Sunak tells PMQs he is registered with NHS doctor

1. Rishi Sunak clashes with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over strike action and NHS pressures during the first PMQs of 2023
2. The PM starts his weekly questioning by saying he is registered with an NHS GP - but has also used private healthcare in the past
3. Sunak faced criticism after declining to reveal whether he used private healthcare in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday
4. He also used this week's PMQs to condemn "utterly unacceptable" comments by Andrew Bridgen, who has been suspended as a Conservative MP for spreading Covid vaccine misinformation
5. It comes as 20,000 ambulance workers walk out in England and Wales over pay and staffing
6. Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced yesterday plans to enforce minimum service levels during strike action, including for ambulance staff and railway workers
7. Unions say the proposed bill is "unworkable", while Labour says it will repeal the legislation if it wins the next general election

Thanks for joining us

Thanks for following our coverage of today's Prime Minister's Questions - you can read more about today's political developments here:

• Rishi Sunak admits to having used private healthcare
• Tory MP suspended over Covid vaccine comments

Today's writers were Sam Hancock, George Wright, Richard Morris, Chas Geiger, Anna Boyd and Christy Cooney.

The editors were Chris Giles, Jasmine Taylor-Coleman and Heather Sharp.

That's a wrap

Rishi Sunak: I am registered with an NHS GP

We're rounding up our live coverage now, thank you for joining us.

Here's a re-cap of some of the biggest lines from the Commons today:

• Rishi Sunak admitted he had used "independent health care" in the past, but told MPs he is registered with an NHS GP
• He had previously refused to say whether he uses private healthcare, insisting it was "not really relevant"
• Labour leader Keir Starmer said the government had "gone from clapping the nurses to sacking the nurses" in an exchange about the state of the NHS
• Former health secretary and reality TV contestant, Matt Hancock, stood up to condemn anti-vax comments made by Andrew Bridgen, who was suspended as a Conservative MP for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccination this morning
• Sunak agreed, calling the comments "utterly unacceptable"
• In a lighter moment, Sunak paid tribute to Welsh football captain, Gareth Bale, who retired yesterday. The prime minister said Bale - who used to play for his team Southampton - was one of his heroes

Reality Check

Are pay review bodies independent?

Responding to a question about NHS pay, the prime minister said: “When it comes to the issue of pay we have accepted in full the independent recommendations of the pay review bodies.”

The government did indeed accept the recommendations in July 2022 to give all NHS workers a pay rise of roughly £1,400 this year, worth about 4%, on average, for nurses.

The report from the pay review body quoted the latest inflation figure of 9% for April and cited predictions that the figure would rise above 10%. It peaked at 11.1% in October.

But the body is not entirely independent. Its remit requires it to take into account the NHS budget for the next three years, for example.

You can read more about it here.

WATCH: Missed PMQs? See the exchanges between Sunak and Starmer

PMQs: Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer's exchange in full

In the first PMQs of 2023, Rishi Sunak clashes with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over strike action and pressures on the NHS.

Reality Check

Did waiting lists double before the pandemic?

Keir Starmer challenged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the Conservatives’ record on the NHS during PMQs today, asking him whether the PM planned to get waiting lists down to “where they were before COVID - that's 4.6 million - or back to where Labour had them in 2010, almost half of that?”

Starmer is correct on those figures. About 2.4 million people were waiting for treatment from a consultant in April 2010 according to figures from NHS England.

That rose to 4.6 million by February 2020, just before the pandemic and now stands at 7.2 million, with record numbers waiting more than a year.

A portion of the rise over the last decade will be due to our growing and aging population: for example there were 17% more people aged over 75 in 2019 than in 2010.

But performance has worsened over a range of measures since 2010, as funding for the NHS has been squeezed (something that Labour also signed up to in the 2010 election).

You can read more about what's happened to NHS funding over the years here: The NHS crisis - decades in the making

What happened at PMQs?

