Category: Speeches

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Windrush Compensation Scheme

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Windrush Compensation Scheme

    The comments made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, on 21 May 2021.

    This [National Audit Office] report should make shameful reading for Conservative Ministers.

    Victims of the Windrush Scandal have faced many years of injustice, anguish and pain. Yet, more than two years after the compensation scheme has been set up, only a fraction of victims have been compensated.

    Many people have received insultingly low compensation offers from the Government, and it’s heartbreaking for family members to have lost loved ones who have never received justice. Instead, the Government is heaping painful insult upon injustice.

  • Penny Mordaunt – 2021 Comments on Infected Blood Compensation Scheme

    Penny Mordaunt – 2021 Comments on Infected Blood Compensation Scheme

    The comments made by Penny Mordaunt, the Paymaster General, on 20 May 2021.

    Sir Robert [Francis] will be carrying out this study to provide the Government with advice and recommendations on a potential compensation framework. Sir Robert brings his vast legal expertise – including his background and experience in medical ethics and clinical negligence work. He also has experience of chairing public inquiries into issues involving medical negligence. Sir Robert will bring the integrity and thoughtful consideration this review requires.

  • Simon Hart – 2021 Comments on the Welsh Plan

    Simon Hart – 2021 Comments on the Welsh Plan

    The comments made by Simon Hart, the Secretary of State for Wales, on 20 May 2021.

    The UK Government is stepping up a gear in Wales. We are accelerating our support for local communities to help them recover from the pandemic, we are bringing the UK Government closer to Wales and we will lead Wales’ recovery into a green industrial revolution of jobs and growth.

    Every single investment we make will be looked at through the prism of jobs, livelihoods and sustainability. Like never before people will see the UK Government work directly with the 22 Welsh local authorities as well as other local partners.

    Neither Westminster nor Cardiff has a monopoly of knowledge and expertise and I firmly believe it is local communities that are often best placed to determine both how to meet the specific needs of their areas and what will have the greatest impact.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the Welsh Plan

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the Welsh Plan

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 20 May 2021.

    Just as the economic heft of the UK provided the resources to get all four of its constituent parts through the worst of the pandemic – and acquire the vaccines that will ultimately bring it to an end – so that strength in numbers will help Wales become fairer, greener and more prosperous as we build back better from Coronavirus.

    By working together we can bring faster internet connections, more reliable mobile signals and better transport connections. We can create good, skilled, well-paid jobs from Menai Bridge to Machynlleth to Merthyr Tydfil and we can help Wales play its part in building a net-zero economy with everything from the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub to vast floating windfarms in the Celtic Sea.

  • James Cleverly – 2021 Comments on Support for Refugees in Palestine

    James Cleverly – 2021 Comments on Support for Refugees in Palestine

    The comments made by James Cleverly, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, on 20 May 2021.

    Palestinian and Israeli civilians should not face the brunt of this conflict, and no child or family should go without food, water or shelter. Today’s UK support will help UNRWA deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to those that need it most.

    The international community needs to ensure UNRWA is able to save lives and reduce the suffering.

    The escalation of violence and loss of life in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has shocked all of us. Both sides must work towards an immediate ceasefire, to prevent the further loss of life and a worsening humanitarian situation.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on the Indian Variant

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on the Indian Variant

    The comments made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 20 May 2021.

    This is deja vu and echoes the mistakes made last year with Boris Johnson’s ‘whack-a-mole’ approach.

    It beggars belief that yet again local health experts on ground have been left in the dark for two weeks when we know acting with speed is vital to containing an outbreak.

    Ministers need to explain what’s gone wrong and provide local health directors with all the resources they need to push infections down.

  • David Lammy – 2021 Comments on the Judicial Appointments Commission

    David Lammy – 2021 Comments on the Judicial Appointments Commission

    The comments made by David Lammy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 20 May 2021.

    Reports of discrimination and bullying by the Judicial Appointments Commission are very troubling but not wholly surprising.

    While completing my Review into bias across the criminal justice system, I encountered resistance from the leadership of the Judicial Appointments Commission to the issues I raised. To this day, well qualified Black and ethnic minority candidates are being snubbed by what still looks like an old boys network.

    It is right that the Equality and Human Rights Commission looks into these allegations. This will help determine whether the Judicial Appointments Commission is fit for purpose.

    In addition the Government should set a clear, national target to achieve a representative judiciary and magistracy by 2025.

  • Nia Griffith – 2021 Comments on UK Government’s Plan for Wales

    Nia Griffith – 2021 Comments on UK Government’s Plan for Wales

    The comments made by Nia Griffith, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, on 20 May 2021.

    Instead of investing in the tools that Wales needs as a strong and vital part of a successful United Kingdom, years of cuts and underfunding by this UK Government have hit Welsh families and left Wales worse off.

    Despite their promises, successive Conservative governments have completely failed to provide Wales with the kind of funding that is needed.

    That this plan has been drawn up without any engagement with the newly-elected Welsh Labour Government is testament to the Conservatives’ approach of overlooking Wales at any opportunity.

  • Jim McMahon – 2021 Comments on the Williams Review

    Jim McMahon – 2021 Comments on the Williams Review

    The comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, on 20 May 2021.

    Whilst we welcome steps to increase public control and ownership over the railways, there remains many unanswered questions in today’s report.

    Despite two press releases in six hours, a morning media round and a statement to the house, the Transport Secretary still seems unable to explain how his flexible ticketing offer will actually deliver saving for passengers.

    Labour has long argued that public ownership of the rail network will provide better value for the taxpayer and for passengers, who deserve more than rhetoric from this Government.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on ONS Labour Market Statistics

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on ONS Labour Market Statistics

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 18 May 2021.

    While it is encouraging to see businesses reopen with the easing of restrictions, long term unemployment is rising at its fastest rate in over a decade. Young people continue to bear the brunt of the crisis with over half of the fall in employees being under 25, yet the Government’s Kickstart scheme has provided opportunities for just 1 in 25 young people.

    If our economy is to emerge stronger from this pandemic we cannot allow a generation to be scarred by unemployment. Labour’s jobs promise would provide a job or training opportunity for any young person away from work or education for six months and ensure no one is away from work for more than a year.