Andy McDonald MP,
Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the publication of the
Gibb report into Southern Rail, said:

“Ultimately, the buck stops with the Government.
Tory ministers, who designed and awarded the franchise, are responsible for the
shambolic delivery of enhancement works and have directed this unnecessary
industrial dispute.

“The Gibb report paints a picture of a chaotic
relationship between Network Rail, the Department for Transport and Govia
Thameslink Railway – none of which have sufficient oversight or responsibility.

“The report contains some sensible proposals for
how to improve services, but without ending the industrial dispute and bringing
the franchise to an end, passengers will continue to suffer.

“It is within Chris Grayling’s power to end the
industrial dispute tomorrow by calling off his plans to expand Driver Only
Operation, which poses risks to passengers and severely restricts accessibility
for those with disabilities. Similar disputes elsewhere on the network have
been resolved and there’s no good reason for this to drag on any longer.

“A Labour Government would stand up for the
interest of passengers rather than train companies, taking Southern back into
public ownership and creating a new body to have strategic oversight for the
railway, thereby avoiding the chaos and fragmentation that has plagued Southern
passengers for too long.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP,
Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on today’s High Court judgement that the Benefit
Cap unlawfully discriminates against single parents with children aged two or
under, said:

“Today’s High Court decision is a further demonstration of the
failure of this government’s austerity agenda. It is failing in its own terms,
it’s failing our communities, and it’s failing the most vulnerable in our
country – including the victims of domestic violence and those facing
homelessness.

“Labour has stood against the benefit cap, its discrimination
against parents with children and the government’s cruel austerity programme. 

“Our Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry MP, tabled
an amendment to the Benefit Cap legislation to exclude families with children
under two from the cap when it came before parliament. 

“The Government
should have listened to Labour then, but I am pleased the High Court has
listened to these courageous campaigners now.

“The Prime Minister
should accept the High Court’s judgement and end this discrimination against
parents and children.”

Debbie Abrahams MP,
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the judgement, said:

“I welcome the court’s
decision on the Benefit Cap today, and commend the brave campaigners who took
this case against the Government on behalf of the 17,000 families affected.

“This is another
damaging blow to the Government’s failing austerity agenda. While many families
have struggled to make ends meet, this Government has given hand-outs to some
of the richest in our society.

“The social security
system should be there for us all in our time of need.

“For too long this Government
has pushed children into poverty, as punishment for their parent’s
circumstances.

“I therefore welcome
the High Court’s judgement that this policy is unlawful, which marks another
blow in their failing austerity agenda.

“Labour will transform
the social security system so that, like the NHS, it is there for us all in our
time of need.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, responding to the Prime Minister’s
statement to the House on Grenfell Tower, said:

Can I start by expressing my disappointment to the Prime Minister at the
lack of advance sight of her statement.

I met with the survivors of Grenfell Tower and those inspiring
volunteers co-ordinating the relief effort for families who had lost so much. I
hope the whole House will join with me in commending the community spirit and
public support which helped so many traumatised families.

Our love, our condolences and our solidarity goes out to those families
again today and in the difficult days and weeks ahead.

They were, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, let down: both in the
immediate aftermath and so cruelly beforehand. And the public inquiry must
establish the extent and by whom.

At least 79 people are dead. It is both a tragedy and an outrage because
every single one of those deaths could have been avoided.

The Grenfell Tower residents themselves had raised concerns about the
lack of fire safety in their block.

The Grenfell Action Group had warned, and I quote, “It is a truly
terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believes that only a
catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord,
the Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation”.

The Prime Minister said “It is right that the CEO of Kensington &
Chelsea has now resigned”. It may be, but why aren’t the political leaders
taking responsibility too?

From Hillsborough, to the child sex abuse scandal, to Grenfell Tower the
pattern is consistent.  Working class people’s voices are ignored, their
concerns dismissed, by those in power.

The Grenfell Tower residents and north Kensington community deserve
answers and thousands of people living in tower blocks around the country need
urgent reassurance.

Our brave firefighters must never have to deal with such a horrific
incident again.

Those of us with over 30 years’ experience in this House would have
struggled under the pressure generated by an incident of this scale. So as I
said yesterday, my Honourable Friend for Kensington deserves praise for the
tireless and diligent way she has stood up for her constituents.

They need answers and the public inquiry must address:

The apparent failure of the fire alarms at Grenfell Tower, which meant
many residents reported they were only alerted to the fire by the screams of
their neighbours.

Whether the advice given to tenants to stay in their homes was correct
and what advice should be given to the people living in the 4,000 other tower
blocks around our country.

Why sprinklers were not installed and whether they now should be
retrofitted into all tower blocks.

Whether the cladding used was illegal, as the Chancellor has suggested,
and whether it should be banned entirely and what wider changes must be made to
building regulations and to fire prevention regulations, including the
frequency and enforcement of fire safety checks.

Whether tenant management organisations are responsive enough to their
tenants and what greater powers tenants need.

Whether survivors and people evacuated from adjacent properties were
rehoused promptly and adequately and whether they will all be rehoused within
the borough with no increase in their rent.

The resources available to the Fire & Rescue Service, and whether
response times and capacity are adequate in all areas of the country, since the
number of wards in which response time targets are not being met has increased
tenfold since 2011.

Lessons must be learned in the public inquiry  and a disaster that
never should have happened must never happen again.

The Government must delay no longer and now implement the
recommendations of the 2013 inquiry report following the Lakanal House fire.

The public inquiry into Grenfell Tower must also establish whether lives
could have been saved if those recommendations had have been implemented in
full and if the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group had been
heeded by government.

Fire safety measures cannot be left to a postcode lottery so I ask the
government make available emergency funds as my Honourable Friend for Leeds
West also asked yesterday, so that councils can carry out fire safety checks
and install sprinklers, and the timetable for that made known to residents.

Will the Prime Minister also ensure that counselling and mental health
services are available to all the residents of Grenfell Tower and those who
witnessed it unfold on the Lancaster West Estate, including the emergency
services who responded.

Mr Speaker, the public inquiry must report as soon as possible and
changes that can and should have been made already must now be made without
delay.

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education
Secretary, commenting on the
release of the Schools Workforce statistics showing that more teachers are
leaving the profession than joining, said:

“These
figures reveal the scale of the crisis the Tories have created for our schools.                  

“The Government’s responsibility is to ensure our
schools have the resources they need to train enough teachers. The Tories have
failed to do so.

“This is
a damning verdict on seven years of failure from Conservative governments, and
without urgent action on teacher recruitment and retention, a generation of
children will pay the price for that failure.”  

Richard
Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, commenting on the Tories’
decision to drop plans for prison reform from the Queen’s Speech, said:

“The
silence on prisons and probation in this Queen’s Speech is deafening.

“Clearly,
the Tories have no intention of fixing the mess they’ve created.

“Labour
is committed to the reform needed to ensure the public are protected and
offenders have a chance to turn their lives around.”