Labour

Sue Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commenting on the announcement that the government intends to bring forward legislation to increase maximum sentencing for animal cruelty cases, said:

“I am pleased that the Government has decided to follow Labour’s manifesto commitment to increase maximum sentencing for the worst cases of animal cruelty.

“We know that judges have complained for some time that they want to hand down tougher sentences to those guilty of abusing animals. The current six-month maximum sentence is simply inadequate for the severity of some of these terrible crimes.

“While this is a step in the right direction from this Conservative government, they still have a long way to go to prove their credibility on animal welfare following Theresa May’s declared support for fox hunting and their recent shocking and poorly regulated roll out of the badger cull.

“We will be monitoring the Government closely to make sure they implement this policy having previously announced and failed to deliver on a ban on ivory trading and wild animals in circuses.”

Returning from a day of talks in Northern Ireland with Union leaders, management and politicians about the Bombardier/Boeing tariff crisis, Barry Gardiner MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, said:

“The government must wake up to the fact that this is a major crisis for Northern Ireland. Bombardier represents 40 per cent of all the GDP produced by the private sector in Northern Ireland; these 4,000 jobs are the economic bedrock for so many families and communities. Yet the company is now facing a calculated and cynical attempt from Boeing to eliminate a competitor.

“Today it was made abundantly clear that for months civil servants and politicians in Northern Ireland were explaining their case to Tory ministers too pre-occupied with a post Brexit U.S. trade deal to listen, and who chose to swallow the American line that Bombardier were at fault and that Boeing were willing to negotiate when they clearly were not.

“Theresa May’s government must now summon Boeing’s Global Chief, Dennis Muilenburg, to an urgent summit and seek a meeting with the US government to get sensible negotiations back on track and this vicious and baseless case taken off the table.”

Sue Hayman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, responding to evidence by the Guardian and ITV showing tampering of food safety records and use-by dates, said:

“The evidence presented here is extremely concerning and raises a number of serious questions. The supplier in question is the largest supplier of chicken to UK supermarkets, meaning the number of consumers impacted will be significant.

“It is welcome that five major food retailers are going to launch immediate investigations but the Government must do the same. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs must respond to the findings of the investigation to reassure consumers that this matter is in hand. Stepping back and shunting the issue on to the Food Standards Agency, as during the imported egg crisis, will not do.

“It is vital that the Government ensures that the highest food standards are being upheld in the UK and that consumers are presented with correct information at the point of purchase.”

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the letter from Conservative MPs calling for a halt to Universal Credit, said;  

“I am glad that Conservative MPs are waking up to the disastrous effects of Universal Credit, and backing Labour’s call for a pause to the programme.

“The rising debt and arrears under Universal Credit are a direct result of the six week wait for payment introduced by this Government. This policy can be changed.”  

“Labour is again calling on the Government to halt the roll out of Universal Credit and remove the punitive elements of the programme which are pushing so many families into poverty.”

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Royal College of Nursing’s new “Against the Odds” report, said:

“Seven years of Tory mismanagement and underfunding has placed an unacceptable level of pressure on nursing staff to keep NHS services running. 

“The Government is constantly asking NHS workers to do more with less, and over 70 per cent of nurses surveyed by the RCN have said their last shift had unsafe numbers of staff. This is a threat to the quality of care which patients can expect to receive. 

“At the election Labour promised to bring in a new law to guarantee safe staffing levels in hospitals. Ministers must step up and explain what action they’re going to take to get enough nurses in place to keep services for patients running safely.”