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Labour and Tory MPs in good mood after conference season published at 12:04 BST Brian Wheeler Reporting from the House of Commons Big cheers from the Labour benches as Andy Burnham takes his seat. They are in a good mood after what they saw as a successful conference. Kemi Badenoch also got a rousing welcome from her troops, who are feeling equally chipper.
It could be a noisy session. Burnham's at the dispatch box as PMQs begins - watch live published at 12:02 BST Andy Burnham is ready at the dispatch box for this week's PMQs. We'll bring you all his key comments when he begins shortly, and you can watch the prime minister's exchanges with Kemi Badenoch and other MPs by tapping watch live at the top of the page.
Image source, UK Parliament Burnham has been facing scrutiny over Manchester City published at 11:58 BST Image source, Getty Images Within the last month, Andy Burnham has been under pressure to clarify his previous discussions with Man City since the club was found guilty of having "systematically" broken Premier League financial rules - a ruling it has said it will appeal. Burnham, who was the mayor of Greater Manchester before becoming PM, has been criticised for saying he would be "really concerned" if the club decided to sell, following the findings. His remarks were branded "completely out of touch" and "extraordinary" by the Tories and took many in the football community by surprise.
Now, it has emerged that Burham had two hospitality dinners with Manchester City football club's chairman while mayor of Greater Manchester - a detail which was not provided in a statement from Greater Manchester Combined Authority about his meetings with the club, which was issued on Monday. Downing Street has defended the two dinners with Man City's chairman, saying this was hospitality received at home games, which had been declared, rather than separate meetings with the club chairman. You can read more about this in our news story.
PMQs to get under way shortly published at 11:55 BST The prime minister is about to face his third session of Prime Minister's Questions. We're poised on the news desk to bring you the latest lines and analysis - the session will start in just a few moments. You can watch live by clicking play at the top of this page.
A recap of the week in politics so far published at 11:43 BST Image source, PA Media Image caption, Burnham told MPs on Monday that "sticking with the status quo" with the European Union is "not good enough for Britain" It's been more than a month since Badenoch and Burnham have faced each other at Prime Minister's Questions, so there's no shortage of topics that could crop up in the Commons at midday. Before then, here are some of key talking points in UK politics this week: Brexit: Burnham told The Rest is Politics podcast this week it was "clear" that Russia did interfere with the 2016 Brexit referendum vote. However, he later clarified that he had not been questioning the legitimacy of the vote EU-UK deals: The prime minister also told MPs this week he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the EU , seeking "deeper cooperation" on issues like mobility, food and drink, and energy Asylum system: Reform UK has announced plans to effectively close down the UK's asylum system for a full parliamentary term if elected Defence spending: Meanwhile, Labour faces having to find an extra £35bn in revenue to avoid spending cuts if it wants to meet defence spending commitments in the upcoming budget, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies Burnham leaves No 10 to head for PMQs published at 11:41 BST Image source, PA Media Prime Minister Andy Burnham has just left his residence at No 10 Downing Street to head over to the House of Commons.
He'll be questioned by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and other MPs when proceedings begin at midday. You'll be able to watch live at the top of this page. Burnham hosting Zelensky at Downing Street published at 11:35 BST Image source, EPA/Shutterstock Image caption, Zelensky and Burnham pictured together in New York last month Alongside Prime Minister's Questions, Andy Burnham is also hosting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street today .
The visit is Zelensky's second to the UK since Burnham became prime minister. It comes as the UK announces it will accelerate its delivery of air defence missiles to Kyiv, with Burnham also expected to set out how his government will draw up further sanctions against Russia. As the Ukraine-Russia war grinds on, US President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that both countries had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" .
