Naz Shah MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities,
responding to Guardian reports of an essay by Boris Johnson arguing
Islam had caused Muslim countries to be ‘literally centuries behind’,
said:

“This is as historically inaccurate as it is Islamophobic. Boris Johnson must fully apologise for his record of racist remarks.

“After his previous comments describing women wearing the burqa as
‘letterboxes’ and ‘bankrobbers’, which has been linked to a rise in hate
crime targeting Muslim women, Johnson’s disgraceful views make him
unfit to be an MP, let alone Prime Minister.

“His words will embolden the Islamophobes who, according to recent
polling, make up over half of Conservative Party members, who are about
to choose the next Prime Minister of our country.”

Corbyn says UK contribution to climate crisis
“even greater than we think” as he calls for UK to stop “passing the
buck to poorer countries”

Speaking at Labour’s International Social Forum today (Sunday),
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will announce that the next Labour
government will act to stop the UK government hiding the country’s “true
impact on our climate” by measuring the emissions created through our
consumption as well as production.

Corbyn will explain that the way the UK only measures the emissions
created through the production of goods and services in the UK, “hides
our true impact on our climate” because “we don’t only contribute to
climate breakdown with what we produce, we contribute with what we
consume too.”

Over the past three decades, the UK has off-shored the production of
manufactured and agricultural goods it consumes, along with the
associated greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2016, emissions associated with imported goods made up 45 per cent
of the UK’s overall consumption emissions. While the UK’s territorial
emissions are falling, the UK’s consumption emissions have barely
changed in the past two decades.

Corbyn will announce that the next Labour government will “show true
international leadership” by making Britain the first major economy in
the world to measure the emissions we import, as well as those we
produce.

Labour will amend the Climate Change Act to instruct the Committee on
Climate Change to include an assessment of our “total footprint
emissions” in their annual report to Parliament, measuring our progress
against them and recommending policies to reduce them.

Announcing the policy, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:

“The next Labour government will show true international leadership
in tackling the climate crisis. We will face up to the climate emergency
by recognising our real carbon footprint.

“Currently, when we measure a country’s emissions, we are talking
about the greenhouse gasses generated as goods and services are produced
in that country. But for a country like Britain, that measurement hides
the country’s true impact on our climate because we don’t only
contribute to climate breakdown with what we produce, we contribute with
what we consume too.

“Over the last two decades the UK has reduced emissions – but it has
done so in part by off-shoring those emissions. “That isn’t tackling
global emissions – it is passing the buck to poorer countries.

“It’s time we were honest about our contribution to the climate
crisis: it is even greater than we think. So under Labour, Britain will
become the first major economy in the world to measure these consumption
emissions and take action to reduce them.

“We shouldn’t see this as a burden. Offshoring our emissions isn’t just bad for the climate, it’s bad for UK industry.

“When we measure the emissions from goods produced in the UK but not
those produced overseas, it puts industry here, especially
energy-intensive industries like steel, at a disadvantage. So we will
remove the perverse incentive to damage our own economy with no benefit
to the climate.

“And we will send financial and technical support to the developing
world, helping them adopt greener methods of production and reducing the
carbon content of the goods we import.”

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn today promises billions of
pounds of investment and resources to Power Up The North as part of
Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution.

In an article for the Northern Echo to mark his speech to the Durham Miners Gala, he writes:

“Labour will superpower a new industrial revolution for the north with a record investment blitz.

“Where the mines fuelled the first Industrial Revolution, renewable
energy will deliver Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution and 400,000 new
jobs.

“As the miners were given shovels and axes to dig for coal, Labour
will give the North the tools and support it needs so you can deliver
your future.”

Mr Corbyn highlights Labour commitment to building Crossrail for the
North from Liverpool to Hull and up to the North East, creating Regional
Development Banks to support small and medium sized businesses, a
National Education Service and more housing.

Mr Corbyn will also confirm Labour’s proposal to base its new National Transformation Fund unit in the North.

He writes: “As our Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, a proud
northerner, revealed last week, Labour’s £250billion National
Transformation Fund to improve our transport, energy and digital
infrastructure won’t be based in London and managed by Westminster
mandarins.

“It’ll be based in the North, working with Mayors and local
representatives so it can be more receptive and responsive to the needs
of northerners.”

Using new Labour research, Mr Corbyn blames the widening gap between
the North and South on successive Conservative Governments and the
Liberal Democrats, adding:

“Since George Osborne launched his Northern Powerhouse in 2014,
transport spending per person has gone up twice as much in London as in
the North.

“Schools have faced cuts across the country. But more than one in
five primary pupils in the North West, and one in eight in the North
East, are in classes larger than 31. In London, only 7% are.

“The Conservatives have slashed council funding by up to 50%, forcing many northern authorities to axe crucial services.

“But the North is now set to see council spending cuts of over three times that of the South.

“And average household wealth is higher in all of the southern
regions than the North, and more than twice as high in the South East
compared to the North East.

“The Tories and Lib Dems didn’t devolve power to the North. They
devolved austerity – and super powered it to northern communities.”

Mr Corbyn also warns that if elected as Conservative leader, Boris Johnson will widen the gap between the North and South.

He writes: “This week with his shameful refusal to support our
ambassador to the US, Johnson has shown that he won’t stand up to Trump
and he won’t stand up for Britain.

“So how can he stand up for the North? Especially when he’s promising
tax cuts for the richest that will increase still further the wealth
gap with the South?

“And how can he deliver the infrastructure projects the North needs
when his big ideas as London Mayor – the ‘Boris Island’ airport and the
Garden Bridge – ran up huge debts and were scrapped before a single
brick was laid.”

Mr Corbyn tells people in the North: “ The choice at the next General Election will be stark.

“A Johnson-led Tory Government that will slash taxes for the richest
and pursue a reckless no-deal Brexit that will hammer jobs and economic
prospects in the North.

“Or a Labour Government that will deliver the real change you need,
and provide billions of pounds of investment so you can genuinely Power
Up The North – for the many not the few.”

The article in the Northern Echo reiterates Labour’s support for the
Power Up The North campaign, led by 33 northern newspapers and websites
calling for action to narrow the north-south divide.

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to the release of the government’s Economic Crime Plan, said:

“The government’s Economic Crime Plan is a real disappointment. It
rehashes already announced policies and fails to take on big issues like
corporate liability reform.

“This is hardly surprising given the control that banks have been
given over the policymaking process for economic crime, through the
‘Economic Crime Strategy Board’.

“This disappointing plan follows the route set by the government’s
restrictive approach to transparency when implementing the EU’s Fifth
Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Given worrying levels of fraud, money
laundering and tax evasion, we desperately need a more resolute approach
to rooting out economic crime”.

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to the release of the government’s Economic Crime Plan, said:

“The government’s Economic Crime Plan is a real disappointment. It
rehashes already announced policies and fails to take on big issues like
corporate liability reform.

“This is hardly surprising given the control that banks have been
given over the policymaking process for economic crime, through the
‘Economic Crime Strategy Board’.

“This disappointing plan follows the route set by the government’s
restrictive approach to transparency when implementing the EU’s Fifth
Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Given worrying levels of fraud, money
laundering and tax evasion, we desperately need a more resolute approach
to rooting out economic crime”.