Questions. Prime minister boris johnson. Pm johnson thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Yesterday was International Nurses day. I know the whole house would want to thank the nurses and also the care staff and key workers for their tireless work responding to the pandemic. Mr. Speaker, sadly 144 nhs markers and 131 social care workers deaths have been reported as involving covid19. Our thoughts are with their families and friends. Yesterday this house learned of someone whoeath of was abused for doing her job. That is utterly appalling. My thoughts and i am sure the thoughts of the whole house are with her family. Mr. Speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in the house. Speaker corbyn ruth edwards. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Green investments generated the highest return in the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. As we restart our economy, will my right honorable fran commit to prioritizing investment in low carbon infrastructure, such as the electric vehicle task Point Network and Renewable Energy production, which will help the u. K. Meet its net zero target by 2050 . Pm johnson to encourage the takeup of electric vehicles, we are putting a further one billion pounds into infrastructure across the country to prevent range anxiety for those who use evs. Speaker corbyn i now call the leader of the opposition. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Can i join the Prime Minister in thanking nurses and those on the front lines . To alld my condolences the families of those who have coronavirus, including the person the Prime Minister referenced, a ticket officer who we learned this week had died from covid19 in awful circumstances. Mr. Speaker, in a speech on sunday, the Prime Minister said that we need to rapidly reverse the awful epidemic in our care homes. But earlier this year and until the 12th of march, the governments own official advice was and i am quoting from it it remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected. Yesterdays ons figures showed that at least 40 of all deaths from covid19 were in care homes. Does the Prime Minister accept that the government was too slow to protect people in care homes . 40 of orders from covid19, the government was too slow to protect people in care homes. It wasnt true the advice said that and we brought the lockdown in care homes. What we have seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what is unquestionably an appalling epidemic in care homes and testing is going, 600 Million Pounds for Infection Control in care homes and it is absolutely true the number of casualties is too high but lasts weekend this week the number of outbreaks is down and the number of fatalities in care homes is well done. There is much more to do. I am surprised the Prime Minister queries the advice, i do welcome the recorded numbers, the numbers are still very high. It carried the following quote from a cardiologist. We discharged known suspected and unknown cases into care homes which were unprepared with no warning that patients were infected. And no way to prevent transmission. We actively seated this into the population speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, i have the utmost respect for all of our medical professionals. They have done an extraordinary job in difficult circumstances. But i can tell the house that the number of discharges from hospitals into care homes went down in march and april, and we had a system of testing people going into care homes, and that testing is now being ramped up across all the 15,000 care homes in this country. Mr. Speaker, i want to probe the figures the Prime Minister has given us a little bit further. The ons records the average number of deaths in care homes each month. For the last five years, the average for april has been just over 8000. This year, the number of deaths in care homes for april was a staggering 26,000. That is three times the average. 18,000 additional deaths in this april. Using the governments figures, only 8000 are recorded as covid deaths. That leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this april. I know the government must have looked into this. So can the Prime Minister give us the governments views of these unexplained deaths . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, coronavirus is an appalling disease which afflicts some groups far more than others. The whole country understands that, in particular, the elderly. He is right to draw attention to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. The office of National Statistics is responsible for producing the data that they have. The government has also produced data which not only shows there has been a terrible epidemic in care homes, but since the action plan began, we are seeing an appreciable and a substantial reduction, not just in the number of outbreaks, but also in the number of deaths. I want to stress to the house and also to the country that solving the problem in care homes is going to be absolutely critical. Not just in care homes, but across the country. It is going to be absolutely critical to our ability to move forward as a nation with a step ed program a stepp that i announced on sunday. We must, and we will. The Prime Minister says solving the problem in care homes is crucial, but that can only happen if the numbers are understood. Therefore i was disappointed the Prime Minister does not have an answer to the pretty obvious those 10,000t are unexplained deaths . Mr. Speaker, yesterday the overall figures given by the government at a press conference for those who have died from covid19 was 32,692, each one a tragedy. For many weeks, the government has compared the u. K. Number against other countries. Last week, i showed the Prime Minister his own slide showing that the u. K. Now has the highest death total in europe and second highest in the world. A version of this slide has been shown at the number 10 press conference every day since march 30. Thats seven weeks. Stoppedy the government publishing the International Comparison and the slide is gone. Why . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, as he knows very well, the u. K. Has been going through an unprecedented, once in a century epidemic, and he seeks to make comparisons with other countries, which i am advised are premature. Because the correct and final way of making these comparisons will be when we have all the thess debt totals for all relevant countries. We do not yet have that data. Mr. Speaker, i am not going to try to pretend to the house the figures when they are finally confirmed are anything other than stark and deeply, deeply horrifying. This has been an appalling epidemic. What i can tell the house is that we are getting those numbers down. The numbers of deaths are coming down. The numbers of hospital admissions are coming down, thanks to the hard work of the british people in reducing the numbers of fidelitys. Of fatalities. We are in position to make some modest steps to come out of the very restrictive measures. I think people understand what we are trying to do as a country. As for the International Comparisons he seeks to draw, i think he will have to contain his impatience. It is not me seeking to draw the comparisons. These are the governments slides they have used for seven weeks to reassure the public. And the problem with the Prime Ministers answer is it is pretty obvious that for seven weeks, when we were not the highest number in europe, they were used for comparison purposes. As soon as we hit that place, they have been dropped. Last week, he quoted in defense professor spiegel holter. What the professor said at the weekend was days, and we need to think about it. We should use other countries to try and learn why our numbers are so high. So dropping the comparisons means dropping the learning, and that is the real risk. I want to talk to the Prime Minister about the changes coming into effect today. A real concern for many people is childcare. I want to quote a mother of a young child. Is a littlethat it lengthy, but it reflects the queries all members of this house will have been getting. She says this. As boris said in his speech, people are encouraged to go back to work, meaning my partner, because he works in construction. My partner has explained to his boss this cannot happen because we have got no childcare. He also rang the nursery, but they are not open. I work as well, but my boss is having none of it. I hope i can get some advice. Me and my partner have been so stressed all day. What advice would the Prime Minister give them . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Just on his earlier point about not learning from other countries, nothing could be further from the truth. We are watching intensely what happening in other countries, and it is very notable that in some other countries where relaxations have been introduced, there is signs of the r going up again. That is a clear warning for us not to proceed too fast and too reckless. I hope the country does understand that. On the specific point that he rightly raises about peoples anxieties about getting back to work when they dont have adequate childcare, i think i was very clear both with him and with the house earlier in the week that insofar as people may not be able to go back to work because they dont have the childcare that they need, then their employers must be understanding. It is clearly, as i said, an impediment, a barrier to your ability to go back. Ability to go back to work if you dont have childcare. I would be very happy to look into the specific case he raised, if there is anything more we can do to shed light on the matter. I am grateful to the Prime Minister for taking a look into that particular case. It is one i think of very many. These are not easy decisions. I recognize that. They are very difficult, balanced decisions that the Prime Minister and the government has to make. After the confusion of the last couple of days, gaining Public Confidence is crucial. The Prime Minister says his decisions were, and i quote, driven by the science, the data, and Public Health. So to give the Public Confidence in the decisions, can the Prime Minister commit to publishing the scientific advice that the decisions were based on . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, all sage advice is published in due course, as the right honorable gentle man knows. Let me be absolutely clear with sage has been involved in every stage. Our scientists and medical officers have been involved in every stage of this strategy. I want to remind the houses, what we are doing is entirely conditional and provisional. The u. K. Has made a huge amount of progress. The people of this country have worked incredibly hard to get the r down. We cannot now go back to square one. We cannot risk a second outbreak, and we will do everything to avoid that. I think that actually when they look at what we are advocating steppeday forward, the process that we have set out, i think people can see exactly what we are trying to do as a country, and they can see that everybody is still required to obey the social distancing laws, the social distancing rules. The common sense of the british people got us through that first phase of this disease. I am absolutely confident they will get us through the next as well. Speaker corbyn going across to philip dunne. My right honorable friend is well aware of air pollution, the effect on health outcomes, particularly with respiratory diseases like covid19. Will he therefore reaffirm his commitment to taxing global emissions to help protect our people and our planet in the future . