Labour

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s Yorkshire Post article on transport in the North, said:

“Grayling’s decision to wash his hands of the North’s transport problems is a huge insult to commuters and businesses.

“It’s true that the North can play a larger role in determining and delivering its own transport priorities, but only if it’s backed with funding from central government – an unlikely prospect while Chris Grayling holds the purse strings.

“The Tories have a track record of underinvestment and broken promises. London receives £1500 per person more in transport spending than the North, but far from addressing this disparity the Tories are making it worse by scrapping upgrades to the TransPennine route.  

“Many people will be furious at being told they should ‘take control’ whilst the government pulls the plug on hundreds of millions of pounds worth of improvements to the region’s rail links and presides over huge inequalities in transport spending between the North and South.

“The North needs its fair share of investment, not words of encouragement from Chris Grayling.

“That is why Labour has pledged to help transform the economies of the North, underpinned by a £10bn commitment for Crossrail for the North.”

Ends

New analysis by Labour has revealed that almost a million (972,000) households in England are paying more than a third of their incomes in mortgage costs – an internationally recognised standard of housing affordability – despite record low interest rates.

In response, Labour has pledged to provide 100,000 new affordable FirstBuy homes for first-time buyers over its first five years in government – a new class of housing sold at prices set so that mortgage costs are affordable to households on local average incomes.

Labour’s new analysis drawn from the official English Housing Survey comes after official figures earlier in the year revealed that the number of households headed by someone aged under 45 who owns their own home has fallen by an astonishing 900,000 since 2010 to just 44 per cent.

Current Conservative policies to help first-time buyers are failing, with no fresh ideas and Ministers stalling on plans they’ve previously announced:

–       Almost three years after announcing the Government’s flagship new ‘starter homes’  not a single one has been built

–       Help to Buy has been heavily criticised for not focusing on first-time buyers on ordinary incomes, with the majority of recipients saying they could have bought a property anyway

Statistics released earlier this year revealed that the level of homeownership in Britain has now fallen to a 30-year low.

Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey MP said:

“The cost of the housing crisis means that young people looking to buy a home of their own are being locked out of the housing market.

“After seven years of failure, the Conservatives have no plan to fix the housing crisis. Homeownership has hit a 30-year low and the number of under-45s who own their own home has fallen by over 900,000.

“Labour would bring in a big New Deal for first time buyers including ‘first dibs’ on new homes built in the local area and 100,000 new discount FirstBuy Homes which are priced at a level linked to local average incomes. Labour offers help to the many aspiring first-time buyers on ordinary incomes and hope that things can change.”

Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, commenting on the Government’s latest Brexit policy paper on enforcement and dispute resolution, said:

“Any final deal with the EU that protects jobs and the economy will require an effective and robust dispute resolution mechanism. This will inevitably involve some form of independent court.

“The Prime Minister’s ideological insistence that there can be no future role whatsoever for the ECJ or any similar court-like body risks preventing the deal Britain needs. It has already held back a sensible and early agreement on issues such as Euratom and EU citizens.

“But the repeated reference to ending the “direct jurisdiction” of the ECJ is potentially significant. This appears to contradict the red line laid out in the Prime Minister’s Lancaster House speech and the government’s white paper, which stated there could be no future role of the ECJ and that all laws will be interpreted by judges in this country.”

Kate Osamor MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, commenting on the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on 23 August, said:

“Today we remember the struggles of millions of slaves who, through everyday resistance over decades, brought about the abolition of slavery and showed the power of collective action.

“But there are still 45.8 million people locked in modern slavery, including in child slavery, trafficking and sexual exploitation. It is estimated that illegal profits are to the tune of US$ 150 billion globally.

“Theresa May’s government is right to make this a priority. But it must do more to address the root causes of modern slavery, and not treat its symptoms in isolation. Only a Labour government will bring the international leadership and cooperation needed to tackle labour exploitation and deregulation, combat trafficking, and raise standards on supply chain transparency.”

“Even George Osborne recognises that the Tories’ chronic underinvestment in transport is holding the North back. 

“It takes longer to travel by train from Liverpool to Hull than from London to Paris, yet the government spend £1500 more per head in London than the North. 

“Rather than addressing these disparities, the Conservatives have abandoned the North, having just pulled the plug on the full electrification of the TransPennine route.

“Investing in transport is essential to rebalancing the economy and boosting growth across the country. That’s why Labour has pledged to upgrade the rail network throughout Britain, including a £10bn commitment for Crossrail for the North.”