Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to comments yesterday by Dr Laurence Buckman, Chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, said:

“The BMA has called it right: the Government has been engaged in a point-scoring exercise instead of dealing with the crisis in A&E.

“David Cameron and his Health Secretary keep blaming GPs and the 2004 contract for the pressure in A&E despite a clear statement from the NHS Confederation that there is no link between the two. In addition, Jeremy Hunt has received official advice identifying other reasons for the pressure, such as the botched introduction of the 111 service and the severe cuts to social care.

“By picking on a convenient political target, the Health Secretary is failing to face up to the real causes of the chaos. That cannot be allowed to continue as the pressure is not going away and it is his job to find solutions.

“Jeremy Hunt has been found out playing politics with A&E and that is a very dangerous game indeed. He has dug himself into a large hole and, for all our sakes, needs to get out fast.  This crisis is a mess of his own making.

“This situation is now serious. David Cameron must cut the spin and get a grip.”

“This is a truly appalling murder which will shock the entire country.

“All of my thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim.

“The Labour Party will offer the Government our complete support in establishing the facts of what happened and ensuring that those responsible face the full force of British justice.”

Harriet Harman MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s ‘re-launches’ yesterday, said:

“While millions are struggling under this Government, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are focussed on themselves and their parties – concerned with remaining in power rather than delivering for the country. That’s why the Queen’s Speech was so lacking in ideas, and why this weak Prime Minister finds himself engaged in a desperate running struggle to placate his divided backbenchers over Europe.

“This is a Tory-led Government that is breaking its promises and failing badly. With the slowest recovery in a hundred years, millions of families feeling squeezed while millionaires get a tax cut and with a crisis in Accident and Emergency departments. Yet the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have no answers and no new ideas – just the same failed plan.

“Britain needs a One Nation Labour Government focussed on delivering for the whole country. All David Cameron and Nick Clegg offer is weakness, unfairness, failure and more of the same.”

The “causes of crime” research, which is based on statistics from police and the local council, found that the availability of alcohol is the most important factor after deprivation. The academics calculated crime rates for areas of the city that contained about 500 homes. An increase in the number of alcohol outlets from three to six was linked to an almost-doubling of the crime rate. They also discovered that an increase in poverty from 20 to 40 per cent of households resulted in a 50 per cent increase in the crime rate.

This study provides the science to what we had suspected for a long time. We should not be allowing too many alcohol outlets to open. The body of evidence suggests we should make it a lot easier to restrict the number of off licences. We need policing and we need to encourage people to get out of the cycle of drinking too much alcohol, but we need tighter legislation that allows for the restriction of alcohol outlets.

Boston Labour Councillors will be calling upon Boston Borough Council, Lincolnshire Police and the new Police and Crime Commissioner to ask the government within their alcohol strategy to give local licensing committees the opportunity to make their own local determination of the number of off licences within a street or local area. We can see from the evidence of the research carried out in Scotland that this makes a real difference to the quality of life within our town which would be further enhanced by a drinking ban in our town centre.

Jamie Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, responding to Jeremy Hunt’s admission yesterday that more A&E staff are needed, said:

“This is a shocking admission from Jeremy Hunt – his Government has presided over the loss of 4,500 nurses since the election, and now he says that more A&E staff are needed. With A&Es in crisis and the NHS in chaos following the Tories’ £3 billion NHS reorganisation, it’s time Ministers accepted responsibility and got a grip.  The NHS is just not safe in David Cameron’s hands.”

Dog Warden Service

Thanet District Council operates a Dog Warden Service which is available between:

• 7am and 7pm, Monday to Friday

The majority of a Dog Warden’s duties fall into four areas:

• Stray Dogs and Lost Dogs

• Noisy Dogs

• Dangerous Dogs

• bans and Byelaws

The people of Boston get no dog warden service. Lots of people told us whilst we were out canvassing during the recent elections that dog mess is a real problem in our streets and parks and play areas. So when are our Tory councillors going to wake up and listen to the people of Boston.

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party,

“People will be shocked by the evidence that Google is going to extraordinary lengths to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

“It comes on top of other firms apparently engaging in similar practices.

“It is evidence of a culture of corporate irresponsibility among certain firms which is totally unacceptable.

“And of course we have now seen allegations about petrol fixing as well.

“It comes at a time when ordinary families are seeing services cut, their taxes rising and so many businesses are struggling to make ends meet and are actually doing the right thing and paying their fair share of taxes.

“As so often under this Government, I think it is evidence of one rule for those at the top and another rule for everyone else.

“David Cameron says we have to just wait for international action. He is wrong.”

Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary,

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The allegations that have been made about these three oil companies – BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil, as well as the price reporting agency Platts, are extremely concerning.

They suggest that these companies have both colluded in reporting distorted prices, and prevented others from participating in the price assessment process, with a view to distorting the published price.

If true, they suggest shocking behaviour in the oil market that should be dealt with strongly.

So I’d like to ask the Minister three questions.

First, the Minister will know that the OFT inquiry concluded at the end of January that the UK fuel market was operating fairly and that a competition commission inquiry was not needed.

Given the amendment that has been tabled for debate later on today, it will not be lost on hon. Members that it is the European Commission, not any British authority, that is investigating.

In light of the allegations that have been made today, can the Minister tell us whether any British authorities have plans to revisit their own investigations?

If the EU investigation does uncover any wrongdoing, it will raise serious questions about the effectiveness of our own authorities.

Second, last year, we tabled amendments in Parliament calling for commodities like oil and gas to be part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory net, but Ministers refused to act.

