UK politics - as it happened: Presidents Club to close after widespread criticism in wake of sexual harassment claims
Pressure mounts on government figures who attended controversial all-male event
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Your support makes all the difference.Politicians lined up to condemn alleged inappropriate behaviour at the Presidents Club dinner after claims that a number of women were sexually harassed at the male-only event.
Trustees of the charity have announced it is to close with no further fundraising events planned and the remaining funds shared among charities.
Pressure is mounting on government minister Nadhim Zahawi, who attended the event. There have been calls for the education minister to resign, but Theresa May's spokesman said the Prime Minister had no plans to talk to him about his attendance at the dinner.
Mr Zahawi said he felt uncomfortable at the dinner and left early. He will not be attending male-only events in future, he added.
Earlier in the day, David Davis was grilled by MPs as he gave evidence to the Brexit Select Committee.
The Brexit Secretary was asked about the next round of negotiations with EU leaders, which begin in March, and the Government's plan for a transitional period before Britain leaves the EU.
He confirmed that the UK would remain in the single market "in operational terms" during the transitional period, the details of which he said would be agreed by the end of March. In a move likely to anger many Tory MPs, he also confirmed that Britain would have to abide by the rulings of European courts during that time.
This afternoon, Labour will try to force the Government to release the risk assessments it carried out before granting major public contracts to the construction firm Carillion, which collapsed earlier this month.
The tactic proved successful in forcing the Government to give MPs access to its Brexit impact assessments late last year.
Welcome to The Independent's politics liveblog on a busy day in Westminster. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, has just begun giving testimony to the House of Commons Brexit Committee. As ever, we'll be bringing you all the developments as they happen.
David Davis says negotiations will have been completed by the time Britain leaves the EU and will not spill over into the transitional period.
"All of the substance" of an agreement with the EU will be agreed by March 2019, he says, adding: "It would be unwise to get sucked into a negotiation during a transitional period itself."
Hillary Benn, the chair of the committee, points out that Mr Davis had previously written an article saying the UK should remain in the customs union.
The Brexit Secretary says he has since changed his mind because he had not fully considered the potential benefits of trade deals with other countries, which he says can boost trade by up to 40 per cent.
NEW: David Davis says he expects agreement on a transitional period by the end of March.
David Davis confirms that, when the UK leaves the EU in March 2019, it will no longer officially be a member of the European single market.
However, he says that the plan for a transitional period means that "in operational terms...it will look exactly the same" - in other words, Britain will retain access to the single market for at least two years.
During that period, he confirms, the UK will also remain under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
The Brexit Secretary is taking his typically laid-back approach to answering questions from the MPs...
Here's the speech, which Hillary Benn referred to, in which Mr Davis argued that the UK should stay in the customs union even if it leaves the EU. It's from 2013 - the Brexit Secretary said this morning that he has since changed his mind...
http://www.daviddavismp.com/david-davis-mp-delivers-speech-on-the-opportunities-for-a-referendum-on-europe/
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