If you're just joining us or need a recap, here are the key points from today's Prime Minister's Questions, which focused on growing NHS waiting lists and ongoing strikes in the health service.

• Sunak started the exchange by saying he is registered with an NHS GP, but has used private healthcare in the past - this follows criticism after he declined to talk about it in an interview at the weekend
• Starmer repeated a call for Sunak to help end the strikes through negotiations, saying he was “choosing to prolong the misery”
• Sunak criticised Starmer for not backing proposals for laws mandating minimum staffing levels for emergency services during strikes, accusing him of being on the side of unions instead of patients
• Starmer said NHS waiting lists rose throughout the last decade, long before the pandemic, and that the government has overseen “ten years of managed decline”
• Sunak responded that Covid had had an "extraordinary impact” on health services across Europe, but that the government was now focused on eliminating 12-month waiting times
• The prime minister also reiterated what he has set out as his five top priorities: reducing waiting lists, halving inflation, lowering national debt, stopping asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats, and boosting economic growth
• The PM condemned comments by Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen comparing Covid vaccinations to the Holocaust as "utterly unacceptable" - just before PMQs we heard that Bridgen had been suspended as a Tory MP

Stop blaming nurses who are striking to save NHS, says Labour MP

In the last question at this week's PMQs, Labour's Nadia Whittome asked the PM to admit that the NHS is collapsing due to "13 years of underfunding".

She says he should do something about this issue instead of "blaming the nurses" who she says are striking to save the health service.

Sunak responded by saying he's not going to blame anybody, repeating that Covid has had a long-lasting impact on the NHS and that the government is committed to resolving this.

"That's what our plans will deliver," he told Whittome.

Matt Hancock asks Sunak about Bridgen comments

Matt Hancock condemns Andrew Bridgen anti-vax comments

Conservative Matt Hancock asked Sunak about Andrew Bridgen, who had the whip removed, suspending him as a Conservative MP, this morning

It comes after he described, in a tweet, Covid-19 vaccines as the "biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust".

Does the prime minister agree with him that the "disgusting, anti-Semitic, anti-vax conspiracy theories" have no place in parliament or society, asked Hancock.

Sunak said he joined Hancock in condemning the comments, calling them "utterly unacceptable".

Sunak's healthcare revelation may prompt more questions than it answers

Jonathan Blake

BBC political correspondent

Rishi Sunak's revelation that he has used private healthcare in the past and is registered with an NHS GP was possibly the biggest news from PMQs.

The prime minister had argued that his own healthcare was a distraction and irrelevant to his understanding of problems in the NHS.

This may be an attempt to put an end to persistent questions on the issue, but may prompt more about how long his current arrangements have been in place and how extensively he's used private care.

The other notable moment came towards the end when former health secretary Matt Hancock asked about the now-suspended Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen's online comments comparing covid vaccination to the Holocaust.

The prime minister said the comments were "utterly unacceptable" - suggesting the North West Leicestershire MP is unlikely be welcomed back to Tory benches in the Commons.

PMQs over - more analysis to follow

PMQs is now over, but we're catching up with some more of MPs' questions and Sunak's answers, and we'll continue to bring you analysis of what was said.

Jimmy Lai case raised

Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith says today he met the son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who used to run the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

He says Lai is a British passport holder and is now facing trial at the end of the year which could result in him being incarcerated for life. He says Lai has "spoken truth to power". He asks the PM to warn the Chinese government that the UK will retaliate in this case.

Sunak says the UK has always taken action in helping hundreds of thousands of people from Hong Kong in the face of "Chinese aggression". He says he is looking forward to meeting Sir Iain about this and discussing it further.

Labour MP highlights long waits to see eye care specialist

HoC

Labour's Marsha De Cordova says more than 650,000 people are now waiting to see an eye care specialist. Will the PM back her eye health bill calling for a national strategy to ensure no one waiting will lose their sight as a result?

Sunak says the government is already taking action to improve things by supporting research into eye conditions, but knows there is more to do.

