tweets: , externalRifkind resignation means The last four Ken & Chelsea MPs resigned, died, resigned, resigned. The curse of K & C?

House of Commons
Parliament

Over in the Commons, health questions is under way. The first question came from Labour MP Julie Hilling, who asks how many NHS staff have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by the NHS since May 2010.

Health Minister Dan Poulter replies that over the last four and a half years 5,210 people - less than 0.1% of the NHS workforce - have been made redundant and returned to the NHS.

BBC News Channel

Times columnist Tim Montgomerie said Sir Malcolm Rifkind's opinion that an MP's salary of £67,000 was not enough to live on, was "ill-judged and unhelpful" when seen in the wider context of David Cameron trying to shrug off the impression that the Conservative Party is a party for the rich.

By stepping down as an MP and as chairman of the intelligence committee he has "done the honourable thing", and "hopefully it will kill the story, but it will also kill a very distinguished political career," he said.

Tweets, external: Green Party in South West has "quadrupled in size in just one year".

Image source, Green Party

Picked up on the BBC cameras just now in Whitehall, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is heard saying, "It's sad to see him go..." in response to a question from the BBC's Norman Smith.

BBC News Channel

Labour's Tom Watson says people who sit on specialised committees and are privy to highly sensitive information shouldn't be allowed to work for companies for their own financial gain. "I do think people will be particularly concerned about the intelligence committee. It just strikes me as very logical we should extend the rules in light of what has come out in the last 72 hours." He added: "If you are to rebuild trust [in the public's perception] then you have to recognise that the culture in all these institutions has to to change."

tweets: , externalRifkind resignation shows once again that legalistic, lawyerly defence rarely succeeds in public arena. Tone trumps detail.

Image source, EPA

"Lots of our voters are disillusioned Labour voters, lots are disillusioned Lib Dems, but there are also Tories too, who are upset about issues like fracking and banking regulation," Natalie Bennett told the Green Party launch a short time ago. "I think a very identifiable group are voters horrified, upset, by UKIP, and particularly UKIP's stance on immigration."

Former intelligence and security committee chairman Kim Howells told BBC News that Sir Malcolm's comments about needing to earn more money because he came from a business background did "not play well with the general public".

On his comments about having lots of free time, Mr Howells said: "I did not want to say anything yesterday but when I heard that it really stuck in my craw. There are people on that committee who will be working extremely hard to read all that material and I always assumed that the chairman did the same.

"You know you can't take this material outside the ISC building because, it's highly classified material, it's secret material so you have got to spend hours and hours and hours in there reading it, and if you're not doing that you are not doing your job properly."

tweets: , externalBy my reckoning 87 MPs have now announced they're retiring in May - 36 Tory, 38 Lab, 11 Lib Dem; 2 others. I expect another 6 or so

tweets: , externalKensington & Chelsea has a history of Tory MPs who get into scrapes - Nick Scott, Alan Clark, Malcolm Rifkind. Arguably Portillo. Who next?

Tweets, external: The #greenparty launches its campaign but NOT its manifesto. Hacks bemused. Still, the coffee was nice...

Tweets, external: Launch of #green party manifesto at the RSA

Image source, TWitter

Nick Robinson
Political editor

He tried defiance yesterday. He tried throwing himself on the mercy of parliamentary opinion - the opinion in Downing Street. And finally, he went before the court of public opinion. He lost at every stage. To use an old phrase, the Tories will be relieved he took the bottle of whiskey and the revolver and did the honourable thing.

tweets: , externalHearing some members of the Intel and Sec Cttee want Ming Campbell to take over as interim chair - others pushing for another Tory

Kim Howells, ex-Labour MP and former chairman of the intelligence committee, heaped pressure on Sir Malcolm Rifkind to go with his Newnsight interview last night. He just told Sky News: "It's a shame because he's had a very distinguished parliamentary career and to end in this way is really awful. The intelligence and security committee has such an important role that there can't be any shadow across it whatsoever. And I'm afraid that the whole affair that Malcolm Rifkind got into would not be good for that committee at all. It's far, far too important for the country at large. And I think he's done the right thing."

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

Just talking to folk at No 10, they are saying this was Sir Malcolm's decision - he decided to go. However, he must have been aware of the PM's lack of confidence in him. Early suggestions are that Labour's Hazel Blears or crossbencher Lord Butler of Brockwell, who as Robin Butler was Cabinet Secretary from 1988 to 1998, could be new candidates for the chairman of the intelligence committee.

Kensington is a safe Conservative seat - Sir Malcolm's majority in 2010 was 8,616.

Labour say they plan to hold a Commons vote on Wednesday on banning MPs from taking second jobs.

A Conservative spokesman said: "Sir Malcolm has had a long career of distinguished service both to the Conservative Party and the country. We respect and support his decision to stand down."