Asked if she would forever rule out a political relationship with Nigel Farage’s party in the future, her spokesman said: “Absolutely, 100% categorically, no.

“There will be no pacts, no pacts with a higher welfare, higher spending party like Reform.

“And I might add that this was Nigel Farage telling potential donors, and you might want to look at recent party donation returns to why he might want to try and imply that he’s going to cosy up to the Conservative.”

Responding to Putin’s remarks (about war with NATO) the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “this is yet more Kremlin claptrap from a president who isn’t serious about peace.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves belongs in “la la land”, Kemi Badenoch told the Commons, as she criticised the Government’s decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Conservative leader said: “No-one believes a word that the Prime Minister says. We now know the black hole was fake, (Ms Reeves’s) book was fake, her CV was fake, even her chess claims are made up.

“She doesn’t belong in the Treasury. She belongs in la la land. They raise taxes on working people, that £16 billion was to increase benefits to protect them from their backbenchers.

“He now boasts about removing the two-child benefit cap, but he used to say that it was unaffordable. He even removed the whip from seven of them for wanting the same thing. He is very happy to throw them under a bus when it pleases him. So, I ask the Prime Minister, how did it suddenly become affordable at the very time he needed to save his own skin?”

Kemi Badenoch has asked why Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “still in her job”.

The Conservative leader told the Commons: “The Prime Minister talks about losing the plot. Let me read to him what his own Cabinet members are saying, and I quote, ‘the handling of this Budget has been a disaster from start to finish’.”

She pointed to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy as she asked: “Who said that? Was it him?”

Mrs Badenoch went on to point at other Cabinet members as she asked: “Was it her? In fact, I think it was probably her, actually, it was probably the Chancellor.”

The Conservative leader continued: “We know that there were endless Treasury briefings to justify raising taxes on hardworking people to pay for benefits and those briefings had real-world consequences. Hundreds of thousands of people drew down their pension, an irreversible act.

“So, the Prime Minister pays tribute to the head of the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility), if the head of the OBR had to resign over market-sensitive leaks, why is the Chancellor still in her job?”

Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: “He doesn’t want to answer a question about taking responsibility because he likes to blame everyone else except himself, and so does the Chancellor (Ms Reeves).

“We now know that the head of the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) was forced out for telling the truth that the Chancellor did not need to raise taxes on working people. We also know that the Chancellor was briefing the media, twisting the facts, all so she could break her promises and raise taxes.

“If she was a CEO, she would have been fired and she might even have been prosecuted for market abuse. That’s why we’ve written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so will the Prime Minister ensure the Chancellor fully co-operates with any investigation?”

“We all know that Putin is the aggressor here” says the Prime Minister, when he is asked asbout the Russian leader’s refusal to end his invasion of Ukraine.

The UK must continue to support Ukraine, says Starmer.

Keir Starmer’s big announcement today is a plan to cut the cost of infant milk formula.

He said: “I can announce to the House how we will save money for parents – helping parents make more informed choices when buying infant formula.

“With clearer guidance for retailers and by helping new parents use loyalty points and vouchers, together we could save them up to £500 before their child’s first birthday.”

The Prime Minister says Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wants his party to “merge” with the Conservatives, and says this would create an “unholy alliance”.

Mr Farage has said he does not support any sort of merger with the Tories.

Labour MP Graham Stringer raises concerns about Labour’s plan to create an official definition of Islamophobia. He asks the Prime Minister to guarantee “that there will be no re-introduction of blasphemy law”.

Keir Starmer says he can guarantee this.

Taxes on small businesses are up says Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew. He says one of his constituents who runs a shop will pay more tax.

Keir Starmer says a temporary cut in business rates introduced during the Covid pandemic is ending. (This seems to mean that he does accept business rates will increase when the cut ends, but he is arguing that this has to happen because the cut was only ever meant to be temporary)

Conservative Paul Holmes criticises plans to cut the number of trials by jury, and says Justice Secretary David Lammy ‘can’t count’ the number of people he has let out of prison.

