Jeremy
Corbyn will, on Wednesday 5 April, set out how Labour will stand up for working
families. He will contrast Labour’s commitment with new evidence that the
Tories have broken their promise to support families, slashing Sure Start
schemes nationwide.

The Tories famously pledged to be the
“most family friendly Government we’ve ever had” before the 2010 election. As
part of this claim they said they would protect Sure Start, the transformative
early years programme introduced by Labour to give young children the best
start in life. But new research, based on Freedom of Information requests to
councils, reveals the Tories have broken their promise. It shows:

·        
There are now over 1,240 fewer designated Sure Start
children’s centres than when the Tories took office – a fall of around 34 per
cent since 2010.

·        
Over 230 have been lost in the last year alone.

·        
The North East and London have seen the biggest fall
in numbers, with over 40 per cent of Sure Start Centres lost.

·        
Two local authorities, Swindon and Solihull, reported
that they have no designated Children’s Centres in their areas left.

Jeremy
Corbyn will highlight these figures as he sets out how Labour will stand up for
working families during a visit on Wednesday.

Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the
closures, said:

“The Tories claim they’re protecting Sure
Start, but they’re not. They use tricky accounting methods – like pointing to
buildings which are still open but which are running much reduced services – to
try to pull the wool over people’s eyes. But the facts speak for themselves. On
the same measure that was used in 2010, Sure Start has been slashed.

“There are a third fewer designated
centres than there were when the Tories came to office. We know that because we
asked local authorities, those tasked with running these vital services, and
that’s what they told us.

“The Tories are taking us backwards. It’s
a scandal that parents and children are paying the price.”

Ends

In an
interview this morning with Sky News, Theresa May said she hoped Britain will
have been able to “look at” the future trade deal with the EU by the time
Britain formally leaves the EU in March 2019.

“[L]et’s look at the whole question
of the where we end up at the end of this negotiation. Have we looked, will we
have looked at both withdrawal and the future relationship, that’s what’s
important … That’s what I’m asking for and that’s what I believe increasingly
we will see.”

Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017

She also
conceded, for the first time, that the UK will have to sign the future trade
deal with the EU as a third country. Given that the deal will be a ‘mixed
agreement’, it will need to be ratified unanimously by all member states.

FI: Can you clarify that you accept what
the European Council suggested which is that the final deal will be done as a third
country status under a unanimous vote with everyone having a veto?

TM: There’s obviously a legal situation
in terms of how the European Union can conduct trade negotiations.
Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017

This is a
significant retreat from what she and the Brexit secretary have previously said – in effect that Britain will be able to
negotiate and finalise a new free trade agreement alongside the exit agreement
by the end of the two year period. They have until now been adamant that any
transitional period would be purely for “implementation” and “adjustment” of systems, rather than for negotiation of
the terms of the future trade deal.

Responding,
Labour’s shadow Brexit minister Paul Blomfield said:

“It is
less than a week since the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, and it seems
every day brings another broken promise from the Government. First they said
immigration may go up after Brexit. Now they are backpedalling on trade deals.

“We will
hold the Government to account on the pledges made to the British people during
the referendum campaign and since. They promised a comprehensive free trade
agreement with the EU giving the “exact same benefits” we have now. They said
it would be ready for the day we leave, along with new trade deals with other
countries.

“Now, as
they face reality, they are trying to downplay expectations. They need to spell
out the transitional deal that will be in place, to stop the economy falling
off a cliff edge without new agreements in two years time.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s
Shadow Chancellor, commenting on reports that 100,000 jobs in
the City of London are at risk due to the failure of the Tories’
Brexit negotiations, said:

“This threat to 100,000 jobs was all
too predictable given the Tories’  extreme approach to the Brexit
negotiations. This is yet another major concern facing our country since
Theresa May triggered Article 50, and yet  Tory ministers appear
stunned and unprepared when obvious issues arise.

“We need to know
immediately from the Government what its strategy is to protect jobs in the
finance sector, because all we have witnessed so far is silent bewilderment.

“Labour will fight for a Brexit that
works for everyone, unlike the hard right Tory elite who want a low-wage,
tax-haven bargain basement economy. Our six tests, including preserving
existing benefits of membership, must be met before Labour will support any
Brexit deal.”

Ends

Alex Cunningham MP,
Shadow Work and Pensions Minister, commented on the Government’s plan to fund
relationship support for unemployed families, said:

“Stronger
relationships can help families to escape poverty, but the support announced
today is a tiny response to funding the work that needs to be done to tackle
rising inequality, child and pensioner poverty figures.

“All
the evidence suggests that income is a central factor in poverty and
inequality.

“Relationship
support will not replace the social security support stripped from struggling
families under seven years of failed Tory austerity.”

Ends

Emily
Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Minister, commenting on the suspected
chemical attack in Syria, said:

“This was a shocking and barbaric attack,
and our thoughts are with all the victims and their loved ones.

“The use of chemical weapons by anyone
cannot be tolerated, as the Syrian government itself accepted when it joined
the Chemical Weapons Convention, and there must be no impunity for those found
responsible.”

Ends