as he knows, we have the country. as he knows, we have put in place a massive programme of loa ns, put in place a massive programme of loans, of grants and support of all kinds, but it is clear that the best thing for businesses in his constituency and across the country is not to paralyse the economy, not to go back into lockdown, but to defeat the virus in so far as we possibly can, and allow the economy to move forward. we will continue to give whatever help we can. thankful for the commitments on parliamentary scrutiny. he will know many members of the house and public are concerned about the use of delegated powers and i am sure he will remember the sifting committee from the eu withdrawal vote. can i invite him to please consider whether some innovative thinking can be applied to make sure that the authority of this house is brought to bear in advance on these measures that the public can have confidence that their representatives are authorising the use of law to

constrain their freedom? yes, under the current procedures, it is up to the current procedures, it is up to the house to confirm that the executive does have the power to continue with measures under the coronavirus act and that will continue to be the case and we are, additionally, offering and insisting that they should be a proper debate of these issues in parliament. there are many different opinions in parliament and i think people need to them together. children were delighted to return to their primary schools earlier this month, but not surprisingly, after six months of isolation, coughs and colds have spread rapidly among them since. we have been reminded that each prime school has just ten covid tests. will the limit when will primus schools have the wherewithal to test children and staff to avoid spreading at school and avoid unnecessary school closures? he is spot on about what has been

happening in schools and sadly, i think, in many cases, we have seen a rise in the demand for tests because people are reasonably unable to distinguish between the symptoms of covid—i9 or a seasonal cough or cold. we are trying to address it as fast as we possibly can, but the one consolation we have in this is, two things, children are most less like the do suffer seriously from the disease if at all, and much less capable of spreading it.|j disease if at all, and much less capable of spreading it. i think the prime ministerfor his capable of spreading it. i think the prime minister for his statement and steadfast service to our country during this very difficult time. the prime minister understands the long—term harm a second lockdown would cause to people across the country, to their health, their lives, their livelihoods, as they try their best to get back on their feet. will the prime minister consider targeting reductive measures for those most asterisk

rather than deploying the blunt instrument which is lockdown, which we know causes so instrument which is lockdown, which we know causes so much suffering and offers no hope of a cure? she is right about other things and we are doing our best to protect those in ca re doing our best to protect those in care homes who are so vulnerable, as we saw in the early stages of this pandemic, and we have massively increased the winter plan for care homes and around 506 to £5 million gone into stock movements between haircombs and taking gone into stock movements between hair combs and taking the decision to stop moving in care homes. the reason that we are taking those measures now, those difficult measures, is because we want to avoid another national lockdown at exactly the type that you write the months to avoid. thank you, mr speaker. some of my constituents

have been waiting for days, five days or even longer to get their test results back. the government rightly promised in july test results back. the government rightly promised injuly that test results back. the government rightly promised in july that 80% of in—person tests would get their result in 24—hour was from booking. that is now down to below 20%. that is dangerous. it means people are not in the tracing system, it means they can't to being traced, it means they can't to being traced, it means the virus is easier to spread and its mixes more likely that we will face its mixes more likely that we will fa ce eve n its mixes more likely that we will face even stricter restrictions that the prime minister has described across the whole country. given the government made so many mistakes on testing in the first wave, we cannot afford for him to get this wrong again now. when will that 80% target now be met? well, mr speaker, in spite of the massive increase in testing we have seen, 10% in capacity just in testing we have seen, 10% in capacityjust in the last ten days orso, we

capacityjust in the last ten days or so, we are seeing at the moment 64% of people getting their results in 2a hours. i want to get that up as fast as possible, to 80%, what i can tell her is that we will double our testing capacity by the end of october to 500,000 tests a day. we are already testing more people than any other country in europe. are already testing more people than any other country in europelj welcome any other country in europe.” welcome my friend my‘s statement and clear statement of purpose to conquer this terrible violence virus. there has been a failure to comply with wearing a facemask on for the transport and in shops. with these new restrictions, one of the keyissuesis these new restrictions, one of the key issues is going to be ensuring people comply with these requirements. equally, people do not

