Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.

What they sparred about: Angela Rayner was in the hot seat for the second week in a row while Keir Starmer talked tough on defense at the NATO summit in The Hague. The deputy prime minister faced Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride for a battle about welfare reforms, which have left Labour backbenchers up in arms — and publicly ready to rebel.

Quick reminder: Labour’s social security changes aim to save £5 billion a year by 2030 by reducing eligibility for personal independence payments, a specific benefit helping those with long-term health conditions. But more than 120 Labour MPs signed an amendment opposing the cuts, which would halt the bill in its tracks. If all the opposition parties voted with the rebels, the government would lose.

Close to home: Stride, a former work and pensions secretary no less, began his debut PMQs outing with some clever jibes making Rayner wince. “We have a great deal in common,” mused Stride — they both disagreed with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax policy. Rayner, a leading figure on Labour’s soft-left, could well have been a rebel if she wasn’t deputy PM. The shadow chancellor suggested “there are many sitting behind her” who wished Rayner taking PMQs was a “permanent arrangement.” Leadership gossip never ceases in Westminster.

Rebel just for kicks: The deputy PM welcomed the “latest wannabe” to the jousting match and insisted Labour wouldn’t be folding on welfare. “We won’t walk away and stand by and abandon” those in the welfare system, Rayner said — though she avoided criticizing her rebellious colleagues.

Date for the diary: Stride clocked that the most effective questions are the shortest. Asking if the welfare bill vote will actually happen next Tuesday, Rayner responded in the affirmative. Bookmark that promise in case it ages rather quickly …

Temporary kingmakers: If the rebels hold out, Tories have promised to help get the bill. How kind of them! It gave the Conservatives their first jolt of influence since getting thrown out of power. Stride asked about the Tories’ three tests for supporting the bill: more welfare cuts, higher employment and no tax rises. Could Labour meet them?

Taxing answers: Naturally, Rayner ducked those points and went on the offensive. She lambasted the “ballooned” welfare bill under the Tories and said they “had no shame.”

Klaxon alert: Stride had the receipts. He pointe out that Reeves had promised to not raise taxes in this autumn’s budget. Rayner was notably unwilling to repeat that promise, instead slamming tax rises and inflation under the Conservatives. Her refusal to deny tax rises played right into Stride’s hands, claiming “Britain’s businesses have today been put on notice” that taxes are on the up.

Mel, unshelled: The shadow chancellor had fire in his belly as his questions rounded up, saying Labour had “condemned us to higher taxes, more debt, fewer jobs.” He asked Rayner if she was “embarrassed” to defend policies she disagreed with. Rayner, here’s a shocker, threw the point back at him, saying she was embarrassed that the Tories wouldn’t apologize “for the mess they left this country.”

Helpful backbench intervention of the week: Labour’s Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp decried the Tories focus on “wannabe superhero videos” (by wannabe Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick). Asking if Rayner agrees the opposition should “hang their heads in shame” for their record on law and order, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle wouldn’t even let the deputy PM answer as it wasn’t about government policy. There’s a first.

Totally unscientific scores on the doors: Rayner 6/10. Stride 8/10. Rayner came into deputy PMQs on the ultimate sticky wicket with internal dissent about the government’s flagship welfare agenda. While the deputy PM had some good lines — quipping that Kemi Badenoch had improved her PMQs performance by not showing up — the perilous situation facing the government despite its landslide majority meant she’d always be on the back foot. Stride deftly highlighted the divisions, enjoyed the rare significance for the Tories and cruised to victory.