PMQs: Tories preparing for opposition, Rayner tells Dowden

The Conservatives are preparing to leave office, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has told MPs, as she accused the government of failing on the NHS and child poverty.

Ms Rayner faced Deputy PM Oliver Dowden at PMQs while Rishi Sunak is away.

She said the Tories were on a "conveyor belt of crisis" and more focused on a right-wing conference than governing.

But Mr Dowden defended the government's record and said the "British people will never trust the Labour Party".

In a Prime Minister's Questions littered with banter and party-political attacks, Mr Dowden filled in for Mr Sunak while he attends a G7 summit in Japan.

He suggested there was friction between Ms Rayner and Labour's leader, Sir Keir Starmer, saying they were "at each other's throats" behind the scenes.

"Mr Speaker, they're the Phil and Holly of British politics," Mr Dowden said, comparing them to the hosts of ITV's This Morning programme, whose relationship has reportedly come under strain.

Now, following the loss of more than 1,000 Tory councillors in this month's local elections, Ms Rayner asked, "who does he think is responsible now?"

Mr Dowden did not answer the question directly; instead, he said he had expected to face the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, who he called "the Labour leader's choice for the next deputy prime minister if they win the election".

In recent weeks, the Conservatives have been accusing Labour of plotting a coalition with the Lib Dems and other parties ahead of the next general election.

Hitting back, Ms Rayner said it was "absolutely amazing that while the Labour Party is preparing to govern with a Labour majority, his party is starting to prepare for opposition".

She referenced several speeches by Tory MPs and cabinet ministers at the National Conservatism Conference, an event organised by a right-wing think tank from the United States.

The conference has brought conservative thinkers, politicians and journalists to Westminster and has heard speeches from senior Tories, including Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Ms Rayner described the conference as a "tribute act" to former US President, Donald Trump.

Brining her questions to a close, the Labour deputy leader: "And while his colleagues spout nonsense at this carnival of conspiracies, I want to know: when will his party stop blaming everybody else and realise that the problem is them?"

Mr Dowden said he would proudly defend the government's record on crime, employment and the national living wage.

"And what's their record - four general election defeats, 30 promises already broken, and one leader who let antisemitism run wild," Mr Dowden said, referring to former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

"That is why the British people will never trust the Labour party," Mr Dowden said.