Labour

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to news that families affected by Concentrix assessments are to have their cases reviewed, said:

“These figures further confirm that Concentrix were pursuing a cut first ask questions later approach, which saw thousands of low income families pay the price for an overzealous contractor, and a lack of government oversight. 

“This scandal exposes the overall approach by the Tories, which is to make those on low incomes pay for the last seven years of Tory economic failure.

“We welcome the fact that those who have been unfairly punished will have their cases finally reviewed. It is just a shame that the Tories had to be forced here kicking and screaming by Labour. However, those who have their decisions overturned must be reimbursed in full for the amounts that they lost as a matter of urgency.  Anything less will be seen as the government continuing to let them down.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party,  speaking ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the UK, said:

“When Theresa May meets the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow, she has let it be known she will tell him that building settlements on occupied Palestinian land “undermines trust”.

“That is simply not good enough. The Israeli government’s decision to build 3,000 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law and a threat to peace and international security.

“It undermines still further the prospect of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, about which the Netanyahu government is increasingly contemptuous. 

“Fifty years after the United Nations demanded Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in the 1967 war and 70 years after the UN voted for the creation of a Palestinian state, the British government must act in support of peace and justice in the Middle East conflict. 

“Theresa May must make clear to the Israeli Prime Minister that the British government will stand unequivocally behind the rights of the Palestinian people, along with the many who support them in Israel, as well as human rights and justice across the region. 

“She must also demand an assurance from the Israeli Prime Minister that the improper interference by the Israeli embassy in British democratic politics exposed last month will not be repeated.”

Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey MP, responding to the government’s announcement on renting, said:

“These disappointing proposals fall far short of what is needed.

“Government figures show that affordable housebuilding has fallen to the lowest level in 24 years, with the number of homes being built for social rent now at the lowest level since records began.

“Ministers continue to do next to nothing to help people who rent from a private landlord and have consistently blocked Labour’s attempts to change the law to control costs and give renters security.

“Ministers even voted down Labour’s efforts to ensure that private rented homes were simply fit for human habitation.

“After seven years of failure on housing, renters deserve better than this.”

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, commenting on a report by the Commons Transport Select Committee, said:

“Privatised rail has left us with a fragmented and inefficient network that drives up costs and under delivers.

“A railway works best as an integrated network but privatisation and franchising have meant breaking it up to create opportunities for companies to extract a profit, resulting in costly inefficiencies. For example, hundreds of people are employed full time on the railway to argue about which company is responsible for delays.

“It’s not just that money which should be used to improve services or keep fares down is syphoned off or wasted, we have a confusing fare structure and services are disjointed and difficult to use for passengers.

“The current system is broken. 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.”

Labour will invest to transform the economy of the North – McDonnell commits Labour to delivering Crossrail for the North

Today the Shadow Chancellor has committed Labour to delivering on “Crossrail for the North”, a series of major rail improvements across existing west-east links in the North of England.

Labour will commit to reversing decades of underinvestment in Northern transport infrastructure that has undermined the economic potential of the north of England and help deliver 850,000 new jobs by 2050.

The current Tory Government has failed to invest in essential electrification of Hull to Selby and other lines, and delayed electrification of the critical Manchester-Leeds Transpennine route, which is not now due for completion until at least 2022. Labour will commit to fight alongside its mayoral candidates and local authorities to demand that the Westminster Government brings forward the resources needed to help unlock the £97bn of economic potential in the North.

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, is expected to say:

“Labour is absolutely committed to delivering HS3, a Crossrail for the North, starting right here in Liverpool and connecting the great cities of the north of England.

“There is so much potential here currently squandered by underinvestment, delays and a lack of real commitment from Whitehall.

“So with our mayoral candidates in Manchester and Liverpool, and councils across the north, Labour will be pushing for this government to deliver.

“It’s at least a £10bn commitment from Labour to invest in the north.

“It means the journey from Manchester to Leeds will take just 25 minutes, instead of close to an hour.

“Or you could get from Liverpool to Manchester in 25 minutes.

“Crossrail for the North will become the foundations for a transformed Northern economy.”

Ends