PM dithering on NHS dentist crisis, says Labour MP

Over to Simon Lightwood, of the Labour Party, who raises tooth decay as a key issue in the UK due to lengthy NHS dentist wait times.

When will the PM "stop dithering" and address the country's dentist crisis, he asks?

Sunak says he's "very sorry" to hear that Lightwood's constituents are struggling - but says the government has recently reformed the NHS dentistry contract.

More dentists and extra money should make a difference, he tells Lightwood.

'Same old Labour, running out of other people's money'

HoC

Conservative MP Fiona Bruce asks if Sunak will agree to not making unfunded spending commitments, which would result in "billions in debt" - in reference to Labour pledges made this week.

Sunak says she's "absolutely right". If we want to safeguard the future of our public services and economy, "we must be disciplined", he says.

"It's the same old Labour, running out of other people's money," he says.

Hancock attempting to ask question

Brian Wheeler

Politics reporter

Matt Hancock is trying to ask a question, which he has scribbled down on a scrap of paper.

The former health secretary is sitting on the Tory benches, despite being suspended by the party.

He's looking quite agitated as he bobs up and down in a so-far fruitless effort to attract the Speaker’s eye.

Evri parcel service raised at PMQs

HoC

Labour MP Carolyn Harris asks if the PM believes that over 40,000 letters, social media interactions or emails regarding poor customer service and working conditions at delivery company Evri warrants an investigation by a government department.

Rishi Sunak says "other government ministers have looked into this issue, and are currently considering the matter at hand".

Sunak bullish but Starmer emboldened

Jonathan Blake

BBC political correspondent

Picking up where they left off at the end of last year, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed over strikes and the NHS.

The prime minister seemed a bit more confident and bullish than he has done in previous PMQ sessions, but his answers and his opponent's questions had a familiar ring to them.

Starmer again sought to blame successive Tory governments for the problems in the NHS but the prime minister repeatedly said Covid was a major cause.

Sunak accused his opponent of flip-flopping on strikes and being in the pocket of "union paymasters" but the Labour leader said the government was trying to legislate its way out of failure with new anti-strike laws.

Rishi Sunak seemed a bit more confident than he has done in previous PMQs sessions, landing his attack lines more clearly.

Sir Keir Starmer appears to be emboldened by his continued attacks on the government's record on the NHS.

But the first PMQs of 2023 reminds us that these two politicians are relatively similar in style and approach - more managerial than crowd-pleasing parliamentary performers.

Tory MP presses for levelling up funding

Conservative MP Philip Davies says Bradford's Labour council ignores areas outside the big cities when it comes to spending, so the govenment's levelling up fund is vital to his Shipley constituents. Will the PM insist that Bingley's bid for levelling up funding is successful?

Sunak says he can't comment on individual bids, but wishes Davies every success.

Sunak asked about effects of online misogyny in schools

Labour's Alex Davies-Jones is up now, asking about the effects of online misogyny in schools, mentioning specifically the controversial influencer Andrew Tate.

She says Sunak has been "too slow" to respond to this issue and asks what is being done to remedy this.

Sunak responds, saying Chancellor Jeremy Hunt committed an extra £2bn of funding to schools in his Autumn Statement - and he also refers to the Online Safety Bill.

He says it's "world-leading" and tackles the kinds of issues Davies-Jones mentions.

Sunak says Gareth Bale is one of his heroes

HoC

Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts is up now and begins by paying tribute the Welsh footballer Gareth Bale, who retired yesterday.

She says current disruption in the NHS is nothing compared to the government's "butchering" of health budgets.

Health services in Wales suffer from mismanagement by Labour and a Westminster funding system which "perpetuates poverty", she says.

Sunak echoes her words on Bale - who used to play for Sunak's team Southampton - calling him a "hero".

He says the Welsh government receives more funding for the NHS than England.

She would do well to recognise the NHS is under strain because of the global pandemic, he adds.