Barbara Keeley MP, Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care, responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement on prevention in mental health, said:

“Once again we hear warm words from the Prime Minister on mental
health, but the reality is that mental health services are stretched to
breaking point and people with mental health problems aren’t getting the
support they need.

“The Prime Minister is failing to address the real crisis in mental
health. Training for teachers and other professionals is welcome but
when we know thousands of children and young people are either turned
away from mental health services or have to wait too long for treatment,
it’s clear that she’s missing the real issue.

“This Tory government has cut local authority funding and failed to
protect mental health budgets. Labour will invest more in mental health
services and ring-fence budgets, so that funding reaches those who need
support.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary,
commenting on new statistics which show that in the year ending March
2019 the highest number of knife and offensive weapon offences since
2010 were formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice System, said:

“The number of knife-related offences continues to soar under this
government. The overstretched and under-resourced police and criminal
justice systems are only able to tackle a fraction of the total level of
crime.

“The Government should stop just talking about a public health
approach and actually adopt one. This includes properly funding the
police, ending the Tories’ damaging cuts to public services and
reinvesting in youth services to provide young people with genuine hope
for their future prospects.”

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s  Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on GMB’s report on Amazon’s public sector contracts, said:

“It is shocking that the government has spent millions with a company
that makes massive profits while mistreating its workers and paying
barely any tax.

“Labour in government will insist that that when taxpayer funded
public services and goods are delivered by private companies, they
operate to the highest standards, with a public service ethos and not
simply in the interests of shareholders. We will clamp down on tax
avoidance and evasion, and implement our Tax Transparency and
Enforcement Programme to build an economy that works for the many, not
the few.”

John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor, commenting on Boris Johnson’s pledge to cut higher income tax rates, said:

“With our schools, care for the elderly and our police services at
breaking point, Boris Johnson’s proposals to give a tax cut to high
earners reveals how out of touch the Tories are.  As predicted the Tory
leadership contest is becoming a race to the bottom in tax cuts.”

“Labour will put the responsibility for repairing our public services
on the Top 5% and corporations, not add to the handouts the Government
has already given the richest in society.”

Ahead of attending the 75th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Portsmouth, Jeremy Corbyn MP, leader of the Labour Party, said:

“The troops that landed on the beaches of France 75 years ago showed
unimaginable heroism. Many laid down their lives in the fight against
fascism.

“People will have heard the recent serialisation of Anne Frank’s
Diaries on BBC radio. It was heart-breaking to hear her excitement and
optimism about the Allied landings in Normandy, shortly before she was
transported to Auschwitz, and then Bergen-Belsen.

“It was a poignant reminder of the evils of Nazism, and why its defeat by the Allied forces was so essential for humanity.

“We must not just commemorate those who fought, and died, but honour them by opposing the forces of hatred today.

“Only by standing up to hate, oppression and war can we protect international cooperation and peace.”