Owen
Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, commenting on the announcement
that the US Department of Commerce will introduce additional sanctions on
Bombardier, said:

“While
Theresa May worries about press coverage of the phony P45 she was handed this
week, more than 4,000 Bombardier workers in Belfast are worried that they’ll
receive a real one unless her Government brings Boeing and its allies at the US
Commerce Department to the negotiating table.

"Given
that the UK Government is Boeing’s second biggest client – we spend over £1.5
billion with them every year – it is inconceivable that ministers have not been
able to negotiate a better deal.  

"The
Government must tell the public what pressure it has really placed on Boeing
and on the US Administration. Without any evidence of concrete action, concerns
will grow that UK ministers have naively accepted Boeing’s assurances about the
safety of jobs in Belfast or worse, have negligently accepted Bombardier job losses
as ‘collateral damage’ in their post-Brexit strategy.”

Paul Blomfield MP, Labour’s Shadow
Brexit Minister, responding
to the announcement by the EU Commission that it cannot guarantee Horizon 2020
funding for British applicants post-March 2019, said:

“Horizon 2020 has been a vital
source of research funding for UK universities. The Government’s failure to
agree arrangements with the EU for research funding after March 2019 is
undermining our world-class universities. This is a direct consequence of the disarray
in the Cabinet and the Tories’ chaotic approach to negotiations. This should
have been dealt with months ago and must be resolved immediately.”

Tom
Watson, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport, commenting
on News Group’s admission of computer hacking, said:

 “This is
a dramatic new revelation in the saga of criminality in Murdoch’s media empire.
Despite being asked about the use of private detectives by the News of the
World at a parliamentary committee in 2011 it’s taken a five year civil case
for the company to admit to further illegal behaviour. 

 “We can
now add computer hacking to the long list of criminal activities undertaken by Murdoch’s
operatives. We know from experience of phone hacking that there won’t just be a
single victim. So my question to Rupert Murdoch and his subordinates is this:
Who else was hacked? 

 “The Met
police are in possession of seized hard drives. What steps have they taken to
establish whether there are other people who don’t yet know their personal
information has been hacked? I will be writing to Metropolitan Police
Commissioner Cressida Dick to ask that she ensures all leads are followed up
and any victims fully informed. 

 “This is
yet more evidence that Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry must go ahead to
discover the full truth of illegality and cover-ups like this. And it’s vital
that the CMA is able to take this new evidence of criminality and corporate
failure into account as it assesses the Murdochs’ bid to take over Sky.”

Rebecca
Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy,
commenting on falling productivity in the UK, said:

“Our
capacity to raise long run living standards seems to be going backwards.

“Productivity
growth has been the basis of rises in living standards over the last two
hundred years. Yet for each hour of work we put in today, we get less out than
we did ten years ago. Further, productivity was 15.1 per cent below the average
for the rest of the G7 in 2016.

“This country needs a radical and transformative
industrial strategy. The only party that can deliver this is Labour.”

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commenting on
the proposed ban on ivory sales, said: 

“A total ban on trading ivory is long overdue.

"Finally, Environment
Secretary Michael Gove has followed Labour’s lead on this issue. 

“But, given the
Conservative Party’s failure to include this policy in their manifesto and
their notoriously poor record on animal welfare, it will be crucial to
scrutinise any exemptions to the trade ban being proposed and to ensure these
proposals are comprehensive and followed through.”