Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Social
Care Minister, commenting
on the Government’s decision to temporarily suspend HMRC enforcement action and
waive historical penalties for sleep-in shifts, said:

“This announcement does little to
help sort out the issue of pay for sleep-in shifts.

“Care providers still face a £400 million
bill and care workers still have no idea when they will get the money they
have rightfully earned. Delaying enforcement action for a few weeks does
nothing to address the issue and is a dangerous and retrograde step that risks
undermining the very principle of a statutory minimum wage. If an exemption is
granted in this case, it will not be long before other employers start pleading
poverty to get out of their duty to properly pay their workforce.

"This Tory Government needs to stop
burying its head in the sand about the problems in social care and put the
funding of social care on a long-term sustainable footing.”

Alex Cunningham,
Shadow Work and Pensions Minister, commenting on the Rethink Mental
Illness report, said:

“This
report highlights the shocking barriers faced by people with mental health
conditions trying to find a job, and demonstrates this Government’s total
failure to get to grips with the disability employment gap.

“The
Government’s flagship Disability Confident scheme doesn’t appear to have had
any impact at all. They seem unable to point to a single person who has found a
job as a direct result of the scheme.”

“Labour
will halve the disability employment gap, by supporting employers to remove
barriers to work and retain employees who may have developed a long-term health
condition or an impairment.”

Andrew
Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government,
responding to the announcement of the terms of reference for the Grenfell
Taskforce, said:

“Today’s
announcement has come too slow and falls far short of the action that is
needed. Residents of Kensington and Chelsea have made it very clear in the past
weeks that they do not trust the leadership of the council, and nothing from
central government has been done to address this.

"The
objectives set by the Government for the taskforce show that they are aware of
these problems – but there continues to be a real issue of accountability.
Delivery of these objectives remains the responsibility of a council that have
shown they are not equipped to deal with the task ahead, and Sajid Javid has
refused to step in and take on the responsibility himself to ensure that
survivors, still homeless after this tragedy, get the support they need.”

Ends

Richard
Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the Supreme Court’s
judgement on Employment Tribunal Fees, said:

“We
welcome the Supreme Court’s judgement which finds tribunal fees unlawful. The
Conservative Government should do the right thing, accept the ruling and
consign their immoral Employment Tribunal Fees to the dustbin of history,
rather than spending more taxpayers’ money trying to defend the indefensible.

“It’s an
important day for access to justice for ordinary working people everywhere. The
Conservative Government – which in coalition with the Lib Dems brought in this
immoral restricted access to justice – must now pay a £32 million price for
attacking workers.

“Labour’s
manifesto pledged to abolish Employment Tribunal Fees. Labour’s position has
been vindicated by the highest court of the land and Unison should be
congratulated on winning a victory for working people everywhere.”

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commenting on further reports of
cabinet division, said:

“Liam Fox defended the practice of chlorine washing chicken last night.
This morning, in yet another example of Conservative chaos, Michael
Gove has ruled out chlorinated chicken imports.

“This casual and inconsistent attitude towards the importing of
chlorinated chicken undermines everything British poultry farmers do to produce
high quality produce and uphold high animal welfare standards.

“Theresa May must put an end to the internal
disarray in her cabinet and set the record straight by publicly supporting
British poultry farmers and committing to protect the British public from
substandard food produce in a race-to-the-bottom Brexit.

“Labour reiterates our calls for the Government to
secure the inclusion of high food and animal welfare standards in all trade
agreements negotiated after Brexit.”