Text of PM’s inaugural address (via video conference) at the Sri Ramakrishna Vachanamrita Satram, Tiruvalla, Kerala

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of St. Lucia on the eve of their Independence Day (February 22, 2017).

The Government is currently consulting on proposals for night flight restrictions at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted. The Government’s proposals relate to:

• Environmental objectives
• The length of the restrictions
• The structure of the restrictions
• Movement limits at each airport
• Noise quota limits at each airport

The consultation can be found here: http://bit.ly/2j4uhwI. It closes on 28 February 2017.

Sarah
Champion MP,
Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, commenting
on the Government’s failure to act on cross-party recommendations to reduce the
gender pay gap, said:

“The cross party Women and
Equalities Committee’s recommendations aim to improve working conditions for
women of all ages and sectors right across the country.

“But, sadly, it seems that their
recommendations are again falling on deaf ears. 

“The Government has systematically
ignored the evidence the Committee, charities, experts and individuals have
worked so hard to produce.

“This Government continues to
ignore the voices and lived experiences of thousands of women in chronically
low paid, under-valued sectors of the economy such as care, hospitality and
retail.  Industries where zero hour contracts and bad practice have been
allowed to run rife.

“The structural causes of the
gender pay gap must be addressed, otherwise women will simply continue to be
left behind.

“The lack of meaningful response
to the Women and Equalities Committee shows that when it comes to tackling the
serious, underlying causes of gender inequality in our country, this Tory
Government isn’t willing to take the bold action needed.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow
Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting
on the findings of the Public Accounts Committee report on sanctions, said:

“Two years after the Work and Pensions
Select Committee inquiry the Government has failed to implement even their
limited actions to address sanctions failings.

“This report makes it clear that
sanctions have been used inconsistently to punish those struggling to get by
with seven wasted years of austerity.

“This deplorable misuse of sanctions is
further evidence of the Tory Government letting vulnerable groups down.

“Labour has committed to scrapping the
Tories’ punitive sanctions regime, under our plans to transform the social
security system to ensure that, like the NHS, it is there for us all in our
time of need.”