UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Coronavirus

  • Sajid Javid – 2021 Comments on Faith Leaders Helping with Covid

    Sajid Javid – 2021 Comments on Faith Leaders Helping with Covid

    The comments made by Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 17 December 2021.

    Faith and local community leaders have played a vital role supporting the COVID-19 vaccine programme from the very beginning. Thank you to everyone who is uniting behind this national mission, spreading the word about the life-saving benefits of the vaccines and encouraging people to roll up their sleeves and get boosted now.

    We’re working with the NHS to provide advice and information at every opportunity on how to get a vaccine and the protection it provides. Today’s discussion with faith leaders is another opportunity to listen to views from across the country and join forces to get ahead in the race against the Omicron variant.

    It is never too late to get your vaccine, whether it’s your first, second or third. Please come forward and get protected for yourself, your family and your community.

  • Joy Morrissey – 2021 Comments Criticising Government’s Scientific Advisers

    Joy Morrissey – 2021 Comments Criticising Government’s Scientific Advisers

    The comments made by Joy Morrissey, the Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, on Twitter on 15 December 2021.

    Perhaps the unelected covid public health spokesperson should defer to what our elected Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister have decided.

    I know it’s difficult to remember but that’s how democracy works. This is not a public health socialist state.

  • Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    The comments made by Steve Reed, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 16 December 2021.

    It is vital, especially during this pandemic, that our leading scientists have the freedom to give public health advice to the public and to offer their expertise without fear of reprisal.

    As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly through Britain, there must not be any sign of the Government censoring or intimidating our leading scientific experts.

    [the press release in full below]

    Labour has called on the Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, to force his PPS, Joy Morrissey, to apologise or face the sack over her attack on the Chief Medical Officer.

    In response to Chris Whitty’s comment made yesterday that “people should be prioritising the things that really matter to them”, Morrisey posted an attack on him on social media, suggesting Whitty should “defer to what our ELECTED Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister have decided.”

    Morrissey’s attack on the Chief Medical Officer was followed in the House of Commons by Conservative MPs Steve Baker, Greg Smith and former Health Minister Steve Brine, in a further indication that Boris Johnson’s waning authority over his party is enabling Conservative MPs to undermine crucial public health messaging.

    In response, Steve Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, has written to Raab calling the comments “unacceptable and dangerous”.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the New Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the New Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 15 December 2021.

    I want to thank Baroness Hallett for agreeing to take on the position of Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry.

    She brings a wealth of experience to the role and I know shares my determination that the inquiry examines in a forensic and thoroughgoing way the government’s response to the pandemic.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Press Conference on Omicron

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Press Conference on Omicron

    The press conference statement by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 15 December 2021.

    Good afternoon everybody, as of today, every eligible adult in England can use the national booking service to Get Boosted Now.

    If you’re over 18 and had your second jab at least three months ago, then you can get jabbed right now.

    And it’s absolutely vital that you do.

    Because the wave of Omicron continues to roll in across the whole of our United Kingdom,

    with over 78,000 Covid cases today, the highest ever daily number reported, and the doubling rate of Omicron in some regions is now down to less than two days. And I’m afraid we are also seeing the inevitable increase in hospitalisations, up by 10 per cent nationally week on week and up by almost a third in London.

    But we are also seeing signs of hope, because since we launched our Emergency Omicron appeal on Sunday night a great national fight back has begun and people have responded with an amazing spirit of duty and obligation to others. And I want to say that each and every one of you who rolls up your sleeve to get jabbed is helping this national effort. And I want to thank everyone who has come forwards, whether you’ve had to queue around the block at a walk-in centre, or whether you’ve booked online. And, of course, on behalf of the whole country,

    I want to thank our NHS, our GPs our pharmacists, who with barely a day’s notice – 48 hours’ notice, have so accelerated the programme that we began this week with the biggest Vaccination Monday ever in England and yesterday the biggest booster day yet, with more than 650,000 boosters delivered across the whole UK.

    And across the country, after all they have been through, those teams are going to keep going through Christmas and beyond.

