Image source, PA

Nicola Sturgeon says her priority is to "explore every option to protect Scotland's interests".

She acknowledges that "one million of us across Scotland voted to leave" and argues there is a need to understand the "concerns" that led to that vote,

The EU can seem "remote" with "interfering" regulations, the first minister says - but she argues that the main reasons for the Leave vote were closer to home.

It was "a chance for many to send a message... about how they're governed". There has been "a serious loss of confidence and trust in UK institutions", she claims, and opposition to "the UK government's ideological obsession with austerity".

Nicola Sturgeon says she had a "horrible, sinking feeling" as the results of the EU referendum came in on 24 June.

She said she was "angry" and still feels "contempt for a Leave campaign that had lied and given succour to the racism and intolerance of the far right".

She says she is "the last person" to criticise referendums but draws a distinction between securing a referendum when you support a constitutional change, and David Cameron offering one when he opposed the change in question.

Ms Sturgeon claims the former prime minister did so to "appease UKIP and the eurosceptic voices in the Tory party" - which she calls "reckless".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland's relationship with the EU - and with the UK - is "not some constitutional abstraction or distraction" but about how the country deals with relations with others.

It's "about jobs, living standards, fairness and equality", she tells an audience at the think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Image source, PA

Unionists must present options to maintain Scotland's relationship with the EU or risk the break-up of the UK, according to a think tank.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said the Scottish and UK governments must assess all options with "equal vigour".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to explore all avenues to keep Scotland in the EU.

Read more.

Backbencher Heidi Allen says it's "disappointing" that other Conservative MPs are pushing for guarantees over immigration in Brexit negotiations.

She told the Westminster Hour that the "honeymoon period didn't last terribly long" and added: "I think It's wrong. I think it's self-serving."

Westminster Hour
Radio 4's Westminster Hour

Conservative backbencher Heidi Allen says Theresa May's decision not to appoint a minister for refugees is "disappointing".

She told the Westminster Hour that it would be "such a shame if we lost hard work and progress we made" and that "actions speak louder than words".

Carole Walker
Political correspondent

The Labour Party is facing calls to extend the timetable for choosing its candidates for the new mayors in Greater Manchester and the City of Liverpool after delays in sending out ballot papers.

The campaign managers for Andy Burnham in Manchester and Steve Rotheram in Liverpool have written to Labour's general secretary Iain McNicol calling for the contests to be extended by a week. Ballot papers should have been sent to 20,000 Labour members by 11 July and the contest to select the two candidates is due to end on 5 August.

However, the campaign managers wrote: "The party has not been able to meet the arrival date for postal ballots, nor a revised arrival date a week later."

The two campaigns say they fear many Labour members will be disenfranchised. A source on Andy Burnham's campaign said the problems called into question the party's ability to run a national leadership contest.

Image source, Labour Party

Former Labour MP Chris Williamson, who lost his Derby North seat at the 2015 election, writes for politics.co.uk, external that the party is in "rude health" and has a bold prospectus "for the first time in decades". 

But, he adds, "one tiny branch of the party is struggling to come to terms with that fact" - the Parliamentary Labour Party - and if MPs are unable to accept Jeremy Corbyn's leadership "they should consider another job".

BBC Monitoring

As Theresa May held talks with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande in the same week as the Commons voted to renew the UK's Trident nuclear weapons programme, Russian business daily newspaper Kommersant saw a "toughening" of policy by the new PM:

"The bargaining will be tough: the leaders of the EU's premier states have no intention of making 'divorce' concessions to London. Attempting to portray the United Kingdom as a nascent global power centre, Theresa May has called for modernisation of the country's nuclear potential through the building of four new submarines with Trident missile systems. 

"She spoke here of the 'real threats from Russia and North Korea', expressed regret over Ukraine's renunciation of nuclear weapons, and confirmed the possibility of the British government delivering a nuclear strike, even if 'there are hundreds of thousands of casualties'."

Victoria Derbyshire

Image source, PA

Several papers carry the story this morning that David Cameron is to take some time out of the public eye to write a book about his time in office.

The Daily Mail, external and the Times, external report that he wants to step back while the new prime minister's government takes shape.

Tony Blair saw huge success with the publication of his memoir "A Journey" in 2010. The book received a £4.6m advance – which he donated to the Royal British Legion – and became the fastest selling autobiography of all time.

Westminster Hour
Radio 4's Westminster Hour

Westminster Hour reporter Sam Macrory talks to Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, his predecessor Paddy Ashdown, adviser Polly Mackenzie, candidate Daisy Benson, blogger Mark Pack and academic Andrew Russell.

Victoria Derbyshire

More on a legal challenge over the UK leaving the European Union (EU), which is to be launched in Northern Ireland - where Theresa May is making her first visit as prime minister today.

Former justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians and human-rights activists involved in the bid.

Their lawyers have written to Prime Minister Theresa May urging her to consider the NI peace process before formally triggering Brexit.

A majority in Northern Ireland backed Remain in the June referendum.

Read more.

Westminster Hour
Radio 4's Westminster Hour

Labour's Seema Malhotra says the response to allegations of an office break-in by Jeremy Corbyn's staff is trying to "shift away from seriousness".

The former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury told the Westminster Hour that there is also a "culture of bullying" within the Labour Party.

Over the weekend a row broke out over "unauthorised access" to the office of former Labour frontbencher Seema Malhotra. 

Ms Malhotra has formally complained to the Commons Speaker, saying shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's staff violated the privacy of her Westminster office.

Mr McDonnell said his office manager thought the premises were no longer occupied, and accused Mr Corbyn's critics of picking on members of staff.

Here's his version of the story, as presented to the BBC's Andrew Marr.