Labour

Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, commenting on Boris Johnson’s speech to the Lord Mayor’s Banquet at Mansion House, said:

“It seems Boris Johnson has finally been allowed out of hiding, on the condition he only talks delusional nonsense.

“He talks about creating a ‘Global Britain’, yet the Tories have overseen the greatest diminution of British influence on the world stage in a generation.

“He talks up a fantastical vision of Britain as a global trading nation, yet he and Theresa May are putting at risk our trade with the EU – by far our largest trade partner – by threatening an extreme Brexit where we crash out on WTO terms.

“With his crass and offensive remarks Boris Johnson has single-handedly damaged Britain’s chances of getting a good deal with the EU.

“And after his broken promise of £350m a week for the NHS, why should anyone believe a word he says.”

Ends

**Check against delivery**

It is my pleasure to be here. As a Labour MP, a trade union member. As a member of your shadow Cabinet and – I hope – as the next Labour Secretary of State for Health.

And it is a pleasure to be here with UNISON a great trade union led by one of the great General Secretaries Dave Prentis. I congratulate all of you for your campaign on public services and the work of public servants.

Dave spoke with great eloquence earlier this week.

And when Dave said that funding’s becoming scarcer – he was right.

When Dave said you’re all asked to do more with less – he was right

And when Dave said you cannot trust the Tories with the National Health Service – he was right.

And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning.

But my first duty this morning on behalf of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn is to say thank you to this union and your members and indeed all who work in the NHS.

So to the nurses, the midwives and the health care assistants – we say thank you

And because we don’t always remember them but I’ve seen for myself the difference you make when a few years ago I had the honour of shadowing your stewards on facility time at Lewisham hospital. To all your stewards representing you in hospitals we say thank you.

To the porters, the cleaners and the IT administrators – we say thank you

To the medical secretaries, therapists, paramedics and managers – we say thank you too.

For your care, your dedication, your self-sacrifice, every day, your extraordinary efforts, literally often the difference between life and death.

Friends, we are here today. In our various vocations and in this union because we believe in something bigger than ourselves, because we are driven by solidarity not selfishness and we understand, and indeed value the ethos of public service. An ethos that not only runs deep in our history as a trade union movement but defines the character of our country as well.

Because when you look at every stage of life, whether we call it cradle to the grave – or as Shakespeare wrote of the 7 ages of man.

At every stage public servants have been there for us, have cared for us, have nurtured us and made us all what we are today.

Each and every one of them transforming hopelessness into hope.

From the midwives and clinicians who bring us into the world, the teachers who inspire us, the community workers improving our quality of life, to our care workers who look after our frail, weak and vulnerable.

All represented across this union, all everyday showing the value of public services at the heart of a civilized society

And nowhere is that clearer, than in the NHS

A National Health Service is truly visionary – a central part of the values we share as a society.

So today in the run up to this General Election I want to talk to you about the attack on our NHS and on our values by this Conservative Government.

And in this campaign let’s be resolute to not let any Tory run away from their record on the NHS.

Theresa May can insist problems with the NHS are nothing more than a ‘small number of incidents’ but she can’t deny what we see with our eyes to be happening.

The winter crisis we’ve just been through, with ambulances backed up outside of hospitals, patients on trolleys in corridors, operations cancelled, elderly people trapped in beds with nowhere to go.

Ever lengthening queues of the sick and elderly across the land.

Nearly 4 million people waiting for an operation;

Over 200,000 people waiting for four hours of more in A&E in February alone;

The number of people waiting for 12 hours or more on trolleys doubled in a year. Sometimes patients wait over 30 hours on a trolley.

Call it a ‘humanitarian crisis’ as the Red Cross did.

Call it the NHS on a ‘burning platform’ as the CQC Chief Executive did

Call it an ‘existential crisis’ as Sir Robert Francis did

I simply call it what it is – this is a Tory NHS crisis and that’s why the future of the NHS is at stake in this general election.

We have a Prime Minister who even yesterday still refuses to see the truth that the NHS is overstretched, understaffed and under threat.

