[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Chancellor’s message in Delhi and Mumbai this week is that the UK is perfectly placed to finance manufacturing growth in India.

Diane
Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to reports of a
brutal attack on a 17 year old asylum seeker yesterday evening, said:

“Sadly this is not an isolated incident,  but part of a
sustained increase in hate crimes that this Tory government is yet to offer any
effective response to.

 “With right-wing politicians across the world scapegoating
migrants, refugees and others for their economic problems, we are seeing a deeply
worrying rise in the politics of hate.

 “We must make clear that there is no place for anti-foreigner
myths, racism and hate in our society.”

“Today
many businesses across the country will see their business rates increase
substantially. For some firms, it will seriously threaten their viability and
continued existence. However, today it also transpires that the Government’s
inadequate measures to mitigate these effects are not even in place to help
businesses. The support fund the Government promised is reportedly not even up
and running and nor is the Government clear on how it will work.

 “The
Government’s botched business rate revaluation has created a huge and
destabilising burden for many businesses. Prior to the budget Labour announced
its Five Point Plan for business rates, which promised to set up an Emergency
Relief Fund, undo Tory restrictions on the appeals process, bring forward the
shift from RPI to CPI indexation, and remove most categories of new plant and
machinery from valuations, as well as a fundamental rethink of business rates
in the longer term. Today the Government must rise to Labour’s challenge by
taking action to defuse the ticking time bomb of business rates and bringing
forward additional transitional relief for small and medium sized firms.”

Since 1 April 2007 prescription medicine has been provided free in Wales. All patients registered with a Welsh GP who get their prescriptions from a pharmacist in Wales are eligible.

The GP is one of a number of frontline clinical experts able to prescribe medication. Others include pharmacists and nurses: prescriptions issued by these are also free of charge. 

The decision to abolish prescription charges was taken in light of evidence that some people with serious chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure or heart disease, could not afford their prescriptions and chose to have only part of the prescription dispensed to reduce the cost. 

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said:

“Free prescriptions were introduced in Wales in 2007 as a long-term investment to improve people’s health. 

“We were the first of the home nations to take the step to introduce free prescriptions and I’m delighted that both Scotland and Northern Ireland followed our lead.

“We firmly believe by providing people with the medication they need helps to keep them well and out of hospital, thereby reducing the overall cost to the NHS.  It should never be the case that people with serious chronic conditions can not afford to collect their prescription.

“Ensuring patients have the medication they need not only improves their own health and wellbeing, it also benefits the health service as a whole by reducing hospital attendance and placing fewer demands on general practitioners.” 

“It is socially irresponsible to charge people with serious chronic conditions for the medication they need. Free prescriptions are progressive and an integral part of our health services in Wales.”

“It
appears the Justice Secretary is more concerned with grabbing headlines than
sorting out the crisis in prisons her government created.

 “It’s
no wonder ministers refused to answer questions from Labour about exactly how
many officers at each prison would benefit and by how much. They should do so
now.

 “The
Conservatives are playing politics with prison officers’ livelihoods. They
deserve a decent wage and a fair deal. The Justice Secretary must apologise
immediately.”