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Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald says bus funding has almost halved since 2010, whilst fares have increased by over 50% and thousands of routes have been cut.

He says the UN has said Tory transport policy is "incompatible with human rights requirements".

Minister Nusrat Ghani says she'd "rather stick with the facts", adding that over £1bn has been made available for concessionary bus passes every year, as well as £250m to support bus services.

She acknowledges that "there's no denying" in some parts of the country there are challenges, but there are services that are working well.

"The fact is we are putting money into bus services", she says, adding that they are becoming greener, and more information is being provided.

House of Commons
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SNP MP Douglas Chapman asks what discussions the department has had with cabinet minsters on the potential merits of creating so-called free ports in the UK.

Mr Chapman says we are in "uncharted waters" and there is a danger "that Scotsmen in the industry will not be able to access the same European markets".

Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani says the matter is subject to "ongoing discussion" in government, but that she is "excited" by the opportunities available.

"The government will work as hard as they can to ensure the port industry is promoted and is as competitive as possible", she adds.

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Conservative MP Helen Whately asks about plans to make air travel more accessible for disabled people.

She calls on MPs to support her private member's bill on the issue, which she says will "address vital issues".

Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani says "it is important that disabled passengers can travel independently and with dignity" and the government "is doing as much as possible to ensure this".

Labour MP Karl Turner asks why there have been "so many cases of disabled passengers being treated unacceptably" when travelling by air in recent months.

Ms Ghani says an aviation strategy, "which ensures that accessibility, dignity and independent travel is a given for all passengers", will be published shortly.

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Labour MP Helen Goodman asks if the government will ensure roads are a "pivotal part" of planning for new housing estates.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman says ministers are ensuring that road planning "is a critical and founding part of new house building plans".

Shadow transport minister Matt Rodda says 17% of local roads are deemed to be in poor condition, and there is a backlog of £9bn on work that needs to be done to potholes.

Mr Rodda says it is "outrageous" that government ministers "can stand there and say they are working to improve roads".

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Lib Dem MP Tom Brake asks what lessons the department has learnt from delays after recent train timetable changes.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says delays in the summer were "regrettable", and ministers are working to ensure better communication over future works.

Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy says the number of train carriages in each service needs to be looked at, as well as the impact of timetable changes.

Mr Grayling says ministers are looking into this, but there is "no magic wand", and "the reality is we have a deeply congested railway".

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Conservative MP Ranil Jayawardena asks what steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of an independent review of South Western Railway (SWR) and National Rail.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones, in his return to the front bench, says the government is in communications with both about "recent poor performances", which were "entirely unacceptable".

Mr Janyawardena asks if SWR and Network Rail will be held to account for disruption earlier this week, which he calls "mayhem Monday".

Mr Jones says the government "is working closely" with both companies to ensure that the situation which occurred on Monday "does not happen again in the future".

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Labour MP Mary Creagh asks today's first question, on the reliability of train services in the North of England.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says more services are running in the North than they were in May, but he is "aware that there are still downfalls".

Labour MP Graham Stringer asks for the government "to take back control" of services in the North, adding one in four Northern train services are delayed or cancelled.

Chris Grayling says over 50% of the rail budget for the next five years will be spent in the North.

The SNP's spokesperson for Transport Alan Brown asks for Network Rail to be devolved to Scotland.

Chris Grayling replies: "we need a more joined-up railway system to meet the targets of a system that is under intense pressure".

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Hello and welcome - our coverage of the House of Commons will kick off shortly, with MPs putting questions to ministers at the Department of Transport.

After this, the DUP’s Jim Shannon will ask an urgent question about the job losses at Bombardier in Northern Ireland.

The Canadian aircraft manufacturer announced yesterday it is to cut a further 490 jobs from its Northern Ireland operations after reviewing its “manpower requirements”.

Following this, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom will set out forthcoming parliamentary business - MPs will no doubt be paying interest to any details of their vote on the draft Brexit deal.

