Keir Starmer vows Ukraine support in low-key first PMQs

Mr Sunak also said the Conservatives would support the Labour leader if he deemed it necessary to take military action without consulting Parliament.

Sir Keir supported multiple rounds of strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen under the last government, and did not join the Lib Dems, SNP and Plaid Cymru in calling for Parliament to get a vote on the military action.

Commons votes have been held on most armed interventions since the 2003, but there is no legal requirement for PMs to get approval from MPs.

Elsewhere, Sir Keir was forced to defend the government’s strategy to tackle child poverty after he suffered a rebellion over the two-child benefit cap.

The policy, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, prevents almost all parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credit for more than two children.

Labour’s landslide election win has led to renewed calls for it to be scrapped from some MPs, charities and anti-poverty campaigners – but the government has said it will not make an “unfunded” commitment to do so.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn called on Sir Keir to change course, noting former Labour PM Gordon Brown’s support for a change in policy.

The prime minister replied that his government was taking steps to reduce poverty through its plans for primary school breakfast clubs and abolishing no-fault evictions for private renters.