Westminster today: Theresa May thanks Donald Trump for 'very strong response' to Salisbury nerve agent attack - as it happened
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Theresa May has spoken to Donald Trump to thank the US president for his 'very strong response' to the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Earlier in the day, Ms May faced Jeremy Corbyn for the last session of Prime Minister's Questions before Parliament's two-week Easter recess.
The Labour leader attacked the Government on its record tackling mental health, pointing to failings at Southern Health, which has been fined £2m for the "avoidable" deaths of two young people.
Meanwhile Amber Rudd was quizzed by MPs over the Salisbury poisoning case and post-Brexit immigration when she appeared before the Home Affairs Committee.
As it happened...
Welcome to today's live coverage from The Independent's Westminster team.
Amber Rudd's evidence to the Home Affairs Committee begins with a pretty heated row with the chair, Yvette Cooper.
Ms Cooper accuses the Home Secretary of seeking to distract attention from four reports the Home Office is publishing at 2.30pm this afternoon - days before Parliament rises for recess and several hours after Ms Rudd takes questions from MPs, meaning they are unable to ask about the contents of the reports.
Ms Rudd says: "I am in no way trying to hide those reports."
Ms Cooper replies that other people will make up their minds on that when they see the contents of the reports. The timing of the release is a "screaming loud klaxon" for journalists to pay attention to the reports, she adds.
Amber Rudd says the Home Office white paper will be published by the end of this year. It was originally due to be released last summer. She says the paper will lay out different options for Theresa May and David Davis to take to the "coalface" of Brexit negotiations.
The Home Secretary refuses to say whether the Cabinet has made a decision about post-Brexit immigration, saying only: "It's for the Prime Minister to decide that."
She declines to say whether immigration will be included in a future deal with the EU. Committee chair Yvette Cooper suggests it is unacceptable that the immigration white paper will only be published after Brexit negotiations are likely to have concluded.
Mr Cooper says:
"The White Paper will come out after the future partnership has been agreed, and the future partnership may well include immigration arrangements."
"It is slightly baffling that there isn't more of a plan on what will happen with immigration."
The Home Affairs Committee is now quizzing Amber Rudd on the issue of online extremism.
She admits there has been a "growth in extreme right-wing hate and violence" in recent months but says she has already proscribed a number of far-right groups, and has urged internet companies to take down extremist material.
There is still "much, much more that they can do" to remove illegal material, she says.
Asked why the Government is not doing more to force internet companies to act, she says the companies have made "some progress":
"I would like to see that sort of material removed...I do think there is more that can be done. I am no apologist for the internet companies but I do think it is worth acknowledging that there is some good work being done by them."
Amber Rudd says she is "looking very closely" at the possibility of introducing a seasonal worker scheme to ensure there are enough farm workers in the UK after Brexit.
Tory MP Kirstene Hair says the Home Office needs to act "urgently" to address the issue - saying farms in her Angus constituency are having to leave fruit unpicked.
Elsewhere in Parliament, the Women and Equalities Committee is questioning Harvey Weinstein's former assistant, Zelda Perkins, about the non-disclosure agreement she signed with him.
The chair, Maria Miller MP, says Weinstein, Disney and Miramax declined to give evidence to the committee.
Ms Perkins says she quit her role after Weinstein allegedly "sexually assaulted and attempted to rape" a recently-employed colleague, who had previously only met the producer once.
Ms Perkins says: "When somebody comes to you saying that's happened, there's not much choice of what you should do. We considered ourselves constructively dismissed at that point."
Zelda Perkins says the non-disclosure agreement she signed with Weinstein's employer, Miramax, was "morally lacking on every level".
She says it prevented her and her colleague speaking to friends, family and colleagues, as well as to medical practitioners, legal representatives, tax authorities or financial advisers, about their experiences.
It also said they must make their "best endeavours" to not reveal details to police or courts during any civil or criminal case, she adds.
↵Amber Rudd admitted to MPs that the Cabinet has not yet reached any position on immigration policy after Brexit - an approach the Home Affairs Committee chair, Yvette Cooper, described as "baffling". Full story:
Zelda Perkins says that when she and her colleague signed their NDAs, they were asked to a meeting with Harvey Weinstein, at which "he had a long conversation with us trying to bring us back to the company, apologising for his behaviour - in fact almost a full admission.
Asked what she thought his motivation for this was, she says:
"He wanted to keep his enemies close - we were much more valuable staying within the company than leaving. He offered us more money, whatever we wanted.
"It's a clear admission of guilty throughout the process really, and this is in front of some pretty respectable legal bodies."
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