John Curtis

When the House sits late, the Commons library stays open 📚

On Monday nights, library services are available to MPs and their staff, long after the sun sets. Follow John for a quick tour of one of Parliament's key services.

Great spot. It wasn't listed on the Royal Household's list of state visits www.royal.uk/sites/defaul...

The RH called it a "Papal Visit", not state visit at the time www.royal.uk/papal-visit-...

But it's described as a "Papal state visit" in 2015 by gvmnt
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Interesting

State visits to the UK What are state visits? Who decides who is invited? Who pays the costs? What is the format of a state visit? Do they always include addresses to Parliament?

I put together a short briefing with David Torrance on state visits to the UK. Found out a few interesting nuggets while researching it

Also includes a spreadsheet of all state visits since 1952 including addresses to Parliament

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Though only 9 of the 20 Opposition Days have been used, which is very low considering it would usually be around the end of a parliamentary session by now

Extending a session does bring issues, such as needing to add extra Opposition Days and days for consideration of Private Members’ Bills, which are fixed at 20 and 13 per session, respectively. Though the Government isn’t obliged to do so.

All 13 PMB days have been used this session.

NEW: The government has announced that this session of parliament will last until spring 2026. Among other things, that means that the assisted dying bill has another 7-8 months to complete its passage through the Lords, increasingly the likelihood of it becoming law.

You might want to check who you’re tagging in these. The Senator doesn’t have a Bluesky account as far as I can see

49. RECOMMENDATION The Committee agrees with the position taken by successive UK Governments, that the two-state solution is the only possible positive outcome in this conflict. The UK, along with France —the co-signatory of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement-should now recognise the state of Palestine while there is still a state to recognise. An inalienable right should not be made conditional. The Government cannot continue to wait for the perfect time because experience shows that there will never be a perfect time, and in hindsight it is possible to see times when it should have occurred.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published its first report of the session today on the ‘Israel-Palestine conflict’.

One of their recommendations is that the UK Government “should now recognise the state of Palestine” (though it divided on this issue)

committees.parliament.uk/publications...

The US State Department has not published its annual country human rights reports which are usually put out in Spring. The FCDO have not published their annual human rights report in two years.

I would just like me some good up to date official sources for this stuff.

The radical 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of children unable to spell Decades ago, a generation of UK schoolchildren unwittingly took part in an initiative aimed at boosting reading skills – with lasting consequences

My Reception year teacher was still using ITA in 1989! And it caused me difficulties reading as I’d already learned to read using the normal alphabet before I started school. Thankfully, a new headteacher came in and made her stop using it www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Realised that the only cold drinks in my fridge currently are non-alcoholic beers. Would feel rather wrong to drink them whilst working during the middle of the day however…

You know you’re healing from Brexit stress syndrome when you start looking at it all with nostalgia.

If she wants to jump back in with Iran/Israel nuclear drama which I’m temporarily dealing with I have a draft briefing paper waiting 😝

Israel-Iran 2025: Developments in Iran's nuclear programme and military action On 13 June 2025, Israel launched a series of attacks against Iran’s nuclear programme.

We published a briefing on Iran’s nuclear programme and the ongoing Israeli-Iranian military strikes

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

UK-EU Agreement in Respect of Gibraltar: Joint statement A joint statement from the UK, European Commission, Spain and Gibraltar following talks today (11 June) in Brussels.

EU-UK agreement on Gibraltar reached (at political level, full legal text to come)

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Think this is the first time I’ve gone to a Chatham House event with protestors outside. Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s effective Prime Minister, is speaking at 11

The forthcoming strategic defence review 2025: FAQ The government will publish a strategic defence review in 2025, considering threats to the UK and how to meet them. What do we know about it so far?

Defence Secretary will make a statement to the House of Commons on the Strategic Defence Review around 3.30 pm

First opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny

Our FAQ’s briefing gives the background and links to several others that give the context
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Tehanu is very different in style and scale. It’s more domestic than epic, the stakes are smaller (not saving the world) but also somehow more important.

Be interesting to hear your thoughts when you read it

Kashmir: Renewed India-Pakistan tensions This briefing looks at the May 2025 military confrontation between India and Pakistan, sparked by the Pahalgam attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir in April 2025. It explores the historical basis fo...

I published a briefing on Friday on the latest military confrontation between India & Pakistan over Kashmir.

It also looks at the origins of the Kashmir dispute, international reaction to the current crisis, and analysis of how it escalated

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

I’m a bit busy with Kashmir right now- fortunately my trade colleagues will do the heavy lifting on these agreements- I can just sprinkle them with a light section on the general bilateral relationship 😝

You wait months for a trade deal then two come along at once…. Urgent Question on US-UK trade agreement scheduled then withdrawn- now we have a government statement on “trade negotiations”, suggesting agreement, at least in principle, has been reached

My only advice on the ongoing India-Pakistan military crisis is to take any claims by either military to the media with a large shovel of salt at first.

Those wanting to know more about the newly announced India-UK trade agreement may want to tune into Douglas Alexander’s urgent statement to the House of Commons, which should start around 4.15/4.30.

Is there a more appreciated meal than a McDonalds after post-work drinks?

Today, the House of Lords International Agreements Committee published some evidence on treaty scrutiny that I jointly wrote with @hhesterm.bsky.social

committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

(Short 🧵)

UK steel industry: statistics and policy The UK steel industry: a statistical summary of the UK and international industry; analysis of current prospects and challenges; summary of government policy.

Ahead of the recall of parliament my colleague Ilze has published a briefing on the UK steel industry.

Impressive work

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Next month (19 May) the UK will host a first 'EU-UK Summit', a major moment in UK government's desired 're-set' to relations

For background, @stefanofella.bsky.social has produced a very useful research briefing for House of Commons Library
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CB...

Myanmar's civil war Myanmar’s civil war is ongoing. This Commons Library research briefing sets out the conflict’s origins, current state of the conflict, and the UK and international response. It also covers the effects...

Published a briefing yesterday on Myanmar’s civil war, including the effects of the March earthquake

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

They’re letting Barry Keoghan have another go at a Merseyside accent?

The Government's new legislation to change guidelines on sentencing: the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill, will have its second reading on 22 April, and all other Commons' stages on 30 April.

US tariffs on EU goods: What could it mean for Northern Ireland? If the US applies further tariffs on EU imports, potential EU retaliation could lead to increased consumer costs in Northern Ireland.

Yes, my colleague Leigh did a useful short brief on this a few weeks ago and talked about whether compliance in the US would step up to try & prevent EU goods being re-routed though NI

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/us-tariffs-o...