Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, responding to a
Teach First report that claims the country’s poorest parents have half the
chance of getting their child into an outstanding primary school, compared to
the richest ones, said:

“This
is just the latest evidence that the Government’s rhetoric on social mobility
has not been matched by results. 

"Theresa May’s only answer to the social mobility crisis is her
discredited policy of new grammar schools, which by definition ignores the
crucial early years of a child’s life and does nothing to ensure all children
go to a good primary school.

“It is clear that the Tories do not have the answers to the serious issues
facing our schools, such as the crisis in recruitment and retention, super-size
classes, and the unprecedented squeeze in school budgets.”

China’s first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 is to be launched into space between April 20 and 24, according to the office of China’s manned space program.

The cargo spacecraft was transferred with a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket from the testing center to the launch zone in Wenchang, southern China’s Hainan Province, according to a statement from the office Monday.

The transfer took 2.5 hours.

“The completion of the transfer signals the Tianzhou-1 mission has entered its launching stage,” the statement said.

Technicians have performed several tests during the assembling of the spacecraft and rocket since February.

In the following days, technicians will continue testing the spacecraft and rocket, and inject fuel before the launch, it said.

Tianzhou-1 is the first cargo ship independently developed by the country. It is expected to dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct in-orbit refueling.

The cargo spacecraft will also carry out space experiments, including one on non-Newtonian gravitation, before falling back to earth.

Employees in small businesses earned less than previously
thought between 2010 and 2015

 Analysis of government figures shows:

·        
Methodological revisions to the Average Weekly Earnings of
employees in small businesses shows a downgrade in level of earnings between
2010 and 2015

·        
The Government’s mishandling of the economy and mistreatment of
small businesses has resulted in pay for employees being less than thought

·        
Between 2010 and 2015, the average revision downwards in the
level of weekly earnings was 1.7 percent. This amounts to more than £2,000 over
that period less than previously thought,.

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy, said:

“The latest revision to the
methodology for calculating earnings for employees in small businesses shows
that the level of earnings was less than previously thought during the period
2010 to 2015.

“Added up, between July 2010 to
December 2015, earnings for the average employee in a small business were in
fact over £2,000 less than previously thought.  This is a further
indictment of the Conservative’s already terrible record of protecting the
living standards of people in this country and their failure to recognise the
experiences and requirements of small businesses.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor, has today written to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond MP, to demand
the opening of a public inquiry into the scandal of Libor interest-rate
rigging.

Interest rate rigging could have
cost the public billions and public bodies affected are due compensation

New
evidence uncovered by the BBC Panorama programme points to collusion between
senior figures at the Bank of England and major banks to rig the critical
“Libor” interest rate that trillions of pounds of financial products depend on.

And
court transcripts, shown below, from the recent trial of bank staff accused of
rigging Libor also show that the rigging of this crucial interest rate was
known to regulators and Bank of England staff at least as far back as August
2005.

But
with small businesses and public bodies dependent on loans and more complex
financial products linked to the value of Libor, efforts to rig the interest
rate could have cost the public billions. Schools, NHS hospitals and local
authorities are all amongst those likely to be affected, particularly where
they had been sold more complex Libor-linked financial derivatives.

The
Shadow Chancellor is asking for an immediate public inquiry into the rigging to
establish who took the decision to apply this pressure, who was involved in its
implementation, who was aware that this was taking place, and whether any
impact assessment was undertaken at any point.

This
is essential in establishing the scale of compensation due to public bodies
from banks engaged in Libor rigging.

John
McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said:

“The
revelations this week of the possible pressure being applied by senior public
officials on banks to rig one of the world’s most important financial metrics
demand an immediate response from this government. Continuing official silence
from the Chancellor is not acceptable when confronted with this scale of
rigging.

“It
is essential that we clarify who took the decisions to rig the Libor index, and
when, so that the schools, NHS hospitals and local councils that lost out can
be paid the compensation that is rightfully due and public confidence in our
banking system and official institutions can be restored.”