Sir Keir Starmer says massive delays in the court system have left some victims of crime waiting four years for trials.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says closer links with the EU would be good for the economy.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey highlights the remarkable situation in Tunbridge Wells where water supplies have been cut off and people are forced to drink bottled water.

He asks the Prime Minister to take personal charge of the situation.

“Making the whole country poorer and destroying jobs is not how you keep children out of poverty.”

She says the Chancellor delivered “a broken budget for Benefit Street”.

And she points out that there does not appear to be any money for special needs education.

“Isn’t the the truth that behind it all is a Prime Minister who only cares about one person’s job – his own”.

Kemi Badenoch points out that the Prime Minister last year removed the whip from Labour MPs who voted to oppose the two-child benefit cap.

So why now does he support removing it, she asks.

“He may have taken the whip away but the rebels had the last laugh. The Prime Minister has lost”.

And she points out that former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who she calls “hard left”, has said: “We won.”

Kemi Badenoch laughs after Keir Starmer says she should apologise.

She said: “Noone believes a word the Prime Minister says.”

And the Conservative leader says the Chancellor faked her CV.

“She doesn’t belong in the Treasury, she belongs in la-la land”

“If the head of the OBR had to resign over market sensitive leaks, why is the Chancellor still in her job?” asks Kemi Badenoch.

She says the Chancellor leaked information which had “real world consequences” including people taking money out of their pensions.

Kemi Badenoch says the Chancellor should be fired for misleading the public in the run-up to the Budget. And she asks the Prime Minister whether he will ensure Rachel Reeves co-operates with an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Mrs Badenoch highlights a comment by a Cabinet Minister who said “the handling of this Budget has been a disaster from start to finish”. And she says “it was probably her” – the Chancellor – who said it.

Kemi Badenoch asks whether the PM agrees that when an organisation descends into a “total shambles”, the person at the top should resign.

She’s referring to the head of the Office of Budget Responsibility resigning – but also she really means Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Labour left-winger Ian Lavery has the first question. He says men in the North East have a life expectancy 10 years lower than those in other parts of the country.

Wages are below the national average and unemployment is higher.

He asks Keir Starmer “if there’s much to look forward to on the horizon” and asks to meet the PM.

The Prime Minister highlights government efforts that he says will cut child poverty.

The Reform UK chair said of all all the smears of Nigel Farage this is the worst by far

Here is the order paper for PMQs at noon

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was challenged about resident doctors training in the UK competing for training places with medics who have trained abroad.

He told Times Radio: “What has frustrated me in the context of the resident doctors and the latest round of strikes is that the BMA know full well that I cannot change this at the stroke of a pen, that it requires changes to the law that does take time.

“They also know I’m going as far as I can.

“But, again, you would think from listening to BMA spokespeople in recent days that they are demanding action on this and the Government is reluctant or resistant. And that is just not true.”

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has hit out at critics of Ms Reeves’ major intervention to tackle child poverty by lifting the two-child benefit cap.

Writing for the Daily Mirror, Mr Brown said supporters of the move needed to expose “this week’s Tory lie that abolition does not help children out of poverty, but simply subsidises the workshy, the indolent and the feckless parents on benefits”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had branded Ms Reeves’ decision to raise taxes while scrapping the cap as a “Budget for Benefits Street”.

Sir Keir Starmer is to face MPs’ questions about the consequences of the Budget after a report warned of the impact of tax hikes on the British economy over the next two years.

The Prime Minister will appear in the House of Commons on Wednesday for his weekly clash with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, a week after Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out the Budget.

Sir Keir faces continued scrutiny over the Government’s fiscal plans, including from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has warned that tax hikes and reduced spending will act as a “headwind” to the UK economy over the next two years.

The OECD, a major international organisation, also warned in its latest report that inflation in Britain will be highest of all the G7 advanced economies this year.

Growth will slow this year and next it added, with “substantial” downside risks of the Government’s fiscal plans.