Angela Rayner is standing in for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions as the Government scrambles to defuse an unprecedented Labour rebellion over proposed benefit cuts.
Ms Rayner is representing the Government at PMQs for the second week in a row because Sir Keir is attending a Nato summit in The Hague.
The Deputy Prime Minister is likely to face a grilling over increasingly unpopular plans to cut welfare spending by £5 billion.
More than 120 Labour MPs have now signed an amendment to the welfare Bill calling for it to be rejected in a direct challenge to Sir Keir’s authority.
MPs are due to vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Bill for the first time on Tuesday next week and if the amendment is selected and agreed it would kill the flagship legislation.
