UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2020

  • Sarah Jones – 2020 Comments on the Grenfell Inquiry

    Sarah Jones – 2020 Comments on the Grenfell Inquiry

    The comments made by Sarah Jones, the Shadow Policing and Fire Minister, on 6 September 2020.

    Over three years after Grenfell, it is shameful how little progress has been made. The Government has continuously broken their promises, while tens of thousands of people across the country are stuck living in unsafe flats. The victims and survivors of Grenfell are still waiting for justice. This is completely unacceptable.

    Labour’s amendment to the Bill is an attempt to force the Government to deliver the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry’s Phase One Report. Every measure necessary should be put in place to prevent a fire like Grenfell from ever happening again. We urge the Government to honour their promises and back the amendment and get the work done.

  • Stephen Morgan – 2020 Comments on Armed Forces Recruitment

    Stephen Morgan – 2020 Comments on Armed Forces Recruitment

    The comments made by Stephen Morgan, the Shadow Armed Forces Minister, on 7 September 2020.

    The worrying increase of over seven thousand application withdrawals this year continues this Government’s decade of decline in failing to support our country’s Armed Forces and its recruits.

    Whilst the Minister claims to be looking to improve the Armed Forces ‘offer’, its failing recruitment contract is clearly not working.

  • Jim McMahon – 2020 Comments on Grant Shapps and Government’s Quarantine Policy

    Jim McMahon – 2020 Comments on Grant Shapps and Government’s Quarantine Policy

    The comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Transport Secretary, on 7 September 2020.

    When there are so many unanswered questions around the Government’s quarantine measures it is astounding that this statement failed address them. Passengers and the aviation industry need confidence that Ministers aren’t simply making it up as they go along.

    This seemed to be an exercise in deflecting attention. We are still yet to see the scientific evidence for the Government’s decision making and why, unlike in Scotland and Wales, those returning from Portugal don’t need to self-isolate.

    After the mess we’ve seen it is vital that the Government undertakes a review into quarantine policy, to report as soon as possible. It should include outlining options for a robust testing regime in airports, and related follow up tests, that could help to safely minimise the need for 14-day quarantine.

  • Boris Johnson – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    Boris Johnson – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    The comments made on Twitter by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2020.

    A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change.

    It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    The comments made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, on 5 September 2020.

    This is very worrying and I don’t really know what it is that is expected to be achieved and I know that for many older listeners it’s very much part of their daily life, getting their paper delivered, and I think it’s just wrong.

  • Dawn Butler – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    Dawn Butler – 2020 Comments on Blockade of Newspapers

    The comments made on Twitter by Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent Central, on Twitter on 5 September 2020.

    Bravo Extinction Rebellion. Excellent work.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott

    Kirsten Oswald – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott

    The comments made by Kirsten Oswald, the Deputy SNP Leader at Westminster, on 4 September 2020.

    If holding misogynistic, homophobic, Trump-backing, climate change-denying views, as well as saying that some elderly people with Covid-19 should be allowed to die, is what qualifies you for a role with this Tory government in promoting the UK internationally then it is not so much Global Britain as it is Little Britain.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott

    Ruth Cadbury – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott

    The question asked by Ruth Cadbury, the Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth, in the House of Commons on 3 September 2020.

    The Minister said that he welcomed the Government’s appointment of Tony Abbott as a trade adviser, but on Sky this morning, Kay Burley reminded the Health Secretary that the appointee is a misogynist and homophobe, which the International Trade Secretary’s colleague appeared to confirm by saying, “But he’s also an expert on trade.” Could the International Trade Secretary not find an expert for the role who demonstrates positive British values and, by the way, is not a climate change denier?

  • Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott and the Car Industry

    Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Tony Abbott and the Car Industry

    The comments made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow International Trade Secretary, on 4 September 2020.

    From the first moment Tony Abbott was proposed for this role on Britain’s Board of Trade, I’ve said we need to judge him not just on his despicable personal history of offensive statements and views, but on his equally dismal professional record as well.

    Tony Abbott wilfully destroyed what was left of Australia’s car industry after taking office in 2013, with the calculated withdrawal of government support, and the deliberate goading of overseas investors to quit. A once proud industry employing 200,000 workers was left to die.

    We cannot have a man like that in charge of trade talks which will have a direct bearing on the future of British car manufacturing in Sunderland, Solihull, Ellesmere Port, Halewood, Burnaston, Oxford and elsewhere, especially when the industry is already under huge economic pressure.

    I’ve been saying for the past week we need to listen to the Australians who know Abbott best, and they are warning us loud and clear: do not let this man do to your car industry what he did to ours.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Appointment of Tony Abbott

    Emily Thornberry – 2020 Comments on Appointment of Tony Abbott

    The comments made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow International Trade Secretary, on 4 September 2020.

    There are two factors that should have immediately disqualified Tony Abbott from this role.

    First, his history of offensive statements is so long and repetitive that it speaks to serious defects in his character, which is not one I think should be representing Britain on the world stage.

    And second, the fact that he has no experience of detailed trade negotiations, no understanding of Brexit, no belief in climate change, no concern for workers’ rights, and no compunction about killing off Australia’s car industry mean, to my mind, that he has no credentials for this role.

    Tony Abbott is therefore the wrong appointment on every level, which begs the more important question of why on earth Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have given him the job.

    However, with this shambolic excuse for a government, we may continue to be appalled and disappointed at their serial incompetence, but we should never any longer be surprised.