Contributions
744 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateYes. Hon. Members will also be familiar with the emails that we all get about particular pieces of legislation when they pass through the House. Whether it is here, in Westminster…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateIt is doubly hard for everyone not being able to take part in what we do in this House, which is to debate legislation. To debate—that is what the Leader of the House has said we…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThe hon. Member is absolutely right. When the Government want EVEL, they have it; when they do not want it, they do not have it, even though SNP Members have made the arguments…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateJoke? I was talking about broadcasting. We were talking about the public sector workers who are not going to get a pay rise, apparently, but maybe the Chancellor will change his…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateMy hon. Friend is right, and that is why we have these debates. He is absolutely right—I am sure they will come to that in the end, but hopefully not. Let us return to the…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I just say this? When I was talking about the difficulties that our hon. Friends and right hon. Friends have taking part in debate, I heard…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI really do not know what the hon. Gentleman is talking about. All I heard was people sniggering in the back. I heard people— [ Interruption .] Oh my goodness, Madam Deputy…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThat is a really important intervention. Perhaps the hon. Members would go to their public sector workers, look them in the eye and say, “Sorry, we couldn’t find any money for you…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI would say: do not look them too closely in the face. We have to be 2 metres apart because that is what the Government guidance say. But the hon. Member is back to the same old…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThe hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Obviously, I have not put the policy through, so I cannot answer his point, but it is about asking a medical practitioner to say that…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateIt is world beating, but we do not use the term in the same way as they use it, because all their world-beating test and trace and everything else do not appear to be world…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI agree. We did have the good and we did have the perfect, and for some reason we cannot have that any more—although we might because the amendment may be passed. The hon. Member…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateMy hon. Friend is right, and that is the point that I was about to come on to. As I started to say, we were the first Parliament to become a virtual Parliament and we were the…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThat was a point of clarification. Perhaps we can include those in the procedure in future. Let me deal with the point made by the hon. Member for West Bromwich West (Shaun…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThat is absolutely right. The Prime Minister did say “work from home wherever possible.” —[ Official Report , 23 November 2020; Vol. 684, c. 601.] We can work from home, we have…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThey do, but we do not necessarily like them—especially when they break down and we are not linking in the right place. The point about broadcasting is important because we have…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI agree. We do not know where we can catch it. What we are doing is exposing families, friends, everyone—people we work with here. We are in the middle of a pandemic and people…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI am still here. We are Members of Parliament. We are elected to do a job—we are elected to pass legislation. We cannot do that. We are in the middle of a pandemic, and when we…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateI agree. This is just one small further step that we are asking the Leader of the House to take, which we know he is capable of doing. On the clinically vulnerable, it is very…24 Nov 2020HANSARD Virtual Participation in DebateThat is absolutely right. We all know as hon. Members that we are only as good as our last election, and we have to fight like mad to be elected.24 Nov 2020