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Reflecting on the media furore over Lord Ashcroft's unauthorised biography of David Cameron, the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith says there is plenty of discussion on social media but little or no evidence for some of the more sensational claims. 

He says the book should perhaps be rather seen as an act of "raw political revenge" from a man who saved the party "from financial oblivion" after its 1997 election defeat and knows, so to speak, where the "bodies are buried". 

The former Tory treasurer has insisted he is not "settling any scores" but has made clear his frustration at only being offered the role of assistant chief whip by the prime minister after he entered Downing Street in 2010. After giving £8m to the party, he said this was a "declinable offer". 

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Speaking at a press conference in Beijing a moment ago, George Osborne said the People's Bank of China is to issue short term bonds, denominated in the country's renminbi currency, in London - the first time this has happened outside mainland China itself. This, Mr Osborne said, would "firmly establish London as China's bridge into Western financial markets".

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After Chancellor George Osborne announced the UK would guarantee a £2bn deal under which China is to invest in the Hinkley Point nuclear power station, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd was asked by John Humphrys why the UK needed the Chinese to 'bail us out'.

Britain would be worse off outside the European Union, the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron warns.

The Lib Dem conference is hearing about the party's activities in the Commons and Lords. Tom Brake, the party's chief whip in the Commons, jokes that his task will be "slightly easier" now that its representation has fallen from 57 to eight MPs. Meanwhile Lord Newby, who is chief whip in the House of Lords, says the party has 112 members and can effectively defeat the government every time it votes with Labour. He says the Lib Dems will seek to make changes to government bills on Europe, housing and trade union reforms, the latter which he describes as an "vindictive" attempt to "emasculate the unions". The party, he advises, will need to use its new muscle in the House of Lords carefully, "prioritising" where it inflicts defeats. "We can defeat the government umpteen times but we are unelected", he says, acknowledging this is a challenge to the Lords' legitimacy - at a time when the House is under renewed criticism for its size.

China's President Xi prepares for his first state visit to Washington at a time when US-China relations are becoming ever harder to manage, says Carrie Gracie.

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That Trident debate at the Lib Dem conference kicks off at 15.25 BST while Nick Clegg addresses conference at 12.20 BST. In addition, there are also debates on public health, climate change and air quality as well as speeches by Kirsty Williams and Willie Rennie, the respective leaders of the Welsh and Scottish Liberal Democrats. At the moment, activists are discussing transgender and intersex rights and the need for an Intersex Health Charter. Party president Baroness Brinton says the Lib Dems are standing up for the transgender commmunity in Parliament, suggesting "most other politicians don't know, don't understand and don't want to face up to the issues". Here is Monday's agenda in full.

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Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon is to meet the UK's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond later to discuss the refugee crisis and the EU referendum.

The UK government has pledged to take 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.

However, Ms Sturgeon believes more can be done, especially to help those who have already made it to Europe and are seeking asylum.

The pair will also discuss the EU vote, a date for which has yet to be set.

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The Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers has urged the five main Stormont parties to grasp the opportunity in "crucial round table talks" on Monday.

She said the two crunch issues were the continuing existence of paramilitary organisations and implementing welfare reform.

"If either remains unresolved, we don't have a functioning executive," she told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster.

But she underlined that there was no more money for welfare reform.

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More on Chancellor George Osborne's trip to China. He's there most of this week, seeking to develop trade and political ties. Speaking in Beijing, he announced that the UK would guarantee China's £2bn investment in a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in the form of a government bond and that the two countries would also work together on a £50m research centre for nuclear energy. He said: 

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It is the third day of Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth and we will be hearing from the party's former leader Nick Clegg later. In a keynote speech, he is expected to warn that a vote to leave the EU could tear the UK apart. The former deputy prime minister will claim an exit vote in a referendum due by the end of 2017 would trigger a second Scottish independence referendum. The main debate on the floor of conference is about Trident and the case for renewing the UK's nuclear weapons system. Tim Farron, Mr Clegg's successor, is to urge activists not to back scrapping Trident - saying he does not support a like-for-like replacement but thinks other options rather than unilateral disarmament should be considered. When the party was in government, the Lib Dems backed reducing the number of Trident submarines from four to three. 

