJR
6.09pm GMT
This means that Sunday trading has been taken out of the bill.
It is a big, significant defeat, on an issue that was particularly championed by George Osborne, the chancellor.
6.06pm GMT
The government has lost by 317 votes to 286 - a majority of 31.
6.02pm GMT
The benches are more packed for the Sunday trading result than for PMQs. Scenting blood?
5.58pm GMT
At least 15 Tory MPs have gone into the Aye lobby in defiance of the whips #SundayTrading
5.57pm GMT
This is from Labour's Jon Trickett.
Nick Clegg just went into Tory Lobby on sunday trading!
5.55pm GMT
The tellers for the ayes (ie, for the David Burrowes anti Sunday trading amendment) are the Tory MPs Peter Bone and Philip Hollobone.
The tellers for the noes are the Conservative whips Guy Opperman and Jackie Doyle-Price.
5.51pm GMT
5.50pm GMT
MPs are voting now on the David Burrowes amendment that would remove the plans to relax Sunday trading laws from the enterprise bill - in other words, to kill the Sunday trading plans altogether.
5.49pm GMT
Labour's Caroline Flint says it is clear the government has not made the case for change.
5.47pm GMT
In the Commons the Conservative MP Fiona Bruce has just read out an extract from the impact assessment quoted at 5.46pm.
5.46pm GMT
In 2014 David Cameron said new government proposals would be subject to a "families test" to consider their impact on family life.
The impact assessment published today includes a section looking at how extending Sunday trading would or would not meet the families test.
We have identified three potentially significant impacts on families.
There is potentially a positive impact on families from the greater employment opportunities that may result from extending Sunday trading. Financial problems and unemployment can undermine the quality of family relationships and contribute to family breakdown. Sunday work may be particularly valuable as many retailers pay staff a premium to work on Sundays and so workers can work fewer hours and earn proportionally more money ...
As these impacts are mixed the overall impact is unclear.A large number of the individual respondents to the public consultation felt that families would be negatively affected. However, this was not a representative survey and we note that a representative poll by IPSOS-MORI carried out in December 2012 found that families with children are more likely to be in favour of extending Sunday trading hours than against.
5.35pm GMT
Karl McCartney, a Conservative, says there is something special about Sunday. He wants to protect that.
Given the chance, he would go further, he says, and restrict opening on Boxing Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday.
5.32pm GMT
Labour's Helen Goodman says there are lots of things that would make life more efficient, like proposing to our partners by text. But that does not make them desirable.
5.31pm GMT
Brandon Lewis, the communities minister leading for the government in the debate, is not impressed by the Labour speeches he has heard.
Labour speakers seem to be unaware that shops already open on a Sunday!
5.29pm GMT
Sir Gerald Howarth, the Conservative MP, said he had "never seen such a shambolic way in which serious legislation affecting our country has been introduced".
And, referring to the way the government produced a compromise amendment today, but too late for it to be put to a vote, Howarth said this "makes the back of a fag packet look like sophisticated engagement".
5.27pm GMT
This Commons briefing paper (pdf) explains in detail how the plans to relax Sunday trading in the bill would work.
Here is the key passage.
New clause 21 to the Bill amends the Sunday Trading Act 1995 (STA 1994), giving powers to 'Sunday trading authorities' to extend opening hours for large shops in England and Wales (with a retail floor area greater than 280 square metres). The extended hours can apply to the whole or part of the local area. For the purposes of this new clause, a 'Sunday trading authority' is the local authority for an area. In relation to the area of Greater London, the 'Sunday trading authority' is the Mayor of London acting on behalf of the Greater London Authority.
New clause 21 also introduces new Schedule 1 in to the Bill containing amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Act 2002 in relation to Sunday working. The amendments are as follows:
5.21pm GMT
The DUP MP Jim Shannon says the Sunday trading plans are an attack on people of faith.
5.19pm GMT
Relaxing Sunday trading laws will be another nail in the coffin for Asian-owned newsagents says Tory Sir Edward Leigh
Leigh also slammed "macho" Government tactics - "having chats with MPs behind the Speaker's chair" over Sunday trading rebellion
5.18pm GMT
Generally the debate has been fairly second-rate so far, but Labour's David Lammy managed to raise the tone. His speech was probably the best yet.
Here are some highlights.