We have a Prime Minister imposing on the NHS the largest financial squeeze in history.

Who allows hospital trusts to fall into deficit like never before.

We have a Prime Minister who next year will be cutting NHS spending per head.

Yesterday we heard that the NHS has a backlog of £5 billion in repairs for crumbling hospitals and out of date equipment.

They expect the NHS to find £22 billion of so called efficiency savings which no one believes can be found without cutting frontline care.

A health system buckling under the strain of huge financial and operational pressures.

And what does it tell you about the state of 21^st century Britain under these Conservatives that the number of hospital beds take by patients being treated for malnutrition – yes malnutrition – has trebled in recent years.

Malnutrition on the rise in Tory Britain; isn’t that a national disgrace; isn’t that a badge of shame.

And because of the pressures on beds in the last few years a million patients have been discharged in the middle of the night.

And the numbers of elderly and vulnerable people trapped in hospital with nowhere to go at record levels.

And why? Because we have a care system that has been savaged by 7 years of spending cuts. We have a care system on the brink of tipping point.

We have over a million of the most elderly and vulnerable people denied the care they deserve. Some maybe our own grandparents or parents, our own relatives.

And yet we have a Prime Minister who walks by on the other side, refuses to face up to the problems and says to councils in the most deprived parts of the country: you can raise your council tax even though it will go nowhere near meeting your social care needs.

Unless of course it happens to be Surrey County Council where you can get a special secret sweetheart deal with Downing Street.

Well I tell you something, under Labour these dodgy deals that demean Downing Street will be gone. We’ll bring back honour and integrity to policy and decision making in No 10. No more special access and mates’ rates but fairness instead for all.

And while this Prime Minister ignores the social care needs of the many she can find millions to build new grammar schools,

She can find billions to cuts taxes for the biggest corporations, but she won’t recognise the demands of the elderly or treatment requirements of the sick.

So let us be absolutely clear – what prevents this Prime Minister from acting is not the financial constraints of the economy but the dogmatic constraints of her ideology.

Things are so bad that even Andrew Lansley – remember him – even Andrew Lansley has complained it isn’t getting the money it needs.

Talking of Lord Lansley, never forget that the priority of these Conservatives – including Theresa May – was always a top down reorganization in the Health and Social Care Act whose very aim was to drive our NHS into the realms of privatisation; 

And I can tell you today we will not yield, we will not buckle.

Labour will defend the National Health Service and axe that Health and Social Care legislation that allows the NHS to be fragmented and sold off.

Privatisation of the NHS will come to an end.

And I tell you what else we will do:

We will reinstate the Secretary of State’s responsibilities. We will reinstate the NHS – publicly funded, publicly administered and yes publicly provided.

And I want our NHS staff and patients to be given an actual real genuine voice in the running of our NHS too.

So I can announce we will also put healthcare professionals, staff and patients on the Board of any organisation providing NHS care.  

And yes this will apply to all private companies currently providing services or we will insist they hand back their contracts.  

But we will go further than that too and insist that Board level representation of professionals, staff and patients is on every organisation providing NHS care – including Clinical Commissioning Groups and all NHS Trusts.  

So Labour will deliver staff reps on boards with voting rights at the heart of our NHS.

Better services

Over this campaign Labour will be setting out our plans to deliver the improvements that patients need.

We want to see hospitals properly staffed, waiting times coming down and emergency care available to those who need it, operating to the standards that patients expect.

Under the Conservatives the 18 week target has been dumped for what they call non-urgent operations.

To paraphrase a famous pre-election speech from time gone by: I warn you that if the Tories win again not to get old, not to get sick.

I warn you that the real cost of the Tories winning again will be felt in longer waiting times, and people spending longer in pain and discomfort for knee replacements and hip replacements.

Let’s be clear what’s happening, step by step, bit by bit.

The NHS under Tories is being pushed back to the bad old days and it will fall to Labour to save the NHS like we have done throughout our history.

So we confirm our commitment to hitting the targets for A&E,

We’ll do so by investing in our NHS, in our community services, and renewing the focus on keeping people well and out of hospital, delivering care closer to home at the time when people need it.

