Party’s High 5 to save the High St

Pledge to rescue town centres from ‘agonising death’

LABOUR will today unveil a five-point plan to save our high streets.

In a victory for the Mirror’s

High Street Fightback campaign, Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-bailey, right, will pledge to end the crisis.

The major policy announcement comes after we laid bare the scale of decline in our town centres. The five strands of the plan include ending ATM charges and bank branch and Post Office closures. Labour wants to boost bus services and provide free bus travel for under-25s, deliver free wi-fi to town centres, launch a register of landlords of empty shops and re-evaluate business rates annually. They also want to look at free parking.

Ms Long-bailey will tell the party conference: “Our high streets need saving from an agonising death. Our country needs to radically change course so our towns can thrive again.” Around 100,000 shop jobs have been lost in three years, Labour analysis shows. House of

Fraser, Marks & Spencer,

New Look and Mothercare have all closed stores this year.

Mike Cherry, of the Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed the pledge, saying: “Small businesses on our high streets are under the cosh like never before.” Business rates and rip-off parking are the top concerns for small businesses, a poll by lender Close Brothers Asset Finance found.

Mirror editor Alison Phillips will today host an event at the conference with Labour’s Lisa Nandy, Paddy Lillis, General Secretary of union Usdaw, and Bill