Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Conservative Association holds its first virtual AGM

The meeting was chaired by the association’s honorary president, David Britton.

The chairman of the association, Geoffrey Walker, gave his report and the AGM elected its officers for the coming year.

Mr Walker was re-elected for another year; Josh Funnell was elected as deputy chairman (political and campaigning); and Sandra Daniells as deputy chairman (membership and fundraising). The four vice chairman are: Gill Brown, David Edwards, Stephen Haymes and Stephen Nicholls. The hon treasurer is Alan Pendleton.

Ms Daniells, who is an Arun district and Bognor Regis town councillor, confirmed to the Observer she would continue to sit as an independent on both authorities.

Nick Gibb, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton’s MP, closed the meeting with a speech in which he talked about the challenges of fighting the coronavirus ‘the most serious crisis facing this country and the world in my lifetime and in the lifetimes of most people at this AGM’.

He added: “The decision to introduce social distancing and the requirement to stay at home has meant that the NHS has been protected and not overwhelmed.

“There will be many lessons to be learned once we are through this crisis, and every day across the world scientists are working around the clock to find a vaccine, to identify effective anti-viral drugs to treat those ill with the virus, to roll out mass testing for those who currently show symptoms, and, probably most important of all for getting the country back to normal, an antigen test to identify which of us has had the virus and who will, we hope, have built up immunity.

“Our country has come together and has shown kindness and support for those struggling to cope - providing food for vulnerable neighbours, cheering loudly for NHS staff at 8pm every Thursday night. We have a Queen who is helping to keep our country together with the right words at the right time with the gravitas and warmth of someone with 68 years of experience as our Head of State.

“The Government has rapidly, with a speed unknown in the bureaucracy of Whitehall, introduced multi-billion pound schemes to protect businesses and to support employees as industry and commerce grinds to a halt. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has helped protect the jobs and incomes of over seven million people so far.

“We need to do all we can to protect the viability of businesses during the lockdown period so that as we emerged from our homes, the economy can recover and we can return to normal as soon as possible, with perfectly viable businesses still intact and ready to employ, and to serve, and to produce, and to pay taxes.

“All the measures the Government has taken and the solidarity we have all shown has meant that the infection rate - the ‘R’ factor - has fallen which means, if we can maintain or even reduce further the R factor, that the virus can be eliminated from our shores.”

In conclusion he quoted from the Prime Minister’s introduction to the White Paper published last week setting out the Government’s Covid-19 Recovery Strategy: “[The recovery] will require a widespread system of testing, of tracing and monitoring the spread of the disease, of shielding the most vulnerable, of protecting those in care homes, of securing our borders against its reintroduction, and of redesigning workplaces and public spaces to make them ‘Covid19 Secure’.

“Then, as vaccines and treatment become available, we will move to another new phase, where we learn to live with Covid-19 for the longer term without it dominating our lives.”

Mr Gibb ended by saying: “I strongly believe that once we’re through this crisis our economy will bounce back with renewed confidence and a British determination to carry on.”

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