"My Lords, I commend the Minister for congratulating Tony Blair, who, of course, led the best Government of modern times in this country. The Blair Government trebled health spending in real terms—three times the rate of growth under this Government. I encourage the Minister to learn further lessons from Tony …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, the HGV driver shortage has clearly been exacerbated by Brexit. Will the Minister tell the House what he intends to do about that?..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, Sir Simon’s report makes no reference to international best practice and gives no internationally comparative statistics—for example, on sectioning. I gave the noble Lord notice of a question I would like to ask about what international best practice the Government have in mind. Will he be able to …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, the isolation of school pupils is a crucial issue, and the Minister kindly agreed to address five questions which I posed on Tuesday. First, will the Government undertake in England not to follow Wales and close all secondary schools as part of any revised tier 3 or circuit-break …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, it is vital that schools are kept open, wherever possible, and that full online learning is provided where they cannot be. I will ask the Minister five specific questions about what is going on in the schools sector. The first is on the closure of schools. Under the …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"Will the Minister undertake that all schools are able to apply for laptops upfront, without having to wait until pupils are sent home?..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, I join the noble Lord, Lord O’Shaughnessy, in paying tribute to NHS staff. I will pick up on his point about the importance of diagnostic testing. If we are to find a way through this that does not involve people being off work for months and months, which …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, there is a gaping black hole in the economic package announced in response to this crisis. I hope that the Minister has picked up from the repeated questions of noble Lords on all sides that there is acute concern about this. I do not think it is possible …..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"My Lords, my noble friend referred to localism and local decision-making but the Mayor of the West Midlands, the Mayor of Greater Manchester and the leader of Leeds City Council are strongly in favour of HS2 continuing. They prioritise it very highly. Does that not weigh with my noble friend?..." Lord Adonis - View Speech
"I do not accept that that is correct. If my noble friend asks the Mayor of the West Midlands, he will not find him prioritising other services over HS2...." Lord Adonis - View Speech