Labour

Diane Abbott MP, Shadow Home Secretary, in response to figures that show just five per cent of refugees resettled under the Governments refugee scheme have disabilities, despite estimates that more than 1 in 5 escaping Syria is disabled, said:

“This is truly appalling and an all new low in this government’s treatment of refugees.

“Just over a year ago when Theresa May made her first speech as Prime Minister she said “ a disability or a health condition should never dictate the path a person is able to take”, but this has clearly been a factor blocking the legitimate right of vulnerable refugees to seek asylum in this country.  

“We know that offers from councils to host refugees have not been taken up in full, the Dubs scheme has been halted and now this. This Tory government’s treatment of refugees is simply not in line with British values.”

New research published today by the Labour Party shows that nearly half of England’s maternity units closed to new mothers at some point in 2016.

Data obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act shows:

·         42 hospital trusts which responded to an FOI request say they temporarily closed maternity wards to new admissions at some point in 2016

·         Some closures lasted more than 24 hours, while over ten trusts shut temporarily on more than ten separate occasions each

·         In 2016 there were 382 occasions when units had to close their doors, a 70 per cent increase from 2014

·         Hospitals report capacity and staffing issues as most common reason for closures

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said:

“These findings show the devastating impact which Tory underfunding is having for mothers and children across the country. It is staggering that almost half of maternity units in England had to close to new mothers at some point in 2016. The uncertainty for so many women just when they need the NHS most is unthinkable. 

“Under this Government, maternity units are understaffed and under pressure. It’s shameful that pregnant women are being turned away due to staff shortages, and shortages of beds and cots in maternity units.

“Families are being sorely let down by this Government’s failure to recognise the crisis facing our NHS. The Tories need to get a grip and take urgent action to make sure closures like this don’t continue to happen.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to Commander Dean Haydon’s comments on Prevent, said:

“There is growing criticism from within communities and from counter-radicalisation experts who say that Prevent is alienating whole layers of the population.

“If the Government has any evidence of Prevent’s success it should publish it. So far, it has failed to do so.  Labour in government will conduct a thorough review of the Prevent strategy.”

Tom Watson, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on the announcement of details of the Data Protection Bill, said: 

“The Government opposed Labour’s attempts to strengthen data protection laws during the passage of the Digital Economy Act just months ago, so it is welcome news that they’ve finally understood that our current data protection legislation needs updating. 

“Labour’s manifesto committed to allowing young people to remove content shared on the internet before they turned 18, so we’re glad the Government is taking action on this.

“As we are leaving the EU it is more important than ever that we have a robust data protection framework fit for the future. We’ll be scrutinising the bill carefully to make sure it creates that future proof framework.”

Rebecca Long Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on the energy price review said:

“Today’s review is yet another example of the Government’s procrastination when it comes to reforming the broken energy market. Homes and businesses face a bleak winter ahead with soaring and unfair energy costs. They need action, not another review.

“Ofgem’s recent watered down price cap proposals went nowhere near the promise made by the Prime Minister to adopt Labour’s principle of a price cap and last week’s energy price hikes clearly showed the Government would be nowhere near implementing their election promise anytime soon.

“Let’s remember Theresa May pledged unequivocally to knock £100 off the bills of 17 million customers.

“It does seem that reports of senior cabinet members and the big six energy companies lobbying the Prime Minster to drop the price cap commitment are correct.”