Because those who have given so much all their life deserve security and dignity in retirement we’ll integrate health and social care

And when it comes to the planning and delivery of local services we will always ask what is in the interest of local needs not what is in the interests of filling financial holes.

And we will deliver long overdue improvements to mental health care as well.

We know that mental ill health is the leading cause of sickness absence at work, costing the economy £105bn every year.

And that one in four of us in this room will experience a mental health problem this year.

And yet all we get from Theresa May is warm words and empty promises, but no real meaningful action.

Unlike the Tories, Labour will tackle the underfunded and understaffed mental health system.

We want to see mental health services properly resourced and focused on prevention, rather than just asking the NHS to intervene once a person is already in crisis.

We will give our mental health services the money they desperately need to look after us all, because there can be no health without mental health.

The next Labour government will deliver true parity of esteem between mental and physical health.

We won’t just talk about equality – we will deliver it.

And if we are to deliver these improvements for Britain’s patients, then our starting point will be delivering improvements for our health and care workforce.

Standing up for staff

So today I want to set out Labour’s plans for the staff of our NHS and social care system.

You are the lifeblood of the NHS. You have committed your working lives to caring for others in our times of need.

You deserve to be cared for yourselves, but for too long this Government has taken you for granted.

A pay freeze has seen NHS wages fall 14% below inflation.

Cut backs to training places have meant units are even more short-staffed.

And now Brexit threatens the ability of our NHS to recruit from abroad, and threatens thousands of good, kind European staff who are working in our country already.

So let me make it clear, Labour would make the NHS a priority in the Brexit negotiations, and as Keir Starmer said yesterday we would give an immediate NHS guarantee to all European NHS staff.

Let us send a clear message to the thousands of NHS and social care staff from the EU. You are welcome, needed and your rights will be guaranteed in the UK under a Labour government

You know because you see it every day that staff are being forced by this Government to do more and more with less and less

Giving ever more of your free time to keep the service running – working through your breaks and often long past the end of your shift.

It’s why I say that our NHS staff are the pride of Britain.

Yet you are ignored, insulted, undervalued, overworked and underpaid by this Tory government.

Well not any more. Enough is enough.

NHS staff have been taken for granted for too long by the Conservative Government.

Cuts to pay and training mean hard working staff are being forced from NHS professions and young people are being put off before they have even started.

What is bad for NHS staff is bad for patients too. Short staffing means reduced services and a threat to patient safety.

So I can announce a Labour Government will step in with a long term plan for our NHS which gives NHS staff the support they need to do the best possible job for patients.

NHS staff deserve to be rewarded for the complex, difficult and highly specialized professional work that they do.

So I can confirm today that a Labour government will scrap the pay cap, put pay decisions back into the hands of the independent pay review body and give our NHS workers the pay they deserve.

It’s fair to staff and it’s in the interest of patients too.

And it’s also in the interests of patients that we invest in the potential of our staff.

My long term ambition is for our NHS staff to have the best trained staff in the world ready to deal with whatever they face in the years to come.

As a first step that means giving those who want to enter nursing, midwifery and allied health profession a step up, not kick the ladder away.

So let me commit here today that we will re-introduce bursaries. We will reinstate funding for health related degrees so that people who want to get into health professions – whether they are young people starting out or older students who want a new career after starting a family – don’t feel put off by financial considerations.

Safe Staffing

I know that whenever we need the NHS it’s there for all of us and our families. But all of us are naturally anxious when our loved ones or ourselves need to spend time in hospital.

Quite simply Labour will never compromise on patient safety.

After seven years of Tory mismanagement our health services dangerously understaffed.

We are thousands short on the numbers of nurses, midwives, and paramedics that we need.

And yet the attitude of this Prime Minister remains blinkered in the extreme. Her head buried in the sand. A casual dismissal of the concerns of patients and their families.

So just as I’m passionate about investing in our NHS staff, I will be the real patients’ champion too

Time and again expert reports – including the groundbreaking survey UNISON published this week – have told us that staffing levels are linked to patient safety but this Conservative Government has failed to deliver staffing levels which keep up with demand.

