Labour

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party said:

“The Conservatives survived by the skin of their teeth today, supported by the DUP, but this is a government in chaos.

“The Conservatives are all over the place on Brexit, with ministers contradicting each other. On public sector pay, they say one thing and then do another, voting yesterday to continue the cutting the pay of our nurses, firefighters, police and other public sector workers. And today, they were forced to finally promise that women from Northern Ireland will no longer have to pay for abortions on the NHS under opposition and public pressure.

“This Government is out of control, with no mandate for continued cuts to our schools, hospitals, police and other vital public services or for a race-to-the-bottom Brexit. Labour will oppose these policies every step of the way.

“Labour offers a clear alternative, laid out in our manifesto, which would put wealth, power and opportunity back in the hands of the many not the few.”

Commenting on today’s High Court ruling ordering the Secretary of State for Transport to produce a report into Southern Rail within 14 days, Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary said:

“Passengers should not have had to go to the courts to seek accountability.

“Ultimately, the buck stops with the government. Tory ministers, who designed and awarded the franchise, have been ducking their responsibility for Southern’s abysmal service and for directing this unnecessary industrial dispute.

“A Labour government would stand up for the interest of passengers rather than train companies, taking Southern back into public ownership and creating a new body to have strategic oversight for the railway to end the chaos and fragmentation that has plagued Southern.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, raised a Point of Order today on the Government’s failure to meet its legal deadline to set out its state pension age timetable. Debbie said:

“This chaotic Government is breaking its own laws by refusing to set out its timetable for the state pension age.”

“Should they implement the recommendations of the Cridland Review, up to 34 million people will be expected to work longer.”

“Given their complete failure to adequately communicate the equalisation of the state pension age for women, it is absolutely vital that this Tory Government comes clean with its plan now.

“In our manifesto Labour is committed to leaving the state pension age at 66, as part of our plans to ensure a secure and dignified retirement for the many, not just a few.” 

Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on Karen Bradley’s statement on the Sky/Fox merger, said:

“There are no surprises in the statement today.

“Referring the bid to a phase two inquiry by the CMA is the Government doing just the bare minimum. If the Government now accepts further undertakings in lieu instead it will throw the integrity of this process into question. 

“Ofcom’s finding that the Murdochs remain fit and proper to hold a broadcasting licence, despite ‘significant corporate failure’ at Fox News, is disappointing. If the executives who ran a company involved in systematic and widespread criminality, including phone hacking and police bribery, can pass the fit and proper test, it begs the question – is the test itself fit for purpose? 

“If Karen Bradley really wants the facts then part two of the Leveson Inquiry must go ahead to investigate the corporate governance failures that allowed the phone hacking scandal to take place.

“It’s clear the rules need to be reviewed and the next Labour government will look again at the laws governing media ownership in this country. 

“The General Election result last month shows the Murdoch media empire can no longer deliver Tory majorities. So the Government has nothing to lose. It must not let this bid proceed.”

Responding to the appointment of Sir Martin Moore-Bick as head of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, said:

“This inquiry must provide answers for the Grenfell Tower community, find out what has gone so badly wrong, and help ensure this tragedy is never repeated.

“Two weeks on from the fire, trust is low in the community around Grenfell Tower so it is vital that the inquiry gains the trust of Grenfell families and that their voices are heard throughout this process.

“Given we do not know when this inquiry will be completed, it must not be used by the government to delay making the urgent changes we already know are needed.

“We do not need a public inquiry to tell us that tower block residents need a commitment to up-front funding for necessary remedial work, including re-cladding and retrofitting sprinklers starting with the highest-risk buildings. Ministers have failed to give this clear funding commitment, and they should do so now.

“We do not need a public inquiry to know that our system of fire safety checks and controls is failing, and that an overhaul of building regulations is urgently needed as was recommended to the government in 2013 following the Lakanal House fire.”