Labour leadership challenger Liz Kendall has been talking to journalists in the parliamentary press gallery. A few tweets to follow. 

So far we've learned she might not be against free schools - she says she'll back any school regardless of its structure so long as it is doing well -  and that Labour didn't lose the election because of Ed Miliband's personality but because the party had the wrong policies.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Conservative MP and chair of the European Scrutiny Committee Bill Cash says there are some issues that will have to be resolved with the proposals put forward by the government, particularly where illegal working and the plan to "deport now, appeal later" are concerned.

Mr Cash says the “way forward” on European migration is to renegotiate Britain’s commitment to the free movement of people within EU. Mr Cash points out far more migrants came to the UK from Spain and Italy in the past year than from countries like Romania and Bulgaria.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Steve White chair of the Police Federation tells World at One police forces would need quite significant resources in order to deliver on the government's proposals on illegal working.  

He suggests most of the time it is very difficult for individual police officers to determine whether someone is in the country illegally. 

He also says illegal immigration isn’t necessarily that high on the radar of the police.

“Even when we get the Border Agency to come and deal with it we’ve found that the individuals concerned disappear soon after," he adds.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, tells the World at One it is possible that if proposals were brought in to further reduce non EU workers from coming to the UK there might be an increase in companies seeking employees from within Europe. Of course that won’t particularly solve the problems the UK has with net migration.

On illegal immigration Ms Sumption says it is possible the measures may act as a deterrent as the government has suggested but that is in no way guaranteed:

Image source, PA

News from Scotland where Nicola Sturgeon has not ruled out bringing in testing for primary school pupils as part of her determination to improve standards in Scotland's education system. 

Scotland's first minister has came under fire on her government's record on education, with Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats all pressing her on the issue at First Minister's Questions. 

A recent survey of literacy and numeracy found there has been a drop in standards in both reading and writing, and Education Secretary Angela Constance said earlier this week some children are "failed by school". 

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said there was a need for a "new system of primary testing" such as there is in Denmark and Ontario, "so that we all can see which schools need help and which schools are leading the way". 

Image source, European Photopress Agency

Cabinet Minister Justine Greening is being touted by senior Tories as a potential Conservative candidate for London Mayor, according to the London Evening Standard., external

The newspaper says they believe the international development secretary could "bring a higher profile to a field of hopefuls currently lacking in widely-known names".

At present there are only three confirmed Tory candidates, none of whom have worked in national politics, while the Labour contenders include several former ministers.

One Tory frontbencher told the Standard: “Justine’s really made a name for herself at International Development, really delivering on the kind of things that matter to Londoners. She could be a very successful candidate.”

The Institute of Directors (IoD) isn't impressed by the government's immigration proposals. 

Simon Walker, director general of the IoD says:"IoD members do not employ immigrants because they are cheaper, with fewer than 4% saying cost has anything to do with it.

"When they do employ people from outside the UK it is because they need the skills or value the different experience.

He adds:

Simply curtailing benefits is unlikely to be enough to reduce immigration numbers , says Lord Green, of Migration Watch. He says:

Ed Brown
Newsnight producer

A point some people are making to the PM today (and indeed Theresa May this morning) is that higher net migration is being driven by our economy being stronger than much of the rest of the world's.

Now, net migration is at almost exactly the same level from outside the EU as it was in 2010 - just shy of 200,000.

Read Ed's post in full here

BBC News Channel

Lib Dem Tom Brake is pretty scathing about some of the Conservatives' immigration proposals:

Former immigration minister and Lib Dem – yes there are still a few around - Tom Brake says David Cameron is simply repeating what he has said in the past over his ambition to get net migration down to the tens of thousands. “I don’t know why he is pursuing this line at all,” Mr Brake says.

He adds that most migrants to the UK come to work so he isn’t sure what effect further restrictions on access to benefits will achieve.

He suggests imposing a four year limit on access to benefits in the UK - if it were to become law – would prompt other European countries to pass similar legislation which would potentially have an adverse effect on British nationals living in other European countries.

Three quarters of immigrants to the UK are people migrating to work or study. But ONS figures show how numbers of people coming to the UK to work has risen more than people coming to study.