We argued that the regulatory perimeter needed to be explicitly set out in the Financial Services Act last year – and that it was insufficient to just add in references to LIBOR.

Does the Minister now accept that the OFT and the FCA should be explicitly equipped to tackle attempts at rigging commodities trading, whether spot trading, forward contracts, futures contracts, hedging or benchmark pricing indices?

Third, when the allegations of price fixing in the gas market were made last year, we warned that opaque over-the-counter deals and relying on price reporting agencies left the market vulnerable to abuse.

These latest allegations of price fixing in the oil market raise very similar questions.

I tabled a parliamentary question in February asking for an update on those investigations, but the Government was unable to provide any more information.

Can the Minister give us any assurance today that progress is being made, and that we will not need another EU investigation to get to the bottom of what has happened in the gas market?

LIBOR was a massive scandal.

But global commodities markets include a vast range of products – grains, fibre and other food, precious metals, energy – affecting every household.

Consumers need to know that the prices they pay for their energy or petrol are fair, transparent and not being manipulated by traders.

And I hope in his reply the Secretary of State will assure the House that no stone will be left unturned to get to establish the truth behind these allegations.

If Boston’s Labour councillors had been in charge of this policy we would have introduced some radical thinking to our housing strategy.

1. We would have given tenants who are in low waged full time employment a higher priority on our list, which would recognise and reward them for trying their best to turn their lives around.

2.  We would have given higher priority to people born or educated in the local area.

3. We would have given priority to foster carers to recognise their extra commitment to society.

4. We would have given priority to ex armed service personnel who have sustained a serious injury/medical condition or disability during service.

5. We would have assisted with allocation of suitable housing for disabled people including younger people under 50.

Sadly we were told by the Cabinet that they do not intend to adopt good practice from other local authorities across the country. We all know that housing is a key issue to our town. Boston’s Labour councillors recognise that a robust allocations policy using the Localism Bill, building more affordable social housing and licencing of all HMOs is the way forward. Thousands of tenants in Boston from housing associations have already commented on wanting to have greater choice, based on employment, local connections, disability, and they have rejected five year fixed term tenancies during consultation with the housing providers.

Even more disappointing is that Boston Borough Council and our Conservative councillors have not spoken to one single tenant or resident about their proposals and tried to blame their decision on the previous equality rules which have now been superceded by the Localism Bill.

Furthermore Boston’s Labour councillors have suggested that people who live in social housing as children should be at the top of waiting lists. We don’t think it fair that a child can be born in a council house, live in it for 18 years and then lose out in allocation to an Eastern European family who have been in the country for a few months. How is that social justice?  Let us have clear social justice priorities.

We are pleased that Labour leader Ed Miliband recently set out an ‘alternative Queen’s speech’ outlining what the opposition would do if it was in power. The alternative speech included a housing bill to create a national register of private landlords, end unfair letting agents’ fees and bring in longer-term private tenancies.

Social care in England is close to collapse and Ministers are “fiddling while Rome burns”, Commons will be told later today.

Severe Government cuts to local authority budgets which fund social care have left the most vulnerable people in society paying spiralling charges for their own care, a Labour survey reveals today.

A survey of 64 council social care departments shows the care charges older and disabled people will pay this year. It reveals:

- People needing home care or home help services will face bills on average £655 higher (10.6%) this year compared to the last year of the Labour Government.

- ‘Dial-a-ride’ transport services have doubled in price – from an average of £1.92 to £4.12 – over the same period.

- ‘Meals on wheels’ cost an extra £235 per year.

- A postcode lottery in the price of home care, meals and transport services. An hour of home help costs £20 in Brighton and Hove, whilst Tower Hamlets in London offers it for free; several councils provide free transport services, whilst Warwickshire charge as much as £12 per ride; and Richmond charges £5.99 per meal compared to £2.30 in Warrington.

- People in Conservative areas pay more for each service on average than friends and family in Labour-controlled areas – on average £15 per week, or £780 per year, more for home care; an extra £2.10 per journey and an extra £160 a year on meals.

The news comes as the Commons prepares to debate Government plans for social care later today. Labour will argue that a new £72,000 cap on care costs – £144,000 per couple – offers scant comfort to people hit by higher charges now. By failing to face up to the collapse of council care services, Ministers are “fiddling while Rome burns”.

The Government has cut billions from local authority budgets, leaving councils with little option but to reduce funding for social care and increase user charges.

Last week, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) revealed that Government cuts to councils will mean a further £800m taken from care budgets in the next year – totalling £2.68 billion so far under the Coalition.

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“Promises of a far-off cap on care bills will provide scant comfort to families facing higher care charges now.

“By cutting councils to the bone, David Cameron is forcing spiralling ‘dementia taxes’ on the most vulnerable people in society.

“The Government says it is acting to help people with care costs. But the reality behind the spin is that, under the Tory-led Government, people’s savings are being washed away more quickly than ever before.

“Ministers are promising to give a little in the future with one hand, while grabbing a fortune out of people’s bank accounts now. To many families, it will feel like a cruel con-trick.

“These essential services are a lifeline for people and crucial to help them stay in their own homes. If people can’t pay the extra charges, they are more likely to end up in hospital which is bad for them and costs the NHS more.

“The Government’s severe cuts to council budgets, with social care pared down to the bone, are a false economy. Hospitals are now under intense pressure and that is a direct result of the collapse in social care provision.

“Ministers are in denial about the crisis in social care and fiddling while Rome burns. Without urgent action to help councils, under this Tory-led Government vulnerable people will be paying higher ‘dementia taxes’ year on year.”