UK politics - as it happened: Government makes raft of announcements in final day before MPs' summer holiday on 'taking out the trash day'

MPs are now moving on an urgent question on civilian life in Syria, answered by foreign office minister Sir Alan Duncan.

Labour's Alison McGovern, who secured the question, says the UK has watched as a 'barbaric regime bombards helpless civilians with barrel bombs and chemical weapons'.

She says it is correct that the White Helmets are given sanctuary, as announced by the government this week.

She asks about the internal refugees in Idlib, following the siege of Aleppo, where she says there could be 'utterly horrific' consequences for civilians.

Many expect the Syrian government to repeat use of chemical weapons over the summer, she says and asks the government to protect people.

Along with Tory MP Bob Seeley, she visited northern Turkey last week where doctors are receiving training at great personal risk. She asks how the government can be assured that supplies are getting to them.

What support will the White Helmets be offered and other humanitarian groups? Can we guarantee resettlement for those who need it?

Sir Alan commends her for her comments. He says there is no political divide here, all MPs share the human concern for the Syrian people.

He pays tribute to the White Helmets, who have been 'demonised' for their work. He thanks the Israeli government for their efforts to get them out of Syria and he says Jeremy Hunt, the new foreign secretary was 'instrumental' in doing so.

He says he totally understands her calls to 'do something' but it is a very complicated situation, with territory being controlled by the Syrian government, by the Russians.

Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary, said a 'yet further catastrophe looming' in Syria. He calls for reassurance that the humanitarian workers and actors who have put their lives on their line to get help in the coming days and weeks.

Sir Alan agrees and says the UK will continue with its humanitarian efforts, with £450m this year and a further £300m promised next year to help alleviate the extreme suffering in Syria.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry says no amount of aid will be enough if Assad and foreign backers decide to try to take Idlib. She calls for a peace deal, brokered independently and dependent on removal of foreign powers.

She says it cannot be left to Putin and Trump to decide it themselves and calls for the resumption of the Geneva Peace Process.

Sir Alan says there is no obvious answer to the conflict but a political solution is the only way to overcome the conflict.

Here's more on the HPV vaccination, which is being extended to young boys as well as girls.

And another story from today's glut of statements - the airfield which houses the Red Arrows will be sold off by the Ministry of Defence as part of budget cuts.

More here:

MPs have now moved on and Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, is making a statement on the white paper on the withdrawal agreement and implementation bill.

He immediately gets into a scrap with Labour's Emily Thornberry, who laughed at him when he said he would deliver a 'smooth and orderly Brexit'.

Raab says the white paper will show the EU that the UK intends to be a reliable negotiating partner.

On UK citizens, he says the UK needs to know what each member state plans to do on citizens rights and will be pressing for more detail over the summer.

Raab says parts of the European Communities Act 1972 will be saved 31 Dec 2020, which means a key law keeping Britain in the EU will remain in place after Brexit.

This is likely to cause fury among Brexiteers.

Labour's Keir Starmer says the 'gimmick' of fixing the exit date on the front of the EU withdrawal act has 'come unstuck'.

EU law will continue to have effect in the UK until Dec 2020, he says.

It's not true that only parts of the ECA will be save - 'almost all of it is saved', he says.