Covid-19: Winter Plan

Baroness Laing of Elderslie Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

On resuming—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

We will recommence the statement. I believe that we have the Prime Minister virtually, so first we will go to Alex Davies-Jones.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab) [V]]

Diolch, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am grateful that both the Prime Minister and I are now back virtually. I am pleased to hear from the Prime Minister that the devolved nations are finally being included in talks on planning for the Christmas break. However, like so many of his other promises, it comes too late for people in Wales, and they have had enough.

The Prime Minister may remember that earlier this year, he told the House that he would passport money for Welsh councils, such as mine in Rhondda Cynon Taf, that were particularly badly hit by Storm Dennis. He told us that the money would be there for the landslip in the Rhondda. We need in excess of £100 million, but we have had just £2.5 million. The Prime Minister says he is committed to the Union, but we all know that actions speak louder than words, and his negligence in supporting the Welsh Government through flooding and in co-operating with them over coronavirus speaks volumes. Will he therefore please confirm his exact plans to make good on his financial commitments—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Thank you. We will go to the Prime Minister.

[The Prime Minister [V]]

For the record, Madam Deputy Speaker, the problem does not appear to be at our end. I hope that viewers will not think I am in any way trying to avoid scrutiny by hon. Members. I can tell the hon. Lady that we are investing massively in Wales, as we are across the whole UK. If she contains her impatience until Wednesday, she will hear about perhaps the biggest package of investment in infrastructure across the whole UK for generations. I remind the House that it was the Welsh Labour Government who managed to spend £144 million on a study into the M4 bypass, and then decided not to proceed with the bypass. That is not the approach that this Government take. We will be investing hugely in Welsh infrastructure and taking Wales forward. I am delighted that Mark Drakeford and other leaders of the devolved Administrations are working with us on a plan for Christmas.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

It is wonderful to have the Prime Minister back with us.

[Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree about the importance of sport and exercise to both mental and physical wellbeing? Will he confirm that going forward into the winter, facilities for outdoor sport and indoor swimming should remain open in all tiers?

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[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is completely right in his basic instincts, which I share, and his fundamental libertarian yearnings, which I also share. I love Christmas; I love a big get-together. The trouble is that the people of this country can see that there is a real risk that if we blow it with a big, blowout at Christmas, we will pay for it in the new year. They want a cautious and balanced approach, and that is what we will deliver for the whole UK.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

May I make a plea to all Members to be as brief as the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne)? After two hours, we are not even halfway through the number of people who are hoping to ask a question. I remind people that they are not making speeches; they are asking questions—brief questions—and they should not read them. I am quite sure that I can rely on the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

You always say that before you call me, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Laughter.] I see you have united the House in that plea.

May I make a plea to the Prime Minister? I have asked him about this before this year. We had terrible flooding in the Rhondda. It led to a landslide from a coal tip, which could all too easily have landed on top of people’s houses, God forbid, as it has elsewhere in Wales in the past. We need £100 million. So far, the Prime Minister has promised one Member of this House to passport the money, in February. He promised me in June that this was going to be sorted. We still have seen only £2 million of the £100 million we need. Please, please, please, just say now we are going to get that money on Wednesday.

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

Many will be relieved that collective worship, outdoor sports, gyms, shops and personal care will resume business as usual, but can the Prime Minister tell us when the limits for spectators at spectator sports and business events will be set, as this will affect many self-employed contractors? Most importantly, what does my right hon. Friend think the chances are of getting the over-80s and the most vulnerable vaccinated before Christmas so that that great festival can be a lot more stressful for everyone—a lot less stressful for everyone? [Laughter.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

While the Prime Minister computes what that question actually was, I should point out that the hon. Gentleman—I am being kind to him, because he is an hon. Gentleman—had two questions. I am not allowing any more two questions; it is one question, not a speech, or we will be here all day. Of course, some people want to be.

[The Prime Minister]

I am interested in my hon. Friend’s Freudian slip about Christmas, but the answer is, I am afraid, that it is just too early to say whether we will get any vaccine before Christmas that we can deploy at scale. We are optimistic but we cannot be confident at this stage.

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[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the importance of testing in schools—testing the teachers and making sure that we do not send whole bubbles home. That is why schools and universities, along with NHS hospitals and care homes, are the primary settings where we want to roll-out not just PCR testing, but lateral flow testing as well.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

The whole House is very grateful to the Prime Minister for giving such full and thorough answers and really listening to what people are saying, but I shall forgive him if, in spite of colleagues giving ridiculously long questions, the Prime Minister feels like giving shorter answers.

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to do so, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I just do not want to short-change colleagues. As I was banished by telecommunications from your presence, I do not want people to think that I am trying to nickel and dime them here.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

It is much more difficult for the Prime Minister as he cannot feel the atmosphere here in the Chamber, so it is better that I explain to him that both his Secretary of State and the Leader of the Opposition look as if they agree with the point that I have just made.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

The hope that we have been given by our brilliant scientists will be dashed for millions if the Prime Minister pushes ahead with the public sector pay freeze, which, of course, is not levelling up, but levelling down. He does not want to be stand accused of saying one thing and doing another, so will he give a very short answer now and rule out the possibility of a public sector pay freeze?

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[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is entirely right about the vaccine—it is wonderful news, but it is premature to say that it constitutes, on its own, an exit strategy. That is why I have insisted throughout this afternoon that it must be accompanied not only by NHS test, trace and isolate, but by new types of testing, plus the tough tiering that we have had and that we will have when we come out of this lockdown. The way forward is to make those things work together—to make the tiering work in tandem with testing—so that people get a test with a view to reducing the restrictions under which they, we and she are living. Get a test and help to kick covid out—that is the way forward.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Finally, with the prize for patience and perseverance, I call Jason McCartney to ask question No. 100.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. With a case rate of 552 per 100,000 and the sixth highest case rate in England, many people expect Kirklees to be in the highest tier when the announcement is made on Thursday. That will mean the closure of hospitality, apart from takeaways, at a time of year when many cafés, bars, pubs and restaurants try to make profits to see them through the rest of the year. Can I end this session by asking the Prime Minister one more time: please will he speak to the Chancellor again about support for the hospitality supply chain and for breweries and cider producers; will they look again at grant funding; and will they please consider once again cancelling business rates for another year to support our hospitality businesses?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a passionate plea for breweries, cider producers and others. I know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be listening keenly to all of that, particularly the points about business rates and other measures. We want to support the hospitality industry in Kirklees and across the country.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I thank the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for answering 100 questions and for bringing the House up to date with their plans.

Virtual participation in proceedings concluded (Order, 4 June).