Summary

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping on state visit to UK - has addressed UK Parliament

  • Ex-Labour minister Lord Warner quits the party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership

  • The Treasury defends proposed tax credit cuts ahead of a Labour debate and vote

Live Reporting

Alex Hunt and Pippa Simm

  1. Watch: Warner's gloomy assessment of Labour's prospects

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

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  2. Warner: Labour faces 'existential threat'

    Labour faces an "existential threat" if Jeremy Corbyn remains as leader,  one of the party's former ministers has said.

    Lord Warner - who resigned from the party on Monday night - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Labour could be out of power for 15 years without a change in direction.

    If it doesn't change itself very rapidly indeed, it hasn't a hope in hell of winning an election in 2020 or indeed in 2025... It has to understand why a large number of people chose to vote for four other parties on 7 May. It hasn't done that re-examination. I want to try and push it to do that and I think the best way I can do that is to make a stand and leave the party."

    Lord Warner, a health minister in the last Labour government, listed his other reasons for quitting the party as: the "bizarre" and "unacceptable" process by which Mr Corbyn was elected,  and because the people around the leader appear to be "anything but a government in waiting".

    He said he was not encouraging others to leave the party, was not joining any other party and would continue to be a "traditional, centre-left" politician.

  3. Hammond interview on Today

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and Chinese President Xi JinpingAP

    Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the UK last night for the start of a four-day state visit which David Cameron has said hails a "golden era" in ties between the two countries. It's the first Chinese state visit for 10 years.

    Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond says Britain isn't "naive" and the government has its "eyes wide open". He says it's in Britain's national interest to open up trade and investment with the country.

  4. Labour minister on leaving the party

    Lord Warner

    Here's a bit of background on Lord Warner, the former Labour minister who has just said on the Today programme he thinks the party "hasn't got a hope in hell" of winning under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

    In his resignation letter, the peer said Labour was "no longer a credible party of government-in-waiting".

    Labour sources told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg the resignation was "ego-driven" and Lord Prescott said Lord Warner was "no great loss".

    Read more

  5. Lord Warner: Labour's not got a 'hope in hell'

    BBC assistant political editor

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  6. Hammond: National security is top priority

    BBC Breakfast

    Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond

    When asked whether he was worried about allowing investment in parts of the country's critical national infrastructure by the Chinese, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tells BBC Breakfast that the UK's national security is the government's top priority. He  added, referring to fears that without Chinese investment in nuclear power plants there could be power cuts ahead: 

    Our national security depends on our economic security and nothing would undermine our national security more quickly than 'brown outs'."

  7. Good morning

    Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of political developments. We'll bring you all the latest developments in text and video on a day which looks set to be dominated by the Chinese state visit.