MPs laugh at Theresa May's claim that 'austerity is ending' during PMQs clash with Corbyn
Follow live updates from Westminster
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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...
Ukip leader Gerrard Batten was due to visit a fish auction at 7am this morning but he overslept and instead turned up after all the fish had gone...
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade has condemned Boris Johnson for accepting an all-expenses-paid trip to Saudi Arabia.
A spokesperson said:
"As foreign secretary, Boris Johnson supported billions of pounds worth of arms sales to the Saudi regime and gave his full backing to its terrible bombardment and blockade of Yemen.
"Politicians should not be taking money from authoritarian regimes or dictatorships like the one in Saudi Arabia, which has an appalling human rights record and has inflicted a humanitarian crisis on Yemen.
"The Saudi regime is not spending money on hospitality for Boris Johnson because it cares about his views on education. It is doing it because it knows that he's got ambitions for Downing Street and it wants to buy influence."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments