Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Trump, said:

“Theresa May must stand up for our country’s values when she meets Donald Trump and oppose his support for torture, which is inhumane, illegal and delivers false intelligence. There can be no indulgence of the US President’s renewed threat to ban Muslims or build a wall on the Mexico border.

“The Prime Minister must assure the British people that any trade deal with the United States won’t open up the National Health Service to privatisation and control by US companies. We won’t let Theresa May turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off the coast of Europe to be ripped off by the world’s biggest corporations.

“And for the future of the planet, Theresa May needs to remind President Trump that climate change is real and not a hoax invented by the Chinese.”

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, speaking after the release of police workforce statistics, said: 

“With over 20,000 officers lost since 2010, the Tories are risking public safety with these extreme cuts.

“They slashed police budgets in the last Parliament and are reducing funding even further now.

“The latest crime statistics show the true scale of the challenge our officers now face. This is the worst time to cut the police.”

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to GDP figures published today, said:

“While we welcome today’s Q4 GDP figures, growth for 2016 as a whole is lower than 2015, and lower than forecast by the OBR just two months ago in the Autumn Statement. It is clear that the Tories’ rigged economy simply isn’t delivering for the majority of people in Britain. Prices are rising but earnings are still below where they were before the financial crash. As a result, we have extremely high levels of household debt as people struggle to make ends meet on incomes alone. 

“Manufacturing is bumping along without proper support from government to power it through Brexit, even the Bank of England acknowledged recently that our economy was being driven by consumer spending rather than trade and export. This is clearly not a Government serious about making sure that we support British industry and claim a prestigious place at the world’s table as we leave the European Union. 

“Labour will fix our rigged economy with a real living wage, expected to be £10 an hour by 2020, and the long-term, patient investment we need to make sure that businesses thrive and that nobody and no community is left behind.”

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow City Minister, responding to the further fines for RBS from its involvement in mis-selling US subprime mortgages in the run up to the financial crisis, said:

“It is our hope that this significant fine will mark one of the final settlements in a dark period in the history of the banking sector. 

“We need a long-term plan: not just for RBS, which continues to face its own challenges, but to ensure that the culture and practices of our banking sector are centred on the customers they serve.

“Protecting the value of the taxpayers’ stake in RBS has to be the top priority for the Chancellor, while also rebuilding the reputation of British banking which plays such a crucial role in our economy.”