More than a million children and their families will benefit from Labour plans for universal provision of 30 hours of free childcare a week for all two to four-year-olds.

Labour will extend 30-hour childcare to more children by eliminating means testing for two-year-olds and no longer restricting provision for three and four-year-olds to children whose parents are working.  This will benefit an additional 1.3 million children.

At the moment, only 40% of two-year-olds qualify for childcare and many working parents with three and four-year-old children are not getting the childcare they were promised by the Conservatives at the last election because of the complexity of the rules. Meanwhile, Tory cuts have also led to the loss of 1,240 Sure Start centres.

Labour’s universal childcare policy will help ensure all children have a good start in life and remove barriers to parents, especially women, participating in the labour market.

Labour’s National Education Service will create a high-quality, universal childcare system that will bridge the gap between maternity leave and full-time schooling in the long run.

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“The Labour party believes every child, no matter what their background, deserves a good start in life, and that childcare costs shouldn’t be a barrier for parents who want to go back to work. The current patchy support for childcare is holding back too many families.

“High quality childcare can transform a child’s life chances and make it much easier for parents to work. Labour will roll out 30 hours of free childcare a week to all 2-4 year olds to give all our children the best possible start in life, as part of our plan to build a country for the many, not the few.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“The Conservatives’ 2015 promise to provide parents 30 free hours of childcare a week has unravelled, as they have failed to give the policy the funding it needs. Too many parents have been let down, unable to go back to work due to the cost of childcare.

“Unlike the Conservatives, Labour will properly fund childcare to help parents get back into work and ensure all children, no matter what their background, have access to the high quality childcare they deserve. The Conservatives are failing to deliver on early years education, there are now over 1,240 fewer designated Sure Start children’s centres than when the Conservatives entered government. It is clear Theresa May and the Conservatives can’t be trusted with our children’s futures.”

Childcare costs represent a significant proportion of family expenditure, with many families made up of two or more children saying it does not make financial sense for both parents to work. 

Research by the Family and Childcare Trust revealed that on average British parents are spending almost twice as much on part-time childcare as they do on food per year. 

In a survey conducted by the Resolution Foundation and Mumsnet, 67% of mothers in work and 64% of those not working said the high cost of childcare is a barrier to taking on more employment. 

A
Jeremy Corbyn spokesperson, responding to Theresa May’s appearance on the Sky
and Channel 4 #BattleForNumber10 debate, said:

“Theresa May floundered on her record on police cuts, on funding for our
NHS and schools and on her manifesto policy on social care that didn’t last
more than a few days before it was amended with an unspecified cap. It’s no
surprise she had no answers because the Tories plan to continue the tax
giveaways to the wealthy and big business while offering no new funding for
public services.

"There is a clear choice in this election about the kind of country we
want Britain to be – between Labour’s plan to transform Britain for the many
not the few, and a Conservative Party that has held people back and put its
wealthy backers first.”

Ends

A
Jeremy Corbyn spokesperson, following the Sky and Channel 4
#BattleForNumber10 debate, said:

“In answering the audience’s questions, Jeremy showed the
clear choice on offer in this election is about the kind of country we want
Britain to be. The choice is between Labour’s plan to transform Britain for the
many not the few, and a Conservative Party that has held people back and put the
wealthy first.

"Jeremy was able to talk about our fully-costed manifesto – promises we
have made to students to scrap tuition fees, to pensioners to protect their
incomes with the triple lock and winter fuel allowance, to families struggling
with rising energy costs that we will take back control of the utilities
industry and bring down their bills and, crucially, to 95% of taxpayers that we
won’t put up their taxes. These are promises Theresa May cannot and will not
make.

"Jeremy connects with the public in a way that Theresa May doesn’t
 because Labour has a clear plan to transform our economy and society, and
people recognise that. Theresa May has hidden from the public during this
campaign and run scared of debating Jeremy live on TV, while Jeremy has been
travelling around the country meeting people and addressing huge crowds.”

Ends

Notes

In response to the audience questions:

In his interview with Andrew Neil, Jeremy said: “I didn’t support the IRA, I
don’t support the IRA. What I want everywhere is a peace process, what I want
everywhere is decency and human rights. We went through all the horrors of
Northern Ireland, all through the 70s and 80s, through the period of the
Troubles, and eventually came from that a peace process, the Good Friday
Agreement and now relative peace and stability.”

On the commemoration referred to by the audience member, Jeremy has been very
clear that it was held for all those who died in the Troubles.

On leadership, Jeremy has said he sees leadership about listening, not
dictating. Listening to what people say, understanding the pressures in their
lives and ensuring government policies make a real and positive difference.

Being strong and standing up for people doesn’t mean shouting and dictating.
It’s not a sign of strength to cut taxes for the rich and powerful, it’s a sign
of weakness. Real strength is standing up to these vested interests and
governing for the many not the few.

On small businesses, Labour has pledged they will be protected by reintroducing
the lower small profits rate of corporation tax. Labour is the party of small
businesses, many of whom are exploited by bigger companies who delay payments
to them to maximise their own profits. Labour will declare war on late payment.

On Jeremy Paxman’s questions about Labour’s manifesto 

Labour is a democratic party and our manifesto reflects that. The
Tories’ manifesto was compiled by a small group of people around Theresa May, and the chaos and confusion that has ensued as a
result reflects that.

On MI5

The claim that John McDonnell wants to disband MI5 is entirely
false and based on erroneous reports about an unrelated statement that John
signed.

Unlike the Tories that cut the budget for the intelligence
services in 2012 and have cut police numbers by 20,000 since 2010, Labour is
committed to giving our security services the resources they need and will
recruit 10,000 extra police officers.

On Hamas

Jeremy has spent his life campaigning for peace and has been very
clear that he does not support Hamas.

