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Thank you for joining us for live coverage of today's events in British politics.

Use the key points above or scroll down for full details of what happened today.

We'll be back on Sunday for this week's edition ofSunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, which is live on Sky News from 8.30am.

The government's flagship Employment Rights Bill has hit the headlines this week after ministers tabled a series of amendments to it following consultations with unions and businesses.

But it's not just the government that tables amendments - the opposition does too, and shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith has tabled one that has drawn the attention of an opposition MP.

A section of the government legislation includes a specific ban on employers permitting the harassment of employees, and Griffith has tabled an amendment that would "exclude hospitality providers and sports venues" from that provision.

Labour MP Jake Richards has labelled it "the Chris Pincher amendment", in reference to the former Tory MP who resigned from Boris Johnson's government after being accused of groping two men at the Carlton Club.

Conservative Party sources and free speech advocates say that the clause in the bill as drafted is chilling or freedom of speech and unworkable in practice.

As an example, one source said that if an employee of a comedy club were to deem part of a performer's routine as harassment, then the employer would be liable, even if no comments were directed at the employee.

They also said that if two patrons in a bar or a sports stadium were to make comments deemed as harassment by an employee, the employer would be liable, and it would be almost impossible to police.

It was also noted that the type of sexual harassment implied in the Labour MP's tweet is already a criminal offence.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission produced a parliamentary briefing last month that said "evidence of the prevalence of third-party harassment in the workplace, beyond sexual harassment, is limited", but did note some evidence that it "particularly affects certain groups", and called for "further analysis".

It also noted that when the Worker Protection Act 2023 was going through parliament, similar provisions were removed "due to concerns that it could disproportionately curtail the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR".

"Particular concern was raised about potential interference in private or overheard conversations."

After just eight months in his role, Defence Secretary John Healey is dealing with one of the most challengingin-trays in the cabinet.

He's meetingUS counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington,hoping to bridge the gap on how to reach a Ukraine peace deal.

On today's podcast, Niall Paterson talks to ex-armed forces minister James Heappey, who worked with Healeywhen he was in opposition; andto Malcolm Chalmers, who focuses on UK defence and security at the think-tank RUSI; about the challenges the defence secretary faces.

By Tim Baker, political reporter

A fatal drone strike carried out by the UK has been publicly acknowledged by the government for the first time since Labour came to power.

The precision strike in Syria took place on Tuesday 25 February targeting a "known Daesh terrorist".

Daesh is another name for the Islamic State, often shortened to ISIS. There have been concerns about the terrorist group gaining ground in the wake of the revolution in Syria.

According to a Ministry of Defence statement today, the terrorist was tracked across the Aleppo region of Syria by a Reaper drone.

The drone's remote crew "kept a close watch" on the ISIS member until they were "alone on foot", and could be "struck with minimal risk to any civilians".

The drone then "successfully targeted the terrorist using the Reaper's Hellfire missile system".

The UK mission to combat ISIS is known as Operation Shader, and was something that Sir Keir Starmer said should continue when he became prime minister.

However, the operational decisions are made by the military and Number 10 would not have signed off on the strike.

The UK last confirmed it had launched a strike in Syria on 18 June 2024, when Rishi Sunak was prime minister.

Rachel Reeves has said the welfare system is "letting down taxpayers", while she again committed to reaching 2.5% in defence spending by 2027 due to the "enormity of the situation" facing European security.

The chancellor told Sky'spolitical editor Beth Rigbyon theElectoral Dysfunction podcast, out on Friday, that there needs to be "better value for money" for what people pay in taxes.

It comesahead of the spring statementon 26 March, in which Reeves is expected to make billions of pounds of cuts including to the benefits bill.

The chancellor said there needs to be welfare reform because the system is "letting down taxpayers because it's costing too much".

"It's letting down our economy because there's too many people trapped on out-of-work benefits, and it's letting down the people who are recipients of benefits because they are trapped on benefits rather than actively supported back into work," she said.

The debate on a Labour MP's billto raise the "digital age of consent" at which children can access social media has been adjourned until July.

It follows over three hours of debate in the House of Commons on the legislation.

There was anger expressed on all sides of the House that the bill had been watered down to remove the proposed ban on smartphones in schools.

Two former education secretaries described it as a "missed opportunity" (more here).

The legislation instead would have mandated chief medical officers to review the evidence on screen-based harms with 12 months.

Closing the debate, government minister Sir Chris Bryant commended Josh MacAlister MP for his work, and insisted the government recognised the scale of the challenge in dealing with the harms from smartphone use.

But he said the government is already studying much of the action the bill provides for, and insisted the government will be taking action.

Beth's been to 11 Downing Street to talk to the chancellor for Electoral Dysfunction.

She took some of your questions (and a couple of Electoral Dysfunction mugs) with her.

