Jennifer McKiernan
Live reporter

We're wrapping up our coverage of this week's PMQs now, which as a reminder is the last one before what's sure to be a dramatic weekend with bumper results from the council, mayoral and police commissioner elections.

We may be closing our live coverage here, but you can get brought up to speed on all the latest political developments by reading our local election explainers, including:

• What this week's local elections mean for national politics
• Local elections 2024: When and where are they, and who can vote?

Thanks for joining our reporting team: Ido Vock, Gabriela Pomeroy, Alex Kleiderman, Johanna Chisholm, Aoife Walsh, Rob Corp and me, Jennifer McKiernan.

Image source, PA Media

It was another frenetic PMQs, with questions ranging from government spending plans to ones on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Not to mention appeals to voters ahead of Thursday's local elections.

• Rishi Sunak began by sending his condolences to the victims of the Hainault attack and praised the bravery of police - sentiments echoed by the Labour leader
• Keir Starmer's questions zeroed in on the PM's spending plans, particularly the pledge to abolish National Insurance
• Starmer calls it an "unfunded £46bn promise" and suggests there would be an impact on pensions but the PM defends it and says Labour would raise taxes
• The SNP's Stephen Flynn pressed Sunak about reports UK troops will be deployed on the ground to the Middle East to help with aid operations
• While Green MP Caroline Lucas referenced a possible Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and urged Sunak to ban UK arms exports
• Sunak defended ambulance waiting times in response to a question on failed targets and said the UK support for Ukraine remained "steadfast" in response to a question from Tory colleague Neil Hudson

No, the first asylum seeker who arrived in Rwanda was not ‘deported’published at 13:40 British Summer Time 1 May

13:40 BST 1 May

Earlier we heard from Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis, who claimed during PMQs that: "We can see the Rwanda deterrent is working and we've now deported our first illegal migrant."

The Tory MP was talking about reports that the first UK failed asylum seeker had arrived in the east African nation earlier this week.

Deportation is a type of return, external that is enforced by the government. This usually happens after a person has been convicted of a crime or when their removal is judged to be in the public interest.

But the unnamed man in the reports arrived in Rwanda through a voluntary government scheme, which offers some failed asylum seekers up to £3,000 to relocate there from the UK.

It is separate from the government's main Rwanda scheme, which aims to forcibly remove some migrants from the UK.

The voluntary scheme is a variation of an existing voluntary returns scheme, where failed asylum seekers receive cash to return to their home country.

Jennifer McKiernan
Politics reporter

We heard the topic of online groups allegedly set up by Tory members of staff come up a few times during PMQs today. Here's what all that was about.

Last week, an Observer investigation, external revealed senior Tories have been active in closed Facebook groups allegedly containing racist posts and encouraging criminal damage.

SNP MP Deirdre Brock and Labour MP Catherine West both raised the issue and called on the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to investigate his members' involvement.

West went on to say that the groups were "full of Islamophobia, antisemitism and the most disgraceful incitement to damaging property" as well as "death threats to the current mayor of London".

They called on the prime minister to close down the groups and investigate the alleged involvement of the Conservative candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, in particular.

Do 80% of asylum seekers in Ireland come from the UK?published at 13:23 British Summer Time 1 May

13:23 BST 1 May

In PMQs, Democratic Unionist Party MP Carla Lockhart, spoke about the row between Ireland and the UK over migrants.

She called the Irish government's claim that 80% of asylum seekers were coming from the UK and entering via the land border with Northern Ireland "unfounded".

BBC Verify asked the Irish government for the figures to back up its claim but it did not provide them and Ireland's deputy leader has admitted the claim was not "data-based".

The Irish government says its "firm assessment" is based on reports from its staff working with asylum seekers.

It has also pointed to the fact that many asylum applications have been made at a government office in Dublin, rather than at ports or airports, which it says suggests applicants had crossed the land border.

One of the hot button issues that was broached by multiple MPs during PMQs with the prime minister was the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

For SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, one of the finer points he drove home was over the issue of aid getting into Gaza.

"Aid is required because when people are not being bombed, they are starving to death," Flynn said, before saying that the solution to that humanitarian crisis is "a ceasefire and the opening of safe ground roots".

Watch that full exchange here:

Tories' £900 tax cut is only half the storypublished at 13:06 British Summer Time 1 May

13:06 BST 1 May

Rishi Sunak earlier told MPs that the Conservatives have delivered a “£900 tax cut”.

This year’s cuts to National Insurance (NI) are worth £900 a year for someone earning the average full-time salary.

But that’s not the full story.

The government has made other changes to the tax system over the last three years that means most workers are paying tax on more of their earnings.

When you put those changes together, an average earner will have a tax cut of about £340 - from the combined tax changes, rather than £900.

People earning between £26,000 and £60,000 will be better off.

But, as you can see from the chart below, people earning less than £25,000 or above £60,000 are actually worse off.

In case you missed some of the more heated exchanges from PMQs earlier, here's a short snippet that shows Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak going after each other's economic policies.

