Image source, UK Parliament/PA

And that's that for the maiden PMQs of 2026, one which was dominated by events abroad.

Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch called on the prime minister to hold talks with Trump and Nato following the White House's threats to annex Greenland, and pushed for an immediate debate on UK-France plans to deploy troops in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.

The Tory leader broadly welcomed the plan but said the prime minister had shown a "fundamental lack of respect" to Parliament by not immediately inviting MPs to debate it.

Starmer, who declined to say how many troops could eventually be deployed, said the Commons would be able to vote on the plan at the "earliest opportunity".

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey asked Starmer whether he believes the White House's stated desire to absorb Greenland into the US could destroy the Nato military alliance.

Starmer - who, along with other European leaders, has condemned the Trump administration's position on Greenland - said it would be a "strategic mistake" to choose between Nato and the US.

We're ending our live coverage of PMQs now. Thank you for reading and Happy New Year.

Image source, PA Media

Earlier during PMQs, Starmer and Badenoch clashed over Conservative shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson, who is acting as a lawyer for sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in a lawsuit over his assets frozen in Jersey.

The former owner of Chelsea football club, who has ties to Vladimir Putin, was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, triggering his sale of the Premier League club.

Starmer questioned how the Conservatives can support sanctions in support of Ukraine when a shadow cabinet member is “advising someone on how to escape sanctions”.

In response, Badenoch pointed to Lord Wolfson also acting for British military veterans, which she says he has done free of charge, before pointing the figure at his opposite number, the Attorney General Lord Hermer, over his previous high-profile and controversial clients.

She says Lord Hermer defended former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Shamima Begum, who married a member of the so-called Islamic State group as a teenager. She also said he is “helping to surrender the Chagos Islands”.

In response, Starmer said it was the reality of the legal system that lawyers have to represent "all sorts of clients", but said the difference between the government and opposition was that "we want money from Chelsea football club to go to Ukraine".

The numbers behind the claims on living standardspublished at 13:13 GMT 7 January

13:13 GMT 7 January

By Ben Chu, Policy and analysis correspondent, BBC Verify

Away from international matters, we also heard an exchange about living standards in the UK.

In response to a question from the Conservative MP Peter Bedford, the prime minister said: “Under them [the last Tory government] we had... the worst Parliament for living standards on record”.

Calculations by the Resolution Foundation, external show that in the 2019 to 2024 Parliament real household disposable income per person contracted by 0.4% per year on average.

This was the worst performance of this measure of living standards in any Parliament since the 1950s.

However, it’s worth noting that the latest forecast from the government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, suggests that average annual growth of this measure in this current Parliament (2024-2029) will be only 0.5%.

That would make this the second worst Parliament for living standards growth since the 1950s. You can read more on this and other key government targets here.

The first PMQs of the year is done. Here are the key takeaways from a heated session in the Commons.

• Keir Starmer opened by confirming MPs will get a vote on plans to send British troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, following the signing of a declaration in Paris yesterday

• Defence was the thread running through the questions from the Conservative leader. Kemi Badenoch began by welcoming the PM's efforts on Ukraine, but suggested he has shown a "fundamental lack of respect" to the Commons by not making a statement immediately. Starmer committed to making a statement on Ukraine at "the earliest opportunity"
• Badenoch continued to push on the Ukraine plan, and asked Starmer to confirm how many British troops would be sent. The PM did not provide a figure, saying that details are still being worked on
• Starmer attacked the Tories' record on defence and accused the party of having "hollowed out" the armed forces while in government, after Badenoch pushed for a date for the UK to spend 3% of GDP on defence
• Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey - a longstanding critic of Donald Trump - asked whether the PM thinks the American raids in Venezuela broke the law. Starmer said it was for the US to justify its actions

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons

The Speaker brings the session to an end after nearly 40 minutes.

He doesn’t normally let PMQs overrun by that much, unlike his predecessor.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons

Rachael Maskell - re-admitted to the Parliamentary Labour Party in November after a four-month suspension for voting against welfare cuts - has now taken up the cause of the pub trade, which is facing business rates hikes.

The prime minister hints that there might be some relief in the pipeline in his answer.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons

Nigel Farage may have decided to boycott PMQs, but his Reform colleagues seem eager to take part.

Richard Tice, Sarah Pochin and Lee Anderson are standing up and down in unison in an effort to catch the Speaker's eye.

Davey accuses Starmer of looking "ridiculous" by not taking a view on whether the US broke international law, before asking the prime minister if he agrees that an American attack on Greenland would destroy the Nato military alliance.

In this context, does the UK need to increase its defence spending more quickly than currently planned, the Lib Dem leader asks.

Starmer repeats his position that the future of Greenland is for them and Denmark alone.

