Oral Answers to Questions

Dave Doogan Excerpts

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

It is always good to see my right hon. Friend, even—or especially—via Zoom. I thank all the heavy goods vehicle and delivery drivers for all that they are doing in the country to keep us going. Across the House I think that we probably agree that our view and definition of key workers have changed as we have come through this crisis; there is an appreciation of people doing those gritty jobs day in, day out and of quite the extent to which we rely on them.

All motorway service stations in England currently remain open to road users. That is why the Transport Secretary is continuing, based on the concerns that my right hon. Friend has rightly raised, to work with motorway service operators to ensure that as many facilities within those individual service stations as possible remain open to make sure that HGV drivers can take a break and use whatever facilities they need before they go back to work. He raises an excellent point.

[Dave Doogan (Angus) (SNP) [V]]

The Chancellor said of his covid-19 response:“We will not leave you behind. We all stand together.”He then delivered a financial package that did leave behind hundreds of my constituents in Angus and thousands more across these islands—by a Government who will refuse to introduce a universal basic income. I think of people just like my constituent in Arbroath, who could not be furloughed by his former employer and, because of Treasury rules, cannot be furloughed by his new employer either. So now, after 44 years of working, he has been cut adrift as collateral by this Government. What is the First Secretary’s advice to my constituent?

[Dominic Raab]

We do not support a universal basic income mainly because, it would not target our precious resources at such a challenging time at those who need them most. In total, Scotland will receive a cash boost of over £3 billion to tackle coronavirus, so the financial support from the UK Government is going there. That is on top of the UK military support, with things such as mobile testing and the airlifting of patients from some of the island communities in Scotland. We are also expanding testing capacity right across the UK; centres have recently opened in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. We will get through this crisis and we will do so as one United Kingdom.