Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We heard earlier from my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) about the particular challenges in Cornwall. Challenges exist across the United Kingdom, and as part of our levelling-up drive we are committed to meeting them.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab) [V]]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster knows that politics is a question of priorities. The Government have insisted that they simply cannot find the money to give our NHS heroes anything more than a 1% pay rise, but in the past year the same Government have spent £250 million on unusable facemasks, £133 million on faulty testing kits and £2.6 million on a briefing room at No. 10. The Government’s priorities are all wrong, are they not, Minister?

[Michael Gove]

I do not think so, but the hon. Gentleman raises an important point: we should thank those at the frontline of the NHS for the amazing work they have done. Part of supporting them is making sure that they have the right personal protective equipment. This Government, like Governments around the globe, were under great pressure to make sure that we had the right PPE in the right places at the right time. More than 99% of the PPE that we procured was directed, usable and effective.