Covid-19 Update

Debate between Alun Cairns and Sajid Javid

Monday 13th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

It absolutely is. Work on this is being led by Lucy Chappell, in particular, in my Department and the UKHSA. One of the central focuses of her work has been to encourage more pregnant women to come forward and take up the offer of the vaccine. As the hon. Lady says, sadly, when we look at the data on pregnant women who are going into hospital because of covid infections, we see that almost all of them are unvaccinated.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for the speed and efficiency with which he, the Government and the NHS are rolling out the booster programme. Does he share my concern that the roll-out of the programme is somewhat slower in Wales? There is no access to walk-in centres, no online booking system and the local health boards are depending on Royal Mail when the postal system is under the greatest pressure because of Christmas and because of staff off with covid. Will he agree to share the expertise and capacity that the UK Government have built up in the most positive way with the devolved Administrations—specifically with the Welsh Government —so that my constituents can receive the same access as his?

[Sajid Javid]

I very much agree: the omicron emergency is UK-wide and all parts of the UK should respond by increasing whatever they are doing on the booster programme further. I think that that view is shared throughout the UK. We will provide more support to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland to make sure that they can increase their booster programmes.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Alun Cairns and Sajid Javid

Monday 29th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on taking swift and efficient action in relation to the additional protections that are necessary, but when he reviews, as more data becomes available, the wearing of face masks and the additional restrictions that he has introduced, will he consider real-life scenarios? He has heard the calls from Opposition Members for mask wearing and working from home. Is he aware that in Wales those measures have been in place since the summer, yet infection rates are still much higher?

[Sajid Javid]

My right hon. Friend is right to raise the difference between Wales and England in the approach taken. I feel—like him, I think—that we have taken the right approach to face masks. I welcome his support today.

Cost of Living

Debate between Alun Cairns and Sajid Javid

Wednesday 27th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend has made his point well, and I will not dwell on it further, in the interests of time.

We have also frozen fuel duty. Petrol is now 13p per litre lower than under Labour’s plans. Each time the average motorist fills up their car, they are saving £7 because we have refused to implement Labour’s fuel duty escalator. We are also helping local authorities to freeze council tax, and our tax-free child care plan will mean savings for parents of up to £1,200 per child.

[Alun Cairns]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point about council tax, highlighting the freezing of council tax here in England. Sadly, in Labour-run Wales, council tax has risen by nearly 9% over recent years, in the same time as it has been nearly frozen here. Will he join me in calling on the Labour Front-Bench team to pressure their colleagues in Cardiff Bay to freeze council tax for my constituents in the same way that he is doing for constituents in England?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend has made his point very well, and the shadow Front-Bench team will have heard it. If they really cared about citizens in Wales, they would pressure their Government in Wales to take action on council tax.

We are also making it easier for hard-working people to put some of their savings towards buying their own home. Our Help to Buy mortgage guarantee and equity loans are making home ownership a real possibility for aspiring people. Just one month since its launch, more than 2,000 people have put in offers for homes under the mortgage guarantee scheme. More than three quarters of the applicants were first-time buyers, many of them in their early 30s. Since the launch of the equity loan scheme in April, 92% of the 5,000 new homes built have been bought by first-time buyers. This is how we are helping to raise living standards: we create a business environment in which more people can go to work every day; we create a tax environment in which people can keep more of the money they earn every month; and we work with the banks so that every year more people can secure the dream of their own home.

Our plans are improving living standards, but what is the Labour party’s solution? I am sure it will tell the public that the only way is up—and they would be right: under Labour, taxes would go up; mortgage rates would go up; inflation would go up; and unemployment would go up. That is what economic failure looks like.

As I said at the outset, the shadow Minister needs to give the British public more credit. They are a lot smarter than he realises. They recognise that it was the Labour party that got the country into this mess, and that it will take time and difficult decisions to clear up that mess. We, the coalition Govt, have put our faith in the British public, and because of their hard work over the past three and a half years, jobs are being created at a record rate, the economy is growing faster than in any other developed country, and as Governor Carney said just last week, the recovery has finally taken hold. There was never going to be a magical short-term fix, but our sensible, sustainable economic strategy will raise living standards, so let us not lose ground on the progress we have made; let us not allow Labour to take Britain back towards economic ruin. I beg the House to oppose this motion.