The strange half-life of the country during lockdown is reflected in the work of MPs too. We are as busy as ever but it’s all from home, by zoom and email. I took part in a debate last week remotely (watch here if interested - about how to restore our social fabric). It was 9pm, and rather than worrying about hostile interventions from other MPs, I simply hoped the children would stay quiet in their rooms. Watching it back I realise I shouldn’t have used my rocking office chair to make a speech from. I oscillate like a metronome.
I am trying to stay as connected as possible and have had a number of very useful conversations in the last week or so that highlight the stresses Wiltshire is under, as well as the strengths that are seeing us through.
The vaccine roll-out is progressing as fast as we can reasonably wish for. There are anomalies, of course. Some people are having to travel long distances for their jab while their neighbours, registered with a different GP, get it locally. GPs are also struggling with the short notice they get for a consignment of vaccines - requiring a frantic call-round to patients to make sure all the slots are filled. But these are the consequences of a rapid roll-out.
When it comes to vaccination (as you may have heard ministers say once or twice) the UK really does lead the world, with far more jabs administered than any other large country. Locally, almost all over 80s and almost all care home residents have had their first jab, and we are getting ready for the next groups on the priority list. I have written more about the vaccination programme here and here.
Businesses are of course suffering greatly in the lockdown. I have had contact this week with a lot of business owners who struggle to understand the rationale for the various restrictions. One, from a publican, is worth quoting: “I’m off to [garden centre] after this email for an essential bag of compost and some winter pansies before swinging by [homeware shop] for a new cushion set and finally getting a caramel frappuccino latte from [cafe] before picking my children up from nursery”.
I have every sympathy with him and others in his situation. Yet although the rationale for shutting some sectors and not others may be opaque, it is based on an objective assessment of risk; and the need for a tightening of restrictions overall - apparent in the steeping rate of hospitalisation and deaths - is unarguable. Thankfully, the slowing rate of new infections gives us reason to hope we will get ahead of the pandemic before the NHS is overwhelmed and all patients, not just Covid ones, are denied the care they need.
I had a call with a dozen primary school heads this week. Naturally, they are frantically trying to deliver remote learning to the majority of pupils while also fielding large numbers (a lot more than in the last lockdown) who are attending school in person because they are vulnerable or one parent is a keyworker. Some have almost half their usual pupil roll on site. We urgently need all parents to consider whether sending their child in to school is strictly necessary. We also need to ensure all schools are delivering as much high quality remote teaching as possible; I will be asking the Education Secretary a question about this in the House (well, from my house) tomorrow. I’ve written more about schools here.
I was proud last week to be appointed a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Military Covenant. This is a cross-party group of MPs and peers pressing the Government to fulfil their pledges to the people of the armed forces, to veterans, and to their families. I am confident the Government will do so, and much has already been done in this space (including a new law against vexatious prosecution of our soldiers years after active service abroad). The APPG will hold ministers to account and monitor the delivery of the Covenant by all partners, including our local Army units in Wiltshire and the statutory bodies responsible for supporting veterans and families.
Since becoming your MP a little over a year ago I have focused, both in Westminster and Wiltshire, on issues of civil society: the ‘little platoons’ that strengthen local communities, connecting people together in common endeavour and supporting the most vulnerable. I am hugely impressed by the strength of our charity sector locally and by the way people have come together spontaneously to help their neighbours. Throughout the rest of this crisis and beyond it, we need to do more to help these initiatives.
For this reason I have launched the Devizes Constituency Community Fund. This is a non-political, non-partisan initiative (if I ever lose the Devizes seat to another party’s candidate I hope they will continue supporting the Fund). The idea is to mobilise the significant wealth that exists in our community to back the most effective local projects. The DCCF is being managed by the Wiltshire Community Foundation, who will help us identify the projects that need support and ensure the rules around charitable gifts are followed properly. To find out more and to donate to the DCCF please see here.
Speaking of great local initiatives, I had calls last week with the bosses of three local family businesses - Gaigers builders, TH White agricultural engineers, and Wadworth brewers. Despite the stresses of the current time (particularly horrendous for Wadworth) all three said how much they wanted to help the community through the crisis. It happened I’ve also been talking to Community First about the need for more volunteer drivers for the brilliant Link schemes, which organise people to ferry people to and from medical appointments. We have thousands of people needing to get to the vaccination centres, many of them without transport - but many of the Link schemes’ usual drivers are elderly and therefore unable to volunteer at the moment. So we have a solution. Gaigers, TH White and Wadworth are all offering their staff time off work, and expenses covered, to volunteer as a Link driver. I am thrilled with the instant response and with the generosity of these businesses and their employees. If you would also like to volunteer as a Link driver, or your business would like to help in the same way as the others, please contact Samatha Lloyd at Community First (slloyd@communityfirst.org.uk).
Finally - there is life beyond this pandemic, and perhaps even greater threats to our wellbeing. There is also the chance to preserve and enhance the world’s, and Wiltshire’s greatest blessing: our natural environment. Ahead of the global climate conference, COP26, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow in November this year, I have joined forces with the council and with my fellow MPs to organise the Wiltshire Climate Summit on 19 February. This will take place online from 11am-4pm and will give a platform to a variety of voices including our local environment groups, some national experts, and people who are skeptical about the claims of global warming and concerned at the economic effects of efforts to halt it. If you would like to join me please see here.
With best wishes
Danny