Blog

  • Matt Hancock – 2021 Comments on the Antivirals Taskforce

    Matt Hancock – 2021 Comments on the Antivirals Taskforce

    The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 20 April 2021.

    The UK is leading the world in finding and rolling out effective treatments for COVID-19, having identified dexamethasone, which has saved over a million lives worldwide, and tocilizumab.

    In combination with our fantastic vaccination programme, medicines are a vital weapon to protect our loved ones from this terrible virus.

    Modelled on the success of the vaccines and therapeutics taskforces, which have played a crucial part in our response to the pandemic, we are now bringing together a new team that will supercharge the search for antiviral treatments and roll them out as soon as the autumn.

    I am committed to boosting the UK’s position as a life science superpower and this new taskforce will help us beat COVID-19 and build back better.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the Antivirals Taskforce

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Comments on the Antivirals Taskforce

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 20 April 2021.

    The success of our vaccination programme has demonstrated what the UK can achieve when we bring together our brightest minds.

    Our new Antivirals Taskforce will seek to develop innovative treatments you can take at home to stop COVID-19 in its tracks. These could provide another vital defence against any future increase in infections and save more lives.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement at Covid-19 Press Conference

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement at Covid-19 Press Conference

    The statement made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 20 April 2021.

    Thank you very much for joining us. I’m joined today by Dr Nikki Kanani.

    There is no doubt at all that this country is continuing to make progress in the fight against Covid.

    We are proceeding with our roadmap and I want to thank everybody for continuing to follow the guidance and to thank parents and families for the incredible work you are doing to help test pupils through the Easter holidays and to encourage you to keep testing them twice a week as schools return. And above all I want to thank everybody involved in the outstanding vaccine roll-out, especially those of you coming forwards in huge numbers as you are.

    19 out of 20 of those who’ve had a first dose are coming forward for a second, meaning that almost 1 in 5 of all adults have now had a second dose.

    And on first jabs we’ve now vaccinated 33 million people, including 60 per cent of the 45-49 year olds.

    And we know that this vaccination programme is making a big difference.

    We know that it’s helping to reduce suffering and save lives

    potentially on a very big scale.

    But we don’t yet know the full extent of the protection that we are building up the exact strength of our defences –

    and as we look at what is happening in other countries with cases now at record numbers around the world, we cannot delude ourselves that Covid has gone away.

    I see nothing in the data now that makes me think we are going to have to deviate in any way from the roadmap cautious but irreversible that we have set out. but the majority of scientific opinion in this country is still firmly of the view that there will be another wave of covid at some stage this year and so we must – as far as possible – learn to live with this disease, as we live with other diseases.

    We will be bolstering our defences with booster jabs this Autumn, we’ll be continuing with testing, and today I want to announce what we hope will be a further line of medical defence.

    The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to pioneer dexamethasone, which has saved a million lives globally.

    And today we are creating a new Antivirals Task Force

    to search for the most promising new medicines and support their development through clinical trials

    with the aim of making them safely and rapidly available as early as the Autumn.

    This means, for example, that if you test positive there might be a tablet you could take at home to stop the virus in its tracks and significantly reduce the chance of infection turning into more severe disease. Or if you’re living with someone who has tested positive, there might be a pill you could take for a few days to stop you getting the disease yourself.

    And by focussing on these antivirals we hope to lengthen the UK’s lead in life sciences and to give ever greater confidence to the people of this country that we can continue on our path towards freedom.

    We have a taken a big step again this month, reopening significant parts of our country again, and for many people this last week has brought the first glimmerings of a return to normality having a pint, having a haircut, making that trip to the shops.

    Every day science is helping us to get back towards normality and I believe that antiviral treatments can play an important part.

    And if we keep going, follow the rules. Remember hands, face, space, fresh air –

    then we can keep each other safe and see through our roadmap to reclaim our lives in full.

  • Matt Warman – 2021 Comments on Cyber Security Laws

    Matt Warman – 2021 Comments on Cyber Security Laws

    The comments made by Matt Warman, the Digital Infrastructure Minister, on 21 April 2021.

