Commons Sense

As our high streets finally reawakened last week, I felt a great sense of pride and admiration for the people and businesses of Beaconsfield who have sacrificed so much to keep their community safe these past four months.

The success of the vaccine rollout, and the lack of any spike in infections following the previous stages of unlocking have clearly given consumers a boost of confidence and has reassured many that they can enjoy the things that they love safely.

The successful unlock is evidence that our strategy is clearly working. Vaccines are protecting the vulnerable from serious disease and helping to shield the NHS from a future surge in hospitalisations and deaths.

Meanwhile the mass rollout of rapid tests and contact tracing is helping to identify new cases when they emerge and stopping them in their tracks.

This week the Prime Minister announced another weapon in our arsenal against the virus – new antiviral drugs which will aim to help people who test positive with COVID recover more quickly. This virus is set to become a part of our everyday lives moving forwards, so it is essential that we have as many tools at our disposal to prevent any future lockdown from happening.

On this the Prime Minister has reaffirmed his commitment to ending the cycle of lockdowns once all restrictions are lifted in June and has confirmed once again that there is no evidence in the data that would suggest this cannot happen.

So, rest assured, we are on track to carry on the unlock and return more of your freedoms to you as soon as possible.