Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will address each of my right hon. Friend’s questions in turn. The point about certification is important. While decisions on certification are being reviewed in a review led by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it is clear that we will need to provide people with the ability to certify whether they have had the jab, and we will absolutely need to consider those who have a certified clinical reason why they cannot have the jab. That applies to a relatively small number of people, but it is an important consideration that will be taken forward as part of that work.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for expressing his views on the approach to international travel. Quarantine is required for everybody who arrives as a passenger to this country, as well as testing on day 2 and day 8. That means we have a robust procedure to ensure that cases cannot be brought into this country and then spread in the community.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab) [V]]

With covid rates in Devon now down to just 31 per 100,000 and with all the vulnerable groups due to have been vaccinated by the end of this month, what will be the justification for keeping my constituents locked down and local businesses closed through Easter and beyond because rates happen to be higher somewhere else?

[Matt Hancock]

We obviously had a tiered system over the autumn and one of the challenges we found was of people travelling from a part of the country where rates are higher to those where rates are lower. Therefore, while we do not rule out a localised approach to outbreaks, we will move down the road map as a nation across England.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

There is no evidence at all that the vaccine negatively affects fertility. There are many myths about vaccines, and I am very glad that they have largely been rightly ignored by the British public when they are inaccurate. The way we try to tackle such myths is by putting out as much positive, accurate, objective information from objective sources as possible, both on the NHS website and through the chief medical officer and deputy chief medical officers answering questions whenever possible. I am glad that my hon. Friend has raised that issue. I will ask one of the deputy chief medical officers to write to her, and we will publish that letter to provide the further reassurance that she asks for.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab) [V]]

What exactly is the Secretary of State’s exit strategy from this quarantine policy? Is he, for example, planning airport testing, GPS tracking and covid passports, like other European countries, to avoid the total collapse of our vital travel sector?

[Matt Hancock]

I refer to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper). Absolutely, testing is a very important part of this, as I set out in the statement.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We want to provide as much support as possible. I am really glad that the vaccine roll-out is going well in Wealden and thank everybody who is playing their part in that.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab) [V]]

Why does it not make sense for teachers and other essential frontline workers to be vaccinated before perfectly fit and healthy people—like us, Madam Deputy Speaker—in their 60s?

[Matt Hancock]

Because people in their 60s are more likely to die from covid than people who are younger.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 14th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab) [V]]

With cases in Devon down to 71 per 100,000 and falling, and covid hospital admissions also falling, will the only reason that Devon does not go into tier 1 this week be because of the shortage of staff and hospital capacity after 10 years of Conservative Government cuts?

[Matt Hancock]

No. First, there is a record number of NHS staff, thanks to this Conservative Government. There is a record number of nurses—we have 14,000 more nurses. What I say to people in Devon, which is currently in tier 2, but with low rates, is do not take it for granted. Let us all work together and try to get Devon into tier 1. In Exeter, those rates have come down really sharply in the last few weeks. Let us keep working at it, and let us keep those public health messages going in relation to not only coronavirus, but the importance of eating fruit.

Coronavirus Vaccine

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will know that there was much disappointment in Devon that we were put in tier 2, although our rates are only 80 per 100,000 and coming down. Can he spell out exactly what has to happen in Devon over the next two weeks for us to move into tier 1? If the phenomenal success of the York modelling, which virtually eradicated covid in York, is for the reasons that he suggests, why is that not being done elsewhere?

[Matt Hancock]

We are very happy to work with Devon County Council if it wants to come forward for that sort of model. We are constantly learning from around the country. The local-national partnerships often bring lessons, because people have chosen to do things slightly differently in a local area, and we can all learn from that. As for Devon coming into tier 1, Devon does have lower rates than many places, but it is not the lowest area in tier 2, as that honour belongs to my own county of Suffolk. There are elevated numbers of cases in some parts of Devon. What I urge everyone in Devon to do to get into tier 1 is to abide by the tier 2 rules and, more than that, to take personal responsibility to do all they can to reduce the spread of the virus.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We always keep the data under review and we are always looking at what we can do. Our goal is to get out of this lockdown into the tiered system and we are focused on that and on getting the numbers down. Even in Bracknell, where for so long the rate of infection was incredibly low, we have seen an increase in that rate of infection and it is important to get it under control in Bracknell, as it is elsewhere in the country.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab) [V]]

