Responding to reports that Caparo Industries is likely to go into administration, the shadow business secretary Angela Eagle, said it was a further blow to the steel industry. She said the government must use this week's visit by the Chinese President to raise the issue of anti-competitive dumping which is driving down steel prices: 

The Daily Politics

In case you missed it earlier, here's Labour's Dawn Butler saying the government promised not to cut tax credits, and her claim that "David Cameron lied".

Speaking to Jo Coburn on Daily Politics, she said she could not make her claim in the House of Commons, but could on TV.

Ms Butler was discussing the issue, and the broader question of where the different political parties stood on welfare changes and the living wage, with Conservative Liam Fox, and UKIP's Douglas Carswell.

Image source, AP

On the same day David Cameron launches the government's strategy to tackle extremism the European Parliament is also looking at the problem. The French MEP and former minister Rachida Dati, who drafted the report, says an estimated 5,000 European citizens have joined terrorist organisations fighting in Iraq and Syria. Read her report here. Link, external

Commenting on the government's counter-extremism measures, David Cameron said it was important to "recognise that the poison of extremism is corrupting young minds". 

The prime minister said the public would be able to measure how effective the government's approach was by seeing if people are being turned away from extremism. He added: 

UKIP's economics spokesman Mark Reckless said the party supported reform but the government has got implementation of the policy wrong.

But he criticised the timing of the changes and said UKIP would phase in the main cut to tax credits - instead of cutting the tax credit income threshold from £6,420 to £3,850 in one fell swoop in April 2016, UKIP would phase in the reduction evenly in five steps from 2016 until 2020: 

Image source, PA

There is a change to the running order in Parliament this afternoon. The urgent question on grammar school expansion will not now take place as the government has decided to make an oral statement on the issue instead. The knock-on effect of all this is that David Cameron's statement on last week's European Council meeting will now take precedence and take place at 15.30 BST. The grammar school statement will come about an hour later. 

According to the Guardian, external, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is facing calls for an investigation into why 14 cleaners at the Foreign Office employed by contractor Interserve could face disciplinary measures for raising the issue of their low wages with him. Labour have added their voice to those calling for a review. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA

On the World at One, Becky Milligan has been speaking to voters in Stoke-on-Trent as to why they did not vote in the last general election. Turnout actually rose to 66% in May, the highest level since 1997, but still a third of registered voters did not bother to cast a vote. Tristram Hunt, one of the city's MPs, lists some of the reasons why people did not vote Labour, citing its position on immigration, welfare and the public finances and concerns about its leadership. He tells her.

Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox has resigned from parliament's sleaze watchdog after failing to declare hundreds of thousands of pounds of outside income on time. The QC apologised and referred himself to the standards commissioner after breaking time limits on reporting earnings from hundreds of hours of legal work. According to the latest register of members' financial interests, the Torridge and West Devon MP received £325,000 on 15/16 June this year for 500 hours of work carried out between June 2014 and March 2015. Under Commons rules external income needs to be registered within 28 days, but the sum was not declared to the authorities until 30 September.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The independent peer Baroness Meacher - who's putting forward a motion in the House of Lords to try to amend the government's plans to cut tax credits - has called on ministers to "think again and protect the very, very bottom". 

Speaking on Radio 4's World at One, she said the Conservatives "shouldn't be taking money away from the very poor, disadvantaged and disabled" adding "it is wrong". She said she expected "a lot" of Tories to back her amendment.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP

Lord True, the Conservative leader of Richmond Council, says it is "not appropriate" for the cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to get involved in the issue of airport capacity and what ministers can or cannot say. Whatever decision the government makes, it is likely to be subject to legal review, he says.

Image source, PA

More from Boris Johnson's interview on World at One. Asked about the cabinet secretary's memo to ministers urging them not to comment publicly on the potential expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick, he says he does not believes there is anything "particularly sinister" in it. Given the sensitive nature of the decision about increasing airport capacity, he says it seems sensible for ministers to do nothing that gives the impression that they have already made up their mind. Mr Johnson, a strong opponent of a new Heathrow runway who is not in the cabinet, has not received a letter, he points out and he goes on to argue that MPs whose constituencies are likely to be directly affected should be able to "speak their mind in a free and frank way" as the risk of a legal challenge is, in his opinion, relatively "trivial". 

The Daily Politics

The former head of GCHQ told the Daily Politics earlier the UK was right to be concerned about potential exploitation of security gaps in future nuclear power plants built with the aid of Chinese companies.

Sir David Omand, who was head of the agency between 1996 and 1997, and later served as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, said he welcomed a public announcement that a team of GCHQ experts were working together with coders from a Chinese company to ensure that there were no "trapdoors" built in to the software, which would allow the Chinese to undermine the plants’ performance. He said:

When asked if the UK was right to be suspicious of the Chinese in this regard, he said:

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

London mayor Boris Johnson says the tax credit system as it stands "cannot go on" and the government is "brave and right" to try and reform it, telling the BBC that there are "poverty traps and cliffs" aplenty in the current regime. 

But Johnson, who is a Tory MP as well as mayor, tells the BBC that people are right to be concerned about anything which "bears down unfairly on the working poor" and ministers must do their utmost to "minimise the impact". He suggests the plans are currently the subject of "the most intense review and consultation" and insists a way through can be found to address the current concerns. 

BBC Monitoring

BBC monitoring reports that the China Daily website says President Xi Jinping's visit will feature many highlights including the state banquet given by the Queen as well as a visit to Manchester City. 

But the state-run publication says the visit is more about "diplomatic realism" and while "it's too early to talk about a love story" there is a better relationship between China and the UK " warmth in the air does seem to show the relationship is coming of age".

The China Daily goes on to say neither side needs to "forsake its own principles to get along" but the UK needs investment and Chinese investors are looking for opportunities: 

John Cridland, Director-General of the employers group the CBI, said:

The Daily Politics

UKIP MP Douglas Carswell tells the Daily Politics it's time for a new Bill of Rights. The original Bill was drawn up because the relationship between the state and the individual needed defining  "in the age of mass data maybe we need to redefine it with some basic law".

Frank Field MP told the Daily Politics on BBC2 he hopes the House of Lords will vote against the government's planned cuts to tax credits. He said the Lords will be looking at whether they approve of this measure. And as this measure was not in the manifesto he hopes that, led by crossbench peers, they will defeat the Government.

In addition Mr Field is calling for a debate in the House of Commons on what he calls an alternative "cost-neutral" plan to soften the effect of the changes on those with the lowest incomes.  

Mr Field also claimed that pressure from Conservative MPs to soften the cuts was also "being applied in the most intense form" to the prime minister and the chancellor.

The Daily Politics

Liam Fox has told the Daily Politics that cabinet ministers should be allowed to speak freely in the run up to the referendum on EU membership: 

He added "David Cameron... can enforce collective cabinet responsibility, but only on those willing to accept it as individuals"