Coronavirus - the great leveller

At the time of writing, his condition at St Thomas’s Hospital is stable. He is breathing on his own and is reported to be in good spirits, despite needing oxygen treatment. We all hope and pray for his recovery, writes Peterborough MP Paul Bristow.

I have been flooded with messages of good will here in Peterborough. So many of us have Boris in our thoughts, along with his fiancée, Carrie, who is pregnant and unable to visit him.

This virus is the great leveller.

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, or what circumstances you come from – we are all at risk.

The Prime Minister’s message to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives is more important than ever. His home is his workplace. It’s likely he caught the virus while doing his job and trying to keep this country safe.

The sense of shock applies as much for MPs as anyone else. We know Boris personally. We know him full of energy and determination – exactly what our country needs right now.

I will never forget a phone call he made to me. After our former Labour MP was sent to prison, I was hoping to do well in last year’s by-election. Instead, national events seemed to conspire against me and I finished a distant third.

At that point last June, Boris was incredibly busy getting himself elected as the new Conservative Party leader. Yet he found the time to ring personally and implore me to keep at it, because he believed I would win this city back.

Six months later, with him as Prime Minister, I did. I’m the MP for the city I love and couldn’t be prouder 
supporting him at Westminster.

Even now, whenever I bump into him, Boris grabs me by the arms, grins and shouts, “Peterborough! You did it!”

It’s horrifying to know he is lying in an Intensive Care Unit in London. We can only draw comfort from the fact that our NHS is there, as always, to provide wonderful care.

The medics at St Thomas’s will do everything they possibly can for him.

We are lucky to have them and the frontline staff who are battling to save lives at our own Peterborough City Hospital.

This is a time to come together. If there is anything positive in the events of the past weeks, or even days, it is that sense of coming together.

Nationally, MPs of all parties are getting unprecedented access to Ministers to assist their constituencies. Differences and conventions have been put aside.

In Peterborough, I have been working to secure support for hundreds of people and businesses, so we can get our city through this crisis. People of all parties and none are doing their bit.

For example, I know that Cllr Shaz Nawaz has been helping with the relief effort and we have kept in touch.

So I can confidently send a message to the Prime Minister that “Peterborough is with you”.

We want him well and we need him back.

My Conservative colleagues like Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Rishi Sunak are doing outstanding jobs, but this national emergency is far from over.

Get well soon Boris! We need you!