Boris Johnson has been facing questions from MPs in the Commons
The PM says “we have increasing confidence that vaccines are effective against all variants, including the Indian variant"
Mr Johnson repeats a warning people should not be going on holiday to countries on the government's amber travel list
Labour leader Keir Starmer says ministers have given conflicting information about travel to places on the amber list
The PM says you should not be going to an amber list country unless it’s a serious reason such as visiting a seriously ill relative
He begins the session by reading the names of the 10 innocent victims of the Ballymurphy shootings of 1971
The PM says he is sorry for the pain their families have endured - when the inquest ended last week he was criticised for sending a written apology
The SNP and Plaid Cymru both say a Brexit trade deal with Australia will be bad news for UK farmers, amid concern over cheap food imports
The PM says the SNP's Ian Blackford is not doing justice to farmers and crofters and he asks why he is "so scared of free trade"
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Image source, ReutersPMQs was dominated by questions about the government's current travel advice, and the prevalence of the Indian variant of coronavirus.
It's thought to be responsible for the majority of new positive cases in pockets of England.
One of three subtypes of the virus identified on the subcontinent, variant B.1.617.2 is thought to spread more easily - but what does that mean for you?
Read our guide here: Where is it, how does it spread and is it more infectious?
Reality Check
The prime minister was asked how many people were travelling to and from countries on the government’s “amber list” every day.
Boris Johnson replied: "There has been a 95% reduction in travel of any kind to and from this country."
This figure seems to come from a report published last summer by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which compared passenger numbers in June 2019 with traffic from June 2020.
According to the ONS, "overseas residents made an estimated 176,000 visits to the UK in June 2020, which was 95% fewer than in June 2019."
It’s worth noting that June 2020 was when the UK was coming out of the first lockdown and these dates are obviously before the introduction of the traffic light system (including the amber list) for England.
Here are the headlines from today's session:
Reality Check
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the government of having “lost control of the messaging” over its advice for people on travelling to countries on its “amber list”.
There is lots of advice on the government, external website about coming back from these countries (which include France, Spain and Italy). This includes taking Covid tests, filling out a passenger locator form and self-isolating at home for 10 days.
On going out, it says simply ‘‘You should not travel to amber list countries or territories’. From Monday, it is no longer illegal to go to these countries though.
But yesterday, Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "There will be reasons why people feel they need to travel [to amber list countries] either to visit family or indeed to visit friends but they then have to observe quarantine when they return."
Later, Boris Johnson said it was “very important people grasp what the amber list is – not somewhere to go on holiday” and said people should only travel to these countries for “pressing family or business reasons”.
Then, Health Minister Lord Bethell said overseas travel was “dangerous”, telling peers “The ultimate sanction here is that…we tell people: travelling is not for this year. Please stay in this country.”
Read our guide: which countries are on the green list for travel?
Leila Nathoo
BBC political correspondent
Keir Starmer branded the government's travel advice as 'confused and contradictory', raising the prospect of Britain as an island nation battening down the hatches to protect against new Covid variants.
But although Boris Johnson tried to be definitive that travel to countries officially designated as amber should only be for 'extreme' reasons - he also reminded MPs that the government was trying to move away from 'endlessly legislating' and relying on people to follow guidance and do the right thing.
It's a shift in approach he is increasingly keen to stress.
Image source, HoCLabour's Justin Madders says it has been 664 days since the PM said he had a plan for social care.
He says the Department for Health and Social Care is now advertising for policy adviser roles for social care reform. He asks "do you have a plan, yes or no?"
"Yes is the answer," Johnson replies, "this is something that for decades politicians have failed to address." He says Labour had 13 years in power and "didn't do it, this government is going to tackle it."
Image source, HoCLabour's Andy Slaughter asks about Jenny McGee - a nurse who treated the PM for Covid but has now resigned from the NHS and criticised ministers' handling of the pandemic.
"Surely he must pause and think what can be learned from mistakes of the past year," he says - also calling on the PM to "think again" about the proposed 1% cash-terms pay rise for NHS staff in England.
Boris Johnson says he "knows how hard it has been" for nurses this year, and acknowledges his own "personal debt" to the work of nurses in the NHS.
He says the 1% pay rise has been proposed despite "very tough times" financially - and the government is delivering a promise to recruit "many more nurses" for the health service.
Image source, HoCConservative MP Danny Kruger raises the issue of the treatment of army veterans who have served in Northern Ireland.
He says feelings are running high in his constituency and asks if legislation will be brought forward to protect military personnel from prosecution?
The PM says he recognises "how difficult and how complex" the matter is.
He says these issues are fraught but ministers will introduce fresh legislation and a package to protect veterans from vexatious legislation.
Image source, HoCPlaid Cymru's Hywel Williams says that it looks as if the government is going to start backing Australian farmers, rather than Welsh farmers.
Johnson says it is a "disgrace that not a single morsel of Welsh lamb has passed the lips of an American in the past twenty years," he says that he supports British and Welsh farmers.
