Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has faced MPs in his first Prime Minister’s Questions while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Japan.
He clashed with Angela Rayner over waiting lists at the NHS, with the deputy Labour leader saying they are longer than when Mr Sunak made his pledge to reduce them.
Ms Rayner said: “The fact is, waiting lists are longer than when the Prime Minister made his pledge five months ago. The number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment is the highest since records began. 7.3 million patients left waiting.”
But Mr Dowden insisted the government is making “good progress” on reducing the lists, adding that Rayner was “forgetting” the pandemic.
The pair made jibes at each other - with Mr Dowden accusing Ms Rayner and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of being the “Phil and Holly of British politics”.
On the NHS, Ms Rayner said: “I know the Prime Minister has his own private GP, so maybe he doesn’t appreciate the urgency.”
The pair were stepping in as Mr Sunak joins other members of the G7 in Hiroshima.
Mr Sunak is unveiling a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.
Back in Westminster long-promised plans to ban “no-fault” housing evictions will be introduced to Parliament in the Renters’ (Reform) Bill by Housing Secretary Michael Gove.
Meanwhile a top Metropolitan Police officer is facing questions from MPs over six protesters arrested at the King’s coronation who were then released without charges.
Met Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist denies officers had been overzealous or were under any political pressure.
