tweets, external: Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael: "there is going to be no easy answer here, there is absolutely no quick fix to this."

House of Commons
Parliament

Debate in the Commons ended shortly before 20:00 GMT. Business resumes at 09:30 GMT tomorrow with a series of backbench debates on NHS services.

The Huffington Post has reacted to news that Queen guitarist Brian May is considering running as an MP by imagining how , externalhis trademark hairstyle would look on some prominent politicians.

@ChrisMasonBBC

tweets:, external Gordon Brown: The Prime Minister "could have lit a fuse that eventually blows the Union apart."

House of Commons
Parliament

There has been comment in Parliament following the revelations in a Freedom of Information request that former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has been given a Commons pass. In a point of order, Conservative MP Matthew Offord called for the ex-Lib Dem minister to lose his access privileges. He asked if there was "any method that we can actually rescind this application".

Speaker John Bercow said MPs did not discuss security-related matters on the floor of the chamber before adding that while Mr Offord had a view "there is also a thing called the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act".

House of Commons
Parliament

Gordon Brown argues the government have deliberately "driven a new wedge between" Scotland and England through its plans for English votes for English laws which, he says, "mean nothing other than restricting the rights of Scottish representatives in this House".

"At the very time they should be attempting to unify and reconcile the different nations of the UK... they have summarily rejected one of the recommendations of the Smith Commission," he argues.

House of Commons
Parliament

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is now leading the day's final business - the adjournment debate on Scottish representation in the Union.

The Daily Mirror's political editor Kevin Maguire is downplaying the significance of the observations of Lord Digby Jones on Labour's approach to business. The former CBI director general, who served as a minister under Gordon Brown, has said he saw problems in the tone adopted by the party. Mr Maguire told BBC News he believed Mr Milband was "tapping into something" that would appeal to voters as "there is an issue with fairness" in UK society.

A number of MPs, including Tracey Crouch, Conservative MP for Chatham & Aylesford, have tweeted, external photographs of the Elizabeth Tower, home of Big Ben, which has been illuminated with projections to mark National Voter Registration Day on Thursday.

Organised by campaign group Bite the Ballot, external, the aim of the day is to register 250,000 young people and help engage the millions of people who are currently not registered before the general election.

Image source, Tracey Crouch

Sky News

Conservative proposals to abolish the Serious Fraud Office would potentially jeopardise ongoing investigations, the organisation's director has said. The plans to roll the SFO into the National Crime Agency if the Tories win the next election could prove "disruptive" and it would be a mistake to move to an unknown model, David Green QC told Sky News.

tweets, external: Labour six point lead?

Latest TNS-BMRB poll (29 Jan - 02 Feb):

LAB - 33% (+2)

CON - 27% (-4)

UKIP - 18% (+2)

GRN - 8% (+1)

LDEM - 6% (-2)

House of Commons
Parliament

In the House of Commons, Labour's Siobhain McDonagh makes a suggestion which she predicts will unite all MPs against her.

She suggests that if an individual wants to access a public service they should be required to register to vote.

"If you want the benefits of an advanced welfare democracy then you should sign up," she says.

People would not be allowed a drivers licence, access to tax credits or to use a library under this system, she adds.

Theresa May says she will accepts the recommendation of the Interception of Communications Commissioner that judicial oversight should be required before police officers look at journalists' phone records. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg wrote to the home secretary asking her to back an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill. The commissioner, Sir Anthony May has said the current Home Office rules for for using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (ripa) did not "provide adequate safeguards to protect journalistic sources".

And in developments related to the general election, a poll of 16,000 voters in Scottish constituencies suggests the Scottish National Party could be on course to win most of the country's 59 seats. Among those said to be at risk of losing their seats are Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander and the First Secretary to the Treasury the Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander.

At Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron seized on shadow chancellor Ed Balls' failure to recall the full name of Bill Thomas, one of Labour's main business supporters. He said it was evidence that Labour was "anti-business and anti-enterprise" but Labour leader Ed Miliband hit back, saying the Conservative Party was the party "of Mayfair hedge funds and Monaco tax avoiders" and that Mr Cameron was unwilling to clamp down on City firms because many of his friends "would get caught in the net". Mr Balls earlier described his memory lapse on the BBC's Newsnight programme on Tuesday as "an age thing".

Image source, PA

Earlier in the day, the chairman of the inquiry into the Iraq War, Sir John Chilcot, told MPs that none of the witnesses involved was deliberately trying to hold up the publication of his final report. Giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, he insisted the process "must not be rushed".

Image source, Reuters

A recap on what has turned out to be a busy day on the political front.

Seven months after the government announced an inquiry into child sexual abuse, the home secretary has given details of a new, replacement, inquiry. Theresa May told MPs it will be led by Lowell Goddard a 66-year-old high court judge from New Zealand and will have statutory powers.

Meanwhile, the entire cabinet of Rotherham Council has resigned after a report found the authority was in "resolute denial" about the extent of child sex abuse in the town in the past. The government will take control, and early elections will take place next year, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told the Commons.

Image source, PA

tweets:, external 800 years on from the sealing of #MagnaCarta, find out more about its significance for Parliament #Parliament2015 http://goo.gl/ewywW3

Image source, Clare Kendall/British Library

Police spending on data gathering from private emails, texts and phone calls is to receive a £20m boost. The money will go to the Communications Capabilities Development programme, which is intended to help police gather better data within the framework of existing laws. The money has been reallocated from the Police Capital Grant.

In a written ministerial statement, Police Minister, Mike Penning, said: "This will reduce overall infrastructure costs, maintain capabilities to comply with current legislation, and develop future communications capability."

Image source, PA

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson has been reflecting on Ed Miliband's strategy at Prime Minister's questions and why he appeared to willingly "walk towards the sound of Conservative gunfire" over the issues of business backing and tax.

Lucy Duckworth, the co-chair of the Survivors' Alliance, says the home secretary's announcement on the inquiry into historical sexual abuse was the "news we really needed to hear". Theresa May "really listened to our concerns", she told BBC News. New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard has been named as the head the inquiry, which will have statutory powers and a new panel.