Because of the growing number of covid patients being treated in hospital, my local NHS would like to use the Exeter Nightingale hospital for in-patient care, but it does not currently have the staff for it to do so. What exactly is the purpose of the Nightingale hospitals when there are not the doctors and nurses to staff them?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Programme motion
Monday 19th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I would love to be able to give timeframes, but, unfortunately, one thing about this disease is that it moves fast and sometimes we have to move fast, too, so it is better to say that I will always keep that under review. The critical thing is that, once this House has voted for an area to go into tier three, there will be an automatic review of that legislation after 28 days, and it will need to be proposed again—it is sunsetted after 28 days—which means that people can have confidence that it will be reviewed, but, of course, if we can review it quicker than that, then absolutely we will. I take my hon. Friend’s point on the financial support, and, again, I will discuss it with the Chancellor.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Why are the Government still forcing people arriving in this country from countries with far lower covid rates than us into a compulsory 14-day quarantine when it is absolutely crucifying the travel industry? Those people are far more likely to be infected here than they are in the countries they are arriving from.

[Matt Hancock]

We keep the countries on the quarantine list under review—absolutely we do—and that is a weekly exercise that is led by my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary.

Coronavirus Response

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 20th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes—we are planning to provide exactly the reassurance that my right hon. Friend seeks, in two ways. First, the essential point is that we will not approve a vaccine until we are clinically confident that it is safe. We would never approve a vaccine unless we were clinically confident that it was safe.

Secondly, we will also have a communications campaign. To answer a point that was raised earlier but to which I did not respond at the time, we have already published a plan for the order in which people will have access to the vaccine, starting with the most vulnerable. In essence, it consists of going down by age through those with comorbidities and health and social careworkers. We have to make sure that we reassure people and that we assure them that we are doing the roll-out in a clinically valid way.

Finally, on Southampton, my right hon. Friend is an assiduous representative of the environs of Southampton. When Southampton is doing well, Romsey is undoubtedly part of Southampton. In this case, Southampton is doing very well; let us hope that it continues.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Does not the fact that local public health directors are getting access to the individual data that they need to avoid another local lockdown only from today, and only if they sign a data protection agreement, illustrate that the Government’s slow and over-centralised approach has been a problem? Why would a local public health director not sign such an agreement?

[Matt Hancock]

I doubt any would not, but we have to ensure that people are assured that their data will be used sensitively. On the timing, we have been constantly improving this throughout the process. Some people complain that everything is not done by yesterday. Well, we put this together in a matter of a few months. The right hon. Member would do far better standing up and supporting the work to put together this amazing programme in a few short weeks, rather than sniping from the sidelines.

Coronavirus

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I have looked into that idea in great detail, and I am afraid that I am advised, and have been persuaded by that advice, that it will not work. It has been tried in other parts of the world and they have found that the number of false positives is very high, meaning that they end up quarantining more people. The number of false negatives is also very high, so such checks actually find very few of the people they are looking for. I am afraid it is not a recommendation that I feel I could make on the current evidence that I have seen.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Which are the countries in Europe that have a higher infection rate than us and from which we are protecting ourselves with the Secretary of State’s blanket quarantine policy?

[Matt Hancock]

First, I would rather not see any new infection coming to the UK. Secondly, on a point of policy, the approach that we are taking is to ensure that we protect this country from the incidence of disease coming in from abroad, and also to look at travel corridors when we can be confident that we can have that travel without reimporting the virus.

Covid-19: R Rate and Lockdown Measures

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 8th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The reason having the R below 1 is important is that that is the rate at which the number of new infections continues to fall. When R is below 1, the question is how fast it is falling. The number of new transmissions for each person who has the virus is currently, on average, less than one, so R is below 1 and therefore the number of infections is falling. We do not have a specific figure or target for R; we just want to keep it below 1 and we want to keep the number of new infections falling. Our response in the first instance to new outbreaks will be the local action we have been talking about for much of this session, and that is greatly to be preferred to a reinvigoration of the need for national lockdown.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

If it is not because we locked down too late or because of any of the Government’s other blunders, why does the Secretary of State think we have the highest excess death rate in the world?

[Matt Hancock]

I am not sure which evidence the right hon. Gentleman is pointing to, but I would be happy to talk to him afterwards.

Covid-19

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 16th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We are advising against all unnecessary social contact. I appreciate that this has consequences and I regret having to take these measures, but we are having to fight this virus.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

When exactly did the Government start buying extra ventilators? How many more have they managed to get? How many more do they need?

[Matt Hancock]

We started weeks ago. I can get back to the right hon. Gentleman with the exact date of the first time I authorised the purchase of more ventilators, but I can say that it was very shortly after it became clear that ventilators are the thing needed to support people who have coronavirus. On the question of how many more we will need, I can say that we will buy however many will be produced.

