Politics latest: 'Jumped-up milk monitor' attack on Rishi Sunak from Keir Starmer at PMQs; UK economy in safe hands 'whoever wins' election, bank boss says | Politics News | Sky News

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Politics latest: 'Jumped-up milk monitor' attack on Rishi Sunak from Keir Starmer at PMQs; UK economy in safe hands 'whoever wins' election, bank boss says

Rishi Sunak faces Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs; Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, tells Sky News he is confident the UK economy will be well managed regardless of whether the Conservatives or Labour win the next election.

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Minister calls for 'calm' in Georgia - and says UK 'will not be diverted from commitment to Ukraine'

Immediately after PMQs, the Commons turned to an urgent question, tabled by the DUP's Jim Shannon, on "Russia’s aggression relating to Ukraine and the situation in Georgia".

Ukraine has come under vast assault from Russia in recent days (latest updates here), while there have been riots in Georgia as Russia asserted its influence to pass a controversial "foreign agents" law (more here).

Answering on behalf of the government was armed forces minister Leo Docherty.

He noted this is "day 811 of Putin's 'special military operation' - an operation that was supposed to last three days, and he has failed in all his objectives".

But the minister went on to say the conflict is "evolving", and confirms Russia's latest assault on the Kharkiv region, which is "almost certainly" a bid to "divert Ukrainian resources away from other parts of the front line and to threaten Kharkiv - the second-largest city in Ukraine".

He declared the UK "will not be diverted from our commitment to provide Ukraine with the support they need to prevail", pointing to the vast package announced in January and ongoing efforts to support the Ukrainian military.

Turning to Georgia, the minister said the government is observing events "with concern".

"The United Kingdom, along with our partners, is of course committed to the right of peaceful protest, as we are concerned by the introduction of the law" on foreign influence, he said.

He added that the UK is "a close friend of Georgia" and called for "calm and restraint on all sides".

PM and Starmer are 'in campaign mode'

It "already feels like we are in a general election campaign", our political editor Beth Rigby says.

Beth says the prime minister made the argument that "the country was less safe under Labour", while Sir Keir Starmer, "who is increasingly confident around the issue of law and order, flipped it".

They were both in "campaign mode", she says.

"He has tried to make the argument that under the Conservatives the country is becoming less safe," Beth says.

"This is all around the issue of having full prisons and prisoners being let out early."

Beth says Sir Keir found a "weak flank" in the Tories on the topic of prisons and used that as a "counterattack".

That concludes PMQs

This week's session of Prime Minister's Questions has now concluded.

Rishi Sunak was questioned on a range of topics, including the state of the prison system, national security, the Israel-Hamas war, and criminal justice.

And in a relief to the PM, there were no defections to Labour this week!

Scroll down to read all the key moments, as well as analysis.

Analysis: War in the Middle East continues to loom large

The war in Israel and Gaza continues to loom large over domestic politics.

This time it is prompted by a question over UK arms sales from a Labour backbencher, Richard Burgon, which acts as a reminder how delicate this issue really is for his party's front bench (see 12.26 post).

The local elections showed that in some wards, Labour's early stance on the war had caused a rise in support of independent candidates and a drop in the Labour vote share.

The worry now is how many votes Labour could lose over this issue going forward, how permanent the feeling is, and whether the party continues to alienate many people beyond Muslim and left-wing voters.

Today there are some clues to how Labour could shift on this issue - some of its MPs are much more hard-line on UK arms sales to Israel than the Conservatives. 

Today, the PM was forced to back the decision to continue to support Israel's right to defend themselves, but stated the UK does not directly give arms to Israel and wanted to draw a distinction to the US position.

Rape victims 'put through living hell because of government failings'

Labour MP Nadia Whittome asks the PM if he is "ashamed" that, because of his government's failings, victims of rape are "being put through a living hell in the criminal justice system".

She states when adult rape cases take around two years to complete, it's "no wonder" 62% of rape survivors drop out of the process.

Sunak points to 'rape review action plan'

The PM says he "completely disagrees" with Ms Whittome's characterisation of how the government has treated the issue.

"It's actually this government previously that introduced the rape review action plan, which is now showing significant improvements to how we treat rape end to end through the criminal justice system," he says.

"Violence against women and girls is now a strategic policing requirement for the first time ever."

He also says the Tories have "quadrupled funding for victim support" and there is "a new 24/7 support for victims".

Sunak asked why he's 'a bystander to horror' in Gaza

Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan also raises the Israel-Hamas war.

She accuses Israel of having attacked hospitals, refugee camps, and of killing aid workers, as well as blocking aid, turning off water supplies, and denying access to food.

"Israel has killed thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians as the world watches, trampling all over international humanitarian law," she says, adding "no other country would be allowed to act with such impunity".

She asks the PM to explain "why he allows Israel to get away with it unchallenged, and why he continues to act as a bystander to such horror".

PM insists government will 'do everything' to get aid into Gaza

Rishi Sunak replies that he does "support Israel's right to defend itself and remove the threat that Hamas, the terrorist organisations, poses to its people".

He goes on to say that he is "deeply concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and have consistently made that point at this despatch box and to prime minister Netanyahu".

He calls for "further action" on the part of the Israeli's to allow aid into Gaza.

"She can rest assured that we, on this side of the House, will continue to do everything we can to get support to people in Gaza who need it," he concludes.

After PMQs, you can get live updates on the Israel-Hamas war here:

PM vows 'life means life' for 'most depraved killers'

Now up is Tory MP Alberto Costa, who says murderer and rapist Colin Pitchfork is "yet again having another parole hearing in the next few weeks".

Pitchfork was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years in 1988, later reduced to 28 years, for raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in 1983 and 1986 respectively, in Leicestershire.

Mr Costa asks the PM why Pitchfork can keep on asking for a parole hearing and if he will arrange for these rules to be looked at.

Rishi Sunak says "we are reforming the parole system to add a ministerial check on the release of the most dangerous criminals".

He says he is also "changing the law so that for the most depraved killers - life means life".

Analysis: Starmer tries to use PM's own words against him

Labour's Keir Starmer goes straight on the attack this week, clearly trying to use Rishi Sunak's own words against him.

The prime minister had made a speech on Monday aiming to focus mainly on security and using the government podium to outline his stance on bolstering the Tory record on national security matters.

Now Labour is competing to put its proposals in the limelight - using Prime Minister's Questions to do so.

The two parties have similar proposals on defence spending - a commitment that 2.5% of GDP would be spent by 2030 - but Labour has a stipulation it would only commit when finances allow.

Many thought Mr Sunak had made the leap to commit without any caveats as a way to draw a dividing line between himself and Sir Keir, and he seems to be trying to exploit that fully today.

Sir Keir also challenges Mr Sunak on the numbers of high-risk prisoners being released early and calls on him to exclude domestic abusers, as well as a request to reveal who qualifies for early release. 

The PM says nobody should be on the scheme if they are considered a risk to public safety.

PM says UK 'does not directly sell arms to Israel' after MP calls for embargo

 Labour MP Richard Burgon is next to ask a question of the PM, and he turns to the issue of the Israel-Hamas war.

He says: "30,000 Palestinian deaths - not enough to move this prime minister to end arms sales to Israel.

"The killing of British aid workers - not enough to move the prime minister to end arms sales."

The left-wing MP continues by saying that "unlike the US", an Israeli invasion of the Rafah area of Gaza would still not convince the PM to end arms to Israel.

He asks: "So just what on earth would be enough to finally move this prime minister into the same position as the majority of the British public and end arms sales to Israel?"

Rishi Sunak replies that the UK government "does not directly sell arms to Israel, unlike the US".

He also says the UK does not offer lethal aid packages to Israel.

"He should not conflate these issues," the PM says.

He goes on to say that the government "regularly" reviews advice to ensure that Israel is complying with international law, and says ministers "act in accordance with that advice".

Mr Sunak reiterates that the UK's position on arms sales has not changed, and the government acts in line with the US.

After PMQs, you can get live updates on the Israel-Hamas war here:

Will PM apologise for 'puerile and pathetic remarks'?

 SNP leader at Westminster Stephen Flynn is now up and says on Monday the PM outlined what he considers to be serious threats to our society.

"In doing so he actively compared North Korea, Iran, and Russia with those in Scotland who believe in independence," he says.

He asks the PM if he will apologise for the "puerile and pathetic remarks".

SNP 'a threat to the integrity of the UK'

Rishi Sunak says "that is not what I said" but "his party is indeed a threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom". 

"I hate to remind him, but that's literally their entire purpose," he says.

"When the people of Scotland accepted the referendum in 2014, it was the SNP who didn't. 

"They went on creating a minister for independence focused on constitutional wrangling."

That role has now been abolished by the party's new leader, and Scottish first minister, John Swinney.

Mr Flynn says: "We know the PM's sorry time in office is coming to a conclusion, is this how he wants to be remembered?"

The PM says that "as ever", Mr Flynn is "distracting from the actual record of what the SNP are doing in Scotland" and this "obsession with independence" means Scottish children are being let down.