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January 2021 January 2021
NEWS FROM WESTMINSTER DOG BLOG - DOGS CHRISTMAS

The question so many of us ask at this time of year is
what will 2021 bring? 2020 was unlike any other year It’s not much fun being old with arthritis. My owner is convinced it’s because the
we have ever lived through, and the Government weather is cold damp and grey. Maybe it’s the weather which makes you feel it
had to act and pass laws that were impossible to more. Maybe you just need something else to moan about apart from the
imagine this time last year. I didn’t write a column weather and Covid restrictions. My owner was so grumpy when she realized, we
for January in 2020 – I was still only a candidate were not going back into tier one, the rule of six, but alone at home in tier two.
when publications were going to print. We were mid She went on an eating binge and has put on a whole kilo.
-election campaign, and I was spending my days As a single person, in tier two, you may as well be in lockdown, except all the
knocking on doors and delivering leaflets. shops are now open. You can meet up with friends outside but then it’s the cold
Twelve months on, and it feels like a lifetime ago. dank weather. I seem to be going round in circles. One can form a bubble but
This year has been challenging for us in many different ways. With the vaccine one bubble for ever is not much fun either.
news, there is now hope for us all. As I write, the first Dorset residents have just Social life in the village is reduced to chance meetings in the street. No clubs,
received the coronavirus vaccine, and the news is positive regarding other dinner parties no pubs no games of cards. Some people just talk and talk about
vaccines too. We still need to be careful, and follow the rules, but there is light at everything and nothing. It’s as if they have lost the art of interesting conversation.
the end of the tunnel. The most vulnerable people and NHS front line staff will be They have all become bores. It might be one has lost the art of listening. If we
vaccinated first, with more elderly people being invited in due course. Testing is meet anyone when out for a walk in North Street I just have to lie down and wait.
helping to keep more children in school, where our teachers have been working My owner worries that maybe we will get so used to being home alone it will all be
incredibly hard and where one of our local schools has been in the vanguard of too much effort to get dressed up and go out.
mass testing.
We are sorting out Christmas chutney and other
The Government has had to make many difficult decisions. The Chancellor has preserves. We have received a chocolate
had to bring in the most wide-ranging support measures for people and present from the Pop in and next week my
businesses ever seen in peace time, and some people have lost their jobs. The owner is helping with parish parcels. This looks
Government has set up free courses available next year for adults who do not like being the social village event for December
have A-levels or equivalent. The courses will be fully funded, and range from
engineering to healthcare with nearly 400 different subjects on offer. These will My owner thinks Christmas is a write off. This time
help people to gain in-demand skills and open up job opportunities. of year she usually buys a loud Christmas jumper
and goes out to numerous Christmas dinners or
And there has been other good news! I know many people were pleased to see parties. She has not decided where to go on
the implementation of the ban on plastic straws, cotton buds & stirrers come into Christmas Day. To be honest at the time of
effect in October, and the Government has announced our plans to ban live writing, she has no invitations. She says she will
animal exports. There is a consultation running where you can share your views, still take me out for a walk. Christmas will be
and you can find more details about this on my website.
another day and I will get no turkey.
I have been incredibly impressed by the resilience and hard work of our local My Goodness I am gloomy. The weather has
community – including voluntary groups and our two local councils. I have got cold. I had a laugh the other day. The
regular updates from the local councils and other key groups such as the local temperature had gone had gone down to minus zero. It was 4.30 in the morning.
health service, the CCG and the police. This will continue into the new year, to I had to go out and was making a fuss. My owner reluctantly got up (no heating
ensure that we are all working together in the most efficient way to support on at that time in the morning) She let me out into the back yard so I could go up
everyone in Mid Dorset and North Poole as we start 2021.
the garden. She was standing there under the yard lights wearing a fleece and
Happy New Year! pink plastic crocks in sub zero frost while I went up the garden. She must have
been cold. She was not happy. Fortunately for her this does not happen very
Please do get in touch if you help or support. You can contact me via email often but us old ladies do need to have some fun in the middle of the night.
michael.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk or call my office on 01202 624216. I send

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