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

  1. Eurosceptic and Europhile preparationspublished at 14:52 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Margaret Thatcher in 1975 referendum imageImage source, (C) British Broadcasting Corporation

    David Cameron is promising an in-out referendum on British membership of the European Union in 2017 if the Conservative Party wins an outright majority in May's general election. Watch a Daily Politics film where Adam Fleming looks at how the Eurosceptic and Europhile groups are preparing for such an outcome, and what lessons there may be from the Scottish referendum.

  2. 'Rude, abusive and bullying'published at 14:45 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Margaret HodgeImage source, PA

    Conservative ex-minister Sir Alan Duncan has written a strongly-worded letter to Margaret Hodge, the chair of the Commons' public accounts committee, demanding that she apologise for the way she treated BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead yesterday. Ms Hodge suggested that Ms Fairhead should resign from the trust over her role as an independent director at HSBC. But Sir Alan thinks she went far too far. "You maligned her reputation and suitability for her current role at the BBC and called on her to resign or be sacked," he tells her in the letter. "This is inexcusable. You were rude, abusive and bullying in a manner which brings your committee and the proceedings of the House into disrepute."

  3. Missing girlspublished at 14:44 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum (l-r)Image source, Met Police

    You can watch the committee hearing by clicking the live tab above on desktop. We'll also be keeping a very close watch on proceedings and will bring you what's said.

  4. MPs quiz relatives of Syria schoolgirlspublished at 14:41 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Relatives of the three schoolgirls missing in Syria are due to answer MPs' questions shortly. Abase Hussen, father of Amira Abase, Fahmida Aziz, first cousin to Kadiza Sultana and Sahima Begum, older sister of Shamima Begum, will appear before the Home Affairs Committee. The three girls, all pupils at Bethnal Green Academy, left their homes on 17 February, flew to Istanbul and are believed to have entered Syria to join so-called Islamic State. The girls' families have criticised the Metropolitan Police for not passing on information they say might have helped them forestall the trio's plans. Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe is due before the committee separately later.

  5. The PM's fingerspublished at 14:35 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    The Huffington Post

    David CameronImage source, PA

    David Cameron may be avoiding the TV debates because his style of delivery has become so wooden, a body language expert has claimed. Nick Smallman, chief executive of communications training firm Working Voices, suggests the prime minister's face looks "unvaryingly intense" in a blog for the Huffington Post, external. He saves his harshest criticism for Mr Cameron's fingers. "Just look close up at those stiff, wooden fingers and you'll see they are his biggest weakness," Mr Smallman writes. "If the fingers are rigid, with their points accentuated, then the speaker looks tense. And that's bad news because it makes voters wonder why the person they rely on is so wound up. Not good news if that person happens to be the prime minister."

  6. 'No more money'published at 14:33 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa VilliersImage source, PA

    Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has ruled out throwing more money at the problems over the welfare reform bill that are currently paralysing Stormont. Martin McGuinness has said an extra £200m would ease the deadlock by providing what Sinn Fein says is needed to offset any losses suffered by welfare claimants. Ms Villiers said a more expensive system in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK would be unfair. More details here.

  7. Welsh First Minister's Questionspublished at 14:20 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Nick Servini
    Political editor, Wales

    An easy ride for the First Minister. He was mainly pressed on health and he mainly agreed with the questions.

    One from Plaid called for an end to regional variations in the availability of new drugs and the other from the Tories on payouts for negligence cases. On the former he said the Welsh government was trying to change it, and on the latter he claimed Wales led the way in transparency.

  8. Licence fee lawpublished at 14:16 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    MPs are debating government amendments which would give ministers the option of decriminalising non-payment of the BBC licence fee, after the Lords voted the measure down. Shadow culture, media and sport minister Chris Bryant argues that overturning the Lords' amendment would "open the door to dismantling the licence fee". And Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen says he is "disappointed" by the vote in the House of Lords, which he describes as "an attempt to frustrate the will" of the Commons.

