The UK government has set out plans to provide extra resources to "moderate armed opposition groups" in southern Syria. 

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a written statement to Parliament that a total budget of £5m had been set aside for two types of support: one medical, the other a "border force project". 

The statement says the equipment will be "non-lethal" and includes "radios designed to use encryption, observation cameras with thermal imaging technology, chargers and a low grade of protective vests.    

Image source, PA

Lord Rennard has quit the Liberal Democrats' ruling body after party leader Tim Farron publicly called on him to stand down. 

Lord Rennard said he had agreed to withdraw from the federal executive in the "interests of party unity" despite being elected on to the top team by peers last week. 

Lord Rennard's suspension from the Lib Dems was lifted last year after disciplinary action linked to allegations of pestering women was dropped.

Lib Dem members had called for a special conference to be held to amend party rules to stop members of the House of Lords sitting on the executive.

Mr Farron warned that such a conference would harm the party by diverting "considerable time, energy and resource" away from its "growing fightback" after electoral wipeout in May. 

Calling for Lord Rennard to step down, he said: "Chris was entitled to stand for election and the Lords were entitled to elect him. That does not mean his decision to put himself forward was in the best interests of the party." 

The Daily Politics

Labour MP Yvette Cooper has weighed into the debate about Jeremy Corbyn's unhappiness with the police "shoot to kill" policy.

She told the Daily Politics: "We've got a long standing legal framework which allows for the use of lethal force where we have an imminent threat to life. That legal framework is important and needs to continue."

She added: "I disagree with what he (Jeremy Corbyn) said yesterday."

The former shadow home secretary, who was beaten to the Labour leadership by Mr Corbyn, told the programme that she had not spoken to Mr Corbyn about what he said but she added Labour had to support the police and security services "in a very difficult job that they need to do".

The French government has taken the unprecedented stop of invoking an article of the Lisbon Treaty requiring EU member states to provide "aid and assistance by all the means in their power" to a member that is "the victim of armed aggression on its territory".

French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said EU partners could help "either by taking part in France's operations in Syria or Iraq, or by easing the load or providing support for France in other operations". 

UKIP claims this could pave the way for British troops to be "dragged into" conflict without the backing of MPs.

The party's defence spokesman Mike Hookem said:

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

In the last few days Westminster's focus has naturally been on how the UK government responds to the attacks in Paris. But this most stark demonstration of the threat to national security is starting to cause quite serious problems for the - not so new any more - Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Many Labour MPs were shocked after he told me he would not be happy with the police or security forces shooting to kill on our streets, casting doubt over the legality of the strike on Jihadi John, and appearing to suggest that his MPs would not be allowed to vote with their conscience on any potential military action in Syria.

For his supporters, those positions are quite consistent with his well-known objections to violence in any forms, and may be heartening, refreshing and principled. In turn, those are some of the positions that Labour MPs in the more right-wing strands of the party find hardest to stomach.

But here's the rub. In recent days, and at last night's stormy meeting of Labour MPs, some of those in the centre of the party, members of the 'Make it Work' brigade, who took jobs in Jeremy Corbyn's team to help keep the party together, were among those expressing anger and disbelief, not just at the views that Mr Corbyn had articulated, but how during the meeting he did not, in some of their opinions, answer the questions that were put.

And in the words of one, he just tried to "waffle his way through". Frankly, I have rarely heard reactions like it. One moderate shadow minister told me, as Corbyn struggled to answer questions on Syria and security, "I am trying to respect the mandate he has but I felt physically sick, I just couldn't stand it", going on to say, "He is not fit to be our leader or in any senior position in this country".

Read Laura's blog in full

The Daily Politics

Tuesday's guest of the day on the Daily Politics is Nazir Afzal, former chief of the Crown Prosecution Service in North West England. He'll be joining Jo Coburn in the studio from 12:00 to 13:00 GMT.

Also on the programme: ex-Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper; Labour MP John Woodcock; Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat and UKIP's London mayoral candidate Mike Nettle - to discuss Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's shoot-to-kill view, how to tackle IS and the consequences of the Paris attacks on the migrant crisis.

