The Daily Politics

UK constitutional expert and independent crossbench peer Peter Hennessy will be Thursday's Daily Politics guest of the day, joining Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn for the duration.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, now co-chair of Labour's defence review, will also be on the programme to discuss the fallout from Jeremy Corbyn's reshuffle.  

UKIP leader Nigel Farage will be on to talk about the EU referendum, as David Cameron continues his diplomatic push for EU reform in Germany today.

And what's happening with Britain's Trident nuclear weapons programme? Reporter Giles Dilnot will bring us up to speed. With newly-appointed shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry a Trident opponent, we'll hear from Mr Livingstone and Julian Lewis, the Conservative chairman of the Defence Select Committee, on its future.

All that, and more, from 1200-1300 GMT on BBC 2 or you can watch it online by clicking on the 'Live Coverage' tab above and selecting Daily Politics.  

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says he is "relatively optimistic" that a deal can be done at an EU summit next month on David Cameron's demands for a renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the EU.

We had a very good debate at the European Council in December, Mr Rutte said, and we are now working towards a fruitful discussion in February.

I think we can get there, Mr Rutte said, but "it would not be helpful to share some of my thoughts now" on how that can be done.

Image source, PA

The campaigner behind a petition calling for Donald Trump to be banned from the UK has accused him of attempting to blackmail Scotland.

Mr Trump has threatened to withhold £700m of investment if he is prevented from travelling to the UK.

A petition started by Suzanne Kelly calling for the US presidential hopeful to be refused entry has been signed by more than 570,000 people.

Ms Kelly said Mr Trump had "thrown a temper tantrum" over the issue.

Read more

House of Commons
Parliament

The Labour reshuffle has been like having Christmas every day, according to the Chris Grayling, the leader of the Commons.

Speaking in the Commons he quoted the famous song 'I wish it could be Christmas every day' and said: "On the Conservative benches looking at the Labour reshuffle, frankly it is."

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson has said the UK has a "great, great future" outside the EU if it doesn't secure the reform it needs.

The London Mayor said his preference was to remain part of a reformed European Union and said he's waiting to see the outcome of David Cameron's current renegotiation.

But he said: "If we can't get the reform we need Britain has a great, great future elsewhere and outside in a different relationship."

Mr Johnson said it was the "right thing to do" to allow ministers to campaign on either side of the argument, saying people are "a bit internally divided".

He said: "It's something people have different views on, it's a question of principle - how far you think this country's sovereignty should be traded away or shared in exchange for EU membership."

Asked whether he could campaign against David Cameron in the upcoming referendum, Mr Johnson said "let's see what happens" and added it's a "little bit previous".

He said Mr Cameron was "playing a difficult hand well" but it was important to be "robust" and recognise Germany and others would maintain good trading relations in any eventuality.

He said: "We've got a good future either way."

Boris Johnson has told BBC London, after reports that the masked man in the latest so-called Islamic State propaganda video skipped bail, that if the police inquiry into his disappearance produced a more “robust” approach to suspects on bail he’d welcome that.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s worth bearing in mind police bail is pretty ineffective. Under the law they (the police) have restrictions under human rights about what they can do.”

The London Mayor said police are monitored by “very uppity lawyers” trying to vindicate the rights of their clients.

Image source, Getty Images

Conversations between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2000 have been released to the BBC under a Freedom of Information request.

They reveal the relationship between the two world leaders when they were both in office.

Read the full story

Image source, Martin Rosenbaum

Image source, Martin Rosenbaum

Image source, Martin Rosenbaum

Labour has criticised the government's record on building homes and says they need to "wake up" and see that their plans are "failing.

A report by the Local Government Association claims that 475,000 houses with planning permission were not completed in 2014-15. The LGA said there was a "bumper backload".

Shdaow housing minister John Healey said "fewer homes were built over the last five years than under any peacetime government since the 1920s":

Prime Minister David Cameron is in Germany today. In a press conference he said Germany and the UK's relationship was "strong and so important".

He said reform was "vital" as Britain had "real issues" with the European Union.

Mr Cameron said his renegotiation was dealing with serious issues, adding Britain did not want to be part of ever-closer union and should not be called upon to financially support the euro. 

He said the UK welfare system should not be an "unnatural draw" because the strains of excessive migration were being felt. He said he wanted the UK have the "best of both worlds" of benefiting from EU trade and security but without joining the euro or the Schengen area of borderless travel.

He said discussions were "going well" despite being "hard and tough" he was "confident" they would be successful.

BBC 5Live

Of those new appointments by Jeremy Corbyn (see earlier post) BBC's Norman Smith points out many are from the 2015 general election. Kate Hollern (defence), Angela Rayner (work and pensions) and Jo Stevens (justice) were all elected last year for the first time. While Andy McDonald (transport) was elected to Parliament in 2012 after a by-election. Jenny Chapman (education) was elected in 2010. Fabian Hamilton (foreign) is the longest serving member on the list who was elected in 1997.