Contributions
2,308 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportAs I said to colleagues earlier, I am happy to meet Members of Parliament across the House, and I am happy to meet the hon. Lady, who brings considerable experience to these…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThe right hon. Gentleman raises an important point. The response to the pandemic is helped if across the UK we take a co-ordinated approach. For example, Scotland’s chief medical…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportMy hon. Friend speaks with great authority when it comes to the business community. I know that he engages extensively with it and understands the issues closely. I am very happy…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThis is one of those sectors that have been hit hard both emotionally and economically. One can see the human distress and the impact of the virus in such cases, at what is a…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportOn the specific point about the theatre, it is a sector championed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Digital Culture, Media and Sport, and I referred earlier to…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportAs I have said in reply to a number of colleagues, we will continue to listen and evaluate the circumstances, including what applies to London. The Chancellor has set out a…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportAs I think colleagues across the House would recognise, I have always been open to meeting MPs from all parties, and I am happy to give an undertaking to the right hon. Gentleman…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportMy hon. Friend is right that the youth investment fund is a very important allocation—£500 million was allocated in September 2019 under the fund. However, he speaks to a more…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportAs I said in an earlier reply, the Chancellor was very clear yesterday that he continues to listen and to strive to be creative in our response. I refer my hon. Friend to the…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportI am happy to give my hon. Friend that assurance about levelling up. It is at the core of the Government’s mission. It is a key priority of the Prime Minister and consequentially…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportI shall resist pursuing the panto theme, although I am not sure too many villains have allocated £1.57 billion to the industry in addition to the other package of support that the…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThe hon. Lady says that there should be a package for the Liverpool city region of £700 million of additional funding. That would equate to over £23 billion if applied evenly on a…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportOne of the difficulties when people talk about extending the furlough is that those supplying particular sectors do not simply supply one sector; they usually supply across…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportWe have provided significant funds to Northern Ireland—an additional £2.2 billion—to cope with the pressures of the pandemic, and that has enabled 300,000 jobs in Northern Ireland…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right that our response to the pandemic needs to evolve as our understanding of the disease improves but also as we get a better understanding…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThe hon. Lady raises a legitimate concern, but I do not see the panacea for that being an extended furlough for an indefinite period. What has never been clear to me from those…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThere are few stronger champions of the levelling-up agenda in this House than my hon. Friend, and rightly so. I share his determination to ensure that our levelling-up agenda…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportOne of the most important areas of support is avoiding, if at all possible, businesses closing in the first place. That is why, in response to the measures brought forward by the…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportAs I said in reply to my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), it is important that these decisions are shaped by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and that it takes…06 Oct 2020HANSARDAreas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic SupportThe pace of those medically driven decisions is more, perhaps, a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who I know has been to the…06 Oct 2020