Labour

Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on Ofcom’s report into broadcasting diversity, said:

“Today’s report proves that British broadcasting has a diversity problem.

“Women and people from BAME backgrounds are underrepresented, particularly in senior roles, but the most shocking fact is that just 3 per cent of the broadcasting workforce has a disability, compared with 18 per cent of the population.

“Data can be an important driver of change, but that data needs to be comprehensive. The huge gaps in diversity data that Ofcom have found are unacceptable, but we also need to collect data that paints a broader picture, and that means collecting data on social class too.

“Our television represents who we are as a nation and those who work on and off screen should represent the whole country, not just part of it.”

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Notes to Editors

·         Ofcom’s report out today can be found here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/diversity-uk-television-industry

·         Labour released its Acting Up report over the summer which looked at access and diversity in the performing arts. One of the key recommendations was an improvement in diversity data collection and monitoring. The full report and executive summary is available here: http://www.tom-watson.com/actingup

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Employment and Support Allowance Statistics, said:

“Nearly two thirds of Work Capability Assessments are still being overturned at appeal, demonstrating their total failure in adequately judging fitness for work for sick and disabled people.

“This not only causes unnecessary stress and anxiety for the thousands who have been denied support unfairly, it also wastes public money by sending so many decisions back to the courts.

“Labour will scrap these punitive assessments and replace them with a holistic, person-centred approach.”

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Notes to editors

• The full release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-september-2017

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Devolution and Finance, responding to findings by the IFS that councils are concerned about impact of cuts, said:

 “The IFS’s shock findings that five out of six councils are not confident they can avoid significant reductions in service quality over the next five years is yet more evidence of the damage that government cuts to local government funding is having. The lack of certainty over future funding is undermining local councils’ ability to respond to growing need in their area.

“Earlier this year we pushed the Government to deliver a properly thought out solution to local government funding, only for the process to be shelved because of the snap general election that they called.

“We’re not simply scare mongering when we say that councils face a very real risk of collapsing under the combination of growing need – especially for social care – government cuts to core funding, and the sheer lack of clarity on what a funding formula will look like in the future. And let’s be clear, it’s local residents who will ultimately pay the price of unfunded and overstretched services.”

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Notes to editors

The report ‘The local vantage: how views on local government finance vary across councils’ will be available on the IFS website from 00.01 Thursday 14^th September 2017.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting after the House of Commons unanimously approved Labour’s Opposition Day motion calling for the recent increase in tuition fees to be revoked, said: 

“Today the House of Commons unanimously approved Labour’s motion to revoke the Government’s latest tuition fee hike, which will cost students up to £1,000 each over the course of their degrees. 

“The Tories brought in this fee hike through a statutory instrument, not a vote in the Commons, so today is the first time £9,250 tuition fees has been brought to Parliament, where it was unanimously rejected. 

“The Government had no mandate to increase fees to begin with and if they do not now reverse the fee hike they will be defying the will of Parliament in blatant disregard for our democracy.”

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Jon Trickett MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, commenting on the news that the cost of the General Election was £140 million, said:

“Theresa May has been left with egg on her face and the taxpayer is picking up the bill.

“The Prime Minister said there was no magic money tree to give nurses a proper pay rise.

“But she spent £140 million of taxpayers’ cash on a failed bid to boost her majority that’s led to a Zombie Government.”

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