Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEngagementsWith the greatest respect to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, who has stood up and said that I will brag about NHS Test and Trace and its achievement of a target of capacity…04 Nov 2020HANSARDEngagementsI am grateful to my right hon. Friend. That is indeed disappointing, because over 2,500 laptops and tablets and 400 routers were delivered to Leeds City Council for disadvantaged…04 Nov 2020HANSARDEngagementsThe only comment I would make on all that is that I was genuinely amazed that the leader of the Unite union should make a remark of the kind that he did, and that the Labour party…04 Nov 2020HANSARDPublic HealthI beg to move, That the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 (S.I., 2020, No. 1200), dated 3 November 2020, a copy of which was laid…04 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateWe are not bringing back shielding, as I mentioned earlier, although we do think that the elderly need to take special steps to protect themselves. Actually, the Swedish example…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes. I thank my hon. Friend, and I am very glad that Oakberry Trees is able to remain open. I am told that it provided No. 10 with a free Christmas tree five years ago; that is…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateAgain, I must apologise to my hon. Friend for not being able to offer the House a huge list of exemptions to the rules that we are setting out, because once you unpick one thing,…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateAs the chief medical officer said I think on Saturday night, there is “no right time” to close businesses, or to close pubs and restaurants. We do not—no Government—want to do…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateJust to repeat the point that I think I made to the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), the R is above 1, but it is not much above 1—it is not…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Member makes an excellent point. It is precisely to protect cancer services and to ensure that non-covid patients get access to the treatment they need that we have to…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThat is certainly the intention, and that is why we are massively ramping up the tests in the way that my hon. Friend describes.02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThat is the policy very accurately summed up, but for better elucidation and understanding of it, I urge people to get on to the website to see exactly what they need to do.02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am grateful to my hon. Friend, but I said in my statement earlier that Remembrance Sunday services can go ahead, provided they are socially distanced and outside. I think he is…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThese measures are time-limited—they elapse on 2 December—but I repeat that the objective is to get the infection rate to stop doubling and to start halving. To do that, we need…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, indeed. My hon. Friend will have seen that there are specific exemptions for volunteers and people who are helping—for therapists and others. We continue to put many millions…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateAs I have said several times today, Scotland has, at the moment, a slightly different approach. It retains a tiered approach, but furlough remains a UK scheme and available across…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateIn all intellectual humility, we will look at all the suggestions made by right hon. and hon. Members across the House. We will look at any exceptions that we can sensibly make,…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and we are making sure that people across the whole of the UK get the support that they need. I think that things have been tough in Northern…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that point. I am not sure that I want to put the Government’s chief economic adviser through the experience of the press briefings, but…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe hon. Member is completely correct in what she says about the recovery; it will be on the backs of small and medium-sized businesses up and down the land. As she knows, that is…02 Nov 2020