James Landale
diplomatic correspondent

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale says Michel Barnier, appointed by the European Commission to negotiate with the UK on Brexit, has a reputation as a tough negotiator.

Last week Theresa May appointed David Davis as the person to lead the UK government's exit negotiations with the EU - and he might find Mr Barnier sitting across the table from him.

"He and Mr Davis were both Europe ministers together in the 1990s, so they do know each other," James tells BBC Radio 4's PM.

James adds that Mr Barnier's "appointment won't be seen as a good thing by the City of London" as he had powers over financial regulation following the 2008 financial crisis. His reforms, including caps on bonuses, made him unpopular with City financiers who see him as "an interventionist, a regulator".

James stresses that Mr Barnier is a negotiator for the European Commission, rather than on behalf of the member states. The main decisions are likely to be made in Paris and Berlin, he adds.

Press Association

A second person has been arrested in connection with alleged threats against Labour MP Naz Shah. West Yorkshire Police said a 37-year-old man was detained on Wednesday, following the arrest of a 32-year-old woman on Tuesday.

A spokesman said: "A second arrest has been made in connection to alleged threats made against MP Naz Shah. A 37-year-old man was arrested earlier today and remains in custody at this time. A 32-year-old woman who was arrested yesterday also remains in custody. Inquiries are continuing."

Earlier this week, Bradford West MP Ms Shah announced she was looking into the death of one of her constituents amid claims she may have been the victim of a so-called honour killing.

Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford, died last week while visiting relatives in northern Punjab and West Yorkshire Police said it was working with the "relevant authorities" to establish the cause of death.

Ms Shah was suspended from the Labour Party in April over anti-Semitic posts on social media, but was readmitted in early July.

Owen Smith's campaign team has issued an apology for the Labour leadership candidate's remark that he wanted the party to "smash" Theresa May "back on her heels" in Parliament.

A spokesman said:

The Times

"Owen Smith woos Corbyn allies with plan for wealth tax," the Times, external reports, describing Mr Smith's list of policies as a "a radically leftwing programme designed to win support".

The article continues: "In measures that will worry the business world, the former shadow work and pensions secretary backed a 'socialist revolution' that included reversing cuts to corporation tax and capital-gains tax and re-introducing wage councils.

"It shows how far left Mr Corbyn’s leadership has pulled the party. Mr Smith’s programme is far more radical than the programme drawn up by Ed Miliband, which many of his MPs believed to be too leftwing."

The Daily Telegraph

"Owen Smith, the Labour leadership candidate, has been forced to defend saying that he wanted to 'smash' Theresa May 'back on her heels' as he outlined 20 new left-wing policies in a speech," says the Telegraph., external

"It comes with polls putting Mr Smith more than 20 points behind Mr Corbyn in the head-to-head race for the Labour leadership, which will end on September 24.

"In a policy-heavy speech, Mr Smith positioned himself as a left-wing candidate who can match Mr Corbyn’s socialist vision but deliver on change in the way the Labour leader cannot.

"However, an ad-libbed line referring to his frustration about Mr Corbyn’s failure to perform better during Mrs May’s first Prime Minister’s Questions appeared to backfire."

The Guardian

Here's how some of the papers have been reacting to Owen Smith's policy-laden campaign speech earlier.

"Owen Smith pledges to end austerity in radical pitch to Labour's left," is the Guardian's, external take.

"The policy pledges by Smith, whose campaign has been characterised by supporters of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, as “Blair-lite”, included leftwing economic policies that went significantly beyond the promises of the former leader Ed Miliband."

However, the paper adds: "The speech was partly overshadowed by remarks about the prime minister Theresa May, for which Smith later apologised, in which he said it pained him that Labour did not have 'the strength, the power and the vitality to smash her back on her heels'. After criticism of his comments, a spokesman said later: 'It was off-script and, on reflection, it was an inappropriate choice of phrase and he apologises for using it.'"

