Good morning, everyone, and as the United Kingdom heads towards lockdown, another week starts on Liberal Democrat Voice.

There’s been a lot of debate on this site about the pace of Government action, whether or not various steps are appropriate or not, but my sense from rural Suffolk is that most people are attempting to be sensible – staying indoors for the most part, keeping a sensible distance when meeting each other on the street, that sort of thing. And, whilst the Government might be hesitating about ordering a lockdown, non-essential services are rather leading in shutting up shop so that people have less excuse to gather – I’ve had a series of e-mails from retailers and fast-food restaurants, announcing that they’re closing today, or have already closed. My sense is that businesses and communities are one step ahead of the Government – not a bad thing, I’d suggest.

In my own village, the Parish Council has acted quickly to gather together a list of volunteers, with a WhatsApp group to organise any support that might be needed, whilst local food producers are struggling with a loss of orders from restaurants and pubs, and are opening impromptu farm shops to enable locals to resupply. That’s a picture that is being duplicated across rural England, and I expect that similar things are happening across the four nations.

We’ve got another piece of reminiscence from Paul later this morning, and Mary continues her isolation diary at teatime in what is becoming a regular slot, and there’ll be other things to fill the day and keep you amused, entertained and informed, although not necessarily in that order.

So, take care of yourselves, and of others, and, if there’s a burning issue that triggers you to write something, do send it to us, checking our writer guidelines first, please.