Forecasts for the first change in interest rates since 2009 have been pushed further into the future following the latest reports from the Bank of England.

The Bank said that the outlook for global growth had weakened, which was depressing the risk of inflation.

Economists think that indicates rates will not rise until the second quarter of next year and perhaps later.

The Bank once again held UK interest rates at the record low of 0.5%.

Full story here.

Image source, PA

Home Secretary Theresa May has revealed the existence of an MI5 programme to collect vast amounts of data about UK phone calls - how and why was it kept secret?

MI5's bulk communications data programme was so secret that until recently its existence was tightly held even within the headquarters of the security service.

Officials were aware that it could be seen as overly intrusive - especially in the wake of revelations about a similar programme in the US - but they also believed the programme was valuable in finding terrorists.

The programme involved getting hold of phone communications data in bulk - not the content of phone calls but the details of which phones were connecting to other phones and when.

More here.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has seen moderate and Blairite Labour MPs virtually sweep the board in elections to key parliamentary policy roles.

Former members of the Shadow Cabinet and critics of Corbyn, including Caroline Flint, Tristram Hunt, Ivan Lewis, Mike Gapes, Emma Reynolds and Chris Leslie have all been elected to chair the Labour Party Departmental Committees.

Departmental Committee chairs have certain key powers like the right to speak from the dispatch box and to generate and promote ideas in the policy making process. 

Two particularly eye-catching appointments are prominent pro-Trident advocate John Woodcock as Defence chair and former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie to chair the Treasury committee.

Leslie has previously said Corbyn’s economic policy would result in “higher inflation and higher cost of living” which would hit “the very people we should be standing up for”.

Their election is yet another symptom of Corbyn’s alienation from his Parliamentary colleagues and could prove significant in decisions over Labour Party policy on a whole range of issues in the years ahead.

BBC News Channel

Image source, Shadow transport secretary

Lilian Greenwood, shadow transport secretary has said the government was right to take "prompt" and "precautionary" action. However she went on to say there was still uncertainty on how the decision was reached and whether the Sharm el-Sheikh area was safe.

BBC Radio London

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor said the Davies report into airport expansion was a waste of money and predicted that a third runway at Heathrow would never be built.

When asked if he thought the Davies report had been a waste of public money, he replied: "I think so, yes."

Under the previous Labour leadership the party was in favour of another runway. Now the policy is under review.  

BBC Radio London

The shadow chancellor and London MP John McDonnell has dismissed concerns that Labour MPs who oppose Jeremy Corbyn could be deselected, as being "absolute rubbish".

BBC Radio London

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor said tax credits wouldn't be needed if the government made the living wage compulsory.

BBC Monitoring

Text of "Telephone conversation with British Prime Minister David Cameron" published on the Russian presidential website on 5 November

A telephone conversation has taken place between [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron on the initiative of the British side.

The leaders exchanged opinions about the situation regarding the crash of the Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula [on 31 October]. Vladimir Putin stressed that in assessing the causes of the incident one must use data that will emerge during the ongoing official investigation.

The question of the joint fight against international terrorism was also discussed    

The Daily Politics

Andrew Neil looked at UK relations with Egypt and the the visit of President Sisi to London, when he heard from Tim Marshall, a former foreign affairs editor of Sky News, and Sir Gerald Howarth, Conservative MP and former defence minister who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Egypt. 

Labour MP Diane Abbott was not impressed that the UK had invited him to visit, but backed speaking to leaders the UK does not agree with, over issues such as human rights.  

The Daily Politics

MPs have debated plans to give security services greater powers to intercept the communications of internet users in the UK. 

Home Secretary Theresa May said the draft Investigatory Powers Bill would allow officers to see a list of websites visited without needing a warrant, but safeguards were in place to ensure the content of a person's browsing history was not immediately accessible. 

On the Daily Politics, Labour's Diane Abbott said it was a "much better bill" due to the involvement of judges and her party would put the bill under scrutiny. 

The shadow international development secretary said: "l have to admit to the fact that I have a slight element of bias, because I was the subject of undercover policing in another life."  

The Daily Politics

Lord Archer said it was "wonderful" if Jeremy Corbyn's election has helped see a rise in the sales of political literature - although the novelist was not convinced that left-leaning books were topping the best-seller lists.

The author and former MP also spoke to Jo Coburn about what books were popular during the Thatcher era.

Labour's Diane Abbott, meanwhile, was asked if she would be getting the new Jeremy Corbyn colouring book for Christmas.  

Diane Abbott defended her handling of a Stop the War panel discussion on Syria, after being accused of not allowing Syrians to speak.

The shadow international development secretary told the Daily Politics she was not responsible for determining the panel, but said she did call a Syrian to contribute to the debate.

Muzna, who was at the event in Parliament, said Ms Abbott did not give Syrian victims of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a fair hearing. She said Stop the War wanted to apply their “theory of non-intervention" without hearing any of the facts, and to legitimise Assad - a charge which Ms Abbott strongly denied. 

Labour MP Frank Field has called the government's commitment to a National Living Wage a "revolutionary move". He was speaking at a Resolution Foundation event looking at proposed tax credit changes.

Mr Field said: 

This changed the whole welfare debate, he said, adding that the proper role of welfare was to "take on those costs that no capitalist system is able to take on, and that is to vary wage packets depending on the numbers of children in a family". He called this a "legitimate role" for a reformed tax credit system.

Mr Field said the government now realised it no longer had a majority in the House of Commons in respect of its proposed reforms to tax credits.

Other speakers at the event included Julia Unwin, Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Mr Field had some harsh words for the organisation, saying: "Although I welcome the contribution that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation makes, I do think it becomes less and less relevant as each year goes on." 

He added: "Each year it moves further away from the electorate which will decide the elections, and I'm interested in winning elections because by winning elections you may well be able to make changes."

Ms Unwin did not respond to the comments.