Coronavirus Act 2020: Temporary Provisions

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Monday 28th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to speak in the same debate as the noble Viscount, Lord Astor, who was my constituent. He was a great mentor and friend to me when I was an MP; I apologise for revealing that connection between us. I praise my noble friend the Minister and echo what was said by the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin. He has one of the toughest jobs in government and has displayed diligence, enthusiasm and passion throughout. Given what he may see behind closed doors and the obstacles he has to overcome, it must be frustrating for him not to be as frank as perhaps he could be on some of the issues that he faces. Everything I say from now on is said in a spirit of respect for the job that he and his colleagues in government have done. I will make four screamingly obvious points.

The first is about consistency. People talk about the Swedish model and herd immunity, but that model is about sustainability: a recognition that we will have to live with this virus for years to come. To coin a phrase, it will not be over by Christmas. We therefore need policies in place that the public understand and can live with, as the noble Viscount, Lord Astor, pointed out, in relation to cancer treatment and the impact on our economy.

My second screamingly obvious point is about getting test, track and trace right. On Friday, my wife managed to find a test for herself and our children. It worked brilliantly; she got a test and had the results back in 28 hours. The Minister has the public on his side. Today it was announced that the NHS app, which is a fantastic achievement for him and his colleagues, has been downloaded 12 million times. It is the fastest download in history of any app on the App Store. The public want to do the right thing, but they also want to see “Nightingale labs”. They would like testing centres and labs that they can go to and know that they are going to get a test result. A friend of mine who is flying to Germany next week will be tested when she lands and will get the result back in three hours. We must continue to focus on that with laser-like precision.

My third point is about care homes. To echo my noble friend Lord Naseby, we know where the most vulnerable people in our society are; we know what the risks are. Protecting our care homes—putting them in a silo and making sure that they have the best possible equipment to face this—is an absolute imperative.

Finally, out of pure self-interest as a father of two children, I urge my noble friend the Minister to please keep the schools open come what may.

I said that I would make four screamingly obvious points, but I am afraid that the noble Lord, Lord Mann, made such a brilliant point about Wembley Stadium that I have to row in behind him. I share his sentiment: at the moment, in dealing with this, too much of the tone is about what we cannot do, rather than—dare I say it—the wartime spirit of seeing what we can do. It is a brilliant idea to have three football matches a day in the stadiums at Wembley, Cardiff and Birmingham. I have had numerous impresarios approach me about putting up Covid-friendly theatres in parks in all our major cities. I assure the Minister that this House is behind him all the way when it comes to a can-do attitude.