Image source, HoC

Beginning her statement Home Secretary Priti Patel she says the government "has taken back control of legal immigration" and is "now addressing illegal migration head on".

She calls it "the most significant overhaul... in decades".

"People are dying at sea in lorries and in shipping containers having put their lives in the hands of criminal gangs," she says.

She says "we celebrate those that have come to the UK lawfully" and the UK has resettled almost 25,000 men women and children since 2015 - "more than any EU country".

"Nobody can say that the British public are not fair or generous when it comes to helping those in need," she says.

Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Defence proved the best form of attack for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions today.

He used most of his allocated time to press Boris Johnson on his commitment to the armed forces, following announced cuts to the army earlier this week.

Pressed on his verbal promise during the 2019 election not to cut troop numbers, the prime minister talked of increased spending and no redundancies.

In seizing on what he sees as a broken promise, Sir Keir Starmer is also brazenly parking a tank on the Tories' lawn.

Defence has traditionally been an area the Conservatives have prioritised, but under this leadership Labour is keen to make it its own.

And with themes of patriotism, unionism and investment in communities historically providing recruitment to the armed forces, it's very timely political territory.

Image source, HoC

Home Secretary Priti Patel is now telling MPs about her new plans for asylum seekers in the UK.

The plans, revealed this morning on various media outlets, would give the government powers to send back asylum seekers who have come to the UK illegally, meanwhile assisting those who have entered the UK through legal means and then claimed asylum.

The government says this will "break the life-threatening business of criminal people smugglers", external.

The moves have come in for criticism, with current asylum seekers in the UK saying the current rules are tough, and include an allowance of a little under £40 a week per person to live in the UK. Labour have said they intend to oppose the changes, and the charity Refugee Action this morning said Priti Patel had "chosen a disgraceful path on asylum", external.

There has been a short break for the switch between PMQs and a statement from the Home Secretary on the government's plans to change the asylum rules.

We'll bring you the highlights.

The Conservative MP, Mike Penning, raises the issue of access to medicinal cannabis on the NHS for children.

He says three kids are getting the drug free but "around 150 more" are not and their parents are having to "beg and borrow and remortgage their homes" at the cost of thousands of pounds.

As a father himself, will the PM commit to doing everything possible" and meet with those involved?

Boris Johnson says he will make sure there is a proper meeting with the department of health to make sure supplies are "secure and continuing".

Labour MP Paul Blomfield says he has met with "leaseholders whose lives have been torn apart by the cladding and building safety scandal".

He says the PM pledged last month that "no leaseholder should have to pay for the unaffordable costs of fixing safety defects that they did not cause".

But the government's measures "so far fall well short of fulfilling" that promise, he says - and asks the PM what he will do to deliver on it.

The PM says: "In addition to the £3.5bn of investment that we're providing to remediate the cladding and the £1.6bn that we've already done, we're providing a new scheme of leaseholders in the lower risk buildings of, I think, the kind that he's describing to pay for unsafe remediation over the long term."

He adds that there will also be "a new levy and tax on developers" so that they "also contribute to the remediation costs".

Image source, HoC

The Labour MP, Afzal Khan wants to know if the PM will commit now to a full public inquiry in to the Covid pandemic because people "want and deserve to understand what happened".

He says his own family lost "an entire generation" to the virus and he could not hold his mother's hand while she was dying.

The PM offers his "sympathies and sorrow" to all those who have lost loved ones.

He says he is "committed" to holding an inquiry "as soon as it is right to do so" and when it is not "irresponsible to divert the energies" of those who are involved in dealing with the crisis.

Conservative MP John Lamont says one of his constituents is former rugby union player Doddie Weir, who has motor neurone disease.

He asks the PM whether the government will invest £50m over five years to establish a virtual motor neurone disease research institute.

"It's important to insure other priorities such as this are not lost in the pandemic," he says.

Johnson thanks him for the question and says: "We've spent £54m in the last five years towards this cause and we're looking now at ways, significantly, to boost the research that we're supporting."

Image source, HoC

Image source, HoC

Joining by video link, SNP MP Allan Dorans says the Northern Ireland Act allows for a referendum on Northern Ireland's future within the UK.

He says if all nations of the UK are equal, then why can't Scotland decide to do the same.

Mr Johnson says "I knew it wouldn't be long" before an SNP member asked a question on a Scottish independence referendum.

He says it was a "once in a generation" referendum in 2014, and the priority for the "whole country" is to "build back better".

He says people should be "amazed" that the SNP are "still banging on about these constitutional obsessions" during a pandemic.

Image source, HoC

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says the PM is "pushing a bill that will restrict" the right to peaceful protest - and wants "another blank cheque to restrict everyone's freedoms" until September.

He asks Johnson to "drop these draconian laws and instead publish a roadmap to revive civil liberties and freedoms".

The PM says he sympathises and wants to restore freedoms "as fast as we possibly can".

