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Tag: Speeches

  • James Murray – 2021 Comments on Securing the Recovery

    James Murray – 2021 Comments on Securing the Recovery

    The comments made by James Murray, the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on 16 February 2021.

    Labour has set out what should be the priorities for securing our recovery – protecting jobs with a smart extension to the furlough scheme, and helping British businesses back on their feet by extending the business rates holiday and reduced rate of VAT.

    Instead of introducing these urgent measures to protect jobs and business, the Chancellor is hitting households up and down the country with council tax rises, pay freezes, and cuts to Universal Credit, and threatening businesses with a mountain of debt.

    The Chancellor is on the wrong side of the argument when it comes to securing our economy. Sadly, it’s the British people who will be left picking up the pieces from his mistakes.

  • Anneliese Dodds – 2021 Comments on the Penrose Review

    Anneliese Dodds – 2021 Comments on the Penrose Review

    The comments made by Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 16 February 2021.

    This review is a missed opportunity. UK markets are becoming more concentrated, hitting consumers and workers and stopping small businesses in their tracks.

    Labour would re-evaluate the role of the Competition and Markets Authority, ensuring it has the tools it needs to tackle the growing concentration of market power.

    We need more robust competition policy, including action to crack down on tax avoidance and block mergers and acquisitions that either take on unsustainable debt or that aren’t in Britain’s long-term strategic interest.

  • Matt Hancock – 2021 Statement on Dame Fiona Caldicott

    Matt Hancock – 2021 Statement on Dame Fiona Caldicott

    The statement made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 15 February 2021.

    I would like to pay tribute to Dame Fiona Caldicott whose death has been announced by her family. Dame Fiona spent her entire career serving the NHS and medicine, working as a clinician in the early part of her career and latterly as the National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care.

    In this role she was a phenomenal advocate for the public and was instrumental in making sure that the NHS treats the public’s health data with the respect it deserves. The fact that every NHS organisation in the country now has its own Caldicott Guardian to protect the confidentiality of people’s data is testament to all that Dame Fiona achieved.

    I send my deepest condolences to Dame Fiona’s family, friends and colleagues.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement on Covid-19

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement on Covid-19

    The statement made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 15 February 2021.

    Today the national vaccination programme continues to power past the target we set six weeks ago with more than 15 million people vaccinated across the UK.

    And once again I pay tribute to the astonishing efforts of everyone involved – the GPs, the nurses, the volunteers, the army and the pharmacists like Hardik Desai – who rallied local volunteers to vaccinate 3,000 people in his village hall in Ticehurst in Sussex, while keeping his pharmacy open – and of course I thank all of you who have come forward to be vaccinated.

    This is an unprecedented national achievement but it’s no moment to relax and in fact it’s the moment to accelerate because the threat from this virus remains very real.

    Yes, it’s true, we have vaccinated more than 90 per cent of those aged over 70 but don’t forget that 60 per cent of hospital patients with Covid are under 70.

    And although the vaccination programme is going well, we still don’t have enough data about the exact effectiveness of the vaccines in reducing the spread of infection.

    We have some interesting straws in the wind. We have grounds for confidence. But the vaccinations have only been running for a matter of weeks – and while we are learning the whole time – we don’t today have all the hard facts that we need.

    And the level of infection remains very high, with more people still in hospital today than at the peak last April and admissions running at 1,600 a day.

    So we have to keep our foot to the floor. And I can tell you today that the next million letters are landing on people’s mats right now, offering appointments to the over-65s and we are also contacting all those aged between 16 and 64 with underlying health conditions, as well as adult carers.

    And if we can keep this pace up – and if we can keep supply steady – and I hope and believe we can – then we hope to offer a vaccination to everyone in the first nine priority groups – including everyone over 50 – by the end of April.

    And at the same time we will be giving second doses to millions of the most vulnerable within twelve weeks of the first.

    So this moment is a huge step forward but it’s only a first step.

    And while it shows what the country can do we must be both optimistic but also patient.

    And next week I will be setting out a roadmap saying as much as we possibly can about the route to normality even though some things are very uncertain.

    Because we want this lockdown to be the last. And we want progress to be cautious but also irreversible.

    So please continue to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

    Thank you.

  • Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Half-Term Food Support

    Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Half-Term Food Support

    The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, on 15 February 2021.

    A decade of Conservative Government had eroded families’ safety nets with poverty rates rising even before the pandemic.

    The last year has shone a light on the impacts of poverty on health, wellbeing and learning. As we rebuild after this pandemic, we must deliver a transformation in support for families, starting with cancelling the planned cut to Universal Credit and guaranteeing provision of free school meals across all school holidays this year.

  • Jim McMahon – 2021 Comments on Pothole Repair Funds

    Jim McMahon – 2021 Comments on Pothole Repair Funds

    The comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, on 15 February 2021.

    The reality is there is an £11bn pothole backlog across the country which will take more than a decade to fix.

    Rehashed announcements from last year won’t repair our roads. The Government needs to recognise the scale of the problem and fund local services properly, not force councils into economically illiterate tax hikes.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Dominic Cummings, Michael Gove and Public First

    Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Dominic Cummings, Michael Gove and Public First

    The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 15 February 2021.

