John
Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to
Sajid Javid’s Conference speech:

“Theresa
May admits seven years of Tory failure on housing was a big part of why her
Party did so badly in the Election.

“Yet four
months on, Sajid Javid’s speech shows there’s no new Tory thinking on housing.
His pledges are feeble and fail to offer help or hope to millions who can’t get
the home they need or aspire to.

 “There’s
nothing new from the Conservatives which will tackle the country’s housing
crisis or fix the broken housing market. This is yet another speech that aims
to help the few, not the many.

 "Young
people held back by a broken housing market don’t need Theresa May’s empty
empathy but a consumer rights revolution for renters, new discount homes for
first time buyers and the big-scale building programme of genuinely affordable
homes to rent and buy that Labour set out in our Election manifesto.“

Emily
Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, commenting on events in
Catalonia today, said:

“Police
violence in Catalonia today is shocking, and the Spanish government should take
action to end it now.

"While
we believe disputes over sovereignty should be resolved in accordance with
rules and laws, and any referendum on these issues needs to be both democratic
and fair, it is unacceptable for the Spanish authorities to overreact to
today’s events through aggressive police action and the forcible closure of
polling stations.

"They
must respect the right to peaceful protest, and all sides must strive to come
together and reach a political solution to this constitutional crisis. Violence
of any sort will simply worsen divisions, and make a resolution harder to
reach.”

Debbie
Abrahams MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, commented on the
Prime Minister’s refusal to back Labour’s call for a pause to Universal Credit
on Marr saying;

“More
empty words will do nothing for those being pushed into poverty by the Government’s
flagship social security programme.

“The six
week wait for payment of Universal Credit is a punitive policy introduced by
this Government, it can be changed.

“I wrote
to the Secretary of State calling for a pause to Universal Credit roll out
weeks ago, and yet nothing has been done.

“Months
have passed since Mrs May claimed she would help those struggling to get by. We
are yet to see anything that amounts to action to support the 13 million people
living in poverty in the UK.”

John
Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to the Tories’
announcement to extend the Help to Buy scheme, said:

“This
is yet another policy from the Tories that will only help the few, not the
many. 

"Britain
is suffering from a housing crisis, with home ownership at a 30-year low and
900,000 fewer under 45s now owning a home since 2010.

"Young
people held back by a broken housing market don’t need Theresa May’s gimmicks
but the mass building programme of genuinely affordable homes to rent
and buy that Labour put forward in our manifesto.”

Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education, responding to the Tories’
announcement on freezing tuition fees, said:

“The fact
Theresa May thinks she can win over young people by pledging to freeze tuition
fees only weeks after increasing them to £9,250 shows just how out of touch she
is.

“Another
commission to look at tuition fees is a desperate attempt by the Tories to kick
the issue into the long grass because they have no plans for young people and
no ideas for our country. They are yesterday’s party.

“The next
Labour government will scrap tuition fees entirely and introduce a National
Education Service for lifelong learning for the many not the few. “