Sunak and Starmer clash over migrant law at PMQs

We'll just stepping away from goings-on in the chamber briefly, as Gary Lineker has issued a public response after the BBC said he was being "spoken to" after criticising the government's latest asylum proposals (see our earlier post for details).

In a tweet, the Match of the Day presenter writes: "I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly)."

Despite a backlash from politicians over his comments, he says he will "continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice".

Earlier, the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn asked how new immigration legislation would affect women who have been sex trafficked.

On International Women’s Day, he quizzed the prime minister about protection in the UK for those arriving on small boats.

Rishi Sunak said Britain "must get a grip of this system" and stop people dying in the English Channel, and “target" resources on the people most in need.

That's it for this week's Prime Minister's Questions, which was a particularly rowdy affair today as Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed over the government's new illegal migration law.

Here's what we learned:

• Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was forced to reprimand MPs several times as they reacted strongly to Sunak and Starmer's claims following yesterday's asylum law announcement
• Flanked by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Sunak contested that stopping small boats was "a priority of the British people"
• Hitting back at Labour, he said the party was on the side of people smugglers and Starmer was "just another lefty lawyer" with no plan to tackle illegal migration
• Starmer said the Tories have lost control of the borders, saying the PM is "deluded" about Labour's policies and the latest measure to stop small boats was just a "gimmick"
• The PM and Stephen Flynn, SNP Westminster leader, also traded blows on migration, including people who are sex trafficked into the UK and government claims on migrant numbers
• Given it's International Women's Day, women's rights were a focal point for many MPs. On a lighter note, laughter bubbled through the chamber after one MP gave a shout out to his mum in the gallery

Beyond the main clash between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, International Women’s Day was a running theme during PMQs this week.

MPs on all sides used the day to highlight concerns on women’s rights, sex trafficking, representation in politics, sport and more.

One MP even managed to give a shout out to their mum watching in the gallery above.

The session came full circle though with questions towards the end about small boat crossings from Conservative and Labour backbenchers.

The issue of small boat crossings and the row about how to tackle it isn’t going away.

Another question related to International Women's Day came up when Conservative MP for Southend West Anna Firth said she had been visiting an FA Let Girls Play Football event in Leigh-on-Sea.

Does the PM agree sport and particularly football are a brilliant way to empower women?, she asked.

Sunak replied that she's right about he power of sport to engage and inspire women. He added that he's looking forward to seeing the Lionesses (England women's team) later today and to announcing more funding for girls' sport in schools.

Labour's Imran Hussain launched an impassioned attack on the government's "anti-refugee" asylum bill, which he said was “far-right appeasing".

He said those trafficked to the UK could still be deported under the terms of the bill. He asked whether the legislation would mean Sir Mo Farah, who revealed last year he was trafficked to the UK as a child, would have faced removal from the UK.

Sunak did not refer to Sir Mo in his reply.

He added that the government was aiming to protect the "world's most vulnerable people" being exploited by criminal gangs, and said there was "nothing compassionate" in "supporting that system continuing".

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Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, mentions the PM's upcoming meeting with French President Macron on Friday.

She asks if Sunak will ask what more can be done around the push factors of illegal migration, particularly pushing those boats across French beaches and into the sea.

Sunak says there "is no one single lever that will solve this problem". We work on all things that will make a difference, he says, including cooperation with the French.

Gerald Jones, Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney accused the Conservatives of driving half a million children into poverty since 2010, asking if the prime minister would say "sorry to all the children he's failed".

Sunak countered by saying there are 1.2 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 2010, as a result of initiatives such as a raise to the national living wage.

He said reducing unemployment was key to ensuring children do not grow up in poverty, adding that there are "several thousand fewer workless households" than there were in 2010.

Labour's Steve McCabe said Sunak has talked fondly about working in his mother’s community pharmacy. But how would the PM feel if 600 pharmacies close this year because of what McCabe called a “vicious” NHS contract which he said takes no account of rising costs and is forcing pharmacies into bankruptcy?

The PM responded, saying community pharmacies do fantastic work, and the government was looking at what else it could do to support them.

Prime Minister's Questions has now wrapped up in the House of Commons - but we'll continue to bring you some of the key questions from MPs, as well as analysis from our correspondents. Stay with us.

Matt Rodda, Labour's Reading East MP, says boys who killed a constituent, 13-year-old Olly Stephens, shared images of weapons. He asks about the Online Safety Bill.

Sunak says police use of stop and search brought knife crime down and described the Bill as "groundbreaking law".

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The SNP's Richard Thomson is the latest MP to ask a question tied to International Women's Day - asking what the government is doing to close a pensions "gap" between men and women.

Sunak replies that the government is taking the issue "incredibly seriously" - and credits automatic enrolment as a policy that has helped millions of women save for retirement.

He says pensions participation among eligible women working in the private sector reached 87% last year, up from 40% a "few years ago".

A little earlier, Labour's Kevin Brennan asked about "queue-jumping online ticket touts" reselling Eurovision tickets on "dodgy sites" for thousands of pounds.

Given that the UK is hosting Eurovision on behalf of war-ravaged Ukraine, he said, this latest example of what he calls "rip-off Tory Britain" is "particularly despicable". Why isn't the government doing more to tackle it?

Sunak said the government had put measures in place to combat ticket touting. It's a source of enormous pride to be hosting Eurovision and ministers will do everything they can to ensure the widest access to it, he added.

Chris Clarkson rises to ask the PM whether, given he was auctioned off for the Conservative Women's Organisation last week, Sunak will pay tribute to the work the CWO does to get more women into politics.

There is lots of laughter in the chamber as Clarkson mentions that his mother is in the gallery for today's PMQs.

Sunak responds by congratulating Clarkson for his successful auction, joking: "I assume it wasn't his mother that bid for him successfully."

He pays tribute to the "fantastic" work of the CWO and says there needs to be more women standing in politics.

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Prominent Tory backbencher David Davis asks the prime minister whether he will examine the UK-US extradition treaty, which he calls a "parody of justice".

He mentions Anne Sacoolas, the US citizen responsible for the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn. She did not return to the UK for her sentencing.

Sunak says the US has refused one extradition request, while the UK has refused 27. But he says he is happy to the discuss the treaty further.

Kenny MacAskill, the Alba Party MP for East Lothian, discusses households who are forced to rely on unregulated fuel and inefficient all-electric systems.

He asks the prime minister whether he will ensure all fuels are regulated, and the households in question get alternative fuel payments.

Sunak says the issue is "uppermost in the government's mind" and says ministers are ensuring that its programme of energy support payments is "getting to everybody who needs it".

BBCCopyright: BBC

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey raises the case of a woman called Jean, who he says died in hospital in Eastbourne after driving herself there, having been told she would have to wait eight hours for an ambulance.

He asks whether the prime minister will apologise for the “appalling" times people are waiting for ambulances.

In reply, Rishi Sunak says his thoughts are with Jean's family.

He adds that the government has outlined its plan to get waiting times down, and says waiting times have started to improve over the "last several weeks".