PMQs LIVE: Keir Starmer insists Rachel Reeves will be Chancellor for ‘many years’ as Kemi Badenoch skewers him over Tulip Siddiq resignation

Ed Davey is speaking on the winter crisis faced by the NHS and hit out at ‘years of neglect’ by the Conservatives.

He asks Starmer if he will scrap the three-year timetable to reform social care.

Starmer says the Tories ‘left the NHS on its knees’, calling the state of the health service ‘disgusting’.

He does not say he will change the three-year timetable.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey begins his questions by echoing Starmer’s comments on Trump’s impending leadership.

He said he hopes Biden and Trump can work together to find a ceasefire for Gaza.

Badenoch claims the Tories left Labour ‘the fastest-growing economy in the G7’ in a lengthy comment covering multiple topics. She says business confidence, jobs and growth are now ‘down’.

Starmer hits out at Badench for talking ‘complete nonsense’ – and responds to a previous comment she made about the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill.

Badenoch claimed it being scrapped would leave Gerry Adams open to claiming tens of thousands of pounds.

Starmer said the Bill is unfit for purpose.

He added the Tories crashed the economy, saying: ‘No wonder the country put them in the bin.’

Badenoch is now pressing Starmer on the resignation of Tulip Siddiq. She asks if the PM will pledge his support to any NCA inquiry into any corruption probes involving the former Bangladeshi administration.

Starmer points out Siddiq ‘referred herself’ to his ethics supervisor and that she chose to resign.

Badenoch says Labour congratulated itself for having the first female Chancellor at the Budget, instead of ‘ensuring they had someone who could actually do the job’.

She adds the markets do not have confidence in Reeves, and asks if the PM stands by her commitment to only have one Budget a year.

Starmer said Reeves would be in place ‘for years to come’, and says his government will only have one Budget a year, with fiscal rules they will stick to.

Starmer just reignited his feud with Liz Truss, who served him with a cease and desist not to repeat claims she ‘crashed the economy’ during her short time in office.

But just now Starmer again said the Tories ‘crashed the economy’ – and has said he refuses to change his language. Truss won’t be happy.

Badenoch accuses the PM of refusing to repeat Reeves’ pledge not to make further tax cuts and invites him to do so now.

Starmer responded: ‘We took the right decisions at the budget, decisions they did not have the courage to make.’

‘We can’t just tax our way out of the problems that they left us,’ Starmer says.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch kicks off her PMQs by telling of a meeting with business leaders in Friday in which she says they warned their companies may not be trading by next year.

Why should anyone trust a word Starmer says over businesses, Badenoch asks.

Starmer responded and said he has taken the ‘tough and right decisions in the budget to get our finances back in order’.

He added he and his Chancellor have an ‘iron-clad commitment to our fiscal rules.’

He accused the Tories of blocking all of his economic reforms, adding: ‘Imagine where we would be if they were still in charge’.

The first question is on Maidenhead train station which its MP says is hugely busy.

Starmer says issues faced by his constituents is similar to those faced by Brits across the country, and that is why the government intends to renationalise the railways.

Sir Keir Starmer has begun by thanking President Biden for his time in US office, and pledges to work with Donald Trump.

As is traditional, PMQs has just kicked off with Sir Keir Starmer answering a question on his diary engagements for the day.

Stay tuned for all the latest updates.

Larry, No.10’s chief mouser, has been pictured enjoying some downtime while his boss is away from the office.

While Starmer prepares to answer to MPs in just a couple of minutes, Larry is soaking up the limelight in his stead.

The Prime Minister used yesterday’s Cabinet meeting to outline his aim of striking a ‘partnership’ with America under Mr Trump to ‘advance our economic growth’.

He also said the US and UK should work together to ‘leverage the opportunity of new technologies’ after he pledged earlier this week to make Britain an AI ‘superpower’.

Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have made growth the Government’s ‘number one mission’ and are currently scrambling to revive the UK’s sluggish economy.

Mr Trump’s return as US President has revived hopes of a US-UK trade deal after negotiations on a post-Brexit agreement stalled under his predecessor Joe Biden.

Sir Keir Starmer has just left Downing Street for PMQs.

As usual he was seen with several folders full of notes and documents as he departed No.10 and headed to the House of Commons.

Yesterday Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to defend herself in the Commons following a trip to China at a time of market uncertainty.

Reeves visited Beijing to broaden economic ties and returned with agreements worth £600 million to the UK over the next five years.

But she faced criticism for leaving Britain at a time when government borrowing looks to squeeze the economy and as the pound fell to almost its lowest point since November 2023 amid the fallout of the disastrous Liz Truss Budget.

Further questions on her record could come up during PMQs today, although better than expected inflation figures could help slightly.

