Gordon Marsden
MP, Labour’s Shadow Skills Minister, commenting on a report from a sub-committee of the Education and
Business Select Committee, claiming that the Government’s apprenticeship levy
lacks focus and targets the wrong industries, said:

“Today’s
report confirms what Labour have been saying all along, that while the Government
are obsessing over reaching an arbitrary target for apprenticeship starts, they
are doing nothing to ensure the right outcomes for learners.

"The
fact that the Government’s approach lacks focus and targets the wrong
industries shows that they have failed to develop an industrial strategy worthy
of the name, and can only offer headline chasing gimmicks instead.

"Closing the skills gap and giving young people and older
learners the skills they need should be essential to securing our post-Brexit
future, yet once again this Government have nothing serious to offer
the country.”

Jonathan
Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the publication of
NHS England’s Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View said: 

“NHS
England’s Five Year Forward View update contains welcome ambitions around
mental health and cancer care that Labour endorses. However reading
between the lines this plan confirms that Theresa May’s Government has broken
its promise by failing to give the NHS the funding it needs. The plan admits
the public are ‘concerned’ for the future of the NHS and that the health
service is under ‘real pressure’ to cope with rising demand within the current
spending envelope.

“Labour has warned repeatedly that the NHS funding squeeze imposed by the
Government is damaging standards of patient care. Now the Forward View confirms
that the main 4 hour A&E target won’t be met for at least the next year.
Waiting lists are growing as a direct result of the financial crisis. The
collapse in standards in the past year has been nothing short of astonishing.

“What’s more the plan confirms more and more rationing of treatments is taking
place across the NHS.

“One
of the biggest problems laid out by the new NHS plan is the massive workforce
challenge for the health service. We welcome NHS England reinforcing Labour’s
calls for the Government to guarantee the status of European health staff as
soon as possible. Sadly Jeremy Hunt has no plan whatsoever to help the NHS
through the challenge of Brexit and is being enormously complacent about the
impact for the NHS. The Government need to be much clearer about how they will
guarantee there are enough staff in place in the health service to keep
patients safe for the years to come.”

Andy
McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on
the Government’s refusal to set up an inquiry into the cancellation of HS2
Ltd’s £170 million contract with engineering firm CH2M, said:

“I’m
staggered Chris Grayling thinks the growing revolving door scandal over HS2
Ltd, CH2M and a £170m contract is ‘not a massive issue.’

“The
fact both HS2 Ltd’s Chief Executive and his predecessor previously worked for
CH2M and a former HS2 Chief of Staff worked on the winning bid for CH2M should
have rung alarm bells at the Department for Transport

“Now
HS2’s Director General has resigned and Phase 2 could be delayed even further.

“This
whole business stinks to high heaven, and the Department for Transport must
urgently address the key questions. When did it know about these substantial
conflicts of interest and what due diligence did it do on the bid?”

Ends

Brexit
makes action on self-employment all the more urgent, and Britain should lead
the way in supporting the self-employed, says Labour

In
the wake of the triggering of Article 50, Labour held a Self-Employment Summit
this morning to discuss the needs of the self-employed in the Brexit
negotiations and beyond.

The
Summit, the first held by Labour’s Commission on Self-Employment, was hosted by
the Federation of Small Business (FSB) and attended by key stakeholders,
including the TUC, the GMB, the British Chamber of Commerce, and the
Co-operative Party.

John
McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said:

“Labour’s self-employment summit
today looked at all aspects of self-employment and the gig economy, including
how any changes to the tax system should be aligned with increasing support for
the self-employed.

“With the number of self-employed
people due to overtake public sector workers by 2018, we will develop a package
of measures for self-employed people that will form a major part of Labour’s
offer at the next General Election. While the Tories are prepared to attack the
living standards of the self-employed, Labour are listening and will act to
address the real issues they are facing.”

Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman, said:  

“The future success of the UK economy rests
squarely on the shoulders of the UK’s army of the self-employed.  These
are the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the freelancers, the strivers – and
without them we simply wouldn’t have a thriving economy, just as we face
Brexit.

“FSB
worked with the Labour frontbench and MPs from all parties to kill off the £2bn
tax hike on the self-employed.  We now need a proper policy debate about
future support for this critical part of the UK economy.”

Tim Roache,
General Secretary of the GMB Union, said: 

“Philip Hammond made a hash of his first Budget
by completely failing to look the wide range of issues facing people currently
classified as self-employed. This initiative from Labour comes at a crucial
time when work in all its forms is increasingly unclear and uncertain.

“GMB has genuinely self-employed members but we also
have plenty of members who are at a loss as to what their employment status is
or have been wrongly told they are self-employed by employers hell-bent on
shirking their legal and moral responsibilities.

“How many scandals and court cases do we have to see
before government ministers and HMRC stop twiddling their thumbs and start
taking their enforcement role seriously? It’s time that politicians grasped
this nettle.”

Sharon Hodgson MP, Labour’s Shadow Health
Minister, responding
to proposed sugar limits published by Public Health England, said:

“Labour supports action to tackle sugar
consumption and with the refresh of the Five Year Forward View published this
week there is a chance to set a really radical approach to obesity and
children’s health. It should be a matter of shame that obesity affects so many
children in the UK and that the circumstances of where you grow up can have
such a long term effect on your health outcomes.

“There is clear clinical and public
support for measures like sugar taxes which promote healthier living and can
keep people fit and well for the years to come.

“Theresa May watered down the
Government’s childhood obesity strategy but should be much bolder in supporting
radical public health measures. Too often the Prime Minister seems happy to
settle for second best for the nation’s wellbeing when she ought to position
Britain at the front of the global drive for better public health.”