Leila Nathoo
BBC political correspondent

When asked earlier this week whether coronavirus vaccinations could be offered 24/7 to speed up the rollout, the message from Downing Street was that they believed there was ‘no clamour’ for appointments beyond 8pm.

This morning the Department of Health said it was considering a pilot scheme for 24/7 vaccines at some locations, aimed at NHS workers rather than the general public.

Now it appears the government intends to go further - with Boris Johnson saying “we will be going 24/7 as soon as we can. ”

Image source, HoC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says that it "shouldn't have taken social media to shame" the PM into action on free school meals.

Sir Keir says that the list outlined by the Department for Education (DfE) of what should be included in these boxes is not too different from what the images on social media showed. He asks for the PM to take down the current meal guidance from the DfE before the end of today.

Mr Johnson says it was a Conservative government which started free school meals, and of the £280bn spent on helping people during Covid, the overwhelming majority of that spend is "in favour of the poorest and neediest in our society".

He accuses Sir Keir of having a "lamentable" approach to the pandemic.

Image source, HoC

Sir Keir says he has always supported the vaccine, adding the UK has ended up with one of the worst death tolls in Europe and one of the worst economic crises.

Turning his attention to latest free school meal "scandal", the Labour leader asks the PM whether he would be happy with his children being given the food parcels which have been roundly criticised on social media.

The PM said the parcels in question were "appalling" and an "insult" to those families who were sent them, saying the firm responsible Chartwells had apologised and would compensate those affected.

He mentions his phone call with food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford and suggests he has done a better job of holding his government to account than his counterpart.

He goes on to list all the support he says has been given to working families during the pandemic and notes that food vouchers will be re-introduced in schools next week.

Image source, HoC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the Prime Minister did not act on the advice saying that a November-style lockdown was "not enough" to combat the virus.

"Every time there's a big decision to take, the prime minister gets there late," says Sir Keir, and he adds "stronger restrictions" are needed.

Sir Keir says hospital admissions and death rates are "much higher than last March" and asks why restrictions are more relaxed than then.

Mr Johnson says he does not rule out tougher restrictions, and will seek Parliamentary approval before introducing them. He says the current Tier 4 lockdown "is starting to show effect" on case numbers.

Mr Johnson accuses Sir Keir of only having one policy, which is to "plunge" the country into lockdowns.

Image source, HoC

Sir Keir Starmer says all the indicators were in the wrong direction at the last PMQs of 2020 on 16 December.

He says Sage gave "pretty clear advice" that the existing restrictions would not be able to contain the virus and a November-style lockdown would also not be sufficient.

He says instead of acting, the PM "sat on his hands" and waited 17 days to impose a lockdown and the UK is seeing the "tragic consequences" of that.

Mr Johnson says he strongly disagrees and that within 24 hours of receiving data from Sage about the new variant, tough new measures were introduced across London and the south-east.

The PM says there are the "beginnings of some signs" that the national lockdown is having an impact of slowing the spread of the virus but it is early days and people must abide by the rules.

He also suggests he won't take lessons from the Labour leader who he says backed keeping schools open right up to their closure on 5 January.

Image source, HoC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says "the sooner we have 24/7 vaccine centres the better for our NHS".

He says that in the last PMQs, Boris Johnson said there was a "significant reduction in the virus" and no need to change Christmas mixing rules. He says 17,000 people have since died from Covid and 60,000 have been admitted to hospital. One million positive cases have been identified since then, he adds.

Mr Johnson says that two days later, the government was notified of the new strain of Covid-19 which is more infectious. He says the situation today "is very troubling indeed".

He says the programme of vaccines in the UK shows "the way forward". The UK has now vaccinated 2.4m people and delivered 2.8m doses.

Image source, HoC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is on his feet now.

He starts by paying tribute to all those involved in the vaccination programme, saying the co-operation across the NHS is "uplifting".

He welcomes the news of a pilot for a vaccination centre to offer jabs 24/7 for NHS workers and asks when this round the clock service will be available to the public.

In response, the PM says he hopes this service will be available as soon as possible, noting that the vaccination rollout is progressing quickly but the pressure at the moment is on supply of doses.

Image source, HoC

Boris Johnson begins PMQs by offering his condolences to the family and friends of former MP Brian Binley, who he describes as an "irrepressible" member of the Commons.

Joining by video link, Conservative Sir Gary Streeter says young people in full-time education, whose exams have been scrapped, need the "utmost clarity" about how they will be assessed.

He asks the PM to ensure there is "a clear plan, announced early without last minute changes".

Boris Johnson replies that "we will do everything we can to ensure exams are fair and that testing is set out in a timely way."

He adds that the Department for Education is launching a consultation "to ensure we get the right arrangements for this year".

