In an urgent question to the Commons following PMQs, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “There is no legal basis on which we have to give away the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.

“An advisory judgment from the (International Court of Justice) has no force of legal power whatsoever. Indeed, America disregard it so much they’re not even members of it.

“I am pretty convinced – and by the way, they’ve been very busy with foreign policy, the Americans, just lately, so perhaps no wonder that Diego Garcia has not been high on their agenda – but when the Americans wake up to the fact that this has been done wholly unnecessarily, I wouldn’t be surprised if we find ourselves together with the European Union in their tariff regime.

“Can the minister confirm there is no binding legal basis for this transfer of sovereignty whatsoever?”

Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty replied: “We’ve been very clear, as indeed the previous government was, that this base was not on a secure footing, and this has been done in full agreement with the US national security apparatus.”

He added that the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia “plays a critical role in countering an array of threats” to security and the Government will ensure “it is in operation well into the next century”.

Nigel Farage mocked “panicking” Labour MPs as he demanded Sir Keir Starmer explain why pensioners are losing winter fuel payments while the UK hands £18 billion to a foreign country.

The Reform UK leader faced a barrage of heckling from Labour MPs, but he hit back: “They really are panicking.”

He also highlighted the impact of the government’s decision to means-test winter fuel payments on a war-hero constituent.

Mr Farage asked: “What do I say to 25,000 constituents in Clacton” including a 99-year-old man who flew “a full set of missions” as a Lancaster bomber pilot “as they are losing their winter fuel allowance, feeling the pinch at the same time as we are giving away a military base” at a cost of £18 billion?

Read the full story here.

Sir Ed Davey asked Sir Keir Starmer about Donald Trump suggested the US could take ownership of the Gaza Strip.

But the PM insisted that Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution”.

He replied: “I have from the last few weeks, two images fixed in my mind: the first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving.

“The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking – literally walking – through the rubble to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.

“They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”

Sir Keir Starmer failed to repeat that “all rules were followed” as he was grilled about meeting a voice coach during lockdown in December 2020.

Tory MP Gagan Mohindra asked: “I know that like everyone in the House, the Prime Minister is an honourable member.

“On that basis, can he repeat his assurances that all rules were followed while the country was in tier 4 lockdown in December 2020, not just by him but his team as well, but also his voice coach Leonie Mellinger?”

The Prime Minister replied: “In December 2020, I was in my office working on the expected Brexit deal. With my team we had to analyse the deal as it came in at speed, prepare and deliver a live statement at speed on one of the most important issues for our country in recent years.

“That’s what I was doing. What were they doing?

“Suitcases of food into Downing Street, partying and fighting, vomiting up the walls, leaving the cleaner to remove red wine stains. That’s the difference – I was working, they were partying.”

Kemi Badenoch warned that businesses are abandoning the North Sea because of Labour’s decisions.

The Leader of the Opposition said: “I am speaking on behalf of the people of this country, when Labour negotiates, our country loses.

“He is talking about bringing growth and investment. Last week, he lost a £450 million investment from AstraZeneca that we negotiated, and which would have delivered growth immediately. That same day, he also lost the £8 billion oil field investment that would have delivered next year. Business is abandoning the North Sea because of his decisions, what signal does he think he is sending to investors?”

The Prime Minister replied: “As she knows, AstraZeneca was a commercial decision, she must understand that. But all she does is come here every week, carping from the sidelines, talking our country down.

“We’ve got the highest investment for 19 years, PwC say the second best place to invest in the world, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is upgrading growth, wages are up, inflation is down. There’s more to do, reforming planning and regulation, building new homes, supporting a runway – the third runway at Heathrow.

“What unites these? Championed by Labour, opposed by the Tories.”

Kemi Badenoch challenged Sir Keir Starmer on whether he had “the guts” to approve new British oil and gas licence applications.

The Tory leader said: “This is a weak answer, because he doesn’t know what is going on. Last week, I asked about the employment Bill, he didn’t know what was going on. We asked about the education Bill, he didn’t know what was going on. Let me tell him what is going on, maybe he can answer some questions.

“Shell has said a one-year delay to Rosebank will cost £350 million and the loss of a thousand jobs. Equinor has said a two-year delay to Jackdaw will cost £800 million. The only benefit I can see is the £400,000 to Labour ministers.

“At a time of war in Europe, threatened energy security, increased competition from the US and elsewhere, we should be getting British oil and gas out of the ground. Does the Prime Minister have the guts to take on Labour donors and his Energy Secretary and approve the licence applications when they are resubmitted?”

The Prime Minister replied: “She doesn’t even want to know what’s going on, otherwise she’d have asked for the relevant briefing.

“But she knows the position on Rosebank, she knows the court case that has meant that the licence has got to be reviewed. There’s a process that’s got to be gone through in the proper way. She understands that, but yet again she’s proving all she can do is student politics and playing party politics.”

The Leader of the Opposition said: “How can anyone believe that this man is defending UK interests when he bends the knee to anyone who asks him?

“His answer was so weak and so waffly, it’s no wonder he needs a voice coach, but he didn’t answer the question I asked him – why the Energy Secretary was not defending our country?”

Referring to the Government not challenging the legal decision to overturn consent given to open the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, she went on: “Did the Energy Secretary refuse to defend UK interests because he’s funded by billionaire eco-zealots?”

