Parliament and Government Summary — 17 June 2026

MPs and peers grappled with national security legislation and wider democracy, alongside government announcements on cross-Channel policing, specialist therapy support and immunisation coverage statistics.

Key points

• Commons held a further day of debate on the National Security (State Threats) Bill, including allocation of time and committee-stage amendment voting.
• Peers considered a range of national security and legal instruments, from foreign interference to sanctions amendments and cyber security legislation.
• Government published plans to expand ‘Experts at Hand’ support from September 2026 and released quarterly COVER programme immunisation data.

Main development

The day’s legislative focus in the Commons was the National Security (State Threats) Bill, with MPs debating the bill and then agreeing how the House would allocate time for further consideration. Detailed scrutiny continued in committee-stage votes on specific amendments and a new clause, where the government side prevailed across the grouped divisions recorded. Alongside this, the Lords’ business also reflected legal responses to security risks—covering issues such as foreign interference in democratic processes, a set of Russia sanctions amendments, and separate cyber security and human-rights and environment duty bills. [1] [2] [3] Vote result × Division 2379 Amendment 3 (Committee stage) Motion negatived 17 June 2026 at 18:07 MPs voted on whether to amend the Bill so that, after a body is designated, the Secretary of State must review whether further action should be taken against the body and connected persons and then report the outcome to Parliament. 85 Ayes 317 Noes View vote details [4] Vote result × Division 2380 Amendment 8 Motion negatived 17 June 2026 at 18:21 MPs voted on whether the Bill should explicitly cover hostile activity that is planned in the UK but carried out outside the UK. 143 Ayes 249 Noes View vote details [5] Vote result × Division 2381 Amendment 13 (Committee stage) Motion negatived 17 June 2026 at 18:32 MPs voted on a proposal (Amendment 13) to create new offences for conduct that is self-directed and prepared in relation to a designated body under the Bill. 135 Ayes 258 Noes View vote details [6] Vote result × Division 2382 New Clause 3 (Committee stage) Motion negatived 17 June 2026 at 18:44 MPs voted on whether the Bill should include New Clause 3, which would require the Secretary of State to bring forward regulations to designate the IRGC as involved in foreign power threat activity within a month. 144 Ayes 244 Noes View vote details [7] [8] [9] [10]

In the Commons

• MPs used Prime Minister’s Questions to press the Prime Minister on national issues during the daily accountability forum. [11]

Government announcements

• The Government announced that specialist French police units have been deployed in Northern France under a new UK–France deal to stop illegal crossings. [12]
• From September 2026, local areas are set to increase access to speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists as part of the ‘Experts at Hand’ expansion. [13]
• The UK Health Security Agency published quarterly COVER programme data for the period 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026, reporting child immunisation coverage percentages for quarter 4. [14]

Committee reports

• The Education Committee published a Special Report and Government response on tackling the SEND crisis, setting out how the Government intends to respond to the problem. [15]
• The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee published a report on ‘community energy’ as a way to help turbocharge the net zero transition. [16]

Sources used

1. National Security (State Threats) Bill — Hansard
2. National Security (State Threats) Bill (Allocation of Time) — Hansard
3. National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 3 — Votes in Parliament
4. National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 8 — Votes in Parliament
5. National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 13 — Votes in Parliament
6. National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: New Clause 3 — Votes in Parliament
7. Foreign Interference in UK Democratic Processes — Hansard
8. Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 — Hansard
9. Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill — Hansard
10. Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill [HL] — Hansard
11. Engagements — Hansard
12. Specialist police units now deployed under new UK-France deal — GOV.UK
13. Local areas prepare new Experts at Hand teams — GOV.UK
14. Cover of vaccination evaluated rapidly (COVER) programme 2025 to 2026: quarterly data — GOV.UK
15. 1st Special Report – Solving the SEND crisis: Government Response — UK Parliament Committees
16. 1st Report – Get connected: How community energy can turbocharge the transition — UK Parliament Committees

Licensing

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Last updated

First published on 17 June 2026. No corrections at the time of publication.