Labour

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Campaigns and Elections Chair, in response to Theresa May’s speech this afternoon in South Wales, said:

“It is clearer than ever that a vote for the Tories is a vote for the few, not the many. Rather than uniting the country and tackling the challenges we face, their policies are divisive and are taking us backwards.

“Only Labour will invest to create shared prosperity. Only Labour will protect our public services.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the ONS Public Sector Finances figures which show that the national debt has gone up by  £123.5 billion since March 2016 under the Tories, said:

“After seven wasted years of Tory economic failure, supported by both Philip Hammond and Theresa May, the deficit has not been cleared as they promised, and the national debt continues to rise.

“The Tories promised when they were first elected that they would have balanced the books by 2015, but now they cannot promise to do it by 2020, and instead the past year has seen both borrowing and debt has increased.

“Today’s figures reveal that the national debt has gone up by £123 billion since March last year, and with a Tory Chancellor who won’t rule out raising taxes on low and middle earners, and has no plan to deal with inflation rising ahead of earnings, it is clear the Tories want the rest of us to pay for their mistakes.

“Yet despite their broken promises on the public finances they continue to hand out tens of billions in tax giveaways to the super-rich and big corporations, while enforcing spending cuts on everyone else; underfunding our NHS and leaving our care system in crisis for the most vulnerable.

“Only a Labour government will have a serious plan for the public finances with strategic investment underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule, so that we stand up for the many, not the few.”

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, setting out Labour’s approach to Brexit, will say:

At this election there will be a very clear choice on the ballot paper.

A choice of two visions of Brexit.

Labour’s approach to Brexit will be based on our values: internationalist. Outward looking. A belief that we achieve more together than we do alone.

We accept that outside the EU our relationship with Europe must change.

But we do not accept that Brexit has to mean whatever Theresa May says it means. We do not accept that there has to be a reckless Tory Brexit. We do not believe that if you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere.

We recognise that immigration rules will have to change as we exit the EU, but we do not believe that immigration should be the overarching priority. We do not believe that leaving the EU means severing our ties with Europe. We do not believe that Brexit means weakening workers’ rights and environmental protections or slashing corporate tax rates.

Labour believe in a very different vision of how Brexit can work for Britain and the EU.

We believe in building a new relationship with the EU – not as members but as partners. Where jobs, the economy and retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union are our priority. Where hard-fought workplace rights and the environment are protected. Where we are an open, outward looking country. Where EU nationals living here are guaranteed their rights and can live in certainty that Brexit will not affect them.

A Brexit that brings the country together, radically devolves power and supports all regions and nations of the UK.

That’s the approach to Brexit I will set out today.

 A Labour Government would reset the Tories failing approach to Brexit.

We will scrap the Government’s Brexit White Paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests.

Labour’s White Paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union as we know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy.

Our White Paper will make clear that jobs and the economy are Labour’s priority throughout – whereas the Conservatives are willing to put this at risk.

That means we will seek: continued tariff-free trade between the UK and the EU, no new non-tariff burdens for business, regulatory alignment and continued competitiveness for goods and services.

Whether this is best achieved through reformed membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union or via a bespoke trading arrangement is secondary to the outcome. What matters for jobs, the economy and living standards is that we retain the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union.

And rather than focusing on hypothetical new trade deals with other countries, Labour will focus above all else on securing strong trading arrangements with the EU. After all, the EU accounts for 44 percent of our exports and is by far and away our most important trading partner.

It is extraordinary that we have a Prime Minister who has given up on the Single Market and the Customs Union even before negotiations have begun, but is so willing to talk up the chance of there being no deal reached.

Theresa May has said that no deal is better than a bad deal. Boris Johnson has said no deal is no problem. Labour are very clear that no deal is the worst possible deal.

It would cause huge damage to British businesses and trade, including likely tariffs of 30-40 percent on dairy and meat producers, 10 percent tariffs on cars and a loss of passporting rights for financial services. No wonder the CBI have called it a ‘recipe for chaos’.

A Labour approach to Brexit means ending this reckless approach.

It means making clear to our EU partners that we will seek to negotiate strong transitional arrangements as we leave the EU and to ensure there is no cliff-edge for the UK economy.

It means rejecting no deal as a viable option – a move that will give greater certainty for investors, workers and businesses.

We will also approach negotiations in a completely different way to the Tories.

Where Theresa May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it. We will work with Parliament, not against it.

Because on an issue of this importance the Government can’t hide from the public or Parliament.

A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that Parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.

It means regular reporting back to Parliament on progress in negotiations and it means working with the devolved administrations to reflect specific and particular concerns.

A Labour approach also means rebuilding relations with our EU partners, because striking a good deal for Britain relies on having alliances across Europe.