MPs will then have a general debate on the Armed Forces Covenant, followed by an adjournment debate on psychological support after cancer treatment, led by Labour MP Mark Tami.

The Irish PM says the DUP is focused on a Brexit deal that respects the integrity of "the precious union".

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Today saw Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn face each other over the despatch box, in the weekly Prime Minister's Questions.

The Labour leader's questions focused on Brexit, and the prime minister's proposed withdrawal deal.

Here's the verdict from Mark D'Arcy, our parliamentary correspondent.

PMQs: the verdict

Theresa May must have felt that she picked up today where she left off on Thursday, with another rolling interrogation on Brexit.

And she quickly defaulted into her weary but resolute mode.

Backbench Brexiteer Andrew Rosindell kicked off proceedings with a direct appeal for the PM to change course on Brexit, saying her plan is not the Brexit his Romford constituents voted for.

Then Jeremy Corbyn piled in with a well-targeted question picking up comments from ministers that “No Deal” is not an option, and asking if there were any circumstances where the UK would quit the EU without a deal – a question the prime minister didn’t really answer.

The confusion deepened a little later, when the PM confirmed to her ex-colleague Esther McVey that the UK would leave on the appointed date of 29 March – which at least implied that this was possible without a deal, and also seemed to pull back from previous warnings that failing to back her proposed Brexit deal risked “no Brexit at all".

DUP questions shows relations still cold

Another important moment came when the DUP Westminster Leader Nigel Dodds confirmed that his party’s relations with the government remain in the deep freeze, when he asked a hostile question about the disappearance of a government promise that the people of Northern Ireland would have the final say on any divergence from the UK’s single market.

You could hear the acid drip as he asked: “Did she press the delete button?”

No sign of kissing and making up there.

And that matters because it is hard to see how the PM’s deal gets through the Commons without Mr Dodds and his troops (now restored to full strength with the return from suspension of Ian Paisley Jr).

It was a noisy session but I was expecting it to be noisier still. Part of the reason may be that the the big-name Brexiteers who have been trying to unseat the PM did not intervene, which would surely have produced cheers and jeers aplenty (Jacob Rees Mogg was in the Chamber, but did not attempt to speak and left before the end of the session).

Another factor is that neither of the two main players was able to sound a clear trumpet note to their troops.

Jeremy Corbyn was in an excellent position to call for a second referendum, but clearly had no intention of doing so, and his mainly-remainer MPs were not, therefore, delighted; we already know that Theresa May’s deal has not exactly delighted Conservative MPs either (even the ones who support it) and a series of questions on the details (Bob Neill on Gibraltar, George Freeman on Northern Ireland, Neil Parish on agriculture) caught the wary mood on the Tory benches.

It seemed to me that the two leaders were both better at attacking each other than defending their own positions, which meant that a lot of time was taken up with accusations of “more muddled than thou”.

But the bottom line is that it is now close to impossible – in the absence of any overriding mega-event – to talk about anything but Brexit at PMQs.

The PM holds talks with Jean-Claude Juncker as a cabinet minister says MPs won't allow a no-deal Brexit.

George Eustice concludes his speech and the Fisheries Bill passes second reading without division.

After the presentation of petitions, business turns to the adjournment debate, which tonight is led by Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael and concerns the potential effect on the tourism industry of reduction in VAT.

We'll be leaving our coverage of Parliament there for today.

The day began with International Development questions, before Theresa May took questions from MPs at PMQs.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry then asked an urgent question on the ongoing conflict in Yemen and Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave a statement on the Gosport Hospital Inquiry.

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton also tabled his Marriage and Civil Partnership (Consent) Bill as a ten minute rule motion.

We hope you'll join us tomorrow from 9.30am, with the day kicking off with Transport questions, followed by the business statement.

After that, MPs will take part in a general debate on the Armed Forces Covenant.

