Labour

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to Theresa May’s speech today at Conservative Party conference, said:

“By the time the current leader of the Conservative Party eventually finished speaking, she had a total of £15 billion in spending commitments just in this Parliament without a single reference to how the money will be found to pay for them. The Tory magical money tree returns.”

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to the European Commission’s proposals for reform of the EU VAT system, said:

“Over €50bn of VAT is lost every year through VAT fraud across Europe and the announcement from the European Commission is a welcome step forward to make sure Britain receives the tax it is due from trading across the continent. The reforms will also make it cheaper and easier than ever for British firms to trade around Europe by using a one stop shop so that each company will not need to comply with 28 different VAT regimes.

“The UK Government must support these reforms in the European Council and ensure that British businesses can continue to benefit from them after we leave the EU. We need more clarity from the Tories on how they intend to maintain the ease of access to the European market that we have now, while keeping compliance costs low. “

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health, commenting on mental health announcements in Theresa May’s Speech to the Conservative Party Conference, said:

“The burning injustice that remains in mental health is that underfunding means services are failing too many people.

“An independent review of the Mental Health Act is long overdue and to be welcomed but, far from being better funded than ever before, more than a quarter of CCGs have under-spent their mental health budgets for 2016/17. 

“A Labour Government would invest more money in mental health and ring-fence budgets so that money for mental health reaches the front line rather than being siphoned off for other priorities.”

Rebecca Long- Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, responding to Theresa May’s re-announcement of an energy price cap, said:

 ‘Today, after pressure from Labour and her own backbenches, Theresa May has finally been forced to recognise that  the energy market is broken. But her response doesn’t go nearly far enough.

 “It is unclear if responsibility for action has again been passed to OfGem, with no commitment on when or how action will be taken. Yet again the country is left confused about whether the Prime Minister will honour her election promise.

 “Labour has been clear that we would introduce a clear emergency price cap whilst taking the bold measures needed to reform our broken energy market in the long run such as bringing energy back into public ownership.”

Jon Trickett MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, responding to Theresa May’s to Conservative Conference, said:

 “This was supposed to be the speech where Theresa May relaunched her flailing Premiership but it only confirmed her failure.

 “She admitted Britain faces great problems but all she has to offer are watered down versions of Labour’s ideas, reheated policies, and empty promises.

 “On housing there were warm words but nowhere near enough action, on tuition fees she talked of a “review” but failed to mention that the Tories trebled them to over £9,000 and on energy bills, she provided no clarity after months of confusion and u-turns. And there was nothing at all to deal with the crisis the Tories have created in the NHS, nor to deal with the fact that working people’s wages have flat-lined under the Tories.

  “Rather than apologising to her party, Theresa May should have taken the opportunity to apologise to the public for a record of failure for the many which has left Britain worse off.

  “Conference season has shown us that the Conservatives are yesterday’s party; Labour is setting the agenda. With bold, mainstream plans like scrapping tuition fees, building a million new homes and public ownership of the energy system, Labour is the only party who will deal with the challenges facing the country. We will build a Britain for the many not the few.”