We’ve just wrapped up this week’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.

Here are some of the key moments:

• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attacked the Conservatives' record on housing, including the indefinite delay in a ban on "no fault" evictions, and accused the government of crashing the economy. PM Rishi Sunak said he has taken "significant action to help renters", adding that the government is focused on making sure people can buy their own home
• Last week’s by-elections in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth were also a focus for both party leaders. Starmer celebrated Labour's double win, while Sunak joked that the Mid Bedfordshire MP will offer him more support “than the last one”, a reference to former MP Nadine Dorries
• The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black, standing in for Stephen Flynn, focused on the conflict in the Middle East, asking why the government has not called for a humanitarian ceasefire. In response, Sunak reiterated his position that Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas’s attack on 7 October, and said there was a need for "specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire"
• Elsewhere, the PM was also asked about giving his WhatsApp messages to the Covid Inquiry and about the "crisis" within NHS dentistry.

We're going to end our live coverage there, but you can read the latest on Israel and Gaza in our other page here. Thanks for joining us, see you next week.

Is crime down by more than 50%?published at 13:38 British Summer Time 25 October 2023

13:38 BST 25 October 2023

Let's return to one comment Rishi Sunak made in the Commons a little while ago.

The prime minister told MPs: “I'm pleased to say that crime is now down by over 50% since Labour were last in office.”

That is true if you use figures that exclude fraud and computer misuse, which only started being included in the figures in 2017.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, external, there were 4.2 million crimes excluding fraud and computer misuse in the year to June 2023, down from 9.5 million in the year to March 2010.

But fraud and computer misuse is a significant category. The latest figures suggest there are almost as many incidents of fraud and computer misuse as incidents of all other crimes put together.

In the last few minutes, Rishi Sunak’s spokesman has said that a wholesale ceasefire in the Middle East would only benefit Hamas.

"Humanitarian pauses, which are temporary, which are limited in scope, can be an operational tool,” the spokesman said.

In PMQs, the prime minister had said “specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire” are needed.

You can watch his response to the SNP's Mhairi Black on the question of a humanitarian ceasefire here:

Sir Keir Starmer claimed the government "crashed the economy" and raised the case of a woman whose mortgage has gone up by a quarter.

Rishi Sunak replies that rising interest rates are a global challenge.

The prime minister was asked in PMQs today about "no-fault" evictions, which would stop landlords evicting tenants without reason. So what's the latest on this?

Yesterday, the government said a ban on "no-fault" evictions in England would be indefinitely delayed until after the court system is reformed.

Labour accused the government of kicking the much-delayed proposals into the "long grass", arguing legal reforms would "take years" to complete.

Ministers have been promising to end the right of landlords to evict tenants without needing a reason since 2019.

But Housing Secretary Michael Gove said it was "vital" to update the courts first.

• You can read more on this story here

Chris Mason
Political editor

As PMQs wraps up, the Labour leader is off to a meeting with some Muslim Labour MPs - as noises of concern grow within the Labour Party about Keir Starmer’s stance on the horror in the Middle East.

Some want to see Starmer call for a ceasefire - something he has not done.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Keir Starmer had a visual cue of recent success to point to today, pointing to the new Labour MPs for Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth, sitting next to each and just behind the Labour leader.

Rishi Sunak managed to get a laugh on all sides when he suggested the new Labour MP for Mid Bedfordshire might agree with him more often than the previous Conservative MP for the patch - the outspoken Nadine Dorries.

Starmer repeated his calls for a general election, inevitable from an opposition leader riding high in the polls.

And Sunak used an attack line against him we will continue to hear, the suggestion he doesn’t stand for anything and too easily changes his mind.

Mhairi Black, standing in for the SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn today, set out again the SNP’s position on the horror in the Middle East, calling for a ceasefire, something neither the Conservatives nor the Labour front bench are advocating.

Image source, HoC

The final question of the session comes from the Conservative Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Dr Daniel Poulter.

He asks about local flooding, as he pays tribute to the victims of Storm Babet, and pushes Sunak for what longer term support the PM can offer to homes and businesses impacted by flooding.

Sunak replies by acknowledging that flooding is devastating. He confirms additional grants for households, council tax discounts and business rates relief.

Image source, HoC

Labour MP for Bolton South East Yasmin Qureshi reads out a letter from one of her constituents who has family in Gaza.

