Rishi Sunak clashes with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over strike action and NHS pressures during the first PMQs of 2023
The PM starts his weekly questioning by saying he is registered with an NHS GP - but has also used private healthcare in the past
Sunak faced criticism after declining to reveal whether he used private healthcare in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday
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
It comes as 20,000 ambulance workers walk out in England and Wales over pay and staffing
Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced yesterday plans to enforce minimum service levels during strike action, including for ambulance staff and railway workers
Unions say the proposed bill is "unworkable", while Labour says it will repeal the legislation if it wins the next general election
Sunak says "I don't think we need to talk about our predecessors... I think it was one of his predecessors who did indeed work for Russia Today".
He says rather than talking about independence, the Scottish government should be talking about jobs and improving people's lives across the country.
Flynn raises former PM Boris Johnson's activities since stepping down as prime minister, saying he "raked in more than £1m over four months for a series of speeches".
The SNP Westminster leader calls it "utterly perverse" that senior Tories are "feathering their nest while denying working people the right to strike for fair pay".
Sunak says he's pleased Flynn has brought up energy.
Scotland will play a fantastic part in helping the UK reach net-zero, the PM says, before accusing Scotland of not wanting to support its own energy industry and the jobs it produces.
Sunak says he'd be happy to help the Scottish government see why it should support operations in the North Sea, because the rest of the UK is "very proud" of it.
SNP's Flynn says UK union 'doesn't add up' for Scotland
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has now taken the floor.
He lists the deepest recession in the G7, Brexit, energy and inflation among other things.
If the people in Scotland do the maths, will they come to the conclusion this union "just doesn't add up", he asks Sunak.
Sunak says "when it comes to the NHS, it's crystal clear, Conservatives on the side of patients, Labour on the side of union paymasters".
He says inflation is down and debt is down and that he is "delivering for Britain".
'They've broken the NHS' - Starmer
Starmer says there isn't a minimum level ambulance service because the Tories have broken the NHS.
All Sunak is promising, he says, is that one day record-high waiting lists will stop growing. The best the PM can offer, Starmer says, is that he might stop making things worse.
Sunak urges Starmer to consider why there are long wait times for illnesses like cancer, saying the leader of the opposition has "no understanding of the situation" in the NHS.
He says cancer appointment wait times went down by two thirds during the pandemic and that there are record levels of cancer treatment now.
The real issue is that people calling 999 don't know whether whether they'll get the services they need, Sunak says, adding the government's new law is about ensuring that.
Why is he against that lifeline, Sunak asks of Starmer?
Starmer is back up.
He says 50,000 people are now waiting longer than two weeks for a cancer appointment.
When will cancer patients get the certainty of quick care they got under Labour, Starmer asks.
Sunak says "we've already eliminated two-year waiting lists, done last year," he says he will eliminate waits longer than 52 weeks by next spring.
"I've made tackling wait lists one of my main priorities," he says, and accuses Sir Keir Starmer of "changing his principles" every week, and "being in hock to his union paymasters".
Starmer says as ever with the PM, when you scratch the surface, you find there is nothing there.
Under Labour, he says, patients were guaranteed a GP appointment within two days. When, he asks, will Sunak restore the situation to that?
Sunak says he wants to start with the fact that Covid-19 "has had an extraordinary impact on health services".
He says this is the case across the UK and Europe.
What the NHS needs is a plan to bring waiting times down, not Labour chaos if it was to take over in Downing Street, he says. He quotes the CEO of the Nuffield Trust, saying Labour's plans are expensive and "out of date" - "just like the Labour Party, he adds.
Starmer says the government has "gone from clapping the nurses to sacking the nurses".
The government are after the cause of crisis, he says.
This is not a covid problem it, Starmer says.
Is his promise to get numbers down in line with before Covid or Labour's previous record? he asks.
Sunak speaks about the strikes minimum safety legislation outlined yesterday, saying it is a "simple proposition" which would balance union need to strike with supplying life-saving care for those who need it.
"The International Labour Organisation supports these principles," he says, and such schemes exist in France and other European countries.
Image source, HoCStarmer says when he clapped nurses, he meant it - now Sunak is threatening to sack them.
He says you can't legislate your way out of 13 years of failure.
Why, the Labour leader asks, do patients always have to wait longer under the Tories?
Sunak responds, saying the government has always been clear that it wants to have a "constructive dialogue" with unions.
He says recommendations made by the independent pay review body were followed, before accusing Starmer of failing to come up with a solution himself.
He also asks the Labour leader why he doesn't support the government's new minimum safety legislation.
"It's because he's on the side of his union paymasters, not patients," Sunak says.
Labour leader Keir Starmer is up.
He starts by stating that in 13 years of Labour government there were no national NHS strikes.
Why is Sunak choosing to "prolong the misery" rather than end strikes, Starmer asks.
Labour MP Cat Smith asks the prime minister how long he had to wait for his last dentist appointment.
"I am registered with an NHS GP. I have used independent healthcare in the past," he says.
"But the truth is, Mr Speaker, I'm proud to come from an NHS family, and that's why I'm passionately committed to protecting it."
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Sunak was asked but declined to reveal whether he uses private healthcare.
Rishi Sunak: I am registered with an NHS GP
Image source, HoCThe PM is on his feet at the dispatch box as Prime Minister's Questions gets under way.
We're listening in and we'll bring you the latest lines here.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in the House of Commons - to cheers from the Tory benches - ahead of PMQs, which is due to get under way in the next few minutes.
Sunak will face questions from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, before the floor is opened up to other MPs.
Stay with us for the latest updates. Remember, you can also watch the action right here by clicking the 'play' button at the top of this page.
Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent
The backdrop to the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2023 is strikingly similar to the last time Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed in December.
The NHS is under huge strain, strikes continue to cause disruption and the rising cost of living has put more and more pressure on household finances.
Since the final PMQs of 2022, Sunak has made five pledges on which he said voters should judge his government, including halving inflation and cutting waiting lists.
Starmer has borrowed the Brexit campaign's slogan and pledged to help communities "take back control" from Westminster.
Any challenge to the PM from the Labour leader over strikes is likely to see Sunak question his opponent's stance on industrial action.
Expect the government's plans to force public services to provide a minimum level of service during strikes by law to feature too.