Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am grateful to the people of Luton for everything that they have done, as I am to every area across the country that has worked so hard to get the virus down. It is absolutely…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateThe rationale is very simple: it is to reduce the overall spread of the virus and get the R down below 1. That is the rationale.02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateSchools will indeed remain open. I thank the teachers, parents and pupils of this country. I can confirm to my hon. Friend that these measures will end on 2 December in exactly…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI understand the point that Professor Sikora makes, and I also understand the concerns of everybody who has cancer or who has a family member who suffers from cancer or any other…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI am so sorry about the case that the hon. Lady describes. I have met, as I am sure Members across the House have, bereaved family members of those who have lost their lives in…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I can certainly reassure him that this measure is time-limited and will expire on 2 December. As for the legal basis, the Civil…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI congratulate my hon. Friend on the clarity with which he puts the dilemma. Even in areas where the incidence has been very low, it is now climbing very fast.02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI thank people who are working pro bono on NHS Test and Trace, who come under repeated attack, or on our vaccine taskforce. It is thanks to their hard work that the UK is among…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateWe continue to work with the devolved Administrations and will do so throughout this pandemic.02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateWith great regret, I must repeat the answer that I have given to colleagues from all parties this afternoon, which is that we have to put in a full package of measures to get the…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right that we want to do everything we can to enable loved ones to be visited in care homes. It is an exceptionally difficult dilemma, but we…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI understand why the people of Keighley feel frustrated after so long. Their efforts have not been in vain in tier 3—they have helped to get the R down and to depress the…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI really appreciate what mosques around the country have done to make themselves covid secure, and what has been done in Bradford and elsewhere. I know how frustrating it is for…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, and I am conscious that we have Diwali, Hanukkah and many religious celebrations coming up in December. I do want people to have as normal a Christmas as possible, and that…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateOf course, the whole of the country will get funds to protect the NHS, as it has throughout this pandemic. As I have said already this afternoon, there has been £7.2 billion…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateWell, it is a very difficult balance to strike, as my hon. Friend rightly says, but I think that the medical data is, alas, overwhelming. The virus is doubling everywhere,…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateYes, of course, because it is thanks to the efforts of my hon. Friend’s constituents in Stroud that the R is not very far above 1 right now. If we all follow the package of…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI hope very much that people will not have been laid off in anticipation of the end of furlough, because there is the job retention scheme and the bonus as well at the end of the…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateI cannot say often enough that this is a time-limited lockdown and it ends on 2 December unless this House decides to extend measures of one kind or another. Any further measures…02 Nov 2020HANSARD Covid-19 UpdateWe will continue to support all parts of the UK, as we have throughout this crisis.02 Nov 2020