Angela Rayner’s plans to build new homes were slapped down by Chris Philp during a clash in the Commons. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Shadow Home Secretary stood in for their respective party leaders for the weekly Commons clash on Wednesday.

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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp raised the case of a “Zimbabwean paedophile due for deportation” who was “recently allowed to stay in the UK because a court found he might face, quote, ‘some hostility back in Zimbabwe”‘.

He continued: “What about the rights of children here to be protected from this dangerous paedophile? Who is looking out for their rights? Not the Government. There are thousands of cases like this involving foreign criminals. So there is a solution, we need to scrap the Human Rights Act for immigration matters, so this sovereign Parliament decides on the law our courts apply, but her party voted against that.

“So I have a simple question, why did the Government side with foreign criminals and not the British public?”

In her response, Ms Rayner said 4,500 foreign national offenders have been deported since Labour came into power, adding: “I take no lectures from the Johnny Come Lately, who couldn’t do anything when he was in office.”

Chris Philp said: “I don’t see how she has the brass neck to claim she’s got it under control, when the numbers crossing the Channel this year are the highest in history.”

He added: “The Home Office’s suppliers are now actively offering above market deals to landlords to get hold of their properties to be used for illegal immigrants. In the meantime, hard-pressed young people here are unable to rent or buy. So why is this Government prioritising housing for illegal immigrants above housing for our young people?”

The Deputy Prime Minister replied: “Under their watch, immigration increased fourfold until it reached almost a million in a single year. They also created the backlog – 400 hotels, which we’ve reduced to just over 200 hotels in the first 12 months of us being in Government.

“One million pounds a day ‘spiffed’ up the wall because they were so incompetent. We’re building the homes that they failed to deliver over 14 years of consecutive failure by their government. They should apologise while we get on with the job of rebuilding Britain.”

The Shadow Home Secretary said: “If she wants to find out whose lost control of our borders I suggest she looks to her immediate right because ever since the Home Secretary scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even started illegal immigration across the Channel has gone up by over 30% and so far this year 2025 has been the worst year in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel. That is on her watch, that is down to her Government.”

The Shadow Home Secretary switched topics to Channel migrants for his next question after No10 yesterday admitted the situation was “deteriorating”.

Chris Philp asked: “Does the Deputy Prime Minister now accept that the small boats crisis is a crisis of public safety as well as a border crisis?”

Angela Rayner replied: “This is a very serious issue and more needs to be done. Let me update the House. Working with our allies we have carried out a series of major arrests to tackle smuggling gangs behind this vile trade.

“In the past month a ring leader that smuggled almost 4,000 migrants has been jailed for 25 years.”

Chris Philp urged Angela Rayner to apologise for previous remarks by Sir Keir Starmer on a grooming gang probe.

In January, the Prime Minister hit out at politicians “calling for inquiries because they want to jump on the bandwagon of the far right”.

The Shadow Home Secretary told the Commons: “It’s vital that scandals like this are never again covered up because of the racial background of perpetrators, and Baroness Casey’s report said people who downplay the ethnic dimension are letting victims down.”

He added: “I do have to raise the language the Prime Minister used in January when he, I’m afraid to say, smeared campaigners as jumping on a ‘far-right bandwagon’, simply for calling for the very inquiry he has now been forced to set up. Standing up for rape victims is not far-right.

“So will the Deputy Prime Minister apologise for what the Prime Minister said?”

The Deputy PM said: “The Prime Minister did not just raise issues, but acted on them. He brought the first prosecutions against grooming gangs, called for action to address ethnicity issues in 2012, and (Mr Philp) will know that the data that the previous government collected was inaccurate and not complete, and Casey recognised this and it’s one of the recommendations we will be taking forward.

“The Prime Minister made those comments specifically about Tory ministers who sat for years in the government and did absolutely nothing about this scandal.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp set out a series of demands for the grooming gangs inquiry after meeting victims with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch yesterday.

He said: “The survivors told us they will only have confidence in an inquiry if it is independently led, has full statutory powers, covers all 50 towns affected including Bradford, if those who covered this up are prosecuted, if foreign perpetrators are all deported, if survivors are closely involved and if it is set up before the summer recess.

“Can the Deputy Prime Minister give the survivors and their families those assurances?”

