As it happened: Patel defends asylum policy after Rwanda flight blocked

Summary

The Home Secretary Priti Patel defends the government's policy of sending asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda
The first flight was cancelled shortly before take-off last night after a late intervention from the European Court of Human Rights
Speaking in the Commons, Patel says the government "remains committed" to the policy of sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda
Yvette Cooper, the shadow Home Secretary, says the policy is shameful, and Patel has no-one but herself to blame for the grounding of the flight
Boris Johnson has also been answering questions in the Commons where Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer pressed him on the economy
The Labour leader says the PM is "running the country down" while Johnson attacks Labour's record on taxes and jobs

Live Reporting

Edited by Chris Giles and Emma Owen

Starmer: Johnson is Jabba the Hutpublished at 12:09 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says "he hasn't lifted a finger" to try and deal with rail strikes, and "he's in government" so is the one who should be able to deal with it.
He accuses the prime minister of trying "Jedi mind tricks on the country... the force just isn't with him anymore".
"He thinks he's Obi-Wan Kenobe, the truth is he's Jabba the Hut".
Starmer says the UK's economy is shrinking for the second month in a row, he asks why the prime minister's head is in the sand on the issue.
PM condemns planned rail strikespublished at 12:08 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Boris Johnson says he's already answered the question and then calls on the Labour leader to defend his "sphinx-like silence" on next week's rail strikes and condemn the RMT union for calling them.
Image source, House of Commons
Starmer challenges Johnson again on the economypublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson "always likes to blame global forces," he states, "Britain isn't under crippling economic sanctions like Russia".
He asks again why the UK is set for lower growth than every other major economy.
Image source, House of Commons
PM defends UK growth recordpublished at 12:05 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Boris Johnson says the UK will have the second fastest growth in the G7 this year, and came out of the pandemic faster than any other G7 country because the right decisions were taken.
Why is Britain's growth lower than everyone else, except Russia?published at 12:04 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer begins by paying tribute to those who served in the Falklands - ahead of a service later. He says his uncle was among them, serving on the HMS Antelope, "we remember them all," he states.
Britain is set for lower growth than every major economy except Russia, he states, and he asks why.
Prime Minister's Questions beginpublished at 12:01 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Boris Johnson is now on his feet in the Commons, ready for the weekly session of questions from MPs.
Scottish independence issue likely to feature at PMQspublished at 12:00 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Yesterday Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon set out what she called a "refreshed" case for independence.
But Boris Johnson said the result of the 2014 referendum - No - should be respected.
The issue is expected to come up during PMQs.
Johnson preparing for Prime Minister's Questionspublished at 11:59 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
PMQs is due to begin in a few minutes' time. Stay with us for full coverage of the exchanges between Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
It all kicks off at 12:00 BST
What's the latest on the Northern Ireland protocol?published at 11:55 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Image source, Getty Images
On Monday, the government published plans to scrap parts of the post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
It wants to unilaterally change trade, tax and governance arrangements it signed up to in 2020, because it says it has disrupted trade and power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
The EU says overriding parts of the deal would break international law and has resumed legal proceedings against the UK that it put on hold last year, over the UK's decision to delay checks on certain goods.
And it has launched two further legal challenges over what it says is a failure to share trade data and set up border inspection posts.
Read more about the Northern Ireland protocol here.
What's the latest on the government's Rwanda policy?published at 11:50 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Image source, Reuters
The government says officials are already preparing for the next flight to take asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, hours after a court ruling stopping the first plane from taking off.
The first flight was cancelled minutes before take-off last night.
A late intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) led to fresh challenges in the UK courts.
The government was "surprised and disappointed" with the ruling, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said this morning.
"Lawyers in the Home Office are already working on the next steps", she said, explaining the government's aim was to create "safe legal routes for people to get asylum".
Read more here
What can we expect today?published at 11:48 British Summer Time 15 June 2022
Good morning and welcome to our live page for today's Prime Minister's Questions.
We're expecting Scottish independence as well as last night's aborted flight to Rwanda for asylum seekers from the UK to feature in this session.
Immediately after PMQs, Home Secretary Priti Patel will make a statement on last night's grounded flight, which was supposed to be taking asylum seekers to Rwanda, under the new Nationality and Borders Act.