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.”