Ben Bradley MP: 'Small minority continue to think they are above the law'

As I write I’m about to start a Facebook Live question and answer session on my Facebook group, where I’m trying to keep in touch and ensure that queries get answered.

You can join the group by searching Ben Bradley’s Mansfield Constituents on Facebook. It is exclusively for local constituents only, and I’ll be hosting more Q&As in the coming weeks.

Clearly coronavirus continues to dominate the agenda and I have to once again urge everyone to please follow the advice. Stay home as much as you can, leaving only if you have to.

If we all observe the rules then we can speed up the timeline and get things back up and running quicker. I know that the vast majority of people are doing this, and making sacrifices to keep others safe, but a small minority continue to think that they are invincible or above the law.

To those people I say this is not about you, or the risk to your own health, this is about the risk to others and the additional pressures you are putting on hard working and brave front line staff at the sharp end of this virus.

Don’t be selfish. Support the people that are supporting all of us, by staying home.

The key questions that have been raised with me by constituents this week have been around policing, and about how we can enforce social distancing guidelines. This afternoon I’ll be speaking with senior officers locally about the powers they have and the priorities they are setting, in order to try and ensure that we are making the best use of those resources to keep people safe. As has been made clear this weekend, the rules may have to get tougher if we can’t stick to them voluntarily.

I’ve also been fielding a lot of questions about the financial support that is available, both for businesses and for individuals in different circumstances.

I’d encourage people to have a look at businessupport.gov.uk which covers a lot of information about the different schemes and support packages, including the Job Retention Scheme and plans for the self-employed.

Finally, a huge thank you to those who continue to work on the front lines of this crisis. Whether that is health service workers, carers, supermarket staff, volunteers supporting their communities, local Government Officers planning and managing support; to everyone who is helping, thank you. It is greatly appreciated by us all.