Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting
the European Union, commenting on the second round of Brexit talks, said:

“The lack of progress in these negotiations is deeply concerning
and does not bode well for the future. On issues such as the rights of EU
citizens in the UK and UK citizens in Europe, Labour has been calling for
action since July last year. 12 months later, after having been promised a
swift resolution of the issue, we learn today that there remain
“fundamental divergences” on this key issue. This means more waiting
and more anxiety for millions of families.

“The lack of progress on this and other issues also calls into
question whether phase two of the negotiations can commence in October.

“That will trigger deep concern for businesses and communities
across the U.K, who need much greater certainty and reassurance than they are
getting from this Government.

“The reality is that we have a Government that is unprepared,
divided and incapable of securing a good deal for Britain. We urgently need a
fresh approach.”

“This a damning indictment of the Tory record.

“The Tories have cut police officer numbers again in the latest
12 months and now there are well over 20,000 fewer than in 2010.  And
despite promising to protect budgets, they continue to cut funding even as a
senior figures in policing line up to warn they are overstretched and struggle
to cope with demand.

“Now police have recorded their highest number of crimes in a
decade, including over a million violent offences, and yet today’s figure also
reveal a shocking fall in the rate of charges and summonses.

“The Tories simply aren’t allowing the police to protect the
public. Labour in government will tackle rising crime. We pledge to bring back
10,000 officers. It’s what the police need and the public deserve.”

Gordon Marsden MP, Labour’s Shadow Universities Minister, commenting on the
University and College Union (UCU) report into student loan repayments, said:

“The Tories have tripled tuition fees, abolished maintenance
grants for poorer students and frozen the repayment threshold, hitting
graduates on the lowest incomes. This report confirms yet again that the impact
has been deeply unfair and it is getting harder and harder for ordinary young
people to access higher education. 

“It is professions such as nurses and midwives that are being hit
the hardest, and if the NHS can’t recruit the staff it needs then we will all
be worse off as a result. 

“The Government needs to decide if they think it is fair that the
debt burden should fall so heavily on the very people our society relies so
heavily on.”

“It
is deeply concerning that the size of the Army has fallen yet again on this
Government’s watch.

“Since
Michael Fallon became Defence Secretary in 2014, the number of fully trained
soldiers has fallen by over 7,000. That trend is simply not sustainable and it
has very real consequences for the UK’s defence capabilities.

“We
know that satisfaction with pay and service life are some of the biggest
reasons why servicemen and women are leaving the Armed Forces in their droves.

“If
the government was serious about tackling this crisis in recruitment and
retention, they would agree to lift the public sector pay cap to give our Armed
Forces the pay that they deserve.”

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow
Transport Secretary, commenting on the Government’s scrapping of plans to electrify
the Great Western Mainline between Cardiff and Swansea, said:

“The Tories have been promising the electrification of the Great
Western Mainline from Paddington to Swansea since 2012 and today’s announcement
confirms that they have been taking people for a ride.

“The cancellation of
works means passengers will be denied the faster, greener, more reliable train
journeys they were promised, and South Wales will miss out on the economic
activity that improved rail services deliver.

“The decision betrays
a promise to South Wales and the Transport Secretary sneaking out the news on
the final day before he goes on his summer holidays adds insult to
injury. 

“The Tories do not act
in the interests of the whole UK. They have put their own survival,
finding £1 billion for a deal with the DUP, ahead of everything else
and it’s communities like those in South Wales that pay the price.”