    Jab heroes like:

    Kim Kirk, leading the King’s Mill hospital vaccination hub in Mansfield, who was asked a year ago to do it for four weeks and has been doing it ever since, with 180,000 jabs and counting.

    Dr Laura Mount and the team at Central and West Warrington PCN, who have been organising pop-up vaccination clinics for the homeless.

    Or the team at Home Park in Plymouth who have been regularly jabbing until 2am, because they just carry on for as long as there are people there wanting a booster.

    And I want to thank those from every walk of life who are stepping forward to support them.

    The military personnel deployed across every region of the country, including an additional 100 in Scotland from yesterday – as well as 2,500 firefighters.

    And since Sunday night, we’ve seen more than 20,000 new volunteers signing up to help with the booster effort as stewards, taking the total number to almost 33,000.

    With every day we’re expanding the ranks of these healthcare auxiliaries, an emerging Territorial Army of the NHS – in a race against time to get those jabs in arms and save lives.

    And if you’re watching this and you want to get involved, just visit the website nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk

    and do something this Christmas that you can tell your grandchildren about many Christmases from now.

    In total, we’ve now boosted more than 45 per cent of all adults in England, including more than 88 per cent of those aged 70 and over and while hospital admissions are going up, nationwide we are starting to see admissions coming down among some of the more vulnerable older age groups where we have already got those boosters in arms.

    From tomorrow, we’re speeding things up even further by removing the 15 minute post-vaccination waiting time.

    And while we’re at it, from Monday, 12 to 15 year olds can book in for a second jab.

    And we know how crucial it is to keep children in school,

    so let’s all make sure our children and young people are vaccinated before they go back next term.

    As we take forward our national mission, we are of course supporting similar efforts by the Devolved Administrations, which are also rapidly increasing vaccination rates across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

    A COBRA meeting with Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast is taking place this evening.

    But already the pace of rollout across the four nations is such that the UK as a whole now has twice as many boosters per head as the EU and more than twice as many as the United States.

    So let’s keep going.

    Let’s carry on giving Omicron both barrels.

    Let’s slow its spread and give the vaccines more time

    Wear face masks indoors

    Use ventilation

    Get tested if you’re going to an event where you’re likely to meet lots of people

    And get tested if you’re going to meet elderly and vulnerable relatives.

    And we’re helping to get you the tests that you need

    I want to thank the Royal Mail who are doubling home deliveries of testing kits to 900,000 a day from Saturday.

    So let’s slow down Omicron’s spread and at the same let’s reduce the harm Omicron can do to us by building up our vaccine defences.

    We’re jabbing in hospitals, we’re jabbing in surgeries,

    We’re jabbing in pharmacies and in pop-up centres,

    We’re jabbing in shopping centres and on high streets and in football stadiums – with mass events planned at Stamford Bridge and Wembley this weekend and daily “jabbathons” at Elland Road in Leeds.

    We’re throwing everything at it.

    Wherever you are, we’ll be there with a jab for you.

    So please Get Boosted Now.

    Thank you very much.

  • Greg Smith – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    Greg Smith – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    The speech made by Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021.

    It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell). He was absolutely right in the way he concluded his speech: boosters are the answer to this. Boosters, and the vaccine programme at large, give us hope and a path out of covid and back to normal life.

    I congratulate the Government on stepping up the booster programme and aiming to get those jabs into people’s arms by the end of the year. Making that happen will require a lot of focus and attention, and planning of the detail and the logistics. On the basis of my experience yesterday of trying to bring forward my own booster, which is booked for 31 December—I jumped from 7,000 in the queue to 3,000, then curiously to 10,000, before eventually being offered a date in mid-January—there is clearly a lot of work to be done to ensure that we can get those boosters into people’s arms.

    I also welcome the Government’s move to get rid of the 10-day isolation period for anyone who happens to have come near someone who has tested positive for omicron, and to replace that with daily testing. That is a sensible measure. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), I feel vindicated in having voted against the 10-day isolation measure two weeks ago.