Questions Theresa May must now answer:

The Conservative manifesto has betrayed Britain’s pensioners,
threatened unspecified tax rises for tens of millions of working people and set
out a grim future of underfunding and understaffing for our vital public
services.

Theresa May has broken her flagship manifesto pledge on social care and there
is confusion over funding for our NHS and schools. She must answer these
questions:

• What will be the cap on social care costs for people with conditions such as dementia, how many pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments, and how will you fund the NHS?

• Will there be increases in National Insurance contributions and income tax?

• How will you fund your school breakfast proposal now you have withdrawn the original 6.8p figure?

Theresa
May must spell out Tory policies after Dominic Raab gaffe

Labour
is calling on Theresa May to end the confusion
over funding for our NHS and schools after a
gaffe by Conservative MP Dominic Raab.

On
the Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning, Dominic Raab suggested money
for the NHS would be found by cutting free school meals for infants.

When
pressed on the issue, he said: “Well, look we’ve said things like means
testing the winter fuel payment. I’m giving an illustration of the difficult
decisions, like saying that we wouldn’t be subsidising free school lunches for
well-off parents, we don’t think that’s the right thing to do. We’d rather the
money went into teaching and the NHS.”

The
suggestion the NHS would benefit is at odds with the Conservative manifesto,
which says: “The savings made from [cutting free school meals] will be added
to the core schools budget, meaning that every penny saved will go towards
children’s education.”

Meanwhile,
the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that there is not a single penny of extra funding for the NHS in the
Conservatives’ manifesto.

The
latest chaos and confusion about Tory policy comes after the unravelling of their proposal for
free school breakfasts, when it was found it
would only amount to 6.8p per meal, and the announcement of an
unspecified cap on social care costs being charged against people’s homes.

Ahead of tonight’s leaders’ debate and interview with Jeremy
Paxman, Labour
is challenging Theresa May to end the
uncertainty by coming clean on what a Conservative government would mean:

 ·         How many pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments?

·         What will the cap be on social care
costs for people with conditions such as
dementia?

·         Will there be
increases in National Insurance contributions and income
tax?

·         Is the Institute
for Fiscal Studies right to say there will be five years
of austerity for the NHS?

·         How will they
fund their school breakfast proposal (replacing
free school meals) now their original 6.8p figure is discredited?

Ian Lavery, Labour’s National Election Coordinator,
said:

“Theresa May has already thrown millions of pensioners into
uncertainty over her dementia tax policy and now
her funding for our NHS and schools is in disarray.
If even her own spokespeople don’t know where the money is coming from or where
it’s going, how on earth do they expect the
British people to know?

“You can’t trust a word Theresa May and the Tories say, the
flip-flopping and backsliding is getting ridiculous. There is a very clear
choice at this election, between a Conservative party that is betraying
pensioners, threatening tax rises for millions of families and promising five
more years of austerity for our NHS and schools, and a Labour party with a
fully costed plan for the many not the few.”

Labour is today
(Monday 29 May 2017) calling on Theresa May to come clean with the British
people and answer the most pressing questions she has failed to be straight
about in this campaign. 

The Conservative
manifesto has betrayed Britain’s pensioners, threatened unspecified tax rises
for tens of millions of working people and set out a grim future of
underfunding and understaffing for our vital public services.

Given that the
Conservative leader has already broken her flagship manifesto pledge on social care,
we are challenging Theresa May to be straight with voters and give clear
answers to the crucial questions she has continued to duck.

 Questions
Theresa May must answer today:

1.     Will Theresa May confirm that ten
million pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments if the Conservatives
are re-elected? And if not ten million, how many will it be?

2.     At what level will the cap be set on
social care costs that those with conditions such as dementia will have to pay
under Conservative plans?

3.     Will Theresa May match Labour’s pledge
not to raise personal National Insurance contributions, and not to raise
income tax for 95 per cent of taxpayers?

4.     Will the Conservatives confirm they are
planning another five years of austerity for public services, as the Institute
of Fiscal Studies (IFS) stated last week?

5.     The Conservatives have warned they will
scrap free school meals for 5-7 year olds if they are re-elected. Will they now
spell out a realistic costing for their school breakfast proposal now they have
withdrawn their discredited 6.8p figure?

6.     Will Theresa May confirm she is
proposing not a single penny of extra funding for the NHS, as the IFS has
stated?

 Theresa May has
a track record of breaking her promises, flip-flopping and going back on her
word. Ahead of tonight’s live televised interview and Q&A, Labour is
calling on the Conservative leader to be straight with people and set out
exactly what she’s planning for our pensioners, working people and school
children.

Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s National
Election Coordinator, said:

“The Tory manifesto
has plunged pensioners and working people into insecurity, and left our public
services facing the risk of further crisis. Meanwhile, Theresa May refuses to
answer even the most basic questions on her policies.

“Today, Labour sets
out some of the most pressing questions the Tories keep dodging. So if you get
a knock at the door from the Tories or are one of the few people who isn’t a
Tory party member to meet Theresa May or Philip Hammond, ask them to provide
answers.

“Failure to do so will
lead people to draw their own conclusions. But ultimately it proves that voting
for the Tories at this election is a dangerous roll of the dice for working
people and pensioners.

“Their manifesto threatened
to take away winter fuel allowances, ditch the triple lock and leave pensioners
facing the loss of control of their homes because of social care costs. It
makes clear the Tories are planning five more years of austerity for our public
services, with no guarantee to not raise taxes for 95 per cent of taxpayers.

“Having broken her
flagship pledge on social care just days after she launched her manifesto,
Theresa May needs to give clear answers to these crucial questions and be
straight with the British people about what the Tories are actually planning.”