The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 7 April 2021.
We are determined to level up across the entire country, and the Deal we’re announcing for Truro will help to unleash its tremendous potential.
Through a range of innovative projects including greener transport links and the restoration and renewal of spaces in the city centre, we will be able to rejuvenate the local economy, support businesses, boost connectivity and create new jobs.
The comments made by Simon Hart, the Secretary of State for Wales, on 7 April 2021.
Dame Cheryl Gillan was a hugely respected figure who contributed a great deal to Welsh and UK politics over many years, including as Welsh Secretary.
She will be fondly remembered, and I send my condolences to her family and friends.
The comments made by John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, on 6 April 2021.
The Prime Minister has already broken promises made to military personnel by cutting 10,000 posts in the Army. On the Tories’ watch, we have also lost tens of thousands of jobs across the industry and wasted time on key contracts.
Of course, there will be essential equipment or systems which makes strategic sense for Britain to develop with allies or to buy direct from overseas, but we want to see a much higher bar for this.
When done well, defence spending has a multiplier effect, strengthening our UK economy. Covid has exposed the risks of relying on foreign supply chains. Labour’s ‘British by default’ policy would strengthen the UK’s sovereignty and security.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 6 April 2021.
Prioritising British businesses through defence spending is not only investment in jobs, but in our communities, and a more secure economy.
Under this Prime Minister, we have seen broken promises and dither and delay, at the expense of UK supply chain businesses and taxpayer’s money.
We cannot go back to business as usual. Labour will protect jobs in the defence sector, harness the skills and talents of our workers, and will deliver value for money for British people, to ensure a prosperous recovery out of the pandemic.
The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, on 7 April 2021.
The Government’s chaotic response to this pandemic has exposed inequalities which have been holding children back during a decade of failed Conservative governments.
Even before the pandemic, the Conservatives oversaw rising poverty rates, with thousands more children arriving at school too hungry to learn and missing out on the creative opportunities we want all children to be able to enjoy. Now they have committed just 43p per child per day to help them recover from the pandemic and delivered a stealth cut to funding to help children on free school meals reach their potential.
Labour, parents and teachers are calling on the Government to prioritise delivering a world class education for every child, with valued staff supporting them to recover learning and delivering activities that promote wellbeing, rather than half-baked ideas about the length of the school day or term dates.
The letter sent by Angela Rayner to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, on 7 April 2021.
Dear Mr Case
I am writing to express my concern about public resources being deliberately used during a pre-election period to influence the outcome of an election.
During the Downing Street press conference on Monday evening (5 April 2021) – which was supposed to be an update on Covid-19 – the Prime Minister chose to launch a political attack on Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London and Labour’s candidate in the upcoming London Mayoral election. The attack was political in nature, unprompted, and entirely unrelated to either the topic of the press conference or the question the Prime Minister was asked.
The Prime Minister also made false statements regarding Transport for London‘s (TfL) finances in his answer. Sadiq Khan spent the first four years of his mayoralty fixing the mess left by the previous Mayor, Boris Johnson, who bargained away TfL’s £700m per year direct operating grant. As Mayor, Sadiq had successfully reduced TfL’s deficit by £1 billion and increased cash reserves by 13 per cent before the pandemic hit. For the Prime Minister to suggest that TfL’s finances are in trouble for any reason other than a 90 per cent drop in passengers during lockdown due to the pandemic is an insult to Londoners and highly misleading.
The Ministerial Code, by which government ministers are bound, clearly states that official facilities and resources may not be used for the dissemination of party political material. This includes the Prime Minister’s new media briefing room, which cost the British taxpayer £2.6 million. The Prime Minister has a lot of experience with the Ministerial Code – his Home Secretary was found to have breached it after bullying staff, prompting his independent advisor on ethics and ministerial standards to resign. The British people would rightly not expect a Prime Minister who has spent so much first-hand experience of dealing with matters relating to the Code to be so blatant in flouting it during a pre-election period.
Just last week the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary said that he ‘acts with integrity and honesty and he follows the Nolan principles when conducting himself in public life’, but his actions on Monday evening clearly directly contradict those principles. As I am sure that will agree, accountability to the Code is crucial in maintaining integrity and public trust in public life and our politics. I would urge you to investigate whether the Prime Minister did indeed breach the Ministerial Code and, if so, what steps you will take to censure the Prime Minister and ensure that he does not repeat this behaviour including him issuing a public apology for misusing public resources for party political gain and misleading the public.
I look forward to your early reply setting out how you intend to respond to this incident.
Angela Rayner.
The comments made by Louise Haigh, the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 6 April 2021.
This reprehensible violence is unjustified and unjustifiable. It serves no purpose and is risking the lives of frontline workers.
As a former Special Constable, it is sickening to see frontline officers subject to violent attacks simply for doing their job.
The concerns and frustrations communities are feeling must be addressed through dialogue and political leadership alone.
A clear message must be sent that there is simply no excuse for violence.
The comments made by Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 6 April 2021.
The Treasury knew the rules that protect public money used to back bank-run lending schemes didn’t apply to Greensill.
Despite this, the Chancellor granted it the right to lend millions of pounds in government-backed Covid loans.
The public will be appalled to hear how much of their money may have been put at risk by the Conservatives’ cosy connections to Greensill Capital.
That’s why we need a full, transparent and thorough investigation into this affair.
The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 April 2021.
Around 1 in 3 people who have COVID-19 show no symptoms, and as we reopen society and resume parts of life we have all dearly missed, regular rapid testing is going to be fundamental in helping us quickly spot positive cases and squash any outbreaks.
The vaccine programme has been a shot in the arm for the whole country, but reclaiming our lost freedoms and getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.
The British public have shown over the last year that they quickly adapt and always do what it is right in the interest of public health, and I know they will do their bit by getting tested regularly in the months ahead.
The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 April 2021.
Massive efforts have been made by the British public to stop the spread of the virus.
As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine programme and with our roadmap to cautiously easing restrictions underway, regular rapid testing is even more important to make sure those efforts are not wasted.
That’s why we’re now rolling out free rapid tests to everyone across England – helping us to stop outbreaks in their tracks, so we can get back to seeing the people we love and doing the things we enjoy.