    However, let me set out why I will not be voting for the extended mask mandate, for covid passes or for mandatory vaccination in the national health service. I very much agree with my constituency neighbour, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom), that this is a slippery slope. This is going to change the way we operate as a country, not just in December 2021 but whenever another variant—perhaps not of covid but of another virus—emerges. It is a fundamental change in the relationship between citizen and state, and one to be resisted.

    I have argued throughout this pandemic—at times I have then reluctantly voted with the Government, as I did last Christmas, and at other times, such as a couple of weeks ago, I have voted against extending measures—that all restrictions are not without harm in themselves. Even on masks, it may be an easy thing for many of us to do to put one on, but as others have mentioned, to the dementia patient petrified at the masked figure approaching them, to the child with autism, or to the person who is hard of hearing or deaf and cannot read our lips, it has consequences; it does bring harm. Likewise, I have been scared by reports in my constituency of the rise in mental health challenges, particularly among young people—there has been a rise in self-harm in secondary schools. We cannot stand idly by and just ignore that.

    Of course, there is also the damage to our economy. We may not have shut hospitality down, or propose to do so, but I am already hearing from pubs right across my constituency that are losing 20%, 30% or 40%—in some cases 50%—of their Christmas bookings. People are now too scared to go out, and I am afraid that correlates directly with what the Government are saying and how they portray this virus. I took a lot of heart from the news coming out of South Africa this morning that people there were finding it to be a more mild variant and that the vaccines do work. I therefore come back to where I started: let us focus on the boosters and, otherwise, give people back their freedom to choose.

  • Aaron Bell – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    Aaron Bell – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    The speech made by Aaron Bell, the Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021.

    It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns). This has been a good debate and a necessary debate. Strong views have been expressed on all sides, and I think those reflect the views that a lot of us have heard from the country and in our inboxes. I believe in a proportionate response to the potential threat of a public health emergency, and that the precautionary principle applies, so I will support the Government today. Given what I have heard about the transmissibility of omicron, I think these measures will be for only a limited period of time, one way or the other, because it is very transmissible and we do not yet know quite how severe it is.

    The response that the Government take has to be balanced with the needs of the economy, as many others have said, and we must be particularly mindful of the effect on the hospitality industry, particularly at this time of year. But it is not these measures that are affecting the hospitality industry. In fact, some of these measures will support the hospitality industry by giving people confidence. It is the virus that is affecting the hospitality industry. Sometimes I get the sense that some colleagues, and certainly some people who write to me, are arguing with the virus, not with the Government. I think it is common cause across the House that we all do not like the virus, but unfortunately the virus does not care about that and it will keep on doubling.

    That brings us to the data. I am grateful to all the witnesses we heard this morning in the Science and Technology Committee, ably chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), but clearly we do not have enough data yet, particularly UK data, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper) said. On case fatality rates, we heard that omicron is perhaps 29% milder than the original strain—that is from the South African data—and that in terms of length of stay in hospital, omicron stays are perhaps half the length of regular stays. Unfortunately, those are both linear variables. The R0 rate, on which omicron is truly outcompeting the other variants, is an exponential variable. That means that until it runs out of targets, it is going to keep doubling. We heard that there were 200,000 infections yesterday; that will be 400,000 in two or three days, and possibly 800,000 in a week’s time. We must not fool ourselves that we know how we can balance that exponential growth with the two linear measures we have found out about. We have to take a precautionary but balanced approach in the meantime.

    I have sympathy—I really do—with the slippery slope argument made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Dr Evans) and those who say this is the thin end of the wedge. I share the view of many colleagues that the House must have its say over the next two weeks if we are to take further steps along that slope or to a thicker part of the wedge. I would not vote for the thickest part of the wedge—I would never vote for mandatory vaccination of the general public, and I welcome the assurances we have heard from the Dispatch Box today—but that is not the question before us. We should all vote for or against these measures based on their content and our own personal belief in them.

    On the so-called vaccine passports, I do not believe that they are anything of the sort. With lateral flow tests and recent experience of covid as alternatives, I do not think they should be described as vaccine passports; they should be described as covid passes. I welcome the assurance from the Dispatch Box that lateral flow tests will remain part of that in the future, and I will hold the Government to that.

