tweets: , externalForeign Secretary Philip Hammond says "public opinion neither in Britain or EU" has understood seriousness of #Russia threat to "world order" #Ukraine

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As we've been reporting today, the chance to go shoe shopping with Home Secretary Theresa May was among the prizes being auctioned to raise cash for the Conservative Party's election campaign. Adam Fleming was not invited to the Black and White ball, but in a Daily Politics film he tried to speak to a few of those arriving at the event.

Ross Hawkins
Political correspondent, BBC News

Lobby journalists asked the the prime minister's spokeswoman about the HSBC tax avoidance row earlier. She said no government minister had any knowledge that HSBC may have been involved in wrongdoing in regard to its Swiss banking arm. She said ministers were only aware after the reports of the last couple of days. Pressed, she said her statement applied to all ministers in this government. That would include Lord Green - the former HSBC executive who was a trade minister until 2013.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says Russia "would regard any provision of lethal aid" by an individual country as a Nato decision and would "respond in a similar way".

Philip Hammond says that if, for example, the US decides to supply arms it will have a different policy to Germany. It would be for individual governments to decide about arming Ukraine, he insists.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander calls the Ukraine crisis "a conflict of profound civilian suffering".

"We must continue with a robust and united international response," he tells the House.

He asks if the government will call for new EU sanctions is diplomatic progress is not made.

House of Commons
Parliament

Philip Hammond tells MPs the UK will form part of a "spearhead unit - a very high readiness taskforce" within Nato. These forces will "be able to deploy at very short notice wherever they are needed", he adds.

However, Mr Hammond emphasises that there needs to be "a diplomatic solution" to the conflict. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced last week that the UK will play a lead role in a "high readiness" Nato force that will be established in Eastern Europe.

Image source, Cpl Phil Major (RAF)

House of Commons
Parliament

The foreign secretary says there needs to be a stand against "Russian aggression". Ukraine's Western allies accuse Russia of sending in troops and tanks to help the rebels fight the Ukrainian government. The Russian government has repeatedly denied that it is arming the rebels in Ukraine. Russian state television has reported the deaths of Russian soldiers who had "volunteered" to fight in Ukraine.

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

"I was struck by what a fiercely partisan speech that was. Mr Cameron was saying business should fear the alternative of a Labour government - trying to hammer home this message that Labour is somehow anti-business. Also interesting was Mr Cameron seizing on those comments by the boss of the British Chambers of Commerce earlier today - that he really wants a referendum and he wants a referendum early - to suggest that far from business being nervous about a referendum they actually now support the Tory position."

House of Commons
Parliament

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is making a statement on the current diplomatic situation regarding Ukraine. The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are due to meet in Belarus's capital Minsk on Wednesday to discuss a peace plan for eastern Ukraine.

The leaders of the four countries discussed the ongoing conflict by telephone on Sunday. More than 5,300 people have been killed by fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia rebels since April 2014.

Image source, AFP

David Cameron says business leaders are increasingly backing his plans for an in/out EU referendum after a renegotiation of the UK's role within the EU. He said: "They are saying it is quite right to have a strategy that gives Britain the best chance of staying in a reformed European Union that works in our interest and that is what my approach is. Let's get stuck in there, let's hold a negotiation, let's deal with those things that are holding Britain back, and then let's have this put to the British public in an in/out referendum.

"And the reason why I think an increasing number of businesses support this approach is in business everybody knows you have to have a strategy, you have to have a plan and I think the danger of the alternative of what I'm suggesting is that Britain would just steadily drift towards the exit of the EU because the British public would not be taken along for this very important decision."

David Cameron says the "long-held consensus" in British politics that business is the generator of growth is over. He says: "Labour want to hike up corporation tax, which new analysis shows could cost our economy over 96,000 jobs. They've opposed every planning reform and every welfare reform. They want to intervene in the market and fix prices. Worst of all, Labour have no credible plan to deal with the deficit and get Britain back living within our means. Just think of the risks to your business. More borrowing, more debt, higher interest rates, a loss of confidence in Britain."

David Cameron continues to explain his planned "help to grow" scheme: "Our ambition is to help 500 of our fastest growing firms annually - giving entrepreneurs the access to the kind of finance their German equivalent would get. The Business Bank I set up has found the finance gap is likely to be up to £1bn per year. One billion pounds of opportunities lost, £1bn of new investment missed. "We will plug this billion-pound gap by using the government's balance sheet to guarantee loans by private lenders, or by co-investing public money alongside private money."

David Cameron says: "Here in the UK, 45% of the job growth has come from our fastest growing medium-sized businesses. Their businesses - your business - are the country's job engine. But they often struggle to get the finance they need to grow. We need to think strategically about helping those small firms over the 'valley of death' funding gap so they can become medium firms and the medium firms can become larger firms."

David Cameron pledges at the British Chambers of Commerce conference that a Conservative government to launch a "Help to Grow" financing scheme to help business grow from small to medium sized firms over the financial "valley of death".

David Cameron tells the British Chambers of Commerce: "You asked for cuts to regulation - we have delivered. We are the first government in 40 years to have less regulation than when we started. Domestic regulation has been cut by £10bn over the past four years and as we announced last weekend, we have a target for the next Parliament - cutting another £10bn from your bills. That is a 'deregulation dividend' of £2,000 per business."

The prime minister starts by telling British Chambers of Commerce delegates: "If you look at all those things you asked for - with our long-term economic plan - we have delivered and we are committed to delivering for you again in the next Parliament. You asked for a stable framework to do business in - and we have delivered. Inflation low. Interest rates low. Stability locked in. The UK economy is now seen as a safe bet - attracting investment from around the world. This didn't happen by accident. It is the result of difficult, long-term decisions taken by this government."

David Cameron is addressing the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London. You can watch it live via the Live Coverage link on this page.

Tea with London Mayor Boris Johnson and a 10k "iron man" challenge with Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith were among lots on offer at a Conservative Party auction on Monday night. According to Buzzfeed, a statue of Margaret Thatcher raised £210,000 at the Black and White election fundraiser.

The World at One BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA

Ex-Defence Secretary Liam Fox suggested it would be appropriate for the UK to provide Kiev with support with drones, anti-tank capabilities and encrypted communications. While he welcomed the current efforts to find a peace deal, Fox said that the prior Minsk agreement was "not worth the paper it was written on". Fox added that the reputation of Nato was now "on the line". Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio 4's World at One from 13:00 via the Live Coverage tab on this page.

The World at One BBC Radio 4

Ex-Defence Secretary Liam Fox says the West needs to "wake up" to the threat of Russia and send arms to Ukraine. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One, the Conservative MP said that the West faces a choice. "Either we allow Ukraine to be dismembered," he said, "or we give the Ukrainians some ability to stand up to the sort of weapons that are being used against them."