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Public Health (England)

No, I will not give way to the hon. Gentleman; he arrived late, and he did not hear the Minister’s opening remarks. The Government have at least set up the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee. We thank the Minister, as we will certainly use the new structure to generate public health policy that is rooted more firmly in the evidence. Let me finish with the wise words of the chief medical officer. In last year’s annual report, Sir Liam said that the lack of progress on public health is more compatible"““with the Wanless ‘slow uptake’ scenario than with the ‘fully engaged’ scenario””." How does that candid admission of failure square with the Minister’s upbeat assessment today?