UK politics - as it happened: Government makes raft of announcements in final day before MPs' summer holiday on 'taking out the trash day'
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The government has rushed out 21 written statements on the final day of the parliamentary term, in what has been dubbed "taking out the trash" day for Whitehall departments.
Public sector pay rises for doctors, teachers and armed forces personnel were unveiled, with updates on Crossrail, defence, and local government finance.
Brexit also dominated the agenda as Theresa May confirmed that she was taking overall control of the EU negotiations, effectively demoting the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.
Britain's de-facto Brexit chief negotiator Olly Robbins also made a rare appearance before MPs, where he faced a grilling from Eurosceptic MPs who believe he has softened the UK's negotiating stance.
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Another statement quietly released earlier reveals that London's Crossrail project is running £600m over budget.
The scheme's budget has been increased from £14.8bn to £15.4bn, rail minister Jo Johnson said.
He said "cost pressures have increased across the project" but the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) "remain committed to the successful delivery" of the new east-west railway.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sparked anger in July last year by supporting a new £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme in London and the South East days after a series of rail electrification projects in Wales, the Midlands and the North were axed or downgraded.
The DfT and TfL are each providing £150m of additional funding to Crossrail Limited, while an extra £290m for the completion of work on the national rail network is being paid for by the DfT and government-owned Network Rail.
Mr Johnson wrote: "It remains the case that over 60% of the project's funding has been provided by Londoners and London businesses."
He stated that Crossrail is 93% complete and is entering "the critical testing and commissioning stage".
The railway is known as Crossrail during the construction phase but will become the Elizabeth Line once services begin.
Trains will operate on three routes from December: Paddington to Abbey Wood, Paddington to Heathrow and Liverpool Street to Shenfield.
The line will fully open in December 2019, with trains running from Reading and Heathrow in the west through 13 miles (21km) of new tunnels to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
In the Commons, Labour MP Janet Daby is making her maiden speech. She won the Lewisham East by-election earlier this year, after Heidi Alexander decided to stand down to become London's deputy mayor for transport.
As is the convention, she pays tribute to her predecessors. She says she never imagined she would be a local councillor, let alone an MP.
She describes being aware of prejudice at a young age and how she saw people around her learn to suffer, rather than speak out.
As a daughter of the Windrush generation, she says she is proud that Labour spoke out against the scandal. She appears close to tears when she describes her late uncles who engaged her on politics.
She says she will fight discrimination, racism, period poverty, to improve air quality and many other issues.
Jared O'Mara is finally making his maiden speech after a year in the Commons. He has resigned from the Labour party to sit as an independent after being suspended for comments he made online before he was elected.
He says he is truly sorry for the comments he made and it has taken him until now to feel confident to speak in the chamber.
O'Mara says he is the first autistic MP to be elected to parliament.
He says his priority is to help the most disadvantaged and asks for forgiveness. He says he will return in the autumn with renewed vigour.
Labour former cabinet minister Lord Adonis has failed in his attempt to force the House of Lords to sit over summer because of the current Brexit "crisis".
The prominent Remain campaigner's proposal was defeated by 130 votes to nine, majority 121.
Fracking at a site in Lancashire has been given the final go-ahead by the government.
Shale company Cuadrilla has been granted permission to undertake the controversial process at the site at Preston New Road, subject to certain conditions being met.
Energy minister Claire Perry said the company had met all the necessary environmental and health and safety measures in order to give it the go-ahead.
But certain conditions had to be met, including supplying the Business and Energy Department with the latest accounts for co-investor Spirit Energy, or a deposit in support of any potential liabilities for decommissioning costs.
Opponents fear it can cause earthquakes, pollute water, lead to damaging development in the countryside and hit house prices, and is not compatible with targets to cut fossil fuel use to tackle climate change.
Sketchwriter Tom Peck asks: "Could Theresa May’s 'personal control' of Brexit go the same way as her personal control of the dementia tax, the taking in of Syrian refugee children, the return of grammar schools and the energy price cap? Fingers crossed..."
Read his piece here:
That's it from The Independent's political liveblog for the day. Thanks for following!
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