Topical Questions 2020-06-23
2020-06-23
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The shadow Secretary of State questions the efficacy of the test and trace strategy.
In recent days, I have been listening to excuses from the Secretary of State. He is like Eric Morecambe in that he plays all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order. Local areas such as Leicester still do not have local data; GPs cannot refer people for testing; NHS staff are not tested regularly; and tracers at a Serco and Sitel call centre say they have nothing to do. This is not world-beating, it's like a wing and a prayer. When will we get a functional test, trace and isolate strategy?
The shadow Secretary of State is far better when he supports the Government than when he pretends to oppose them. We have seen him explaining why steps taken by the Government are sensible, why it's important to move from a national lockdown as much as possible to local outbreak control, and why test and trace is important. When he criticises spending on protecting the NHS and implementing actions needed to exit lockdown as wasted money, that appears to be opposition for its own sake.
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Assessment & feedback
The inefficacy of current testing and tracing measures
Shifts Blame
Personal Attack
Response accuracy
Q2
Direct Answer
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Context
Wilson addresses the Secretary of State about racial disparities under the Mental Health Act.
The Secretary of State rightly says that black lives matter. The time for action is now, yet latest figures show that black African and black Caribbean people are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. When will he bring forward the White Paper on the mental health Bill? Will he please ensure that that legislation enshrines the four principles laid out in the Wessely review, including treating the patient as an individual, so that we can start to tackle racial disparities in mental health treatment?
We will bring forward that White Paper. The work has been ongoing even while we have been dealing with coronavirus. As far as I am concerned, the Wessely review is one of the finest pieces of work on the treatment of mental ill health that has been done anywhere in the world.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q3
Direct Answer
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Context
Baynes highlights the importance of combatting loneliness for elderly people during Loneliness Awareness Week.
We have just marked Loneliness Awareness Week. Does the Secretary of State agree that combating loneliness is vital in ensuring the health and wellbeing of elderly people? I have seen excellent work at the Rainbow Centre in Penley in my constituency and by the charity I helped to set up, the Concertina Charitable Trust, which provides live music in care homes and day centres.
Absolutely. When we set up the loneliness strategy in 2018, when I was the Culture Secretary, I had no idea that covid-19 would make it so vital. I very much hope that, in England at least, the measures the Prime Minister is due to set out very shortly might help in that regard. Covid has underlined the importance of loneliness as an issue that we must directly and actively tackle.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy