Watch PMQS LIVE: Starmer asks Sunak if he is ‘clueless about life outside his bubble’

Rishi Sunak is facing MPs during Prime Minister’s Questions as evacuations continue for British passport holders trying to flee war-torn Sudan.

Hundreds of Britons have been evacuated as a third flight landed in Cyprus on Wednesday morning. Three more flights are planned and a warship is set to arrive off the coast of Sudan amid a 72-hour ceasefire.

The Government has been criticised for its slow response to rescue British citizens trapped in Sudan after it rapidly evacuated UK diplomats and their families on Sunday.

The Prime Minister said it was “right” that diplomats were prioritised “because they were being targeted”.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the Government had to cope with a “larger cohort of British nationals in Sudan compared to many other countries”.

As the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill faced its final hurdle in the House of Commons, Ms Braverman has claimed that migrants arriving on small boats were “criminals” and possessed “values which are at odds with our country”.

Key Points

• Third RAF rescue flight from Sudan arrives in Cyprus

• Braverman: Small boats migrants ‘criminals'

Up to 300 UK nationals evacuated from Sudan

11:25 , Miriam Burrell

Home Secretary Suella Braveman said that between 200 and 300 British nationals have already been taken out of Sudan on rescue missions.

Military and diplomatic chiefs are understood to be planning at least three more flights on Wednesday. A British warship, HMS Lancaster, was also set to arrive off the coast of Sudan.

A third evacuation flight landed in Cyprus on Wednesday morning. Two had already touched down, with the first one carrying around 39 rescued citizens.

Read more about the evacuations from Sudan here.

Small boat migrant values ‘at odds’ with British, Braverman claims

11:29 , Miriam Burrell

Migrants crossing the English Channel on small boats have values “at odds” with British norms and are linked to “heightened levels of criminality”, Suella Braverman has said.

Her legislation aimed at deterring migrants from risking the journey faced its final Commons hurdles.

“We are seeing heightened levels of criminality when related to the people who’ve come on boats, related to drug dealing, exploitation, prostitution,” she said.

Read more here.

Police recruitment target reached, but Met falls behind

11:41 , Miriam Burrell

More than 20,000 new police officers have been hired in England and Wales – meeting a Conservative manifesto pledge – but the Metropolitan Police was the only force to miss its target.

The Met fell short by about 1,000. It was tasked with hiring 4,557 new officers but had provisionally recruited only 3,468 in the period.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told MPs: “The reputation of the organisation at the moment doesn’t help recruiting, but also the employment market and the pay situation is really challenging.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has accused the Government of “taking the country for fools” and having “no grip on law and order”.

Pictured: Rishi Sunak leaves No10

11:50 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak has left No 10 Downing Street ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions.

He will address MPs in the House of Commons at midday.

PMQs begins

12:02 , Miriam Burrell

The UK will continue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic Government, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said as PMQs gets underway.

Torys are ‘vandals’ when it comes to economy

12:05 , Miriam Burrell

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to British personnel involved in the evacuations of British nationals from Sudan.

Mr Starmer said the Torys have been described by a former chancellor as a “bunch of vandals” in respect to their handling of the economy.

“It’s been 13 years of failure,” he said, saying that there have been 24 tax rises in that time.

Rishi Sunak pointed to the Government’s “generous” cost of living payments. Almost eight million households are benefitting from the scheme, he said.

Labour is ‘the same old party’, PM says

12:08 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak has accused Labour as being “the same old party” when it comes to the economy.

But Sir Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister has refused to take credit for the Tory’s failings.

“He could stop the handouts he’s giving to oil and gas companies,” he said.

Rishi Sunak said record numbers of people are in work, and the number of people in poverty is lower under the Government.

PM looks at petrol pump ‘like it’s come from Mars’, Labour says

12:11 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak pointed to the “rank hypocrisy” of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s alleged own “special pension scheme”.

But Sir Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of being out of touch with ordinary people.

He said Mr Sunak looks at a petrol pump and debit card like “they’ve come from Mars”.

He doesn’t “have a clue” about the rising cost of food, Mr Starmer accused.

PM asked about safe routes for Sudanese children to UK

12:14 , Miriam Burrell

SNP leader Stephen Flynn asked the Prime Minister to outline the safe and legal route available to a child refugee seeking to flee Sudan to arrive in the UK.

Rishi Sunak said the priority is to evacuate diplomats and their families. Since yesterday there has been a “large scale” of British national evacuations, he said.

Mr Sunak said it is “reasonable, legal and fair” to prioritiese vulnerable families including children.

Food banks at record high

12:21 , Miriam Burrell

MP Kerry McCarthy said food banks have given out a record number of meals, nearly three million meals, with a million going to children.

Rishi Sunak said he is very grateful to volunteers and “substantial provision” has been put in place for food in schools.

He said the Government has raised the national living wage to “national records”.

PM asked to condemn Turning Point UK

12:24 , Miriam Burrell

MP Vicky Foxcroft has said there is a drag story event planned for Saturday in her constituency.

She claimed Turning Point UK members “seek to intimidate” young people, while asking the Prime Minister to condemn the group, which opposes drag story events.

Rishi Sunak said he’s not aware of the specific allegations, but said people should “treat everyone with respect and compassion”.

He said it’s important that material seen by children in classrooms is “age appropiate”.

PM will not apologise for colonialism

12:27 , Miriam Burrell

MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy has urged the prime miniser to offer a “full and meaningful” apology for the UK’s slavery and colonial past.

“No, Mr Speaker,” Rishi Sunak said.

“Trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward and not something we will focus on.”

‘Should the poor just accept being poorer?'

12:29 , Miriam Burrell

SNP MP Angela Crawley asked Rishi Sunak if the poor should “just accept being poorer”, as posed by an economist.

The prime minister pointed to the Government’s energy bill support and direct payments going to the most vulnerable families.

He said the Government is delivering for the people of Scotland.

PM congratulates Wrexham Association Football Club

12:31 , Miriam Burrell

MP Sarah Atherton said Wrexhem Association Football Club is back in the league and asked Prime Minister to congratulate the team.

Rishi Sunak congratuled “everyone” at Wrexham, including its Hollywood owners.

“They are indeed a jewel in the Crown,” he added.

Welsh villagers fear plans to house 400 asylum seekers in hotel

12:38 , Miriam Burrell

Residents in a Welsh village feel the Government “isn’t listening to them” over plans to house 400 asylum seekers in a hotel and shipping containers, MPs have heard.

Independent MP Rob Roberts said: “Can the Prime Minister facilitate a meeting for myself and some local residents with the Home Secretary?”

Rishi Sunak replied: “It’s not right that our local hotels in all our communities are being used to such a degree to house illegal asylum seekers, not least because it’s costing the British taxpayer something like £5.5 million or £6 million a day.

“We want to put an end to that and that’s why we’re bringing forward legislation that will enable us to swiftly detain and send back those who should not be here.”

PM ‘clueless about life outside his bubble'

12:42 , Miriam Burrell

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Prime Minister of being “clueless about life outside of his bubble”.

Rishi Sunak replied: “A single mother working full-time on the national living wage this year will get £1,300 more support from this Government.

“A working couple on low income with two children will get £1,800. That’s what delivering for working Britain looks like, but if he has any actual ideas for the economy he should say so because all I hear from the party opposite, it’s more spending, more borrowing, higher inflation, higher interest rates, it’s the same old Labour Party.”

Sunak ‘so out of touch’, Starmer claims

12:47 , Miriam Burrell

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed Rishi Sunak was “so out of touch that he looks at a petrol pump and a debit card like they’ve just arrived from Mars.”

He went on: “Is it any wonder that he smiles his way through the cost-of-living crisis while putting other people’s taxes up? Is it any wonder he doesn’t have a clue how food prices are hammering families across country?”

The Prime Minister responded: “Let’s just look at what’s happened just in this week, where the Labour Party have put themselves.

“On Monday in the House of Lords they decided to side with extremist protesters, just yesterday they sided with polluters, and tonight we will see them siding with the people smugglers.”

Sunak refuses to apologise for UK’s role in slavery

12:57 , Barney Davis

The Prime Minister has refused a challenge to apologise for the UK’s role in historical slavery and rejected a call to commit to reparations when asked in the Commons.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Streatham) said: “Prime ministers and heads of state have only ever expressed sorrow or deep regret. These are not sentiments that are befitting one of the greatest atrocities in human history.

“There has been no acknowledgement of the wealth that has been amassed or the fact that our country took out the largest loan it ever has to pay off the slave owners, and not the enslaved.”

She asked: “Will he do what Bernie Grant asked all those years ago, what I have asked, and what countless others have asked since, and offer a full and meaningful apology for our country’s role in slavery and colonialism, and commit to reparatory justice?”

Rishi Sunak said: “No. What I think our focus should now be on doing is, of course, understanding our history and all its parts, not running away from it, but right now making sure that we have a society which is inclusive and tolerant of people from all backgrounds.

“That’s something that we on this side of the House are committed to doing and will continue to deliver, but trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward, and it’s not something that we will focus our energies on.”

Prime Minister challenged on whether he agrees ‘the poorest should just accept being poorer'

13:01 , Barney Davis

The Prime Minister was challenged on whether he agrees “the poorest should just accept being poorer”.

SNP MP Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East) said: “The Bank of England has already announced that it is likely to increase interest rates once again, which will affect the poorest most and hike up mortgage rates once again.

“Does the Prime Minister, after 13 years of Conservative government, agree with the Bank of England’s chief economist that the poorest should just accept being poorer?”

Rishi Sunak said: “We’re doing an enormous amount to support those who most need our help with the cost of living, and some of the pressures, particularly on energy bills, that they face.

“That’s why we made a decision to tax the windfall profits of energy companies and use that money to help pay around half of a typical family’s energy bill, that is support worth £1,500, it applies across the United Kingdom.

“On top of that, there are direct payments going to the most vulnerable families in our society.”

Rishi Sunak hails Wrexham’s promotion to Football League

13:20 , Barney Davis

The Prime Minister has said Wrexham is a “jewel in the crown” and congratulated the football club on its promotion.

Conservative MP Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) said: “After a 15-year break, Wrexham Association Football Club is back in the English Football League.

“Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating everyone at the club, including the loyal supporters and the owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and does he agree that Wrexham is no longer a neglected place, but quickly becoming a jewel in the crown of the United Kingdom?”

Rishi Sunak said: “Can I join my honourable friend in congratulating everyone at Wrexham, from the owners to the players to the supporters, and everyone in the community.

“It’s been an incredible ride, we’ve all enjoyed watching them. We wish them every future success. I join with her in saying they are indeed a jewel in the crown and she deserves enormous credit for championing them in this place.”

Former chancellor George Osborne defends Rishi after Starmer attack

13:29 , Barney Davis

Live coverage ends

14:34 , Miriam Burrell

That’s all for our live coverage today.