So the next Labour government will legislate to ensure safe staffing levels in England’s NHS.

We will immediately ask NICE to undertake work to set out how safety can be determined in different settings, including looking at legally enforced staffing ratios.

So conference with a Labour government a new law to guarantee safe staffing, so that finances never again take precedent over patient safety.

And unlike the current Secretary of State I don’t make promises on behalf of the NHS while refusing to give the NHS the resources and tools to deliver those promises.

The NHS under Labour will get the funding needed. Over the coming days we will outline a long term plans for the NHS; for how we integrate health and social care.

For too long, NHS staff have been taken for granted by the Conservative Government. Wages falling, workloads rising. Staffing shortages getting worse.

So I’m pleased to be able to launch here today Labour’s three point pledge for NHS staff: better pay, safer staffing and fully funded education.

So yes this election is about the future of the NHS.

And yes, it falls to this movement as it has throughout our history to make the case with passion and yes pride for a National Health Service – free at the point of need for every man, woman and child.

It falls to us again as it has throughout our history to make the argument for collective provision not just for a basic health service but for the very best health service.

Throughout our history, we never lost our ideals and we never faltered in our ambitions for the best health care for everyone.

Because we know that a National Health Service funded through taxation; with treatment free at the point of delivery; where everyone is treated equally based on clinical need not ability to pay is not only the right thing to do but it’s also the most efficient, effective and safest system of health are across the world.

Friends one of favourites poets WB Yeats wrote ‘in dreams begins responsibility” –

Inspired by the solidarity of the communities of Tredegar and motivated by the dream of a fairer society not just for some but for all Nye Bevan took responsibility to bring it about the Health Service

In doing so we escaped from a world of patch work provision and charges for healthcare

So let’s never forget that in that speech introducing the National Health Service Bill he said the NHS, would

“lift the shadow from millions of homes”

“It will keep very many people alive who might otherwise be dead”

And:

“No society can legitimately call itself civilised” he said, “if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”

They were words that still inspire

And of a cause that still endures;

And now the responsibility falls to us.

So the choice in this election on June 8th is clear

A rebuilt the National Health Service and social care service for the millions who depend on it with Labour

Or cut backs, sell offs and nothing but a rump service under the Tories.

A world class NHS providing the best quality of care – 

Or waiting times get longer, staff demoralised, standards of care plummeting

The choice is clear.

Labour’s commitment; that is our purpose.

Our Values, Labour Values,

Our Policies will protect the future for the NHS and standards of NHS care

Let’s go out and win.

Thank you

Ends

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Campaigns and Elections Chair, in response to Theresa May’s speech this afternoon in South Wales, said:

“It is clearer than ever that a vote for the Tories is a vote for the few, not the many. Rather than uniting the country and tackling the challenges we face, their policies are divisive and are taking us backwards.

“Only Labour will invest to create shared prosperity. Only Labour will protect our public services.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the ONS Public Sector Finances figures which show that the national debt has gone up by  £123.5 billion since March 2016 under the Tories, said:

“After seven wasted years of Tory economic failure, supported by both Philip Hammond and Theresa May, the deficit has not been cleared as they promised, and the national debt continues to rise.

“The Tories promised when they were first elected that they would have balanced the books by 2015, but now they cannot promise to do it by 2020, and instead the past year has seen both borrowing and debt has increased.

“Today’s figures reveal that the national debt has gone up by £123 billion since March last year, and with a Tory Chancellor who won’t rule out raising taxes on low and middle earners, and has no plan to deal with inflation rising ahead of earnings, it is clear the Tories want the rest of us to pay for their mistakes.

“Yet despite their broken promises on the public finances they continue to hand out tens of billions in tax giveaways to the super-rich and big corporations, while enforcing spending cuts on everyone else; underfunding our NHS and leaving our care system in crisis for the most vulnerable.

“Only a Labour government will have a serious plan for the public finances with strategic investment underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule, so that we stand up for the many, not the few.”