Sir Keir replied: “In relation to oil and gas it will be part of our energy supply for many years to come. We have been absolutely clear about that. But we are going through a transition.”

Kemi Badenoch used her first questions at PMQs to take aim at Sir Keir Starmer over the Chagos Islands deal.

The Government is facing intense criticism over plans to hand the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius but pay to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.

The Tory leader said: “When Labour negotiates, our country loses. Yesterday, we heard the Government offered £18 billion for Mauritius to take our territory in the Chagos Islands.

“This is money that belongs to our children and their children. This is an immoral surrender so North London lawyers can boast at their dinner parties.”

Moving on to energy, she said: “Why did the Energy Secretary withdraw Government lawyers from defending the case against the eco nutters who want to obstruct Rosebank’s oil and gas fields?”

On Chagos, the PM replied: “This is a military base that is vital to our national security.”

He later added: “A number of years ago, the legal certainty of that base was thrown into doubt. Let me be clear and I’ll pick my words carefully, without legal certainty, the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should.

“That is bad for our national security and it’s a gift to our adversaries.”

Sir Keir Starmer is at the Despatch Box as Prime Minister’s Questions gets underway in the Commons.

A grinning Kemi Badenoch has a friendly chat with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle as she enters the Commons before PMQs

Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured outside 10 Downing Street as he heads to PMQs in the Commons.

Here is the list of MPs due to ask questions to the Prime Minister today.

It includes Reform deputy leader Richard Tice. We understand Reform leader Nigel Farage is also expected to get the chance to ask a question in his role as a party leader.

The House of Lords has slammed Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to build homes on already-developed parts of the green belt as “largely redundant”.

Steph Spyro has the story

The UK and European Union have discussed “concrete ways” to improve ties as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s drive to “reset” relations with Brussels, EU bosses say.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds and the EU’s trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic met in Brussels in the latest stage of the process to forge closer ties.

Mr Thomas-Symonds, the minister responsible for leading efforts to restore relations with the EU after the strains of the Brexit wrangles, said it had been a “productive meeting”.

“As we progress forward to the UK-EU Summit in May, this Government is working to deliver for the UK to make people more secure, safer and more prosperous,” he said.

Mr Sefcovic said they had discussed “concrete ways to enhance” EU-UK co-operation “in a meaningful, balanced way”.

Global finance experts have delivered a damning verdict on the state of the UK economy and blamed Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

S&P Global said: “Concerns about squeezed margins, weak customer demand and lacklustre UK economic growth prospects were all cited as weighing on business confidence in January.”

In a new report looking at the state of the UK economy, the New York-based finance firm said businesses did less work in January than previous months “and the pace of job shedding accelerated to its sharpest for four years.”

It said the state of the global economy was a factor, but much of the blame lay with last year’s Budget which increased National Insurance for employers, pushing up the cost of employing people.

The report warned: “While some service providers commented on the impact of global economic uncertainty and elevated interest rates, many firms also linked lower new orders to weaker business confidence in the wake of the Autumn Budget.”

The Government has been forced to deny the cost of handing over the Chagos Islands could rise to £18 billion and disputed claims made by the Mauritian Prime Minister about the renegotiated deal.

However the Government is refusing to confirm how much it will actually cost.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told his country’s National Assembly that he had rewritten the deal to ensure payments from the UK rose in line with inflation and to give his country an effective veto on extending the terms of the agreement beyond 99 years.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government plans to hand the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius but pay to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The figures being quoted are entirely inaccurate and misleading.”

The big global news today is Donald Trump’s plan for the US to take over Gaza, the Palestinian territory which was the scene of a destructive war.

However the UK has already made it clear it disagrees with the idea.

President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents has been swiftly rejected and denounced by American allies and adversaries alike.

Mr Trump’s suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the US President detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the US to take “ownership” in redeveloping the war-torn territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Mr Trump said.

His plan involves moving Palestinian residents to other countries such as Jordan or Egypt.

But Environment Secretary Steve Reed said this morning: “I can happily tell you what the UK government’s position is, and that is that Palestinian civilians must be able to return to their homes and rebuild their lives.

For those people, the last 14 months have been a living nightmare, and it’s important they’re able to go home after this and start to rebuild.”

The Prime Minister has invited EU leaders to the UK for a summit on May 19 to talk about his “reset” of relations with the EU.

The Labour leader has repeatedly vowed to “reset” relations with Brussels since he entered No 10.

Sir Keir met EU leaders over dinner on Monday night and became the first British PM to attend a European Council since the UK left the EU five years ago.

But Nigel Farage warned that while the UK could be “friendly” with the EU, it was a bad idea to start tying us up with Brussels again.

Our Political Editor Martyn Brown has the details

One issue that could come up at PMQs is whether Sir Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules by meeting his voice coach during the pandemic.

Dramatist Leonie Mellinger told the authors of Get In, a new book about Labour under Starmer that she visited the party’s headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve in 2020.

She supposedly counted as a “key worker”, in which case the rules were not broken. But Conservatives are asking whether she really did count.

Even if Tory leader Kemi Badenoch doesn’t raise this issue, it will be a tempting one for a backbench MP.