wa nt to requirements. equally, people do not want to be in a position whereby they are forced to wear a face covering in the open—airjust going about their normal business. can i watched —— can the premise that assures that failure to comply with these rules is really selfish and potentially placing other people at risk and getting that message across? yes, and that is why we are increasing the fines to £200. protecting yourself is protecting other people and you should wear your facemask where you can. 0, mr speaker. shamefully the uk has had one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the world. if we had had germany's deaths per million rate, we would have over 30,000 fewer deaths. apply that to south korea and new zealand, and would have

fewer than 40,000 ——. will the prime minister take responsibility for our unacceptable high death rate and to avoid a repeat this winter, will he now pursue the zero covid—i9 strategy that countries like south korea and new zealand have successfully pursued? what we are pursuing with the support of the opposition is a policy of driving this virus down whilst allowing our education and our economy to continue and i hope that he will lend his support to that effort as well. i thank the prime minister for his statement and leadership during this crisis. will he also committed toa this crisis. will he also committed to a vote in this house prior to any further steps towards a full second national lockdown? mr speaker, i think my honourable friend for his question. we are continuing to

expand testing and tracing and it is by driving down this virus that we will, i believe, be able to take the country will, i believe, be able to take the cou ntry forward will, i believe, be able to take the country forward to a much brighter future and if people focus on the measures we have outlined today, particularly on obeying the guidance for social distancing, together we will defeat covid—i9. for social distancing, together we will defeat covid-19. thank you, mr speaker. it is clear this afternoon that there is a significant level of agreement across the house that the restrictions the prime minister has announced although not necessarily popular are necessary. there is also a great deal of cross—party agreement of support schemes for businesses needing to be extended at the same time restrictions are extended. can i ask the prime minister, rather than rejecting it, to speak to business leaders and union leaders and opposition

parties, to put together a financial support scheme? not only for employees currently on furlough, but for the hundreds of thousands of small business owners left without any support at all during the last six months. i have had the opportunity in the course of the last few months to talk to many businesses up and down the country across scotland and they have been uniformly appreciative of the support of the government has given so far. i must say, we will ensure, asi so far. i must say, we will ensure, as i said earlier on, that we will maintaina very as i said earlier on, that we will maintain a very creative and imaginative approach in helping those businesses. the best thing we can do is fight the virus and keep the economy moving.” can do is fight the virus and keep the economy moving. i felt the prime minister for the economy moving. i felt the prime ministerfor his the economy moving. i felt the prime minister for his statement and he is right to say that it is the cooperation and good sense of the british public has saw the spread of this difficult outbreak a tale. my constituents will continue to do what is exactly required of them. but we have a low rate of covid—i9

and this has been the case throughout. what message of hope can the prime minister give to teenagers who are going to schools and colleges asked to wear facemasks when not in class, to churchgoers robbed of the freedom to worship, and businesses yet to open and are continually frustrated from doing so? churchgoers, i don't think... they will continue have freedom of worship under these proposals. we wa nt life worship under these proposals. we want life as far as we possibly can to keep going. as normally as possible. we want the economy to keep moving. but what i think... the most hope i can offerfor his constituents is that we get this virus back under control and take the country forward and keep the economy moving. that is the best prospect for our country. does he think that the reason germany and italy have far lower covid—i9 rates than others with life continuing

more or less normally might be because they have locally and publicly run test and trace services that actually work? no, i don't. and i think the continual attacks on local test and trace and what the nhs test entries have done our undermining and unnecessary. and actually, there is an important difference between our country and other countries, that is that our country is a freedom loving country and if you look at the history of this country over the last three centuries, edgeley every advance from free—speech to democracy, has come from this country. it is very difficult to ask the british population uniformly to obey... to obey guidelines in the way it is necessary. what we are saying today is that collectively, and i am asking that we might answering his question directly, the way to do this is for us all to follow the

