Caroline Flint becomes the latest former shadow cabinet minister to quit and return to the backbenches. The Don Valley MP, who has been shadow environment and climate change secretary since 2011, said in a statement, external that she has "decided I can best support the Labour Party and the leadership from outside the shadow cabinet". She said she remained loyal to the Labour Party and would do "everything I can" to help it win in 2020.

James Landale
Deputy political editor

It is David Cameron's first visit to Lebanon and he is here with a clear aim: to address the criticism that Britain is not doing enough to tackle Europe's refugee crisis. So he walked around a refugee camp in the Bekaa valley just one mile from the Syrian border to meet some of the families benefiting from UK aid. He also visited a school in the heart of Beirut supported by British cash where Syrian and Lebanese children study alongside each other.

The PM's argument is that this is the help Syrian refugees need rather than any encouragement to risk the dangerous journey to Europe. So to a nation now familiar with television pictures of Syrian refugees fleeing across Europe, Mr Cameron wants to remind people of where the vast majority are, namely in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Syria itself.

Mr Cameron claims British aid is dissuading "hundreds of thousands" of refugees from heading to Europe. Aid agencies on the ground suggest poverty and an inability to pay the traffickers is a more important factor. And while welcoming British aid, they also suggest it is nowhere near enough. So today is about the PM trying to reframe a debate that has raged for many weeks - a debate that has not always gone his way. 

BBC News Channel

Image source, bbc

Labour's new shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander tells the BBC it's "really important" the party now "comes together". She says Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a broad range of MPs to his team, which is the "right" thing to do. Ms Alexander says there is a "huge amount" of work to be done on policy development in the months ahead - but she respects the decision of those former shadow cabinet members who have said they will step down and serve the party from the backbenches.

She also dismisses as "nonsense" the idea that none of the top jobs have gone to women, pointing out that the new shadow business secretary, Angela Eagle, will be deputising for the Labour leader at PMQs.

Image source, PA

As we mentioned earlier, David Cameron has been visiting refugee camps in Lebanon amid the crisis triggered by war in neighbouring Syria. He said he "wanted to come here to see for myself and to hear for myself stories of refugees". More here.

BBC News Channel

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith says the two key shadow cabinet appointments we are still waiting to learn are defence and work and pensions, the latter of which is "central" to Jeremy Corbyn's agenda of resisting welfare reforms. But it is the appointment of John McDonnell as shadow chancellor that is causing real "ruffles" among Labour MPs, he adds.

In some non-Labour related news, John Bercow has become the first Speaker of the House of Commons to address the Trades Union Congress. He praised trade unions for their "invaluable" work in promoting fairness and equality.

He told delegates:

Mr Bercow will be presiding over the debate on the government's Trade Union Bill later today - although he made no mention of the proposed reforms during his speech in Brighton.  

Image source, PA

The new shadow health secretary, Heidi Alexander, has suggested she hesitated before accepting the job. The Lewisham East MP, who backed Andy Burnham in the leadership contest, says the offer came as a "bolt from the blue" but her constituents expected her "to be part of an effective, strong opposition" and she "feels a responsibility towards my party". She told BBC London radio:

Victoria Derbyshire

Labour MP Kate Hoey criticises the conduct of some of the party's MPs after Jeremy Corbyn's victory, saying those who "want to throw their toys away and rush off and do something" are "very silly". The Vauxhall MP says she won't name names, but pressed a bit she adds: "I think Chuka [Umunna] has behaved ridiculously." 

Victoria Derbyshire

Four Labour MPs - Kate Hoey, Chi Onwurah, Dawn Butler and Yasmin Qureshi - give their backing to Jeremy Corbyn and the new shadow cabinet. On female representation, Ms Hoey, Vauxhall MP, says she wants Corbyn to appoint people the party can have confidence in - and they don't have to be women. Ms Onwurah follows by saying it’s “important” to have women in the top positions because Labour is “a broad and diverse” party.

Kamal Ahmed
Business editor

This morning, business leaders woke up to the fact that the shadow chancellor is a man who has argued in the past for the nationalisation of the UK's banking system, a 60% top rate of tax for those earning over £100,000, higher taxation for the City, caps on high pay, a rapid expansion of public ownership and a "removal" of the "monopoly of the big six energy companies".

He is also opposed to a third runway at Heathrow, an infrastructure project supported by many businesses.

John McDonnell's Who's Who entry talks of "generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism". He may have meant fomenting. Or maybe he was making a home brew joke.

To put it mildly, Mr McDonnell is certainly a different character from Ed Balls, his predecessor.

Read more here.

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Labour MP Frank Field - one of those who nominated Jeremy Corbyn - said he would do the same again. He said he had wanted the left-winger in the contest to allow a "debate" in the party, but that never materialised.

 Jeremy won in response to a "cry of anguish" from the Labour Party that "didn't want us to continue in the same stale and unimaginative way", Mr Field goes on to say. But that cry of anguish isn’t "a basis to win a general election", he adds.   

Victoria Derbyshire

Asked about the lack of women in senior posts the new shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said they rejected the "hierarchical nature of what we've inherited" about the top jobs. This mostly dated back to the 19th century "when we had an empire", whereas for most people delivering education and health were more important, he added. Mr McDonnell said the shadow cabinet and the whole administration would be gender balanced.

On the question of Heathrow expansion, Mr McDonnell said it was one for Parliament but he would oppose the third runway because of the "devastating environmental impact".