My primary concerns are two-fold. First, the protection of family life. Seventy five per cent of parents in this country feel that work impinges on their family life. Many of us have been abroad: we've been in Spain or Portugal or France, and we've found real restrictions on finding things open on a Sunday. We've been out at lunchtime and found that the shops are on siesta. Why is it that in this country this government thinks that we should put the free market above everything else? It is conservative to protect the family and it is worth protecting.
When we come to this House and we debate issues like knife crime, when we lament that families have not got time to sit around tables with their children, when we want to see parents supporting their kids to learn to read and with their homework - when do we think that is being done? It is being done on a Sunday.
5.06pm GMT
The Conservative MP Stewart Jackson says he will be voting for the David Burrowes amendment. He says he was very disappointed to see the government's manuscript amendment on the Sky Twitter feed before it had been shown to MPs.
5.03pm GMT
The Labour MP David Lammy says this government puts the market before everything else. It should consider the needs of workers and families.
(It is a short speech, but a very good one - easily the best of the debate so far. I will try to post some direct quotes.)
4.56pm GMT
Caroline Spelman, the Conservative former environment secretary, is speaking in the debate now. She has tabled her own amendment to the bill. It would allow the relaxation of Sunday trading laws in the spring and summer, and before Christmas, in areas designated "tourist zones". The idea is based on a law operating in France, she says.
4.52pm GMT
Having spoken in the debate, Brandon Lewis, the communities minister, has taken to Twitter to continue his attack on the SNP.
Shocking to see SNP pledge to vote to stop English people have same rights on Sunday's as people in Scotland.
I outlined Govt plans to extend Sunday trading in England & run pilots to asses. SNP want to block English having same rights as Soctland
4.49pm GMT
YouGov has posted a blog today with details of its polling on Sunday trading.
Broadly, more people are in favour than are opposed.
4.36pm GMT
Esterson says Labour MPs will stick to their line. They want to keep the "great British compromise" on Sunday trading, ie the status quo. Labour will back the Burrowes amendment, he says.
4.35pm GMT
PM's PPS appears in chamber and taps @mariacaulfield no.2 on the rebel amendment - they leave together
4.34pm GMT
Esterson says MPs have had less than three hours to consider the government's impact assessment on this measure. That is an "outrage", he says.
4.29pm GMT
BIS minister Anna Soubry has moved off the frontbench to show @davidburrowesmp something on her phone. Text from PM? #SundayTrading
4.28pm GMT
Esterson says, when Sunday trading laws were liberalised during the Olympics, convenience stories lost about 7% of their trade.
And, overall, there was no increase in trade, he says. He says that undermines the government's claim the scheme would create jobs.
4.26pm GMT
Esterson says this idea is presented as a move towards localism.
But if one borough relaxes Sunday trading laws, the next-door ones will have to follow suit, or face the risk of losing trade.
4.24pm GMT
Esterson says the Tories say David Cameron wrote the letter saying that he had no plans to extend Sunday trading when he was head of a coalition government, but that now he has a different view because he heads a Conservative government. But presumably then he aspired to head a Conservative government.
4.18pm GMT
Bill Esterson, the shadow business minister, is speaking now for Labour.
He says that was a "Trust me, I'm honest" speech from Brandon Lewis. He has never heard anything so absurd, he says.
4.09pm GMT
Lewis says only the 12 areas selected for pilots would be allowed to liberalise Sunday trading in the first year under his compromise plan.
4.07pm GMT
Ian Paisley, the DUP MP, suggests the government would do better withdrawing the plan, and bringing back new legislation.
Lewis says that is not the plan.
4.02pm GMT
Lewis is announcing details of the government's compromise.
The government is going further than planned, he says.
3.58pm GMT
Robert Jenrick, the Conservative MP for Newark, says one of the biggest employers in his constituency is Knowhow, the distribution company. He says its workers work on a Sunday. How do people think things get delivered on a Monday.
3.55pm GMT
This is from the Telegraph's Ben Riley-Smith.
Sunday trading vote "very, very close", says source. Belief 20+ Tory rebels enough to inflict defeat.
3.55pm GMT
Lewis says the opposition are not just being inconsistent; they are also "killing off jobs", he says.
He says extending Sunday trading would be worth 300m in London alone.
3.52pm GMT
Angela Eagle, the shadow business secretary, raises a point of order. She asks John Bercow to confirm that there will not be a vote on the late amendment relating to piloting Sunday trading liberalisation.