Rachel Reeves reflects on her first few months in the job, explains what she thinks of the "Rachel from Accounts" label and shares her own money-saving tip which she tries to do every day when at Downing Street.

She also hints on what might come in her Spring Statement with some strong words on the need for welfare reform.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

Email us at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk, post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

And remember, you can also watch us onYouTube!

Two former education secretaries have said the bill toraise the "digital age of consent" at which children can access social media is a "missed opportunity" to really mitigate the harms of smartphones for young people.

They both expressed frustration that the Labour MP proposing the legislation, Josh MacAlister, has watered down the original proposal and removed the provision for a smartphone ban in schools in favour of a call forchief medical officers to review the evidence on screen-based harms with 12 months.

It was watered down in order to secure the backing of the government, which is key to getting it passed.

Former education secretary Kit Malthouse told the Commons: "This government, sadly like the last, notwithstanding the Online Safety Bill, has dithered, diluted and capitulated. What remains, I’m afraid, is a hollowed out gesture and an opportunity missed."

He said all MPs should be "furious about the delay and the prevarication that is being injected into what could have been a huge step forward for parents and children".

"I'm afraid this bill is a shell of what it could have been, and as a result, is yet another missed opportunity to improve the lives of our young people."

Damian Hinds MP, another former education secretary, described the bill today as "somewhat thinner than that bill that was envisaged".

He agreed with Malthouse that there was "deep and profound anger amongst parents about what has been allowed to develop".

The Tory MP went on to say that he had been "very struck" by "the great unity of views" around this measure amongst "trade unions or charities, parent groups, doctors, as well as parents".

He said he understands that MacAlister watered down the bill because he needed government support for the legislation, so he addressed government minister Sir Chris Bryant who was seated on the front bench, saying: "This is a huge missed opportunity.

"Look behind him [at the government benches]. Look at all of his colleagues who have rearranged their Fridays, rearranged their surgeries and all their appointments because they believe in this subject.

"Listen to the list of all those organisations that came together in support of action in this area. It is so worth doing. And we have made progress with the Online Safety Act, but there is further to go."

He argued that the government has more latitude with this being a Private Member's Bill because it is much less party political than a normal government bill.

"And this is a missed opportunity because this may well be the only Private Member's Bill with a good chance of success."

Hundreds of thousands of children in England will be given supervised toothbrushing - as data shows as many as a third in some areas have rotting teeth by the age of five.

The government has launched the national supervised toothbrushing campaign in a bid to "revive" the country's oral health.

Teeth health can vary significantly between poorer and more affluent areas of England, data shows.

Figures reveal the most common reason children aged five to nine are admitted to hospital is to have treatment for decayed teeth.

One in four children aged five have experienced tooth decay in England, with higher rates of up to one in three in more deprived areas.

The new scheme will be rolled out in early years settings such as nurseries and schools and children will be encouraged to brush their teeth with a fluoride toothpaste.

It is hoped the initiative could save the NHS millions by reducing the number of children who need hospital care for rotten teeth.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it expected up to 600,000 children to take part in the supervised brushing.

Schools are able to voluntarily sign up for the scheme, which is backed by £11m of government funding.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: "It is shocking that a third of five-year-olds in the most deprived areas have experience of tooth decay, something we know can have a lifelong impact on their health.

"It's why we're delivering supervised toothbrushing to young children and families who are most in need of support as part of our wider plans to revive the oral health of the nation.

"This includes providing 23 million free toothbrushes and toothpastes through our partnership with Colgate-Palmolive to reach up to 600,000 children each year."

While many welcomed the scheme, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said schools could not be expected to "fix all of society's ills" and that steps must be taken to prevent a shift of "what is ultimately a parental responsibility on to the shoulders of schools".

Labour MP Josh MacAlister is proposing a bill to raise the "digital age of consent" at which children can access social media, which is currently 13.

It is being debated in the Commons this morning, and opening the debate, he recalled that when he began his career in teaching in 2009, there was "the odd phone in the classroom, the odd instance of a child being bullied through their device".

But he went on: "Neither I nor any other teacher at the time could have imagined the impact these devices would come to play in childhood."

He told the House that the average 12-year-old spends 21 hours a week on their smartphone - which is "the equivalent of four full days of school teaching per week".

MacAlister continued: "This is a fundamental rewiring of childhood itself, and it's happened in little over a decade.

"Children are spending less time outside, less time reading, less time exercising, exploring, meeting people, communicating in person – all the things that make childhood special and the things that are necessary for healthy childhood development."

He said children are instead "captured by addictive social media and smartphone use, often sat alone doom scrolling, being bombarded by unrealistic representations of life".

The Labour MP had originally planned on proposing a ban on smartphones in schools - something multiple MPs have called for in the Commons.

Explaining that in the chamber, he said: "This bill has been drafted to secure explicit government backing.

"It's been written to achieve change rather than just highlight the issue. That is why the bill before us is narrower than where I started when this campaign began six months ago."