Monday 9th June 2014

(9 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Andy Burnham Portrait Andy Burnham
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It is well documented that the policies of this Government in a range of areas are damaging the health of the nation, but what we get instead is drift from the Government on public health. There is no momentum at all to improve children’s health and the Queen’s Speech had absolutely nothing to say on it. Where are the measures that the Minister has been proposing? What has she been doing? Why does she not introduce them?

Jane Ellison Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)
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The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the legislation for both the measures to which he alludes has already been passed by this House.

Andy Burnham Portrait Andy Burnham
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But regulations are needed. If the Minister does not know that—[Interruption.] It was the Opposition who brought forward the vote on smoking in cars and she committed to introduce regulations to implement it. She cannot duck the question. When will she do that? If she does not realise that she is going to introduce regulations, she needs to go back and do a bit more homework.

It is not hard to guess why the Government want a period of silence. On every measure, the evidence is clear that the NHS is getting worse. When the Prime Minister was challenged—