Bercow says it was submitted late, and it was not selected.
3.50pm GMT
Caroline Flint, the Labour MP, asks Lewis if the government will retain the protections for workers if it loses the Sunday trading extension vote.
Lewis says the government has been clear that this is a package. If Sunday trading liberalisation gets defeated, the other aspects will be lost too.
3.48pm GMT
Lewis says two of the government amendments being debated now would extend workers rights.
(One would ensure that anyone sacked for refusing to work extra hours on a Sunday would not have to have worked the normal two years to be allowed to take an unfair dismissal case to an industrial tribunal. Another extends what employment tribunals can consider in relation to Sunday trading.)
3.43pm GMT
The Labour former cabinet minister Andrew Smith says David Cameron said shortly before the election that he had no plans to extend Sunday trading.
Lewis says Labour may not want to promote economic growth, but the Conservative manifesto was clear that this is what the government would do.
3.41pm GMT
Brandon Lewis, the communities minister, is speaking now.
He says it is important to remember why MPs are debating this. The last time the laws on Sunday trading were updated was in 1994. In those days no one had heard of Amazon. If they had, they thought it was a river.
3.36pm GMT
Reynolds says his opposition to Sunday trading his partly motivated by his Christianity.
Sunday is a special day for Christians, he says. It is a day when he attends church.
3.33pm GMT
Labour's Jonathan Reynolds is speaking now. He is backing the Burrowes amendment. He says is is sponsored by Usdaw, the shopworkers' union.
He says it is "at best mischievous, and at worst borderline fantasy" when the government says the bill does not in itself open the way to Sunday trading.
3.29pm GMT
Burrowes has finished.
John Bercow says the debate will run for another two hours and 20 minutes. That means the vote will take place at around 5.50pm.
3.26pm GMT
Burrowes says he has been told by a worker that the idea that working on a Sunday is voluntary is "laughable". Employers penalise workers who do not agree to work on Sunday, he says.
3.22pm GMT
The Sun's Craig Woodhouse says that, when he responds to the debate, Brandon Lewis, the communities minister, will say that the compromise amendment produced by the government (see 2.12pm) will be inserted in the bill when it returns to the Lords.
It cannot be inserted into the bill today because John Bercow, the Speaker, will not put it to a vote because it was tabled late.
Sunday trading latest: After Bercow blocked compromise amendment, minister @BrandonLewis will propose it orally and then lay it in the Lords
3.18pm GMT
Here is the Sunday trading impact assessment published by the government today (pdf).
And here is the government's response to its consultation on its plans (pdf).
3.14pm GMT
Burrowes is still speaking in the debate.
He quotes from the government's summary of its response to the consultation on Sunday trading. It said it did not have full data about people's responses because they responded in their own words.
3.09pm GMT
The government's last-minute compromise amendment has not been selected, which means it will not be put to a vote, Huffington Post's Paul Waugh reports.
Waugh also says David Cameron is calling in Tory rebels for a chat.
Hearing David Cameron himself has just called the Tory rebels in for a 'talking to' on Sunday trading.
See https://t.co/sIrNl5fP4n
2.59pm GMT
Labour's Toby Perkins asks Burrowes how he feels about the fact that this was not in the manifesto.
Burrowes says he is a lawyer by trade. That is a "leading question", he says.
2.55pm GMT
Burrowes says the impact assessment relating to Sunday trading has been published today. It should have been published earlier, he says.
2.52pm GMT
MPs have just started the debate on Sunday trading.
David Burrowes, the Conservative MP who is leading the backbench revolt against the government's plans, opens the debate.
2.21pm GMT
I have to say I was completely appalled to see yesterday that the Labour party has readmitted someone to their party who says, and I believe, that the 9/11 suicide bombers, and I quote, 'must never be condemned', and belongs to an organisation that says 'we defend the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq'. Those are appalling views and I hope the leader of the Opposition will throw this person out of the party rather than welcoming him in.
I will look very carefully at the points you make. I would say that our asylum system is fair and Britain down the ages has given people asylum who are fleeing torture and persecution. When it comes to the issue of resettling Syrian refugees, it was instructive at this week's European Council with the chart showing how many countries have actually resettled Syrian refugees. Britain has done far better than any other country bar Germany.
