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Downing Street has warned the House of Lords against trying to halt the planned cuts to tax credits.

Number 10 says any move to block the changes would be " unprecedented and unconstitutional".

Peers are threatening to table a so called "fatal motion" to kill off the changes. 

But Number 10 says the Lords has no constitutional right to block financial measures.

Talks are continuing in the Lords today over whether to press ahead with the "fatal motion" which Crossbench peer Baroness Meacher has threatened to table.

She has until the end of today to put down a motion.

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Was there a notable change in MPs' speeches when the Commons was televised? Yes, the former political editor of the Press Association Chris Moncrieff says, "because in the 600-odd crowd there are many brash and egotistical people... and there was a lot of playing to the gallery". You could usually tell from a new MP's first speech whether they'd be "a pain in the neck in the future, because they'd be brash", adds Chris Moncrieff

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Chris Moncrieff also praises SNP MP Maihri Black's maiden speech performance, when the 20-year-old attacked the government's austerity programme. He says it was "a magnificent speech" and that the youngest MP "gripped the House even though she broke nearly all the rules".

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Yesterday, during a Labour-led debate on tax credits, Conservative MP Heidi Allen said her party risked betraying its values as she voiced her opposition to the cuts planned by the government.

It was her first speech on the floor of the House of Commons since being elected to Parliament in May.

Chris Moncrieff, former political editor of the Press Assocation, says Ms Allen's speech was "especially unusual" as she broke with tradition to make a controversial maiden speech - and one which attacked her own party, "which was breaking the rules twice over".

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Put to him that the fines are affordable to some but not others, Nick Gibb says there has been a significant fall in absences during term-time. Parents can avoid the fine by not taking unauthorised leave, he adds. He acknowledges headteachers can sometimes make mistakes but rejects that the rules are being "overzealously policed".

The schools minister insists that children cannot get a good education unless they attend schools. We want children to attend every day, Nick Gibb adds.  

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Schools Minister Nick Gibb defends the current rules on term time holidays. He says the government is determined the raise the prospects and educational attainments of British schoolchildren - and attending school is part of that, he argues.

He says the rules allow headteachers discretion in "exceptional circumstances", for example a funeral.

So why was the ban implemented in 2013? Mr Gibb says the rules were tightened as there was a growing impression that every parent was entitled to take their kids out of term for two weeks a year. One week's absence can harm a child's educational attainment at GCSE, he adds.

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Strict new rules on term-time holidays - including fines - were introduced two years ago to crack down on absence.

But the Local Government Association has called for a "common sense approach" to be applied to parents in England taking children out of school for holidays.

Craig Langham, who founded 'Parents Want A Say' which campaigns against the fines, says truancy is separate from term-time holidays. He suggests headteachers should be allowed discretion on a case-by-case basis, rather than a blanket ban which, he says, is "not practical".

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As mentioned, China's leader is expected to put the seal later on its contribution to what will be the first UK nuclear power plant to be built in a generation.

The plant could be opened by 2025 at Hinkley Point, in Somerset, with China likely to cover about 30% of the cost.

President Xi Jinping is meeting Prime Minister David Cameron later, on the second day of his UK state visit.

More than £30bn worth of deals between the UK and China are expected to be struck during the four-day visit.

The plant will be built by French energy firm EDF, in conjunction with a consortium led by Chinese state-owned nuclear company CGN.

Two other nuclear power stations, at Sizewell in Suffolk, and Bradwell in Essex, could follow as part of the deal with China.

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Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of political developments today. The key event of the day is set to be, as always on a Wednesday, the noon clash between David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons. But there's lots of other stuff going on, most notably the second full day of the Chinese President's state visit.