Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, speaking ahead of the EU elections today, said:

“Today, the country has an opportunity to have a say on what kind of country we want Britain to be.

“A vote for Labour is a vote for a tolerant and fairer country, and
an end to the division and austerity which has devastated our
communities for a decade.

“The threat from the far-right is real. They serve only to sow
division and offer no solutions. A vote for Labour today will challenge
the far-right in Britain and across Europe.

“A vote for Labour is a vote to bring our divided country together,
whether you supported Remain or Leave. We are the only party working for
a sensible solution to break the Brexit deadlock and protect jobs,
rights and living standards.

“We will continue to oppose the Tories’ bad deal or a disastrous No
Deal. If we can’t get an agreement along the lines of our alternative
plan, we will take it back to the people whether it’s through a public
vote or general election.

“A vote for Labour is a vote for the only party that stands for the
real change our country desperately needs, to benefit all communities,
not just a privileged few.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the directions issued today about the FCA’s handling of the LCF scandal, said:

“The Government has not taken this seriously, and these directions
from the Economic Secretary do not change that. The Government has not
joined the dots of successive scandals. They have not seen that the root
of multiple scandals is systemic regulatory failure, rather than
one-off acts of misconduct or ‘bad apple’ individuals. The Chancellor
needs to front up and review the entire regulatory architecture.

“The investigation into the approach of the FCA and ‘wider policy
questions’ is encouraging, but a 12 month investigation is far too long
to wait for people whose lives have been torn apart by the collapse of
LCF, and are desperate for answers.

“The Government’s actions reflect a combination of incompetence and a
blinkered ideology: their commitment to ‘new and innovative forms of
finance’ has blinded them to the harms of inadequate regulation.

“A Labour Government would take a fundamentally different approach.
We’ve commissioned work on overhauling the regulatory architecture. We
will ensure that finance is a servant to, not master of, the public –
and that our regulators bear this in mind at all times.”

Today (Wednesday), Labour will use an Opposition Day
Debate in the House of Commons to call for tougher action to tackle
discrimination in sport.

Labour would like to see a system introduced where offending content
on social media is shared with sports governing bodies and clubs to
ensure the offender can be banned from matches and sporting events.

Labour MPs will be calling on the government to hold social media
companies to account given the unacceptable levels of discrimination
that remain in sport.

Racism, sexism and homophobia targeted at players and fans are often
left unpunished on social media. It affects athletes of all levels,
across the country.

Labour recognises the work done by governing bodies, clubs and
supporters’ groups across all sports to combat discrimination and
encourages these organisations to work with fans to stamp out the
behaviour of a minority of supporters.

Rosena Allin-Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Sports Minister, said:

“Parliament has a responsibility to send a strong message that we
need to combat discrimination across all sports. This is an important
debate because right now, our national sport is being ruined by racists,
sexists and homophobes.

“The comments being made on Twitter would be indefensible in a court
of law, indefensible in front of an employer, and yet they are going
unpunished on social media. We want social media companies to have a
responsibility to remove hate speech within 24 hours or face serious
fines that hit their bottom line.

“There is no greater unifier in the world than sport, so we want
Parliament to send a clear message today, that discrimination in sport
must no longer be tolerated.”

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, commenting on the government’s plastics announcement, said:

“It is disappointing that this announcement falls short of EU
proposals announced earlier this week, especially when we have had warm
words from government that British environmental standards will not lag
behind after Brexit. Despite the headlines, it appears that plastic
drinks stirrers are the only item that will be totally banned from sale.

“Meanwhile, recycling rates have slumped and the UK continues to
export large amounts of recyclable materials to countries that have
little or no waste infrastructure – which is how a lot of plastic ends
up in our oceans.

“Labour is calling for a truly comprehensive waste and recycling
strategy that tackles our lack of domestic infrastructure to deal with
what we throw away as well as further action to reduce waste at source
and improve levels of recycling.”

John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor,
responding to news that inflation has increased to 2.1% and that
borrowing in the latest full financial year has exceeded the March
forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, said:

“With rising prices and surging government borrowing today, it’s
clear the Tories have left the economy unprepared for the shock of a No
Deal Brexit.

“They have broken their promise to eliminate the deficit by 2015, and
have overseen stagnating wages driven by slumping business investment
and productivity.

“Only a Labour Government will deliver the radical transformation
that is desperately needed to boost livelihoods and protect future
generations.”