MPs laugh at Theresa May's claim that 'austerity is ending' during PMQs clash with Corbyn

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Theresa May's claim that 'austerity is ending' met with laughter by MPs as she clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over the Budget

Theresa May's claim that "austerity is ending" was met with laughter by MPs as the prime minister clashed with Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Ministers Questions.

Condemning what he called a "broken promise Budget", the Labour leader demanded to know why the government had not pledged to end the benefit freeze.

That prompted confusion over Labour's own policy on the issue after a spokesman for Mr Corbyn said the party would not necessarily raise benefits in line with inflation, despite John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, having said it would.

The Tories were later engulfed by confusion of their own after Downing Street refused to endorse Brexit secretary Dominic Raab's suggestion that an agreement with the EU was likely to be in place by 21 November.

As Britain prepares to leave the EU, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, announced plans to recruit 1,000 more diplomatic staff.

His predecessor, Boris Johnson, was also in the news after it emerged that he had accepted an all-expenses-paid trip to Saudi Arabia just two weeks before the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Follow the action in Westminster as it happened...

[31 October 2018 08:45 · Benjamin Kentish]

Welcome to today's live coverage from Westminster.

[31 October 2018 08:59 · Benjamin Kentish]

Jeremy Hunt announced this morning that the UK will recruit 1,000 more diplomatic staff in a bid to retain its international clout after Brexit.

The foreign secretary said the expansion would also involve the opening of new embassies.

[31 October 2018 09:15 · Benjamin Kentish]

There has been a surge in the number of British residents applying for Irish passports as the UK prepares to leave the EU 

[31 October 2018 09:25 · Benjamin Kentish]

Sir David Natzler, chief clerk of the Commons, has said MPs could vote twice on the deal the government secures with the EU.

He told the Brexit committee that a parliamentary rule that says there should not be a vote on exactly the same matter twice in the same sitting was not designed to "obstruct the necessary business of government on such a crucial thing".

[31 October 2018 09:39 · Benjamin Kentish]

The Home Office has been warned it is risking another Windrush scandal amid confusion over the rights of EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit. 

[31 October 2018 09:57 · Benjamin Kentish]

Sir David Natzler says the "humble address" technique, which was used to force the government to release Brexit impact assessments, could not be used to force ministers to change their Brexit policy. 

He tells the Commons Brexit committee that the arcane technique cannot be used not to direct ministers. 

[31 October 2018 10:10 · Benjamin Kentish]

David Davis has predicted that Theresa May will get a Brexit deal, saying: "Terror will win".

The former Brexit secretary told an event organised by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) think-tank:

"Terror will win."

"The fear of no deal, I think - we haven't had a chance to talk about it much - but I think that's an irrational fear of no deal or WTO deal.

"That will win and there will be a deal.

"It may take [a] few passes, there maybe a deal passes in Brussels and fails in Westminster."

[31 October 2018 10:22 · Benjamin Kentish]

British and Canadian politicians have written to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to demand he explain his company's "failures of process" in relation to the spread of fake news and propaganda. 

Damian Collins, the Tory MP who chairs the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, has joined forces with Bob Zimmer, chair of the Canadian parliament's committee on access to information, privacy and ethics, to announce an "international grand committee" on "disinformation and fake news".

They told Mr Zuckerberg:

"Over the past year, our committees have both sought evidence from a Facebook executive with sufficient authority to give an accurate account of recent failures of process, including the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal and subsequent data breaches.

"You have chosen instead to send less senior representatives, and have not yourself appeared, despite having taken up invitations from the US Congress and Senate, and the European Parliament."

[31 October 2018 10:51 · Benjamin Kentish]

The Independent editorial: Philip Hammond took a big gamble with the economy in his Budget

[31 October 2018 11:12 · Benjamin Kentish]

  ↵Speaking to the Commons Brexit committee, chief clerk Sir David Natzler said amendments tabled by MPs to the government's plan in the case of a no-deal Brexit would have no legal effect - as reported by The Independent at the weekend...