John McDonnell MP,
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on analysis published today by the IFS on the public
finances ahead of the Budget, said:

“The IFS have today
confirmed seven years of Tory austerity policies have failed to drive up
investment and productivity, with serious potential consequences for the public
finances. Tory economic failure means wages and salaries are lower today than
when they came to power, and still falling, whilst their mishandling of Brexit
is now also adding to the uncertainty around future borrowing plans.

“Instead of dragging
millions of ordinary people through the endless misery of Tory spending cuts,
the Chancellor now needs to make a decisive break with past Tory failure and
end austerity. If he cannot, Labour stands ready to govern, end the appalling failure
of Tory austerity and build an economy that works for the many, not the few.”

Barbara Keeley
MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health, commenting on
the Government’s record on Mental Health, following Jeremy Hunt’s appearance on
the Andrew Marr show, said:

“Jeremy Hunt’s
remarks bear no resemblance to the reality of our mental health services; the
Tory Government’s record on mental health has been dismal. 

“Mental
health nurse numbers have fallen, more than a quarter of CCGs underspent their
mental health budgets for 2016/17 and some children are waiting as long as
eighteen months to be treated.

“The
Tories will not be taken seriously on mental health unless they invest more in
services and ring-fence budgets, as Labour pledged to do at the General
Election.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to reports that PRO companies have paid little or no tax, said:

“It has been clear for some time that PFI is an inefficient and opaque system for delivering public services. PFI companies are profiting at the expense of our public services: if they are also avoiding their tax while doing so, the Government must immediately take action to end this scandal by banning shares in PFI companies being bought up by corporations based in tax havens.

“Labour under Jeremy Corbyn will end the PFI racket, bringing existing contracts back in-house, and delivering more money into our public services more accountably, transparently and efficiently.”

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor, responding
to the EU investigation into the UK’s “controlled foreign company” schemes,
said:

“The new EU investigation into
the controlled foreign company tax dodge opened up by the Conservatives
vindicates Labour’s demands for its closure and blows Tory claims to be
targeting tax avoidance out of the water.

“Far from clamping down on tax
dodgers, Conservative-led governments have made it easier for tax avoiders to
duck their obligations to society and not pay their fair share of tax.

"Labour’s election manifesto demanded the closure of the controlled
foreign company loophole and only Labour will take the tough action needed to
end the scourge of tax avoidance and build an economy for the many, not the
few.”

Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow
Secretary of State for Justice, commenting
on Ministry of Justice data which reveals a record number of assaults
in prisons, said: 

“Once again we see how
Conservatives’ cuts are creating a crisis in our prisons. Every few months we
get a new record for the number of assaults as the Government’s cutting of
prisons budgets and staff bites. It is scandalous that we now have an assault every
20 minutes in our prisons.

“Government policies that have led
to severe overcrowding and cutting of more than 6,000 prison officers are
squarely to blame for this situation. Yet one in three prisons suffered further
cuts in officer numbers in the first six months of this year alone.

“When prisoners can’t be let out
of their cells for 23 hours a day due to soaring violence and under-staffing,
it makes a mockery of the Government’s claims that it is turning prisons into
places of education and reform.”