guidelines, which we will strictly enforce and get the letter are down. that is the way forward. appreciating the frustrations from people currently with symptoms and finding it difficult to get tests, would the prime minister agree with me that capacity going up by 10% in the last few weeks, four new apps coming online and hundreds of additional staff, we can reach our target of half a million tests by the end of october and would he agree with me that it would be an amazing achievement against a virus that we were onlyjust learning about a few short months ago?m will not surprise him to know that i fervently agree with the way he characterises the achievements of nhs test and trace and his optimism and encouragement of nhs test and trace could, reasonably be echoed by the party opposite. thank you, mr speaker. manchester is home to two

of the largest universities in the country with a combined student body of 80,000. many dues to live in my constituency. with so many students returning to university, this is a very difficult time for the university, the community and their families, who are concerned for their safety, with the surge in infections, what advice does the government intend on giving to universities and keeping the students, staff and the wider community safe? i thank him. the most important thing is the students who are now back at university in large numbers should, like everybody else, follow the guidelines. it is also important that where there are outbreaks in universities that stu d e nts outbreaks in universities that students should not be going home to

infect their older relatives. thank you, mr speaker. the district of wealden and rotherham that are my constituency, that have recorded just for covid—i9 conditions per population each comic, ask the prime minister? e said that palpable progress will have to be made if this is not to last six months in terms of the new measures, can he consider those areas with lower rates being freed from this restrictions earlier if progress is made across the nation? of course and that is why we are confiding our hopes and our confidence in a local regional approach rather than a blanket one size fits all national approach. we hope to be... and we hope those areas complying with the rules and those who are applying with the rules will be able to see the opportunities he describes. the

prime minister calls it nhs nhstest and trace, but wouldn't it be more accurate to call it outsourced. it has been outsourced to friends of tory mps lining their pockets whilst taking these public for a ride. in spite of the record of failure, last week this company was handed another test and trace contract worth £45 million. these private companies put public that we might profit before public that we might profit before public health. it is not time to bring these contracts into public hands for a genuine nhs test and trace? she is grossly undermining the huge effort of local authorities that are an integral part of nhs test and trace, they are doing a magnificentjob test and trace, they are doing a magnificent job and i test and trace, they are doing a magnificentjob and i thank each and every one of those individuals for what they are doing. they we are putting another £300 million into supporting nhs test and trace. it is

right we should reach out across the entire uk economy to help, including the armed services, to help us deliver on this enormous project. we will continue to do so. i welcome the work that is being done across the four nations in recent days as people expect our governments to work together and unite as we tackle this virus. given these restrictive measures could be with us for the next six months or longer, what guarantee can get that this uk government will continue to support scottish employers and workers in areas affected by these measures when the further scheme ends? i thank my honourable friend and asi ends? i thank my honourable friend and as i have said to scottish collea g u es and as i have said to scottish colleagues across the house, we will continue to put her arms around workers and firms, businesses are runjobs across workers and firms, businesses are run jobs across the country. that is why the further scheme was rolled out, the most imaginative and generous scheme of any such scheme in europe and said we are providing

for every person in scotland an extra £1200 to help fight coronavirus and 5.3 billion more announced just this summer alone. mr speaker, the people of scotland and the people of the whole of the uk can count on this government to stand by them throughout the crisis. can the prime minister confirm that schedule circuitry is such as hip replacements, cancersurgeries, diabetic screening will continue with high standards of protection in place and that will not see people falling through the gaps and also on the long waiting lists will be reduced? the whole objective of trying to prevent another boom in coronavirus suffering is to protect the nhs and to allow schedule surgery of the kind he describes to

continue. unfortunately, stoke—on—trent schools such as the accel academy had staff and students testing positive for coronavirus. with shared my concerns about staff and students being away from the clash as they await testing and would he agree with me this crew should be prioritised so that staff and students are back in school as soon as possible? yes, indeed. i wa nt to soon as possible? yes, indeed. i want to thank the staff and students in his constituency and across the country for the 99.9% of schools that are now back open again. the vast majority of pupils are back in their schools. they should have confidence to be there that they are in the right place, by far the best place for them to be and we are sending out new test kits the whole time and there is an online portal through which every school can now access the tests that they need.

