PMQs LIVE: David Lammy steps in for conflict with Tories as PM heads for China
David Lammy will today step in for Keir Starmer to take questions from MPs in Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions.
Mr Lammy – who took over as Deputy PM from Angela Rayner in September – became the first Black man to answer questions on the government side in November.
It is unclear who he will face from the Tory side. Last time, he faced Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge in a bizarre exchange that descended into chaos. Mr Lammy can expect questions on the Gorton & Denton by-election (and the Andy Burnham row) and the PM’s trip to China, as well as other international issues including Donald Trump’s recent threats over Greenland.
Follow live updates below…
Lammy’s historic first PMQs
David Lammy became the first Black man to answer Prime Minister’s Questions on November 5 last year.
The brother of Stephen Lawrence, Stuart, who campaigns for racial equality and watched the session from the public gallery, said: “This is a landmark event. I can see the aspiration shared by young Black British people playing out in front of me.”
Mr Lammy, who took over as deputy PM after Angela Rayner resigned in September, praised other “trailblazers” that had stood at the despatch box, including veteran MP Diane Abbott, the first Black woman to take PMQs, and Kemi Badenoch, the first Black leader of any major UK political party.
David Lammy to step in at PMQs
David Lammy will step in at PMQs for Keir Starmer, who is on a visit to China.
The Prime Minister landed in Beijing this morning. Speaking to reporters on the plane overnight, Mr Starmer said he will raise “issues that need to be raised” as he faces pressure to challenge China’s President over human rights in a high-stakes meeting on Thursday.
The Prime Minister will meet Xi Jinping on a four-day trip to China – the first by a British PM in eight years after UK-China relations deteriorated under previous Tory PMs.
