Summary

  • Labour's Keir Starmer used PMQs to liken the government to "cowboy builders" over the RAAC crisis who seek to shift blame

  • But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government acted "decisively" on the RAAC crisis and called Starmer "Captain Hindsight"

  • It comes after the government published a list of schools in England with risky RAAC concrete

  • According to the list, 19 schools have delayed the start of term, with four using fully-remote learning

  • It was known that 104 schools were still affected by the concrete - around 50 others have been "mitigated"

  • The Department for Education says the list is only up to date to 30 August, so the actual number is likely to be higher

  • The government told schools to take action in late August, after three incidents involving RAAC over the summer

  1. SNP MP attacks Labour and Tories over welfarepublished at 12:53 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    The SNP's Chris Law uses his question to attack both main parties, accusing the Labour leader of being an "enthusiastic supporter" of "cruel" Tory welfare spending policies such as the two-child benefit cap.

    He says this shows the two parties are "two cheeks of the same bottom" - he used a slightly ruder formulation to begin with but downgraded it after an intervention from the Speaker.

    In reply, Sunak says the government's welfare system is "compassionate" and provides support whilst also helping people "into work" where they can.

  2. Sunak quizzed on re-joining European science schemepublished at 12:52 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Labour MP Mary Glindon starts by saying "We've heard a lot about ministerial posteriors and very little about prosperity for the country" before going on to ask: "will the prime minister subscribe to the Horizon programme for the sake of vital British science, innovation and cancer research?"

    Sunak responds: "We are investing record sums in British science.

    "Our priority is to link to Horizon but on terms that are right both to the British tax payer and for British science and research."

    He says he has been in discussions and hopes to conclude them soon.

  3. When will Sunak publish childhood cancer action plan?published at 12:50 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, asks about the upcoming Childhood Cancer Awareness week, noting that in coincides with the two-year anniversary of the death of a 10-year-old in her constituency.

    When will the prime minister publish a childhood cancer action plan?

    Sunak says he can't pre-empt the content of the plan, but that it will draw on previous work.

    "We'll write to her to give a sense of timing," he adds.

    Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, speaking in the Commons
  4. Sunak asked about youth mental healthpublished at 12:48 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    William Wragg, Conservative MP for Hazel Grove, asked whether a pilot of early intervention mental health hubs will progress to a national rollout.

    Rishi Sunak says the Department of Health and Social Care is looking at the role early support hubs might play and he is happy to meet the MP on how to push it through.

  5. Stay with uspublished at 12:46 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    PMQs has finished in the House of Commons, but stay with us as we catch you up on a few more of the backbenchers' questions (and references to backsides...) and bring you analysis and more updates.

  6. Middlesbrough MP asks if free school pupils will spend entire time in temporary buildingspublished at 12:46 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough, asks if the original Year 7 intake at the Allwood Academy Riverside free school in Middlesbrough in 2019 will spend their whole time there in temporary classrooms because a new building has not been built. Can the PM sort this out, he asks.

    Sunak answers by saying: "I'm proud of what the government is doing on Teesside to support education and that's why standards in maths have increased."

    He also says he is happy to ensure McDonald gets a specific answer to his question relating to that school.

  7. PM asked about gun reforms by one of Plymouth's MPspublished at 12:43 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Luke Pollard, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, asks if the the prime minister will stand with grieving families or "bow down" to shooting group lobbyists over gun reforms.

    Rishi Sunak says firearms are subject to stringent laws but they are constantly under review.

    He adds the government is trying to improve information sharing between police and GPs and guidance on police vetting of people applying for gun licences. He says the government is considering responses to a consultation and will respond in due course.

  8. Will PM give date for ban on plastic in wet wipes?published at 12:41 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    A question now from Fleur Anderson, Labour MP for Putney, who asks about plastic in wet wipes.

    She says every year billions of wet wipes get into the ecosystem and "clog up our sewers".

    Anderson points out that the government promised five months ago to ban them.

    Will the PM offer a date for when this will happen "or will this just be another broken promise?" she asks.

    Sunak says a public consultation will be launched later this year.

    Fleur Anderson, the Labour MP for Putney, speaking in the Commons
  9. EU accused of 'double standards' over people traffickers' dinghiespublished at 12:40 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Tory MP Craig Mackinlay accuses the EU of "double standards" over manufacturing rules for the dinghies used by smuggling gangs for migrant crossings.

    He says the safety marking rules that British dinghy makers have to follow to sell into Europe, subject to checks, are not being applied to "supersized" dinghies imported from Turkey into EU member Bulgaria.

    Sunak replies that importing small boats across Europe is a "vital element" of the tactics used by the gangs, and the UK is increasing joint operations with Turkey to counter the trade.

  10. Starmer: Why does everyone blame PM for RAAC closures?published at 12:37 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Media caption,

    Starmer: Why does every one blame PM for RAAC closures?

    Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer traded claims and counter-claims about who is to blame after more than 100 schools were revealed to be affected by potentially unsafe RAAC concrete.

    The Labour leader said "literally everyone" blamed the PM, while Sunak said the Labour leader was jumping on a political bandwagon and should "get his facts straight".

