Our Man in Westminster: It is great to see such strong support for businesses while there is also great positivity as we emerge from lockdown
Isn’t it fantastic to be able to see friends and relatives once more?
Even if our visits are still subject to certain conditions to keep us all safe, the relaxation of Covid rules has seen many broad smiles as families enjoy being able to get back together again.
I experienced this myself as I travelled to see my wider family, including my father and my wee grandson, for the first time in what had been more than seven months.
It has been a long wait, and it was fantastic to see them all.
I know many of you will have felt similar joy in seeing loved ones again after such a long time, and for those who haven’t managed to catch up with family just yet, I hope you will be able to enjoy this soon.
Seeing our local businesses reopen has been another cause for broad smiles.
Over the past weeks, I have been out and about in the constituency to visit many of them.
It has been great to see first-hand the preparations and safety measures business owners have put in place after such a difficult absence.
The overwhelming impression I got from them was of passion and positivity as they look to the future.
So many of our local champions have spent their enforced downtime looking at innovative ways to restart their public-facing operations, and the results are, in many ways, inspirational.
They speak to the talent and resilience that we are lucky to have here in the Highlands.
As readers will know, I often write about the importance of us all making a conscious effort to support these businesses and, from what I have seen, you are not letting them down.
There is a real buzz in the streets of our city, towns and villages as we all safely show our support for shopkeepers, restaurants and our other local favourites.
As ever, it goes without saying that the virus is still out there, and precautions must remain in place to protect us from the obvious risks of further waves of infections – as is sadly proving the case in India right now.
But this is a time for optimism and for the processes of community support and collaboration – that have been so important over the past year – to continue.
I will undoubtedly have some more political updates for you once Parliament reconvenes, but until then, I hope to see more of you all, safely, in person, in the coming days and weeks.
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