And Conservative MP Rehman Chishti and Miqdaad Versi from the Muslim Council of Britain will be speaking about how to counter home-grown extremism.

Tune in at 12:00 GMT on BBC Two, or view the programme online by clicking on the 'Live Coverage' tab above.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has called on Lord Rennard to step down from the party's Federal Executive Committee following opposition to his election to the position, Lib Dem voice reports, external. Mr Farron said:

The chancellor is giving a speech in Cheltenham, setting out a "national cyber plan" toprotect against hackers. He tells the audience the internet was "the preserve of academics" when he was born, and few would have predicted how it would change the world. These days, measures are needed to protect against the "warped sophistication" of the UK's enemies, he says, and the "stakes could hardly be higher" if vital services were hacked.

The Department for Work and Pensions, which had been locked in a dispute with the Treasury over budget cuts, is among those to have reached a deal. Read more on this story

Chancellor George Osborne said the latest figures (CPI inflation remains at -0.1%) "continues to mean household budgets are going further".

He added:

UK inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) remained at -0.1% in October, figures show.

The news will further dampen expectations of a rise in interest rates any time soon.

Earlier this month, the Bank of England said that the outlook for global growth had weakened, which was depressing the risk of inflation.

Following this report, many economists forecast that rates would not rise until well into next year.

Read the full story

The Huffington Post

Conservative MP and former Army captain Johnny Mercer has questioned the need to seek a cross-party consensus on military intervention. In a Huffington Post blog, external, he says:

France has mobilised 115,000 security personnel in the wake of Friday's Paris attacks by Islamist militants, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said.

Mr Cazeneuve said 128 more raids on suspected militants were carried out. French air strikes also hit Islamic State in Syria overnight.

IS has said it carried out the attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in which 129 people died.

A huge manhunt is under way for one of the suspects, Salah Abdeslam.

He is believed to have fled across the border to his native Belgium. Belgian police have released more pictures of the wanted man.

Read more

French officials investigating the deadly Paris attacks have named seven people they believe to have carried out the assaults, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

One of the seven was detained by Belgian police and has since been released without charge, according to his lawyer.

Two other attackers who died in Friday's violence have not yet been named.

Below are brief profiles of each suspect.

Click here to read details of the attackers

Faith institutions should have to declare all sources of funding as part of efforts to counter radicalisation, UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said.

Young Muslims were having "poison dripped into their ear" through "foreign-funded" mosques, he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron said liberal values would prevail in what he called a "battle of ideas".

Muslim leaders have condemned the Paris attacks, saying there is "nothing Islamic" about the perpetrators.

Read more

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn has said it is "perfectly reasonable" for police to shoot those who are a threat to life, after Jeremy Corbyn questioned the policy.

The Labour leader had said on Monday he was "not happy with the shoot-to-kill policy in general".

But Mr Benn said  while he could not "speak for Jeremy in relation to the particular circumstances he was thinking about",  it was "right and reasonable" to use lethal force when necessary.

Read more

US Secretary of State John Kerry has described Islamic State (IS) militants as "psychopathic monsters" following Friday's deadly attacks in Paris.

Mr Kerry, in Paris for talks with President Hollande, said the US stood "shoulder to shoulder" with France.

Mr Hollande says France is committed to destroying IS. French air strikes hit the militants in Syria overnight.

IS has said it carried out the attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in which 129 people died.

A huge manhunt is still under way for a suspected member of the group, Salah Abdeslam, who was believed to have fled across the border to his native Belgium.

Belgian police have released more pictures of the suspect.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Islamic State militants are trying to develop the ability to launch deadly cyber-attacks on UK targets, Chancellor George Osborne will say.

He is set to double UK funding to fight cybercrime to £1.9bn a year by 2020.

Mr Osborne said lives could be lost if hackers gained control of the nation's electricity supply, air traffic control systems or hospitals.

Armed police are to be deployed at a football match between England and France at Wembley Stadium later.

Mr Osborne's speech comes after IS said it was behind Friday's attacks in which 129 people were killed in bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in Paris. The victims included Briton Nick Alexander from Essex.

Read more