  11. Labour asks PM to explain code of conduct breachpublished at 12:36 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Labour's Rachel Hopkins says the prime minister has said he'll lead a government based on "honesty, accountability and integrity".

    She then asks: Can the PM explain how he was found to have breached the code of conduct, this time for failing to declare his wife's shares in a childcare agency which received a monetary boost from measures in his budget?

    Sunak responds by saying the breach was described as "minor and inadvertent" and he is not the only person across "these despatch boxes" to have had the same thing happen to them.

    Labour's Rachel Hopkins speaking in the Commons
  12. What is the government doing about animal welfare?published at 12:35 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Conservative MP Neil Hudson asks Sunak about animal welfare, saying: "Can the prime minister reassure the house that animal welfare is a key government priority and he will bring forward the key legislation to tackle issues of animal cruelty as soon a s possible?"

    Hudson says these issues are personal to him as a vet.

    Sunak responds by thanking Hudson for his expertise and work in the area and thanks previous governments for actions they have taken have pushing microchipping and the ivory ban, saying the UK is the "highest ranked G7 nation when it comes to animal protections".

  13. Sunak questioned about gap between 2018 ceiling collapse and new RAAC advicepublished at 12:34 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    At PMQs Sir Keir Starmer spoke ot a school roof collapsing in 2018 and asks why the inspections for RAAC concrete took so long.

    Rishi Sunak responds by saying the government will do everything it can to support children and teachers and get them back to "normal school life as quickly as possible".

    Media caption,

    Sunak questioned about delays on RAAC

  14. Solar farms on brownfield sites preferred - Sunakpublished at 12:32 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Greg Smith, Tory MP for Buckingham, asks about solar farm planning applications.

    Rishi Sunak says solar is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation, but we need to protect valuable food producing land.

    He says the planning system explicitly says now brownfield sites are preferred. He adds Defra will soon update the House further.

  15. Tory question raises Labour role in Birmingham council 'bankruptcy'published at 12:32 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    A question now from backbencher Nicola Richards, Conservative MP for West Bromwich East.

    Does the prime minister agree that Labour always runs out of other people's money? she asks, referencing Birmingham City Council which effectively declared bankruptcy yesterday.

    Sunak says she is "exactly right".

    "We can't let them bankrupt Britain," he adds.

  16. Sunak attacks Labour school rebuilding schemepublished at 12:30 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Branwen Jeffreys
    Education Editor

    At PMQs Rishi Sunak hit back at Labour’s flagship Building Schools for the Future programme.

    It was intended to transform the learning environment with areas of deprivation given priority. But concerns grew about costs and quality and whether it was targeting the buildings most in need.

    One reason the schools were expensive is they were commissioned locally, rather than designed to a national template.

    In at least one area, Knowsley, where Education Secretary Gillian Keegan grew up, it left a disastrous legacy.

    All six secondary schools in the borough were demolished and replaced with open plan buildings.

    Chaos followed in some, with behaviour breaking down and teachers leaving due to stress.

    The buildings have since been expensively retrofitted with classrooms.

  17. Sunak says SNP opposes supporting oil and gas in Scotlandpublished at 12:30 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Following up, Stephen Flynn accuses the PM of doing "nothing" to help people with hikes in energy costs, mortgages and food bills.

    He jokes that Gillian Keegan's sweary outburst this week about unnamed people "doing nothing" on the school concrete crisis was in fact referring to the prime minister.

    Replying, Rishi Sunak defends government action in those areas, highlighting subsidies for energy bills and a recent "charter" agreed with banks to help people struggling with mortgage repayments.

    He says the government is also supporting the economy in Scotland in the oil and gas sector, "something that he opposes".

  18. When will PM 'get off his backside' on the economy - SNPpublished at 12:28 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Leader of the SNP Stephen Flynn is up next. He says unemployment figures are higher, mortgage rates are higher, and economic growth is stagnant.

    He asks: When is the PM going to "get off his backside" and do something about it?

    Sunak responds, talking about the amount of times he's sat across the despatch box and heard that somehow the government is "an economic laggard", and goes onto say that what Flynn didn't do is "take the opportunity to correct the record today", now that figures have been published, that the UK has had "the fastest recovery of any economy after Covid."

    Leader of the SNP Stephen Flynn speaking in the Commons
  19. Sunak ends by returning to his five prioritiespublished at 12:27 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Sunak says Starmer has not listened to a single fact he has put forward.

    The prime minister then points out that "of course I can name the schools" because the information has been published.

    The PM moves on from RAAC in schools and mentions Starmer has not mentioned anything that's happened since the last time the pair met in the Commons.

    He says energy bills are falling, inflation is coming down, the number of small boat crossings are down, ending by saying economic growth has gone up.

  20. Starmer says Sunak 'won't lift a finger' to help other people's childrenpublished at 12:25 British Summer Time 6 September 2023

    Sir Keir Starmer mentions six RAAC-affected schools in Essex that were on the Labour 2010 rebuild list scrapped by the Conservative government.

    He says Rishi Sunak is happy to spend billions making sure there is no VAT on private school fees, but he "won't lift a finger" when it comes to other people's children.