You can’t trust the Tories’ promises on social care - Barbara Keeley

Barbara Keeley, Labour’s Shadow Mental Health Minister, responding to the Tories’ social care announcement ahead of their manifesto, said:

“You can’t trust the Tories’ promises on social care. In their last manifesto they promised a cap on care costs. But they broke their promise, letting older and vulnerable people down.

“It’s the Tories who have pushed social care into crisis; their cuts to councils have meant £4.6bn axed from social care budgets between 2010-2015, leaving 1.2 million people struggling to get by without care. And NHS bosses have recently said that the money the Tories promised them won’t help alleviate the problems, with bosses warning the system won’t see anything like the level of resource required.

“We need real action to fix the system, not reheated broken promises with little detail about how they’ll be delivered.

“While the Tories offer more of the same failure and broken promises, Labour has pledged action. We’ll increase social care budgets by £8bn over the lifetime of the Parliament, including an additional £1bn for the first year. We will set up a National Care Service to provide the care that people deserve.”

Tory Manifesto offers a blank cheque for Britain - John McDonnell

Now the Tories have published their manifesto in full we can see how a party that has added £700 billion to the national debt since 2010 really approaches the public finances.

Today they have produced an 84 page document in which they made 60 spending commitments but provide costings for only one, just a day after Philip Hammond revealed he had no idea how much High Speed 2 will cost.

This contrasts with Labour’s fully-costed manifesto, published on Tuesday that identified funding covering all spending commitments.

Commenting, John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said:

“The Tories’ numbers don’t add up. They have published an 84 page blank cheque that provides a tax giveaway guarantee for big business, while offering a roll of the dice for working families with no commitments to rule out rises in income tax and National Insurance.

“Now we can see why Theresa May is running scared of debating Jeremy Corbyn, when she publishes a document like this that contains more questions than answers. It also further shows how her party has managed to add £700 billion to the national debt since 2010, as they won’t be straight with the British people on how much their plans for a wealthy few truly cost.

“One of the few revenue raisers they identified was withdrawing free school meals from children and withdrawing support for pensioners struggling to heat their homes – this just sums up the Tory approach.

“This is the equivalent of the Prime Minister going to the shops with the nation’s cheque book and not checking the price of the goods as she puts them in the trolley.

“All we know if the Tories are returned next month is that if you’re a pensioner you face the penalty of losing your winter fuel payments, control of your home, and the value of your pension.

“Today has revealed that only the Labour Party at this election will stand up for pensioners, and the 95 percent of taxpayers to build an economy for the many not the few.”

Labour to end NHS car park charges

The next Labour government will make parking at NHS England hospitals free for patients, visitors and NHS staff. Labour created the NHS to be free at the point of use, so the next Labour government will eradicate the hidden charges of car parking fees.

Labour will increase the rate of Insurance Premium Tax to 20% for private healthcare insurance products to fund the policy, replacing the £162 million England’s underfunded hospitals currently raise from car parking charges by scrapping the subsidy for people that can afford it, rather than charging people who can’t.

Last month, a Freedom of Information request by Unison revealed some hospitals are charging staff, including nurses struggling with low wages, nearly £100 a month to park, resulting in reports of nurses having to rush out in between appointments to move their cars and avoid fines.

All of Labour’s new spending commitments are fully costed and transparent. This policy will be paid for by a new charge on private healthcare insurance.

Announcing the policy, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said: 

“Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff. Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

“Our hospitals are struggling from under-funding at the hands of Theresa May’s Conservative government, but the gap should not be filled by charging sick patients, anxious relatives and already hard-pressed NHS staff for an essential service.

“Our NHS needs a Labour government that will stand up for the many, not the few.”

Desperate Tories re-announce energy bill plan with no proper detail or commitment to help working people - Long-Bailey

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in response to the Conservatives’ announcement on an energy price cap, said:

“This is desperate stuff from the Tories, re-announcing something they tried to get a headline for just a fortnight ago. But just as when they announced it last time, there’s still no proper detail nor any real commitment to helping working people.

“When the Tories say they’ll ‘cap’ bills, the question they need to answer is whether they can guarantee bills won’t go up for people next year – that’s the real test. A cap suggests a maximum amount that can be charged, not a promise that bills won’t go up year on year.

“The reality is that the Tories aren’t offering anything for working people. Their record is one of failure and broken promises, letting ordinary people down at every turn. Over and over they’ve promised to get bills down but under them households are almost £900 worse off due to increase energy bills since 2010.

"Only Labour can be trusted to deliver a country for the many rather than just the few. All the Tories offer is broken promises and a record which has seen working people worse off.”