argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Prime Minister for his very clear statement, but compliance will be a major issue even if people understand the rules. Part of the problem is that people think the situation will just go on and on for the next decade. Although I understand the Prime Minister’s reluctance to talk too much about a vaccine—he made that clear in an earlier answer—can he help people in Lichfield and the rest of the country by saying that, with new drugs and new vaccines, once we have got over this winter, that will be it?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I have very little doubt that, once we have got through to spring, we will be in a completely different environment. Indeed, I have high hopes that things will change very fast as a result, as my hon. Friend says, of new technologies that are coming on stream. But for the time being we have to concentrate on the tools we have in hand, and those tools are the packages of restrictions that we have set out and the basic guidance about restricting contact person to person and restricting the spread of the virus. That is what we have to do for the time being.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Prime Minister for his support for my campaign to ensure that all women can have partners with them for all scans and all their labour, but will he confirm whether pregnant women throughout the country who are in their third trimester should be shielding, given their much higher vulnerability to covid, and that employers should recognise that and support them to work from home or in roles that are not on the frontline?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The reality is that the disease is rising across the country. We have seen in other European countries and around the world that it sometimes rises fastest in one place rather than another. The sensible thing is to tackle it in a local way, which is what we are doing.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): No—no more than getting a vaccine or test device from the private sector is an error. We need a mixture of public and private and of national and local, and that is what we are doing.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): My Colne Valley constituency, as part of the Kirklees Council area, which is part of West Yorkshire, is going into tier 2 of the covid restrictions. Will the Prime Minister please tell me and my constituents whether we are now tied to the fortunes of West Yorkshire as a whole? Or can smaller, more localised geographical areas move out of the tiers as people make local sacrifices?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): Seasonal flu deaths for the past two years have been relatively light, which means that, in the normal course of things, we would expect a hard winter, noting that in 2014-15 there were 26,000 deaths and in 2017-18 there were 28,000. I appreciate that the Government are doing everything they can to increase the number of vaccinations, but given that we can vaccinate against that disease, unlike covid, will the Prime Minister redouble his efforts to ensure that those who are vulnerable this winter get the flu vaccine that they need?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Ruth Rosamond Edwards (Conservative, Centre-right): The measures that my right hon. Friend has announced today are sadly necessary, given the sharp rise in cases, but hospitality businesses in Rushcliffe, such as the fantastic community-owned Air Hostess pub in Tollerton, which I visited last week, are understandably worried about the impact that stopping households mixing will have on their business just as they have got back on their feet. Can my right hon. Friend confirm how often the tier 2 measures will be reviewed, and can he assure me that they will be kept in place in Rushcliffe only until infection levels have decreased in the borough?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Culture
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue, and that is why we put £1.57 billion into supporting the arts. That funding also covers freelancers and people who are involved in the live music industry, but the best thing for them is to get those types of events back up and running as fast as possible.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): It is thanks to the great expansion of NHS Test and Trace that we know where the virus is being transmitted in this country and where the incidence is rising, and contrary to what the hon. Lady says, we know it with increasing and granular detail. That enables us to take the local measures that we are taking, and I take it from what she said that she supports those measures in Newcastle and the north-east.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Aaron Stuart Bell (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need a flexible local approach to tackle outbreaks? Does he also agree that, when looking at which tier an area moves into, the distinct nature of outbreaks at universities should be taken into account for authorities containing a university, such as Newcastle-under-Lyme, rather than relying on a single, catch-all case rate?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): We are turning around tests as fast as we possibly can and laying on new labs and new test sites, and I am very confident that we will get up to half a million tests a day by the end of the month. I am not going to make a commitment now about turnaround times, but the hon. Gentleman’s point is well made.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Andrew Griffith (Conservative, Centre-right): During a pandemic, life and love continue. I know that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has strained every sinew to protect people’s lives and liberty, but will he undertake to review, over time, the guidelines that say that a venue that could seat 200 as a restaurant could seat only 15 if it happens to be for a marriage ceremony?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend, like many Members across the House, draws attention to what appears to be an anomaly in the regulations and in the guidelines. There are many such issues that we are doing our best to iron out, but when you are dealing with a pandemic such as this and when your only tool of influencing human behaviour is guidance, I am afraid that such anomalies inevitably arise. We will do whatever we can to iron out any inconsistencies there may be.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed, and I hope that the individual will also recognise that the risk that we carry—he or she carries—is not just to ourselves, but to the whole of the community because, in the end, we are all potential vectors of this disease and we may bring it inadvertently to someone who is more vulnerable than ourselves. That is the risk. That is why we are bringing in these measures, why we have had the package of measures that we have had throughout this pandemic, and why we now need to intensify them in some local areas now.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
William Peter Wragg (Conservative, Centre-right): I fear that talk of closing hospitality venues such as pubs, restaurants and cafés misses the point, given the very limited transmission of covid within them. For example, this has averaged at just 2.4% in Stockport over the last four months. Is not the danger in closing them that people will meet in each other’s homes, where transmission is much higher, rather than in these covid-secure venues?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend knows, in level 2 areas and indeed, a fortiori, in level 3 areas, there are restrictions on household contact that are designed to bring down that transmission. You should not meet other households indoors in either a domestic or a hospitality setting.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member makes an important point but, with respect to her, we are aware of that phenomenon—data showing where students, or anybody, are registered with their GP, rather than where the transmission is taking place—so we obviously aim off for that.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Jacob Young (Conservative, Centre-right): The Health Secretary has confirmed that parts of Teesside, including my constituency, will also enter tier 2 restrictions from Wednesday. I desperately wish that these restrictions were not necessary, as they will understandably place a great strain on the mental health of my constituents, who will now be limited in their interactions with friends, families and partners. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the people of Redcar and Cleveland, who put their trust in the Conservative party for the first time in December, are at the forefront of his mind, and that we will lift those restrictions at the earliest opportunity?
