Sue
Hayman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commenting on a Tory U-turn on
fox hunting, said:

“After
backing fox hunting at the last election and promising a free vote in the Tory
manifesto Theresa May has been forced to U-turn on this cruel policy. Under
pressure from Labour, the Conservatives are finally rethinking their abysmal
record on animal welfare. 

“The
government must now move to halt their poorly regulated and unscientific badger
cull across England.

“The
Tories have taken rural areas for granted. While they continue to focus on fox
hunting, rural poverty remains a huge issue and infrastructure and services in
rural areas have been run into the ground.

“It’s time
this Government started taking action to tackle the real issues facing rural
communities.”

In his Christmas message, Jeremy
Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, calls for people to show each other care
and love. He says Britain is a “compassionate” country with people thinking of
others at this time of year, as well as enjoying themselves.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour
Party, said:

“At Christmas we spend time at home
with family and friends.

“It’s a time of the year when we think
about others. Like those who have no home to call their own or who are sleeping
rough on our streets.

“We think about those who feel cut off
and lonely. Many older citizens to whom we owe so much will be spending what
should be a time of joy alone.

“We think of others such as carers who
look after loved ones, people with disabilities or dementia.

“And abroad we think of those living in
nations like Yemen, Syria and Libya in fear of bombs and bullets, of injury and
death.

“None of this is inevitable. We pride
ourselves on being a compassionate nation.

“My Christmas wish is that we all do
more to help bring about the kind of society and world we want to live in.

“Whenever you can show people love,
show them you care and enjoy your Christmas.”

Research
by Labour has revealed that the number of people spending the Christmas
period stuck in hospital due to Delayed Transfer of Care almost doubled between
2010 and 2016.

The
Patient Snapshot, which is the number of people who are stuck in hospital at
midnight on the last Thursday of the month, showed that this had increased from
1,995 people on December 30^th 2010 to 3,929 on 29^th
December 2016.

The
last time the snapshot fell directly on Christmas was 2015 when 3,155 spent
Christmas Eve stuck in hospital.

Barbara
Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, said:

“The
shocking rise in delayed transfers of care is directly attributable to the cuts
imposed by the Tory Government and will mean those needing care will have to
spend their Christmas stuck in hospital.

“Tory
cuts to local authorities since 2010 will have seen reductions in social care
budgets of £6.3 billion by March 2018 and a 26% drop in the numbers of older
people receiving publicly funded care – some 400,000 people.

“Families
of people with care needs will be concerned by the possibility of their
vulnerable relatives being stuck in hospital unnecessarily over Christmas
because of the lack of available care in their community.

“The
Tory Government offered no additional funding for social care in either the
Budget or the Local Government Finance Settlement. It is clear that only Labour
can ease this Tory social care crisis: Labour would invest £8 billion across
the Parliament with £1 billion pledged this year to offer more publicly-funded
care services.”

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.”

David
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.”