It's vital we do not lose our vigilance against the virus. COVID-19 infection rates are still very high; we must all stay at home as much as possible in order to protect the NHS and help save lives.
Today at the Public Accounts Committee, the head of HM Revenues and Customs confirmed that the Government's decision to prioritise flows of lorries and cars means the taxpayer is expected to miss out on £800 million in lost customs and VAT fees.
This is not good enough. It is a direct result of the Government's poor planning for Brexit.
I'll remain on the case.
Creative industry workers and businesses have been hit with the double whammy of Brexit and COVID-19. I'm organising a virtual creative industries roundtable with the shadow minister to discuss these issues and feed in examples to press the Government.
The creative industries roundtable will take place on Wednesday 3 February at 4pm. Please email meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk for further details and to register.
At 2:30pm today, I'll be questioning officials in charge of the UK's vaccine rollout.
I'll be asking about the Government’s approach in securing potential vaccines, updates on progress, and challenging officials on the early stages of the rollout.
Watch the Public Accounts Committee hearing live here.
I have just been briefed by the Director of Public Health for London and senior NHS colleagues.
The rate of the virus is very high in London, which is now in a state of emergency. The COVID infection rate is over 1000 per 100,000 people which is much higher than at any time in the last 10 months. In North East London one in twenty people has the virus.
This weekend is critical.
On the 31 December 2020, the Government announced that Hackney primary schools were excluded from the list of boroughs whose school terms were due to be delayed on public health grounds.
This decision did not reflect the advice for London from public health experts. I joined colleagues to call on the Secretary of State for Educaton to urgently reconsider this decision. See the full text of the letter below.
My office will be shut over the Christmas period and will re-open on Monday 4th January. During that time my emails and phones will not be monitored daily.
For urgent assistance, please see below for a list of services that should be able to offer assistance.
I hope you all have a safe festive period.
I've prepared a festive video as my Christmas e-card this year.
If you ever need my help, please let me know by emailing meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk
Best wishes for Christmas and the new year.
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As I write, we still have no idea whether the UK will secure a trading deal with the EU after the 31 December or if we are crashing out with no deal. This past year was supposed to be the transition period in the Brexit process - the period of time in which businesses, consumers, and regulatory agencies had to adapt to the new UK-EU trading relationship. Instead there will be, at best, a few days’ notice. This is completely unacceptable and will mean disruption as businesses adapt to new arrangements.
In July a number of constituents wrote to me to raise their concerns about keeping our high food standards in any trade deal with the US.
I recently received this response from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Victoria Prentis MP.