David Cameron brings a swift end to the questions, saying he needs to save what remains of his voice for the Commons later, where the Speaker election takes place.

"We have got 1,000 more GPs then when I became prime minister," says Mr Cameron when faced with a question from the BBC's Hugh Pym about the struggle GP practices have found in recruiting new doctors.

"I am very confident that we can achieve this, given our track record" he adds.

As he began taking questions David Cameron apologises for a slightly "croaky voice", revealing that he had a touch of flu over the weekend, giving him first-hand evidence that this year's flu jab, which he had, wasn't totally successful.

"There is no need to have further reorganisation," says Cameron when asked a question about top-down reorganisation of the health service.

Then asked about the seven-day NHS Mr Cameron says: "It will take pressure off some parts of the system." 

"Huge amounts of taxpayers money has been put into the Cat scanners and MRI scanners, doesn't make sense that they are working at the weekends too?" he adds.

David Cameron said the NHS needed to be "treating the whole person not just the individual ailment".

He also called it "shocking" that mortality rates for patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday are higher than those admitted on a Wednesday:

David Cameron said that improvements had been made in the NHS and the figures showed that "more people are hearing those magic words 'all clear'."

He added: "We [The Conservatives] are the ones that had to clear up the appalling mess at Mid-Staffordshire."

He said that he wanted to put "quality, safety and compassion" at the heart of the NHS. "I don't apologise for getting angry about this... my commitment to the NHS runs through every sinew of my body."

David Cameron says "a lot of rubbish" was talked about the Tories' plans for the NHS during the election campaign:

David Cameron is speaking in Birmingham today to underline government plans to expand seven-day services in the NHS in England.

He is speaking from a GP surgery that offers weekend and late night appointments. In his speech which is due to start any moment now he is expected to say that health funding will increase by at least £8bn over this Parliament so that the government can deliver a ‘truly seven-day NHS".

Full story here .

As speculation grows as to whether Labour might lose its support of the unions, the general secretary of the GMB union, Paul Kenny, has said that under the current financial rules for political parties, Labour would struggle without union backing:

Following the Labour Party row at the weekend which saw Scottish leader Jim Murphy announce his resignation and attack union Unite boss Len McCluskey in the process, Harriet Harman has tried to calm tensions.

Speaking after her speech earlier, she said:

Image source, YouTube

A contender to be Conservative candidate for London mayor has launched his campaign with a YouTube cartoon in which he introduces himself as "gay, ex-alcoholic and dyslexic". 

Entrepreneur Ivan Massow said he was also spending "significant" amounts of money on Facebook and Twitter advertising as he seeks to use social media to boost his bid to replace Boris Johnson in next year's election. 

In the video, a cartoon Massow says:

Image source, Reuters

UKIP MP Douglas Carswell has some advice for the other 649 MPs returning to Westminster today. Be nice to everyone, be contactable and read the standing orders of the House, he counsels, in an article for the Telegraph., external

And always remember your voters, he says. "Never forget – today or any day – who sent you here. The voter has put you where you are – they are your boss."

Mr Carswell became UKIP's first elected MP in October last year, after a by-election prompted by his defection from the Conservative Party. He was re-elected in Clacton at the general election, with a reduced majority.

As mentioned earlier, David Cameron is to use his first major post-election speech later to renew his vow to boost NHS funding and create a "seven-day" health service.

He will commit to a pre-election pledge to increase budgets by at least £8bn a year by 2020.

But Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of health think-tank the King's Fund, said the £8bn would be needed to keep existing services running, "it won't fund all the new commitments we have heard of during the election campaign, including seven-day working".

This leadership election process will re-engage Labour in areas and communities where we have little support, says Harriet Harman. It will be very challenging, she concedes, but adds that the party must face that challenge.

Harriet Harman predicts that there won’t be a break between the unions and the Labour Party. It comes after Union union general secretary Len McCluskey  said the union's affiliation to the party could be reconsidered.