Labour

• Labour analysis shows that the weekly cost of holiday childcare has risen by over 50 per cent across the UK;
• Greater London, the North East, and the West Midlands are the worst affected areas;
• Over the same period, official figures suggest that wages are lower in real terms than they were in May 2010 when the Conservatives took office.

Labour analysis shows that, across Britain as a whole, the average weekly cost of childcare has risen by over 50 per cent from 2010 to 2017.

In the North East, the worst affected area, the average weekly cost of childcare has more than doubled, while the West Midlands has seen an increase of 82 per cent and Greater London an increase of 73 per cent.

Over the same period, official figures suggest that average weekly earnings have fallen in real terms, leaving working families paying a greater proportion of their income to cover the cost of childcare.

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, speaking at a visit to the Wishing Well community project in Crewe, will say:

“The Tories are quite simply failing working parents, who are seeing the cost of their childcare skyrocket, their wages fall, and their Government failing to give them the support they need.

“Childcare costs have shot up since the Conservatives took office in 2010, and both wages and Government support have failed to keep pace with either the cost of childcare or the needs of families.”

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commenting on the House of Lords EU Environment Committee report on animal welfare, said:

“Vets play a key role in ensuring the humane slaughter of animals and the proper certification of animal shipments. With EU nationals making up more than 90 per cent of slaughterhouse vets, the concerns expressed in the report today about vet numbers after Brexit should cause the Government to lay out plans for the long term recruitment and retention of vets.

“The Conservatives seem to have a problem with animal welfare and food standards, with a manifesto commitment to bring back fox hunting and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox appearing to support importing chlorine-washed chicken as part of a US-UK trade deal.

“Labour calls on the Government to secure the inclusion of high farm animal welfare standards in any trade agreements negotiated after Brexit.“

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on Government plans to ban leaseholds on new-build houses, said:

“The Government has known about and ignored the ground rents scandal for a long time, allowing hard-working families to be ripped off under costly leasehold agreements.

“Labour has said for the last year that using leasehold to sell homes is unfair and unjustifiable. And at the Election we said we’d end the routine use of leasehold ownership for all new homes and cap charges on ‘ground rents’ to stop the scam.

“The Government’s pledge is welcome but legislation is needed and this got no mention in last month’s Queen’s Speech. Home-buyers need legislation to ensure the end of this leasehold abuse, cap rip-off rises in ground rent and deal with existing contracts that contain unfair buy-out clauses.

“Nearly half of all newly-built properties were sold leasehold last year, and existing leaseholders need stronger rights too.”

Andy McDonald MP. Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the publication of Transport Focus latest National Rail Passenger Survey, said:

“With promised upgrades delayed or cancelled and fares rising way ahead of wages, it’s disappointing but not surprising that passenger satisfaction remains low despite small improvements on the previous survey.

“The results also reveal a concerning decline in passengers’ sense of personal security, bringing into question the government’s policy of de-staffing and de-skilling the railway.

“With fewer than half of passengers finding value for money in the price of their ticket, it’s becoming more difficult for the government to justify allowing private and foreign state-owned companies to take money out of the system that should be used to improve services or hold fares down.

“It’s clear than an alternative is needed for Britain’s railways. It is time for our railways to be run under public ownership, in the public interest as an integrated national asset, with affordable fares for all and long-term investment in the railway network.”

Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on the news that NHS officials have ordered a national review of A&E diverts amid serious safety fears, said:

“A&E departments nationwide are under relentless pressure as a result of Theresa May’s sustained underfunding of our NHS, and it is patients with urgent health needs who are paying the price.

“Simply put, it is completely unacceptable for anyone desperately needing treatment to be turned away and yet under the Tories, ambulance diverts have hit record highs.

“Patient safety must be our absolute priority and any streaming system which places patients’ lives at risk is entirely unacceptable.

“It is time Jeremy Hunt accepted our emergency care system stands on a crucial knife-edge. Without urgent and sustained investment to ease these acute strains, an unprecedented crisis this winter looks increasingly likely.”