Keir Starmer faces PMQs following a chaotic fortnight which has seen him rocked by a Labour rebellion.
The Prime Minister takes on Kemi Badenoch at the dispatch box after pledging not to be distracted by growing calls to step down. A week after the King’s Speech set out 37 Bills the Government plans to introduce in the coming months, Mr Starmer faces a difficult session.
Earlier a minister shot down reports that the Treasury wants supermarkets to cap prices on essentials like eggs, bread and milk. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil a string of cost of living measures on Thursday.
Since Mr Starmer last appeared at PMQs, a by-election has been triggered in Makerfield and Wes Streeting has quit the Cabinet with a scathing attack on his old boss.
New UpdatesView PostToday12:08 BST
Keir Starmer has confirmed that fuel duty will be frozen until the end of the year.
The PM told the Commons that the expected 5p a litre rise in September will not go ahead. It had been expected the announcement would come from Rachel Reeves tomorrow.
Dave BurkeToday12:06 BST
A lighter moment as the PM pays tribute to one of “Manchester’s great heroes”.
Mr Starmer told the Commons: “Let me congratulate Pep Guardiola and all his success at Manchester City.”
He went on to pass his congratulations to Arsenal for winning the Premier League.
Dave BurkeToday12:03 BST
The Prime Minister has opened by paying tribute to Ciara Sullivan, a soldier who died after falling from a horse at a royal show.
Lance Bombardier Sullivan who was part of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, died as a result of the tragedy at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
“She was an exceptional soldier and she will be deeply missed,” he said.
Dave BurkeToday11:42 BST
In normal times, focus would be on the new laws the Government plans to bring in.
Last week 37 Bills were announced in the King’s Speech, setting out Mr Starmer’s agenda for the next year. These included the creation of a “British FBI”, a new asylum clampdown and long-promised leasehold reforms.
He said last week: “Britain stands at a pivotal moment: to press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past. My government will deliver on the promise of change for the British people.”
Click here for details of the Bills put forward
Dave BurkeToday11:38 BST
Keir Starmer has insisted he is “focused on the job” of governing.
At a Downing Street reception for homelessness charities on Tuesday he talked up the Government’s record on renters’ rights reforms as an example of “ripping up the failed status quo”.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary John Healey warned Labour’s “credibility in Government is at stake” in an apparent rebuke of leadership jockeying among rivals looking to oust the Prime Minister.
“I don’t care about photo ops or PR firms. Politics – to me – is not about the individual. People will not forgive us if they think we’re more concerned about ourselves than we are about them,” he said.
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An Andy Burnham-led Labour Party could beat Reform UK in a general election, a poll has suggested.
The survey, carried out for More in Common, shared with the Press Association, found the party would get an eight-point boost with Mr Burnham at its helm and move ahead of Nigel Farage’s party.
The data suggested Labour would secure 30% of the vote to Reform’s 27% if an election was held tomorrow. The Conservatives would trail on 20%, the Liberal Democrats on 11% and the Green Party on 7%.
Mr Burnham is seeking to return to Westminster via the upcoming Makerfield by-election and potentially challenge Sir Keir for the keys to No 10. As Labour leader, Mr Burnham would win back a third of voters who have ditched the party since the 2024 general election, according to More in Common’s survey of 2,599 Britons.
Nearly half of defectors to the Greens or Lib Dems would return to Labour, as well as a fifth of those who have moved rightwards to Reform or the Tories.
Andy Burnham is bidding to return to Parliament(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A Government minister has insisted caps on supermarket prices are not being looked at after retail chiefs said they are being urged to introduce them.
Reports claimed the Treasury had approached chains urging them to put limits on the price of key goods like eggs, bread and milk in return for easing regulations. But Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said this not the case.
He told Sky News: “No, that isn’t something that we’re looking at.” Asked if there had been conversations, he stated: “You have to talk to the supermarkets about that.
“The Government is not looking at doing this. Instead, what we’re doing is looking across the economy at what are the different ways that we can help households.”
According to the Financial Times, the Treasury told retailers it would offer supermarkets “incentives” – which may include easing packaging policies and delay potentially costly changes to healthy food rules. This would be agreed to by retailers on a voluntary basis. It would not emulate the strict price controls brought in during the inflation crisis of the 1970s, it was claimed.
It comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said food and soft drink prices rose by 3% in the 12 months to April, down from 3.7% in March.
Mr Tomlinson went on to tell LBC: “There will be ministers across government who are talking to the supermarkets all the time, and this specific thing that’s made into papers, I just want to be clear, this isn’t something that we’re considering.
“I think our supermarkets sector is a really important and vital sector. It’s highly competitive. I think you’ll have the same experience as me – you can spot the price of milk in one shop and walk down the road and see it’s five or 10p more expensive and think, ‘Oh, I will go to that shop from now on’.
“So, look, I don’t know the ins and outs of all the conversations that every minister across government has had with every supermarket chain in the last few weeks, but the specific story that’s reported, not announced today, that isn’t something that we’re considering.”