LIVE: Prime Ministers' Questions

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Prime minister's questions (UK only)

By Brian Wheeler

1209 Mr Cameron continues trying to get Mr Brown admit he made in an error of judgement in appointing Crosby as an adviser. Mr Brown tries to turn the question of judgement back on to Mr Cameron - and the two trade blows over who has the best judgement on economic matters.

1208 Gordon Brown looks like he's trying to put clear water between himself and Sir James Crosby. He says the former HBOS chief did two reports for him but is no longer an economic adviser to the government. No-one's mentioned Sir James's role as an adviser on identity cards yet...

1207 From BBC political correspondent David Thompson: So yes, Sir James Crosby was top of the agenda - but from an unexpected source, the Labour backbencher Khalid Mahmood. His intervention allowed Gordon Brown to get his retaliation in early, announcing Sir James' resignation to the House, insisting that serious, but contested allegations would be investigated and taking at least some of the sting from David Cameron's attack on his decision to use Sir James as an adviser - hence the Tory leader's jibe that Mr Mahmood's question was a 'planted' one.

1205 Tory leader David Cameron is not going to be put off though. He goes straight in on Crosby, asking the PM if it was a "serious error of judgement" to appoint him as an adviser. Mr Brown says KPMG cleared the bank and there is another review going on into bank bonuses.

1203 Labour loyalist Khalid Mahmood lobs an easy question on Crosby to try and get the issue out of the way. Mr Brown says the system of banking regulation will be reformed and says it's right for Sir James to step down from the FSA to clear his name.

1202 And we're off. Has David Cameron had to do a last minute rewrite after the Crosby resignation? Or will he still try to nail Gordon Brown on bank irresponsibility? We'll see.

1201 Was Sir James Crosby pushed or did he go of his own volition? Nobody knows, says Nick Robinson but it would have sapped confidence in the banking regulators if he had carried on.

1159 Just a couple of minutes to go. The Commons chamber is filling up nicely as a debate on international development carries on. This could be a cracker of a session.

1153 The BBC's Carole Walker says Sir James' resignation is a "worrying development" for the government, given his role in advising Gordon Brown on how to salvage the mortgage market. It also opens up questions about whether the banks behaved recklessly with people's money, she adds.

1152 Talk about a pre-PMQs bombshell - Sir James Crosby has just quit as the deputy head of the Financial Services Authority. This is the man accused of sacking a whistleblower who warned about risk taking at HBOS. It is almost certain to dominate PMQs exchanges - but will it be enough to take the heat off Gordon Brown, who relies on Sir James as a key economic adviser?

1150 Welcome to our live text coverage of Prime Minister's Questions. It is likely to be a lively session this week with Conservative leader David Cameron expected to turn up the heat on Gordon Brown over claims one of his top advisers sacked a whistleblower who warned about excessive risk-taking at mortgage bank HBOS. There has also been another raft of dire economic news, with unemployment hitting a 10-year high and the Bank of England warning of a "deep recession". The session gets underway at mid-day in the Commons. You can follow all the action and reaction here - including instant views from my colleague David Thompson - and contribute your own thoughts via e-mail and text. We will use as many of them as we can.