BBC News Channel

Employment minister Priti Patel said the government is "doing the right thing" by continuing with its reforms to tax credits.They have been heavily criticised by the work and pensions committee today.

She says the government inherited an unsustainable welfare and tax credits system, which rose from £6 billion to £30 billion, and needs to be reformed.

As mentioned via our colleague Karl Mercer's tweets earlier, Boris Johnson, mayor of London, has been banned from attending events in the West Bank during his trip to Israel.

It came after security fears stemming from comments, external he made, in which he said people calling for a trade boycott of Israel were "really just a bunch of corduroy jacketed academics".

Israel is "the only democracy in the region" with a "pluralist, open society", he went on to say. 

There has been a backlash from Palestinians angry over the remarks. 

Following on from employment numbers showing more people are in work in the UK, the Institute of Directors say it is "further proof that a vibrant economy is the best route to vibrant labour market".

They say the employment rate has increased because businesses "have powered this recovery". They add low inflation has helped companies to take on more staff and offer pay rises.

As pay increases, the Institute of Directors say hours might be reduced but added "this should not be mistaken for ‘underemployment'".

Image source, Reuters

Karl Andree, a British man who was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for possessing alcohol has arrived back in the UK.

He was released shortly after the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited the country.

Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent, says 

Image source, Twitter

Gerard Barker aka 'the British guy' stole the show last night at the US Republican debate. 

Mr Barker is the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal and was moderating the debate. 

He had audiences on Twitter, at first, wowed by accent and cordial manner, although his ratings later took a bit of a dive.

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A Conservative MP has called on the chancellor to "pause" plans to reduce tax credits, if he cannot immediately mitigate the impact of the cuts.

Craig Williams said such a pause would "give the treasury and work pensions department more time to look at the system".

He said the tax credit system was "not sustainable", but added: "We thought the way it's going through now it needed a lot more mitigation in terms of the next financial year especially."

The Cardiff North MP and member of the work and pensions select committee said the system needed reform.

The UK unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low of 5.3% in the three months to September, new figures show.  

It was the lowest jobless rate since the second quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics said., external

The number of people out of work fell by 103,000 between July and September to 1.75 million.

There were 31.21 million people in work, 177,000 more than for the April-to-June quarter and 419,000 more than in the same period a year earlier.

The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail was unimpressed with the four requests David Cameron set out in a speech on Britain's relationship with the European Union, saying "is that it?".

They referred to the letter Mr Cameron wrote to Donald Tusk the president of the European Council as "oh-so-timid" and a "flimsy bit of paper". 

The Mail says the letter shows Mr Cameron "wants practically nothing" and what he does say is "so vague as to be practically meaningless". 

The UK's withdrawal from EU would be a hammer-blow to our partners, the Mail says, and Mr Cameron should use it to make greater demands.

They declared he had "thrown in the towel before the bell has sounded for round one".

The Daily Telegraph

So how have newspapers reacted to David Cameron's speech on Britain's relationship with the European Union.

The Daily Telegraph said "a fundamental change to Britain's position in the EU is not anticipated and is not even being requested".

It said it was "more about stopping Britain being drawn further into an integrated superstate, rather than repatriating powers".

The paper said Mr Cameron would face difficulty on changing rules around migrants claiming benefits, and wondered whether those changes would have any impact on immigration. 

BBC News Channel

Image source, BBc

Frank Field, head of the work and pensions committee says the measures the Chancellor would like to implement to cut tax credits are "dive bombing" people who are working.

He says the changes "literally affect some of the very poorest people who actually go to work and do strive".

Need a recap on what tax credits actually are? Don't be fooled by the name: they are little to do with tax. Unlike tax "reliefs", people need not be paying any tax to receive tax "credits". 

Tax credits are essentially a means of re-distributing income by paying money to a) families raising children and b) working people on low incomes. To their critics, they are a handout. To supporters, vital to relieving poverty.

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The Guardian

Gordon Brown, former prime minister and chancellor, writes in the Guardian, external that tax credits are a lifeline for families saying Osborne is wrong to slash them.

He says "only a total abandonment of the cuts will correct his mistakes" and that only hard working families would lose out. 

Gordon Brown, who resigned as Labour leader after his party lost power at the 2010 General Election, introduced the tax credits system in his first term as chancellor.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

MPs are being challenged to eat deep fried meal worms, chilli ants and lollipops with bugs in them.  

Bob Stewart, MP says he tried "curried crickets, Christmas pudding meal worms, plain roasted locus and cheddar cheese meal worms - quite a nice dinner actually."

He added his favourite was the plain roasted locus and he "quite like salt and vinegar flavoured crickets".

Money raised would be going to charity for "anyone brave enough to give it a go".