Public Health

Sarah Owen Excerpts

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab) [V]]

Even before Christmas, anxiety was building and building as scientists warned about what was ahead. The public could see what was coming, and it seemed that the only person who did not want to face up to the scale of the current covid-19 situation was the Prime Minister. At one of the MP briefings with the Secretary of State, the Public Health England lead clearly stated that the change point for London came at the end of November, yet no action was taken by Ministers until it was far too late, again.

At every point in this crisis, the Government have been reactive, not proactive, waiting until we are at a crisis point to do anything. We have over 76,000 people dead, families pushed to the edge, and hard-working healthcare workers and hospitals at breaking point. This is not the situation in other countries, yet it is here, and it is not all down to the new variant. The failure of this Government to plan more than a few days ahead means that people, organisations and businesses are given days’—sometimes hours’—notice of changes to rules. People cannot live like that and should not have to. This anxiety is perhaps most acutely seen with young people. Today, I spoke to the head of our fantastic Luton sixth form. There are 752 BTEC students, many of whom are taking exams this month. Again, they are left out of guidance, left waiting for confirmation of their futures. It is time that this Government stopped treating BTEC students as an afterthought and give them the certainty that they deserve. If, as we all want to see, we are to be ready to get back into classrooms in Luton North and across the country at the end of February, nursery staff, teachers, school-support staff and school cleaners must be included as part of a vaccination strategy.

Will a vaccination strategy be published any time soon? Ramping up is not a coherent strategy. We should know by now how long it will take to manufacture the necessary vaccines. What measures will be put in place to make sure that they are disseminated and delivered? Why not publish a schedule of delivery? Will people who cannot be vaccinated be protected with ongoing shielding measures? What is the estimated critical mass needed to be vaccinated before we can start to relax restrictions? What measures will need to be introduced or be continued while vaccinations are rolled out, or, if vaccinations fail, to combat any new variants? These are just the very basics of any vaccination programme, yet we have heard very few answers from this Government. To provide hope and a route out of the restrictions before us, we need to see an exit strategy. The public needs to be informed at every step of the way, not only when it is too late.