Former Home Secretary Jack Straw has denied any involvement in the alleged torture of Shaker Aamer. 

Mr Aamer was held in Guantanamo Bay for 14 years without charge or trial and was released six months ago. He claimed he was tortured at a US camp in Afghanistan and said a British official was present at the time of one his beatings.

Philip Hammond has said the UK is willing to consider other proposals to reduce levels of EU migration amid reported opposition to its plan to limit access to in-work benefits.

The foreign secretary said the UK's plan to stop migrants claiming in-work benefits for four years was the "only proposal on the table" right now.

But he said alternative ideas that had the "same effect" would be listened to.

No 10 has rejected media reports that it may back down on the key demand.

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Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, has called for a civic day to be declared so fans can watch England v Wales football European championship clash on 16 June 2016.

She said it would only be "fair" for workers who want the afternoon off to be able to "get behind out team" for the match which kicks off at 2pm.

Image source, PA

The Scottish transport minister has accused Labour politicians of deliberately "twisting the facts" over maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge.

Derek Mackay told BBC Scotland that Labour was attempting to make political capital from the bridge closure.

And he said the political row was a distraction from efforts to get the bridge open again as soon as possible.

Labour released an email at the weekend that showed "abnormal" heavy loads were banned from the bridge in February.

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Labour MP, Louise Haigh, says she’d snog Rick Edwards (while he is sat next to her):

Labour MP Jess Phillips has said Labour cannot win a general election under Jeremy Corbyn "at the moment" and said the result would "potentially be worse" than the defeat in May.

In an interview with author and Guardian columnist Owen Jones, external she criticised Mr Corbyn's leadership and said: "I am very frustrated with him, exceptionally."

She said she has told Mr Corbyn: "The day that it becomes that you are hurting us more than you are helping us... I won't knife you in the back, I'll knife you in the front."

She added: "I would do whatever I could to make Jeremy Corbyn more electable, but, you... gotta give me something to work with mate".

She said she "frequently" tells him and his staff "What are you thinking? Why is there no one in your office literally screaming put the red book down" referring to John McDonnell's quoting of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book in the Commons as an "own goal" 

She criticised the appointment of Ken Livingstone to Labour's defence review, the handling of deselection rumours and said the Labour Party was talking to themselves.

Watch the full video below:

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

The Foreign Secretary has said the government is prepared to listen to other proposals that might stem the flow of EU migrants to the UK.

Philip Hammond said the current proposal – to stop migrants claiming in-work benefits for four years - was the “only proposal on the table” but if there were other ideas that would deliver on this agenda they were “absolutely prepared to listen to them”.

The proposed changes to welfare rules look like being the most difficult part of the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, with several European leaders objecting to the plan.

Speaking on arrival at a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, Mr Hammond said: “The four year waiting time for access to benefits has been a consistent demand from us. We’ve put that proposal on the table. It’s very clear."

The Daily Telegraph

Boris Johnson, mayor of London, argues that "Britain is a special case" in the European Union, likening it to Denmark. He writes in the Telegraph , externalthat Denmark has its own special rules to stop those living outside the country buying property in Denmark. He is "fed up to the back teeth with reading pious and ill-informed claptrap from some UK commentators, to the effect that David Cameron’s proposals on EU borders are somehow destructive of the single market and its 'cherished principles'."

He said "the David Cameron I know is much more Eurosceptic than some of his senior colleagues".

The Times

Former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake, has told the Times, external there is a “worryingly large and growing gap" betweeen the government and and the governed.

Defending the Freedom of Information act he said he suspected his "views on freedom of information depart from [those of] many of my colleagues".  

The government has set up a commission to look at Freedom of Information laws.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Nicky Morgan, education secretary, spoke to the Today Programme about the government's planned changes to children's care.

Mrs Morgan said the government was announcing £100m to attract graduates to social care but she said "it's also about the quality of the leadership of those children's services departments".

She said "it's not just carrying on doing the same old same old" to ensure the most vulnerable cannot are not failed in society.

Asked about reports about the rise of babies being taken into care she said overall they don't want children to be taken in to care, saying the figures were "worrying". She added there had been a "cycle of failure".

Image source, Reuters

Ecuador has agreed to allow Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be questioned by the Swedish authorities at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Mr Assange took refuge there three years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden on charges of sexual assault against two women in 2010.

He denies the accusations and says he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States for possible trial there.

In 2010 Wikileaks published a huge number of US classified documents.

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Image source, EPA

France's far-right National Front (FN) has failed to win a single region in the second round of municipal polls.

The party was beaten into third place, despite leading in six of 13 regions in the first round of voting a week ago.

The centre-right Republicans finished ahead of President Francois Hollande's governing Socialist Party.

FN leader Marine Le Pen said that mainstream parties had colluded to keep it from power and vowed to keep on fighting.

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Local authority social services in England that are found to be failing vulnerable children will face tough new measures, the PM is to announce.

Under the plans, departments judged inadequate by Ofsted will have six months to improve or be taken over by high-performing councils and charities.

"We, the state, are their parents; and we are failing them," David Cameron will say of society's most vulnerable.

"It is our duty to put this right," he will add.

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