David Cameron defends tax credit cuts at PMQs

David Cameron has defended proposed cuts to tax credits and warned the House of Lords not to challenge them.

The prime minister said cutting tax and welfare while raising pay was the "right approach" and MPs supported it.

Amid reports peers may try to block the cuts, he said it was the historic right of elected MPs to decide such matters.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said people would not believe the PM's "reassurances" and accused him of "cutting people's ability to survive".

The exchange over tax credits at Prime Minister's Questions comes amid attempts by MPs and peers from all parties to try to get the government to amend its proposed changes - due to take effect in April.

But the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said there was no sign of any concessions over the issue, with ministers "digging in".

David Cameron's warning to the Lords

The prime minister used a question from Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg over the respective powers of the Commons and the Lords to issue a thinly-veiled warning to peers minded to challenge the policy on tax credits.

Mr Cameron said the 1911 Parliament Act enshrined the right of the Commons to have the final say over budgetary and financial matters, pointing out that MPs had already backed the tax credit changes in two separate votes.

"I think the House of Lords should listen to that very carefully and recognise it is for this House to make financial decisions and it is for the other House to revise other legislation," he said.

A government source has accused peers of "provoking a constitutional showdown" by tabling a so-called "fatal motion" in an attempt to halt the cuts.

Peers will vote on a range of motions on Monday.

They include the "fatal motion" from the Lib Dems and another motion tabled by crossbench peer Lady Meacher, who wants the government to respond first to an impact analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

There is also a Labour motion to delay the cuts while the government introduces measures to protect people affected.

BBC deputy political editor James Landale has taken a look at the possible outcomes of Monday's votes.

The Labour leader used his first three questions to probe the prime minister over tax credits. As an opening gambit, he brought up the Tory MP Heidi Allen's much-publicised critique of the policy and asked what part of it the PM disagreed with.

Mr Corbyn then went on - as part of his technique of crowd-sourcing questions from the public - to quote a self-employed woman who had written to him to say that she and many others relied on tax credits to help them establish a business in the early years.

He asked whether the PM "did not see the value of giving support to people trying to improve their lives rather than cutting their ability to survive properly?"

The Labour leader then quoted what he said was Mr Cameron's assurances during the election campaign that tax credits would be protected, suggesting the PM had had a "strange change of mind" on the issue since then.

"Is there any reason this change has come about or any reason why we should believe the PM on any assurances he gives?" he asked.

The two leaders also clashed over job losses in the steel industry, with Mr Corbyn accusing the government of not having any industrial strategy and demanding intervention to save threatened plants.

The prime minister said he had a plan for a "strong and viable" sector, tackling energy costs and other factors, but he said he would not fix the global price of steel.

He went on to accuse Labour of "self-righteousness" - suggesting that steel production had fallen by 50% during its time in government.

Mr Corbyn used his final question to ask about a United Nations inquiry into disabled people's human rights in the UK. The PM gave a bullish response, saying the inquiry may not be "all it's cracked up to be" and said that disabled people in other countries do not have the rights and support offered in the UK.

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson called for the publication of a report into suicides that occurred after benefits were cut. Mr Cameron said he will "look very carefully" at the issue.