Coronavirus: Peterborough, stay safe, calm and optimistic

We are now facing possibly the most threatening and, in both personal and economic terms, most far-reaching situation since the Second World War, an event which, in common with many of you, is distant history as far as I personally am concerned, writes cllr Shaz Nawaz, leader of the Labour Party on Peterborough City Council. Yet many commentators have taken the opportunity of referring to the ‘bulldog spirit’ for which, we, the British, were justly famed.

So my message to you today is that we need to unite to give everyone the best possible chance of getting through this crisis not only with our health and family life intact but also with the energy and will to put our economic house in order. The closure of leisure facilities, and the discouraging of going to hotels and restaurants is a minor inconvenience to most of us: to the owners of these businesses it’s an economic disaster.

We happen to have a Conservative government in power at the moment, and a predominantly Conservative local authority. However this is not a party issue and I call on all parties to work together in the current situation, not least because if politicians cannot bring themselves to unite behind a common cause, then how can we expect anyone else to do so? Speaking for myself (and also as Leader of the Labour Group) I have reached out to our MP Paul Bristow and to other group leaders, urging them to have a meeting or conference call to discuss what measures we can take, and what we can suggest to our electorate.

In the meantime, I call upon all of you to do everything you can to keep yourselves and your family safe. There is plenty of advice available on-line and I’d say your priority is to use the hygiene guidance, and self-isolate if you or a family member has any of the symptoms, or if you have the slightest reason to suppose that you may have been in contact with anyone who may be infected. We know that certain sectors of the population are more at risk and I urge you to look out as far as possible for any of these known to you. The elderly and those with health issues are now being advised to stop at home, so if you can help without compromising your own health, please do so.

I know many of you may be a bit upset about having to curtail your social activities, but please, it’s a small price to pay to keep the nation healthy.

Maybe you can use the time to take up a new hobby or learn a new skill? And if you’re worried about loss of pay, then, as you know, some funding is being made available to get you over the worst.

As for business-owners, please do your bit by arranging home-working where possible and applying contractual sickness absence payments to those who are self-isolating.

With regard to the larger view of the future of your business, I hope that the Government will bring out further measures to help you regain your business impetus in due course.

I want to thank the NHS for all it is doing to help in light of the limited resources it has.

So, citizens of Peterborough, please work together for the common cause.

Stay safe, stay calm, and stay optimistic if you can!