It’s been a very busy week politically and one which has no doubt affected all of us in different ways. Firstly, to address what might otherwise be the elephant in the room, I need to speak about the situation with Dominic Cummings.

Thank you to all of those from across the constituency who wrote to me with their frustration and sadness – but also with their support. Above all, I recognise the enormous sacrifices made by all of us in recent months – sacrifices which means West Dorset has one of the lowest numbers of coronavirus infections in the country, and for that I am grateful.

I took a considered approach to my response on the matter and you can read my statement in full if you visit www.chrisloder.co.uk/dominic-cummings

I make it clear that my focus and duty as your MP is to support local people, families and businesses through this crisis. We can see recovery on the horizon but we cannot be complacent and this recovery transition period is my absolute priority.

In that respect, this week there has been positive news for our high streets. It is a tentative time for business owners as they adapt their premises to accommodate social distancing; equally tentative for communities as we get used to a ‘new normal’ way of shopping.

As we begin to slowly return to normality, the re-opening of our high streets is key to kick-starting our economic recovery. Government is helping this transition, with a new £50m Reopening High Streets Safely Fund, for councils to support their local high streets get safely back to business.

Dorset will benefit by some £335k and I will do all I can to help local councils as the phased re-opening begins. Please support your high streets at this time – they need us more than ever.

WEST DORSET MP CHRIS LODER