It was great to start today with a morning meeting of my local business group, Connect. My regular sessions with the group have been indispensable for keeping in touch with the local business community through the Coronavirus restrictions.
Today’s meeting focussed on the continuing vaccine rollout and the government’s plans for economic recovery. With the great news this week that over 10 million people have received a Coronavirus vaccine, including over 155,000 in Surrey, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Chancellor will explain more about how we recover from the pandemic at the Budget on 3 March.
There were also plenty of questions today on international issues, including the government’s plans to secure further trade deals now we have left the EU. Only yesterday we reached a new interim Trade Partnership Agreement with Ghana, and last week we formally applied to be the first new country to join one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. This progress offers great new opportunities for local businesses.
My thanks to everyone who joined the session this morning, and to Mike Cumper for chairing the meeting.
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