Hague statement: key points
Lunchtime summary
Nick Clegg's press conference summary
Thomas Piketty interviewed by Stewart Wood
5.45pm BST
Here is a summary of William Hague's statement and the debate on Iraq.
The UK will not make a military intervention in Iraq. The US is "looking at all options", Hague said.
5.23pm BST
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour MP in Leicester, asks whether Sri Lanka was discussed in the meetings. Hague says they look to Sri Lanka's government to prevent ethnic conflict.
5.18pm BST
Tory Robert Halfon says the removal of Saddam Hussein is not the sole cause of the current crisis - rather it is the Syria civil war and the "weakness and inadequacy" of the current Iraqi president.
Hague reiterates that the US is "examining all options". Action is much more likely to be taken by the US than by Nato.
5.14pm BST
Labour's Tom Blenkinsop asks about Turkish diplomats captured in Mosul. Hague says he has been consulting Turkey about the whole situation in Iraq.
5.09pm BST
Hague says the west is trying to engage Iran, but a change in Iranian policy is needed. Iran has supported sectarian or terrorist groups elsewhere, and it must stop doing that.
5.08pm BST
Labour's Paul Flynn asks about the much-delayed Chilcot report.
Hague says the vote on Syria last year was influenced by the Iraq war. The government now has to rebuild trust, he says.
5.02pm BST
Labour's John Denham asks why the UK government does not "speak truth to power" by challenging Saudi Arabia over its role in fostering sectarianism.
Hague says there is a responsibility on all Gulf states to promote stability.
5.00pm BST
Labour's Ann Clwyd says even as Hague and Jolie were addressing the issue of sexual violence in conflict at the summit in London, women were being raped in Iraq.
Hague says the actions of Isis are grave breaches of the Geneva convention. This is at the very top of his priorities, he says.
4.57pm BST
Responding to Labour's Keith Vaz, Hague says the UK is the second biggest donor to refugee programmes in the region and will continue to support them.
4.56pm BST
Hague says the issue of sexual violence is intrinsic to the current situation in the Middle East because extremist forces also use sexual violence as a weapon. There is a great deal of ignorance about the importance of these matters, Hague adds.
4.55pm BST
MPs from all sides Rifkind, Lib Dem Julian Huppert and Labour's Jeremy Corbyn among them have brought up the 2003 invasion. Hague is steadfastly sticking to the current situation. We will have to await the report of the inquiry into the 2003 invasion, Hague says, but he adds that if Assad had not decided to "wage war" on his own people in Syria, the situation in Iraq now would be very different, notwithstanding the 2003 conflict.
4.51pm BST
Hague says those that have travelled to fight in Syria risk losing passport, leave to remain in UK or arrest. He estimates 400 abroad.
4.49pm BST
Penny Mourdant says it is a shame that the work of Angelina Jolie on sexual violence in conflict has been belittled. Hague says her involvement has ensured that people who would not even have heard of the problem are now engaged with it.
4.46pm BST
Tory MP John Glen asks about the 400 British or UK-related individuals thought to be fighting in Syria.
Hague says it can be hard to monitor because some travel to Syria via third-party countries. We are being extremely vigilant, he adds.
4.45pm BST
Angus Robertson, SNP leader in the Commons, says Tony Blair should surely step down as a Middle East envoy.
Hague says this session should not become a proxy debate on Tony Blair.
4.44pm BST
Hague says the UK government is discussing "a whole range of issues" with the Iranian authorities; he says there are several matters they must address before Iran can be thought of as a source of stability, rather than instability, in the region.
4.40pm BST
The UK will not make a military intervention in Iraq. The US is "looking at all options", Hague said.
But the UK has sent a team of counter-terror experts to offer assistance.
4.35pm BST
Glenda Jackson asks if the UK government should urge Maliki to stand down.
Hague says it is not our place to do that. Iraq needs to choose its own leaders.
4.33pm BST
Sir Menzies Campbell, former Lib Dem leader, who opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, says it is wrong to see that conflict as the sole cause of the current crisis.
He asks about covert cooperation with Iran which Hague declines to address, for obvious, covert-related reasons.
4.32pm BST
Jack Straw, a former Labour foreign secretary, asks about Iran. There is an opportunity to build more positive relations here, he says.
Hague says the UK government has an "important common interest with Iran" over Iraq, Afghanistan and the narcotics trade.
