Luke Mintz
Politics reporter

We never know exactly what party leaders will discuss at Prime Minister's Questions, but here are some topics that have been in the news recently.

This morning the government announced that new league tables will expose failing hospitals, with NHS managers sacked if they do not turn things around. The Conservatives support the policy but have criticised the timing.

Yesterday Justin Welby resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury over his handling of historic child abuse. This morning Health Secretary Wes Streeting - a practicing Anglican - said he felt a "deep sense of shame about the failures of the Church of England".

We also heard on Tuesday that Sue Gray will not take up her post as the prime minister's envoy to the nations and regions. It follows her departure as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff last month. Gray became a household name for her investigation into the Partygate scandal - but her time in Downing Street was marred after her £170,000 salary was leaked to the press.

There's also ongoing Conservative anger over the government's decision at the Budget to raise National Insurance contributions for employers - you can read more about that here.

Image source, PA Media

The prime minister has just left Downing Street, so we're expecting this week's Prime Minister's Questions to begin in a little over 20 minutes.

Image source, PA Media

As we prepare to delve into this week's PMQs, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told a conference of NHS Trusts in Liverpool that there would be no more rewards for failure.

Failing hospitals will be revealed in league tables and NHS managers sacked if they do not turn things around.

Streeting is promising a "no-holds-barred, sweeping review" of NHS performance in England. This means hospitals can expect to be ranked on indicators such as care delivery and finances, so patients can see whether they are receiving a good service.

And "turnaround teams" will be sent into struggling trusts, while top performers will have more freedom over spending.

Image source, PA

We found out yesterday that Sue Gray will not take up her post as the prime minister's envoy to the nations and regions. She was initially appointed to the newly-created envoy role after departing as Starmer's chief of staff last month, saying she "risked becoming a distraction".

The government had previously said she was taking a short break before starting her new position. But a No 10 spokeswoman said she had "now decided not to take it up".

Gray stepped down as chief of staff after three months following a string of negative headlines and briefings against her, including a row over her salary.

She previously worked as a top civil servant, and authored the government inquiry into the Partygate scandal.

Image source, Reuters

The PM has been in Azerbaijan this week for COP, the UN’s annual summit on addressing climate change.

While he was there, Starmer committed to cutting UK greenhouse gas emissions by 81% by 2035 – a specific commitment to other nations which is in line with existing legally-binding domestic targets.

The PM said the target was “ambitious”, while also insisting that he would not “tell people how to behave”.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the announcement was making the UK’s “already stringent carbon emission targets even higher”.

Last week Kemi Badenoch made her debut as opposition leader at PMQs, so what topics did she choose to address?

Off the back of Donald Trump’s election win, Badenoch pressed Keir Starmer on whether Foreign Secretary David Lammy would apologise for comments he made about the US president-elect in 2017. The PM said the pair had a "constructive meeting" in September.

She also asked Starmer if he would commit to continue negotiations on a free trade agreement with the US - he said he would.

He also said he would commit to a 2.5% defence spending target.

Following the Budget, British farmers were also on the agenda, and Badenoch called inheritance tax increases a “cruel family farms tax”. Starmer replied that he would be putting £5bn over the next two years into farming.

Marita Moloney
Live editor

It's Wednesday, Parliament is sitting and that means one thing: Prime Minister's Questions is back for another week.

Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch will face off for a second time in the Commons at midday, after the new Tory leader's punchy debut last week.

The PM is just back from the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, where he announced fresh climate change targets saying the UK will now aim for an 81% cut in its emissions by 2035.

Earlier this week during a visit to Paris to mark Armistice Day, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their commitment to "support Ukraine unwaveringly" in its bid "to thwart Russia's war of aggression".

Meanwhile Badenoch, the former business secretary, gave evidence at the Post Office inquiry in which she said the airing of the TV drama into the Horizon IT scandal "brought the urgency" to speed up compensation payouts for sub-postmasters.

We'll be bringing you build-up, live updates and analysis on all the action from the Commons, so stay with us.