I've stood up in this chamber on many occasions highlighting the impact that Coronavirus is having on businesses and residents in Burnley, Padiham, Hapton, Worsthorne and all of our other villages. It is taking an enormous toll.
In particular the toll on our local pubs and restaurants. They have never been able to get trade back fully.
Brilliant local pubs like the Craven Heifer, the Crooked Billet, and the Royal Dyce. Family run restaurants like the Usha, Astoria or Palazzo. What they need more than anything else is to get their trade back.
The PM and the Secretary of State for Health know my deep unease with these measures - it comes from having had them in place for so long.
I want businesses trading and families together. But after the huge sacrifices made locally, over many months, which have halved the number of infections locally I do reluctantly recognise that now is not the time to step back completely.
Going in to winter, the local NHS, which has performed admirably needs the space to treat Covid and non-Covid patients alike.
That means we in Burnley have a bit further to go, to turn our low R rate in to a low number of cases. And we can do that but we need some more support from government.
Rapid tests which have been used locally in some settings now need to be rolled out to the general population. We need to see an operation similar to Liverpool.
Balancing the health of the nation and the economy has never been a more challenging task and whilst I don't see these tiers as a good option I do understand why the Government has deemed them necessary.
Antony Higginbotham MP