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson yes, and i think my right honorable friend for what he does to champion the environment and the cause in reducing co2 emissions. We have had to postpone the summit that was to take place in glasgow at the end of this year, but our determination to get the net zero by 2050 remains undiminished. Speaker corbyn we now go across to the leader of the s p, and ian blackburn. Can i begin by thanking all of our nurses in their efforts of keeping us safe and looking after us . And applaud yesterday as the International Nurses day. Mr. Speaker, last week the Prime Minister, in response to my questioning, noted the ability of the governments of all four nations to come together and deliver a clear message to our people. Events on sunday could not have been more disastrous for this government. The Prime Minister has made confusion costly. ,dministration shut out widespread confusion among the public, and a total disregard from this government for worker safety. Many, sadly, have seen the images of london buses being packed this morning. Mr. Speaker, will the Prime Minister accept that the clear message in scotland is stay home to protect the nhs to save lives . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, indeed the message throughout the country is of course that you should stay at home, if you can. Unless there are specific circumstances that we have outlined that apply. I dont accept the characterization of the cooperation we have had across the four nations that the leader of the s p makes. It has been intense. It has been going on for days and weeks. If you look at the fatality of the measures we are taking as a country, there is much more that unites us than divides us, and we go Forward Together the reality is the Prime Minister has failed to deliver a clear message. He did not address the point about london buses being packed this morning. The Prime Minister is putting worker safety addressed by calling on those who cant work at home to go to their jobs without any guidance on health and safety. Only last monday, the Health Secretary launched a test. On sunday, the Prime Minister appeared to leapfrog any success by using restrictions. Andre any lockdown easing to avoid progress made so far, the Prime Minister must make sure there are sufficient levels of Testing Available and the ability to isolate this fully in operation. Why is the Prime Minister throwing weeks of progress against this virus into jeopardy, undermining the work of our outstanding nhs . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson mr. Speaker, he makes a point about london buses which is quite right. I dont want to see crowding on mass transit in our capital or anywhere else, and we are working actively with tsl to ensure that what we do is we have more capacity. We discourage people from going to work during the peak. And that the operators, in particular tsl, lay on more to ube drains re t trains when those are necessary throughout the day. A huge amount of work is being done. We also want to see proper marshaling to prevent crowding of trains. I must say that on his point about test, track, and trace. That will be a huge operation for this entire country, and i think actually he should pay tribute to the work of all those, the hundreds of thousands of people who are now responsible massively escalating our test, track, and trace operation. We now test more than virtually any other country in europe, and the rate of acceleration has been very sharp indeed. We will go up to 200,000 by the end of the month. But he is absolutely right that this should be entirely the success of this program is absolutely vital if we are to be able to move on to the second and third steps of our roadmap. We now go ton yorkshire to julian smith. The 5000 er, of 90 of the population of the homeless of the u. K. Are in temporary accommodation as a result of the actions taken by the government at the start of this crisis. Will the Prime Minister commit to providing all funds necessary and all action needed to ensure that this positive dealing with the homelessness crisis can be made permanent and each of these individuals can be given a longterm home . Speaker corbyn Prime Minister. Pm johnson i thank my right honorable friend. As you knows, it is this governments ambition to end homelessness by 2024. It is great to see the progress being made even in this difficult time. As he says, 90 are now in accommodation or have been weered accommodation, and will be investing considerable sums to make sure we build the housing and address social issues to tackle that problem for good. Speaker corbyn we go over to sir edward davey. Pm johnson can i thank the government can i thank the government for to representations from liberal democrats and others to protect jobs by extending the plan. But now will the government do the same for the selfemployed . People like cleaners, child minders, taxi drivers, and hair dressers have seen their incomes devastated and are only now able to apply for help for the past three months. Millions of these families now have no help in the future. Charlie selfemployed people must surely selfemployed people must have their support extended, too. Pm johnson i admire the right honorable gentlemen. Gent to take the credit from my rig