Angela Rayner replied: “It’s absolutely right that we look at what’s happened over the last couple of decades. The countless reports that we’ve had, and we look to implement that.

“He’s absolutely right to also talk about the confidence people must have in that independent inquiry and the Home Secretary spoke about that earlier this week in regards to Baroness Casey’s report.

“So we will take that forward at speed, it will be independent, it will have statutory powers and we will implement the Jay Report.”

She added: “We’ll get on with taking the action. I hope members of his party will take his tone in making sure the whole House put the victims first and we all work together to get to the bottom of this.”

Angela Rayner is at the Despatch Box in the Commons as Prime Minister’s Questions gets going.

There is around 10 minutes to go until Prime Minister’s Questions gets underway.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will face Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp in the Commons.

The annual rate of house price growth halved as a stamp duty holiday ended, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

The average UK house price increased by 3.5% in the 12 months to April, halving from 7.0% annual growth recorded in March this year.

Stamp duty discounts became less generous for some home buyers from April. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp will ask questions for the Conservatives, instead of party leader Kemi Badenoch.

Keir Starmer is away in Canada, so Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is standing in for him.

Common practice in this situation is for the leader of the opposition, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch in this case, to appoint a deputy to represent them in a similar way.

At some point it’s likely Ms Rayner will be asked about the ongoing war in the middle east.

Israeli warplanes have pounded Iran’s capital overnight, hitting a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, military chiefs said.

Ten missiles were intercepted by Israel overnight as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminished.

Israel is carrying out blistering attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme and military sites that began with a surprise bombardment on Friday.

The opening of the HS2 high speed rail line will be delayed beyond the planned date of 2033, the Government will confirm.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to tell Parliament on Wednesday afternoon there is “no reasonable way to deliver” the high-speed railway on schedule and within budget.

The project has already suffered repeated delays and soaring costs despite being scaled back.

Ms Alexander will tell the Commons she is drawing a “line in the sand” over the beleaguered rail project, as the Government attempts to reset how the UK delivers major infrastructure.

Westminster veterans recall the days when John Prescott, a former Labour Deputy Prime Minister, led PMQs while Tony Blair, Prime Minister at the time, was out of the country.

Prezza, as he was known, wasn’t a great talker and often got his words wrong. Everyone expected him to make a hash of it.

His Tory opponent was William Hague, one of the most eloquent people in Parliament.

But somehow, with his self-deprecating humour and passion, John Prescott came out of the exchanges the winner.

Sir Keir Starmer faces the threat of a Labour rebellion as flagship reforms to the welfare system are expected to have their first outing in Parliament today.

The Welfare Reform Bill will be introduced in the House of Commons, and its text will be published so MPs can begin scrutiny of the proposals.

The major reforms are set to include the tightening of criteria for the main disability benefit in England, personal independence payment (Pip).

Ministers also want to cut the sickness related element of universal credit (UC), and delay access to it, so only those aged 22 and over can claim it.

The package of reforms is aimed at encouraging more people off sickness benefits and into work, and the Government hopes it can save up to £5 billion a year by doing so.

But ministers are likely to face a Commons stand-off with backbench Labour MPs over their plans, with dozens of them last month saying the proposals were “impossible to support”.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “This morning’s news that inflation remains well above the 2% target is deeply worrying for families.

“Labour’s choices to tax jobs and ramp up borrowing are killing growth and stoking inflation – making everyday essentials more expensive.

“To plug the hole they have created, we now know Rachel Reeves has a secret plan to raise taxes. Make no mistake – more taxes are coming.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Our number one mission is to put more money in the pockets of working people through our Plan for Change.

“We took the necessary choices to stabilise the public finances and get inflation under control after the double digit increases we saw under the previous government, but we know there’s more to do.

“Last week we extended the £3 bus fare cap, funded free school meals for over half a million more children, and are delivering our plans for free breakfast clubs for every child in the country. This government is investing in Britain’s renewal to make working people better off.”

The rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation fell to 3.4% in May from 3.5% in April, the Office for National Statistics said.

Angela Rayner will face PMQs today as Sir Keir Starmer travels back from Canada after the G7 summit.

The Deputy Prime Minister will be grilled by the Tories in the House of Commons at midday.