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The Competition and Markets Authority’s independence will remain intact, business minister Justin Madders said.

This comes after the regulator’s chairman stepped down earlier this week.

In the Commons, Conservative MP Bob Blackman (Harrow East) said: “The clear issue here is why did the previous chairman resign, and indeed what remit has the minister given to the interim chair to change that policy and direction of the CMA?

“So, can he outline that – he says he’s going to do it later this year, but he’s manoeuvered a position where the previous chair has resigned, so we need to know the answer of what the CMA are going to be doing now to regulate the market?”

Mr Madders replied: “The CMA’s operational independence is going to remain intact. We’ve obviously very clearly set out there will be a new strategic steer, which will be about boosting growth, and we’ve decided, after conversations, that actually new leadership is needed to actually deliver on that.”

Conservative former minister Sir Julian Smith said: “Changing personnel is one thing, but when you speak to business, resolving disputes in the way that the CMA resolved dispute is key. Could I urge the minister to look at how disputes are resolved and whether litigation and an antagonistic approach to business is the best way for the CMA to proceed?”

Mr Madders replied: “We need to give businesses certainty and clarity that things will be resolved quickly, and that they will have confidence moving forward that investment decisions will be made.”

Read the full story here

Minutes after Prime Minister’s Questions ended, Defence Secretary John Healey took to the Commons to tell MPs that a Russian “spy vessel” was operating around the UK.

Read the full story here.

Kemi Badenoch has branded Labour’s education reforms as “the worst of socialism” in a fiery clash in the House of Commons.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the Tory leader attacked Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to overhaul the way academies operate.

Read the full story here

A Conservative former shadow minister quoted Harold Wilson at Sir Keir Starmer as he said the Government’s plans on taxing, spending and borrowing would have the same result as it did under Mr Wilson in the 1970s.

Sir Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex, said: “When it comes to his budget, which raised taxes, raised borrowing and raised public spending as a strategy for economic growth, when is the Prime Minister going to accept the words of the Labour prime minister in the 1970s, who explained to a Labour conference that ‘in all candour, that option no longer exists’, and that the only way to obtain sustained economic growth will be by cutting taxes and cutting regulation?”

The Prime Minister said: “He must have missed recent reports. The ONS has just said we’ve got the highest investment for 19 years, the PWC have just said that this is the second best place to invest in the world, the IMF have just upgraded growth, now saying we’re predicted to be the fastest-growing major European economy.

“Wages are up and inflation is down. That’s after just six months.”

One interesting attack from KemI Badenoch was the idea that Keir Starmer’s school reforms are bringing back socialism.

She said: “It is an attack on excellence. It is an attack on higher standards. It is an attack on aspiration. This Bill is the worst of socialism and isn’t it deprived children in England who will pay the price?”

A Tory MP says borrowing costs are up and asks the PM whether he still thinks Rachel Reeves is doing a good job.

He says he thought the MP was reading out the last Government’s record – a swipe at the Tories. But he doesn’t actually defend Ms Reeves.

Starmer takes a swipe at Shadow Home Secretray Chris Philp, who was getting ticked off by the speaker for barracking the PM, crowing: “it’s Liz Truss’s right hand man, I wouldn’t expect anything less “

A Tory MP mocks Sir Keir for splits within the Governmet. The Prime Minister responds: “We’ve just won a landslide victory. We’ve got a massive majority”

Keir Starmer has been asked to apologise after the Government delayed plans to rebuild hospitals.

Starmer says the rebuild timetable drawn up by the last government was “alwatys a fiction” that would not have happened.

With so much else going on, it’s a bit of a surprise that Kemi Badenoch focused on schools and education.

But parents care deeply about their local school.

And if your child goes to an academy – a type of school that Labour actually created, but the last Tory government embraced (thanks partly to ex-education secretary Michael Gove) – it’s not nice to think that the present government doesn’t support it.

“Who is benefitting? It’s the trade unions” says Kemi Badenoch. She says the unions are running the Education Department.

“The Prime Minister needs to get out more and speak to schools,” she says.

It’s “the same old Labour”.

And in what seems to be a reference to her own education, she says “I know what it’s like to go to a school that does not care about standards”.

Starmer is angry – saying “she’s got a nerve!”

“She knows that’s not right” complains Keir Starmer after Kemi Badenoch says Labour’s changes will prevent experts getting into teaching such as qualified doctors teaching biology

Kemi Badenoch says Labour’s education bill “is cutting teachers’ pay”. This is a reference to the changes to academy schools which reduces their independence, including their ability to set their own pay rates.

Keir Starmer says it is a “disgrace” that Conservatives oppose the bill.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says there are “important questions” to answer about Southport but she will return to those after the case is concluded (ie after the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is sentenced)

Instead she asks about Labour’s schools bill, which she calls an “act of vandalism”. Critics of the bill say it undermines academy schools.

Keir Starmer claims the bill contains measures to protect vulnerable children and the Conservatives are putting children at risk by opposing it.

Keir Starmer tells MPs that the Southport murders were “devastating” and the inquiry will not let any institutions cover up their failings.

And he confirms, talking about a separate court case, that the law will be changed to ensure people convicted of crime will be required to attend sentencing hearings

What will Tory leader Kemi Badenoch ask about? Options include the state of the economy, Donald Trump’s return to the White House and knife crime following the Southport murders

Nigel Farage, fresh from his trip to pal Donald Trump’s inauguration, is poised and ready in the chamber for PMQs

More than 1,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, hitting a new record.

Home Office figures show 129 people made the journey in two boats on Tuesday, taking the provisional total for 2025 to date to 1,019.

Read the story here

Online retailers will be forced to put in place tougher checks to stop youngsters buying knives after Sir Keir Starmer said it is “shockingly easy” for children to buy blades

But Nigel Farage said: “Starmer wants us to talk about how a 17 year old could buy a knife online.

“The truth is there are murder weapons in every kitchen drawer. What we should be talking about is the total failure to stop this terrorist & the cover-up of information that the public were entitled to.”

The Express’s chief political commentator David Williamson writes that the Southport murders, the grooming gangs scandal and horrendous examples of police corruption risk “shattering faith in institutions” supposed to keep us safe.

He warns that Sir Keir Starmer’s Britain faces a crisis of trust if people conclude the state will protect itself but not the innocent.

Read his full analysis here

A mixed bag of MPs listed for questions in PMQs later. Expect Keir Starmer to be grilled on everything from the Southport murders, knife crime, the spluttering economy and airport expansion.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will go head-to-head with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons at midday.

The Express’s politics team will bring you the latest updates from the chamber on our live blog.