George Eaton, New Statesmanpublished at 18:42 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
tweets:, external For background to Justine Miliband's intervention, worth reading @mehdirhasan's profile of her from last year http://huff.to/WJloMU
Summary
Foreign secretary says apologists for those who commit acts of terrorism are partly responsible
Justine Miliband tells BBC she expects election to get 'vicious' but says she is' ready for the fight'
Peers back making it a legal requirement for 0.7% of UK GDP to be spent on international development
Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers fly to the US as question marks hang over assembly
Rolling political coverage in text and video with all the key moments and reaction from Tuesday 10 March
There are 58 days until the general election
George Eaton, New Statesmanpublished at 18:42 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
Miliband's public imagepublished at 18:42 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
James Landale
Deputy Political Editor, BBC NewsOn his blog, the BBC's James Landale has been reflecting on his interview with Justine Miliband and the day he spent with the Labour leader and his wife. He says Labour are hopeful that she will win Ed Miliband votes by "knocking the edges of his public image" and helping him connect with voters. But this isn't the first time such a strategy has been used, he adds.
Margaret Hodge a 'panto queen'published at 18:12 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
The Spectator
Image source, PAMore reaction to Margaret Hodge's performance at the public accounts committee yesterday.
The Spectator's Brendan O'Neill, external takes a dim view of the robustness of her questioning, labelling her a "panto queen" and asking "Who the hell does Hodge think she is?"
Guido Fawkespublished at 17:39 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
Tweets, external: Ed Weaponises Justine: Watch Her Interview, external with BBC
Life as Mrs Miliband: takeaway and box setspublished at 17:35 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
James Landale
Deputy Political Editor, BBC News
Justine Miliband has provided an insight into life at home with husband, Ed.
In James Landale's exclusive interview, the Labour leader's wife said the pair watch box sets together, accompanied by "a good Chinese takeaway". Favourite box sets include the comedy series Episodes and Scandinavian crime drama The Killing.
Tuesday so farpublished at 17:27 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
A busy day so far. Here's a recap of the top stories:
The parents of the missing schoolgirls told the Home Affairs Select Committee that the they felt "let down" by police. The Committee then heard evidence from Met police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, who apologised
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has given a speech saying apologists for terror share responsibility for violence
Cabinet office Minister Francis Maude has defended curbs to how much time civil servants can devote to trade union activities
Northern Ireland ministers dipped out of talks to resolve the ta welfare reform bill crisis to travel to the US
Former PM Gordon Brown has said leaving the EU would isolate Britain, calling it the "North Korea" option
Justine Miliband: I'm up for the fightpublished at 17:10 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
James Landale
Deputy Political Editor, BBC News
Labour leader Ed Miliband's wife Justine has been talking to the BBC's deputy political editor James Landale about their family life and the coming election campaign. She says she's expecting things to get "really vicious" but adds she is "up for the fight" and wants to protect the "principle of decency in public life".
Trust in the policepublished at 17:07 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentAlso answering questions on behalf of the Metropolitan Police was Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley. Mr Rowley was challenged on the degree to which senior police understood the Muslim community. He said counter-terrorism command was as diverse as the rest of the Met and work was underway to improve that. He saw "more people stepping forward, more people giving information to the police, more families coming to us looking for help. I see a lot of evidence of trust in the police."
Hammond: too many flags to flypublished at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
Parliament
Philip Hammond has told MPs that the Foreign Office gets so many requests for flying flags of various organisations that they can't satisfy them all.
In evidence to the foreign affairs select committee, he was asked why the Commonwealth Flag didn't fly on Commonwealth day. He said the foreign office got a lot of requests and although, individually, they looked "sensible" when taken in the round "there has to be some kind of order."
Countering radicalisationpublished at 16:52 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentQuestioned as to what steps police were taking to tackle radicalisation, Sir Bernard said there were "numerous" lines of ongoing inquiry both inside prisons and outside, in the community. A second area of inquiry was on the internet. The police, he said, were taking down "around a thousand sites a week". Officers, he said, were not just trying to deal with the consequences of radicalisation but also with the instigators.
IS 'political'published at 16:34 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentSir Bernard Hogan-Howe tells MPs he believes the actions of so-called Islamic State have "very little to do with religion; that's the mask under which it hides. The thing is about politics."
Hammond: Ukraine 'not a Nato country'published at 16:17 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentPhilip Hammond has told MPs that, while he recognised the concerns of the Baltic States over Russian activity in Ukraine, the Baltic countries' interests were best served by "a clear and unambiguous distinction between Nato countries and non-Nato countries".
The foreign secretary went on to say that - although the government wanted to show clear support to Ukraine - "Ukraine is not a Nato country" and expressed the need for an "air-gap" between the kind of support which would be offered to a Nato country compared to one outside Nato.
Not reported missingpublished at 16:15 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
Parliament
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe told MPs none of the girls had been reported missing at the time their flight took off.
Restoring trustpublished at 16:15 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentCommittee chairman Keith Vaz thanks Sir Bernard for his apology. It "should go a long way to restore trust", he says.
'Damning evidence'published at 16:14 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentKeith Vaz welcomes Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to answer MPs' questions, saying girls' relatives have presented "damning evidence" and "severe criticism" of the actions of the Metropolitan police. Sir Bernard says he is "sorry if the family feel like that". He was "also sorry that the letter that was intended to get to them didn't get through." He did not, however, believe that that failure was the reason the girls had decided to go.
Hammond: Ukraine forces 'mustn't crumble'published at 16:04 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentPhilip Hammond is giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. The foreign secretary tells MPs: "We can't afford to see the Ukrainian armed forces crumble"
SNP in government?published at 16:02 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
Image source, PAThe SNP's chances of featuring in the next government are being talked up by the bookies. William Hill has a coalition involving the Scottish nationalists at 11/4, the shortest odds for any of the options. That's a long way from the 7/1 it offered when first asked to name a price. Meanwhile a Conservative majority is available at 9/2 and a Labour majority at 12/1.
Final questionspublished at 15:48 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentNicola Blackwood (Con) asks: Is there enough being done to make parents aware of what the indicators are for radicalisation? All three of the Syria schoolgirls' relatives' answer is 'no'. Sahima Begum says schools would be the most trusted place for the message to come from. And with that, Keith Vaz wraps up the questioning.
On the planepublished at 15:44 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentTim Loughton, the former children's minister, says questions should have been asked about why three teenagers were travelling unaccompanied. "When it comes to the safety of children it should be our primary concern," agrees Tasnime Akunjee, the solicitor for the schoolgirls' families.
'Unacceptable'published at 15:43 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015
House of Commons
ParliamentTasnime Akunjee, the solicitor for the schoolgirls' families, says that in previous instances the family has notified police that their relative is on a flight to Turkey for terrorism-related purposes and a response team has been waiting in Turkey to deflect them back as a result. "That simply didn't happen here. The idea the police are saying they told them 24 hours later... 24 hours is an unacceptable period of time."