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Tag: 2021

  • Preet Gill – 2021 Comments on Foreign Aid Cuts

    Preet Gill – 2021 Comments on Foreign Aid Cuts

    The comments made by Preet Gill, the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, on 5 March 2021.

    This is a devastating reminder of the real world impact the Government’s politically motivated decision to abandon its manifesto commitment on aid will have on the world’s most vulnerable people.

    Cuts in support to countries in the midst of multiple humanitarian crises would cause devastation; leading to some of the world’s most vulnerable people to starve, stretched healthcare systems to collapse and access to clean water stripped away. Make no mistake, people will die.

    Callous cuts like this signal a retreat from the world stage and will make us all less safe. This is not Global Britain.

  • Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on a Pay Rise for NHS Workers

    Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on a Pay Rise for NHS Workers

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 5 March 2021.

    During the pandemic it’s been our amazing NHS who’ve kept our country going, kept us safe, and looked after our loved ones.

    They’ve been there on the frontline, putting their lives on the line. They’re the very best of Britain.

    My Mum was a nurse. My sister was a nurse. My wife works in the NHS. I know what it means to work for the NHS. And if I were Prime Minister I would give them a fair pay rise that they deserve.

    However, this week we learned that the Conservative Government is planning a real term pay cut for NHS staff. The mask has finally slipped.

    After all we’ve been through together, after clapping for our carers, this is nothing short of an insult. It sends a very strong message to the British public.

    Under my leadership, Labour will stand with the NHS and with our key workers. We will argue for a better deal, for fairer pay.

    The NHS protected us, now it’s time to protect them.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Health Workers’ Pay

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Health Workers’ Pay

    The comments made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 March 2021.

    These promises to nurses now lie in tatters. Boris Johnson is cutting nurses’ pay. As night follows day, you simply can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Unpublished Covid Contracts

    Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Unpublished Covid Contracts

    The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 5 March 2021.

    It is deeply concerning how much the Government has relied on crony contracts throughout the pandemic, while leaving our frontline workers exposed.

    First the Government acted unlawfully, then the Prime Minister falsely claimed everything had been published.

    It is a basic right for the public to know where and how our cash is being spent. The Government needs to come out of hiding, simply publish the contracts it has sitting around and support our frontline staff with PPE not pay cuts.

  • Andy McDonald – 2021 Comments on Meter Readings

    Andy McDonald – 2021 Comments on Meter Readings

    The comments made by Andy McDonald, the Shadow Employment Rights Secretary, on 5 March 2021.

    It is shocking that the Government has encouraged Meter Reading to continue through this lockdown, allowing workers to be sent to and from areas testing for new variants and between Tiers while visiting up to 200 homes a day.

    This irresponsible practice of risking the health and lives of Meter Readers and the wider public is completely at odds with public health objectives. The Government must urgently remove Meter Reading from the guidance on work that can continue in homes during lockdown, instructing this activity to stop.

  • Rosena Allin-Khan – 2021 Comments on Children’s Mental Health Funding

    Rosena Allin-Khan – 2021 Comments on Children’s Mental Health Funding

    The comments made by Rosena Allin-Khan, the Shadow Minister for Mental Health, on 5 March 2021.

    The Government are so desperate for a positive headline that they are now recycling money previously announced. This is not new funding. It’s a rehash of funding announced last year which is too little, too late.

    With Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services referrals doubling and children going back to school in a matter of days, these resources were needed much sooner.

    This is simply a small sticking plaster during a mental health crisis.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Government’s New Infrastructure Bank

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Government’s New Infrastructure Bank

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 4 March 2021.

    The Government’s smoke and mirrors cannot distract from the fact we have been left without the green investment we need. We needed climate leadership from government but we got climate failure.

    In the year of COP26 when we are wildly off track to meet our climate targets, we needed the Chancellor to put a green stimulus at the centre of the Budget.

    He totally failed to do so. A £1bn cut to the green homes grant, a refusal to help our manufacturers make the green transition and an investment Bank that lacks anything like the ambition we need.

    Far from transformative investment in infrastructure, the Government’s new bank won’t even plug the hole left by the European Investment Bank and will see us trailing way behind countries like Germany.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Steel Industry

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on the Steel Industry

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 4 March 2021.

    Our manufacturers should be at the heart of our economic recovery. But the Budget left them out in the cold. No mention of steel, no new support for aerospace, no new help for our automotive sector.

    Manufacturing industries are crucial to communities across the country, providing highly-paid, highly-skilled jobs in Yorkshire, the North East, the Midlands and South Wales. To truly rebalance our economy away from London, we need to invest in these leading industries.

    We are falling behind other countries in the support our government is providing and we will all pay the price. We needed to see an ambitious £30 billion green stimulus package to create jobs, tackle the climate emergency, and secure the long-term future our manufacturers should rightly have.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Letter to Priti Patel on Her Personal Conduct

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Letter to Priti Patel on Her Personal Conduct

    The letter sent by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 4 March 2021.

    Dear Priti,

    I write in relation to the confirmation today that the Government has agreed to settle the claim of Sir Philip Rutnam.

    This comes after Sir Alex Allan’s review in November 2020 found that you broke the Ministerial Code by bullying.

    This means that taxpayers are being forced to foot the bill for unacceptable behaviour from the Home Secretary.

    As a result, it is vital that there is the maximum possible transparency around this issue, so I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions urgently:

    – How much money in total has been spent on this case by the Government, including on legal fees? It has been reported that the settlement itself was £370,000, inclusive of Sir Philip Rutnam’s legal fees.

    – How much money has been spent, so far, in preparation for the upcoming, and related, FDA union legal case?

    – Since July 2019, how many cases related to bullying of officials have been opened in the Home Office?

    – What progress has been made in implementing new systems to minimise bullying at the Home Office?

    This whole episode continues to raise serious questions about standards of behaviour, responsibility and leadership at the highest level of Government. This is particularly clear in relation to the shameful response to Sir Alex Allan’s findings, which resulted in the adviser on standards resigning rather than the person he found to have broken the Ministerial Code. It is also clear that this continues to have consequences, not least for the taxpayer.

    The Government has shown no care for the impact on workplaces up and down the country, where measures are being taken to address the issue of bullying, where this series of events must seem incomprehensible.

    I await your urgent response.

    Yours sincerely,

    Nick Thomas-Symonds MP
    Shadow Home Secretary

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Priti Patel’s Behaviour

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Priti Patel’s Behaviour

    The comments made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, on the Sir Philip Rutnam case on 4 March 2021.

    Taxpayers will be appalled at having to pick up the bill for the Home Secretary’s unacceptable behaviour.

    The Home Secretary still has very serious questions to answer about her conduct and the FDA union’s legal case continues.

    The Prime Minister has shown terrible judgement. It can’t be right that his adviser on Ministerial Standards resigned when he found that the Home Secretary bullied colleagues, while the Home Secretary herself remained in post.