Labour

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Written Ministerial Statement on Employment and Support Allowance, said:

“It is a damning indictment of this Government and their incompetence that 75,000 people in receipt of ESA were underpaid between 2011 and 2014 and this information has only now been put in the public domain.

“The statement spells out a litany of failures by officials and Ministers. Ministers have known about this issue for nearly a year, but chose not to inform Parliament immediately. The Secretary of State must come before Parliament to explain how such a huge error was not rectified sooner and to outline in detail how he will ensure all those affected will receive the payments they are due.” 

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Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to comments from The Archbishop of Canterbury on tax avoidance:

“The Archbishop of Canterbury is right to call out shocking levels of tax avoidance by large multinationals based here in the UK. While this behaviour may not be illegal, it is certainly questionable that companies should choose to act in this way. It is the duty of our Government to ensure that our tax system is robust enough to resist such abuses by closing loopholes and holding companies to account.

“We are still waiting for the Tories to deliver any decisive action on making sure everyone pays their fair share. A Labour Government would act to close the UK’s tax gap through our Tax Transparency and Enforcement Programme. The UK is strong enough to attract multinational businesses without tolerating convoluted avoidance schemes designed to avoid tax.”

Ends

Jon Trickett MP, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, commenting on the gender pay gap for special advisors, said:

“Theresa May promised a country that works for everyone, but is worsening gender inequality in her own backyard. Spads are personal political appointments made by or on behalf of the Prime Minister herself, so she cannot shake that her fingerprints are all over this injustice.

“These figures will be hard reading for women across the country who, at current rates, will have to wait for more than 100 years for the pay gap to close.”

Ends

Theresa May breaks her promise on special advisers’ pay as Downing Street continues David Cameron’s legacy of lavish salaries for top aides

• Theresa May has broken her own promise to introduce a salary cap of £72,000 on salaries for special advisers, as new figures reveal the Government employs 25 special advisers with salaries above £72,000.
• The combined salaries of all special advisers above the threshold set by May amounts to over £2.3m.
• The number of Special Advisers employed by the Government is up, with 88 employed as of December 2017, compared to the 83 listed in the December 2016 release.
• The new figures also reveal that seven Cabinet Ministers employ more special advisers than the maximum set out by the Ministerial Code.

Jon Trickett MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:

“Theresa May’s hypocrisy is galling. She promised a salary cap for special advisers but has instead rewarded political appointees with bumper pay deals. The public is paying for more special advisers and to make matters worse has had to pick up the tab for Theresa May’s election failure, with a huge severance bill for outgoing advisers.

“These figures will be hard to take for millions of taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet under this Tory Government. It’s yet more proof that the Tories always put their own interests before those of the many.”

Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, commenting on the failure to come to an agreement at the 11th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, said:

“We deeply regret that the Buenos Aires ministerial conference ended without a substantial agreement.

“Some countries are less willing to play by the rules based system than others. The Trump administration has shown its true colours. They are taking an America first stance in trade, as we saw with the Bombardier case.

“Liam Fox needs to reassess his hopes for a transatlantic trade deal with the US. The USA is only interested in bilateral deals in which they can dictate the terms. He must show leadership in the multilateral rules based system in addressing unresolved issues such as food stock piling and fisheries subsidies.”