The comments made by Alison McGovern, the Shadow Sports Minister, on 11 January 2021.
Sport in this country has taken huge measures to ensure games can go ahead and players and fans are kept safe. But it’s clear that with cases rising across the country, this is becoming increasingly difficult. Labour has said all along that the Government should follow the science – and we implore the Government to follow any advice SAGE issue.
The comments made by Alok Sharma, the COP President, on 11 January 2021.
We have seen ambitious commitments from across the world to net zero targets to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. But targets can only be met through action. We must preserve nature and our biodiversity, and move more quickly from coal to clean power.
It is fantastic to see billions of pounds pledged today to support efforts to reduce deforestation and degradation, and to accelerate the transition to clean energy. By working together, on the road to COP26, we can make faster progress towards a sustainable future for our planet.
The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 11 January 2021.
We will not achieve our goals on climate change, sustainable development or preventing pandemics if we fail to take care of the natural world that provides us with the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
The UK is already leading the way in this area, committing to protect 30 percent of our land and ocean by the end of the decade and pledging at least £3bn today to supporting nature and biodiversity.
We must work together as a global community to drive the ambitious change and investment we need to protect our shared planet and the glorious, rich and diverse life within it.
The comments made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, on 9 January 2021.
Covid case numbers still a big concern & putting huge pressure on the NHS, as hospital and ICU cases increase. Also, 93 further deaths remind us just how dangerous the virus can be – my thoughts are with all those grieving.
To save lives and protect the NHS, please stay home.
The statement made by Nadhim Zahawi, the Vaccine Deployment Minister, on 10 January 2021.
Britons will again be cheered by the news that yet another vaccine has been approved for use in the UK.
Friday’s authorisation of the Moderna vaccine for (coronavirus) COVID-19 means we will, by spring, have 3 safe and effective vaccines to use.
A vaccine was always going to be our best way out of this pandemic; that’s why so much effort and planning has gone into our vaccination programme.
Some 1.5 million people have got the jab already and this number is accelerating rapidly.
Tomorrow we’re launching our full vaccine deployment plan – the culmination of months of preparation and hard work by the NHS, the Armed Forces, and local and regional government at every level.
The basic principle that sits behind it is to save as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible. It’s also essential we reduce hospitalisations from this disease, so we can reduce the pressure on our NHS.
To achieve that, we have an ambitious plan to protect our most vulnerable groups first, because they account for more than 4 out of 5 COVID deaths. We want to offer the vaccine to the top 4 most vulnerable groups by the middle of February.
It’s ambitious, but I’m confident we can do it, not least because we are drawing on the strengths of 2 of this country’s most treasured assets: the NHS and our Armed Forces. We’re in safe hands.
Working together, day and night, they will ensure our vaccines are going into arms rather than sitting on shelves. UK forces will use techniques borne out of decades of experience of getting things done in some of the toughest conditions imaginable. They’ll bring the bravery and brilliance they shown in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to these shores.
By the end of this week, we will have over 1,000 GP-led vaccination sites up and running, as well as 223 hospital sites, 7 giant vaccination centres and the first wave of 200 community pharmacies. It means it won’t be too long before we can expand our programme down the priority list and more of us can get the jabs, using our new National Booking service to make appointments.
It’s an exciting time, but I recognise it’s also a frustrating time because we’re not there yet. We’re still living under some tough restrictions and the disruption that comes with them. But as our heroes set out on this vital national mission, we can all play our part by sticking to the rules and remembering those simple steps: hands, face, space. That way their success will be our success and we can come out of this together.
The statement made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 10 January 2021.
We begin 2021 knowing that vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. Human ingenuity and phenomenal scientific advances make it a case of when, not if, we will return back to normal life.
The cavalry is here courtesy of our vaccination programme and we have already protected more people through vaccinations than any other European country.
Alongside this pivotal work, we must not lose focus on our system of testing, which we know is another important weapon in our fight against this virus, and can bring down the R number by between 0.3 and 0.6.
Over the past months, we have been regularly testing our colleagues in health and social care and those working in critical infrastructure, to give them peace of mind and to keep them and their colleagues safe.
We have also been doing community testing in the areas where prevalence is highest to help find more cases sooner and we currently have over 400 sites in community centres, village halls and places of worship across the country.
This targeted approach has yielded results, picking up a proportion of cases that’s above the national average and allowing us to bear down hard on the virus in a local area.
Today I am thrilled to announce that testing for those who do not have symptoms will be available to every local authority in England, and working closely with devolved administrations, so every corner of the UK can benefit from this life-saving work.
This expansion comes at a critical time. We recently had to introduce difficult but vital restrictions to deal with a highly transmissible new variant of coronavirus.
As a result, millions of people are working from home, reducing their social contact to slow the spread of the virus.
