Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says the UK and Russia will continue to have a "prickly relationship" if there is no clear change in Vladimir Putin's intentions towards Ukraine
Mr Hammond refuses to commit to meeting Nato's target of 2% of GDP being spent on defence if the Conservatives win in May
Ed Miliband says he would pass a law guaranteeing TV debates in all future general elections
Labour candidate Lesley Brennan turns down a £1,000 donation to her campaign from Tony Blair
Reports suggest the government is considering banning radical Islamists from working unsupervised with children
There are 60 days until the general election
Alan Soady
BBC political correspondent
The Treasury and No 10 have denied a report in today's Mail on Sunday which claims that the two sides are "at war" over future defence spending.
A joint spokesman for the PM and the chancellor said: "This is untrue and without foundation. The PM, chancellor and government agree future defence spending is a matter for the spending review."
tweets:, external "Parking its tanks on Labour's lawn"- UKIP is opening a Doncaster base. Interesting to see what reception they'll get
tweets:, external SNP challenges other 4 Scottish Labour candidates who received Blair donation to reject it Read more., external
Sunday Times
"The prime minister won't say it in these terms but he doesn't want debates at a time when he thinks they might affect how people vote. Others might consider that to be the whole point." So writes Adam Boulton, from Sky News, in the Sunday Times., external And of the Conservatives' view of the debates more generally? "In the colourful word coined by one interested observer, they want to deny Miliband any chance to de-muppetise himself."
Sky News
In reply, Luciana Berger, shadow public health minister, said the plan was for "standardised packaging", not plain packaging, and the former could still be tracked and traced to thwart counterfeiters.
Sky News
Away from debates and defence, a ding dong on has been going on between Conservative MP Sir Gerald Howarth and Labour's Luciana Berger about the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes. Sir Gerald said Chinese counterfeiters would be "rubbing their hands in glee at the move", and fraud would inevitably hit the public purse due to lost tax revenue.
As for the idea itself, well, that was unnecessary anyway, he said: "If children and adults cannot read on packaging today... 'smoking kills'... then there is something wrong with the education system."
As we reported earlier, a Labour parliamentary candidate has tweeted, external she has rejected a £1,000 donation from former party leader and prime minister Tony Blair. Lesley Brennan, who is standing in Dundee East against SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie, said she had discussed the issue with her team and decided not to take the cash. It has been reported Mr Blair gave 106 candidates the sum to help their election campaigns. More here.
The Scotsman
Marking International Women's Day, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the "time is right" to use targets to ensure more women make it into boardrooms in both the public and private sector. The SNP leader says the "glacial progress in some areas of life" illustrates efforts to promote women on merit are not working. Read more in Scotland on Sunday, external.
Image source, PADefence - and whether or not the Tories will commit to spending 2% of GDP on it over the course of the next Parliament - has been a talking point over the last few days. As we mentioned earlier, Andrew Marr asked Philip Hammond about the issue earlier. He promised there will be no "further cuts to our regular armed forces" under David Cameron's leadership. But he said "very difficult decisions" on deficit reduction would have to be made. Watch his interview and read more here.
Image source, PADeputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has been speaking about the TV debates, saying David Cameron should "have the guts" to take part.
Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan, she said: "Let's have a legal framework set out and then we won't have this all over again next time round.
"I think if somebody is saying I want to be prime minister, I want to be in Number 10 Downing Street, but by the way I'm not going to go out there and debate it, it's not acceptable.
And she added: "The bottom line is - it is not too late for David Cameron... he should have the guts to go out there and say, this is what I have done since I have been prime minister and this is what I want to do next."
A bit more on Sadiq Khan's interview with John Pienaar earlier. They discussed Labour's position on Trident in light of reports Ed Miliband's senior adviser, Stewart Wood, wants to ditch the party's support for renewing Britain's Trident nuclear submarine programme.
Asked if he could promise Labour would stick to a pledge to renew Trident, Mr Khan said: "I can and I do. And you'll see the manifesto published shortly which will say that. What we can't do, is respond to every single newspaper article, respond to everything coming out of the number 10 tactical unit. And actually what we want to do is talk about the issues."
The Guardian
Image source, PAEmily Thornberry - of White Van row fame - has been speaking to the Guardian about International Women's Day. The former former shadow attorney general tells the paper a lot of women find the atmosphere in Parliament "quite shocking". "Some of the comments you get are just, you think, Neanderthal really", the MP adds. You can read the full interview here, external.
Labour's shadow Scottish secretary and Glasgow MP Margaret Curran was on Sunday Politics earlier and was asked about whether her she would rule out a deal with the SNP in the event of a hung parliament. She didn't. You can watch the exchange with Andrew Neil here.
tweets, external: On International Women's Day I reaffirm my party's position that women's rights & human rights are at the centre of what we are & what we do
Image source, Getty ImagesIs the coalition preparing an "income tax giveaway" for millions of voters? According to the Sunday Times this morning, the Conservatives and Lib Dems are working on a deal that would see the minimum income tax threshold rise "towards £11,000" from next year. The move could be included in next month's Budget. More here, external.
Sunday Politics
On defence spending, Liz Truss says her party is committed to maintaining the size of the Army. But, despite a good grilling by Andrew Neil, as with Philip Hammond earlier, she won't commit to her party to spending 2% of GDP on defence in the next Parliament.
tweets:, external @trussliz - "if there is going to be 1 debate it ought to be with all 7 parties so the British public can see their choice in full" #bbcsp
Sunday Politics
Liz Truss says the key issue is the "short campaign" - after 30 March. We haven't had the proposals on time, she insists - broadcasters should had come forward with their ideas earlier.
Sunday Politics
Janan Ganesh, from the Financial Times, says David Cameron might be not be as damaged by an "empty chair" as people make out. He thinks most voters won't prioritise the issue when it comes to deciding who they will vote for.
tweets:, external So Liz Truss reckons debates would be a huge distraction from the issues. Jesus wept. What does she think an election campaign is about?