Image source, Getty Images

In his speech earlier, Owen Smith proposed bringing back back wages councils in certain sectors of the economy, such as retail, hospitality and care services.

But what is their history?

• Trade Boards - the forerunner to wages councils - were introduced by Winston Churchill in 1909 when he was President of the Board of Trade in the Liberal government of Herbert Asquith. He told the Commons "it is a serious national evil that any class of His Majesty's subjects should receive less than a living wage in return for their utmost exertions". 
• The first board was set up to cover the construction industry. Others followed when ministers were satisfied that "no adequate machinery exists for the effective regulation of wages throughout the trade". 
• They were expanded by the post-war Labour government of Clement Attlee, becoming tripartite bodies made up of employer and employee representatives and independent members that conciliated during disputes. They set sectoral minimum wages and determined the general conditions of work in the sector with which they were concerned. 
• Ted Heath introduced legislation to make them easier to abolish in 1971. They were lessened further by Margaret Thatcher and abolished completely - with one exception - by John Major is 1993. The Agricultural Wages Board survived until 2013 when it was abolished by the coalition government.

Former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is appointed by the European Commission to negotiate over Brexit.

Labour leadership contender Owen Smith sets out his plans for a £2.8bn-a-year wealth tax and to abolish "zero hours" contracts.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, now the Liberal Democrats' EU spokesman, has launched the "Brexit Challenge project". The challenge, or challenges, in question are the ones the government faces if it wants to "retain significant access" to the EU single market, according to the Lib Dems.

The party says that retaining access to the single market "remains the best of a series of bad options for the economy post-Brexit [but] it comes with significant challenges and trade-offs". It will produce a series of briefing papers with the contribution of academics and political advisers.

Mr Clegg said:

Tech companies express concern over the current freeze on allocating crucial European funding in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The leader of the centre-left grouping in the European Parliament has welcomed the appointment of of Michel Barnier as the European Commission’s Brexit negotiator.

Gianni Pittella, president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, described Mr Barnier as a "tough negotiator" and said: "The negotiations regarding Britain’s future relationship with the EU are going to be long and difficult. We are therefore pleased that President Juncker has chosen someone with a strong background in EU politics to lead the negotiations from the Commission’s side."

BBC News Channel

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, gave a damning response following Owen Smith's speech earlier.

Although he complimented the policies proposed, Mr Wrack said: "It just shows how far Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have shifted the policy debate, both within the Labour Party and within politics more generally, because many of these things wouldn't have been on the radar a year ago."

When asked if it was enough to switch support from Mr Corbyn to Mr Smith, Mr Wrack answered: "I think credibility comes from consistency and Jeremy Corbyn has been consistent.

"I think a lot of people in trade unions, in the public sector suffering, will ask: where were all these people when our pay was being frozen, when our pensions were being attacked? We know where Jeremy Corbyn was, he was standing side by side with us. Owen Smith we've not heard of these issues from before."

A few more lines from Theresa May's press conference earlier in Rome, which followed talks with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Mrs May said she "wants, expects and intends" to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.

She added: "The only circumstances in which that would not be possible would be if the rights of British citizens living in other EU member states were not guaranteed... but this is an issue I hope we can address early on."

Pressed on what kind of UK-EU relationship might result from Brexit, she said she wanted to secure "the best possible deal on goods and services" but that "we had a very clear message from the British people that they want some control on freedom of movement and we will deliver on that".

Following speculation in this morning's press about whether the UK will quit the EU customs union, Mrs May said she was keeping an open mind on the negotiations and reminded the press that the UK would not necessarily follow "a model already on the shelf".

Theresa May suggests the UK should build its own trade links with the EU after leaving rather than replicating others as she holds talks with her Italian counterpart.

Following the announcement from the European Commission that French politician Michel Barnier will be the EU's Brexit negotiator, a government spokesman said:

A first look at what awaits the new Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire