Gareth Thomas, Shadow Minister for Local Government
Finance, in response to evidence that Surrey County Council came to a
‘gentleman’s agreement with the Government over their budget, said:

“This
recording proves what we have long suspected. The Government came to a secret
“gentleman’s agreement” with the leadership of Surrey County Council, whilst
the rest of country faces a crisis in social care and brutal cuts to
council budgets.

“Theresa
May and her ministers, including Sajid Javid, have been playing political games,
conducting backroom sweetheart deals for their friends, whilst councils across
the country struggle to cobble together the money to adequately fund social
care. Meanwhile, there is a crisis in social care with a £1.9billion funding
gap and elderly people living without the care they need.

“Theresa
May must come clean about the terms of the deal offered to Surrey County
Council, apologise for her Government’s misleading suggestion that there
had been no such deal and ensure other local councils get the same treatment.”

Ends 

Sarah Champion MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Women
and Equalities, responding to an expected budget announcement of funding to
mark the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, said:

“Labour
is pleased that funding will be provided to mark the centenary of the 1918
Representation of the People Act.

“It’s
right that we mark and celebrate the achievements of so many women who risked
their homes, families and freedom to fight for democracy and economic equality.

“However,
99 years later, women are still having to fight for economic equality under
this Tory government. From cuts to universal credit and 54,000 women
losing their jobs through maternity discrimination, to the treatment of
thousands of women born in the 1950s who have been left with a crisis in their
retirement planning, this government is systematically turning back the clock
on gender economic equality.

"Labour
is committed to conducting a gender audit of all our financial statements in
government and to bringing forward an Economic Equality Bill to address the
structural and cultural barriers that prevent women achieving their full
potential.”

Ends

Editor’s
Notes:

1. Analysis conducted by the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills and the Equality and Humans Rights Commission estimated
that up to 54,000 women every year are forced out of work due to maternity
discrimination

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/managing-pregnancy-and-maternity-workplace/pregnancy-and-maternity-discrimination-research-findings

2.Independent
House of Commons analysis has shown that as of the 2016 Autumn Statement, 86%
of net savings to the treasury through tax and benefit measures since 2010 have
come from women

Pre-Budget Statement from the Shadow Chancellor

Speaking ahead of the Budget, the Shadow Chancellor has demanded
that the government finds the funding our NHS and social care needs, and that
he must not make women bear the brunt of Tory economic policies as they have
for the last 7 years.

In addition, he said that the chancellor cannot risk building
our economy on the shaky ground of a WTO deal that endangers jobs and growth.

He also, calls on the government to deal with the rising cost of
living, and tackle the problem of chronic low pay for many working families in
our country.

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

“Philip Hammond’s first Budget comes at a crossroads for our
country ahead of the triggering of Article 50. It cannot be a Budget, where
like his predecessor, he over claims on the government’s economic record, and
under delivers on its promises.

“That is why it is vital he must use his first Budget tomorrow
to provide the adequate funding our NHS and social care system desperately
needs.

“The Tories say they are on the side of working families, but
they are going ahead with cuts to in-work benefits, and presiding over an
economy where six million people earn less than the living wage, and four million
children are in poverty.

“The Budget falls on international women’s day; and although it
is great we have a female Prime Minister, Theresa May has supported every tax
and benefit change in the last seven years, which has meant 86 per cent of the
cuts have fallen on women.

“Therefore, Philip Hammond needs to ensure that his first Budget
breaks with this terrible statistic, and works for women, not one that makes
them bear the brunt of Tory tax giveaways for a wealthy few.

“Finally, the Chancellor cannot risk building our economy on the
shaky ground of a WTO deal that risks jobs and growth, so he must now rule this
out and commit not to turn Britain into a tax haven off the coast of Europe.

“Labour is opposed to any Tory Brexit deal that favours tax
dodgers and the big banks, and would force working families to pick up the tab.

“The Chancellor has to ensure his first Budget is a break from
the past, and not a continuation of the same failed economic policies of the
last seven years.”

Ends

Premier Li Keqiang called for maintaining the stability and development of the Tibet autonomous region when he joined a panel discussion with National People’s Congress deputies from the plateau region on Tuesday.

Tibet has a special place in the country’s overall development, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core”, has further made the region a priority since the 18th Party Congress in 2012, the premier told deputies during the ongoing NPC annual session.

This year will see further endeavors in promoting Tibet’s stability and development, which complement each other through focusing on key ways to improve local people’s livelihood, Li said. He vowed to improve public services in areas such as education, healthcare and heating.

He also said this year will see more efforts to develop Tibet’s special and competitive industries such as tourism, clean energy and ethnic medicines, under the premise that the ecology must be stringently protected at the world’s roof.

At an average altitude of about 4,000 meters, Tibet is sparsely populated－about 3.75 million people in multiple ethnic groups living on 1.2 million square kilometers of land, which accounts for one-eighth of China’s landmass.

Last year, Tibet’s annual GDP growth hit 11.5 percent, ranking first among China’s provincial-level regions.

In addition, the country will strengthen support and funding for Tibet’s transportation and power-grid infrastructures, he said.

The premier also vowed to intensify efforts in poverty alleviation, especially for those living near the nation’s borders, by creating better living conditions and industries.

He said unity should be strengthened to help all ethnic groups get along with each other, promote religious harmony as well as safeguard social stability and long-term peace.

On Tuesday, three other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee－Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan and Wang Qishan－also joined discussions of NPC deputies.

Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, met with deputies of the Taiwan delegation. He called for adhering to the policies of peaceful reunification and one country, two systems, as well as the 1992 Consensus that is characterized by the one-China policy in dealing with cross-Straits ties.

Yu said that any form of separatist actions to achieve Taiwan’s independence will be opposed and contained to safeguard peace and stability across the Straits.

Chinese police caught 19,345 telecom fraud suspects in 2016, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on Wednesday.

The SPP increased efforts to crack down on telecom and Internet fraud and supervised the handling of 62 major telecom and Internet fraud cases last year.

The cases included one that allegedly triggered the death of Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate in Shandong Province, who died of cardiac arrest after losing her tuition money to telecom fraud, the SPP said.

In May 2016, the SPP issued a circular urging procuratorates at all levels to tighten crackdowns on telecom and Internet fraud.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) destroyed a transnational telecom fraud gang in Cambodia, catching 39 suspects and paying compensation of more than 360,000 yuan (52,173 U.S. dollars)to 21 victims.

The SPP and the MPS have issued a joint guideline on such cases explaining punishment and case management for telecom and Internet fraud crimes.