PMQs live: Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May clash over living standards in last session before summer recess

Brexit likely to dominate final clash as MPs prepare to return to constituencies for six-week break

Parliament will rise this week and return in early September (PA)

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have clashed at PMQs for the last time this parliamentary year.

The exchanges focused mostly on living standards, with the Labour leader highlighting falling wages and the Prime Minister defending the Conservatives' economic record.

After a tumultuous year in Parliament, which included a general election, the triggering of Article 50 and the start of Brexit negotiations, both party leaders will be relieved to have survived the last 12 months. Mr Corbyn undoubtedly goes into the summer recess in a stronger position than Ms May, who was weakened by a disastrous election result.

While she has so far managed to cling on to her job, a number of Tory MPs are ready to wield the knife and it is unlikely but not unthinkable that this PMQs could be Ms May's last.

The Prime Minister is likely to use the summer break to try to reassert her authority and strengthen her hold on power, as she attempts to enforce discipline on an increasingly divided cabinet.

Earlier this week Ms May was forced to tell ministers to stop briefing about their colleagues and instead get on with their jobs, after a string of negative stories about Chancellor Philip Hammond appeared in Sunday newspapers.

Mr Hammond is not the only senior minister under pressure this week; David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, also faced criticism after turning up to Brexit negotiations in Brussels apparently without any briefing notes and stayed for just one hour before returning to London and leaving his officials to handle the talks.

Some Tory MPs are likely to use PMQs to raise the issue of BBC salaries on the day the corporation revealed 96 members of staff who are paid more than the Prime Minister.

Here are the main political stories today:

EU set to halt Brexit talks ‘because the UK is not ready’

Theresa May to chair new advisory group aimed at building bridges with business before leaving EU

Theresa May under pressure to drop migration target after warning over Brexit recruitment crisis

Labour granted emergency debate on student tuition fees

Tory party split laid bare after Theresa May gets go-ahead to sack disloyal ministers

Jeremy Corbyn tells Theresa May to scrap 'invasive' tests for trans people

[19 July 2017 12:06 · Kristin Hugo]

Tory backbencher Helen Whately accuses Labour of trying to "weaponise" the NHS. She asks the Prime Minister to congratulate NHS staff on their "skills, dedication and hard work". Ms May is happy to oblige.

[19 July 2017 12:08 · Kristin Hugo]

Jeremy Corbyn mocks May for having to deliver a "slapdown to her squabbling ministers". After Philip Hammond was reported to have said public sector workers are "overpaid", Corbyn asks whether the Chancellor was really referring to his cabinet colleagues.

[19 July 2017 12:22 · Kristin Hugo]

Corbyn says May needs to "take a check with reality".

"Why doesn't the Prime Minister understand that low pay is a threat to an already-weakening economy?", he asks.

May repeats her usual line about the best way out of poverty being through work - ignoring Corbyn's point that 55 per cent of people in poverty are in working households.

She says the National Living Wage has helped those in work.

[19 July 2017 12:29 · Kristin Hugo]

That was reminiscent of the Cameron V Miliband clashes: Labour focusing on living standards while the Tories emphasise the need to reduce the deficit.

May has clearly made a conscious effort since the general election to talk more about the Conservatives' economic record, having been criticised for not doing so enough during the election campaign. But her jibes about the deficit Labour left are unlikely to resonate as much with the public after seven years of Tory rule as they did in 2010.

[19 July 2017 12:31 · Kristin Hugo]

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman calls for the voting age to be lowered to 16.

May says 18 is the "right age" because "we expect people to continue in education or training" until that age. Quite how this impacts their right to vote is unclear. She sits down without elaborating.

[19 July 2017 12:36 · Kristin Hugo]

The issue of tuition fees has been a tricky one for Jeremy Corbyn recently after Labour appeared to back down on its pledge to eradicate existing student debt.

May exploits the issue:

"Labour were going to abolish student debt - now they say it wasn't a promise at all. Students know Labour can't be trusted on student fees". 

That prompts loud cheers from Tory MPs but John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, re-iterates Labour's policy. "We're going to scrap them", he calls out.

May says Corbyn should also apologise for claiming fewer people from disadvantaged backgrounds are applying to university - something that is not backed up by statistics. 

[19 July 2017 12:38 · Kristin Hugo]

Michael Fallon and Boris Johnson having their usual jovial chat on the frontbench while May is speaking...

[19 July 2017 12:44 · Kristin Hugo]

Cheeky from Labour MP Ian Murray, who refers to Theresa May as "the interim Prime Minister". With rumours of a Tory leadership contest continuing to swirl, can May last the summer? The answer is almost certainly yes - but MPs of all parties believe her days in Downing Street are numbered.

[19 July 2017 13:17 · Kristin Hugo]

Protesters in wheelchairs have blockaded the House of Commons chamber at the end of PMQs - follow more on that story here. We're wrapping up our PMQs live blog for today, to be resumed when MPs return in September. See you in the autumn!