PMQs: Love wins as Angela Rayner and Oliver Dowden pal around – POLITICO

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.

What they sparred about: It was the polite, loved-up battle of the deputies Wednesday as Keir Starmer continues his marathon flight to Samoa for a Commonwealth summit. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner faced off against Shadow Leader of the Opposition Oliver Dowden as questions swirl about Labour’s upcoming budget and a big diplomatic row with Donald Trump. But the main attraction was two second-in-command politicians being relatively nice to each other as the sun sets on Dowden’s time at the top.

Here we go again: Labour promised during the election campaign not to raise taxes on “working people.” But there have been weeks of speculation that the budget will hike employers’ national insurance contributions, stark warnings from economists that this will be passed on to workers anyway, and some pretty cagey responses from ministers. “What is the deputy prime minister’s definition of working people?” Dowden asked.