    Our phones and smart devices can be a gold mine for hackers looking to steal data, yet a great number still run older software with holes in their security systems.

    We are changing the law to ensure shoppers know how long products are supported with vital security updates before they buy and are making devices harder to break into by banning easily guessable default passwords.

    The reforms, backed by tech associations around the world, will torpedo the efforts of online criminals and boost our mission to build back safer from the pandemic.

  • Conor McGinn – 2021 Comments on Atomwaffen Division

    Conor McGinn – 2021 Comments on Atomwaffen Division

    The comments made by Conor McGinn, the Shadow Security Minister, on 19 April 2021.

    Racism and fascism have no place in our society or on our streets, so it’s welcome that this vile group has rightly been outlawed as a terrorist organisation.

    It is concerning that the group seems to have been operational since 2015, yet this action is only now happening.

    Labour has long warned that the government does not have a robust enough strategy to address the rise in far-right extremism. This needs to be swiftly addressed, to tackle this appalling threat.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Government’s New Emissions Target

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Government’s New Emissions Target

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 19 April 2021.

    The character of this government on climate change is now clear: targets without delivery. So while any strengthening of our targets is the right thing to do, the Government can’t be trusted to match rhetoric with reality.

    Ministers have failed to bring forward an ambitious green recovery, passing up three major fiscal events to do so. They are flirting with proposals for a new deep coal mine, axed the vital housing retrofit scheme, and are way off track for our net zero targets.

    We need a government that treats the climate emergency as the emergency it is. That means greater ambition than this government matched with much more decisive action. This year, as hosts of COP26, the UK has a particular responsibility to lead the world and show the way forward for a greener future. This Government isn’t up to the task.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Business Start-Ups

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Business Start-Ups

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 19 April 2021.

    To rebuild our economy, we need to harness the dynamism and creativity of our nation’s entrepreneurs. They need strategic and targeted investment, allocated based on the strengths and drive of potential business founders, not the favours or promises of former business contacts.

    These business founders and small businesses across the country should be at the heart of our economic recovery, yet too many are being held back because of the unfair distribution of funding to help them start up and scale up.

    There are hardworking and innovative business founders being left out in the cold by the Conservatives. With Labour, they will get the backing they need to succeed.

  • Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on Business Start-Ups

    Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on Business Start-Ups

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 19 April 2021.

    The drop in business birth rates is in no way symptomatic of a drop in ideas, drive, creativity, or commitment from British entrepreneurs. But under this Conservative government, the next generation of business founders are being let down.

    Business growth is the engine of our economy and it is only by backing aspiring founders that we can create jobs and rebuild a secure economy. Labour backs business and will provide start-up loans to create 100,000 new businesses across the UK over the next parliament.

  • Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Education Policy Institute’s Report

    Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Education Policy Institute’s Report

    The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, on 20 April 2021.

    Boris Johnson has betrayed children by overpromising and under-delivering on catch-up.

    After a decade of neglect of children’s learning, with rising class sizes and increasing child poverty, the Conservatives’ catch-up funding amounts to a measly 43p per child a day. Their inadequate, poorly targeted tutoring programme is leaving thousands without support and they have no plan for children’s wellbeing despite having had months away from their friends.

    Labour would put children at the heart of our national recovery. We need catch-up breakfast clubs and a national strategy to ensure every child recovers from the pandemic and is supported to reach their full potential.

  • Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Labour Becoming the Party of the Countryside

    Luke Pollard – 2021 Comments on Labour Becoming the Party of the Countryside

    The comments made by Luke Pollard, the Shadow DEFRA Secretary, on 20 April 2021.

    Farm payments need reform, but it is extraordinary to take a quarter of a billion pounds out of the rural economy this year alone, risking as many as 9,500 jobs and pushing family farms to the brink.

    The Government needs to get a grip on this, review it, and provide the security that our rural communities desperately need as they recover and rebuild.

    Labour’s Rural England Policy Review will ensure that our next manifesto provides as much hope and opportunity to rural communities as it does to those living in towns and cities.