Westminster live: Theresa May blames Labour for decision to destroy Windrush landing cards

During PMQs, Theresa May blamed the last Labour government for the decision to destroy Windrush immigrants' landing cards - but a No 10 spokesperson has clarified that it was, in fact, an "operational decision" taken by the UK Border Agency, and not by a Labour minister.

Theresa May met with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi this morning. A Downing Street spokesperson said:

"The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi discussed the chemical weapons attacks in Salisbury and Syria, expressing concern and making clear their opposition to the use of chemical weapons by any party in any circumstances.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s position on Russia’s recent destabilising behaviour, underlined by the attack in Salisbury and the protection provided for the Syrian regime’s repeated use of chemical weapons against its people.

The leaders discussed their shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific and committed to working more closely together to ensure it remained free and open.

They reflected on the progress made on bilateral defence and security cooperation since the Prime Minister’s visit to India in 2016 and the agreement to a number of Defence Capability Partnerships in key strategic areas, with closer military-to-military ties underpinned by a succession of high level visits and exchanges.  They agreed to continue working together closely to combat terrorism, radicalisation and online extremism.

They also discussed co-operation between the two countries on legal matters. Mrs May welcomed the return to the UK of the Chennai Six.

The Prime Minister updated Prime Minister Modi on the progress of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, saying the implementation period agreed in March gives Indian companies and investors the confidence that market access will continue on current terms until the end of 2020.

She reiterated that the UK will remain committed to global free trade and investment and that the UK will remain a leading hub for global finance. Prime Minister Modi said there would be no dilution in the importance of the UK to India post-Brexit. He said the City of London was of great importance to India for accessing the global markets and would remain so.

The two leaders said trade between the UK and India had grown strongly over the  last year and Prime Minister Modi said that Brexit offers opportunities to further increase trade ties.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the £1 billion of commercial deals which has been agreed today. They agreed to build on the recommendations of the UK-India Joint Trade Review to reduce barriers to trade, to make it easier to do business in both countries and enable a stronger bilateral trade relationship for the future.

Looking to the future the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi discussed the new UK-India Tech Partnership agreed today which will create thousands of jobs and generate significant investment in both our economies. The Prime Minister said the Partnership will be at the core of much that we’ll do together over the next decade.

Finally they looked forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting tomorrow and agreed on the importance of working together to build a more sustainable, prosperous, secure and fairer future for all Commonwealth citizens.”

NEW: Parliamentary authorities have launched an investigation into Jeremy Hunt after he admitted breaking money laundering rules.

The health secretary failed to properly disclose his stake in a company that bought a number of properties on the south coast. 

Laws state that anyone with more than a 25 per cent stake in a company must declare it within 28 days. MPs must also declare business interests in the parliamentary Register of Interests. Mr Hunt failed to do both within the time limit, only declaring his stake six months later. Under the law, such a breach could result in a fine or up to two years in prison.

A spokesperson for Mr Hunt blamed the error on the health secretary's accountant and called it a "genuine oversight". They said the Cabinet Office had ruled there had been no breach of the ministerial code.

However, the Commissioner for Standards has now launched an inquiry.

“The Commissioner has begun an inquiry concerning an alleged breach of Paragraph 13 of the Code of Conduct,” a spokesperson told PoliticsHome.

Negotiations between the UK government and the devolved assemblies over devolution after Brexit are "reaching the end game", Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The Scottish first minister said the government now has "days rather than weeks" to find a compromise with the Edinburgh and Cardiff assemblies 

There has been a stalemate over government plans, included in the EU Withdrawal Bill, to take control of powers that are currently devolved to Scotland and Wales. 

Scottish Secretary David Mundell admitted talks are likely to "go to the wire".

Ms Sturgeon told members of the Scottish parliament: ""The Westminster government had a decision to make, whether to respect the decision the Scottish parliament arrived at or not to respect it, and unfortunately they opted not to and referred to the Supreme Court.

She added: "I think it's fair to say we are reaching the end game of this.

"We know the stage the withdrawal bill is at in terms of being at the report stage in the Lords, so we will probably over the next couple of weeks need to see this come to an agreement or not.

"We are talking now more like days rather than weeks."

During PMQs, Theresa May defended her work and pensions secretary, Esther McVey, for suggesting rape survivors who are forced to recount their ordeal in order to access benefits might welcome the "opportunity to talk'. Here's the full story from Rob Merrick: 

At the afternoon briefing of Westminster journalists, a No 10 spokesman was unable to confirm whether or not Theresa May had been made aware, at the time, of the decision to destroy Windrush generation landing cards.

The lack of records has made it difficult for many immigrants from the Caribbean to prove their legal right to reside in the UK.

The Downing Street spokesman confirmed that, while the "business case" for destroying the records was signed off under Labour in June 2009, the "operational decision" to begin this process was taken in October 2010 - when May was Home Secretary.

The spokesman said: "I don't know if she was made specifically aware of it."