LIVE: Raab fires back as Rayner mocks ‘US trade deal in tatters’ – Labour MPs laugh DOMINIC RAAB and Angela Rayner will go head-to-head at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) from noon.
The recently appointed Deputy Prime Minister will step in for Boris Johnson as he is currently in the US. In the absence of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer will follow convention and step aside from the dispatch box to allow Ms Rayner to quiz her Tory counterpart. The Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne is expected to grill Mr Raab on the unfolding energy crisis and the recent Brexit snub by US President Joe Biden.
President Biden played down the prospects of a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US during a meeting with Mr Johnson in the White House on Tuesday.
He said: “We’re going to talk a little bit about trade today and we’re going to have to work that through.”
President Biden, who has Irish heritage, also raised concerns about the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol, created to prevent a hard border.
He added: “And I would not at all like to see, nor I might add would many of my Republican colleagues like to see, a change in the Irish accords, the end result having a closed border in Ireland.”
The Prime Minister insisted the 78-year-old was “absolutely right” and reiterated the UK’s commitment to the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Mr Johnson said: “On that point, Joe, we’re completely at one, nobody wants to see anything that interrupts or unbalances the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.”
Raab says tax cuts have saved workers £1,200 annually
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab replied: “If she wants to talk about taxes and easing the burden on the lowest paid, I’ll remind her whenever a Labour Party has gone into Government unemployment has soared, the economy has nosedived and taxes have gone through the roof. “Under this Government we cut income tax, saving every worker £1,200 each year, we have introduced and extended the national living wage so full-time workers are £4,000 better off each year, we have doubled the free childcare for working parents worth up to £5,000 for every child every year. When Labour takes office, unemployment goes up and the economy goes down.”
PMQs: Raab mocks Rayner over comments about ‘opportunities’
Rayner takes swipe at Raab’s Crete holiday when attacking economic policy
Angela Rayner has taken a swipe at the former Foreign Secretary’s holiday to Crete during the Afghanistan crisis, when condemning the Government’s economic policy.
She said:” The Deputy Prime Minister has said the solution is for people to work harder. So, can he tell us how many days a worker on the minimum wage would have to work this year in order to afford a night at a luxury hotel, say in Crete?”
Rayner says Britons to be hit with £1,100 worth of tax rises
Angela Rayner says cuts and tax risis will cost earner on £18,000 over £1,100 per year.
She said: “That is almost exactly the same as an average annual energy bill. Just as energy prices are ballooning they have chosen to take the money that could cover a year’s worth of bills out of the pockets of working people.”
Rayner attacks Tories on universal credit cuts and NI hike
The Labour deputy asks how much a cut in Universal Credit and increase in National Insurance will cost a worker on £18,000 a year.
Mr Raab said the universal credit rise was “always meant to be temporary”.
He also pointed out wages were rising in the UK
Raab hits back a jobs jibe and says UK has ‘fastest economic growth in the G7’
Dominic Raab said: “When it comes to British workers, can I just say to her that we’ve got payroll employment back to levels we saw before the pandemic.
“We’ve got youth employment rising, we’ve got businesses advertising over a million jobs at a record high, and the fastest economic growth in the G7 this year.”
Dominic Raab praises UK economy (Image: SKY NEWS)
Raab says PM making progress on Brexit deal with US
Dominic Raab responded to Ms Rayner and said the Prime Minister is making progress on a deal with the US.
He said: “For a start, I think it is excellent news that because of the engagement we’ve had with the US they have immediately given us the boost to trade and businesses by reinstating travel from the UK to the US.”
Rayner attacks ‘zero progress’ on US trade deal
Angela Rayner has kicked off PMQ’s with an attack on Brexit talks with the US.
The Labour Deputy referenced the Prime Minister’s absence from the Commons and said he flew to the US and “made zero progress on the trade deal he promised us”.
She said: “Can I begin by offering my commiserations to the Prime Minister after he flew away to the US and made absolutely zero progress on the trade deal that he promised us.
“And can I ask the Deputy Prime Minister does the Deputy Prime Minister still believe that British workers are among the worst idlers in the world?”
Angela Rayner is quizzing Dominic Raab in the Commons (Image: GETTY)
Dominic Raab thanks GPs for work during the pandemic.
Dominic Raab has thanked the work of GPs during the coronavirus pandemic and said appointment numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
He said: “While appointment numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels, of course patients, the public, rightly expect to see their GP face-to-face where it’s necessary.”
Kwasi Kwarteng warns of higher energy prices
Kwasi Kwarteng is being questioned by MPs over energy supply.
He told the committee: “Price has spiked considerably.
“You would expect normally that the price would revert to the mean. It’s not something that we think is going to be sustainable but of course … we have to prepare for longer-term high prices.”
Kwasi Kwarteng is being questioned by MPs over energy supply (Image: GETTY)
Business Secretary quizzed on energy issues
The Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is now giving evidence to the business committee about energy supply crisis in the UK.
It comes as the UK reached a deal with US-owned fertiliser manufacturer to ensure the supply of CO2 for the food sector continues.
The Government will provide “limited financial support” towards CF Fertilisers’ running costs to prevent a food supply shortage at Britain’s supermarkets.
The agreement will be in place for three weeks while the “CO2 market adapts” to the surge in global gas prices, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
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