Isabel Hardman

William Hague stayed remarkably jovial throughout his two-hour appearance before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee today, chuckling happily away even when he was asked to imagine what he'd do if the European Union had never existed. But the Foreign Secretary was considerably less revelatory than he was cheery, offering no new details at all on his party's position on renegotiating Britain's relationship with the EU or on a subsequent referendum. He told a slightly disappointed-looking John Baron that 'it's too early to speak of red lines [for a negotiation]… we don't publish our red lines: that doesn't necessarily help bring about a successful negotiation.

The Press Association's analysis of tonight's vote on the second reading of the same-sex marriage bill found 139 Conservative MPs voted against, along with two tellers. This was a free vote.

Downing Street is very keen to emphasise that Tory MPs who vote against the second reading of the gay marriage bill tomorrow are not 'rebels'. This is a free vote, and MPs can vote with their conscience. But this ignores the fact that there will be a rebellion tomorrow: not on the second reading, but on the programme motion. I understand that at least one ministerial aide is likely to rebel against the three-line whip on this motion, which sets out how the Bill will proceed through the Commons. Other MPs who oppose the bill are also expected to defy the whip, although not in the same numbers as will vote against second reading, and without any greater effect as Labour is also whipping its MPs to support the motion.

Tony Blair usually grows rather awkward when asked about the current direction of the Labour party under Ed Miliband. Clearly afraid of appearing a backseat driver, the former Prime Minister tries as hard as he can to avoid delivering any kind of verdict, other than a vaguely supportive bundle of words. He certainly did the latter in his interview on Marr this morning, but Blair also made some important points about how crucial this year will be for Labour. He said: 'So I understand the Labour party message. And by the way, what Ed’s trying to do is tougher than what I had to do. When I became Labour leader, we’d lost four elections. This is attempting to bounce back and win after a heavy defeat.

Another day, another confusing briefing about public spending. Yesterday Downing Street got itself into a lather over defence spending. Today it's pensioner benefits. The Independent's story that the Lib Dems would only consent to further welfare cuts in the 2015/16 spending review if the Tories were prepared to cut pensioner benefits came up at the Number 10 Lobby briefing this morning. The Downing St spokeswoman said: 'We've done an awful lot to help pensioners but, clearly, speaking generally there are some difficult decisions to be made and the Treasury is leading on the spending review for 2015/16. The Prime Minister stands by what he set out in the Coalition Agreement.

It's the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice this week, so perhaps it's the passionate letter from Darcy to Elizabeth that's inspired such an enthusiastic burst of letter-writing from Conservative MPs complaining about stories in the press today. Earlier, we had Jake Berry complaining to the BBC, and now there are more. Sadly, the latest missives I've got hold of from Harriett Baldwin don't contain declarations of love, or any insults for the recipient's mother: instead, Baldwin is angry about an article by Ed Miliband in today's Sun. Plugging his party's policy for every big firm receiving a government contract to train young people, the Labour leader writes: 'Among the major European countries, we are in the relegation zone when it comes to youth unemployment.

What a lot of fun William Hague had this afternoon in the Commons as he opened a debate tabled by the Prime Minister on Europe. 'I have not yet exhausted the list of the Coalition's achievements,' he told an MP trying to intervene. His speech was rather like a slow motion version of the PM's address last week, but with words like 'subsidiarity' added in for good measure, and a longer tour of how wonderfully robust the Tory party is on Europe. Though some Tory MPs made their own thoughts on the referendum clear (James Clappison called for legislation in this parliament for a referendum in the next, and Bill Cash said he'd rather the plebiscite take place before the European elections), the focus was on poking fun at the Labour party: a rare moment of Coalition unity.