A lot was covered in this week's round of PMQs. Here are the key lines:

• Rishi Sunak opened the session by declaring his plan for the economy was "working" after inflation fell to its lowest level in almost two and a half years

• Starmer pushed back, criticising the Tory record on prisons, the NHS and pensions, asking: "Why is the prime minister so scared to call an election?"
• Later, he called the PM's Rwanda deportation plan a "gimmick" - the PM then accused Sunak of saying Labour "don't care" about "fixing" illegal migration
• SNP Commons leader Stephen Flynn came next, telling the chamber that fiscal rules would be identical under Labour or the Tories - giving the public the right to be "angry with Westminster"
• Sunak retorted that while NHS spending in England is going up, in Scotland it's going down.
• And from the backbenches, we heard questions on a number of topics - including the Israel-Gaza war, the shortage of hospital beds and Tory donor Frank Hester
• Coming up: Tory MPs will have a chance to raise their concerns with Sunak when he addresses the influential 1922 committee at 17:00 GMT

People crossing in small boats were down by more than a thirdpublished at 13:16 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March

13:16 GMT 20 March

A short while ago during PMQs Rishi Sunak told MPs: “Since I became Prime Minister, the number of small boat crossings are actually down by over a third.”

The Home Office publishes daily figures, external for the number of people detected crossing the English Channel in small boats.

In the 512 days since he took office, the number of people detected crossing is down 36% compared with the previous 512 days.

But so far in 2024, the number of people crossing is up 9% compared with the same period last year.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Sir Keir Starmer went for a pot pourri of questions today: taking in the NHS, mortgages, Rwanda and a desire for an election.

Rishi Sunak - enduring yet more bumps from some of his backbenchers - is clinging to two things he wants to own as good news: the fall in inflation, and the hope that pretty soon some asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda.

Sunak has an important appointment with his backbenchers later: the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs. Can he do enough to persuade his colleagues they’re better off sticking with him until the election?

Meanwhile up stepped Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster.

He often tries to pull off the knack of asking a question of the prime minister- that is the gig after all - while really asking a question of Labour, the principal rivals of the SNP at the general election.

The final question comes from Tahir Ali, Labour MP for Birmingham, Hall Green.

He asks if the prime minister will use "the small amount of time" he has left in government to join the 138 UN member states in recognising the state of Palestine.

Sunak says he will do so "when it makes most beneficial sense for the overall peace process".

He adds the government remains "committed" to the two-state solution and calls for an immediate, sustained, humanitarian pause in Gaza.

Labour's Andy Slaughter asks what Sunak is doing to reflect government legal advice on the Gaza war in the UK's arms sales and how it votes at the UN Security Council.

The prime minister replies that there have been "too many" civilian casualties, and the UK wants to see Israel "take greater care to limit its operations to military targets".

He says these points have been "repeatedly made" to Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

PMQs has now finished but we'll continue to bring you some of the highlights from the discussion.

Labour's Ashley Dalton asks about further alleged comments by Conservative donor Frank Hester.

She's referring to a story in the Guardian alleging Hestor said that there was "no room for the Indians, then?" and suggested staff climb on a train roof.

Dalton asks if the prime minister agrees those comments were racist.

Sunak says he addressed that last week.

Sir Liam Fox, the Conservative MP for North Somerset says that despite the unanimous passing of the Down Syndrome Act, there is what he calls an "outstanding issue", which is the 40-week term limit on abortion for Down Syndrome pregnancies compared to the 24-week limit for other pregnancies.

He says that "with cross-party support" he will be tabling an amendment to the criminal justice bill to equalise the time limit, saying it cannot be accepted that people with Down Syndrome are considered as second-class citizens.

Sunak says that when abortion laws were amended, Parliament agreed doctors were best placed to make those difficult decisions and it would be for Parliament for decide whether there should be any change to the abortion law.

Sir Mark Hendrick, Labour MP for Preston, says Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and warns against its ground offensive in Rafah, a city in the south of the Strip, where many have sought shelter from the fighting.

He asks the PM if he agrees with Josep Borrell and Joe Biden that a ceasefire is needed.

Sunak says he's explained the government's position and says the findings of an IPC report, external are "gravely concerning", adding: "We need urgent action now to avoid a famine."

He says the government "will continue to do everything we can to alleviate the suffering".

Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh is asking about the "spiralling costs of using ex-military bases to house migrants".

As we've reported this morning, the National Audit Office says alternative plans to house asylum seekers will end up costing millions more than the hotel rooms they will be moved from.

It says the expected bill for four new sites will be £1.2bn over the next decade - £46m more than the estimated cost of hotels.

Sir Edward is asking for a meeting with the immigration minister and the local council, to discuss releasing most of the RAF Scampton military base for regeneration.

Sunak says the plan is working to cut use of asylum hotels, adding the government will have closed 100 hotels by next week.

He says he "fully supports discussions" about how best to accommodate a smaller number of asylum seekers safely at RAF Scampton.

