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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2015/oct/20/chinese-president-xi-jinping-arrives-in-uk-politics-live
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| MPs debate cuts in tax credits – Politics Live | MPs debate cuts in tax credits – Politics Live |
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| 9.39am BST09:39 | |
| Speaking on the Today programme earlier, Philip Hammond also made some interesting comments on Cameron’s attempts to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership. He said the UK would be looking for “bankable promises” that were legally binding. | |
| What we will be looking for is bankable promises, commitments that are legally binding, because we can have international agreements made between the member states which are registered as international agreements, legally binding, to be taken into account by courts in making decisions that will then be incorporated into the treaties at the next opportunity when the treaties are next open. | |
| The consensus seems to be that Cameron will not secure treaty change in his renegotiations and Hammond’s comments sound almost like a direct response to something Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said on Friday. | |
| ...whatever [Cameron] gets is probably going to be unbankable. It’s not a treaty change, it will be a promise of a treaty change. | |
| 9.28am BST09:28 | |
| The Mirror’s front page today calls on the prime minister not to “kowtow to the Chinese president today” and launches their Save Our Steel campaign. | |
| MIRROR: Show us some steel, Mr Cameron #tomorrowspaperstoday #BBCPapers pic.twitter.com/I6BeQGORCc | |
| Up to 15,000 workers risk losing their jobs as our steel industry fights for survival. Today the Mirror launches a Save Our Steel campaign and we call on David Cameron to take decisive action. When he meets President Xi he must tackle the issue of cut-price Chinese imports that are flooding our market. Then he must put real measures in place to protect and revive our own plants – before it’s too late. | |
| 9.18am BST09:18 | 9.18am BST09:18 |
| Here’s a round-up of some of this morning’s political stories which you may have missed: | Here’s a round-up of some of this morning’s political stories which you may have missed: |
| Welcome to the launch of Call Me Dave and I’m sorry that I cannot be with you this evening. As you will have just seen, I have been a little preoccupied for the last four weeks. I haven’t of course set foot in the UK since my illness, but I am reliably informed that my book has caused a bit of a stir. | Welcome to the launch of Call Me Dave and I’m sorry that I cannot be with you this evening. As you will have just seen, I have been a little preoccupied for the last four weeks. I haven’t of course set foot in the UK since my illness, but I am reliably informed that my book has caused a bit of a stir. |
| The BoE’s intervention has been encouraged by Downing Street and is designed to set the scene for the referendum debate over the coming months as David Cameron seeks to renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership. | The BoE’s intervention has been encouraged by Downing Street and is designed to set the scene for the referendum debate over the coming months as David Cameron seeks to renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership. |
| Updated at 9.39am BST | |
| 8.50am BST08:50 | 8.50am BST08:50 |
| Good Morning. | Good Morning. |
| The Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at Heathrow last night for the first official visit by a Chinese head of state since Hu Jintao in 2005. They were greeted on behalf of the Queen by Viscount Hood and by foreign secretary Philip Hammond. | The Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at Heathrow last night for the first official visit by a Chinese head of state since Hu Jintao in 2005. They were greeted on behalf of the Queen by Viscount Hood and by foreign secretary Philip Hammond. |
| Today president Xi will receive a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade – which has been adorned with large red flags along side the union jack – before travelling in a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. | Today president Xi will receive a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade – which has been adorned with large red flags along side the union jack – before travelling in a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. |
| Xi is also expected to address members of parliament and will meet Jeremy Corbyn this afternoon. He will then be welcomed at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening. | Xi is also expected to address members of parliament and will meet Jeremy Corbyn this afternoon. He will then be welcomed at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening. |
| Hammond has just been speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, defending the government against criticism for the seeming warmth of the UK’s developing relationship with China. | Hammond has just been speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, defending the government against criticism for the seeming warmth of the UK’s developing relationship with China. |
| I don’t think we’re naive, we go into all relationships with our eyes wide open and we have to make judgements and balances of the different advantages and disadvantages of any relationship that we go into. | I don’t think we’re naive, we go into all relationships with our eyes wide open and we have to make judgements and balances of the different advantages and disadvantages of any relationship that we go into. |
| ...Let’s be clear, the United States is out closest ally and will remain our closest ally. We have a strong strategic partnership with the United States but that does not prevent us from engaging with a country like China, which has an increasingly important economy, which has been emerging into the international community, playing an increasing role and we want to be able to work with the Chinese to be able to shape the way they engage with the world, to be able to carry out activities with them that are in the mutual interest... | ...Let’s be clear, the United States is out closest ally and will remain our closest ally. We have a strong strategic partnership with the United States but that does not prevent us from engaging with a country like China, which has an increasingly important economy, which has been emerging into the international community, playing an increasing role and we want to be able to work with the Chinese to be able to shape the way they engage with the world, to be able to carry out activities with them that are in the mutual interest... |
| I think we are developing a mature relationship with the Chinese, they know that we are looking, not just to China, but to many other countries for infrastructure investments in the UK. Chinese investors are very keen to have a piece of this action. There aren’t many stable, mature economies around the world that are open to large scale infrastructure investment and we are one of them. | I think we are developing a mature relationship with the Chinese, they know that we are looking, not just to China, but to many other countries for infrastructure investments in the UK. Chinese investors are very keen to have a piece of this action. There aren’t many stable, mature economies around the world that are open to large scale infrastructure investment and we are one of them. |
| We have a separate live blog on the Chinese state visit here, but I’ll bring you some of the more political developments from the story. | We have a separate live blog on the Chinese state visit here, but I’ll bring you some of the more political developments from the story. |
| This afternoon in the commons there will be an opposition day debate on the government’s tax credits plans. Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies – which served the government a blow when it announced after the budget that “unequivocally, tax credit recipients in work will be made worse off” – was speaking on the Today programme earlier. | This afternoon in the commons there will be an opposition day debate on the government’s tax credits plans. Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies – which served the government a blow when it announced after the budget that “unequivocally, tax credit recipients in work will be made worse off” – was speaking on the Today programme earlier. |
| [Work incentives] are an important part of the whole tax credit system and in the end that is part of the reason why tax credits were introduced in the first place and it’s probably important to be clear that, wherever we end up in 2017, it’s still going to be a much more generous system than we had back in 1997, the total level of spending back to around 2003 levels, not back to a world before tax credits. | [Work incentives] are an important part of the whole tax credit system and in the end that is part of the reason why tax credits were introduced in the first place and it’s probably important to be clear that, wherever we end up in 2017, it’s still going to be a much more generous system than we had back in 1997, the total level of spending back to around 2003 levels, not back to a world before tax credits. |
| But, he said: | But, he said: |
| Actually these changes, they’re certainly hitting people further down the income distribution than the changes that were made under the last parliament but the Chancellor made quite a big choice in the Budget, he’s decided actually to hit people in work rather harder than people out of work. | Actually these changes, they’re certainly hitting people further down the income distribution than the changes that were made under the last parliament but the Chancellor made quite a big choice in the Budget, he’s decided actually to hit people in work rather harder than people out of work. |
| In this morning’s papers, George Osborne has claimed that if he had not acted to slash the tax credits bill then £15bn worth of spending cuts would have had to be found elsewhere. He made the comments to coincide with a meeting of the party’s 1922 backbench committee, many of whom are said to be anxious about the effect the cuts to tax credits (the first round of which will come in before Christmas) will have on their constituents. | |
| I’ll be covering for Andrew this week, bringing you breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. | I’ll be covering for Andrew this week, bringing you breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @fperraudin. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @fperraudin. |
| Updated at 9.41am BST |