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Middle-income as well as low-income families are being held back by a "deep social mobility problem" in Britain, a report warns.

The Social Mobility Commission warns of many "treadmill families running harder and harder but standing still".

It points to an unfair education system, a two-tier labour market, a regionally imbalanced economy and unaffordable housing.

Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to tackle social inequalities.

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Launching his Brexit attitudes report at Westminster today, Prof John Curtice also gave short shrift to criticism of Jeremy Corbyn's record in persuading Labour voters to back Remain.

Following the referendum Mr Corbyn faced resignations from his shadow cabinet and a vote of no confidence from MPs, with his EU campaign efforts branded "lacklustre".

But Prof Curtice, the president of the UK Polling Council, said the Labour leader had fared as well as SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon in persuading supporters to back Remain.

"Jeremy Corbyn was no less successful than Nicola Sturgeon in getting Labour voters to vote Remain," he said.

"The whole argument about Jeremy Corbyn – I understand where it’s coming from – but in terms of hard stats, if Jeremy Corbyn should be out on his ear, so should Nicola Sturgeon.

"Apparently Nicola Sturgeon was Saint Remain, and Jeremy Corbyn was the devil incarnate himself - statistically this is nonsense."

The state of opinion polling has been under fire - again - following Donald Trump's surprise victory in the US presidential election.

But the president of the UK Polling Council has pointed the finger at people's "preconceptions" of how an election will pan out.

Asked at an event at Westminster for his reaction to the criticism being leveled at the industry, Prof John Curtice told the BBC that the crucial factor was people's ability to "interpret" poll findings, citing attitudes towards the two sides in the EU referendum.

"Why did anyone presume people would vote Remain? The truth is most journalists are well educated and most well educated people vote Remain," he said.

"We all follow our preconceptions."

People said things like "surely the British public won't be so daft as to vote to leave the European Union", which influenced how they saw the polling, Prof Curtice said.

He also said the extent to which voters swing towards the status quo just before an election had been exaggerated.

On the US election, where most polls had predicted a Hillary Clinton win, he said if all states that were within a two percentage points margin of error were discounted the Democratic candidate would have been on 248 Electoral College votes (270 are needed to win).

"She was not a dead cert."

He added: "The crucial message is don't read polls with your preconceptions."

Comedian and actor Sir Lenny Henry is to play a demagogue inspired by Hitler as part of a new season at London's Donmar Warehouse on the theme of power.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Angela Smith asks about ways in which the rural tourist economy could be boosted.

Sir Gary Verity tells the committee a "critical mass" is crucial and tourist organisations such as Welcome to Yorkshire, external need to continue to drive business, because if there isn't a sufficient number of people, restaurants and local attractions will not be able to stay open.  

House of Lords
Parliament

Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed in the UK with 300,000 procedures carried out each year.

Cataracts occur in the eyes when the lens changes to become less transparent, making vision blurry.

Cataracts most commonly occur due to old age, but there are rare cases in babies and children.

Surgery to remove a cataract is usually done under local anaesthetic and does not require a hospital stay.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, Science Photo Library

Labour's Lord Harrison is asking the government what plans it has to increase the availability of and capacity to undertake cataract operations.

Health Minister Lord Prior of Brampton rises once more to answer, saying that Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning cataract surgery for their local population.

He says that all patients should be treated without unnecessary delay.

Lord Harrison says there have been recent "dispiriting reports" about ever lengthening queues and waiting times for "vital" cataract operations.

He calls for the government to "stop offloading" this issue on to CCGs.

Lord Prior says that waiting times for cataract treatments are no longer than for other procedures, and tells peers that the government has asked NICE, external to bring forward further guidance on this issue.

House of Commons
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Image source, Getty Images

Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is a benefit provided to those who have a disability or health condition preventing them from working. 

There are an estimated 2.4m ESA claimants in Britain, 450,000 of whom are in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG), who receive an additional payment.

