Labour

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to Dame Judith Hackitt’s interim report into the Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, said:

“This interim report is welcome but Ministers have already been told that building safety rules need to be rewritten.

“It is now four and a half years since two Coroners’ reports into previous high rise fires recommended an overhaul of building regulations. Ministers ignored the recommendations then and their promise to issue new regulations was never honoured.  

“Rather than waiting for the final report of this inquiry, Ministers should start acting on existing recommendations immediately and incorporate recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt when her inquiry is completed.

“Ministers have been off the pace at every stage in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. They must now quickly give people confidence that our system of fire regulation has the clarity, accountability and proper standards needed so that no-one feels unsafe in their home.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18, said:

“The Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18 is a small step in the right direction. However, it is worrying that the income threshold still means people on the lowest incomes are not automatically included and enrolled in a workplace pension, excluding hundreds of thousands of part-time and temporary workers. 

“Given that plans will also not be in place until the mid-2020s, coupled with the fact that people under 25 receive a lower living wage, many young people will continue to miss out both now and in their retirement.

“Labour will restore confidence in the workplace pension system ensuring it benefits the many not the few.”

Ends

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on reports today that Brexit ministers urge Theresa May to scrap EU working directive, said:

“This yet more evidence that senior Tories, including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, want to use Brexit as an excuse to rip up workers’ rights.

“Theresa May must publicly reject this approach and condemn it in this week’s Cabinet meeting. If she fails to do so then she will have turned her back on British workers. The directive offers protection to millions of workers who without it will be vulnerable to exploitation from unscrupulous employers.  

“It is becoming increasingly clear that a Conservative Brexit will weaken workers’ rights, deregulate the economy and slash corporate taxes. Labour will protect workers’ rights and ensure that everyone gets a fair deal at work.”

Ends

Ahead of the publication of the 2017/18 provisional Police Grant Report, Labour calls on Government to guarantee no further workforce reductions for the coming year.

Diane Abbott MP, Shadow Home Secretary, commenting on the provisional Police Grant report, said:

“The Tories’ reckless cuts to policing have left the service at breaking point. We have seen a growing chorus of senior figures in policing warn that the current funding settlement is simply not enough to meet the growing demands they face.

“Yet ministers continue to insist that police have the resources they need, and to claim they have protected funding. If the Conservatives truly believe what they are saying then they should have no problem guaranteeing workforce numbers over the coming year.

“Labour in Government will invest in community safety by recruiting 10,000 extra neighbourhood officers and ensure forces have the resources they need.”

Ends

Responding to the resignation of the chair of housebuilder Persimmon following a reported £100m remuneration package for the chief executive, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, John Healey MP said:

“This is an extreme and unacceptable executive bonus payment while home-buyers struggle with high housing costs.

“Since 2010 the Conservatives’ have outsourced responsibility for building the homes Britain needs to big developers which has inflated profits and reduced the number of new affordable homes.

“Labour would make continuation of Help to Buy conditional on a tough new government deal with the housebuilders, including on executive pay.”