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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister George Eustice says he welcomes the fact that the opposition support this bill.

"We've been clear in our white paper that we want to move to a different method of allocating quota to the UK fleet," he says "and are planning on the best ways to do this as we speak".

Mr Eustice says "a joint fisheries statement is a legal requirement and will define how the UK will deliver sustainability objectives level with the EU's."

He says the government is planning to have "a significant increase in enforcement capacity" and is training border force officials and aerial surveillance crews.

Mr Eustice adds that "it is important to maintain negotiations with the EU," and that "this bill is essential - whether we have a deal or no deal - and will allow the fishing industry in this country to be as sustainable as possible."

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Wrapping up for the opposition, Labour spokesperson Luke Pollard says his party will not oppose the Fisheries Bill as they recognise the need for new legislation after Brexit.

However, it "smacks of a bill that was hurridly rushed out", he says, and would have benefited from pre-legislative scrutiny.

It is a "missed opportunity", as Brexit is a chance to start afresh for fishing industry.

It fails to provide a fair deal for small fleets - "the backbone of the sector" - and fails to break up large fishing monopolies, he says.

It also lets down fishing communities in need to regeneration, whilst it does not include safety measures to ensure fewer fishermen are lost at sea.

"My party does support this bill but we believe it needs more work in a considerable number of areas."

He warns that if necessary improvements aren't made, then the government can't rely on Labour's support in the later stages.

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Tory MP Andrew Bowie says "this issue is too important to play party politics with and I wish the SNP would remember this."

"We face a sea of opportunity free from the restrictions of the hated CFP."

He says that "in order for this legislation to be worth the paper it is written on, I urge the government to pay attention to the reaction in Europe to the withdrawal agreement."

He says this is "a good bill" and the UK will continue to work with European neighbours, "just as an independent coastal state".

Mr Bowie says "British control of waters will not lead to a diminishing of standards as it is the UK that has driven up the standards across Europe". He urges all MPs to back the bill.

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Conservative MP Douglas Ross says SNP MPs have talked "utter tosh" about Scottish fishing in this debate.

They all stood for election on the policy that they wish to return to the Common Fisheries Policy "on their terms", he says, and asks how they expect to achieve that.

"It is absolutely farcical! You have got absolutely no plan how you can do that."

He says the reason SNP lost so many seats in Scotland is because they failed to stand up for Scottish fishermen.

He expresses concerns at the proposed withdrawal agreement - "I worry that we may be out of the Common Fisheries Policy, but in some way still tied to the Common Fisheries Policy."

"I could not support that."

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"Failure to secure what's in this bill will confine the UK fishing industry to a small entity," Conservative MP Maria Caulfield says.

She asks for assurance that other countries - "including France and Spain" - could not override this legislation in the future and fish in British waters.

She calls for Michael Gove to confirm that post-Brexit the UK will have "a place around the table" with other EU members to discuss fishing policy, and calls for more clarity on the logistics in the bill.

"Multinationals must not buy up our entitlement," she adds.

Ms Caulfield calls for civil servants in Northern Ireland to be given the powers to carry out this legislation in Northern Ireland until power is restored, "or we can take back control and say the Republic of Ireland can't fish in UK waters until power has been restored".

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Conservative MP Gillian Keegan says British fishermen have faced years of disadvantage as a result of EU membership and the Common Fisheries Policy.

However, with this bill, "we can turn the tide" for the fishing industry, she says.

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The DUP's Jim Shannon says it would be a mistake to not to use this bill to review the licensing system for fishermen.

He says he is "pleased" to see the government taking a positive and workable approach to fishing policy, but asks for the government to ensure it develops a "sustainable framework that learns from the CFP".

Mr Shannon says an amendment should be tabled to incorporate access to labour, "but much still hinders on the negotiations ahead".

He says "fishermen will question what this has all been for unless the new fisheries policy assesses quota distortions."

However, "good times are ahead - which we look forward to."