Labour is today committing to provide funding to
the 43 forces across England and Wales to hire an extra 10,000 officers operating
in community policing roles. We will provide the framework to enable community
engagement and funding to ensure at least the equivalent of one more bobby per
electoral ward. 

It
will mean an extra police officer dedicated to community policing in each
electoral ward in England and Wales to tackle crime for the many not the few.

• Labour
  will add 10,000 new police officers for England and Wales
• Paid
  for by reversing cuts to Capital Gains Tax
• Reported
  crime is rising under the Tories, up for almost every police force
• Under
  Theresa May, the Tories have cut over 20,000 police officers since 2010
• They
  have also broken their pledge to protect the police budget
• Labour
  will protect current police levels and not cut the police budget

Almost every police force in the
country recorded an increase in crime over the last year, with worrying rises
in some of the most violent offences, including gun and knife crime and
homicide. Since 2010, under Theresa May, police numbers have been cut by
20,000. Labour will reverse cuts to Capital Gains Tax which will more than fund
these new officers in addition to guaranteeing current police levels.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour
Party, will make the pledge on a visit to Southampton on Tuesday 2 May. He will
say:

“Cutting police numbers especially when
there is more crime to deal with is unacceptable. That’s why Labour will put
10,000 new police officers on our streets. The safety of our communities is
vital to us all.

“Community policing means uniformed
officers being visible, local and accessible. They engage with the public, have
a detailed local knowledge and build a network of relationships.

“That’s why Labour will reduce crime by
putting more police in the community to make sure policing works for the many
not the few.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, she will say:

“Theresa May
failed to protect communities as Home Secretary and has continued to fail them
as Prime Minister.

“Labour will
reverse the Tories’ tax breaks for the rich, providing new money that can be
used to put a bobby on the beat in every electoral ward in the country. 
We will reinforce confidence in our police forces, with a renewed focus on
working with communities, and for communities to fight crime.”

John
McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow chancellor, speaking at the May Day rally in
Trafalgar Square today, will say:

**CHECK
AGAINST DELIVERY**

I want to
thank you all for letting me speak here today.

There are
those in the Tory press who will wish to paint this gathering in a negative
light, but this rally on a day like today is really about the positive
contribution many hardworking people in our country make.

And how
we can protect them, for the future of our country depends upon it.

Our
country is divided following the Brexit vote last year. And the Tories seek to
divide it further.

Today’s
deeply worrying revelations on the reckless handling of the EU
negotiations only act as further proof for why we need a Labour Government
leading the negotiations with our European allies to ensure jobs and
living standards are protected.

Not a
Tory Party prepared to take our country over a cliff-edge.

This
Government is not just in another galaxy when it comes to Brexit but also when
it comes to solving the problems the silent majority of working families face
in our country.

Therefore,
it falls once again to our movement to come together and unite our country, and
stand up for the many suffering under a Tory Government that only
rewards a rich few.

That is
why it is vital this remains a peaceful protest, so as not to give our enemies
in the Tory press the ammunition they need to misrepresent our peaceful
intentions and goals to the public.

Today’s
May Day rally must be remembered for its purpose – to focus all our minds on
removing a Tory Government.

And it
falls on each and every one of us to be upbeat and take that peaceful positive
vision of a Britain reborn on the 9th of June to each and every doorstep over
the next few weeks.

But it is
not protest alone that changes these things. Changing government policy is the
ultimate aim. 

And
changing this Government in its entirety is our ultimate goal right now.

Yesterday,
I announced Labour’s 20 point plan to transform our workplaces from the
shop-floor right up to the boardroom.

Today,
Jeremy Corbyn announced Labour’s plans to reform the housing market, to give
renters the protections they desperately need.

But we
can only achieve those goals if all of us here today take this passion out into
the communities in our country, win the arguments on the doorsteps, and in our
family and friendship groups, to get a Labour Government elected next month.

