James Grundy MP: Relief at end of Covid restrictions

I know that for many of you, this will be a great relief.

The last two years have been a great weight on the shoulders of everyone and it has been incredibly tough for people to deal with the various lockdowns and other measures, whether in terms of keeping businesses going, or the mental burden of isolation many have felt during those times.

Through a combination of economic support from the Treasury, the efforts of British scientists to develop the world’s first effective vaccine, then the efforts of the NHS to deliver that vaccine to the public, businesses and residents have endured through this crisis, and I pay tribute to all their efforts.

It is now the right time to do as we promised, and remove these temporary measures from the statute book now that the crisis is coming to an end.

I know that many people were worried we would remain in some form of lockdown forever, and that this was now a permanent way of life.

I am glad that we are now showing that it is not.

I was deeply disappointed that opposition member after opposition member of various political stripes, particularly Labour ones, got up during the debate to seemingly support some form of Covid restrictions remaining in place forever.

That is no way to live in a free society and just as they were wrong when arguing we should have stayed in the slow and bureaucratic EU vaccination programme, Labour and the other opposition parties are wrong now.

If people need additional protection, the NHS will continue to provide vaccination, and people can choose to take up that additional protection should they so wish.

New treatments for people with Covid, such as antivirals, have come on by leaps and bounds and support will still be available for the clinically extremely vulnerable.

It is time for society to return to normal.

The reason we can do this, almost uniquely as an advanced society in the world, is because we got the big decisions right as a nation.

We set out to develop our own vaccination programme, and did so successfully, we set out to use the NHS to deliver that vaccine, and did so successfully, we set out to ensure as many businesses as possible survived the crisis, and did so successfully.

I am incredibly proud that Britain is now the best placed country in the world to exit the Coronavirus crisis.

I am also incredibly proud that we now have our freedoms back too. Let us ensure we make the most of them as we go forward.

If you want more information on the ‘Living with Covid Plan’ please follow the below link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-living-with-covid-19”

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