Summary

  • Labour says Ken Livingstone will not have a formal role in its defence review, which will consider policy on Trident

  • Shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry says the review will be based on evidence and will aim to publish its interim findings in June

  • Jean-Claude Juncker says agreement on the UK's EU re-negotiations is likely next month

  • More than a million benefits claimants may be facing destitution after disappearing from the welfare system, Labour ex-minister Frank Field claims.

  • Head teachers warn the system for creating new school places in England is fragmented and confusing, risking harm to children's education

  1. Watch: Junior doctors 'misled' by BMA, says Tory MPpublished at 16:50

    The Daily Politics

    Media caption,

    Conservative MP Dr James Davies and Dr Tom Dolphin, from the British Medical Association

    Dr Tom Dolphin, from the British Medical Association, said junior doctors had been "forced" into today's strike by the government. But Conservative MP Dr James Davies, who sits on Parliament's Health Committee, said the BMA had "misled" junior doctors and the strike was "a step too far".

  2. David Cameron on why Syria will be threat to UK with Assad in powerpublished at 16:47

    Media caption,

    David Cameron on why Syria will be threat to UK if Assad stays

  3. Cameron and Tyrie clash over drone strikespublished at 16:44

    Mr Cameron says authorising drone strikes is never done lightly and the legal basis for such actions has to be upheld and reinforced at every step of the process. He says that previous generations would be astonished at the level of legal oversight of these decisions. The prime minister then clashes with Andrew Tyrie over the issue of whether MPs should be allowed to scrutinise the intelligence and the military background to the strikes. The PM says MPs cannot oversee current military operations. He says Islamic State militants are trying to "kill and maim" British civilians and that if he does not believe that there is a cell in Raqqa looking to launch such attacks, he "does not know what he is talking about". He insists that the actions were proportionate to the threat posed, arguing that if this was not the case it would not have been lawful to act in such a way. 

  4. 'PM getting a bit grouchy'published at 16:42 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2016

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  5. Cameron pressed on legality of drone strikespublished at 16:41

    Former Labour leader Harriet Harman, chair of the joint human rights committee, now takes over the questioning. She asks for the government to publish its policy for authorising targeted drone strikes against alleged terrorists, including the legal basis for such action. She says there is a "grey area" about people who are not explicitly targeted "but if they are killed it is alright". She asks for independent oversight of strikes after they occur. Mr Cameron says it is a complicated area and it is an established protocol that the UK does not publish detailed legal advice. However, he says any such action can only be undertaken in the "most extreme circumstances", where no other options are available and where the action is lawful. He says it would be wrong to codify these principles in written form but points out he explained the rationale in the Commons in September following the killing of two British nationals fighting alongside Islamic State in a targeted drone strike. 

  6. Watch: David Cameron says some Syria fighters UK could work with belong to 'relatively hard line Islamist groups'published at 16:40

    Media caption,

    David Cameron says some Syria fighters UK is supporting are 'hard line Islamist groups'

  7. David Cameron: Nation-building in Libya 'hasn't worked'published at 16:29

    Moving on to Libya, committee chairman Andrew Tyrie asks whether the removal of former Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011 had taken away a potential bulwark of anti-Islamism in the region. 

    Mr Cameron says that while the former Libyan leader "may have been on the right side" of this issue, his rule of Libya should not be looked at a some sort of "golden era", noting in particular the Semtex supplied to Northern Ireland.

    Mr Cameron defends the decision to intervene in Libya to prevent a humanitarian massacre. The UK attempted nation-building at a more remote distance than in Iraq but "clearly it hasn't worked", the PM says, adding that Libya now has an "ISIL franchise" operating in the country.

  8. PM on moderate forces in Syria: We have to start somewherepublished at 16:26

    Julian Lewis pushes the PM on the subject, saying more information is needed on the composition of moderate opposition forces in Syria. Mr Cameron says the 70,000 figure does not include 20,000 Kurdish fighters who are taking on so-called Islamic State. He says there are "not enough of them but we have to start somewhere". The UK will not give any "granular detail" about the 70,000 troops, what they consist of and where they are based, saying this would play into President Assad and IS's hands. 

  9. David Cameron defends 70,000 moderate Syria force claimpublished at 16:22

    Julian Lewis, the Conservative chairman of the Commons defence committee, asks why the UK won't name the 70,000 so-called "moderate" forces it says exist in Syria (not Islamic State fighters nor regime forces). Mr Cameron says he did not make up the figure, which he says was given to him by the Joint Intelligence Committee. The 70,000 figure, he argues, is the "best estimate" of non-extremists that the West could potentially work with, although he says these groups are not "impeccable democrats" or "people you would bump into at Lib Dem conferences", acknowledging some of them hold quite hard-line views. The PM insists that the West must search for a "third way" in Syria and to give up hope of this would be a "counsel of despair".  