The government wants the base used for the "shortest possible time", Sunak adds.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran tells the story of a constituent who slept in a hospital waiting room overnight whilst waiting for an operation. He was then told the next day it couldn't take place because "there just aren't any beds".

She says the wife of the patient told her the government was "running the NHS into the ground" - and says the public will be inclined to agree.

In reply, Sunak says the NHS is "recovering from a difficult two years" but the service is receiving "record investment".

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP MP for Lagan Valley, says yesterday the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time used its new veto powers to prevent the application of new EU laws that would harm their ability to trade with the rest of the UK.

He asks whether the PM will continue to faithfully implement the measures outlined in the command paper, which are "safeguarding the Union, including fully restoring our place in the UK" and end "unnecessary checks"?

Sunak says it has been an encouraging few weeks and that the UK will implement its commitments "at pace” including further regulations on internal trade and the establishment of Intertrade UK.

"Northern Ireland's place is stronger in the Union," Sunak says.

Flynn then says there is a "serious point to be made" and mentions the Institute for Fiscal Studies' comment that there is a conspiracy between Labour and the Conservatives "when it comes to £18bn of public sector cuts".

And says that fiscal rules would be identical under Labour or the Tories.

"With such continuity on offer Mr Speaker, the public have the right to be angry with Westminster don't they?" Flynn says.

Sunak says he's surprised to hear him quoting the IFS, which he says described the SNP budget as "misleading".

He adds that while NHS spending in England is going up, in Scotland it's going down.

SNP Commons leader Stephen Flynn is up next.

He asks that with the PM's "backbenchers looking for a unity candidate to replace him", which of Labour's "numerous born-again Thatcherites" does he believe best fits the bill?

Sunak says it was surprising to hear talk of 70s from the shadow chancellor, and hits out at the record of the Labour-run council in Birmingham.

On Tuesday, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves drew parallels between the situation the country faced in the late 1970s when former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher was first elected, and now. Although she said she disagreed with much of what the so-called Iron Lady did.

But fellow Labour frontbencher David Lammy appeared to go further in an interview with Politico, saying that even if people did not agree with Thatcher, there's no doubt she was a "visionary leader".

Image source, UK Parliament

Labour starting to acknowledge that Rwanda plan might be about to happenpublished at 12:17 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March

12:17 GMT 20 March

Chris Mason
Political editor

As Keir Starmer asks Rishi Sunak about the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, I note the Labour leader is now assuming flights will soon leave and hundreds of people will be sent there.

Labour is moulding its argument a little: they still oppose the scheme, they still think it is a waste of money.

But they are shifting to an acknowledgement that a plan that has taken around two years to bring to some sort of fruition might be about to happen, even if at limited scale.

Sunak replies that Starmer "talks about his ideas but we are two weeks on from the budget... and we still don't know how they are going to pay for their £28bn black hole".

The prime minister adds that today’s news shows his plan is working - inflation is down, energy bills are down and taxes have been cut by £900.

For his final question, the Labour leader again draws together several issues to illustrate what he calls the "cost of Tory chaos".

He says the prime minister lacks the "courage to stand up to his party," and claims "half his cabinet" are vying to replace him as leader.

Adding that Sunak has "no answers, no plan, no clue," he says Sunak should tell his ministers to end the "endless games and gimmicks" and "pack up and go home".

Image source, HoC

Sunak responds to the question on the justice system by claiming violent crime has fallen by 50%.

His government has recruited more police officers, he says.

Sunak then questions Starmer's record on the issue, accusing him of voting against greater protection for emergency service workers.

It would be "back to square one with Labour," he says, describing the party as "soft on crime and soft on criminals".

Starmer says it is "genuinely sad to see him reduced to this nonsense" after Sunak's attack about his previous record defending asylum seekers.

He then says that the Tory-induced chaos has left only two choices.

"What is it going to be? Fewer criminals behind bars in the first place or more released early on our streets? Which is it?" Starmer asks.

Starmer replies that he has prosecuted more people smugglers "than he's had helicopter rides".

The cost of each person sent to Rwanda under the government's scheme works out at £2m, he adds, quipping: "that's some plane ticket".

He calls it the "cost of Tory chaos".

Sunak replies that Starmer's "values are not those of the British people" claiming the opposition leader campaigned to stop the deportation of “foreign dangerous criminals”.

Sunak claims a dangerous criminal was jailed for dealing Class A drugs after Starmer "fought to keep him here".

"Whether it's representing terrorists or defending criminals it's clear whose side he is on and it's not the British people."

Rishi Sunak is back up on his feet and responding to Starmer's question about the Rwanda plan

"Not only does the Labour party not have a plan to fix this issue, they don't actually care about fixing this issue," he says.

The government's new laws have resulted in 900 new criminals arrested and 450 convictions, according to Sunak.

"If it was up to him, those criminals would still be out on our streets."