Of this morning’s incident, Braverman says “these are the days that we dread” and that it was a “lethally dangerous endeavour” to cross the Channel by boat.

She says the government is working hard to “tackle organised criminals”.

This morning’s tragedy is the "most sobering reminder possible of why we have to address this issue", she says. UK and French officers are working together in both countries.

Braverman says that since 2015, the UK has welcomed 450,000 people from “safe and legal routes”, making these routes totally unnecessary.

But she says we need to go much further, which is why the prime minister announced new measures yesterday.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has begun to give a statement in the Commons on the deaths of at least four people attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat.

She says it would be inappropriate to go into further detail, and that there is an ongoing search and rescue operation.

Braverman adds there is a multi-agency response to the incident that includes the Coast Guard, Border Force and even commercial fishing vessels.

She goes on to express her profound sadness and deepest sympathies for everyone affected, as well as profound gratitude to those working on the operation.

Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti says four children in his constituency struggled in an icy lake this week - three have lost their lives and the fourth, a six-year-old, is fighting for his.

He pays tribute to emergency service personnel, including a police officer who broke through the ice with his bare hands to try to rescue the children.

"This whole event has completely shocked the local community," says Sunak, and he pays tribute to the work of the local emergency services.

Labour's Feryal Clark raises the issue of no-fault evictions, pointing to the Conservative manifesto three years ago, which promised to abolish them. Will the PM now scrap them?

Sunak says ministers do have plans to scrap them and will do so when there is parliamentary time. He says renters are also getting government protection in other ways.

Labour's Fabian Hamilton tells Sunak about his constituent Sharon, whose 11-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with eating disorders.

The daughter had to be treated for an entire year in a hospital 40 miles (64km) away in Sheffield, because there was no capacity locally in Leeds, Hamilton says.

Describing the situation as "completely unacceptable", he asks Sunak to commit to improving mental health provision for young people.

Sunak says he's very sorry for what Sharon's family has experienced, telling Hamilton that mental health funding is increasing to "ensure parity of service" .

He adds that provision for eating disorder treatment is also expanding "because it is an issue that needs tackling".

Ed Davey, Lib Dem leader, also pays tribute to the victims in the Channel. Four people are now known to have died after their boat got into difficulty.

Davey says 40% of cancer patients now wait more than two months for treatment, and says he lost both parents to cancer as a child.

He asks Sunak: "Can he give a cast iron guarantee that the dreadful cancer backlog won't get any worse? And when will the government meet its own cancer target?"

Sunak responds by saying the pandemic had been a factor, and that cancer treatment rates are "back at pre-pandemic levels".

Sunak says the government is providing every household "around £900" of energy bills support this winter, and additional support for those on benefits.

He says "this is a government which will always look after the most vulnerable in our society".

Flynn says Scottish households' energy bills are expected to average £3,300 a year, and people there are terrified.

He blames decades of "failed UK energy policy", saying Scotland has the energy, but needs the power - a call for independence.

Sunak says he's glad the UK government has been able to provide an extra £1.5bn to the Scottish government for public services.

The PM adds that Health Secretary Steve Barclay has "engaged fully" with the nursing unions and the "independent pay setting process which takes the politics out of that process" to get a "fair pay deal".

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also begins by extending his thoughts to all those involved in the tragedy in the Channel.

He then speaks about "positive and proactive" discussions between the Scottish government and unions, in contrast to the health secretary and the UK government's unwillingness to negotiate with those striking.

He asks Sunak: "When will he see the error of his ways, and follow the Scottish government's lead?"

Starmer and Sunak accuse each other of weaknesspublished at 12:19 Greenwich Mean Time 14 December 2022

12:19 GMT 14 December 2022

Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Neither Rishi Sunak or Sir Keir Starmer have sought to embrace the image of being a political tough guy.

But both accused the other of weakness at PMQs today, Sunak saying Starmer wasn’t strong enough to negotiate with unions, and Starmer accusing Sunak of lacking the guts to scrap non dom status and raise revenue.

The strikes were a badge of shame for the country, the labour leader said which came with a human cost. But the Prime Minister sought to use Labour’s record running the NHS in Wales to question its competence.

For those who like the theatre of PMQs, the Starmer vs Sunak show has sometimes felt a bit flat, neither men being particularly exuberant parliamentary performers.

Today continued the theme of serious sounding, if predictable clashes in the commons.

It ended on a rare moment of unity and agreement though, with the PM joining his opponent’s thanks to parliamentary staff and suppprt for Ukraine. Don’t expect the seasonal good will to last very long though.

Sunak pays tribute to the way the Commons has come together in a cross-party way to help Ukraine.

This Christmas many families will be laying an extra dinner table place for a Ukrainian family, he says, and this shows the UK's generosity.

Starmer retorts that under the last Labour government, there was fair pay for nurses and no strikes.

He ends by raising the war in Ukraine and the millions there he says will spend the winter in sub-zero temperatures, suffering unimaginably.

He says their bravery is awe-inspiring, and the House will remain united in support of Ukraine's freedom and victory.

Sunak says ambulance waiting times for category one incidents were "completely on target" in February 2020, adding that "Covid has had an impact".

He adds the chief executive of NHS England has "acknowledged this government is serious about its commitment to the NHS".

Sunak goes on to say that the "Labour-run NHS in Wales" has the worst A&E waiting times in the country.

Starmer says Sunak is "pretending everything is fine".

After 12 years of Tory failure, "winter has arrived for our public services". He says Sunak has "curled up in a ball and gone into hibernation".

He says country is entitled to ask: "What is the point of him? And what is the point of the government he's supposed to be leading?"

Starmer says as usual, Sunak is blaming everyone else.

He cites an official report from Monday which spoke of 10 years of "managed decline" in the NHS.

And he accuses the PM of being too weak to stand up to tax avoiders, while not spending enough on recruiting doctors and nurses.

Sunak says the government is "actually listening to the independent pay review bodies".

He says the government has "offered a fair pay deal" while Labour hasn't decided on an appropriate pay rise for the public sector.

He says this is "Labour's nightmare before Christmas".

Sunak says the government has invested billions more in NHS, as well as hiring thousands more doctors and nurses.

The PM adds that Starmer "always fails to acknowledge the impact of Covid", which Sunak say is "why we're facing pressures".

"If we'd listened to him the backlog would still be growing because we'd still be in lockdown."

Starmer continues on the nurses' strike, saying Sunak should meet with the nurses.

He says under the current PM, it's "Tory politics first, patients second".

"We've never seen a nurses' strike like this before - they've been forced to it because the government has broken the health system."

Sunak says "getting around the table" is a "political formula" for "avoiding taking a stance on this particular issue".

Sunak says that if Starmer believes nurses' pay demands of a 19% rise are not right, then "he should say so".

He says Starmer is not strong enough to stand up to unions.

Starmer says nurses going on strike is a "badge of shame for this government" and accuses Sunak of "playing games with people's health".

He raises the case of a boy from Chester, who he says has been off school for six months waiting for a gallbladder operation.

Starmer again urges Sunak to meet the nurses' union and stop "ducking" the issue.