Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:16 pm on 11 February 2021.
Adam Holloway
Conservative, Gravesham
5:16,
11 February 2021
I congratulate Stephen Timms on calling this important debate. I welcome the new Minister, who is uniquely qualified to be dealing with the overall subject of housing.
The right hon. Gentleman said that it was thought that faith groups would try to convert people. That certainly has not been the case in my Constituency over the course of the pandemic. I am sure Mr Dhesi will agree that our Sikh temple, the gurdwara, has had what in years past would have been described as a very good war. During the first lockdown, its langar delivered 64,000 free shared meals to individuals and to the local hospice and nursing homes. At the peak, it was doing 1,300 meals a day. When the European lorry drivers were trying to get home for Christmas, it did 800, 1,000 and then 1,500 meals a day. So far in this lockdown, the gurdwara has provided over 25,000 meals, and when the local hospital ran out of scrubs for the staff, it got fabric from Malaysia, had it sewn in Leicester and then distributed the scrubs.
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