4.30pm BST
Hague drops hint he will announce tomorrow UK will strengthen diplo ties with Iran and possibly reopen embassy in Tehran.
4.30pm BST
Now on to questions. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former Conservative defence and foreign secretary, says the roots of the current conflict lie in the events of 2003.
4.28pm BST
On the Ending Sexual Violence summit, Hague says if everyone who attended now did what they promised to do, the effects would be huge.
The full social and political emancipation of women around the world is something the government is committed to, he says.
4.27pm BST
The UK had the first field team in place for humanitarian assistance, Hague says, and the government is aware that further support and funds will probably be necessary.
4.26pm BST
If there were to be a substantial change to the UK's current stance that there will be no military intervention in Iraq, Hague says, he's sure he will be back in front of MPs to explain or ask for permission.
4.26pm BST
Hague is speaking again. We must not think that everything that happens in the middle east is down to western action or inaction, he says.
He agrees with Alexander that Maliki's government needs to make drastic changes and the UK government is acting to influence that.
4.24pm BST
Alexander now turns to the Ending Sexual Violence summit. He commends the summit and Hague's involvement in it.
4.21pm BST
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander is talking about the long history of instability and sectarian tensions in the region.
Prime minister Maliki's government in Iraq has been a sectarian one, he says. It has failed to move the country forward. What will the UK government do to change that and to urge Maliki to make reforms?
4.15pm BST
Hague says this acute crisis does not mean we should turn our attentions away from long-term, chronic problems. Last week he attended the global summit against sexual violence in conflict in London. These crimes are "among the worst committed in the world today".
(Some in the media have dismissed his involvement alongside Angelina Jolie claiming he was "starstruck".)
4.14pm BST
We will continue to support the moderate opposition in Syria, as they have opposed Isis, Hague says. The UK is providing security support to Lebanon and Jordan to try to promote stability in the region.
4.13pm BST
The UK has already pledged £3m in humanitarian aid and will consider what more it can give, Hague says.
4.12pm BST
The UK has sent a team of counter-terror experts.
Hague says a specially deployed group from the MoD is helping the "small number" of British nationals affected in Iraq.
4.12pm BST
The Iraqi government must take action to address sectarian issues, Hague says. There must be "rapid formation" of a new government in Baghdad involving both Sunni and Shia representatives.
4.11pm BST
Last Friday, Hague held talks with John Kerry. They agreed responsibility to resolve this lies with the Iraqi government.
The UK is taking action to assist the Iraqi government "where appropriate and possible", and is also offering humanitarian assistance.
4.09pm BST
Hague says approximately 400 British nationals "and other UK-linked individuals" are fighting in Syria. Some of these are fighting with Isis, he says.
4.08pm BST
Hague is beginning his statement now.
He is listing the towns, including Mosul and Tikrit, that have been taken by Isis (or Isil). The situation is very grave indeed, he says.
3.54pm BST
The foreign secretary, William Hague, will shortly make a statement to the Commons on the situation in Iraq.
He gave an indication of what he might say when he appeared on the Today programme this morning; you can read the highlights of that here.
3.41pm BST
Some background on this urgent question on prison overcrowding here. At the weekend, the chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, issued a stark warning that cuts had left the system so stretched that more inmates were killing or injuring themselves, or deliberately getting sent to punishment blocks to escape crowded conditions.
3.34pm BST
Education questions have now concluded, and Sadiq Khan is asking an urgent question for Labour on prison overcrowding.
Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, says we do not have a prison overcrowding crisis.
3.32pm BST
Labour's Lisa Nandy asks whether Dominic Cummings, former special adviser to Gove, has lost his pass for access to the DfE (Cummings has made some rather pithy criticisms of David Cameron today and was only last week pictured leaving the DfE building, although he stopped working for Gove at the end of last year).
Gove tells Nandy he is not responsible for the allocation of DfE passes but would welcome her for a cup of tea there in the future. She doesn't look entirely thrilled at either the answer or the invitation.
3.22pm BST
Hello, Claire Phipps here, taking over from Andrew.
Michael Gove is currently taking education questions in the Commons; shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has just asked about Trojan horse and what the government will do to raise standards in local oversight.
Inconsistency, thy name is Tristram.
3.11pm BST
I'm heading off for the day now.
A colleague will be taking over to cover the William Hague statement.
