Liz McInnes MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Office Minister, responding to the Government’s announcement that it plans to suspend military co-operation with Myanmar’s armed forces, said:

“Labour has been calling for a suspension of UK military support to Myanmar for several weeks now. So this is a welcome announcement, albeit a belated one, and we hope that it will serve as a precedent for similar action regarding ongoing UK support for Saudi-led military operations in Yemen.

“For now, the Government’s most immediate priority must be to build on this announcement by putting pressure on the civilian and military authorities in Myanmar, in co-ordination with our allies, in order to bring the horrific violence in Rakhine state to an end once and for all.”

Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on the Women in Journalism report showing serious problems with female representation in British journalism, said: 

“This new research showing the woeful underrepresentation of women in British journalism should set alarm bells ringing for readers as well as reporters and editors across the country. 

“Who writes and decides the news matters, and it is not good enough that just 25 percent of front page bylines are by women, and just 34 percent of senior roles at national newspapers are held by women. 

“The painfully slow improvement in representation since the last report in 2012, up just two percentage points, shows the industry is failing to recognise and respond to the problem.

“Political journalism is among the worst offenders, and I’d like to issue a challenge today, that by the next report the Parliamentary Lobby gets its house in order and achieves gender parity among political journalists. 

“A free and fair press is one of the pillars of our democracy, but these figures show that if you’re a woman, you won’t have a fair chance at a career in journalism. The industry must make it a priority to change that.”

“National scandal” that there are 1.4 million contracts that don’t guarantee minimum hours – Rebecca Long-Bailey

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on ONS figures which show there are 1.4 million contracts in use which don’t guarantee minimum hours, said:

“It is a national scandal that there are 1.4 million contracts that don’t guarantee minimum hours, with people stuck in limbo in insecure work, not knowing how much they’ll earn from week to week, unable to budget for basic necessities and unsure if they can even pay the rent.

“The Government urgently needs to get a grip on the broken labour market which is rigged against workers and adopt Labour’s policy to ban zero hour contracts.”

Rise in use of private ambulances sign of “unsustainable demands” Tories are making on NHS – Justin Madders MP

Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on the 22 per cent rise in the use of private ambulances over two years, said:
“The rise in the use of private ambulances is a sign of the unsustainable demands which this Conservative Government is making on the NHS.

“A&E pressures are causing queues outside hospitals, while a chronic shortage of paramedics is stretching services even thinner. Across the country ambulance staff are working round the clock to do their best for patients.

“Ministers need to make sure that all ambulance crews, in every part of the country, are properly staffed and resourced. The Government should provide funding to get the best outcomes for NHS patients, not spend all this money on private companies.“

Ministers have turned their back on millions of families struggling with high housing costs – John Healey

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to new research by the National Housing Federation showing that social housing spending is at a record low, said:

“Conservative Ministers have washed their hands of any responsibility to build the homes families on ordinary incomes need.

“Under Labour in 2009/10 we started building almost 40,000 homes for social rent. By last year this had fallen by 98 per cent to fewer than 1,000.

“Ministers try to hide their failure to build more affordable homes by branding more homes ‘affordable’. The Conservative definition of affordable housing now includes homes close to full market rent and on sale for up to £450,000.

“Ministers have turned their back on the millions of families struggling with high housing costs. It’s no wonder that public concern about housing is around the highest level in 40 years. Only Labour has a credible long-term plan to build the genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy that our country needs.”