Labour

Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, commenting on the Public and Commercial Services union announcement that protests about pay are due to take place across the UK, said

“These protests reinforce the unfairness of the public sector pay cap and the poor treatment that civil servants and other public sector workers have faced at the hands of this Tory Government. Civil servants and other public sector workers have seen their real wages fall constantly over the seven years of Conservative pay freezes and caps.

“It is shocking that our public servants have been forced into protesting their poor treatment and falling wages caused by the Tory Government’s pay freezes and caps. 

“Meanwhile, the Conservative’s cabinet of chaos continues to stand up for a privileged elite – handing out tax cuts for the rich and failing to properly tackle tax avoidance.

“The next Labour Government will lift the public sector pay cap and give all workers the pay rise they deserve so that the economy works for the many and not the few.” 

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Business Secretary, responding to Aston Martin’s investment announcement, said:

“Aston Martin’s £500m trade deal  announced today is welcome, as is the continued investment of other car manufacturers such as Nissan and Toyota. However, the continued success of British automotive sector, the jewel in our manufacturing crown, is being put at risk.

“The Government’s failing Brexit strategy twinned with a weak industrial strategy and secretive bespoke deals within the sector is the antitheses of the robust strategy the last Labour government put in place for the sector.

“Labour’s properly resourced industrial strategy and jobs-first approach to leaving the EU is what is needed to ensure the continued prosperity of the automotive sector’.”

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to the release of terms of reference for the independent inquiry into building regulations following the Grenfell Tower fire, said:

“Ministers have been off the pace at every stage in responding to the terrible Grenfell Tower fire.

“While better late than never, it’s now eleven weeks since Grenfell and over four years on from two Coroners’ reports into previous high rise fires recommended an overhaul of building regulations. Ministers promised a review in May 2013 but have failed to act since.  

“Rather than waiting for the findings of this inquiry, Ministers should start acting on these existing recommendations immediately and incorporate any proposals from Dame Judith Hackitt.

“More broadly, Ministers must now use this inquiry to ensure that our system of fire checks and regulations has the clarity, accountability and proper standards needed so that no-one feels unsafe in their home.”

Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Employment Minister, commenting on the Office of National Statistics Working and Workless Households figures, said:

“While any increases in employment are positive, under this Government work is no longer a reliable route out of poverty with over half of those living in poverty coming from a working household.

“There are four million children growing up in poverty in the UK; two thirds of these children live in working households.

“A Labour government for the many, not the few, will introduce a Real Living Wage to end in-work poverty once and for all, while investing in childcare to allow parents to get back to work once they are ready.”

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“I’d like to thank Kezia Dugdale for her work as Scottish Labour leader and the important role she has played in rebuilding the party in Scotland.

“Kezia became Scottish leader at one of the most difficult times in the history of the Scottish Labour Party, and the party’s revival is now fully under way, with six new MPs and many more to come.

“I want to thank Kez for her tireless service to our party and movement, and look forward to campaigning with her in future for a country that works for the many not the few.”

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