Coronavirus: Prime Minister's Questions

Summary

Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer face each other at PMQs
Keir Starmer accused the PM of "inaction" on child poverty
Matt Hancock tells MPs virus drug breakthrough will be "life saving"
Doctors call for regular virus testing of NHS staff
Low fuel costs pushes down UK inflation
Facebook to let users turn off political advertising
England's county councils warn of cuts to services

Live Reporting

Kate Whannel, Brian Wheeler and Paul Seddon

PM: NHS workers will be refunded for surchargepublished at 12:20 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
Image source, HoC
Sir Keir now turns to the "other U-turn" - the immigration health surcharge.
"The government announced it would drop this deeply unfair charge," the Labour leader says but adds "nothing has happened".
Boris Johnson says "it is vital that NHS workers get the support they need."
"NHS or care workers who have paid the surcharge will be refunded," the PM says.
"And we are getting on with instituting the new arrangements as fast as we possibly can."
Watch: PM defends record on poverty ratespublished at 12:16 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
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Starmer: Why has the PM been slow to act?published at 12:15 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
House of Commons
Parliament
Image source, HoC
Sir Keir now quotes Conservative leader of Lancashire Council who said the overall financial impact on councils will be "far in excess of the £3.2bn provided to date".
"The PM must have known about this problem for months," says Sir Keir and asks "why has he been so slow to act?"
The PM replies that the government has provided £1.6bn to support councils on the frontline and £600m to social care as well as £3.2bn to councils in general.
"We want to tackle poverty," he says adding "I want children to go back to school".
"The unions won't let him [Sir Keir] say schools are safe to go back to," he says.
What will PM do to prevent further poverty rise?published at 12:10 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
House of Commons
Parliament
Image source, HoC
Sir Keir says a government report produced last week shows poverty has gone up by 600,000.
He says Covid 19 will push more families into poverty and asks what the PM is going to do to prevent a further rise.
Boris Johnson repeats his assertion that there has been a reduction in poverty.
He says the government is "deeply concerned" about the impact of coronavirus on the UK but insists the government is trying to minimise the impact on the poorest kids.
He says "the best way we can do that is making sure kids can go back to school" - and accuses the leader of the opposition of dithering on the issue.
Is child poverty increasing?published at 12:09 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
House of Commons
Parliament
Image source, HoC
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leads off on child poverty, highlighting a report last week by the government's Social Mobility Commission, which said 600,000 more children would be living in poverty by 2012.
The prime minister insists relative and absolute child poverty have gone down under the Conservative government.
PM: Government may legislate against war memorial vandalismpublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
House of Commons
Parliament
Image source, HoC
Image caption,
Andrea Jenkyns asked her question by video link
Conservative Andrea Jenkyns asks the government to condemn vandalism of war memorials.
The PM agrees and says he can confirm "we are looking at new ways at which we may legislate against vandalism of war memorials".
And we're off...published at 12:01 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
House of Commons
Parliament
Image source, HoC
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announces the beginning of Prime Minister's Questions.
PM off to the Commonspublished at 11:52 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
....and here's Boris Johnson leaving No 10 just a few minutes ago.
Image source, Getty
Starmer heads to parliamentpublished at 11:46 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
It's become our habit on a Wednesday to watch out for the party leaders setting off for PMQs.
Sir Keir Starmer was snapped leaving home earlier this morning.
Image source, EPA
Why do government U-turns matter?published at 11:44 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor
Why do politicians try to avoid a change of heart?
It's not just to try to escape occasional headlines about a "screaming U-turn", although that is part of the equation.
It's about judgement and authority too.
On an individual issue, doing the right thing because of a change of heart is better than pursuing a policy that will cause harm.
Beyond the subjective nature of the "right thing" there are also moments when the political momentum is pulling so strongly in one direction, it becomes inevitable.
Read more from Laura on the government's U-turn on free school meals here.
What could come up in PMQs?published at 11:41 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
Prime Minister's Questions will kick off in about 20 minutes.
While we wait, here is a run down of some of the latest UK headlines - which may provide some clues to what MPs could ask the PM.
- Footballer Marcus Rashford says he wants to do more to help those in need after his campaign prompted a government U-turn that will provide food vouchers for about 1.3 million children in England during the summer holidays.
- Some of England's biggest councils may have to "use up" all the money they hold in reserve by next year as they deal with the fallout from coronavirus, a report has found.
- The government has not had an up-to-date estimate of the number of immigrants in the UK illegally in 15 years, according to independent research from the National Audit Office.
- A leading surgeon has said NHS staff must be routinely tested for coronavirus up to twice a week in order to reassure patients staff are not unwittingly carrying the virus.
- A record fall in fuel prices, including petrol, pushed the UK's inflation rate down to 0.5% in May, the second full month of the coronavirus lockdown.
Good morning....published at 11:30 British Summer Time 17 June 2020
Image source, Jessica Taylor/ UK Parliament
Image caption,
Last week's PMQs
... and welcome to our coverage of Prime Minister's Questions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer across the despatch box at 12:00 BST.
Stick with us for all the updates - you can also watch PMQs on the video player above.
PS. We love this picture looking in to the Commons chamber during last week's session. Taken by Jessica Taylor, the official parliamentary photographer.