Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer focused on pensions and National Insurance at Prime Minister's Questions
The PM was keen to stress his government's record on pensions, after Sir Keir accused the Tories of wanting to abolish National Insurance and slash payments
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn used his questions to ask whether MPs will get a vote on deploying UK troops to deliver aid in Gaza
Both the prime minister and Labour leader sent their condolences to the victims of the Hainault sword attack and praised the bravery of police
On Thursday voters will elect regional mayors, councillors and police and crime commissioners in the last major test of public opinion before a general election expected later this year
Sunak replies he cannot get into operational planning details but says the UK is committed to getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The UK is helping set up a temporary pier to get more aid into Gaza, he adds.
SNP leader Stephen Flynn says the Armed Forces Minister was previously not able to confirm or deny if UK troops would be deployed on the ground in the Middle East.
He asks the PM if he is planning to deploy British forces to the region.
Sunak says voters will have a choice in tomorrow's local elections.
He says Conservative mayors like Andy Street in the West Midlands and Ben Houchen in Teeside "deliver" where Labour mayors like Sadiq Khan simply virtue signal.
Urging people to vote Conservative, Sunak claims a vote for Labour is for higher taxes, more crime and ULEZ (ultra low emission zones).
The Labour leader is on to his final question and accuses Sunak of "fantasy economics".
How does he feel a day out from local elections in England and Wales with a message of "vote Tory, risk your pension", Starmer asks.
Sunak says the government doubled the Winter Fuel Payment.
He says the Tories believe hard work should be rewarded and that's why this week they're delivering more tax cuts.
It's Labour that hits pensioners with tax after tax, he claims.
Starmer says he is "no closer to an answer" about the £46bn.
He accuses the PM of having been planning to remove the Winter Fuel Allowance, which he asks the PM to rule out cutting.
Sunak says Starmer won't be worried about this because he has his own pension plan.
He claims this was called "the pension increase scheme for Starmer KC"
"Literally one law for him and another one for everyone else," adds Sunak.
Starmer says it is clear the PM is unable to answer the question about national insurance.
He then asks Sunak if he will rule out making people delay retirement for years and years to fill "his £46bn black hole".
Sunak replies of course we can rule that out.
"I know economics is not his strong point" Sunak says of Starmer.
He tells him to stop scaremongering – we have increased pensions thanks to the triple-lock and that will rise in every year of the next parliament.
Sunak adds that it was Labour's Gordon Brown who destroyed the pensions system as "Labour always betray our pensioners."
Starmer says the prime minister gave a "long rambling non-answer" to the question.
He goes on to say Sunak acts as though answering straightforward questions is "somehow beneath him".
He says pensioners and those planning their retirement deserve better. He says the state pension would "almost halve" if National Insurance were abolished.
He further presses Sunak on his spending plans.
Image source, House of CommonsSunak responds by saying economics is not Starmer's strong point and suggests he listen to the shadow education secretary, who earlier said that's not how it works.
"It's crystal clear that the Tory party is the only one that can deliver tax cuts," he adds.
Starmer then turns to the prime minister to ask if he has found the money for his "completely unfunded £46bn promise" to scrap National Insurance.
Sunak replies he's glad to actually see Starmer, which gets a massive roar of cheers from the benches.
He then says this week people everywhere should vote Conservative, ahead of the local elections taking place in England and Wales.
Image source, House of CommonsKeir Starmer joins Prime Minister Rishi Sunak by paying tribute to the emergency services who intervened during the Hainault attack yesterday.
He also says he is "delighted" to see the King return to public duties.
He welcomes MP Dr Dan Poulter, who left the Conservatives and joined the Labour party last week.
His first question pertains to Dr Poulter.
"When a lifelong Tory and doctor says that the only cure for the NHS is a Labour government, isn't it time the prime minister admits he has utterly failed?"
And we're off!
Sunak is now at the despatch box and ready to take questions from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and other MPs.
We'll be bringing you updates and analysis here, so stay with us.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Here we go with PMQs — the last big political set piece moment ahead of the elections in England and Wales tomorrow.Labour’s newest MP, Dr Dan Poulter, who defected from the Conservatives at the weekend, is sitting directly behind Sir Keir Starmer.
In other words, in the camera shot when Starmer is on his feet.
Daniel Wainwright
BBC Data Team
Opinion polls tracking how people say they would vote in a general election haven’t moved a lot recently.
Labour was about 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives according to an average of polls conducted by 10 companies during the second half of April.
That’s based on share of the vote across the whole of Great Britain and only once those who don’t know or won’t vote have either been excluded or otherwise adjusted for.
Several of the polling companies have also done polls for some of the mayoral races in the local elections.
Our senior political analyst Peter Barnes has been looking at these to see what they’re telling us before polls open tomorrow.
You can read this and use our national poll tracker here.
Image source, .
Jennifer McKiernan
Political reporter
Image source, PA MediaNews of a volunteer flying to Rwanda on Monday leaked to the Sun newspaper overnight, with business secretary Kemi Badenoch suggesting somebody willingly moving there meant the country was safe.
This was not a deportation flight, where failed asylum seekers are forcibly deported to Rwanda, but a voluntary move where the unnamed man was paid £3,000 to leave.
There still have not been any deportations under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda scheme, which has been beset with delays amid concerns the east African country is not safe.
That's why we can expect to see Labour leader Keir Starmer putting the focus back on the deportation scheme, as well as more than 3,500 asylum seekers who cannot currently be located by the Home Office.
Image source, PA MediaWe're poised to bring you all the latest from the Commons when PMQs kicks off.
As a reminder, you can watch the session live by pressing the Play button at the top of this page at 12:00 BST.
Image source, ReutersThere’s been a fair bit of drama in the halls of Westminster in recent days, but there has been plenty in Holyrood, too.
On Monday, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf announced his resignation – he was facing two votes of no confidence later this week.
Yousaf has said he had "underestimated" the level of hurt caused by scrapping a key climate change target, which ended a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens last week.
He has said he made the decision after spending the weekend reflecting on what was best for the SNP, the government and Scotland.
While no one has formally put their hand up to run for First Minister in his place, it’s widely expected to be a contest between political veteran John Swinney and Kate Forbes, who ran for the role after Nicola Sturgeon resigned last year.