Public Health

Claudia Webbe Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Claudia Webbe (Leicester East) (Ind)]

As announced today, Leicester will move into tier 4. This is a city that has been in lockdown for longer than most. In Leicester we have not been allowed to meet inside any household since the start of the first UK lockdown—that is 10 months.

The Home Secretary was dangerously wrong to claim that the Government have been ahead of the curve throughout the pandemic. There can be zero doubt that on every major strategy the Government have got this wrong. The Government have lost control of the virus. Today there have been 50,023 new covid cases and 981 deaths. On 1 August, deaths from coronavirus had fallen to almost zero. We were at a crossroads. The Government should have opted for a zero covid strategy. Germany invested €500 million in improving schools’ ventilation. China brought plexi-screens into classes. Italy carried out randomised testing of pupils. In England, with no disrespect to our teachers, headteachers and excellent teaching unions, we put some sticky yellow tape on the floor, claiming that that meant distancing in the classroom would be sufficient to scare off the virus. The Prime Minister visited a school in the county of Leicestershire and proclaimed that students’ classrooms were safe. Within days of his visit, a positive infection had been confirmed.

The Government had a choice. Their own SAGE experts told them that opening schools would push the R rate above 1. Indeed, this week SAGE explicitly told the Government to close schools. In the first wave alone, 148 education staff died of coronavirus, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the second wave, deaths of teachers have continued to mount. History will judge us harshly for ignoring teaching professionals and scientists when they warned us to close schools.

The Government acted in the way they did because they perceived themselves to be putting wealth before health. It did not matter to them that African, Asian and minority ethnic people or the poor were more than twice as likely to die from coronavirus. As long as the City of London kept trading, they thought it was a price worth paying. What the Government have failed to grasp is that health is wealth. It was a false choice. By pursuing a zero covid approach, they could have crushed the R rate right down and bought time to implement a proper randomised testing system. They could have invested in online learning and proper equipment, including the internet, so that students could study from home.

Most of all, the Government should have trusted NHS professionals to run the test and trace system. By handing £12 billion of coronavirus contracts to people linked to the Tory party, they put donors first. Public Health England and local NHS bodies are ideally placed to conduct test and trace, and the Government failed to include them.

There is still time to save many thousands of lives, go further than the tiered approach, which at best gives rise to divide and rule, and implement a zero covid approach and a national lockdown. Yes, close schools and keep them closed. Listen to the science and give people the full financial support to stay safe, including the 3 million excluded. We are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us. Give status now to all undocumented workers.

The recently announced vaccine approval is inspiring news for all. Where politicians have failed, scientists have stepped up. The Government must now ensure that those most at risk get the vaccine first, which obviously means care home residents and NHS staff, but it should also include the minimum-wage workers who are getting us through this pandemic. A Deliveroo rider has more right to the vaccine than Etonian billionaires.

We must also make sure that African, Asian and minority ethnic communities and the poor are given fair access to the vaccine. We know that the elderly are most at risk from the virus, yet more than 70,000 Indian and Pakistani grandparents live with school-age children. The Government would be willing to place these communities at risk by reopening schools. I implore the Government to change direction before many thousands more lives are lost.

One last thing, Mr Deputy Speaker—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

No, sorry. The time limit is the time limit.