Access to Medical Cannabis

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 8th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

If I may, Mr Speaker, I would like to add to my previous answer by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Watford, the former Business Minister, on all that he did to support business, enterprise and the case for capitalism while he was in his former job. I regret his departing from the Government, because he was a brilliant Minister.

On the question ahead of me, so to speak, the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston), is right to say that it is vital to bring forward these clinical trials, and that the pharmaceutical companies that provide the oils have not pushed forward the trials in the way that would normally happen. We have therefore stepped in to try to make them happen, but we do need the calls to be answered.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State talks about removing barriers, but it is clear to me that the main barrier is the British Paediatric Neurology Association itself. When its president came to give evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee a couple of weeks ago, he was arrogant, he was dismissive of the families’ experience, and he misled our Committee by denying that Members of this House had sought a dialogue with him, which he had refused. What is the Secretary of State going to do to remove the obstacle of the BPNA?

[Matt Hancock]

I am sure that the BPNA will have heard that testimony from the right hon. Gentleman. Of course, the BPNA is independent of Government, and we have to follow the clinical judgments made by the relevant organisations, whether a royal college or, as in this case, an association. What I have done is ensure that a second opinion is available, because the BPNA guidance is merely guidance; it is not absolute. A clinician on the specialist register can make a decision according to what they think is best for the patient in front of them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 26th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I met the parents of some of the children whose needs are best met through the use of medicinal cannabis. My heart goes out to those who are fighting for this cause. We changed the law in the autumn to try to make it easier, and I am looking very closely at what we can do to make sure that the intention of that decision is met.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Health Committee heard last week that patients are dying unnecessarily and up to a million families are being driven to criminality by getting medical cannabis illegally, and the situation has got worse since the Government changed the law in November. When are these families going to get access to medical cannabis for their children and other sufferers that they would have access to if they lived in Germany, the Netherlands, Canada or the United States?

[Matt Hancock]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, I supported and indeed participated in the decision to ensure that access was made legal in the autumn, and I am working right now on trying to make sure that some of the challenges in the system are unblocked. Ultimately, these things have to be clinician led, but my sympathy is with those who are campaigning, whom I have met, because I know of the anguish that this problem is causing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

T8. To mark the 30th World AIDS Day on Saturday, will the Government commit to a more ambitious, but completely achievable, target of ending all new HIV infections by 2030?

[Matt Hancock]

I join the right hon. Gentleman in celebrating World Aids Day and ensuring that we redouble our commitment to making sure that we do everything we can. I will certainly look into the precise commitment that he asks for to make sure not only that it is deliverable but that we work not just here but around the world to end this scourge.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 23rd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Is it true that the Secretary of State is now so worried about the supply of vital medicines in the event of a no deal or a hard Brexit that he has asked the pharmaceutical industry to extend the period of stockpiling from six weeks to 20 weeks?

[Matt Hancock]

No, that is not true. We are working very closely with the pharmaceutical industry to make sure that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which I regard as unlikely, we mitigate as much as possible the impact on the supply of medicines and that the supply of medicines can be unhindered.

Cambridge Analytica: Data Privacy

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

There is no evidence yet of successful interference in a UK election or referendum, but we remain vigilant.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Given the important role that Cambridge Analytica played in the EU referendum and given the links made by the fantastic journalism in The Observer and elsewhere with the Kremlin’s wider campaign of undermining and interfering in our and America’s politics, will the Secretary of State assure the House that all the inquiries and investigations that we have discussed here today get the full co-operation and support of the British intelligence and security services?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes.

Voter Registration

Debate between Matt Hancock and Ben Bradshaw

Wednesday 8th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and she is right to say that there is no link between IER and last night’s registration difficulties on the website. I will study her recommendations with great interest, and I understand that she will soon meet the Minister responsible for constitutional affairs to discuss the matter.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

It would be an absolute scandal if people who tried to register before the deadline were deprived of a vote in what is the most important vote in any of our lifetimes. Will the Minister pull out all the stops until the last possible moment to ensure that people can vote? Will he also address the concern raised by my constituents who live and work abroad, and who have heard that there are problems with processing the huge numbers of postal and proxy votes that are coming back in at local level, and ensure that those votes are counted?

[Matthew Hancock]

There are very high numbers of registrations for postal votes, and indeed of registrations by post as opposed to through the website. We are dealing with all those issues. The right hon. Gentleman asks me to pull out all the stops; believe me, we are.