We will make clear that we will seek to build a close, collaborative future relationship with the EU.

Not as members, but as partners.

This will involve continued cooperation in a whole range of areas from counter-terrorism to higher education; culture to climate change.

So a Labour Government will seek to remain part of the Erasmus scheme so that British students have the same cultural and educational opportunities after we leave the EU.

We will ensure the UK maintains our leading research role by staying part of Horizon 2020 and its successor programmes, and by welcoming research staff from the EU.

We will seek to maintain membership of or equivalent relations with European organisations which offer benefits to the UK, such as Euratom, the European Medicines Agency, Europol and Eurojust – two agencies I worked closely with as DPP.

A Labour approach to Brexit means rejecting Theresa May’s argument that as we leave the EU, we must also sever links that have served the EU and the UK well for decades.

A Labour Government will also mean a new approach to how we treat EU nationals in the UK.

It is shameful that the Prime Minister rejected repeated attempts by Labour to resolve this before Article 50 was triggered. As a result, 3 million EU nationals have suffered unnecessary uncertainty, as well as the 1.2 million UK citizens living in the EU.

EU nationals do not just contribute to our society: they are our society. And they should not be used as bargaining chips.

So on day one of a Labour Government we will immediately guarantee that all EU nationals currently living in the UK will see no change in their legal status as a result of Brexit, and we will seek reciprocal measures for UK citizens in the EU.

There could be no clearer signal that Britain is taking a new approach to Brexit than a Labour Government immediately rectifying this injustice. And there could no clearer signal that Labour want a close and collaborative future relationship with our EU partners.

So I can assure you today that policy will be in Labour’s manifesto.

And we will also set out in further detail how we will reset Britain’s approach to Brexit and prevent a reckless Tory Brexit.

Firstly, we will drop the Tories’ Great Repeal Bill.

The EU has had a huge impact in securing workplace protections and environmental safeguards. That was one the main reasons Labour and trade unions campaigned to stay in the EU.

But we all know that for many Brexiteers in the Tory Party, this was why they wanted to Leave.

It’s why Priti Patel – now in the Cabinet – spoke during the referendum of wanting to ‘halve the burdens’ of ‘EU social and employment legislation’.

A Labour Government will never consider these rights a ‘burden’ or accept the weakening of worker’s rights, consumer rights or environmental protections.

So instead of going ahead with the Tories’ Great Repeal Bill we will introduce new legislation – an EU Rights and Protections Bill.

This will make sure that all EU-derived laws – including workplace laws, consumer rights and environmental protections – are fully protected without qualifications, limitations or sunset clauses. We will work with trade unions, businesses and stakeholders to ensure there is a consensus on this vital issue. 

A Labour approach to Brexit will ensure there can be no rolling back of key rights and protections.

And we will go further, because protecting existing rights can never be the summit of our ambition. A Labour Government will work with EU partners, trade unions and businesses to ensure that, outside the EU, the UK does not lag behind Europe in workplace protections or environmental standards in future.

We will also make sure that there is rigorous and independent scrutiny of any new powers this gives to the Executive, because Brexit cannot result in a power grab by Whitehall.

This brings me to another commitment we will have in our manifesto: a presumption that any new powers that are transferred back from Brussels should go straight to the relevant devolved body.

This will apply to regional government across England, as well as to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This was a proposal included by the Mayor of London in his Brexit White Paper and it is one a Labour Government will take forward.

A Labour approach to Brexit will be part of a radical extension of devolution, and will help bring the country together.

A Tory Brexit will push the country further apart and lead to a concentration of power in Whitehall.

A Labour approach to Brexit will also contribute to how we rebuild a fairer, more progressive country.

The debate over Brexit is not happening in a vacuum.

It will be shaped by the approach the Government you elect takes to a whole range of wider issues – security, taxation, public services, the environment and education.

The Tories see Brexit as a way to further their wish to deregulate the economy, slash corporate taxes, water down workers’ rights and remove Britain from anything and everything European.But a Labour approach to Brexit will help ensure we have a fairer society, a strong economy, robust workplace rights, action on climate change and a more international, outward looking nation.

We need a Labour Government to deliver a real living wage – giving a pay rise to over 5million people – invest in public services and tackle the crisis in housing, the NHS and our schools.

That choice is on the ballot paper at this election.

If Theresa May wins another 5 years in power, she will take it as a green light to side-line Parliament, ignore opposition and drive through a reckless Tory Brexit.

She will isolate us from our nearest partners and strike trade deals with any country that will talk to us – no matter the consequences for workers’ rights, environmental protections or our place in the world

The only way to stop that and to build a fairer Britain is to elect a Labour Government.

A Labour Government who will reset our approach to Brexit, rebuild relations with the EU and make sure that jobs, the economy and rights come first.

