Labour

Rachael Maskell MP, Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister, commenting after Abellio won the West Midlands rail franchise, said:

“With regulated fares up by 27 per cent on average since 2010 and with further fare increases to be announced next week, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Tories to justify allowing private foreign and state-owned companies to run our railways and extract money that should be used to improve services or hold fares down.

“When in public hands, the East Coast Mainline returned over £1 billion to the Treasury, kept fares down, had record passenger satisfaction and had excellent industrial relations. Labour would replicate this success on the West Midland’s franchise by bringing rail into public ownership to be run in the interest of passengers, not profit.”

Figures released by NHS England today (Thursday 10 August) reveal the damage done to our health service by a year of Theresa May’s leadership.

After a year of Theresa May as Tory Prime Minister, NHS figures show:

·         2,550,755 people waited over four hours to be seen in A&E, an increase of 460,530

·         280,000 people have been added to waiting lists, meaning over 4 million people are currently waiting for treatment

·         The total number of bed days lost due to delayed transfers of care was over 2.2 million, an increase of 366,032

·         There have been 80,664 cancelled elective operations, equal to 1551 per week, an increase of 3,775.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“NHS patients cannot afford another year of Theresa May. She has said she is ‘proud’ of the Conservative record on the NHS, but after a year in office, patients are waiting longer to be seen in A&E, longer for treatment and longer to be discharged. That is nothing to be proud of.

“The crisis in social care is crippling our hospitals as more people have delayed discharges because there isn’t proper care available for them outside. The Conservatives pledged to reduce delayed discharges but have failed to honour their promise.

“Labour would immediately put £2 billion into social care. And we would lift the public sector pay cap and reinstate nurses’ bursaries to help recruit and retain NHS staff. The NHS is simply not safe in the hands of the Conservatives. A Labour government will invest in our NHS so it can properly look after the vast majority of people who rely on it.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, speaking in response to comments from the independent anti-slavery commissioner, said:

“The criticisms of the National Crime Agency’s failure to tackle slavery are very serious.

“The claim that modern slavery offences are just lying dormant on the NCA database because these crimes are not taken seriously is deeply troubling. The NCA is accountable for its performance to the Home Secretary, so Amber Rudd has serious questions to answer.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the comments from the Home Secretary on increased use of stop and search, said: 

“Labour supports evidence-based stop and search, not a return to the bad old days of discriminatory stops that focus on particular communities.

“Police officers should be confident in doing their job, but the Tories have overseen a huge cut in police numbers. Simply granting police additional powers won’t make up for that shortfall. Labour in government will recruit 10,000 extra police officers to help tackle violent crime and keep the public and our communities safe.

“The Government should stop trying to con the public by attempting to cover up their failure to tackle rising violent crime – when the crime stats were released they insisted crime was falling, but now want to increase stop and search.“

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, responding to analysis by the Local Government Association on children’s social care budgets, said:

“The LGA, which represents councils from every part of the country, has spoken with one voice and are telling us that children’s social services are on the brink of collapse.

“This isn’t the view of a few local councils, these are local authorities from every part of the country and they are reporting very serious disparities in the care they can provide due to budget cuts.

“Councils have worked hard to make savings, but they are running out of options. We all want every single child, no matter their geography or family situation, to receive the best care and protection when needed, but right now, that is not happening.

“This is yet another sign of the government’s misplaced priorities – they can find a £1 billion bung for the DUP to stay in the job but are failing to provide the funding children’s services desperately need.”