Sir James Cleverly said: “If the soon-to-be prime minister does not want to be complicit in his failure, he should come out and condemn this plan, not just hint that he opposes it, because if Labour cannot protect the citizens of this country either domestically or internationally, then what on earth is the point of them?”

David Lammy hit back: “The British people haven’t forgotten what the party opposite did to our country.”

Sir James Cleverly urged David Lammy to axe proposals to abolish some jury trials in a bid to get a grip on the court backlog.

The Tory politician said: “Another thing that the country and indeed this House knows instinctively wrong is his personal crusade to scrap trial by jury.

“We know that it will not clear the backlog, we know it undermines fundamental British freedoms and we know the legal profession is united against.

“Will he now admit that it is wrong and will he commit to reverse his proposals to scrap trial by jury?”

Deputy PM and Justice Secretary David Lammy said: “There is no proposal to scrap trial by jury, there is a threshold change. Margaret Thatcher made a change to jury trials, David Cameron made a change to jury trials.”

Sir James Cleverly said: “He will look back on this exchange and I think he will be shocked by how this is coming across. No apology to the victims, no guarantee that paedophiles and rapists will not be released early.”

He then turned to accidental releases from prison, saying there had been more in the last two years than the entirety of the last parliament.

The Conservative politician added: “Will he apologise to the country for his abject failure at keeping prisoners in prison where they belong?”

David Lammy replied: “They had 14 long years in power, they wrecked neighbourhood policing, prisons were at bursting point and they let out offenders in secret.”

Sir James Cleverly said: “If he will not change course, will he at least make this guarantee, that not one rapist or paedophile will be released early later this year?”

Sir James Cleverly said in his second question: “I’m genuinely shocked that when given the opportunity to apologise to victims he very publicly failed to do so.”

He highlighted comments by grooming gangs survivor Fiona Goddard about the impact of the policy.

Mr Lammy said: “Of course, we think of every victim and that’s why we’re notifying victims.”

He added: “All of us want to see offenders locked up, that’s why we’ve got to have prison capacity.”

Sir James Cleverly used his first question to ask David Lammy about the Government’s prison early release scheme.

The Tory frontbencher said: “Will he apologise to the victims of the rapists, sexual predators and paedophiles that he’s planning to release early?”

The Deputy PM insisted the Government is building more prison places and blamed the Tories for their record in power.

There were big cheers for Tory Sir James Cleverly as he walked into chamber for this pseudo-PMQs.

Quite a big cheer for Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, too.

David Lammy will face questions from backbench MPs as well as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey at PMQs.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves calling on her to block the Clacton by-election until the parliamentary probe into his finances is complete.

Count Binface, the joke candidate who plans to run in a by-election against Nigel Farage, has conceded he will probably not win in Clacton.

Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme if he thought he could win the by-election, Count Binface said: “Probably not, but then you know my job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy.

“And look at this, eh? The fact that you are interviewing me on the Today Programme, because all the other parties aren’t standing, says more about them than it does about me.

“Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel’s running a cunning stunt? And I pronounced that carefully at 8.55 in the morning.”

Zia Yusuf insisted Nigel Farage was not attempting to evade questions by calling a by-election amid scrutiny over his finances.

Reform’s home affairs spokesman told Radio 4’s Today programme: “Nigel will answer those questions, that is clear. He’s already said that he will.

“The reason that he has made the decision that he has is because the most serious sanction that parliamentary standards can impose is, of course, a suspension long enough such that a parliamentary by-election would be called if there was a recall petition.

“So what he has done is say: ‘Let’s go directly to that ultimate source of truth.’

“I know a lot of people in the establishment are uncomfortable with that, because for somebody to do what Nigel has done, whether you like him or not, it takes courage, and that’s obviously a word that can’t be associated with almost anybody in politics these days, sadly.”

Nigel Farage has made “a strategic error” in calling a by-election before the invesitgation by the parliamentary standards commissioner has concluded, Jacob Rees-Mogg said.

Speaking on GB News, the former Tory Cabinet minister said: “Is Nigel Farage John Wilkes, or is he David Davis?

“John Wilkes, in the middle of the 18th century, fought three by-elections. He was chucked out of the House four times. In the end, they eventually replaced him with somebody else because they didn’t like him.

“David Davis fought a by-election, nobody opposed him, and everybody thought it was a mistake.

“And we’re now looking at Clacton and thinking that we’re going to face a race between Red Rum and possibly one of the donkeys from Weston-super-Mare beach, if the only opponent to Nigel Farage is Count Binface.:

Kemi Badenoch said Prince Harry has been given “very bad advice” after a High Court judge dismissed his claim against the Daily Mail’s publishers over alleged unlawful information gathering.

