I have great pleasure in acknowledging that—where else could such an innovator and leader have come from?
It is important to make reference to the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, about those who take action around schools and vaccination centres. Noble Lords will remember that we had a vote very recently on this matter; an amendment was brought forward by these Benches, and I am glad to say that your Lordships’ House agreed that the Government should speed up the use of exclusion zones around schools and vaccination centres, so that people should not feel unfairly and unreasonably abused and pressured and are able to seek the healthcare that they need. I ask the Minister—I raised this in the Chamber this week—how are discussions going to progress that matter?
In more general terms, last month the Government faced an extraordinary rebellion from their own Benches. It is thanks to the support of the Opposition that these proportionate and sensible measures to protect the health of the nation passed. Can the Minister give assurance that public health decisions will be based on evidence and not influenced by pressures such as this—nor influenced by any need to provide cover for any activities, parties or events that were not permitted under the regulations to which the rest of the country was adhering? We remain, in the words of the Prime Minister today in the other place, in a situation where
the pandemic is not over. People want reassurance that their lives and liberties are not being impacted other than because of facts as they emerge—they do not want it to be because of political manoeuvring. I am sure that the Minister will have much reassurance to give us as to how decisions are made.