New
research published today by the Labour Party shows that nearly half of
England’s maternity units closed to new mothers at some point in 2016.

Data
obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act shows:

·        
42 hospital trusts which responded to an
FOI request say they temporarily closed maternity wards to new admissions at
some point in 2016

·        
Some closures lasted more
than 24 hours, while over ten trusts shut temporarily on more than ten separate
occasions each

·        
In 2016 there were 382
occasions when units had to close their doors, a 70 per cent increase from 2014

·        
Hospitals report capacity
and staffing issues as most common reason for closures

Jonathan
Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said:

“These
findings show the devastating impact which Tory underfunding is having for
mothers and children across the country. It is staggering that almost half of
maternity units in England had to close to new mothers at some point in 2016.
The uncertainty for so many women just when they need the NHS most is
unthinkable. 

“Under
this Government, maternity units are understaffed and under pressure. It’s
shameful that pregnant women are being turned away due to staff shortages, and
shortages of beds and cots in maternity units.

“Families
are being sorely let down by this Government’s failure to recognise the crisis
facing our NHS. The Tories need to get a grip and take urgent action to make
sure closures like this don’t continue to happen.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to
Commander Dean Haydon’s comments on Prevent, said:

“There is growing criticism from within communities and from
counter-radicalisation experts who say that Prevent is alienating whole layers
of the population.

“If the Government has any evidence of Prevent’s success it should publish it.
So far, it has failed to do so.  Labour in government will conduct a
thorough review of the Prevent strategy.”

Tom
Watson, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport, commenting
on the announcement of details of the Data Protection Bill, said: 

“The
Government opposed Labour’s attempts to strengthen data protection laws during
the passage of the Digital Economy Act just months ago, so it is welcome news
that they’ve finally understood that our current data protection legislation
needs updating. 

"Labour’s
manifesto committed to allowing young people to remove content shared on the
internet before they turned 18, so we’re glad the Government is taking action
on this.

"As
we are leaving the EU it is more important than ever that we have a robust data
protection framework fit for the future. We’ll be scrutinising the bill
carefully to make sure it creates that future proof framework.”

Rebecca Long Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on the energy price review said:

“Today’s review is yet
another example of the Government’s procrastination when it comes to reforming
the broken energy market. Homes and businesses face a bleak winter ahead with
soaring and unfair energy costs. They need action, not another review.

“Ofgem’s recent watered down price cap proposals went nowhere near the promise
made by the Prime Minister to adopt Labour’s principle of a price cap and last
week’s energy price hikes clearly showed the Government would be nowhere near
implementing their election promise anytime soon.

“Let’s remember Theresa May pledged unequivocally to knock £100 off the bills
of 17 million customers.

“It does seem that
reports of senior cabinet members and the big six energy companies lobbying the
Prime Minster to drop the price cap commitment are correct.”

Labour analysis demonstrates £3bn blackhole in
Tory spending plans revealing the damage this government’s weak and unstable
leadership has done to the public finances.

The blackhole,
which does not include unfunded commitments made in the un-costed Tory
manifesto and could be set to rise,  is made up of: 

·  The Government being ordered by the Supreme Court last month to repay up
to £32m in unlawful Employment tribunal fees introduced since 2013

·   Philip Hammonds u-turn on proposed increases in the rates of Class 4
National Insurance Contributions on low and middle income self-employed workers in response to Labour opposition following the Spring
Budget 2017

·    The £1bn additional funding allocated to Northern Ireland as a result of
the Conservative and DUP coalition agreement

In
light of reports the Chancellor is planning further spending cuts or tax rises
to meet the blackhole that his shambolic stewardship has created, Labour have
today called upon Philip Hammond to rule out further tax rises on low and
middle income earners over the course of the next Parliament. 

Peter
Dowd, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the treasury, writing to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer today said,

“Philip Hammond has created
a £3bn black hole in the nations finances as a result of his and this
Government’s incompetence. Labour are calling for a guarantee that taxes will
not be raised on low and middle income earners to pay for this Government’s
shambolic leadership.”

Text
of the letter:

Dear
Chancellor,

I
have read with some concern news reports that you are looking at ways to
increase taxation to cover the £1bn costs of your deal for Democratic Unionist
Party votes.

In
addition to the £2bn costs of your reversal of planned rises in Class 4
National Insurance Contributions, and the £32m costs of the your government’s
Employment Tribunal fee cuts being declared illegal, a black hole of more than
£3bn has been created in the public finances.

A
new Budget is not due until Autumn, leaving taxpayers with significant
uncertainty over your plans to close the enormous gap in the government’s
finances.

With
household budgets already squeezed by falling real-terms pay, and worsening
forecasts for the economy as a whole, I believe it is essential that you now
provide some reassurance ahead of your Budget that ordinary families will not
bear the brunt of your government’s successive failures.

For
the course of this Parliament:

·        
Can you now rule out
rises in Value Added Tax?

·        
Can you now rule out
rises in self-employed and employee National Insurance Contributions?

·        
Can you now rule out
rises in the basic rate of Income Tax?

I
look forward to your reply.

Peter
Dowd

Shadow
Chief Secretary to the Treasury