With the news of a potential vaccine and the latest lockdown expected to end next week, there’s rightly been a sense of optimism.

However, with Redbridge continuing to be one of the highest infected boroughs in London, it’s vital that we continue to follow government guidelines.

Unfortunately the delay in moving to a national lockdown following Sage advice at the end of September will cost thousands of lives and I challenged prime minister Boris Johnson on this issue in Parliament.

With thousands of jobs at risk following the ongoing impact on the economy it was distressing to read about Sainsbury’s announcing mass redundancies. I wrote to their chief executive to ask for reassurances that this would not impact the stores (including Argos, which it also owns) in Ilford.

Ilford South has one of the highest levels of homelessness in the country, and this situation has been exacerbated by the rising unemployment.

I called on the housing minister to uphold this government’s commitment to ending rough sleeping permanently once the pandemic is over.

With so few people commuting since in 2020, I spoke in a Transport Select Committee session which considered emergency measures for our railways, as well as a parliamentary debate on the future of our aviation industry, in which I called on the government to safeguard its future.

As always, if you are based in my Ilford South constituency, please contact me directly should you require support on any issue, on sam.tarry.mp@parliament.uk.