Issues with fallen trees and power remain
Last week saw a succession of the biggest storms the UK has faced in nearly 40 years, with Storm Eunice in particular causing the Met Office to issue an extremely rare ‘Red Alert’ for the entire south coast.
I pay tribute to the brave work of the emergency services and volunteer groups (such as the RNLI) who put themselves at risk to help others, while the rest of us battened down the hatches.
Further bad storms are expected this week, although thankfully not of the same severity.
At the time of writing, many roads around the constituency remain obstructed by fallen trees and other debris, Many constituents including those in Shermanbury, Barnham and other villages are without power, as the storm took out power and phone lines. While this has been difficult for the affected residents, I am grateful to the utilities engineers who have been working through all hours and conditions to repair the damage and restore people’s access to electricity, heating and landlines as soon as possible.
On Monday, the government set out its plans to allow the country to move on from the pandemic. As Covid will not suddenly disappear, we must learn to live with it, using the strong protections we have built up against the virus to safely restore people’s freedoms. When Parliament voted to impose public health restrictions in the teeth of the pandemic, it was always justified as only being a reluctant, temporary measure – so it is right that we should now remove regulations and requirements while emphasising public health advice and continuing to protect the vulnerable. The legal requirement to stay at home if you have Covid ends on Thursday, as will routine contact tracing.
For those who catch Covid, staying at home for five days will be recommended, but from April 1 it will become a matter of personal responsibility (much as if someone has a cold) rather than a legal requirement.
Thanks to our world-leading vaccine rollout, we are now able to bring our response to Covid in line with other viruses and allow people to get back to normal while remaining protected.
Finally, last Friday I was delighted to visit the specialist bakery products factory, Baker & Baker, based in Ashington. It was great to see the wide-ranging operation employing hundreds of local people and to head about the leading efforts being made by the company to support young people in obtaining vocational qualifications, paving the way for wider access to high-skilled employment.