It is not true. I have certainly, absolutely no recollection of a conversation like that, which I suspect I would have remembered if it had taken place. I just think it's wrong that people who want to take us out of the European Union to now try and drag the Queen for their own purposes into this European referendum debate.
2.12pm GMT
Here is more from Sky's Faisal Islam on Sunday trading.
Sunday Trading amendment tabled by Government - 12 month pilot/ 12 areas: - Ministers hope rebels & SNP might turn pic.twitter.com/XTBZQDSQX0
Crucially new government amendment requires another vote after pilot to confirm the liberalisation of Sunday Trading - will it be enough?
2.02pm GMT
On @SkyNews we have the amendment that's been placed in name of Business Secretary offering Tory rebels and SNP 12 month pilots in 12 areas>
2.02pm GMT
The debate on Sunday trading is due to start at around 2.30pm.
According to Sky's Faisal Islam, the government has just offered a compromise in the hope of averting a defeat.
Confirmed: Government backs down on Sunday trading, tabling amendment to run series of pilots over 12 months, hoping to turn Tory rebels/SNP
1.57pm GMT
Nick Clegg has denied hearing the Queen complain about the EU as the Sun claims she did at a lunch he attended at Windsor Castle in 2011.
There has been speculation that this may have happened at or after a privy council meeting also attended by Michael Gove and Cheryl Gillan. (See 11.04am.)
1.32pm GMT
This is what political journalists are saying about PMQs on Twitter.
They are unimpressed - particularly with Jeremy Corbyn.
#PMQs review: Corbyn needs to ditch his scattergun approach, writes @georgeeaton https://t.co/12rPK4Prxj pic.twitter.com/MC1eXaFQ0w
Corbyn too often throws kitchen stick at Cameron in hope *something* will stick. #PMQs
Snap #PMQs verdict: David Cameron left unruffled by Jeremy Corbyn's questions - which still lack focus. Some heat, but little light
My snap verdict on #PMQs. Corbyn's century owed more to Geoffrey Boycott than Chris Gayle:https://t.co/KulgLCf7JT pic.twitter.com/AQGTsvikbI
This is Corbyn's worst PMQs yet
COMMENT Another pointless PMQs JC and DC barely bothering to engage with each other in unfocused Q&A exchanges.
Embarrassingly rubbish from Corbyn. Govt needs holding to account. Cam vulnerable on EU, but barely needs to try against this. #pmqs
Confused as to what Corbyn wants to get out of this PMQs. Jumping around from child poverty to construction apprenticeships.
To continue the #PMQs cricket analogy, that was an unsatisfying draw
To adapt a Shane Warne quote for Corbyn's landmark at PMQs: he's not asked 100 questions, he's asked the same question 100 times
100 questions and Corbyn has yet to land a blow on Cameron. #pmqs
Corbyn gives 'Callum' the 100th question. And it's a tough one. Will the government acknowledge the importance of sixth form colleges? #pmqs
It's good that Corbyn did further education on 100th q- it's a really undervalued issue that isn't talked about enough.
Again, Corbyn tactic of quoting Q directly from a punter falls flat - better to mention Q + then use it to ask his own, sharper version?
1.23pm GMT
Imran Hussain from the Child Poverty Action Group has questioned David Cameron's claim about child poverty. He says it last fell as a result of Labour policies.
@AndrewSparrow Is PM claiming credit for child poverty fall? Last fall (in 2010-11) under prev govt's policies pic.twitter.com/0NWgM1h0BW
1.15pm GMT
Jolyon Maugham, the tax barrister and pro-Labour blogger, has posted this chart shedding light on David Cameron's claim that corporation tax receipts have gone up as the rates of corporation tax have come down.
Net receipts may have gone up (I don't have the figures at the moment), but this graph shows that, as a proportion of overall tax receipts, corporation tax receipts have gone down.
As (I gather) Cameron claimed in PMQs that cutting corporation tax increases receipts... pic.twitter.com/yqEjB1pdJJ
1.06pm GMT
PMQs - Verdict: Jeremy Corbyn did make some progress today. As he explains in his Independent article, he has been trying to raise the tone of PMQs, and today he scored a modest success; for one reason or another, David Cameron chose to get through his exchanges with Corbyn without resorting to low-grade abuse.
