Contributions
2,124 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElective Care Recovery in EnglandI am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State. As he said, 2 million of those on the waiting list have entered that waiting list since the pandemic began. There is undoubtedly a…07 Feb 2022HANSARDElective Care Recovery in EnglandThe covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on healthcare systems everywhere. The NHS has performed incredibly, caring for covid and non-covid patients alike and delivering the…07 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI agree entirely with my hon. Friend. As I said in response to the SNP Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Steven Bonnar), I hope the…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortWith permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will update the House on our purchasing efforts in response to the covid-19 pandemic. A little over two years ago, we and the whole world…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortIt is always a pleasure to appear opposite the shadow Secretary of State. I will not take it as a personal affront that he would prefer it to be the Secretary of State rather than…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI will come to that point in a moment. It is a reflection of that, and now, in accounting terms, a reflection of what its value is today. The hon. Gentleman should also be aware…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortThat is an important point, and I will turn to it in just a second. The hon. Gentleman was also wrong to say that the money was thrown away. He knows that that is not what has…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortMy hon. Friend puts it even better than I could have done. He is absolutely right to emphasise that this is a reflection of our straining every sinew to buy what we needed at the…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortIn general, and certainly after that contribution, I will take no lessons in financial illiteracy from the SNP. The hon. Gentleman regularly, in that contribution, referred to…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI think the hon. Gentleman nodded assent, so we may be in agreement on that point. I put on record my tribute and my gratitude to them for all their hard work to protect the…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI am grateful to my hon. Friend. Far be it from me to suggest that hindsight characterises the approach adopted by Opposition Front Benchers, but he is absolutely right. I…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI am grateful to the hon. Lady; to be fair, we may not always agree, but she always makes thoughtful points and knows this subject well. However, many right hon. and hon. Members…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. I have made it clear throughout that our priority was getting the PPE that we needed to give that protection and to save…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortThe NHS and the Department get their annual budgets and spend them on what is necessary to meet the health and care needs of the nation. On the hon. Gentleman’s specific point, he…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI am grateful to the hon. Lady for asking a sensible and serious question. We have already recovered, through prevention or termination of contracts, £157 million of potential…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI welcome the hon. Lady to her place. I do not think I have had the opportunity to respond to a question or a speech from her previously, so I congratulate her, slightly…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI take the hon. Gentleman’s point about speed and the context in which we were operating. I have to say all contracts were assessed through an eight-stage process undertaken by…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI am grateful to my hon. Friend and join him in paying tribute to the work of his local healthcare system during the pandemic. He makes a couple of points. First, he is absolutely…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortI pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for, as ever, dextrously mentioning his Bill. I think he has done that to me once before when I have been at the Dispatch Box discussing…03 Feb 2022HANSARDCovid-19: Purchasing EffortThat was a dexterous way of weaving together PPE and vaccines, but my hon. Friend is right to pay tribute to the amazing work done by the vaccine taskforce and by officials and…03 Feb 2022