Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones has questioned Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, that blanket lockdowns are wrong.
Andrew Jones put the question to Matt Hancock in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 20 October 2020.
Andrew Jones Chair, European Statutory Instruments Committee, Chair, European Statutory Instruments Committee:
We know that infection rates are at different levels throughout the country, and that restrictions cause issues for people who suffer from health conditions other than covid and have a huge impact on the economy, but closing pubs in Harrogate or Newquay will not make case levels fall in Manchester or Newcastle, so does my right hon. Friend agree that a blanket national lockdown is wrong and that local interventions are what we need now to tackle this crisis?
Matthew Hancock Secretary of State for Health and Social Care:
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.
The localised and regional approach is increasingly being taken up around the world—for instance, in France.
Indeed, Sweden, which has often been discussed in this House, has put in place a system very similar to ours for exactly the sorts of reasons that my hon. Friend has set out.
As a constituent of Andrew Jones I don’t have much truck with him. He doesn’t like me but im not bothered by that. He’s a capitalist who has no interest in the proletariat.
It is very misleading to call that question a challenge. It is a planted question feeding into a pre-scipted answer.