Politics Live: Danny Alexander statement on public sector pensions
Rolling coverage of the day's political developments as they happen including the Treasury secretary's statement to MPs
9.51am: Gransnet, a social networking site for grandparents set up by the Mumsnet crowd, is hosting a webchat with Vince Cable, the business secretary, at 1.30pm. You can post a question on the site here.
9.35am: Train fares will rise by an average of 5.9% in January, the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said today. This is from the Press Association copy.
The increase is higher than the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which was 5.2% in November.
Michael Roberts, chief executive of Atoc, said: "Money raised through fares helps pay for new trains, faster services and better stations.
"The long-standing government approach to sustaining rail investment is to cut the contribution from taxpayers and increase the share paid for by passengers.
"The industry is working together to continue cutting costs as a way to help limit future fare rises and offer better value for money for taxpayers over the longer term."
Here's the Atoc news release, with a Q&A explaining why the fares are going up and where the money is going.
And here's Atoc's online fares guide.
9.27am: The headlines this morning have been dominated by the public accounts committee scathing report about the "far too cosy" relationship between HM Revenue & Customs and large companies like Vodaphone and Goldman Sachs. Rajeev Syal's Guardian story about the report is here, and the report itself is ! availabl e here.
Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has put out this comment.
At last confirmation of what has been long said - that the government is too lax when it comes to collecting the money corporations owe this nation.
Some 25bn is being squandered because the government prefers to go easy on its friends in the City. But now, in this time of severe austerity, this lenience is costing ordinary people heavily. Jobs are going, services are being cut, the challenge of making ends meet is biting into everyday life.
This is not just a question of efficient management of the nation's finances, but also one of managing them in the interests of the many. George Osborne and the Treasury have been exposed - they need to shape up urgently because their credibility is in ruins.
9.00am: It's the last day the Commons is sitting before the Christmas break and the main event will be a statement by Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, on the public sector pensions talks. As Dan Milmo reports, the dispute which saw more than 1 million people go on strike last month, is moving towards a resolution.
Unions representing health, civil service and local government workers agreed to consider outline deals, while talks with education representatives were adjourned and will continue in the new year, according to the National Union of Teachers. The largest public sector union, Unison, confirmed it would not set strike dates while it consulted on the proposals, as labour movement sources acknowledged Monday's developments headed off the prospect of a further public sector general strike in the new year. However, there was dissent from one important player, as the bigg! est civi l service union, the Public and Commercial Services union, rejected a deal.
I'll be covering the Alexander statement in detail.
Otherwise, it's reasonably busy. Here's the schedule.
10am: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary publishes its review of public order policing.
10am: The Leveson inquiry resumes. Piers Morgan, the former Daily Mirror and News of the World editor, gives evidence, as well as Sharron Marshall, former TV editor of the News of the World, solicitor Julian Pike, of Farrer and Co, Matthew Bell, co-owner of Ferrari Press Agency, Chris Johnson, who runs Liverpool-based Mercury Press, and Steve Turner, general secretary of the British Association of Journalists. Morgan is giving evidence in the afternoon.
10.30am: Friends of the Earth and two solar panel companies launch a legal case against the government's decision to cut subsidies for solar electricity.
11am: Sir Scott Baker, chair of the extradition review panel, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
11.30am: Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, takes questions in the Commons.
11.45am: Rob Whiteman, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
12.30pm: Nick Herbert, the policing minister, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about policing reform.
12.30pm: Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, makes a statement in the Commons about public sector pensions.
2.20pm: Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, gives evidence to the joint committee on human rights on the government's human rights policy.
As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a lunchtime summary before the Alexander statement and another in ! the afte rnoon.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow.
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