Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party said:

“Ken Livingstone’s comments have been grossly
insensitive, and he has caused deep offence and hurt to the Jewish community.

“Labour’s independently elected National
Constitutional Committee has found Ken guilty of bringing the party into
disrepute and suspended him for two years.

“It is deeply disappointing that, despite his long
record of standing up to racism, Ken has failed to acknowledge or apologise for
the hurt he has caused. Many people are understandably upset that he has
continued to make offensive remarks which could open him to further
disciplinary action.

“Since initiating the disciplinary process, I have
not interfered with it and respect the independence of the party’s disciplinary
bodies. But Ken’s subsequent comments and actions will now be considered by the
National Executive Committee after representations from party members.”

Ends

Keir
Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, commenting to the
European Parliament vote on the negotiating guidelines for exiting the EU,
said:

“It
is important that the European Parliament has reached agreed guidelines, and we
particularly welcome the emphasis that negotiations should be conducted in
‘good faith and full transparency’.

“Labour
also strongly support the Parliament’s insistence that a future EU-UK deal requires
the UK to retain international standards on human rights, climate change,
social rights and the fight against tax evasion and avoidance. Labour’s six
tests for the final Brexit deal made clear that there can be no drop in
EU-derived rights and protections.

“These
will be the most complex and important negotiations for decades and it is vital
that the Prime Minister reflects on these guidelines and sets about building
alliances and good faith with our EU partners.”

John
McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on today’s ONS
productivity figures, said:

“Today’s
productivity figures again confirm the Tories’ abject failure on productivity
growth, with growth slowing significantly over the last year and undershooting
even the pessimistic forecasts from the Bank of England and others.

“Productivity growth, as an enabler of higher pay, is a crucial component of rising living standards. Today’s
figures are yet more worrying news for working people who face a slump
in their standard of living under this Tory Government.

“The
ONS today said there is ‘little sign of an end to the UK’s ‘productivity
puzzle’ and there is no sign of the UK closing the record productivity gap with
other G7 economies.

“Philip Hammond has previously admitted that the UK’s productivity
gap is ‘shocking’. Yet the Tories lack a serious plan to tackle the problem.

“Only
Labour has a serious plan to invest in our future to raise our productivity and
deliver on jobs, prosperity and rising living standards.“

Jeremy
Corbyn will, on Wednesday 5 April, set out how Labour will stand up for working
families. He will contrast Labour’s commitment with new evidence that the
Tories have broken their promise to support families, slashing Sure Start
schemes nationwide.

The Tories famously pledged to be the
“most family friendly Government we’ve ever had” before the 2010 election. As
part of this claim they said they would protect Sure Start, the transformative
early years programme introduced by Labour to give young children the best
start in life. But new research, based on Freedom of Information requests to
councils, reveals the Tories have broken their promise. It shows:

·        
There are now over 1,240 fewer designated Sure Start
children’s centres than when the Tories took office – a fall of around 34 per
cent since 2010.

·        
Over 230 have been lost in the last year alone.

·        
The North East and London have seen the biggest fall
in numbers, with over 40 per cent of Sure Start Centres lost.

·        
Two local authorities, Swindon and Solihull, reported
that they have no designated Children’s Centres in their areas left.

Jeremy
Corbyn will highlight these figures as he sets out how Labour will stand up for
working families during a visit on Wednesday.

Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the
closures, said:

“The Tories claim they’re protecting Sure
Start, but they’re not. They use tricky accounting methods – like pointing to
buildings which are still open but which are running much reduced services – to
try to pull the wool over people’s eyes. But the facts speak for themselves. On
the same measure that was used in 2010, Sure Start has been slashed.

“There are a third fewer designated
centres than there were when the Tories came to office. We know that because we
asked local authorities, those tasked with running these vital services, and
that’s what they told us.

“The Tories are taking us backwards. It’s
a scandal that parents and children are paying the price.”

Ends

In an
interview this morning with Sky News, Theresa May said she hoped Britain will
have been able to “look at” the future trade deal with the EU by the time
Britain formally leaves the EU in March 2019.

“[L]et’s look at the whole question
of the where we end up at the end of this negotiation. Have we looked, will we
have looked at both withdrawal and the future relationship, that’s what’s
important … That’s what I’m asking for and that’s what I believe increasingly
we will see.”

Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017

She also
conceded, for the first time, that the UK will have to sign the future trade
deal with the EU as a third country. Given that the deal will be a ‘mixed
agreement’, it will need to be ratified unanimously by all member states.

FI: Can you clarify that you accept what
the European Council suggested which is that the final deal will be done as a third
country status under a unanimous vote with everyone having a veto?

TM: There’s obviously a legal situation
in terms of how the European Union can conduct trade negotiations.
Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017

This is a
significant retreat from what she and the Brexit secretary have previously said – in effect that Britain will be able to
negotiate and finalise a new free trade agreement alongside the exit agreement
by the end of the two year period. They have until now been adamant that any
transitional period would be purely for “implementation” and “adjustment” of systems, rather than for negotiation of
the terms of the future trade deal.

Responding,
Labour’s shadow Brexit minister Paul Blomfield said:

“It is
less than a week since the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, and it seems
every day brings another broken promise from the Government. First they said
immigration may go up after Brexit. Now they are backpedalling on trade deals.

“We will
hold the Government to account on the pledges made to the British people during
the referendum campaign and since. They promised a comprehensive free trade
agreement with the EU giving the “exact same benefits” we have now. They said
it would be ready for the day we leave, along with new trade deals with other
countries.

“Now, as
they face reality, they are trying to downplay expectations. They need to spell
out the transitional deal that will be in place, to stop the economy falling
off a cliff edge without new agreements in two years time.”