We now go to questions for the Prime Minister. In thelf of everyone house of commons, may i say congratulations to the Prime Minister on the birth of his son. Such happy news amid such uncertainty. 20 20 is certainly a year they will never forget. Thank you. In sendingyou heartiest congratulations to the Prime Minister on the birth of his son. It is wonderful news and im sure he will bring him great joy. Surely we should not underestimate the significance of getting what we have as the peak of the outbreak without the nhs being overwhelmed. We have put elective surgery on hold for many people. What more can we do to free up the nhs so who are consistent can startnstituents being treated again as soon as possible and in significant numbers . First minister. I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Prime Minister, his fiancee Carrie Simmons have announced the birth of a healthy baby boy this morning. Both mother and baby are doing well and im sure the whole house will want to send congratulations and best wishes to them. The whole house will also want to join me in paying tribute to the 25 nhs workers and social care workers who died from coronavirus. My deepest sympathies were with their family and friends in these difficult times and we will do whatever it takes to support them. Im sure the the captain who has done so much raising 25 Million Pounds raising charities together, a happy 100th birthday, his dedication to helping others is an inspiration to us all. I thank my honorable friends, because we have taken the right measures at the right time and plan the peak of this virus, granted the nhs from becoming overwhelmed, the single most important elements of the strategy we have delivered that meant dhs has had capacity to deal not just with other urgent treatments and as we move towards a second phase we must plan to ensure the nhs is able to do elective surgery and treat patients with other conditions which is what we are planning to do. To the leader of the opposition. I had my congratulations to the labour party and to the Prime Minister and Carrie Simmons on the birth of their baby boy. Whatever differences we have in the house, as human beings i think we all recognize the anxiety the premise or and carrie must have gone through in the past few weeks. I really hope this brings them incredible relief and joy. I join with the words of the first secretary, those who have died on the front line and what he said about captain tom moore, an inspiration to all of us. The deaths in hospital currently at 21,000, the number that is published every day. On top of that yesterday we saw the cq see figures for the 2 weeks ending last friday, 4343. At the same time the other figures for deaths outside hospitals, outside of care homes and that was a figure to the seventeenth of april of 1220, a bit of complication with different dates but it was a total of 27,241 recorded deaths from coronavirus and that is probably an underestimate because of the time lag. Behind each number of families shaken to its foundation. Six weeks ago on the seventeenth of march the governments chief scientific advisor indicating they hope to keep the overall number of deaths from coronavirus below 20,000. He said that would be good which he meant successful in the circumstances. We are way above that number and only part way through the crisis. We are on track to have one of the worst death rates in europe. On monday the Prime Minister said that many were looking at our parent success in the United Kingdom. Does the first secretary agree with me that apart from success the latest figures are truly dreadful . Secretary of state. Can i welcome various points of solidarity in relation to the new baby boy, in relation to care workers and nhs workers who lost their lives. Hes right there is a challenge with different figures, on all sides we have wanted to deliver a clearer breakdown and distinction with deaths in the nhs and that his progress and he mentioned the target of 20,000, and unprecedented pandemic, Global Pandemic and we shouldnt criticize the cmo for trying to give some forecasts in response to questions many in this chamber are calling for but the reality is we know more about the virus to mystically and internationally than we did before. I share his i guess joint horror at the number of deaths, tragedy engines everyone. I would disagree that it is too early to make international comparisons. If they are to be done on a per capita basis there are different ways not just in the uk and these settings across the world and this is a delicate and dangerous moment in this pandemic which is why we need to wait before moving towards a transitional phase or second phase and this would be irresponsible to start setting out in detail what proposals we might come up with. I wasnt criticizing the experts but pointing out the difference between what had been hoped for and where we have gotten to. I welcome the clearer breakdown of figures from this afternoon on words. It appears and i hope this is right the number of hospital admissions are going down in the number of deaths from hospitals are going down. We hope that is continuing in the right direction but from yesterdays data it appears that isnt the case in care homes. They show deaths in care homes appear to have been rising even while hospital deaths have been falling. The first secretary has been concerned about the front line about testing in care homes, the speed of testing, concerns about protective equal that and argument that it has been too slow. We heard from the front line expressions of real anxiety about the situation they find themselves in. Secretary explain why he thinks coronavirus continues to spread so fast in the care sector and returning to something from last week and the secretary has touched on it giving us uptodate figures with the number of those who died on the front line in the healthcare staff in the social care workers, he has given a figure but just to confirm that. I