Contributions
2,124 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI will not stray near the wilder accusations made by the right hon. Gentleman. What I will say to him is that the data of NHS service users is always protected by this Government.24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI thank my hon. Friend. He is absolutely right. Getting PPE to the frontline, procuring what we needed and getting it delivered was the absolute priority. As I have expressed…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI suspect I can do no better than to quote the judgment, which stated that in respect of regulation 50 the Government “acted unlawfully”, but my hon. Friend is right to highlight…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I believe that officials did do the right thing in prioritising getting the PPE that we needed for our frontline, and he is also right to…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewWe have been clear, and as I highlighted earlier, the NAO has been exceptionally clear, that there are no suggestions of Ministers behaving inappropriately in any way in the…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he has said. As a former Justice Minister, I have huge respect for the legal process and, indeed, for the judgment of the courts, but he…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewOn the hon. Lady’s first point, a number of specific cases relating to specific contracts remain before the courts, so if I may I will address her broader point about pursuing the…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI recognise that all Members of this House and all members of the public in our constituencies want transparency, and quite rightly so, but what is most important to them in the…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question, but in answer I revert back to what the judge, Mr Justice Chamberlain, said in his findings in this case: he found no evidence of…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewTransparency is important. The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and others have rightly made that point, but saving lives is important and, I would argue, in the height of…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI think what my constituents and the British public want to see us all doing is working together to make sure we get through this pandemic and get those on our frontline what they…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewThe hon. Lady will not be surprised to know that I completely and utterly disagree with her. I think my right hon. Friend has done, and continues to do, an extraordinary job under…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. He is absolutely right to highlight what this judgment actually said. It found, in what had to be a binary judgment—either it was…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI am grateful to my hon. Friend, and like him, I pay tribute to all those businesses and individuals who stepped up in this country’s moment of need, and were willing to put…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI agree entirely. Some of the narrative around this reminds me slightly of my days back at school and “Animal Farm”—“Four legs good, two legs bad.” The reality is that both…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewThe hon. Lady and I have known each other for a long time and she made her point forcefully but, as ever, fairly. She raised a number of points. In respect of PPE supplies, as I…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewMy understanding is that this data relates to all contracts by the Department. If I am inaccurate in that, I will of course correct the record for the House, but my understanding…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI could not agree more with my hon. Friend, about both the Government’s commitment to transparency and to publishing contracts within the regulations, and in reminding everyone…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI would rebut any suggestion that there is any corruption taking root, to use the hon. Gentleman’s words. Members of this House have the ability to ask questions and the NAO has…24 Feb 2021HANSARD Covid Contracts: Judicial ReviewI am grateful to my hon. Friend. We did take every step we could to ensure that trusts had the PPE they needed. The NAO report said: “The NHS provider organisations we spoke to…24 Feb 2021