Summary

  • Boris Johnson has faced questions from senior MPs at the Liaison Committee

  • The PM condemned President Putin's ruthlessness and said he wanted to increase assistance to Ukraine

  • Questioned about the cost of living, he said the route out of poverty was through work and promised to look at benefit payments

  • Initial questions honed in on partygate, after the Met revealed it had issued 20 fixed penalty notices so far for lockdown-breaking parties in and around Downing Street

  • Police will not reveal the names of those fined, but No 10 has promised to confirm if the PM receives one

  • At last week's Spring Statement, Rishi Sunak announced a rise in the wage threshold where people start paying National Insurance, a 5p cut to fuel duty and promised future tax cuts

  • Critics say the economic plan did not do enough to help those hardest hit by rising prices, especially energy and food

  1. PM should resign over partygate statements - Starmerpublished at 12:16 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Johnson

    Sir Keir Starmer moves on to parties held in Downing Street during lockdown. Police have concluded there was "widespread criminality", he adds, suggesting the PM should resign for "misleading the House" over what happened.

    Boris Johnson accuses Starmer of changing position like a "human weather-vane", adding that the government is "getting on with our job".

  2. Helping oil companies or working people?published at 12:13 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Next Starmer says the PM and chancellor don't take the "tough decisions", but always ask working people to pay.

    He reiterates his call for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, saying even a former CEO of BP has said it is reasonable.

    He asks why the PM is not helping working people.

    Johnson says it is "a classic example of what Labour has got wrong" in the past.

    He says oil and gas companies are investing £20bn in long term energy supply for the UK, and a windfall tax would deter investment "meaning higher prices for consumers and households up and down the land being worse off".

  3. Tax cut timing utterly cynical, says Starmerpublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Starmer

    Sir Keir Starmer says introducing a cut in income tax in 2024 means putting the Tory campaign for the next general election "over and above" people's bills. He calls Chancellor Rishi Sunak "utterly cynical" in his timing.

    Boris Johnson says that, had the government listened to Starmer, there would be more tax and borrowing and that lockdown would have ended later.

  4. Starmer: Cut the nonsense on taxespublished at 12:07 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Starmer tells the PM to "cut the nonsense and treat the British people with a bit of respect".

    The Labour leader claims there have been 15 tax rises under this chancellor, and for every £6 they raise, they only give £1 back.

    "Is that cutting taxes or is that raising taxes?" he asks.

    Johnson uses the nickname of "Captain Hindsight" for Starmer, saying the government is "getting on with reducing the tax burden wherever we can".

    And he calls on Labour to support the rise in National Insurance to cover costs in health and social care.

  5. We are a tax-cutting government, says PMpublished at 12:05 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Johnson

    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer begins his questions, asking if the PM and chancellor are still "tax-cutting Conservatives" following last week's Spring Statement.

    Boris Johnson says he "certainly" thinks so, with millions of people having a "substantial tax cut" thanks to government measures on income tax and to mitigate the rise in National Insurance.

  6. PM gives support to Wallispublished at 12:03 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    The PM makes some opening remarks before the main exchange between him and the Labour leader.

    He begins by telling Tory MP Jamie Wallis, whose statement we have just mentioned, that the whole of the Commons "stands with you and will give you the support you need to live freely as yourself".

    He also thanks Donna Ockenden for her review examining maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, saying: "Every woman giving birth has the right to a safe birth."

  7. PMQs begins...published at 12:00 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announces the start of Prime Minister's Questions.

    Stay with us for all the updates and analysis as the questions roll in...

  8. Minister offers support as Tory MP comes out as transpublished at 11:58 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Tory MP Jamie Wallis tweeted earlier about being diagnosed with gender dysphoria and being the victim of rape and blackmail.

    In the Commons, Equalities Minister Mike Freer acknowledges the "enormously personal statement" issued by his party colleague.

    "I hope I speak for the whole House in sending our support," he adds. "It is so important that people are free to be safe to be themselves whoever they are and whoever they love."

    Support from colleagues has come from many other MPs in the Commons today, with the prime minister and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeting their support.

    Read more about the story here.

  9. Johnson leaves No 10 for PMQspublished at 11:49 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Boris Johnson

    Boris Johnson has left Downing Street to head to the chamber for Prime Minister's Questions.

    Not long to go now...

  10. PM's trans comments were light-hearted - Leadsompublished at 11:44 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Andrea Leadsom

    Last night, Boris Johnson addressed a meal attended by Tory MPs in London, during which he made remarks about Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's stance on trans rights.

