Labour

Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Andrew Gwynne MP, commenting on the decision to bring in an external taskforce to oversee key services from Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: 

“Despite being a clear admission of failure, this is a half measure that does not go far enough to address the woefully inadequate performance of Kensington and Chelsea council throughout this crisis.

“It is clear that the community has lost trust in their council. Sajid Javid needs to finally show some leadership by bringing in external commissioners – in consultation with residents themselves – to  make sure everyone in the borough is getting the support they need.“

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on the expiry of the Prime Minister’s pledge to rehouse those who lost their homes as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire, said:

“Theresa May promised those who lost their homes as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire that they would be rehoused within three weeks, but today it’s clear that this promise has not been met. 

“Support for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire is still not good enough. At every stage Ministers have been off the pace – too slow to grasp the scale of the problems people are facing and too slow to act.

“For the Grenfell Tower survivors and for the local community in North Kensington, underlying everything is the question of trust. Ministers must now show that they mean what they say, do what they promise and act urgently to give those affected by this tragic fire the support they need.”

Ends

Notes

Three days after the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, on 17 June, the Prime Minister said: “I have fixed a deadline of three weeks for everybody affected to be found a home nearby.” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/grenfell-tower-statement-from-the-prime-minister-17-june-2017.

However, figures from the Grenfell Fire Response Team, confirmed by Labour this morning are that of 158 households potentially eligible for rehousing, only 139 offers of temporary accommodation have been made, and of these only 14 have been accepted.

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to a new British Medical Journal report revealing a new wave of NHS postcode rationing, said:

“The Conservative Government’s underfunding and neglect of the health service is causing misery for patients and making it harder to access routine NHS treatments.

“This new BMJ research reveals that thousands more patients are being turned down for treatment every year. Across the country services which were previously easily available are now being rationed because of the Tory funding squeeze.

“Behind every one of these statistics is a patient and their family waiting longer in pain and suffering because of this Government’s scandalous undermining of the NHS.

“Only Labour has a plan to give the NHS the funding it needs so that patients across the country can get quick access to the treatments and medical support that they need.”

Gordon Marsden MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Minister, commenting on the IFS report on tuition fee reforms, said:

“This report shows that any argument that the current fee system is progressive is absolute nonsense. From scrapping the maintenance grant to freezing the repayment threshold, this Government has increased the debt burden of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will graduate with debts in excess of £57,000.

“Under the Tories, student debt continues to rise with no end in sight, and students in the UK will now graduate with a shocking average of over £50,000 in debt.

“After Labour pledged to scrap tuition fees, the First Secretary of State has called for a national debate on tuition fees, and he is right to do so. The Government must decide if they want to carry on funding our higher education system through a lifetime of debt and a tax on aspiration, or deliver a debt-free education system run for the many not the few.”

Commenting on residents’ concerns about the inquiry into the Grenfell disaster, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party said:

“Victims demand judicial inquiries because of the need for independent and impartial scrutiny. To earn the trust of the community and the wider public, the Grenfell inquiry must:

– Swiftly set wide-ranging terms of reference, after consultation with local residents.
– Be delivered in two parts: the first on the incident itself, and the second on the wider national issues it raises.
– Operate with the highest level of transparency, putting the residents’ interests at its heart.
– Broaden the inquiry team to include greater expertise and engage fully with victims, residents, the emergency services and local community.”