Image source, Labour Party

Labour MP Stephen Doughty has been appointed a shadow Foreign Office minister, with responsibility for Africa, South-Asia and international organisation.

Announcing the appointment, shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn MP said:

Image source, AP

Former Australian PM Tony Abbott has said Europe should follow his country and close its borders to migrants fleeing Middle Eastern conflicts.

Mr Abbott made the comments in London, where he was speaking at the second annual Margaret Thatcher lecture.

He said "misguided altruism" was "leading much of Europe into catastrophic error".

Under Mr Abbott, Australia introduced border controls that stopped migrant boats reaching the country.

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Put to Mr Timmermans that EU countries sign up to ever closer union in EU treaties, he says "we need to clarify what that means".

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Asked about the UK's EU renegotiations ahead of the in/out referendum, Frans Timmermans says it's "fair enough" for Britain to say it doesn't want to be forced into an ever closer union in the EU.

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Pressed further on the impact of the migrants crisis, Frans Timmermans, European Commission vice president, says Britain is already in a position to control its own borders - but says European states that are not EU members, such as Norway and Switzerland, still see the migrant crisis as their problem, so "I'm not sure leaving the EU would make things better" for Britain.

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"There is a lack of trust between EU countries," says EC vice-president Timmermans - saying the migrant crisis affecting Europe also reveals "a lack of confidence" between member states, which "we need to do something about".

He says that those countries in Europe who are not EU members also see the migrant crisis as their crisis too:

There needs to be a degree of burden-sharing of migrants and refugees among EU countries, he adds.

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Asked about the "tampon tax" - and the level of VAT that can be levied on sanitary products - Frans Timmermans says the EU is launching a VAT reform, which could consider the matter. He says it would be "perfectly reasonable" for Britain to ask for an exemption on this.

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David Cameron's Iceland trip comes on the day the European Commission sets out its agenda for the next year.

Frans Timmermans, first vice-president of the Commission, says the EU needs to make sure that more people affected by EU regulations are involved in their drafting. He also stresses the need for the EU to be less bureaucratic.

"We need to do a better job in Brussels but we also need to clarify what national governments do," he says, arguing that too often member states blame regulation on the European Union when they have imposed the extra burdens themselves.

"There's too much red tape," he adds.

Ministers have made progress in reducing benefit fraud and error but their efforts reveal a "paucity of ambition", a committee of MPs has said.

Despite fraud and error in tax credit payments falling from 8.1% of total spend in 2010-11 to 4.4% in 2013-4, the Public Accounts Committee said £4.6bn was still overpaid to claimants.

Labour MP Meg Hillier said "too much money had gone where it shouldn't".

But the government said levels of overpayment were at record lows.

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What else is in the news this morning? Well, the UK business secretary has called for an emergency EU meeting to discuss the crisis in the steel industry.

Sajid Javid, who will meet European commissioners on Wednesday to discuss the sector, has been contacting member states on the need for urgent action.

The move comes as steel workers prepare to lobby MPs after thousands of jobs were lost at plants in recent weeks.

The industry blames cheap Chinese imports and high energy costs for the collapse in steel prices.

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Image source, Science Photo Library

Prime Minister David Cameron is in for a busy day. After his noon clash with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other MPs at PMQs, he is heading to Iceland (the country rather than the frozen food retailer). He is due to meet Iceland's and other northern European PMs with the focus set to be on his plans to renegotiate the UK's membership of the EU - and a first hand look at what life is like for countries that are in Europe but not in the European Union.

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Hello and welcome to our coverage of all things political on what is a very wet Westminster Wednesday morning. The main event of the day is set to be Prime Minister's Questions at noon but there's plenty of other things happening...