Stephen Morgan MP has welcomed plans announced today to rescue retailers, which will see the “full force of a Labour government” breathing life into Britain’s high streets.
Labour has unveiled a five-point plan to reverse the Tories’ 14 years of decline on Britain’s cherished high streets. It comes as the party has exposed the extent of the damage done under the Conservatives with a staggering 3,710 fewer fruit and veg shops, butchers, and newsagents since 2010.
The Portsmouth South MP said that Rishi’s recession has hammered small business and consumers in Portsmouth alike, with the soaring cost of living, eye-watering mortgage and rent payments contributing to a net loss of 40,000 businesses registered for VAT across the country last year.
Labour’s analysis has also found that since 2022 alone, an additional 385 towns have seen their last bank branch close or announce that they will be closing imminently. This has left local people and businesses without any options to bank locally.
Portsmouth has unfortunately not been immune to this trend, with a 32% reduction in the number of free-to-use ATMs in Portsmouth South since July 2018.
The decimation to small business is coupled with record levels of shoplifting – up more than 30 per cent in a single year – and persistently high levels of antisocial behaviour, with a third of the public witnessing or experiencing it in their local area over the past 12 months. This is leaving shops and shoppers crippled by crime in their communities.
Mr Morgan has been a strong campaigner calling for the revitalisation of our city’s high streets and in tackling the rise in shoplifting, lobbying the Government to take greater action and bringing together traders and small to hear views and concerns.
The city MP has also created a ‘support local’ campaign backing small business, hosted roundtable meetings with SMEs and continues to lobby the Government to prioritise small businesses and scrap business rates.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
”I welcome plans to rescue retailers and breathe life back into our high streets, which is desperately needed in our city and many others across the country.
“Years of underinvestment in our community has resulted in the demise of our high streets we see today, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
“A Labour Government will create the conditions to get retailers thriving again by replacing business rates, opening hundreds of banking hubs across the country and stamping out late payments to get them paid on time.”
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Communities Secretary said:
“Our town and city centres are an untapped strength of Britain’s economy. Yet across the country the paint is peeling, the pavements are cracking, and people just aren’t getting what they want when they visit town.
“Tory chaos has cost the country dearly, and every region has paid the price.
“Labour will use the full force of government to get behind our high streets and spark the decade of national renewal that communities deserve.”
Labour will get a grip of the issues blighting Britain’s high streets and rejuvenate our towns and city centres with its plan to:
- Tackle anti-social behaviour and shoplifting: so that people feel safe when they go out to shop, eat or socialise in their local high street, putting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat and scrapping the Tories’ £200 rule which stops shoplifting being investigated.
- Roll out banking hubs: thriving high streets need banking services for local businesses and customers. Labour will roll out banking hubs to guarantee face-to-face banking in every community boosting local high streets and shops.
- Replace business rates: Labour will replace business rates with a new system of business property taxation which rebalances the burden and levels the playing field between our high streets and online giants.
- Stamp out late payment: small and independent retailers shouldn’t be forced to wait months to be paid for work by big clients. Labour would introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments and make sure more money gets to high street firms.
- Revamp empty shops, pubs and community spaces: people won’t visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded up shops. Labour will give communities a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved community assets to revamp high streets and end the blight of empty premises.