    Today’s findings are troubling and unsurprising, and a perfect example of how this government believes it is one rule for them another for the rest of us.

    It is appalling that the government not only dismissed these very credible claims of connections influencing this contract as ‘nonsense’ – but also that it took a judicial review to bring to light what should be publicly available information on how taxpayer money is being spent.

    This government’s contracting has been plagued by cronyism and waste and they must take urgent steps to address this now – by urgently winding down emergency procurement, releasing details of the VIP fast lane, and publishing all outstanding contracts by the end of the month. This cronyism must stop.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Letter to Priti Patel on Hotel Quarantine

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Letter to Priti Patel on Hotel Quarantine

    The letter sent by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 15 February 2021.

    Dear Priti,

    I write to raise serious concerns about the implementation of the hotel quarantine system.

    It is already clear that the system appears to have serious implementation problems that risk the health of travellers, workers and the wider public. I also reiterate the Labour Party’s concerns that the failure to move to a comprehensive hotel quarantine system is leaving the doors open to emerging strains of the virus.

    You will be aware that consistent concerns regarding the implementation of the limited measures being introduced have been raised by scientists, trade unions, airports and hotel groups.

    As a result, there are a number of key questions I would be grateful if you could answer urgently:

    – Can you outline what procedures to ensure that the strictest possible social distancing measures are in place at all airports? Furthermore, has it been established that additional measures are in place for those entering the UK from ‘red list’ countries?

    – Trade unions and others have warned about the prospect of long lines of passengers waiting at the UK Border. What measures have been taken to ensure that travellers from ‘red list’ countries are isolated from other travellers and Border Force staff are kept safe?

    – A Heathrow Airport spokesperson has been quoted as saying: “Some significant gaps remain and we are yet to receive the necessary reassurances. Ministers must ensure there is adequate resource and appropriate protocols in place for each step of the full end-to-end process from aircraft to hotel to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and those working at the airport.” Can you confirm that these gaps have all been identified and closed?

    – What lessons have been learned from outbreaks emanating from hotel quarantine, for instance in Australia and how have they been fully mitigated against?

    – Can you confirm that all of the hotel accommodation provided does everything possible to stop the spread of infections from quarantined travellers to hotel staff and fellow guests.

    – It has been announced that 4,600 hotel rooms have been secured, and a further 58,000 rooms are on “standby”. Are the rooms on “standby” secured and, if required, how quickly can they be used for hotel quarantining?

    We are now over a year in to this pandemic and other countries have had comprehensive quarantine policies in place for the vast majority of that time.

    As a result, there are no excuses for the Government failing to have in place adequate planning for the UK’s hotels quarantine system. Instead, yet again, the steps taken are too little, too late.

    I reiterate once again, that the UK needs a comprehensive hotel quarantine system, to do everything possible to stop strains of the virus reaching the UK and undermining the work of the vaccine. Failure to do so could put lives at risk.

    It is unacceptable that even these limited quarantine measures appear to have so many flaws, which could put at risk the health of travellers, staff and the wider public.

    The country will struggle to believe why the UK Government has failed to act decisively and competently on hotel quarantine. When people have been making such extraordinary sacrifices and taking hope from the vaccine rollout, it is unacceptable that the doors could be left open through such haphazard and inadequate protections at the border. The fatal flaws in the government’s half-baked hotel quarantine policy show why only a comprehensive system can work.

    Yours sincerely,

    Nick Thomas Symonds MP

    Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Hotel Quarantine

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Hotel Quarantine

    The comments made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, on 15 February 2021.

    The public will not forgive the UK government for getting this wrong.

    Revelations regarding the shortcomings of the current arrangements expose the fatal flaws at the heart of the Government’s half baked, quarantine policy – it is unworkable and bound to be ineffective.

    This creates an unacceptable risk to the health of the British people, undermining the hope and progress being made on the vaccine. The Home Secretary should get a grip of this mess, introduce a comprehensive hotel quarantine system urgently and play her part in securing the health of the country.

  • Robert Courts – 2021 Statement on Light Dues

    Robert Courts – 2021 Statement on Light Dues

    The statement made by Robert Courts, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 11 February 2021.

    A strong and growing maritime industry is vital to the economy of the United Kingdom and it is critical that we treasure and protect this vital artery if we are to remain a world-leading maritime centre.

    The work of the General Lighthouse Authorities, which provide and maintain marine aids to navigation and respond to new wrecks and navigation dangers in some of the busiest waters in the world, is crucial to underpinning that vision whilst maintaining our vigorous safety record and continuously improving safety standards.

    Light dues, which are paid by the shipping industry such that the General Lighthouse Authority’s costs are met without the need to call on the UK Exchequer, have reduced by 40% in real terms since 2010.

    The unprecedented covid-19 pandemic has, however, added additional operational costs and resulted in a significant reduction in light dues income reflecting the major impact it has also had on the industry.

    To ensure the General Lighthouse Authorities have the funding they need to complete their vital maritime safety work I have, therefore, made the difficult decision to increase the light dues rate by one penny to 38.5p per net registered tonne for 2021-22.

    Light dues will continue to be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that the General Lighthouse Authorities are challenged to provide an effective and efficient service which offers value for money to light dues payers.