Over the past week the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated to
become the greatest challenge we as a nation have faced in a generation.
I have been up in Parliament this past week debating and voting
on the emergency legislation, the COVID-19 Bill which will give the government
the powers it needs to help the country tackle this virus.
I will talk about some of the measures implemented since I
last wrote for the West Briton last Thursday.
On Friday our schools across the country closed, with the
vast majority of children now being home schooled until further notice. I would
like to thank all teachers and staff at academies across the Truro and Falmouth
constituency for putting these measures in place so quickly and effectively.
On Friday evening the Chancellor outlined an unprecedented
package of measures to protect millions of people’s jobs and incomes as part of
the national effort in response to coronavirus.
A new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be set up to
help pay people’s wages. Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a grant to
cover most of the wages of their workforce who remain on payroll but are
temporarily not working during the coronavirus outbreak. Any employer in the
country- small or large, charitable or non-profit will be eligible for the
scheme.
Universal Credit and tax credits will also be increased as
part of an almost £7 billion welfare boost, as he outlined one of the most
generous business and welfare packages by any government so far in response to
Covid-19.
On Friday the Government instructed entertainment and
hospitality premises, like bars and restaurants, to close to limit spread of
coronavirus. At the same time I was publicly telling people, along with my
Cornish MP colleagues, not to come to Cornwall on holiday.
Sadly there were lots of people who did not heed this
warning, or the guidance from the Government about social distancing, which led
to the Prime Minister on Monday night closing all non-essential shops and
essentially locking down the country. As I have said before, these are unprecedented
measures for difficult times.
I would again like to thank the NHS staff, community carers
and those who work at pharmacies for their work in these most difficult of
circumstances, as well as the countless volunteers and community groups that
have sprung up to ensure those vulnerable people in our communities do not get
forgotten at this time.
In ironic news, given that a lot of us are now asked to
work from home, I now have a constituency office, located at Lemon Chapel,
William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED. I hope to be able to utilise it fully once
these restrictions have passed. You can still get hold of me at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk
or you can call and leave a message, which will be picked up on 0207 2193713. I
will also continue to update my website on relevant information about the pandemic
at
And post very regular updates on the latest updates and
news available on my Facebook
Please do stay at home wherever possible, work to support elderly
or vulnerable people in our communities, and we will come through this together.
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