But, otherwise, there was nothing of note in that PMQs (or at least in the Cameron/Corbyn bit). As my colleague Nicholas Watt has just pointed out on the Daily Politics, when William Hague as opposition leader he often adopted a scattergun approach to PMQs, jumping from one topic to another question by question, and made it work. Tony Blair would be left scrabbling to find an answer on one topic, only for Hague to come back with a question addressing something completely different. It worked because Hague's questions were razor-sharp, and often very funny.
12.36pm GMT
Labour's Barry Gardiner says under the housing bill new tenants will be on fixed tenancies. Doesn't this mean that children could be evicted when sitting exams?
Cameron says the government wants to ensure that social housing is there for the people who need it. But current tenants will not be affected, he says.
12.35pm GMT
Labour's Siobhan McDonagh asks about a constituent who will lose money from the introduction of the living wage, because B&Q are cutting allowances. Will the government ensure that no one loses money from this?
Cameron says the government wants people to earn more money. And it is cutting people's taxes too, he says.
12.33pm GMT
Labour's James Dowd asks how the Tory manifesto commitment to outlaw the use of wild animals in circuses in progressing.
Cameron says the government did not manage to meet this in the last parliament. The use of wild animals is licensed so strictly that only two circuses use them. But the government hopes to legislate when time allows.
12.31pm GMT
Sir Bill Cash, a Conservative, says the three recent white papers on the EU referendum are not accurate and impartial. This is against the ministerial code.
Cameron says he believes in the sovereignty of parliament. Parliament called for them to be published. They were produced by civil servants, he says. He says if Cash does not agree with the content, he should challenge the content, not the process.
12.30pm GMT
The SNP'S Martyn Day asks for duty on Scotch whisky to be cut.
Cameron says the government supports the whisky industry.
12.29pm GMT
Andrew Murrison, a Conservative, asks about rural broadband.
Cameron says there is more that needs to be done. Ten years ago all MPs were guilty of leading campaigns against mast, he says. But now their constituents want to be connected to the information super-highway.
12.28pm GMT
Labour's Roberta Blackman-Woods mentions mother's day asks why the government is cutting public services, and child benefit and work-related benefits so as to take money from women.
Cameron says he celebrated mother's day with his mother, but that he has probably said enough about her. He lists various things the government has done for women. The pay gap is at its lowest published level, he says. He says Labour could help by having no more segregated political meetings. Let us stop the process of having people with bigoted views treating women as second-class citizens.
12.25pm GMT
Labour's Khalid Mahmood asks why the number of skilled apprenticeships has fallen.
Cameron says the government is building more houses. And the apprenticeship levy will allow more apprenticeships to be funded.
12.24pm GMT
James Cartlidge, a Conservative, asks about school funding.
Cameron says the government is changing to consultation process to make it fairer.
12.23pm GMT
Cameron says the personal independence payment (PIP) will be better than disability living allowance (DLA) because there is a more personalised assessment process.
12.21pm GMT
PMQs - Snap verdict: What was the point? Overall, that was dire, in a way that did not do credit to either of those involved. Corbyn was more scattergun than ever; his questions were perfectly sensible, but there was zero follow-through, and - taken as a whole - his script sounded rambling and unfocused. Cameron was a bit better, because he had answers on corporation tax and child poverty, but he did sound as if he was just reciting a dull brief, and he completely ignored the first question about welfare cuts. Cameron's "100 not out" was the only line that was remotely memorable.
12.13pm GMT
Corbyn says there has been a 10% cut in real terms in sixth-form education, and a cut in adult education. Isn't it true this recovery is build on sand?
Cameron says 16 to 18-year-old education has been protected in this spending round. The government can only do this because it has a strong and growing economy. Corbyn's tax plan are a risk to the economy. And we know from Scotland that Labour would put taxes up for people earning more than 20,000.
12.11pm GMT
Corbyn says child poverty is going up. He asks why Osborne warned last week of further cuts, if the economy is so strong. Who will those cuts fall on?
Cameron says there are 860,000 fewer workless households. He says the government is making real changes for these families.
12.07pm GMT
Jeremy Corbyn says Cameron said last week the economy was strong. If it is strong, why is the government pushing through a 30 a week cut for the disabled.
Cameron says he is disappointed that Corbyn did not answer the point about the Labour member. The economy is growing, he says.
12.04pm GMT
James Berry, a Conservative, asks what progress is being made in tackling the source of the terrorist threat in Syria.
