Welcome to The Independent’s live blog as Theresa May faced Jeremy Corbyn for the first time at Prime Minister’s Questions since the party conferences – and Ms May’s “disastrous” speech just last week.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Corbyn dedicated five of his six questions to the Government’s rollout of universal credit amid a growing rebellion on the Government’s backbenches over the flagship welfare reform.
Mr Corbyn criticised a “string of failures” from the Government and called on the PM to halt the rollout before the Department for Work and Pensions accelerates the programme later this month.
Conservative MP Heidi Allen also expressed concerns over the welfare programme, adding there are “many of us” on the Government's benches who believe changes are needed. Ms May agreed to have a meeting with Ms Allen.
Later, at Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May announced that £250 million has been allocated to help Whitehall departments prepare for Brexit, including the possibility of no deal being reached.
“We are preparing for every eventuality, we are committing money to prepare for Brexit, including a no-deal scenario,” the PM told MPs.
“And it might be helpful if I update the House - the Treasury has committed over £250 million of new money to departments like Defra, Home Office, HMRC and DfT (Department for Transport) in this financial year for Brexit preparations.
“And in some cases departments will need to spend money before the relevant legislation has gone through the House and I can tell the House that the Treasury will write to departments and to the Public Accounts Committee explaining this process shortly.