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, setting out Labour’s approach to Brexit, will say:

At this election there will be a very clear choice on the ballot paper.

A choice of two visions of Brexit.

Labour’s approach to Brexit will be based on our values: internationalist. Outward looking. A belief that we achieve more together than we do alone.

We accept that outside the EU our relationship with Europe must change.

But we do not accept that Brexit has to mean whatever Theresa May says it means. We do not accept that there has to be a reckless Tory Brexit. We do not believe that if you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere.

We recognise that immigration rules will have to change as we exit the EU, but we do not believe that immigration should be the overarching priority. We do not believe that leaving the EU means severing our ties with Europe. We do not believe that Brexit means weakening workers’ rights and environmental protections or slashing corporate tax rates.

Labour believe in a very different vision of how Brexit can work for Britain and the EU.

We believe in building a new relationship with the EU – not as members but as partners. Where jobs, the economy and retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union are our priority. Where hard-fought workplace rights and the environment are protected. Where we are an open, outward looking country. Where EU nationals living here are guaranteed their rights and can live in certainty that Brexit will not affect them.

A Brexit that brings the country together, radically devolves power and supports all regions and nations of the UK.

That’s the approach to Brexit I will set out today.

 A Labour Government would reset the Tories failing approach to Brexit.

We will scrap the Government’s Brexit White Paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests.

Labour’s White Paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union as we know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy.

Our White Paper will make clear that jobs and the economy are Labour’s priority throughout – whereas the Conservatives are willing to put this at risk.

That means we will seek: continued tariff-free trade between the UK and the EU, no new non-tariff burdens for business, regulatory alignment and continued competitiveness for goods and services.

Whether this is best achieved through reformed membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union or via a bespoke trading arrangement is secondary to the outcome. What matters for jobs, the economy and living standards is that we retain the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union.

And rather than focusing on hypothetical new trade deals with other countries, Labour will focus above all else on securing strong trading arrangements with the EU. After all, the EU accounts for 44 percent of our exports and is by far and away our most important trading partner.

It is extraordinary that we have a Prime Minister who has given up on the Single Market and the Customs Union even before negotiations have begun, but is so willing to talk up the chance of there being no deal reached.

Theresa May has said that no deal is better than a bad deal. Boris Johnson has said no deal is no problem. Labour are very clear that no deal is the worst possible deal.

It would cause huge damage to British businesses and trade, including likely tariffs of 30-40 percent on dairy and meat producers, 10 percent tariffs on cars and a loss of passporting rights for financial services. No wonder the CBI have called it a ‘recipe for chaos’.

A Labour approach to Brexit means ending this reckless approach.

It means making clear to our EU partners that we will seek to negotiate strong transitional arrangements as we leave the EU and to ensure there is no cliff-edge for the UK economy.

It means rejecting no deal as a viable option – a move that will give greater certainty for investors, workers and businesses.

We will also approach negotiations in a completely different way to the Tories.

Where Theresa May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it. We will work with Parliament, not against it.

Because on an issue of this importance the Government can’t hide from the public or Parliament.

A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that Parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.

It means regular reporting back to Parliament on progress in negotiations and it means working with the devolved administrations to reflect specific and particular concerns.

A Labour approach also means rebuilding relations with our EU partners, because striking a good deal for Britain relies on having alliances across Europe.

We will make clear that we will seek to build a close, collaborative future relationship with the EU.

Not as members, but as partners.

This will involve continued cooperation in a whole range of areas from counter-terrorism to higher education; culture to climate change.

So a Labour Government will seek to remain part of the Erasmus scheme so that British students have the same cultural and educational opportunities after we leave the EU.

We will ensure the UK maintains our leading research role by staying part of Horizon 2020 and its successor programmes, and by welcoming research staff from the EU.

We will seek to maintain membership of or equivalent relations with European organisations which offer benefits to the UK, such as Euratom, the European Medicines Agency, Europol and Eurojust – two agencies I worked closely with as DPP.

A Labour approach to Brexit means rejecting Theresa May’s argument that as we leave the EU, we must also sever links that have served the EU and the UK well for decades.