Today may
be the 1st May, but let’s make June 8th the last day of Theresa May and her
Tory Government.

And it is
vital we do this.

As this
is a Tory Government that has presided over a country in which our nurses have
to rely on foodbanks, yes that’s right. Nurses, the heroes of our NHS.
Abandoned by this Government.

And all
this Tory Prime Minister can say about it is there are “complex” reasons.

It just
shows how out of touch and how little she and her party really care about the
problems facing hardworking people in our country.

The
reasons why people use foodbanks are not complex – they use them because they
are hungry and cannot afford to feed themselves. 

And many
of them are in that position because of seven wasted years of Tory economic
failure.

That’s
why we need a Labour Government that will stand up for the many, and not the
few.

We are
all here today to speak up for the silent majority of working people that have
never met an opinion pollster, but have experienced seven years of Tory
austerity, and are now more than ever feeling the pinch of those policies.

The
nurses using foodbanks.

The
teachers holding raffles to afford books for their pupils.

The
people sleeping rough on our streets, homeless without somewhere to sleep
tonight.

The
parents who are worried about paying the bills as their wages can’t keep up
with the prices in the shops, and worry about keeping a roof over their
children’s heads.

Or those
people who just want to get on the propriety ladder and get on in life,
but cannot afford a mortgage. Their aspirations are risked by a reckless Tory
Brexit and what it means for our economy.

This is
what we mean by the Tories’ rigged economy. And why we must end it.

Because
those families struggling to get by – something this Prime Minister will never
understand – need a Labour Government to put fairness at the heart of our economy
again.

That is
why we are here, united to stand up for the silent majority of working people
in our country.

But it
cannot remain silent and will not remain silent for very long.

That is
why all of us here today need to make sure that our voices are heard, and that
when we leave, we persuade as many people as we can to get out and vote next
month.

As
nothing is a certainty.

We can
change this country.

Right
now, there are six million people earning less than the living wage in our
country, and four million children set to grow up in poverty.

But they
do not have to be in this position. 

We can
change this, and we will.

And all
we have to do is change the Government by getting as many people as possible to
vote Labour on the 8^th of June.

This will
be the biggest political battle we have ever known. 

But
remember we are fighting for the future of our country.

The
choice is a Tory future in which nurses use foodbanks, and millions live in
poverty and low pay.

Or a
Labour future for the many, with a high wage, high skill, fair economy of the
future.

Put
simply, it is a choice between a Labour Government that stands up for the
interests of the many in our country, not a Tory Government that only stands up
for a rich few. 

So let’s
go out there, and let’s win this fight.

Solidarity.

Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting
the EU, commenting on today’s reports about Theresa May’s meeting with
Jean-Claude Juncker last Wednesday, said:

 “Whatever the purpose of these leaks, this is a deeply worrying
account and further evidence that Theresa May’s rigid and complacent approach
to Brexit negotiations risks leading Britain over a cliff edge. It is clearer
by the day that an extreme Tory Brexit poses a severe risk to the British
economy and to people’s jobs and living standards.

“Theresa May talks about strengthening her hand, but in reality
she has misjudged her hand at every turn, weakening Britain’s position. By
refusing to acknowledge the complexity and magnitude of the task ahead the
Prime Minister increases the risk that there will be no deal, which is the
worst of all possible outcomes.

“In pursuing a rigid and complacent approach, the Prime Minister
now finds herself marginalised and isolated across the continent. Since day
one, she has been driven not by the national interest, but by the interests of
the Tory party.

“We urgently need a new approach. Labour will seek a new
collaborative partnership with our European allies. We will guarantee the
rights of EU nationals, immediately setting a different and more positive tone.
And we will rebuild relations with the EU and make sure that jobs, the economy
and rights come first.”

Labour
pledges ‘consumer rights revolution’ for renters as it reveals £800 million a
month in rent going to bad landlords 

Labour’s
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey has today pledged that under
a Labour government there would be a ‘consumer rights revolution’ for renters,
starting by introducing tougher legal minimum standards for all private rented
homes. 

