Coronavirus

The right hon. Gentleman is right: we had a battle royal with influenza in the first year that I ...

We do accept it but we do not glibly accept it, because year by year we are looking for improveme...

On the point about the restrictions, I know that those discussions are going on because I have se...

Even though we will find ourselves in different Lobbies this evening, I think there is more in co...

On the subject of the poorest and most disadvantaged, what does the right hon. Gentleman then mak...

I have not commented on it in my remarks so far, but I have commented on it in the past and I abs...

With respect, the right hon. Gentleman has missed the point. Perhaps I did not make myself clear ...

I understand the point that the right hon. Gentleman is making. It is in some ways similar to the...

We will have a four-minute limit immediately, but I think that that will be reduced later on. We ...

I never believed that it was proportionate, even from the outset, for Ministers to take such libe...

I will be relatively brief, recognising that the public health motion relates to English covid pu...

I wish to try to be constructive about how we can improve SAGE. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, S...

My hon. Friend is making a great case, with which I largely agree, but does he agree with me that...

I think that is a fantastic and plausible suggestion. We need a diversity of voices, but of cours...

As ever, it is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Sir Charles Walker). On his in...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; we were in the Science and Technology Committee this m...

I agree completely that those sorts of numbers—the real numbers, as opposed to model numbers—are ...

For over 800 years, this House has been making decisions on risk, be it sending men and women to ...

I am sorry that the Secretary of State is not in his place, because he is a Chester lad and I was...

I refer the House to the declarations that I have made relating to the Covid Recovery Group.

It feels a little like groundhog day—another month, another debate on covid regulations—yet we re...

I call Dame Andrea Leadsom—congratulations on your well-deserved recognition in the Queen’s birth...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Is it not wonderful to see so many colleagues in the Chamber ...

What a mess: a hopeless border policy, a hopeless promise of “freedom day”, and a hopeless Govern...

May I join you, Mr Deputy Speaker, in congratulating my right hon. Friend the Member for South No...

Like the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley) I will not support the Gov...

Throughout, this process has been heartbreaking, debilitating and wearing, so to be here again ta...

This extension is, sadly, necessary, so I will vote for it. However, once again, this Government’...

I am afraid that the previous speaker will be very disappointed, because we are going to have to ...

It feels like we have entered yet another episode of “Hancock’s Half Hour”, but unfortunately it ...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Would it be possible for you to convey to Mr Speaker that...

I will make absolutely certain that the right hon. Member’s request is presented to Mr Speaker an...

The pandemic has been a massive challenge to the British Government. I happen to think that, give...

Order. Sir Robert, can you please face the Chair? Your voice is not being picked up by the microp...

There are 5.6 million people in the south-west of England. There are 23 people in hospital. There...

Like many areas with some of the highest infection rates during this pandemic, my constituency of...

I do not think anyone envies the tasks and decisions that this Government and this Prime Minister...

I am listening carefully to my hon. Friend, and it is a good argument for voting for these restri...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I am making the judgment based on my local knowledge and that ...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether you could help me in regard to social di...

I think, Peter Bone, if you look around, even on the Conservative Benches there are a few green t...

Mr Deputy Speaker, I would be very happy for the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) to come...

I want to discuss two sides of the science—science as the liberator and science as the captor. We...

The Government assert that they do not have a zero covid policy or a zero covid strategy. If I ac...

Could my hon. Friend and Greater Manchester neighbour reflect briefly on his experience in Bolton...

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point, Transmission in Bolton is clearly on the...

When I have confronted these votes over the past nine months, I have done my best to look at the ...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman)....

Does the hon. Gentleman find rather odd not only the absence of Opposition Members, but the fact ...

I could not agree more with the right hon. Gentleman—may I call him my right hon. Friend from acr...

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as chair...

May I take this moment to put on record my apologies to my right hon. Friend, who was Chief Whip ...

My hon. Friend reminds us all how we can have different roles in this House. It is worth noting t...

In the context of timetables and how things are going to pan out in the near future, it is now th...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and it is part of the reason why we are concerned. If thi...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his kind words about how closely we worked together after th...

It is time to trust people more. It is time to control people less. I would like to praise Minist...

As colleagues will be aware, there have been quite a few interventions, so after the next speaker...

I will be supporting the Government this evening, but on this occasion my support is heavily qual...

As has been noted by my colleagues, there are very few Labour Back Benchers taking part in this d...

Happy Sussex day, Madam Deputy Speaker. Like every good, horny-handed son and daughter of Sussex,...

Is my hon. Friend saying that the scientists are concentrating on one thing and ignoring everythi...

The trouble is that there are lots of different scientists and they do not agree with each other,...

I really do not mind interventions taking place, but we have 13 people to get in before I start t...

In all the difficult judgments the House has had to make during the pandemic, this is perhaps one...

This great country is the cradle of freedom. For over eight centuries, at least since the time of...

What on earth is happening to our country? Muzzled, acquiescent and fearful. Having fought and de...

Over the past few months, I have repeatedly called for an end to restrictions at the earliest opp...

Following the science is an attractive and even comforting idea in a time of uncertainty. But—I s...

If everybody now takes two minutes, everybody will get in. I am sure Dr Kieran Mullan will lead t...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have listened carefully to the contributions this afternoon an...

As MPs, we are asked to take fundamentally political decisions, balancing the certainty of harm d...

I have been contacted by many constituents who are concerned about the extension of these restric...

I have supported the Government throughout on coronavirus measures, but today we have come very c...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate—one that I know is of huge importance both to this House...

We now go to Neil O’Brien, whom I have also asked to stick to two minutes.

6.38 pm

None of us wants these restrictions to go on for a moment longer than they have to. All of us are...

No. 47 has withdrawn, so the final Back-Bench speaker is Shaun Bailey.

6.40 pm

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is always a little bit trepidatious coming in at this stage o...

As no. 49 has withdrawn, I call the shadow Minister, Justin Madders.

6.42 pm

May I start by associating myself with the many Members who have paid tribute to Jo Cox? As we ha...

When I spoke to my fellow healthcare professionals in my local hospital vaccination centre weeks ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We owe a great debt to those in the NHS and to those who have...

At the outset, I associate myself with the shadow Minister’s remarks in respect of our late colle...

The Minister just said that the Prime Minister has given assurances about another four weeks, but...

The short answer is that the British people do believe the Prime Minister now.

We face a di...