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.

Labour MPs laugh at policing minister over Khan criticism

14:00 , Josh Salisbury

Policing minister Kit Malthouse was met with laughter by Labour MPs in the Commons as he accused Sadiq Khan of “blaming everybody else,” over the Met’s failings.

After listing a series of scandals endured by Scotland Yard, he said: “All of this, I’m afraid, has undermined public confidence in the Met police service, and we have not heard enough from the Mayor about what he plans to do about it.

“Blaming everybody else will just not do this time.”

As the Opposition could be heard laughing, Mr Malthouse said: “I am glad the honourable members find this amusing. I am afraid it is not funny.”

He added: “The police forces are a public service and the public must have confidence in it. Plainly, things have to change. The Government is working closely with the policing system as a whole to rewire police culture, integrity, and performance.”

Policing minister: Sadiq Khan must ‘share responsibility’ over Met failures

13:57 , Josh Salisbury

Sadiq Khan must share responsibility for the failures of the Met Police, the policing minister has said, after a war of words between the Mayor of London and the Home Secretary.

The Met Police was placed into special measures on Tuesday after a series of scandals.

Making a statement in the Commons in response, policing minister, Kit Malthouse, said: “The public also elected a Mayor to bring governance and accountability in their name.

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“I now expect the Mayor of London as the Police and Crime Commissioner to act swiftly to ensure that he and the force deliver improvements, win back public trust and make London streets safer.”

“We expect him to provide an urgent update, explaining how he plans to fix this as soon as possible.

“Now, it is not the time for the Mayor to distance himself from the Met. He must lean in and share responsibility for a failure of governance and the work needed to put it right.”

Mr Khan said Tuesday that being put into special measures “laid bare the substantial performance failings by the force” and that the Met needed to win back the trust of Londoners.

Boris meets Turkey’s president to discuss Ukraine

13:37 , Josh Salisbury

Boris Johnson met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the margins of the Nato summit in Madrid on Wednesday.

With Turkey’s strategic location controlling access to the Black Sea, the pair were expected to discuss getting grain shipments out of Ukraine’s blockaded ports.

Asked how he would get the grain out, Mr Johnson said: “We’re working on it.”

No10 says Brexit impact assessment ‘too challenging’

13:21 , Daniel Keane

Downing Street has suggested it is currently too challenging to carry out an accurate assessment of the economic impact of Brexit.

A No 10 spokesman said: “It’s obvious that since we’ve left the European Union we’ve had a pandemic and there’s been the war in Europe, so assessing the impact as of now isn’t something that would be straightforward to do.”

He said the assessment “wouldn’t be an easy thing to do” but was unable to say whether the assessment was being delayed or whether it had been carried out but was disputed by the Government.

“It’s obviously too early to assess the long-term benefits of Brexit given that we only left a few years ago, and between then and now we’ve had the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.”

Pressed whether the economic affect would be positive overall, he said the PM had been clear there would be “massive benefits” of leaving the EU.

Plans to safeguard steel industry ‘depart from international legal obligations’

13:06 , Daniel Keane

Plans to safeguard the UK steel industry “departs from our international legal obligations” but are in the “national interest”, a minister has said.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “The Government wishes to make it clear to Parliament that the decision to extend the safeguards on the five product categories departs from our international legal obligations under the relevant WTO agreement, as relates to the five product categories.

“However, from time to time, issues may arise where the national interest requires action to be taken which may be in tension with normal rules and procedures.

“The Government is therefore actively engaged with interested parties, including those outside the UK on the future of the UK safeguards and has listened to the concerns raised.”

UK to extend steel tariffs

12:49 , Daniel Keane

Trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan confirmed that Britain will extend a package of tariffs and quotas on steel by a further two years in an effort to protect domestic steelmakers.

“We have concluded that it is in the economic interest of the UK to maintain the safeguards to reduce the risk of material harm (to UK steel producers) if they were not maintained,” Ms Trevelyan said.

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.

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.