Contributions
1,153 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryMy hon. Friend is right. Cracks in our society were exposed; this did not affect all parts of society equally. We have to learn from that and respond to it. The very concept of…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThis is just module 1; there are other modules to be published, and I will update the House in some form when the Government respond to those. Of course, on top of that there are…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThe most fundamental thing, apart from specific recommendations or specific changes, is the underlying strength of the country and its services. That is true nowhere more than in…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryMy hon. Friend is absolutely right: many of these efforts showed the best of us and how much people were prepared to look out for one another. I was really touched by the efforts…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryLet me say to the hon. Gentleman that I believe the production and distribution of the vaccines was one of the things that went well and which this country contributed to, and…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThis is something the inquiry intends to look at in the future, but let us state the obvious: parents of young children in a flat with no outside space had a very different…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI said that co-operation was good on this issue. Of course, we live in a world where that might not always be the case on everything. However, I do think that, when it comes to…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThe shadow Minister, in his response, also asked about the general question of inquiries. I believe there is a legitimate question to be asked about whether there can be a quicker…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI hope my hon. Friend does not think I am sanguine; I am not sanguine at all. Anyone who reads the national risk register should not be sanguine because, as I said in my…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI thank the hon. Gentleman for his service to the public during the pandemic, and anybody who worked or volunteered in the NHS or in other ways for what they did. Of course, MPs…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI thank my hon. Friend for her question. I specifically mentioned local resilience forums in my opening statement for good reason. As I said a moment ago, I think it is really…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryMy hon. Friend is right to underline the need to thank the key workers, many of whom were low paid and many of whom did come from ethnic minority backgrounds. They kept the…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryOne of the risks that we face is posed by mosquito-borne diseases—viruses of various kinds. The UK Health Security Agency monitors such diseases so that we have the most…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThat will all be tested in the exercise we have planned. Past planning exercises have sometimes planned for the wrong thing—that is the danger. That is why I say all the time that…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryThe hon. Gentleman is right about the need for robust research. I do not analyse the research projects one by one, but I thank him for his service, and underline what I have said…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI thank the hon. Member for his two questions. I have said what I said on the speed of the state’s admission when things go wrong. We do need to think about that and look at it.…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryAs I said a while ago, data has been described as the new oil, and there are good reasons for using it. The Government and the state have a duty to try to use data to secure the…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryLet me echo my hon. Friend’s praise for Professor Solomon and the work that he and the Pandemic Institute are doing. He is right to underline the value of research, as is my hon.…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Covid-19 InquiryI thank my hon. Friend for her question. There is always a risk of planning for the wrong thing, which is a risk I am very aware of as we try to do this forward-looking exercise.…16 Jan 2025HANSARD Plan for Change: Milestones for Mission-led GovernmentI welcome the questions from the Liberal Democrat spokesperson. She is right to point out the Conservatives’ record, but I gently say that she too seems to support extra spending…05 Dec 2024