Good morning!

Welcome back to the Politics Hub on this Tuesday, 13 January.

Reform UK is riding high after unveiling former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi as its latest high-profile defector, even after the Tories claimed that he only made the move after begging for a peerage (which he categorically denies).

But ahead of that announcement, Nigel Farage’s party had dropped in the polls, hitting its lowest rating since April last year. Usual caveats apply – it’s one poll, but it does mark a continuation of a downward trend since October.

Labour, meanwhile, has risen two percentage points, which is a bit of positive news for the PM to mention in his weekly cabinet meeting this morning. The government is keen to talk about the news that immigration enforcement raids are at the highest level in British history (no mention of deportations in their press release, however…).

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey is taking a leaf out of Farage’s book and will hold a news conference at 10am, and then will do some interviews. He will launch his plan to end 12-hour waits in A&E within a year, at the cost of £1.5bn. Watch live on Sky News and here in the Politics Hub.

The Institute for Government is hosting its annual conference today, with appearances expected from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride – and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. All ears out for any subtle, or not so subtle, criticism of the PM.

Over in parliament…

Streeting and his ministerial team will face questions from MPs from 11.30am, after which the SNP’s Kirsty Blackman will table a bill to make it easier to remove peerages (hello Peter Mandelson!).

There are also various committee appearances;

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook will be grilled on ‘new towns’ from 10am;Tech Secretary Liz Kendall and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will be questioned about AI and copyright from 2pm, which is timely given the Grok row;Courts minister Sarah Sackman will face questions on the justice reforms from 2.30pm;And Richard Hughes, who resigned as OBR chair after the budget leak in November, will take questions from 3pm.

We’ll be discussing all of that and more with…

Home Office minister Alex Norris at 7.15am;Former Tory minister and Reform UK member Nadine Dorries at 8.30am;Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper at 9.20am.

Follow along for the very latest from Westminster.