Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the speech by Secretary of State David Lidington on prison reform, said:

“This speech was shockingly complacent, failing to outline a serious plan to tackle the prisons crisis caused by Tory cuts to staff numbers and budgets.

“One in four prisons has seen a fall in officer numbers over the last year, including those housing the most dangerous prisoners and those prisons that the government itself labels as being of concern. Yet the Secretary of State failed to guarantee that those prisons would see any increase in officer numbers. Nor did he set out a vision for tackling widespread prison overcrowding.

“When understaffing and overcrowding mean prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked-up in their cell, this makes a mockery of the government’s claims that it is turning prisons into places of reform.

“With further drastic budget cuts planned by the Ministry of Justice over the coming years, there is a real danger that our prisons will move beyond crisis to a full-blown emergency.“

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to Dame Judith Hackitt’s interim report into the Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, said:

“This interim report is welcome but Ministers have already been told that building safety rules need to be rewritten.

“It is now four and a half years since two Coroners’ reports into previous high rise fires recommended an overhaul of building regulations. Ministers ignored the recommendations then and their promise to issue new regulations was never honoured.  

“Rather than waiting for the final report of this inquiry, Ministers should start acting on existing recommendations immediately and incorporate recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt when her inquiry is completed.

“Ministers have been off the pace at every stage in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. They must now quickly give people confidence that our system of fire regulation has the clarity, accountability and proper standards needed so that no-one feels unsafe in their home.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and
Pensions Secretary,
commenting on the Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers
aged 18, said:

“The Government’s announcement to
extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18 is a small step in the right
direction. However, it is worrying that the income threshold still means people
on the lowest incomes are not automatically included and enrolled in a
workplace pension, excluding hundreds of thousands of part-time and temporary
workers. 

“Given that plans will also not be
in place until the mid-2020s, coupled with the fact that people under 25
receive a lower living wage, many young people will continue to miss out both
now and in their retirement.

“Labour
will restore confidence in the workplace pension system ensuring it benefits
the many not the few.”

Ends

Rebecca
Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, commenting on reports today that Brexit ministers urge
Theresa May to scrap EU working directive, said:

“This yet more
evidence that senior Tories, including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, want to
use Brexit as an excuse to rip up workers’ rights.

“Theresa May
must publicly reject this approach and condemn it in this week’s Cabinet
meeting. If she fails to do so then she will have turned her back on
British workers. The directive offers protection to millions of workers who
without it will be vulnerable to exploitation from unscrupulous employers.
 

“It is becoming
increasingly clear that a Conservative Brexit will weaken workers’ rights,
deregulate the economy and slash corporate taxes. Labour will protect workers’
rights and ensure that everyone gets a fair deal at work.”

Ends

Ahead of
the publication of the 2017/18 provisional Police Grant Report, Labour calls on
Government to guarantee no further workforce reductions for the coming year.

Diane
Abbott MP, Shadow
Home Secretary, commenting on the provisional Police Grant report, said:

“The
Tories’ reckless cuts to policing have left the service at breaking point. We
have seen a growing chorus of senior figures in policing warn that the current
funding settlement is simply not enough to meet the growing demands they face.

“Yet
ministers continue to insist that police have the resources they need, and to
claim they have protected funding. If the Conservatives truly believe what they
are saying then they should have no problem guaranteeing workforce numbers over
the coming year.

“Labour in
Government will invest in community safety by recruiting 10,000 extra
neighbourhood officers and ensure forces have the resources they need.”

Ends