Image source, BBC Newsnight

Today there's going to be a lot of attention on the case of the 12 missing members of the Dawood family from Bradford.  Three sisters - Sugra, Khadija and Zohra - along with their 9 children are feared to be headed to Syria. No-one's heard from them since June 9th  when they flew to Turkey following a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Last night I briefly spoke to Khadija's husband on the phone. He was understandably very emotional, and through his tears said that he just wanted to send a simple message to Khadija, "I love you, please bring the kids back." He and Sugra's husband sent me these photos of the children in happier times. 

They want anyone with any information to contact them. We expect more details from relatives later in the day, their hope is that if the women are indeed heading to Syria - then they are still in Turkey and can be brought safely back to Britain.

Image source, BBC Newsnight

Image source, BBC Newsnight

Image source, Reuters/Neil Hall

Labour is playing a very interesting game on purdah. They've signalled that - if Cameron doesn't want to give in to Eurosceptics on the issue of purdah - they would be willing to abstain from the vote. Interestingly if Cameron does give in and implement purdah, Labour MPs are likely to vote for the amendment. It's pure politicking. An abstention would only be initiated to create maximum friction between backbenchers and the PM.

Considering it is highly likely that the PM and the leader of the opposition will be campaigning with each other in the referendum it's an interesting window into the current relationship between the respective parties. Some believe there will be an entente cordiale during the campaign between "in" Tories and the vast bulk of the Labour shadow frontbench. No sign of that yet. 

Pat McFadden, Labour's shadow Europe minister said this morning that the government had made a "hash" of the referendum so far.