Watch below:

Labour makes claims about pension spendingpublished at 12:55 British Summer Time 1 May

12:55 BST 1 May

Throughout PMQs this morning, we heard Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly ask the prime minister about his plan to abolish National Insurance (NI), which he claims would leave a £46bn “black hole” in the government’s finances.

While £46bn is approximately what it would cost to abolish NI today, the government has not given a timeframe describing it as a “long-term ambition”.

Labour has been linking abolishing it to the state pension, because part of NI goes towards paying pensions, although other taxes may also be used.

Starmer said: “If £46bn were cut from its funding, the value of the state pension would almost halve.”

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates, external that £138bn will be spent on the state pension this year.

The £46bn is one third of that total.

As always, that went by rather quickly!

PMQs has now finished, but stick with us as we bring you up to speed on all the latest lines, plus some additional fact-checking and analysis from our team.

Gareth Thomas, the MP for Harrow West, begins by saying that in only one of 194 local authority areas in England are NHS ambulances meeting targets for the national response time for responding to potential heart and stroke victims.

Does the PM know which one it is?

Sunak replies when it comes to ambulance wait times there is more to do, but he claims the place where ambulance times are the worst is in Labour-run Wales.

Sunak adds that thanks to his government's plans there has been an improvement and there are 800 more ambulances on the roads.

Just before hearing from Desmond Swayne, the Commons also heard from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who spent her time focusing in on the Irish border and accusing the Republic of Ireland of hypocrisy.

She says police are now patrolling the border because of the Irish government's recent claim that more than 80% of recent asylum claims have arrived by crossing the open border with Northern Ireland.

​Sunak says "we can't have cherry-picking of important international agreements" and says the UK government is seeking clarification that there will be no police checkpoints at the border.

He adds the UK has no legal obligation to accept returns of asylum seekers from Ireland.

Another Tory MP is now up, and this time it's Desmond Swayne on his feet who begins by using his time to take a jab at the Labour leader.

He says while he was the Lord Commissioner, he was the one who signed Keir Starmer's special pension into law. "He owes me one," he jokes.

The government's triple lock gave pensioners the highest increase in their state pensions for 30 years, he says. He asks if the PM is going to continue to deliver for "dignity in retirement".

Sunak replies that he will provide dignity to all those in retirement. The state pension is rising by £900 this year and will increase in every year of the next parliament. Pensioners can trust the Tories, he says.

Tory MP Neil Hudson begins by saying how he welcomes the PM's recent announcement on defence spending and support for Ukraine. He then asks Sunak to "reaffirm" that the UK will continue to stand with Ukraine for the sake of freedom and global security.

Sunak says the UK remains steadfast in support of Ukraine, explaining how the country has already pledged £12bn in aid since the start of war and will continue with support "as long as it takes".

Why so much about pensions?published at 12:34 British Summer Time 1 May

12:34 BST 1 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

Lots of focus on pensioners today.

They are always key come election time, and that's for a simple reason: older folk are more likely to vote, on average, than younger folk.

Two defectors get in on the actionpublished at 12:33 British Summer Time 1 May

12:33 BST 1 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

Defectors are a rare breed in Westminster and so often treated as rather exotic.

In such a tribal place, folks who change sides provoke strong reactions.

And this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions had two recent defectors at the heart of the exchanges.

Lisa Cameron was cheered to the ceiling by Conservative MPs when she asked a question — she crossed the floor from the SNP.

And then, inevitably, Sir Keir Starmer wanted to crow about his latest MP — the Conservative defector Dr Dan Poulter.

This prompted anger from Tory MPs at their former colleague having deserted them — and now sitting opposite.

Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael is now up and is asking a question about household energy smart metres. The rollout of the programme is lagging far behind, he says.

Will the PM get the energy companies and regulators to stop passing the blame around, he says, and find a solution that doesn't leave people in the Highlands "out in the cold"?

Sunak replies that Ofgem is engaging with energy suppliers to help consumers through the transition. But it is the suppliers who are best placed to advise on tarriffs, he adds.

Green MP Caroline Lucas asks about a possible Israeli attack on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where she says some 1.5 million civilians are sheltering.

She says the government's own advisers say such an attack would likely not be compliant with international humanitarian law.

If Israel does attack Rafah, will that be the moment the PM "finds the moral backbone to ban arms exports to Israel," she asks.

Rishi Sunak replies that she does not acknowledge the "appalling terrorist attack" Israel suffered on 7 October. The country has the right to defend itself, he adds.

He says the UK wants to see humanitarian law adhered to and Israel take greater care not to harm civilians - including in Rafah.

Sunak says he won't apologise for UK armed forces supporting international aid efforts.

The fastest way to end conflict is to get a hostage deal that gets hostages out and aid in, he adds.

Sunak then goes on to claim there is now a workable offer on the table for a deal between Israel and Hamas, without providing specifics.

Flynn says the solution to the the conflict is a ceasefire and safe air routes - and accuses Sunak's plan of being "potentially dangerous".

The SNP leader then asks the PM to confirm that any decision to involve UK troops will be put to a vote in the Commons.