Leila Nathoo
BBC political correspondent

There are plenty of pressure points for Sir Keir Starmer to target at the first PMQs of the new year.

Once again, the issue of free school meals for poorer children – now stuck at home across England in lockdown – has come back to bite the government.

Footballer Marcus Rashford – who forced two u-turns on holiday provision - is now highlighting the paltry food parcels that some families have been sent.

The government’s still sticking to its position of stronger messaging to get people to follow lockdown rules - resisting calls for tighter restrictions.

And – because the vaccine rollout’s the good news that ministers want to shout about - expect Boris Johnson to be questioned on exactly how that’s going.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle rises to announce the beginning of PMQs.

Image source, Reuters

As the PM headed to parliament for PMQs, Downing Street confirmed Boris Johnson phoned football Marcus Rashford this morning to promise '‘immediate’' action to address “completely unacceptable” food parcels which have emerged online.

The PM thanked the Manchester United player for highlighting the problems.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, PA

For those who care about how the government makes decisions on all our behalfs, something rather interesting happened on Tuesday.

The news emerged in a relatively low-key announcement from Downing Street.

It was that veteran Whitehall insider Sir Michael Barber will be returning to government for a while to carry out a review (one of every government's favourite words) in the next few months of what works, and what doesn't in the government machine.

Sir Michael's track record is crammed with previous high-level appointments.

An education expert, most recently in charge of the higher education regulator, he came to prominence as the head of Tony Blair's Delivery Unit, which pushed forward New Labour's reforms in the early 2000s.

The prime minister has made no secret of his frustration with how some of the government machine responded, or rather struggled to respond, in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image source, PA wire

A report out today - which has been endorsed by some Tory MPs - argues that moving 50,000 civil servants away from London could give a £3bn economic boost to parts of the north of England.

The government plans to shift 22,000 civil servants out of London by 2030.

Only one in five civil servants currently work in London, but they are mostly in much more senior positions than those working elsewhere in the country.

The most senior officials remain over-represented in London, particularly those who advise ministers and implement policy.

Image source, HoC

MPs could also question the MP on the roll-out plans for the coronavirus vaccines.

Along the corridor from the Commons chamber, the Vaccines Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi has this morning, told a committee of MPs that there have been been two main issues with the UK's vaccination programme so far.

First, manufacturing the huge volume of vaccine required has been "lumpy at the outset" - but he says it is "getting better".

The second problem is how to make vaccines available to vulnerable people who might struggle to travel long distances to receive their jab - he says this can be solved through local, GP-led vaccination centres.

Despite these "limitations", Zahawi says he's confident the government can meet its target of offering vaccinations to around 15 million people in the UK - the over-70s, older care home residents and staff, frontline healthcare workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable - by mid-February.

Image source, Science Photo Library

The government is planning to make the mental health service less discriminatory towards black people.

Ministers say changes to how people are sectioned in England and Wales will see them treated "as individuals, with rights, preferences, and expertise".

Black people are over four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act, relative to population.

The mental health charity Mind has said the changes "cannot come soon enough."

NHS England data shows that in 2019/20 there were 321 detentions per 100,000 population for people who were black or black British - while there were 73 detentions per 100,000 for white people.

Image source, PA Media

There have been shortages of some products in NI as retailers grapple with post-Brexit arrangements for importing food products from GB.

The chief executives of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Iceland, Co-Op and Marks & Spencer have written to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.

They said that if further new certification requirements are introduced in April the system will become "unworkable".

Since Brexit, goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland now need additional checks, as Northern Ireland stayed in the EU’s single market, but the rest of the UK left.

The DUP say they are going to question the government later in Parliament.

Marcus Rashford has forced several u-turns in policy during the pandemic over the provision of free meals outside term time.

His latest conversation with Boris Johnson comes ahead of Prime Minister's Questions - where Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer could raise the issue.

Image source, RoadsideMum

So what might come up in this week's Prime Minister's Questions?

The PM has called the footballer Marcus Rashford this morning, and told him food parcels shown in images shared on social media are "unacceptable".

A mother who posted a photo of a food parcel she received has told the BBC of the "sense of sadness" she felt on seeing what it contained.

The mother, who wants to be anonymous, said: "As I unpacked that food parcel... and looked at the contents, it felt very sad and depressing".

Chartwells, the firm which supplied the parcel, has apologised.

Asked about the contents of the parcel, which included a loaf of sliced bread and a can of baked beans, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was "clearly inadequate" and not a substitute for “decent meals”.

And Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs he was “absolutely disgusted" by what he had seen.

BBC Politics

Image source, PA Media

Welcome to our live coverage of PMQs - the first one in 2021.

We’ll bring you all the developments as they happen, with analysis from our political correspondent Leila Nathoo, external, and the team at BBC Reality Check.

Do stay with us.