Sebastian Payne

The Tories have announced that Mark Clarke, an activist who founded the RoadTrip campaigning organisation, has been booted out of the party for life. Clarke has found himself at the centre of bullying and intimidation allegations following the death of Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old activist who is thought to have killed himself. Clarke, along with two other activists, was barred from this year’s party conference. Conservative HQ has put out the following statement, referencing new information that has ‘come to our knowledge this week’: 'In the light of information that has come to our knowledge this week, Mark Clarke’s membership of the Conservative Party has been cancelled for life.  This means he cannot be a candidate or represent the Party in any way.

Labour MPs appear to be just as annoyed by Jeremy Corbyn’s links to the Stop The War coalition as they are about his comments on shoot to kill. In the questions following David Cameron’s Commons statement on the Paris attacks, several MPs used the opportunity to make coded attacks on Stop The War for a blog it published, titled 'Paris reaps whirlwind of western support for extremist violence in Middle East'. It has been since been removed (cached version here) and Corbyn said he was glad it was deleted — but he has yet to condemn the fact it was published in the first place.

Jeremy Corbyn addressed the Parliamentary Labour Party this evening and it appears to have been a difficult meeting — depending on who you listen to. Those inside the room have said Corbyn was ‘shouted down’ by MPs for his stance on military action and Syria, while others say he was ‘savaged’ over his shoot to kill remarks.

The Prime Minister has confirmed the United States has attempted to take out Jihadi John in Syria but it's unknown whether he has been killed. In a statement outside Downing Street this morning, David Cameron said: ‘We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful. But let me be clear. I have always said that we would do whatever was necessary, whatever it took, to track down Emwazi and stop him taking the lives of others. We have been working, with the United States, literally around the clock to track him down. This was a combined effort. And the contribution of both our countries was essential.’ Justifying the mission, Cameron said the U.S.

The Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is apparently the most trusted voice on the EU referendum, according to a new poll. James Morris from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, who was also Ed Miliband’s former pollster, has examined the state of the referendum campaign and reports that it is very close. According to Morris’ research, 45 per cent believe Britain should remain in the EU, compared to 42 per cent who would vote to leave — a result that is within the margin of error. 11 per cent are undecided. This polling also shows a big difference in voting intentions among different demographics and age groups.

The government is getting its revenge on the Vote Leave campaign. After a stunt at Monday's CBI conference — where two protesters interrupted David Cameron’s speech — Sir Eric Pickles has written to the Electoral Commission to suggest that the Vote Leave campaign should not be designated as the official Out campaign. The Guardian reports the former Communities Secretary as saying: 'I believe the actions of Vote Leave in disrupting the CBI conference and declaring a strategy of intimidation and protest disqualify Vote Leave from being a designated lead campaigner in the forthcoming EU referendum campaign.

David Cameron’s speech and letter on EU reform have gone down as you might expect with Eurosceptics: they hated them. MPs and campaigners think the Prime Minister should be pushing for bigger reforms and the renegotiation is looking like a sham. Some have concluded the Prime Minister has spent the past six months traveling around Europe, asking what others find acceptable and his rhetoric today is based on what he can achieve — on red tape and competitiveness for example — instead of what is best for Britain. One Eurosceptic Conservative MP says there is disappointment across the party: ‘The Prime Minister’s letter and speech were very disappointing and weak. A strong negotiating position is not being used.

In last week’s Spectator,  Rod Liddle reported that his Tory-supporting wife is beginning to feel sorry for Jeremy Corbyn. ‘You lot want to watch it. I’m beginning to feel sorry for the bloke. The sympathy votes will be stacking up,’ Mrs Liddle informed her husband. At first, you might wonder what there is to feel sympathetic about. In his short tenure as leader so far, Corbyn has used his ‘huge mandate’ to put a stamp on Labour — allowing it to descend into public infighting over muddled policy positions, as well as riling his own MPs with an assortment of controversial appointments. But after this weekend’s 'row' about whether Corbyn bowed low enough at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony, I think Mrs Liddle has a point.

Jeremy Corbyn is at odds with the military for the second time. On the Andrew Marr Show this morning, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, expressed concerns about the Labour leader's position on Trident — in particular that he would never press the button. ‘Well it would worry me if that thought was translated into power as it were,' Houghton said, also noting ‘there’s a couple of hurdles to cross before we get to that’. Although Houghton's remarks may appear a little sinister, he explained his concerns about Corbyn were not personal.