tweets: , externalUK politics are ridiculous: Rifkind oversaw intel agencies during mass surveillance now ruled illegal, and his job was never in doubt…

Sky News

Sky News have got hold of Sir Malcolm Rifkind this morning. According to correspondent Niall Paterson,, external his reply when asked if he would resign from the intelligence committee was "mind your own business" and "stop being childish".

On the Rifkind row, another former chairman of the Intelligence and Security committee, Lord King, said it was up to the members to decide whether or not he should continue. "Get this investigation done immediately. If he's found not to have committed an offence then he carries on. But if he's criticised then obviously he'll have to still decide. At the end of the day though it's actually a matter of whether he has the confidence of the committee they're meeting this morning and that will be I think the key issue."

Why has the role of the MP changed over the past 40 years? Why would anyone want to become an MP? BBC political reporter Julia Langdon has some answers.

Alison White, the woman in charge of the government's new register of lobbyists, says she expects "quite a low level" of applicants when it opens in March. Lobbyists are firms or individuals paid to influence government decisions. She told the BBC the new register had been "very narrowly drafted", and critics say it is not fit for purpose. It only requires those who lobby at ministerial or permanent secretary level to sign up and excludes those who work at a more junior level. But ministers have argued that having a list will help to clean up politics. Get the full story here.

tweets: , externalNEW POST: The impact of party leader images, external on vote switching in the run-up to the General Election

Image source, PA

Away from the campaign trail other news gaining traction involves the UK offshore oil and gas industry, which has reported its worst annual performance for four decades. Industry body Oil and Gas UK said falling oil prices and rising costs meant the sector spent and invested £5.3bn more than it earned from sales during 2014. Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the government would announce tax cuts in the Budget, but oil and gas companies needed to work together better to save money. Read the full story.

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

There's no disguising the concern felt by many members of the Intelligence and Security Committee that Sir Malcolm Rifkind remains chairman while he's under investigation not only by the parliamentary authorities but also by his own party. I think even some of his fellow Tories were aghast at his interviews yesterday where he said he deserved a better standard of living because of his background. One MP described it to me as 'arrogant'.

tweets: , externalTory MP on ISC says "slightly fluid" over whether Sir Malcolm Rifkind remains chairman of committee

tweets: , externalBut member says likely that after they will discuss Sir Malcolm, saying he has done "terrific job" as chair but revelations are "damaging"

tweets:, external Intelligence & Security committee meeting at 10am, planned to see security service chiefs re report into impact of Snowden revelations.

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

One thing about the Green Party launch today is that most of the things they are focusing on have nothing to do with greenery. Transport, housing, tuition fees - yes - but saving the planet seems to have been shuffled off to the side a bit They are definitely trying to broaden their appeal and are encroaching more and more on traditional Labour territory.

The speaker of the House of the Lords has told peers that retiring "has now become a public duty", according to politicshome.com, external. A leaflet is urging members to consider taking advantage of the new provision, introduced last year, to allow them to retire. Baroness D'Souza is reported to have written in it: "We can honourably retire when we feel our service is complete, encouraging renewal and refreshment of the experience and composition of the House."

Last week, it was Ant and Dec, this week former Sex Pistols bass guitarist Glen Matlock has given comments in the Sun, external criticising Labour leader Ed Miliband. The former punk rocker described the politician as "wet". Dec was reported to have said: "I'm not sure I could picture him as prime minister."

BBC Radio 4 Today

Here's Natalie Bennett's interview on the Today programme in which she discussed the citizen's wage and the manoeuvrings of Russian aircraft close to Britain.

tweets:, external A depressing consensus is taking hold that we should 1) Pay MPs more and 2) Ban outside work. I'd say the opposite, external

UKIP MP Douglas Carswell has written a piece in the Times today arguing that no British government can deliver on a promise to cut immigration until we have a government that controls our borders. He writes, external: "Each day, millions of people log in and log out of the London Underground. Yet successive governments have failed to devise a system able to log people in and out when they cross our borders."

BBC Radio 5 live

Asked whether some kind of wage cap would prevent organisations attracting the best staff, Natalie Bennett replies, "I think you have to look at how much money motivates people" - her implication being that it is less of a motivator than is generally thought. She goes on to describe inequality as a "huge social threat", and says one in five workers in Britain are on less than a living wage. "We have to rebalance this society," she adds.

BBC Radio 5 live

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has made her way over to BBC Radio 5live - she's discussing her commitment to enforcing a maximum wage ratio between the highest and lowest paid within a company.

The Daily Telegraph

Following its joint undercover investigation which filmed Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Telegraph's editorial today says the "most depressing" statement made was by Sir Malcolm, who told the reporter: "You'd be surprised how much free time I have." The paper writes: "Westminster is a dull and quiet place, rarely an intellectual battlefield. Instead of an ideological duel, politics has become a managerial exercise, the main parties competing to claim they can implement what is broadly the same set of policies slightly more efficiently or humanely than their competitors in consensus."

It appears UKIP leader Nigel Farage concurs. He tweets, external: Indeed it is time to inject ideas and passion back into British