Flynn highlights a poll suggesting support for the SNP "north of 50%" and asks Sunak whether "increasing energy bills" in Scotland will "cause those poll numbers to rise or to fall"?

Sunak begins his answer by congratulating Flynn on his appointment and paying tribute to his predecessor Ian Blackford.

To the question, the PM tells Flynn that he is most proud of protecting the public from Covid.

Image source, House of Commons

Stephen Flynn, the SNP's new leader in Westminster, is up next for his PMQs debut.

He pays tribute to his predecessor Ian Blackford - saying he's "seen off" three Tory prime ministers.

His question to Sunak: what does he see as the Conservatives' greatest achievement since entering government in 2019? Flynn suggests a range of Brexit-related issues and a continued denial of any fresh Scottish independence vote.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Amid the knock-about today, some news from the prime minister.

Sunak has said that Baroness Mone "no longer has the Conservative whip".

No 10 has explained that this is an automatic consequence of her requesting a leave of absence from the House of Lords.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sunak just said he is "shocked" to read about the allegations regarding contracts during the Covid pandemic, and said it's "absolutely right" she is no longer attending the Lords.

A spokesperson for Baroness Mone said: “Baroness Mone’s legal team are dealing with this witch-hunt situation."

Image source, House of Commons

Sunak says his thoughts are with the families of children who have lost their lives. He says there are higher numbers of strep a cases this year, but the NHS is working very hard to make parents aware of the symptoms.

The PM adds there is no current shortage of antibiotics and there are procedures to make sure that remains the case. There is no new strain of strep a, he says, and it can be treated with existing antibiotics.

Image source, House of Commons

In his final question Starmer makes one more remark about allegations facing Baroness Mone.

He then pivots to the recent outbreak of strep a saying his thoughts go to the families who have lost a loved one.

The Labour leader asks Sunak if he can update the country on the measures being taken to keep children safe this winter.

Sunak responds by saying the government has been reasonable and has accepted pay recommendations from independent pay bodies - giving pay rises, which he says in some cases are higher than in the private sector.

If unions are being unreasonable, he continues, it is his duty to take action to protect the lives and livelihoods of the British public.

He says that since becoming prime minister he has been working for tough new laws to protect working people from this disruption. "Can Starmer confirm that he’ll stand up for working people and will he and his party back this legislation?" he asks.

Starmer points out the transport secretary earlier admitted the government's flagship legislation on strikes is "clearly not going to help" with the current round of industrial action.

He says Sunak should stop grandstanding, stop sitting on his hands and get round the negotiating table to resolve the problems.

On Mone, Starmer says: "Everyone can see what's happening here, a Tory politician got their hands on millions of pounds of taxpayers money and then provided duff PPE.

"And he says he's shocked. He was the chancellor, he signed the cheques, how much is he going to get back?" Starmer concludes.

Sunak says he was shocked to read about the allegations, and that it's right that Baroness Mone is no longer attending the House of Lords or taking the Conservative whip - but there is now a process in place.

Baroness Mone's spokesman said on Tuesday she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords "in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her".

Sunak then calls on Starmer to stand up for working people by opposing the rail strikes.

Starmer presses Sunak on giving in to his backbenchers noting another U-turn on windfarms.

He then asks about allegations about Baroness Mone. How did she "end up with nearly £30m worth of taxpayers' money in her bank account?", he asks.

Sunak responds by saying his government won’t work with Labour on housing - "look at their record", he says.

He goes on to say that in London, the former Conservative mayor [Boris Johnson] built 60,000 affordable homes in five years - and, he says, the current Labour mayor built half that amount.

In Wales, we want to build 12,000 homes, he continues, but Labour are delivering half of that.

"The Labour Party talks, the Conservatives deliver," he says.

Starmer goes on to say he offered the PM Labour votes to get house building targets through Parliament as "this is bigger than politics".

He says this is a colossal failure of leadership on the part of Sunak.

Why would he cripple housebuilding, rather than "work with us" to get it done, Starmer asks.

Sunak accuses Starmer of indulging in "petty personality politics", not substance.

He says the government is protecting the character of local communities, cracking down on land banking and giving local people a greater say in planning decisions.

Starmer says Sunak's backbenchers threatened him over housing targets.

He says the "blancmange prime minister wobbled".

Was it worth it, he asks?

Image source, House of Commons

Sunak accuses Starmer of not reading the details on what the government is doing to improve housing planning systems.

“We are protecting the greenbelt, we are investing millions to develop brown field sites and providing support and protection for local neighbourhood plans,” he says.

He quotes the shadow housing secretary who earlier today said “communities should have control over where homes are being built and what sort”.

"That’s my position, that’s her position, what’s Starmer’s position?", he asks.

Image source, House of Commons

Labour Leader Keir Starmer opens up with a question about housing targets, pointing out the government has previously promised to build 300,000 houses a year.

He says Rishi Sunak broke this promise this week "without asking a single voter" by scrapping mandatory building targets. "What's changed?," he asks.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is on his feet in the chamber, as today's Prime Minister's Questions gets under way.

Reality Check

Health Secretary Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast this morning: “If everyone in the public sector had a pay rise in line with inflation, it would cost an extra £28bn, an extra £1,000 per household.”

That figure looks a bit high. The public sector pay bill for all 5.7 million employees, external was around £233bn last year.

Inflation is expected to be about 10% this year, so you could assume that an inflationary pay rise would cost about £23bn.

There are about 28 million households in the UK, so that’s about £820 per household.

But Ben Zaranko from the Institute for Fiscal Studies points out that it isn’t really the figure that matters because the government was already budgeting for a 3% average pay rise for the public sector, so increasing that to match inflation would cost about £18bn, external, or about £640 per household.

We have contacted the Treasury to ask if they know where the £28bn figure comes from.

Image source, HOUSE OF COMMONS

Stephen Flynn became the SNP's new Westminster leader after Ian Blackford stood down from the role - and we'll be seeing him face Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister's Questions for the first time today.

Born in Dundee, Flynn studied politics at university in the city before moving to Aberdeen.

He was elected to Aberdeen City Council in a by-election in 2015, and served as the SNP's group leader from 2016.

In 2019 he became an MP when he took Aberdeen South from the Conservatives. His son Leo was born three days after the election.

Flynn has previously opposed a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas firms - a policy enthusiastically backed by party leader Nicola Sturgeon - over the potential impact on jobs in Aberdeen.

Ian Murray, Labour's shadow Scottish secretary, described the election of Flynn as a "two-finger salute” to Sturgeon by her MPs. Flynn told the BBC he intends to work closely with the party's leader.

Read more about him here.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is due to take this week's PMQs, starting at 12:00 GMT. This was him pictured a little earlier as he left No 10 Downing Street, to make his way to the Commons.

Stay on this page, where we'll be letting you know what he says.