Public Health

Rob Butler Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)]

At the end of a year like no other, for the people of Aylesbury constituency, this was a Christmas like no other. Little did I know when I described Buckinghamshire’s entry into tier 3 as heralding the bleakest midwinter that just a few days later, a new tier 4 would bring an even more bitter chill, with many local businesses forced to close and long-wished-for festive reunions cancelled.

I do not believe that a single Member of this place came here wishing to impose restrictions that curtail our livelihoods, our liberty or our democracy, but nor did a single one of us anticipate a pandemic that would sweep the world, putting unprecedented pressure on our health service. Ensuring that the health service in Buckinghamshire can care for not just those with covid, but those with other conditions or serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease or stroke, has consistently determined how I vote. It does so again today.

I pay tribute to all local NHS staff who have continued to work over Christmas, particularly the brilliant team at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The pressure on that hospital has escalated in recent days. Critical care beds are full and more wards have had to be dedicated to covid patients. That illustrates that, unfortunately, the previous restrictions of tiers 2 and 3 were not enough, especially given the new variant of the coronavirus, whose increased transmissibility is extremely alarming. Indeed, Buckinghamshire Council, in conjunction with its health partners, this afternoon declared a major incident amid fears that the rapid rise in the number of covid-19 cases could overwhelm the county’s health and social care services. So although I do not like the retrospective nature of voting for the regulations, I recognise that they were and are necessary as a short-term means of trying to hold back the escalating spread of the virus.

I have received the most vitriolic criticism for previously voting for the tier system of restrictions because of their broader societal impact—criticism that included being likened to a murderer. However, it is precisely to save lives that I found myself continually voting against my Conservative instincts in the desperate hope of a vaccine that would permit a gradual return to normality.

Today, we are a step closer to realising that hope, with the wonderful news of the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. I look forward to its roll-out and that of the Pfizer vaccine in the Aylesbury constituency as soon as possible. Constituents understandably want to get the protection that the vaccines afford and their need is all the more urgent given our early tier 4 status and the very serious infection rates behind it. It is especially difficult for local people to understand why those in neighbouring areas with a lower incidence of coronavirus are ahead of them in the queue to be vaccinated. I am grateful that my hon. Friend the Minister for Care is now addressing that challenge.

Recognising the need for greater restrictions means that we must also recognise the greater impact on businesses, especially those that would usually have enjoyed their most lucrative time of the year in the immediate run-up to Christmas. I therefore ask my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to consider new ways in which he might be able to help such firms, especially those that have not been able to benefit from his generous financial support package or from the excellent schemes that Buckinghamshire Council is now running, perhaps missing out because of their place in the supply chain, their size or because they needed to help customers obtain refunds and could not therefore furlough staff, despite receiving no revenue.

I conclude with not my words, but those of members of the crews of South Central Ambulance Service, to whom my constituents and I owe a great debt of gratitude. In a virtual meeting just before Christmas, one told me bluntly, “It really is a silent killer. It doesn’t matter who you are. Anyone can get it.” Another paramedic said, “I would love to give the country one simple message: please follow the rules.” Message delivered.