Public Health

Yes, of course, we have been not only watching for mutations but, indeed, testing for mutations t...

I do not like it one bit, but I will support the Health Secretary tonight. The reason I will do i...

I will come on precisely to my hon. Friend’s point, because that is a critical question that I kn...

The Secretary of State mentions the vaccine as one of the crucial routes out of this, and I pay a...

Before the Secretary of State answers the question, let me say that we can have interventions of ...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will try to answer these interventions briefly, but they are i...

Approving these regulations today would allow for lockdown for three months, until the end of Mar...

While these regulations do provide for new restrictions until the end of March, that is not becau...

First, I thank the Secretary of State; I understand the reasons for the regulations, and I fully ...

Of course we are considering who, once we have vaccinated those who are clinically vulnerable, sh...

Just to pick up one point, the Secretary of State cites the certain knowledge that there is a way...

Yes, it is very much part of the plan; it is happening right now. On mutations and the link to th...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Yes, but then I want to make some progress on the detail of the regulations.

I am grateful; it is on the specific point that my right hon. Friend has raised. He knows I under...

We have to see the impact of that vaccination on the reduction in the number of deaths, which I v...

I thank the Secretary of State for everything he is doing, but the logic of his anticipating what...

The logic of the case made by my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murris...

I have just been talking to my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) who is a ...

I am a man after my hon. Friend’s heart. I can tell the House that we have removed a series of un...

I notice also a story about not delivering vaccines on Sunday. As I understand it, it is thought ...

My hon. Friend is quite right. The supply of vaccines can take place on all seven days of the wee...

My right hon. Friend knows that I am obsessed with this point. He mentioned the agreed schedule o...

I can assure my hon. Friend that the agreed schedule of delivery will enable us to offer vaccinat...

I will be brief—I do not want to try your patience, Madam Deputy Speaker. My hon. Friend the Memb...

I will happily take that point away, but I can tell my right hon. Friend that that supply allows ...

The Secretary of State stressed that the problem is really in production of the vaccine. Presumab...

We have; we spent the summer working on that. The vaccine has sprung into prominence in the publi...

I thank the Secretary of State for everything he has done on this. Will he join me in thanking th...

Yes I will. I am glad I took that final intervention. The people of Wolverhampton have come toget...

Before I call the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), I confirm that a three-min...

We will support the regulations, but like the Secretary of State, I did not come into politics to...

I think it is important to have prayer. Does the shadow spokesman agree with the call I have made...

I think that that is a very good recommendation. May I extend an invitation to the hon. Gentleman...

Obviously the Opposition will support this tonight, but, further to the exchanges that a number o...

The hon. Gentleman asks a perfectly reasonable question. Of course, as we vaccinate more, mortali...

I am really pleased by the generally positive way in which the hon. Gentleman is approaching this...

The right hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point, like the former Public Health Minister, the ho...

I, too, commend the hon. Gentleman for the constructive approach he is adopting. He clearly has a...

I think that as a rule in politics it is always better to under-promise and over-deliver. Maybe t...

I will now introduce the three-minute limit. I remind hon. and right hon. Members that when a spe...

I begin by thanking the Health Secretary, his Ministers and his advisers for all they are doing, ...

A year ago, when the SARS-Cov-2 virus emerged, there was no handbook on covid. All Governments ha...

May I preface my remarks by saying that I accept that we are in a serious situation? It is worse ...

Today, I would like to focus on one particular group who have felt forgotten throughout this pand...

I am pleased there is more that finds common cause across the political divide in this time of na...

With case rates rising and hospitals under pressure, it is clear that these regulations are neces...

I certainly will be supporting these regulations tonight, with a heavy heart, but nevertheless, t...

I will add one to that, if I may: jabs given per area. In Hampshire, we are in a good place—I exp...

My hon. Friend makes a fair point, and that data clearly has to be available, because it is gathe...

Thanks to the superhuman efforts of our NHS teams, and to the Prime Minister’s forward thinking b...

Government of the people by the people means little if it cannot persuade, yet surely lacking her...

It would be an understatement to say that people have restriction fatigue. I, like others, hate h...

Just over a month ago, this House voted on the tier system. I voted against. It was clearly inade...

I am glad to be able to take part in this debate. There is no doubt that this lockdown was needed...

I will support these measures, but I regret the need to implement them. The public are weary of t...

I want to make a few short points about the impact of covid on babies and young people, but first...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to take part in this most importan...