2.42pm BST
Nick Clegg has revealed that Britain may be prepared to let US war planes use British bases to target extremist forces in Iraq. Clegg spoke after William Hague, the foreign secretary, said that Britain may provide counter-terrorism expertise to the Iraqi government, and it has emerged that he has also been in telephone talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to see how the Iranians can play a role in easing the conflict in Iraq. Hague will make a statement on Iraq in the Commons at 3.30pm. I'll be covering that in detail.
Clegg has announced that the Lib Dem manifesto will propose protecting education spending on children and teenagers "from cradle to college". He was speaking at a press conference. For a full summary of his remarks, see 11.49am.
1.44pm BST
Here is some Twitter comment on Piketty's Q&A.
One of the things I love about Piketty is that he's an optimist who believes that dynamics of inequality can be shifted by politics
Great thing about Piketty is he doesnt understate or overstate the power of national politics or government to change things. #pikettyclass
Piketty still a bit vague on whether 'varieties of capitalism' - German model etc - makes a difference to inequality or not. #PikettyCLASS
1.36pm BST
That's it. The session is over.
There was one question I did not cover. It was from Len McCluskey, who asked Stewart Wood if Labour should be adopting a bolder stance on these issues. But McCluskey opened it with a reference to football, saying Wood was an Arsenal fan. Of course, Lord Wood of Anfield is a Liverpool fan.
1.32pm BST
Q: Are unscrupulous employers in the EU using the free movement of labour to drive down wages? What role does this play in inequality?
Piketty says you cannot have free trade, and free movement of labour and capital, without further integration. The current system is "crazy", he says.
1.24pm BST
Q: What should governments do about international tax competition and tax evasion?
Piketty says there is a lot national governments can do on their own. A tax rate of more than 50p would not damage national economic performance in any measurable way, he says.
1.18pm BST
Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, is asking a question.
Q: Thank you for your book. To me, the central thesis was that we should reject the status quo. Stewart Wood said inequality may be caused by changes in skills. We reject that. We think it has more to do with contracting out, and the drive for profits. Twenty years ago oil tanker drivers (who do a professional, highly-skilled jobs) were the highest paid drivers. Now their salaries have been slashed, because of contracting out. We want to challenge that. The proportion of the economy going into wages has fallen. We believe that collective bargaining is one means of addressing this. What do you think about collective bargaining?
1.07pm BST
[To Stewart Wood] Q: Is Labour doing enough to address this problem?
Wood says Labour is trying to get a debate going about inequality, so that people recognise the harm it causes.
1.06pm BST
Q: Have centre-left governments done enough to tackle the rise in inequality? Tony Blair said that making David Beckham poorer was not one of his priorities.
Piketty says actors and sportsmen are not especially relevant. Rising inequality has instead been driven by the growing wealth going to people at the top in business and finance.
12.57pm BST
Stewart Wood is now opening the session up to questions from the audience.
Q: What should Labour be proposing to ensure corporate power can be deployed in the interests of the population as a whole?
12.55pm BST
LabourList's Mark Ferguson says Thomas Piketty sounds like Tony Blair!
Blimey RT @Markfergusonuk Pikettys policy plan for Britain could be summed up as education, education, education #PikettyClass
12.46pm BST
Q: What do you say to critics who argue your proposals would be wealth destroying?
Piketty says he does not mind if people object to some of his ideas. He is trying to contribute to the debate, he says.
12.42pm BST
Q: Your proposal for a global tax on capital has attracted most attention. But your book proposes other ideas too. What about one idea not in the book? Shouldn't we link workers' pay to the rise in the value of capital? Like share ownership schemes?
Piketty says he has ideas like this in mind when he proposes better distribution of wealth.
12.36pm BST
Q: You argue the key driver of inequality is the difference between the rate of return on capital, and normal economic growth. But what do you say to the argument that the returns on different kinds of skills (penalising those with low skills) is the key factor?
Piketty says both factors are important.
12.24pm BST
Piketty turns to progressive taxation of wealth.
That can take the form of inheritance tax. But it can also take the form of an annual tax on wealth, he says.
12.20pm BST
Piketty says the high rates for top rate of tax in Britain in the post-war period were to blame for its economic problems. Other issues were more important, he says.
12.18pm BST
Piketty says he is very interested in progressive taxation.
A 50% top rate of tax is too low, he says.
Thomas Piketty and @StewartWood at @Classthinktank event in parliament. pic.twitter.com/ZwZS8BVKLc
12.14pm BST
Thomas Piketty is opening the meeting with a short speech.