Agriculture Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Health
Victoria Mary Boswell Prentis (Conservative, Centre-right): I am afraid I do disagree with the hon. Lady’s reading of the amendment. My case would be that we already have regulation in place to protect human health from risks, including those in the vulnerable sectors of society, which I mentioned.
Young People in Custody: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very aware of the difficulties that many children in custody have faced over the covid period. I recently had a remote meeting with all the governors of the youth estate to discuss the impact of covid on young people in custody. As a result of that discussion and what we have heard, we have prioritised and focused on ensuring a return to face-to-face education and social visits, which are vital to young people’s mental health. I am pleased to say that we have already recommenced both of those across the youth estate.
Young People in Custody: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to clarify what the hon. Lady has said. We have not actively supported the lockdown; when we went into the pandemic, we were told by Public Health England that we were potentially facing 2,500 deaths in our prisons, and we rightly took action very quickly to stem that. Every death is tragic, but I am very pleased that, through our efforts, we only had 23 deaths. The problems in the youth estate are very different, but, equally, we did not want transmission among users and staff, leading to the NHS becoming overwhelmed and staff getting sick, so we took measures that were appropriate at the time. As I mentioned to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith), we absolutely recognise the importance of education. It is something that we are prioritising and have prioritised, and we will continue to do so.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for his support. I notice that it seems to come and go, but it seems to be here today. He criticises testing. He should know that, as I have told the House many times, this country is now testing more than any other country in Europe—one test for every five people. Actually, in spite of the massive increase in demand for testing, we have greatly increased the number of contacts reached from the indexed cases. He should pay tribute to those involved in the whole testing operation, in spite of all the difficulties they face The right hon. and learned Gentleman mentions the success of local lockdowns, and he is absolutely right to draw attention to what happened in Leicester. That was a heroic effort of local people, and it has happened in other parts of the country—local people pulling together to drive the virus down. That is what we hope to encourage throughout the country, and that is certainly part of our strategy. He asked what we are doing to support businesses, families and communities across the country, as though we had not already quite rightly spent £160 billion to support businesses, jobs and livelihoods across the country. We will continue to put our arms around the people of this country I am grateful, as I say, for what the right hon. and learned Gentleman says and the support, such as it is, that he has offered. However, I can tell him that, in putting forward that message of support, I hope he will also say to everybody in his constituency and elsewhere that this is a balanced and proportionate response to the crisis that we face. We are driving the virus down—that is our objective by these measures—but we are also, as I have said, keeping the vast majority of the UK economy going. That is our programme. That is what we intend to do. This is a package to drive down the R, but also to allow education and jobs and growth to continue. That is absolutely vital for the right hon. and learned Gentleman to understand, and I hope that, in his support, which I welcome, he will communicate that to the country as well.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I support the measures announced today. The Prime Minister will have decided them with a heavy heart, but all the evidence from South Korea, Singapore and other countries is that early, decisive action now is the best way to avoid a second full lockdown later. I want to ask him about testing. We have tripled capacity since May and will double it again by the end of October, so there has been a transformation, but we are not there yet. At a school in my constituency a child has tested positive, but it only gets a quota of 10 tests every three weeks, and it is worried that people may be passing on the virus asymptomatically whom it is not able to identify. How can he reassure that school and others up and down the country that are trying so hard to do the right thing?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that we have massively increased testing across the country. We are now prioritising teachers, as he knows. He raises a very important point about school pupils, and an interesting fact is that the rates of infection and transmission among school pupils are much lower than in the rest of the population. But I am not going to hide it from him that the future I see for our country and the way to defeat this virus is massively to expand testing, not just for teachers and not just in schools but throughout the country. That is why I am proud that, in spite of all the difficulties that the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) and others have legitimately pointed out, NHS Test and Trace is now conducting more tests than any other country in Europe. I think we should be proud of that.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend asks a really important question. The answer is, of course, that we must look at what the data tell us. There are several important data. The R is perhaps the crucial one, but we also look at rates of admissions to hospitals and new infections. If those facts change—if things turn around, and if the British public can do what they did before and get this virus down and get it under control—then of course we will review the measures and review the situation.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I do indeed congratulate Randox and all the other businesses involved. We are massively expanding testing the whole time. It is very important for the House to understand that testing alone cannot fix this problem. There is a hiatus in the logic of the attacks that are sometimes mounted. The problem we have in the spread of this virus is that, alas, a minority of people have not been following the guidance in the way they might have done. What we are trying to do now is to get everybody to focus on the rules and the guidance, to enforce it strictly and to get the R down.