The Daily Politics

House of Commons
Parliament

In the Commons, Conservative MP Christopher Chope has a second private member's bill today - the Benefit Entitlement (Restriction) Bill. This would restrict the entitlement of non-UK citizens from European Union countries to benefits. 

Work and Pensions Minister Justin Tomlinson says the government will not support the bill - in part because "the current EU framework would not allow it".

Under EU legislation, nation states are barred from discriminating against citizens of other EU nations, Mr Tomlinson says, adding that the prime minister is renegotiating to cut the benefits migrants get.

Failing to get government support, Mr Chope withdraws his bill.

Nicola Sturgeon's date for a deal to be agreed over Scotland's future funding arrangements is an "artificial deadline", Downing Street has insisted.  

Protracted negotiations are taking place between the Scottish Government and Westminster over how the current block grant will be affected when Holyrood gets new tax-raising powers. 

Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who has already held a series of meetings with the Treasury, insisted this week the Scottish government was working to a 14 February deadline. 

He said discussions have to be concluded by then to give MSPs time to scrutinise and vote on the deal before the Scottish Parliament is dissolved in March ahead of Holyrood elections. 

A No 10 spokesman said it wanted to reach a deal as soon as possible but singling out Valentine's Day for the conclusion of talks was arbitrary. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Martin Schulz has told the BBC that the UK's plans to limit the payment of in-work benefits to EU migrants would require "months of scrutiny" by the European Parliament but declined to say how long this could hold it up. 

David Cameron hopes to get the so-called emergency brake in place soon after the EU referendum result, should the UK vote to stay in. 

Mr Schulz said MEPs would be looking carefully into how it might work and "diligence was more important than speed" in doing so. 

Asked how long this would take, he replied: "This is neither days nor weeks, this is months. But it is not years".

The proposals could be amended along the way, Mr Schulz indicated, as that "is the risk of democracy". But he said the principle of varying benefits for new arrivals would not be overturned if the 28 EU states agreed to it. 

Image source, PA

Labour MPs who want to leave the EU have said they "do not endorse" one of the main campaign groups hoping to lead the 'Out' campaign. 

Labour Leave said it was "independent" of Vote Leave, which hopes to be designated by the Electoral Commission as the main anti-EU campaign in the forthcoming referendum but has been beset by internal feuding and rows with other anti-EU groups seeking the designation. 

Brendan Chilton, Labour Leave's campaign co-ordinator, said the "Out" campaign was making headway but suggested this had little to do with Vote Leave's efforts. 

The President of the European Parliament says proposals to reform the UK's relationship with the EU that "would set dangerous precedents" for Europe would "meet with resistance." 

Speaking to an audience at the London School of Economics, Martin Schulz singled out the UK's demands over the rights of non-eurozone countries and possible limits to the benefits EU citizens would receive while working in the UK. 

The president said he was a strong supporter of the UK remaining in the EU, despite the fact "the British" he said "often "test the patience and goodwill" of their European partners "with their continuous demands." 

Mr Schulz pointed out that the UK's renegotiation demands will have to be debated and adopted by the European Parliament, so, he said, the Parliament's concerns needed to be addressed to avoid a possible "roadblock" later.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has attacked what he says is a minister's "insulting" response to a report on his detention from a United Nations panel.  In a press conference held via a video link from London's Ecuadorian Embassy, he said the UN report - which said he had been unlawfully detained - had brought a smile to his face.

The Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says the panel's findings are "frankly ridiculous", but Mr Assange said the comments were "beneath" the minister's stature and insulting to the UN. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz says legislating for Britain's deal with the EU would not happen until after the referendum and could take "months".

You can listen to the full interview with Martin Schulz on the the World At One with Mark Mardell at 1300 GMT via the live coverage tab above.

Downing Street said the talks in Warsaw this morning between David Cameron and the Polish prime minister were "broadly positive". A spokesman said the two agreed there was "more work to be done" over welfare reforms, but that there was a good basis for an overall agreement to be made.

Asked if he could point to any of the other 27 countries that were fully on board with the reform proposals, the spokesman said he was not going to give "a running commentary on what each particular country asks". 

The Daily Politics

Image source, bbc

Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian MEP, suggested on the Daily Politics that the European Parliament would not put a spanner in the works for David Cameron's proposals for a new relationship between Britain and the EU.  There had been speculation that the proposals would meet barriers or even be changed after Britain's referendum on the EU. 

Mr Verhofstadt said he thought there could be a "win win" outcome for Britain and the EU - with Britain getting a "special status" in Europe, while accepting that for other EU countries, there had to be "deeper integration" to combat the geopolitical crisis in the world.

Image source, PA

Labour are neck and neck with the Conservatives ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May, with both trailing the SNP, according to that YouGov survey for the Times, external.

In the constituency vote, the survey put support for Labour at 19%, the Tories at 20%, while the SNP had 50%. 

YouGov polled 1,022 people earlier this week. 

Read more about what is coming up for politics in Scotland this year here.

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC understands the Labour Party group campaigning for Britain to leave the EU is to end its affiliation with the Vote Leave campaign.

Kate Hoey, a leading light in the campaign, is backing Grassroots Out (GO), a campaign founded by two Conservative MPs and UKIP leader Nigel Farage, and is due to speak at a rally later.

GO co-founder, Conservative MP Tom Pursglove, has urged the rival groups vying to be designated as the official Leave campaign, to stop "bickering" and focus on winning the referendum.

He has not ruled out a bid by GO to get the designation.

More details here.

The Daily Politics

On the Daily Politics, the editor of the Independent is scathing about Julian Assange and the ruling by the UN's panel that he has been unlawfully detained at London's Ecuadorean embassy.

Amol Rajan said:

The Foreign Secretary has said all the proposals made by David Cameron in renegotiating Britain's relationship with the European Union are "justified", "sensible"  and in the long-term interests of the UK and Europe.

Philip Hammond was responding to criticism by an EU source who said there was a lot of frustration and concern among other EU leaders about Britain's proposals.

Mr Hammond, who will discuss the draft proposals with other EU foreign ministers in Amsterdam today, said:  

BBC Radio 4

Today presenter and former BBC political editor Nick Robinson has been to a street in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, to ask people for their views about whether Britain should stay in the European Union. He says: 

Image source, Thinkstock

The Times, external leads with a poll on voting intentions for the EU referendum which suggests the "out" campaign has a nine-point lead, up from a four-point gap last week. The internet poll, by YouGov, is the first to be conducted since the terms of the draft EU renegotiation were made public on Tuesday, the paper notes. 

In its own online poll, The Daily Express, external found 92% were in favour of Britain leaving the EU.

For the Guardian, external, the main story is a warning given yesterday that tens of thousands of people are set to flee the intensified fighting in Syria.

At the 'i, external', under the headline "An attack on British democracy", it is reported that senior Conservatives are opposed to government legislation which could "slash" funding for the Labour Party.

The Mirror, external leads with the story about the cost to the NHS of "bed-blocking" by healthy patients.

For The Telegraph, external, the main story is the claim that "furious local Conservatives are threatening to turn their backs on Tory candidates in May's local elections".