He says he is disappointed by the way people say his book is pessimistic about the future. That is because he does not have a deterministic view of the future, he says.
12.10pm BST
I'm in committee room 14 at the House of Commons. Stewart Wood (Lord Wood), the shadow Cabinet Office minister and Ed Miliband's key policy adviser, is about to interview the French economist and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty.
Piketty's book has become this year's, or perhaps even this decade's, must-read book for the left.
Pikettys central thesis is so provocative because it contradicts the fundamental beliefs that have enabled capitalism to become the dominant economic system of the last century.
Capitalists have always argued that capitalisms main virtue is that it is meritocratic: anybody can become rich under capitalism if they work hard and demonstrate business acumen. And to a greater or lesser extent the 20th Century proved this theory to be true.
11.49am BST
Here are the main points from Nick Clegg's press conference.
Clegg said it was "pointless" to Tony Blair to try to claim that events in Iraq now had nothing to do with the invasion 11 years ago.
The one [argument advanced by Blair] which has no force at all is for him to claim that what is going on in Iraq now kind of would have happened anyway even if the invasion of Iraq had not happened, I think is a completely pointless and rather academic attempt to sort of airbrush out what has happened 11 years ago and somehow pretend its got no connection with what is happening today.
As you know, unlike the Conservatives and the Labour party who were united at the time many Conservatives seem to forget this in supporting a headlong rush to war, we were the only party of the mainstream parties to say no, we shouldnt go to war. My own view is that the legal basis for having gone to war in the first place remains extremely dubious to put it politely. And I think it is just completely pointless to try to reorder the chronology of things and say oh, it would be just as bad now if we hadnt invaded.
Liberal Democrats will protect the full education budget, from the cradle to the college. Money invested in our children is the best investment of all because education can really transform lives. We believe education should be properly funded because education is the very core of a liberal society.
10.54am BST
Q: Do you regret meeting the Dalai Lama? Would you meet him again?
Clegg says he has not regrets about that. He has not plans to meet him again, but he would be "more than honoured" to do so. The government recognises that Tibet is part of China. But the Dalai Lama is a highly respected religious figure. Clegg says he would hope to have the opportunity to meet someone like that again. But there are no plans for him to do so in government.
10.52am BST
Q: You have announced new plans for teaching the curriculum in academies. Doesn't this make it look as if you are disowning the coalition's education policies?
Clegg says he does not accept this.
10.49am BST
Q: Would you support more action to limit the spread of second homes?
Clegg says this is a huge problem in some areas, like the south west. The government has already changed the rules on council tax for second homes.
10.49am BST
Q: Is your leadership secure?
Clegg says you would not be a good leader if you did not take decisions that some people oppose. The Lib Dems took a collective decision to go into coalition. There were interminable meetings.
10.47am BST
Q: Is there a case for telling the electorate before the election what a Tory/Lib Dem coalition might look like, or a Labour/Lib Dem coalition might look like?
Clegg says he can only speak for the Lib Dems. You cannot produce a Blue Peter "here's one I prepared earlier" blueprint for a coalition. Those decisions would have to be taken after polling day, he says.
10.44am BST
Q: You seem a bit melancholy, like a spat-out smartie? [This is from Quentin Letts.]
Clegg says he's not gloomy.
10.42am BST
Q: Will Lib Dem MPs support the EU referendum bill?
Clegg says the Lib Dems favour a referendum. But they are perplexed by the Tory demand for legislation now.
10.40am BST
Q: Lord Oakeshott says there is a problem with cash for peerages in the party. Is he right?
No, says Clegg. On this, as on other matters, Oakeshott is wrong. And it is demeaning to Lib Dem peers to suggest otherwise.
10.39am BST
Q: Are you firmly opposed to the Lib Dems supporting a minority government at arm's length, via a confidence and supply arrangement?
Yes, says Clegg. That would be the worst of all worlds. You must either be in government or in opposition. You cannot be half in government.
10.36am BST
Q: Are you trying to block Francis Maude's plans to end the automatic deduction of trade union subscriptions from the civil service payroll?
Clegg says this is unnecessarily mean. This kind of automatic deduction ("check off") does not cost the government anything. In fact, ending it could even cost departments more. Lib Dem ministers are opposing this, he says.
10.33am BST
Q: Would you support a federal system as part of a reformed Lords?
Clegg says he has tried to reform the Lords. He hopes the next generation of Lords reformers have better luck than he did.
