Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateAbsolutely. I know I can rely on the incredible ingenuity of every sector in the UK, including the arts, retail and hospitality sectors, to use technology now to bank the changes…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI hope that businesses will recognise that now is the moment to get going and to get their valued staff back working again, doing what they want to do and love doing. I have no…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI thank the hon. Lady, and she is absolutely right to raise the point that she does. She will have heard that we want enhanced, greater, more immediate and more efficient testing…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI think I know Roger Koppl and I would be very interested to hear what he has to say, but I must say I think that the guidance from our scientists has been incredibly valuable. It…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThe hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point, and I am sure that that kind of point will be echoed in multiple ways around the country today, as people look at apparent…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am delighted to see him looking so well, having made such a great recovery. At the moment, one of the difficulties the country faces is that…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI understand why the hon. Gentleman makes that point, but he is wrong. By contrast, I welcome the more constructive approach from the Labour Front Bench.23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateFirst, may I apologise to the right hon. Gentleman for last week mistakenly believing him to be someone who wanted to break up our United Kingdom? I unreservedly withdraw that…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI say to my right hon. Friend—I should have said this to the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts)—that we are in very regular contact with all the…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThe right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and I am aware of those risks. We are working with Mark Drakeford and the Welsh Government on those problems. As he knows, we are…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThe hon. Lady has heard what I have had to say. We will do everything we can to get all such venues—aquariums and seaquariums—open as fast as we can and make them covid compliant.…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has his finger on the pulse. I was earlier informed that the First Minister of Scotland was about to make a statement uncannily similar to the…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI will be calling on local representatives such as the hon. Gentleman to show some guts and determination, and to champion their communities as venues for people to return to and…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateYes, it does mean that, but we are also committed, as my hon. Friend knows, to getting all our schools back in September. I do believe it that will be possible, if we stick to the…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateYes, indeed—although, as my hon. Friend already knows, we are doing a massive amount to support businesses of all kinds, particularly by getting rid of business rates for the…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI make no comment on the blessed amnesia that has descended on the First Minister of Wales, except to say that, actually, when we look at the facts and what the UK is doing…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateOh, I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. I am personally coping fine, thank you— [Interruption.] Well, thank you. What we are doing, as she will have heard in my statement, is…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateHaving performed briefly at Glastonbury myself many years ago—not to much acclaim, I may say—I am a keen admirer of that wonderful festival and of the whole sector that my hon.…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateBetween now and 1 September, when all pupils and students of schools and colleges will return, we will work with the sector to ensure that we have a clear understanding of how to…23 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateYes, indeed. We will make sure that the valuable sector of pleasure cruises and charters is helped to become covid compliant as fast as possible.23 Jun 2020