  9. Top UN job for Conservative MPpublished at 14:13 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Stephen O'Brien quote from Daily Politics

    The Conservative MP who has been appointed to a top job at the United Nations - where he'll be in charge of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief - has spoken about his new role. Stephen O'Brien is to take over from former Labour minister Baroness Amos, who is stepping down. Watch the former international development minister talk to Jo Coburn on the Daily Politics about the House of Lords voting to make it a requirement for 0.7% of the UK's annual national income to be spent on international development, and the debate over ring fencing defence spending.

  10. Joe Pike, political reporter for ITV Borderpublished at 14:07 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    New portrait of @NicolaSturgeon unveiled at Bute House, First Minister's official residence. @ITVborder

    Nicola Sturgeon portraitImage source, Twitter
  11. Medical 'blunders'published at 14:07 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Andrew RT Davies

    Back in the Senedd, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies raises a newspaper report, external suggesting 100,000 people have been killed or injured by medical "blunders" in Wales since 2010.

    Mr Davies says there should be a legal duty for the NHS to inform families when something goes wrong; Carwyn Jones says he isn't opposed in principle.

  12. Larry the Cat latestpublished at 14:02 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Larry the catImage source, PA

    Following the controversy over the poisoning of a dog at Crufts, David Cameron has joked he's planning to step up Downing Street's measures to protect No 10's own Larry the Cat. The Telegraph, external has picked up on the prime minister's comments in a Heart radio interview earlier today. "As for Larry, he doesn't get up and get out much so I think he's probably pretty safe sitting on the chair in the hallway watching the world go by," Mr Cameron is quoted as saying. "But I'll double the security around him and make sure he's OK." He has good reason to keep Larry safe, having previously praised him for being a "good mouser".

  13. NHS revamppublished at 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    The BBC's health editor Hugh Pym has given his thoughts on the NHS revamp in 29 areas of England that we covered a short time ago. His verdict? Only time will tell as to whether the optimism in Westminster and the health world alike will translate into real improvement. Read his blog.

  14. Access to drugspublished at 13:56 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood

    Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru leader, asks the first minister about access to new drugs - Plaid unveiled their own plans to tackle this at the weekend.

    Carwyn Jones says he agrees that the current "postcode lottery" needs to be tackled, but doesn't fully agree with Plaid's call for a ring-fenced fund and a national panel to take decisions on access to medicines - he says he wants to see more details about how it would work.

  15. Deregulation billpublished at 13:51 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    After a ten-minute rule bill on mesothelioma from Labour MP Mike Kane, the Commons is now moving on to consider the Lords' amendments to the deregulation bill.

  16. PM on Islamic State girlspublished at 13:51 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    David Cameron's interview on LBC also featured a question about what should be done to prevent young Brits going abroad to join Islamic State. The prime minister appears to defend the Metropolitan Police, who have faced calls to apologise from the families of three schoolgirls believed to have joined IS in Syria. "We have a problem, clearly, that has got to involve all of us - politicians, parents, communities, schools," Mr Cameron said. "Everyone has to work together. Let's not pretend this is simply a problem that can be dealt with by policing."

  17. George Eaton, political editor, New Statesmanpublished at 13:50 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    tweets:, external"Ed is still thinking of moving left in some areas," shadow cabinet minister tells me.

  18. PM on defence spendingpublished at 13:48 Greenwich Mean Time 10 March 2015

    British troops withdrawing from AfghanistanImage source, PA

    David Cameron has been speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty, external about the worries by senior military figures that Britain's defence spending is going to drop below its Nato target of 2% of GDP. He said: "We've met the 2% during this Parliament and we're due to meet it in the coming years." He doesn't expand on what "coming years" means though. Mr Cameron's remarks about retired top brass are somewhat personal: "Obviously, they have their own book to talk - sometimes quite literally a book to talk - and sometimes they just want to make their views known."