Cameron says we are making good progress in pushing Daesh back in Iraq and Syria. He says he was appalled to see Labour has readmitted someone to the Labour party who was defended 9/11. Labour should throw that person out.
12.03pm GMT
Labour's Karin Smith says people in Bristol want to see more apprenticeships. But they wonder how the government will deliver 3m. Does David Cameron have a delivery plan?
Yes, says Cameron. There were 2m in the last parliament, and the target is for 3m in this one.
12.02pm GMT
Cameron itching to move into his seat for #PMQs but Matt Hancock not budging until the last moment
12.01pm GMT
Odd amount of space on green benches today. Especially on Labour side. #PMQs
11.58am GMT
IDS already in place at bar of the House, arms folded, ready for action. Better than sitting on front bench near PM shd Brexit crop up #PMQs
11.56am GMT
#PMqs coming ... @skynews panel coming up with @annemcelvoy @AlanMakMP and Graeme Stringer MP ... Order paper here pic.twitter.com/BGLPlIPNWq
11.52am GMT
PMQs starts soon.
Jeremy Corbyn will be asking his 100th question, he writes in an article for the Independent. He says that, while he has tried to change the tone of PMQs, David Cameron has been unwilling to reciprocate.
The leadership campaign showed me that for many PMQs are out of touch, too theatrical, and simply not addressing the issues most people care about. So I tried something different - putting to David Cameron some of the thousands of questions sent to me by members of the public.
Today will mark my 100th question at PMQs. But while I've taken a different approach to asking the questions, David Cameron has carried on failing to give proper answers.
11.45am GMT
At the launch of his manifesto Sadiq Khan, Labour's candidate for London mayor, said Jeremy Corbyn should be doing more to make the case for Britain staying in the EU. According to the Press Association, when asked if Corbyn should be "more proactive" in speaking up for EU membership, he replied:
Without a doubt. I think we should be on the pitch campaigning with anybody who wants us to stay in the European Union. Membership of the European Union is bigger than party politics. If your job, your livelihood, your prosperity is dependent on being in the European Union, you don't want politicians playing tribal games and not sharing a platform.
I've said all along, I'm happy to share a platform with David Cameron in relation to staying in the European Union I go further, as the mayor of London I'll be on a plane with George Osborne going to China or India or the Middle East to get jobs and investment for London, and to sell London's businesses overseas.
You can't want to be the mayor of London and be anything but campaigning proactively for us to stay in the European Union. Because it is a fact that more than 500,000 jobs in London are directly dependent on membership of the EU, it is a fact that 60% of the world's leading companies - Sony ARG Insurance (for example) - have their EU headquarters in London, and half of London's exports go to the European Union.
Now if you want to be the mayor of London and you are pro-business, you have got to be arguing for us to be in the European Union. That's why it beggars belief that a Conservative candidate running to be mayor is less pro-business than I am.
11.27am GMT
The Resolution Foundation has produced this graph showing how the number of workers on zero-hours contracts has soared in recent years.
As a share of the workforce, the number of people on zero hours contracts continues to rise despite the record employment rate and the long-overdue pay recovery last year. It's increasingly clear that ZHCs are here to stay, whatever the economic weather.
While some workers value the flexibility they provide, others struggle to manage their fluctuating pay levels week by week and find it hard to budget and put any money aside as savings. This explains why one in three workers on a ZHC want more hours.
11.20am GMT
In a speech in the European parliament today Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said the EU was being "blackmailed" by Turkey. He told MEPs:
The historic error made by Chancellor Merkel last year by saying all can come has led directly to this mess and now we are being blackmailed by Turkey. I wish that David Cameron was as good at negotiations as the Turks are.
So we are going to go into political union with a country that has got borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria, a country that is poorer than anybody else in the European Union and give free movement to 75m people. And join up with a government that is increasingly Islamist and authoritarian.
11.14am GMT
Sadiq Khan, Labour's candidate for London mayor, has launched his manifesto (pdf) today.
He was introduced by Dame Tessa Jowell, the Labour former culture secretary whom he beat for the Labour mayoral nomination, and in his speech he said one of his priorities as mayor would be gender equality.
I'll be a proud feminist in City Hall.
It's not acceptable that your gender can still determine the amount you earn or how far you can rise.
