Labour

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, ahead of the party’s Opposition Day Debate on schools funding, said:  

“Schools are struggling to plug the massive budget deficits created by a Tory Government incapable of running a schools system.

“On Monday we heard from headteachers who are increasingly faced with difficult choices of whether they can afford to have classrooms cleaned, sport pitches mowed or to keep hold of vital support staff who are essential to school communities.   

“With three quarters of school budgets taken up by staffing costs, the fear across the sector is that classroom teachers could be cut next.

“At the election the Tories offered warm words to parents about better schools and promised to protect school funding. It is clear that their legacy will now be one of cutting school budgets, super-sized class sizes, and no progress made in the international league tables.

“Our children deserve better.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the ONS public sector finance figures today, which show the national debt having risen to £1.7 trillion at the end of December 2016, said:

“After six wasted years of Tory failure on the economy it seems that under Philip Hammond it is only going to get worse.

“It appears 2016 was yet another bad year for the national debt with the Tories adding an increase of £91.5 billion, or an average of £251 million each day over the last year: the equivalent of £1,400 per head in the last 12 months.

“Under Hammond’s new fiscal rules, presented in the House today, there is insufficient scope for investment in our economy, which will hinder growth and therefore our ability to reduce the national debt.

“Only Labour has a real investment plan underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule to tackle the national debt and to deal with the public finances, so we can transform and rebuild Britain in order that no one and no community is left behind.”

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the publication of Transport Focus’ National Rail Passenger Survey, revealing significant declines in passenger satisfaction for 2016, said:

“The results of this survey expose the failure of our privatised railways. With promised upgrades delayed or cancelled and fares rising way ahead of wages, it’s disappointing but not surprising to see passenger satisfaction down across the board for 2016.

“With this decline in passenger satisfaction, it’s becoming more difficult for the Government to justify allowing private and foreign state-owned companies to take money out of the system that should be used to improve services or hold fares down.

“It’s clear than an alternative is needed for Britain’s railways. It is time for our railways to be run under public ownership, in the public interest as an integrated national asset in public hands with affordable fares for all and long-term investment in the railway network.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, responding to this morning’s judgment from the Supreme Court that Parliament must give its approval to trigger the process of leaving the EU, said:

“The Government has today been forced by the Supreme Court to accept the sovereignty of Parliament.

“Labour respects the result of the referendum and the will of the British people and will not frustrate the process for invoking Article 50. 

“However, Labour will seek to amend the Article 50 Bill to prevent the Conservatives using Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off the coast of Europe.

“Labour is demanding a plan from the Government to ensure it is accountable to Parliament throughout the negotiations and a meaningful vote to ensure the final deal is given Parliamentary approval.“

Clive Lewis MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on the launch of the Government’s new industrial strategy, said:

“We welcome the Prime Minister’s talk of government taking a ‘new, active’ role in backing businesses, but what we’ve heard today is full of rhetoric and thin on detail.

“From business rates to Brexit, many of businesses’ most pressing concerns are currently going unanswered. Unless the Government puts a lot of flesh on these bones this will be a strategy of spin rather than substance.

“All the signs so far are that the Government is not prepared to put its money where its mouth is. The money offered for skills falls far short of reversing the cuts to adult education since 2010, for example, while the “cash boost” for the North is a fraction of the budgets of Labour’s RDAs.

“For all the fanfare, reversing the economic damage done by the Tories and steering the economy through the turbulent times ahead is going to require the Government to be much bolder.”