Image source, AP

Ministers from countries conducting air strikes against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group are to discuss intensifying the military campaign

The meeting on Wednesday in Paris, the first of its kind, will involve defence ministers from countries including the UK, the US, Germany and France.

It is expected to discuss strengthening military operations in Iraq and Syria.

UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the coalition aimed to "dismantle" IS' "structure and capabilities".

More here.

Hello and welcome to our rolling coverage of Wednesday's politics, with Prime Minister's Questions coming up at midday. We'll be bringing you all the build up and reaction to the Commons clash between David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn, plus the action and reaction live. But before then a look at the main political stories so far this morning...

That's it for our live coverage today. It is Wednesday tomorrow and the world's political and business elites are heading to the Swiss alpine resort of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. Here is a quick explainer about the event and who is attending. Before that, back home, we have Prime Minister's questions with David Cameron going head-to-head with Jeremy Corbyn. Do join us for that

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Margaret Beckett is a consummate professional. What jumps out from her report into what went wrong for the Labour Party at the general election is just how careful she has been not to offend.

She stops short of saying baldly that Ed Miliband wasn't really up to it. She stops short of giving succour to Jeremy Corbyn's detractors by saying the party wasn't too left wing in 2015.

She spends a lot of time laying out how big an ask it was for Labour to get back into power in 2015 after only five years in opposition.

What she does not shy away from though is perhaps what will be hardest for the party's supporters to read - how difficult the 2015 defeat makes it the next time.

The former foreign secretary says that Labour needs to win 94 more seats to get a majority of two in 2020.

Read Laura's blog

The Islamic State group's propaganda magazine has confirmed the British militant known as Jihadi John died in a drone strike in November.

The group published an obituary for the jihadist, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, in its online magazine Dabiq.

In November the US military said it was "reasonably certain" it had killed him in the IS-stronghold of Raqqa.

Emwazi appeared in beheading videos of victims including UK aid worker David Haines and taxi driver Alan Henning.

Read more

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, UK Parliament

Lord Hanningfield, who was jailed in 2011 after falsely claiming £13,379 of parliamentary expenses, has spoken in a debate in the House of Lords about education in prisons. 

The former chief executive of Essex County Council says his own experience of education in prisons was "rather ridiculous" telling peers that when asked, he said he would like to improve his IT skills but heard nothing further.

He laments the number of young people in prison who could be useful in their future lives "if they could only be taught to read or do simple mathematics". 

Read more on the BBC's Westminster Live site

More on those changes in personnel at Labour's ruling National Executive Committee we reported earlier. The departure of MP Steve Rotheram, a ministerial aide to Jeremy Corbyn, as one of the PLP's representatives on the NEC has been described as another skirmish between the party leadership and critics of Mr Corbyn. 

Image source, PA

Writing in the Guardian, external, former Labour minister Caroline Flint says voters were "unsettled" by the party's policies on welfare, immigration and the economy going into last year's election and Ed Miliband moved too late to take on the SNP and challenge the argument that a minority Labour government may be dependent on their political rivals in Scotland SNP to govern. She also has warning for the party.

Image source, AFP

Agreement between the UK and the rest of the EU over David Cameron's reform proposals is possible next month, one of the leading negotiators has said. 

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said he would table "concrete proposals" for discussion at February's summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Should a deal be reached, it would open the possibility of a referendum on the UK's membership being held in June. 

A poll must be held by the end of 2017, but the PM is thought to favour a date in 2016. 

Downing Street responded to Mr Tusk's comments by saying the process would be driven by "substance not schedule". Read more

Image source, AFP

Scottish Labour's general election collapse was due to a "vote against Westminster" becoming a "vote against Labour", a report has found.

The party was left with just one MP in Scotland last May as the SNP won 56 of the 59 seats.

Dame Margaret Beckett's report, external said the party - which was led by Jim Murphy at the time of the election - came to represent "continuity rather than change" in Scotland.

And she said the Scottish result made it impossible for the party to win the election. Read more

Responding to Labour’s general election review, Conservative Treasury minister David Gauke has said:

"This report shows Labour still haven’t learnt the lessons from their economic mistakes. In fact, they now say they would borrow even more, spend even more, and do it all over again. That’s why Labour are a threat to our economic security.”

Labour MPs have voted to back a change in National Executive committee rules which will remove one of Jeremy Corbyn’s allies from the NEC.

Under the rule change Labour front benchers, whips and parliamentary aides cannot hold posts reserved for backbench MPs on the NEC.

It means that the Labour MP Steve Rotheram – an aide to Mr Corbyn – will stand down from the NEC with immediate effect.

An election for his replacement is likely to take place next week.

Labour MP John Woodcock says the party only has itself to blame for losing last year's general election.

Commenting on a report into the failures of pollsters, the MP for Barrow and Furness said: "No one should kid ourselves into thinking that the faulty polling was to blame for Labour's defeat. We have ourselves to blame for that."

Referring to Dame Margaret Beckett's review into the Labour party's performance at the 2015 election, Mr Woodcock said: "There's a danger that since the election we have convinced ourselves that the answer was that we weren't sufficiently left-wing."

He said he hoped Dame Margaret Beckett's report would enable Labour to focus on the "true causes" behind the party's defeat.

Conceding there had been "difficulties over leadership", he said Labour had failed to talk enough about the economy or have a convincing message on immigration.