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 rules out backing abortion amendment

12:33 , Daniel Keane

Mr Raab ruled out backing an abortion amendment proposed by Labour MP Stella Creasy.

The amendment would be made to the forthcoming Bill of Rights.

But Mr Raab claimed that including the amendment would mean abortion could end up being litigated in the courts.

Raab attacks SNP record on drug deaths

12:25 , Daniel Keane

Mr Raab attacks the SNP’s record in Scotland, saying they have “presided over the worst drug death rate in Europe”.

“I think people in Scotland expect Holyrood and Westminster to work together to tackle the issues facing them in their daily lives.”

Scotland ‘has already paid price’ for not being independent

12:21 , Daniel Keane

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford says that Scotland “has already paid the price” for not being independent.

It comes after SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a new referendum next year.

“We will make the positive case for independence. Will the opposition make the case for continued Westminster rule?”

Mr Raab says “it is not the right time” for another referendum, given the “challenges that we face as one United Kingdom”.

“The people of Scotland want their two governments to work together.”

Raab ‘was on a sun lounger when we withdrew from Afghanistan’, says Rayner

12:17 , Daniel Keane

Ms Rayner accuses the PM of “breaking his pledge” to invest in the military.

“The only thing this PM is interested in is defending his own job,” she says.

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In response, Mr Raab claims the UK is the “largest military spender in Europe”.

He attacks Ms Rayner for voting against Trident and campaigning for Jeremy Corbyn to become PM, claiming he wanted “to take us out of Nato”.

Ms Rayner hits back: “Where was he (Mr Raab) when we withdrew from Afghanistan? He was on a sun-lounger.”

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.”

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.