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Kate Green – 2020 Comments on Calculated Grades

Below is the text of the comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Education Secretary, on 10 July 2020.

The Government must ensure that this year’s assessments are fair, accessible, and accountable.

Labour has argued for years that predicted grades already create significant challenges for disadvantaged students, and without fair standardisation and appeals many more students could be unfairly affected by calculated grades.

The Government and Ofqual must urgently act to ensure that young people from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds do not lose out under this system.

July 11, 2020
Angela Rayner – 2020 Comments on Managed Decline in the North

Below is the text of the comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 10 July 2020.

The North-South divide is continuing to grow, and we cannot afford for the economic impact of coronavirus to increase this gap even more.

The Tories talk a good game on this issue but their record of turning their backs on the North speaks for itself.”

With the Labour Party calling on the government to focus on protecting and creating jobs, Angela Rayner will warn against a return to mass unemployment last seen in the 1980’s under Margaret Thatcher:

Our mining communities know about the human cost of mass unemployment. We know how it feels to be abandoned by a Tory government and for entire generations to be consigned to what the Thatcher government called ‘managed decline’.

This crisis has shown the power of workers when we stand together united, and shown the importance of trade unions fighting to protect jobs and wages and defend workers’ rights.

Together we are strong. And in the months ahead we will need our collective strength as we fight to make sure that every worker is safe at work, protect our communities and make sure the most vulnerable in our society don’t bear the burden of the economic impact of coronavirus.

Four in five key workers in health and social care are women. When we talk about the lack of PPE and low pay in the care sector then that is an issue that disproportionately affects women.

Female workers and workers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be key workers on the front line, and Coronavirus is having a shockingly disproportionate impact on Black Britons in particular.

So fighting for our class means standing up for the working class in all its diversity.

July 11, 2020
Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2020 Comments on Publishing Report into Priti Patel

Below is the text of the comments made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, on 11 July 2020.

It has been over four months since the Government promised a report into whether the Home Secretary broke the Ministerial Code. There are now allegations of deeply inappropriate political interference in the publication of the report, both in terms of content and timing. The delay in producing it is totally unacceptable.

Yet again the Government is acting in the interests of a Conservative Party elite, rather than the national interest. I’ve written to the Minister for the Cabinet Office calling for the report be published immediately, so that it can be properly considered before the recess.

July 11, 2020
Bridget Phillipson – 2020 Letter on the Job Retention Scheme

Below is the text of the letter written by Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to Jim Harra, the Permanent Secretary of HMRC, on 9 July 2020.

Dear Jim,

First of all, I want to pay tribute to the impressive work of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff in recent weeks and months. I know many HMRC staff will have worked for long hours to put in place the systems which have seen the delivery of support we have welcomed, such as the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Labour is proud to put on record its thanks to the HMRC staff who work to ensure that taxes are collected fairly and efficiently.

This morning there are press reports that you required a Ministerial Direction before implementing the Chancellor’s Job Retention Bonus scheme, because of concerns about value for money. You will be aware that these are exactly the concerns that I and other Labour colleagues raised in debate yesterday. This morning the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself admitted on the radio the potential deadweight cost associated with the scheme.

Ministerial directions can be an important part of how government ensures fast and effective action in a crisis. However, Parliament needs to understand when Ministers are overriding the advice of their own experienced and knowledgeable civil servants. Given both the huge amount of public money involved and the immense importance
of achieving value for money with government spending, I am requesting that HMRC:

immediately publish whatever information or analyses HMRC staff prepared such that you informed the Chancellor of the Exchequer that you were unable to support the scheme without a Ministerial Direction;

immediately publish any estimates or modelling of the scheme you may have prepared, including any work you may have done on this with Treasury colleagues, on the expected uptake of the scheme, including distributional, sectoral, and regional analyses;

give evidence to Parliament before any legislation is considered which would give effect to the Job Retention Bonus Scheme, in respect of whether the scheme constitutes Value for Money.

It is so important that we see decisive and effective government action to support jobs, livelihoods, and companies in the months ahead, and value for money is critical.

Every penny given to those who don’t need it, when whole sectors of our economy are in trouble, is money not available to support jobs at risk, money not helping the families and firms in desperate need.