"What we also want to do is to make sure that were able to deal with the very considerable backlog that we've faced because of the pandemic," he says.

He cites special measures such as allowing volunteers to "continue to help in the NHS" and "powers that are necessary in education".

"It is important to be able to continue with those special measures for the months ahead," he adds.

Image source, HoC

The MP for Stocksbridge, Miriam Cates raises the issue of the uncertain future of the steel industry in her constituency.

She asks what will the government do to secure jobs and livelihoods?

Boris Johnson replies that he "passionately believes in steel which is why more than £500m, in relief has been made available alongside "huge investment" to make the industry greener and more competitive.

He adds the government wants to secure "British jobs for British steel".

Image source, HoC

The SNP's Westminster Leader Ian Blackford says yesterday his colleague Neil Gray gave his last speech as he is seeking to move to the Scottish Parliament.

He says Mr Gray doesn't want to have a "dual mandate" by sitting in two Parliaments at once. He accuses the Scottish Tory leader and MP, Douglas Ross, of doing this. He asks if "greed is good".

Boris Johnson says his "friend" is doing "an excellent job" of holding the SNP government to account, on issues such as education.

Mr Blackford says the PM is "once again" refusing to answer the question. He says the Scottish Tories have exposed themselves as "shameless" and "daft". He asks if the PM has confidence in Douglas Ross as he says Mr Ross has "no imagination" for policies.

Mr Johnson says the SNP is "so devoid of imagination" that their "one track record" is on a referendum to break up the UK.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

The crisis engulfing the UK's third largest steel maker, its financier, and the government now tasked with saving thousands of jobs, is a complex tapestry of strands, none of which are in themselves particularly shocking, but woven together make up a very murky picture of the relationship between industry, finance and government.

As the BBC revealed last week, the government is bracing itself for taxpayer intervention as it all unravels.

The saviour-turned-sinner steel magnate, the maverick billionaire now bust financier, and a former UK prime minister, are the principal characters in a story in which the jobs of 5,000 workers and the future direction of UK industry is arguably at stake.

Read Simon's full blog here.

Image source, HoC

For his sixth and final question Starmer moves on from the armed forces.

He says 5,000 jobs are at risk at Liberty Steel "with many more in the supply chain".

He says the government's "failure to prioritise British steel" in infrastructure is "costing millions of pounds" - and asks if Johnson will do "whatever is necessary to protect those jobs".

The PM shoots back that steel output "halved" under the last Labour government.

He says his business secretary has had three meetings in recent days with Liberty Steel and he feels for the families of steel workers.

"We are actively engaged," the PM says. He says the government has embarked on a £640bn infrastructure campaign, including projects like HS2.

"They will call for millions and mill of tons of British steel," he says.

He adds that leaving the EU will mean "we have an opportunity to direct that procurement to British firms".

Image source, HoC

Keir Starmer says there is is nothing weaker than making a promise to the armed forces before the last general election not to cut numbers then not having the "courage" to admit it that pledge has been broken.

He says there is "a pattern here" and that the PM promised no cuts to the NHS but then cut nurses' pay.

Will the PM put changes to the army to a vote in the House he asks?

Boris Johnson says he is "proud" of the biggest increase in funds to the army since the cold war.

He says this is because the Conservatives have maintained "a sound economy" and the says more nurses and police have been recruited.

Image source, HoC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the PM "is just playing with the numbers, he knows very well the numbers have been cut".

He accuses the Conservatives of not protecting the armed forces, the 2015, 2017 and 2019 manifestoes all said that the government would not cut the armed forces. But, he says, since 2010, the army has been cut by 45,000.

He says the army is now the smallest it has been in 300 years - and asks if the prime minister is ashamed.

Mr Johnson says the government have been making investments into the future of the armed forces, including £1.3bn into battle tanks and other investments into the RAF Squadrons.

He says the Labour Party are "consistently weak on protecting this country". He accuses the Labour shadow cabinet of not having a single view on the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent.

Image source, HoC

Image source, HoC

Starmer brings up a headline printed during the last general election campaign which read: "No troop cuts: Tories will maintain size of armed forces."

He asks: "I know the prime minister's got form for making up quotes... does he think the newspapers have somehow misquoted him?"

The PM stresses again that there "have been no redundancies in our armed forces" and says the Conservatives are "doing what is necessary to modernise our armed forces".

He says that includes investing in cyber warfare and "modernising" the UK's nuclear deterrent - which, he adds, "half the shadow front bench would like to remove".

Image source, HoC

Starmer asks if the prime minister ever promised to keep his pre-election pledge not to cut the size of the army.

He asks why is the PM "trying to pretend" the army stands at over 100,000 when the defence secretary was "absolutely clear" it would be reduced to 72,500.

Boris Johnson says he kept the promise and increased spending by 14% above the Conservatives' manifesto commitment.

He said Labour wanted to turn the army in to a "peace corps".