PMQs: Boris Johnson says he ‘makes no apology’ after Labour accuses him of ‘stench of sleaze’ over texts to James Dyson – live | Politics

Andrew Mitchell (Con) says Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands, has increased transport spending by seven-fold. Does the PM have advice for Mitchell’s constituents on 6 May?

Johnson says the Tory mayor is delivering hope for the people of the West Midlands. He says Street deserves another term.

Karl Turner (Lab) asks the PM to accept that Priti Patel was wrong to say Labour police commissioners do not increase police numbers.

Johnson says he does not want to sound like a stickler for accuracy, but he says in Humberside the police numbers have been increased because of government policies.

Andrew Griffith (Con) asks the PM to praise West Sussex council’s record on recyling.

Johnson says the Conservative-led council there deserves praised. Conservative councils provide better value, he says.

Johnson says the achievements of the SNP government are “dismal”. They are failing on education, failing on crime and failing on taxation, he says.

Saqib Bhatti (Con) asks if the PM agrees football fans should be at the heart of decision making.

Johnson agrees. He says the super league plan would have turned clubs into global brands, with no link to the communities from where they originated. The review by Tracey Crouch will consider what can be done to promote the role of fans.

Andrew Rosindell (Con) asks Johnson to back a plan to move a statute of Ronald Reagan to Parliament Square.

Johnson praises Reagan, but says this is a matter for the mayor of London.

Anna McMorrin (Lab) says we see more corruption come to light day after day. Yet people are excluded from support if they do not have the PM’s number. Will the PM meet her constituents to discuss how they can rebuild their lives?

Johnson says he is proud of what he did to procure ventilators. And he is proud of the vaccine roll-out programme, which he claims Labour opposed. (That’s not true; Labour didn’t oppose the programme.)

Johnson says the roll-out of super-fast broadband has been accelerated.

Kim Johnson (Lab) says hundreds of British Gas engineers have been sacked for not signing new contracts. Fire and rehire practices are unacceptable. Will the government ban this in the Queen’s speech?

Johnson says he repeats what he has said before about this. (He has condemned the practice, but not promised to outlaw it.) He asks Johnson to send details of the case.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader at Westminster, says he was proud to wear uniform and protect Northern Ireland. The PM promised to protect veterans from vexatious prosecutions. Will he honour that?

Johnson thanks Donaldson for his service. And he thanks Johnny Mercer for his work as veterans minister. The overseas operations bill helps veterans. But there is more to be done to help people who served in Northern Ireland (who are not covered by the bill). More measures will be introduced in due course, he says.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says the lobbying revelations are incredibly serious. “This is how the Tories do government.” How many more contracts did the PM personally fix? Will they be published?

Johnson says there is nothing to hide. He says he will share the details with the house, and that he shared the details with his officials immediately.

• Johnson suggests his officials were told about his text message dealings with James Dyson.

Blackford says the 3m self-employed people did not have a David Cameron or James Dyson to text the PM on his behalf. He says this texts-for-contracts scandal is growing.

In the background we can hear Blackford’s dog barking loudly.

Johnson says the dog was talking more sense than Blackford.

Philip Davies (Con) says Shipley should be able to break away from Bradford council.

Johnson says a minister will contact Davies about this.

Starmer says if the PM had been talking to nurses, he would know how insulted they are by their pay offer. There is a pattern to this government, he says. Every day there are new allegations – dodgy PPE deal, tax breaks for mates, “sleaze, sleaze, sleaze”, and it’s all on the PM’s watch. How can people expect the PM to clear this up?

Johnson says he gets on with tough decisions to protect the country and to procure ventilators – which Labour now opposes, he says. “Captain Hindsight snipes continually from the sidelines,” he says. The government gets on with the people’s priorities.

Starmer says there is an open door for those with the PM’s number and a closed door for those without. If an NHS nurse had the PM’s phone number, would they get the pay rise they deserve?

Johnson says the government is helping nurses. This is the government that is helping the profession by recruiting more than every before, he says. He says he will back nurses to the hilt.