Watch PMQs LIVE: Angela Rayner grills Dominic Raab in House of Commons

(Sky News)

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is facing off against Angela Rayner at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

The deputy party leaders are going head-to-head in place of Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Raab is likely to come under fire following nation rail strikes led by the RMT last week, with further industrial action likely after rail bosses and the union failed to reach an agreement.

Ms Rayner is also likely to raise what Labour call “Backlog Britain” – with delays at the Passport Office and Britons seeking GP and dentist appointments.

Raab says Rayner has ‘flip flopped’ over strikes

12:14 , Daniel Keane

Ms Rayner attacks Mr Raab for failing to “empathise” with poorer voters during the cost of living crisis.

“He himself said food banks users ‘are not in poverty but have a cashflow problem… it shows how out of touch he is.’”

He responds: “If the Labour party wants to help working people they should be clear in standing up against these rail strikes.

“The Right Honourable Lady has flip-flopped all over the place. First she said they were lose-lose, then she said workers were left with no choice.

“Where was she when the Labour frontbench were at the picket lines – not standing up for the public?”

Rayner: Call a general election and see where the people are

12:10 , Daniel Keane

Ms Rayner urges ministers to “call a general election and see where the people are”.

She asks Mr Raab how high she believes the tax burden should be on working families “before he says enough is enough”.

He responds: “We are the ones with a plan for low unemployment and a high-growth economy… with Labour its back to year-zero.”

Britain can’t stomach this PM for another 8 years, says Rayner

12:08 , Daniel Keane

Ms Rayner says Britain “can’t stomach this Prime Minister for another 8 years”.

She adds: “His own backbenchers can’t stomach him for another 8 minutes. If they continue to prop him up, I doubt the voters will stomach him for even 8 seconds in the ballot box.”

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She asks how many further tax rises the Government will impose on the British people.

Mr Raab responds: “We are delivering for families at difficult times during the cost of living crisis.

“Labour’s plan is no plan.”

PM is ‘losing the country’, says Rayner

12:05 , Daniel Keane

Ms Rayner attacks the Cabinet over their support for embattled Boris Johnson.

“This week the Government lost two by-elections in a day – it’s no wonder the PM has fled the country and left his deputy to carry the can,” she says.

“The Prime Minister isn’t just losing the room, he’s losing the country.”

She asks why the Cabinet is propping a PM who wants to “limp on” until the 2030s.

Mr Raab responds: “We want this Prime Minister to go on longer than she wants the Labour leader to go on.

“We have a working majority, we are focusing on delivering for the British people.”

Raab pays tribute to Dame Deborah James

12:02 , Daniel Keane

Beginning Prime Minister’s Questions, Dominic Raab pays tribute to Dame Deborah James – a cancer campaigner who passed away from bowel cancer on Tuesday evening.

“I lost my father to cancer – I know first hand the pain her family must be feeling,” he says.

PMQs to begin imminently

11:58 , Daniel Keane

PMQs will begin shortly, with Deputy Prime Minisiter Dominic Raab to face off against deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner.

We’ll have all the latest here.