You will understand that given the amount of public money involved and the wider
public interest in effective and efficient public spending, I am publishing this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Bridget Phillipson MP

July 9, 2020
Jo Stevens – 2020 Comments on Sport and Culture

Below is the text of the comments made by Jo Stevens, the Shadow Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, on 9 July 2020.

We welcome the opening of swimming pools, gyms and other leisure facilities as part of the easing of lockdown and the re-opening of the economy.

This news and the guidance about grassroots sports will be welcomed by millions across the UK who have missed the opportunity to exercise and play sport together.

Allowing outdoor theatres and music performances will also give hope to many in a sector which has largely shut down over the past few months and audiences desperate for entertainment. But there are real concerns around keeping staff safe when these venues reopen.

While the government’s failure to get test and trace properly running will mean that many do not feel confident enough to take part in these activities.

It is astonishing that the Secretary of State is only now commissioning research about the spread of the virus and these sectors – the Government needs to put sport and culture at the top of the agenda instead of it being an afterthought.

July 9, 2020
Kate Green – 2020 Comments on a German-Style Education System

Below is the text of the comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, on 9 July 2020.

Any new support for further education is welcome, but it’s a bit rich for the government to complain about a crisis in FE that they themselves have created. Funding has been slashed by billions of pounds and support for learners scrapped.

Repeated speeches from the Secretary of State calling for a German-style system are no replacement for the investment the sector needs. Attempts to set up further and higher education against each other are damaging and counterproductive. Everyone in post-16 education will tell you what’s needed is collaboration across both sectors to maximise opportunities for lifelong learning so people can develop new skills and have fulfilling lives.

It is time for the government to move beyond the empty rhetoric and give post-16 education the investment it needs.

July 9, 2020
Jim McMahon – 2020 Comments on Air Bridges

Below is the text of the comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Transport Secretary, on 9 July 2020.

This small step is welcome news. Holidaymakers and businesses were rightly incredibly keen for the government’s quarantine measures to be safely eased. Labour has said from the start that this has been a blunt tool, hindered by a lack of a comprehensive testing strategy.

The fact they have been unable to negotiate air bridges is an indictment of their failure to tackle the crisis at home. They were too slow to take lockdown, too slow to order PPE and too slow to protect our country.

Labour has consistently called for a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry including the supply chain based on our six conditions. Tory Ministers have failed to act and workers are paying the price and trips are being cancelled.

July 9, 2020
Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Comments on Government’s Giveaway to Second Home Owners

Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 9 July 2020.

It is unacceptable that the Chancellor tried to sneak out this huge bung to second home owners and landlords while millions of people are desperate for support. He should be targeting support to those who need it, not helping people invest in buy-to-let properties and holiday homes.

An unnecessary subsidy for second home-owners will only worsen the housing crisis by reducing the supply of homes overall.

We need a credible plan from Tory Ministers to build the homes our country needs and get people on to the housing ladder. We didn’t see that this week.

July 9, 2020
Chi Onwurah – 2020 Comments on Investment in Life Sciences

Below is the text of the comments made by Chi Onwurah, the Shadow Minister for Science, Research and Digital, on 10 July 2020.

Investment in the life sciences is a critical part of our response to this pandemic and the health challenges we face as a nation. But our investment doesn’t reflect regional science capacity or health needs as the IPPR analysis makes clear.

The North receives less than half of the life science investment per head that the South of England does even though it has great teaching hospitals and significant health inequalities.

We need to see that change as we invest in science to beat the pandemic and create new jobs across the country.

July 9, 2020
Bridget Phillipson – 2020 Comments on Rishi Sunak’s ‘Deadweight’ Comments

Below is the text of the comments made by Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 9 July 2020.

The Government have had months to prepare for the end of lockdown and design targeted support to protect jobs – but instead we have an on-the-hoof fix that the Chancellor himself admits risks wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money.

Hard-pressed sectors where thousands of jobs are at risk, like aviation, oil and gas, and tourism, will be missing out on the help they need while companies who are returning to normal get public money they don’t.

The Chancellor should be targeting support on those who need it, not handing it out aimlessly to those who don’t. It’s not brave to admit the Government plans to waste billions at a time when others are crying out for support.

July 9, 2020