Claimants in WRAG are those who the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) considers will be capable of working at some point in the future. 

These claimants do not have to look for work but are expected to participate in activities that will improve their chances of working in the future. 

From April 2017, work-related activity payments to this group will be abolished representing a reduction to claimants of £29.05 per week. 

The government said the changes, which are expected to save £640m a year, were introduced to “remove the financial incentives that could otherwise discourage claimants from taking steps back to work”.

The government has said it is setting aside £60m per year for practical employment support with an extra £15m for those with limited capability to work. 

House of Lords
Parliament

The Values-Based Child and Adolescent Mental Health System Commission produced the report.

The Commission was set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and children's mental health advocates.

The report puts the schools "at the heart of improving mental health services for children and young people".

The report was led by Baroness Tyler and calls for "fundamental changes" in how Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are delivered.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tyler of Enfield is asking the government what its response to the report of the Values-Based Child and Adolescent Mental Health System Commission, external is.

Health Minister Lord Prior of Brampton responds that the government welcomes the report, and says that it "builds on and strengthens the government's existing approach".

Baroness Tyler asks if the minister agrees with the report's recommendation that schools have the potential to make a "really big difference" on improving mental health "if properly funded".

Lord Prior replies that in his view the part of the report about schools was the "most persuasive part" and insists that the role of schools is "very important".

Image source, Julia Quenzler

The man accused of murdering MP Jo Cox had a bag of bullets in his pocket when he was detained, an arresting officer has told the Old Bailey.

PC Craig Nicholls also said he saw what looked like a gun in a bag and described Thomas Mair putting his arms up and saying: "It's me".

Mrs Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed in Birstall, West Yorkshire, on 16 June, a week before the EU referendum vote.

Mr Mair, 53, of Birstall, denies murdering the Labour MP.

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Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative MP Rebecca Pow asks the witnesses if there should be more emphasis on promoting rural areas to our international visitors.

Patricia Yates of VisitBritain tells the committee that we need to "tell a story" about our rural areas within international markets and that we need to "make an effort to get people out of London". 

Image source, Getty Images

People "almost universally support" the UK staying in the EU single market after Brexit - while also wanting new migration controls, research suggests.

NatCen Social Research said its study suggested voters did not want a choice between a "hard" or "soft" Brexit.

Asked to pick between ending free movement and continued free trade, opinion was split down the middle.

This might leave the government with a "hard choice" if EU leaders refuse to budge, a leading pollster said.

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BBC Radio 5 live

The Clerk of the Commons, David Natzler has given BBC 5 live an insight into his day-to-day duties.

Mr Natzler is Parliament's most senior legal and constitutional adviser and has been working at Westminster since 1986.

House of Commons
Parliament

Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith now gets to his feet to speak as a backbencher "for the first time in seven years".

He tells MPs that he worked "very hard" to introduce universal credit, which he says has opened the door "to a much more flexible process" helping disabled people "to work as far as they possibly can".

On ESA he urges the government "to think carefully again" on their decision to reduce allowances. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Sir Gary Verity, the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said when promoting tourism sites, brown signs are "very important", but it is currently difficult to get them put in place, especially in Yorkshire. 

Sir Gary urges MPs to look into this.

Brown road signs are used across the country to signpost places of interest to people. 

Image source, Reuters

Twitter has suspended the accounts of several members of the American alt-right movement, including the leader of a white nationalist think tank.

The social network has not given an explanation for its actions.

But they come the same week it announced new ways for users to complain about hateful content.

Some alt-right figures have suggested a switch to Gab, an alternative micro-blogging service that promises "free speech for everyone".

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House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Ian Blackford urges the government to use the Autumn Statement to "end austerity allowance".

Specifically he wants to see cuts to Universal Credit reversed.

He also describes it as "a scandal" that Employment Support Allowance is being cut. 

He argues that there is "no evidence" that reducing this payment would incentivise people to seek work.