Press contacts Ana Crespo Parrondo Press officer +32 2 281 56 12 +32 470 88 43 74 On 21 December, representatives of the Estonian Presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the effort sharing regulation to ensure further … read more
Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the news that Trusts will be allowed to cancel non-urgent elective operations until mid-January, said:
“Theresa May’s claims that she has suitably prepared our NHS for the winter season are looking increasingly doubtful. Despite the best efforts of our overstretched staff, numerous Trusts are already running at full capacity with no spare beds at all.
“Cancelled operations will pile more misery on patients this winter. It’s time Tory ministers got a grip.”
read moreDavid Drew MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural affairs, commenting on the Government’s release of badger cull statistics today, said:
“The Government have released these high figures on the first day of Christmas recess. Nearly 20,000 badgers have been culled this year, the highest number ever, as part of an unsafe and unscientific badger cull.
“These figures show that the Government failed to meet its targets and has adjusted target numbers up and down for every single cull zone, raising serious questions about the accuracy of current badger population estimates.
“In the same month as announcing a Bill on animal welfare, this Government have overseen a doubling in the number of badgers killed compared to last year. It’s clear that despite their warm words, the Tories still have a serious problem when it comes to animal welfare.
“Labour calls on the Government to halt the badger cull across England and formally review its policy on how to tackle bovine TB.”
read moreThe owner of a former Cornish waste company has become the first person in the south west to be sent to prison for failing to comply with a court order. read more
Owen Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, criticising the failure of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to act on the Bombardier Tariff imposed by the US Department of Commerce, said:
“The Government has let these workers down again and again by not taking a hard enough line with Boeing and the US Government.
“Staff and suppliers of Bombardier in Belfast are rightly concerned about this week’s announcement from the US Department of Commerce.
“The Government haven’t done anything on this issue when they should be doing all they can to see this decision reversed.”