11.08am GMT
Owen Smith, the shadow work and pensions secretary, says today's zero-hour contract figures show "the crisis of insecure work under the Tories is getting worse with every passing week". In a statement he went on:
Before the election they promised to act on zero-hours contracts, but these numbers show that was nothing more than words. Spiralling numbers of British workers cannot be certain where their next day's work is coming from, making it virtually impossible to plan finances and family life.
11.04am GMT
The Sun says that the Queen made her comments about Europe at a lunch at Windsor Castle in 2011 attended by Nick Clegg.
The BBC's Nick Sutton has been scouring the Court Circular, and he can find a reference to just one event at Windsor Castle that year attended by Nick Clegg. It was a meeting of the privy council, also attended by Michael Gove, Cheryl Gillan and Lord McNally.
This is the only reference I can find in Court Circular to 2011 Windsor lunches at which Clegg present @hendopolis pic.twitter.com/F9n2mBvliV
10.47am GMT
Here is the Resolution Foundation thinktank on the zero-hours contract figures.
The extent of zero hours contracts depends on the measure you use but one thing's clear - they're still increasing pic.twitter.com/pnP7ttfmpx
15% rise in people on 'zero hours contracts' - rising to just over 800,000 in 2015 https://t.co/3CYNFK4XGi
Zero-hours contracts seem pretty entrenched in UK now - not fading as labour market tightens. Now 2.5% of workforce, up from 2.3%.
TUC say average weekly pay for zero-hours workers is 188, compared to 479 for permanent workers
10.41am GMT
Owen Smith, the shadow work and pensions secretary, says the latest zero-hours contract figures may just be "the tip of the iceberg".
Big hike in zero hours contracts - up 15% - may only be the tip of the iceberg as many don't realise they're on one: https://t.co/oJ3TOdCIUd
10.35am GMT
Chris Leslie, the former shadow chancellor, has written an article for PoliticsHome saying Labour must be more willing to accept the need for cuts. If it doesn't, it risks "doing the Tories' job for them", he says.
Here's an excerpt.
The electorate have told us twice that they think we do not care enough about the deficit, so to simply call for more spending and borrowing with no mention of public service reform or any recognition of budget priorities risks doing the Tories' job for them. Yes, there is a case for targeted borrowing specifically to fund long-term capital infrastructure investment, but to gain permission for this case to be heard by the public, we must also argue for fair savings, efficiency and reform. In short, better spending not just more spending.
10.29am GMT
Here is a pollster's take on the Sun story. It's from YouGov's Joe Twyman.
What does Queen think about #EU? Don't know. But women over 60 without university education significantly more likely to support #brexit.
10.20am GMT
Former ministers Peter Lilley, Liam Fox and David Davis are among 11 Tory MPs who have signed a letter in today's Times (paywall) claiming that David Cameron made a "big concession to fellow EU leaders in his renegotiation deal that has been overlooked by commentators.
The letter explains:
We surrendered Britain's one remaining bargaining lever: our right to give or withhold consent to future EU treaties (and some directives) required to convert the eurozone into a political union. We could have used that leverage to get powers devolved to the UK in return for agreeing to eurozone integration - and to block measures harmful to us.
That is no longer possible. The agreement pledges that Britain "shall not impede the implementation of legal acts directly linked to the functioning of the euro area" and "will not create obstacles to, but facilitate, such further deepening [ie, creating a political union]" ...
10.10am GMT
Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, has put out this statement about the zero-hours contract figures. (See 9.55am.)
Zero-hour contracts may be a dream for cost-cutting employers. But they can be a nightmare for workers.
Many people on zero-hours contracts are unable to plan for their future and regularly struggle with paying bills and having a decent family life.
10.06am GMT
The Sun, which is strongly Eurosceptic, wants the Queen to speak out on Europe but Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, is still getting criticism from anti-Europeans for the fact that he did express views on this matter in his evidence to the Commons Treasury committee yesterday.
This morning Peter Bone, a Conservative MP and a spokesman for Grassroots Out (GO), claimed that Carney's behaviour was so outrageous that he should consider his position. He told the Today programme.
It seemed to me that [Carney's evidence] was a deliberate attempt to scare people into thinking we should remain in the EU, which of course is actually the only card that the people who want to remain in the EU are playing, because there are no positive reasons for staying in the EU.
Governors of the Bank of England should say the facts. Mervyn King, who's no longer at the Bank of England, speculates that the biggest risk is being connected with the euro. So he takes a completely different view to the current governor.
