The Mail Column: 10 April 2020
The great equaliser
I was shocked when the news broke that the Boris Johnson had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of St Thomas' Hospital.
I can't confess to knowing the Prime Minister well, but the image you see on TV is very much what he's like in reality - energetic, funny & engaged. To imagine him needing that level of care, really brought home how this virus can affect anyone, irregardless of their status.
As I write, the PM is out of ICU and reportedly in good spirits. In his absence, the government continues with a strong team leading our response to this pandemic.
The virus does not discriminate. Whether you are young, old, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, or someone just going about day-to-day life in these strange times.
This is why it is so crucial to follow the government's advice this Easter weekend:
Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.
My team and I have been working from home since this crisis began. We're finding new ways of doing the job and meeting the challenge of a near-300% increase in casework.
I continue to hold weekly surgeries, albeit by phone. If you'd like to raise an issue, do drop me an email: simon.fell.mp@parliament.uk.
Meeting are now remote - I'm sure I'm not the only one who is realising that, spared from travel time, there is more time to get work done every day. On Wednesday this week I took part in a Home Affairs Select Committee meeting to discuss the Police's response to COVID-19 - all via the video-conferencing software Zoom. The Police were robust on their role in ensuring that non-essential travel is curtailed, pointing out some of the high-profile cases that have helped remind people why it is so necessary to stick to the rules.
On that note, I know that it's tempting to go out and see your family and friends over Easter. But even if you're feeling fine, you may still be carrying the virus. And you don't know how the people you see will cope with it.
That's why staying at home is so important. It will literally save lives.
An Audacious Achievement
It was bittersweet to not see HMS Audacious set sail in person and have to instead rely on photographs from those who were on site at the time.
The culmination of years of work, bringing together the world-leading skills in the shipyard, the leadership of BAE, and supply chain businesses from Furness and the wider UK, Audacious is an achievement which Barrow should be uniquely proud of.
These are difficult times for Barrow and the UK as a whole, but Boat 4 sailing to open water gives us a reason to hold our heads high and to show the world what Barrow can do against adversity, putting remarkable vessels like these out and into the world, keeping the UK secure from foreign threats even as this virus disrupts our day to day lives.
I'm sure that I'm not the only one who is looking forward to this lockdown being over, and being able to watch in person as Boat 5, Anson, sets sail from Barrow.
Thank you
In my column last week I put a call out for suggestions for people and organisations from across Furness who deserve recognition for what they are doing. I've been inundated.
So, HUGE thanks to Zoe and Andy from Shed 1 Gin in Ulverston who are manufacturing hand sanitiser for St Mary's Hospice and other local vulnerable groups. And thank you to everyone who has supported their crowdfunding efforts.
Thank you to Furness Plastics and BAE for working together to produce PPE visors for healthcare workers across Furness.
And thank you to all those key workers who are wrapping their arms around our community at the moment. They are an incredibly diverse group - from doctors, nurses, cleaners, teachers, pharmacists, care workers, volunteers... the list goes on and on. An especial thanks this week to the team at DWP - they have processed a huge number of new applications for Universal Credit in record time, and offered support to the community, as the pandemic bites - many though Barrow's own office.
All those people are stepping up and doing incredible work, right when our community needs it the most. A huge thank you to all of them.
