JAMES GRUNDY - Let’s retain spirit of national unity

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the people in my constituency of Leigh, and indeed, the people of the whole borough for their forbearance during this difficult time.

By and large, the vast majority of local people have been both observing the restrictions in place, and supportive of them. Whenever I have been to my local shop, local people have been queuing stoically and with good humour.

It has also been heartening to see how people have been acting regarding several key events of recent weeks.

When PM Boris Johnson fell ill with coronavirus and had to be admitted to intensive care, the tide of goodwill towards him, including from people who are not normally Conservative supporters, was genuinely uplifting, proving, as I have always believed, that there is more that unites the people of this country than divides them, especially in times of great adversity like now.

The second key event has been how many people have been going out to clap for our NHS staff, social care staff, and other key workers.

I still remember how on the first night it happened, when I went outside on our family farm in rural Lowton, you could hear the noise from people on the Garton Drive estate who had come out to clap and cheer, as though the crowds of some phantasmal rugby match had sprung from the ether.

People across the country really genuinely do appreciate the efforts of NHS staff and other key workers, and I’d like to give a personal shout out to the NHS staff who ensured my seventy nine year old father received his treatment for cancer at the weekend at Platt Bridge Medical Centre.

Thank you very much for your efforts in ensuring my family, and everyone else’s, continue to receive care and treatment in these unprecedented difficult times. (78)

The third event that caught the imagination of the whole country was that of 99 year old pensioner and retired soldier Captain Tom Moore, who set out to walk a hundred laps of his garden with his walking aid, with the aim of raising a modest sum for the NHS by his efforts.

The story went viral, and at the time of writing his campaign had raised over £25 million for the NHS, with more still coming in, and an honour guard of soldiers with him as he did his hundredth lap. Captain Moore stated that he would carry on walking as long as people kept donating. It was truly remarkable.

My colleague, Conservative MP Colonel Bob Stewart, the Member of Parliament for Beckenham, amongst others, has called for Captain Moore to be knighted in the next set of honours.

I for one agree with Colonel Stewart, and I suspect the overwhelming majority of my constituents do so as well. Sir Tom has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

There have been a thousand small acts of kindness too, which have not necessarily been as high profile, which have shown the good character of the British people during the crisis, such as the people of an ordinary street in Golborne, who painted an improvised car parking space for an NHS nurse who lives on the street so she doesn’t have to park miles away when she returns from her shift.

These events, and the reaction to them by the public, show the tenacity, fortitude and genuinely good nature of the British people when facing adversity.

It seems an age away from the divided nation we seemed to be during the arguments over Brexit.

I do hope that, once the coronavirus crisis is over, we can retain this spirit of national unity we have found together in difficult times.