SOS for High Streets
RICHES ON TAP FROM OUR LAND Fairer rates, free buses and tech can save shops
ONCE the hubs of a thriving community, the High Streets in my home city are struggling.
Many shops are empty, boarded up and collecting graffiti instead of customers. Those shops that remain struggle to survive
This week, figures for December, the most important month for retailers, revealed their worst Christmas since the financial crisis ten years earlier.
High Street veterans M& S and Debenhams have slumped, while John Lewis is considering suspending its staff bonuses
Despite slashing prices, businesses are unable to get enough customers through their doors.
Dream
The reason is simple. People don’t have enough money in their pockets after the longest period of wage stagnation since the Napoleonic wars.
We have high levels of employment but low wages mean that these jobs barely cover the basics
For those on a low income or out of work, benefit cuts and delays with the roll-out of Universal Credit have left too many families struggling.
Disposable income to spend in shops is a pipe dream if you rely on food banks to survive
Not enough is being done to help our High Streets tackle a myriad of problems such as a lack of investment in public spaces, inadequate public transport, the shift to online shopping and ever increasing business costs.
For example, the WHERE I’m from, Salford in the North West, the city owes its industrial history to the weather.
It’s said that the damp climate made cotton fibres less likely to snap during spinning.
It was the rain that filled the rivers that powered the mills that created the conditions for the overheads of a High Street shop are often much larger than out-of-town warehouse sites.
And the re-evaluation of business rates last April means the average small store must pay an extra £3,663 over the next five years. In comparison, online clothing giant Asos’s bill fell despite sales growth.
Of course there’s an important place for online retail. As a working mum I’m a fan of several sites. But
IF Labour’s energy price cap had come into force after the 2017 election, it would by now have saved households across the UK over £3billion on their bills. That’s about £220 per affected household. By contrast, the Tories have taken almost two years to introduce their cap. That’s allowed energy firms to hike prices an unprecedented number of times before it came into force. first industrial revolution. Today it is the UK’S winds and tides, its coastline and waters that hold the key to our future.
Given the huge renewable energy resources available in the UK – one third of global offshore wind power is in UK waters – we should already be leading the without action to support and diversify our High Streets, online could very soon become the only shopping option for many communities.
Labour will introduce a fairer business rates system so that firms are encouraged to stay on the High Street
Accessibility is another problem. Vital bus services have been slashed in council budget cuts, meaning that people can’t get into town centres.
Labour will restore this funding as well as providing free bus travel for under-25s, so that they are able to travel for leisure and work, increasing the world in turbine manufacturing. But incredibly the UK has a trade deficit in the technology.
I want us to become a global hub for green technology. From Humberside to the Fylde, tackling climate change offers massive opportunities to revitalise heldback parts of the UK. footfall on our High Streets. Labour will also provide free wi- fi in town centres to make sure people out shopping can stay connected whether they are in a shop or working.
This and the return of anchor institutions such as banks and post offices will encourage people to spend more time on our High Streets, help unite the online and physical shopping spaces, and bring town centres into the 21st century
This is achievable if we demand that our High Streets are seen as places of pride, not pity. I LOVE films – political ones like I, Daniel Blake because they remind me what I am fighting for every day, and funny ones like Anchorman because I have an odd sense of humour.
But my all time favourites is the Star Wars series. An evil empire has taken over the universe. Resistance fighters aim to overthrow the evil doers and spread a force for good. Read into that what you will.