Zelensky expressed surprise but said he was open to such an arrangement, but Russia has continued to strike Ukraine and its energy infrastructure. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Burnham said the UK was with Ukraine "for as long as it takes", adding: "Russian aggression cannot be allowed to succeed on our continent." Tax cuts, rent caps and small boats: What other parties pledged published at 11:21 BST Image source, Reuters/EPA Image caption, The Green Party's Zack Polanski, Lib Dem's Ed Davey and Reform's Nigel Farage set out policies during keynote speeches MPs returned to Parliament this week following a month-long recess for party conference season. Here's a reminder of what other party leaders pledged in their keynote speeches: Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey pledged to cut income tax in a speech at his party's annual conference in Brighton If in power, Davey said the Lib Dems would raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 and the higher rate 40% tax band threshold to £56,000 This would be funded by growing the economy through closer ties with Europe, Davey said, including rejoining the EU single market and customs union Meanwhile, Green Party leader Zack Polanski criticised Labour's record on housing, as he called for a three-year cap on rent rises in the private sector Polanski insisted his party has the power to move Labour in "the right direction" , as he said "sustained pressure" from the Greens had forced Labour to change its stance on issues including climate and Israel Reform UK's Nigel Farage insisted his party would deliver where others have failed, with policies including stopping small boat crossings, cutting energy bills by £250 a year and ending the net zero "lunacy" Farage was also forced to address allegations over donations, which emerged in an undercover investigation as the conference began Badenoch pledged to scrap inheritance tax on family homes in conference speech published at 11:16 BST Image source, Getty Images In her keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham last week, Kemi Badenoch pitched the Conservatives as the "no-nonsense party" - free from the "drama" of the past.
The key policy announcement was the scrapping of inheritance tax on family homes while also allowing couples to leave £1m tax-free. The Conservative leader said the party's goal is to abolish inheritance tax all together "as soon as we can afford it", adding that she could not currently propose this due to spending commitments on defence, prisons and the economy. She said the party had already identified £70bn worth of savings - of which half would go toward cutting the deficit.
Badenoch also called for "tough love" on welfare , calling for a benefits system in which "everyone who can work, will work". Those who have not found work in six months, under this new system, would face restrictions on what they could buy with benefits money, including "no alcohol, no cigarettes, no gambling". Read more on what Badenoch announced in her speech in our full write up Five takeaways from Burnham's Labour conference speech published at 11:09 BST Image source, Reuters In his first Labour party conference speech as prime minister in September, Andy Burnham announced a number of key policy areas.
Triple lock: This included plans to end the triple lock from 2030 to fund a new national social care system in England. The PM said the adjustment would still guarantee the state pension rises by whichever is highest out of inflation or 2.5%, but it would remove the direct link with wage increases. Social care: Burnham also announced a free-at-the-point-of-use "national care service" - a system which he said would be one "everyone contributes" to and where "everyone is covered".
Electoral reform: The Labour leader is a vocal supporter of proportional representation, telling conference that his government will establish a national commission on electoral reform and commit to change the electoral system in its next manifesto. Energy: A publicly owned company, Great British Grid, will be established which Burnham said will challenge the private sector operators and drive down timings and costs for connecting businesses and homes to the grid. Water: Burnham also announced that the ban on public ownership of water companies will be lifted, starting a 10-year journey to a "very different water system" that will "strengthen public control".
Read more on what the PM announced in our news story Burnham to face questions from Badenoch as PMQs returns published at 10:57 BST Image source, PA Wire Following a month-long break for party conference season, MPs are back in the Commons where they will put questions to the prime minister at 12:00 BST. As ever, we don't know what topics Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will ask Andy Burnham about, but in our next few posts we'll bring you up to speed on some of the political issues of recent weeks. Burnham told MPs on Monday that he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the EU at a summit next month, and argued that "deeper cooperation" on key issues including youth mobility, food and drink, and energy would help drive economic growth in the UK.
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pushed back, accusing the prime minister of "unpicking" the deal the UK signed with the EU. We'll bring you all of the key lines when Prime Minister's Questions gets under way at midday - and you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.
Source: BBC
