Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Social Care and Mental Health, responding to the latest Alzheimer’s Society report, said:

“This research reveals the shocking scale of the social care funding
crisis. Continued inaction on social care funding from this government
is taking a heavy toll on the finances of people with dementia and their
families.

“It is also costing the NHS millions. Nine years of failure to fund
social care properly means both that people who need social care and the
NHS are picking up the pieces of a broken system.

“Labour would ensure more people get the care they need, through our
National Care Service. As part of this, we have pledged an extra £8
billion of investment in social care across a Parliament which would
include an extra 160,000 care packages, including 50,000 packages for
people with dementia.”

Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to reports of Universal Credit claimants being targeted in a multi-million pound scam, said:

“The government claimed that Universal Credit would reduce fraud and
error. Now we know it is clearly failing in that, just as it is failing
to protect people from poverty.

“Time and again the government has claimed that advances are the
answer to the five week wait. The reality is that they are loans that
have to be paid off by claimants, often alongside debts built up during
the five week wait. Meanwhile fraudsters and loan sharks prosper.

“The government must finally listen to the evidence and stop the roll out Universal Credit.”

Ian Lavery MP, Chair of the Labour Party, responding to comments by Boris Johnson that he could earn more money outside politics, said:

“This sums up Boris Johnson and Tory contempt for people. A bunch of
greedy millionaires complaining they aren’t rich enough and whinging
that their day job doesn’t pay them enough money.

“These Tories are totally out of touch with the struggles that people
in our country face. Tory Britain is one where nurses rely on foodbanks
and millionaire newspaper columnists complain they don’t earn enough
money.

“It is no surprise that Johnson said that no one defended the bankers
who crashed the economy more than him. We have had nearly a decade of
Tory cuts, and their new policies from tax cuts for the richest to the
bringing back barbaric fox hunting, are more of the same and worse.

“A Labour government will be on the side of the people and will boost their pay and public services, for the many not the few.”

Labour is calling on Boris Johnson to confirm if he
still “loves” fox hunting after it emerged he wrote one year after the
Act banning hunting was passed by Parliament, that he wanted it to go on
“for ever”.

It comes a day after his leadership rival Jeremy Hunt refused four times to say if he thought the bloodsport was cruel.

One year after Labour banned hunting, Johnson described how he
“loved” his day with a hunt, saying he wanted hunting to go on “for
ever” and that “if the hounds pick up a fox, so be it”. He has also
voted in favour of hunting.

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, said:

“It is a simple question: does Boris Johnson still support fox
hunting, yes or no? The fact that he is refusing to answer shows how far
he will go to avoid scrutiny.

“There is overwhelming support in both rural and urban areas for
keeping the ban on fox hunting that Labour was proud to bring in and
will strengthen in government.”

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary,
commenting on the news Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is investing in building
a range of electric vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in
Birmingham, said:

“This is welcome news for the workers at JLR and a ray of hope for the automotive sector at this difficult time.

“However, the fact remains that overall investment in UK automotive
is plummeting and global players are choosing to invest in
electrification elsewhere.

“The government must urgently work with industry and trade unions to
ensure this investment from JLR is a model to other manufacturers and
not an exception.”