The government has sold its majority stake in Remploy, the government-funded agency that helps disabled people find work, to a US company called Maximus. The 70% stake has been sold to the firm, which previously took over responsibility from Atos for assessing whether claimants are are eligible for sickness and disability benefits. The remaining 30% of the new company, which will continue to be known as Remploy Limited, will be owned by employee shareholders.

Employment Minister Esther McVey, who announced last year that Remploy was to be privatised, today confirmed the commercial process had been completed. It will transfer from government ownership to that of the joint venture early next month.

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David Cameron will not attend Russia's World War Two commemorations in May if he remains prime minister.

Downing Street said the PM would not be going due to the fallout between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict. The Victory Day parade to mark the Soviet defeat of the Nazis will be held in Moscow's Red Square on 9 May. More here.

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tweets:, external It's been brought to my attention that I'm on the @GdnPolitics website as "a man"

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What chance of Boris Johnson as prime minister? In today's Times, David Aaronovitch argues the London mayor has consistently defied expectation he would implode. And he says Mr Johnson "transcends party and gives the voter something political to relate to".

That leads the columnist to say he has started to think "the question is not 'Could Boris lead his party?' but rather, 'Who could stop him?'."

More here, external.

Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, says he doesn't find the proposition that a British business should have the ability to discriminate in favour of British workers a difficult one.

He says as British society becomes "a more civilised, less sexist, less racist country, we do need a conversation about how necessary some of the legislation we have in place is".

He adds he doesn't believe it is the law that has changed attitudes on sexual relations and race but rather that society has become "much more cosmopolitan". He says racism in the jobs market "is considerably less of a problem than it once was. I'm not saying there is no racism or sexism but the trajectory in which it is going is the right one".

"We need to have a sensible policy debate… and I'm grateful to Nigel Farage for opening up that debate," he says.

The Spectator

Should the Tories commit to spending 2% of GDP on defence over the course of the next Parliament? James Forsyth says yes. He argues Nato would be "severely weakened" if the UK is not prepared to meet that figure. More here, external.

The Guardian

Over on the Guardian website, Polly Toynbee has been looking at the Lib Dem funding story. She says it is another example that will add to the feeling politics is not about doing good. She writes: "That is exactly what too many people think politics is all about - cash for favours, honours, influence and in their pockets." She argues for a "new normal" at Westminster. More here, external.

The Spectator

Over on the Spectator, Isabel Hardman has written, external about Nigel Farage's comments on race discrimination. She says UKIP has been working hard "to confound stereotypes of itself as an anti-immigrant, isolationist party". Today's row won't help, she says: "getting embroiled in a row about race relations seems an odd way of trying to confound stereotypes."

tweets, external: Terms Of Agreement: What Alex Salmond and the SNP may demand from Labour to prop Ed Miliband up in Downing Street

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The Daily Telegraph

The other big political story of the day has been funding. A former Lib Dem fundraiser has resigned as a party candidate at the election after the Telegraph claimed he had accepted a "potentially illegal donation". Asa Bennett, assistant comment editor at the paper, has written about the row, external.

He says: "The Lib Dems' desperation to raise funds has resulted in taking funding from some people they have later come to regret, most infamously Michael Brown." And she suggests the party will need to sort out its finances "to stop it being caught out by any more dodgy donors".

BBC News Channel

"The reality is lots of voters won't even notice," Matthew Goodwin, author of Revolt on the Right, says of UKIP leader Nigel Farage's comments on race discrimination and employment laws. But he says: "This is a really delicate time for UKIP in the polls. It wants to avoid anything that might put off voters. It has real problems with women and ethnic minorities."

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A bit more on Home Secretary Theresa May announcing she will be bringing forward legislation that will ensure police disciplinary hearings are held in public. She says the move will "ensure that the robust response the police take to misconduct is visible and open."