liverpool begins local lockdown measures today. when restrictions we re measures today. when restrictions were first imposed six months ago the prime minister outlined a package of financial support for local government. we did that was all -- local government. we did that was all —— we did all that was asked of us but we have been left with a £23 million funding gap. what support is the prime minister able to announce today for ha rd—hit the prime minister able to announce today for hard—hit councils? the prime minister able to announce today for hard-hit councils? as i have told the honourable lady before, we have put £3.7 billion into supporting local government and we will continue to support local government and i will look at the £23 million funding gap that she races with me today. while working from home has been great for many, for senior managers living in larger properties with nice gardens, that hasn't been the experience for a great many others living in cramped, overcrowded accommodation. does my right honourable friend that there will be dismayed today amongst those people for whom a return to

covid—secure workplaces have been so important for mental, physical, social well—being, and it feels like it will be a long six months for them having to work back on their own homes. . it is important that he should not misunderstand what we are saying today. where people must go into work for theirjob, for their mental health, for their well—being or whatever it happens to be, then they should do so. what we are saying is you should work from home if you can. i hope he appreciates the distinction and gives his constituents that reassurance. the chancellor pledged at the start of this crisis that the uk government would do whatever it takes to help people. the prime minister has said today that he will put his arms around the workers of this country. if these statements are to be believed, can the prime minister committed to extending the furlough to save jobs across the uk, and for

those not in work, will he make permanent the 20 point uplift to universal credits and extend this uplift? i am glad that she draws attention to this increase in universal credit, probably worth about £4000 to the poorest families in our country. i am proud of what we have done on the living wage. i can tell her that a course we will continue to support people across this country, but the most important thing to repeat my point, is for the economy to keep moving, forjobs to be created and for people to get back into work. my constituency as pa rt back into work. my constituency as part of kirklees and it was back into local restrictions today. we have just heard about these new measures that may last up to six months. can i ask him to ask the chancellor if he will now layout our

financial support package for hospitality, the likes of the wedding industry, marquee companies, small breweries, freelance musicians and performers, even event venues, and performers, even event venues, and many, many more whose livelihoods will be impacted by the measures he has announced today? the sectors that he referred to in many respects have been provided for unsupported, but clearly there will further demands and i know that the chancellor will be applying his imagination and his creativity to helping those sectors in the months ahead. the best thing for them is to get back to life as close to normal as possible by getting this virus down. that is the point of the package of measures that we are announcing today. last week i received a letter from the health

minister informing me that the new covid testing centre will be available for michael stockport constituents. 240 miles away. while iam constituents. 240 miles away. while i am willing to accept this as an administrative mistake, it could be accurate, given that many of my constituents are having to travel 70 miles to a test in telford. isn't it time that the government gotta grip, or will it lead to the highest death toll in europe and the eminent second way. i must correct his figures. we are testing more than any other country in europe. the medianjourney i any other country in europe. the median journey i think it's about 5.8 miles an newjourney is permitted to be more than 75 miles. i don't recognise the figures that i have heard from him. my constituency

is one of several under local measures and has been for several weeks. i would like to pay tribute to my constituents, businesses and families who have made great sacrifices to keep this country safe. in welcoming the statement today, could ask for an assurance that this represents a circuit breaker not a hard wiring or policy. and as it is reviewed we will make sure we can get back to normal as soon as possible? yes, mr speaker the intention of these measures is collectively to depress the number micro but keep the economy and education function, that is what we're to do. can the prime minister for the sake of absolute clarity and for the sake of absolute clarity and for the sake of absolute clarity and for the removal of any doubt over potential mix messaging please confirm that what he has announced the date in terms of measures in the national context does not supersede or dilate the more stringent measures announced last week for tyne and weir, northumberland and durham, were case numbers have sadly

