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The coalition of defence ministers in Paris for talks on intensifying air strikes in Syria have committed to stepping up attacks against so-called Islamic State (IS) targets, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said. Speaking after the meeting, he said:

Mr Fallon said progress had been made last year in pushing IS militants out of Iraq, but that it was important now "to start tackling the infrastructure that supports Daesh, so you will now see, I hope, more attacks on the oil wells, on the supply routes, on the logistics, the arms dumps, the command and control and on the leadership of this evil organisation".

Mr Fallon said everything possible would be done to minimise the risk of civilian casualties and collateral damage "wherever possible". On Russia, Mr Fallon said:

MPs are now voting on various proposed new clauses to the Psychoactive Substances Bill. A short while ago they rejected a bid by Labour to make drug education a “foundation subject” in the national curriculum, by 307 votes to 241.

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond is hosting his radio phone-in show on LBC. Here are some of the lines coming out from it, as tweeted by BBC correspondents:

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Some Welsh Tory MPs have warned the chancellor they oppose his plans to devolve some income tax powers to Wales without a referendum.

BBC Wales understands four MPs spoke out on the issue during a lunch with George Osborne in Downing Street.

Byron Davies, Chris Davies and David Jones raised their objections while Craig Williams defended the plan.

Steel jobs, a city deal for Cardiff, Swansea's Tidal Lagoon and rail electrification were also discussed.

Full story here.

Plaid Cymru has said it will create 50,000 apprenticeships if it wins power in May's assembly election.

AM Simon Thomas said the party would use Wales' share of proceeds from UK ministers' apprenticeship levy, around £150m a year, to fund the plan.

More here.

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Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has been barred from giving evidence in the trial of 13 climate change protesters accused of blockading a Heathrow runway. 

The group of Plane Stupid supporters are accused of cutting a hole in a fence and chaining themselves to railings on the north runway in July 2015. 

Labour MP Mr McDonnell - whose constituency includes the airport - was due to be called as a defence witness in the case but his evidence was deemed irrelevant by the judge.

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Mike Penning, a minister at the Home Office, says the government has commissioned an independent "evidence-gathering" process on poppers. A joint decision will then be taken by the home secretary and health secretary by the summer recess.

"I think that is a compromise," he tells MPs. He acknowledges it will be "difficult" for individuals and respects their views, but he hopes they'll understand "that I'm trying to do the right thing to protect people".

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Parliament

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Remember the Ed stone? That huge plinth unveiled by Ed Miliband during the 2015 general election campaign which had Labour's key policies carved into it?

Well it's been noticed that it hasn't been included in data - published today- showing how much the UK's political parties spent during the campaign. A Labour spokesman said:

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Speaking against a ban on poppers, Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, raises what he see as a public health element. He says there's a greater risk of gay men having unprotected sex if they don't use poppers, as they may turn to illegal drugs or alcohol instead.

But Johnny Mercer, Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, backs the government's approach, who says legal highs have become a haunting menace to society". He says they're a problem in his constituency.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The death has been announced of Lord Weidenfeld, one of Britain's most influential publishers.

BBC Radio 4's the World at One reprised his appearance in 1990 on Desert Island Discs, speaking to Sue Lawley

At PMQs, the DUP’s Nigel Dodds asked David Cameron to guarantee Westminster’s “unconditional support” for the right of Falkland Islanders to self-determination, following Jeremy Corbyn's calls in a recent TV interview for a "reasonable accommodation" with Argentina over the islands.

The PM said he found Mr Corbyn’s comment “quite extraordinary”.

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The Metropolitan Police has told Lord Bramall it regrets the "distress" caused to him during its inquiry into historical child abuse allegations.

However, Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan stopped short of apologising in a lengthy statement - saying the force had a duty to investigate.

Lord Bramall, the former head of the Army, was interviewed last April.

The peer, aged 92, was told last week in a letter from the police that he would face no further action.

More here.

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Mike Freer, the Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, tells MPs the idea of a poppers ban has been "raging in the gay press". He quotes American research which he says suggested that the risks from poppers are "fairly benign".

He says poppers can help to facilitate intimacy in a relationship which is "an important element into the emotional well-being of that couple". But he adds:

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Image source, UK Parliament

Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, a former prisons minister, tells MPs he's a user of poppers and stands to be directly affected by the bill if a ban goes ahead. Opposing the move, he tells the government it's about to do something "fantastically stupid" and warns that "respect for the law is going to go out of the window".

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Keith Vaz, chairman of the influential Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said members did not believe the case had been made for a ban on poppers, telling MPs: "We did not consider that poppers were harmful."

The Labour MP added that there was "a lot of emotion out there on drugs... but why take a position where you ban and then un-ban?" He warned that such a move would damage the government's authority.

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Labour's defence review has started - with plans to complete an interim report in June, a spokesman for leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

If a vote takes place on Trident renewal in Parliament before the summer, the way Labour MPs voted would depend on how that vote was framed, he said.

"Ultimately it's a decision for the leader taken in consultation with the shadow cabinet" he said, adding that "there is no need for anyone to resign or anything like that".

Asked whether supporting the renewal of Trident was still party policy, the spokesman said everyone accepted there was a "pre-existing policy" but this was now "in review" so it has "a different status from other policies".

At the weekend, Mr Corbyn suggested the UK could keep its Trident submarine fleet - but without carrying nuclear warheads.

He told the Andrew Marr show that protecting defence jobs was his "first priority" and there were "options" for doing this while taking a lead in global nuclear "de-escalation".

Asked on Wednesday whether MPs would get a free vote on renewing Trident, Mr Corbyn's spokesman said "their views will be respected" and it all depended on the nature of the government's proposal.

He added that it wasn't necessarily "a simple binary choice" over renewing Trident or not and there were "a huge range of alternatives".

The acting chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority and its chair are giving evidence to the Treasury select committee about the work of the City regulator, with attention focused on why it decided to drop a planned inquiry into the culture and remuneration of City firms.

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Poppers, the name given to a group of chemicals called alkyl nitrites, are normally sniffed from a bottle producing a short head-rush.

Arguing against a ban, shadow Home Office minister Lyn Brown says they’ve been used recreationally for more than 30 years and no government has sought to outlaw them.

She tells MPs they’re popular in some sections of the gay community “because I’m told they enhance sexual experience”.

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Over in the House of Commons, MPs are debating whether "poppers", a substance often used recreationally and referred to as a "party drug", should be banned, during consideration of the Psychoactive Substances Bill.

Shadow Home Office minister Lyn Brown tells MPs poppers should be exempt from a ban, pointing out that the Home Affairs Committee has said as much. They are "relatively harmless" and pushing them underground could drive people onto harder drugs, she warns.

They're also "widely used" and policing the ban would be a waste of scarce police resources, she adds.