Labour

Tracy Brabin MP, Labour’s Shadow Early Years Minister, commenting on the NAHT report on school readiness, said:

“This report should make sobering reading for Tory ministers. It is yet more evidence of a problem that has worsened on their watch. It is now incumbent on the government to ensure their spending on childcare goes towards high quality early years education, supporting children to get the best start in life.

“By contrast, the Tories’ chronically underfunded 30-free hour childcare offer has not only left too many parents not receiving the free care they were promised but has seen many of the most experienced and highest-rated providers walk away from the sector entirely. Ministers should take their concerns seriously before the childcare sector reaches a crisis point.

“A Labour government would provide genuinely free and high-quality childcare, with all parents of 2-4 year olds entitled to 30 hours, and the investment needed to deliver it in practice. We would also reverse the Tory cuts to Sure Start, which the evidence showed was a highly effective programme in supporting children to be school ready.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on the Interim Report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, said:

“The Commission’s findings drive home the deep problems of the British economy, which have been gravely worsened by seven years of Tory failure that has seen average wages fall and debt rise.

“The Tories have given huge tax breaks to the super-rich and giant corporations, but failed to deliver the investment in infrastructure, skills and research and development that are needed to create the secure, high-wage jobs of the future. As the report shows, the result is an economy dominated by insecurity and falling living standards.

“The Commission’s interim report is yet more evidence in support of Labour’s transformational economic programme, with high investment across the whole country supporting an industrial strategy and a wider spread of asset ownership to build an economy that works for the many, not the few. I welcome the Commission’s work and I look forward to seeing the final report.”

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to a pay protest by NHS staff at Parliament today (Wednesday 6 September 2017), said:

“NHS staff are long overdue a pay rise which matches the compassion and dedication which they bring to their working lives. The Tory Government has taken NHS staff for granted for years and the result is staffing shortages across the health service and ever longer waits for patients.

“72 per cent of the public now think that there are too few nurses to provide safe care to patients. This is totally unsustainable. The Government’s public sector pay cap has created a workforce crisis in the NHS which is driving trust deficits and causing misery for patients.

“Some Tories are hinting the cap will eventually be lifted but they voted against Labour’s amendment to lift the pay cap earlier in the summer. It’s simply not good enough. Nurses, midwives and paramedics should be valued and rewarded for the brilliant work that they do and the Government must make their plans on NHS pay clear now, before it is too late.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, commenting on the treatment of detainees at Brook House immigration detention centre, said:

“Sadly this is not an isolated incident. Under this Tory Government, Britain’s detentions centres have developed a reputation for inhumane treatment.

“It’s no wonder that the Home Office have repeatedly blocked my own attempts, as Shadow Home Secretary, to visit Yarl’s Wood and that that the UN’s rapporteur on violence against women was denied access to inspect conditions at this controversial facility.

“There have been numerous reports of improper conduct in G4S-run institutions, but the Tories seem content to continuing paying this company millions in taxpayers’ money without holding them to account for their failures.

“Theresa May’s “hostile environment” for immigrants has gone too far. The Government has a duty to ensure that detainees are treated with basic dignity and in accordance with their Human Rights.

“We cannot seek to promote human rights around the world, while holding detainees indefinitely and treating them in this despicable manner.”

Kate Osamor MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, commenting on Priti Patel’s announcement on the UK response to the South Asia floods, said:

“Priti Patel’s response to the floods in South Asia has been slow and insufficient.

“It has now been more than two weeks since the floods struck and Priti Patel’s announcement last Friday that the UK will contribute just £400,000 of new funding in Nepal, from an annual aid budget of over £13 billion is not good enough.

“Priti Patel must now urgently come before Parliament this week and make a statement that keeps the world’s eyes on South Asia and shows that this government is serious about tackling the unfolding catastrophe.

“Tropical Storm Harvey’s recovery effort in Houston may be grabbing mainstream media headlines, but we must not ignore the millions suffering across South Asia. British humanitarian responses must be driven by need – not the column inches a disaster receives in the mainstream media.”