But we know that millions of workers, who work in warehouses or construction sites or who keep vital services going, are not able to do this. So we will be asking local authorities to target this testing programme at those who cannot work from home and who have to leave home during lockdown, providing them with another layer of protection and helping us to drive down the spread of the virus.
Many large employers, like John Lewis and Royal Mail are already piloting regular workforce testing. As we expand our capacity, we want more rapid testing available to those who can’t work from home, and NHS Test and Trace will work closely with other government departments, employers and local authorities to make this happen.
This critical national infrastructure for testing will be so important as we ease restrictions, so we can use the confidence provided by accurate testing to find the virus and help us return to normal life.
One of the greatest breakthroughs in our testing programme was the use of lateral flow devices, which can pick up infectious cases and turn around rapid results.
So far, most of these tests have been shipped in from abroad, but we now have signed a contract with SureScreen Diagnostics, based in Derby, to deliver the first lateral flow tests here in Britain to be approved by Public Health England.
Two million of these rapid tests, which provide results within 30 minutes, have already been manufactured, with the first batch of one million due to be delivered by the end of this week.
This is great news for our country, not only because it allows us to test more people, but also allows us to boost British industry and further enhance our world leading life sciences sector.
While we deliver our vital programmes for testing and vaccines, using the best of human ingenuity to keep us safe for the long-term, we must all play our part and follow the rules that we know can bend the curve.
If we do this, then we know that 2021 will be a year of recovery, and a year when this nation gets back on its feet once more.
The comments made by Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, on 10 January 2021.
We have faced several grave moments during our battle against coronavirus. But right now, the country is perhaps facing the most serious yet.
The new, more transmissible variant of this disease is spreading rapidly across the country and having tragic consequences. On Monday the 4 UK Chief Medical Officers and the NHS Medical Director recommended raising the national alert level to the maximum of level 5 for the first time. This means that without further action there is a material risk of our healthcare services being overwhelmed within 21 days. Since then the situation has deteriorated further.
Hospitals are always busy in the winter but the NHS in some parts of the country is currently facing the most dangerous situation anyone can remember. If the virus continues on its current trajectory many hospitals will be in real difficulties, and very soon. This means that the time people wait for care will continue to increase to potentially unsafe levels, hospitals won’t have room to take redirected emergency cases in regional networks, staff to patient ratios which are already stretched will become unacceptable even in places likes intensive care. There will be avoidable deaths. NHS staff are doing their absolute best, and working remarkably; we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude, but even they have limits.
The public have made an extraordinary effort so far. Of course we are all tired of restrictions, but we need to find the collective strength to get through this critical stage and save as many lives as we can. The advice right now is unambiguous: to drive the numbers down, we must stay home except for work, exercise and essential activities. Every unnecessary interaction you have could be the link in a chain of transmission which has a vulnerable person at the end.
These restrictions will not last forever. Science has delivered new vaccines, drugs and tests, with more on the way, in record time. People will be reunited. Vaccines and new treatments offer us hope and a clear way out. But we are not there yet, and should not act as if we are.
We still have weeks to go before vaccines will start reducing COVID deaths and, some weeks later, the number of people being hospitalised. We cannot afford to let our justified optimism for the future come at the expense of difficult action today. That means for now staying home and avoiding all unnecessary contacts. By following the rules, we will save lives and help normal life return more swiftly.
The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 10 January 2021.
Our NHS is facing a huge challenge – it is under immense pressure and it’s imperative now more than ever we all play our part.
I know how much we have all sacrificed already, but the new variant has significantly changed the current landscape and we absolutely cannot let up now.
There is light at the end of the tunnel – the vaccine will provide a way out of this and over 1.5 million people across the UK have now been vaccinated.
Every day we are closer to beating this virus, but right now, we need to pull together for one final push and I’m urging you to continue to do your bit by staying at home to save lives and protect the NHS.
The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 10 January 2021.
Our hospitals are under more pressure than at any other time since the start of the pandemic, and infection rates across the entire country continue to soar at an alarming rate.
The vaccine has given us renewed hope in our fight against the virus but we must not be complacent. The NHS is under severe strain and we must take action to protect it, both so our doctors and nurses can continue to save lives and so they can vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as we can.
I know the last year has taken its toll – but your compliance is now more vital than ever. So once again, I must urge everyone to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on 8 January 2021.
Kwasi Kwarteng has a massive task. Businesses needs support and a plan to help them through this year, not the inadequate sticking plaster measures we have seen. The failure to provide support equal to the scale of the emergency risks many businesses going to the wall. He must deliver.
It’s welcome that Alok Sharma is now doing the COP Presidency as a full-time role. It’s absolutely crucial that the full political, diplomatic and strategic resources of government are now directed to the most ambitious outcome at Glasgow, which is a 1.5 degree deal.