The change will also create a new power for police disciplinary hearing panels to remove or adjust the compensation payments due to chief officers on termination of their appointment where a disciplinary finding is made against them and give greater protection from disciplinary action to police whistleblowers. Her full Commons written statement is here., external

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It's been a busy day so far. The most discussed story has been Nigel Farage's comments on race discrimination laws. Here's a recap of where we're at:

• Mr Farage told a Channel 4 documentary UKIP would scrap much of the legislation designed to prevent racial discrimination in work

• He later said he was not talking about race, but wanted British jobs for British people

• David Cameron said the comments were "completely wrong and frankly pretty appalling"

• Ed Miliband described Mr Farage's views as "wrong, divisive and dangerous" and accused him of "stoking up division"

• Nick Clegg said he "strongly disagreed" with what Mr Farage said, adding that "discrimination laws are there for a reason"

tweets, external: Syrians deserve much better from int'l community. It's past time to show that we will work with them to turn the lights back on. #withSyria

Below are some views from Politics Live readers on Nigel Farage's comments on race discrimination laws.

There is no way that I am a racist but I do believe in British jobs for British people whatever their racial background. Born here and contribute here is good enough for me. I do believe that to benefit you or your parents must have paid in first, no free-loaders.

Bill Wilson

Perhaps somebody might ask Mr Farage for any evidence he might have to support his conviction that British employers are being forced to employ EU migrants at the expense of British people. At 53, I am quite certain I have suffered age discrimination in job selection processes (my qualifications and experience are impeccable), but I'd be hard pressed to prove this. If a British employer prefers a British worker over even a better qualified European migrant, there is nothing to stop them engaging one - unless he is stupid enough to tell the European candidate that the reason for his lack of success was geographical origin.

Dr Mike Campbell

Nigel Farage's point about British jobs for British people is supported by a majority of the electorate. The more other parties and the media misrepresent and attack UKIP's common sense approach the more voters are driven UKIP's way. Bring on the general election so we can vote en masse for the purple peoples party!

Jason Sessions

Do you agree? Email is politics@bbc.co.uk or tweet us @bbcpolitics, external.

BBC Radio 4

Winston McKenzie, UKIP's candidate for Croydon North tells World at One that "to suggest any party leader could turn around in the blink of a eye and change the law on race discrimination is nonsense". He says UKIP leader Nigel Farage has already clarified his position on discrimination law.

He quotes Dr Martin Luther King and suggests the UK is in a "state of paralysis".

Mr McKenzie says other countries do not have race discrimination laws and that people "use their common sense". He also suggests there are "500 or so small businesses throughout London who have no choice but to adhere to current law which discriminates against black and ethnic minorities".

BBC Radio 4

Mrs Blears was asked on Wato whether the security services cooperated with her committee. She dodged the question to some extent - instead saying her Committee can "require" information from the security services so that they must cooperate in the same way as if they were cooperating with a judicial inquiry.

Shouldn't some people be protected from surveillance, Mrs Blears is asked. What about circumstances in which some professionals handle privileged information? What about circumstances such as attorney client privilege?

There are certain professions where privacy is essential, such as the law or journalism, Mr Blears says. "But you should never be in a situation where you would never investigate a lawyer, just as you would never investigate a journalist," she adds.

tweets, external: Baltic workers only sought for UK project. 1.9 million Brits lose out. And @Nigel_Farage is the one in the wrong?

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BBC Radio 4

Mrs Blears says of the heavily redacted surveillance report released today, the intelligence and security committee could "either publish a very bland report or publish a report which showed the committee had seen the information". She says the information was redacted to prevent terrorists from knowing what the security services are looking at.

BBC Radio 4

Occasions where some people have had their data searched improperly have been "tiny, tiny incidents", Ms Blears says, but she admits "there are breaches... and we take these breaches so seriously that we say they should be made a criminal offence". Following the Snowden revelations the public have been "under the genuine misconception that the security services were reading everyone's emails" which, she says, isn't the case.