Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, alongside other MPs, took the opportunity this afternoon to quiz Keir Starmer on defence spending and the UK's support for Ukraine ahead of his scheduled meeting with Donald Trump tomorrow.

Starmer was clear that Ukraine needs to be involved in any talks on the end of the war, and sought to explicitly set out the funding involved in yesterday's defence spending announcement. BBC Verify has since analysed the claims and counter-claims that have been made about the figures.

Badenoch pushed Starmer for specifics on both topics as the sparring between the leaders descended quickly - the PM accused Badenoch of being "desperate for relevance" which she countered as "patronising".

The session was followed by a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who outlined the government's response to the final report from the inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. She confirmed they would take forward all 37 recommendations directed towards the government.

So, with PMQs done and dusted, Starmer will soon leave London for Washington DC and we'll leave this page here. There's plenty of BBC content for you to keep reading, though, such as:

• Our news story: Starmer and Badenoch clash over defence spending
• Political editor Chris Mason's analysis: Starmer upends Labour manifesto to confront Europe's new reality
• More live coverage - on the war in Ukraine: Zelensky says no security guarantees agreed yet on US minerals deal

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

It was perhaps inevitable that Keir Starmer's upcoming visit to the White House and support for Ukraine would loom large over this week's Prime Minister's Questions.

The result of that was a Commons session that was less challenging of the prime minister than it could have been.

The Conservatives focussed on the way the government had chosen to present their figures and to raise the Chagos Islands deal.

As now seems quite often be the case, it was the veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott who provided the most challenging question as she raised concerns over the cut to the overseas aid budget to fund defence, which is not a natural or necessarily comfortable move for Labour.

Image source, Getty Images

Before we round off our coverage of this week's PMQs, let's briefly look at another topic that came up: the Chagos Islands deal.

Badenoch raised questions over how Starmer's boost in defence spending would be allocated - specifically whether any would go towards the UK's plan to hand over the territory to Mauritius.

To get you up to speed - last October the UK announced a plan to hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius but maintain a 99-year lease over the UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

The Mauritian leader, however, has since been replaced and new Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam has pushed for negotiations to be reopened.

Starmer did not respond directly to Badenoch's question on the matter today, but said the Chagos plan is "extremely important" for the UK's security.

Do we pay more on debt interest than defence?published at 13:19 Greenwich Mean Time

13:19 GMT

By Ben Chu, policy and analysis correspondent

A little earlier, at PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed "we already pay more on debt interest than defence".

This is correct, according to official figures but they show this was the case before Labour came to office.

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), total UK state debt interest spending was £107bn in 2023-24, equivalent to 3.9% of the value of the overall UK economy, or GDP.

UK Nato-qualifying defence spending in 2024 was £66bn, 2.33% of GDP.

And the OBR projects debt interest to remain above 3.5% of GDP over the rest of the Parliament, while the Government’s new 2027 target for defence spending is 2.5% of GDP.

However, the state debt interest first went higher than defence spending as a share of GDP in 2021-22, under the previous Conservative government. It was mainly a consequence of the rise in interest rates by the Bank of England after the pandemic.

Continuing to address MPs on the final report into the Grenfell fire, Rayner says to have "anyone, anywhere living in an unsafe home is one person too many" - adding: "That will be our guiding principle."

She says the inquiry found that "every single death was avoidable".

It "uncovered serial incompetence and negligence, complacency and inaction and blatant dishonesty and greed," the housing secretary says. "The organisations that failed included the government and regulators."

Rayner says that the parliamentary secretary to the cabinet office is announcing today that she will use new powers to investigate the organisations involved. "I expect swift, decisive action," Rayner says.

• For more on this:The BBC's Tom Symonds has the full story, including the detail that the organisations being investigated could well be prevented from bidding for public contracts.

Our next couple of posts will focus on the statement Deputy PM Angela Rayner's been making in the Commons, about the final report delivered on the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Rayner - also the housing secretary - says the report must be the catalyst for systemic change and that this national tragedy must never happen again.

She notes that 72 innocent lives, including 18 children, were lost during the fire and apologises to the victims' families on behalf of the state.

The inquiry report makes 58 recommendations, of which 37 were directed at the government, Rayner says - confirming that the government will take forward all the recommendations. The government will also publish quarterly reports on its progress in implementing the changes in order to remain accountable and be open to scrutiny, she says.

Image source, Getty Images

The key clash in Prime Minister's Questions was over Keir Starmer's plans for increased defence spending.

Badenoch said Starmer "announced £13.4bn in additional defence spending yesterday [by 2027]. This morning, his defence secretary said the uplift is only £6bn. Which is the correct figure?"

Badenoch was referring to an interview by BBC Breakfast's Sally Nugent with Defence Secretary John Healey this morning.

Healey accepted that, if inflation is taken into account, the increase could be regarded as "over £6 billion", as opposed to £13.4bn.

"Either way, this is a big boost for defence," he said.

Watch the full exchange below.

Is defence getting an extra £6bn or £13.4bn?published at 12:55 Greenwich Mean Time

12:55 GMT

By Anthony Reuben

The prime minister and leader of the opposition had a dispute about how much cash the increase of defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP (a measure of the size of the economy) would be worth.

Kemi Badenoch said: "He announced £13.4bn in additional defence spending yesterday. This morning his defence secretary said the uplift is only £6bn. Which is the correct figure?"

The £13.4bn figure comes from comparing the £66.3bn that is being spent on defence in 2024-25 with the £79.7bn the government plans to spend in 2027-28.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) criticised this figure as being “misleadingly large” because it assumed that without the announcement spending would have been frozen in the coming years, instead of rising in line with growth in the economy.

