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Good afternoon and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 92. As of today, we have a total of 1,723,242 positive cases of COVID-19 with 61,245 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 1,733 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 88 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 309 active cases in Waverley. Locally the picture is of infections down markedly from their mid-November peak, but appearing to plateau at around twice the level they were at the beginning of October, according to Tom Horwood of Waverley Borough Council. We do however have the lowest infection rate in Surrey. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

Starting tomorrow! Hospitals will begin administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to staff, patients and those over 80, including locally at the Royal Surrey. The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the jab, enough with two doses to vaccinate 20 million people. There are 800,000 doses in the first tranche, meaning 400,000 people will be vaccinated initially. The next tranche is due in early in the new year. We should also hear from the Medicines Regulator (MHRA) about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is produced domestically and with enough doses on order for everyone. We will also start to see lots of ‘celebrities’ getting the jab to show us it's safe and encourage us to get in the queue. The BBC have a good article asking if the vaccine will give us our old lives back ([link removed]) ?

Three cheers for…who are they? The MHRA (full name the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), the unknown regulatory quango that suddenly became a national hero for being the first in the world to approve a vaccine, has now signed off a plan to get vaccines into care homes. This is a challenge due to the Pfizer vaccine requiring a -70 degrees fridge for storage and the MHRA have done this by approving a method of splitting the 975-dose shipments into smaller batches. The feather they now have in their cap is a particular pleasure for me because it was during my time as Foreign Secretary that the EU made a point of moving the European Medicines Agency out of London. They were entirely within their rights given Brexit, but it was - in retrospect - a hasty decision: around 40% of their work, a lot of it the most complex and difficult work, was sub-contracted to the MHRA which was then cut loose.

The key number to remember for anyone with pandemic-related difficulties remains 0300 200 1008 the Surrey Helpline run by Surrey County Council (Mon-Fri 9 am to 5 pm).

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

Talking of which…it’s been a weekend of high drama for EU-UK negotiations. Negotiations continue today in Brussels with the PM speaking later to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The three biggest sticking points continue to be fishing rights, level playing field rules and governance around the rules. I don’t have the inside track but do believe the French are genuinely very angry about their fishing fleets. However it has always been a key German strategic interest to avoid no deal which would be devastating for German industry so in the end I don’t believe they will allow it to happen - but there are three weeks until the end of the year so there is plenty of time for further twists and turns. I told my EU counterparts countless times that if they refused to give Theresa May a deal she could sell to parliament they would end up with a harder Brexit than they wanted - but they persisted in believing that somehow Britain could be forced to buckle.

To ram home the point this week Parliament will be voting again on the Internal Market Bill and the for the first time on a new ‘Tax Bill’. Both these pieces of legislation have been heavily criticised for potentially breaking elements of international law - and with the IMB the government has confirmed it would. But without it we would be allowing the UK to be carved up by an outside power under no deal, with a borders regime operating down the Irish Sea. I would be deeply uncomfortable if we had to take that step but am not sure any Prime Minister would have an alternative.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

Small business Saturday There was a tremendous show of support for local businesses when I was out and about on Saturday - including a stall set up by Haslemere Chamber of Commerce where I got my first mulled wine and mince pie of the season. I was also giving out stickers to encourage people to shop, eat and visit locally which were hoovered up by local shops - part of my Bounceback South West Surrey campaign. If you would like one send me an email with your address and I will happily send you one. General feeling throughout Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere was that sales had made an encouraging start since the end of lockdown - but there is a mountain to climb for many to get back to viability. Please show your support for the campaign by picking up and displaying one of my (bio-degradable) campaign stickers available in shops all over the area or by emailing me. You can find out more here ([link removed]) .

Community Heroes Awards There are still about ten days until nominations close for the Community Heroes Awards (which I’m doing in partnership with Farnham and Haslemere Heralds). We have had nearly 50 people and groups nominated for going above and beyond in 2020 - the kind of people we cannot thank enough after the year we’ve had. You can find out more about the awards and nominate someone (or a group). ([link removed])

Typo Correction In Thursday’s email I said that I was disappointed that Waverley had not been placed into the government COVID-19 Level 3. I of course meant Tier 1 as my eagle-eyed uncle in Haslemere pointed out. Waverley, like all of Surrey and most of the South East, is in Tier Alert Level 2 or the ‘High’ Alert Level. I expect us to remain there for a while but hope it won’t be all the way through till Easter.

See my list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents here ([link removed]) .

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

Return of Rates relief In yesterday’s Sunday Times Matthew Syed argued that capitalism is still our only hope for progress ([link removed]) but that it needs businesses to display values and not just hunt for profits. He will have been pleased that so many are handing back their furlough relief to the government: Tesco was the first major retailer to announce it would return over £585m back and other supermarkets and homeware stores have followed. So far £1.5 billion being returned giving some additional Christmas cheer to our hard-pressed Chancellor.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

Another week, another monolith this time on the Isle of Wight. Within the last week, so-called monoliths have appeared in the Utah desert ([link removed]) , on a hill in Romania ([link removed]) and atop a Californian mountain ([link removed]) . In this weirdest of years, Surrey next?

And finally, do check out this heartwarming video ([link removed]) of a US air force officer finding out they are being posted to the UK… proof that the special relationship endures.

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Promoted by Sean Donovan-Smith on behalf of Jeremy Hunt MP and South West Surrey Conservatives, all at 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD.

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