John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor,
commenting on the pound falling after Tory leadership contenders Boris
Johnson and Jeremy Hunt said they were opposed to the backstop, said:

“The instability and uncertainty caused by the Conservative Party
leadership contest have real-world consequences. The commitment of both
contenders to a No Deal Brexit makes it even more important the
Government put an end to playing games with people’s livelihoods and
call a General Election now.”

Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the Defence Select Committee’s report ‘Shifting the Goalposts? Defence Expenditure and the 2% Pledge: An Update’, which shows that MoD spending has been cut by 25% since 2010, said:

“It is hypocrisy of the highest order for both candidates for the
Conservative leadership to talk of boosting defence spending when they
have consistently voted for budgets, which have slashed the MoD’s funds
to what they are today.

“This report highlights the severe and unprecedented cuts that the
Conservatives have made to defence since 2010. Instead of considering
what is necessary for our defence and security needs, Conservative
Ministers have delivered crippling austerity which has put unprecedented
strain on the men and women of our Armed Forces.

“You cannot do security on the cheap. The next Labour government will
ensure that our armed forces are properly equipped and resourced to
respond to wide-ranging security challenges.”

Commenting on the Coram Holiday Childcare
Survey, showing that working parents face an £800 bill for summer
holiday childcare, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary said:

“This report shows that holiday childcare costs continue to rise year
after year under this Tory government. It is clear that they have
failed to deliver affordable care for families across the country.

“This failure to provide free or affordable childcare to those who
need it has left many parents not just out of pocket but often out of
work, as employment just won’t pay after the cost of care.

“The next Labour Government will invest in expanded and improved
high-quality, affordable childcare, as part of our National Education
Service.”

Naz Shah MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities,
responding to Guardian reports of an essay by Boris Johnson arguing
Islam had caused Muslim countries to be ‘literally centuries behind’,
said:

“This is as historically inaccurate as it is Islamophobic. Boris Johnson must fully apologise for his record of racist remarks.

“After his previous comments describing women wearing the burqa as
‘letterboxes’ and ‘bankrobbers’, which has been linked to a rise in hate
crime targeting Muslim women, Johnson’s disgraceful views make him
unfit to be an MP, let alone Prime Minister.

“His words will embolden the Islamophobes who, according to recent
polling, make up over half of Conservative Party members, who are about
to choose the next Prime Minister of our country.”

Corbyn says UK contribution to climate crisis
“even greater than we think” as he calls for UK to stop “passing the
buck to poorer countries”

Speaking at Labour’s International Social Forum today (Sunday),
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will announce that the next Labour
government will act to stop the UK government hiding the country’s “true
impact on our climate” by measuring the emissions created through our
consumption as well as production.

Corbyn will explain that the way the UK only measures the emissions
created through the production of goods and services in the UK, “hides
our true impact on our climate” because “we don’t only contribute to
climate breakdown with what we produce, we contribute with what we
consume too.”

Over the past three decades, the UK has off-shored the production of
manufactured and agricultural goods it consumes, along with the
associated greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2016, emissions associated with imported goods made up 45 per cent
of the UK’s overall consumption emissions. While the UK’s territorial
emissions are falling, the UK’s consumption emissions have barely
changed in the past two decades.

Corbyn will announce that the next Labour government will “show true
international leadership” by making Britain the first major economy in
the world to measure the emissions we import, as well as those we
produce.

Labour will amend the Climate Change Act to instruct the Committee on
Climate Change to include an assessment of our “total footprint
emissions” in their annual report to Parliament, measuring our progress
against them and recommending policies to reduce them.

Announcing the policy, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:

“The next Labour government will show true international leadership
in tackling the climate crisis. We will face up to the climate emergency
by recognising our real carbon footprint.

“Currently, when we measure a country’s emissions, we are talking
about the greenhouse gasses generated as goods and services are produced
in that country. But for a country like Britain, that measurement hides
the country’s true impact on our climate because we don’t only
contribute to climate breakdown with what we produce, we contribute with
what we consume too.

“Over the last two decades the UK has reduced emissions – but it has
done so in part by off-shoring those emissions. “That isn’t tackling
global emissions – it is passing the buck to poorer countries.

“It’s time we were honest about our contribution to the climate
crisis: it is even greater than we think. So under Labour, Britain will
become the first major economy in the world to measure these consumption
emissions and take action to reduce them.

“We shouldn’t see this as a burden. Offshoring our emissions isn’t just bad for the climate, it’s bad for UK industry.

“When we measure the emissions from goods produced in the UK but not
those produced overseas, it puts industry here, especially
energy-intensive industries like steel, at a disadvantage. So we will
remove the perverse incentive to damage our own economy with no benefit
to the climate.

“And we will send financial and technical support to the developing
world, helping them adopt greener methods of production and reducing the
carbon content of the goods we import.”