Labour

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to the publication by the EU of a tax haven blacklist, said:

“It is disappointing to see UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies mentioned as ‘on notice’ from the EU in its tax haven blacklist. The British Government said back in April that it would require Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to produce registers of beneficial ownership which would be accessible to HMRC.

“Although some have complied, others have not. Just as the UK’s own beneficial ownership register has been criticised for apparently missing some companies which it should include, this is a case of faulty implementation by the British Government and a lack of political will to stop tax dodging.

“The British Government has not earned itself many allies by trying to protect certain jurisdictions during this process. They have also consistently blocked European-wide initiatives for a public register of the beneficial ownership of offshore trusts.

“Ultimately it is in the interests of everyone to have more tax transparency and action against money laundering and aggressive tax avoidance.”

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Health Select Committee’s first evidence session into Brexit, said:

“The Prime Minister must urgently heed this dire warning at the Health Select Committee. It is critically important that patients’ access to crucial drugs is not restricted in any way once we leave the European Union.

“Earlier today at the Britain Against Cancer Conference, I warned of the significant unresolved questions the Government must answer regarding our future access to radioactive isotopes, as well as our future relationship with EU clinical trials regulation.

“Theresa May must also immediately safeguard the future of EU workers here in Britain and stop treating them as bargaining chips in her reckless Brexit negotiations. Failure to do so risks exacerbating the already dire crisis in our health and care system.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary responding to the Government’s climb down on the Universal Credit papers, said:

“Following Labour pressure, the Government has finally backed down and made a clear commitment to hand over the Universal Credit reports.

“This should give greater insight into the scale of their implementation and design failures during the mismanagement of the programme and must be published unredacted and unedited.

“Too many families have been pushed into poverty by the Tories’ disastrous mishandling of Universal Credit’s roll out and it is only set to get worse, with thousands facing a miserable Christmas.

“It is time we knew the true extent of the Government’s failures with Universal Credit in order to fix the multitude of problems.

“Labour will transform Universal Credit to ensure it reduces child poverty and always makes work pay.”  

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the publication of David Anderson QC’s report, said:

“This is an extremely valuable report from David Anderson QC. As always, our thoughts are with the families of the bereaved and survivors of these attacks.

“While we know nine of fifteen plots were prevented, one of the worrying aspects of the report is how many of the terrorists were known to the security services and had been monitored by them. It is possible that more of these may have been preventable. 

“MI5 and Counter-Terrorism police have already identified improved neighbourhood policing as a key part of their prevention strategy. The Government needs to accept that. But they have cut police numbers and police weren’t even mentioned in the Budget. The report also says that, after an increase in Counter-Terrorism spending, grant allocations will be cut over the next three years.

“Labour will restore 10,000 police, who will be focused on community policing. We will review the resources of the security services to focus on preventing terrorism here in the UK. You can’t provide security on the cheap. Labour will respond appropriately.”

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, commenting on reports that council workers have been offered a two-year pay deal, said:

“Labour leaders in Local Government have worked tirelessly to urge the Government to scrap the 1 per cent pay cap and provide funding to give public sector workers the pay rise they deserve.

“Local government workers provide an important and essential service to the public, but for years they have seen their pay held back by this Government in the name of austerity.

“Given the Tories’ harsh cuts to local authority budgets, it is vital that additional funding is provided to back up this pledge, to avoid simply placing extra burden on already over-strained budgets.”