(Aylesbury) (Con): Q8. Does the Prime Minister share my
concern that the contractors for HS2 Ltd are not following the very
clear Government advice on coronavirus? This is not, to be clear,
about the rights and wrongs of HS2; it is about the safety of us
all. My constituents have seen contractors blatantly fail to follow
the rules about social distancing, and have observed them coughing
over concerned residents, causing great distress. Should they stay
at home to save lives? [901758]
The Prime Minister: We have been very clear that everybody
should work at home if they possibly can, and construction should
only take place in a way that is in accordance with Public Health
England and industry advice.
: I thank you again, Mr
Speaker, for making these arrangements today, so that more
colleagues can come into the Chamber. It is a little odd,
however, that we are having to have a double session of Prime
Minister’s Question Time to question the Prime Minister, when he
himself should have volunteered to come here and make a statement
at some length on the subject, rather than just doing it through
press conferences and television addresses. This House is the
place where the Government should be held to account.
Construction sites are still operating and still working on
non-emergency work, despite the new rules. The Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster said yesterday that sites will continue to
stay open. We heard this morning on the radio a call from a
self-employed construction worker who said that he had contracted
coronavirus and was suffering from it—he knew he had got it—but
he had no option other than to get on the London tube and go on
to a site to work, putting himself at greater risk and putting
all other passengers and all other workers on that site at risk.
Why was he doing it? Because his site had not been closed down,
and he had no other source of income to feed his family, so he is
going to work, putting all of us more at risk as a result. Can
the Prime Minister be absolutely clear and give unequivocal
guidance now that non-emergency construction work should stop
now?
The Prime Minister: Everybody should work at home unless
they must go to work—unless they have no alternative and they
cannot do that work from home. If a construction company is
continuing with work, clearly it should do so in accordance with
the guidance of Public Health England, and it has a duty of care
to its employees. But overwhelmingly, what we are saying to the
people of this country is that, unless you need to leave the
house to take exercise, for medical reasons or to buy essential
supplies, you should stay at home, protect the NHS and save
lives.
