Contributions
4,303 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEngagementsI have supported the Government in the gradual easing of restrictions. That is why I wrote to the Prime Minister two weeks ago, because I could see the problem with schools and I…03 Jun 2020HANSARDEngagementsMay I start by expressing shock and anger at the death of George Floyd? This has shone a light on racism and hatred experienced by many in the US and beyond. I am surprised the…03 Jun 2020HANSARDEngagementsThe Prime Minister asks for a sign of co-operation—a fair challenge. I wrote to him, as he knows, in confidence two weeks ago, to ask if I could help build a consensus for getting…03 Jun 2020HANSARDEngagementsThe Prime Minister challenges me on the offer I made to him. This was a confidential letter. I think the best thing I can do is put it in the public domain, and the public can…03 Jun 2020HANSARDEngagementsTo assure the Prime Minister, I am not expressing my own view; I am putting to him the evidence of experts to Committees yesterday. Testing was referred to by the Prime Minister.…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsAgain, the question was when would routine testing start, and the chief executive of Care England, who knows what he is talking about, gave evidence yesterday that it has not. […20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI think the Prime Minister rather missed the point. The question was whether people were tested going back into care homes. The chief executive of Care England says that because…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI am very happy to work with the Prime Minister on that. He knows that from our previous exchanges. Every Thursday, we go out and clap for our carers. Many of them are risking…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsThirty-four thousand deaths is negative. Of course I am going to ask about that, and quite right too. The Prime Minister says “feigned ignorance”, but he knows that for 10 weeks…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI am disappointed, because the Prime Minister knows how raw this is. The fee in question, the immigration health surcharge, is currently £400 a year. From October, that goes up to…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsLast Friday, the Health Secretary said: “Right from the start we’ve tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes.” That caused quite a reaction. Yesterday, it was flatly…20 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI am grateful to the Prime Minister for indicating that he will look into that particular case. It is, I think, one of very many. The Prime Minister is asking the country to…13 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI want to probe a little further the figures that the Prime Minister has given us. The Office for National Statistics records the average number of deaths in care homes each…13 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsThe Prime Minister says that solving the problem in care homes is crucial, but that can happen only if the numbers are understood, so I was disappointed that he does not have an…13 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsWell, I am baffled. It is not me seeking to draw the comparisons; these are the Government’s slides, which have been used for seven weeks to reassure the public. The problem with…13 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI am surprised that the Prime Minister queries the advice of his own Government up until 12 March. I do, of course, welcome any fall in the recorded numbers, and he is right to…13 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsI join the Prime Minister in thanking our nurses and all those on the frontline, and send my condolences to all the families of those who have died of coronavirus, including Belly…13 May 2020HANSARDCovid-19: StrategyI thank the Prime Minister for the advance copy of his statement, and for the advance copy of the Command Paper that his office sent through an hour or so ago. I also thank him…11 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsThe argument that international comparisons cannot be made, when the Government have for weeks been using slides such as the one I am holding to make international comparisons,…06 May 2020HANSARDEngagementsMay I welcome the Prime Minister back to his place and say that it is good to see him back in Parliament? I am sure I speak for all of us when I say that, and although I have done…06 May 2020