been grown rapidly despite a reduction in local testing capacity. can you confirm what additional support he will put in place for businesses and workers in the north—east in sectors where activity has been greatly reduced by covid restrictions. he is completely right and what he says about the areas currently in local lockdown measures. of course we are doing extra, giving them extra support to get them through lockdown, as he would expect. will my right honourable friend joined me in thanking all of those on the front line at the covid—i9 test centres and labs working so incredibly hard to keep up with the unprecedented demand as we grow our testing capacity to 500,000 today by the end of october? yes, indeed. i thank each and every one of the people involved in nhs test and trace. i think that they're doing outstanding

job, despite the massive increase in demand and i am delighted she has paid tribute to them. how does the prime ministerjustified recent reports that every child at eton gets a covid test were currently 10% of children and staff at a nursery in luton are having to stay at home and isolate where there were protests that show no sign of coming? can he tell us how many schoolchildren are currently self isolating because they cannot afford to buy their own tests, and if there is so much spare capacity, why is it that not every child can get a test when they need it? every child with symptoms should automatically get a test. that is everybody with symptoms should get a test, and i can tell her that we are massively expanding testing across the country. i repeat the point that i made earlier on, it is one of the few things which we can be thankful

about this epidemic, that it does affect children and young people, the youngest of all, much less than older people and there is much less evidence that they pass it on in the way that other people do. does my right honourable friend agree with me that the best way to support our heroic staff at the hospital in dudley, care staff and our residents in care homes, is to reinforce the central message of washing our hands, maintain social distancing, and where face coverings when appropriate? he puts it very well and very succinctly and i really couldn't add anything to what he says. one of the most shocking aspects of the coronavirus pandemic has been the disproportionate impact on black patients and minority ethnic residents. when public health and can released a report, the

government was warned it needed to act immediately to stop further preve nta ble act immediately to stop further preventable deaths, but we have seen new urgency. the chair of the british medical association is now warning that government inaction will lead to more preventable deaths of black, asian and minority ethnic residents in the winter. what will the prime minister do about it?” already mentioned earlier on that we have done a great deal to target measures to protect those in front line jobs, measures to protect those in front linejobs, including measures to protect those in front line jobs, including many from measures to protect those in front linejobs, including many from black and minority ethnic groups. i pay tribute to those public servants, many of them have done such a fantastic job throughout this many of them have done such a fantasticjob throughout this crisis at great personal risk. i thank them for what they are doing. we are doing everything we can to protect them, and of course where there are vulnerable communities that need to understand the guidance of a coronavirus, we are doing everything we can to get the messages home. those are just some of the things

the government is doing. could my right honourable friend say to what extent the measures he has announced today are being coordinated with the devolved administrations? i raised theissue devolved administrations? i raised the issue because in wales the different arrangements have sometimes been the cause of confusion, not least because most welsh residents take their news from the london—based media. welsh residents take their news from the london-based media. actually, over the last few weeks and months there has been exceptionally high degree of collaboration between the uk government and all the devolved administrations. today, yesterday, i had conversations with mark to eckford about what he is doing and it bears an uncanny resemblance to what the rest of the uk is doing. clarity is key to public trust. many people have been confused by the government potluck mixed messages and public health measures. can he guarantee that none of his ministers

or advisers will contradict the rules he set out today and if they do so that they will be disciplined? it is up to all of us to obey the guidance and to urge everybody in this country to obey the guidance, follow the rules, because that is the way we will defeat the virus. blyth valley has recently face tighter restrictions as an immediate response to a rise in local cases. i know that these measures are necessary in controlling this deadly virus, but they have a real impact on families, businesses and local communities. i welcome the right honourable member for west suffolk plasma decision on lifting the ban on informal childcare yesterday. mr speaker, i know that this is a move that will be a relief to many of my constituents. can i ask my right honourable friend, the prime minister, to continue to do all he can to support families through this tough time? i thank my honourable friend for