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There's a flurry of coverage today as the Daily Mail begins its serialisation of a new biography of David Cameron - co-written by former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft who was once one of the party's top donors but is now a pollster. Downing Street has declined to comment about "Call Me Dave" - co-authored by former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott - and asked about it on a visit to China, George Osborne said he hadn't "seen that book". Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, meanwhile, said it was a "bit of a sideshow" from the serious political issues of the day. 

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Anyone listening to Tim Farron's interview just now could be forgiven for thinking we were in a bit of timewarp, musically speaking anyway.

Firstly, he was asked about Labour deputy leader Tom Watson comments that no self-respecting Labour MP would want to join them - it would be "like leaving the Beatles to join a Bananarama tribute band".

Mr Farron laughs this off, suggesting quite rightly that there "is nothing wrong with Bananarama" - the group (pictured above) who were a fixture around the top of the charts in the 1980s.

Then we learn a little bit more about Mr Farron's own musical preferences. His favourite group is Prefab Sprout, whose only top 10 hit was the majestic King of Rock and Roll. 

There's then a Surprise! Surprise! style moment as the band's Wendy Smith, who now works as director of learning for Sage Gateshead, is put on the phone to talk to Mr Farron on the show (yes it is still the Today programme).

She won't say whether she has ever voted Lib Dem but urges the new Lib Dem leader to recognise the importance of music and education as a tool to help people's life chances.

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BBC Radio 4

Tim Farron dismisses claims from former Lib Dem MP Lady Tonge that up to a dozen Lib Dem parliamentarians are considering defecting to Labour, describing this as "absolute fantasy". He says the peer is now an independent, having had the Lib Dem whip withdrawn a few years ago after comments she made about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He suggests that she has advocated violence against Israel and her "admiration" for Jeremy Corbyn stems from the fact that they have similar views about the Middle East situation.

Asked about rumours of Labour MPs defecting to his party, Mr Farron says his goal is "not to be a homewrecker" but to provide "a home to Liberals and Social Democrats" wherever they come from. He says it would be "indecent" to say how many Labour people he has had conversations with. While most Labour MPs will "stay and fight", he says that many are "utterly bereft" with the direction of the party and the prospect of a "decade or more of Tory government".  

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Tim Farron rejects claims that he has had too low a profile since becoming Lib Dem leader in July, saying such accusations were "peculiar". He says he travelled to the refugee camp in Calais before David Cameron and senior Labour MPs and has also been campaigning on the issues of housing and green energy. Under his leadership, he says the Lib Dems are the only party that is "socially just and economically credible". 

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More on that financing deal announced by Chancellor George Osborne earlier this morning in China.

He said the UK will guarantee a £2bn deal under which China will invest in the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

Mr Osborne said the deal would pave the way for a final investment decision on the delayed project by French energy company EDF.

He said it would also enable greater collaboration between Britain and China on the construction of nuclear plants.

EDF welcomed the news but did not say if it put the project back on track.

Earlier this month, EDF admitted the Hinkley project in Somerset, which was intended to allow the plant to generate power by 2023, would be delayed.

In February, the French firm announced that it had pushed back its decision on whether to invest in the plant.

The £24.5bn power station would be Britain's first new nuclear power plant for 20 years and is expected to provide power for about 60 years.

Speaking in Beijing at a joint press conference with China's Vice Premier Ma Kai, Mr Osborne said: "We want the UK to be China's best partner in the West. [This guarantee] paves the way for Chinese investment in UK nuclear [to help provide] secure, reliable, low carbon electricity for decades to come."

He also announced a new £50m joint research centre for nuclear energy.

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