MP Tom Watson has forgiven a researcher who plunged him into an internet row by pretending to be him - and making a joke about rape.

Mr Watson (Lab West Bromwich East), Labour's internet guru in his role as deputy party chair, said he had accepted an apology from the 21-year-old researcher and would not fire her, even though she sent an offensive message in his name.

The MP has also issued an apology after the researcher sent a message on Internet service Twitter stating: "I should log out of my twitter so that my intern doesn't twit-rape me..."

She used Mr Watson's Twitter account, which has 65,000 followers, so that the comment appeared to come from the MP himself.

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Business Secretary Vince Cable has hinted at a division within the coalition over plans to introduce controversial regional pay deals.

Proposals to end national pay agreements in the public sector were a surprise announcement in George Osborne's Autumn Statement last year. The policy is opposed by unions and Labour - but Dr Cable, one of the most senior Lib Dems in the Cabinet, has now warned there are "practical problems" with the proposal, calling it "a subject we'll have to approach with very great care".

In today's Birmingham Post we've published a lengthy interview with Dr Cable, who spoke to representatives of regional newspapers about a wide range of topics including high speed rail, city mayors and the failure of big cities to match the economic success of their equivalents on the Continent.

But he also hinted that he had doubts about regional pay, a policy which is supposedly designed to help private sector employers in regions outside London to compete to staff.

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The order which forces Birmingham to hold a referendum on creating a directly elected mayor was approved by the House of Commons today - although it was formally opposed by the Labour Party.

Shadow local government minister Chris Williamson demanded a division and then voted against the measure, which obliged the city to hold a referendum on May 3.

The order was discussed at a Commons delegated legislation committee, which is a Commons committee set up to consider detailed changes to the law which do not require an Act of Parliament. The general power to force cities to hold referendums is contained in the Localism Act, which became law last year, and the Government has drawn up orders for each city which are now being considered in committees, one at a time.

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Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey has this afternoon apologised to the House of Commons for failing immediately to declare payments of £57,000 from trade union Unite.

This was his statement: "Mr Speaker, I would like to make an apology to the House.

"A report has been published by the Standards and Privileges Committee following an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

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Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls was in town this weekend and came very, very close to endorsing Sion Simon's bid to become Birmingham's first directly-elected mayor.

Mr Simon, the former MP for Birmingham Erdington, is up against Gisela Stuart, sitting MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, and Sir Albert Bore, leader of the Labour group on the city council, for the party's nomination.

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Staffordshire MP Aidan Burley (Con Cannock Chase), who attended a Nazi-themed stag do in France, has issued a fulsome apology on his personal website.

He said: "I am deeply sorry, and want to take this opportunity to offer the people of Cannock Chase an unreserved, wholehearted and full apology for the terrible offence this incident has undoubtedly caused . . . I feel ashamed that Cannock Chase has been placed in the limelight as a result of my behaviour."

He also added: "Being involved in a fancy dress party does not mean you endorse, tacitly or explicitly, the actions and philosophy of the person that is being impersonated. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I have no sympathies whatsoever with Nazism, racism, or fascism."

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The Children's Society has published the results of a survey which found most 13 to 17 year olds and adults believed the main reason for the summer riots was that rioters wanted "to get goods and possessions they couldn't afford to buy".

According to the Children's Society, this proves that Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was wrong to claim that the riots were about "instant gratification".

Instead, according to the Children's Society, it proves that "poverty" was one of the key causes of the riots.

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David Cameron was in Oldbury, in the Black Country, launching a new project "to radically transform the lives of the country's most troubled families" today.

Almost £450 million will be spent trying to help 120,000 "troubled families" through measures such as the creation of "a national network of Troubled Family 'Trouble-Shooters' who will be appointed by local councils", according to a statement issued by the government.

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Officials working for Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, have contacted me to correct a story which appeared in today's Birmingham Post and on our website about the Government offering more powers to cities if they choose to have a mayor.

I believe our story accurately reflects what we were told by a Government Minister yesterday - and Government policy as set out in a new document published today.

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