Sharon
Hodgson MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Public Health, reacting to the
announcement that NHS England’s PrEP Implementation Trial will begin on 1
September, said:

“The
start of the PrEP trial is welcome and long overdue after months of delays and
heel-dragging by the Government.

“The
evidence shows just how transformative this drug can be as part of our approach
to HIV prevention and ending the transmission of this life-changing infection.
This trial will take us one step closer to fully understanding the benefits of
PrEP.

“Now
it is important that this trial is rolled out as quickly as possible across the
country to protect individuals who are exposed to HIV and help take us one step
closer to ending the spread of HIV in society.”

Bill Esterson MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Minister, commenting on the
High Pay Centre report, said:

“It’s appalling that we live in a society where Britain’s top
bosses are awarding themselves huge salaries whilst ordinary working people are
facing a decline in real term wages and the worst squeeze in living
standards in seventy years.  

“It is staggering that it would take a
typical worker 160 years to earn the average annual package of a FTSE
100 chief executive.

“That’s why Labour proposed to roll out a maximum pay ratio of
20:1 in the public sector and in companies bidding for public contracts.

“The report also reveals that male chief executives earn on
average an outrageous 77 percent more than their female
counterparts. Labour would legislate to require
all large employers to conduct equal pay audits. 

“We need to ensure fairness in pay and an economy which
works for the many, not just the few.”

Labour’s
Shadow Justice Secretary, Richard Burgon MP, has today written to David
Lidington MP, the Justice Secretary, to ask what measures the Government is
taking to address the fact that every prison in England and Wales that has
undergone a fire inspection has failed its inspection.

Richard
Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:

“It is
appalling that not a single prison in England or Wales meets the required fire
safety standards. The terrible fire at Grenfell Tower underlines the need to
take fire safety seriously.

“The current
situation not only puts prisoners at risk, it is putting staff and visitors at
risk too. That is why I have written to David Lidington, the Secretary of State
for Justice, to ask exactly what he is doing to address this danger.

“It is vital
that urgent steps are taken to ensure prisons meet the required fire safety
standards, and that instead of keeping reports secret, the results of future
inspections are immediately made public.” 

Ends

Notes to editors:

 Full text of the letter from Richard Burgon MP to David Lidington
MP:

Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing to ask what measures you are taking in response to
the information released by the Crown Premises Fire Inspection Group that
confirms every prison in England and Wales that has undergone a fire inspection
has failed its fire inspection.

It is clear that staff, inmates and visitors are being put at
significant risk by the current fire safety conditions within prisons.
Therefore, I would like you to clarify the following:

 1. What immediate and concrete steps are being taken to improve
fire safety conditions?

2. How can the fire inspections regime be made more transparent so
that failings can be identified and acted on earlier?

Given the danger posed to members of the public, I have made this
letter public. I believe it would also be appropriate for your reply to be made
public.

Yours sincerely, 

Richard Burgon MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow
Mental Health Minister, commenting on the BBC’s research into delayed
discharges from mental health units, said:

“It is a scandal that some patients are waiting years to be
discharged, despite being medically fit for discharge.

“Under the Tories, mental health services have come under
increasing pressure due to underfunding and staffing shortages, and also the
lack of integrated working.

“It is unacceptable that patients are stuck in mental health
units for such long periods waiting to be discharged despite being fit to
leave. The delay puts their recovery at risk and means that other people
who urgently need to access mental health services are not able to get the
treatment they need. It should never be the case that such extended delays are
caused by wrangling between different health bodies over funding.

“Labour would invest more in mental health to ease the pressures
and we would ring-fence mental health spending so that funding for mental
health is not used to fill holes elsewhere in NHS budgets.”

Margaret Greenwood
MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Minister, commenting on the DWP’s Benefit
Cap statistics, said;

“Today’s figures highlight the worrying impact the benefit
cap is having on families across the country, with 68,000 affected by the new
lower cap level, a sharp increase

“Child poverty is also increasing. Last month the High Court ruled
that the cap was “unlawful” for lone parents with young children, with the
judge commenting that the cap was causing “real misery to no good purpose.

“Clearly, this Government’s decision to cut families’ incomes does not amount
to supporting them into work, especially given their total failure to provide
adequate affordable childcare. It is time that we urgently reviewed the Benefit
Cap’s impact and effectiveness.

“Rather than penalising children for its failed austerity plans, the Government
should instead undertake the task of supporting people into work, tackling the
high cost of housing, improving pay and investing in childcare.”