The letter, she says, reads: “My heart can’t handle this anymore. We are being massacred. Relentlessly bombed. Homes are being destroyed. No water. No food. No electricity."

Qureshi puts it to Sunak: “This is collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza for crimes they did not commit. How many more innocent Palestinians must die before this PM calls for a humanitarian ceasefire?”

Sunak replies saying he welcomes "there is unity across these despatch boxes on Israel's right to defend itself", but "it's also clear we must support the Palestinian people, they are victims of Hamas too" and “we mourn the loss of every innocent life”.

He says the government is working as hard as it can to get as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as quickly as possible.

Conservative MP Peter Aldous asks about the "ongoing national crisis" in NHS dentistry, questioning when a plan on the issue will be published which will ensure that funds are ringfenced to deal with emergencies and to help clear the backlog.

Sunak says the government is investing £3bn into NHS dentistry, and says the dental recovery plan will be released soon, which will include action "to incentivise dentists to deliver even more NHS care".

Image source, HoC

Next Nottingham South Labour MP Lilian Greenwood talks about Rishi Sunak not giving his WhatsApp messages to the Covid inquiry.

She asks if he feels the devices should be handed to experts to retrieve the messages the PM, she says, has been unable to provide or locate.

Sunak replies to say he looks forward to giving evidence at the inquiry later this year and says he and the government have fully cooperated with it by handing over tens of thousands of documents.

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, says there are various issues in his constituency including not enough police officers or GPs, and sewage being dumped on the shoreline.

He asks Sunak when he’s going to call a general election.

Sunak replies that crime is down 50% since Labour was last in power and that the Tory Party met their pledge to deliver 20,000 officers.

He does not reply to the question about a general election.

Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party Colum Eastwood says the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland came about because of a realisation that people could not use violence to achieve revenge or political aims.

"As 1,400 Israelis and almost 6,000 Palestinians lay dying and dead, when will the prime say 'enough is enough', when will he call for a ceasefire?" he asks.

Sunak repeats his previous statement that Israel has the right to defend itself under international law.

He says that from the start of the conflict, the UK government has wanted to ensure aid can go in and hostages and nationals can come out.

"We recognise that means there has to be a safer environment which of course necessitates specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire," he says.

The SNP's Mhairi Black follows up by saying a ceasefire would be about calming the situation in the region, including in the West Bank.

She adds that failure to do so risks "pouring petrol on a fire" in the region.

Sunak responds by saying that Israel suffered "a shockingly brutal attack" and has the right to protect itself.

He adds that the UK is sending aid to the region.

Image source, HoC

Next up is the SNP's Westminster deputy leader Mhairi Black.

She cites a warning from the United Nations that electricity in Gazan hospitals is due to "run out tonight".

She says the UK has a responsibility for UK citizens in those hospitals.

"How much worse must the situation get before he calls for a humanitarian ceasefire?" Black asks.

Sunak replies saying from the start the government wants British nationals to be able to leave Gaza and the most important principle is Israel has the right to defend itself.

Image source, Hoc

Sunak replies that his government is taking the “right long-term” decisions on net-zero, HS2, on a smoke free generation, on education and energy security.

He says Starmer is “too cautious to say anything" and hopes "nobody notices".

"Come the general election, people will," he says.

Starmer says the British people are "rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it" while being abandoned by the government.

He says the Conservative Tamworth candidate's comments summed up how Tories are treating the public

The Labour leader says the British people should be allowed to "return the compliment" and urges the PM to call a general election.

Image source, HoC

Sunak says that Starmer's "prepared lines really aren't working for him anymore", accusing the opposition leader of reading from a script.

The PM reiterates that his government has offered "significant help" for homeowners, and accuses the new MPs elected in last week's by-elections of wanting "to block new homes".

Starmer moves on to accuse Sunak of being "tone deaf".

"He is completely oblivious. Patting himself on the back," he says.

Starmer says the housebuilding targets were scrapped and housebuilding has fallen off a cliff - the Labour leader says Sunak was "pushed around" by backbenchers.

"Can the PM now see that actually the candidate in Tamworth was loyally following the party line?" Starmer asks.

Sunak says rising interest rates are a global challenge and are at their highest rate in America and Europe in 20 to 30 years.

He says his government’s policy to cope with rising interest rates is twice as generous as Labour’s.