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Prime Minister for all his hard work during these difficult, challenging times to keep us all safe. He will be aware that I have put forward two private Member’s Bills to improve mental health care provision for all, supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This morning, I spoke to Professor Allan Young from King’s College London, who raised with me real concerns about the reduction in mental health care provision for those with severe mental health issues during covid-19. Will the Prime Minister please look urgently into the matter and the representations of experts such as Professor Young, which I will forward to his office?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I look forward to receiving those representations—I will study them carefully. As the House has heard before, the Government are spending £12 billion more on mental health provision. Also, throughout the pandemic, we have been putting extra cash into mental health charities. I will certainly look at the case my hon. Friend raises.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): For local lockdowns, the guidance is given by the local authorities, following the decision in Covid-O about exactly what restrictions are to be put in place. Clearly the restriction the right hon. Lady suggests is part of the mix.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): The country is now full of amateur infection control experts, amateur epidemiologists and the odd Captain Hindsight. I do not intend to be one of those, but I must express to the Prime Minister the concern of constituents in my area where the seven-day rolling average is now well below 20 and falling, where people have followed the rules but have seen those at protests and street parties not having action taken against them. We will now suffer as a result of these further measures, support them though I do. In particular, hospitality will suffer. May I urge him to look again at the Government’s plans to halve the small brewers’ rate relief, which will damage small brewers, particularly craft brewers? Can we look again at that as this is not the time to be introducing such changes?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Nicholas Anthony Fletcher (Conservative, Centre-right): Don Valley appreciates all the work that the Prime Minister and his team are carrying out in response to the recent rise in cases of covid-19. That said, I must say to him that the blanket restrictions are affecting all people of all ages, immaterial of the actual risk posed to them. Will the Government therefore ask individuals to carry out a personal covid risk assessment, the results of which could determine whether someone needs to shield or can go about their daily lives. This will help boost the economy while protecting the vulnerable. After all, many people’s lives are being affected tremendously by these restrictions, especially the young, who, as we all know, are only young once.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend really puts his finger on the heart of the dilemma. The tragedy of the coronavirus epidemic is that people who are not badly affected themselves can none the less pass it on unwittingly to older or more vulnerable people, so their harmless cough can be someone else’s death knell, unfortunately. That is why we have to apply the restrictions that we do, but he is right also to look ahead to a time when I do believe that we will be able much more easily to identify whether or not we are infectious and to allow us, therefore, to go about our daily lives more easily—young and old.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Gareth Alan Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Darent Valley Hospital in my constituency did an amazing job at the heart of the outbreak, as did many of my local GP surgeries. However, they were under huge pressure. Therefore, will the Prime Minister consider extending the ability of local pharmacies and chemists to administer health treatments so that these gems on our high street can ease the pressure on our health system?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is completely right that pharmacies and chemists are in the frontline of our healthcare and do an absolutely outstanding job in testing people for all kinds of things, covid among them. We will certainly support them in any way that we can.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I will study what the hon. Lady says about the testing unit at Hull University. Everywhere across the country, NHS Test and Trace has been working hand in glove with local authorities to get testing done and hand in glove with Public Health England and of course all our public services. I am surprised by what she says about the testing unit at Hull University, but I will certainly ask NHS Test and Trace to give her a full explanation. In my experience, everything is done to enlist and mobilise the expertise of local government to get the testing done.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): Many people are concerned that, with this dominant focus on covid, people who need NHS treatment for other illnesses or are seeking elective surgery will be pushed further back in the queue, so will the Prime Minister assure us and make sure that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care gives priority to communicating the progress made in dealing with the backlog in surgeries as we go through the winter period?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Health
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course we must do everything we can to ensure that our NHS is not overwhelmed with covid cases. It is when we have a covid crisis—a boom in covid cases—that, as my hon. Friend rightly points out, other needs, including cardiac and cancer cases, are pushed off. That is completely wrong, which is why it is now so vital that we suppress the R—that we drive the rate of infection down—and stop a boom in covid cases, because that is the threat to our NHS and to the provision of all the basic services on which our country relies.