Mr
Healey will say Labour’s new minimum standards will empower renters to “call
time on bad landlords” letting out dangerous or sub-standard homes and who are
being let down by Conservative Ministers who have weakened key legislation. 

Labour
analysis released alongside the pledge shows for the first time the cost of
England’s 1.3 million sub-standard private rented properties, now home to
400,000 families with children. Tenants are spending £800 million every month
(£9.6 billion a year) on homes which the government classes as ‘non-decent’.
Around a quarter of this– some £2.3bn a year – is paid by housing benefit.

At
present, there are effectively no minimum standard for private renters, and
tenants are reliant on over-stretched council environmental health teams to
weed out dangerous homes rather than being able to take matters into their own
hands.

Mr
Healey will point out that in practice people have “fewer rights renting a
family home than you do buying a fridge-freezer”. Consumer rights legislation
is limited in housing so while consumers will normally get protections
requiring that goods and services are ‘satisfactory quality’, and ‘fit for
purpose’ with clear redress and ‘repair or replace’ provisions, there are no
equivalent protections for renters.

A
Labour government would consult with landlords and relevant professionals on
new legal minimum standards to ensure properties are ‘fit for human habitation’
on specified criteria, for example:

–         
safe wiring and appliances

–         
freedom from serious damp and vermin infestation

–         
appropriate water and sewage facilities

–         
appropriate facilities for the
preparation and cooking of food

–         
general good repair.

Research
by Shelter in 2014 found that six in ten renters (61%) have experienced at
least one of the following problems over the last 12 months: damp, mould,
leaking roofs or windows, electrical hazards, animal infestations and gas
leaks.

As
part of Labour’s five point plan on standards announced today Mr Healey will
also pledge new powers for councils to license landlords and tough fines for
those who flout the rules. 

John
Healey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, said:

“Our
homes are at the centre of our lives but at the moment renters too often don’t
have basic consumer rights that we take for granted in other areas. In practice
you have fewer rights renting a family home than you do buying a
fridge-freezer. As a result, too many are forced to put up with unacceptable,
unfit and downright dangerous housing.

“The
number of families renting from a private landlord has soared since 2010 but
decisions made by Conservative Ministers have made it easier for a minority of
bad landlords to game the system. Most landlords provide decent homes that
tenants are happy with, but these rogue landlords are ripping off both renters
and the taxpayer by making billions from rent and housing benefit letting out
sub-standard homes.

“After
seven years of failure the Conservatives have no plan to fix the housing
crisis. The next Labour government would call time on bad landlords. We’d
introduce proper minimum standards to put renters back in control, and give
councils the powers they need to tackle the worst offenders.”

Andrew Gwynne MP,
Labour’s National Campaigns and Elections Chair, on the 20th anniversary
of Labour’s 1997 election victory, said: 

“Twenty years on
from 1997, the lesson of that election is that it takes a Labour government to
bring about transformative change for the many not just the few.

"In 1997, after 18
years of the Tories running down the country, Britain needed a Labour
government to change working people’s lives for the better. That’s exactly what
the Labour government did between 1997 and 2010.

"The achievements
of that government were many. From ‎the New Deal which helped millions in
to work, to ‎the National Minimum Wage which made that work pay. From
peace in Northern Ireland to Sure Start which made a difference to millions of
children and their families. In education, school spending per pupil was
doubled, thousands of schools rebuilt and 42,000 more teachers helped deliver
some of the best ever school results. And for the NHS a Labour government was
transformative, with ‎the largest hospital building programme in history
and 44,000 more doctors and 89,000 more nurses driving up standards and driving
down waiting times.

"Now, ‎in 2017, we
again need a Labour government to rebuild and transform a country that is
suffering from Tory neglect and deepening inequality. ‎The message of 1997
is as relevant today as it was then: we need people to vote for change, to vote
for Labour and for a country for the many not the few.”