Ping pong starts
End of term Parliamentary ping pong begins in earnest today, as the House of Commons gears up to reverse some of the more controversial changes made by peers to the .
This behemoth of a bill could see clashes between Lords and Commons on several fronts - but the one to watch looks like the issue of secret inquests.
Peers didn't like the proposal for the Lord Chancellor to require that sensitive inquests be dealt with as private inquiries. But in the Commons this evening the government will ask MPs to reinstate the proposal.
Resistance will come from some members of the , with its chairman, the Labour MP Andrew Dismore to the fore.
Interestingly, the Conservatives have their own proposal, which allows secret inquests - but gives a judge the final say on whether a particular case should be heard behind closed doors. In other words, ministers won't decide.
This is one of the bills on which the Commons and Lords may not easily agree - so the bill could bounce between the two houses late into the night, perhaps late into several nights, this week. I'll report back...
I'm Mark D'Arcy and I'll be writing about what goes on in the chambers and committee rooms at Westminster.
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