He says Davey is effectively asking him to choose between Nato or the US, which would be a "strategic mistake".

Image source, House of Commons

Now Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who raises whether the US's actions in Venezuela were illegal. Davey asks whether Starmer agrees with experts who say the raid broke the law.

Starmer replies that it was the UK government's longstanding position that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was "not a legitimate president".

He says there must now be a "peaceful transition to democracy" in the country, and that it is for the US to justify its actions against the "benchmark" of international law.

Finally, Badenoch calls Starmer's approach to the armed forces "disgraceful", accusing the government of prioritising welfare over defence.

Starmer responds by saying Badenoch is "totally irrelevant and nobody is listening to her".

He ends by saying 2026 is the year we "turn a corner and people benefit from decisions we make", promising "there is much more to come".

Image source, House of Commons

Badenoch says "those troops need to know we have their backs" if they are sent to Ukraine, before criticising the government's reforms to Northern Ireland legislation, which critics say would leave former British soldiers open to prosecution.

She says: "Last week, seven former SAS commanders warned that Labour's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will wreck our Special Forces - not me, that's the SAS."

On Northern Ireland, Starmer says his government is introducing a "fair and transparent process" with a package of support for veterans.

He adds that there is "no equivalence between our armed forces, who fought bravely in Northern Ireland, and terrorist groups", accusing the last government of giving sweeping immunity to those who carried out attacks.

Badenoch says it is clear Starmer either doesn't have the detail of the deployment of troops in Ukraine, or doesn't want to share it.

She repeats her call for the prime minister to call an emergency meeting of Nato leaders, and that he should have spoken to Trump by now.

"If any peace deal is breached we would be in direct conflict with Russia," she says.

It is time for the prime minister to move from ambition to commitment, she adds, asking in which year the UK will spend 3% of GDP on defence.

Starmer says he spoke to Trump twice over the Christmas break, as well as other allies.

On spending, he says the government is delivering the biggest sustained increase since the Cold War, before adding that the armed forces were "hollowed out" under the Tories.

Badenoch accused Starmer of dodging the question, and also points out he is yet to speak to Trump about events in Venezuela.

The Tory leader asks Starmer to confirm how many troops would be sent to Ukraine, and whether they would be there in a combat role.

Starmer says he will "of course" speak to Trump, having spoken to his senior envoys yesterday in Paris.

On troop numbers, Starmer does not give an exact figure, but says this would be determined in accordance with military plans, and then put before the House for a debate and vote.

Kemi Badenoch asks why today is not the earliest opportunity for a Ukraine debate, and says the prime minister does not want scrutiny from the House.

Badenoch says it is "essential" for Nato leaders to meet, including the US, and asks if Starmer will be calling an urgent summit.

Starmer responds by saying he has "done everything in my ability" to strengthen Nato.

An early Reform jibe from Starmerpublished at 12:14 GMT 7 January

12:14 GMT 7 January

Chris Mason
Political editor

It's striking that within moments of PMQs starting, the prime minister has a jibe at Reform UK - suggesting today would be a day of celebration for them because it is the day Christmas is celebrated in Russia.

Labour love to paint Reform as Putin sympathisers, something they dispute.

The broader point is Labour see Reform as their principal rivals and so take their chances to have a pop whenever they can, including at PMQs when Reform - because of their limited number of MPs - don’t get to ask many questions.

Nigel Farage is making a point of this and choosing to go on the radio this lunchtime rather than being in the chamber.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons

The Tory leader is accusing the PM of avoiding scrutiny on Ukraine by not calling an immediate debate on the troop plans.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says he has also asked for a statement from the PM.

Starmer says the agreement yesterday on Ukraine was a "political declaration", and that if there were to be a deployment of British troops, it would only be after a ceasefire.

"There will be a statement to the House an the earliest opportunity," he says, as Tory MPs jeer.

Image source, House of Commons

Kemi Badenoch says she welcomes Starmer's efforts to advance peace in Ukraine, as well as the joint statement on Greenland criticising the US.

She says recent days have seen significant international events, and that it is "astonishing" the prime minister is not making a full statement to Parliament today, particularly on sending troops to Ukraine.

She says this shows a "fundamental lack of respect" to the House.

Greenland's sovereignty is sacrosanct, she also says, and asks the prime minister to say what he will do to ensure this is respected.

Image source, UK House of Commons

Keir Starmer begins PMQs by confirming MPs will get a vote on plans to send troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, without setting a date.

He moves on to address yesterday's discussions in Paris, where he says "real progress" was made on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Starmer is on his feet in the Commons, which means we're about to begin.

We'll bring you all the key updates and analysis here, and you can watch along yourself by clicking play at the top of this page.