    Finally, on the point about rights and responsibilities of citizens that my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman) made so eloquently, there are 4 million people who have chosen not to be vaccinated so far. Some of them may be disorganised, but there are undoubtedly many out there who have chosen not to be vaccinated. I say to all of them: “I will stand up for your freedom and for your right not to be vaccinated, but you cannot imagine that there can be no consequences to that choice once that starts impacting the freedoms and rights of others.” I therefore think that some of the measures that my right hon. Friend the Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) mentioned may have to be considered in the future if we get severe exponential growth of omicron.

    In my last 10 seconds, I commend the Government for what they have done on boosters, and I urge everyone to go out and get their booster as soon as possible. That is the way out of this.

  • Alicia Kearns – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    Alicia Kearns – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    The speech made by Alicia Kearns, the Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton, in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021.

    Although I fully support the Government’s determination to protect our communities, I seek clarity. Like most of us, I support evidence-based policy making and, in the absence of data, precautions, not restrictions. I will vote with the Government today on precautions. Face masks are about personal responsibility and a small step we can take to protect our communities. I support the NHS mandate—we need to keep our health workforce safe and not put those who are most vulnerable and for whom they care at risk. Testing over 10-day isolation—absolutely; testing is the most important thing we can we do and I support it. Boosters—absolutely; we need to get everyone boosted.

    However, I find difficulty with vaccine passports for three main reasons. First, there is no evidence that passports reduce transmission. Yes, France and Scotland have seen some increase in the uptake of the vaccine but no reduction in transmission as a result. Secondly, we are currently saying that two jabs are not enough. Well, if we need a booster and that is so important, why is the vaccine passport based on two jabs? There is a contradiction there. I do not believe that covid passports would prevent lockdowns. I question their mechanics, like my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark). Someone who is self-declaring that they have had a negative test is asking someone to give them that declaration with no evidence that they have had a negative test, and then that is somehow meant to be some kind of increase in capacity. The bureaucratic mechanics required for the passports to work are not there, but neither are the bureaucratic mechanisms required for negative tests. That will come at great cost to us. We do not have the capacity to deliver the negative test aspect of the passport regime.

    Secondly, on modelling of the severity of omicron, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has not even reported yet, so how can we be asked to decide on these measures today without the data? South Africa is not seeing the expected spike in deaths. Hospitalisation sits at about 30 per 1,000, compared with 101 per 1,000 for delta. Using the modelling on delta cannot be right because we know that this variant is not the same. There are currently 10 people in hospital with omicron, but are they in hospital because they have omicron or do they just happen to have it? We do not know the answers. Frankly, if omicron is that severe, we need more than the plan B measures proposed today.

    My third reason for voting against covid passports is the fundamental unease they give me. We do not discriminate on a medical basis in this country, and we cannot. We are encouraging people to work from home, but pub trips or parties are permitted, when we know from the previous lockdowns that the problem was with home mixing. We have very high vaccination rates. We do not need these passports. I know that 96% of people in Rutland and Melton have had their first jab, 93% have had their second, and 47% have had their boosters. My constituents deserve to be thanked and recognised. They do not deserve to have to have passports imposed on them when they are taking up the vaccine like this. I thank the amazing vaccinators across Rutland and Melton, particularly the Rutland Lions Club.

    We are constantly changing the rules. Businesses cannot keep up. These are not the circumstances they asked for. Then there are school closures. Since we announced the measures in plan B, schools across the country are talking about closing. That is not acceptable. Our children must be in school to learn and to be protected. Our children deserve more. We cannot have people going out to parties and pubs and children not in school. The Government must mandate for schools to remain open, not just say that that is the guidance.

    My final plea is for help, because in Melton we do not have enough clinics for vaccinations, and this has been an issue for months. I plead with the Minister to make sure that we get more booster clinics in Melton.

  • Greg Clark – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    Greg Clark – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    The speech made by Greg Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021.

