Dowden replies that MPs have not heard "a single word on whether she would actually back our plans to invest in our Armed Forces".

He accuses the deputy leader of attacking other’s failures and not taking responsibility for her own.

She once said you shouldn’t wait for the police to bang on your door, Dowden says of Rayner - if you did it then you shouldn’t be doing your job.

"The right honourable landlady should forget her tax advice and follow her own advice," he jibes.

Rayner says everyone wants to see defence spending go up to 2.5% of national income - but says the difference is that Labour hasn't "cut the Army to the smallest size since Napoleon".

She asks if Oliver Dowden has realised that when "he stabbed Boris Johnson in the back" he was ditching "their biggest election winner for a pint-sized loser".

Dowden doesn't acknowledge the Liz Truss aspect of Rayner's question and instead says Rishi Sunak has restored stability to the economy - saying inflation has been halved.

"In an increasingly dangerous world," Dowden adds, "the prime minister has announced the biggest strengthening of defence spending in a generation."

Rayner claims it's revealing that Dowden does not consider housing a "major issue".

She adds that people in glass houses should not throw stones because councils across the country - including Tory ones - are facing black holes in their funding as a result of the government's austerity policies.

And if former PM Liz Truss wont apologise for her mini-budget, Rayner adds, will he?

Dowden replies he is “surprised” after Rayner raises the West Midlands, when Labour-controlled Birmingham has “hiked up council tax by 20%” and "virtually bankrupted the council".

He says Andy Street - "our brilliant mayor" - has delivered £6.1bn of investment and that is the contrast between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

He says the public should vote Conservative for "more bins" and "lower council tax".

"It’s only the Conservative mayors who deliver more for less," he says.

Rayner makes a jibe about "3am calls from the bad men" - presumably a reference to MP Mark Menzies.

She then says the Tories' ban of leaseholds won't apply to the majority of people.

She jokes that that is like "banning non-doms but exempting Tory prime ministers".

She asks when the British people will get the chance to vote for a government which will build homes.

Dowden takes on Rayner's question about a ban on leaseholds not applying to flats.

He says legislation has been introduced by the government and claims they have "delivered more affordable homes" in the last year than Labour did when it was in power more than a decade ago.

"All of this can only be paid for by making sure we have a strong economy," Dowden answers.

"Her policy to repeal every single Conservative trade union law within the first 100 days and would open the door to wildcat French strikes," he adds.

Returning to today's theme, he quips the one Conservative reform she wouldn't abolish is the right to buy your council house.

Rayner now turns to government plans to end leaseholds.

What's the point, she asks, if it won't apply to flats?

Dowden replies he can name the date - it's today, he says.

He says they are "confident" they will deliver on the commitment to ban no-fault evictions.

Angela Rayner says Oliver Dowden is "obsessing" over her living arrangements.

The deputy leader of Labour adds that Dowden has "caved in to vested interests" on Conservative backbenches.

She then asks him to name a date for banning no-fault evictions.

Dowden replies by acknowledging his fifth PMQs with Rayner - jibing that any more and she will "be claiming it as her principal residence".

This is greeted with laughter from the Tory backbench.

Angela Rayner kicks off her exchanges with Oliver Dowden by also paying tribute to Lord Field, calling him a good friend and a "tireless campaigner against poverty".

She says she knows the Conservatives are "desperate to talk about my living arrangements", but - she says - when will they deliver on banning no fault evictions?

Dowden also wishes the Jewish community a "happy Passover" - but remembers the "empty chairs" of hostages still being held in Gaza, and calls for their "immediate release".

Image source, PA Media

Dowden begins by paying tribute to former Labour minister and crossbench peer Frank Field who has died aged 81.

He calls him an "outstanding parliamentarian" who "worked tirelessly" to make the country a better place.

Lord Field spent 40 years as MP for Birkenhead and was a leading voice on welfare reform for much of his career.

He was a minister under Tony Blair and joined the House of Lords in 2020.

In a statement Lord Field's family said: "He will be mourned by admirers across politics but above all he will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship."

• You can read more here about Lord Field

The Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is on his feet at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Stay tuned while we bring you updates.

Image source, PA Media

Angela Rayner’s tax affairs were raised at last week’s PMQs - and with the deputy Labour leader at the despatch box today, the issue seems likely to come up again.

So what’s the row all about?

It began with claims made in a book by Lord Ashcroft, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman.

Rayner bought a semi-detached council home in 2007, getting a 25% discount under the Right to Buy scheme. She is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.

The former carer was registered as living at that house, on Vicarage Road, Stockport, in Greater Manchester, on the electoral roll until she sold the property in 2015.

But she appears to have given two different addresses when she re-registered the births of two of her children in 2010 following her marriage to Mark Rayner - listing her then-husband's home on Lowndes Lane.

Which home was her main residence, where she should have been electorally registered, and how much tax was due on the house sale, is at the heart of the row.

Greater Manchester Police has launched an investigation. Rayner denies any wrongdoing - but says she will step down if she is found to have broken the law.

Vicky Young
Deputy political editor

All of Westminster expects Oliver Dowden to have a few jibes ready about the questions surrounding Angela Rayner’s council house sale.

She’ll repeat that she’s done nothing wrong and has plenty of material to draw on for a counterattack after Mark Menzies quit the Tory Party accused of using party money to pay off “bad people”.

There may even be some exchanges on policy issues.

Image source, Reuters

Rishi Sunak is currently on the continent visiting European countries.

Yesterday, the prime minister spent some time in Poland where he promised to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030.

This morning he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with talks again focused on defence collaboration.

It is Sunak's first trip to Berlin since becoming prime minister 18 months ago.

We are expecting Sunak and Scholz to hold a press conference at 12:30 BST - around the time PMQs finishes and you will be able to watch that on this page.

Daniel Wainwright
Data journalist

Image source, .

Labour remain, on average, almost 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives.

Reform UK are in third place with average support of about 12% across Great Britain, unchanged since last week.

Our latest averages of the opinion polls come from 10 different companies whose fieldwork ended between Monday 15 April and Monday 22 April 2024.

That means we aren’t yet seeing whether there has been any change following the end of the showdown between the House of Commons and House of Lords over the Rwanda bill.

• You can explore and read more about how we average the polls in our interactive poll tracker.

Local elections in England and Wales are fast approaching.

And the upcoming general election is looming ever larger. Expect such anxieties to be reflected in the Commons from 12:00 BST.

The deputies for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are stepping in just as some in the Conservative Party have Rayner fixed in their sights.

The controversy over her tax affairs - which she has dismissed as a smear - is likely to feature.

The debate about how the UK responds to those seeking asylum remains at the forefront of many MPs’ minds.

Five people died after attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat yesterday, according to French officials.

The news came just hours after the government’s Rwanda bill completed its final scrutiny stages in parliament, with the government says flights carrying asylum seekers to the east African nation are due to begin in the summer.

On defence, the prime minister has committed to increasing UK military spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030.

Whether he will be in power to deliver on it, would Labour be prepared to match it, and what it would mean for wider government spending are all points which may come up.