Labour's Keir Starmer begins PMQs by asking Rishi Sunak if the UK is facing a "mortgage catastrophe"
This comes against the background of of stubbornly high inflation figures - and the assumption the Bank will hike interest rates again
Sunak says it is right to "support" those with mortgages but the best way to do this is to lower inflation
Starmer says the cause of the "mortgage catastrophe" is a Tory "kamikaze budget" - Sunak says Starmer is ignoring global pressures on inflation
The SNP's Stephen Flynn asks if the PM will admit Brexit's impact on inflation. Sunak again points to global factors
The UK's annual inflation rate stayed at 8.7% in May, which has increased pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates
Chris Mason
Political editor
The economics of inflation are difficult. And so are the politics.
What can or should the government do — without making inflation worse?
But will ministers be punished by home owners facing spiralling mortgage payments?
And what would labour do differently? The political battleground of this week — and in the countdown to the election — is taking shape.
Sunak accuses Starmer of offering the "same petty points" at every Prime Minister's Questions.
Although he admits reducing inflation is a "challenge" - he says the government has a plan to "deliver for the country" whilst the Labour leader is "all talk".
Image source, PA MediaStarmer says after 13 years of economic failure, people are paying the price of "uncosted, reckless damaging decisions by the Tory party".
He says that as mortgages go through the roof, the PM is "planning to wave through honours and peerages for those who caused misery for millions".
What does it say about this government that the Tory party is rewarding those guilty of economic vandalism, he asks.
In reply, Sunak runs through government support he mentioned earlier.
He says home repossessions are "below when we entered the pandemic" - and "three times lower than last Labour government".
Starmer says 7.5m people are going to be in the same boat as the police officer he mentioned earlier - who is paying £400 a month more.
Repossessions are already up 50%, he says - what's the PM going to do to make sure more families don't lose their homes?
Image source, PA MediaThe prime minister says Labour would take the country down a road of "never-ending debt and borrowing" that would drive interest rates up further.
He says the government is offering "responsible economic leadership".
While his government is consumed in law-breaking, chaos and division, working people are paying the price, Starmer puts to Sunak.
He speaks about a police officer in Selby, and says the Tory mortgage penalty is going to cost him £400 more each month.
Starmer says: He told me this morning they have decided to sell their house and downsize, and his children will have to start sharing bedrooms. Why should they pay the cost of the PM's failure?
Sunak says interest rates are also rising in the United States and Europe.
He says Labour would borrow more and this would "make the situation worse".
He also says that giving wage rises demanded by unions would be a "dangerous, inflationary" policy.
The Labour leader says interest rate rises are a 'Tory mortgage penalty'
Starmer claims that the extra cost is £2,900, that's the cost of the mortgage penalty to the average family. Sunak was warned by experts in autumn but he didn't do anything, he says.
He says when he raised this issue a couple of months ago he said he was delivering for homeowners
In reply, Sunak accuses the Labour leader of ignoring wider global pressures on inflation.
He says the government is helping through cost of living payments and existing mortgages relief schemes.
Image source, House of CommonsStarmer puts it to the PM that he knows very well the cause of the mortgage catastrophe - 13 years of economic failure and a Tory kamikaze budget.
How much will the Tory mortgage penalty cost the average home owner?
In reply, Sunak also pays tribute for Glenda Jackson.
He says it is right to "support" those with mortgages but the best way to do this is to lower inflation.
He says this approach has been endorsed by the International Monetary Fund.
Keir Starmer starts by joining the PM in paying tribute to the Windrush generation, as well as noting Glenda Jackson's passing.
The Labour leader then asks the PM about whether he agrees that Britain is facing a mortgage catastrophe.
The Labour leader says Jackson passing leaves a space in our cultural and political life
Image source, UK ParliamentPrime Minister Rishi Sunak is on his feet in the chamber, as today's Prime Minister's Questions gets under way.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest exchanges from the Commons.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in the chamber for today's Prime Minister's Questions, 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.
We'll bring you live updates and you can also watch the action by clicking the Play button at the top of this page.
Image source, PA MediaThe stubbornly high rate of inflation has led to widespread expectations the Bank of England will raise its main interest rate at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
That means higher monthly payments for people on tracker mortgages or coming off fixed-term mortgages, or looking to secure a loan for a new home.
It has sparked calls from some politicians for the government to step in and help people with their rising repayments.
Some of the ideas being thrown around include reviving tax relief for mortgage interest payments - which was scrapped in 2000.
But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled out bringing that back, saying it would make inflation worse. He's meeting lenders on Friday to see "what else can be done to relieve pressure".
Last Wednesday was the eve of the publication of the Commons Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson, which found the former prime minister had deliberately misled Parliament over Partygate.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer chose to focus much of his attack on Rishi Sunak on claimed he was "too weak" to block Johnson's honours list.
The issue may come up again after MPs overwhelmingly backed the committee report in a vote on Monday night.
Some 225 Conservative MPs were absent from the vote, including Rishi Sunak.
The prime minister's spokesman said Sunak "respects" the result - but he's yet to say if he agrees with the committee's findings, with his spokesman saying the PM considers the matter closed.
Image source, ReutersThe prime minister has been busy this morning, appearing with politicians and business leaders from across the world at a conference in London to discuss ways of rebuilding Ukraine.
It came as he announced $3bn (£2.35bn) in bank loan guarantees to bolster the rebuilding of Kyiv, in partnership with the World Bank.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the conference by video link, where he urged Western leaders to help rebuild his country and hailed the reconstruction project as a crucial part of its fight for freedom.
Image source, EPAToday's PMQs comes hours after new figures confirmed inflation remains stuck at 8.7% in the year to May, the same rate it was in April.
There had been expectations inflation might drop, but rising prices for flights and second-hand cars contributed to the unexpected figure.
The rate at which prices for groceries have risen compared to the year before was 18.3% in May - down slightly from April's 19% figure, but still putting pressures on household budgets.
It's a big political problem for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - who made halving inflation to 5% by the end of the year one of his five main goals for 2022.
Image source, ReutersOn a day when we found out the UK inflation rate remains stuck at 8.7% - despite expectations of a fall – opposition parties are expected to focus on the state of the economy and cost-of-living issues at PMQs.
Another rise in interest rates is widely forecast tomorrow, with some analysts predicting the Bank of England may raise them by as much as 0.5%.
Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry has called for the government to do something to help households struggling with rising mortgage costs – but Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has appeared to rule that out.
Labour’s shadow Treasury chief secretary Pat McFadden says the government "can't be the solution" to persistent inflation "because they have been part of the problem for far too long”.
It's also worth watching out for questions on why Rishi Sunak didn't turn up in the Commons to vote on the report into Boris Johnson misleading Parliament over Partygate, which MPs overwhelmingly backed on Monday evening.