Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the EPI report on
trends in educational attainment and disadvantage, said:

“The
findings of this report are deeply concerning but unfortunately come as no
surprise. 

“If you cut school budgets and push out  teachers, as the Tories have
done, then life in school will become even harder for the most disadvantaged
kids. It is no wonder that we are still generations away from closing the
attainment gap.

"The Tories’ key election pledge was to bring back grammar schools and
segregate our children, a move that would make the situation even worse. A
Labour Government would deliver an education system for the many, not the few.”

Andy
McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the
delays for passengers at European airports, said:

“It is
right that measures have been put in place to ensure safety at a time of
increased terror threats but any measures taken to strengthen security have to
be accompanied by proper border force staffing levels to avoid the chaos we’re
seeing at the moment.

"The
aviation industry warned that problems were around the corner months ago but
the Government hasn’t listened, insisting that we’d already seen the worst of
the delays.

"If
holiday makers are to avoid further havoc, the Government must engage with Schengen
member states to ensure they take immediate steps to resource their borders
controls properly as ensuring safe and smooth travel from and to the UK is in
our mutual interests.”

Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to comments made by the President of the Prison Governors Association, said:

“The President of the Prison Governors Association today confirmed the deep crisis in our prisons.  Her members are understandably devastated by the decline of their service.  This crisis has been created by the disastrous policies of the Conservative Government. Prison officer numbers have been slashed while overcrowding has risen.

“Last week it was announced that violence in our prisons was at record levels. This week we have seen riots in The Mount and Erlestoke prisons. The situation cannot be allowed to continue.  Prisoners are not being rehabilitated and this is putting the public at risk. Only a Labour government will provide the investment, staff and attention needed to end the prisons crisis the Conservatives created and are failing to resolve.“

Barbara
Keeley MP, Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, commenting on the
BBC’s You and Yours report of the shortfall in the numbers of care home
beds said:

“Seven years
of Tory inaction has taken a toll on the social care
sector.  The Tories’ record is clear –  insufficient
beds in residential care, one in three nursing homes failing inspections and
1.2 million older people living with unmet care needs.

"Keeping people
out of hospital and residential care means investing properly in
home care, intermediate facilities and supported housing. Yet, this
Government has chosen instead to cut local authority budgets, taking £4.6
billion out of social care.

"We need
a Labour Government to give social care the investment required to meet the needs of our growing older population. Our
Manifesto set out our plans to increase social care budgets by £8 billion over
the next Parliament and to work towards a National Care Service.”

Ends

Tory cancellation of promised
electrification works will lengthen journey times, increase carbon emissions
and raise the cost of the rail network

By scrapping the electrification of the
TransPennine route, the Tories are essentially pulling the plug on the proposed
Crossrail for the Northern Powerhouse project, which could no longer be a fully
electrified network.

Cancelling electrification
projects around the country will add significantly to journey times:

• Journeys between Manchester
  and Liverpool will add nearly 30 minutes

•  Journeys between Leeds
  and Newcastle will add over 20 minutes.

• Cancelling the
  electrification of the Cardiff to Swansea section of the Great Western Mainline
  puts at risk the estimated journey time saving between Swansea and London with
  Super Express trains of 19 minutes.

Labour has made a £10
billion commitment to “Crossrail for the North” to reverse decades of
underinvestment in Northern transport infrastructure that has undermined the
economic potential of the north of England and help deliver 850,000 new jobs by
2050.

Network Rail estimates that electrification and the
running of electric vehicles can help to reduce CO2 emissions by an average of
20 to 30 per cent compared to their diesel counterparts and the maintenance
costs for electric trains are 33 per cent lower than for diesel.

Network Rail also estimates that electric passenger
vehicles fuel savings are between 19 and 26 pence per vehicle mile.

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s
Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the
findings, said:

“The Government’s disgraceful U-turn on
their promise to deliver electrification on the Midland Mainline, Trans-Pennine
and Great Western routes will threaten economic growth in areas of England and
Wales already suffering from poor connectivity and underinvestment.

“Pulling the plug on electrification
shows the Tories’ disregard for Wales and Yorkshire, which will continue to
suffer from underinvestment, and proves the ‘Midlands Engine’ and the ‘Northern
Powerhouse’ are just more empty slogans from this Government.

“The Tories are trying to pull the wool over people’s
eyes by claiming that diesel bi-mode trains will deliver the same benefits as
electrification, despite saying for years that failure to electrify the network
costs more in the long run, causes more pollution, worsens air quality, lessens
capacity and makes services slower and less reliable.

“Not only will Labour deliver the promised
electrification, we will address the imbalance in transport infrastructure
spending, committing to building a Crossrail for the North and enhancing and
expanding the rail network in order to drive economic growth and rebalance our
economy for the many not the few”.

Ends