Mansfield MP says Britain can look forward to 2021 with a positive mindset

I know Christmas hasn’t been the usual for everyone and I know we all can’t be out celebrating on New Year’s Eve as we normally would be.

But there are things that we can look forward to in the next year and I hope that 2021 will bring everyone a renewed positivity and some big steps in the right direction.

We can look forward to the beginning of lockdown restrictions being lifted at some point as more and more at risk people get the vaccine.

This will be the largest vaccination program ever done by the NHS, so people need to be patient and wait until they are invited to have the vaccination.

Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning group has already opened two ‘hubs’ in the Nottinghamshire area and are looking to offer the vaccine to more people at other locations as soon as possible and in people’s homes, if they are unable to go to the clinic.

New dedicated vaccination centres will be opening to make sure everyone who needs the vaccine is able to get one, keeping our elderly and at risk groups as safe as possible.

We’re the first in the world to be rolling this out, and leading the way to get these restrictions lifted for good.

We still have the really great news to come regarding the Town Deal and the Future High Street Fund, where Mansfield District Council has now put in bids for up to £50 million.

We should hear if these final plans have been successful in the new year, making sure Mansfield is future proofing the high street and improving the whole district.

Negotiations with the EU will shortly be concluding after more than nine months of tense talks.

I don’t know the outcome at the time of writing this, but if unreasonable EU demands on areas such as subsidies and fisheries persist then the Prime Minister has been clear that Britain cannot sacrifice what it means to be a sovereign and independent nation in order to secure a deal.

If a suitable compromise cannot be reached, Britain will leave the transition period with an Australian-style trading arrangement on January 1.

Either way, we will prosper and unleash this country’s full potential.

I know we have a long way to go to be ‘normal’ but there is definitely some positivity to be had.

We can all be looking forward to the new year and beyond – a year when we can get back to normal and get our lives back, as well as becoming an independent sovereign nation once again.​​​​​​​

Ben Bradley is MP for Mansfield.