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"Be brave, be bold and let us collectively do the right thing," Ian Blackford tells MPs, as he urges them to vote for the motion later.

Tabled by Labour, the motion calls on the government "to reverse its decision to cut tax credits, which is due to come into effect in April 2016".

The vote would not be binding on the government but a government defeat could apply pressure on ministers to rethink the proposals.

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For the SNP, Ian Blackford says the party "wholly opposes" the changes to tax credits, saying there are "nothing more than an attack on low income families". He claims the reforms will increase poverty. Quoting David Cameron as saying he wants to wage a war against poverty, he contends "this is a war against the poor".  

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Damian Hands, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, maintains the government line that the new national living wage, increases in the personal tax allowance and expanded childcare will compensate people for the money lost by the reforms. He tells MPs decisions "haven't been easy" but insists they are necessary to get down the deficit and ensure "economic security".

Damian Hinds says the government's reforms go "hand-in-hand" with the "new settlement for working Britain" set out by the chancellor in his Budget.

He notes that "more than 200" firms have said they intend to pay staff at or above the new national living wage before the changes are implemented.

And he cites freezes in council tax and fuel duty, and expanded childcare as examples of other help he says the government is providing.

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Independent North Down MP Sylvia Hermon says she feels "embarrassed" for having voted for the tax credit changes, explaining that she only did so because of clear assurances "that there would be mitigation of the worst effects".

She informs the government front bench she'll vote against the cuts tonight unless the minister sets out what it will do to protect the lowest paid.

Treasury minister Damian Hinds insists the reforms are "the right thing to do" - for recipients and for the country.

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Time now for the government to respond to the debate, and it is Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Damian Hinds who bats from the front bench. He tells MPs that "protecting people's economic security is and always has been the government's priority".

"Our mission is to get wages up, tax down and welfare under control," he says. He adds that the reforms need to be understood as part of a package of wider reforms, including an increased personal allowance, more free childcare and increases in the National Living Wage.

He goes on to criticise Labour's economic record in office, saying it left a £153bn deficit in 2010.

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Wrapping up her remarks, Seema Malhotra claims the tax credits changes will "hit the poorest the hardest". She says the policy is at odds with David Cameron's arguments that the Conservatives are the party of the common ground and the workers. It's "poor politics" and "poor economics", she says of the policy.

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Labour's shadow Treasury minister Seema Malhotra quotes the IFS as saying increases in the National Living Wage will not compensate for the losses experienced by tax credit recipients. She also accuses the government and Tory MPs of being focused on statistics, "when this is a debate about people's lives".

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Several Conservative MPs have intervened to ask how Labour would pay to reverse the reforms, as it has pledged to do if it wins power. Ms Malhotra says through "long-term growth" and "investment in skills" - but she's cut short by deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing who tries to quieten down MPs who are shouting from their seats.  

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The government is balancing the books "on the backs of the poor", argues Seema Malhotra in what is turning out to be a bad-tempered debate already. She says the government has "tried to hide the impact" on families of the changes. The shadow Treasury minister attacks George Osborne, saying the chancellor is cutting taxes for the wealthiest while taking away from the poorest in society.

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Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith and Conservative MP Stephen McPartland debated the government plans to make cuts to tax credits.

The Tory MP claimed the plan was "punishing people who get up and got out to work, and are trying to work their way out of poverty".

They spoke to Jo Coburn on Tuesday's Daily Politics, along with economist Lina Yueh, but no Treasury Minister was available.

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The tax credits debate is under way in the Commons. Opening for Labour, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Seema Malhotra says three million families are set to lose an average of £1,300 next April, as a result of the changes. It is "deeply disappointing" the government has not chosen to "rethink" its proposals, she says. 

The IRA's ruling body, the 'army council' still exists, but has a "wholly political focus", says the Northern Ireland secretary.

Theresa Villiers was detailing the findings of an official assessment of paramilitary activity in NI, external.

The report was commissioned after the murder of Kevin McGuigan Sr in Belfast in August.

The police's belief that current IRA members may have been involved in the killing led to a political crisis.

Sinn Féin insists that the Provisional IRA has gone away and no longer exists.

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Rivals parties have criticised Business Secretary Sajid Javid over the crisis in the UK steel industry. 

Tata Steel has announced nearly 1,200 job losses at its plants in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire.

They are the latest in a series of job losses across the UK steel sector, following news that administrators have been appointed to parts of Caparo Industries' steel operations.

Labour's shadow business secretary Angela Eagle accuses Mr Javid of a "laissez faire" attitude and of assuming "that the markets ought to do this and that governments have no role".

The SNP's Fergus Ewing accuses the government of a "hands-off" approach. He said ministers had failed to press for EU anti-dumping measures, and to implement promised measures to reduce energy costs.

The Daily Politics

Tata Steel has announced nearly 1,200 job losses at its plants in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire, with the sites being mothballed. 

On the Daily Politics, Jo Coburn heard from Matt Ball in Community, the steelworkers' union, and the SNP's Business Minister Fergus Ewing, who chairs the Scottish government's steel taskforce, about the efforts to save the plants and jobs. 

A British pensioner sentenced to 350 lashes in Saudi Arabia is unlikely to receive his punishment, according to the foreign secretary.

There have been concerns Karl Andree will receive the lashing in addition to having served more than a year in prison for possessing contraband alcohol in the conservative state.

The prime minister has previously said he'd take up the case, and today Philip Hammond told MPs said he thought the beating wouldn't be carried out.

In answer to a question from Labour MP Andrew Slaughter he said: "I've said on many occasions previously, when I've been asked to comment on these judicial matters in Saudi Arabia in the House (of Commons), our judgement is that we achieve most by speaking privately but regularly to our Saudi interlocutors.

"Let me say to him that I do not expect Mr Andree to receive the lashings that he has been sentenced to."

Mr Hammond said he also thought a Saudi teenager - whose case was raised by Labour's Leader Jeremy Corbyn during his conference speech - would not be put to death.

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was condemned to execution for participating in a protest when he was 17.