Labour promises 1,000 new Sure Start children's centres
2 min read
Labour has promised to open a thousand new Sure Start children's centres in England.
Leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would invest £1bn in building the new centres, as part of a larger package of childcare support.
The announcement came as the Lib Dems promised to subsidise childcare for working families when the child turns nine-years-old.
Meanwhile the Conservatives insisted they were already "investing record amounts in high-quality childcare".
According to a report by the Sutton Trust, up to 1,000 Sure Start centres are thought to have closed in the past decade, with funding pressures being the main cause.
Mr Corbyn is expected to say he will "reverse the cuts" in the centres, which were originally launched under Tony Blair's New Labour government.
"Parents are struggling to afford the childcare support they need, while many children are going hungry and growing up homeless."
The news comes as Labour shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth hit out at Tory plans for GPs.
The Conservatives have promised to fund the training of 500 more GPs every year in England to increase the number of available appointments – but a previous Tory pledge to recruit an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020 is not close to being met.
Mr Ashworth said: "You can't trust the Tories with our NHS.
"They always make election promises which they fail to deliver on. Tory ministers promised us 5,000 extra GPs but, in fact, we have lost 1,600 under the Tories...
"Labour will invest more in family doctor services and train more GPs to deliver millions of extra appointments."
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