For many years I have written a monthly newsletter which is published in parish magazine and newsletter editors across the constituency. It has recently been suggested that I also share this on my webpage. The newsletter is deliberately nonpartisan and simply provides an opportunity to share thoughts and encourage debate. I am always interested to know the views of constituents even if we agree to differ. If there is an issue that concerns you please do share your thoughts.
NEWSLETTER READS
In my newsletter last month I wrote about the need to learn to live with the COVID virus as we move from pandemic to endemic. I know that many people have welcomed the Prime Minister’s Statement which was first made on 19th January which set the path for further removal of regulations. We will hear more of later this month, probably by the time this letter is published in some magazines! In January many parents and young people welcomed removing the requirement for secondary school students to wear face masks in classrooms. However, some people were concerned that more widely face masks become advisory rather than mandatory. I understand some of the concerns but do support the view that we need to allow people to make their own judgements. I appreciate that as more regulations are set to be removed some people remain anxious, but we have come along way in the last couple of years. When all of this started, we did not know what we were dealing with. We did not know how to treat the virus and had no medicines at our disposal. Thanks to research we now have effective ways to treat the virus and a range of drugs at our disposal to relieve symptoms. We do, of course, also have the vaccines and it is good news that at last the Novavax vaccine has been approved in the UK too. I am aware of a number of constituents who volunteered to take part in this trial and of the difficulties that some have faced as a result of the delays to the approval. I am grateful to those who have taken part in trials without whom we would not have effective vaccines and trust that all are relieved that it is now among the approved vaccines. Moving forward with Covid we need to learn to manage it in the same was as we have always managed seasonal viruses and I trust that we will see some measures coming forward to respond to this.
In our move to live more normal lives we are seeing the economy open up again and people returning to some of the activities that have been prohibited or curtailed for many months. Alongside this inevitably there has to be an end to special funding that has been made available to try to mitigate for the negative impact of Covid. Among these is a support grant for bus companies to help bridge the gap in fare income with reduced passenger numbers. Although I fully support the gradual withdrawal of the specific Covid funding I am concerned that use of public transport has not yet reached pre-covid levels and that the removal of this grant may adversely affect our bus services. To this end I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport to raise my concerns on this and to seek continued funding to ensure that we can keep our bus services running. I appreciate that it is especially difficult in rural areas where the volume of passengers on individual routes is just not at the level of urban areas and thus the journey cost per head is prohibitive. In such cases where there is a key route for a community it has long been within the remit of county councils to budget for appropriate subsidies. It is, of course, a political decision where any administration allocates its funds. In response to both the Covid impact and in support of climate initiatives I would like to see our local council make this a budget priority especially in light of the generous Local Government Settlement this year which has given substantial increases to our local councils.
On the world stage there is great concern at what is going on to stop war between Russia and the Ukraine. This is not just a distant issue but could have a significant impact on the UK. It is a particular concern to me as a senior Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Both Russia and Ukraine are members of this Assembly - although how serious Russia is may be doubted when one senior Russian fell asleep publicly when moving an objection to an amendment in a debate I was chairing! The Council is doing all it can to help bring about peace between the two countries and I have personally worked closely with my opposite number in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
The role of the Council of Europe is often overlooked in Britain but all members of the Delegation that I lead share my concerns. It is often derided as just a human rights organisation. But while human rights are crucially important, it is much more than this and has had a key role to play in maintaining the peace in Europe since the late 1940s.
