A new year brings a new hope and I think most of us will be glad to see the back of 2020.
This time last year I was dealing with the start of Brexit negotiations and trying to find an office space in Worksop.
Little did I know at the time that we would be facing the greatest challenge of any post-war Government and that a year later we would still be fighting it.
Whilst unprecedented levels of support were provided, there were many who lost their jobs or their businesses and many who are still facing the prospect of those threats even today.
There were the families who could not enjoy the Christmas they wanted and others who missed landmark events in their lives or the chance to say goodbye properly to loved ones.
But the end of 2020 also saw us rolling out what we had been waiting for – a vaccine.
The British people should see it as an immense source of pride that we were the first country in the world to vaccinate one of our people.
We also developed the Oxford vaccine, which will also allow us to provide poorer countries around the world with an affordable alternative to the others which are available.
However, as we head into 2021 we know that the hard work is not over yet. As we look to move down the tiers we know that we must do our best to keep virus rates down whilst we are vaccinating our population. We also know that this will take several months.
What we then need to do is to support each other in bouncing back from the damage this virus has done and in doing so helping our economy to rebuild itself.
I have spoken many times about the importance of supporting local businesses and 2021 needs to be the year that we stay local whenever possible, whether this is your local independent shops or eating and drinking out at one of our many pubs or restaurants.
They have taken a hit as hard as anybody and once they are allowed to reopen I hope we can all lend a hand, the way many did with Eat Out To Help Out.
Finally, I want to wish everybody the very best for 2021.
Last year has made us all appreciate some of things that we sometimes take for granted, so let’s make this year one to remember for all the right reasons.