    “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, or as Keir Starmer would put it, people who are assigned female or male at birth," he reportedly said.

    Senior Conservative Andrea Leadsom, who attended the dinner, tells BBC Two's Politics Live the PM made a "light-hearted joke".

    But SNP MP John Nicholson says it was "in appalling taste", adding: "The prime minister, as so often, gets the tone wrong."

    And Labour's Barry Gardiner calls for "kindness" when debating trans issues and not to let them become a "political football".

  11. Campaigners attack 'woeful' numbers of Ukrainian refugee visaspublished at 11:43 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Ukrainian refugeesImage source, EPA

    While the domestic stories may be dominating at home, thoughts also turned to the situation in Ukraine in Parliament this morning - especially when it comes to the number of refugees the UK is taking in.

    New figures from the Home Office show only 2,700 visas have been granted to people wanting to come under the Homes for Ukraine scheme - where British citizens open their homes to those fleeing the war - despite applications reaching 28,300.

    Campaigners called the numbers "woeful", and urged the government to "cut the red tape" for refugees.

    Refugees Minister Lord Harrington appeared in front of a select committee this morning, saying progress was starting to be seen thanks to changes the Home Office made to "streamline" the visa process.

    But he admitted: "We need to do more and will be making further improvements to bring people to the UK as quickly as possible."

  12. Spring Statement falloutpublished at 11:36 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Rishi SunakImage source, PA Media
    Image caption,

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered the economic statement last week, but it is still a hot topic

    The cost of living crisis is still at the front of everyone's minds in Westminster, especially with the energy price cap rise looming.

    Last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak sought to address some of the public's concerns through his Spring Statement.

    In the economic update, he promised to cut petrol duty by 5p, increase the threshold of when people starting paying National Insurance, and cut to income tax in two years time.

    But he has been widely criticised for not giving help to those who need it the most.

    Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said "the very poorest" could see their cost of living increase by 10%, despite a "small amount of extra cash" promised by the chancellor for local authorities to help those on benefits.

    Today will be the first time Boris Johnson has faced questions in the Commons since the statement, so it would be surprisingly if the subject wasn't raised.

  13. Police fines yet to pull rug out from under Boris Johnsonpublished at 11:23 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Laura Kuenssberg
    Political editor

    Tory MPs
    Image caption,

    Tory MPs were seen walking across Westminster Bridge last night as they headed to a dinner hosted by the PM

    On any given evening, it would have been a strange sight to see several hundred Conservative MPs marching across Westminster Bridge, invited to dinner with the prime minister.

    On the day that the first fines were announced, after weeks of political agonies over parties or gatherings that nearly sunk the party leader, it was bizarre indeed.

    The fact that fines are being issued really matters as a bald fact.

    It means that the laws that we all lived under during the pandemic were broken in the heart of government, at least 20 times.

    Before any of the stories broke about what had gone on, it would have felt entirely shocking for that to be true.

    It has, no surprise perhaps, led to the opposition parties renewing their calls for Boris Johnson to quit.

    It has not, however, restarted the fire that was raging under prime minister.

    Not yet.

    Read more from Laura here.

  14. The latest on 'partygate'published at 11:18 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    No 10Image source, EPA

    Reports of lockdown breaking parties in Downing Street dominated the headlines in the weeks and months before the war in Ukraine broke out.

    And in January, the Metropolitan Police launched its own investigation into 12 of the gatherings, warning those who attended could end up with fines.

    On Tuesday, the force confirmed it had sent out 20 fixed penalty notices and there could be more to come.

    But as the fines were sent out by post, we still don't know whose doorsteps they are going to drop on.

    The police have made it clear they won't publish a list of names, and the same message is coming from No 10.

    But the prime minister's spokesman has said No 10 will confirm if Boris Johnson himself gets one.

  15. Good morningpublished at 11:10 British Summer Time 30 March 2022

    Houses of ParliamentImage source, Reuters

    Welcome to Westminster for your regular dose of live politics from the Houses of Parliament.

    Boris Johnson will be at the dispatch box at 12:00 BST (11:00 GMT) for Prime Minister's Questions, just 24 hours after police revealed the first tranche of "partygate" fines had been issued.

    It will also be the first time he faces Labour's Sir Keir Starmer since the Spring Statement last week, as the cost of living crisis continues to grip households across the country.

    Then later this afternoon, Johnson will face further questioning from senior MPs on the Liaison Comittee.

    Stay with us for all the news and analysis over the coming hours.