None of us wishes to pass such restrictions on all our freedoms. We are a parliamentary democracy...

Millions of citizens will be watching helplessly as the Government plod towards another damaging ...

Does my right hon. Friend share the concern that I and many others have about the mental health o...

That is one of the points I was going to come on to. If we are in for this long lockdown, the Gov...

May I begin by acknowledging the difficulty of the task faced by Health Ministers and the Prime M...

The recent sharp rise in covid-19 cases across the UK makes it imperative that we have a national...

I will try to be brief. The two areas I want to focus on are getting out of the position in which...

Even before Christmas, anxiety was building and building as scientists warned about what was ahea...

I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the House staff for ensuring that we were able to be recal...

On the point about schools, I just wonder what my right hon. Friend’s view is on the vaccination ...

I understand the point that my hon. Friend is making, and it has been made by others, but I have ...

I am immensely proud of the people of Hartlepool for the way in which they have faced up to this ...

I am in total agreement with the Government that the emergence of the new, more transmissible str...

So here we are again: another month, another late lockdown, and all the harm that lockdown brings...

All Governments have to make difficult decisions, but no other in peacetime has had to restrict o...

Cases in the Wakefield district have gone up by over a third in a week. They are still lower at t...

I again congratulate the Government on their amazing foresight and on getting so far ahead of the...

I am going to vote for this legislation; it is sadly necessary, as today’s awful covid figures de...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I have not always been able to follow the Government li...

This new lockdown is a position that none of us wanted to be in, and I begin by paying tribute to...

I cannot support this legislation. I cannot support criminalising a parent for seeing their child...

It has been nearly a year since we began to be aware and to deal with the pandemic. We accept tha...

I strongly support the Government’s policies and the new public health regulations, which have be...

I am grateful to be able to speak in today’s debate. I start by extending my deepest sympathy to ...

Order. Sorry, Janet, your time is up. I apologise.

5.20 pm

There are a hundred things about Stroud that I could rise to stand up for today, but given the sh...

Infection levels in Liverpool are now higher than during the second peak in October. This was why...

This is a difficult crisis for the Government, and no doubt the Prime Minister and the Secretary ...

Sadly, the new restrictions are as inevitable as they are necessary. The Government say that it i...

Well, covid has outwitted us again. It has come back with a vengeance and it is hitting many peop...

I will support the proposals, because of the pressure on our NHS and the briefings that I have ha...

We should vote to pass legislation that severely restricts the freedom of our fellow citizens and...

Let me start by saying that I will support these measures today, but I simply regret that the Gov...

I welcome the opportunity to contribute. We have heard a great deal of consensus across the House...

I call Karin Smyth by video link. [Interruption.] You are on mute, Karin.

5.47 pm

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Retail, hospitality, care, building and trades are the biggest empl...

This is a situation of state capture. The Government are completely in thrall to a lobby driving ...

Definitely not on mute, Sir Desmond.

5.52 pm

I have consistently voted against these restrictions because I will not be dragged behind the ban...

I am very worried about the loss of liberty. I am very worried about the economic damage. I am ve...

I must respectfully disagree with a number of previous speakers. These lockdown measures are nece...

On behalf of everyone here in Westminster, we send our best wishes to Jo for a full recovery.

Supporting businesses as they endeavour to cope with covid and its multiple challenges has rightl...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hay...

In 2017, the World Health Organisation’s pandemic influenza risk management guidance emphasised t...

I want us to learn from what has happened since March, rather than saying no, because if this loc...

I want to start by praising the Prime Minister for the way in which he has taken the decisions. I...

In my experience, the Tories have never won elections because the public thought they cared but r...

There have been more than 2 million confirmed covid cases in the UK, 71,000 people have tragicall...

The wind-ups will begin at 6.44 pm.

6.23 pm

Before Christmas, I visited Gotham Primary School in Rushcliffe to see what the children had been...

As we have just heard from the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (Ruth Edwards), lockdown does indeed ta...

The proposed restrictions are right. There is no greater freedom than the right to life and we ar...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for saving me up till last. It is difficult to say something new at...

Order. Sorry Tim.

6.35 pm

First, I thank our dedicated and brilliant scientists who have given us the hope of a way out of ...

Order. Sorry Rachel, but we are going to try to squeeze someone else in.

6.38 pm

Thank you for squeezing me in, Mr Deputy Speaker. I can think of few things I would prefer more n...

Fleur, ignore the timer. We will stop you at 6.44 pm, but we are pleased to squeeze you in.