    It is a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom). I think everyone acknowledges that the Government have a difficult task. Although it is important that we debate the regulations before us, in some ways, they are not the most damaging measure. The advice that the Government gave to work from home has much more significant consequences than any of the relatively minor measures we are discussing. Unlike the regulations, that advice does not have an expiry date or an impact assessment, even though we know the impact on businesses across the country, and on young people who work for firms that are perhaps conscious of what their insurers and regulators might require, once again being confined to their homes. That is significant and it is a shame that the House does not have a chance to vote on it.

    On the measures that we have a chance to vote on, there is a lack of clarity about the purpose of the access certificates, if I may call them that. Is it to prompt people to get a vaccine? Is it to give people a nudge and those who have not availed themselves of a vaccine a further incentive to do so? If so, what is the evidence for that working? We know that 90% of the population are vaccinated. What motivates that remaining 10%? Is it the case that the desire to attend a football match or a nightclub will cause them to take up the vaccine? If so, the measure might be a good one. However, we are inconveniencing the 90% of people who are vaccinated when we have no evidence. What are the alternatives? If we really want the remaining people to take up the vaccine, rather than requiring a pass at the entrance to a nightclub or a football ground, perhaps we should have a vaccine centre at the turnstile or the door. That might be better for those who have been too disorganised to arrange their vaccine. We do not know; we have reached for compulsion.

    As colleagues have said, the measure cannot just be about obtaining a vaccine. The option of a negative lateral flow test would not be available if the purpose were just to nudge people. There is a certain logic to requiring 100% of people entering a venue to have a negative test, but as we know, it is perfectly possible for people with just two jabs to transmit covid. There is an ambiguity about the purpose of the measures. Given that the consequence for business owners and venue operators of failing to get right some very complex regulations is a fine of £10,000—a huge amount for small business operators—we should not take that lightly.

    I wonder whether the Minister can answer, possibly in an intervention, a question that came up in the debate about whether the lateral flow tests are to be self-administered or sent, at some cost, to a third party to administer. Perhaps the Minister will clarify that in his winding-up speech.

    Whatever the difficulties, there are flaws in the approach, about which I hope the Minister can provide some reassurance when he winds up.

  • Andrea Leadsom – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    Andrea Leadsom – 2021 Speech on Covid-19 Restrictions

    The speech made by Andrea Leadsom, the Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021.

    Our covid measures have, and continue to, hurt our citizens—from a man with late-stage dementia who is terrified of face masks to an 80-year-old constituent who got stuck in South Africa, not because of omicron, but because flights were suspended; and now, the news that non-urgent primary care will be diverted once again, with the huge risk of harm to babies and young children if face-to-face support is unavailable for long periods of time once again. And the creeping regulation is so hard to keep up with, resulting in teachers cancelling school plays, businesses stopping events and families staying away from happy occasions for fear of breaking a rule they did not know about. Surely the campaign against covid should now focus on two key fronts—more boosters and more education.

    The action by Government on boosters is fantastic, but instead of criminalising people, why do we not start a hard-hitting public health campaign—“If you’re going out this Christmas, don’t forget to take a test” or, “If you’re seeing your granny, make sure you get a jab”? Let us persuade people, rather than criminalise them. And let us go much further to reassure those who have a fear of vaccines, whether because of a needle phobia, because of cultural sensitivities, or just because of fake news.

    My specific concern about testing requirements for big events is the sheer challenge of enforceability in a commercial setting. It would be far better, in my view, to use the approach of a daily test or a vaccine exemption for NHS staff and carers instead. That would be a practical and fair solution for both carers and the cared-for, and it would be enforceable. It would also avoid the risk of losing NHS and care workers who were unwilling to accept compulsory vaccinations.

    I have supported the Government throughout the pandemic when I could see the present danger that we faced, but this time around the measures proposed are precautionary—just in case—and I cannot see where this will end. Covid will be with us for many years to come and it is unthinkable that, every autumn from now on, we will be limiting the quality of life for all citizens, just to be on the safe side; and justifying our new illiberal rules on the basis that “They are less authoritarian than those of other countries” is truly appalling. That is not our culture; that is not our history.

    This is a slippery slope, down which I do not want to slip, so I am afraid I will not be supporting these measures.