have given those figures and they are produced in the normal way and he will be appraised of them to see relation to the other figures. It is right to say theres a challenge. When sage produced their advice, and they gave their review several weeks ago it was made clear we made Good Progress overall in reducing the level of Community Transmission but there were challenges in hospital settings and specifically in care homes and there are challenges in care homes, the print will challenges like the nhs setting where we made Good Progress. The challenge from a decentralized basis in terms of exercise and control and that includes residents and care home workers which work in different care homes and nhs workers and friends and family, the biggest challenge in terms of reducing transmission. I hope i can reassure him we have a comprehensive plan to ramp up the testing in care homes, the eligibility to overhaul the way ppe is delivered to those in the front line and we are expanding the workforce by 20,000 through a new Recruitment Campaign but no doubt, i will not shy away from saying this is a challenge, to make sure they do this is seen in hospitals in the country at large. Thank you, mister speaker. On the back of that answer, on sunday the secretary said deaths in care homes were falling in line with hospitals and the sarah figures we havent seen. Thank you for taking a moment to clarify that. Yesterday was memorial day for all who lost their lives in war and it is important we honor and remember those who died whether from coronavirus or anything else but it is important to redouble our commitment to protect those at work and that is why protective equal but for the front line is so crucial. I recognize the challenge the government faces, i recognize getting the right equip to the right place at the right time is very different but lives do depend on it and ten week since the Health Secretary declared there was a serious and imminent threat to life but you would hope by now things would be getting better, not worse. Yet the Royal College of physicians published on monday reported that one in four doctors are not getting the equipment they need and the president was quoted in these terms on monday, truly terrible ppe supply has worsened over the last few weeks rather than improved. I know that is not where the secretary of government want to be with indications from the frontline that things are worse, not better. This is the plea from the frontline so can i ask the first secretary what is going on and how soon can it be fixed . I think the right honorable gentlemen, weve seen the latest data come out, there are some positive signs in the margin a are and we need to be focused that there is a challenge to grip it, no sugar coating that issue. I take exception that things are getting worse, not better. That is not true overall. We have shown through social distancing measures the overwhelming commitment by the public and ramping up capacity particularly ventilator beds that the strategy which is to flatten the peak we are going through which we havent done forward even worse and to make sure nhs, two critical elements have worked to date and it is important we keep up the effort. In relation to ppe, he must when he addresses this recognize that we face an International Global supply shortage. Every country when i pick up the phone and speak to leaders, Foreign Ministers around the world, international by choice, 22 flights for ppe ventilators, over 1 million miles from china, 3 flights from turkey facing protection, 140,000 pounds, data from another place to ramp up our domestic production, supply and distribution, no minimizing or sugarcoating any of those. I feel animated and inspired to do better but he needs to recognize that there is a Global Supply shortage and to make sure those on the frontline get the equal and they need. I recognize the efforts that are going on. The secretary says he takes exception to what i said about things worsening. I tried not to base anything on my personal opinion because that is not helpful. What i was quoting was the Royal College of physicians and i try to be careful to stick to the data and evidence rather than just coming up with an opinion. Can i ask about testing . It is clear there has been an increase in testing since the last dispatch boxes and i welcome that. There is a further extension of expansion testing, there are significant problems. The government reported figures from monday showing a capacity to test 73,000, the highest it has ever been but only 43,000 actual tests were carried out. When you drill down into the figures only 29,000 people were tested. The number of people tested was 29,000. Last week the press secretary said the problem was not capacity but lack of demand. I wasnt convinced to be honest but we know demand has gone through the roof. Sites were unable to deal with those trying to book test. 30,000 tests were available, werent used. I have to recognize the 100,000 today by thursday was only a staging post in the exact date doesnt matter as much as some would think. On march 12th the Prime Minister made clear his plan to ramp up daily testing to 250,000 tests a day. I agree with him on that. Can the first secretary clarify the 250,000 tests a day is a government target and if so roughly when he thinks the government will hit that target. Just on this issue of things getting worse i understand the point about ppe and i dont think it should be aligned to the broader critique as we come through the peak of this virus we start to get deficit down and focus on driving them down further, making sure we dont risk a second spike with the transition rate and the right honorable gentleman could recognize the success of social distancing which allow that to happen. On testing, we have 70,400 tests capacity, almost double. It is 43,563. And last week, in relation to capacity and demand when we talk about demand, the numbers of tests carry out people, they are able to come forward and what we have done to make sure we ramp up the testing swiftly as possible, not just the extension or widening but have gone further, anyone who needs to do that. They have symptoms, over 65 they action those tests for all care homes as well as staff whether symptomatic or not as it is incredibly important. We are on track to make huge progress. 