Planned fuel duty rise to be scrapped, says Starmer as he defends changes to Russian oil sanctions – UK politics live | Politics

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asked Starmer to rule out further aid cuts.

Starmer said the government was committed to overseas aid.

Davey said he could not tell from that if Starmer was ruling out further cuts or not.

He asked if Starmer was relieved about agreeing with Andy Burnham about not joining the single market or the customs union during this parliament.

Starmer said, if he followed Davey’s policy, he would not be able to have the trade deal with the US that has saved jobs in the UK.

Badenoch says she was talking about Starmer blocking new licences.

She goes on:

[Starmer is] importing sanctioned Russian oil. He’s nationalising steel. He is imposing price controls in the supermarket. It’s like the Soviets won.

Starmer says Badenoch has missed what is happening.

She may have overlooked the fact that last week [it was announced] we’ve got the fastest growing economy in the G7.

Last week we had the biggest fall in NHS waiting list for 17 years.

Today, inflation has come down more than expected.

And if you’d offered me that and Arsenal becoming Premier League champions, I’d take it every day of the week.

Badenoch says she’s not playing politics.

It’s not playing politics. It’s speaking up for the people who are out there.

The fact is, more people are buying Russian oil because British oil isn’t being drilled.

He’s sanctioning British oil, but not Russian oil. And he should be ashamed.

Starmer says Badenoch said there was no drilling in the North Sea. She will have to refer herself to the privileges committeee, he says.

There is drilling. It’s 24/7 and oil and gas are coming out. And that will be important for many, many years to come. We are we are supporting those existing oil and gas fields throughout their lifespan.

Badenoch says Starmer should be ashamed of his policy.

Let me make it clear. I know it hurts him to hear it. He is now choosing to buy dirty Russian oil. That money will be used to fund the killing of Ukrainian soldiers. Isn’t he ashamed?

Starmer accuses Badenoch of misunderstanding and misrepresenting the policy.

And he says Russia is the only country that benefits when a party plays politics with Ukraine like this.

Badenoch claims Labour is helping Russia make money, Reform UK takes money from Russia, and the Tories are the only party standing up to them.

Starmer says this is a serious issue, and he accuses Badenoch of misrepresenting the policy.

He says:

These are new sanctions putting more pressure on Russia. And I think if she’d done her homework she should actually support us on this.

Badenoch asks why oil from Russia is acceptable, but oil from Aberdeen is not.

Starmer says the package yesterday involved new sanctions, going well beyond what was there before.

And he says there were two orders to phase these sanctions in.

He says the last government did the same thing when new sanctions were being phased in. And Labour backed them at all.

He goes on to say this is not about reducing existing sanctions at all.

Kemi Badenoch says it was the Tories who called for the fuel duty freeze to be continued.

She asks why Labour voted against more drilling in the North Sea last night.

Starmer says Badenoch likes to claim credit for things nothing to do with her.

In her mind, she won the Eurovision on Saturday and scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final. But she’s never takes any responsibility for what they did for 14 long years.

Kirsteen Sullivan (Lab) asks about the cost of living.

Starmer says he can today announce a 12-month holiday for hauliers on road tax.

And he says the government will not go ahead with the planned increase in fuel duty.

Keir Starmer starts by expresssing his condolences to the family of a solider killed in a tragic incident on Friday.

He says it would be remiss of him not be comment on one of Manchester’s great heroes moving on after a decade. So he will congratulate Pep Guardiola.

And he congratulates Arsenal on their win too.

Ben Quinn has an article in the Guardian today on how Nigel Farage seems to have vanished from the public eye over recent days, as Reform UK continues to dodge questions about his £5m donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne – and how Farage paid for a £1.4m home.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, seems to have been reading this. He said today the Reform UK leader’s “silence” suggested “he might realise he might get thrown out” of the Commons.

Davey told reporters:

The fact that Nigel Farage – he’s never been afraid of getting in front of the camera before, has he – has now disappeared, suggests that he might realise he’s guilty, he might realise that he has committed an offence, and that he might get thrown out by parliament.

But a Reform UK spokesperson said Farage would be appearing on camera later on Wednesday and had addressed the “non-issue” previously.

PMQs is not far off.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

There will be an urgent question after PMQs on the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil. It has been tabled by Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary.

A business minister should be replying.