Labour

Louise Haigh MP, Shadow Policing Minister, responding to a think tank report on police forces failing to make effective use of digital technology, said:

“Digital skills are becoming increasingly vital in the fight against crime, but technological developments can only ever provide support to a decision-maker. We will always need the human element of policing and that has been cut to the bone by this Tory Government.

“After seven years of funding reductions, forces lack adequate resources to properly invest in technological innovation and in the training officers need so they can capitalise on the data and intelligence they already hold.

“This added to the national crisis in detective numbers is leading to far too many missed opportunities and a backlog in investigations. The Home Office need to urgently step up and lead a national strategy for policing on big data innovation.”

Cat Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs, responding to Phillip Hammond’s comments at a meeting with the 1922 Committee, said:

“The Tories have failed young people on education, housing and living standards so it’s no surprise they were rejected so overwhelmingly at the election. 

“If Philip Hammond is looking for ideas to help young people, he could consult Labour’s manifesto “For the Many not the Few” for policies to scrap student fees, restore education maintenance grants, end the discrimination in the minimum wage and increasing it to £10 an hour for everyone.“

Cat Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs, commenting on reports in the Times that the Tories are to drop plans to reduce the number of seats in the Commons, said:  

“Despite insisting that nothing has changed, it appears Theresa May has been forced to drop yet another manifesto commitment because she is too weak to command the support of her backbenchers.

“This proposal was always designed for the Tories’ own political advantage rather than what is in the best interests of the country.

“Labour stands ready to work with other parties to ensure that a boundary review can go ahead in a way that benefits our democracy, not just the Conservative Party.”

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, commenting on the issue of back pay for sleep-in shifts by care staff, said:

“There has still been no resolution on the issue of care workers receiving back pay for sleep-in shifts.

“The Tory Government’s lack of action is causing great uncertainty for our social care workforce. Tory Ministers need to ensure that care workers receive the money they have rightfully earned. Anything less would undermine the very principle of a statutory minimum wage and could encourage providers to plead poverty to get out of their duty to pay their care workforce properly.

“Good pay and conditions are essential to delivering good quality care for service users. This Tory Government needs to stop burying its head in the sand about the problems they have caused in social care and put the funding of social care on a long-term sustainable footing.“

Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the publication of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, said:

“I welcome the publication of the National Shipbuilding Strategy and the commitment to the long-term future for our shipbuilding industry. But as well as investing in our naval fleet, we must also invest in the men and women who serve in our Royal Navy.

“Despite warnings over many years, our Navy is facing a crisis in recruitment and retention. The Government is on course to miss its own target for the size of the Navy and we simply do not have enough sailors to crew our naval fleet.

“Experienced personnel are leaving the Navy because of dissatisfaction with pay and conditions. If the Government was serious about properly resourcing our Royal Navy it would lift the public sector pay cap and pay our servicemen and women properly.”