As well as sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also made it one of his key pledges to speed up growth.

But figures this morning show the UK economy shrank by more than expected in October. The economy fell 0.3% during the month, after growth of 0.2% in September. No significant pick-up is expected until 2025.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was "inevitable" economic growth would be subdued while "interest rates are doing their job to bring down inflation".

Household spending has been dented by successive rate rises as the Bank of England tries to tackle inflation.

Making matters worse was the fact that retail and tourism in October were hit by severe weather.

Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said growth was "going backwards, leaving working people worse off".

Image source, .

Conservatives are 'multi-factional', MP sayspublished at 11:17 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2023

11:17 GMT 13 December 2023

Chris Mason
Political editor

This was the biggest, most perilous whipping operation - persuasion job - of Rishi Sunak's time in Downing Street.

And, from the government's perspective, it worked.

A text pinged in on my phone from a Conservative MP:

"He lives to fight another day. But a spring election looks more likely as the party is multi-factional now - not just factional."

Who knows about the election, everyone is guessing.

But that observation about the "multi-factional" Conservative Party is an interesting one.

It is what we have seen in the last few days.

• The Rwanda plan would see some asylum seekers sent to the east African country, in an attempt to deter migrants arriving in small boats. So far, no flights have left
• The Supreme Court ruled the plan unlawful last month, prompting the government to form a new treaty with Rwanda and produce new legislation
• The bill passed its first Commons hurdle last night, but there will be further votes in the new year - so Sunak still has a battle ahead
• It's opposed by Labour, which has vowed to scrap it if it wins power
• And Sunak faces pressure from two sides of his own party. Rebels said they supported the bill only on the basis the PM would "tighten" it later
• Meanwhile, centrists have vowed to vote down any amendments that would see the UK breach "the rule of law and its international obligations"

Sunak's position isn't as bad as it could have beenpublished at 11:01 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2023

11:01 GMT 13 December 2023

Chris Mason
Political editor

The prime minister will have allowed himself a smile this morning.

Not because a government winning a vote at this early stage of trying to pass a new law is much of an achievement.

It isn't.

But because victory is the absence of defeat - and these pages, and others, would have looked rather different had he lost.

The Rwanda plan would have been finished and there would have been massive questions everywhere about Rishi Sunak's authority and future.

Instead, the Rwanda policy remains a goer, for now.

And while Rishi Sunak's position in the opinion polls is bleak, his position within the Conservative Party isn't as bad as it could have been.

Image source, .

James FitzGerald
Live reporter

The year's final Commons slugfest between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer could hardly come in a busier week for the PM.

On Monday, we heard Sunak mount a robust defence of his policies as chancellor during the pandemic at the UK Covid inquiry. Notably, he insisted that his Eat Out to Help Out initiative prevented "devastating" job losses.

And yesterday, he stared down a Tory rebellion to ensure his flagship Rwanda bill cleared its first hurdle in the Commons.

The policy, though, still has many hurdles to overcome. Starmer, meanwhile, says his own party would reduce migration to the UK - but without the "psychodrama".

Stay with us for all the news from PMQs and elsewhere in Westminster - and remember, you can press play at the top of the page to watch all the Commons exchanges.