A Labour Government will also mean a new approach to how we treat EU nationals in the UK.

It is shameful that the Prime Minister rejected repeated attempts by Labour to resolve this before Article 50 was triggered. As a result, 3 million EU nationals have suffered unnecessary uncertainty, as well as the 1.2 million UK citizens living in the EU.

EU nationals do not just contribute to our society: they are our society. And they should not be used as bargaining chips.

So on day one of a Labour Government we will immediately guarantee that all EU nationals currently living in the UK will see no change in their legal status as a result of Brexit, and we will seek reciprocal measures for UK citizens in the EU.

There could be no clearer signal that Britain is taking a new approach to Brexit than a Labour Government immediately rectifying this injustice. And there could no clearer signal that Labour want a close and collaborative future relationship with our EU partners.

So I can assure you today that policy will be in Labour’s manifesto.

And we will also set out in further detail how we will reset Britain’s approach to Brexit and prevent a reckless Tory Brexit.

Firstly, we will drop the Tories’ Great Repeal Bill.

The EU has had a huge impact in securing workplace protections and environmental safeguards. That was one the main reasons Labour and trade unions campaigned to stay in the EU.

But we all know that for many Brexiteers in the Tory Party, this was why they wanted to Leave.

It’s why Priti Patel – now in the Cabinet – spoke during the referendum of wanting to ‘halve the burdens’ of ‘EU social and employment legislation’.

A Labour Government will never consider these rights a ‘burden’ or accept the weakening of worker’s rights, consumer rights or environmental protections.

So instead of going ahead with the Tories’ Great Repeal Bill we will introduce new legislation – an EU Rights and Protections Bill.

This will make sure that all EU-derived laws – including workplace laws, consumer rights and environmental protections – are fully protected without qualifications, limitations or sunset clauses. We will work with trade unions, businesses and stakeholders to ensure there is a consensus on this vital issue. 

A Labour approach to Brexit will ensure there can be no rolling back of key rights and protections.

And we will go further, because protecting existing rights can never be the summit of our ambition. A Labour Government will work with EU partners, trade unions and businesses to ensure that, outside the EU, the UK does not lag behind Europe in workplace protections or environmental standards in future.

We will also make sure that there is rigorous and independent scrutiny of any new powers this gives to the Executive, because Brexit cannot result in a power grab by Whitehall.

This brings me to another commitment we will have in our manifesto: a presumption that any new powers that are transferred back from Brussels should go straight to the relevant devolved body.

This will apply to regional government across England, as well as to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This was a proposal included by the Mayor of London in his Brexit White Paper and it is one a Labour Government will take forward.

A Labour approach to Brexit will be part of a radical extension of devolution, and will help bring the country together.

A Tory Brexit will push the country further apart and lead to a concentration of power in Whitehall.

A Labour approach to Brexit will also contribute to how we rebuild a fairer, more progressive country.

The debate over Brexit is not happening in a vacuum.

It will be shaped by the approach the Government you elect takes to a whole range of wider issues – security, taxation, public services, the environment and education.

The Tories see Brexit as a way to further their wish to deregulate the economy, slash corporate taxes, water down workers’ rights and remove Britain from anything and everything European.But a Labour approach to Brexit will help ensure we have a fairer society, a strong economy, robust workplace rights, action on climate change and a more international, outward looking nation.

We need a Labour Government to deliver a real living wage – giving a pay rise to over 5million people – invest in public services and tackle the crisis in housing, the NHS and our schools.

That choice is on the ballot paper at this election.

If Theresa May wins another 5 years in power, she will take it as a green light to side-line Parliament, ignore opposition and drive through a reckless Tory Brexit.

She will isolate us from our nearest partners and strike trade deals with any country that will talk to us – no matter the consequences for workers’ rights, environmental protections or our place in the world

The only way to stop that and to build a fairer Britain is to elect a Labour Government.

A Labour Government who will reset our approach to Brexit, rebuild relations with the EU and make sure that jobs, the economy and rights come first.

We have 6 weeks to make that case.

Thank you.