Labour

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to reports that the Government is considering taking direct control of Govia Thameslink, said:

“Reports suggest that the Government is finally recognising what Labour has been saying for over a year: that Southern is failing passengers and taxpayers and should be stripped of their franchise.

“It is wrong that passenger fares and taxpayer subsidy that should be used to improve services and hold down prices are siphoned off to fill the coffers of train operating companies who are providing a disgraceful service.

“There’s no need for the Government to prolong the suffering of Southern passengers any longer. Private rail isn’t working: it’s time for the Tories to admit defeat and take Southern back under public control as a public service.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP, leader of the Labour Party, commenting on a report by the Social Mobility Commission, said:

“This report underlines just how rigged our economy and country actually is in favour of the wealthiest and the privileged few. While the Conservatives look after the interests of their friends, they are closing down opportunity for the many by slashing funding for education.

“Labour is committed to a country that works for all, a real living wage of at least £10 an hour by 2020, investment in industry, infrastructure and public services and a national education service which equips the next generation with the skills our country needs to succeed, so that no one and no community is left behind.”

Barbara Keeley, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, commenting on an investigation by the Health Service Journal and Disability United, which reveals that Clinical Commissioning Groups are drawing up new restrictions governing care for older and disabled people, said:

“It is deeply worrying that thousands of vulnerable people could be forced to move into care homes against their will just because that is a cheaper option than living at home.

“Evicting older or disabled people from their homes due to decisions about the cost of their care is unacceptable. This could also affect people who need care at home at the end of their lives.

“Tory Health Minsters should be acting to address the challenges on the costs of care. The Government must ensure that the NHS and social care has the funding it needs.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Government’s two child limit on tax credits, said:

“An arbitrary cap on the number of children that the Government will support is not only cruel, but is bad policy. As 90 per cent of lone parents are female, it is a further example of how these six years of wasted austerity have been borne on the backs of low income mothers.

“Of equal concern is the lack of detail surrounding the so-called ‘rape clause’. Should the burden of proof be placed upon survivors of rape by the Department for Work and Pensions, this would constitute a wholly unacceptable extension of the Department’s remit into deeply sensitive areas of women’s lives.

“People would be right to feel little confidence in the Government’s competence when approaching this highly sensitive issue. More so when viewed in the context of the punitive DWP culture fostered by this government.

“The sum of these deeply concerning questions, which hang over the policy as a whole, suggests that the only solution can be to scrap this policy once and for all. I urge the Prime Minister to do so before it takes effect.”

Ends

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on the latest rough sleeping statistics released today, said:

“It is a national scandal that in England in the 21^st century the number of people forced to sleep rough on our streets is spiralling upwards – and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

“These figures are a terrible reminder of the consequences of Conservative Ministers’ seven years of failure on housing.

“The number of people sleeping rough fell under Labour but has more than doubled since 2010, and has risen every year under the Conservatives. 

“This is a direct result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers: a steep drop in investment for affordable homes, crude cuts to housing benefit, reduced funding for homelessness services, and a refusal to help private renters.

“Ministers’ long-promised housing white paper will fall at the first hurdle if it does not set out how they will end the national shame of rough sleeping, as Labour has committed to do.”