Sunak suggests MPs will vote on proposed NI protocol deal and accuses Starmer of wanting to ‘surrender’ to EU – as it happened

6.00pm GMT

Early evening summary

• Rishi Sunak held overnight talks with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, fuelling fresh speculation that the UK is nearing a deal with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol.

• Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of being too weak to take on Brexit “malcontents” on the Conservative benches and reach a deal with the EU over Northern Ireland, as the pair tussled over Brexit at prime minister’s questions.

• The health union Unison has announced new strike action and warned there could be no “pick and mix solution” to the NHS dispute, after it was excluded from talks between the health secretary, Steve Barclay, and the Royal College of Nursing.

• London Underground drivers are to strike on 15 March – budget day – in a dispute over pensions and working arrangements.

Keir Starmer and other Labour MPs posing for a photograph at the Commons today with Ashley Dalton, elected Labour MP for West Lancashire in the byelection before the half-term recess. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

5.55pm GMT

Farming minister Mark Spencer reprimanded by Climate Change Committee over beef imports comment

As my colleagues Fiona Harvey and Helena Horton report, at the NFU conference yesterday Mark Spencer, the farming minister, said that a trade deal could lead to beef being imported from Mexico.

The story has prompted Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Committee, to write to Spencer reprimanding him for minimising the importance of agriculture playing its part in the drive towards net zero. Deben said:

The Climate Change Committee has made it quite clear that we cannot ask UK farmers to meet the high standards our carbon budgets require while importing food from nations that produce meat with higher emissions.

This is a sensitive issue all over the UK but it is particularly crucial for Northern Ireland, whose economy is so dependent on meat production. I fear your comments will undermine Northern Ireland’s commitment to the tough carbon budgets that are necessary under their new devolved climate law.

The UK cannot reach our legal commitments and international obligations under the agreements at Paris and Glasgow unless our agriculture sector plays its part. That must not be compromised by a decision to allow the importation of meat with a higher carbon footprint than our own.

Updated at 6.01pm GMT