Emily
Thornberry MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, responding to the worsening humanitarian crisis in
Myanmar’s Rakhine State, said:

“In
the last month, tens of thousands of men, women and children have been
displaced from their homes as a result of the violence in Rakhine State, and
thousands more are joining them with every passing day, all desperately in need
of shelter, medical help, food and clean water.

"As
well as a complete end to all further violence and burning of villages, we need
to ensure that the thousands of people who have already lost their homes
urgently receive the food, water and medicine they need to survive. If the
authorities on the ground in Myanmar are deliberately preventing UN bodies and
international aid agencies from reaching those displaced families, that
decision must be immediately reversed.

"And once the cessation of violence and humanitarian access
has been achieved, the work of building a lasting peace must begin, building on
the recommendations of Kofi Annan’s Advisory Commission on Rakhine State,
including a recognition of the rights and freedoms of the Rohingya people, and
an end to restrictions on their movement.

"Britain
and the rest of the world community must stand ready to support that process,
but it will firstly rely on the civilian and military authorities in Myanmar
living up to their responsibilities within a modern democratic government. As a
long-standing, critical friend, we should expect and demand nothing less.”

Ends

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow
Home Secretary,
responding to Chief superintendent Gavin Thomas’ comments on police funding and
resources, said:

“Once again we see influential
voices from within policing warning of the disastrous effects of the Tories’
continued funding cuts in the face of rising demands on policing services.

“Ministers should finally take
heed of this latest warning and stop asking the police to do more with less.

“It is no surprise morale is low
when frontline officers have seen so many colleagues lose their jobs, while
their own pay has frozen under seven years of Tory austerity.

“You cannot
protect the public on the cheap, which is why Labour has pledged to give
officers the pay rise they deserve and put 10,000 extra bobbies on the beat.”

Ends

“Today’s
warning from NHS Providers should come as a wake-up call to this Tory
Government.

 “Reports
of "dangerous” bed shortages this winter putting patient safety at
risk are extremely worrying and will lead to yet more patients being left in
the back of ambulances or stranded on hospital trolleys for hours on end.

 “At
the General Election Labour promised a cash injection to cope with this year’s
winter crisis. The Government urgently needs to follow our lead and to heed the
advice from health bosses to provide an immediate funding boost this winter to
avoid serious harm to patients.“

The
Labour Party is calling on the Secretary of State for the Department of Work
and Pensions, David Gauke MP, to come before Parliament to explain why the
Government has failed to implement recommendations from a United Nations report
into the rights of disabled people, which has resulted in the chair of the UN’s
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities describing the situation
as a ‘human catastrophe’ for disabled people.

Following
the first ever investigation into a breach of their convention protecting
disabled people’s rights last year, the UN found that the UK Government has
committed ‘grave and systematic violations’, and set out a number of measures
they needed to take to improve.

As
yesterday’s review described, implementation of the initial recommendations has
been ‘uneven’ and ‘insufficient’. Despite having months to improve, the
Government is still failing to understand, adapt to or apply a human rights
model of disability; to properly consult disabled people in the implementation
of the convention; and to address concerns about the impact of austerity
measures which have increased levels of poverty among disabled people.

Debbie
Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“Yesterday’s
damning report highlights the complete failure of this Tory Government to
listen to the UN, and to take action to guarantee the basic rights of disabled
people.

“Their
lack of progress across almost all of the UN Committee’s recommendations
reflects the Government’s refusal to accept the misery faced by disabled people
as a result of their failing austerity agenda.

“The
Secretary of State must come before the House at the earliest possible
opportunity to explain why the Government has refused to listen to the UN, and
instead continues to violate disabled people’s rights.

“The next
Labour Government will incorporate the UN CRPD fully into UK law.”

Debbie
Abrahams MP, Shadow Secretary of State
for Work and Pensions,
responded to the concluding observations by UN Committee on Rights of Persons
with Disabilities on the initial UK report, said:
 
“The UN Committee, in making such a high number of recommendations to a nation
state, has found that this Tory government is still failing sick and disabled
people. Their damning report highlights what many disabled people already
know to be true, that they are being forced to bear the brunt of
failed Tory austerity policies.  The Committee also expressed
concerns about future rights for disabled people after Brexit.

“This confirms what
Labour has been saying all along, that the lack of progress on all Convention
articles, including cruel changes to social security and the punitive
sanctions regime, are causing real misery for sick and disabled people. 
 
“Labour will transform our social security system in partnership with disabled
people to ensure that, like our NHS, it is there for us all in our time of
need.  The next Labour Government will incorporate the UN CRPD fully into
UK law and immediately reverse the PIP regulations, as called for by the UN.”

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