And now, the leader of the opposition:

Starmer joins the PM in his opening statements, before calling a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic. He quickly pivots to defence funding, asking the PM about a rumoured 10,000-troop reduction.

Johnson boasts that the government has boosted military funding before jabbing Starmer for his endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer gets a laugh out of the house with his retort, before asking if Johnson if he’s telling the truth, using the PM’s own words against him. Starmer cites more figures pointing to cuts before asking if Johnson intended to keep his manifesto pledge. Johnson repeats his original answer, citing his own figures as groans come from the opposition benches. He then goes on the attack, accusing various Labour members of anti-Army sentiment.

Starmer brings up an interview that the PM gave during the election, and references Johnson’s unscrupulous past in journalism. Starmer is on form here. He asks the PM again if he remembers promising to not cut army personnel.

The PM denies the question, citing army reserves, as well as modernisation, tech development, and Trident. Starmer accuses Johnson of ‘playing with the numbers’. A roar goes up from the Tories after Starmer accuses the party of not protecting the armed forces. The speaker intervenes to quieten the house. Starmer continues, citing three consecutive manifestos, which ruled out military cuts. He then warns that the army, in its current state, cannot defend British interests.

Johnson again returns to his original line. ‘We are investing in the future’. He then calls Labour ‘weak’ on national defence. Starmer returns the accusation of weakness, citing previous broken promises and demanding a vote in parliament on cuts. Johnson reiterates that he is ‘proud’. He was not prepared to say anything else. Starmer looks fed up. Johnson ends with an awful rhyming triplet that I will not repeat.

The speaker intervenes again before Starmer accuses the PM of dodging the questions and carries on with funding cuts. He then turns to the steel industry, asking Johnson to commit to saving British steel. Johnson points to the steel industry under Labour, before citing the ‘massive opportunity’ in new infrastructure projects.