Blog

  • Jo Stevens – 2020 Comments on Sport and Culture

    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.

  • Kate Green – 2020 Comments on a German-Style Education System

    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.

  • Jim McMahon – 2020 Comments on Air Bridges

    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.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Comments on Government’s Giveaway to Second Home Owners

    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.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2020 Comments on Investment in Life Sciences

    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.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2020 Comments on Rishi Sunak’s ‘Deadweight’ Comments

    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.

  • Jo Stevens – 2020 Comments on Free TV Licences for Over-75s

    Jo Stevens – 2020 Comments on Free TV Licences for Over-75s

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

    The refusal of the Government to fund this vital service after promising to do so is nothing short of betrayal.

    Many over-75s have spent months at home with TV providing an invaluable source of company during the pandemic. For the Government to blame the BBC who are having to contend with huge cuts is simply passing the buck.

  • Lucy Powell – 2020 Comments on Job Losses at Boots and John Lewis

    Lucy Powell – 2020 Comments on Job Losses at Boots and John Lewis

    Below is the text of the comments made by Lucy Powell, the Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, on 9 July 2020.

    This is deeply worrying news for staff at John Lewis and Boots and the travel hubs and town centres these stores are in. These announcements underline the dangers facing our high street, as many businesses struggle to survive through the Covid-19 crisis and the necessary public health measures which limit capacity and demand.

    The Chancellor’s statement was a missed opportunity to protect jobs with properly targeted support for the businesses and people that need it.

    Ministers must acknowledge that different parts of our economy face very different challenges in the months ahead and come forward with a real plan to protect jobs in sectors fully closed or only partially reopened, and develop an urgent programme to boost retailers and save our high streets from becoming ghost towns.

  • James Cleverly – 2020 Statement on Prisons Under Sentence in Bahrain

    James Cleverly – 2020 Statement on Prisons Under Sentence in Bahrain

    Below is the text of the statement made by James Cleverly, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, in the House of Commons on 9 July 2020.

    The UK and Bahrain continue to have a close and important relationship. We benefit from an ongoing, open and genuine dialogue in which we work together on mutually beneficial issues while also raising points of significant difference with one another.

    It is because of this long-standing partnership that we are able to have candid conversations about matters of importance to the UK—in particular, our human rights concerns. Our relationship allows us to raise sensitive and difficult issues, both privately and publicly, in a constructive manner in order to uphold our moral responsibility on human rights issues. We have raised and will continue to raise the cases both of Mohammed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain.

    On 8 January, British embassy Manama officials attended the final session of the Court of Appeal for the retrial of the two men mentioned. Both individuals were convicted of terrorist charges and given the death sentence again. On 8 January, the former Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), publicly stated our deep concern that death sentences were again handed out, and the UK’s position has not changed on this matter. We continue to actively monitor these two cases as they are taken to the court of cassation for final review.

    The UK’s position on the use of the death penalty is long-standing and unequivocal: we oppose its use in all circumstances and in all countries as a matter of principle. The Government of Bahrain are fully aware of our view. This was made explicitly clear by the former Minister to a senior Bahraini counterpart last year. It was then reinforced by my noble friend Lord Ahmad in the other place, who issued a public statement expressing the UK’s opposition to the use of the death penalty, in response to actions taken in Bahrain.

    I can assure the House that our efforts to raise these cases, and also the broader issues of the use of capital punishment, with the Bahraini authorities will continue. Bahrain is a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, in part due to its policy surrounding the death penalty. We continue to monitor developments on all matters that relate to human rights within the country. We remain absolutely committed to the promotion of universal freedoms and upholding human rights globally. That has been made clear only this week with the introduction of the UK’s first autonomous human rights sanctions regime.

  • Luke Hall – 2020 Statement on Park Homes

    Luke Hall – 2020 Statement on Park Homes

    Below is the text of the statement made by Luke Hall, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in the House of Commons on 8 July 2020.

    I am today publishing the Government response to our consultation “Mobile Homes—a fit and proper person test for park home sites”. I am placing copies of the response in the Libraries of both Houses, and it will also be available on gov.uk.

    As part of our ongoing commitment to improving protections for park home residents, the Government undertook a two-part review of park homes legislation in 2017. In the response published on 22 October 2018, we committed to introduce the fit and proper person test, subject to a technical consultation. This consultation was undertaken between 25 July and 17 September 2019 and received 370 responses, the majority of which were highly supportive.

    The purpose of the test is to improve the management of park home and other residential caravan sites. By introducing an assessment that the person responsible for managing the site is suitable to do so and of good character, this will help target and remove the worst offenders from the sector. The test will be an important tool for local authority enforcement and marks an important milestone in my Department’s work to protect residents of park homes and other residential caravan sites, who are often elderly and vulnerable, from unscrupulous site owners.

    I am today laying the required regulations bringing the test into effect. They will mandate that

    each local authority must set up and maintain a register of people who are fit and proper to manage a park home site in their area. A site owner, or an appointed manager, must appear on the local authority register in order to manage a site;

    when an applicant applies for registration, a local authority must consider, among other details, the applicant’s criminal record and details of all sites in which the applicant has an equitable interest; and

    if convicted of any offences under the regulations the site owner would face an unlimited fine. Offences include operating a site without being on the local authority register, breaching the conditions attached to an entry on the register, and providing false information in an application.

    The regulations will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure so will require the approval of both Houses.

    The Government are dedicated to improving protections for park home residents and these regulations are an important step towards delivering on that commitment.