Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Obligations of Hospitality Undertakings) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Blunkett Excerpts

Friday 9th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

I commend the excellent speeches that have been made. I have no expertise in the relative danger of playing rugby or gathering to shoot grouse compared with the best man dancing with the bridesmaid with whom he is already living, or, for that matter, socially distanced tap dancing, which people enjoy. I agree entirely with those who have asked for consistency, logic and common sense, and policy and action based on evidence presented to us. There is logic, for instance, in taking higher education students who get infected out of local statistics, so that we do not make the mistake of enforcing additional lockdowns where they are not necessary or it has not been proved that they would actually be effective.

We should not decant, as we did in April and May, from the hospitals, meaning that literally millions of people were not getting diagnosed and treated. If we need to do that, use the Nightingale hospitals about which such a song and dance was made a few months ago. Above all, I echo the call by the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, for us to pull together, to work together, to use real evidence and enforce not by diktat from the centre, but by good health education and bringing people together in their own communities to reinforce local test and trace and the local actions which, in the end, will be the only thing that saves us.