Labour

Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the Sutton Trust report into the attainment gap between poor pupils and their better-off classmates, said:

“This report should serve as a stark warning to the Government that their plans to re-introduce selection at 11 will only make this attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers even wider.

“Their plans to bring back grammar schools are reckless and without evidence. Introducing wholesale selection back into the schools system will only make life more difficult for the most disadvantaged kids.”

“Theresa May has lost control of the NHS this winter”: Labour reacts to latest performance data

NHS England has today published full year 2016 data for a number of key NHS indicators, including waiting lists, ambulance response and delayed transfers, which show the health service stretched to the limits.

The BBC has also published leaked figures showing January’s A&E performance to be the worst since records started.

Labour said the figures showed Theresa May was failing patients and renewed calls for the Government to bring forward extra support for health and social care in the March budget.  

Jon Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“Theresa May has lost control of the NHS this winter and patients are paying the price as target after target is missed and standards of care deteriorate. Thousands more people are waiting for treatment, people are stuck in hospitals even when they’re well enough to go home, and key standards on cancer care and ambulance response times are being missed.

“These are some of the worst figures we have seen. Experts are saying that standards are being pushed back fifteen years or more. Behind each of these statistics is a patient suffering and in unacceptable discomfort. It’s making Theresa May’s utter disregard for the dire state of the NHS all the more disgraceful.

“The Government has failed the NHS right across the board. Urgent action is required and Labour is calling for a sustainable funding package for health and social care to be brought forward in the March Budget, so that the NHS and its patients never have to go through a winter like this again.”

Ends

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, following tonight’s votes, said:

“Labour has demonstrated that we respect the result of the referendum by voting to begin negotiations to leave the EU, with the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs supporting our party’s position.

“In recent weeks, Labour has forced the government to reveal what their plan for Brexit actually is.

“Both from their public statements and the amendments their MPs have voted down, the Conservatives have made clear they are determined to use Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven.

“Labour has a profoundly different vision for our country, with a plan to rebuild and transform Britain so that no one and no community is left behind.

“Article 50 is just the start of the negotiating process. Labour will be using every opportunity, both in Parliament and in the country, to protect jobs, rights and living standards, and achieve the best possible deal for Britain.”

Clive Lewis MP, commenting on stepping down from the shadow cabinet said:

“When I became the MP for Norwich South, I promised my constituents I would be ‘Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich’. I therefore cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something I believe will ultimately harm the city I have the honour to represent, love and call home.

“It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet.

“It has been a privilege to work with Jeremy Corbyn and be part of the shadow cabinet. I will continue to support our party and our leader from the back benches to the very best of my ability.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP, commenting on Clive Lewis standing down from the shadow cabinet, said:

“I would like to thank Clive for his work in the shadow cabinet, which has underlined what an asset he is to the Labour Party and our movement.

“I understand the difficulties MPs representing constituencies which voted Remain have in relation to the European Union Withdrawal Bill. MPs have a duty to represent their constituents as well as their party.

“However, the Labour Party respects the outcome of the EU referendum, so we have asked all Labour MPs to vote for the Bill at its third reading tonight.

“We have been clear from the start that Labour will not frustrate the triggering of Article 50, which represents the start of the process for leaving the EU.

“Labour will use every opportunity to hold the government to account and protect jobs, rights and living standards at every stage of the negotiations.

“I wish Clive well and look forward to working with him in the future.”

Speaking in response to a ministerial statement, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said:

“My colleague Lords Alf Dubs is right, this is shutting the door on the most vulnerable. The Government must end these efforts to prevent refugees arriving here. This is not who we are.”

“The Minister is wriggling out of the government’s obligation to accept child refugees.

“But the internationally agreed principles and the Dubs Amendment were never conceived as a “one-off”. They should continue to commit to meeting their international treaty obligations and our own laws.”