The Tory leader told LBC: “I feel very bad for him, you know, as leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Obviously, there’s only so much I can say about the Royal Family. The King is my boss, I think the King is fantastic.

“But I do think that Prince Harry has been receiving some bad advice. It’s very tricky being in the public eye. I’ve seen a little bit of it as a member of parliament.

“I cannot imagine what it’s like to have had to live in the public eye from birth, but this is not the way to do it. Attacking the free press is not the way. I think he’s been given some, some very bad advice. I feel very sorry for him.”

Sir Keir Starmer said it was important that Nato leaders showed “unity and strength” as he arrived at the alliance’s summit in Ankara.

Speaking at the Turkish presidential palace, he said: “It’s really great to be here for what will turn out to be a very important Nato summit, with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

“There’s a lot of really important issues for us to discuss and agree on action coming out of this summit.

“It’s very important that, as leaders, we show the unity and the strength of Nato at a time like this, and that’s what we’ll do at this summit here this morning.”

Nigel Farage’s by-election could turn out to be a “damp squib” after other major parties said they will not contest it, a polling expert has said.

Asked whether he thinks the vote is a “gamble that will pay off”, Professor Sir John Curtice told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “Well, it depends on what you think he’s trying to achieve.

“I think certainly his hope that he would have a by-election in which he would be taking on all of the other political parties, that therefore it would be quite a very substantial political circus that would receive a great deal of attention, it looks as though that’s not going to happen, because it’s a bit like somebody saying, ‘come on, let’s go and play football’, but then none of the other kids are willing to play.

“And, to that extent, at least, it will probably result in much the same relatively damp squib that it was in Haltemprice and Howden.

“That said, two things – of course Mr Farage will be arguing, it just goes to show the other parties are afraid of me, they’re not willing to challenge me.

“It does mean he’s got himself back in the headlines. Reform are still ahead in the opinion polls, but with the slight boost for Labour in the wake of the resignation of Keir Starmer, and the fact that support for Reform has been edging down slowly. He would be hoping that the publicity will help to push him up.

“But this second thing, however, and I think this is one of the risks he’s taken, is that given he is saying I want the people of Clacton to judge my actions, and particularly two controversial sources of support that have been the subject of recent media attention – presumably he’s going to be willing to talk about this during the by-election.”

Nigel Farage has triggered a by-election because he “senses that he is in real trouble”, Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said.

Mr Jarvis, who is currently at the Nato summit in Turkey, said: “This is clearly a stunt from Nigel trying to get in front of the concerns that have been expressed about him accepting £5 million.

“We’ll see what the standards commissioner rules. My sense is he understands the strength of feeling, which I’ve actually interestingly felt bottom up in my constituency. I think he senses that he is in real trouble and has taken action to try and get in front of that.”

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has insisted the US is committed to the alliance as he arrived at its summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday morning.

Speaking outside the summit at the Turkish presidential palace, Mr Rutte said: “There is complete commitment from the United States to Nato.

“The commitment is there, no doubt, also because Nato is there in the United States’s interest, to prevent, for example, the nuclear submarines of Russia ending up on the shores of the United States.”

He added that there was “an expectation” that European allies and Canada would “equalise their spending with the US”, saying this was “fair”.

Asked what his message to Russia was, Mr Rutte said: “My message is that this alliance of one billion people living in Europe, living in Canada, living in the United States, that this alliance will defend every inch of our territory.”

He added: “We will never attack anyone, we will only defend our way of life, our democracies, our territory, so don’t fool with us, don’t play with us.”

Nigel Farage’s by-election “shouldn’t be happening”, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

Asked why Labour was not standing a candidate in the contest, she told BBC Breakfast: “Well, look, the by-election shouldn’t be happening, it’s Nigel Farage who has chosen, I think, frankly, to disrespect the people of Clacton by just doing this.

“This is a stunt that is all about his own interest. It’s not about the people of Clacton. It’s not about the country. He was elected in a general election.

“He is only doing this because he wants to somehow distract from what is simply the proper application of the rules and I don’t think that is fair on the people of Clacton. But that is the responsibility of Nigel Farage and not anybody else.”

Nigel Farage’s “people versus the establishment” by-election will not be contested by any of the main parties.

The Reform UK leader announced that he would quit as an MP yesterday and fight a by-election in Clacton amid pressure over his financial affairs.

Mr Farage said: “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire Establishment to frankly tell them where to go, and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election.”

But Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain have all said they will not stand candidates.