  10. Pic: David Cameron being questioned over Syriapublished at 16:17

    David Cameron in front of liaison committee
  11. Cameron: Lessons of Iraq must be learntpublished at 16:16

    David Cameron says he does not think "you can have a stable Syria with Assad in place", saying this is a "political fact". However, he says the lessons of the Iraq invasion and the danger of dismantling regime institutions do need to be learnt. 

  12. Assad using starvation 'as weapon of war'published at 16:13

    Conservative MP Julian Lewis, chair of the defence committee, now takes up the questioning. He asks whether the international community is right to insist on Syrian President Assad stepping down as part of a political transition in Syria and compares the current situation with what he said was the ill-fated intervention by the West to remove Saddam Hussein in 2003. Mr Cameron says both President Assad and Saddam Hussein are "ghastly" dictators, adding that the Syrian leader was now using starvation as a "weapon of war" in the city of Madaya. The PM says that he cannot see any way that President Assad could be part of Syria's future given what has happened.

  13. Watch: British Muslims 'not being radicalised in mosques'published at 16:11

    The Daily Politics

    Media caption,

    Zulfi Karim said radicalisation was more likely to take place at home or in the community

    In his speech to the Conservative Party conference last autumn, David Cameron said he wanted an end to what he called the "passive tolerance" of extremist preachers.

    Speaking to the Daily Politics, Bradford Council for Mosques secretary Zulfi Karim said there was "no evidence" to suggest British Muslims were beings radicalised in Mosques or Madrassas. And he warned that the government's Prevent strategy wasn't working.

  14. David Cameron: Turkey 'stepping up' IS fightpublished at 16:08

    The prime minister says he would like the Turkish authorities to "be even more focused" on countering ISIL-Daesh than they are at the moment. He says there are signs that Turkey is stepping up its efforts, including by intercepting the militant group's oil sales. Asked whether Turkey is "playing a double game", Mr Cameron says that is unfair and it is wrong to suggest that Turkey is not committed to ridding Syria of so-called Islamic State.

  15. Cameron planning trip to Gulf in near futurepublished at 16:05

    Mr Cameron is talking about Syria and, particularly the role of Saudi Arabia in the attempt to build a durable peace process. He says that he hopes to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States in the coming weeks, given how important they are to the region's security and economic development, as well as to the UK's own national interest. In answer to a question from Crispin Blunt, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, he says he wants as "inclusive" a political process in Syria as possible. 

  16. PM pressed to appear more before committeepublished at 16:02

    There is a slightly tense exchange to begin with when Andrew Tyrie asks whether the PM is willing to appear again twice before the committee ahead of the summer recess. The PM says he is willing, in principle, to appear three times in each parliamentary session but says he "hadn't banked" on two further appearance before the start of the summer. Mr Tyrie somewhat wryly asks whether the PM should consult with his bank about the matter. 

  17. Pic: David Cameron answering Syria questionspublished at 16:01

    David Cameron
  18. Cameron takes off jacket as he faces MPspublished at 16:00

    David Cameron has arrived at the liaison committee and, has become customary on these occasions, he takes off his jacket before answering the first question from Tory MP Andrew Tyrie. 

  19. Councils lose combined authority 'veto'published at 15:35

    Cities and Local Government Devolution bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Baroness Williams of Trafford says that the Commons and the government have accepted a Lords amendment to compel the secretary of state to make an annual statement on the state of devolution within England.

    She says the government has also accepted backbench amendments from the Commons to make sure one council in an area where a combined authority is proposed does not have a veto over the proposal when all others are in favour. 

    She adds that the measure will be subject to a pilot lasting three years. 

  20. Afternoon political catch-uppublished at 15:40

    Before the prime minster faces questions on Syria and climate change at 4pm, here's a quick afternoon catch-up of the day so far.

    • Junior doctors have gone on strike over a dispute about a new contract. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for them to return to negotiations, Labour's shadow health secretary has called the government's handling "utterly shambolic" and the BMA said the strike sent a "clear message" to the government. Read more 

    • The Housing and Planning Bill is being debated in the House of Commons follow live updates here.

    • Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has told MPs that the UK authorities are seeking to verify whether any British tourists have been caught up in the deadly bombing in the centre of Istanbul.  

    • Labour's (slightly) altered shadow cabinet had their first meeting today.

    Jeremy CorbynImage source, PA
    Labour shadow cabinet 2016Image source, PA