The last person who made a personal view got fired from his job - I just wonder whether [Carney] should be looking at his position today.
9.55am GMT
Here is the Office for National Statistics report about zero-hours contracts.
And here is an excerpt from the summary.
The latest estimate of the number of people who are employed on "zero-hours contracts" in their main employment, from the LFS, a survey of individuals in households, is 801,000 for October to December 2015, representing 2.5% of people in employment. It should be noted that responses to the LFS can be affected by respondents recognising the term "zero-hours contract". This latest figure is higher than that for October to December 2014 (697,000 or 2.3 per cent of people in employment), but it is not possible to say how much of this increase is due to greater recognition of the term "zero-hours contracts" rather than additional contracts.
People on "zero-hours contracts" are more likely to be young, part time, women, or in full-time education when compared with other people in employment. On average, someone on a "zero-hours contract" usually works 26 hours a week. Around 1 in 3 people (37%) on a "zero-hours contract" want more hours, with most wanting them in their current job, as opposed to a different job which offers more hours. In comparison 10% of other people in employment wanted more hours.
9.46am GMT
Here is the Press Association snap about the zero-hours contract figures.
The number of workers on zero-hours contracts has increased by 104,000 to 801,000, said the Office for National Statistics.
9.44am GMT
Robert Hardman, the Daily Mail journalist and author of another biography of the Queen, was on the Today programme earlier rubbishing the Sun splash. He said:
[The Sun story] really doesn't stack up. It is utterly out of character. It does put the Queen in a slightly tricky position because the Palace have put out a denial but, on an issue like this, you don't want to deny too much because it might sound like you're supporting the other side.
On this she has always been utterly neutral. The idea that she would somehow depart from her very conscientious neutrality in front of a well-known Europhile like Mr Clegg over lunch defies belief.
9.43am GMT
Last year the Queen gave a speech in Germany that could be taken as showing support for the EU. She said division in Europe was dangerous.
In our lives, we have seen the worst but also the best of our continent.
We have witnessed how quickly things can change for the better.
9.35am GMT
Like the Sun (see 9.28am), Republic, the group campaigning for the abolition of the monarch, is arguing that people have a right to know what the Queen thinks about Brexit. This is from its chief executive, Graham Smith.
Whether or not we believe the claims in the Sun newspaper, the voters shouldn't be left guessing what the Queen believes.
The voters have a right to know who their head of state is, they have a right to know the truth behind these reports, not be fobbed off by press office denials.
9.28am GMT
The Tom Hamilton critique of the Sun's story (see 9.21am) refers to the Sun admitting that it does not really know what the Queen thinks about Brexit.
That is a reference to Tom Newton Dunn's opinion piece inside the paper, arguing that the Queen is under an obligation to let her subjects know what she thinks. Here is an excerpt.
The Queen is very arguably the most respected stateswoman in the world.
If she has a view on something as big as Brexit, don't voters have a right to know what it is?
9.21am GMT
Andrew Marr, the BBC broadcaster who wrote a biography of the Queen, thinks the Sun's headline might be true.
This might be true. https://t.co/3qy5J9cXG6
Headline: QUEEN BACKS BREXIT
Story: QUEEN DOESN'T BACK BREXIT
Inside: WE DON'T KNOW WHAT QUEEN THINKS ABOUT BREXIT pic.twitter.com/hd2pqOILL8
9.00am GMT
The Sun likes stirring things up, and it has certainly managed to do that this morning. Here's its splash.
SUN EXCLUSIVE: Queen backs Brexit #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/dAmjFMOl1c
Her Majesty let rip at the then Deputy PM during a lunch at Windsor Castle, The Sun has been told.
The 89-year-old monarch firmly told passionate pro-European Mr Clegg that she believed the EU was heading in the wrong direction.
One of a group of Parliamentarians in a circle with her at the time asked Her Majesty for her thoughts on Brussels.
The Queen is said to have snapped back angrily: "I don't understand Europe".
Related: Queen's Brexit rant never happened, says Nick Clegg
I know Her Majesty believes in the United Kingdom, believes in Great Britain. And if we pull out of the EU, we will destroy our country because Scotland will go independent, the peace process in Northern Ireland will be under real pressure and we won't have something called the United Kingdom or Great Britain any more. I doubt the Queen wants that.
Continue reading...