Keir Starmer is facing a backlash over his judgment in making his close friend Tulip Siddiq anti-corruption minister – after she was forced to quit.

The Treasury minister announced her resignation to avoid being a ‘distraction’ to the government after a sleaze probe said her behaviour was ‘regrettable’.

Sir Keir’s independent adviser Sir Laurie Magnus concluded there was no evidence of ‘improprieties’ or that the ministerial code had been broken.

But he suggested Ms Siddiq should have been more alert to the risks of her family ties to the deposed former PM of Bangladesh.

He also revealed that Ms Siddiq had been unable to produce conclusive evidence that the tax and funding arrangements for the houses she used that were connected to Sheikh Hasina were ‘in order’.

Despite Sir Laurie’s findings, the PM told her that the ‘door remains open’ for a comeback to government.

A surprise dip in UK inflation last month has provided some reprieve for Rachel Reeves, as financial markets calmed following a recent period of volatility.

The cost of Government borrowing eased on Wednesday morning in a tentative sign of relief among traders after more heightened economic concerns.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation slowed to 2.5 percent in December, from 2.6 percent in November.

Most analysts had been expecting CPI inflation to stay the same or edge higher.

Furthermore, services inflation – a metric closely watched by the Bank of England – dropped more sharply to 4.4 percent, from 5 percent in November.

The latest official figures provided some ‘good news for the gilt market’, which showed ‘signs of relief’ once trading opened, said Francesco Pesole, foreign exchange strategist for ING.

Yields on government bonds, also known as gilts, eased on Wednesday morning having risen to decades-high levels in the past week.

Kemi Badenoch has plenty of ammunition for PMQs after yet another chaotic week for Keir Starmer.

But as the Labour leader makes his final preparations, he might reflect that it could have been even worse.

Inflation coming in marginally below expectations this morning has lightened the mood after the extraordinary battering the UK has been taking from markets.

Eye-watering interest rates on the government’s borrowing eased slightly on the news, and hopes have risen that the Bank of England might now help revive the stalling economy by cutting interest rates next month.

Allies believe that the resignation of Sir Keir’s close friend and anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq last night, while damaging, has at least cleared the decks.

And his other so-called ‘lame duck’, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, just about managed to hold her ground under heavy fire in the Commons.

Ms Badenoch, meanwhile, is under pressure to make an impact after a YouGov poll this week showed the Tories slipping behind Reform.

After strikingly blaming immigrants with ‘peasant’ backgrounds for the grooming gangs scandal, the Opposition leader could take the chance to ramp up her rhetoric on some of the key issues that unite the Right.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones did not concede that Tulip Siddiq’s resignation showed a lack of judgment from the Prime Minister.

Tulip Siddiq quit as a Treasury minister after the ministerial standards watchdog said it was ‘regrettable’ she was ‘not more alert’ to the reputational risk caused by her links to her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh.

He told Times Radio this morning that it showed that the ministerial standards watchdog was working.

‘I don’t think there’s a question about the Prime Minister’s judgment,’ Mr Jones said.

He said: ‘The independent process has been followed. It concluded, and Tulip took the decision to step down from Government.’

He said this shows that ‘the process is working’.

The headline CPI rate slipped to 2.5 per cent in December from 2.6 per cent the previous month, with core inflation also slowing.

Most analysts had pencilled in the level being unchanged, while any signs of a pent-up pressure could have fuelled the UK’s recent battering from financial markets.

The figures could increase the chances of the Bank of England cutting interest rates next month – something that would help revive the stalling economy.

However, inflation is still above the 2 per cent target and there are concerns that it could rise again in the coming months.

Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq resigned yesterday to avoid being a ‘distraction’ to the government after a sleaze probe said her behaviour was ‘regrettable’.

Sir Keir’s independent adviser Sir Laurie Magnus concluded there was no evidence of ‘improprieties’, nor that the ministerial code had been broken.

But he suggested Ms Siddiq should have been more alert to the risks of her family ties to the deposed former PM of Bangladesh, who was her aunt.

Of particular focus were property arrangements for London residences used by Ms Siddiq, including a home which she previously told media had been a ‘gift’ from her parents.

Today’s PMQs, kicking off at around 12pm, is set to be another busy affair this week as the government once again finds itself under scrutiny.

The resignation of Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq is sure to be a target for leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch, as are concerns over the economy.

But in a silver lining for starmer, inflation figures showed inflation unexpectedly falling from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent in December.

As usual, Sir Keir Starmer will take questions from leaders of the Conservatives and Lib Dems, as well as members across the house.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s politics live blog.

We’ll be taking you through all the build up ahead of PMQs and bringing you live updates from the Commons later today.