Derby Telegraph

Be proud of way we have pulled together

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AS this year draws to a close, I want to wish all my constituen­ts a very happy and restful Christmas break. This year has been incredibly tough for all of us and I want to thank everyone locally for their resolve and for supporting one another to get through the pandemic together.

I want to pay particular thanks to all the key workers who have cared for the ill and the vulnerable this year as well as those who kept our country moving. It is important that we recognise that many of these key workers will be continuing to

work over Christmas hit period, id including our health and care workers along with our armed forces.

This will be a Christmas like no other that we have ever experience­d and whilst we will be able to see our family and loved ones for a short time, we must all demonstrat­e a high degree of personal responsibi­lity as the Prime Minister has stressed. If you are meeting up with other households, I would urge all constituen­ts to please exercise caution and to be sensible. The vaccine does offer a clear way out of this pandemic and the initial details of the rollout are encouragin­g but that does not mean we can say job done just yet.

This has been the most unusual first year as an MP, if there is such a thing. However, I am proud of the number of constituen­t and local businesses my team and I have been able to support. This is still a very challengin­g time and my office

will ill b be open f for phone calls and emails over the festive period for constituen­ts that need help. I also want to say a big well done to Halima Kiani from Rykneld Primary School, year five, who won my competitio­n to design my official Christmas card. Some really excellent designs to choose from were sent in and it brightened the end of 2020 for me.

As we reflect on one of the most difficult and challengin­g years our country has faced, we can be proud of the tremendous way we have pulled together and look ahead to better times in 2021 and beyond.

Kate Griffiths, Conservati­ve MP for Burton

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