Renditions urgent question - as it happened: Government faces angry backlash over 'abhorrent and shameful' failure to object to death penalty
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The government is facing an angry backlash over the "abhorrent and shameful" decision to drop its blanket opposition to the death penalty in the case of two Isis fighters.
In a significant shift, Sajid Javid, the home secretary, told the US attorney general Jeff Sessions that he would not seek "death penalty assurance" for Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, two British members of the brutal "Beatles" set of executioners.
The move prompted an outcry from senior Tories and opposition MPs, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott describing the decision as "abhorrent and shameful".
Elsewhere, Theresa May insisted responses to her new Brexit vision have been "constructive" as she took part in a rare town hall-style session with workers in Newcastle.
The prime minister took the whole cabinet to Gateshead on Monday, as part of efforts to bolster support for her Chequers proposals at home and abroad.
In a slightly awkward exchange, Ms May also revealed that she likes walking, cooking and watching the American procedural TV show, NCIS, when pressed by the audience on how she liked to unwind.
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Leaving the European Union with no deal could prompt “civil unrest” within days, the head of Amazon in the UK has warned.
Doug Gurr told a meeting organised by Brexit secretary Dominic Raab that the online retail firm was now considering this worst-case outcome as part of their contingency planning.
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Theresa May is holding a cabinet meeting in the North East for the first time this morning, when she takes her entire top team to Gateshead for a special session.
She will then visit a business and speak to members of the public, in an attempt to sell her Brexit plan to a wider audience. She will also confirm a £780m in the East Coast mainline and plans for a devolution deal for Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside.
Speaking ahead of the trip, Ms May said: "Making Britain a country that works for everyone, in urban and rural regions, is a priority for my Government - and a thriving economy across the Northern Powerhouse is central to that.
"We have set out major policies and investments as part of our Modern Industrial Strategy to unlock the potential in the North - and more than any government in history, we are making sure that we are delivering the outcomes that really matter to people who live and work here.”
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said Europe must "show much more flexibility and creativity" to avoid a 'no deal by accident' situation post-Brexit.
Mr Hunt is meeting his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin today, to discuss a range of issues including Britain's leaving of the European Union, Nato, the Western Balkans and Iran.
Talks on a post-Brexit deal between the UK and EU are continuing, with customs arrangements the latest sticking point.
Theresa May has called her white paper proposals "a significant development of our position ... a coherent package", but the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier questioned whether they were workable.
Mr Hunt said: "Germany is one of Britain's most important allies in every field, from trade to European security to counter-terrorism.
"Our two countries work side-by-side to defend the rules-based international system on which our safety and prosperity depend."
On Brexit, he said: "I will reassure my German counterpart that we want to continue to work alongside our European friends and allies, in defence of our shared values.
"But I will also be clear that our European partners must show much more flexibility and creativity in negotiations if we are to avoid a 'no deal by accident' scenario.”
Jeremy Corbyn is facing a stormy meeting of the parliamentary party today following a row over Labour's code of conduct around antisemitism.
A meeting of MPs and peers will debate an emergency call to toughen up rules against projecting prejudice, despite a call from the party leader to delay the debate until the autumn.
It comes after a bitter clash between senior Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge and Mr Corbyn, where she called the Labour leader a "f****** antisemite and a racist" in the Commons.
Dame Margaret, who lost family members in the Holocaust, has stood by her words, which she faces disciplinary action for.
She told Today: "I have always in the past disagreed with the people who have called him [Mr Corbyn] an antisemite but, at the end of the day, people have to be judged on what they do and not what they say. They have to be judged on their actions and not their words.
"I think what has happened over the last months - from failure to respond to antisemitism against Labour Party members, from failure to respond to the massive demonstration, unique demonstration by the Jewish community, culminating in the failure to adopt in full the universally used definition of antisemitism is just a bridge too far."
Lawyers acting for Dame Margaret have questioned the "fairness and legitimacy" of the Labour investigation into the MP and said the party had failed to set out what she is accused of.
They suggested threats to suspend Dame Margaret were a "veiled attempt to silence" her.
In a letter to Labour's general secretary, Jennie Formby, the letter from law firm Mishcon de Reya said, given the party had failed to explain the allegation against her or the rule that it has breached, "your threat to suspend our client if she repeats this non-particularised conduct appears to be a veiled attempt to silence her".
It adds: "Again, it is a fundamental breach of natural justice and principles of fairness. You have left our client in the bizarre position whereby possible suspension is hanging over her for future unspecified behaviour."
Shadow solicitor general Nick Thomas-Symonds told the Today programme: "We should be going further than the IHRA definition and the language of the code is at times much stronger."
He added: "I totally understand, as well, that there have been concerns expressed by my parliamentary colleagues and concerns expressed by Jewish community leaders.
"We obviously take those very seriously indeed, and so we should, and that's why I think the NEC was also right, whilst adopting this code, to say that we will now have a further consultation and take those into account."
EU citizens in the UK are being put at risk of “devastating consequences” after Brexit, including losing out on housing and jobs, MPs warn today.
The government’s plans to grant them “settled status” is heavily criticised for creating the same dangers that have ruined the lives of members of the Windrush generation.
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Reports emerging of a Tory backlash against Sajid Javid's decision to abandon opposition to the death penalty over two Isis fighters.
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