Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons

I’m in the Commons press gallery.

There were cheers from Labour MPs as Keir Starmer took his seat on the front bench, while Tory MPs greeted Kemi Badenoch’s arrival with cheers too as she entered the chamber.

Expectations are running high for this session. It could get very noisy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is up at the despatch box, signalling the start of Prime Minister's Questions.

Starmer is opening the session before facing questions from opposition leader Kemi Badenoch and other MPs.

Stay with us for updates and analysis.

As a reminder, you can watch liveat the top of our page.

Just before we hear from Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch over in the House of Commons, let's take a look at the week in political pictures:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

A tough week for the Treasury which has struggled to stay out of headlinespublished at 11:51 Greenwich Mean Time

11:51 GMT

Chris Mason
Political editor

If you were to produce a political heat map of the government right now, there is one big bit that would be bright red, and probably flashing: the Treasury.

Firstly, there have been all of the headlines about the now former economic secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq.

For all of the complexities and subtleties of this story, and there are plenty, the inescapable crux of it was something even the most polished public relations executive would struggle to add much gloss to.

The minister responsible for the government's anti-corruption drive was named in a corruption investigation. Awkward.

Though it's vital to stress Siddiq has always insisted she has done nothing wrong and the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial standards concluded she had not broken the ministerial code.

Then there's Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has also struggled to get herself out of the headlines.

The prime minister has heaped praise on her and expressed a parliament's worth of confidence in her.

The dip in inflation in the latest figures just published are better than the alternative for Rachel Reeves - albeit the rate at which prices are rising is still higher than the target the Bank of England aims for. But the soaring cost of government borrowing is a symptom of the markets collectively sounding unconvinced by the government's economic strategy.

Shaking off the persistent and painful government migraine of sluggish economic growth could take a lot longer and doing so, or not, is likely to have far greater and long-lasting political consequence.

We're now getting some pictures of Keir Starmer leaving Downing Street, on his way to Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) at the House of Commons.

As we've said already, the session is due to start noon, and you'll be able to watch it live at the top of the page. We'll also bring you text updates once it's under way.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Yesterday saw the chancellor make a statement in the Commons, and take questions from MPs, following a weekend trip to Beijing and amid concerns about the state of the UK economy.

The pound had slumped to below $1.22, close to its lowest level since November 2023, while government borrowing costs soared close to their highest levels since 2008 - and cross-party MPs questioned why Rachel Reeves decided to embark on a planned trip to China regardless.

Reeves said she was "under no illusion" about the scale of the challenge on the economy, and pledged to go "further and faster" to improve economic growth. But she also said her trip to China had boosted economic ties with the UK, and would bring in £600m to the economy over the next five years.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride called it "a crisis made in Downing Street", blaming business tax rises announced in October's Budget, while Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper told Reeves simply that her Budget hasn't worked.

• Can't remember the details of the Budget? Read our explainer from the time, which looks at the key takeaways from the announcement

Away from Tulip Siddiq quitting her government role, there has been some welcome news this morning for Chancellor Rachel Reeves - under pressure due to a slumping pound and government borrowing costs - with a slight dip in inflation.

The rate dropped in December for the first time in three months. It was measured as 2.5% in the year to December, down from 2.6% the month before, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

However, despite the drop the rate of price rises remains above the Bank of England (BoE)'s target.

Michael Saunders, a former member of the BoE's monetary policy committee which sets interest rates, said the latest inflation figure would be "some help" in trying to ease some of the worries over the UK economy - more on that in our next post.

A bit more for you now on Tulip Siddiq's resignation - after the outgoing minister's Treasury colleague Darren Jones was asked about it this morning.

Speaking to our colleagues on Radio 4's Today programme, Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, pointed to the fact Keir Starmer's standards adviser had found "no suggestion that [Siddiq's] broken the ministerial code".

Pushed by the BBC's Justin Webb on whether the situation brings Starmer's judgement into question and why, if no fault was found, Siddiq resigned, Jones would only say: "Tulip decided that given the wider reporting about her extended family in Bangladesh it had become a distraction for the government."

"As [the prime minister] said in his letter to her, the door remains open in the future," Jones went on. "But Tulip is right to stand down because of investigations taking place in another country."

• For context: There's more on the investigation taking place in Bangladesh, and Siddiq's involvement in it, in our previous post.

The story attached to former economic secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq's resignation is one with many strands - here's what you need to know:

• Siddiq's aunt is former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year

• There's an ongoing investigation in the country into claims Siddiq's family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh, which the Labour MP has been named in

• Court documents seen by the BBC show that a senior political opponent of Hasina accused Siddiq of helping to broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that overinflated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh

• Siddiq has also come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt's allies
• After referring herself to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's standards adviser Laurie Magnus, he said there was no evidence to suggest Siddiq had breached the ministerial code - but it was "regrettable" that she had not been more alert to the "potential reputational risks" of the ties to her aunt
• In her resignation letter, Siddiq told Starmer that continuing in her role would be "a distraction" for the government but insisted, again, that she had done nothing wrong

Image source, EPA

Sam Hancock
Live page editor

There will certainly be a lot to talk about when Keir Starmer gets up in the Commons this afternoon for the regular session of Prime Minister's Questions.

Yesterday, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. It's a complex story, which we'll bring you more detail on in our next post, and it means Starmer has lost two ministers in a matter of months following the resignation of Transport Secretary Louise Haigh in November.

The economy has also been in the news, with pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves over a slumping pound and increasing government borrowing costs - so there'll likely be some relief in government after inflation dipped slightly, to 2.5%, this morning.

And this all comes after Starmer unveiled plans on Monday to harness the power of artificial intelligence to kickstart growth and rejuvenate public services.

As always, PMQs will kick off at midday and you'll be able to watch it live at the top of this page, but for now we'll bring you up to speed on the various stories we've just mentioned.