We have 6 weeks to make that case.

Thank you.

Jeremy Corbyn speech to the Scottish TUC

**Check Against Delivery**

Comrades and friends, it’s great to be in Scotland and it’s wonderful to be here at the STUC.

The STUC has a wonderful tradition of fighting for working people in Scotland and influencing public policy debates on behalf of working people.

The STUC and its trade union and trades council affiliates have been at the forefront of progress in Scotland.

It’s the collectivism of the trade union movement through working people fighting alongside each other that has always been and always will be the driver of great progressive change in Scotland in the rest of the UK and across the world.

And no more so is that the case than the inspiring young activists involved with the Better Than Zero campaign.  Their vibrant and engaging action is a shining example of modern trade unionism, carrying on the historic fight in a system still rigged against working people.

But that fight is one we have all collectively committed to and continue to do so, because friends, it works.  And we won’t let anyone tell us otherwise. 

It is trade unions that have driven up wages and living standards, health and safety in the workplace, and challenged prejudice and discrimination

And it is Unions that have worked with ourselves in the Labour Party to transform our society,  to offer the opportunities to our people that so many of our forefathers and especially our foremothers unfortunately did not enjoy themselves.

They are our heroes. It was our predecessors who suffered exploitation in the workplace and wider society, and it was they who were not prepared to stand idly by, who instead chose to fight back and win many of the gains that we enjoy today.

Our NHS, our social security safety net, our education system and so much more were won on the shoulders of these giants in the Labour and trade union movement and none of us should ever forget that.

Friends, that’s why I could not be at a better or more appropriate place to start our General Election Campaign in Scotland.

We are standing for the many not the few, and it is through our collective power in a trade union that we ensure the many , standing together,  have the power to stand up to the rich and powerful few.

The Labour Party will always cherish, sustain and protect our relationship with the Trade Union movement and the working people you represent. You are our DNA, you are our family, and we will never, ever apologise for the closeness of our relationship with you.

Friends just like Keir Hardie, I am proud to be a trade unionist and I carry my card everywhere I go.

That is why one of the very first things we will do when forming our Labour Government will be to repeal the vicious Tory Trade Union Act. Giving working people the rights to collectively organise and make their lives better, safer and more content.

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While the timing of the election was unexpected, the choice is clear and the stakes are high.

But let no-one be in any doubt, we are in this election to win it and we will fight for every seat in every corner of these isles.

I said the other day that the dividing lines in this election could not be clearer from the outset. It is the Conservatives, the party of privilege and the richest, versus the Labour Party, the party that is standing up for working people to improve the lives of all. That is the real choice.

Only Labour or the Tories can form a Government , and I implore Scots to fight for the party of progress, and not the vicious Tory Party, who alongside their previous coalition partners, the Lib Dems, unleashed an unprecedented attack on working people in this country.

The choice facing the country at this election is clear, it’s the people versus the powerful.

Labour will challenge the rigged system that is holding our country back.

In this election Labour will offer hope to the nurse, the teacher, the small trader, the carer, the builder, the office worker, the bus driver, the factory worker, the farm labourer and the factory worker.

We will provide the change and the transformative policy programme that puts power and opportunity in people’s hands.  

We will fight this election offering a positive vision for our country. We will present to the British people an economic and political alternative, and a promise that we will make our country work for the many not the few.

We will make jobs better and more secure with a real living wage, and stronger rights at work.

We will end the public sector pay cap that disrespects our committed public servants every day.

We will end the need for food banks.

We will upgrade our economy to create wealth for all our people in the 21st Century, through investment in our infrastructure, helping our small businesses, delivering high skill jobs and ending poverty pay.

We will never put tax giveaways to the corporations and the wealthiest above our vital public services like our social care system and NHS, and those engines of opportunity our schools and colleges. We will give them the funding they need.

The Scottish people are facing a crucial choice in this election. The Tories are trying to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven, run in the interests of the powerful.

Labour will negotiate a Brexit that will build on the gains won for workers, consumers and the environment in the EU. We will put jobs, living standards and human rights first.

Friends, this is a General Election, it is not a referendum, and only Labour can form a Government and offer an alternative that will transform the lives of Scots.

The truth is that the Tories and SNP are obsessed with their power struggles against Brussels and Westminster, when the energy should be used to change and transform our economy to ensure no-one and no community is left behind.

The Tories are Tories, they will always seek to undermine, dilute or simply eliminate all the gains that we won. That’s who they are and that’s what they do.

The Tories act for the powerful and the powerful back them. That’s what we are up against, that’s what our predecessors were up against, it never stopped them and it won’t stop us.

Much of the media and establishment are saying that this election is a foregone conclusion.

They think there are rules in politics which if you don’t follow you don’t win.