Image source, HoCLiberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey criticises the government's Planning Bill, which he says will "do nothing" to solve local housing problems and allow developers to "ride roughshod" over local communities.
Quoting former PM Theresa May, he says the new law will lead to the "wrong homes in the wrong places".
Boris Johnson rejects this - and pledges the green belt will be protected as part of the "sensible reforms".
He says young people have been "deprived for too long" of the chance to own a home and the Planning Bill will help to change this.
Image source, HoCConservative Jo Gideon says there's "no better example of levelling-up" than from her constituency of Stoke-On-Trent receiving help for their YMCA, as well as more government offices moving to the town.
Johnson says "We are sending, not just back offices, but some of the most important departments of state" which will be run from across the UK "and I believe that will have a dramatic effect on levelling-up the UK," he states.
Image source, HoCSNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford is up.
He says as someone who is part of the crofting community, he understands how disastrous a Brexit trade deal with Australia will be for Scottish farmers, who he says will lose their livelihoods and lands.
Will the PM categorically rule out that the UK government is about to sign up to a deal that will rule out tariff free access for things like beef he asks?
The prime minister says Blackford is not doing justice to farmers and crofters and he asks why he is "so scared of free trade".
Blackford says the fact the PM doesn't give a straight answer will send a chill down the spines of farmers who he says are about to be "thrown under the Brexit bus".
"This will be the final nail in the coffin" for Scottish crofters he adds.
Mr Johnson replies that this view underestimates the ability of people of this country to make the most of free trade. "Our food exports are second to none", he says.
Image source, HoCSir Keir Starmer picks up from the PM's comment and says the Labour Party has been calling for a blanket hotel quarantine "for months" and now the UK has the Indian variant spreading.
He says experts have called the UK's border controls during the pandemic "a joke" and flights are still coming in from India.
Sir Keir then changes topic for his final question and says there has been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the UK following recent developments in Gaza. He says Jewish communities are remaining "very anxious".
Johnson says he "shares his horror at the rise of anti-Semitic incidents" and he says the government "will continue to work" to support the Jewish community "in any way we can".
"We will call this out at every stage," he adds.
Sir Keir says government guidance on amber list countries is "confused and contradictory".
He says the prime minister can't say "how many or when" people are travelling to amber-listed countries - calls on ministers to introduce a "proper system" to guard against future variants.
In reply, Boris Johnson says it would be better if the Labour leader uses "what authority he possesses" to encourage people to follow government guidance.
He also attacks Labour's own position on borders as "hopelessly confused".
Image source, HoCStarmer says it is not just a coincidence that bookings to these countries are up he says - it is because of the messaging.
The PM says there has been a 95% reduction in travel to the UK which is what you would expect.
He says the reason the UK is able to move forward is because of the speed of the vaccine roll-out with 70% of adults in this country getting a jab.
Image source, HoCSir Keir Starmer says "absolute clarity is needed about the circumstances over which people can travel to an amber country".
He says yesterday ministers gave conflicting information about whether or not people should be travelling. He says the government's "lost control of the messaging".
He asks if the PM doesn't want people to travel to amber list countries, why has he made it easier for people to do so.
Johnson says what the public would like to see is "back up" from the opposition to provide clarity of message.
"It is very, very clear, you should not be going to an amber list country, except for some extreme circumstance, such as a family illness," the PM says, "you should not be going to an amber list country for a holiday".
He adds: "If you do go to an amber list country, we will enforce the ten day quarantine period."
If people break the rules, he says, they face "very substantial fines".
Image source, HoCSir Keir asks why 170 countries were moved onto England's amber list when travel restrictions changed on Monday - adding this "weakened" the rules.
Boris Johnson says the UK has "one of the strongest border regimes in the world".
He adds that people returning from amber list countries have to pay to get tested and self-isolate at home when they return.
Image source, HoCKeir Starmer is up with his first question.
He asks if the PM agrees that the single biggest threat to the lockdown easing is new variants coming in to the UK?
Boris Johnson says it is one of the issues we must face.
But he says the government has looked at the data this morning and have increasing confidence the vaccines are effective on all variants, including the Indian variant.
He thanks people for coming forward in record numbers in Bolton and Blackburn to be vaccinated.
Image source, HoC
Image source, HOCPrime Minister Boris Johnson opens PMQs by reading the names of the ten Ballymurphy the victims.
There had been some criticism of a written apology the PM sent to the victims' families.
Johnson notes that the inquest found those who were killed in Ballymurphy in 1971 were "entirely innocent" he says he is "sorry" for the "pain they have endured" among their families.
He says he hopes that they can "take some comfort" in the decision that has been reached by the inquest.
Labour's Gareth Thomas has the first question and says it is four years since the Grenfell Tower fire and dangerous cladding has still not been replaced on many buildings. He asks why the PM instructed his MPs to vote against measures to tackle the problems yesterday.
Johnson says "we have provided an unprecedented £5bn of investment" and "the most dangerous cladding" has been removed from high rise buildings already.