Rishi Sunak has been quizzed by Labour leader Keir Starmer and other MPs during Prime Minister's Questions, on his first anniversary as Tory leader and PM
The Labour leader attacks the government for delaying a ban on "no-fault" evictions in England, which would stop landlords evicting tenants without reason
But Sunak says he's taken "significant action to help renters", adding that the government is focused on making sure people can buy their own home
Starmer raises the case of one family whose mortgage went up by a quarter - Sunak replies that rising interest rates, which affect mortgages, are a "global challenge"
On the situation in Gaza, Sunak says there is a need for "specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire" to get people out and get aid into the territory
Elsewhere, Starmer welcomes two new Labour MPs, following last week's by-elections in which the Conservatives lost two seats
Starmer raises the case of one family whose mortgage went up by a quarter.
He says they are having to choose between buying new shoes for her son or putting heating on "all because his party crashed the economy".
He accuses the PM of telling people "exactly where to go".
Sunak says his government has "taken significant action to help renters", pointing out a list of policies, including "strengthening local authority enforcement powers".
He adds that his government is delivering for renters, and is focussed on "ensuring new generations can buy their own home".
Image source, HoCNext, Starmer asks about the government delaying its plan to scrap no fault evictions in England.
What message does that send? Starmer asks.
Sunak does not answer the question again.
He instead points at the record of what the government is doing to assist struggling families and says he made “record increases in the national living wage”, and provided significant financial assistance to struggling families for coping with cost of living.
He says all of that support would be put at risk by Labour's “reckless plans” to borrow £28bn.
Keir Starmer says the prime minister couldn't distance himself from the "appalling comments" of the Conservative candidate in Mid Bedfordshire.
Where did he get the idea that throwing expletives at struggling families was his government's official position? he asks.
Rishi Sunak responds by saying that he is proud of what his government "is doing to support the most vulnerable".
He also jokes that the new MP will offer him more support "than the last one", a reference to former MP Nadine Dorries - comments that are greeted by widespread laughter within the chamber.
He ends by attacking Sir Keir Starmer's "track record on U-turns".
Image source, HOCLabour leader Sir Keir Starmer begins by extending his sympathies to those affected by Storm Babet and then welcomes the new Labour MP for Mid Bedfordshire.
"He defied the odds, history and of the course the fantasy of Lib Dem bar charts," Starmer says.
"Can I also welcome the new member for Tamworth. She will be a powerful representative for her constituents."
He then asks if the PM is happy that a Tory candidate who swore about the cost-of-living crisis during campaigning is gone.
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Since MPs returned from party conference season last week, the crisis in the Middle East means that some of the usual politics has been suspended.
Last week’s PMQs saw an unusual show of unity between the two frontbenches.
It will be interesting to see if Sir Keir Starmer decides to move onto other topics. Some around him want him to throw his focus onto the cost of living in the run up to next month’s Autumn Statement.
And on the Conservative benches, there is definitely a pronounced sense of gloom after last week’s pair of crushing by-election defeats. Rishi Sunak needs to find a way to buoy them up and demonstrate that he has a plan to turn things around.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is on his feet at the despatch box as this week’s PMQs begins.
He will take questions from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer before hearing from other MPs.
Stay with us for the best lines, and you can watch along by tapping play at the top of the page.
Image source, ReutersLabour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing pressure from within his own party, over his response to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He has been criticised after seeming to say that Israel had the right to cut off water and energy to Gaza, comments that led to more than a dozen Labour councillors quitting.
More than 150 Muslim Labour councillors have also written to Starmer urging him to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilians and allow access to humanitarian aid.
He has also faced criticism from an Islamic centre in Wales that accused him of “gravely misrepresenting” a meeting with Muslim leaders there over the weekend.
We could expect some Tory MPs - as well as those from the Scottish National Party - to highlight these tensions in today's session.
Image source, UK ParliamentRishi Sunak’s tenure as prime minister began on 25 October 2022, when he won the Tory leadership contest to replace Liz Truss.
It’s been a fairly tumultuous year. At home, Sunak has had to content with the cost of living crisis, a long winter of strikes in a range of sectors, and a party that fared poorly in May’s local elections and in more recent by-elections.
He has also had to deal with party in-fighting while his party is behind Labour in opinion polls ahead of an expected general election next year.
On the international front, Sunak has had to contend with the war in Ukraine and now the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Today we can expect Labour to mark Sunak’s first year in office with a recap of some of the trickier moments the PM has faced over the last year.
Image source, PA MediaTamworth's new Labour MP Sarah Edwards
Last week’s Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections yielded dismal results for the Conservative Party, which lost both seats on a night polling expert Sir John Curtice described as “one of the worst by-election nights that any government has had to endure”.
Labour took two rock-solid seats from the Conservatives.
In Tamworth, the 23.9% swing from Conservative to Labour was the second highest in post-war by-election history. And Mid Bedfordshire - where the swing was a little lower at 20.5% - was a seat that the Tories had held for more than 90 years.
Rishi Sunak, who when the results were announced was in the Middle East, said the outcome was "obviously disappointing". He also stressed that mid-term by-elections were "always difficult for incumbent governments" and that there had been "local factors at play".
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the results were “a gamechanger” which shows his party can win anywhere - but he promised he wouldn’t get carried away.
Last week’s PMQs were the first since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
It was a quieter-than-usual session, with the customary point-scoring replaced by agreement between Sunak and Starmer on how to respond to the crisis, and a broadly more sombre tone than we would normally expect.
Both leaders emphasised the need for the Commons to speak with one voice on the conflict, and to condemn the hate and division directed against Jews and Muslims in the UK.
They also said that Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, and of the importance of its response needing to stay within international law.
We've just spotted the prime minister leaving No 10 to make the short journey down the road to Parliament.
PM Rishi Sunak and opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer are facing off at PMQs today for the first time since last week’s Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections, both of which were won by Labour.
What's likely to come up at Prime Minister's Questions today?
We can probably expect the opposition to remind their Conservative counterparts of this, although the crisis in Gaza and Israel is also likely to be discussed at length - Sunak visited Israel last week.
We'll bring you all the highlights and analysis from the House of Commons right here - and you can watch along by clicking play at the top of the page.