250,000 target is still an aspiration. The key point is 100,000, very important to me, only the first stepping stone towards testing which is essential for tracking, testing and tracing you will need as we transition to the second phase. It will not get into that. The first secretary invites me to recognize the good work from social distancing and Critical Care capacity. Can i do the unreservedly, it has been an amazing piece of work particularly wrapping up the capacity. My thanks to all of those involved. The reason i raise these issues is controlling the virus, protecting life so we can get to an effective exit strategy, the public need to know what is going to happen in the next phase. On exit strategy i want to be clear im not asking for lockdown to be lifted. We support government on lockdown and will continue to do so so im not asking for that. Im not asking for a time frame. The government says it cant give a timeframe. I accept that, i said i wont ask the impossible and wont. The open with a bridge people about what comes next. That is crucial for three reasons. We need their trust. The government itself, the public, businesses and trade unions need to plan ahead and they are saying that loudly and clearly and we would like to try to support the Government Strategy but we know what it is. It is important to do so. We cant do that if the government wont share its thinking. The Prime Minister wanted maximum transparency. Will the secretary give us some now or publishing it strategy . I will remind him, there were changes to social distancing measures, there would be a substantial increase in the infection rate. Asked for a timeframe and the days, if he thinks there are things we could be announcing whether it is a long workplace, school or otherwise, feel free to propose those things but i would gently say based on the advice it would be very difficult for a response to be sent out before we found that subsequent device both on the rate of infection and death rate but also what we are responsible to make and with the greatest respect we cant be pulled into making proposals in advance. The problem is this risks the uk falling behind. France, germany, spain, belgium, new zealand, australia, scotland and wales have all published exit plans of one sort or another. The press secretary said what are the proposals . If you look at those, it is clear there are common issues like stores opening, business sectors reopening, these are the issues that are clearly the issues that need to be addressed. There will be other issues of course but delay risks not only falling behind other countries but also the successful approach so far. We want to support the government on an exit strategy, support the four nation approach so we can exit across the uk at the same time and hopefully in the same way. I asked the press secretary of the government will vote constructively and openly with the opposition on the question of what happens in the next stage. I think the right honorable gentleman, we will engage and enjoy the telephone calls but can i also say that if he is suggesting we can set out concrete proposals now despite clear evidence and advice that we should wait for their review of evidence in the next week or so i would gently say that is the wrong thing to do it if he thinks he knows better than sage and scientists that suggested that he needs to explain. He talked about the Scottish Government who have not set out a nexus strategy. I read through carefully the 25 page document, eminently sensible and grounded in 5 tests on the sixteenth of april. He talked about the other European Countries but i know he is an assiduous follower of international is the germany is having to think twice about easing up on the measures because of the risk of a second spike. This is exactly the risk the governor of the bank of england referred to last week that i referred to on the sixth of april, that sage and the scientists have been referring to. The honorable gentleman is succeeding and engaging in a constructive way, has a strong professional reputation for being guided by the evidence, much to his credit. Can i gently say shouldnt abandon that rigor now. Desmond will Garden Centers and nurseries reopening short order . First secretary. I think my honorable friend for cutting straight to the chase. I totally appreciate the value Garden Centers nursery. The current advice as i indicated lacking any of those measures would risk damage to Public Health, our economy and the progress we have made, the lives that have been lost but i can reassure him we will continue as i have indicated, to keep individual measure underclothes review. We go across to ian blackburn. I send my congratulations to the Prime Minister on long life and happiness. Mister speaker, we are two months away from the deadline, on the extension to brexit negotiations. The uk is refusing to engage seriously on a number of issues. The government is shamefully gambling our Economic Future with an audio brexit in the middle of a health emergency. Why is the government threatening to isolate the economy at the end of the year during the biggest economic crisis of our time . I joined the honorable gentleman in sending messages of goodwill, quite taking the word of michelle for the negotiation point. Lets be clear, the opposition is unchanged, the 30 first of december enshrined in august, no intention of changing that and what we should do now given the uncertainty, the challenge coronavirus highlighted. And all the other European Partners focus on removing any of additional uncertainty, allowing the uk and the european union. What we should