Public Health

Paul Bristow Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Paul Bristow (Peterborough) (Con)]

I heard the news that Peterborough would enter tier 4 restrictions in a rather peculiar situation. I was dressed as Santa, delivering donated toys and presents to families in my city. I joined other volunteer Santas and elves from the Coronaheroes Peterborough Facebook group, helping those in need. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Ben Everitt), Peterborough went from tier 2 to tier 3 to tier 4 in what seemed like 24 hours. I was not happy.

I thought it was perhaps best that I got home and changed before accepting invitations to discuss the restrictions on local television, but another thought did strike me. When I told the other volunteers about the tier 4 restrictions, as disappointed as they were, they doubled down and pledged to continue to help those struggling during this pandemic. My reaction to the news became, “We will get through tier 4 together.” That is exactly what will happen.

While Peterborough’s most unconvincing Santa will put the costume back in the drawer, groups such as the Coronaheroes Peterborough Facebook group will continue their work. The Light Project and the Garden House will continue to look after rough sleepers and families in temporary accommodation. Charities such as Care Zone will provide household furniture. The WestRaven café will provide food parcels, and churches, mosques and temples will offer support.

Businesses will also do what they can for our NHS and frontline social care staff. Takeaways, restaurants and pubs will continue to step up, but it is for hospitality and retail that I want to make a case. Tier 4 has been justified because of the increase in infections, the strain now being placed on our NHS and the new strains of covid-19 that have been identified. Peterborough’s rate stood at 403 cases per 100,000 on Christmas Eve, which I note is around the England average, but that statistic is not the fault of the hospitality industry. Public health officials in Peterborough have told me as much.

Spikes in Peterborough have not been caused by pubs, bars or restaurants. There is not this magic trade-off between schools and hospitality. Hospitality businesses have been forced to close before their busiest time, which is costing jobs, viable businesses and livelihoods. If they are to remain closed in Peterborough and other tier 3 and tier 4 areas, I urge those on the Front Bench and the Minister listening to my speech please to protect them. Will she at least lobby her colleagues at the Treasury to protect them? When a pub closes, it can have a detrimental impact on a community. It has a huge impact on supply chains and other elements of the local economy.

Furlough has been useful, there is no doubt about that. Business rates relief has been crucial, but pubs and the hospitality industry need more support. While they can open for delivery or takeaway, in many cases that is just not cost-effective. They need more support, so I urge the Minister to make representations to the Treasury for further support for hospitality.

When I visited the vaccination centre in Peterborough yesterday, I felt hope. When I heard my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care at the Dispatch Box earlier, I felt hope again, because the prospect of vaccinating millions of people throughout January and February is incredibly positive. Some are talking about a figure of 2 million a week. That would be a tremendous achievement, and we have done that before in procuring millions and millions of items of PPE and ramping up testing when we needed to. It is fantastic to end this year on a note of hope and a positive vision for the future, because while 2020 has been a wretched year for many places in our country, 2021 offers hope not just for Peterborough, but for our country.