Business of the House

Pauline Latham Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. It is a matter of serious concern to Her Majesty’s Government, who have been engaging with the Nigerian Government on it. I happen to know that our exchanges are followed closely by the Nigerian high commission, who I expect will have heard what the hon. Gentleman has had to say, but I will also take it up with the Foreign Secretary to see what more the Government can do. It is extremely serious, and the reports of the kidnapping of children and the attacks on Christians that are taking place are very troubling.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

The country is doing incredibly well in terms of the vaccine roll-out. As the Prime Minister has said, it is “going gangbusters”. The infection rate is being driven down, and the country has been given a road map out of the lockdown, which I consider slightly cautious. I would like to see, given the science, that it is speeded up a little. I came into the House of Commons yesterday and, like today, it was sparsely populated, although busier because of the Budget. It was like a ghost town. Can I be reassured by the Leader of the House that the House of Commons will go no slower than the road map out of lockdown that the public will have to follow? If we do, we will look completely out of touch.