Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI can give my right hon. Friend a categorical assurance that masks in schools will last not a day longer than we need them.05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThe plan is the one that we have in place. It is to get on with plan B. As my hon. Friend knows, there will be a review of it—indeed, the plan B measures expire on 26 January. By…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWhat we are doing is supporting hospitals in Greater Manchester and up and down the country with record investment and, as I said in an earlier answer, by making sure that we…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateIt is very important that everybody should get the ambulance service that they need. That is why we are investing £55 million more and that is why there are 500 more people on the…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI am grateful to my hon. Friend, but what we are doing is ensuring that we support hospitals up and down the country that are facing the pressures he describes, not only with more…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWe are doing everything we can to ensure flexibility in the NHS so that staff can move more easily, by electronic passes and so on, from one place to another. We are also getting…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWe will continue to keep isolation timings under review. We do not want to release people back in to society or to their workplace so soon that they just infect all their…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateMy right hon. Friend makes an important point and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation continues to keep fourth jabs under continuous review.05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateAs I said in an earlier answer, we have made sure that sick pay for those who are isolating kicks in on day one. That is equivalent to a 75% increase, but what we are also…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWe took every possible step to step up our supply of tests. We tripled the supplies, and deliveries went up to 900,000 a day. To listen to Labour Members, Mr Speaker, you would…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWith permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the omicron variant and our measures to contain this virus, fortify our NHS and keep our country open. First, I am sure…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI agree completely with the hon. Lady about GPs: they have been particular heroes of the vaccine rollout. We have 1,300 more GPs this year than last year. We need to do more—that…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThat is right. We will encourage people to do so, but it will not be compulsory.05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI share my hon. Friend’s sentiments entirely. I thank the NHS staff and all our incredible volunteers.05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateThe UK Government have supported Wales, and the UK as a whole, throughout the pandemic to the tune of billions and billions of pounds. We supply the vaccines, we supply the…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI certainly share the frustrations of everyone who has found it difficult to get a test during a time of unbelievable demand. We have taken responsibility by tripling supply and…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateWhat we are doing is supporting the NHS, supporting staff and making sure that we have as much capacity as possible, and absenteeism, although high, is not as high as it has been…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateOf course kits need to be approved —[Interruption.] Perhaps the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) wants kits that are not approved to be on the market. They have to be…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI really do not think that the Opposition Front Benchers, or indeed any of them, have the faintest idea about what is going on. They have six or seven different positions on…05 Jan 2022HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateI understand the point that the hon. Lady makes, and I know that a lot of people will have jumped to the same conclusion as she did about what we could do. We have targeted the…05 Jan 2022