Keir
Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,
commenting on the Government’s latest proposals on customs arrangements, said:

“These are incoherent and
inadequate proposals designed to gloss over deep and continuing divisions
within the Cabinet.

“Businesses, trade unions and the
country need certainty about our future trading and customs arrangements. They
also need a pragmatic and considered approach that delivers the best deal for
Britain.

“Instead, the Cabinet remain split
on key issues and cannot decide between two very different but equally
unachievable options. The first proposal suggests “a new customs border with
the EU” could be introduced without disrupting trade; the second suggests a new
borderless customs partnership could somehow be agreed while Britain also signs
external trade deals.

“These fantastical and
contradictory proposals provide no guidance for negotiators or certainty for
businesses. The proposals also make it less likely that necessary transitional
arrangements will be in place by March 2019.

“Labour is clear that we need to
retain the benefits of the Customs Union and avoid a cliff-edge for the British
economy. That means committing now to strong transitional arrangements on the
same basic terms we currently enjoy – including the Single Market and the
Customs Union.”

Ends

Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, responding to a Teach First
report on access to university, said:

“This is
yet another example of the Government’s shameful record on social mobility.

“In the
poorest postcodes in the country, just one in five young people get to
university; meanwhile, more and more pupils from private and grammar schools
are getting into higher education.

“After
their failed attempt to reintroduce grammar schools, it’s clear that the Tories
have their heads in the sand on social mobility and need to wake up to the
calamity they have created.

“By
trebling tuition fees and cutting maintenance grants, ministers have made
access to university so much harder for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

“The next Labour government will address the growing crisis
of social mobility by abolishing tuition fees and bringing back maintenance
grants to support students.”

Rebecca
Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy,
responding to the RAA announcement on Tata Steel, said:

“This
is a welcome announcement which finally puts an end to the months of
uncertainty that tens of thousands of steelworkers have faced.

“Trade
unions representing steel workers have worked tirelessly to secure workers’
futures and protect Britain’s steel industry, which people and communities
across the UK rely on. The company must ensure they continue to engage with
unions so their members get the support and guidance they need.

“Labour
has stood up for steelworkers and fought to save our steel industry. Now it is
vital that Tata Steel, supported by the Government, follows through with their
commitment to invest in their whole steel business to protect jobs and secure
the long-term future of UK steelmaking.”

Richard
Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, has written to David Lidington MP, the
Justice Secretary, to call on the Government to make the taking of “upskirt”
photographs a sexual offence in law.

In the
letter, Burgon echoes Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Dame Vera
Baird’s call for this necessary change and urges the Government to close the
current gap in the law that exists.

Full text
of the letter from Richard Burgon MP to David Lidington MP

Dear
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor,

I am writing
in support of the campaign, started by Gina Martin, to make disgraceful,
invasive “upskirting” photographs a sexual offence in law.

The scope for
people to take “upskirting” photographs has clearly increased with developments
in mobile phone technology since the enactment of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
At present, there is a gap in the law that has allowed – and is continuing to
allow – people who have taken such photographs in public places to escape
prosecution.  This needs to be changed. Northumbria Police and Crime
Commissioner Dame Vera Baird has also made the case for this necessary change.

I believe
that in the country there is strong support for Gina Martin’s campaign for this
necessary change in the law.

The law must
be changed so that women are protected, offenders are punished and potential
offenders are deterred.

Given the
very welcome public interest in – and support for – this campaign, I have made
this letter public, and hope that you will publicly respond very soon with an
announcement of plans to change the law so that the taking of “upskirting”
photographs is a sexual offence in law.

Yours
sincerely

Richard
Burgon MP

Shadow
Secretary of State for Justice & Shadow Lord Chancellor

Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for
International Trade, commenting on today’s trade statistics release
from the ONS, which shows UK trade performance for the year since the EU
Referendum vote, said:

“Despite Liam Fox traversing the globe in search of
new trade deals, the latest trade figures show that the monthly trade deficit
is at the worst since November 2011. This government is failing to make any
real impact on growing British exports and reducing our trade deficit. In the
twelve months since the EU Referendum and the creation of the Department for
International Trade there has been no promised boom in trade as any increases
in exports are closely matched by the increasing volume of imports and the
total trade deficit has continued to widen.

“The Secretary of State’s overseas junkets have not
materialised in tangible results as, in the last quarter, exports to non-EU
countries have actually decreased by 1.4 per cent whilst exports to EU
countries has increased by 2.0 per cent – a clear reminder of the need for the Government
to prioritise our trading relationship with the EU.

“Globetrotting, sporadic arms sales and dependence
on foreign exchange arbitrage opportunities is not a trade strategy – the
Secretary of State must bring forward a coherent trade plan that sets out how
he intends to grow British exports by integrating our industrial and
international trade strategies in order to promote domestic industries.”