Labour

Alan Whitehead MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, commenting on the announcement that British Gas will increase its prices, said:

“Today’s announcement shows that the Conservative Government has still not got a grip on the broken energy market, with companies raising prices yet again.

“This is why we need a Labour Government to radically transform the energy market, bring down energy bills and transition to a low carbon future.

“At the very least the Conservatives should institute the energy price cap which Theresa May promised during the campaign.”

Liz McInnes, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Minister, responding to the outcome of the election in Venezuela, said:

“We mourn all those who have been killed and injured in the protests leading up to this election, and we urge everyone in Venezuela, on all sides, to end the bloodshed immediately.

“In particular, we urge the government of Venezuela to recognise its responsibilities to protect human rights, free speech and the rule of law. The outcome of this election cannot be treated as a mandate for a further escalation of repression, division, and violence.

“President Maduro must also respond personally to the legitimate concerns of the international community about the increasingly authoritarian nature of his rule and the growing hardship facing his people.

“If he believes those concerns are misplaced, it is up to him to prove them wrong, not through his words, but through his deeds.”

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Mental Health, commenting on the Government’s Mental Health Workforce plan, said:

“Being able to recruit thousands of new mental health staff hinges on the money being there to pay for them. Yet, this Tory Government expects mental health and acute trusts to foot more than half the bill themselves. 

“Asking trusts to find savings of £744 million over the next four years when services have already been cut to the bone shows just how out of touch this Tory Government is. These plans simply do not add up.”

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Mental Health, commenting on Health Education England’s Mental Health Workforce Strategy, said: 

“Once again this Tory Government is promising only jam tomorrow, when what is needed is action today to tackle the staffing crisis in mental health. The workforce plan provides no real answers on how these new posts will be funded or how recruitment issues will be overcome. And it offers little hope to those working in the sector faced with mounting workloads, low pay and poor morale.

“Time and again the Tories have been warned that severe staffing shortages are affecting patient care. Only this month the Care Quality Commission highlighted staffing levels, in particular the cuts to mental health nurses, as a contributing factor to 40 per cent of mental health services now failing on safety grounds. 

“A Labour Government will provide the investment needed to recruit and train staff with the right skills to deliver the mental health services patients need and deserve. We will legislate for safe staffing, reinstate nurse bursaries, lift the one per cent pay cap for NHS staff and ring-fence mental health funding to make sure it reaches the frontline.”

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to the Government announcement of an independent review of building regulations and fire safety, said:

“It has taken more than six weeks since the Grenfell Tower fire for the Government to release test results of just 82 of the 4000 tower blocks around the country. Landlords still can’t get other types of cladding tested and Government ministers still can’t say how many high-rise blocks are unsafe. 

“The Government’s testing programme is confused and too slow.

“The long-awaited review of buildings regulations and fire safety is welcome but long overdue, as Ministers promised this four years ago after the last fatal high-rise fires. 

“The Government must also now expand the testing programme, publish results in full so that residents and landlords know whether or not their buildings are safe and stand by their earlier promise to help fund the costs of any necessary work.”

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