Debbie Abrahams
Main Page: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)Department Debates - View all Debbie Abrahams's debates with the Cabinet Office
(3 years, 7 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
That is certainly our intention, provided that we stay on track, but I want to be sure that people wait until we are able to say that with more clarity a bit later on, because we must be guided by what is happening with the pandemic. My hon. Friend is so right about the dynamism of London. Indeed, London and our other great cities depend on people having the confidence to go to work. I think it will come back, and I think it could come back remarkably quickly, but it does depend on keeping the virus down.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab) [V]
On 22 February, the Prime Minister told the House that the PPE contracts
“are there on the record for everybody to see”.—[Official Report, 22 February 2021; Vol. 689, c. 638.]
He also said that
“all the details are on the record”.—[Official Report, 22 February 2021; Vol. 689, c. 634.]
What the Prime Minister told Parliament was not true. A large number of contracts were neither there for everybody to see nor on the record, including a £23 million contract to Bunzl, which was not published until 8 March. The ministerial code states:
“It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.”
So will the Prime Minister finally apologise to the House and the country for this misleading statement, and ensure that the Government’s procurement practices during the pandemic are in the scope of the covid inquiry?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
Order. I am sure that the hon. Lady means “inadvertently misleading”.