John
McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development in its latest economic outlook, said:

“The
OECD has added its fears to those of the Office for Budget Responsibility about
the UK economy under the Tories.

“These
figures further underline the complete failure of seven years of austerity and
the damage it has done to our economy. They also highlight that the UK is facing
the harshest austerity measures in the OECD, with household debt a concern and
growth expected to remain low for years to come.

“It’s
clear that the Tories’ austerity approach has not only failed in its stated aim
to eliminate the deficit, it is having real consequences for wages and growth
across the economy.”

John
Healey MP, Labour’s
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on new Government
statistics showing a 98 per cent fall in new social rented homes, said:

“After
seven years of Tory failure on housing, homelessness has doubled,
home-ownership has fallen to a 30-year low and the number of new genuinely
affordable homes being built has fallen off a cliff.

“These
shocking new figures show that in the six months before the Chancellor’s
so-called ‘housing Budget’, the number of new Government-funded homes for
social rent fell by 98 per cent compared to Labour’s last year in office.

“It’s
time Ministers supported Labour’s plan to build 100,000 low-cost homes to rent
and buy a year, including backing councils to build again.”

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation Report 2017, said:

“In every area the Commission has highlighted, the Tories’ record is one of failure. Under the Tories, Sure Start funding has been cut by half, nurseries are in crisis, there are 400,000 more children living in poverty and the Chancellor has just pocketed a £750m under-spend on childcare rather than invest in our kids.

“The Government has missed its teacher recruitment targets five years in a row – and for two years running more teachers have left classrooms than joined the profession.

“The Government’s offer on social mobility is a scheme to take a few children up to thirty miles a day by taxi to get to the nearest grammar school, while cutting school transport for the many.

“The consequences are stark. The country is becoming more divided, with the life chances of the poorest dependent on their postcode. Labour will do things very differently by creating a National Education Service to give opportunities to every child, whatever their background, as we transform Britain into a country that works for the many, not the few.”

Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary, responding to reports about the release of the Brexit impact assessments to the Select Committee for Exiting the European Union, said:

“Parliament was very clear in its instruction to ministers. All 58 impact assessments should have been shared with the select committee in full, without redaction and unedited.

“If the Government has failed to comply with this ruling then we will not hesitate in raising this matter with the Speaker.”

Keir
Starmer, Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary, has urged ministers
to meet the deadline for handing over the 58 Brexit impact studies to MPs tomorrow
[Tuesday 28 November] or risk being held in
contempt of Parliament.

Earlier
this month, MPs unanimously backed a Labour motion for the economic impact
studies to be released to the Select Committee for
Exiting the European Union. MPs on that Select Committee will then have the
right to review the impact studies and determine what information is put in the
public domain.

The
Speaker of the House of Commons said motions of the kind tabled by Labour “have
in the past been seen as effective or binding.”

Responding
to the decision, the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, said on Tuesday 7 November: “The Government is committed to providing the
information to the Committee as soon as possible. I have made plain to the
House authorities that we currently expect this to be no more than three weeks
[Tuesday 28 November].”

If
ministers fail to respond
to Labour’s motion, then they risk falling in
contempt of Parliament.

Parliament’s
rulebook Erskine May states that “actions which…obstruct or impede” the Commons
“in the performance of its functions, or are offences against its authority or
dignity, such as disobedience to its legitimate commands.”

Labour
is calling for the papers to be handed over, unredacted before Parliament rises
tomorrow.

Keir Starmer said:

“There
is huge anxiety across the country about the impact of the Government’s Brexit
approach on jobs and the economy.

“Labour
fully understand the importance of protecting the UK’s negotiating position
with the European Union. However, the decision agreed unanimously by MPs
earlier this month was about transparency and ensuring Parliament had the
information it needs to hold ministers to account during the Brexit process.

“Ministers
have accepted that the vote was binding and they must now respect Parliament’s
decision. That means releasing the impact studies to the Brexit Select
Committee in full and unredacted before Parliament rises on Tuesday. If
ministers fail to act then we will have no choice but to raise this matter with
the Speaker of the Commons.“