Reporter: “Is there anything that Labour thinks SHOULD be in these measures that isn’t there? Is there a notable absence in your view?”
Keir Starmer: “Not an absence (!) I think the most important thing is the messaging about stay at home and going back to the spirit of March because a lot is going to depend on the willingness of people to comply, and I urge everyone to comply with the package the Prime Minister has just outlined.”
What he should have said: “Yes! There are lots of things missing from the Prime Minister’s package that are essential to lockdown working this time. When Parliament is finally recalled on Wednesday, Labour will demand:
• That borders are closed until a thorough testing system can be put in place at all airports.
• That all those arriving in the UK must have tested negative for Covid within three days before flying.
• That airport hotels be turned into quarantine hotels for those who do test positive on arrival. • Stop UK citizens traveling overseas for holidays in pandemic – essential travel only.
• The reintroduction of the furlough scheme to protect workers
• Ensure people can afford to isolate by bringing in financial support measures to prevent people needing to go out and risk infection by picking up work
• INCREASE STATUTORY SICK PAY because no one can pay rent, bills and support a family on £95 a week.
• Scrap Serco track and trace – claw back as much of the money wasted on it as possible, and hand the job over to local authorities and PHE. Investigate service failure, stop giving them lucrative government contracts. We NEED an effective system to get to grips with this, as other countries have
• Ban evictions again and arrange rent relief for tenants who are struggling
• Business support package for SME’s and ALL self employed workers (including the 3 million previously excluded)
• An online mental health support initiative (like a national Woebot) to support those with lockdown fatigue, loneliness and depression
• A comprehensive remote learning package, including broadband connection for all school-age children, and hardware so they can ALL do their school work and take part in online lessons
• Give clear guidance to university students on next steps, and subsidise degree funding for last and this year, so students are not falling into debt paying for an experience that they are not getting. Come to a fair arrangement with students and landlords over student rent for this period.
• Widely distribute at-home testing kits
• Distribute and administer the vaccines as the vaccine developers advise, rather than how Tony Blair recommends.”
(FYI, all of the above SHOULD have been put in place by our inept government last year. Labour should not stop demanding this stuff. One party has to represent the public) Anything that Labour SHOULD be calling for that we missed?
The Daily Politik
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