Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLiving with Covid-19As the right hon. Gentleman knows, statutory sick pay is only a part of what many employees already receive as part of their sick pay.21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19Well, you would not believe it from what the right hon. Gentleman has just said, but the co-operation between the UK Government and the Scottish authorities has been outstanding…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19I really thought that this would be the moment when the Leader of the Opposition ended his run of making the wrong call on every single one of the big decisions. Time and again,…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19I know that my right hon. Friend speaks for millions of people around the country. I can tell her that many, many restrictions have already been lifted, and they will continue to…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19I thank the hon. Member very much. As she knows, cases are falling, hospitalisations are falling, and the number of excess deaths from omicron is actually in negative territory.…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19You bet!21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19As I said earlier, the rate of infections is falling and so are hospitalisations.21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19Yes. The most important thing is that if we had taken those steps and remained in lockdown, we would not have the financial wherewithal—the firepower, the money—to pay for all the…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19I know that my right hon. Friend is a staunch Thatcherite; he will recall that it was Margaret Thatcher who promulgated the public health Act in 1984, and it has served this…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19The hon. Gentleman is raising a very important but very difficult issue. In answer to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), I mentioned the importance of…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19Beautifully put.21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19The hon. Member says it is a “reckless” plan; that is exactly the word that the right hon. and learned Leader of the Opposition used to describe the 19 July openings. I wonder…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19I hear the anxieties of people, but I have to say that I think this is the balanced and the right decision. On testing, I just remind the hon. Lady of what those on the Opposition…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19No. This is a plan that addresses every single one of those priorities: sick pay, schools, the vulnerable—this plan deals with all of them. It is the right way forward and,…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the immunosuppressed and those who are particularly vulnerable. They will continue to have access to free testing, plus the…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and that is why we are ensuring that schools are as covid-secure as possible. We are sending out 350,000 CO 2 monitors and 9,000 air…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19Yes, actually, I am. I am genuinely surprised by the approach that the Opposition have taken today; I think that it is wrong. My hon. Friend is making an important point about the…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19indicated dissent.21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19First of all, we are not dropping the testing until the beginning of April, as the hon. Gentleman knows. It is thanks only to the massive financial firepower of the UK that we…21 Feb 2022HANSARDLiving with Covid-19On that, the hon. Member should wait, as I said to the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey). On the clinically extremely vulnerable, I think it is very important…21 Feb 2022