Oral Answers to Questions

Dean Russell Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

What steps he has taken to support the voluntary and community sector through the covid-19 outbreak.

[Dean Russell (Watford) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure the sustainability of civil society organisations and charities affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Warman]

I, too, pay tribute to the extraordinary work of charities in Wansbeck and beyond. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we need to focus on the vital work done by so many small charities. That is precisely why the £750 million of funding is being administered in the way that it is, and we are working as hard as we possibly can to get it to those charities as quickly as possible.

[Dean Russell]

Does my hon. Friend agree that, when the Secretary of State kindly spoke to Tom Cruise and the producers of “Mission: Impossible” on my behalf recently, he showed a real need for speed in putting together a cocktail of measures for the entertainment industry? It is our critics who cannot handle the truth that his actions were helping more than a few good men and women return to work across civil society and the entertainment industry in Leavesden in Watford. May I assure you, Mr Speaker, that this message will not self-destruct?

[Matt Warman]

My hon. Friend rightly pays tribute to an extraordinary industry. The only thing that I would say in addition is that he clearly deserves a cameo role in that next “Mission: Impossible” film.