The £6bn is the value of the extra 0.2% of GDP that the government plans to spend.

• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asked Keir Starmer how he would guarantee Ukraine is part of peace talks when he meets Donald Trump in Washington this week, with Starmer saying there can be no negotiations without Ukraine
• Turning to defence spending - after the PM announced yesterday he would increase it to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 - the PM was pressed on his claim that this would amount to an extra £13.4bn a year
• Starmer laid out the workings-out for this figure - which is based on comparing defence spending in 2024/25, of £66.3bn, with spending £79.7bn in 2027/28 - and hit out at Badenoch's repetitive questioning
• She, in turn, called him "patronising" before going on to ask for more detail on Ukraine - including whether this increased funding would lead to boots on the ground; Starmer refused to provide details, assuring the House there would be security guarantees included in any deal on ending the war
• In the midst of all this, the Chagos Islands deal was mentioned, when the Tory leader asked Starmer if any of the new defence money will be put towards the agreement with Mauritius; Starmer said only that the deal is "extremely important" for the security of the US and Britain

That's it for another week of PMQs - stay with us as we bring you a recap of the key takeaways.

Next in the Commons, Deputy PM Angela Rayner is due to make a statement on the government's response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

We'll bring you a few lines from that, too.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Diane Abbott - who just raised concerns about cutting the UK's overseas aid budget - has become one of Keir Starmer's most frequent challengers from his own benches in the Commons.

We're listening into the ongoing Commons debate and will bring you any highlights - particularly on Starmer's recent announcement that he will raise UK defence spending by cutting the overseas aid budget.

Labour MP Diane Abbott says there is a view that taking money from aid and development to spend on armaments and tanks makes people less safe, not more safe.

This is because the "desperation and poverty that so often leads to warfare" is what aid and development money is supposed to counter, she tells the House.

Starmer responds by saying overseas development is important - adding that "it wasn't a decision I wanted to take" - but reiterates that the UK's humanitarian obligations to Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan will be fulfilled. "We do want to go back and increase that funding as soon as we're able to do so," he says.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Someone shouts "We want you back" as former Tory PM Rishi Sunak asks a question about prostate cancer screening.

Starmer thanks Sunak for using his "authority and reputation" for supporting this "vital cause".

A fiery PMQs - Starmer criticises opponent's 'rambling speech' and Badenoch calls him 'patronising'published at 12:30 Greenwich Mean Time

12:30 GMT

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

An interesting tone between Kemi Badenoch and Keir Starmer.

Badenoch repeatedly assured the PM that she supported his rise in defence spending, but wanted to probe the detail - in particular poking at criticism of the figures the government is using.

But the almost-good-natured tone didn’t cut through, with Starmer accusing Badenoch of having made a "rambling speech" yesterday - while she accused him of being "patronising".

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn now turns to domestic news - that UK gas and electricity bills are set to increase again for millions of households on 1 April, when the latest energy price cap takes effect.

Flynn asks, with Labour having promised to reduce energy bills in the election campaign, whether the increase is "incompetency" or "has Labour been caught out lying"?

Starmer replies saying he is "proud to be pushing for energy independence".

The PM then says Flynn is "very quiet" on the SNP's record in Scotland, insisting he and his party should "take responsibility for their own record".

We next hear from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who says it's clear that the UK won't be able to rely on the US to ensure security against Russian aggression.

He welcomes the prime minister's boost to the defence budget, but adds that Europe must do far more to rearm in the face of the same threat and says he backs a European rearmament bank - asking the prime minister if he will consider it.

Starmer resists the suggestion that the UK has to choose between the US and Europe, saying he wants to strengthen relations with the US and work with European allies.

He says there are ongoing discussions in the long term for future funding, and that he will share updates as they evolve.

For her final question, Badenoch says Starmer claimed yesterday that defence spending would rise again - to 3% - by the end of the next Labour Parliament.

She specifcally asks when that may be, though, and if he will pay for it through a deal involving the Chagos Islands.

"I just dealt with that," Starmer replies, suggesting Badenoch is repeating herself, and adding that yesterday's announcement stands for "our security".

Starmer insists the plan is costed, and finishes by saying he thought Badenoch "supported it".

Badenoch now says the Tories want to support the government's defence plans but "need to know" what they are supporting - calling for clarity and transparency over the funding.

She asks the prime minister directly whether any of the money outlined in his plan yesterday will go to the Chagos Islands deal.

Starmer does not respond directly - he says the defence funding is for "our capability" for defence security in Europe, and adds that the Chagos deal is "extremely important" for our security and that of the US.

Yesterday's funding, he adds, is to put ourselves in a position to "rise to a generational challenge".

Badenoch tells the prime minister he hasn't answered her question, adding that what he is saying is different from yesterday's comments.

We're not clear where the money is coming from, she says again, asking Starmer if his new spending plans will allow him to fund troops on the ground in Ukraine effectively.

Starmer says the worst outcome in Ukraine would be a short break in the war, rather than sustained and lasting peace.

That means there's got to be security guarantees with US backing, he says, adding that he is not in a position to put details before the House today.

Badenoch hits back, saying someone should tell the PM that being "patronising" doesn't constitute answering a question.

She also accuses Starmer of playing "silly games" with the figures - and again asks him to set out the plan's finances.

Starmer responds, again, by setting out the difference in spend between the 2024/25 financial year and 2027/28. He says the difference is £13.4bn - the disputed figure.

"If you ask again I'll give the same answer again," he adds.

• As a reminder, BBC Verify has looked at whether Starmer's claims add up here