So you start doffing your cap to powerful people accepting their parameters so nothing can really change. Comrades, it is when you start doing that, that you really can’t win.

Our movement knows it. It is only by us standing together as the people for the many not the powerful few that we really win.

Friends only Labour has the policies that will challenge these powerful interests and transform the lives of working people.

And friends let us remember that the only real Progressive Alliance is the Labour and Trade Union movement working together, it always has been and always will be.

That’s why Labour is campaigning to win every seat across the whole country.

The deal we’ll do is with the electorate, is to be a government for the many not the few.

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The truth is that the politics and policies of Labour are needed now more than ever as our country becomes more unfair, more unjust and more unequal.

In Scotland 260 thousand children, 40,000 more than last year are living in poverty. Health inequalities stubbornly persist, educational attainment differences are worsening, and the numbers of people working but still considered to be living in poverty are at their worse point since devolution.

That’s surely where the focus of all politicians should be.

We will redistribute the wealth in our society to ensure that people are paid at least a real living wage of £10 an hour, transforming the lives of the near half a million Scots who currently earn less than the living wage, wiping out at a stroke the concept of ‘working poor’.

We will protect pensioner incomes, by legislating to keep the Triple-Lock on state pensions, protecting the pensions of over 1 million Scottish pensioners,  guaranteeing them a basic income necessary to live a dignified life in retirement.

Only Labour will protect pensions.

We will make sure public spending will be used to force a change for good in working and environmental conditions, equal opportunities and fair pay.

We will put conditions on the massive public spending budget with private business to ensure no company wins a public contract if they avoid or evade taxes don’t pay their local suppliers on time or don’t recognise trade unions.

This will benefit Scottish workers and Scottish small businesses currently contracted by the UK Government to the tune of billions of pounds.

We will create a Scottish National Bank under Scottish control and backed by the National Investment Bank with £20bn of lending power to deliver the funds to local projects and Scotland’s small businesses creating work and stimulating the economy.

We will aggressively take on the tax avoiders and evaders starting with having corporations publish their tax returns.

We will ban zero hours contracts giving new protections to the 60,000 Scottish workers currently with no guaranteed hours. How can people plan or just pay the rent when they have no security of income?

Is it right they wake every morning and then wait for a text?

Unlike others, we will set up inquiries into blacklisting and Orgreave … and we would urge the Scottish Government to set up an inquiry into the actions of the Scottish police during the Miners’ strike.

We will give all workers equal rights from day one to stop some workers being exploited and others undercut.

We will introduce a right to own giving workers first refusal when their company faces a change of ownership or closure.

We’ll properly fund the Health & Safety Executive shamefully cut back under this Government compromising those great gains that our movement has historically fought so hard for

And we will work with trade unions and industry to reintroduce sectoral collective bargaining across the country.

We will also introduce 4 new public holidays giving people the time to lead better and more fulfilling lives, helping productivity at the same time. And we will ask for the support of the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so that the same four holidays can be enjoyed across the United Kingdom.

Friends, our aim is a country where everyone who can has the dignity of work and where everyone has a guarantee of dignity at work

Friends, these are the type of transformative policies that can change people’s lives for the better.

Just like always has been it is only Labour that will deliver for working people, small businesses and our most vulnerable people none of the rest would even think of these type of policies let alone achieve them.

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Friends, it is only Labour that will focus on the kind of country we need to have after Brexit.

In the coming weeks Labour will lay out more of our policies that will unlock opportunities for every single person in this country.

We will focus on giving people real control over their own lives and make sure that everybody reaps a just reward for the work that they do.

We will no longer allow those at the top to leach off of those who bust their guts on zero hours contracts or those forced to make sacrifices to pay their mortgage or their rent.

Instead of the country’s wealth being hidden in tax havens we will put it in the hands of the people of Britain because they are the ones who earned it.

In this election Labour will lead the movement to make that change. 

We will build a new economy worthy of the 21st century and we will build a country for the many not the few.

Ends

Sue Hayman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ahead of the High Court consideration of the government’s request to further delay publication of their air quality plan, said:

“If the government fails to publish its plan to deal with the chronic levels of air pollution today then Labour will, within the first 30 days of our administration.

“Labour will bring forward a new Clean Air Act, setting out how we would tackle air pollution that NHS experts say contributes to 40,000 premature deaths every year. 

“With nearly 40 million people in the UK living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, it is simply not acceptable for ministers to hide behind the general election to delay publishing plans to improve air quality.

“Purdah rules exist to stop one party using the machinery of government for their  electoral advantage, not to be used as an excuse to delay acting on vital public health matters. We trust that the court will recognise this.

“While the Conservatives shirk responsibility, Labour will deal with the dirty air damaging the lives of millions of British people.”