Monty Python — Image caption This parliamentary session has almost ceased to be

This week should see the last rites performed over the tumultuous 2017-19 parliamentary session - with its knife-edge votes, collapse in party discipline and endless Brexit battles.

Perhaps as early as Monday night, a commission of Privy Councillors will don their ceremonial robes and hats for the Python-esque ritual which prorogues - or suspends - Parliament.

Read full article One-day week for Parliament?

The government's modest band of supporters in the Lords are mounting a formidable filibuster operation to prevent the Benn Bill - the bill which aims to prevent no deal - getting to third reading before a possible prorogation of Parliament on Monday.

Labour and the Lib Dems had put down a business of the house motion which lays down a timetable for consideration of the bill.

Read full article Brexit: The Lords gear up for a battle over no-deal bill

Parliament increasingly resembles an episode of an over-heated soap opera.

You know the kind of thing: two main characters are getting married, the police are about to charge one of them with murder, an ex-lover is deciding whether to speak now or forever hold their peace, there are two serial killers at the reception, and the director keeps cutting to pictures of a leaking gas pipe in the cellar.

Read full article Brexit: Parliament's next big drama

Boris Johnson and John Bercow — Image caption The PM and the Speaker could have a busy few days ahead

Fasten your safety belts - it's going to be a rough ride. This weekly lookahead is normally based on a pretty firm published agenda for the Lords, the Commons and the committees, and while there is indeed a detailed programme of events out there, much of it looks certain to be discarded as normal parliamentary business is consumed, once again, by Brexit.

At the moment the consensus seems to be a chain of events something like this will unfold:

Read full article A week of many moving parts?

Boris Johnson speaking for the first time as prime minister in the Commons

There was a moment in Thursday's Commons sitting that crystallised the approach of Boris Johnson's new government.

Labour MP Gareth Snell asked the new Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, when the government was going to bring back the Trade Bill for MPs to consider.

Read full article Boris Johnson: Can new PM deliver in the Commons?

After this week's Commons defeat, the new prime minister due to kiss hands next week will be painfully aware of the troubles ahead.

A combination of abstentions and outright rebellion have imposed some awkward requirements on the government which could well prevent ministers from suspending - or "proroguing" - Parliament, in order to exit the EU without deal.

Read full article Week ahead in Parliament

Bullying and Brexit dominate Parliament this week, with a routine piece of Northern Ireland legislation suddenly caught up in efforts to forestall a no-deal Brexit, and MPs getting a chance to debate their latest reports on bullying and harassment in the world of Westminster.

I detail the Brexit manoeuvrings below, but they will involve both the Lords and Commons, in one of those bewilderingly intricate legislative dances when amendments bounce between the two houses.

Read full article Week ahead in Parliament

Oh dear, what can the matter be?

Amidst stories of a whip getting stuck in the Commons lavatory or one of the new proxy votes being bungled, the government was defeated by a single vote on Tuesday night.

Read full article Votes emphasise government's precarious position

That discordant scraping sound you hear in Westminster? It is the sound of ministers scouring the bottom of the legislative barrel to find more micro-measures for MPs to consider, while they wait for a new prime minister and his government agenda to appear.

So, there is legislation in the Lords on the national insurance contributions treatment of money from sporting testimonials, and the non-domestic rates paid on public lavatories.

Read full article Week ahead in Parliament

Image caption Dame Margaret Beckett is behind one of the latest move to block a no-deal Brexit

After long weeks becalmed in the parliamentary doldrums, Westminster will be moving again next week - with a couple of significant moments expected.

On Brexit there's an innovative backbench attempt to block a no-deal exit, and the long awaited publication of Gemma White QC's independent inquiry into bullying and harassment within the parliamentary community is expected early in the week.

Read full article Week ahead in Parliament