PMQs – live: Angela Rayner says Tories ‘obsessed’ with her council house row in fiery battle with Dowden

Rishi Sunak said it was “not new” for US presidents to call for more European defence spending, which he said was “entirely reasonable”.

Asked if he was convinced of Donald Trump’s commitment to Nato, Mr Sunak said: “We cannot expect Americans to pay any price, to take any burden if we in Europe are not ourselves prepared to make those sacrifices and make those investments.”

The prime minister said it was important for Europe to demonstrate commitment to in turn keep the US committed to Nato and cited the UK and Germany’s track record of meeting their funding commitments.

Rishi Sunak has insisted the government will be able to cut taxes while increasing defence spending, saying it was a “priority” to bolster the nation’s defences.

Asked by broadcasters whether prioritising defence would impact other commitments, Mr Sunak insisted there was “record investment in our public services”.

He added: “We have made a choice and I am not shying away from that choice. All governing is about prioritising. I have decided to prioritise defence because I think that is the right thing to do for our country.

“I am not going to get into writing the next manifesto here and now, but what I am confident about is that if you have a strong plan for the economy as we have and that plan is working, we stick to that plan we will be able to continue increasing defence spending.

“It is a completely funded plan. We have got a very clear idea of how to reduce civil service headcount which has grown considerably over the last few years, and we can bring that back and use that to fund what I announced yesterday.

“And alongside that, continue to invest in public services and cut people’s taxes.”

Rishi Sunak said the reduction in civil service headcount that accompanies his plan to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent by 2030 is a return to 2019 levels.

“Since then we’ve seen a very sifnigiant rise that isn’t sustainable or needed,” the PM said at a press conference in Berlin with German chancellor Olaf Scholz.

He said chancellor Jeremy Hunt had conducted a detailed exercise that “gives us the confidence that we can release the savings needed to fund our defence plan combined with an uplift in R&D spending which we had already budgeted for.”

But he also said: “We are making a choice to prioritise defence with both of those decisions and i believe that’s the right thing to do because whether we like it or not the world is more dangerous now than at any moment since the Cold War and it falls on leaders whether that’s Olaf, whether that’s me to do what’s necessary to keep our continent safe and stand up for our values.”

He called the plan the “biggest strengthening of our national defence in a generation” and said it was “fully funded” and based on Britain having a strong economy.

It is understood that two-thirds of the uplift in defence spending will be paid for by reducing the civil service headcount to pre-Covid levels.

The government has announced plans to cut the equivalent of 70,000 jobs – with £2.9bn of savings being redirected to the defence budget.

As we reported earlier this morning, Rishi Sunak is visiting Berlin to strengthen UK-Germany military ties.

At a joint press conference with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, the PM praised Germany for increasing its defence spending.

He said: “At this dangerous moment, the bond between our two nations is stronger than ever. We meet as a war rages on our continent and new threats are rising around the world.”

He congratulated Mr Scholz on his leadership and taking the “historic decision” to increase Germany’s defence spending.

“We stand here today together as the leading defence spenders in Europe,” he added.

He continued: “Together we have acted to meet this movement. We have taken greater responsibility for our collective security and today we are going even further, opening a new chapter in the security relationship between our two nations.”

Deputy prime Minister Oliver Dowden has been asked who he believes caused instability in the UK economy.

During PMQs, Labour MP Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) said: “Earlier on in the session (Mr Dowden) said that when the prime minister and chancellor took office they restored stability to the UK economy, who does he think caused the instability?”

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden replied: “They might want to forget it but I remember the day the Conservatives came into office in 2010 and what was the note left on the desk of the chief secretary – ‘there is no money left’.

“That is the challenge that we have addressed through the prime minister and chancellor successively.”

Ministers were urged to condemn reports of mass graves at bombed out hospitals in Gaza as war crimes.

Mhairi Black, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, told the Commons: “Two years ago when mass graves were discovered in Ukraine, this House united in condemnation and rightly treated this graves as evidence of war crimes, which Russia must be made to answer for.

“Yesterday, Palestinian officials uncovered two mass graves outside the bombed hospitals in Gaza. These graves also constitute as war crimes don’t they?”

Deputy prime Minister Oliver Dowden replied: “Well of course we would expect the democratic government of Israel to investigate any allegations of misconduct and that is exactly what they do, and it is exactly what the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister urge them to do.

“But I find it quite extraordinary that she seeks to draw parallels between the legitimate war of self defence of Israel and the conduct of Russia.”

Watch the exchange below:

A Labour MP has shared a photoshopped image of Rishi Sunak next to one of his very tall colleagues after Angela Rayner called the prime minister “pint-sized”.

Christian Wakeford, who defected to Labour in 2022, shared on X an image of the PM next to Daniel Kawczynski MP , altered to exaggerate the height difference between the two.

Mr Kawczynski is 6ft 9 in while the PM is 5ft 6in.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has accused the government of delaying justice for those being served no-fault evictions.

During Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Rayner said: “He clearly thought he could spend all week obsessing over my living arrangements and didn’t even bother to read-up on his own government’s Bill this afternoon.

“The reality is, he caved into vested interests on his backbenches and delayed justice for people like Natalie. This week the housing minister said there is no solid date for banning no fault evictions, the housing secretary (Michael Gove) now says it won’t happen before an election, so if he can give us a date, can he name it now?”

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden replied: “I can name the date for (Ms Rayner), today. It’s today that this house will be voting on it. And I’m confident that in line with our manifesto we will deliver on that commitment.”