PMQs recap – What happened in today’s session?
We had PMQs at midday… in which deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and justice secretary Dominic Raab stood in for their respective leaders, who were attending former speaker Baroness Boothroyd’s funeral.
Rayner focused on… violence against women and girls, challenging the government on low rape convictions, and slow case progress. In a thinly veiled reference to his own bullying enquiry, she also asked Raab whether he wanted to see bullies brought to justice.
In response, Raab... said the conviction rate measured by the CPS in rape cases had gone up 69%; funding for victims had been quadrupled; and violence against women was one of the government’s “top priorities”. He also accused Rayner of being more interested in playing “political games” than the issues she was raising.
After that, we had a statement by Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick… who confirmed plans to house migrants arriving in the UK on small boats in accommodation such as repurposed barrack blocks on former military bases in Essex and Lincolnshire. There’ll be another site in East Sussex, as well as one in Rishi Sunak’s constituency.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper… branded the plans an “admission of failure” by the government to tackle the migrant crisis. She said small boat crossings had increased and 40% fewer asylum cases were being decided due to the policies. She also accused the Home Office of behaving in such a panicked way that it had, she said, bid against itself for hotel contracts – driving prices up.