Councils and utility companies could be fined up to £5,000 a day for leaving roadworks unmanned at weekends, the Department for Transport has said.

The proposal is among measures the government is considering to reduce congestion on English A-roads.

Roadworks on major routes would also have to take place seven days a week so that projects are completed sooner or be lifted until they resume.

The transport secretary said the plans offered "welcome relief" for drivers.

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The mother of a Tory activist whose death sparked the Tory bullying scandal has told the BBC she feels as if the family has been treated as suspects to be caught out rather than grieving parents.

In her first broadcast interview, Alison Johnson told BBC Newsnight that the party had acted insensitively and offered no support to them since the death of their son, Elliott, in September last year.

"They are probably thinking that... we will go away quietly. But we won't. I want justice for my son," she said.

The Conservative Party said: "We would like to again express our very deepest sympathies to Elliott's family and friends."

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David Cameron has urged Londoners not to elect Labour's Sadiq Khan as their next mayor, claiming they will become "lab rats" for party leader Jeremy Corbyn's economic experiments.

Speaking at a rally for Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, the prime minister warned about the dangers of a Labour victory for the capital's economy.

Mr Goldsmith said his Labour rival was "Mr Corbyn's man" in City Hall.

But Mr Khan said he was "no patsy" to Mr Corbyn and would stand up to him.

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The UK's EU renegotiation is not the top priority for EU leaders but the "ambition" is still for a February deal, the foreign secretary has said.

Philip Hammond said the talks "are number one on our Europe agenda" but the EU has "other issues on its plate".

It comes amid mounting speculation of a June vote after preparations for the referendum got under way on Tuesday.

Mr Hammond said a June date would be possible if a deal was agreed at next month's European Council summit.

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Welcome to Wednesday's Politics Live page. Here's a recap of this morning's main stories.

That's all for our live coverage today. It's Prime Minister's Questions tomorrow - always the highlight of the parliamentary week. David Cameron wasn't too complimentary about Jeremy Corbyn at that Conservative rally earlier this evening, joking that the Labour leader wanted to twin the UK with Bolivia. Will the exchanges be more cordial over the dispatch box? Please join us for all the build-up and the other political news. 

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg says that, if all goes smoothly, Downing Street's "Plan A" is to stage the referendum on EU membership on Thursday 23 June. It is highly likely, but not inevitable, that an agreement will be reached on the UK's renegotiation goals in the run-up to next month's key European Council meeting, she tells the BBC's News at Ten. But she says what matters is not the fact that David Cameron brings home a piece of paper from Brussels but what is on the paper and how that matches up to the objectives he set himself. 

A little bit more from David Cameron's speech to Tory activists at the Zac Goldsmith campaign rally, marking 100 days until the London mayoral poll. It was tub-thumping and highly personal stuff, aimed squarely at people who might be thinking of voting Labour in what is expected to be a very close race. This is what the Conservative leader said. 

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's concept of a series of seminars setting out an alternative vision for the economy has begun this evening. Italian academic and economist Mariana Mazzucato, from the University of Sussex, has been talking at the Royal Institution about the "new economics" in front of an audience including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Ms Mazzucato, a member of Mr McDonnell's panel of economic advisers, was talking on the subject of "from market fixing to market shaping". 

David Cameron has been addressing a rally in support of the Conservatives' London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith. The prime minister praised Mr Goldsmith's "amazing" record of delivery as the MP for Richmond and framed May's election as a choice between "your man and Jeremy Corbyn's man". Mr Goldsmith echoed the same theme, saying his Labour rival Sadiq Khan would turn London into a "laboratory for Jeremy Corbyn's radical politics" if elected. He said London was "almost completely dependent" on central government for its powers and funding and the mayor could not be effective unless they were able to extract resources from the Treasury and, in his words, "duff" up ministers on occasion.  

Channel 4

Image source, PA

Small business minister Anna Soubry has defended the tax settlement between the government and Google, telling Channel 4 News that officials from Revenue and Customs - who negotiated the deal - have to be trusted to have "done the job properly". She rejects suggestions that securing £130m over ten years is a derisory sum and insists Chancellor George Osborne has not been avoiding scrutiny over the issue, saying he is "not shying away" from talking about the agreement. She says it was absolutely right that Treasury minister David Gauke, who has ministerial responsibility for corporate taxation, answered questions from Labour in Parliament on Monday, adding he is "more than capable of doing that". 

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A quick recap on the main political stories so far today:

• Preparations are under way for the planned UK vote on EU membership, with increasing speculation the referendum could be held in June
• Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says it would be possible to hold the referendum in June if the UK could do a deal with the EU in February 
• Tony Blair says so-called "Brexit" could lead to a yes vote in Scotland for independence
• David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed progress has been made in Britain's renegotiation with the EU  

• Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised to the family of a one-year-old boy who died after doctors and the 111 helpline failed to diagnose his illness  
• The Greens have lodged a complaint with the BBC over their not being given a Party Political Broadcast this year
• The government is consulting on plans for bigger penalties for drivers who use their phones at the wheel 
• Ofsted's chief inspector says he wants to give his 'full backing' to heads wanting to impose a ban on full face veils

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he thinks Scotland will leave the UK if the country votes to break away from the European Union in a referendum. The Scottish National Party's Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins seems to agree: He has said.

The boss of the company caught up in a row over allegations asylum seekers' homes in Middlesbrough had their front doors painted red has told MPs that many of the doors were painted 20 years ago - when the properties were occupied by private tenants. 

Stuart Monk, the owner of housing firm Jomast, said there had been no deliberate decision to paint the doors red because the properties were being occupied by asylum seekers and that neither his company, nor G4S, had received reports of incidents related to the doors. Some asylum seekers have told journalists their doors were pelted with eggs and stones. 

Mr Monk told the Commons Home Affairs committee:  

Image source, Reuters

Would failure to reach agreement at February's summit rule out an EU referendum in June? Mr Hammond tells the committee: