Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Rishi Sunak will be relieved to have that session with the Liaison Committee over.

There was a slight end-of-term feel to the questioning with both the MPs and the prime minister occasionally appearing irritated.

Those flashpoints came during questioning about the war in Gaza and his policy to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

But there was little in Rishi Sunak’s answers that we haven’t heard before. He could not say whether any airline had agreed to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda. He also wouldn’t disclose the final cost of the Rwanda scheme. And he wouldn’t set a date for when his pledge to “stop the boats” would be met.

None of that, however, will have done much to change opinions including among his own MPs - whether in favour or against the policy.

So Rishi Sunak can tick this afternoon off as another hurdle overcome ahead of the Christmas break and before the Rwanda bill returns in January.

How's the PM’s NHS waiting list pledge going?published at 15:57 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2023

15:57 GMT 19 December 2023

When asked about his pledge to bring down NHS waiting lists, Rishi Sunak told MPs: "We have successfully eliminated the number of people waiting two years, and one-and-a-half years virtually, which is good progress.”

It is correct to say the government has made advances on the very longest waits in England. The number of people waiting two years or more for treatment is now counted in the hundreds rather than the thousands.

But more than 10,500 people were waiting 18 months or longer in October this year, a figure which has been rising.

And the overall number of people on an NHS waiting list in England stands at 7.71 million, almost half a million higher than it was at the start of the year.

Read more on Sunak's his five pledges - and whether he's met them - here.

• Rwanda: Sunak was challenged over his promise to "stop the boats" - which is one of his five priorities. Sunak said the government was making progress, but could not give a date when "stopping the boats" would happen. He also refused to give a total cost of the Rwanda scheme - saying that will be published in figures released on a yearly basis
• Israel-Gaza: Sunak was asked to go further and echo US President Joe Biden and condemn Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza. Sunak refused - he said "too many civilians are dying" but "that’s different from saying humanitarian law has been broken". He also criticised the questioning as "extraordinary"
• UK's biggest challenge: Sunak was asked what he thinks is the greatest strategic challenge facing the UK, and said it's the "increasingly complex and hostile international environment"
• Foreign aid: Sunak said he did not regret cutting the foreign aid budget while he was chancellor, saying it's the right thing to do for the UK
• Wealth inequality: There was also a lively exchange about wealth inequality, when Sunak was asked whether he lies awake at night thinking about it. He said he wants it reduced - but cited statistics which suggest child poverty had fallen

Sean Seddon
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

That wasn't exactly an end-of-term wind down for the prime minister. Sunak faced 90 minutes of detailed questioning from a committee of big-hitters who didn't seem minded to rush through it and shoot off for Christmas.

Perhaps the most heated exchange was with Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

She repeatedly asked Sunak to go further and condemn Israel's conduct in Gaza but he stuck to the government's position, and accused her of "genuinely extraordinary" questioning for not apportioning more blame to Hamas.

He also received something of a telling off from Dame Meg Hillier - who is tasked with keeping an eye on the government's finances - for not disclosing the total cost of the Rwanda policy in the coming years. The PM said the government is following the rules, and releasing details on an annual basis.

Sunak's stint as Chancellor also came under the microscope - with decisions he made in the Treasury on things like tax and foreign aid budgets coming under renewed scrutiny in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and renewed instability overseas.

But the PM got plenty of chances to put forward his case on how the government is trying to cut carbon emissions, NHS waiting lists and illegal migration.

By the time Sunak faces questions again in the Commons, Christmas will feel like a distant memory - but don't expect any of the issues discussed today to have gone away.

Has child poverty fallen or risen?published at 14:58 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2023

14:58 GMT 19 December 2023

During a testy exchange between the prime minister and the Labour MP Liam Byrne, both men offered competing claims on what has happened to child poverty.

Rishi Sunak said there had been a fall of hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty, Byrne said it had risen by 300,000.

Their claims are each supported by different official statistics.

Sunak is talking about “absolute” poverty – the number of people who can’t afford a set living standard (defined as 40% below the average living standard of 2011).That number has fallen by 400,000 since 2010.

It looks like Byrne is talking about “relative” poverty (the number of people whose income is at least 40% below today’s average living standard). That figure has risen by 300,000.

But there’s a caveat for this second statistic: the rate of relative poverty hasn’t changed since 2010.

The reason the total number has gone up, even though the proportion of children in this kind of poverty hasn’t, is that the population of the UK has risen.

Health Committee Chair Steve Brine – a former health minister – asks what the government is doing to end the junior doctor strike starting tomorrow.

Sunak says the government has “demonstrated its considerable reasonableness” given all other public sector workers have accepted their pay negotiations this year – often following months of strikes.

The “question is for junior doctors, why are they refusing to accept what everyone else has accepted”, Sunak asks.

Brine asks if there will be a new plan for NHS dentistry – amid reports it is at the most perilous position in its 75-year history in England.

Sunak says a new plan will be published “in the new year”.

Ian Stewart, the chair of the Transport Committee, turns to HS2. He says Sunak scrapped the second phase of HS2 in October in favour of a bundle of other projects.

Stewart says these projects don't deal with the strategic capacity issues on the network, like the West Coast mainline, the "busiest rail line in Europe".

He asks what the government is doing to address long term capacity issues.

The PM says the government is completing phase one of HS2, which provides capacity along the route. He says it means there will be space for a quarter of a million passengers.

It can handle triple the amount of demand that's currently travelling on the West Coast mainline, Sunak adds.

Earlier, the prime minister was grilled by Conservative MP Alicia Kearns on who's to blame for civilian deaths in Gaza.

Sunak had said “too many civilians are dying in Gaza” – but Kearns asked him to go further and condemn Israel’s bombings there as “indiscriminate”, as US President Joe Biden had done.

Kearns asked who he thinks has the responsibility for too many civilians dying - and Sunak said the question was extraordinary.

If Hamas is "deliberately embedding itself inside civilian populations, they have to accept responsibility", he said.

He added that Israel "should take every precaution to avoid harming civilians", but said it's "very difficult" when Hamas puts civilians in "harm's way".

Watch some of the exchange below.

The committee has wrapped up its questions for the prime minister. We're just catching up on the last few exchanges and will bring them to you shortly.

The committee chair Bernard Jenkin ends by wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. MPs might be feeling in the festive spirit - their Christmas break is due to begin shortly, as the House of Commons goes on recess today.

Dame Caroline Dinenage - who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport Committee - is pressing Sunak on whether the government is doing enough to support the tourism industry after Brexit.

First she asks about whether he would consider introducing tax-free shopping for overseas visitors - citing claims it could contribute £12bn to the economy - but the PM won’t be drawn on tax policy.

Sunak says the government has invested more in tourism to take advantage of big events like the Coronation and Eurovision, recognising the positive impact it has on the economy. But Dinenage says Brexit has made it harder for many people to visit and the UK is now a less competitive destination.

The PM disagrees and insists the UK still has a flexible visa regime which is easy to use for visitors. Dinenage says the hospitality industry would beg to differ and says there has been a knock-on effect for cultural institutions.

Are small boat crossings down by a third?published at 14:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2023

14:34 GMT 19 December 2023

In an earlier exchange, Sunak clashed with Dame Diana Johnson MP, the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, who asked: “When will you stop the boats?”

The PM replied: “The numbers this year are down by a third which is considerable progress.”

But Dame Diana said the crossings this year are still the second highest on record.

Both are right.

The number of people arriving by small boats across the Channel has fallen 35% since last year.

As of 16 December, 29,437 people had been detected making the crossing in 2023, compared with 45,276 at the same point in 2022.

However, the number of people crossing this year is the second highest ever:

• So far in 2023, (up to December 16), 29,437 people made the crossing
• In 2022, a total of 45,755 people crossed
• In 2021, 28,526 people crossed
• In 2020, 8,466 people crossed
• In 2019, 1,843 people crossed

Sir Robert Goodwill, Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, asks now about cost of living pressures and food prices.

He says when crude oil prices fall, then the prices of petrol and diesel also come down, but this is not the same case with food, where farmgate prices of commodities like milk have been falling but we haven't seen reductions on supermarket shelves.

He says the committee has also heard that increasing food prices are not reflected in prices paid to farmers. Goodwill asks what steps the government is taking to ensure greater fairness in the food supply chain.

Sunak says farmers should be paid a fair price for their produce, which is why the government established the groceries code adjudicator, who enforces a code of practice with the big retailers to ensure fairness in the supply chain.

The government has removed the 25% tariff on maize imports to help with animal feed costs, he adds.

Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Caroline Nokes MP, asks if the entire UK economy would collapse “without the unpaid labour of women”, pointing out that 350 million hours of unpaid care are done every single year - 59% of which is done by women.

Sunak says “unpaid carers do an extraordinary job”.

Nokes switches tack and asks how the government plans to “help women over 50 back into work” are going.

Sunak says he doesn’t know precisely but he supports the idea of getting people “back into the labour market”.

The Department for Work and Pensions have been given £2.5bn to spend on a “range of initiatives to get people back into work”, he says.

Sir Stephen Timms is now quizzing the PM on the issue of food poverty. The Work and Pensions Committee chair asks about a Trussell Trust report, external which found from April to September this year, the number of emergency food parcels delivered by food banks was 16% higher than the same period during the previous year. He asks if Sunak still believes food bank usage in the UK will be falling by the time of the next election.

The PM pays tribute to those who help run food banks but says he would prefer it if people didn't have to use them. He says inflation has impacted food prices, which makes it more challenging to reduce the number of people needing to access food banks, but insists the government is committed to lifting people out of poverty in the long term.

Timms says housing costs have been a major reason why some people can’t afford food. Sunak points out the government has increased benefits in line with the rate of inflation, and is providing other cost of living support.

Liam Byrne, Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, says this Christmas, sales of luxury cars, super yachts and private jets will be at an all time high - yet food banks in his constituency are now running out of food and homelessness is at record levels.

He asks the PM if he ever lies awake at night worrying about the level of economic inequality in this country.

Sunak says he wants to make sure the government reduces economic inequality.

He says income inequality is lower today than it was in 2010 and there are 1.7m fewer people living in absolute poverty.

Byrne says wealth inequality is up, there are now 300,000 more children living in poverty and the top 1% in the country have multiplied their wealth by 31 times more than the wealth of everybody else.

Byrne says it doesn't sound like an economy that's working for everybody.

Sunak says the tax system is more progressive today than it was in 2010 so the most wealthy are bearing a bigger burden and the government is reducing inequality.

Angus Brendan MacNeil raises research from the Resolution Foundation, external, which he says found UK families have an £8,300 living standards gap, when compared with similar countries, including France and Germany.

That’s a “damming indictment of where you’ve taken the economy, isn’t it” Mr MacNeil suggests to the PM.

Rishi Sunak says that the UK isn’t alone in facing economic shocks from the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine war. But he says the UK has had the “fastest recovery from the pandemic of any major European nation because of my track record”.

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Rishi Sunak was forced to deny he was “tetchy” last week. The accusation, particularly when he is under pressure or being questioned, was made in an interview with the Spectator magazine.

And there are signs of frustration now from the prime minister as he is grilled by these senior MPs.

He said questioning from the foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns on Gaza was “extraordinary”.

In a back and forth with Dame Diana Johnson the pair were frequently talking over each other.

And he is clearly irritated by being repeatedly interrupted by other MPs.

“I am just answering your questions which I think I am allowed to do,” he said to the independent MP Angus Brendan MacNeil.

Long-standing chair of the European Scrutiny Committee Sir Bill Cash uses his question to make a pitch for Sunak to abandon his flagship Rwanda bill and start again, with a slightly tougher approach.

This would provide a "great Brexit dividend" to the country while the rest of Europe struggles with a migration crisis, he says.

This approach sounds a lot like the advice from the European Research Group's star chamber of lawyers, which Sir Bill chaired.

Sunak is being grilled over one of his five pledges as prime minister - to "stop the boats".

Watch the 45-second exchange below:

Angus Brendan MacNeil MP - who chairs the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee - points to some green policies which the government, he says, has watered down in recent months.

He asks the PM if he is serious about global warming, or whether he is more interested in treating it as an issue which can be used for political positioning ahead of the next election.

Sunak says he is proud of the UK’s progress on cutting carbon emissions, saying it ranks favourably against other countries with similar size economies.

He says the UK is committed to cutting emissions by 68% by 2035 - which he says is more ambitious than the EU and Australia.