The Home Secretary has launched a public consultation on reforming the governance structure of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). 

The consultation proposals form part of the government’s continuing programme of policing reforms, including changes to the police complaints and disciplinary systems. It will run until 28 January 2015.

The government has published, external a review into House of Lords reform.

The report by Lord Strathclyde sets out three proposals focusing on secondary legislation, external and statutory instruments, external.

1. Remove the House of Lords from the statutory instrument procedure altogether - to take statutory instruments through the House of Commons only. 
2. Seek to retain the present role of the House of Lords but clarify the restrictions on how its powers should be exercised, by codifying them passing a resolution. 
3. Create a new procedure in primary legislation. The new procedure would allow the House of Lords to ask the House of Commons to think again when a disagreement exists but gives the final say to the elected House of Commons.

The third option of a new power has been recommended, Lord Strathclyde said in the report: 

Speaking about the release of the report David Cameron said he would consider "recommendations carefully" and would respond in the New Year.

The leader of the House of Lords Baroness Stowell says the government will consider the recommendations in Lord Strathclyde's report into Lords reform and respond in the New Year.

Lord Strathclyde has recommended that peers should lose their absolute veto over detailed laws known as secondary legislation. Peers would instead be offered a new power to send these laws back to the Commons, forcing MPs to vote again - but will only be able to do this once.

Baroness Stowell said a "new settlement" was needed with peers because the "long standing convention" of how the Lords uses its powers "has broken down." This following the Lords voting against the government's tax credit cuts. Baroness Stowell said the reforms needed to ensure the "Commons has the final say."

She said there had been "confusion" over the Lords's powers during the debate on tax credit changes and added "clarity" and "certainty" was needed.

A review into the Muslim Brotherhood ordered by David Cameron in 2014 has concluded that association with the group “should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism”.

The review said parts of the brotherhood have a “highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism”.

But it concluded that a decision on whether to ban the group would be kept under review.

Speaking as he launched the inquiry last April, the prime minister said:

The conclusions were published in a written statement laid before Parliament on Thursday here, external.   

Green MP Caroline Lucas, has described as "deeply damaging" the government's plans to cut subsidies to households installing rooftop solar panels.

Ms Lucas said she welcomes the government rowing back slightly on these cuts but adds they will be "deeply damaging".

She said ministers will "inflict serious damage" on the industry which she says is "a vital part of a zero carbon future".

"The Government's strong words on climate change ahead of the Paris summit are being revealed to be nothing short of bluster and spin," she said.

The review of the Muslim Brotherhood has been released today. You can view it here, external.

There are going to be two oral statements in the Commons

At 11:15 Greg Clark, communities secretary, will set out the provisional Local Government Finance settlement, which is a breakdown of funding for each local authority.

That will be followed by a Chris Grayling statement in response to Lord Strathclyde's report into reforming the House of Lords.

At a press conference Jean Claude Juncker the president of the European Commission has said they will have a "frank and open debate" on the UK's plans.

Mr Juncker said he was aware of what the prime minister will say after they had a phone call, but he doesn't know the exact details of what David Cameron will present.

He said it was Mr Cameron's responsibility to make it "clear" to the world and added they were "open minded" but wanted a "fair deal" for everyone.

Image source, Getty Images

Today will be very heavily focusing on David Cameron's European Union renegotiations, find out everything you need to know on our EU referendum page or check out some of the handy guides below.

• A guide to the UK's planned in-out EU referendum
• What Britain wants from Europe
• UK and the EU: Better off out or in?

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Speaking earlier this morning about the EU renegotiations, Nigel Farage leader of UKIP, said he thought David Cameron had only made one "substantive point" on migrant benefits which he was unlikely to get.

He said he believed "Britain should govern itself" and added "nothing's going to change" and there will continue to be a daily "membership fee" to the EU and borders will still be "uncontrolled".

He said it was "laughable" for the EU to talk about migrant controls after Germany's Angela Merkel and the EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker welcomed them a few months ago.

When asked how it would help Britain not being involved in discussions in the European Union such as border controls, Mr Farage said "We're leaving the European room and we're joining the world room".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Ahead of EU talks over the UK's renegotiation, a former president of the European Council said "a compromise is possible".

Herman Van Rompuy said all European Union member states have the same problem with migration, he said “we know what the so-called problem is”.

He said if Britain were to leave it would be a "major difficulty" for the UK economy but said he wanted "to keep Britain on board”.

"I consider Brexit as an amputation for the European Union" and went on to say "it is painful for Britain, it is painful for the European Union".

He said the EU needed “creativity” to solve the problem and to not discriminate against EU citizens. He added he could see "possibilities" to solve but would not elaborate what they were.

Speaking about the Mediterranean migrant problem he said:

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

The Chancellor George Osborne will join the first meeting of finance ministers of countries that sit on the UN Security Council today - in an attempt to find ways to isolate the so-called Islamic State group from the international financial system and starve it of funding. Mr Osborne - who is in New York - said it was an essential part of the battle to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the terrorist group. 

Writing in the Daily Telegraph,, external the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that the sale of oil from Syria generates around a million pounds of revenue a day for the Islamic State group - or Da'esh, as ministers now call it. "Britain and its international partners must do more to choke off the illegal funding of terrorist organisations who want to destroy all that we stand for," George Osborne and Mr Hammond said. 

The Chancellor will suggest the UN Security Council should impose sanctions to freeze the assets of traders that provide so-called Islamic State with the opportunity to sell oil. The challenge, though, will be ensuring the tough language from the ministers gathering in New York translates into action that makes a difference - and does so quickly.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Image source, Reuters

Tight security because of the recent terror threat isn't the only reason that Brussels feels tense tonight.

Seeing khaki military trucks near the EU's main buildings, police on the streets locking down security before tomorrow's summit certainly changes the atmosphere. But for the prime minister, it's tense for a different reason.

By his own admission, David Cameron is trying to do something that has never really been tried before - change a country's relationship with the rest of the EU while already being a member.

Read Laura's full blog

Image source, AP

Germany and several other nations are to discuss with Turkey ways of settling thousands of Syrian refugees ahead of the final EU summit of the year.

Those attending the meeting will discuss a proposal to resettle Syrians straight from camps in Turkey.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the driving force behind the plans, faces resistance from other EU states.

Thursday's full EU summit in Brussels is set to focus heavily on the migrant crisis which has divided members.

Read more

Senior Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians are set to formally elect Arlene Foster as their first female party leader on Thursday evening.

Mrs Foster will replace Peter Robinson, who announced his plans to step down as DUP leader and Northern Ireland first minister last month.

She is the only candidate for leader.

Replacing Mr Robinson became more of a coronation than an election when DUP MPs Nigel Dodds and Sammy Wilson said they would not put their names forward.

Read more