Today sees the opening of pubs, restaurants, other hospitality businesses and hairdressers for the first time since lockdown commenced.

I’m sure that this is a day that many of us have looked forward to for months.

Please remember that we’re now living life in ‘the new normal’.

Please do visit the pub or go to a restaurant, and certainly don’t forget that today is ‘Independent’s Day’, a day to promote local independent retailers, but don’t forget the social distancing limitations that we are all still living under.

And of course, please remember to be kind to all of those workers who are getting used to the new rules themselves. We’re all human and as hard as we try we can all make mistakes, please bear with them.

I’ve put together a short video of what you can expect when you go to the pub this weekend, I hope that it is useful.

Aside from that I have:

• Held a virtual meeting with management at Horiba MIRA looking at how their business operates in a post-Covid world.
• Took part in discussions about making the business case to reopen the Ivanhoe Line through the north of my constituency.
• Held a series of meetings with other Leicestershire MPs, council leaders, senior police officers and the local resilience forum about the local lockdown of Leicester and how it affects the Bosworth constituency. Please do read Leicestershire Police Force’s statement about policing the lockdown here: https://www.leics.police.uk/news/leicestershire/news/2020/july/more-police-than-nye-to-help-save-lives-and-livelihoods/?fbclid=IwAR0T5V8RLc-TqyN8lewG0FLCGcNU-N056Dsn30_CmmxADkvCEzxPjbwmYpA
• Shared information from the council, government and police about the lockdown and questions/boundaries.
• Raised directly with the Local and Regional Police chief concerns around lockdown and pubs/restaurants opening – worked through these scenarios and how to protect against them.
• Took part in the Health and Social Care Select Committee questioning Simon Stevens CEO of the NHS on clearing the backlog of cases due to COVID..
• Met with parish and local councillors to discuss problems with the planning legislation and possible solutions that may help Hinckley & Bosworth.
• Spoke with constituents and businesses about the reopening of indoor leisure centres and gyms, and the beauty industry, and wrote to Government again to make their case.