Commenting
on the LGA warning that the Care Act faces failure without new funding,
Barbara Keeley, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Member for Social Care, said:

“It is time that Tory Ministers accepted that the social
care crisis is caused by insufficient funding in the face of growing demand.
Ministers have ignored repeated warnings from leaders and professionals in the
health and care sectors about the impact of the £4.6 billion of cuts made to
Adult Social Care budgets since 2010.

“It is deeply worrying that councils are now having to
spell out the risks that this lack of funding is causing. We should not
tolerate the fact that growing levels of basic needs are going unmet, care
visits are shorter and there is increased strain on unpaid family carers.

“The Government must listen to this stark warning from
the LGA that councils can no longer meet either their duties or the spirit of
the Care Act. Now is the time for the Government to bring forward genuinely new
funding for social care to protect the vital services that older and disabled
people need.”

Today Labour has tabled a targeted amendment to the Article 50 Bill (the European Union [Notification of Withdrawal] Bill).

The amendment seeks to ensure Parliament is able to hold the Government to account throughout the Brexit negotiations on the impact of decisions on women and those with protected characteristics.

Sarah Champion, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities said:

“Labour has a long record of championing and protecting equal rights and we will hold the government to account using the Equality Act brought in by the last Labour government.

“Whilst we respect the will of the British people, we won’t pander to the will of this Tory government to chip away at hard won progress on equality.”

Responding to the Fabian Society’s report “At the crossroads: the future of British retail”, Chi Onwurah, Labour’s Shadow Business Minister said:

 "This is further evidence that Theresa May’s industrial strategy is little more than window-dressing for continued managed decline under the Tories. Last week’s Green Paper had almost nothing to say about retail, and this report underlines the failure of this Government to respond to urgent challenges such as automation and low productivity.

“It’s clear that this Government’s tactic of cherry-picking favoured sectors for backroom deals is leaving the vast majority of British workers out in the cold. Labour’s industrial strategy will take a whole-economy approach to build a high-wage, high-growth Britain that genuinely works for everyone.“