10.32am BST
Q: What do you make of Jean-Claude Juncker?
Clegg says of course he has met him. He is a charming, amiable guy. But this is not personal. Clegg is opposing him because he would be the wrong candidate?
10.27am BST
Q: What do you mean by protecting the education budget in full? Does that mean spending would rise in line with inflation?
Clegg says the government has ring-fenced the dedicated schools grant, worth about £36bn, and the pupil premium.
10.21am BST
Q: What will you cut to protect the early years budget?
Clegg says that is a fair question. The party will set out its spending plans in due course.
10.19am BST
Q: Dominic Cummings, in an interview in the Times, has attacked you again, and criticised the government generally. Should Michael Gove have to cut his ties with Cummings?
Clegg says he does not know Cummings. Cummings obviously has a lot of bile in him. But at least now he is spreading them around evenly.
10.18am BST
Q: Isn't it going to be hard for you to say education is a priority given your stance on tuition fees?
Clegg says if the tuition fee changes had led to a decline in the number of people going to university, especially from black or disadvantaged backgrounds, he would accept that Lib Dem talk of extending opportunity would be "hollow".
10.14am BST
Q: You say debating the Iraq war is not pointless. Some people say Blair in unhinged, and that he should keep quiet. What do you think?
Clegg says he is not going to make personal comments about Blair.
10.11am BST
Q: Have you blocked military action in Iraq?
Clegg says the government won't deploy military force in Iraq.
10.07am BST
Q: You are talking about "liberal", not Lib Dem. Are you rebranding the party?
Clegg says he has always thought of himself as someone in the liberal tradition in politics. But the party is not going to change its name.
10.02am BST
Nick Clegg says he is launching a policy today. (This wasn't in the script of the remarks released overnight.)
He says children start learning from the moment they are born.
9.55am BST
Nick Clegg is here now.
He is reading out the opening statement released by the party overnight. I summarised the key points earlier. (See 9.19am.)
9.47am BST
I'm at Lib Dem HQ waiting for the Clegg press conference to start.
It's the first time I've been in this building. The Lib Dems used to be based in Cowley Street. Now they're on the second floor of an office blog on Great George Street, just off Parliament Square.
9.19am BST
Nick Clegg's press conference starts at 9.45am. But the Lib Dems released a text of his opening remarks overnight. Here are the key points.
Clegg will say that the Lib Dem election manifesto will be advocating radical change. The Lib Dems won't be fighting on a platform of "more of the same", he will say.
For a party in government, the usual election message is simple: things are on the right track. Dont let the other lot mess it up.
As Liberal Democrats, we could put that offer to the British people. It would be very easy to say: dont risk change.
Labour claim to want change, of course. But until they come forward with a coherent plan to deal with Britains fiscal problems, theyre just whistling in the wind. They wont be taken seriously.
The way I see it is this: if this parliament was about repairing the British economy, the next one must be about rewiring it. If the last parliament was about rescue, the next must be about renewal: rescue to renewal.
The task of a liberal party is above all to empower every person to realise their own potential. That will be the guiding principle behind every policy we unveil this summer.
Improving education has been fundamental to the Liberal Democrats for decades.
9.06am BST
William Hague, the foreign secretary, is making a statement in the Commons this afternoon in Iraq, but we got a preview of what he's likely to say on the Today programme earlier when he was interviewed in the 8.10 slot. Here are the main points he made.
Hague said that Britain would not send troops to Iraq.
So many situations can arise in the world that we cannot predict that to absolutely rule all things out in all circumstances tends to be a mistake. But in this situation today, in Iraq, with what weve seen in recent days, are we looking at a British military intervention? No, were not. I cant be clearer than that.
No, I dont think the invasion itself was a mistake. I have always thought that many mistakes occurred in the aftermath of the invasion.
Its possible to argue that Western intervention makes these things worse and its possible to argue that the absence of Western intervention makes these things worse. Foreign policy is the fine judgement between those things.
And I think the truth about intervention is that it is only right when it is the last resort, when it has either limited objectives or where there is a very comprehensive plan working with regional and local leaders to go with it. And that is the aspect, therefore, of the Iraq operation of 2003 of which I have always been most critical.
I dont think anybody should conclude from that around the world that the House of Commons is never prepared to authorise military action. But of course there was that defeat for the government and it was very serious; yes, we have to take note of that. I think there would be other circumstances at other times [when MPs would authorise military action.]
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