LIVE Prime Minister's Questions LIVE: Keir Starmer to face Rishi Sunak in first Commons showdown since election victory - after suspending seven Labour rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap By Elizabeth Haigh Published: 10:45, 24 July 2024 | Updated: 11:07, 24 July 2024 e-mail View comments Advertisement Sir Keir Starmer will today take his first Prime Minister's Questions since his election victory as he faces his old foe Rishi Sunak in the Commons. The Labour leader will again stand opposite Mr Sunak at the despatch box but with their roles reversed as Mr Sunak is given the chance to grill him as Leader of the Opposition. Mr Starmer is likely to come under pressure from within his own ranks after he suspended seven Labour rebels who voted against the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Follow our live coverage below and join in the conversation in our comments section 10:10 Labour MP calls for 'discipline' to avoid 'moral destruction' Luke Akehurst, newly elected Labour MP for North Durham, has called for discipline in the party to avoid a return to 'moral destruction' and chaos seen under Jeremy Corbyn. He called on colleagues and activists to remain 'incredibly disciplined and organised' so that 'people around Jeremy Corbyn' never again take the party on a path towards 'moral and electoral destruction', Jewish News reports. Mr Akehurst was speaking at an event for the Progressive Britain Organisation on the same night seven MPs rebelled on the child benefit cap.
10:03 Headaches already for new Prime Minister If Sir Keir Starmer hoped for an easy first few weeks in the top job, he will be sorely disappointed. The Prime Minister has already delivered a King's Speech, suspended the whip from seven rebels and has advice and policy suggestions being throw from all directions. The latest to step into the ring is health advisor Alan Milburn, who said last night that millions of people on long-term sick should face sanctions if not looking for work.
Mr Milburn, who was health secretary under Tony Blair , said that policymakers and employers must 'wean themselves off the easy solution of importing more workers from overseas' and shift their focus to 'getting more out-of-work Brits into work'. 09:58 Watch: Starmer gears up ahead of first PMQs 09:56 How will Conservative leadership race work? Under plans drawn up by the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs and the party board, nominations for the new party leader will open on Wednesday evening and close in the afternoon on July 29. The parliamentary party will then narrow the field down to four, who will make their case at the Conservative Party Conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.
The final two, picked by the parliamentary party, will then be voted on by Conservative Party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31. The result will be announced on November 2. Bob Blackman (pictured), chairman of the 1922 Committee, said he was determined that the leadership debate be 'respectful and thorough' and warned against the contest descending into 'personal attacks'.
09:54 Suspended Labour MP 'slept well' after having whip removed in 'macho virility test' One of the seven Labour MPs suspended for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap last night has suggested she was the victim of a 'macho virility test'. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stripped Zarah Sultana and six others of the whip for backing an SNP motion which would have amended the King's Speech Bill to abolish the welfare limit. On Wednesday, Sir Keir faces his first Prime Minister's Questions since entering No 10, amid backbench unease over the move.
Ms Sultana said she 'slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty' after being handed the six-month suspension. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne and Imran Hussain have also been kicked out of the Parliamentary Labour Party. 09:50 Tories must expand base of support, leadership hopeful says James Cleverly, the first Tory leadership hopeful to declare his candidacy, has said that the party needs to expand its base of support and shake off the impression that it is more focused on infighting than serving the public.
There will potentially be a crowded field in the contest as nominations open on Wednesday in the race to replace Rishi Sunak, with a winner to be announced on November 2. Former home secretary Mr Cleverly told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his party has been 'the most successful political movement, I think, in human history.' But recent achievements, which he listed as including stabilising the economy and supporting Ukraine, were overshadowed by 'a number of negatives', he said.
'I think one of the reasons why the criticisms landed, and the good work didn't get cut-through, is we'd spent too much time rowing amongst ourselves, which gave the impression - the wrong impression - but gave the impression that we were more focused on ourselves than serving the British people. So we have to get out of that habit.' 09:48 Corbynites brand Keir 'Sir Kid Starver' as he suspends MPs for rebelling Keir Starmer is already struggling to keep a lid on furious Labour infighting today as he faces his maiden PMQs grilling.
Sir Keir will take to the despatch box at noon having been defied by seven MPs in a vote on the two-child cap on benefits, just a fortnight after securing his historic landslide. But the premier's brutal response of suspending the group - including prominent left-wingers John McDonnell, Richard Burgon and Rebecca Long Bailey - sparked an outcry in his own ranks. Read more: Keir Starmer faces first PMQs after two-child benefits revolt Keir Starmer will take PMQs at noon having been defied by seven MPs in a vote on the two-child cap on benefits, just a fortnight after his historic landslide.
Mail Online 09:47 Keir Starmer to face first PMQs as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is to face his first PMQs as Prime Minister in the House of Commons this lunch time. The Labour Leader will take part in the weekly session from the government benches for the first time after his party's landslide victory in the election on July 4. He will face former PM Rishi Sunak at the dispatch box, hours after shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly became the first to publicly declare he is running for his boss's job.
09:46 Welcome to MailOnline's live blog Good morning and welcome to MailOnline's politics live blog. We'll be bringing you all the action from the House of Commons and Conservative leadership race throughout the day. Join the conversation TOP STORIES Boy, 17, meets tragic end just moments after stealing 71 year-old man's phone Revealed: Full horrific details of claims against British Olympic star Charlotte Dujardin as whistleblower brands it a dark day for dressage as she is suspended for six months in shame and her fiance breaks his silence BBC's top earners revealed: Huw Edwards was third highest paid star on £479,999 after 9 per cent pay rise despite nine months off air following sex pics scandal - as Gary Lineker tops list for SEVENTH year in a row with £1.
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