Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Under the Tories the fat cats of corporate Britain earn pay rise after pay rise – Long-Bailey

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on the Investment Association Public Register of executive pay, said:

“Today’s register confirms that under the Tories, the fat cats of corporate Britain earn pay rise after pay rise, often against the advice of shareholders. This is all whilst ordinary workers are faced with stagnating wages and a cost of living crisis.

“The pay of some big bosses is clearly spiralling out of control. The register reveals the real impact of a system which puts the interests of the few over the many, a system that has left millions of people up and down the country on low pay and in insecure, low skilled jobs.

“Labour will roll out a maximum pay ratio of 20:1 in companies bidding for public contracts. We will increase taxes on only the highest earners in order to raise vital funds for our struggling public services and create an economy that works for the many, not the few.”

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Labour •

We need to ensure Lammy report is a watershed moment in the struggle against racism and discrimination – Burgon

Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, following the Government’s Response to the Lammy Review into the treatment of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System, said:

“David Lammy’s review shone a spotlight on the widespread discrimination in our criminal justice system. His finding that there is a greater disproportionality in the number of black people in our prisons than in the USA is a source of shame for our society.

”While the Government accepts that much more needs to be done, it is disappointing that they are seeking to resolve the lack of diversity in our judiciary with watered down measures. 

“Labour is committed to reviewing the judicial appointments process, to ensure a judiciary that is more representative of our society. Over the coming months, Labour will be holding the Government to account over its commitments made today and pressing it to go much further to ensure that the Lammy report is a watershed moment in the struggle against racism and discrimination.”

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Labour •

European Council: The Article 50 meeting – Guidelines

There has been some confusion created by this slim document that came from the EU after the recent Council meeting. Some seem to think it was an agreed document with the UK, and that we should therefore take its positions as the likely outcome of the negotiations between the UK and the EU. It is, of course, just a statement of a bargaining position by the EU preparatory to the talks on transition  and a future relationship. The UK’s opening position will I assume be rather different!

That became clear in the Prime Minister’s response to questions on her Statement yesterday following the EU Council meeting. She confirmed that

1. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed

2. The UK will not make a formal offer of money unless and until there is an Agreement on everything else which the UK  Parliament approves

3. There will need to be UK legislation to provide the powers to pay the money and to implement any Agreement

4. The UK is seeking a wide ranging partnership based on good access to the EU single market.

The EU document wants the UK to convert the draft partial Agreement so far into legally  binding promises. It says if there is to be a 2 year transition the UK will have to obey all legal and financial commitments of a member of the EU.  It is coy over what it might offer on trade and access to the single market over and above the access we will have anyway as a WTO partner. It suggests no deal on trade before we have left. It imagines we will spend two years accepting all EU law and decisions, without the benefit any more of a veto over some items and a vote in Council on others.

There would clearly need to be changes to this approach if there is to be any deal the UK could expect Parliament to accept. It remains the case that a zero for zero tariff deal on goods is greatly in the EU’s interest, as is continued similar service access.

Any potential Agreement will be subject to ratification by  both sides. This rightly includes the UK Parliament, as well as the Council and the EU Parliament. The EU will need to understand that a Deal does indeed have to be better than No Deal. No Deal gives us freedom to make our own laws, settle our own borders,sign our own trade deals and spend our own money. A wide ranging partnership could add to that, but only if the price of it does not damage the changes No Deal offers too much.

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John Redwood MP •