The Daily Politics

Outspoken former Apprentice contestant Katie Hopkins was this week described by Donald Trump as a "respected columnist" after she backed his controversial views on Muslims.

Ms Hopkins, who writes for Mail Online, returned the compliment, saying the Republican presidential hopeful (and former star of the US Apprentice) had shown "leadership" for calling for a ban on Muslims entering the US.

She says it "annoys" her the Muslim community in the UK do not "stand up and separate themselves enough for my liking" from terrorism that happens.

She says Mr Trump has "millions of supporters" and thinks there is support for him in the UK as well.

She says "we have lost control" saying "certain areas" in the UK are no-go areas.

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Lord Prescott, speaking about the climate change conference, he says "it's diplomacy by exhaustion" as he recalls his experience of Kyoto in 1992.

He says world leaders will need to decide "what is the fair burden for each country to carry?"

He says severe weather is helping to concentrate the minds of leaders to reach an agreement in Paris. He adds national government's need to be strengthened in order to deliver what they promise. 

Lilian Greenwood, shadow transport secretary says Labour "can't take a position" on airport expansion until they get more information.

Asked repeatedly for her opinion on the issue and also the view of the Labour Party she says "I can't take a view" on recommendations from the Davies commission, and is waiting for the government's proposals.

"Our policy is to subject the actual proposals that the government brings forward to four tests" which she says are does it meet UK capacity needs, is it consistent with climate change obligations, what are environmental impacts and can it serve the whole country?

If Labour was "satisfied" by the proposals passing the four tests then she says they could take a view, she says

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Zac Goldsmith says if Heathrow expansion was given the go ahead he would have resigned as a Conservative MP. 

He says he would have remained as a Conservative mayoral candidate in that situation, but would not have stood to regain his Commons seat saying "I don't think you can fight two elections at the same time".

He says he is "delighted" Heathrow expansion won't dominate discussions in the run up to the mayoral election. 

He says Heathrow will "fail" environmental tests, unless the test "is fraudulent" and Heathrow is "allowed to mark it's own homework".

He says it is right to treat the options of expansion at Heathrow and Gatwick "on a par". He adds "Gatwick is a no-brainer" if those are the only two choices. He goes on to say there are also good arguments for expansion at Stansted airport.

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Mr Goldsmith says "the government is doing what the government has to do". He says he doesn't think expansion at Heathrow will be able to pass the government's environmental tests, adding: "for me that's a good outcome".

He says his job as MP for Richmond Park is to campaign and to succeed and he won't apologise if he has influenced the debate.

He says he is "pleased" with the current situation adding it is "the right outcome".

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Conservative Mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, says he didn't have a tip off before announcements on airport expansion this week.

There is speculation the fresh delay was caused by Mr Goldsmith threatening to quit over the issue. 

He says he did speak to the Prime Minister earlier in the week. He says during the meeting they spoke about many things and he also used it as an opportunity to "repeat my position in relation to Heathrow" but in a "one way" conversation. He says the Prime Minister "did not respond to me in relation to Heathrow". 

He says he doesn't think he repeated his statement of resigning as an MP if Heathrow was expanded. He says his resignation was "not a threat" it is a "promise".

He says the government is not creating a "delay".

The Foreign Affairs Committee's session with former prime minister Tony Blair has come to a close. 

During his session in front of MPs, he:

• Insisted his decision to re-establish diplomatic ties with Libya was justified
• Said that ultimately, the Gaddafi regime was “not sustainable” due to internal opposition 
• Acknowledged that Libya was in a state of chaos, but that the situation in the country could have been “even worse” without Western intervention
• Said David Cameron and other leaders who launched airstrikes against the Gaddafi regime in 2011 had acted in “good faith”  
• Said would have been preferable to agree a possible "process of transition" with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad rather than "leave him in place, tell him he's got to go, and not go and get him out" 

The session draws to an end with Mr Blair giving some personal reflections on Gaddafi the man, saying he had "some eccentric" views about issues like the Israel peace process but was very adamant about the threat from radical Islamism. 

A lighter moment as Mr Blair says he discussed a number of philosophical issues with Gaddafi including his views on the development of Islam and "third-way politics" - a subject the UK prime minister is something of an expert in. He adds that some of Gaddafi's views on achieving peace in the Middle East were "eccentric".

In response to a question from Tory Andrew Rosindell, Mr Blair makes a sweeping defence of his dealings with Gaddafi, saying that the Libyan leader regarded Mr Blair as "his route to the West and putting his past behind him". In all his discussions, while he was always of the potential political prize in normalising relations, issues such as justice for the Lockerbie victims and the family of Yvonne Fletcher were "absolutely on my mind". And he insists the security benefits of closer co-operation outweighed any damage done as a result.

Away from Tony Blair's evidence to the Foreign Affairs select committee, David Cameron's official spokeswoman said the government is still aiming to meet the timetable of 2030 for delivering increased airport capacity. 

She said the government agrees with the Airport Commission on the need for more capacity, on the shortlist of three options and the need for more work on the issue of air quality and the environmental impact. 

She added "it is right and prudent to do the thorough work before taking those decisions". 

Asked whether politics had been one of the factors in the delay, with the London mayoral election coming up, she said this was a decision that would affect this generation and future generations and people wanted to know about issues such as pollution and "that's what's behind the approach of the committee yesterday."

Crispin Blunt brings up a meeting that David Cameron had with the head of MI6 and the Chief of Defence Staff in early 2011, in which they reportedly raised concerns about the potential security repercussions of any military intervention in Libya. 

The Tory MP and committee chairman suggests Mr Blair would have taken "more notice" of their input. 

Mr Blair says it is an "unfair question" as he was not there at the time and he did not come to the committee to criticise the prime minister.