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.”